‘SHAKEN', not STIRRED! 

If this catchphrase rouses a reader’s mind, then this blog would be worth your time!

Who are we? A rhetoric to begin with, as we take the plunge to think about our lives, about what we want to do with it till we have it & most importantly, what would be our eulogy!

Now, it was just y’day that I got this opportune moment to go beyond this rhetoric not alone but with few like-minded learners, and to anchor this learning process we got a ‘MIRROR’, figuratively though in our Coach Sameer Dua. 

Now as established that Ian Fleming's fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond’s preference for his martini cocktail was ‘Shaken & not Stirred’, Sameer’s preference was just the same! A full house auditorium was shaken, not just stirred! This figurative Mirror made us look deep into it and we saw ourselves, we did indeed! You like yourself - good, you don’t like yourself - good. You want to look better - good, you don’t want to look better, good! Because it’s YOU, I am just a mirror! The thought resonated strong with each passing moment & then dawned the Epiphany!

What we thought a cliché to begin with became a catalyst for a shaken revelation, ‘Who are we’, ‘what’s our story’, ‘what’s our language’. This defines what we ‘live with’, ‘live for’ &’live to’.

Our language is generative and creative, when an event happens we, make up a story, we hold the story to be the sacrosanct truth and then we forget that we made up the story! We live in what Sameer called an ‘Assertion’ a claim of fact and ‘Assessments’ - a perception, a judgement and our interpretation of this very own story.

So let’s come back to that question I called a ‘catalyst’ earlier, ‘what our story’? This story, is an input for our throughput ‘our actions’ creating an output ‘the results’. So all in control so far right? It’s my story, My action and my result. So why am I struggling here, why am not getting the desired results, why am I not a peaceful soul in my own story? The reason is, we often forget that what we perceive as a fact is just our story, its not a fact, it never was. I wouldn’t have a choice on a fact but I have the strongest locus standi over my story, I create it – I can choose it – I can change it!

This choice to choose is what defines ‘POWER’. However, Power to choose comes in, only and only if we are aware. Phew! So much so put onto this equation, yet we don’t get this right! Now, here comes the most important definitive constants in the equation, ‘ENERGY’ & ‘ATTENTION’. We need to put our energy to be aware, and given energy loves attention and follows it like its love smitten by it. So, all we need to do it to put our attention, given we control this fully? We can control our attention to focus on our energy and this is the stepping stone toward becoming ‘AWARE’.

So, here we are, confused a little bit yet we are coachable learners and we pledged that we’d learn, and given we focused on our attention towards learning we became aware of what this magical equation unfolds! Eureka!! STORY > ACTION > RESULT! So if you are a perseverant soul and still you don’t get the desired results from your action, go back two steps and review your story, and like wise men say ‘WAKE UP & SMELL THE COFFEE’! Am I a victim of my own story, is my coffee not doing well for me, Do I need to brew a fresh pot!  

Each day a reminder to ourselves, what do we care about, are we caring enough of our cares? If we aren’t taking care of what we care about then what the hell am I doing with my life! Isn’t this the story making me a victim & we often let this belittle our own self. But, all we needed here is the mirror to tell us that we need to reflect. Is my life’s story, creating the desired results or this is just a concoction of multiple meaningless activities we do each day and declare ourselves as the busiest in the rat race. A thought to ponder; the mirror showed me how do I look. I choose to look better its my choice, a choice made while I am aware of this choice I made for myself and the choice that would give me the desired results.

I want to look beautiful in the mirror each day, I will generate this result because it matters to me!

Now, our James Bond can relish his Martini, his story martini is successful and mine needed it shaken too not just stirred! I am enjoying my ‘story martini’ cos’ if it wasn’t for this shaken martini I would have never realized how it tasted and I am loving this taste and shaking more of my martinis to get the best out of my 30+ years so story cocktails!

If you have reached this far in the blog, I am sure you’d not just shake your story martinis but also start making more to action the results, you weren’t able to get for so long! 

Cheers!!

What’s your Perfect Spaghetti Sauce? ‘Tossing the Myth around ‘A Perfect Worklife Balance’

What’s your Perfect Spaghetti Sauce?

‘Tossing the Myth around ‘A Perfect Worklife Balance’

7:30 pm Monday _14^th Sep 2018 _India _My Office cabin

 It’s my well balanced self, trying to take just the best call around ‘WORKLIFE BALANCE’ 

Handheld reminder beeps in for the long pending family get together

Red hues on the Outlook To-do list give me a haunting look

VIP Inbox beeps in with a desperate call

And I am zoned out, telling myself, how do I manage my work & life and have it all!

7:30 pm Monday_21^st Sep 2018_ India _ My office cabin

 It’s again me & my well balanced self , however this time a real well balanced one , telling myself that all this while I was looking for dramatic transformations to get my utopian work life balance in place and here I am now, a witness to all the botched attempts at it !

