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Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.comBlogger213125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-536566913165483882021-11-29T18:29:00.002+05:302021-11-29T18:30:28.152+05:30Loyalty Versus Performance<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgwiATXbUPlh-RBOwn7oKD6dV1BuGJJ8ztM3BPlWytMHJIO8rkqD33NNt3sQ41fg-LojN_8-czRl9zCk_aZoZo2XZFyqPaGFQI-BkNj2sRxheoi1qPHnJNKrTPlgpfY-AecUzLAt-h96z/s275/loyalty+1595729851857.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgwiATXbUPlh-RBOwn7oKD6dV1BuGJJ8ztM3BPlWytMHJIO8rkqD33NNt3sQ41fg-LojN_8-czRl9zCk_aZoZo2XZFyqPaGFQI-BkNj2sRxheoi1qPHnJNKrTPlgpfY-AecUzLAt-h96z/w400-h266/loyalty+1595729851857.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Loyalty Versus Performance</p><p>There is much dialogue that Indian organisations lean towards wishing both loyalty and performance.</p><p><br /></p><p>In this article I explore this deeper…</p><p><br /></p><p>I hold that loyalty is defined as a faithfulness to one's commitment or obligations. The 'Corporate speak' for this is often translated to anecdotes about employees, and include:</p><p><br /></p><p>Employees who are obedient, and serve long tenures (recipient of long service award!) and while he serves works long hours, is diligent, rushes back to organisation in case of an emergency , etc. (even on vacation, etc) prepared to put Company above all else, self and family included.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some of the corporates I have worked with value this quality deeply. Also, for some employees holding ‘life long employment’ is a source of pride – lifers!. Especially for Gen X folks who continue to espouse the philosophy of a 'one company' service. Many elderly folks still talk about a secure job - be it a PSU, or Government Sector. If it is the private sector, than more stable companies like, TISCO, ITC, etc</p><p><br /></p><p>In a recent interview commenting on lay-offs in the current pandemic, Ratan Tata queries Corporate ethics, “These are the people that have worked for you. These are the people who have served you all their careers. You send them out to live in the rain. Is that your definition of ethics when you treat your labour force that way?”</p><p><br /></p><p>Is continuity still relevant today?</p><p><br /></p><p>Is it better for both employer and employees to contract for a shorter period? Will an organisation gain more with employees on a shorter duration? Will an employee gain more if he moves across companies? Do we need to provide 'job security' as an employee value proposition? Is this what is core? Are today's Organization built to last? Do we want 'form' to last or 'purpose'? These are all very relevant questions of the day.</p><p><br /></p><p>One way of responding to these questions is from design thinking. At the heart of most matters, lies the principle of DESIGN. Design principles enunciates the timeless axiom : Form follows functionality. (ie Purpose). So let's enquire of ourselves, do we really (both organisations and employees) benefit from long stints with each other today?</p><p><br /></p><p>From an organisations side, the roles today especially in the service sector, need 'fresh youthful energetic blood' and inexpensive resources or do they? The very nature of some role does not provide for tenure over more than 2-4 years. For example, an air hostess or a Customer Service Advisor. Does it really help either to stay beyond the 4 years, in this role? Airlines need fresh blood, employees reach exhaustion / burn-out and beyond these roles, the upward mobility is restricted, (ground staff roles are fewer, and still need youngsters! and there are but a few team leader roles, even as the BPO industry starts to hold steady on costs). With the pyramid essentially flattening, and lack of opportunities the employee becomes a wage island (beyond the max job value - MJV), disengaged (on account of lack of opportunity) and either a hostage within or a strong internal dissident. To support this view, one has to just look at the engagement study data from each company, less than 25 % folks are fully engaged, advocate the organisation. So do we want employees to stay, because they have nowhere to go? Or do we want engaged employees? And even if we have engaged employees, can we really afford them in the system? Have they become to expensive, relative to fresh blood in the market. We know the optimum experience need to be an effective secretary is say, seven to ten years. So what is the business case for a secretary with 23 years of experience? In many organisations, such as consulting, the principle of 'Up or Out' is followed. Is there a way to handle these issues, perhaps with a freeze in salary beyond the maximum job pay value?</p><p><br /></p><p>Several decades ago, many were dependents on the ‘family bread earner’. Emerging out of 200 years of colonial rule, most jobs were clerical - the 'babus'. Few were in senior roles such as the ICS. Entrepreneurship was discouraged (few had access to licences and permits, and over production was a penalty even in the late 1980s). Supply was less than demand, prices of at premium. Oil companies distributed oil, not sold it! Bereft of competition, organisational designs were clear: establish the pyramid - Control and Command. Guerrilla warfare was not known then. Long tenure, silent subjugation, mentors and mentees and long careers were the recognisable order of the day. Are these forces similar today?</p><p><br /></p><p>Organisations they say are perfectly designed: they are the way they were created! More so, sustained. We deserve what we have. So do we still need to hang on to this design. Is the environment similar? Absolutely not. Tennyson famously said, "the old order must give way to the new, lest one custom should so corrupt the world".</p><p><br /></p><p>I argue, that in today's era, 'contribution matters, not just continuity. Contribution is the optimum application of intelligence to an issue when needed, in the correct context. We need contributors, single contributors even without them leading teams, team leaders, who only act as coordinators, not as leaders, and of course we also need leadership. We also need different kinds of talent at different stages. (See: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/right-talent-timed-relevant-organisation-phase-steve-correa/)</p><p><br /></p><p>We need to segment the organisation beyond the current segmentation: performers and potential. Rather, we should look at human capital as a sector of people who have common needs. For example, a 26 years old paying EMI on his house and car, is no different to a 46 year old paying college fees in USD for his children - both have cash flow needs. A woman returning after a hiatus of 8-10 years back in employment, no different to a MT - both want to prove themselves. It is when we look at organisations, not with our familiar microscopes but with a new darshana, we see more! Contribution is the new currency - it is what matters most and will always matter. Contribution has wings - it will fly to those who respect it most, who can use it. It is not possible to demand it, handcuff it, embed it - it can only be nurtured. If employees contribute, continuity does not matter. If continuity exists, but contribution is not there, the organisation is moribund. If contribution takes place and employees still continues, it is a Bonus! Today by the time people reach 40, they would change ten jobs, 25% of all jobs, will not have existed today. Already, the younger, are smarter, brighter, and more knowledgeable than they elders. I think it’s time to Wake up, and smell the coffee!</p><p><br /></p><p>The need is to change our thinking - how do we design organisations around shared purpose and shared values - rather than shared beliefs and common forms. to move from looking similar to feeling similar. We need to re-design the job purpose and role specs to engage with contribution, rather than continuity. Our organisational competencies required today is akin to white water rafting - no time for post mortem or long term plans, navigating the next 20 yards, energy and working with turbulence - which is the new normal. Contribution is about making a difference, that matters. In both contribution and continuity, loyalty exists! Time we re-defined the notions we hold about Loyalty.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is said, we only answer to the QUESTIONS we have asked. It is time, we ask a different set of questions. Perhaps we will come up with different answers. With Covid times amidst an even more urgent need to ask a different set of questions.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am sure you will have important perspectives to share – Please do comment.