Continued from last week.. My experience in blogging
My enterprise of writing a weekly blog has helped me enormously. Most importantly it taught me the meaning of the quote “If there is a will there is a way”
It has also taught me the discipline of thinking through issues and doing some research. Normally many thoughts and ideas drift through our mind. But when I sit down to consolidate my thoughts as a post, it helps me to focus and get a better hang on the related issues, it questions some of my assumptions and it forces me to take a position which I am not afraid to share.
Some of what I write are original. Some are new ways of presenting an idea or thought, some are sharing of experience and some are remixes of interesting stuff. The postings I like best are based on my experience. They also frustrate me the most, because it is quite an arduous task to remove the characters and the context to distil the learning. Nevertheless, it is fun. There are of course occasions when I long to reproduce the incidences and the context in ‘as is’ format, which would have been much more hilarious. But then my good senses prevail and I postpone them for my post retirement entertainment :-)
I realized that taking a position in public (not in front of a few people whom we know) is scary for many reasons.
(i) When I articulate my stand in a few written words, it may not succeed in communicating what I meant. (may be my failure in communication)
(ii) As I try layered writing which helps the reader find a meaning in their context, sometimes some people read a meaning that I never imagined. Especially some creative minds may work overtime in coming out with divergent interpretations
(iii) Sometimes the underlying meaning touch some sensitive heart (especially if is perceived to be rubbing them the wrong way) and could bring about a violent reaction. This is specially the case when I write about public policy or governance.
I have realized that these are the risks I should I accept if I decide to publish my thoughts. But I do believe that it is the right of every reader to interpret anything that he reads and to react or respond as he chooses. I cannot and should not complain..Like Voltaire remarked " I don't agree with what he says; but I will defend to death his right to say so"
Writing my blog has been an enriching experience because it improves my articulation, the feedback I get from smart people extends my horizon of learning, it gives me an idea of how different people react to the same stuff and most importantly it forces me to think.
After every posting I am filled with trepidation on how it is going to be received. How many people will read it and how many will like it. The tracker tells me that on an average there are 150 to 200 clicks for each of my posts which come from all over the world. Half the readers are from India and another quarter from US. I get readers from UK, Denmark, Korea, China, Australia, Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, Austria and so on. It really makes me feel good and encourages me to continue with my initiative.
Another great benefit of this venture is that it has helped me to be aware and familiar with the new options evolving in communication technologies and social media. I look at the new blog features, figure out new gadgets to be attached, experiment with social media and viral marketing options. It has also given me lots of new friends who are willing to share their ideas.
Some of my friends who have been reading my posts on a regular basis have been nudging me to consolidate all my blogs to a book. The idea excites me. Two things are holding me back. (i) I am scared (ii) I seem to have very little time to take up this project. But now I feel confident to take a public position again. This confidence arises from the partnership that has been promised by one of my old time friends Sankarankutty, who is well read, has a good writing style and has a sophisticated taste for artistic expression; complementing what I have and don't have.
As most things about life this too is a journey...
There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else. I don't care how great, how famous or successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for applause. - GEORGE MATTHEW ADAMS
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
100th Milestone- Part 1 - The Journey Begins
This is the 100th post in this blog. Therefore I decided to share my experience in blogging; how it started, how it progressed, the learning from this venture and how I hope it will proceed. I decided to post this as I got a feedback from many of my friends that they would like to attempt this and they are curious about how a lazy guy like me got around to doing it.
I had been nurturing for a while a dream of developing an ability to write some sensible stuff that others would find interesting and/or meaningful and eventually be acknowledged as a writer. But, I could never get around to sit down and write though there have been times when I felt that the ideas that flitted across my mind were worth sharing. I felt too lazy and gave excuses to myself why I could not find the time.
Any writer, beginner or an authority, would need an avenue to express his creation and share the same. In the good old days we were limited in this opportunity and only a few could find the avenue either in book publishing or in placing articles in any publications. It was practically impossible for an individual to share his written expressions to a wider audience without this support.
