The very idea of a New Year is a figment of human imagination. Having said that, 2020 has given the idea a new shine. The world so urgently wants the new year to make life better! Perhaps, that is what all ideas ultimately are – containers and transmitters of human energies.. We are all invested in the idea and our collective belief is a powerful force in making things happen! So, are we going to leave all behind in 2020? What if, there is something to remember and carry forward into the new year? On asking this question, here are a few things that emerged from the shadows of this year. The real world and what it takes to stay alive We now know the real world. A mortal threat made us aware of it. The real world is where life persists. The real world is where decisions and actions that help us stay alive and well are made. The last year gifted us the context within which we recognized this real world. Without this context, we were leading self-absorbed…
Non-Being in the Pandemic
Individuals and organisations are hunkering down to brave this pandemic. Those on the margins of a secure life are clinging on for sheer survival. This is not an easy time to live in. Are we making it more difficult for ourselves? Why is it that we are sheltering in our homes, but feel locked out of Life – its vitality and energy? A sliver of wisdom from Tao te Ching entered my awareness to engage with these questions. We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move. We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable. We work with being, but non-being is what we use. The pandemic has forced the world into an arrested state of being. The outwardly movement of joining spokes (connecting), of shaping clay ( storing), of hammering wood ( building) is no longer completely available for us. And because we work with…
COVID-19 – Where India stands
How do you deal with an invisible hurricane? The COVID-19 pandemic is reaching a tipping point in India, the point where numbers do not need to be interpreted, the picture on the ground speaks the entire story. For the countries who have done a decent job in combating the pandemic, this Financial times extract captures the essence. Early travel restrictions, aggressive testing and screening of contacts and strict quarantine rules have been crucial. Universal healthcare, clear management structures for the public health response and proactive communication to get the population on board have also helped. Lets break it down. Early travel restrictions Aggressive testing Screening of contacts Strict quarantine rules Universal Healthcare Clear management structures for public health response Proactive communication The WHO advice to all countries is “Test, Track, and Trace”. Test for Virus Infection. Track the infected patients movement in recent days. Trace people who interacted with the infected patients. When you trace people, you quarantine or test them. The cycle begins all over again if the people traced test positive. The WHO advice when executed to perfection…
Corona Outbreak – The Call to Action for all Social Organizations is Now
A healthy business cannot exist in a sick society. – Peter Drucker Organisations that see the writing on the wall are not waiting for the WHO to declare a pandemic. They are taking matters into their own hands because they know that it is better to be safe than sorry. They range from start-ups to giant corporations. They are willing to take a hit as they know the calamity that they want to pre-empt. The single biggest reason for the spreading of the virus is that infected people are in circulation around the world.And whatever the world can do to limit the circulation of people and make it absolutely controlled is bound to help us all. Whatever arguments that are being dished out to deny the need for an absolute clampdown on people movement are arguments of convenience made out of an inability to visualise how quickly things spiral out of control when they cross a tipping point. The governments that have succeeded in containing it have absolutely been prepared for a complete lock-down. Their fast planning and furious action…
Thappad : A movie for men too
Thappad is a movie that invites men to reflect on their role in making a society that gives women a raw deal. A husband slaps his wife and she has an epiphany. She realises this is not the life she had signed up for. And that she no longer loves her husband. The husband tries to use the law to get her back from her parents place. She decides to file for divorce. And finds that everyone wants her to let it go because it was just one slap. The movie shows how difficult it is for the social world around the wife to accept her decision. The movie ends with searching questions about the meaning of life, love and togetherness. Facing upto these questions is a tremendous act of courage for both women and men. Rainer Maria Rilke invites us on the other side when we surrender ourselves to loving compassion. Watch the movie.