</p>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-28160789760550100532021-11-25T12:35:00.002+05:302021-11-25T12:35:22.200+05:30A morning Walk - at Coorg <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwGe9nvM0b-CTXSmGbFzPPvdz7zUaRn7R7L0OYzh9P7nlB-9emv43lxTJ8LEVNkCk0OetUxlCjSl_AeFctfRQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p>Past few months I have been walking daily, conscious that to remain healthy it is necessary. Touch wood, I have been consistent. I have done three things: </p><p>1 set smart goals (move, exercise, stand) </p><p>2 built routines to achieve the goals </p><p>3 wife and son gifted me an Apple Watch that allows me to track progress! </p><p>Feel quite tickled with the unsolicited but welcome encouraging messages and digital medals of achievement I have since totalled up. Who says we are not beggars for recognition. Good learning for me as well, given I am an Executive Coach! </p><p>Back to the video now. I could not help ruminating that this was not the first time I have found myself with my spouse on a short walk like this. What was the first time, is that I was present to the walk, in the here and now. Earlier, I would have been happy that I was taking a walk, but my fleeting mind would be elsewhere - lost in some past event, or think furiously about an upcoming event. </p><p>To be fair, back then, my mind was on hire to someone else - a salaried practitioner and with it came structure, commands and anxieties, some my own and others imported. Now, the time is my own and I am my own boss! This has dramatically impacted the way in which I have held achievement, recognition, influence, power and relationships. More importantly, it had changed the way, I which I wish to show up in the world. </p><p>Walking thru the woods, (along with a dog, Ginger who came along for a mile and the turned and went back) I reflected on the enormous abundance and beauty of nature. Everything, just is, living, alive, till it inevitably dies. Life and death go on unceasingly in the grand Leela of life. Trees grow, insects crawl, winds blow, flowers (African daises) fall on the path, slowly rot and fade into the soil. </p><p>Life has no Meaning, it just is. Everything in nature has a Rtha - a natural law. I wish I could grasp it more fully. How ironical, wishing for meaning, to something so significant. </p><p>I am left with one thought: it could be different. So very different, but the fact it is, right now, what it is, is significant. This very moment, in the way, nature has organised everything, with me, being in it, here, now, is a precious gift. A gift so unimaginable, so abundant in its offering, so loving on its embrace. To this moment, I am ever grateful, privileged. </p><p>As I write this, a chirping draws my attention someplace there. I pause look up and resolve to be here. So I gently end here. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-63580619006101608662021-09-20T08:39:00.000+05:302021-09-20T08:39:04.236+05:30You get what you negotiate.<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp2fXcku-vZr_osHWuDt7r93i5BDPZwWW2GG9JhjzaAcOJWtHFXlA1N6P79hGNy_FqydkZWmEE0e7WCJZb9EbExwwaRGa6eFTZeJXYZfgNKhyphenhyphenRgx7yhiLzWLCGY18DXQvEVopz7Eu13Poj/s230/you+get+1595647988396.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="230" height="609" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp2fXcku-vZr_osHWuDt7r93i5BDPZwWW2GG9JhjzaAcOJWtHFXlA1N6P79hGNy_FqydkZWmEE0e7WCJZb9EbExwwaRGa6eFTZeJXYZfgNKhyphenhyphenRgx7yhiLzWLCGY18DXQvEVopz7Eu13Poj/w640-h609/you+get+1595647988396.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><b>You get what you negotiate.</b></p><p><br /></p><p>Is negotiation necessary? Does it make you happier? Consider the following:</p><p><br /></p><p>You meet an old friend at a bar, and casually while catching up he lets you know that he plans to buy a new watch and wishes to sell his current one. Curious you examine his watch, and take a fancy to it. When asked what is the price, he says, “Let me know what YOU will pay for it”. And you hesitate, and mention and amount (it does not matter what is the amount). He says Ok, it’s yours and you exchange money for the watch and shortly later you both leave.</p><p><br /></p><p>Are you happy?</p><p><br /></p><p>I bet not. You think so for the moment. However, back home you tell your spouse about the incident and you narrate the event. Your spouse asks, ‘how much did your friend want?’. You have no idea. It was you who suggested a price and he readily agreed. You are now left in some doubt, if indeed the watch is worth the price you paid.</p><p><br /></p><p>Is your friend Happy?</p><p><br /></p><p>Similarly, your friend is asked by his spouse, “what was he prepared to pay?’ You state the price he offered and she enquires, “Could you have asked for a higher price?’. You never did. You let it go at the first price. You are left wondering if indeed you had got a good deal.</p><p><br /></p><p>So both are unhappy right? Remember, when you negotiate, and effectively, both sides are happy.</p><p><br /></p><p>We are always in a negotiation</p><p><br /></p><p>Every moment, either with ourselves or with others, we are negotiating. It’s not necessary that we are aware of this, (it may be unconscious) yet the fact is that we are doing so all the time. Pause and think about your day, and the various negotiations that come up.</p><p><br /></p><p>In managing our relationships with the other, we are unconsciously trying to maximize the principle of maximum interest for ourselves. Most of us, aim for, “ I win, You lose’. In this strategy you lose in the long term. You may win a couple of rounds but you damage the relationship forever. At all points, you need to ‘keep change for the other side, always’. Ensure a ‘win-win’.</p><p><br /></p><p>In management training, if you and your opponent play a blind game of voting Yes and No, simply follow his lead. Simply follow the following rule: ‘Play out his last move in the subsequent move’. Doing so, will get you both to a collaborative strategy.</p><p><br /></p><p>While negotiation, we always believe that one side is in opposition to the other (adversarial): that may not be the case at all. What you ‘demand’ or ‘make concessions on’ may not be of the same value as perceived by the other. Most effective negotiators never give away anything without making a demand themselves, following the golden rule of, ‘If you xxxxx (give me) , then I zzzzz’(trade you). </p><p><br /></p><p>Effective negotiators recognise each stage of negotiation and quickly move across the argument stage rather quickly, to the other steps. An argument just begets and argument and is pointless. Here is how most effective negotiators move through:</p><p><br /></p><p>• Argument</p><p><br /></p><p>• Signal</p><p><br /></p><p>• Proposal</p><p><br /></p><p>• Counter Proposal</p><p><br /></p><p>• Bargaining</p><p><br /></p><p>• Agreement</p><p><br /></p><p>• Confirm Agreement</p><p><br /></p><p>• Closure</p><p><br /></p><p>If you enjoyed reading this, share your comment.</p>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-6835742656217847082021-09-20T08:35:00.004+05:302021-09-20T08:35:47.896+05:30A Tale of Somebody, Nobody and Everybody<p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYacRpS1Z5MXCVtZNTTRcMj_5IIKXYpB2H3mvIhtruG55KNb13mHhj7cIiEvcxqTg3bMROLShTjnKYcOApLcWDpIh5Sx-RySj-K8yNtrUbgeNl2zjfZ1JAmLndpXvgrHHL8Y-l3se3nlwm/s600/A+Tale+1595473659902.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYacRpS1Z5MXCVtZNTTRcMj_5IIKXYpB2H3mvIhtruG55KNb13mHhj7cIiEvcxqTg3bMROLShTjnKYcOApLcWDpIh5Sx-RySj-K8yNtrUbgeNl2zjfZ1JAmLndpXvgrHHL8Y-l3se3nlwm/w516-h320/A+Tale+1595473659902.jpeg" width="516" /></a></div><br /><b>A Tale of Somebody, Nobody and Everybody</b><p></p><p><br /></p><p>A man is struck down by a speeding car, he falls to the ground and smashes his head, the ground slowly gets covered with blood. For a while, Everybody watches, Nobody reacts, Somebody is supposed to do something. This is one scene. There could be multiple others.</p><p><br /></p><p>We hear about them each day at work and at home and on all social occasions. ‘Somebody’, says one person ‘should do something about this’. ‘Nobody’ seems to be interested in just about anything that requires something to be done. While ‘Everybody’ is waiting forever for ‘Somebody’ to act all the time.</p><p><br /></p><p>Wonder why Nobody has thought about this? says one person to another. Where is Everybody? Seems to me Nobody and Somebody have taken a solemn oath to stay away with non-acting, while all actions seem to be under the remit of ‘Somebody’.</p><p><br /></p><p>How often each day, do you use these three references: Somebody, Nobody or Everybody. Who are they really? Do they really exist? Will these three ever act?</p><p><br /></p><p>Fascinating but these three types of folks live with us ever present in our daily lives. The reality is that we are ourselves part of all three: we are Somebody, Everybody and Nobody. That’s you and me.</p><p><br /></p><p>When Somebody fails to act, the YOU, that is part of Somebody fails to act. We are responsible for what happens in existence, and we owe it to ourselves to feel responsible to what happens to it and to feel responsible for what is happening or non-happening. Nobody, is also YOU and I: we choose to stay inattentive to awareness of that which is around us. Yet, the YOU and I in Everybody is to hold responsibility for what happens.