The World Wide Web and particularly the social media like blog have changed all this. This has given an ability to all of us to publish at practically no cost. So a couple of year’s back I decided that I would setup a blog. But I still would not get started. I convinced myself that this was because of my busy schedule. I had to find a way to ensure that this doesn’t end up being an abortive enthusiasm for a project that that I would not sustain. To put pressure on myself, I announced to the whole world (my friends, relatives, colleagues, acquaintances et al) that I would post at least one article every week. The fact that there were enough friends who used to loudly wonder (maybe to tease me) when I delayed a few days made sure that I lived up to my commitment.
The next challenge was to come up with an idea every week on which I could pen 500 to 700 words and put it out there for everybody to see; especially since many of my friends who read my blog were brilliant people who mostly gave an honest feedback on how they felt. This has also exposed me to the different tastes of different people. When a particular posting was liked very much by some people, others had a different opinion. Among all the feedback I get, the one that still scares me is the feedback from Dr. Indira Rajaraman, my teacher from my IIM days. She is still a teacher and gives her feedback within 24 hours after I post and would comment on content, style and even spelling. I feel proud whenever she has no correction to point out.
I got some caveats from my friends when I started this blog. (i) It will bare to the world my thinking and make me predictable. (ii) On account of the kind of work I do, I may offend somebody with what I write. (iii) If to avoid being controversial I don’t share my experience the stuff I write may get to be quite mundane. Therefore I decided on some ground rules.
(i) I will not write anything about the work I am doing. If there are any lessons from my experience that are worth sharing, I will remove the incident and people, distil the lesson and share in a layered format that will help the readers to understand the learning in their life's context. In many such attempts that I made on layered writing, I got feedback from variety of people on how they found it very relevant in their context
(ii) I will acknowledge contributions and ideas from others including the stuff I read. I won’t stoop to plagiarism.
(iii) I will try to be honest in what I write and I will avoid reference to a person except if he is public figure and there is something worth sharing about him.
To be continued....
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – Lao Tzu
I had been nurturing for a while a dream of developing an ability to write some sensible stuff that others would find interesting and/or meaningful and eventually be acknowledged as a writer. But, I could never get around to sit down and write though there have been times when I felt that the ideas that flitted across my mind were worth sharing. I felt too lazy and gave excuses to myself why I could not find the time.
Any writer, beginner or an authority, would need an avenue to express his creation and share the same. In the good old days we were limited in this opportunity and only a few could find the avenue either in book publishing or in placing articles in any publications. It was practically impossible for an individual to share his written expressions to a wider audience without this support.
The World Wide Web and particularly the social media like blog have changed all this. This has given an ability to all of us to publish at practically no cost. So a couple of year’s back I decided that I would setup a blog. But I still would not get started. I convinced myself that this was because of my busy schedule. I had to find a way to ensure that this doesn’t end up being an abortive enthusiasm for a project that that I would not sustain. To put pressure on myself, I announced to the whole world (my friends, relatives, colleagues, acquaintances et al) that I would post at least one article every week. The fact that there were enough friends who used to loudly wonder (maybe to tease me) when I delayed a few days made sure that I lived up to my commitment.
The next challenge was to come up with an idea every week on which I could pen 500 to 700 words and put it out there for everybody to see; especially since many of my friends who read my blog were brilliant people who mostly gave an honest feedback on how they felt. This has also exposed me to the different tastes of different people. When a particular posting was liked very much by some people, others had a different opinion. Among all the feedback I get, the one that still scares me is the feedback from Dr. Indira Rajaraman, my teacher from my IIM days. She is still a teacher and gives her feedback within 24 hours after I post and would comment on content, style and even spelling. I feel proud whenever she has no correction to point out.
I got some caveats from my friends when I started this blog. (i) It will bare to the world my thinking and make me predictable. (ii) On account of the kind of work I do, I may offend somebody with what I write. (iii) If to avoid being controversial I don’t share my experience the stuff I write may get to be quite mundane. Therefore I decided on some ground rules.
(i) I will not write anything about the work I am doing. If there are any lessons from my experience that are worth sharing, I will remove the incident and people, distil the lesson and share in a layered format that will help the readers to understand the learning in their life's context. In many such attempts that I made on layered writing, I got feedback from variety of people on how they found it very relevant in their context
(ii) I will acknowledge contributions and ideas from others including the stuff I read. I won’t stoop to plagiarism.
(iii) I will try to be honest in what I write and I will avoid reference to a person except if he is public figure and there is something worth sharing about him.
To be continued....