My article today , is definitely not an attempt to have a laundry list given to the readers on how can they manage their work life balance but it is definitely a hard try yet an attempted one to Toss out the myth around a perfect work life balance .

So here’s a simple analogy I could draw on this whole hoo-ha on Work life balance drawing some relevant logics from the Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell insights into the food industry's pursuit of the perfect spaghetti sauce & I and make a larger argument about the nature of choice and happiness https://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce

Few straight correlations drawn here that may help us ease out the whole pressure we assumingly brought upon ourselves.

·         Mind knows not what the tongue wants - Classic study at Harvard for the 600 $m profits made by Prego taught us the biggest lesson that we may not always know what we really want , simplistically put as a pressure we brought us into, while solving the puzzle on how can I not manage when others can ?

·         Life runs on a horizontal plane _There is no good / bad or perfect /imperfect... There are only varieties that suit us, different & unique for each one of us   

·         Platonic notion – On being able to have it all, 50:50 work & life!!

·         Obsessed with universals – created by self & that by the societal pressures

Now, as we peel out the unwanted set principles on work life balance, we must base our choices on understanding the variabilities and not in the search for universals

So, here is the next part of the article where I put down things I do to treat myself well in my well balance environment... now like I said there is no one size fit all, however some of these are too easy to execute and I am happy so far, again it’s my notion of managing it, you would know what’s the best Spaghetti sauce for you!!

ü  Focus on small changes & not dramatic transformations – We all took baby steps first before running around & this simple rule should get you started 

ü  Toss out the myth  - There is no such thing called work life balance , and if this line has caught your attention enough , I am sure this article would make sense to you just as much it is making to me

ü  Have your own defined equilibrium – Remember no size fits all and all cannot be force fitted in one size!

ü  Control & responsibility – should always lie with the one wanting to control his/her life and no one else , that’s the success design code    

ü  The have it all attitude takes us nowhere , or else superman would never be beaten by the silly iron man, we all come with the best and can’t have it all

ü  Crossover between WANT TO BE & SHOULD BE – takes us to a tipping point! Tell yourself , I am and I solely am who I should be cos’ all others are already taken ; being yourself is the modus-operandi to walk this tricky worklife balance crossroad

ü  KEEP TIME or IT KEEPS YOU - It’s the stronger who wins, when its time vs us, the success lies on how well we manage all we need within the 24 hours that all of us have ; time is rude and doesn’t budge so managing it well is the key, Trite but true!

ü  Bad habits are tough to break – 21 day rule could be a game changer , health is wealth and if we run low on this resource , we would be dehydrated in the long run we take in pursuit of happiness & balance 

ü  Ask for support – I am no superman and this constant reminder to yourself helps , outsourcing non value add , delegating , asking for support is sure an enabler 

ü  Darken the Blurring technology boundaries – while technology helps us cheat the time, it often transcends the work & life bounds, so keep a watch... Few hours off phone/twitter, emails!

ü  Fine art of saying NO – often misjudged , but tell yourself if it’s a No , it’s a No

ü  Eat the passion fruit _ Pursue what you love is the key here , time out for your own self , pursuing your passion or a hobby is a soul food 

ü  If you want to crack it – Track it _ Timetables and self-made mechanism to track where you are on your charters are really helpful , simple fridge post its are a boom

ü  Self-Reward is the highest reward – I did it and I am treating myself is the new reward , some me time , a small 30 mins coffee with blueberry tarts aren’t bad  at all J 

So as I head out to my favorite café for some spaghetti, I would urge you to think about what you’d like on your platter too!

I would be happy to hear from you on how did you like / dislike this article.

Official ID: shilpi.saklani@3ds.com

My personal Blog: A lil’ more marmalade- http://shipsmusings.blogspot.in/

High performance Organisation = Ownership+Accountability+Trust

High performance Organisation = Ownership, Accountability & Trust 

 

 

It was just last week during my leadership engagements when someone asked me,

‘How would you define a high performance organisation?’  

The definition per se at the top of my mind though, did not appear to the answer per se. I thus, reflected on the question over the weekend, read through some studies and delved into the nuances of a high performing organisation basis learnings from my one decade old career. 

 

The outcome was a simple truth finding, the key to define or create a high performing organisation lies in the culture rather than in mechanics. Culture, like a brand, is misunderstood and often discounted as a touchy-feely component of business that belongs to HR! Now that I have held your thought on the culture statement, let me bring in another variable into the equation ‘VUCA’, the buzz world of today’s organisation ecosystem where we operate in the environment of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity & Ambiguity and thus it’s a no brainer to say that organizations today are facing the need for change at a faster pace than ever before. The successful ones would only emanate from a culture fabric built in with what defines high performance. 