</p><p><br /></p><p>Maybe we need to think beyond the ‘I’ that creates the separateness. We are all part of the universal body-mind: as the drop is part of the ocean. Then through this lens there can be no separation: everything is one, interdependent and inter related in mutual co-existence.</p><p><br /></p><p>Stay aware: watch each time you use these three words. Become aware of the self-negation. Awaken to your own potency, when you declare: I am responsible!</p>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-25648474835473047292021-09-05T14:40:00.002+05:302021-09-05T14:40:26.502+05:30What's with Reading...? <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwTJJ42sSesQ_cyl17HD_4zbUmQJnfwcWD7gSrzRrt5R4pApRB1QnnOyjIvBMS6p89AZ7t4rLR4BehmsbyMrh5nwrz7i5yofBJBWVxoMbX-41sk64Jiz64jrHl1XCCOcEO6apat2PODen/s1153/Whats1595390966890.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1153" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwTJJ42sSesQ_cyl17HD_4zbUmQJnfwcWD7gSrzRrt5R4pApRB1QnnOyjIvBMS6p89AZ7t4rLR4BehmsbyMrh5nwrz7i5yofBJBWVxoMbX-41sk64Jiz64jrHl1XCCOcEO6apat2PODen/s320/Whats1595390966890.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Source Serif Pro, serif;">What's with Reading...? </span></span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><span style="font-family: Source Serif Pro, serif;">Just yesterday I shared a post:</span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><span style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 0.975em; font-style: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-style-italic); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">“Interesting... I share a video and 800+ view and several likes (20) in a few hours.I share an article ( takes a few hours to write) and it gets 50 views at best, similar likes. What is this saying about us? Are we on a fast lane? Are we consumers for ‘2-3 liners’?”</span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">And ….in less than 24 hours, many likes, and comments, than say articles I have posted here.</p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">The world is surely changing: Analogous to the cricket from a 5 day test match, to a one day, to the new T20 format, games evolve. And I guess so has books, giving way to articles, to short summaries, to 2-3 liners.</p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">I guess, I am old school. I recall the thick Thomas Hardy ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ and the Character of Gabriel Oak, the eternal patient lover on the side line, the fascinating books of Ayn Rand and over the years the 1000 plus books I have read. Back then, I recall now with immense nostalgia my own HG Wells ‘time travel machine’ that could take me forward or back ward in time – said simply, Books.</p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">The modern bookstore is giving way to e-copies ‘quick airport reads’ – slim editions. Most content today are PDF files of Summaries of Books or Articles. We are saying less in each short burst, but saying ever so much in the multiple bursts of articles. I often wonder, what is this trend all about? Do you have an insight?</p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Again, back then, in my teens, leisure time was spent with basic toys, board games and TV watching (when it finally arrived) was a group activity. The radio was primarily for news or music from Ceylon. Interactions were fewer and travel ever more sparse. The newspaper was our primary connects with the world outside.</p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Books were my favourite companion then, and a lifelong companion now. Curled with a book, I am transported to new worlds, events, time, and characters, culture. In the 1:1 silent connect, the book and I, my imaginative mind, simulated by books conjured up sounds, pictures, living people, introduced me to new lands. But most of all, I discovered the power of ‘ideas’. New thoughts, bold thoughts, strange thoughts.</p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Reading connected me to the living: I could see a little deeper, connect more, experience more, and understand more. Books symbolised the magic of ‘rubbing the Aladdin’s lamp’ and make wishes come true.These days, I have started to write as well, to express and relate with the world around me.</p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">To each age, its new propellant for personal growth. Times must change, old order giving way to new, as Tennyson says, lest one idea corrupts the world.</p><p></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">For me, give me a great book, some time for self, and that’s my Nirvana. </p>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-90252431772204988062021-09-05T14:34:00.004+05:302021-09-05T14:35:56.086+05:30We Die Twice!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEz8_x4PKJHXEvaIX41blrG3ns5ywwXuZXV-UAl4vr4CFvNUE2jcRv-QzwkkHqBvJx2VfVJ_FN0GUY7oZdqVIX36Yzr0IGtO-HZ9OV3ljIQaDQ2OHREU-tKMIGnk__BI7BwRAXML70zxg9/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEz8_x4PKJHXEvaIX41blrG3ns5ywwXuZXV-UAl4vr4CFvNUE2jcRv-QzwkkHqBvJx2VfVJ_FN0GUY7oZdqVIX36Yzr0IGtO-HZ9OV3ljIQaDQ2OHREU-tKMIGnk__BI7BwRAXML70zxg9/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><h1 class="reader-article-header__title t-40 t-black t-normal pv4" dir="ltr" style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 4rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.2; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: var(--artdeco-reset-typography_getLineHeight); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding-bottom: 16px !important; padding-top: 16px !important; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><span style="font-size: small;">We Die Twice!</span></h1><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Clayton Christensen, a Harvard Professor, who died earlier this year wrote a memorable article, “How will you measure your life?’ he argued that “many of us might default to measuring out lives by summary statistics, such as number of people presided over, number of awards, or dollars accumulated in a bank, and so on, the only metrics that will truly matter to my life are the individuals whom I have been able to help, one by one, to become better people”. These, he says, are the metrics that matter in measuring one’s life.</p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><span style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-size: var(--artdeco-reset-base-font-size-hundred-percent); font-weight: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-weight-bold); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">We die twice.</span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Once organically, the second in memory.</p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Once, <span style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 0.975em; font-style: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-style-italic); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">when the breath (prana) leaves our body</span> (in fact interestingly it is said, the last thing before death is when the sound dies from our ears) and we die once more, when <span style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 0.975em; font-style: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-style-italic); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">the last person who knows our name dies too</span>. </p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Few of us will have the fortune to embed our name over centuries, unlike Socrates or a Jesus. Even most loved celebrities live in our hearts for a while, but soon get forgotten: a cohort say that would remember Marilyn Munroe would soon pass on and then to oblivion.</p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Some would be remembered for long. Elton John, says Goodbye to England’s Rose, Lady Diana:</p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><span style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 0.975em; font-style: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-style-italic); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">And it seems to me you lived your life, Like a candle in the wind</span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><span style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 0.975em; font-style: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-style-italic); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Never fading with the sunset,When the rain set in</span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><span style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 0.975em; font-style: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-style-italic); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">And your footsteps will always fall here, Along England's greenest hills</span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><span style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 0.975em; font-style: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-style-italic); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Your candles burned out long before,Your legend ever will</span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><span