People Teams and Organizations

And the children said unto Halcolm, “We want to understand the world. Tell us, O Sage, what must we do to know the world?” “Have you read the works of our great thinkers?” “Yes, Master, every one of them as we were instructed.” “And have you practiced diligently your meditations so as to become One with the infinity of the universe?” “We have, Master, with devotion and discipline.” “Have you studied the experiments, the survey, and the mathematical models of the Sciences?” “Beyond even the examinations, Master, we have studied in the innermost chambers where the experiments and surveys are analyzed, and where the mathematical models are developed and tested.” “Still you are not satisfied? You would know more?” “Yes, Master. We want to understand the world.” “Then, my children, you must go out into the world. Live among the peoples of the world as they live. Learn their language. Participate in their rituals and routines. Taste the world. Smell it. Watch and liste...

“60% of new managers underperform during the first 2 years of their tenure.” The following are some of the reasons: 1.        When they take up the managerial role, they do the ‘activities’ of a manager, while consciously or unconsciously retaining the mindset of an individual contributor. 2.        They fail to redefine their tasks as conducting meetings, listening to people, organizing resources, etc., In fact, most consider these tasks as waste of time, rather than being effective at doing them. 3.        Experience a significant loss of control, recognition, and authority and are usually unprepared for such a situation.   Paradoxically, as an individual contributor they would have dreamt of getting more control, recognition and authority being a manager. Just too bad! 4.        While they experienced a formal education system, onboarding pro...

PURPOSE It’s almost always a ‘calling’. A compelling one. An enjoyable one. No matter what you are doing, in meetings, while driving, or on your desktop responding to an important mail, the tendency is to respond to that call readily & immediately. There is an un-explainable nobility to it. Is it true for your team and their work? In what ways can you create that compelling calling? What components of their work gives them energy to get up from their beds? What proportion of their work is aligned to their natural traits, values and beliefs?   It’s a great idea to have conversations with your team members on this note, once in a while, different from performance conversations.   AUTONOMY   The sole decision maker – you! You decide the depth, the stress, the angle and the strokes.   Who decides your team’s work and how it has to be done? The more you let them take a call, and decide their course of action, better engaged they are going to ...

  Roger Conners, Tom Smith and Craig Hickman have together put together a book titled "The Oz Principle".This is one book that has had immense effect on my ability to get results through individual and organizational accountability. A part of the proposed model and theory is extrapolated on the events you just saw in the video.   The boy did it, and it is very inspiring to see that happen. While we would like to identify ourselves with the boy, we must also be aware that we often play the role of others in the scene.   Let's take a peek look at what others were doing in the scene shown in the video:     1. He was waiting and watching .      2. They were confused , and were thinking tell me what to do .     3. This man is convinced that it is not his job      4.These men are clearly ignoring and denying what's going on.       5. This la...

We are face-to-face with a work environment that is uncertain and fickle almost on a daily basis. And that's good news. I will tell you how.   Uncertain and fickle nature of your organization is a result of it being in sync with the external business environment, which in itself is Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA). And that synchronization is the key to sustenance of the organization, and hence the sustenance of your job & career.   There is a particular medical condition called congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP) where a person loses his/her ability to sense physical pain. That's dangerous. For example, with this condition the person would not be able to realize when his/her limb is being cut while asleep. Because of the absence of visual evidence.   All of us can recall a few organizations that existed in full glory, and now they are cut and are extinct. It's highly possible th...

“How are you doing?” This question tops the list of most frequently asked questions! Just like many of us, I often find myself answering with a ‘ I am fine’,  Whether or not I am really fine. Is there a way I could determine whether I am fine or not? Yes there is. One of the ways we could interpret that question is "Are  you fleeling fulfilled and happy?” Most often our fulfillment and happiness come from meeting some of our deeply desired innate needs.  When our needs are met, then we know that we are doing just fine. Those needs are very BASIC (Basis, Affection, Significance, Inclusion, and Control) that all of us are rightfully entitled to be fulfilled. They are briefly described as follows:   Now tell me, "How are you doing?" How many of those above things are fulfilled for you? Every time someone asks you that frequent, pertinent question, you now know what you must be thinking about: Your BASIC needs.   Here's wishing you all well. ...