I was little surprised to hear the latest statement from Bush on the growing consumption from the rising Indian middle class. What happened to Bush ? What is he talking ? .. Is this what called the great American Politics. Hope he doesn’t urge U.N to raid our national warehouses.

O.k. If you are not a fan of politics or politicians you will like this story.

Once Lao Tzu was going from one town to another on his donkey. A messenger from the emperor came and told Lao Tzu, “The emperor has heard about you and he would like you to become a part of his court. He needs wise men there.”Lao Tzu treated the messenger very courteously, but said, “No, it is impossible. I am grateful. Thank the emperor, but it is impossible.”When the messenger was going, Lao Tzu washed his ears with water, and washed the ears of the donkey also.A man who was standing by the road asked, “What are you doing, sir?”.He said, “I am washing my ears, because even the messenger from the world of politics is dangerous.”The man asked, “But why are you washing the ears of the donkey?”.

He said, “Donkeys are very political. He is already walking in a different way! The moment he heard and saw the messenger from the court, he became very egoistic.

Donkeys tend to be political. I don’t much understand the language of the court, but he understands, because similar donkeys are there. The language is the same.”

Poll-ticks… Funny isn’t it…

There are 2 O’s available for free . One of them is good and other one is mostly bad. The Good one is Oxygen and the other one is Opinion. Like meaningful decision makers we tend to get all the opinions before taking any decision, but mostly opinions available today are negative even from our friends and relatives (even though they care to caution us)

One of the worst form of opinion is “Rumour”, and mostly amplified and many times blown out of proportion. Even though IMF has indicated a “Mild Recession” in U.S, I have a feeling that a-kind-of-negative-thinking and lot of unintentional rumours are the primary reasons for this recession.

See the above video ….Don’t spread rumours , use a triple filter test

]]> http://jaiz.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/recession-spreads-like-rumour/feed/ jaiz http://jaiz.wordpress.com/2008/04/05/are-politicians-dividing-india-thru-sponsored-agitations/ http://jaiz.wordpress.com/2008/04/05/are-politicians-dividing-india-thru-sponsored-agitations/#comments Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:06:05 +0000 jaiz http://jaiz.wordpress.com/?p=96

“Water water everywhere , not a drop to drink…” !!!

Latest political case between two prominent southern states in india in sharing water resources… Tamilnadu and Karnataka….The pathetic condition now is that the sponsored agitation members are taking law in their hands and ransacking public resources…..

When we are talking about India’s GDP growth , its disgusting to see sponsored agitations….I personally feel sad for all this high-end political drama….where “Innocent Public”are the losers. At the maximum government will sanction a sum of lakh or so for the injured or the killed person in the event of any accident..but the.Very sad story…..such accidents do happen… on a regular .. basis…

Lets see beyond what politicians see… i.e “Unity in Diversity ” also ” Unity in Adversity”

Its high time to join together as “Indian”.. think this spirit is only shown when we see a cricket match or when there is a crisis. Now I think it is the moment to be united. Its wonderful to be a part of this country at a time when world leaders are looking towards us to live in peace and harmony…….But..irony is that our politicians are trying their best to divide people it into pieces via caste , creed, language,religion now… “water”…

Let us adopt gandhigiri(Ahimsa).. not dadagiri (extremism)… Dadagiri is a temporary solution for the permanent problem.Only the symptoms gets cured not the disease….

Tamil Nadu vs Karnataka …Maharasthra Vs North Indians……which are the next two teams in IGL (Indian Government League) …What happened to all those leaders who fought for “India as a nation”….Does coalition means to safeguard one’s own interest….or collective interest…..

I definitely feel this “back door politics” will deteoriate ” India’s growth”. Sure there are some good leaders , but when will they get up…grow up…and …fight for the nation’s pride rather than their “vote bank politics”….

I remember being inspired by this song twenty years back..If you share my views a bit just listen to this song..”Mile sur Mera Tumara”….

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_Sur_Mera_Tumhara

Live and Let others Live.

