Everyone's Invited

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.

2011-08-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

The commencement address delivered by Jobs on June 12, 2005 @ Stanford University:

I am honoured to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first six months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out okay. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5 cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky -- I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents' garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees. We had just released our finest creation -- the Macintosh -- a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down -- that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologise for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me -- I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world's first computer animated feature film, Toy Story and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful-tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning and it clearly showed a tumour on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumour. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much. - Steve Jobs

Keep the "Spark" Alive !!!

2011-05-18T18:31:00.000-07:00

How to be happy most, if not all the time ?
Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them.
Imagine the spark to be a lamp's flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn't any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn't the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Steve Jobs won't be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.

Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature's design. Are you? Goals will help you do that.
I must add, don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order. There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don't be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I've told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don't go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it's life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that's where you want to be.

Disappointment's cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don't know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how it works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let's be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don't. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don't get literary praise. It's ok. I don't look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It's ok. Don't let unfairness kill your spark.

Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.

There you go. I've told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

Inaugural Speech for the new batch at the Symbiosis BBA program, Pune 23rd June, 2008
By Chetan Bhagat (Edited)

How Will You Measure Your Life ?

2010-10-13T05:07:00.000-07:00

Before I published The Innovator’s Dilemma, I got a call from Andrew
Grove, then the chairman of Intel. He had read one of my early papers
about disruptive technology, and he asked if I could talk to his
direct reports and explain my research and what it implied for Intel.
Excited, I flew to Silicon Valley and showed up at the appointed time,
only to have Grove say, “Look, stuff has happened. We have only 10
minutes for you. Tell us what your model of disruption means for
Intel.” I said that I couldn’t—that I needed a full 30 minutes to
explain the model, because only with it as context would any comments
about Intel make sense. Ten minutes into my explanation, Grove
interrupted: “Look, I’ve got your model. Just tell us what it means
for Intel.”

I insisted that I needed 10 more minutes to describe how the process
of disruption had worked its way through a very different industry,
steel, so that he and his team could understand how disruption worked.
I told the story of how Nucor and other steel minimills had begun by
attacking the lowest end of the market—steel reinforcing bars, or
rebar—and later moved up toward the high end, undercutting the
traditional steel mills.

When I finished the minimill story, Grove said, “OK, I get it. What it
means for Intel is...,” and then went on to articulate what would
become the company’s strategy for going to the bottom of the market to
launch the Celeron processor.

I’ve thought about that a million times since. If I had been suckered
into telling Andy Grove what he should think about the microprocessor
business, I’d have been killed. But instead of telling him what to
think, I taught him how to think—and then he reached what I felt was
the correct decision on his own.

That experience had a profound influence on me. When people ask what I
think they should do, I rarely answer their question directly.
Instead, I run the question aloud through one of my models. I’ll
describe how the process in the model worked its way through an
industry quite different from their own. And then, more often than
not, they’ll say, “OK, I get it.” And they’ll answer their own
question more insightfully than I could have.

My class at HBS is structured to help my students understand what good
management theory is and how it is built. To that backbone I attach
different models or theories that help students think about the
various dimensions of a general manager’s job in stimulating
innovation and growth. In each session we look at one company through
the lenses of those theories—using them to explain how the company got
into its situation and to examine what managerial actions will yield
the needed results.

On the last day of class, I ask my students to turn those theoretical
lenses on themselves, to find cogent answers to three questions:
First, how can I be sure that I’ll be happy in my career? Second, how
can I be sure that my relationships with my spouse and my family
become an enduring source of happiness? Third, how can I be sure I’ll
stay out of jail? Though the last question sounds lighthearted, it’s
not. Two of the 32 people in my Rhodes scholar class spent time in
jail. Jeff Skilling of Enron fame was a classmate of mine at HBS.
These were good guys—but something in their lives sent them off in the
wrong direction.

As the students discuss the answers to these questions, I open my own
life to them as a case study of sorts, to illustrate how they can use
the theories from our course to guide their life decisions.

One of the theories that gives great insight on the first question—how
to be sure we find happiness in our careers—is from Frederick
Herzberg, who asserts that the powerful motivator in our lives isn’t
money; it’s the opportunity to learn, grow in responsibilities,
contribute to others, and be recognized for achievements. I tell the
students about a vision of sorts I had while I was running the company
I founded before becoming an academic. In my mind’s eye I saw one of
my managers leave for work one morning with a relatively strong level
of self-esteem. Then I pictured her driving home to her family 10
hours later, feeling unappreciated, frustrated, underutilized, and
demeaned. I imagined how profoundly her lowered self-esteem affected
the way she interacted with her children. The vision in my mind then
fast-forwarded to another day, when she drove home with greater
self-esteem—feeling that she had learned a lot, been recognized for
achieving valuable things, and played a significant role in the
success of some important initiatives. I then imagined how positively
that affected her as a spouse and a parent. My conclusion: Management
is the most noble of professions if it’s practiced well. No other
occupation offers as many ways to help others learn and grow, take
responsibility and be recognized for achievement, and contribute to
the success of a team. More and more MBA students come to school
thinking that a career in business means buying, selling, and
investing in companies. That’s unfortunate. Doing deals doesn’t yield
the deep rewards that come from building up people.

I want students to leave my classroom knowing that.

Create a Strategy for Your Life

A theory that is helpful in answering the second question—How can I
ensure that my relationship with my family proves to be an enduring
source of happiness?—concerns how strategy is defined and implemented.
Its primary insight is that a company’s strategy is determined by the
types of initiatives that management invests in. If a company’s
resource allocation process is not managed masterfully, what emerges
from it can be very different from what management intended. Because
companies’ decision-making systems are designed to steer investments
to initiatives that offer the most tangible and immediate returns,
companies shortchange investments in initiatives that are crucial to
their long-term strategies.

Over the years I’ve watched the fates of my HBS classmates from 1979
unfold; I’ve seen more and more of them come to reunions unhappy,
divorced, and alienated from their children. I can guarantee you that
not a single one of them graduated with the deliberate strategy of
getting divorced and raising children who would become estranged from
them. And yet a shocking number of them implemented that strategy. The
reason? They didn’t keep the purpose of their lives front and center
as they decided how to spend their time, talents, and energy.

