CDOQ

People who have made big contributions to the world, have done so with their focus on the single objective. They sacrificed or were willing to sacrifice everything else to achieve that single objective. Think about MLK, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, etc. Most people want to do multiple things in life and hence most people do not make extraordinary and big contributions to the world.

I think questions which begin with why and have to do with personal actions put people on the defensive. For example, why did you xxx? When one meets a new person, one should avoid asking personal-action why questions to put people at ease. The psychological reason may be that people don't like explaining their actions. Now, why is that?:-)

I find trees to be very inspiring. Trees are always in harmony with nature. While they are alive, they give us oxygen, collectively provide habitat to millions of life forms, produce fruits and vegetables, and so on. When they are dead, we use the wood from the trees or they become Nurse Logs which provide growth support to other plants. Humans should aspire to live a life in harmony with nature just like the trees!

The world is not fair but you can be. And, if everyone is fair then the world will become fair.

Over the last few years, I have been fortunate enough to successfully manage various partners/alliances around the world. The success of the organizations, which are partnering or forming an alliance , is interdependent on the participating organizations. Hence, one must think in terms of mutual success. Otherwise, the relationship is not sustainable. I have studied Negotiations at Harvard. However, the most useful thing I found to manage partners is the Rotary's four way test. Here it is: The Four-Way Test In 1932, Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor created The Four-Way Test, a code of ethics adopted by Rotary 11 years later. The test, which has been translated into more than 100 languages, asks the following questions: Of the things we think, say or do Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned? Enjoy and pass the test every day:-)

Chetan Bhagat , is a novelist based in India. He recently gave a speech to welcome the new students at Symbiosis which is a management school in India. I found the speech very inspiring. Hence, I am sharing it with you. Please find below the text of the speech: --- Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it anothe...

The rules in big hierarchical organizations apply to people in the middle of the hierarchy. The people at the very top and the very bottom can usually get away with breaking the rules.

The same people who jaywalk don't jump the red light while driving. Why is that? Is it the conditioning that while driving if you don't follow rules, you get punished and no such conditioning exists for walking? Is it the feeling of responsibility while driving? Is it space? While walking you are in the open and while driving you are inside a small tin box. Is it the herd mentality? I noticed that many people wait to jaywalk until they see someone else doing it.

There is fine line between inspiration and indulgence. If one is not careful, what inspires you, can indulge you.

A poem by Natasha Josefowitz: My right hand is being held By someone who knows more than I, And I am learning. My left hand is being held by someone who knows less than I, And I am teaching. Both my hands need thus be held For me--to be. ----- If everyone learns and teaches then the whole society moves up. Keep both your hands held:-) Thanks to my intercultural communication professors - Andy and Donna - for sharing the poem.

After attending the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder ( BRKA )meeting last few years, this year I attended WESCO Financial Corporation ( WSC ) 50 th shareholder meeting instead. WSC is run by Charlie Munger who is also vice-chairman of BRKA . After reading a book on Charlie Munger last year, I am fascinated by the man. He has been one of my heroes for a few years and my admiration for him continues to increase as I learn more from him. WSC shareholder meeting is a very different affair than BRKA shareholder meeting. WSC meeting is brief and to the point, just like Munger :-) Following are my notes from the meeting (note the direct communication style of Munger ): Munger started the meeting with answering the questions he had prepared for himself:-) Q1: How serious is the economic mess? A: It is deadly serious. People are extremely disappointed and you can't tell what happens when people are extremely disappointed. Q2: What caused the economic mess? A: Economics is a Complex ...

I received overwhelming response from people re my previous post Discovery of Music and Visual Arts. All respondents disagree with what I learned from Dennis Russell Davies . Hence, the argument that generally, people fall in love with music "at first sight" does not stand. It is a good idea to validate what one learns from the "experts":-) Thanks for your feedback!

