Chromosomes...

This chit chat is between different chromosome formations, dated: Feb 1, 2008

Introductions:
XYChromosome1 : Male feeling badly for a girl
XYChromosome2 : Male friend of XYChromosome1
XXChromosome : Female friend of XYChromosome1
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The talk between XYChromosome1 and XXChromosome:

XYChromosome1: Do you have some time
XXChromosome: yes
XYChromosome1: I wanted to talk something serious
XXChromosome: yeah please, regarding
XYChromosome1: I met a girl few days back
XXChromosome: ok...
XYChromosome1: I feel, I liked her. But there's nothing happening further.Whether, I shud call her or stop bothering about her
XXChromosome: arrey girls take a little more time to say YES
XXChromosome: They are like that, let her feel for u
XXChromosome: Hmmm, she may be ur life partner.. in future, do invest time and energy, Go and meet her...
XXChromosome: ok...Thanks, I will try that

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The talk between XYChromosome1 and XYChromosome2:

XYChromosome1: hello man, kya chal raha hai
XYChromosome2: hello
XYChromosome1: was reading ur blog
XYChromosome2: :)
XYChromosome1: was feeling like shit, so thought of reading something good
XYChromosome2: hmmm...and...
XYChromosome1: still not feeling joyous or happy or anything...
XYChromosome2: hmm
XYChromosome1: Shit man. I hate this situation. I haven't slept well for last couple of nights
XYChromosome2: hmmmmm
XYChromosome2: ek min boss, kya ho gaya hai boss
XYChromosome2: ladki ne na bola kya?
XYChromosome1: Nahin, abhi tak kuch bhi nahi bola
XYChromosome2: :). i've gone through the situation
XYChromosome2: so i know heart goes heavy in such situation
XYChromosome1: no remedies?
XYChromosome2: 'expectations' is the cultprit
XYChromosome1: Seems to be
XYChromosome2: just give them up and feel like the King
XYChromosome2: and have faith that, after few days it won't suck no matter what.
XYChromosome2: he he he...aur jyada seriously mat lo...Always remember - You are "nar" ... "nari" se "nar-vous" nahi hona ... " nari " ko "vash" me kar lo...:-D
XYChromosome1: Ha ha ha
XYChromosome2: let them do their own thinking with their tiny brain...you keep your spirits high or you can always get high on spirits :)...lol
XYChromosome1: Thanks buddy

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Which way should be preferred; XX, XY, a mix of them, or none at all. Whatever! but both of them were sweet and sincere in their thoughts. There would be no world without these differences. Cheers to XX and XY…

Challenge the known and embrace the unknown

Long back someone told me a story which had a moral to be followed (as per the story teller). It goes like this:

There was a guy who used to package cauliflowers. Day-in and day-out he used to do the same job with great zeal and enthusiasm. He spent years doing that. One fine day someone asked him a question. How can you be so happy doing the same thing everyday? He said that the work is same but each and every cauliflower comes in different shape and size and thus packaging each of them pose a new challenge to me.

The moral of the story (as concluded by the storyteller) is that be content with your job.

There was this smart guy (sitting beside me) carefully listening the story. Later on, I found the smart guy narrating the story to a lot of people in the organization and while people were yet to grasp the stuff, he got promotions one after another and today he heads a mid-size center.

It seems our smart guy embraced the thought process of the story teller and propagated that across the organization and may be it was wiser to do so as the story teller was very influential in the organization.

I think it works or fits at times but somehow, I was not convinced by the idea in totality. I started searching for a different story. And yesterday, I read one story which fits and works as well:

In the late 1800s there was a thriving ice industry in the Northeast. Companies would cut blocks of ice from frozen lakes and ponds and sell them around the world. The largest single shipment was 200 tons that was shipped to India. 100 tons got there un-melted, but this was enough to make a profit. These ice harvesters, however, were put out of business by companies that invented mechanical ice makers. It was no longer necessary to cut and ship ice because companies could make it in any city during any season. These ice makers, however, were put out of business by refrigerator companies. If it was convenient to make ice at a manufacturing plant, imagine how much better it was to make ice and create cold storage in everyone’s home.

You would think that the ice harvesters would see the advantages of ice making and adopt this technology. However, all they could think about was the known: better saws, better storage, and better transportation. Then you would think that the ice makers would see the advantages of refrigerators and adopt this technology. The truth is that the ice harvesters couldn’t embrace the unknown and jump their curve to the next curve.

“Challenge the known and embrace the unknown, or you’ll be like the ice harvester and ice makers”.

Note: A part of this post comes from a speech by Guy Kawasaki on his hindsights at the age 0f 40 at Palo Alto High School Baccalaureate Ceremony 6/11/95.

