…and what if I fail?

It was probably George Bernard Shaw who said: “My reputation grows with every failure”…

…quoting Samuel Smiles: “We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.”…

…and from Oscar Wilde: “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.”…

‘Failure’ is a highly misunderstood (and misused) word — when something does not go ‘our way’, it automatically gets tagged as a ‘failure’ — no thought is given to the process and experience and learning that we go through before we arrive at the conclusion that this was simply not to be the way we perceived it to be (and we really don’t know that for sure either — often times it’s more of an assumption we make) — and we obviously do not reflect upon our ‘perception’ of things to try and understand if we may be looking at the whole thing from a disadvantaged angle…maybe if we shift focus a bit, and get out of the dark, damp box that we’ve put ourselves into; maybe then this is not a failure…

Rabindranath Tagore wisely articulated: “We read the world wrong and say that it deceives us.”

…and my favorite Thomas Edison one-liner: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

I believe that there is no such thing as failure – reality is that within every perceived state of failure there is an experience, a discovery, a lesson – drawing from that, I have answered many more questions and solved many a mystery — in a way, I’m glad that I have ‘failed’ so many times — things are so much clearer now that I am aware of what not to do, where not to go, how not to behave, who not to trust…I sympathize with those who have not yet bothered trying simply out of the fear of failure…

- The Ranting Dream

Spoonfeeding Optimized…

A Process Improvement Story…

This one came to me from a friend…not sure of who the original author is…(sorry! original author)…

This is an interesting take on what consultants do…and, as tongue-in-cheek as this story may be, I would have to admit that I see this happening everywhere, everyday…

Here’s the chuckle:

For all of you who frequent restaurants and understand the need for the service to be faster, this short story is a timeless lesson on how consultants can make a difference to an organization.

Last week, we took some friends out to a new restaurant and noticed that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket. It seemed a little strange.

When another waiter brought our water, I noticed he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket.

Then I looked around and saw that all the staff had spoons in their pockets.

When the waiter came back to serve our soup I asked, “Why the spoon?”

“Well”, he explained, “the restaurant’s owners hired Andersen Consulting to revamp all our processes. After several months of analysis, they concluded that the spoon was the most frequently dropped utensil. It represents a drop frequency of approximately 3 spoons per table per hour. If our personnel are better prepared, we can reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 15 man-hours per shift.”

As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he was able to replace it with his spare. “I’ll get another spoon next time I go to the kitchen, instead of making an extra trip to get it right now.”

I was impressed. I also noticed that there was a string hanging out of the waiter’s fly.

Looking around, I noticed that all the waiters had the same string hanging from their flies. So before he walked off, I asked the waiter, “Excuse me, but can you tell me why you have that string right there?”

“Oh, certainly!” Then he lowered his voice.

“Not everyone is so observant. That consulting firm I mentioned also found out that we can save time in the restroom. By tying this string to the tip of you know what, we can pull it out without touching it and eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the time spent in the restroom by 76.39 percent.

I asked “After you get it out, how do you put it back?”

“Well,” he whispered, “I don’t know about the others, but I use the spoon.”

- The Ranting Dream

Are you ready to win?

In writing a core chapter in my book ‘What Box?’ on ‘winning in an increasingly flat world’, I realized that it would make sense to articulate the concept of ‘winning’ as it applies to What Box? philosophy…

Working on that articulation, I realized that a simple-to-follow framework around the development of ‘winning attitudes’ will go a long way in clarifying the message and will allow everyone to relate to the philosophy that I call ‘What Box?’…

At the core of any winning strategy is the absolute requirement of awareness; and at the heart of that concept of awareness is the critical realization of self – without which, all endeavor is futile – and self realization is only effective when ‘intellect‘ and ‘faith‘ are in sync with each other…

Word of caution: almost all organized businesses of religious practice also talk about the concepts of ‘intellect’ and ‘faith’- however, the interpretation of these attributes of human potential within What Box? philosophy is not quite what your organized religious practice would like you to believe (especially in and around the concept of ‘blind faith’)…but I will not dwell on this here, you’ll read more about it in the book…

So, without further ado, here is a little rant on developing a winning attitude in an increasingly flat world:

1.The human capacities of THINKING and BELIEVING are at the heart of developing a winning attitude…

“If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford

“To succeed, we must first believe that we can.” – Michael Korda

Just reflect on the lives of those who have made an impact on existence as we know it and you will see that we are only limited by what our minds are willing to perceive…

