TheElephantCatchers By Subroto Bagchi - A Book Review

Usually I rate a book by the number of dog ears I create while reading the book whenever I find something interesting. In that sense this has been the most "abused" book where there has been way too many dog ears throughout the book. This book was recommended by the book keeper in Chennai Airport while I was surfing through the rack. He just said "This is the latest from Mr. Bagchi Sir". Am still wondering why I bought into that sales pitch - but thankfully so.

In the corporate world I've always wondered how organizations transform themselves many times bigger than what they started with. Not sure if there are any business degrees or courses which would teach this or one just learns by experience. Thanks to Mr. Bagchi I was able to get a sneak preview of some of his experiences of how MindTree grew to where it is right now. It was a rather bold move to share in public some of such experiences. Am sure there is a lot more yet to be revealed but in my mind this was just a good enough start for kids like me.

The premise of this book is about what he calls as "breakthrough growth". Not a gradual growth in single digit or the lower 2 digit %ages year on year but a transformational growth. After I got into sales and business development a little over a year ago I've always wondered if I was suitable for this job. Apparently I am a "farmer" rather than a "hunter", where this book describes a bit about both. Interestingly this book even talked about a scenario where organizations move a technical person into sales just because he/she was there. That was so me!! This book is far from theoretical. He has picked up examples that are so down to reality that one would see day in and out.

As usual I've taken a few excerpts from the book that I found to be worth mentioning here. 

Any organization may go through waves of difficulties every now and then. He gives and example of a Swamiji from Siddaganga Mutt where he says "Swamiji's most fundamental ally has been his sense of purpose.... That purpose is so powerful that it permeates everything; it is the force that binds everyone in the Mutt and creates alignment".

Talking about growth and strategy - he says "You don't need to think of strategy if incremental growth makes you happy." I've always wondered what happens in the so called "strategy" sessions and even contributed to some to some extent. I was never convinced myself totally on what I've given so far. This book literally shattered those ideas. He says "Great strategy is not about a pie chart sliced and diced to infinity, then multiplied with a radar graph and divided to death by a 3D histogram. Great strategy is simplicity that even the doorman can understand."

He clearly brings a difference in the type of (sales) people you need to have for growth. He uses an analogy of catching rabbits vs elephants. "Unlike an operation to catch rabbits, trapping an elephant calls for expertise over enthusiasm..... You catch a rabbit to eat its meat. It has consumptive value but no regenerative value. You don't catch the elephant to eat it; once caught and tamed, it is meant to be an economic resource. While the rewards are great, the risks are very personal, and a failed enterprise can bring grievous injury and may even prove fatal." I often think I've been a rabbit catcher and hope to become an elephant catcher sometime soon.

For a "village" to transform to a "city" he says "The social contract that laid the foundation of the village will have to be replaced with one for a city. It is time to step back and rethink the purpose of the organization, and be ready to remodel its structure and functioning".

Coming from a medium sized organization one of my common / every day questions is - "How do I breakthrough with a prospect who is already entrenched by other biggies in the industry?".  This book has a few tips for that as well. For eg., "look for what you may have in common with the customer beyond your expected capabilities and use it to create the connect".

Now this is where it came very close to home (literally) - "Just as you need to encourage good salespeople to continue to sell rather than become supervisors, you also need to watch out against creating accidental account managers. This happen when, for instance, a successful delivery guy in a software company, or a creative person in an ad agency, is put in charge of a particular account because he delivers well and has developed a relationship of trust with a client". Not sure if I would've got this job if my boss had read this book. ;-) Am still around....so probably it's not too bad. Am sure there is a loong way to go.

A great insight has been about outlining qualitative strategies. "What is the overall competitive objective? What will I sell, to whom and why? Who will I not sell to and what ill I not sell?" Questions like these are very real and one needs to have a reasonable idea about them.

One of the general perceptions of Indian IT services companies is that we are "glorified body shoppers". He says "If the customer directly engages with out people, while we as a company remain pure intermediaries how would we build employee loyalty?". A very serious question indeed and especially when it comes to having your team Onsite. Employees tend to have more affinity towards the customers than their own organizations.