It’s quite startling that a significant fraction of the 900 students
that HBS draws each year from the world’s best have given little
thought to the purpose of their lives. I tell the students that HBS
might be one of their last chances to reflect deeply on that question.
If they think that they’ll have more time and energy to reflect later,
they’re nuts, because life only gets more demanding: You take on a
mortgage; you’re working 70 hours a week; you have a spouse and
children.

For me, having a clear purpose in my life has been essential. But it
was something I had to think long and hard about before I understood
it. When I was a Rhodes scholar, I was in a very demanding academic
program, trying to cram an extra year’s worth of work into my time at
Oxford. I decided to spend an hour every night reading, thinking, and
praying about why God put me on this earth. That was a very
challenging commitment to keep, because every hour I spent doing that,
I wasn’t studying applied econometrics. I was conflicted about whether
I could really afford to take that time away from my studies, but I
stuck with it—and ultimately figured out the purpose of my life.

Had I instead spent that hour each day learning the latest techniques
for mastering the problems of autocorrelation in regression analysis,
I would have badly misspent my life. I apply the tools of econometrics
a few times a year, but I apply my knowledge of the purpose of my life
every day. It’s the single most useful thing I’ve ever learned. I
promise my students that if they take the time to figure out their
life purpose, they’ll look back on it as the most important thing they
discovered at HBS. If they don’t figure it out, they will just sail
off without a rudder and get buffeted in the very rough seas of life.
Clarity about their purpose will trump knowledge of activity-based
costing, balanced scorecards, core competence, disruptive innovation,
the four Ps, and the five forces.

My purpose grew out of my religious faith, but faith isn’t the only
thing that gives people direction. For example, one of my former
students decided that his purpose was to bring honesty and economic
prosperity to his country and to raise children who were as capably
committed to this cause, and to each other, as he was. His purpose is
focused on family and others—as mine is.

The choice and successful pursuit of a profession is but one tool for
achieving your purpose. But without a purpose, life can become hollow.

Allocate Your Resources

Your decisions about allocating your personal time, energy, and talent
ultimately shape your life’s strategy.

I have a bunch of “businesses” that compete for these resources: I’m
trying to have a rewarding relationship with my wife, raise great
kids, contribute to my community, succeed in my career, contribute to
my church, and so on. And I have exactly the same problem that a
corporation does. I have a limited amount of time and energy and
talent. How much do I devote to each of these pursuits?

Allocation choices can make your life turn out to be very different
from what you intended. Sometimes that’s good: Opportunities that you
never planned for emerge. But if you misinvest your resources, the
outcome can be bad. As I think about my former classmates who
inadvertently invested for lives of hollow unhappiness, I can’t help
believing that their troubles relate right back to a short-term
perspective.

When people who have a high need for achievement—and that includes all
Harvard Business School graduates—have an extra half hour of time or
an extra ounce of energy, they’ll unconsciously allocate it to
activities that yield the most tangible accomplishments. And our
careers provide the most concrete evidence that we’re moving forward.
You ship a product, finish a design, complete a presentation, close a
sale, teach a class, publish a paper, get paid, get promoted. In
contrast, investing time and energy in your relationship with your
spouse and children typically doesn’t offer that same immediate sense
of achievement. Kids misbehave every day. It’s really not until 20
years down the road that you can put your hands on your hips and say,
“I raised a good son or a good daughter.” You can neglect your
relationship with your spouse, and on a day-to-day basis, it doesn’t
seem as if things are deteriorating. People who are driven to excel
have this unconscious propensity to underinvest in their families and
overinvest in their careers—even though intimate and loving
relationships with their families are the most powerful and enduring
source of happiness.

If you study the root causes of business disasters, over and over
you’ll find this predisposition toward endeavors that offer immediate
gratification. If you look at personal lives through that lens, you’ll
see the same stunning and sobering pattern: people allocating fewer
and fewer resources to the things they would have once said mattered
most.

Create a Culture

There’s an important model in our class called the Tools of
Cooperation, which basically says that being a visionary manager isn’t
all it’s cracked up to be. It’s one thing to see into the foggy future
with acuity and chart the course corrections that the company must
make. But it’s quite another to persuade employees who might not see
the changes ahead to line up and work cooperatively to take the
company in that new direction. Knowing what tools to wield to elicit
the needed cooperation is a critical managerial skill.

The theory arrays these tools along two dimensions—the extent to which
members of the organization agree on what they want from their
participation in the enterprise, and the extent to which they agree on
what actions will produce the desired results. When there is little
agreement on both axes, you have to use “power tools”—coercion,
threats, punishment, and so on—to secure cooperation. Many companies
start in this quadrant, which is why the founding executive team must
play such an assertive role in defining what must be done and how. If
employees’ ways of working together to address those tasks succeed
over and over, consensus begins to form. MIT’s Edgar Schein has
described this process as the mechanism by which a culture is built.
Ultimately, people don’t even think about whether their way of doing
things yields success. They embrace priorities and follow procedures
by instinct and assumption rather than by explicit decision—which
means that they’ve created a culture. Culture, in compelling but
unspoken ways, dictates the proven, acceptable methods by which
members of the group address recurrent problems. And culture defines
the priority given to different types of problems. It can be a
powerful management tool.

In using this model to address the question, How can I be sure that my
family becomes an enduring source of happiness?, my students quickly
see that the simplest tools that parents can wield to elicit
cooperation from children are power tools. But there comes a point
during the teen years when power tools no longer work. At that point
parents start wishing that they had begun working with their children
at a very young age to build a culture at home in which children
instinctively behave respectfully toward one another, obey their
parents, and choose the right thing to do. Families have cultures,
just as companies do. Those cultures can be built consciously or
evolve inadvertently.

If you want your kids to have strong self-esteem and confidence that
they can solve hard problems, those qualities won’t magically
materialize in high school. You have to design them into your family’s
culture—and you have to think about this very early on. Like
employees, children build self-esteem by doing things that are hard
and learning what works.

Avoid the “Marginal Costs” Mistake

We’re taught in finance and economics that in evaluating alternative
investments, we should ignore sunk and fixed costs, and instead base
decisions on the marginal costs and marginal revenues that each
alternative entails. We learn in our course that this doctrine biases
companies to leverage what they have put in place to succeed in the
past, instead of guiding them to create the capabilities they’ll need
in the future. If we knew the future would be exactly the same as the
past, that approach would be fine. But if the future’s different—and
it almost always is—then it’s the wrong thing to do.