 

Apple, Google, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, GE, Unilever, Coca-Cola are members of an elite circle where exceptional performance is an everyday event, these groups operate on a different plane. We can name them - but can we explain them? When does High-Performance happen? What does it feel like? Can it be replicated?

So, here’s my attempt to articulate what it takes to be a high performing organisation. 

 

For high-performance organizations, there’s a strong link between taking ownership, having a culture of accountability, and having a high trust workplace. All three are critical to embed into the culture and values of an organization.

 

Taking Ownership means when I believe that that taking action is not someone else’s responsibility & that I have an obligation to the results. ‘I’ here denotes all of us who make the organisation, from the last rung in the ladder to the ones at the top. Simply put Ownership is about the initiative, not anyone’s but ours!

Accountability is about being responsible for the result. Ownership is about initiative & accountability is about follow-through. When you say “I’ve got this”, accountability means you will deliver as promised. 

Trust in the workplace tells others — “I believe in you. I believe you’ll do the right thing and I believe you’ll do what you say you’re going to do.”

Let’s take an example here, around Performance management, we often call it an HR responsibility and thus forget the ownership element here. A high performance organisation rests on the foundation of all taking ownership of the actions & results thereof. So how do we do it differently is the question? Aligning employees to the ‘WHY’ of the exercise, Bringing all on the same page for its execution, respecting the timelines on the exercise as if they were mine fully. All of us thus become the owners and participate fully in the initiative.

Accountability on the other hand as described earlier would mean that the stakeholders here, employees, HR function,leaders say ‘I have got it’, ‘I would follow-through’ and ‘we shall deliver’. The results thus are arrived from an ‘intrinsic pull’ rather than an ‘organisation / HR push’. 

Now the element of trust to seal the equation would entail that all stakeholders are trusted partners; we believe in the exercise & more importantly believe in the outcome thereof. Now this needs an approach where we connect the dots between big picture strategy elements such as mission (our purpose), vision (what we aspire for), core values (what we believe in), strategic focus areas (themes, results and/or goals) and the more operational elements such as objectives (continuous improvement activities), measures (KPIs), which track strategic performance, targets (our desired level of performance). If I know in doing what am I really doing, you have aligned me well to the organisation vision, now I trust what we are doing & I trust the KPIs set for me as an employee to ensure we get there! The trust equation is now realized & reaffirmed.

Ownership, Accountability & Trust, when used to sew the cultural fabric of an organisation creates a high performing organisation and this is what defines the winners from the followers! 

Let’s come together & create an even bigger brighter better team! 

A tell tale .. being a perfect woman !!

'Behind every successful man there is a woman' , Tell-tale by many & evidenced by quite a few ...now we can call this woman a mother or a wife or a lover or whatever you may deem fit ...but ya there is one for sure backing him , while the man plays well on his front foot ! 

Behind every successful woman is however just her own self is another tell tale of the recent times though ( oh this is a new phenomenon .. the ultra women propounded it ) ! My view like the usual times is again and aberrant one ... I wud say, behind every successful / right tracked woman is just not her own self but far too many people ...many more societal moral cops putting her in a stymie each day , as they say 'Beta ab ho Gaya accha shadi kar lo' , 'Tumhe hee ghar sambhalna hai ' , 'bacche aapke primary responsibility hain ' ,  ' 'maternity leave hai na ' , oh aap devi swaroop hain aap sab se pehale auron ko dekhen' , aap ko hee samajhna hoga'! 

My toes curled in anguish when I hear that the hypocrisy is so heavily laden in our society that it's impossible to outgrow this ... I am not unhappy with the way we have evolved neither I am challenging the support and love my female colleagues / friends  get from their  spouses/ family, but somewhere some part of people around you  hold you responsible for all that they wud not do , cos' tum ho na tum kar logee , a woman is a form of goddess !! 

Lack of paternity leave policies in India , Less  than 10% women in leadership across sectors , Educated  yet unemployed young women .... bear a testimony to this fact ... why can this not be an equal game !! 

I don't need a separate queue cos' of my gender, 

I don't also need a separate queued list of social hypocritically sealed data of how to be a perfect Naree or a Mahan aurat !! 

I so wish I can change some minds ,

And the first to start wud be mine . 

I so wish I grow to be a rule book aberrant , 

Success for whom is not someone's judgement . 

I so wish there is only love when we talk of pink and blue ... 

Colours in my palette shud have all the hues . 

From an aberrant rebel and yet a perfect partner !! 

Love Ships :) 

Get those Black & Whites out !!

Get those Black & Whites out !!



It’s been a harrowing experience so far... I like a wise crack thought that I had cracked it by acclaiming self set standards of being a solver for all – Alas!! Dissolver of self!!