I listened to Liszt's "Dance of Death" live with Marc Andre Hamelin on piano for the first time yesterday at the Seattle Symphony. It was beautiful! In the Q&A session, I learned something very interesting from Dennis Russell Davies. Discovery of music is very different than discovery of visual arts (paintings). When you see new art in a museum, you may or may not like it. However, you can think about what you saw and go back to the museum a few times, look at it again and make up your mind if you really like the painting or not. On the other hand, when you hear new music for the first time - on radio, TV, or at a concert - if you don't like or don't understand it then chances of you thinking about it are very low. It is because you don't know if and when you will hear the music again. In addition, if you did not like the music you would not purchase it. It is possible that you may hear the music again by chance and start liking it enough to purchase it...

Now that Oprah is on Twitter, millions of others will follow soon. Twitter is an open real time short message service with basic social networking features. Some people also call it micro-blogging. Since it is relatively new, there is no universal way to describe it. For generally accepted definition on Wikipedia, please click here . I think twitter can be bigger than Facebook . Here is why: 1. Accessibility: You can twitter 24/7 since you always have your cell phone with you. To twitter, all you need is a cell phone which can send and receive text messages (sms). 2. 140 character Restriction : Your "tweets" (short messages you post for others to see) have to be limited to 140 characters. This works well with how people communicate these days and, in general, our attention span is declining so people like short messages. 1 Trillion SMS were sent just in the US in 2008. 3. Real time Nature of Tweets : You know what is going on in real time. 4. Transparency : Twee...

Why do people settle for known misery over the unknown?

Today, we live in a world in which most people in the developed countries have access to the high-speed Internet. Some say that we are living in the information age . The Internet gives us the ability to consume information 24 hours a day. And, this is in addition to TV, radio, print, etc. Just like the body grows with consumption of food, the brain grows with consumption of information. However, not all the information consumed by the brain is healthy, just like all the food we eat is not healthy. Let's go back in time, when the only way to get food was physical labor. There were not many obese people at that time. Today, in many cases, genetics play a role in making people obese. However, the developed world has seen a significant rise in obesity since the industrial revolution. The easy accessibility of food with high fat content and reduction in physical labor have contributed to the rise of obesity. Unlike the body which can not consume unlimited food, the brain can consume...

When people like someone they look for similarities with that person. And, when people don't like someone, they look for differences with that person.

When people are insecure and/or do not understand the subject in-depth, they can not describe the subject in discussion in simple language. They use complex language and buzz-words to hide their insecurity and/or lack of understanding.

I have been in love with wireless/mobile industry since 1997 . Wireless represents Freedom, Mobility, and Sharing (FMS). These are essential attributes of human progress. And, FMS is becoming increasingly important for technology, business, and economic progress. Finally, there is an organization that has taken on the mission to apply wireless innovations to contribute to the economic growth 0f a billion people in the under-developed countries. The organization is rightfully called- Next Billion Network (NBN). It is an incubation network at MIT Media Lab. NBN is doing amazing work under the leadership of Jhonatan Rotberg who is the founder of NBN. Currently, there are ~3.5B people who use a wireless phone. However, to connect the next billion people, who are very poor, to the benefits of wireless and to the world, we will need very different business models and applications . And, that's the focus of NBN. Last week as part of NBN guest lecturer series, I gave a lectur...

In business, everything that makes sense, eventually happens! No matter what the power of incumbents is. Following are a few examples: 1. Mobility makes sense. Hence, we have mobile phones, laptops/netbooks/smartphones, portable gaming gadgets (PSP, DS), etc. 2. High-Speed Internet makes sense. Hence, we have broadband for which the speeds will continue to increase. 3. Web Services/Cloud Computing makes sense. Amazon has taken the lead, others will follow. 4. All IP Network makes sense. All wireless carriers are moving to LTE or WiMax both enable all IP networks. The idea is very similar to evolution in biology. Evolution is a natural phenomenon. No one can stop it.

When a company is in high-growth phase, its incompetence is ignored. And when the growth slows, the incompetence becomes obvious.

