all Gyan BIG & small

That’s the word on my mind these days! I wonder how and why we subscribe, chase and almost kill ourselves and everyone else, with an overdose of everything. Quality is fast being replaced with Quantity – Yes, I want those 300 links from Google, but after the endless surfing, often wonder – how I wish someone just gave what was needed – Just exactly to the point. Walk to a coffee shop, tired and zonked, and you ask for a simple double shot – “sir – would you like chocolate sauce with this? Add extra shot of coffee (hehehhe yes – that happened for real), want whipped cream on this – ewwww !!! - and you wonder, where were those days, when you just got that one shot of coffee. Yes, there are days you want to indulge, but then - most days are normal and you just want your good old simple stuff. The breadth, width, height, density and viscosity of information often kills the beauty of the entire being / thing / transaction. (This statement is an example of it – I could have simply said – hey...

Why does one always look at the past, and even the one with the most pitiful existence, have some wonderful moments to remember back, while at the same time, everything about tomorrow, is looked with spite, loaded with fears and speculation. The answer my friend is – when we look at the past, we always see beyond ourselves, and our situations (present and past), while when we look at the future, we somehow can’t look an inch beyond ourselves! Whoa!

I have realised that most often, we complain that we really did not have a choice, succumbed to pressure, or had to be politically correct, or had to take a stand in favour of the tilted-weighted circumstances, and saying a "No" was impossible and by default seen as wrong. After a series of meetings today at office, and some rather stupid arbitrary intellectual orgasms and a plethora of reasons why somethings are justified as being right, despite the facts screaming other wise, and some anecdotes from personal experience, I believe this is the primary problem. We do not really have the courage and the conviction to say a 'No' to our self , before we take an external stance. I guess, dealing with a binary answer at a microcosm level of self, demands the greatest of faith and courage (unfortunately) in our own self . We are bred and live in a world where we strive to get an approval for every thing that we do, and somewhere compete, constantly battle the fear of a loss...

If only I replaced the word “ Things ”, with a word like “ Organizations ” or “ Relationships ”, it would have ‘won’ a better acceptance. Why is that we cannot accept the fact that - Things that fail are over-managed and under-led . To start with, we have invested a great deal of time and energy (Ya that’s the word); to take control of things and ‘make’ them happen. In the process, of ‘making’ things happen, we loose the sense of wonder and awe, that is so vital to fortifying the good feel about what we do. No wonder, now ‘make love’, ‘work in a relationship’, ‘have an agenda for a coffee’, ‘define levels of freedom (ah! this is the worst)’, ‘intent becomes important than the gesture’ and ‘quality of life more important that living itself’. Battling with the ever growing age, and 20 odd years of learning, we have already lost a major sense of awe and wonder. The normal no more excites, the chirping of the bird is too shrill to be noticed, and a simple smile renders to an analysis of th...

This is dedicated to my dear friend – Arjun – Thanks pal "It's like [being] a freighter at sea - it takes a little while to know that you're in trouble and then to turn the beast around." So says Karl Moore, professor of marketing strategy at the Faculty of Management, McGill University Hold on for a minute! Brand fatigue is a Marketing / Strategy term, what has it got to do with ‘Relationships?”. Well let me take you through the “brand” ride. What exactly is Brand Fatigue? – blah..blah..blah.. and the answer I remember copying from who ever sitting before me in my Marketing Exam (oh, I was the first guy in the row ..whatever) – everyone has some brand that they cherish, wanted to always sport or own the brand, use it so long, and irrespective of the fact that there is no other to replace, you just get tired and.. voila you switch brands. How close does this come to us, looking at relationships!There is that one special person you cherish, admire so much, that you end...

What is it that makes Leadership so Critical to an organization? Why does it demand so much importance and why does the dictum of business so delicately hang on one or a couple of peoples’ leadership skills? Over the past 8-10 months, these questions have been taking a bulk share in my lil head, and managed to grey out a lil more of my remaining black hair. Let’s define this leader specimen… “Specimen” for they cannot be a species and are rare to find. Apart from the plethora of various leadership definitions from the out-right harassed Dilbert to the BIG Gurus of Management, one common thread among all their definitions is - A leader should be made to sustain – sustain him/herself against all odds, exceed and rule over his normal demands of human life, and then be able to have still extra stuff left to pass on to team, businesses..etc..etc… that’s quite a demanding thing. At this time, I am still not classifying whether, the leader is good – Good or Bad, the leader still has to be (a...

Ever wondered why the pointy haired guy in Dilbert earned a million bucks, and why the not working fatso, writing blogs like this gets paid… Let’s define the management species Type 1 – The Gyan Givers This type typically alternates between animated mysticism & uncharacteristic forthrighted ness, armed with a plethora of facts and events that they can twist and mould so subtly, to their advantage, that you will swear by hell, that it’s the coolest place to go, and bet your purse on it. These guys when they work, (assuming they will occasionally to undo the ill feeling of being obsessively paid) come with strategies and thought processes that are ahead of time, and you would be surprised, how on EARTH they could do this – You see, their strength is their power to think, and the ability to interpret the “thinking” in words – They earn their worth by one simple great idea, one per year (if passive) and one per Quarter (if aggressive). Generally 100% original Type 2 – The Gyan Inter...