This book moves on to talk about how even a board should be selected. Things that one does not necessarily think about in the middle-management or front line leadership level. He says "It is one thing to have a stellar board; it is quite another to use it effectively. The latter requires the capacity to seek and receive counsel.... Above all, it requires intellectual honesty".

Every now and then organizations deploy "consultants" to review the strategy and performance. He says "you will invariably get all you need from the consultant in the first six months of engagement. After that, whoever they may be, they are simply repeating themselves".

In terms of intellectual transformation one of the key things that moves one from a "glorified body shopper" to a consulting / services company is the value we bring to the table. He says "In large IT deals the client requires its associate companies to go beyond being "order takes" to becoming "order makers". They can no longer wait for the client to ask them to do something. Instead, they must imagine a solution, take the idea to the client, think through the implementation issues ad lead the way." This was something I felt personally and also received as feedback from one of my customers.

Normally business books don't talk about firing people unless it is a complete HR related theme. Mr Bagchi brings that up as something an organization should be skilled at as well. He says "Fire with reason, fire as the thought-through last resort, fire if you must, fire with fairness, take expert help, be reasonable, keep in mind the indignity of the person being fired may suffer in such a situation and be cognizant of the material difficulty the person may have to face".

One key message to the organization's leaders here - "Often, employees have no idea about the thoughts and points of action engaging the leader between the statement of objectives in the beginning of the year and an analysis of the quarter-end results. Transparency is key. It is important for a leader to regularly publish what is on his / her mind to the entire set of next-level employees."

Finally he wraps up the book with what happens during adversity. He says "Despite good intent, top management openness, support for an individual's career development and the overall growth momentum of the organization, not everything will work out the way you want. Don't get disheartened; a certain amount of failure, anguish, alienation and disappointment are rites of passage that every growing company must encounter..... If the existential question looms large and self-doubt takes over, remind yourself of the larger purpose and tell yourself that pain is inevitable but suffering is optional". When things go out of control - "When extraordinary events overtake us it is time to do ordinary things extraordinarily well".

Happy Reading!!

C

Guangzhou & Shanghai - November 2013

So am back from yet another trip from China. Quite "adventurous" in my mind...but as Nandhitha says... what's the adventure...it's just China. :-) Guess one needs someone like that to be grounded.

It was a late morning day flight this time from Sydney. Didn't have to get up too early thankfully. However thanks to the peak hours had to take multiple deviations to avoid peak hour traffic to the airport. Now I know at least 3 different ways to get to the airport from home in case I get stuck somewhere. The flight to Guangzhou was quite fine. Had the entire row of 3 seats to myself so was able to stretch a bit after a couple of movies. Thanks to flight journeys get to watch some movies which I would'nt have bothered to watch otherwise or watch Casino Royale for the nth time. 

Reached Guangzhou at around 5 PM hoping that at this time I would not be approached by the Taxi Touts (TTs). But no...they were hanging around this time as well apart from the legal taxi queue. Only this time they asked for USD 100 for a trip which costs slightly less than USD 20. I had a hearty laugh (they joined along as well) and joined the queue. Guangzhou was quite busy this time with packed activities to be achieved as we were getting close to some timelines. Just as I was exiting my office to catch the flight to Shanghai I was stopped by a police officer who did a "random check" to see if I was working there illegally. After about 10-15 minutes of interrogation (thankfully with a translator around) he let me go.

Reached Shanghai on Wednesday night - same Taxi story there as well. Only that this time the touts were more "professional looking" (with suit, tie and a badge) and even had a booth inside the airport. They were marketing a RMB 400 limousine for a RMB 60 trip. Stayed in a Howard Johnson - not the best of the location or amenities, but the room was huge. Essentially like a single bedroom apartment suite except that the kitchen had no utensils.

Finished my formal meeting with a prospect at about 5 PM and we were supposed to meet again for dinner at around 8.30. In between this time the client recommended that I visit a "fake market" shopping complex nearby where I could get branded items at a much discounted price. I first hesitated not to go there but he assured me on the quality but that I had to look out for good ones. He also gave me a fair idea on a negotiation tactic - basically to look at the quality and decide upon a budget I am willing to spend on it (considering how much it would've costed in Australia). After about 30 minutes of roaming around I landed in one shop where I could get some stuff that I liked. The lady in the shop was kind enough to take me around to other shops where I could get women's and kids items. 

