Mastery: Ignore the cynics, dismiss the critics

These days I'm contemplating on one word "Mastery", trying to understand what it is and how we can attain mastery in all walks of life. But I ended up spending more time thinking about the opposite of Mastery - Mediocrity. It is easy to fall into Mediocrity. This is so invisible. Remember the broken window syndrome? (Thanks to my boss Joel Sumner for drilling into me to be always vigilant against broken window). 

Mediocrity is also about giving less than 100%, being satisfied with average, happily giving excuses on why something cannot be done, being a wandering generality, never committed to anything but speaking in present continuos terms like "working on", "going on", "looking into" etc., I'm sure you'd have more to add.

You start accepting average (product, behavior, conversations, etc.,). It quickly becomes a way of life. Be a fanatic against broken window. You will leave the crowd and therefore you will leave the cult of mediocrity. People say “whats wrong with you”. 

Here are some quotes to keep you on the path to Mastery and leave the crowd

• Don’t loose your way to the top – Jack Welch
• There will never be a better you than you – Warren Buffet
• Be yourself, everyone else is taken – Oscar Wilde
• For some to love you, some must loathe you – J C Rowling
• If people don’t hate you, you are not doing big things – Jay Z

HBR Pick: How to apply right amount of stress

If you are a manager or a tech lead for some time, you'd have surely faced this dilemma of wondering whether the stress you are putting on your team/team-member is adequate or not. If it is too little, you may not get the required results. If it crosses the line, the whole thing might break down (and the line belongs to the team/team-member). I chanced upon an HBR article "How to put the right amount of pressure on your team". Read it. It has some interesting ideas.

3 Questions used at Under Armour

I chanced upon this interview of Kevin Plank, who is the CEO of Under Armour, who despite just 10 years into existence, has found a place in LinkedIn's Top Attractors. Very simple, yet very powerful. Check out yourself:

SW: I’ve heard you say you run the company with three questions. What are they?

KP: More like three statements after every conversation or meeting. “This is what I  heard.” “This is what I think.” And, “This is what we’re going to do.” I encourage all our managers to use that approach. It’s about making sure people’s voices are heard. Did I hear you? Did I understand your meaning? And then, clarity. My view on your opinion is the following, and therefore my actions will be the following. Everyone must have a voice, and everyone deserves clarity. Those things increase performance, satisfaction, and speed.

E for Elasticity

If you stretch a rubber band beyond elasticity limits, it'd break and would never come back. Some elementary physics, everyone knows. Or so I thought. Turns out that is not the case. I think one's patience also has a limit and it is not a great idea to keep needling someone to test the limits. Argue, disagree, fight etc., but stretching an argument far too long, just to prove a point and not helping the team's cause could never be a great idea. Sometimes we get so worked-up and fall in needless love with our own "positions" that we forget the end goal and in the process might have tested the elasticity limit. When you are into endless argument, just remind yourself with this law:

What RamP's Reading: Apr'16

Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within: 

It contains ideas that may lead to a profound self-awakening. An introspective journey for those in the trenches of today's modern organizations, Deep Change is a survival manual for finding our own internal leadership power. By helping us learn new ways of thinking and behaving, it shows how we can transform ourselves from victims to powerful agents of change. And for anyone who yearns to be an internally driven leader, to motivate the people around them, and return to a satisfying work life, Deep Change holds the key.

Onward, How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul: 

In 2008, Howard Schultz decided to return as the CEO of Starbucks to help restore its financial health and bring the company back to its core values. In Onward, he shares this remarkable story, revealing how, during one of the most tumultuous economic periods in American history, Starbucks again achieved profitability and sustainability without sacrificing humanity. Offering you a snapshot of the recession that left no company unscathed, the book shows in riveting detail how one company struggled and recreated itself in the midst of it all. In addition, you’ll get an inside look into Schultz's central leadership philosophy: It's not about winning, it’s about the right way to win. Onward is a compelling, candid narrative documenting the maturing of a brand as well as a businessman. Ultimately, Schultz gives you a sense of hope that, no matter how tough times get, the future can be more successful than the past.