What comes to mind when we see “666″ ? ..

Movie “The Omen”..right

With so much of negatives around us , we tend to get into the mindset whether the whole world is getting to a standstill. Everyday we are bombarded with millions of information mostly about movies or politicians…. thru newspapers, billboards, ads, TV , radio , internet etc.etc… Never before mankind must have witnessed such an information explosion.

And the height of this information explosion is that “Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives“….. I include organizations as well…. because in order to sell their products/services they tend to fool around people through glamorous ads….but in reality they try to build a market for selling their products/services which never existed.. eventually we end up buying something which we really dont know..whether we need or not……

So.. What? …….This post is nothing to do about “The Omen” or about “World Economy”. I just thought of sharing something which I learned and observed from world’s celebrated thinker ” Edward De Bono ..and his books.

First a good story from one of his books,

A French farmer asked his son to sort a pile of apples into big apples and small apples. The farmer went off to the market. When he returned the son had sorted out the apples into two piles. The Father thanked his son and then put all the apples together again. The son was furious at the waste of his day’s work.

The Father explained ” I really wanted you to throw the bad apples - which you had done. But by asking you to make a much more difficult selection, you had to pay more attention to each apple”.

Sometimes , we need to “Look beyond what we see”.

Fine….When “Competency ” , ” Information” and “Technology ” are more or less becoming commodity both for the Individual and organization …..the game no longer is what you possess… but what valuable you produce/deliver with what you possess. So it is important for the Individual and the organization to find simple ways to leverage thinking , action and values.

Thinking(Hats) + Action(Shoes) = Results(Medals)

Many of us realize “Success” based on “Results “where “Results” mostly translate/calibrate to the word “Money”.

Today the market-buzz is not just money …but a” Value For Money“.

We can easily understand money because we can see it and also we can show it to others. But ” Values” are implied , hence it is very difficult to identify and also ensure we realize them…”The Six Value Medals” can be of help

By-the-way…the three important Edward De Bono’s books are……Six Thinking hats……Six Action Shoes……Six Value Medals….

Nowadays “666″ reminds me the “Good Omen”. ..6 ways of thinking , 6 Ways of Action and 6 Ways of Valuation…

Go ahead..use your Hats , identify the right Shoes ..and go for the Medals…..

We all know , “One man’s problem is other man’s opportunity” or in other words “In every problem hides an opportunity”. But how do we spot them ? when in today’s information society, almost everything is becoming a commodity”.

Even when big corporations are building unique services and products , the pirating time is becoming almost negligible unless there is a heavy government intervention. Of course when the government intervenes much then it means that there is not much profit to be made in that kind of business.

So what is my point. I see “Problematic opportunity” everywhere and I feel what is required is a ” sense of entrepreneurship”. Well there are millions of information , websites… even university courses to teach you entrepreneurship..i mean bookish … , but in reality “ Entrepreneurship is caught not taught“. Ask any entrepreneur, deep down their decision to venture….must have some strong emotional/personal reason…..

O.K. I am sharing this story which I had heard sometime back which probably could ignite some of our thinking/feeling towards leveraging “the problematic opportunity”. Even if this story is kind of vague…try to take the message.. its really rewarding especially when you are trying to make your mark around establishes business-sharks.

“Once upon a time there was a town in the central Europe. The people were all preoccupied with their day-to-day work. There was a big-dead rat in a busy street in the outskirts of the town. Everyone who walked thru this street were kicking the rat to every corner of the street instead of clearing the rat off the street. An young man noticed this “dead rat” and he immediately took its tail by his hand and started walking. He also didn’t throw it into the dustbin .

People were initially inquisitive over the young man carrying the dead rat, hence they asked him “why he wasn’t throwing the rat into dustbin ?”, for which the man said that he has spotted a business opportunity with this. People thought that this young man was crazy and started making funny comments on him.Nevertheless the young man carried the dead-rat and walked.