This theory addresses the third question I discuss with my
students—how to live a life of integrity (stay out of jail).
Unconsciously, we often employ the marginal cost doctrine in our
personal lives when we choose between right and wrong. A voice in our
head says, “Look, I know that as a general rule, most people shouldn’t
do this. But in this particular extenuating circumstance, just this
once, it’s OK.” The marginal cost of doing something wrong “just this
once” always seems alluringly low. It suckers you in, and you don’t
ever look at where that path ultimately is headed and at the full
costs that the choice entails. Justification for infidelity and
dishonesty in all their manifestations lies in the marginal cost
economics of “just this once.”

I’d like to share a story about how I came to understand the potential
damage of “just this once” in my own life. I played on the Oxford
University varsity basketball team. We worked our tails off and
finished the season undefeated. The guys on the team were the best
friends I’ve ever had in my life. We got to the British equivalent of
the NCAA tournament—and made it to the final four. It turned out the
championship game was scheduled to be played on a Sunday. I had made a
personal commitment to God at age 16 that I would never play ball on
Sunday. So I went to the coach and explained my problem. He was
incredulous. My teammates were, too, because I was the starting
center. Every one of the guys on the team came to me and said, “You’ve
got to play. Can’t you break the rule just this one time?”

I’m a deeply religious man, so I went away and prayed about what I
should do. I got a very clear feeling that I shouldn’t break my
commitment—so I didn’t play in the championship game.

In many ways that was a small decision—involving one of several
thousand Sundays in my life. In theory, surely I could have crossed
over the line just that one time and then not done it again. But
looking back on it, resisting the temptation whose logic was “In this
extenuating circumstance, just this once, it’s OK” has proven to be
one of the most important decisions of my life. Why? My life has been
one unending stream of extenuating circumstances. Had I crossed the
line that one time, I would have done it over and over in the years
that followed.

The lesson I learned from this is that it’s easier to hold to your
principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the
time. If you give in to “just this once,” based on a marginal cost
analysis, as some of my former classmates have done, you’ll regret
where you end up. You’ve got to define for yourself what you stand for
and draw the line in a safe place.

Remember the Importance of Humility

I got this insight when I was asked to teach a class on humility at
Harvard College. I asked all the students to describe the most humble
person they knew. One characteristic of these humble people stood out:
They had a high level of self-esteem. They knew who they were, and
they felt good about who they were. We also decided that humility was
defined not by self-deprecating behavior or attitudes but by the
esteem with which you regard others. Good behavior flows naturally
from that kind of humility. For example, you would never steal from
someone, because you respect that person too much. You’d never lie to
someone, either.

It’s crucial to take a sense of humility into the world. By the time
you make it to a top graduate school, almost all your learning has
come from people who are smarter and more experienced than you:
parents, teachers, bosses. But once you’ve finished at Harvard
Business School or any other top academic institution, the vast
majority of people you’ll interact with on a day-to-day basis may not
be smarter than you. And if your attitude is that only smarter people
have something to teach you, your learning opportunities will be very
limited. But if you have a humble eagerness to learn something from
everybody, your learning opportunities will be unlimited. Generally,
you can be humble only if you feel really good about yourself—and you
want to help those around you feel really good about themselves, too.
When we see people acting in an abusive, arrogant, or demeaning manner
toward others, their behavior almost always is a symptom of their lack
of self-esteem. They need to put someone else down to feel good about
themselves.

Choose the Right Yardstick

This past year I was diagnosed with cancer and faced the possibility
that my life would end sooner than I’d planned. Thankfully, it now
looks as if I’ll be spared. But the experience has given me important
insight into my life.

I have a pretty clear idea of how my ideas have generated enormous
revenue for companies that have used my research; I know I’ve had a
substantial impact. But as I’ve confronted this disease, it’s been
interesting to see how unimportant that impact is to me now. I’ve
concluded that the metric by which God will assess my life isn’t
dollars but the individual people whose lives I’ve touched.

I think that’s the way it will work for us all. Don’t worry about the
level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the
individuals you have helped become better people. This is my final
recommendation: Think about the metric by which your life will be
judged, and make a resolution to live every day so that in the end,
your life will be judged a success.

- Clayton M. Christensen

The Basics of Working Smart

2010-08-14T23:36:00.000-07:00

You can’t be a Smart Worker overnight. But it’s a learning and a journey. How do you start the journey? Here are some basics of Working Smart.

1. Understand What is Expected

Never start on a task or a job without understanding what is expected. This helps you validate the task on completion and more importantly, prevents you from doing something that is never expected.

The most common way of understanding what is expected is: Paraphrase the task description with someone who assigns it to you or who will validate the outcome

2. Define Targets

Once you understand what is expected, work on defining the targets.

A Good Target is something that is measurable, achievable and bound by time.

3. Define Deadlines

Once you define the targets, the next step is to identify and associate a deadline with each target. If possible, define the deadline down to the exact hour.

Write down the Task Description, Targets and Deadlines on your Notepad (better a physical notepad) and use it as a checklist to track the progress.

4. Automate Repeated Tasks or Activities

Over a period of time, identify repeated tasks or activities that you do “day in and day out” and try automating them (at least partially).

A typical example could be the preparation of Test Data for the program you write. If you spend good amount of time every week preparing the Test Data, write a small program which can do this job for you. This is just an example but try looking for some similar activities that could be automated.

5. Learn and Implement Lessons

Everyone make mistakes. But it’s worse – if you don’t learn lessons from them.

Whenever you learn lessons from mistakes, document them and revisit whenever you have to make decisions or encounter similar situations. Over a period of time, you will find things improving.

So what steps do you take towards Working Smart?

Source: http://www.workosmart.com/productivity/working-smart-basics/

Aspire to be a CEO? Do something Hard and Lonely.

2010-08-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

Contrary to popular notion of doing something in group, Do something Hard, Do something Lonely.

Practice something very individualistic and something that that most others will be unwilling to do. This will help you feel tough, help you concentrate, boost your ego and make you feel special. It will mentally prepare you for the business battles. Remember, it does get lonelier at the Top.