After dinner with the client went to the Bund with my camera and tripod and had a feast shooting the Shanghai skyline. I've been there last time with a mobile camera with no battery. Felt so miserable that time that I could not capture the view. Spent a good time experimenting with the lights. Watching me shoot a tourist gang (2 couples) approached me to take a photo of themselves and if I could email it to them. The ladies in the group offered the roses (which I presume their partners gave) which I had to refuse politely. ;-)

The next day I had some time in the morning for a bit of sight seeing. Not many options within the limited time I had as I also had a lunch appointment with my client before I could catch the flight back in the evening. Went to the Yu (or Yu Yuan) Garden. It is apparently a 400 year old garden which has gone through many changes. Met with my client for lunch in a Chinese restaurant (is that a rhetoric?). Obviously he was such a regular there (and a big shot as well). We got a private dining room (normally given for larger groups) and he just said I need a salad, fish and chicken. The knew what he wanted and brought some awesome dishes. 

Headed back to the hotel to collect my bags and proceeded to the airport. This is where the "adventure" begins. I used my mobile for the last time in the hotel to look at the itinerary. When I looked for it again after checking in - I did not have it on me. :-( I contacted the hotel and the taxi driver somehow but both of them declined seeing it. Am pretty sure it must've been in the taxi but did not have enough time to follow it through as I had a flight to catch. Ironically the flight from Shanghai got delayed by 2 hours which was exactly the time I had between the connecting flight in Guangzhou to Sydney. The flight was still in the air when I was supposed to be boarding my next flight. By the time I landed and got out of the aircraft an agent declared that we have missed that flight and had to take the next available one. The next flight was in the morning - it took a few hours for them to get our (there were a few others to Australia as well) hotel sorted out. It was quite an uncomfortable situation where I lost my mobile, my pre-paid mobile credits on my Chinese SIM got over (and I could not find a place to re-charge) and missed my connecting flight. However I suppose all is well that ends well. Reached Sydney on Saturday night with the rest of my luggage intact.

Photos available here here for your viewing.

So long folks...

Until next time...

C

Ni Hao from Guangzhou

Returned recently from my longest stint (5 days) in China @ Guangzhou. The longest duration where I got to play dumb for most of the time. Either in a taxi or restaurant - all I could do is point at stuff - no talking. Taxi drivers needed to see addresses in Chinese if I had to go some place. Thanks to smart phones I Google the location at my hotel and just show it to the driver - thankfully I didn't have to "draw" the address myself. The return journey is fairly simple - I show my room card which has the hotel address. The only trouble is if I had to make one another stop - well I didn't dare to. Upon seeing the address they usually confirm with a "OK OK" or "OK Lah" - which gives me assurance that I will be taken to the destination of choice. Now I figured where the "Lah" business in Singapore comes from - its from their Chinese counterparts. Restaurants - that's a longer story which I will share a little later below. 

Reached Guangzhou at 4 AM in the morning. Which happened to be the first flight of the day. We in fact opened up the immigration desks to let us out. If my opening paragraph gave you any idea how I had to deal with taxi drivers, my adventure began with having to haggle / negotiate taxi charges to the hotel. During reasonable business hours taxis operate on meter here. At 5 AM in the morning those rules went out the door. I vaguely remembered paying about 80 Yuan the last time and was able to bring it down from ¥200 to ¥ 120. Thought it was reasonable to give 1.5 fare for early in the morning.

Managed to get some sleep in the morning - not an easy job to start sleeping at 7 AM in the morning. Later in the evening went to the Pearl River promenade with the idea of getting on to a late evening river cruise. It was an hour long cruise which crossed a few bridges across the river. Had some good clicks of the Guangzhou skyline. "Work" began next day with a grand lunch organized by our Guangzhou center head with our client. It was a multi-course lunch where food in small portions that just kept coming. Had a chance to taste the famous Peking duck for the first time (maybe 2nd?). The whole duck was first presented to us for a visual treat and then the hostess takes it back to carve it out to different meals. The crispy skin and some meat was used as a filling in a pancake and then remaining meat was served in some sort of stir-fry.