When he was approaching the main town , he started walking near the bungalow’s of rich-merchants. These rich-merchants used to have big-cats and they used to feed them well. Over the years, these cats have grown lazy and fluffy. One such cat was excited over this young man’s dead rat. That rich merchant took notice of his cat’s excitement and he asked the young man to give his dead-rat. The young man readily agreed , but asked a “gold coin” as the price for the dead rat. The merchant was angry and asked the man “why a gold coin, when you are going to throw away this dead-rat anyway”.The young man replied ” O.K. Sir. The price of this dead-rat is a gold coin. Deal or No Deal”.

The gold coin wasn’t a big deal for the merchant , so he offered the young man the gold coin for the dead rat.The young man was happy and he immediately went to a jeweler and exchanged his gold coin for 50 silver coins. He spotted some boys playing in the small neighborhood around these bungalows. He told each one that he would give a “silver coin” , if they can get him a rat (alive/dead).Slowly , he started building his Cat-food business around this .”

Do you see any problematic opportunity…….if so..let me know…..

]]> http://jaiz.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/the-problematic-opportunity/feed/ jaiz cat-food.jpg http://jaiz.wordpress.com/2008/03/22/my-personal-favourites-from-the-alchemist/ http://jaiz.wordpress.com/2008/03/22/my-personal-favourites-from-the-alchemist/#comments Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:05:12 +0000 jaiz http://jaiz.wordpress.com/?p=89

I am adding my personal notes from this wonderful “Alchemic process book” on converting your dream to reality.

1. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.
2. The World’s Greatest lie : Its this : that at a certain point in our lives we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.
3. If you start out by promising what you don’t even have yet, you will lose desire to work towards getting it.
4. When you really want something, the universe always conspires in your favour.
5. When someone makes a decision, he is really giving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed when he first made the decision.
6. Intution is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life.
7. We are afraid of losing of what we have, whether it is our life or our possessions and property.But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand.
8. Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the language of the world.
9. If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil.And one can always come back. If what you had found was only a moment of light like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on return.
10. Listen to your heart. It knows all things because it came from the soul of the world, and it will one-day return.
11. You will never be able to escape from your heart. So its better to listen to what it has to say. That way, you will never have to fear an unanticipated blow.
12. Every search begins with a “beginners luck”. And every search ends with the victor being severely tested.
13. Life’s simple lesson : When you possess great treasures within you , and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.
14. Your eyes shows the strength of your soul.
15. If a person is living out his destiny, he knows everything he needs to know. There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.
16. Usually the threat of death makes people a lot more aware of their lives.
17. When we strive to become better than we are everything around us becomes better to.
18. Don’t search for gold , search your destiny.

These are timeless wisdom , which has been told, retold by numerous people in this planet, but still we need to remember. I badly needed this blog so that I can visit/revisit to search solutions from these 18 points.

“Be an Alchemist of your destiny“

Even when blogs are popular these days , politicians still prefer their old power route, yes , writing autobiographies.The recent blockbuster in this list is ” My Country , My Life ” by Shri. L.K.Advani ( BJP Leader, India).

Election bells are ringing hard on India and America, the heat is felt around in the stock markets. Eventhough people fear recession , I have a different perception on recession. Actually, the fear is not recession, the fear is about leadership in both these countries. Analysts can talk in length on GDP , Inflation, Global Macro-economic factors , but strong leadership can knockdown the “R” factor anytime.

I don’t want to be too much optimistic on the markets , as I am little worried about the very nature of politicians turning to write/publish autobiographies/stories in the wake of elections. I call it their “opportunistic competence”.

I hope many more releases on the pipeline from India and America. I think autobiographies are like double edged-swords. Even when the message gets to people about their character,attitudes…etc…. in the end people eventually understand”Human Mind is highly manipulative”, so……….your present is the truth not your past or future.

“Let truth prevail”

“India -Pakistan bilateral talks “.. we are lucky that these days we don’t hear words or news like this from our politicians. Talking is important ,but doing or more precisely action is far better than just talking.

Well… I am really fascinated over IBM’s latest buzz-line ” Stop Talking , Start Doing”…its very much true today than ever before.. but superstar “Einstein” has already set the formula for success , if IBM didn’t know …..

