Success vs Joy

This topic is so close to my heart. Re-posting.

This is from wonderful book "Success vs Joy" by Geet Sethi, who has won Billiards World Championship, six times. I present here some of sentences that inspired, impacted and provoked me. You will possibly like some, identify with some and simply smile at some.

• Joy is internal; Success is a creation of the society
• "There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path" - (quoted from The Matrix)
• The road to excellence is paved with joy, not with targets and numerical standards.
• There is joy in any activity that leads to personal growth and excellence. The process of growth and learning is the basis of joy. Where there is joy, there is no sacrifice.
• Discipline is concentrating one's efforts in a secluded environment and training yourself to focus on what you are enthused by.
• Pure action can be described as an action that has three qualities - concentration, consistency and humility. Killer instinct is another expression for concentration. Concentration is built through lifestyle and not through any formula or mantra.
• The genuinely talented player only plays selfishly, for himself and not for audience. That is what gives him unadulterated joy and pleasure.
• Commitment to joy will create its own success. Seek joy and success will naturally follow.
• I have have learnt that when I wanted success and was willing to sacrifice joy for it, eventually got neither.
• You have to be very clear about who are you and what gives you joy. Work hard learn, grow, and stretch out to reach to this joy. Use every cell in your body and brain to hit that personal sweet spot of joy. And my experience says that success just follows.
• Success is a result. Its a job well done. Success is not about achieving fame, accumulating money or having power. Success is personal and have nothing to do with what society may think. 
• My weakest moments, those situations where I lost my nerve, were at times when greed took over my entire being and I started playing for success, rewards and trophies.
• In the ultimate analysis, joy is finding your own uniqueness and being able to express this uniqueness through a perfectly executed stroke.
• Pride is not joy. Joy emanates from one's own actions, from what one feels deep down inside.
• For a performer there is no competitor. In the book of success there is, but not in the book of excellence.Excellence will come from the discovery of the self. So you have to forget the opponent and delve deep within to master your own frailties and insecurities.
• The real "I, me, mine" is independent of anybody's expectations - be they of parents, spouse, children, partners and above all your own. You just cannot live your life according to the expectations of others. Courage is in doing what you believe is right.
• Most of us would like to believe that we are intelligent and that we understand and appreciate this. Intuitively, most of us know what is good for us in the long run. But we do not listen to our inner voice because the cacophony around us drowns it.
• I have learnt to own up to my responsibilities and discard any expectations that others may have of me. I have also tried utmost to remove and eliminate any self-expectations. It is these expectations that show up as insecurities.
• I like to indulge in activities that give me joy. My joy lies in being myself, and living moment to moment. You can be alone, without being lonely.
• Those with strength of character are able to listen to their conscience, their inner voice, and then act accordingly. I define character as the courage of conviction to be your own self.
• If you want social status through a game, you will certainly be disappointed. The world does not really care whether you lose or win. You play for yourself and the joy the game gives you. Nothing else.
• Do not quit without a struggle. Do not give up unless you have stretched your potential to its limits. Only then you will experience the joy that makes life worth living. This is the joy that underscores success.

What is your dream, and how are you going to turn it into reality?

Here are Sir Richard Branson's top 10 quotes on "dreaming".

10. "It may be that those who do most, dream most." – Stephen Leacock

9. "Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

8. "Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. It may get tough, but it’s a small price to pay for living a dream." – Peter McWilliams

7. "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." – Eleanor Roosevelt

6. "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure." – Paulo Coelho 

5. "Dreams are the touchstones of our characters." – Henry David Thoreau

4. "If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse." – Walt Disney

3. "I don't dream at night, I dream all day; I dream for a living." – Steven Spielberg

2. "The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams." – Oprah Winfrey 

1. "20 years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." – Mark Twain

What is your dream, and how are you going to turn it into reality?

Remembering the Gurus

Today is Guru Purnima and I use this occasion to express my gratitude to a lot of gurus that I had the good fortune of being associated with. My dad was an officer in a bank and was being transferred every 2-3 years, as such I didn't get a chance to be under the influence of a Guru for long during my formative years. Here's a list of Gurus that I'm deeply indebted to:

• My my prof and guide at SJCE when I was doing bachelors. Instilled loads of confidence and taught me the importance of life long learning. He was talking OOA/D in 1988 (honestly, we thought he was nuts). He was adamant even in 1988 (this was the period before liberalisation and we had not heard much of MNCs, S/w programming and even Y2K) that by the millennium there'd be only two kinds of people - people that know programming and people that doesn't. He was so sure that despite our weeklong protests, he wanted us to take-up a "software project" as opposed to standard non-software projects everyone else was doing (my bachelors is in Electrical and Electronics Engg). Later he pushed me to take GATE and made sure I joined M.Tech at NITK. He himself went on to do P.hd later and has held several influential and critical positions at SJCE and JSS Institutions. I regret that I didn't take his suggestion of doing an external P.hd at IISc for which he had done a lot of marketing on my behalf with a specific prof. Thank you Dr. TNN.
• Meet my 2nd Guru - he had secured 1st rank in 10th, 12th, BE (from NITK), 4.0/4.0 CGPA in both MS and P.hd from Carnegie Melon Univ (completing P.hd in a record 2 years), who then worked in AT&T Bell Labs as a scientist, then as a prof in University of Maryland, who then came back to NITK as a prof. What can you learn from him? Lots really. But he stumped us by his humility. We were in awe with him but he made us very comfortable in no time. He was the first to admit "I don't know" when he actually didn't know something, but promptly used to get back to us with answers. I once asked him "How come you say "I don't know" so easily when a lot of us try to "manage" while trying to hide that we indeed don't know". He said "When you say I don't know, it liberates. You need not have to pretend. And often saying I don't know is the first step to actually learn something and there is nothing wrong in admitting you don't know". He was my guide during my M.Tech and I had the good fortune of accompanying him on his lecture tours across industries and universities, numerous times. He too goaded me to do a P.hd, I disappointed him too. Thank you Dr. KPH.
• My 3rd Guru comes from Industry - Rajiv Mody, Founder CEO of Sasken, my first job. Sasken was only about 20 folks when I joined and Rajiv, though CEO, remained my skip level manager for better part of my 10.5yrs stay at Sasken. A lot of my personal values and leadership style is heavily influenced by him. I learnt the importance of putting people first, giving a lot of freedom to leaders, doing the right thing even if it was creating pain in the short term, making sure the people share profits of the organization, and bringing disparate set of people together and aligning them to a common goal with a set of shared values. Like the first two, he too remains extremely humble and is generous with his time. He had agreed to sponsor my P.hd, if I wanted to do one. Thanks Rajiv.
• I can't over emphasise the role of mentors. Over the years I've had a good fortune to learn from a lot of folks, who had only my interests in their mind. Who, while being sympathetic, but never shied away from pointing out the mistakes and excuses. Folks who helped me increase the size of my dreams. Who gave courage and encouragement when life dealt hard blows. Who never gave solutions, but asked a lot of questions so that I gained  clarity. Who continue to be there and who I can count on during my darkest times. First in the list is my cousin Ravi Rao (who has been my guide/mentor/philosopher since childhood days when I didn't know the word "mentor"), Dr. Milind Gandhe, Raja Chidambaram, S Ravi, Kichu Krishnakumar, Rafael Bar, Kurt Redfield, Dr. Vinay Dabholkar and Rob Giesen. Thank you all.
• Then I've been fortunate to work for some wonderful bosses. Dr. Ravi Pai at Sasken (7 years), Diego Kaplan at Kyocera (3 years), Gowrisha (1 year) and now Joel Sumner (3.5years and counting). Thanks to all these wonderful folks that are so patient with me.

Life would have been so different had I not run into the above souls and there is no bigger occasion than Guru Purnima to count blessings.

Proud and Honoured

The local RF leadership team in Bangalore spent a considerable amount of time b/w Oct-Dec'2015 to come up with the goals for the NIB RF team. We wanted the goals to be aligned with the overall RF Software goals, we wanted the goals to help solve some big challenges we have and finally we wanted the goals to be motivating for all of us to act on. My boss Joel Sumner was around last week and he did a mid year review of these goals and expressed his happiness on the progress in the all hands.

He also took an extraordinary step of reporting the same to our SVP Scott Rust. I feel proud and honoured and the credit goes to our goal leaders. I take this as an increased responsibility on the part of all the goal leads to keep up the momentum and close out on all the goals. Some of these goals/processes are being adopted by other groups/locations too, making it special. This is what he wrote:

From: Joel Sumner <joel.sumner@ni.com>
Date: Friday, 15 July 2016 6:10 pm
To: Scott Rust <scott.rust@ni.com>
Cc: ramp <Ramprasad.Moudgalya@ni.com>, Jon Bellin <jon.bellin@ni.com>, David Gardner <david.gardner@ni.com>, Rob Giesen <rob.giesen@ni.com>
Subject: Org Development in NIB RF

Scott,

  RamP in Bangalore is doing a really nice job with organizational development. It’s been approached in a way that has been engaging his leaders (both management and technical) and driving toward concrete results. 

I know good things are happening in other parts of our branches that I don’t have visibility to so this isn’t meant to compare to other efforts.  Just wanted to give kudos where it is deserved. Thought you might appreciate seeing some very good work.