Talking about eating and restaurants it definitely was an interesting experience the past five days. Had a chance to try the multicourse expensive restaurant meal all the way to a "kaiyendhi bhavan" style street food. In any restaurant where it is inside a building there is usually a menu with either food pictures or an English translation (however strange it may sound - like a "dancing buddha"). However with street food I had to point to the type of noodles, the meat (if I could think it was chicken) and egg. Needless to say - the taste was amazing. The worst experience I had was eating spaghetti with prawns in tomato sauce in a Chinese restaurant. I literally walked past a few Italian restaurants on that street thinking I should only eat Chinese while in China. I ended up at these seemingly 100% Chinese joint which had many many menu options. After a good read I ended up selecting "Spaghetti with shrimp" with a very sincere assumption that spaghetti was just a translation for regular noodles. My heart sank when I saw them (yes I had a seat with a good view of the kitchen) put a lump of boiled spaghetti in a bowl and topped it up with prawns in tomato sauce. 

The hotel that I stayed was adjacent the famous "Beijing Road Shopping District". A block of few pedestrian only streets with the colourful shops of various budget ranges. Whenever I walk there I seem to have the board "Tourist" written on top of my head with glowing neon lights. Every few steps the "imitation hawkers" approach me trying to convince me the benefits of a Rolex watch. You don't like watches its ok - handbags, perfumes - you name it they have it. Felt a bit annoyed at first but then got used to it. Apart from Chinese you get to see a lot of middle eastern and african people in China. In fact there were quite a few middle eastern restaurants as well. Of course there are a few Caucasian expats around but not many from the Indian sub continent. I did see a few but not as many as you would see in any other western country.  The time I visited there happened to be the time for the 114th trade fair / exhibition of some sort. The restaurants had the banners stating "ovation to the participants of the trade fair" - whatever that translates to Chinese - which I think means "Welcome to the participants...". I also learned that whenever they say "maybe" - it means they are pretty sure about it. :-) 

One unfortunate event happened during my stay there. A colleague of mine was assigned to accompany me on a local sight seeing / shopping trip. After about 10 minutes on the road he got a call from his mom that his father was in ICU. We immediately rushed to the hospital and then I continued on with another colleague. After a few hours that guy calls up this new colleague and checks whether I was doing fine and whether was able to do what I intended to do. I asked this new guy to call him back and enquire about his dad and got to know he had expired a few hours ago. I was shocked that a guy who's father had just expired checks in on me to ensure my sightseeing was happening as planned. Chinese hospitality at its heights!!!

Click here for a few photos.

So long folks. Until next time...

C

Incredible India - Part III (The Finale)

As they say, when it rains it pours. After a long hibernation 3 posts within a week - now that's a record. Here's the 3rd and concluding part of the Incredible India series. 

 

After all the exciting events left for Chennai on 11th night via the Chennai Express (ok to be precise - Salem - Chennai Express). Had a "bread omelette" for dinner (another tick in the box - eating bread omelette in train) and had a solid slumber until the train reached Egmore. Reached Adyar by auto - probably overpaid a bit but did not bother to haggle much at 4 AM in the morning. The next 2 days were quite relaxing at Mogamma's place. Did a visit to Vijaya hospital to see Ramappa. Brought back memories of my days in Vijaya Hospital trying to implement a patient information system using FoxPro (yes I have done some programming at some point in my life). 

 

The next day started early with Ayudha Pooja @ Thiruvengadam St followed by a morning show movie - Naiyyandi at S2 (ex Thyagaraja theatre). Naiyyandi in a word - torture. Happened to see Ranjhanaa on the flight back to Sydney and was interesting how the same actor could be made to look mature and dumb in different movies. Must give a hats off to Dhanush to be able to adapt so well. ;-) I realized early that morning that my luggage allowance was actually 30 kgs and I had only loaded 20. Did some shopping literally last minute at Nilgiris to make best use of the baggage allowance.