Flourish - A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being: 

Flourish builds on Dr. Seligman’s game-changing work on optimism, motivation, and character to show how to get the most out of life, unveiling an electrifying new theory of what makes a good life—for individuals, for communities, and for nations. In a fascinating evolution of thought and practice, Flourish refines what Positive Psychology is all about. While certainly a part of well-being, happiness alone doesn’t give life meaning. Seligman now asks, What is it that enables you to cultivate your talents, to build deep, lasting relationships with others, to feel pleasure, and to contribute meaningfully to the world? In a word, what is it that allows you to flourish? “Well-being” takes the stage front and center, and Happiness (or Positive Emotion) becomes one of the five pillars of Positive Psychology, along with Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment—or PERMA, the permanent building blocks for a life of profound fulfillment.

C for Commitment

I had a boss that used to say "No statement of intentions, only commitments" whenever he was going around asking for completion dates for tasks. All of us come to work with only good intentions - to do well, to contribute, to help. Sometimes it doesn't happen for whatever reasons, but since we came with good intention, we'd find it difficult to accept that the work was not "completely done". This is also a point of contention with the manager because when people miss out seemingly small things like completing only 90% of unit testings, not "fully" documenting the code, cutting corner with the processes, showing up "just 5 minutes late" or my favourite "not bothering to use NI's standard power-point template". Commitment, like Excellence and Attention to Detail etc., is also a personal choice and difficult to teach (this is why I argue that we should be looking more than skills while hiring). 

Next time when you are asking or giving commitment make sure it is not just a statement of intent.

Happy to quote Seth Godin (again) - "Commitment is the only thing that gets you through the chasm. Commitment takes you from "that's a fine idea" to "its done." Commitment is risky, because if you fail, it's on you. On the other hand without commitment, you will fail, because art unshipped isn't art".

What RamP's Reading: Mar'16

Building the Bridge As You Walk On It - A Guide For Leading Change: Building the Bridge As You Walk On It tells the personal stories of people who have embraced deep change and inspired author Robert Quinn to take his concept one step further and develop a new model of leadership—“the fundamental state of leadership.” The exploration of this transformative state is at the very heart of the book. Quinn shows how anyone can enter the fundamental state of leadership by engaging in the eight practices that center on the theme of ever-increasing integrity—reflective action, authentic engagement, appreciative inquiry, grounded vision, adaptive confidence, detached interdependence, responsible freedom, and tough love. After each chapter, Quinn challenges you to assess yourself with respect to each practice and to formulate a strategy for personal growth.

The Way We're Working Isn't Working - The Four Forgotten Needs That Energize Great Performance: The Way We're Working Isn't Working offers a groundbreaking approach to reenergizing our lives so we’re both more satisfied and more productive—on the job and off. By integrating multidisciplinary findings from the science of high performance, Tony Schwartz, coauthor of the #1 bestselling The Power of Full Engagement, makes a persuasive case that we’re neglecting the four core needs that energize great performance: sustainability (physical); security (emotional); self-expression (mental); and significance (spiritual). Rather than running like computers at high speeds for long periods, we’re at our best when we pulse rhythmically between expending and regularly renewing energy across each of our four needs. 

Vital Friends: The People You Can't Afford to Live Without: #1 New York Times bestselling author Tom Rath delivers a fascinating read that will change the way you look at your family, friends, coworkers, and significant other. What’s the quickest way to ruin a friendship? Can bosses actually learn something from marriages? Are very close friendships in the workplace such a bad thing? Drawing on research and case studies from topics as diverse as marriage, management, and architecture, Vital Friends reveals what’s common to all truly essential friendships: a regular focus on what each person is contributing to the friendship — rather than the all-too-common approach of expecting one person to be everything.