Something that is hard and lonely is studying for a graduate in film making, especially in winter, when everyone else is snoozing under their sheets. Or running slow over long distances at 4:00am in the morning (versus jogging with a million others at the fitness club in the evening).

Learn carpentry, write a book, read Tolstoy, but do it yourself. Do it alone and solo.

All the great and successful athletes and artists that you admire did have endless hours of toil when the world was sleeping. So do corporate Presidents.

Source: http://aspire2be.blogspot.com

40 Rules of Project Management

2010-06-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

1. Nothing is impossible for the person who doesn’t have to do it.

2. You can con a sucker into committing to an impossible deadline, but you cannot con him into meeting it .

3. At the heart of every large project is a small project trying to get out.

4. A user will tell you anything you ask about, but nothing more.

5. Of several possible interpretations of a communication, the least convenient is the correct one.

6. What you don’t know hurts you.

7. There’s never enough time to do it right first time but there’s always enough time to go back and do it again.

8. The bitterness of poor quality lasts long after the sweetness of making a date is forgotten.

9. I know that you believe that you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant.

10. What is not on paper has not been said.

11. A little risk management saves a lot of fan cleaning.

12. If you can keep your head while all about you are losing theirs, you haven’t understood the plan.

13. If at first you don’t succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.

14. There are no good project managers – only lucky ones.

15. The more you plan the luckier you get.

16. If everything is going exactly to plan, something somewhere is going massively wrong.

17. A project is one small step for the project sponsor, one giant leap for the project manager.

18. Good project management is not so much knowing what to do and when, as knowing what excuses to give and when.

19. Everyone asks for a strong project manager – when they get them they don’t want them.

20. Overtime is a figment of the naïve project manager’s imagination.

21. Quantitative project management is for predicting cost and schedule overruns well in advance. Metrics are learned men’s excuses.

22. For a project manager overruns are as certain as death and taxes.

23. Some projects finish on time in spite of project management best practices.

24. Fast – cheap – good – you can have any two.

25. There is such a thing as an unrealistic timescale.

26. The project would not have been started if the truth had been told about the cost and timescale.

27. A two year project will take three years, a three year project will never finish.

28. When the weight of the project paperwork equals the weight of the project itself, the project can be considered complete.

29. A badly planned project will take three times longer than expected – a well planned project only twice as long as expected.

30. Warning: dates in a calendar are closer than they appear to be.

31. Anything that can be changed will be changed until there is no time left to change anything.

32. There is no such thing as scope creep, only scope gallop.

33. A project gets a year late one day at a time.

34. If you’re 6 months late on a milestone due next week but really believe you can make it, you’re a project manager.

35. No project has ever finished on time, within budget, to requirement – yours won’t be the first to.

36. Managing IT people is like herding cats.

37. If you don’t know how to do a task, start it, then ten people who know less than you will tell you how to do it.

38. The person who says it will take the longest and cost the most is the only one with a clue how to do the job.

39. The sooner you get behind schedule, the more time you have to make it up.

40. The nice thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression.

Quarter-Life Crisis

2010-06-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that every one reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

FATE DETERMINES WHO COMES INTO OUR LIVES.....HEART DETERMINES WHO STAYS.

I always say, "Fate & Destiny" keeps playing "Hide & Seek" in everybody's life.

I do believe in this....how about you all ? I do like to play game with 'Fate', try to win over it and leave the rest to destiny. Let Destiny speak......

Heart Speaks

2010-06-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

1. When the Snake is alive, the Snake eats Ants.
When the Snake is dead, Ants eat the Snake.
Time can turn at any time.
Don't neglect anyone in your life.

2. Never make the same mistake twice,
There are so many new ones,
Try a different one each day.

3. A good way to change someone's attitude is to change our own.
Because, the same sun melts butter and also hardens clay!
Life is as we think, so think beautifully.

4. Life is just like the sea, we are moving without end.
Nothing stays with us, What stays with us are just memories of some people who touched us as Waves.

5. Do you want to know how rich you are?
Never count your currency,
just try to Drop a Tear and count how many hands reach out to WIPE that - that is true richness.

6. Never change your originality for the sake of others.
No one can play your role better than you.
So be yourself, because whatever you are, YOU are the best.

7. A baby mosquito came back after flying the first time.
His dad asked him "How do you feel?"
He replied "It was wonderful, Everyone was clapping for me!"

Now that's what is called Positive Attitude

Global warming - When you don't know shit

2010-05-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

A Congressman was seated next to a little girl on the airplane leaving from Dallas when the he turned to her and said, 'Let's talk. I've heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.'

The little girl, who had just opened her book, closed it slowly and said to the total stranger, 'What would you like to talk about?'

'Oh, I don't know,' said the congressman. 'How about global warming or universal health care', and he smiles smugly.

OK, ' she said. 'Those could be interesting topics. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff - grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?'

The legislator, visibly surprised by the little girl's intelligence, thinks about it and says, 'Hmmm, I have no idea...'

To which the little girl replies, 'Do you really feel qualified to discuss global warming or universal health care when you don't know shit?

Source: Madhusudhan Srikkanth

To be a manager

2010-05-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

An Indian walks into a cafe with a shotgun in one hand and a bucket of
buffalo manure in the other. He says to the waiter, "Me want coffee".

The waiter says, "Sure chief, coming right up". He gets the Indian a
tall mug of coffee, and the Indian drinks it down in one gulp, picks
up the bucket of manure, throws it into the air, blasts it with the
shotgun, then just walks out.

The next morning the Indian returns. He has his shotgun in one hand
and a bucket of buffalo manure in the other. He walks up to the
counter and says to the waiter, "Me want coffee". The waiter says
"Whoa, Tonto. We're still cleaning up your mess from the last time you
were here. What the heck was that all about, anyway?"

The Indian smiles and proudly says, "Me in training for upper
management. Come in, drink coffee, shoot the shit, and disappear for
the rest of the day."

High praise indeed

2010-04-04T21:45:00.000-07:00

The best thing to say to an artist of any kind might be, "someday, people will think what you did is really important."
If it's popular with everyone right away, it might not be art, it might just be good marketing. But if it earns attention and respect over time, if it wins over the skeptical, then you've really created something.

