Wednesday, December 8, 2010

What RamP's Reading: Dec'10

As I slowly rebuild my life, I've chosen books that I need the most at this time!


The First 90 DaysTransitions are a critical time for leaders. In fact, most agree that moving into a new role is the biggest challenge a manager will face. While transitions offer a chance to start fresh and make needed changes in an organization, they also place leaders in a position of acute vulnerability. Missteps made during the crucial first three months in a new role can jeopardize or even derail your success. In The First 90 Days, Michael D. Watkins offers proven strategies for conquering the challenges of transitions—no matter where you are in your career.


Strength in the Storm: Stress and anxiety affect many of us as we struggle with work pressures, money worries, strained relationships, and the nagging sense that life may be running out of our control. But a truly calm mind can weather any storm. Eknath Easwaran, a respected teacher of meditation, offers a wealth of insights, real-life stories and practical suggestions to help us try something more successful next time we’re facing our stressors. He explains how to use a mantram (or mantra) to quiet the mind. He describes how to slow down and stay in the present, improve creativity and concentration, shed anxieties and resentments, strengthen our relationships, and stay kind and strong when faced with conflicts, supporting those around us.


What About the BIG stuff?Richard Carlson's bestselling Don't Sweat series has shown countless families, lovers, and workers how not to sweat the small stuff. Now, in his soothing and wise trademark tone, Carlson takes a different approach and discusses life's bigger issues, including dealing with the death of a loved one; how divorce affects your family and friends; confronting illness, whether in yourself or others; and managing difficult financial situations. In chapters such as 'Bouncing Back from Divorce,' 'Finding Life After Death,' and 'Feel Free to Grieve,' Carlson offers healing insight and heartfelt advice on how to find inner peace and strength to deal with the big stuff.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

What RamP's Reading: Aug'10

As the life slowly settles from the twin crisis I'm in the middle of, need a bout of inspiration. And I always turn to Stephen Covey.




The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: (Re-read) One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has captivated readers for 25 years. It has transformed the lives of presidents and CEOs, educators and parents—in short, millions of people of all ages and occupations across the world. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Stephen Covey’s cherished classic commemorates his timeless wisdom, and encourages us to live a life of great and enduring purpose.

The 8th Habit: (Re-read) Being effective as individuals and organizations is no longer merely an option—it’s a requirement for survival. But in order to thrive, innovate, excel, and lead in what Covey calls the “New Knowledge Worker Age,” we must build on and move beyond effectiveness. In this era of human history, our call is for greatness—holistic fulfillment, passionate execution, and significant contribution. Accessing the higher levels of human genius in today’s new reality requires a change in thinking: a new mindset and a new skill-set—in short, a new habit. The crucial challenge of our world today is this: to find our voice and inspire others to find theirs. It is what Covey calls the 8th Habit. The 8th Habit is the answer to the soul’s yearning for greatness, the organization’s imperative for significance and superior results, and humanity’s search for its “voice.”

Principle Centered Leadership: (Re-read) The author invites business readers to center their professional lives around principles of excellence and quality and discusses the six conditions of effectiveness and the patterns of organizational excellence


Sunday, February 28, 2010

Reading List for Mar-10

All Marketers are (Liars) Story Tellers
This is one book of my favourite author Seth that I never bought, much less read. Somehow the title didn't resonate. Seth however reckons its own of his better books and managed to convince the publishers to change the name from "All Marketers are Liars" to "All Marketers are Story Tellers". He has posted more details, including the new forward here. This book is about worldviews—the biases and expectations and shortcuts we use to get through the world. In other words, many things that are true are true because you believe them. Impressed by the new foreword I decided to read this book.

Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits
I'm intrigued by stock market's movements. Everytime I develop sime theory goes bust within a few days of being convinced. I hired an independent consultant to manage my portfolio and it turned out to be disaster and now I invest completely in mutual funds, transferring the burden into the investment manager. However my quest to understand the stock market continues. This book by Philip Fisher is considered classic by many and written especially for a lay person. Fisher points out that the largest wealth via investing has been made in one of two ways. First, buying stocks when the markets crash and holding them until the markets recover. Secondly, with less risk and more potential return, you can also just invest in a small portfolio of companies which continue to strongly grow sales and earnings over the years. Then, if the company was correctly selected, you might never have to sell, while accruing a huge return on your initial investment. Further, Fisher explains how he selects a growth company. He lists fifteen points which a company must have to be considered a superior investment.