Greta Thunberg & Climate Change
The world converging around a conversation always presents a positive opportunity. Provided we truly reflect on what we are talking about and identify what really matters. There is so much of heated opinion about Greta Thunberg, the individual. Those happy that climate change has been thrust into global consciousness look at her as an environmental crusader. Those probing her credentials to speak about climate change look at her as a spokesperson for the privileged class who damage most the climate they supposedly want to protect. To focus on Greta Thunberg as an individual is to get stuck at the symbol. Consider what is at stake – the future of our planet. A hundred years from now, all the talk about Greta, the individual, is going to be a footnote in world history. What will be probed by discerning people looking back at our time is this – Amid all the talk, what was the action taken. Did communities and nations pick up the gauntlet and ask searching questions? Did people make the effort – to know and understand..to establish and…
Why is empathy so hard to experience?
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the thoughts and feelings of another. Empathy is prescribed as an essential attribute for leaders and managers. When you are able to understand and identify with the thoughts and feelings of the people you work with, you will succeed. Empathy is such a natural human response to life,why then is it prescribed? After all, nobody prescribes breathing as a way to live. We breathe on our own. And so do we empathise on our own, don’t we? We instantly empathise when a stranger on a train or a flight speaks about a recent bereavement. We maintain peace and quiet for a colleague hard at work, even though usually we like to ruffle their feathers; because we know that their next meeting could be career-defining. We can identify. We can relate. On the other hand, social life and work-progress is also based on moderating or disregarding empathy. A hard thing to accept, for sure! Our much loved team leader has fought hard at a meeting of higher-ups. He did his best for all…
The Peter Drucker Diary – Entry 3
The work of a genius or giant often presents an anomaly. Reverential regard obscures the real work. People know the name, but haven’t engaged with the work. In this series, we take one Peter Drucker quote or excerpt and seek to understand it. Entry 3 “Success always obsoletes the very behaviour that achieved it” Think about the courtship period of a couple. There is a notion of ‘cute’ that every man and woman remembers their partner having bestowed on them – during this lovey dovey period. This cuteness makes the heart go bonkers in crazy, stupid love and then..the wedding bells ring! And then what? The same behaviour now makes your partner come after you with a sledge hammer or Thor’s hammer! You scratch your head and wonder – what’s changed?! The great Henry Ford famously said that the customer can have a Ford car in any colour as long as it is black! Ford was the perfect practitioner of Frederick Taylor’s ‘Scientific management’. His assembly line was the embodiment of maximum efficiency so that production could be scaled up…
A playschool experience
Parents of playschool kids. Huddled together in the school-room. Awaiting their little stars. Who were going to enter the room and one by one, stand in front and sing rhythmic melodies. First, the girls were ushered in. All of four years and looking prim and proper, they all filed in with super poise and purpose. They sat down as indicated and almost seemed to have a sense of occassion about the whole event. As each girl stood up and approached the center to sing, the rest maintained an astonishing degree of calmness and audience discipline. For four year olds, this was special. Then, the boys were ushered in. By the way they conducted themselves, we all felt a familiar touch to the proceedings. They straggled, strayed from their sitting place and did all the things that we expect four year old kids to do. On the way back from the event, my wife shared her appreciation of how the girls conducted themselves. I wasn’t so sure. And when I explained why, she agreed with me.
Winning is not the only thing : Australian Cricket in shambles
Winning is not everything. It is the only thing. – Vince Lombardi The world loves winners and worships the idea of success. When Donald Trump won, there were people who against their better judgment, rationalized that the win made him fit to be the President of the United States, undoubtedly the most powerful leadership position in the world. These folks were not his supporters to begin with. Trump’s win made him legitimate to them. If he won, he must have been right, he is fit and able – so they said. Much the same rationalization seems to have been in place for the Australian cricket team, the team with the best winning percentages in cricket. They win, they must be right. Right in the way they play their cricket tough and go hard at the opposition. Now, after Steve Smith admitted to cheating, there is a sense of disbelief. This sense of disbelief is what needs to be reflected upon, perhaps more than the act of cheating itself. The cheating did not take place in isolation. It transpired against the…