These are turbulent times admitedly,Companies going belly up/turning turtle/turning Dodo and all. Everyone around is worried and everyone wants sometihng to be done. It becomes a classical case of too many cooks spoiling the party sometimes. We have a government which is fairly prone to such classics, it would have been funny had it not been at the expense of lives & livelihood of people.
Now out Urban development ministry wants to tax auto industry, add congestion charges, discourage private ownership of vehicles and and ask people to use public transport which is non-existant mostly or it does exist in form of blue-line buses and mumbai local with a death toll running into thousands every year.
All this at a time when automobile industry is running a battle of survival worldwide and there are about a million jobs on the brink in this country itself with whatever unemployment figure we have without this "help".
As it turnes out, another ministry in the same government is trying to help the same automaker out by encouraging government offices to buy new vehicles..
I am sorry to say but it sounds like only ministers and babus will have right to zip through and park whatever and churn-out whatever amount of smoke they wish.. all of it in public interest.
whatever happens to people working in the industries, whatever happens to thousands more added to already impossibly congested public transport, what we will have is industry churning out ambassadors for ministers and babus; a happy state to those who get rattled by people speaking out finally..
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
The Age of Shallowness...
In a week's time I'll be heading to watch the latest Aamir flick- Gajini. The USP of movie, A protagonist who forgets everything in 15 minutes. So interesting-A different take on the same we saw in 50 First Dates, the oh-so-sweet movie with Drew Barrymore & Adam Sandler.
What it reflects though is much more sad and in fact sinister; A reflection of our own 15 minute attention span to things trivial & to things vital a moment before.
It is definitely easier to lean on others for everything, our sitcoms, our news, our analysis, our worldview. it is surely much more easy to come on streets after every attack and demand war- clean and simple. against whom? with what objectives? at what costs? one might ponder and fret till the next big event- The kitsch lasts, everything else is transient.
It's easy to have candlelight vigils, It's easy to bleed tears for peace. talk about track-2 diplomacy when the blasts and murder has had its 15 minutes.
some take an ostensibly different view-they want to barter their safety with land- a land that does not belong to them, a land which is connected to lives of 'aliens'. few of these got a jolt in Mumbai and kept quiet for few weeks- now they are back again with another twisted excuse, another attempt at self denial.
We don't care really. there is an interesting story about a frog- you put it in boiling water and it will jump straight out of it, you put it in water and boil it slowly, the frog will stay in and die.
It's all about attention spans really. every 15 minutes, the page refreshes, the history is deleted, wiped out clean.
A great reason for why we could evolve into civilization has been our ability to accumulate our knowledge generation by gen ration and pass it on, build on it, draw inferences, correct our course.
It's under threat i feel, thus we see the same old ghosts revisiting us again. we had other important things to do in the meantime, there will be other who will exorcise, or take advantage of our slumber to wipe us out we do not know, for it isn't likely to happen in next 15 minutes, and it won't last beyond that anyway...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Globalization, Innovation etc…
Since trade ignores national boundaries and the manufacturer insists on having the world as a market, the flag of his nation must follow him, and the doors of the nations which are closed against him must be battered down. Concessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process. Colonies must be obtained or planted, in order that no useful corner of the world may be overlooked or left unused.-Woodrow Wilson
My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.[5]- Ayn Rand
These two perspectives, coming out from unlikely origins, one from president of a country known to be the paragon of’ laissaz Faire’
, The other from someone born and brought up in Bolshevik Russia of all the places; who chose deeply conservative US as her home.
The chasm may not be apparent to many, for on the face of it, these are two distinct subjects. Globalization and individualism support each other if anything one might say.
Mix it with endeavor of every global organization to instill ‘ONE-NESS’ among its workforce, add some spicy manager jargon about ownership et al and the pourri gets thoroughly confused, albeit mesmerizingly delicious.
It’s difficult to talk about globalization and leave sustainability; it’s difficult to talk about sustainability without talking about individual and his creativity, organization and its urge for innovation, and back to individual as a consumer as well as entrepreneur/ producer.
Forgive me thus for quite a few literary sins I have committed, two quotes to start a piece being one
. These serve a purpose though. As members of a corporate body a balance between seeking synergy and fostering innovation, giving enough fuel for our individual growth, and having faith and compassion about our work, these are some challenges that we face, or indeed the organization faces .( the concept of organization is quite an interesting one- but that’s left for later..)
Working in a place with a deep sense of history, I can not help but reflect, look back, through eyes of people who have seen the transition, who have affected the transition.
["Who is John Galt?" They say
"Don't ask important questions, because we don't have answers."- They mean
“WE were there once’”- many of us would recognize.
“Now you know” many would whisper secretively.]
Globalization is no longer a matter of debate for us; we are already all over the globe.
What drives us to grow bigger? What stops us, how do we change ourselves to become- to fulfill our destiny? How much do we want to change? Are we losing sight of our purpose as we turn round the bend?
These are some questions that we need to ask ourselves. Some of us might have the answers; some might have better things to do then reflect on vague questions, that’s because we like to deal with certainties, negate the unknown. They simply say “who is John Galt”?
There was a sanction victim defined as "the willingness of the good to suffer at the hands of the evil, to accept the role of sacrificial victim for the 'sin' of creating values."
This sanction has plagued so many of us, corporations, and society.
The sanction has been revoked, its leash battered, its power to choke us mitigated to a great extent. This has unleashed a new source of energy, because we no longer feel the need to hide our creativity, our quest for innovation, for achieving greater heights for fear of hurting those who cannot, or will not stand up.