The check-in at the Singapore airlines counter was quite a breeze at the new International terminal in Chennai. Could be attributed to many reasons. The immigration officer looked at my Aussie passport and commented "First time entry aa?? - You should apply for an OCI so you dont need such multiple entry visas."  Point taken!! At the airport met with Chikappa's friend - a very "interesting" person. He saw me walking the floor a few times and reached out to introduce himself. He "found" me again in the flight and had a long chat including an air hostess. Was surprised that she could spare a good 30 minutes talking to one passenger.

The connecting flight to Sydney was quite quick. I had very little time and thankfully it was just a few gates away in the same terminal. Landed in Sydney at around 5.20 and caught the taxi at 6 PM. The quickest exit  I've had after an international flight. Immigration was so quick with the E-Pass system where I did not have to meet any immigration officer. Just another perk for an Aussie passport. The customs / quarantine didn't question much on the spices I loaded up the previous day just had to get the bags scanned. The cab driver happened to be a Singaporean who migrated here 29 years ago who chatted about the various gods and goddesses in Hindu mythology. I had to give him $2.50 in change finally for which he gladly accepted Rs 120 in Indian currency. A first of a kind I must admit.

Thus ends the Incredible India 2013 trip. It was hectic, refreshing and nostalgic. Wonder if there is any single word to describe these adjectives (maybe Incredible?). There were ticks in many boxes and of course a few that had to be missed. Especially meeting with friends. Hopefully next time...

It sounds formal - but thanks a lot to everybody who made this trip quite memorable for all the good reasons.

More from Guangzhou next week. Until then...

C

Incredible India - Part II (Main Events)

The main events started on Saturday 5th October with Narayana Murthy (a tradition followed in our family during the month of Purattasi). We are supposed get dressed up as "pandaram"s with naamam (white and red stripes on forehead) and garland to beg for rice from other houses and have that day's meal from the alms received. Used to be one of my favourite traditions back then. It was good to do that again and also a chance for the kids as well. 

 Later in the evening it was dressing up Nandha as Krishna event. Of course it was a nightmare to dress up Nandha. Thankfully we had his naamam done while he was sleeping. By this time we had a full house with grand kids (all 5 of them) at Salem. The girls were dressed up as Radha(s) - Radha 1, Radha 2 and Radha 3 as they called themselves and Sai was dressed up as Krishna. Kids had a blast dressing up and with the photo shoot.

Sunday 6th October was THE event of this trip - Nandha's Mottai (Mundan / head shave) at the Vanavasi temple. It used to be a nightmare even for a haircut for Nandha - so I was expecting a fair bit of drama for the mottai. We even tried to "drug" him a bit prior but it had absolutely no effect. It took about 6 adults to hold him tight to finish the task. Ear piercing was not that much of a challenge - thanks to some local anesthetic applied on the ears. All was well that ended well. 

On Monday the 7th we all set out to Yercaud on a 2 day trip. Until now Nandha has been showing his "prowess" within the closed walls of any house he visited. We were quite unprepared as to what to expect from him at Yercaud. He showed his cross country running skills chasing dogs all around the house. The stay at Nanjam was quite refreshing after a long time. Rummy sessions started right after lunch. Card games went on  without any age bar. We had the usual Yercaud town - Lake and back morning walk with Nandha on my shoulders 50% of the time. We went for a short trip to the horticultural gardens followed by a trip to Kaakambadi estate post lunch. We had a bit of adventure on the way back having to push an abandoned small lorry which was parked in a single lane road. Had a nice dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Salem valley. The best part of the dinner was the waiter offering to baby sit Nandha allowing us to eat in peace. Left back for Salem "early" in the morning the next day after a breakfast at Venkateshwara hotel. They still maintain the old charm except that we don't have to throw the plaintain leaves ourselves.

We managed to take the kids to our fields at Neikarapatti. Kids were amused by the "pattaasu kai" a seed that cracks on contact with water on its sharp end.

Thus ends the main events of our trip to India. 

So long folks. Have a great evening / night / day.

C

p.s.: Currently back in Sydney and living on Indian time zone.

p.p.s: Photos available at: Initial travels, Narayana Murthy & Mottai, Yercaud, Neikarapatti

Incredible India - Part 1 (Initial Travels)

"Incredible India" is one of the marketing campaigns that we see for Indian tourism in Sydney - probably active in other countries as well. It is interesting to see myself as a "tourist" in a place where I grew up. I suppose a few years away from home can make that difference.