style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 0.975em; font-style: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-style-italic); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Your footsteps will always fall here, Along England's greenest hills</span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><span style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 0.975em; font-style: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-style-italic); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Your candle burned out long before your legend ever will. </span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><span style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-size: var(--artdeco-reset-base-font-size-hundred-percent); font-weight: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-weight-bold); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><span style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-size: var(--artdeco-reset-base-font-size-hundred-percent); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"></span>Blessed are We</span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">I would hold myself blessed if I:</p><ul style="background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><li style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-size: var(--artdeco-reset-base-font-size-hundred-percent); margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Lived my personal purpose and had the opportunity to potentialize my ‘best self’ at work or within society, and contributed to adding good.</li><li style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-size: var(--artdeco-reset-base-font-size-hundred-percent); margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">To have found a partner, who loved you and you loved back dearly.</li><li style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-size: var(--artdeco-reset-base-font-size-hundred-percent); margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">A meaningful job that allowing you an opportunity to earn your livelihood.</li><li style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-size: var(--artdeco-reset-base-font-size-hundred-percent); margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">A faith, that offered a high purpose to life.</li></ul><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Our moment on this earth is short-lived. If we viewed ‘everything we do’ from the realisation that there is no beginning, no end: then all acts would fall into perspective. In the end what is left of us is a tombstone, a marked grave, a picture in a frame, to whom friends, relatives and kith return, till memory holds true. Then with passage of time, no one returns, and the inscription merely records our name: date born, date died.</p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">To dust thou art, and to dust thou shall return, says the bible.</p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: var(--font-size-large); line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">What would you like to be remembered for?</p>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-8562275151648498612021-06-07T07:40:00.003+05:302021-06-07T07:42:44.722+05:30Do you have a Dream or a Goal?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGzR3-06P3erFi7cIncm7X4Hxb099HoLxJhZeVGhNgVGuZ2bnFwU9kVYsNsI60kXuFpTN7oTG9WO2dtMFl6pmCm5riymGH-uPs1fepfKScvk03GBymqXcASFxNfzxzmxhstXvbgQLQBHe/s1080/165.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGzR3-06P3erFi7cIncm7X4Hxb099HoLxJhZeVGhNgVGuZ2bnFwU9kVYsNsI60kXuFpTN7oTG9WO2dtMFl6pmCm5riymGH-uPs1fepfKScvk03GBymqXcASFxNfzxzmxhstXvbgQLQBHe/w400-h266/165.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><h1 class="reader-article-header__title t-40 t-black t-normal pv4" dir="ltr" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px !important; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 16px !important; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">Do you have a Dream or a Goal?</span></h1><br /><br />We all believe it is important to set Goals. Research confirms that those who set goals do better than those who do not, especially if it is self-generated and vivid and regularly monitored. What you may find surprising is that revealing your goals widely (as commonly advised) may actually boomerang in your motivation to meet the goals.<br /><br />In this article, I explore goals more fully….<br /><br />When we truly tap that energy within a goal, then only can we and empower oneself. Alive within a goal is a deep purpose that needs to be understood. A desire to see a force of potential. It is only this that inspires and lifts. Ideally, a goal should be replaced by VISION - it is broader! A vision is a direction, like a sketch. When it becomes a clearly defined map, it is disabling. It is like a globe, where Greenland appears larger than Australia, but one must know that it is an illusion (Australia land mass is 3 times that of Greenland). Knowing that goals are itself a perspective, it allows one to traverse the path, with one's own experiences.Goals that give meaning to our lives is a prayer, else it is an albatross!<br /><br />Research says that once you fix a goal you limit yourself. Take the case of Roger Bannister breaking the one mile run under four minutes. If you know it is under 4 minutes that sets the record in the mind and for years it will act as a constraint. Take the bumble bee. It is not aware of the laws of thermodynamic. Yet it does not know this and it flies!<br /><b><br />Goals are Games we Play</b><div><br />Goals are like a 'Finance Plan' - it is a general direction. It is an assumption. It is a plan, it is a commitment to deliver. It is a path forward. it is indicative of progress. It is a journey with stretch. At all times it must be remembered that this 'goal' was based on a foundation of - beliefs, assumptions, values, knowledge and desire to succeed. As such, rigidity to one's goal becomes a burden.<br /><br />Goals are like pieces on the chessboard. To many there are powerful like queens and knights. Yet, they are all wooden pieces and lie inert in the box when the game is over. All equal. All inert. All lifeless. All meaningless. Only in the game does the player give it life. This is important to remember, that the chess pieces are portent or otherwise, only as per ‘rules defined and agreed’ and by the players, not by itself.<br /><br />At its best, a goal lifts us up, at its worst it imprisons us to a self-slavery, or worse mortgaged to others. This must be understood. If it becomes a 'duty' or a compulsion, then we no longer enjoy it - we do it mindlessly, as if it is the only thing we have to do. I hear many people say, “What to do? This is my duty so I do it”. I disagree - one should do it only if one enjoys it, not otherwise. when one is aware of what one is doing, fully aware and enjoying what one is doing - then there is a goal.<br /><br /><b>What is an alternate to sharp Goals?<br /></b><br /> Rather than goals focus on system instead. If you are a Sports Coach, your Goal is to win the tournament, your System is what your team does at practice each day. If you are a Writer, your Goal is to write a Book, your system is a writing schedule each day. If you are a runner, your goal is to run the marathon, your system is your training schedule each day.If you are an entrepreneur, your goal is to build a Million Dollar Business, your System is Sales and Marketing.<br /><br />We are all motivated by 'wins' and get depressed by 'losses'. Have milestones along the way, so that you feel you are moving towards something each day. Keep the milestone related to each day and celebrate the small wins. Alcoholic Anonymous focus on staying 'Alcohol Free' each day! That's measurable each day and wins or losses are easily measurable. The trick is not 'avoidance' ( like stop smoking), instead it is about, 'smoke free today'.<br /><br />Timothy Gallwey, in his book, 'The inner Game of Tennis' shares that we have two selves - Self 1 and Self 2. Self 1 is egoistic and tends to worry, while Self 2 is intuitive. He argues that one should allow for Self 2, and let the game be played by intuition and by the subconscious rather than with an outcome focus. And finally to discover the Self 3, a better human being.<br /><br /><b>Can we manage without Goals?<br /></b><br /> It is seductive to hang onto goals. It’s a game we humans play.<br /><br />Tsu Lao, would have commented, there is no need to journey across to the shore. The shore opposite is here. The beginning exists with the end: the alpha with the omega. When one has a sense of one's full journey, through a vision of his own purpose, there is an inner light that drives him forward. he moves on his own violation – ‘phototropicity’, I think scientist call it. Then there is no need to travel: one moves only in the RIGHT path. One moves intuitively only in the correct ways.