Connecting with thoughts - My thoughts and Me

Recently I happened to watch Salman Khan's latest movie "Sultan" which packs a punch of management lessons worth learning. It's been quite sometime since Chak De India a movie with sports in backdrop touched chord with the masses. So here are few lessons that the movie brings to the fore: Don't rush into making decision / form opinion about people. When Akash Oberoi the promoter of mixed martial arts league and Fateh Singh, who goes on to coach Sultan, meet Sultan for the first time take him to be plumb, obese out of shape person who may not be able to survive the rigours of the sport till they see him in action. In process they teach us go beyond and look at strengths and potential rather than going by what is evident. Touch a chord with people by winning their hearts, finding what matters to them and they will climb Mount Everest for you.  While ending Sultan's story, his friend Govind gives this advice to Akash Oberoi for convincing S...

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them . Albert Einstein Most companies and even individuals aren’t rigorous enough in defining the problems they’re attempting to solve and articulating why those issues are important. The problems and the issues get lost in translation. For how many times have you been aware that the problems that you are trying to solve are different than the one that you should be solving? The realization however dawns in hindsight while the problem is still at large?    Prior experiences, organizational constraints, biases and perception add to the odds of reducing successful outcomes that one wants to achieve.  In the movie Moneyball, Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane is upset by team's loss to New York Yankees in the 2001 post season. With impeding departure of star players to free agency, Beane needs to assemble a competitive team for 2002, but must overcome Oakland's limited payroll. R...

We all experience a stage where we are of a confused lot. Not quite sure what's in store for us or where life is going to take us. At this point its common to look at life in disbelief and doubt our capabilities. We tend to miss what comes naturally to us, even discard our strengths. In the movie, Salmon Fishing in Yemen, a visionary sheikh believes his passion for the peaceful pastime of salmon fishing can enrich the lives of his people, and he dreams of bringing the sport to the not so fish-friendly desert. Willing to spare no expense, he instructs his representative to turn the dream into reality, an extraordinary feat with the help and involvement of Dr. Alfred Jones, Britain's leading fisheries expert. The visionary sheikh’s dream however gets stalled as a result of strong opposition to removing salmon from British rivers. The Government suggests that he used farmed salmon instead. Not quite sure if a farmed salmon which has not run upstream for two ...

Failure is a part and parcel of life. What's a life without failures? But then not everyone rises up from failures. Likewise, nor does everyone get a chance to start all over again, especially after everything that one has built has been washed away and destroyed. It could be for reasons within or even beyond control. Mistakes one made or did not make. But the most important lesson when starting again is to be able to realize the mistakes that one made and accept them. That's the first thing one needs to do. Then evaluate and learn from them. There is no point in starting all over again to make the same mistakes again. That's far worst than not getting an opportunity to start again. In the movie, Salmon Fishing in Yemen, a visionary sheikh believes his passion for the peaceful pastime of salmon fishing can enrich the lives of his people, and he dreams of bringing the sport to the not so fish-friendly desert. Willing to spare no expense, he instructs his represent...

Many a times we are confronted with making decisions. Not quite knowing what to do or how to go about making the choice. Many a times we are faced with a conflict about who is it that is making the decision. Is it really us or the person who put everything at stake for us to be able to reach a particular level making the decision for us? Are we taking a decision because we are indebted to or are we taking a decision because we want to? Is the unintentional / intentional behaviour of others involved compelling us to make a choice without even realizing? These are underlying questions beneath the surface which rarely anyone gives a thought when making decision. Yet these very questions set the tone for the decision which we are never quite sure if its ours. It's the same conflict which Michael Oher experiences in "The Blind Side". Realizing the influence of Tuohy's in his choosing Ole Miss, Michael is not quite sure if he made the decision that he wanted to...

It's almost been a decade since the Dean of the institute where I was pursuing my diploma threw us a challenge. A challenge which would profoundly impact us if we had the courage to practice it. But it is easier said than done, he cautioned us, for only a handful few had really managed to go beyond the first few days. And those who did reaped benefits of the habit. The challenge was to stand in front of the mirror everyday and look into your eyes for 2-3 minutes everyday. Simple as it may sound, it's equally daunting task. Give it a shot, if you don't agree. Over the years, I have come realize why only a handful people have managed to go beyond the first few days. It's a psychological truth that we often see in others what we don't like about ourselves. When there is an aspect of ourselves we find unacceptable it is human nature to hide it from ourselves, even to pretend the opposite and instead project those feelings we have about ourselves unto to others. Bu...

"Life was never the same thereafter." "Life changed and how....there was something about that moment....." "Its really difficult put in words but from that day on things changed...I changed...what I once thought impossible is what I have achieved." "....and it was precisely that turn the game on into their favour..." "It was moment that defined his greatness as a freedom fighter, as a leader....." How often have we heard one of the above sentences or statements that in one way or other talk about the defining moment (turning point / life changing moment / that aha! moment) Buddha had it when attained Nirvana. Jesus experienced it , especially during his passion in the garden of Gethsemane garden. Martin Luther King had it when he delivered ..his speech .."I have a dream". Gandhi had it (probably when he was thrown out the train in South Africa). Nelson Mandela had it when he challenged the apartheid reg...