- From Seth Godin's Blog

Take charge of your career destiny

2010-04-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

The funny thing about life is that you realise the value of something only when it begins to leave you. As my hair turned from black, to salt and pepper and finally salt without the pepper, I have begun to realise the enthusiasm and excitement of youth. At the same time, I have begun to truly appreciate some of the lessons I have learnt along the way. As you embark on your careers, I would like to share them with you. I am hoping that you will find them as useful as I have.

The world you are entering is in many ways very different now from what it was when I began my career. It was the late sixties and India still depended on other countries for something as basic as food. We aroused sympathy, not admiration whenever we went overseas. Recently, someone told me, that when visitors came to India then, they came to see what they could do for India. Now, they come to see what India can do for them. As a hopeful Indian, I look at our country as one which is rich in ethnic and cultural diversity and one that has an effective, secular democracy which will help us build an enduring society.

Lesson 1: Take charge
This was the first thought that came to me, when over four decades ago, I stepped into Wipro factory at Amalner. I was 21 and had spent the last few years in Stanford University Engineering School at California. Many people advised me to take up a nice, cushy job rather than face the challenges of running a hydrogenated oil business. Looking back, I am glad I decided to take charge instead. Essentially, leadership begins from within. It is a small voice that tells you where to go when you feel lost. If you believe in that voice, you believe in yourself. When it comes to choosing your careers, you have to take charge of your own destiny.

Lesson 2: Earn your happiness
The second lesson I have learnt is that a rupee earned is of far more value than five found. In fact, what is gifted or inherited follows the old rule of come easy, go easy. I guess we only know the value of what we have if we have struggled to earn it.

Lesson 3: Nothing succeeds like failure
The third lesson I have learnt is no one bats a hundred every time. Life has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning. But do not let it go to the head. The moment it does, you are already on your way to failure. And if you do encounter failure along the way, treat it as an equally natural phenomenon. The important thing is, when you lose, do not lose the lesson.

Lesson 4: Nothing fails like success
The fourth lesson I have learnt is the importance of humility. There is a thin line of difference between confidence and arrogance. Confident people are always open to learn. A recent survey of executives in Europe showed that the single most important quality needed for leadership success was the willingness to learn from any situation. Arrogance on the other hand stops learning. It comes with a feeling that one knows all that needs to be known and has done all that needs to be done.

Lesson 5: There has to be a better way
Partly as a corollary to what I have just said, we must remember that no matter how well we do something there has to be a better way! Excellence is not a destination but a journey. Creativity and innovation sometimes need inspiration from other disciplines. It is probably not a chance that Einstein's interest in music was as much as his interest in Physics. Bertrand Russell was as much a mathematician as a philosopher. Excellence and creativity go hand in hand.

Lesson 6: Respond, not react
There is a world of difference between the two and in terms of success and failure. The difference is that the mind comes in between responding and reacting. When we respond, we evaluate with a calm mind and do whatever is most appropriate. We are in control of our actions. When we react, we are still doing what the other person wants us to do.

Lesson 7: Remain physically active
It is easy to take health for granted when you are young. I have found that exercise not only improves the quality of time but also reduces the time you need for sleep. The truth is that stress will only increase in a global world. You must have your own mechanism to deal with it.

Lesson 8: Never compromise on your core values
Mahatma Gandhiji often said that you must open the windows of your mind, but you must not be swept off your feet by the breeze. One must define what you stand for. This is not difficult. But values lie, not in the words used to describe them, as much as in the simple acts. And that is the hard part. Like someone said, "I could not hear what you said because what you did was coming out far too loud".

Lesson 9: Play to win
Playing to win brings out the best in us and in our teams. It brings out the desire to stretch, to achieve that which seems beyond our grasp. However, it is not about winning at any cost. It is not about winning every time. It is not about winning at the expense of others. It is about innovating all the time. It is a continuous endeavour to do better than last time.

Lesson 10: Give back to society
All of us have a collective social responsibility towards doing our bit to address them. Of all the challenges, the key to me is education. We have a paradoxical situation, where on the one hand we have jobs chasing scarce talent and on the other, rampant unemployment and poverty. The only way to bridge these two ends of the pole is by providing quality education that is accessible by all.

- Azim Premji , Founder- Wipro, at IIT Delhi's convocation ceremony.

Life Handbook

2010-03-18T22:52:00.001-07:00

Health :
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours..
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree....

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything..
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

"WEAR SUNSCREEN !"

2010-03-02T00:42:00.000-08:00

If i could offer you only one tip for the future, "sunscreen" would be it.
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis, more reliable than my own meandering expericence. I will dispence this advice now !

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh !, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.But trust me, in 20 years, you will look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now, how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine. Don't worry about the future or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind. The kind that blindsides you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you. Sing. Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss. Don't waste your time on Jealousy.

Sometimes you are ahead ! Sometimes you are behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself. Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how ??????????

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements. Stretch . Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people i know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40 years olds i know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You will miss them when they are gone. May be you will marry, may be you won't. May be you will have children, may be you won't. Maybe you will divorce at 40. May be you will dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either.

Your choices are half chance (still people don't agree though, whoever denies, says it is 100 % and not half). So are everybody else's. Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. Its the greatest instrument you will ever own.

Dance ! Even if you have nowhere to do it but your own living room.Read the directions even if you don't follow them. Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Song.... "Brother and sister together we will make it through, Someday a spirit will take you and guide you there. I know that you have been hurting, but i have been waiting to be there for you and i will be there just helping you out, whenever i can ..."

Get to know your parents. You never know when they will be gone for good.Be nice to your sibilings. They are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go but with a precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.Live in "New York City" once,but leave before it makes you hard. Live in "Northern California" once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel !!!

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you will fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders !!!

Don't expect anyone else to support you. May be you have a trust fund. May be you will have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you are 40 it will look 85.Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.Advice is a form of Nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Song.... "Brother and sister together we will make it through, Someday a spirit will take you and guide you there. I know that you have been hurting, but i have been waiting to be there for you and i will be there just helping you out, whenever i can. Everybody's Free, Everybody's Free. KISS To feel Good !