Some observations from my trip there:

·         Out of 100 people in the RF SW organization in Bangalore, 22 of them are responsible (or co-responsible) for a goal.

·         Each goal has a measureable outcome for the year and for each quarter. They report to me quarterly on the outcomes, providing structure, peer pressure to achieve, and accountability

·         I see each goal owner showing pride in their work, taking ownership for the outcome, and driving change without needing my help to break through obstacles.  They rarely escalate to me a request for assistance.

Here’s a summary of the most significant accomplishments through the first 6 months

·         Historically high retention

·         Improving % of engineers that are at Staff Advanced or higher title & a continued focus on reaching 33% of the branch at Senior or higher

·         2x customer visits YoY

·         Continuing 10%+ product speed (test time) improvement YoY

·         ¼ man-year efficiency savings in test operations

·         Meeting the goal for RFmx adoption - at XX, YY and ZZ - all key customers

·         RFBidZone (an innovation program) has 31 participants

·         30+ internal training topics identified & scheduled

·         Increased interactions with marketing to drive the roadmap for WLAN and RFmx

·         2/3rds of NI-Tech Bangalore Submissions are from the RF team

·         7 CLAs from RF participated in the CLA Summit

-Joel

-- | Joel Sumner | R&D Director, RF Software | National Instruments | 512-XXX-XXX

How to reach your development goals

Have some development goals? If not why not? Or you are a manager and trying to help a team member set and achieve development goals and want to know how to go about it in a structured fashion. Take look at the attached document. The authors talk of three strategies that need to be fully utilised in any intentional effort to learn, grow and change:

1. Seek challenging assignments

2. Seek training for targeted skills

3. Seek developmental relationships

Have a story to tell on how you went about your development goals? Please share.

Improve or left behind

Ran into this excellent article on momentum. Frankly, it took quite a while in my professional life to appreciate the critical role that "momentum" plays, both in work and outside. Now I make conscious effort to observe momentum (or lack of it) and quickly take actions. I'm not sure about work, but it has helped me immensely in personal life. John Maxwell, author of several best sellers gives a list of 10 momentum breakers and momentum makers. See how you or your team identifies with them. And if you see me doing anything that breaks momentum, please let me know.

Link:  Improve your game or get left behind

Improve your game or get left behind

By David Hoyt. 

There are no plateaus. There is no waiting in your business. I know because there is no waiting in mine. We always need to be faster, more robust, more clever, less expensive, more profitable…

That’s the beauty of what we do, isn’t it? It’s a game that never ends and keeps us on our toes. In the last four years alone we’ve seen technology transform, e commerce explode and communication develop a whole new set of standards. Changes like this always tell me that we better get up to speed or get left in the dust.

It’s the same thing in leadership. If you aren’t continually growing as an individual, your character will suffer. If you aren’t continuing to grow as an organizational leader, your sales, profits, employees and customers will suffer. It’s a matter of having positive momentum to keep the pace.  John says it this way, “Momentum is a leader’s best friend.”

When you’re progressive, efficient and have a clear direction, it’s hard to get dragged down. People trust leaders with a track record of success because momentum puts victory within reach.

The question becomes, are you a momentum breaker or a momentum maker?

As a leader, your responsibility is to understand momentum, to get it moving for your organization, and to sustain it over time. It’s key to winning the support of your team, gaining the most return on your investments, and approaching change with confidence and ease.

Momentum can be difficult to capture, often appearing elusive and intangible. In order to assess whether you’re breaking or making momentum, John outlines 10 momentum breakers and 10 momentum makers that clarify where you are right now.

Consider each option in the list and test yourself against the terms. Think about your team or your organization as a whole as you reflect.

Momentum Breakers vs. Momentum Makers

     1. Double-mindedness vs. Focus

By creating and following a clear and focused vision statement, a leader develops momentum. A leader drains away momentum by shooting at nothing or attempting everything. 
Movement causes friction. When you paint a target for your team, you'll likely encounter resistance. As a leader, you can't restrict yourself by living inside of someone else's comfort zone. Great accomplishments require leaders to fix their gaze beyond what's easily attainable.

2. The Past vs. The Future

An organization picks up steam when its leaders point to a better tomorrow. Momentum breaks down when leaders preoccupy themselves with the past. Or, as I've heard quoted, "Losers yearn for the past and get stuck in it. Winners learn from the past and let go of it."

Many people have powerful dreams. However, most don't realize that the viability of their ideal tomorrow is based on what they do today. The difference between a dream and wishful thinking is what you're doing now. Practice today what you want to be tomorrow. If you do it well enough, someday you may arrive at your dream.

3. Individualism vs. Teamwork

If you want to kill momentum, then insist on doing things by yourself. Momentum grows through team victories in which numerous people can claim to have played a role. The level of celebration on a team depends upon the level of participation.