<br /><br />Let me simplify: if one is a great batsman, he needs no targets! he just enjoys batting and is aware each moment. He plays to each ball, he is alive to each moment. Then he knows what to do when a ball comes through: he knows what to do with a full length, good length or short pitch - he acts without targets. He acts only with a vision and purpose and values. He steps forward or back, or sideways. He moves all at once. He is ‘here and now’ – fully aware. The spectators do not see a bowler or a batsman: they see a display of genius. Martina Navratilova, a tennis player when questioned about her age replied that ‘the tennis ball does not know that’.<br /><br />For when one is in flow, the actor, and the scene disappears - just the act remains, the dancers give way to the dance. Then there is only the dance, no dancers at all. The musician and the flute disappear – just the music remains. Goals, when embraced , without pressure, lift pleasure; when taken on as 'desires' or obligations de-energise. You can life an alternate without goals: attach oneself to an inner purpose. Abandon measures and milestones. They do limit.<br /><br />Goals belong there - not here! Goals lies in the future: an expectation. A phantasy. Drop Goals: here is. It is here already. It has always been here. No need for a search - that is a desire. Drop the desire, drop the source of the desire, drop goals. This world here is real, with the other: an unreal, never to be realized.<br /><br />When there is no goal, one relaxes: with nothing to do, the ego disappears. The 'I' disappears. Then acceptance, grace begins.....the Bhagwan within unfolds....Drop all goals! Stay aware!<br /><br />May I request you to not simply like and move on. Do join me in this conversation. What do you think about Goals?</div>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-18080623239511643432021-06-07T07:34:00.004+05:302021-06-07T07:34:37.988+05:30Rules and Principles - Are they Similar?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5iGrTb2t_v5Moxo5KhH0N6BkJYaDoG5qeOPmJ2yxvpQpq-jOO9gUmk3dH1u9IESkF2356JwC1lgzM0vLiIrN93-TPt8XeSrz7xPdOZRHzo1HkbYXTE-L8vYM4LlNHeKQq7eT9AT6BHzD/s1400/162.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1400" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5iGrTb2t_v5Moxo5KhH0N6BkJYaDoG5qeOPmJ2yxvpQpq-jOO9gUmk3dH1u9IESkF2356JwC1lgzM0vLiIrN93-TPt8XeSrz7xPdOZRHzo1HkbYXTE-L8vYM4LlNHeKQq7eT9AT6BHzD/w400-h171/162.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><br /><b>Rules and Principles - Are they Similar?</b><br /><br />A Rule compels you through threat or punishment to do things others deem right or good.<br /><br />Principles are guides to respectful living, freedom and being open.<br /><br />Why do we need rules?<br /><br />Rules are put out by a community to guide collective action. We do need rules to govern our lives: to play its game. Rules provide a reference point for how a game is to be played out. Imagine a game of soccer or cricket with no rules: it would be chaos. Even in contact sports like boxing you have the queens’ rule. These rules in organisation include code of conduct, compliance guidelines or Company Policy. They are created for consistency, fairness and an opportunity for a level playing field.<br /><br />Often the rules provide for a handicap, where the forces are unequal or dissimilar in terms of natural endowments. Like in the case of horse racing or golf. These are affirmative actions to create a balance. Same could be said for the reservation policy. We all like rules, it allows for a pattern of order (traffic rules), builds trust and respect around how each person can hoped to be treated. When we bend rules covertly, we signal, unfairness, arbitrary whims and fancies and we end up being distrusted. However, for some of the rich, the powerful, rules are disliked: they wish to find loopholes: through Jugaad. Imagine all of us succeeding through ‘Jugaad’: we never would.<br /><br />Principles to live by<br /><br /> At and individual level, rules turn to personal principles. Remember, there are no eternal rules: every rule lies in its context, and needs to change once context changes. ‘The old order, changeth yielding place to the new, and God fulfils himself in many ways, lest one custom should so corrupt the world”, write Lord Tennyson.<br /><br />Our Indian tradition (Dharma) asks for us to be mindful of collective discharge of duties and obligations (rights are not stressed) but also to follow one’s own path (Sva-Dharma). It emphasises that we should be a part of community; but foremost to be individual. It offers the principle of Appadharma to guide through crisis and emergencies.<br /><br />Rules and Principles<br /><br />Conceptually, rules come from ‘location’ in context: they are prescriptive, often stale and anachronistic. Uncalibrated, and without reform they become draconian, living in staleness, living corpses of the past, of dead traditions and rituals whose original sense and meaning have been lost to obscurity.<br /><br />Rules are to be followed as a general principle but abandoned if dysfunctional. Stake not your life, but your meanings about life, said Pulin Garg, my beloved teacher and Guru. Like goals, they provide direction but are meaningless by themselves. Many of the rules of war and tradition were abandoned in the Mahabharata for instance.<br /><br />Our principles are with ourselves. Do we drive across a red signal light, because others do it, or if no one is around? Are our principles relative to others or absolute? In our professional career, having competencies are important, but it is our principles that act as a ‘booster rocket’ to take our career upwards. Many careers have been ruined because this has not been understood.<br /><br />In the end, like a chessboard, the rules create the game! But when the game is over, all the board pieces go back into the same box – inert, equal, same. Rules are ephemeral, principles are eternal. <br /><br />Where do you sit with this? Join me and comment on post. Please avoid ‘Like’ and moving on. I would love to have you engage.<br /><br />Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-53292138746785982212021-06-07T07:31:00.003+05:302021-06-07T07:31:34.940+05:30Hey, it’s Crazy and Sad!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxlhjD6EFz-Ybg1wkWhQ_6wQ9WbS4wI3cLxKAKiHvY9mpaB-twO3glDjjkJyrWTLp25bmZJQo7ApJ0oFgbgGy5xsMg-weMdO050lFw40XsAqp9NsZGVc_UhhGtxE5Fb3euMdNmx82xCsEK/s240/161.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="240" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxlhjD6EFz-Ybg1wkWhQ_6wQ9WbS4wI3cLxKAKiHvY9mpaB-twO3glDjjkJyrWTLp25bmZJQo7ApJ0oFgbgGy5xsMg-weMdO050lFw40XsAqp9NsZGVc_UhhGtxE5Fb3euMdNmx82xCsEK/w320-h240/161.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><b>Hey, it’s Crazy and Sad!</b><div><b><br /></b>With the Covid pandemic amidst upon us, it has become a trendy to use the managerial acronym: VUCA, short for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, and a catchall for “Hey, it’s crazy out there! So what are the Competencies that allow for employees to be effective in such crazy times?<br /><br />The law of entropy (the degradation of the matter and energy in the universe to an ultimate state of inert uniformity), a universal phenomenon plays itself out as simple moves to complex, single correlates to multiple, and order to seemingly disorder. The only constant they say is Change. In such times, I would like to share my reflections what are the critical issues employees need to manage in such VUCA times.<br /><br />For one, Soothsayers are many. Truth is, no one really knows what is out there. For many, the future will not be unknown, some will make it happen. Rather, than crystal ball the impossible, I would urge we develop ‘white water rafting’ skills to navigate our current environment and work our way through the ‘next twenty yards’.<br /><br />The Metaphor of White Water Rafting<br /><br />The metaphor throws up many competencies relevant to our times. I shall elaborate on four.<br /><br />For one, Need for Speed. Almost everything is required to be done in ambitious deadlines. During such times, one cannot cross the chasm in two leaps, and one needs to simultaneously work on both the urgent and the important. Change agents need to work hard, and smart, anticipate issues that would come up, while consolidating gains already made. At these times, discerning the 80:20 will help as well, and to avoid being trapped with ‘busyness’.<br /><br />Secondly, need to manage ambiguity and uncertainty. Change by definition, means the design elements are changing. I have realised that people are open to change, provided they can be helped through moving out of their comfort zones, feel ‘safe’ in the change process, and if asked to participate. The key is to ensure regular communication at all times: milestones and clear path to destination. In addition, fair set of consistent and fair and sensitive principles, on how people would be managed in such times.<br /><br />Thirdly, the change champion needs to manage personal frustration. During each day, there would be countless trough and peaks: trials and tribulations. She requires to be balanced and moderate her emotions through this period. Emotional intelligence is the act of using one’s emotion for self and the other. Frustration is the result of ‘what I love is threatened’ and hence the reactivity that follows. Ensuring that thought, emotions and actions are balanced and in harmony is key during such stressful times. Hope and curiosity are two positive emotions that exist in troubled times. Crucial to see the ‘glass half full’.