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

Company Loyalty - True perspective

2010-02-04T22:24:00.000-08:00

Some, rather most organizations reject his CV today because he has changed jobs frequently (10 in 14 years). My friend, referred here as Mr. JH, does not mind it. well he does not need to mind it at all. Having worked full-time with 10 employer companies in just 14 years gives Mr. JH the relaxing edge that most of the company loyal employees are struggling for today. Today, Mr. JH too is laid off like some other 14-15 year experienced guys the difference being the latter have just worked in 2-3 organizations in the same number of years. Here are the excerpts of an interview with Mr. JH:

Q: Why have you changed 10 jobs in 14 years?
A: To get financially sound and stable before getting laid off the second time.
Q: So you knew you would be laid off in the year 2009?
A: Well I was laid off first in the year 2002 due to the first global economic slowdown. I had not got a full-time job before January 2003 when the economy started looking up; so I had struggled for almost a year without job and with compromises.
Q: Which number of job was that?
A: That was my third job.
Q: So from Jan 2003 to Jan 2009, in 6 years, you have changed 8 jobs to make the count as 10 jobs in 14 years?
A: I had no other option. In my first 8 years of professional life, I had worked only for 2 organizations thinking that jobs are deserved after lot of hard work and one should stay with an employer company to justify the saying Employer loyalty. But I was an idiot.
Q: Why do you say so?
A: My salary in the first 8 years went up only marginally. I could not save enough and also, I had thought that I had a Permanent job, so I need not worry about what will I do if I lose my job. I could never imagine losing a job because of economic slowdown and not because of my performance. That was January 2002.
Q: Can you brief on what happened between January 2003 and 2009.
A: Well, I had learnt my lessons of being company's loyal employee and not money earning and saving loyalty. But then you can save enough only when you earn enough. So I shifted my loyalty towards money making and saving I changed 8 jobs in 6 years assuring all my interviewers about my stability.
Q: So you lied to your interviewers; you had already planned to change the job for which you were being interviewed on a particular day?
A: Yes, you can change jobs only when the market is up and companies are hiring. You tell me can I get a job now because of the slowdown? No. So one should change jobs for higher salaries only when the market is up because that is the only time when companies hire and can afford the expected salaries.
Q: What have you gained by doing such things?
A: That's the question I was waiting for. In Jan 2003, I had a fixed salary (without variables) of say Rs. X p.a. In January 2009, my salary was 8X. So assuming my salary was Rs.3 lakh p.a. in Jan 2003, my last drawn salary in Jan 2009 was Rs.24 lakhs p.a. (without variable). I never bothered about variable as I had no intention to stay for 1 year and go through the appraisal process to wait for the company to give me a hike.
Q: So you decided on your own hike?
A: Yes, in 2003, I could see the slowdown coming again in future like it had happened in 2001-02. Though I was not sure by when the next slowdown would come, I was pretty sure I wanted a debt-free life before being laid off again. So I planned my hike targets on a yearly basis without waiting for the year to complete.
Q: So are you debt-free now?
A: Yes, I earned so much by virtue of job changes for money and spent so little that today I have a loan free 2 BR flat (1200 sq.. feet) plus a loan free big car without bothering about any EMIs. I am laid off too but I do not complain at all. If I have laid off companies for money, it is OK if a company lays me off because of lack of money.
Q: Who is complaining?
A: All those guys who are not getting a job to pay their EMIs off are complaining. They had made fun of me saying I am a job hopper and do not have any company loyalty. Now I ask them what they gained by their company loyalty; they too are laid off like me and pass comments to me why will you bother about us, you are already debt-free. They were still in the bracket of 12-14 lakhs p.a. when they were laid off.
Q: What is your advice to professionals?
A: Like "Narayan Murthy" (CEO, Infosys) had said 'love your job and not your company because you never know when your company will stop loving you'. In the same lines, love yourself and your family needs more than the company's needs. Companies can keep coming and going; family will always remain the same. Make money for yourself first and simultaneously make money for the company, not the other way around.
Q: What is your biggest pain point with companies?
A: When a company does well, its CEO will address the entire company saying, well done guys, it is YOUR company, keep up the hard work, I am with you. But when the slowdown happens and the company does not do so well, the same CEO will say, It is MY company and to save the company, I have to take tough decisions including asking people to go. So think about your financial stability first; when you get laid off, your kids will complain to you and not your boss.

The 90/10 Principle

2010-02-04T21:36:00.000-08:00

Author: Stephen Covey

Discover the 90/10 Principle: It will change your life. The 90/10 principle is incredible! Very few know and apply this principle. The Result? Millions of people are suffering undeserved stress, trials, problems, and heartache. They never seem to be a success in life. Bad days follow bad days. Terrible things seem to be constantly happening. Theirs is constant stress, lack of joy, and broken relationships. Worry consumes time, anger ruins friendships and life seems dreary and is not enjoyed to the fullest. Friends are lost. Life is a bore and often seems cruel. Does this describe you? If so, do not be discouraged. You can be different! Understand and apply the 90/10 principle. It will change your life!

What is this principle? 10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react. What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane may be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic. We have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other 90%! How? By your reaction. You cannot control a red light, but you can control your reaction. Don’t let people fool you; You can control how you react!

Let’s use an example. You’re eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just happened. What happens next will be determined by how you react. You curse. You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the coffee cup over. She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize them for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus. Your spouse must leave immediately for work. You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed zone.

After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60 (traffic fine) away, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs to the building without saying good-bye. After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase. Your day has started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse. You look forward to going home. When you arrive home, you find a small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter. Why? Because of how you reacted in the morning.

Why did you have a bad day?

A) Did the coffee cause it?

B) Did your daughter cause it?

C) Did the Policeman cause it?

D) Did you cause it?

The answer is D. You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day.

Here is what could have and should have happened. Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say, “It’s OK honey, you just need to be more careful next time.” Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs. After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase. You come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves. You and your spouse kiss before you both go to work. You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss comments on how good of a day you are having. Notice the difference. Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different. Why? Because of how you Reacted. You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% is determined by your reaction.

Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle. If someone says something negative about you, do not be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass. You do not have to let the negative comment affect you! React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out, etc.

How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic? Do you lose your temper? Pound the steering wheel? (A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off!) Do you curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket? Do you try and bump them? Who Cares if you arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin your drive. Remember the 90-10 principle, and do not worry about it!

You are told you lost your job. Why lose sleep or get irritated? It will work out. Use your “worrying” time and energy into finding another job.