Emotion is a much more powerful force than Rationality in decision making. Hence, the study of economics solely based on the behavior of "rational man" is flawed. Also, when making decisions one should think about how the decision will make people "feel" even if the decision is a perfectly rational one.

The only thing that has probability of 1 (absolutely certain) in life is death. Everything else is uncertain. One should not worry about things which are uncertain. And, worrying about death won't change anything. So, one should enjoy life to the fullest without worrying.

If a system can be fooled for personal gain, it will be fooled sooner or later.

Live events which bring people together for a common purpose will always be popular irrespective of technological progress.

Usually, beauty brings indulgence and not progress.

One of my heroes is Dr. Russell Ackoff . I have read a few books he has written and have learned Systems Thinking from him. I am surprised that the field of Systems Thinking is not well understood. Following is my attempt to share what I learned from one of Ackoff's recent lectures. Albert Einstein once said, "You can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it." According to Dr. Russell Ackoff most managers agree with Einstein's statement but not many know what it means. It is easy to agree with something whose meaning is vague. In the Renaissance era, when the science as we know it today was born, a scientific inquiry method called Analysis was developed. Analysis comes naturally to us. Just watch kids breaking new things and being curious about the parts. The understanding of something follows a three step process in analytical thinking: 1. Take it apart 2. Understand (function, role, behavior) what the parts do 3. Assemble the understanding of the pa...

I spent the month of December in Boston and went to my first Hanukkah celebration. I notice that all religions teach you the value of family, love, and compassion. At the human level, the Hanukkah celebration was similar to many other holiday celebrations; such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. These celebrations bring families together to share food, drink wine, enjoy laughs, play games, and exchange gifts. It is good to see the compassion come alive and visible during the holiday season. At the Hanukkah party, I met a wonderful, old and wise man, Ed. He has lived in more countries than most of us and understands human behavior exceptionally well. One of my highlights of staying in Boston was meeting Ed. We talked about various things for hours. Ed is worried! He is worried about the lack of evolution in democracy. The decision-making process in the US democracy has not changed in 200+ years. All major decisions are still made in DC which is a centralized decision making approach. And, w...

Thanks for your feedback re the " A new Corporate Organization Model " post. Please find below 7 great reasons to work at Netflix taken from http://www.netflix.com/Jobs?id=5366 . This post provides greater details behind the new model than my last post did on the subject. Netflix Delights People It is satisfying to work at a company that people love. When you wear Netflix clothing, strangers regale you with tales of how much they enjoy your company's service. We're ranked number one in customer satisfaction across the entire e-commerce universe, narrowly besting such great companies as Apple and Amazon. Our commitment to doing the right thing by our customers is partially to protect our reputation as a company, and partially because it is a reflection of us as individuals. Every day we stretch to be a little bit better. Our success is from creative use of the Internet to help people discover and watch movies they will love. Each human has very unique ta...

Please find below a response by Andy Tillo to the previous post "I like the idea to try something new, but I'd like to see how conflict is managed. So if 'Jim' and 'Steve' both created a new product that 'Bill' thinks isn't worth his time. How do you get Bill to work on it? He reports to nobody, but has the tools that Jim and Steve need. I'd wonder how that is resolved. I can see the "Kum Bah Yah" mentality where everyone agrees with everyone else and it *could* happen if you have the right mix of people and personalities, but I have to assume that Netflix is a fairly large business and any group that large has diversity and disagreements. I *do* think that management is a waste of time and money in all organizations larger than about 50 people, but I think it is a necessary evil when you get to be much bigger than that. The key is finding the person/persons that are going to listen to all sides of the story and make the ...

Almost all big corporations are organized in a hierarchy. Netflix is adopting a new model. Following text is taking from Netflix.com: "A few things you may not know about us • You won’t have any direct reports. You will, however, have bright technology, design, research, customer service, marketing and operations partners, and plenty of resources to execute your vision. Our approach is to stay “lean and mean”; building management layers adds complexity that often stands in the way of results. This approach gives you time to think “big picture” then get a team focused on a few key ideas that will drive innovation. • In order to attract deep talent, Netflix pays at the 90th percentile. Solving hard problems requires highly talented people, and we compensate appropriately." Doesn't this make more sense?