Albert Einstein, due to a ’speech difficulty’ in his early childhood was labeled as having a ‘learning disability’ – not only that, at age 16, he decided that he did not want to finish high school and applied to start his college education – he failed his college entrance exam because, apart from mathematics and physics, he was horrible at the other subjects that he was tested on – he was forced to go back and finish his ‘high school’ education — the irony in all of this is that, at age 16, he successfully performed his well known ‘thought experiment’ where he ‘visualized’ traveling alongside a beam of light; and at age 17, he was neck-deep in electromagnetic theory…

The irony continues: he struggled for over two years trying to get a teaching job after graduating with a Physics degree and had to settle for a job as an ‘assistant’ in a patent office – and after 8 long years following his graduation, he got his first ‘academia’ break at the University of Bern…

Imagine history if Einstein’s mind, following the failure and rejection that he was subjected to throughout the prime years of his life, failed to perceive that which he was truly capable of…

2. Look around you and identify those that you consider ’successful’ and worthy of emulation…now think about the one thing that sets them apart from the rest of the world…

For me, His Highness The Aga Khan IV is the foundation of my value system – when I look at him; his life, his work, his achievements, his goals; I see one thing that I don’t normally see in people – I see PASSION. He is passionate about what he does, he is passionate about who he does it for (and with), he is passionate about life – this passion (and the force, the energy, and the desire it comes with) keeps him going, day and night, towards the fulfillment of his many ambitious and challenging goals.

With passion like this, your mind and capacity (and the universal intellect at your disposal) have no choice but to deliver…

“Rest in reason; move in passion.” – Khalil Gibran

3. I watched this much-hyped ‘power of positive thinking’ DVD titled ‘The Secret‘ – and appreciated the message at its core – so I shared it (and other ‘positive thinking’ messages) with people around me…sadly, most of the people I shared this with have taken the message completely out of context. They are content with just ‘thinking positive’; convinced that their riches are on the way through the forces of attraction and there is no need for them to have a ‘definite plan’ in place for the same – their desires will be fulfilled as long as they ‘think positive’ – why bother thinking about ‘how?’…fire up the bar-be-que, positive thinking will deposit the million bucks I desire before end of day tomorrow…good luck!

Sorry to burst that bubble – but without definiteness of purpose – and a definite STRATEGY towards the achievement of that purpose; all your ‘positive thinking’ is in vain…

“Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there; they cause change. They motivate and inspire others to go in the right direction and they, along with everyone else, sacrifice to get there.” – John Kotter

Not bothering with developing a strategy in life is like sailing, or flying, without any navigational equipment – no matter how lofty your goals are, or how positive your thinking is, without that ‘road map’; your journey is meaningless and futile…

4. In line with definiteness of purpose and strategy is the importance of CLARITY. The concept of clarity has many interpretations – for the sake of brevity, I will stick to what I consider the most important interpretation of them all – and that is clarity of INTENT and VALUES.

Simply put: without a clearly defined ethical framework (in and around our intent and values), our thinking, believing, passion, strategy – and everything within and beyond – have no basis whatsoever…

“Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too; this is why a great and clear mind loves ardently and sees distinctly what he loves.” – Blaise Pascal

Ethics and Values, again, are very misguided and misinterpreted concepts in popular culture – but that is a rant for another day…regardless; whether your ‘ethical framework’ is in line with what popular culture defines as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is irrelevant – you need to have a CLEAR set of VALUES and INTENT outlined for yourself to be able to achieve anything in life…

5. After all the big talk – think hard, believe harder, ooze passion, have a plan, be clear – it’s time to start the walk! Without ACTION, all talk is futile…

You may be ‘genius’ in thought, and may be the definition of passion as we know it, and have a solid, bulletproof plan on paper – but then, with a sigh, you turn off the lights and go back to sleep…

“Our life is composed greatly from dreams, from the unconscious, and they must be brought into connection with action. They must be woven together.” – Anais Nin

There are many reasons why people fail to act on their desires, plans, and hunches – and most of those reasons have to do with the many fears that we all have within us (I have ranted on fear before); but if there is true self-realization and awareness, and the faculties of intellect and faith are in sync, and a burning desire is alive within, and an unshakable plan is documented, and the mind is clear of doubt and vagueness; then there is no fear – and where there is no fear; action prevails…

6. In everything that I have mentioned this far, one reality must be understood. There is no such thing as winning alone! You must establish a clear understanding of your environment and the people within it to be successful at anything. PLURALISM, while misinterpreted as being a weakness at the root of all the instability we have in the world today, is essentially our biggest strength – the sooner you realize, appreciate, and utilize the strength that pluralism brings with it; the more successful you will be…

As a child, I was told a story once where a father demonstrated to his kids how easy it was for him to break a bunch of twigs individually, one at a time; but when he tied the twigs together in a bundle, it was virtually impossible for him to cause them any harm…the thin weak twigs and the solid strong twigs, bound together in pluralistic formation were virtually invincible…

“…talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships…” – Michael Jordan

That is it!