The plane is late. It is going to mangle your schedule for the day. Why take out your frustration on the flight attendant? She has no control over what is going on. Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger, etc. Why get stressed out? It will just make things worse.

Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results.

10 Must Reads for Budding Entrepreneurs

2010-02-04T21:33:00.000-08:00

1.Good to Great (Jim Collins) – this book delves into some fundamental strengths that entrepreneurs need to seed into their business fairly early. Interestingly some of the companies listed in the book may no longer be called great, but I believe the principles stand the test of time.

2.The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)– some small things do become big. Every entrepreneur and startup would love to know how and why; Gladwell’s book offers a different perspective – from epidemics to better governance.

3.Losing My Virginity & Screw It, Let’s Do It (Richard Branson) – As an entrepreneur who went from selling records to creating one of the most diverse brands, Branson will certainly have something for everyone.

4. The High Performance Entrepreneur: Golden Rules for Success in Today's World (Subroto Bagchi)– if for nothing else, read it for the first chapter: “How Do I Know if I Am Ready”. Once you’ve gone through that, it is remarkably easy to go through the rest of the book, which offers guidance from Bagchi’s own deep experience as an entrepreneurial manager and as an entrepreneur.

5. Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid (CK Prahalad) – I came very late to this book, and am yet to complete it, but it is an excellent reference source for case studies of innovative and very large businesses being grown in markets that are typically treated as poor or low value.

6. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (Chip Heath, Dan Heath) – Inspired by the Tipping Point, the Heath brothers describe what it takes to get your ideas across, and make a lasting impact. A must for entrepreneurs looking for funding and to hire great people.

7. It Happened in India: The Story of Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Central and the Great Indian Consumer (Kishore Biyani) –there are too few books about or by Indian entrepreneurs, so this is one growth story in desi style that many startups would be able to relate to.

8. The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs And Executives Should Do Before Writing A Business Plan (John Mullins) – an someone who turned from corporate life to academics and further to being involved with entrepreneurs, Mullins provides a great framework to help the entrepreneur filter and refine his concept of the “next big thing” into a real business.

9. Venture Capital Funding: A Practical Guide to Raising Finance (Stephen Bloom field) – while written from a UK and European perspective, it is a valuable reference for anyone looking for external funding.

10. And last but not the least – pick your favourite philosopher or guide. No matter whether we are overtly spiritual or completely agnostic, there are times, many times in an entrepreneur’s life, when we need to step beyond the intellectual construct of business, look beyond plans and strategies, and next year’s targets.

Chat with God

2010-02-04T18:33:00.001-08:00

God: Hello... Did you call me?
Me: Called you? No.. who is this?
God: This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will chat.
Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am in the midst of something..
God: What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.

Me: Don't know. But I cant find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.

God: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.

Me: I understand. But I still cant figure it out. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.
God: Well I wanted to resolve your fight for time, by giving you some clarity. In this net era, I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with.

Me: Tell me, why has life become complicated now?
God: Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.

Me: why are we then constantly unhappy?
God: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has become your habit. That's
why you are not happy.

Me: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?
God: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.

Me: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty..
God: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.

Me: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?
God: Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don't suffer. With that
experience their life becomes better not bitter.

Me: You mean to say such experience is useful?
God: Yes. In every terms, Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.

Me: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can't we be free from problems?
God: Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons (to) Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.

Me: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we are heading..
God: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.

Me: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction. What should I do?
God: Success is a measure as decided by others. Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you.Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you
rode ahead. You work with the compass. Let others work with the clock.

Me: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?
God: Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.

Me: What surprises you about people?
God: when they suffer they ask, "why me?" When they prosper, they never ask "Why me". Everyone wishes to have truth on their side, but few want
to be on the side of the truth.

Me: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here. I can't get the answer.
God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery but a process of creation.

Me: How can I get the best out of life?
God: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.

Me: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered.
God: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.

Me: Thank you for this wonderful chat. I am so happy to start the New Day with a new sense of inspiration.
God: Well. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don't believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve, not a problem to resolve.

10 Secrets of Breakthrough Companies

2009-11-04T00:51:00.000-08:00

1. The sexiest businesses don't always win.
In fact, the most interesting companies often don't operate in the markets that Wall Street and the business press consider interesting or "cool." Many of the breakthrough companies began in market segments experts considered unattractive at the time. We certainly didn't expect to find a nuts-and-bolts distributor, a snowmobile maker, a payroll processor, or even a niche real estate business on our list of top performing growth companies. But we did.
2. It's not all about the entrepreneur.
They're the ones that grab the headlines, right? And in fact, in the earliest stages of development, the quality of the entrepreneurial team tends to swamp all the other variables in predicting firm success. But as soon as the business gets on its feet, the best entrepreneurial leaders are too smart to let the company make it "all about them." Breakthrough leaders understand that no one wants to serve a king. These leaders work hard to put the company's vision -- and not their own personality -- at the center of things.
3. Entrepreneurs aren't always risk takers.
Over a five-year period, we administered a psychological inventory to more than 4,000 entrepreneurial leaders. We discovered that contrary to conventional wisdom, entrepreneurs are actually distributed evenly across the risk-taking spectrum. Even more important, there is evidence that as they achieve success, some entrepreneurs actually become more risk averse -- "playing tight" (as they say in poker) at the very time when they should be upping the ante.
4. Founders don't need to let go.
Conventional wisdom holds that entrepreneurial companies fail to reach their full potential because founders just won't "let go." So we were surprised to learn that in eight of nine top-performing companies in our study founders stayed deeply involved -- usually for decades. It turns out that, rather than letting go, founders and founding teams need to redefine their roles as the business grows.
5. You don't necessarily have to stick to your knitting.
Sticking to your knitting is fine, as long as your competitors stick to theirs as well. But competitors rarely behave the way you want them to. To achieve breakthrough performance, companies need to be constantly scanning the changing needs of the customer and developments in the industry so they can spot the most important opportunities to advance the business.
6. You don't need OPM (other people's money).
We've all heard the professional investor's pitch: "Sure you can grow your business on your own, but you can grow it faster with our money." So we were surprised by the fact that not one of the breakthrough companies were funded by venture capital in their start-up years -- not even several high-tech ventures (one company accepted venture money just before going public because the founder wanted some sharp VCs on his board, not because he needed the money). The right investor at the right time can be crucial, but outside money is far from a requirement.
7. It's not all about hiring the right people.
So much has been written about the importance of hiring the "right people" that we expected the top-performing Inc. 500 companies to have some really innovative techniques for attracting the best and the brightest in the industry. Instead, we found that these companies focus more on making the people already in the company productive through intense training and education. In the words of one breakthrough CEO, we have succeeded because we have built a place where ordinary people can do extraordinary things."