Had a good short break in Singapore where the prime needs were met - family, sight seeing, shopping and of course hawker style food. A loaf of stale bread and a fish pond was all it took to keep the kids occupied. Travelling with Nandha comes with its own entertaining moments. He was quite engrossed with Tom and Jerry (mostly without ear phones) through most of the flight segments. However he had the need to stand up on the seat every time during take off and landing. Guess he wanted to enjoy the full effect. The current air travel regulations had to be enforced providing a bit of entertainment to fellow passengers.

First stop - Chennai catching up with family, friend and filling up ward robes. Had a road trip to Bangalore with a slightly (2 hours) delayed start than planned and reached Bangalore at around 3 PM for lunch. Since then our lunch timings changed to post 3 PM for the next 2 days (almost the rest of the trip). Managed to play some tennis and a quick trip to Anekal to visit our house. After a 2 day break in Bangalore left for Salem on the 29th morning. We had a quick stopover at Kaatu Aanjaneyar (Forest Anjaneyar/Hanuman) temple. It is supposedly a "powerful" temple granting many people their wishes. Each wish is secured with a coconut in a red bag and a unique identification number. I understand that once that wish is materialized you visit the temple again and break that coconut open (and probably file your next wish as well).

Salem was a short stop initially - just 2 days and headed off to Mettur. Managed to go on a movie (Raja Rani) date with Uma - thanks to her grand parents baby sitting the kids. After a day in Mettur had another quick road trip to Anekal. It was a quite refreshing trip with pleasant weather and the green fields along. Returned back to Salem on the 3rd Oct. Had dinner at Gandhi Rd with take away food from Parasakthi  - a small restaurant which tops my list of favourites in Salem. A huge tick in the box for my trip.

Will stop with this for now. More to come soon.

Until then...

C

The Great Indian Vacation - Day (-2)

So we are almost there - 2 more sleeps to go for the Great Indian Vacation after 3+ years. Little did we realize that we are now a different "category" of visitors to India. Am not talking about the new Aussie passports here - that is just a document. We are now called visitors of the type "VFR - Visiting Friends & Relatives". 

I have been travelling a bit this year to countries of different sanitation standards from Muscat to Manila, throw in a Guangzhou as well. Never bothered to do any precautionary / preventive vaccinations prior to my travel. This time being a vacation and also involving travelling with kids thought of taking some measures. Our GP - a lady from Sri Lankan origin gave us a nice long lecture. We apparently were supposed to see her 2 weeks prior to our trip. She was quite disappointed that we went just a few days before. One of the vaccines (for malaria) had to be taken 2 weeks prior to the trip. 

That is when we got to hear this term "VFR". Apparently there are different types of visitors - corporate travellers who stay in posh hotels and eat in posh restaurants. Normal Tourists who stay in decent hotels and eat from propah restaurants. And then comes the VFRs apparently the most riskiest as they are usually ex-locals going back to their families and friends. They supposedly tend to be more prone to catching a bug or two here there eating "carelessly".

There was a long list of can's and no-can's when it came to eating. What can I say - it felt "different". 

Parasakthi - here we come!!! (Incorrigible??) ;-)

C

The God Delusion - A Book Review

If I were to summarize this book in a sentence - A cleverly written book. The author obviously knows what he is talking about with all the painful (??) research he must've done over the years. So yes, this book is about Atheism and why the concept of God is a delusion as the title says.

When the book begins with a quote - "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having the believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?" it pretty much sums up the tone for the entire book. The book as such is a huge collection of quotes, passages and lectures from many people with a bit of commentary interlined by Mr. Dawkins. To know that such a book can actually become a bestseller - we must give it up for Dawkins. A clever man indeed. Inspite of being an Atheist book the word   God was written with the G instead of g throughout. Guess he couldn't break the rules of grammar? When did God influence grammar? Hmm... 