I often felt that while the garish world around did magnetize me, I was far beyond it cos’ even if I try attempting being one of them (The not so soulful though successful – not so giving though so taker – not so selfless but far too much selfish) I would prove even the most tried & tested & retried attempt so futile!!

Indeed a soulful cry for being able to be who I am but at the cost of some bridges burnt.

A soulful cry for though being able to be a black & white and craving to still get some grey (They say – Yes those 4 mortals (Vo chaar log!!)  That grey is the best that suits our creed!!)  I make yet another futile attempt as it may appear right now that I will still choose & churn amongst the black & white only … Grey for me is the colour of the malice  - colour of  pretense – color of not being who you are and trying to be that someone else who to my surmise is already trying to play someone else !!

Droll that it may seem this is infact the nub of most of the grey wrenches we are submerged into.

So go get your basics right – yes I meant the colors!! Be brave – bold - blatant & see the pride in being who you are – My white and black could be someone’s far thought of colors but remember all comes to basics at the end and the rainbow would then surface!!

Bappa’s Benedictions!!

 

Fervor -- Fever – Food – Frolic!!

 

It’s all begun in the Grand Ishtyle – once again – same time – same place -- same ppl... So what’s different while I thought to make this as my new blog add on ;)

Y’day while I was sauntering in pathway just across my home I saw this humungous idols all clad in colors – drapes and a strange aura around them – I was awed too – ‘HE’ is so easily found – so easily seen around these days & so easily could be bought with just some moolahs !!

Right across the road a Marwari vendor was loud & gave his sales pitch – ‘Amcha Kade mast Bappa ahe’ ( in English – ‘that he had the best Ganpati with him’ ) ---  I nonchalantly walked towards him and saw that he had the biggest Bappa’s around … but had very less buyers L No brownie points to guess why --- Yaya you don’t need to be an economist to decipher this – Big & better Bappa’s were directly proportional to the Big moolah’s and our poor rupee using junta  for obvious reasons went to the miniature bappa corner  to get their share of benedictions in the form of colour clad porcelain make of our good godly friend – Ganesha  .

Amidst the gleaming gods there were some unavoidable shades of not so gleaming mortal world too! All of us dwarfed with the environ around asking for more with so less to give – wanting all of it without having to give all!!

All of us need a lil’ more marmalade – Try giving some you have & then seek to get just some more it .. It’s an equation out there --Seek a lil’ more Marmalade & share it too!!

Bappa benedicts in proportions!!

 

 

As I near the Milestone ********

Yet another day & I draw myself closer to this milestone -- I thought I'd be fretting & there'd be some witchy winds breezing through my balcony  as the barometric signals shout --- Its 30 !! Its 30 !! 

Finally the milestone is just round the corner & Phew !! No windy witchiness -- Life's as usual --  5 day: 2 day cycle of work & life :) 5 days of work & 2 days of lil' less of it  & we call this life ....

Digressed from what I intended to write while I try to defocus on the greeny greeny -- fat veins appearing on my hands -- is it the sign of having come closer to the milestone ??( This sounds witchy !!  Naaaaah  these obvious ones are genetically inherited  ) 

 Lemme also put it on record that I see this milestone as any one of the earlier one that's gone past but this one's special cos today I feel more of me with me -- I don't feel lonely while I am alone -- I feel to have been there & done some of it ; ) -- I feel I have lived & gathered enough moral, mental strength to walk the onwards journey 

Today I pen down few things that I guess all of us 'the fairer sex''-- NEED TO KNOW & NEED TO HAVE by 30 !! ( Sssshhhh ..,  before we see those socially created pangs of witchy winds coming through your balconies !!

 :: Need  to Know ::

• How to fall in love without losing yourself & never to be lonely while alone 
• How to kiss in a way that communicates perfectly what you would and wouldn’t like to happen next.
• That you can’t change the length of your legs, the width of your hips but you can still look hot ! 
•  What you would and wouldn't do for money or love

 :: Need  to Have::

• A youth you’re content to move beyond ( I have around 5 white hair just next to my widow's peak !! -- Proud of it -- often said to be a sign of Great Luck ) 
• A lavish piece of jewel  not previously owned by anyone else in your family/friend circle 
• Something perfect to wear if the employer or man of your dreams wants to see you in an hour !! 
• A past juicy enough that you’re looking forward to retelling it in your old age.
• The realization that you are actually going to have an old age -- and some money set aside to help fund it.
•  An email address, a voice mailbox & a bank account -- all of which nobody has access to but you'.( Yes & needless to say your own Blog too !!  ) 

Cheerzz to the High Spirits  -- Rejoice & dont forget to ask  for a Lil'' more Marmalade :) 

Love & Luck 

Shippss ...