<br /><br />Finally, during explosive change the change agent needs to manage personal obsolescence. Managing change requires new skills: often drawing from past experience, often crafting new solutions, most often re-inventing oneself. The ability to reflect and learn and be willing to recognise one’s own limitations and lack of knowledge is crucial. Wise is he, who knows that he knows not.<br /><br />What do you think? What other metaphors come to your mind?<br /><br />Please Comment and Engage, and let’s start a Conversation, shall we?</div>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-36278948249073109612021-06-07T07:28:00.004+05:302021-06-07T07:28:38.610+05:30Most things Divide, Few things Unite<br /><br /><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQIaYBZK5vgspzqCHham2tPoQAUjmfwLSkCLlbEsgO8hbZ8y9YCd-orKhbwUyTJM0Q3Y5LQGwYh1l6ijc4mUJCn3qOosgsQFX7v-6s-yO667UCVAiN7fHloOE6z4DlintJJ4fVg9NFmvI/s275/160.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQIaYBZK5vgspzqCHham2tPoQAUjmfwLSkCLlbEsgO8hbZ8y9YCd-orKhbwUyTJM0Q3Y5LQGwYh1l6ijc4mUJCn3qOosgsQFX7v-6s-yO667UCVAiN7fHloOE6z4DlintJJ4fVg9NFmvI/s0/160.jpeg" /></a></div></div><div>While most imagined ideas divide us as a society, three things allow us to engage, albeit gain momentum towards collectivity: money, politics and religion.</div><div><br />In-group/Out-group (Apna / Paraya)<br /><br />Our brains are wired to create psychological boundaries to define what’s in/what’s out. All species mark their territories: what is 'ours' and what is out there, 'not us'. What is 'us' is then a subject of bonding and relationship: the family, the commune, the property we hold, our faith and beliefs. Naturally, to engage with the notion of what is ‘ours’, boundary conditions need to be imposed, be it a tribe or a church or a panchayat. <br /><br />This bonding defines and overly crystallises a strong culture of who we are and how we do things around us. Culture is essentially then what divides us from others, but allows us to unite us amongst ourselves. The culture within is the power energy within to create the inter connectedness, within, yet it is also the basis for the fragmentation with that outside itself: the 'other'. <br /><br />The imagined notion creates the tradition, the rituals and the passage of what is the norm: that which is acceptable and that which is frowned. The culture flows from the dominant logic, the DNA of deep seated values over time, and the alignment of multiple infrastructure: Processes, Work systems, rituals, that allow for its prorogation. <br /><br />Even within the commune, divisions and classes are created to sub-divide so that it helps each one to relate with the other. The very culture that is created meets it antithesis: the rebellious ‘sub-culture’ as its counterpoint. Paradoxically, the rebellion itself is coalesced within a structure such that the 'sub culture' itself is uniquely held. Way back in the 60’s, the US Culture gave way to the rebellious Hippie culture, the sub-set having a clear identifiable whole. Either one or its counterpoint are held in structure: both allow itself to confirm to norms. <br /><br />Culture and beliefs are not similar<br /><br />An important distinction to note is the term Culture and Beliefs: they are not the same. A member of a commune may subscribe to a culture, but arrive at it from a belief system quite different to another. Organisations that try to unify 'beliefs' pay the price of frustration, an impossibility. What makes Jack come to work ( perhaps job security) may be quite different to what motivates Jill (the cordial work atmosphere). Clearly, aiming for a ‘Shared Values & Culture’ with a north star of ‘Organisational Purpose’ is enough and can unite. Trying to change the individual belief systems of all of the members to a 'common one' would be fruitless and impossible. <br /><br />The unknown 'out there' beyond the boundary is treated with suspicion: it is but natural that neighbouring countries would harbour distrust of each other. What is unknown, is distrusted, leading to splitting and projection. Trust in one's own commune and distrust with those outside are the two natural axis of human emotions. <br /><br />Within the commune collaboration can exist and extend itself on the imagined notion: a tribal chieftain will have tribal members, wealth would be jointly owned or secured through powerful laws and a religion would emerge that would unite the commune. So to, culture within an organisation. Collaboration works best when individual and group interests are conjoint. That's the way it has been for many centuries: a world that belonged to many numerous small worlds. <br /><br />So what would make one tribe engage with another?<br /><br />I argue that it would be reasons of money (trade), a feeling of superiority of one's religion over another or a lust to amass more political influence: to have a larger tribe, and soon a kingdom. <br /><br />It is these forces that have paved the way for global colonisation, that has paved the way for mass religious conversions and where annexation has not been possible then the next best alternate is lucrative trade. Lucrative trade is but a start, akin to the East India Company that gradually harboured ambition for political power of the territory. It is this desire for political power that has created NATO, the Euro, and international federations. <br /><br />The Imagined Order<br /><br />The imagined order is what is. Fromm refers to Social Character, Harari uses this term. There is no reality. The imagined order is itself transient and changes with passage of time. The imagined order creates the values and laws for that transition art period of time then it adapts to a ever changing set of values for it to cope and adapt. All values are transitionary and would change. For what is created must change, and eventually die to a new form. That is an immutable law of nature. <br /><br />One astronaut wisely remarked when viewing earth from a shuttle, that the earth was just one unified body Inter related and interdependent on its parts. He could spot no boundaries. All boundaries are man-made. The man himself is a bounded self: arising from a self-notion of what is him and not him. The ego in the self creates the boundaries within man, and around man. Ego is the false self. It does not exist. It is like the shadow that lurks around but is never there. It is the Ahamkara (one of the devolutes in Sankhya Philosophy) of the fusion between Prakriti and Purush. Our projection of ego creates the incessant needs that can never be satiated. Left to ourselves, sans ego, our needs would have been adequately met.<br /><br />If we are to unite we must become fully aware of the forces within that divide! Like the article picture we are all unique fingerprints - there is no other like us. Our possibilities exist to connect with all unique beings!<br /><br />What forces do you believe would support us to Unite?<br /><br />Please join me and Comment on the Post.</div>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-91974929502419193142021-06-07T07:22:00.002+05:302021-06-07T07:25:05.191+05:30We shall Overcome<div class="reader-author-info__container-wrapper" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="reader-author-info__container reader-author-info__container--reactions-enable" style="background-attachment: initial; 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border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--color-text) !important; display: flex; font-family: var(--artdeco-typography-sans); font-size: 1.6rem; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="reader-author-info__meta-name align-items-center ember-view" data-control-name="read_profile" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevecorrea/" id="ember1646" style="align-items: center; background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: var(--font-weight-bold); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: baseline;"><h2 class="reader-author-info__text reader-author-info__name t-16 t-bold reader-author-info__meta-author-detail--has-hover mr2" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1.6rem; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px !important; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; text-overflow: ellipsis; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">Steve Correa</h2></a></div><div class="artdeco-entity-lockup__subtitle ember-view" id="ember1647" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--color-text) !important; font-family: var(--artdeco-typography-sans); font-size: 1.4rem; line-height: 1.42857; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="t-black--light lt-line-clamp lt-line-clamp--multi-line ember-view" id="ember1648" style="-webkit-box-orient: vertical; -webkit-line-clamp: 2; background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--color-text-low-emphasis); display: -webkit-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-overflow: ellipsis; vertical-align: baseline;">Executive Coach & HR Consultant Author, The Indian Boss at Work: Thinking Global, Acting Indian</div></div></div></div><div class="flex-shrink-zero" style="background: transparent; 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margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="ember-view" id="ember1651" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><br /><br /><b>We shall Overcome</b><br /><br /><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwbi7hxYGEyTWLz6e1y8ntOAx6V-q2KzowYOo8yJYI_MdwfEq_A9pCKYigS1uT-V5y_ZCGbuHGcLl87zqpIFil2QwIXazUdV3u9kXoLNrOMiK8Yk3yPai9ST7uzy3pNS6FGkN2vQL8zsr-/s1122/1594865036446.