I feel we have made this rather painful journey, and we have certainly come out better of it… I believe we can do business sustainably, That is because sustainability is built into our ethos, not apparent to many, but deep down somewhere, respecting our environment, respecting others, respecting work, respecting productive happiness, these are some of values that define an Indian.
We do not batter down doors, but we do try and command enough respect and trust that doors open for us.
As Indians, we have shown the world the only humane example of fighting a tyrannical occupier, and winning the war….
My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.[5]- Ayn Rand
These two perspectives, coming out from unlikely origins, one from president of a country known to be the paragon of’ laissaz Faire’
, The other from someone born and brought up in Bolshevik Russia of all the places; who chose deeply conservative US as her home.
The chasm may not be apparent to many, for on the face of it, these are two distinct subjects. Globalization and individualism support each other if anything one might say.
Mix it with endeavor of every global organization to instill ‘ONE-NESS’ among its workforce, add some spicy manager jargon about ownership et al and the pourri gets thoroughly confused, albeit mesmerizingly delicious.
It’s difficult to talk about globalization and leave sustainability; it’s difficult to talk about sustainability without talking about individual and his creativity, organization and its urge for innovation, and back to individual as a consumer as well as entrepreneur/ producer.
Forgive me thus for quite a few literary sins I have committed, two quotes to start a piece being one
. These serve a purpose though. As members of a corporate body a balance between seeking synergy and fostering innovation, giving enough fuel for our individual growth, and having faith and compassion about our work, these are some challenges that we face, or indeed the organization faces .( the concept of organization is quite an interesting one- but that’s left for later..)
Working in a place with a deep sense of history, I can not help but reflect, look back, through eyes of people who have seen the transition, who have affected the transition.
["Who is John Galt?" They say
"Don't ask important questions, because we don't have answers."- They mean
“WE were there once’”- many of us would recognize.
“Now you know” many would whisper secretively.]
Globalization is no longer a matter of debate for us; we are already all over the globe.
What drives us to grow bigger? What stops us, how do we change ourselves to become- to fulfill our destiny? How much do we want to change? Are we losing sight of our purpose as we turn round the bend?
These are some questions that we need to ask ourselves. Some of us might have the answers; some might have better things to do then reflect on vague questions, that’s because we like to deal with certainties, negate the unknown. They simply say “who is John Galt”?
There was a sanction victim defined as "the willingness of the good to suffer at the hands of the evil, to accept the role of sacrificial victim for the 'sin' of creating values."
This sanction has plagued so many of us, corporations, and society.
The sanction has been revoked, its leash battered, its power to choke us mitigated to a great extent. This has unleashed a new source of energy, because we no longer feel the need to hide our creativity, our quest for innovation, for achieving greater heights for fear of hurting those who cannot, or will not stand up.
I feel we have made this rather painful journey, and we have certainly come out better of it… I believe we can do business sustainably, That is because sustainability is built into our ethos, not apparent to many, but deep down somewhere, respecting our environment, respecting others, respecting work, respecting productive happiness, these are some of values that define an Indian.
We do not batter down doors, but we do try and command enough respect and trust that doors open for us.
As Indians, we have shown the world the only humane example of fighting a tyrannical occupier, and winning the war….
Now about being customer centric..
They say the best way to be customer-centric is to be one, slip into those shoes, (and shirts, trousers etc for people with imagination...).
The challenge is to ask this “can I make a product that will make me happy, and do it so that I derive greater utility from it than my investment? “
If I can, then I have been productive. I have reasons to be happy, and I might learn to share the physical and inspirational value that I create.
If I slip into those shoes then I wouldn’t like these shoes to bite my toes, I wouldn’t want them to expose me midway (pun unintended). I would like them to be sustainable. I would also like them to be different from run of the mill, I would like to Innovate to gain competitive advantage over my neighbor. ..
There is another way, so to speak, I might sneak in my neighbor’s home and take away his shoes, I get the old- used shoes, with no apparent cost, or I might intimidate him into exchanging my torn ones with his.
I could as well decry him for wearing shoes in both feet while his neighbor goes bare feet. (We as country are good at this one- asking for foreign aid, reservations, quotas, right down to divine interventions).
This choice one has to make. I choose the first one, because it at least gives me new pair of shoes- custom made for me..
They say it’s a free world; everyone is free to make his/ her choices, and to live /die with them…
Adios..
They say the best way to be customer-centric is to be one, slip into those shoes, (and shirts, trousers etc for people with imagination...).
The challenge is to ask this “can I make a product that will make me happy, and do it so that I derive greater utility from it than my investment? “
If I can, then I have been productive. I have reasons to be happy, and I might learn to share the physical and inspirational value that I create.
If I slip into those shoes then I wouldn’t like these shoes to bite my toes, I wouldn’t want them to expose me midway (pun unintended). I would like them to be sustainable. I would also like them to be different from run of the mill, I would like to Innovate to gain competitive advantage over my neighbor. ..
There is another way, so to speak, I might sneak in my neighbor’s home and take away his shoes, I get the old- used shoes, with no apparent cost, or I might intimidate him into exchanging my torn ones with his.
I could as well decry him for wearing shoes in both feet while his neighbor goes bare feet. (We as country are good at this one- asking for foreign aid, reservations, quotas, right down to divine interventions).
This choice one has to make. I choose the first one, because it at least gives me new pair of shoes- custom made for me..
They say it’s a free world; everyone is free to make his/ her choices, and to live /die with them…
Adios..
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