Reading List for Feb-10

Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey
This month I completed Capt. Gopinath's auto-biography Simply Fly. Capt. Gopinath is generally regarded as father of LCC (low cost carrier) in India. Air Deccan, though it had its share of problems did change the Indian aviation sector forever. But thats only one part of the story. Several little known things of Gopinath unfolds in the book. His struggles, never-say-die-attitude, innovations and the passion he brings in to everything he gets into is truly motivating. No wonder, Dr. Abdul Kalam recommends this book to be used as a text book on entrepreneurship in B-schools. He is a great story teller, which makes reading the book so easy to read and absorb the lessons.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

On beginnings and thoughtfulness

Last two months have been very hectic at office as we worked hard for the annual CES event at Vegas and towards the release of our software for our #1 and #2 customers. Its always a big challenge to pull it off when three major releases needs to be done in the space of about 8 weeks. It was also fascinating to watch the reaction of all the stakeholders as the events unfolded. James Allen, in his classic "As a man Thinketh" said "circumstances does not make the man, it reveals him to himself". Could not have understood the meaning of this sentence better. My personal activities went almost close to zero (no blogging, no reading, no contribution to the non-profit that I'm part of and very little time for family). I want to thank folks who encouraged me to keep writing.

Hope to have a new beginning from this week as normalcy returns or seems so.

There are beginnings everywhere, mostly small ones and seemingly trivial ones and almost everything starts from small beginnings. I re-read the chapter Right Beginnings from James Allen's yet another classic titled Byways of Blessedness. James Allen stresses the need for strong and right beginnings - for example he believes in getting out the of the bed early in the morning and for some of us who are challenged on this front, asks a question - How are you to develop strength of will, mind and body if you begin everyday by yielding to weakness?

Loving, gentle, kind, unselfish and pure thoughts are right beginnings, leading to blissful results. If we accept this piece of wisdom from Allen, there are few questions to ponder:
  • Have we discovered the vast importance of beginnings?
  • Do we really know what is involved in a beginning?
  • Do we know the number of beginnings we are continuously making and their importance?

Anyways, as I was pondering over the "beginning" this morning, a recent post (youtube video) by Tom Peters on thoughtfulness caught my attention. He says fundamental human decency towards one another is arguably the most important thing during these tough times. Thoughtfulness he argues, apart from making you a better human being, helps in retaining customers, employee satisfaction and brand perception. Its free. It speeds up things. It builds trust. It brings transparency. And the best of it "Thoughtfulness is key to your ability to look in the mirror and tell your kids about your job". I'm enamored by the word thoughtful. Thank you Tom!

Can we strive hard to have the right beginning and thoughtfulness in everything we do?


Thank you very much,


RamP!
ramp.ramp@gmail.com


Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Sachin the true Zen master

24-Feb-2010 is a special day for all cricket lovers across the globe. Sachin Tendulkar became the first cricketer ever to score a double century in a ODI, now has a history of about 40yrs. And as Sanjay Manjrekar said, no one deserved the record more than Tendulkar. Almost the whole country was praying that he would get past 194 and then eventually into 200 and he obliged. One would be excused for thinking that he might have unleashed a brutal attack to get to 200, but it was as elegant as it could get (the contrast was more visible with Dhoni's and Pathan's ugly hitting at the other end).

We have been fortunate enough to be in the same era as Tendulkar's. I have followed most matches of Tendulkar's starting from his debut hitting Abdul Qadir. The world stops to watch Tendulkar on song - it was the case 20yrs ago and continues to be so. Almost everything about the man is perfect, the stance, the balance, the grace whether defending or leaving or executing the straightest possible drives and the follow-thru. Who can take his eyes off the upper-cut that sails over the 3rd man boundary, or the cover drive that bisects a packed off-side field or the straight drive that travels all long the ground or the flick that he can place anywhere from mid-wicket to fine-leg. Ah! there was a time when Tendulkar was young - the booming drives and many of those used to be in air - the heart beat would stop till the ball lands safely, followed by the joy of seeing the ball cross the boundary and followed by the realization that there was no need to get anxious as Tendulkar would have anyways placed it so safely.

Over these years we have witnessed several type of innings - both in test cricket and in ODIs. Dour defensive innings, brilliant counter attacks (obviously everyone would think Warne in Sharjah) and innings of character. I remember a particular ODI guess in 2002 when Saching got a 150+ score on a low and slow track. Previous match he had hit a booming hundred and this was so different as he nudged the ball cleverly into gaps and scoring mostly in singles and twos, when everyone around found so difficult to put the bat on to the ball, let alone scoring. I always used to quote these two matches while giving gyaan to my juniors those days as to how one needs to be adaptable.

What about his bowling? I haven't seen anyone (including the the greatest ever Warne and Murali (though I feel Murali "legally" chucks) turn the ball more than Tendulkar. May be if one really sits down to measure, may be he would be bracketed along with these two. But seen anyone turn the ball both ways? No way. If he had taken bowling seriously, the amount of wickets that Warne and Murali have taken would not even be talked about.

I'm always intrigued trying to answer the question what makes him so successful? Can we imbibe a few qualities? Can we draw some "management lessons"? Agreed he is naturally gifted and so were several others who didn't last long. Three things come to my mind. His child like quality (just checkout the way he celebrates when he takes a catch or runs out someone), commitment (remember the desperate dive that saved a single in the first ODI) and the fact that he thinks he is still learning. The last one to me is a lot important.