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1122" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwbi7hxYGEyTWLz6e1y8ntOAx6V-q2KzowYOo8yJYI_MdwfEq_A9pCKYigS1uT-V5y_ZCGbuHGcLl87zqpIFil2QwIXazUdV3u9kXoLNrOMiK8Yk3yPai9ST7uzy3pNS6FGkN2vQL8zsr-/w640-h410/1594865036446.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Soothsayers are having a field day. Has there ever been a time, when we have not been paranoid with the pace of the future? Too much is already said on COVID and the new world of work. Whether Covid or not, the world was inevitably to move from globalisation to polarisation. We saw those trends with each country focussing on ‘Made in Country of Origin’. Polarisation will strengthen (enabled and slowed by technology) but it will give way to ‘universal shared values’ and which comes from a growing consciousness, which would trigger a world of mutual trade and exchange based on the axis of Values.</div><div><br /><b>Why do I say this?</b><br /><br />Societies collectively develop Conscious Consciousness. However, even while we collectively develop our conscious intelligence, this varies from individual to individual.<br /><br />Ken Wilber, a leading thinker, although controversial, posits his version of consciousness – tetra apprehension. He explains how this dynamic interaction may be happening. In this, the ‘previous moment’ is made an object for the subject in this moment, who adds to it, a ‘newness’ of creativity. As the new subject reviews the previous subject, by way of an ‘object’, it includes and enfolds the past, and creates a causality to the present, not just a strict determinism, but with the added newness, it transcend the causality, and creates new possibilities.<br /><br />By way of an example, the evolution of our human brain has evolved in somewhat this manner: it contains within it, the limbic, reptilian, mammalian, even while the neo-cortex, is the more recent phenomenon. Ken asserts that the Universe has three ultimate’s: the One, the Many and the ‘creative advance into novelty’. As such all phenomenon must include and transcend, and with the newness create a new subject. Through this process, more and more order is built from more and more chaos. This newness is not a random chance, instead the Universe is winding up, with the creative advancing novelty continuing to add to the complexity and sophistication.<br /><br />In this each individual is ‘growing up’ to a new consciousness. In other words, integral theory posits that evolution is not limited to the exterior forms of reality (of both matter and organisms), but it is also evident in the interior spaces of reality, i.e. development of culture and consciousness. Sri Aurobindo echoed a similar though when he dealt with the ascending planes of consciousness from matter to Satchitananda, but unlike Wilber postulates that consciousness lies outside the four quadrants and only manifests or expresses itself in them.<br /><br />Communication technology has allowed for us more instant human touch and opportunity to connect. The changes that lie ahead are aligned with the eternal principles of consciousness. We shall overcome! Our path will lie not just in technological advancement, but in human consciousness as well. We will continue to progress, being even more resilient. Of that I have no doubt. I see the young ably capable to lead the future. My world is filled with hope and possibilities.<br /><br />Many of you click Like and move on. I would love for you to Engage – drop a word or two. Let’s connect.</div>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-29703455941641277442020-12-02T18:10:00.001+05:302020-12-02T18:10:13.671+05:30The Heart never Doubts, the Head never Trusts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KCofqTOTWoLdqVxOJQKtLB4VVDacnxCYcMrgwsqRaDvmES5Ge99BtWHoNQgqvgAmnFzJy1W_MmoCtbvTdwrWc2tvYPSC9HuwlESMzO2ltedqpY6DIvlbIrJ__k5tKUbhjA36fRGPS4o3/s704/heart.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="704" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KCofqTOTWoLdqVxOJQKtLB4VVDacnxCYcMrgwsqRaDvmES5Ge99BtWHoNQgqvgAmnFzJy1W_MmoCtbvTdwrWc2tvYPSC9HuwlESMzO2ltedqpY6DIvlbIrJ__k5tKUbhjA36fRGPS4o3/w400-h225/heart.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.</p><p><br /></p><p>Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?Actually, who are you not to be?</p><p><br /></p><p>You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you.We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. - Marianne Williamson</p><p><br /></p><p>Our deepest fear is to doubt ourselves, give credence to all the belief systems we have formulated over the years: some by others, most by ourselves. Do you find yourself in a space where you have started to doubt your beliefs, or have started to believe in your doubts? Bewildered and anxious by actions and prescriptions by people around us, we have adapted self for the sake of others, and lost our own 'original face'. </p><p><br /></p><p>Who we really are, we don’t know.</p><p><br /></p><p>Our doubts (when looked at deeply) contain the deepest fear of total annihilation of our being. Of death. Shakespeare once said, “Cowards die many times before their death, the valiant tastes of death but once”. Our doubts come from the use of our mind to assess the processes of our interiority. That which was a friend to be used outside to manage our world turns foe when we use it internally to assess who we are. The mind is not helpful, it leads to overthinking. The mind is always asking questions. When one answer is provided, another question comes up. The mind is a master – it seeks to stay in control.</p><p><br /></p><p>We are perfect in every way. Our imperfections as seen by others from time to time are perfect and much required as we evolve. We need to chase no ideals, no goals, no need to be different. No need to be like the other. All we need to do is to be ourselves: we are competent, loveable and compassionate but we have forgotten to trust ourselves. </p><p><br /></p><p>Our mind will forever doubt, but our heart will always trust. </p><p><br /></p><p>When we drop the 'doing' and realise we are perfect in our imperfections we get to the destination in an instant. I would rather we thrive, rather than forever strive. A little of ‘inferiority’ is great to propel us further, but not if it becomes a complex itself.</p><p><br /></p><p>We live with doubt, guilt and shame. These are not natural. They are imposed from outside. Stay in your Heart. Stay Trusting. Stay Aware! </p>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-64974342884424058972020-12-02T10:35:00.003+05:302020-12-02T10:35:44.751+05:30Reflections on the Lost art of Listening<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggWfXXjRVGpfK12K17A5vRUG_y68rOeGm4WX82xo-aQaSIG2jE9pw2BJCqS_G2B2L6KjkE2h-ciQs7le9-s6_hy_He0yY1TTYdUnEVIafa4dRMCWmpevFnglpLAb8s2wiLCeuFeRGx0dfM/s700/reflections.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="700" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggWfXXjRVGpfK12K17A5vRUG_y68rOeGm4WX82xo-aQaSIG2jE9pw2BJCqS_G2B2L6KjkE2h-ciQs7le9-s6_hy_He0yY1TTYdUnEVIafa4dRMCWmpevFnglpLAb8s2wiLCeuFeRGx0dfM/w400-h266/reflections.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Just today I listened to you,</p><p><br /></p><p>Share your hope, Your dreams,</p><p><br /></p><p>your screams of hurt and inattention,</p><p><br /></p><p>your celebrations, triumphs and success</p><p><br /></p><p>your world as you see it, expectations and disappointments</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>You made me realise</p><p><br /></p><p>In this moment You matter, not I,</p><p><br /></p><p>To listen to all, said, but you said more,</p><p><br /></p><p>and I heard that too</p><p><br /></p><p>and you shortened out some words,</p><p><br /></p><p>but I could catch that too</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>To view your world just not in black and white</p><p><br /></p><p>but in full colour, resplendent of who you are</p><p><br /></p><p>not just a visual, but to catch the sound</p><p><br /></p><p>the feel, and most of all,</p><p><br /></p><p>that ‘lump in the throat’ that is yours</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In your sharing you left me a gift</p><p><br /></p><p>That I could be worth ‘sharing with’</p><p><br /></p><p>To realise that I can only offer understanding</p><p><br /></p><p>If I understood myself</p><p><br /></p><p>While I heard my inner voice listening to you</p><p><br /></p><p>I realise I must ask of myself</p><p><br /></p><p>All I have to work on is I</p><p><br /></p><p>This has been my realisation. Thank you.