A warm welcome…

Few days back, I joined the R&D division of a telecom major. I was previously working with a renowned Indian company active in offshore product development market. The intent of this post is to bullet out my joining experiences in my new employment:

1.As soon as I entered the reception area on Day 1, I was greeted by a HR person and was provided with a Welcome kit consisting of a 5”x 8” booklet giving an overview of the company, groups guidelines and different forms

2.After an hour, I was attended by two HR persons (boarding coordinators hence forth) and was familiarized with the enterprise portals and key HR/Finance personnel

3.The boarding coordinator introduced me to my pre-decided coach (manager) and buddy (peer). Then I was introduced to the admin personnel designated for the group (every group has at least one dedicated admin personnel), I am supposed to work with

**All of the above happened in the pre lunch session.

4.The designated buddy took me for lunch

5.Post lunch the admin personnel for the group was ready with my joining gift (a very attractive travel bag) and laptop (a brand new Dell Latitude D820)

6.The admin personnel then took me around and showed my place of work

7.The work place was equipped with a latest model IP telephone (used to dream of having an IP telephone on my desk while in previous employment), a stationery basket (pen, pencil, sharpener, eraser, paper clips, board pins, 2 markers, duster, post it, stapler, stapler pins and paper punch) and a small cabinet for lodging personal belongings etc.

8.I opened my laptop and found a welcome note from the IT department with user, password and email id. I logged in and to my surprise, I found my mail client already configured. The welcome note comprised of instructions for configuring printers and how to raise tickets to local IT

9.Next, I was called in the reception area and bank personnel handed me my salary account details and debit card etc.

10.Next one hour was spent in going through the enterprise portal and getting familiarize with the location

11.While leaving the office for the day, I was given my ID Badge at the reception.

Day 2 onwards I was like any other employee working in the center. Things were really fast. It was an overwhelming experience (getting inducted into a new organization within a day).

True Lies...:-)

My Irish Name Is...

Gill Murphy

My Personality Is

Idealist (NF) I am a passionate, caring, and unique person.I am good at expressing myself and sharing my ideals. I am the most compassionate of all types and connect with others easily.My heart tends to rule me. I seek out other empathetic people to befriend.Truth and authenticity matters in my friendships. At work, I crave personal expression and meaning in my career. With others, I communicate well. As far as my looks go, I have my own personal style. On weekends, I like to be with others.

I am 64% Open Minded

I am a very open minded person, but I am also well grounded. Tolerant and flexible, I appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints.But I also know where I stand firm, and I can draw that line. I am open to considering every possibility - but in the end, I stand true to myself.

I am 85%Creative

I am an incredibly creative person. For me, there are no bounds or limits to my creativity.My next creation could be something very great... Or at least very cool!

I am more cutthroat than I think

Yes, I do have that killer instinct lurking in me.And while I may not be actually cutting throats anytime soon...I certainly don't mind clawing my way to the top.

I am running on 67% adrenaline

My Adrenaline Level: Borderline Dangerous I am running around so fast, I don't realize how quickly life is passing me by.While I may be getting a lot done, my on the go lifestyle is probably wearing me out.

I am a natural entrepreneur

I am creative, driven, and full of great ideas. I could be the next Richard Branson, Warren Buffet, or Oprah :-). I Keep with my dreams, even if people don't understand or respect them. Someday I'll have too much money to care what they think!

Go to blogthings for assessment.

Guiding X and Y

I cannot stop myself from putting this here (Concepts of Theory X and Theory Y) ...

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

An Unorthodox Address

This is a rare speech, made by a senior retiring sergeant (havildar) of the Indian army to junior officers (first line managers, at the officer level) in the army. It seems punctuated by boldness and conviction. It rephrases the universal principles of handling human beings in any organisation.

'I feel a tinge of regret that I am not young enough to be sitting out there as one of you. You have so many years of challenges and adventure to look forward to. So many of these years are behind me. Soon you will meet your platoon sergeants, sergeant majors, other officers and above all - troops. What do we expect from you as officers, commanders, leaders?

We expect of you unassailable personal integrity and the highest of morals. We also expect you to maintain the highest state of personal appearance. Above all, we expect you to be fair, to be consistent, to have dignity - but not aloofness, to have compassion and understanding, to treat each soldier as an individual, with individual problems.

And we expect you to have courage - the courage of your convictions - the courage to stand up and be counted - to defend your men when they have followed your orders, even when your orders were in the wrong - to assume the blame when you were wrong.

We expect you to stick out your chin and say, "This man is not qualified and will be promoted over my dead body". Gentlemen, I implore you. Do not promote a man because he is a nice guy, because he has a wife and three kids, because he has money problems, because he has a bar bill. If he is not capable of performing his duties, do not do us, and him, the injustice of advancing him in grade. When he leaves you, he becomes someone else's problem. Above all, he is a problem onto himself.