It was accepted that Einstein had the unique genius of getting to the heart of any problem and suggesting the simplest possible solution. It is surprising to note that he has solved the most complex problems in physics with paper, pencil and the blackboard. When Einstein was asked about his formula for success he gave a simple formula..

Most of us understand the importance of X and Y. But Z is seldom understood.Simply putting, Z is silence, it has great significance. Silence is golden. Silence endows our mind with serenity. Helps us to rejuvenate and run with sparkling creativity.

For this particular reason probably Mahatma Gandhi used to observe silence one day in a week.

Well .. This is universally valid even today …. If this works for Einstein , Gandhi …to ” IBM ” , then whyn’t for you an me.

” Succeed Silently “……

Business is “risky”.

Well , I have heard… A grandmother of a businessman was worried of watching horrified airline-accidents… so she said to her grandson “Son, I hear that a lot of people die in airplane crashes , beware , avoid air-travel”, for which this business man replied “Grandma , statistics says 90% of people die on their bed …..so I think you should be more careful than me”.

Well , rightly said “The biggest risk in life is not taking risk at all”.

O.K , the fact. This is the best time in India to be an entrepreneur. Why ?

Today, the defining moment for any business comes from its “Human Capital”.

Knowingly or unknowingly our leaders are investing a lot on India’s human capital. Do you want to know how ?

1. Historic Focus on Education.

2. Growing Focus on Health Care.

Adding to this, there is an unprecedented increase in public-private partnerships to improve/upgrade the country’s infrastructure and energy sectors.

Whether we like it or not “India is certainly a growth story” , the problem is not whether India is going to grow , the problem is whether you and I are going to leverage this story for our growth.

Having said “Entrepreneurship is an Enlightening Experience“, which needs both a fact-based as well as Gut-Feel reasoning to take-off. But before taking-off, its important to learn the baby steps like to understand and question the history of businesses.

I particularly found these 20 questions interesting (from Forbes.com) , think this could serve as a compass for the entrepreneurs today n tomorrow.

1. What is your value proposition ?

2. Does your product/service address a viable market?

3. What differentiates your product/service from the competitors?

4. How big is the threat of new entrant?

5. How much start-up capital you need?

6. How much cash you need to survive the early years?

7. How will you finance the business?

8. What are your strengths?

9. What are your weaknesses?

10. How much power do your suppliers have?

11. How much power your buyers have?

12. How should you sell your products/services?

13. How should you market your products/services ?

14. Does the business scale?

15. What are your financial projections?

16. What price will consumers pay?

17. How do you protect your intellectual property?

18. How do you keep the help happy?

19. How committed are you to making this happen?

20. What is your end game?

I understand , “its easily said than done”. But the old adage “The journey of thousand miles begins with a single step”. Let me add “Baby Steps”.

• If the tiger’s natural prey or habitat become unavailable or inaccessible, preying upon humans is the easiest choice
• If the tiger suffer injuries or disabilities that make their natural prey more difficult to pursue then it will resort to hunting human beings in order to avoid starvation.
• The loss of teeth or claws, a gunshot wound or any injury will impede the tiger’s ability to run, bite or chew , hence tigers attack the weakest predator (physically at least) human.

Ok. So What is my point ?

Now (Year 2008), Leave alone “Man-eating tigers “, survey says very few tigers in India. Actually , the term “Man-eating Tigers” , should be read as “Man” eating “Tigers” today. If we analyse the causes for this breed of “Men” eating “Tigers” , it is quite obvious. ” M - O - N - E -Y “…. ” G -R - E - E -D” for more ” M - O -N -E -Y”.

We need to really protect tigers  , before “Spielberg” takes a movie “The Tigers Park “.

The chinese dragons are no longer in existence luckily some Indian Tigers are still on the prowl. If we as a nation stand together , even outsource medical and other strategic facilities to build and empower these tigers ,”Tiger will always be our Nation’s pride.”