That is how simple it is to win in an increasingly flat world…

THINK – use your intellectual capacity actively for meaningful endeavor; don’t waste your beautiful mind on mundane pursuits

UNITE – with all the elements around you; everyone and everything around you are essential to winning – know that!, and value it as the strength that it is

BELIEVE – know without any doubt that whatever your mind can perceive, it can achieve

BE PASSIONATE – about everything you do and everyone you do it for (and with)

HAVE A PLAN – a stratgey towards the achievement of the definite purpose that you have thought of, believe in, and are passionate about

BE CLEAR – about yourself, your values, your goals, and your interpretation of existence

ACT – on your thoughts, your beliefs, your passion – execute your plan

“Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.” – Richard Bach

- The Ranting Dream

Would you care?

I got a cute little post on Facebook – normally, I just delete these (sometimes without even reading them – sorry folks!); but this one caught my attention…

This was a long one – but what caught my eye was:

“If I happened to show up on your door step crying, would you care?
If I called you and asked you to pick me up because something happened, would you come?
If I had one day left, to live my life; would you be part of that last day?
If I needed a shoulder to cry on, would you give me yours?”

In the first question, I saw the cry for ‘Compassion‘ – in the second, ‘Commitment‘ – in the third, ‘Caring‘ – in the fourth, ‘Generosity‘…

Compassion, Commitment, Caring, Generosity…some of us give ‘lip-service’ to these concepts every single living day – and most of us reserve our ‘lip-service’ for the month of Ramadan or for the Christmas season – ultimately though, we only give ‘lip service’ and nothing more…our ‘organized’ businesses of religion have created a whole philosophy around how to give ‘lip-service’ to these concepts (…a rant for another day…) – but do we have any clue of what these things really mean? Are we anywhere near the essence of what these attributes of compassion, commitment, caring, and generosity refer to?

In an April 2008 statement regarding the impact of climate change, Archbishop Desmond Tutu challenged George (the moron of the century) Bush’s attempts at watering down international climate agreements eloquently as follows:

“Climate change is real, and it is happening now. Over 80 per cent of the emissions currently in the atmosphere have been put there by the G8 group of rich countries.

But many rich world leaders have not, so far, responded to the climate crisis with the urgency required. Cushioned and cosseted, they have had the luxury of closing their minds to the real impact of what is happening in the fragile and precious atmosphere that surrounds the planet we live on. I wonder how much more anxious they might be, if they depended on the cycle of mother nature to feed their families. How much greater would their concerns be if they lived in slums and townships, in mud houses, or shelters made of plastic bags?

In large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, this is a reality. The poor, the vulnerable and the hungry are exposed to the harsh edge of climate change every day of their lives. The melting of the snows on the peak of Kilimanjaro is a warning of the changes taking place in Africa. Across this beautiful but vulnerable continent, people are already feeling the change in the weather. But rain or drought, the result is the same: more hunger and more misery for millions of people living on the margins of global society.

In the past 10 years, 2.6 billion people have suffered from natural disasters. That is more than a third of the global population – most of them in the developing world. The human impact is obvious, but what is not so apparent is the extent to which climatic events can undo the developmental gains put in place over decades. Droughts and floods destroy lives, but they also destroy schools, economies and opportunity.

It is time to stop this cycle of destruction. At the Major Economies Meeting in Paris, developed countries must commit to immediate action against climate change. The United Nations need to deliver an action plan to save the planet at the climate change conference in 2009. There is no time to be distracted from the urgent task to deliver this global rescue plan. The world is watching, and those who are feeling the impacts of climate change today, are expecting decisive action – now.“

In Archbishop Tutu’s wisdom, you will see the cry for ‘compassion’, you will identify with the need for ‘commitment’, you will feel the essence of ‘caring’, and you will appreciate the message of ‘generosity’…if only you bothered getting in touch with the compassion, the commitment, the caring, and the generosity from within yourself – if only you really cared…

Maybe you would care if you lived in a mud hut…maybe you would care if your family depended on timely rainfall for food…maybe you would care if what you called home was nothing more than a patchwork of plastic bags…

I’ll end with a quote from His Highness The Aga Khan IV that defines the foundation of my value system:

“There are those who enter the world in such poverty that they are deprived of both the means and the motivation to improve their circumstances. Unless they can be touched with the spark which ignites the spirit of individual enterprise and determination, they will only sink into apathy, degradation and despair. It is for us, who are more fortunate, to provide that spark”
- His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan

What is it going to take for you to start working on that ’spark’?

- The Ranting Dream