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – Lao Tzu
Monday, November 15, 2010
To be or not to be-Part V; Moral Choices
I knew a few drops of whisky could hit my senses and make my head go around. But recently I was, in a matter of few hours, exposed to two extremes of justice and morality and the experience was enough to make me dizzy.
It started with me spending some time with a person whom I describe as the Bhishma because of his stature, his acute sense of right and wrong, his confidence and willingness to stand up for what is right and his strategic acumen . We spent some time discussing about challenges we face if we decide to take positions which could rock the boat or force some change.
On the way back home from the meeting I was reading the book “The idea of justice” by Amartya Sen. The discussion with Bhishma still alive in my mind, I was able to better appreciate what he meant in his heavy and erudite style when he explains “It is fair to assume that Parisians would not have stormed the Bastille, Gandhi would not have challenged the empire on which the sun used not to set, Martin Luther King would not have fought white supremacy in ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave’, without their sense of manifest injustices that could be overcome. They were not trying to achieve a perfectly just world (even if there were any agreement on what that would be like), but they did want to remove clear injustices to the extent they could.”
The various facets of this thought were floating in my mind and I was trying to relate the same to the challenges that we face on our day-to-day life. I came back home and decided to relax a bit with some light humour and put on the old serial “Yes Minister” which portrays the blunt reality of the world; the world of political expediency, horse trading, empire building and corruption. Particularly, in the context of what I was discussing and reading during the day the contrast was striking.
“Being in a cabinet minister is a complex business Annie. So many conflicting considerations” Said Minister Hacker
“Like whether to do the right thing or the wrong thing?” Asked his wife Annie
“I must tell you about government. You must always try to do the right thing. But you must try never to get caught doing the right thing, because doing right is wrong.” Hacker continued.
“The thing about the government is principle. The thing about principle is you must never rock the boat. Because if you do all the little consciousness will fall out”
“You must always follow your conscience; but you must know where you are going. So you can’t follow your conscience; because it may not be going the way you are going.”
I could not stop laughing. I felt totally spaced out; sort of intoxication of mind. It reminded me of the conflicts we face between our intentions and compulsions, the challenges of wanting to do the right thing and the need to be ‘pragmatic’, the difference between profits and exploitation, being a responsible corporate citizen and maximising the shareholder value at any cost.
These are questions for which it is difficult to find the right answer. These are issues for which we have to make our own choices. The collective total of the choices each of us makes will determine where our society is going. But, if we wait for the other person to take the lead, it is going to be a long wait.The thought expressed by Immanuel Kant “Bringing reason to the world becomes the enterprise of morality rather than metaphysics, and the work as well as the hope of humanity” (quoted by Dr Amartya Sen in his book “The Idea of Justice) makes this point much more elegantly.
“Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian” Dennis Wholey
It started with me spending some time with a person whom I describe as the Bhishma because of his stature, his acute sense of right and wrong, his confidence and willingness to stand up for what is right and his strategic acumen . We spent some time discussing about challenges we face if we decide to take positions which could rock the boat or force some change.
On the way back home from the meeting I was reading the book “The idea of justice” by Amartya Sen. The discussion with Bhishma still alive in my mind, I was able to better appreciate what he meant in his heavy and erudite style when he explains “It is fair to assume that Parisians would not have stormed the Bastille, Gandhi would not have challenged the empire on which the sun used not to set, Martin Luther King would not have fought white supremacy in ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave’, without their sense of manifest injustices that could be overcome. They were not trying to achieve a perfectly just world (even if there were any agreement on what that would be like), but they did want to remove clear injustices to the extent they could.”
The various facets of this thought were floating in my mind and I was trying to relate the same to the challenges that we face on our day-to-day life. I came back home and decided to relax a bit with some light humour and put on the old serial “Yes Minister” which portrays the blunt reality of the world; the world of political expediency, horse trading, empire building and corruption. Particularly, in the context of what I was discussing and reading during the day the contrast was striking.
“Being in a cabinet minister is a complex business Annie. So many conflicting considerations” Said Minister Hacker
“Like whether to do the right thing or the wrong thing?” Asked his wife Annie
“I must tell you about government. You must always try to do the right thing. But you must try never to get caught doing the right thing, because doing right is wrong.” Hacker continued.