The basic premise of the book revolves around the differences between Darwinistic theory of evolution and the "biblistic" theory of creationism. He very clearly puts a reasonable boundary for his thoughts. He does not attack any and every representation of God. He limits himself to supernatural God and specifically about Abrahamic religions (Jewism, Christianity & Islam). Although he briefly touches upon other religions such as Hinduism, he does not consider Buddhism as a religion. He calls it a philosophy.

There is an interesting 7 scale categorization made to distinguish different levels of Theism and Atheism starting from someone who just does not believe but knows there is God and one who knows there is no God.

Rather than proving or disproving the concept of God this book brings out all the dirty linen of Christianity, Islam and Jewism articulated in a very succinct fashion that it would make one cringe to be called a Christian or Muslim or a Jew. It would make one wonder - is that  really what we are basing our beliefs on? Unfortunately (or fortunately?) there has been enough material for him to collect and paint A picture. This book delves a lot on articulating various stupid acts that has happened in history in the name of religion rather than proving anything one way or the other. Am sure there are enough acts of stupidity in the name of science, but that is not the topic of this book is it? :-)  

Towards the end he attempts to look at the "softer" parts of religion where it is supposed to be helping mankind. I don't think he had any strong argument to prove why religion cannot be helpful for consolation or inspiration.

Eventually the book ends with a scientific explanation for an illusionary world which was long captured in Hinduism as "Maya".

All in all an interesting read, a good collection of passages that support the theme, but does not seem to prove anything either way.

There were quite a few interesting quotes throughout the book. As always I've selected a few that interested me the most. 

Some people have views of God that are so broad and flexible that it is inevitable that they will find God wherever they look for him.

We have names for people who have many beliefs for which there is no rational justification. When their beliefs are extremely common we call them "religious"; otherwise they are likely to be called "mad", "psychotic", or "delusional".

Many of our human ailments, from lower back pain to hernias, prolapsed uteruses and our susceptibility to sinus infections, result directly from the fact that we now walk upright with a body that was shaped over hundreds of millions of years to walk on all fours. 

Predators seem beautifully designed to catch prey animals, while the prey animals seem equally beautifully designed to escape them. Whose side is God on?

Could irrational religion be a by-product of the irrationality mechanisms that we originally built into the brain by selection for falling in love? Certainly religious faith has something of the same character as falling in love (and both have many of the attributes of being high on an addictive drug).

Bernard Shaw - The fact that a believer (in God) is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.

At what age does any developing embryo, of any species become capable of suffering?

"Really", for an animal is whatever its brain needs it to be, in order to assist its survival. And because of different species live in such different worlds, there will be a troubling variety of "reallys".

I guess I come under a category somewhere between a "Deist" (who apparently believes in a supernatural intelligence, but one whose activities were confined to setting up the laws that govern the universe in the first place) and a Pantheist (where God is used as a non-supernatural synonym for Nature). 

Guess the bottom line is - Vaazhavae Maayam!! (Life is a Delusion!!) :-)

Cheers

C

What Got You Here Won't Get You There

This book has been by far the longest read book I've ever had. I think I started reading this about more than a year ago and for some reason kept ignoring it in spite of having it in my backpack every day. Among many other reasons Angry Birds was definitely one that kept me away from completing this book sooner. ;-) Finally made it a few weeks ago and eventually got time to write about it.

This is yet another book which reveals a few "aha" moments where you smack yourselves wondering why you didn't realize this earlier. The funny thing is, as I read the book I continue to make the same mistakes, but the realization happens more sooner than later. Should try harder I guess to avoid repeating the same in future. Let's see...

The premise of the book is simple - the very same traits that made you "successful" till now will pull you down to move ahead. Paradoxical is what I thought initially, but few pointers did bring out the "aha" or rather "oops".

Marshall talks about 20 basic flaws that leaders normally get into. By leaders we don't have to look at the executive level. Anybody who's had the responsibility for more than his / her own work is a leader in some sense - regardless of corporate designation.