4. Critical Attitude vs. Constructive Attitude

Tennis great Chris Evert said it best, "The thing that separates good players from great ones is mental attitude. It might only make a difference of two or three points over an entire match, but how you play those key points often makes the difference between winning and losing."

5. Tradition vs. Creativity

Don't tear down the fence until you understand why it was built. At the same time, relentlessly question the logic, "that's how we have always done it." What worked in the past may be outdated and could hold you back in the future.

6. Apathy vs. Passion

Passion energizes your talent and rubs off on those around you. If you have courage, then you will influence people based on your passionate convictions. If you lack courage, then you will only influence people to the extent of your comfort zone.

7. Dishonesty vs. Character

Character is the sum total of our everyday choices. It cannot be built overnight. A trustworthy leader has a much easier time generating momentum than a leader with a reputation of being manipulative and deceitful.

8. Conformity vs. Change

As John F. Kennedy said, "Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth." Sticking with the status quo won't create an ounce of momentum. Although it's difficult and may demand sacrifice, change is required to build momentum.

9. Ingratitude vs. Gratitude

As a Chinese proverb states, "Those who drink the water must remember those who dug the well." No one can claim to be self-made. Whatever accomplishments we attain in life have connections to the goodwill and support of those around us. When we express thankfulness for the benefits bestowed upon us by friends and colleagues, then those people are more apt to aid us again in the future.

10. Indecision vs. Action

I am never overly impressed with idea people. Anyone who takes a long shower can come up with a good idea. I'm impressed with a person who has the tenacity and discipline to make ideas happen.

13 ways to build trust

I often hear complaints "but, my manager doesn't trust me". I've also heard exasperated managers complaining about their team member "if at all she could trust me". It is so tough to build trust and easy to lose. I present the following 13 behaviours that the celebrity author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey has come-up with after studying thousands of trusted leaders worldwide:

1. Talk Straight

2. Demonstrate Respect

3. Create Transparency

4. Right Wrongs

5. Show Loyalty

6. Deliver Results

7. Get Better

8. Confront Reality

9. Clarify Expectation

10. Practice Accountability

11. Listen First

12. Keep Commitments

13. Extend Trust 

Remember that the 13 Behaviors always need to be balanced by each other (e.g., Talk Straight needs to be balanced by Demonstrate Respect) and that any behavior pushed to the extreme can become a weakness. 

Depending on your roles and responsibilities, you may have more or less influence on others. However, you can always have extraordinary influence on your starting points: Self-Trust (the confidence you have in yourself -- in your ability to set and achieve goals, to keep commitments, to walk your talk, and also with your ability to inspire trust in others) and Relationship Trust (how to establish and increase the trust accounts we have with others).

Have a good story to share? The story of how you helped build trust or your manager helped to build trust? Please go ahead and share.

RIP Alvin Toffler

Early this week, noted Futurologist and the author of the best selling book "Future Shock", Alvin Toffler died. He was 87. He predicted the rise of internet, decline of nuclear families among other things. As early as in 1960s he had warned of "information overload". I've copied some of his observations that had made me stop and think deeper.

• It is no longer resources that limit decisions, it is the decision that makes the resources
• You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.
• Change is not merely necessary to life - it is life
• Technology feeds on itself. Technology makes more technology possible
• The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn
• If you don't have a strategy, you are part of someone else's strategy

Do you quack like a duck or soar like an Eagle?

Ran into this beautiful story. Ducks quack and complain all the time, whereas Eagles soar above the crowd. Life is always about choices - do you prefer to complain or do you choose to differentiate yourself.

Duck or Eagle

Harvey Mackay was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a car pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey. He handed Harvey a laminated card and said:

"I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement."

Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said:

Wally's Mission Statement :

To get my customers to their destination in the quickest,

Safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment .

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, "Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf."

Harvey said jokingly, "No, I'd prefer a soft drink."

Wally smiled and said, "No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice."

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, "I'll take a Diet Coke."

Handing him his drink, Wally said, "If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal , Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today."

As they were pulling away, Wally handed Harvey another laminated card. "These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio."

And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

"Tell me, Wally," amazed Harvey asked the driver, "have you always served customers like this?"

Wally smiled into the rearview mirror. "No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd. The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it.  The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.  '"

"That hit me right between the eyes," said Wally. "Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more."

"I take it that has paid off for you," Harvey said.

"It sure has," Wally replied. "My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action."

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab.

I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Great service is a matter of choice. You could either quack like a Duck or soar like a Eagle. 

According to me, it doesn't have to be just service. This story can be related to anything. It can be the way you act for certain situations like work environment, about life, our future and so forth. Its upto us to be DUCK or EAGLE on each one of these occasions.