“The thing about the government is principle. The thing about principle is you must never rock the boat. Because if you do all the little consciousness will fall out”
“You must always follow your conscience; but you must know where you are going. So you can’t follow your conscience; because it may not be going the way you are going.”
I could not stop laughing. I felt totally spaced out; sort of intoxication of mind. It reminded me of the conflicts we face between our intentions and compulsions, the challenges of wanting to do the right thing and the need to be ‘pragmatic’, the difference between profits and exploitation, being a responsible corporate citizen and maximising the shareholder value at any cost.
These are questions for which it is difficult to find the right answer. These are issues for which we have to make our own choices. The collective total of the choices each of us makes will determine where our society is going. But, if we wait for the other person to take the lead, it is going to be a long wait.The thought expressed by Immanuel Kant “Bringing reason to the world becomes the enterprise of morality rather than metaphysics, and the work as well as the hope of humanity” (quoted by Dr Amartya Sen in his book “The Idea of Justice) makes this point much more elegantly.
“Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian” Dennis Wholey
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Soul for Sale
Last week I had a chance to spend few hours with an elderly gentleman and his wife. He is more than 70, still tall and handsome with an extremely winsome smile and an unending repertoire of jokes that he could crack at opportune moments. His wife who is above 60 is full of charm that made it abundantly clear that age can never quite conquer her spirit.
I was able to nudge him into telling his story which turned out to be so captivating that I even forgot to refill my glass.
“I have been always a lucky man” he started off.
“Being the youngest in a big family I enjoyed lot of love and affection and I learned to cherish and value them at a young age though it broke the bread to smaller helpings”
“My father was not a rich man, but with his powerful personality he was able to imbibe in me a strong sense of right and wrong and compassion for fellow living beings”
“When I finished my graduation, I came over to this big city of Mumbai in search of a job. After I finished my interview and was walking along, I saw the board of this professional institution and I decided to walk-in and enquire”
“As luck would have it, the guy whom I started to talk was from my native state and he explained to me everything about how to apply for an admission.”
“I tried hard and got myself an admission; the only problem was how to fund my studies.”
“But I was lucky to get some part time job that I could do before I went to school and after I finished my school”
“Then I started my practice and I realised that one of the key essentials for making lots of money was the skill to fix deals with the various approving authorities”
“I had decided in my life that I will never pay a single penny as bribe even to a policeman on the street”
“For me success was not making lots of money; but making sufficient money and a having a sound sleep”
“I did not have too many needs and I had a wonderful wife who was totally undemanding and utterly dependable”
He looked at his wife and the smile they exchanged had the same intensity of affection that one would sometimes see in a newlywed couple.
“I got many assignments where I could perform without greasing palms”
“I was even an active member of Rotary and even it’s President. I might have been the only member who came for the meeting in a bus as I could not afford a car. I did not find it any demeaning and my many of my fellow members were willing to accept me for what I am worth as a human being”
“When I got two adorable children, my wife left the job she had, to give them a home though the budget did get tighter”
“I have always been quite lucky. Couple of weeks back, with no apparent reason I went for a medical check up and was diagnosed with cancer. It is one of the least harmful varieties and it appears that it is in quite an early stage”
I have narrated only excerpts of his story. I realised that he was not particularly lucky or unlucky. There was nothing unusual or extraordinary about his story. It is just that he was clear in his mind about his priorities, what he considered as success and the price he was willing to pay. He had the usual mix of sorrow and happiness, moments of stress and moments of exhilaration that all of us experience. What made the difference was the equanimity with which he took it all. Looking for the brighter side to be content and lighter side to laugh, looking for opportunities to extend a helping hand. I think this richness of spirit that ran through his life was what made it a spellbinding story; more exciting than the dizzying heights of prominence his son has achieved!
Take a look at the madness that goes around. The definitions of success, lies we are willing to perpetuate and the games we play; Aadarsh housing society, Common Wealth Games, financial skulduggery of our bankers, weapons of mass destruction, unending conflicts at Palestine, WorldCom, Enron, Anderson and Satyam, 9-11, 26-11 the list goes on. We have no qualms in selling our souls for 30 pieces of silver.
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? Bible
I was able to nudge him into telling his story which turned out to be so captivating that I even forgot to refill my glass.
“I have been always a lucky man” he started off.