8. It doesn't matter where you went to school.

In our study of the top performing Inc. 500 companies over a 22-year period, we found that it's not about where (or even whether) you went to school. One company was run by a Ph.D in statistics and former college professor; another was run by a person who hit the bricks right out of high school.

9. You don't have to let the MBAs take over.

Many business people divide the world into two groups -- entrepreneurial firms and "professionally managed" firms. But reality is not that simple. Many small firms are very well managed -- though probably not in a way that most bureaucrats in giant companies would recognize. And in many big companies, it is easy for the "professional management" tail to start wagging the company dog. Companies large and small alike should strive to create an entrepreneurial enterprise that combines the quickness and customer focus of an entrepreneurial firm with the systems and processes of a more mature organization. MBAs are optional.

10. Strategy isn't just the job of the CEO.

The most successful companies recognize that strategy is a firm's "source code" -- the fundamental set of assumptions upon which everything else in the business is based. So they strive to get people throughout the organization thinking about and debating strategy. They nurture an environment that includes "insultants" -- people willing to take a full swing at the issues, even if it means questioning the fundamental assumptions upon which the firm is based.

Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh, Shares Top 10 eCommerce Lessons

2009-11-03T23:51:00.000-08:00

The e-commerce business is built upon repeat customers. Like most Web merchants in the early days of online, Zappos spend a fortune on high-profile ads to acquire customers. It’s since learned that it pays off to focus on repeat buyers.

Word-of-mouth really works online. Unfortunately, WOM can work against you as well as for you, as Zappos realized when customers would CC their friends on complaint e-mails to the merchant.

Don’t compete on price. Early on Zappos offered a $10 coupon to anyone who made a purchase. This worked wonders at increasing conversion rates, but did not attract loyal buyers. Once its competitors came out with $15 coupons these customers jumped ship.

Make sure your Website is 100% accurate. The company ran into trouble when it used to have the manufacturers drop-ship orders, because their inventory was often off and created backorders and unhappy customers. Even 99% is not good enough, Hsieh said, because that 1% out-of-stock rate can make a big difference” when doing significant volumes.

Centrally locate your distribution. Originally based in San Francisco, Zappos started out with a California distribution center. But it took too long for customers on the East Coast to get their order, Hsieh said. Now headquartered in Las Vegas, Zappos fulfills out of a DC in Kentucky.

Customer service is an investment, not an expense. The goal is to create lifelong relationships with customers, Hsieh said. That’s why Zappos doesn’t measure call times; it’s also why the merchant will even refer customers to a competitor when it’s out of an item. Sounds risky, “but when they need another pair of shoes, they’ll go to Zappos,” he said.

Start small, stay focused. You’re never going to get a situation exactly right, Hsieh noted; “lots of weird little things will come up.” When Zappos made the move from shoes to selling apparel as well, “we didn’t promote it heavily—we’re slowly learning over time how customers by clothing online.”

Don’t be secretive. Don’t worry about competitors. “We believe in sharing as much information as possible with vendors,” Hsieh said, including reposts on sales, inventory, and profitability. “There’s a benefit to having 1,200 pairs of eyes looking at our business trying to help it grow” What’s more, “we don’t worry too much about what our competitors are doing—it takes the focus off our customers.”

You need to actively manage your company culture. Hire people based on how they will fit into the culture, Hsieh said. Zappos is all about customer service, so employees need to understand that and be willing to do what it takes to provide excellent service. “If you get the culture right, a lot of the other stuff will take care of itself,” he said.

Be wary of so-called experts, “including me,” Hsieh said. Zappos spent a lot of money on consultants in the beginning only to find that “we really should have trusted ourselves more.” Remember, he told the audience: “No one knows your customers better than you.”

16 Rules for Success in Business and Life in General

2009-10-31T21:49:00.000-07:00

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone.

I believe that not much happens of any significance when we're in our comfort zone. I hear people say, "But I'm concerned about security." My response to that is simple: "Security is for cadavers."

2. Never give up.

Almost nothing works the first time it's attempted. Just because what you're doing does not seem to be working, doesn't mean it won't work. It just means that it might not work the way you're doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn't have an opportunity.

3. When you're ready to quit, you're closer than you think.

There's an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed."

4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be.

Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of "undefined consequences." My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, "Well, Robert, if it doesn't work, they can't eat you."

5. Focus on what you want to have happen.

Remember that old saying, "As you think, so shall you be."

6. Take things a day at a time.

No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don't look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

7. Always be moving forward.

Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

8.Be quick to decide.

Remember what General George S. Patton said: "A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow."

9. Measure everything of significance.

I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate.

If you want to uncover problems you don't know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven't examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.

11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing.

When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.

12. Never let anybody push you around.

In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you're doing as anyone else, provided that what you're doing is legal.

13. Never expect life to be fair.

Life isn't fair. You make your own breaks. You'll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).

14. Solve your own problems.

You'll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you'll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: "You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others." There's also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently. It goes like this: "A wise man keeps his own counsel."

15. Don't take yourself too seriously.

Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck.

None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.

16. There's always a reason to smile.

Find it. After all, you're really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. More and more, I agree with my little brother.

He always reminds me: "We're not here for a long time, we're here for a good time!"

Science & God - An Interesting Conversation

2009-10-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty.

He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

Prof: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others

who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?

Student is silent.

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fellow. Is God good?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?

Student: No.

Prof: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From...God...

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student: Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?

Student does not answer.

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them?

Student has no answer.

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...

Have you ever seen God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.

Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes Faith. And that is the problem science has.

Now the student said can I ask something to you Professor.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.

Student : And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof: Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat.

But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that.

There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy.

Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light...

But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't.

If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?

Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God.

You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought.

It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to

be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it.

Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going

endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class is in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?

(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears

to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir.

With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive. .

This is a true story, want to know who the studeny was?

DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India.