Quantitative easing from Marketplace on Vimeo .

2008 is coming to an end. It has been a historical year for the world. I hope you take some time to reflect on this year. I am writing to share a poem, which always hangs on my office wall, by Mother Teresa. It is titled, "The Final Analysis." People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; ...Forgive them anyway! If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; ...Be kind anyway! If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; ...Succeed anyway! If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; ...Be honest and frank anyway! What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; ...Build anyway! If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; ...Be happy anyway! The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; ...Do good anyway! Give the world the best you hav...

In my never-ending journey through the Internet. I came across a good site with reference to popular management concepts. It is http://www.12manage.com/ Enjoy!

People who benefit most from the system, end up running the system.

Why is brain on top part of the body of most organisms? Is it because the brain is always close/connected to the eyes? Then, why are the eyes on top? Is brain always inside in the "head"? Why is there only one head?

The innovators always face compromises and challenges when developing new applications. I think application development time frame can be shortened if one understands the FUDVLAC principle. Furthermore, one can easily evaluate how successful a new application will be by applying FUDVLAC principle and, hence, reducing one's dependence on what the media says. The 7 elements of the FUDVLAC principle are explained below: F->Frequency can be any time frame (day, hour, etc.).How often the application is/will be used? The more frequent the use the more accurate and urgent the data (information) that is transferred via the application. For example, traffic updates on GPS/phones are frequent and require accurate and urgent data transfers. U-> Urgency - real time, batch, or time delayed data affects the data delivery system. How urgent is the use of application and delivery of data? For example,some events like SMS can be time delayed with guaranteed delivery, but E911 is imm...

I have been observing for a few years that most human beings are always looking to confirm what they already believe in. It is a vicious circle that rarely breaks. Our beliefs and ideas are a result of our conditioning and the environment we are exposed to and we tend to ignore data (information) against our beliefs and give higher weight to the data that confirms our beliefs i.e. Confirming Data. In this article, I will make a case that majority of the times, the human mind looks for Confirming Data and this quest never stops. Let's start with childhood. Most children grow up with love from their parents. And, children do things that reassure them that their parent(s) love them. In case, the child believes that only one parent loves him and the other does not, the child then looks to reconfirm that belief by taking action for which he knows the expected reaction from both parents. The child sees reaction of one parent as love and the reaction of the other as not-love. Hence, the c...

In most big hierarchical organizations, the decisions are made to satisfy one or more of the three Cs of the decision makers. The three Cs are: Credit: Who will get the credit for the decision and its outcome? Compensation: How will the decision affect my compensation? Control: Will I gain more control or lose control with the decision? When aligning various decision makers to collaborate, it may be helpful to address the 3Cs. Thanks to my friend, Tom Carter, for sharing this valuable lesson.

I have been told that I am an emotionally unavailable man:-). I did not know what it meant until I learned, after attending a summer program on Intercultural Communication, that my communication style is "Detached." In the enclosed presentation, I have summarized various bimodal communication styles and the communication tactics one can adopt to be effective in communication. Let me know what your communication style is.

Charlie Munger is one of my heroes. After attending the last Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, I read a book on Charlie Munger- Poor Charlie's Almanack . It is a fantastic book. I could not put it down until I finished it. In the last chapter, Charlie summarizes 25 human psychology-based tendencies while generally useful, often mislead. In this post, I will summarize the tendencies for you to become better decision makers and to help others around you. 1. Reward and Punishment Superresponse Tendency People, in general, underestimate the power of incentives. Ben Franklin said, "If you would persuade, appeal to interest and not to reason." Also, prompt rewards work much better than delayed rewards in changing and maintaining behavior. Incentives are superpowers. One of the most important consequences of incentive superpower is " incentive-caused bias." A man has acculturated nature making him a pretty decent fellow and yet, driven both consciously ...