“Being the youngest in a big family I enjoyed lot of love and affection and I learned to cherish and value them at a young age though it broke the bread to smaller helpings”
“My father was not a rich man, but with his powerful personality he was able to imbibe in me a strong sense of right and wrong and compassion for fellow living beings”
“When I finished my graduation, I came over to this big city of Mumbai in search of a job. After I finished my interview and was walking along, I saw the board of this professional institution and I decided to walk-in and enquire”
“As luck would have it, the guy whom I started to talk was from my native state and he explained to me everything about how to apply for an admission.”
“I tried hard and got myself an admission; the only problem was how to fund my studies.”
“But I was lucky to get some part time job that I could do before I went to school and after I finished my school”
“Then I started my practice and I realised that one of the key essentials for making lots of money was the skill to fix deals with the various approving authorities”
“I had decided in my life that I will never pay a single penny as bribe even to a policeman on the street”
“For me success was not making lots of money; but making sufficient money and a having a sound sleep”
“I did not have too many needs and I had a wonderful wife who was totally undemanding and utterly dependable”
He looked at his wife and the smile they exchanged had the same intensity of affection that one would sometimes see in a newlywed couple.
“I got many assignments where I could perform without greasing palms”
“I was even an active member of Rotary and even it’s President. I might have been the only member who came for the meeting in a bus as I could not afford a car. I did not find it any demeaning and my many of my fellow members were willing to accept me for what I am worth as a human being”
“When I got two adorable children, my wife left the job she had, to give them a home though the budget did get tighter”
“I have always been quite lucky. Couple of weeks back, with no apparent reason I went for a medical check up and was diagnosed with cancer. It is one of the least harmful varieties and it appears that it is in quite an early stage”
I have narrated only excerpts of his story. I realised that he was not particularly lucky or unlucky. There was nothing unusual or extraordinary about his story. It is just that he was clear in his mind about his priorities, what he considered as success and the price he was willing to pay. He had the usual mix of sorrow and happiness, moments of stress and moments of exhilaration that all of us experience. What made the difference was the equanimity with which he took it all. Looking for the brighter side to be content and lighter side to laugh, looking for opportunities to extend a helping hand. I think this richness of spirit that ran through his life was what made it a spellbinding story; more exciting than the dizzying heights of prominence his son has achieved!
Take a look at the madness that goes around. The definitions of success, lies we are willing to perpetuate and the games we play; Aadarsh housing society, Common Wealth Games, financial skulduggery of our bankers, weapons of mass destruction, unending conflicts at Palestine, WorldCom, Enron, Anderson and Satyam, 9-11, 26-11 the list goes on. We have no qualms in selling our souls for 30 pieces of silver.
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? Bible
Monday, November 1, 2010
Quadrants of Success
I recently read a new book by R Gopalakrishnan. It is titled “When the Penny Drops: Learning, What’s Not Taught”. It is a very interesting book in which he shares many of his experiences and his insights of what makes a successful leader. I liked one particular framework he has presented in this book to understand the challenges for leaders. I have tried to use this framework to take a deeper look into managing uncertainty which I had discussed in my earlier postings “Scaling Up, The Art of the Impossible” Part1 and Part II
As can be seen from the diagram, a four quadrant matrix is used to understand the challenges in managing uncertainty. These quadrants are defined on the basis of the ability to identify problems and solve them. One axis is the level of uncertainty relating to problems and the other axis is the level or uncertainty relating to solutions.
In our early stages of career we are normally in the first quadrant. In this quadrant, the necessary ingredient for success is a good repository of knowledge, skills, techniques and tools; i.e. domain knowledge, standard operating procedures, standards, tricks, tips and tools. What we need is to dance as per specific tune; we should know the steps and we should know the tune. In this level, the level of uncertainty is quite low.
From there we graduate to the second quadrant. In this quadrant we graduate to the next level of uncertainty. We strengthen our problem solving skills and we develop an aptitude and skill to undertake root cause analysis. Once we are able to identify the problem, we apply the appropriate tools to solve them. The requirements at this stage are analytical skills and deductive capability. We figure out what type of dance the crowd like and then we perform the same.