I have read a beautiful book titled "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by the famous Zen master Shunruyu Suzuki. The essential message of the book is that the beginner's mind is alway's empty and is open to everything. The beginner's mind has several possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few. When there is no thought of achievement, no thought of self, we are true beginners and can really learn something. Its about being sincere and to make full effort.

Everytime I think of Sachin, I'm reminded of beginner's mind and in that sense, we do not have to look beyond Sachin for a Zen master - for simplicity, the single minded devotion to the task and the ability to remain so humble despite achieving so much.

My sons, both are crazy about cricket, are only 12 and 8yrs old. Wish Tendulkar can go on for another 10yrs and three generations would have seen him and most importantly would have been inspired.

Thank you very much,


RamP!
ramp.ramp@gmail.com


PS: Photo courtesy Cricinfo/Getty Images. Hope they don't mind my putting the photo without permission on a joyous occasion.




Sunday, January 10, 2010

Dec-09: Best of blog posts

Seth Godin as usual produced some gems:
  • Seth asked whether there is a difference between Hiring and Recruiting. Had never asked this question though I was using these two interchangeably. Now I'll not.
  • Who are you trying to please? What are you trying to change? ... all these and more thought provoking questions.
  • How to be a great client? Did you ever ask this question? Check out the post as to why you need to.

After a long time, there were some very interesting posts by Guy Kawasaki. Here we go:
  • Dan Heath, co-author of Made to Stick, explains how to stand out (video) in a crowd. He uses the examples of Voodoo Donut and ZipCar. The gist is that if you’re in a crowded market, you need to do something that no one else does or compete on one dimension and do it ferociously. Watch the video to learn more.
  • Oprah Winfrey has changed the world; one episode, book club review, magazine issue, after show, news report, speech, movie role, and television special at a time. Sources of Insight compiled a great list of lessons learned from Oprah Winfrey as well as some of her most famous quotes.
  • According to the LinkedIn site, its users are rich, young, educated, and powerful. If you’re looking for a medium to reach such people, check out this comparison to publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and BusinessWeek.

  • Rosabeth Moss Kanter explains how innovation can involve short bursts and baby steps to success. Most people believe only “breakthroughs” count. Really, innovation is a process, not a big event.


Reading List for Jan-10

I have decided to focus this year's reading on 2 themes - Innovation and Finance and Economics. This is part of my continued self-learning aka PMBA.

The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation
In this book, Procter & Gamble's chairman and CEO, A. G. Lafley, together with management Guru Ram Charan, defines, describes, draws examples of, and delineates how innovation became a part of not only the behemoth consumer-packaged-goods company but also part of Lego and Nokia (among others). A number of commandments accompanied the company’s innovation-centric strategy: the consumer is boss, inside and outside cocreation is encouraged, the innovation process is tangible (and must be followed), and risks can be managed. Most important is his emphasis on human interaction as the key; even better, the last section focuses exclusively on developing a culture of innovation, from promoting the rules of brainstorming to the desired attributes for employees and leaders: courageous, connected and collaborative, curious, open. There can't be perhaps a better book to start understanding Innovation than this book.

Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life
Donald J. Trump is an icon. He is the developer of some of the most prestigious addresses worldwide, including Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. I'm not a huge fan of him, but somewhat gets drawn to him. In this book, he provides advice on how be successful in life and business, which is straight to the point. Currently seeing it mostly as a bed side read.

Year end retreat

I had planned for two weeks of vacation from 19-Dec to 3-Jan. Had planned a bunch of things. Things however went astray as my 85-year old grandma (who stays with us), fell down and had to be operated for a fracture on her thigh bone. It was quite tough (and still is) for both her and us due to her age. Luckily her general health is quite good, which helped. She is back home recovering. I was on hospital duty for all but last 4-5 days. Tending to her, hospital stay and everything else was a very humbling experience. Most of my reading for Dec-09 was done in the hospital nevertheless.

I managed a 3day stay in my village from Jan 1-3. I have half-yearly ritual around Jun and Dec of going over the goals that I had set for myself for the past half year, reflect and then set goals for the next year/half-year. It was also time to set some bigger goals keeping 2015 in mind (completed a fairly successful vision-2010 stuff). One of my mentor challenged me to go beyond setting goals and start thinking about the legacy I want to leave as I'm now over 40yrs. Spent enough time thinking about it. In the ideal world, vision 2015 should be derived from "life purpose", which in turn should result in goals for 2010. Its fairly tough thinking 15-20yrs ahead, but I did had a start.

I also read an extremely interesting and thought provoking book "Building the Bridge as you walk on it", which was more than relevant for the stuff I was doing. I plan to blog about the core ideas of this book going forward.

Wish you a great 2010.

Thank you very much,


RamP!
ramp.ramp@gmail.com