1. Winning too much: The need to win at all costs and in all situations – when it matters, when it doesn't  and when it’s totally beside the point.
2. Adding too much value: The overwhelming desire to add our two cents to every discussion.
3. Passing judgement: The need to rate others and impose our standards on them.
4. Making destructive comments: The needless sarcasms and cutting remarks that we think make us sound sharp and witty.
5. Starting with “No,” “But,” or “However”: The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone, “ I’m right. You’re wrong.”
6. Telling the world how smart we are: The need to show people we’re smarter than they think we are.
7. Speaking when angry: Using emotional volatility as a management tool.
8. Negativity, or “Let me explain why that won’t work”: The need to share our negative thoughts even when we weren't asked.
9. Withholding information: The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.
10. Failing to give proper recognition: The inability to praise and reward.
11. Claiming credit that we don’t deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contribution to any success.
12. Making excuses: The need to reposition our annoying behaviour as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.
13. Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.
14. Playing favourites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.
15. Refusing to express regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we’re wrong, or recognize how our actions affect others.
16. Not listening: The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.
17. Failing to express gratitude: The most basic form of bad manners.
18. Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually only trying to help us.
19. Passing the buck: The need to blame everyone but ourselves.
20. An excessive need to be “me”: Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they’re who we are.

Thanks to this link I did not have to type all of the above. :-)

Of course not every concept hits you (hard) all the time. Highlighted below a few excerpts which made this book to be a "must read" for anybody (in my perception of course).

(Text in italics are picked from the book)

• Adding too much value - It is extremely difficult for successful people to listen to other people tell them something they already know without communicating somehow (a) "we already knew that" and (b) "we know a better way". You may have improved the content by 5% but you've reduced my commitment to executing it by 50% because you've taken away my ownership of the idea. Try to remember this next time you try to implement a change and you want to involve your team to be a part of the change.  
• Telling the world how smart we are - Being smart turns people on. Announcing how smart you are turns them off. All along I always believed in the principle of self-marketing. It looks like thin-ice after all. Gotta tread carefully.
• Let me explain why that wont work - "If you catch yourself frequently saying, "Let me tell you why that won't work", you know what needs fixing. Can't explain the pleasure of proving someone wrong. Especially if that is going to get yourselves in the limelight. What you lose by this is people approaching you for any positive critique of an idea.
• Making excuses - If we can stop excusing ourselves, we can get better at almost anything we choose. Such a profound statement. Very easy to fall into this pit and very convenient as well. Are you ready to take ownership and responsibility?
• An excessive need to be "me" - I behave this way, and I achieve results. Therefore, I must be achieving results because I behave this way. In other words its simple egotism. However this is one of the key concepts of this book. Just because you were successful because of a particular behaviour it is no free pass to repeat the same and expect a bigger success. Adaptation is key.
• People will do something  - including changing their behaviour - only if it can be demonstrated that doing so is in their own best interests as defined by their own values. People only change their ways when what they truly value is threatened. I've always wondered why people don't agree with me when the expected outcome is going to be valuable to them. The key here is "as defined by their own values". Have you attempted to understand what their values are?
• In the "can-do"  environment in an organization there is no system for honouring the avoidance of a bad decision or the cessation of a bad behaviour. Especially at this time of the year when the annual review happens, can we measure avoidance of stupidity as a key objective?
• When sharing information or emotion, we have to ask "is this appropriate and how much should I convey?". Sometimes we do this delibrately to get someone else into trouble. As in poker, the greatest trick is to know "when to fold" not go "All In" every time.
• It is a whole lot easier to see our problems in others than it is to see them in ourselves.Gives a whole new meaning to "a thief can catch a thief". It's so easy to be objective with others than ourselves.
• An apology gives you a sense of closure. Closure lets you move forward. The idea is to move on into the future and not let the past hold you back (emotional luggage).
• Feedforward - "Helping people be right is more productive than proving them wrong". This is a bit different to "feedback" that we are all used to. I think our performance review systems should be changed 180 deg. 
• Measurement - Everything is measurable if we're clever enough to see that it needs measuring - and can devise a way to track it. Gotta remember to use this whenever we need to talk about "metrics". Most often we prefer to stay in the dark being ignorant to the need to measure something.

So there you go... hope you had a moment or  2 of aha or oops. This book was gifted to me by some of my team members. Probably they wished I read and act on some of the lessons mentioned. Tough luck guys....it took a while for me to Get Here. Wishing you all the best to Get There!!

Happy Reading

C