From here we move to the third quadrant. At this stage we are move to the realm of pushing the envelope of knowledge. We take up assignments wherein we need to figure out solutions for problems which have been haunting us for a long time. We should have deep inquisitiveness and enjoy innovation. Learn to handle the frustrations of experimentations, learn to persist on a path and learn to discard an idea on which we have invested heavily when it has hit a dead end. We conceive and develop a new dance style.
The Ultimate Challenge is in the fourth quadrant; the quadrant of a leader. Here as a starting point we need to have a vision, a dream of where we are trying to go. The daring to “where no man has ever gone before” as Capt Kirk would say. The problems are unknown and the solutions are not there. It is a embarking on a search with reasonable clarity of the shape of the dream. A big picture idea of the geography of the space we are operating. We have to try to solve an array of possible problems that we need to address. We need to learn to get things done from people on whom we have no control or direct influence. Here we don’t know who our audience is going to be and we don’t know what kind of dance they may like. (For some tips and tricks on this read on Hitchhiker’s guide to Corporate Galaxy Part 1 and Part 2 )
The famous serenity prayer describes the strengths we need at the second, third and fourth quadrant brilliantly. In the second quadrant of uncertainty we need to have “serenity to understand the things that we cannot change”, in the third quadrant we need the “courage to change the things we can” and in the fourth quadrant we need the “wisdom to know the difference”
In any organisations we need people in each quadrant and we need processes to address the needs of each quadrant. We also need skills to identify the growth path for each employee that will address his skill and comfort for a quadrant. Some may never move out of the first quadrant and only few can ever perform in the fourth quadrant. We need to have appropriate transition strategies across quadrants including when to anchor person in a quadrant.
For any organisation to sustain and grow it will have to have at its helm few people who are comfortable and capable to be in the fourth quadrant. One of the primary reasons for organisations decay is their failure to have such leaders.
“You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?'” George Bernard Shaw
As can be seen from the diagram, a four quadrant matrix is used to understand the challenges in managing uncertainty. These quadrants are defined on the basis of the ability to identify problems and solve them. One axis is the level of uncertainty relating to problems and the other axis is the level or uncertainty relating to solutions.
From there we graduate to the second quadrant. In this quadrant we graduate to the next level of uncertainty. We strengthen our problem solving skills and we develop an aptitude and skill to undertake root cause analysis. Once we are able to identify the problem, we apply the appropriate tools to solve them. The requirements at this stage are analytical skills and deductive capability. We figure out what type of dance the crowd like and then we perform the same.
From here we move to the third quadrant. At this stage we are move to the realm of pushing the envelope of knowledge. We take up assignments wherein we need to figure out solutions for problems which have been haunting us for a long time. We should have deep inquisitiveness and enjoy innovation. Learn to handle the frustrations of experimentations, learn to persist on a path and learn to discard an idea on which we have invested heavily when it has hit a dead end. We conceive and develop a new dance style.
The Ultimate Challenge is in the fourth quadrant; the quadrant of a leader. Here as a starting point we need to have a vision, a dream of where we are trying to go. The daring to “where no man has ever gone before” as Capt Kirk would say. The problems are unknown and the solutions are not there. It is a embarking on a search with reasonable clarity of the shape of the dream. A big picture idea of the geography of the space we are operating. We have to try to solve an array of possible problems that we need to address. We need to learn to get things done from people on whom we have no control or direct influence. Here we don’t know who our audience is going to be and we don’t know what kind of dance they may like. (For some tips and tricks on this read on Hitchhiker’s guide to Corporate Galaxy Part 1 and Part 2 )
The famous serenity prayer describes the strengths we need at the second, third and fourth quadrant brilliantly. In the second quadrant of uncertainty we need to have “serenity to understand the things that we cannot change”, in the third quadrant we need the “courage to change the things we can” and in the fourth quadrant we need the “wisdom to know the difference”
In any organisations we need people in each quadrant and we need processes to address the needs of each quadrant. We also need skills to identify the growth path for each employee that will address his skill and comfort for a quadrant. Some may never move out of the first quadrant and only few can ever perform in the fourth quadrant. We need to have appropriate transition strategies across quadrants including when to anchor person in a quadrant.
For any organisation to sustain and grow it will have to have at its helm few people who are comfortable and capable to be in the fourth quadrant. One of the primary reasons for organisations decay is their failure to have such leaders.
“You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?'” George Bernard Shaw
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