Do not display recklessness and expose yourself and your men to unnecessary risks that will reduce their normal chances of survival. That will only shake their confidence in your judgement.

Well, you now know what we expect from you. What can you expect from us?

From a few of us, you can expect antagonism, a 'prove yourself' attitude.
From a few of us, who had the oppurtunity to be officers, but didn't quite have the guts and motivation to accept challenge, you can expect resentment.

From a few of us old timers, you can expect tolerance.
But from most of us, you can expect loyalty to your position, devotion to your cause, admiration for your honest efforts - courage to match your courage - guts to match your guts - endurance to match your endurance - motivation to match your motivation - espirit to match your espirit - a desire for achievement to match your desire for achievement.

We won't mind the heat, if you sweat with us. We won't mind the cold, if you shiver with us. And when our cigarettes are gone, we won't mind quit smoking if your cigarettes are also gone.

And, By God, if the mission requires, we will storm the very gates of hell, right alongside you.

Remember one thing. Very few havildars were awarded stripes without showing somebody something, sometimes, somewhere. If your platoon havildar is mediocre, if he is slow to assume responsibility, if he shies away from you, maybe sometime not too long ago someone refused to trust him, someone failed to support his decisions, someone shot him down when he was right. Internal wounds heal slowly; internal scars fade even more slowly.

Your orders appointing you as officers in the army appoint you to command. No orders, no insignia of rank can appoint you as leaders. Leadership is an intangible thing. It is developed within yourself.

You do not wear leadership on your sleeves, on your shoulders, on your caps or on your calling cards. Be you Lieutinants or Generals, we're the guys you've got to convince and we'll meet you more than halfway.

You are leaders in an army in which we have served for so many years. You will help us defend the country we have loved for so many years.

I wish you happiness, luck and the success in the exciting and challenging years that lie ahead.'

***Got this in the leadership notes provided by "Beyond Horizon" facilitator Commander Girish Konkar.

They say I am stuck...

Three years back, those who claimed to know me well said that there was some chemical imbalance in my grey cells while I was shifting to Nagpur.

I still find my colleagues, superiors (take-home and designation wise) reasoning why should some one who is a software engineer by profession and still claims to be sane enough, work out of Nagpur.

With all my insanity and sincerety, I would like to answer this for me in small, bold and italics.

"I would rather fight than sit here on my fanny and see that trucks are kept clean after driving through mud. I count my blessings daily, however, and have, without doubt, the moon and stars and sky that holds them all, and in the day perhaps the sunshine. If it rains, I have the rain and the clouds, and the storm about me, and the leaves with their secrets in the forest. I have the camels and the donkeys, and the egrets and the partridge, and the storks and a friend who owns a kerosene lamp. And I have daily a little precious inalienable time to myself, and my holiness and my dreamblankets, and a book of Hemingway and three Shakespeare plays, which I have never opened, but think about all the time. And I have those that like me for my humor and kindness, and those that dislike me for my sharp tongue and my stupidity, and I would not have it any other way, for who is not seeking and searching in his own minute way for his place among the blind of the world? And I have one new thought a week that is worthwhile, so that by the time I come home, I shall be rich and quite and more impractical and dreaming than ever, and I shall wander interminably in the same small circle that I have always wandered, in testing the bitter perfumes of experience, in giving, lending, loving, losing and failing. Failure is such miraculous strength, and winning such easy glory, and thinking and dreaming and being pushed about are the living things for soul..."

***Above lines are excerpts from a letter written by Lieutenant Robert Lewin to his folks and contrymen during world war - II.

Hazaron khwahishen aisi...

Myriad and yet each solitary wish

One that I could die for

Unnumbered the desires I possessed

Innumerable those I yearn for.

Neither brick nor unfeeling stone,

Should the heart not brim with pain?

Useless than to question tears

Unceasing, though they vain.

No flicker enlivens my grasp

My eyes are still alive

Let the glass remain

Leave the wine alone.

The last slide

Date: Wednesday, July 26, 2006

I was suppose to attend a sales conference of one of the ISVs starting 8:00 am today.My partner (supposed to pick me) turned up late by 45 minutes. The CEO was going through the last slide of his corporate presentation when we entered the conference hall. I was feeling bitter for missing on the CEO talk as it would have been my first chance to hear a Yale graduate.

The last slide was a trivia (some question related to company's sales records or something like that covered in his presentation). He started collecting the answers verbally from all the attendees. I was sitting last. All the time I was thinking that the time should stand still such that my turn for answer never comes. All of a sudden I found that everyone was staring at me. I realized that it was my turn to answer. I simply said, "I don't know". The CEO replied, "So do most of the people. Give it a try and shoot your wildest guess on a number ranging from 50-150". I uttered 100 instantly.

100 was the exact figure the CEO was looking for. I won the trivia and a $75 American Express gift card.