</p><p><br /></p><p>Listening is not hearing. Hearing is about what is being said. Listening is being attentive to the speaker. In listening, we are tuned in to what is being said, felt, also said, also unsaid. Listening requires us to be deep connected to the other, offering total presence and with deep awareness. Listening is not about simultaneous evaluation while the speaker is speaking, instead it is about suspending judgements or biases or pre conceptions. Notice the number of times we interrupt, sometimes even rudely. Notice how often we cut across someone else’s conversation.</p><p><br /></p><p>When one is totally attentive – meditatively attentive, one reaches a flow of connectedness with the other. Bonding through deep listening is stronger than with just words. There is deeper understanding of silence, than that which comes from words. When as coaches we LISTEN, we acknowledge, show respect, display empathy, connect, show presence, and become deeply aware.</p><p><br /></p><p>Listening is also to be directed to oneself: Our thoughts in our mind (24x7) does not mean we are thinking – far from it! It just means that our thoughts are ephemeral presence that last momentarily, but call us to attention all the time. They have a short shelf life, but make a huge buzz in their lifetime. In fact we are bombarded with our thoughts. Like dust debris that seeps in, they are random, and directionless. They prevent focus. They de-energise over time. Through cultivated mind discipline, ie: stilling of the mind, we can graduate towards Right Thinking. (for further reading refer to Patanjali – Yoga Sutra).</p>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-50564962882888385842020-12-02T10:23:00.001+05:302020-12-02T18:03:50.381+05:30On Mentorship<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDf7oxvBIrJ-MT4PzlndNaZW88OJiPBIB1EsmcaxsiR7tsRse1o_sbKVjZZ05aIpOHDcAiM-x30lhnksIKmEi1UBfH_0XSuga4zZSRgTb2KVZr7B_lW3ShNWLlAEOiv1uTqSGZAAQtOZC/s636/mentorship.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="636" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDf7oxvBIrJ-MT4PzlndNaZW88OJiPBIB1EsmcaxsiR7tsRse1o_sbKVjZZ05aIpOHDcAiM-x30lhnksIKmEi1UBfH_0XSuga4zZSRgTb2KVZr7B_lW3ShNWLlAEOiv1uTqSGZAAQtOZC/w400-h240/mentorship.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />As I review my current station in life and my role as mentor and coach, I explore the true nature of mentorship. What role does it play and its significance? I explore childhood and the youthful years and offer context.<br /><br /><b> Initial Caregiver</b><br /><br />As a child, post the initial period, there is a quick realisation that there is a ‘self’ and then there are others. The joyous stage of being 'in the womb' is over.<br /><br />The initial object of love/hate – the primary caregiver mother, is held with ambivalence. Melanie Klein explains carefully in her object relations theory how infants using defense mechanisms to cope with anxieties from seeing objects (initially breasts) as ‘good or bad’. Klein argues for an ‘integrated ego’ – the depressive position that allows for reparation, a necessary effort in human development.<br /><br /><b> Other relationships</b><br /><br /> The child eventually comes in contact with other caregivers: the father, other elders and siblings, and the teacher. Back in the days and the joint family set-up, there was no paucity of mentors and caregivers, and a child had many opportunities to discover the axis of relatedness. There were so many under one roof and relationships with each had a very special quality, based on the relative pecking position of each member, based on an affiliative system that supported status and social hierarchy. <br /><br />In India, the ‘maternal enthralment’ has more salience than the Oedipus complex. The triangle in the former is the mother, son and daughter-in-law, while in the latter is father, son, mother.<br /><br /> Deep within, the boy child knows, ‘I love mother, but I am not going to be like her, when I grow up’. It does not pay to be ‘momma’s boy’ or ‘sissy boy’ – he discovers very quickly, from his peer set, or early mentors at school. So what does it mean to be like father, he wonders? <br /><br /><b> Search for a Mentor</b><br /><br />Today with large migration of labour, father may be distant either physically or psychologically. Worse, if socially and financially marginalised, he has taken to vice: alcohol or drugs or petty crime. The child is in desperate search for identification with his masculine energy. Who would be his role model? The lament of many has been that ‘my father has sired me, but he does not see me?’. Often the young boy fails to find any other ‘adult’ who is responsible, and who can act as his role model or mentor. In the absence of this he has to discover, ‘ways of thinking, feeling and acting’ from his peer set. As is said, in a kingdom of blind, the one eyed, is superior! Mentorship is not possible from peer set. Peers create tensions to confirm to group behavior: be like us!<br /><br /> No wonder then, any responsible act by any member is frowned by the majority. Young black children in the US were taunted as ‘Being White’ if they demonstrated discipline and commitment to a responsible path of adulthood. <br /><br /> If eventually the youth does find a mentor/teacher, he may end up valuing the fact that this person ‘sees me inside’ but alongside, unconsciously is also a wish, to be ‘fathered’ and to receive ‘love and affection’ perhaps not provided by the biological father. This transference is a reality, and so very often we heap our relationship with a mentor, to be ‘dad’ as well to us. This is worsened if the mentor swallows / introjects this and colludes in doing so.<br /><br /><b> What mentorship does….</b><br /><br />A mentor helps channelize the masculine energies of the youth into creative channels. He is supported to learn discipline and bring in hard work and perseverance. A vision of the future which is compelling, and an ethical sense to distinguish right from wrong. In this there is character building and values.<br /><br /> In the absence of responsible mentoring the young person is left with few role models. On one hand he witnesses first-hand the excesses of an irresponsible father, who frustrated with his own life circumstances, drinks himself to a stupor, beats his wife or children, or who leaves home, with even more ‘irresponsible acts’ in mind. Instead of a mentor, the child is left with a truncated childhood, forced to hold anxieties on behalf of other adult members of the family. A child instead of seeing two loving adults ‘respect and love’ each other witness instead abuse, and havoc, even wondering at an unconscious level, ‘I wonder if I may have caused this?’ In financially weak homes, the child has to even discontinue education, resort to child labour, or early employment, in order to support the family.<br /><br /> It seems to me, that the privilege of man is just simply by birth. There is really no need to work for it. His ‘rights’(patriarchy) are enforced by violence if need be, and by a social system that allows for social hierarchy.<br /><br /><b> So back to mentorship….</b><br /><br />What kind of mentors have we had during our childhood and youthful stage? How has the picture of relatedness with them influenced the way we act as mentors? How has the social context enabled or destabilised mentoring? Does the quality of 'menteeship' determine the overall quality of the mentor?<br /><br />To me, then, the role of a mentor is to help support and channelise the energies of the youthful self to that point, when it is time for him to take responsibility and guide and mentor others. What do you think?<br />Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-44385395418849919712020-09-08T11:29:00.001+05:302020-09-08T11:29:07.781+05:30What feedback has taught me about the other<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZXWssb2ebRFsTSYvfD8_JtLiXzi3UFNouvHyJmUln6jQKoJw1VgWTUV80pBZolRSgg-UKCs3ztLERu1HcP_rCRCBW43EDgncgOlfUlHXCr0hOru3aJsSLxxaL_a8CHbQu8zSSdHSmFXy/s300/feedback.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="469" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZXWssb2ebRFsTSYvfD8_JtLiXzi3UFNouvHyJmUln6jQKoJw1VgWTUV80pBZolRSgg-UKCs3ztLERu1HcP_rCRCBW43EDgncgOlfUlHXCr0hOru3aJsSLxxaL_a8CHbQu8zSSdHSmFXy/w469-h469/feedback.jpeg" width="469" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add caption<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div>Being an Executive Coach, I use a lot of feedback to help Client discover facets of herself: feedback is received from Peers, Family, her manager, a wider network and direct reports. In addition, I have used psychometric tools, my favourite being Hogan and EUM.<br /><br /><b>Is feedback about the Client only?</b><br /><br />Every frame of reference is from within. In the ultimate analysis, our brains are wired for that which rewards or that which punishes: the pleasure seeking impulse drives our action (See David Rock’s work). Buddha asked us to observe our own thoughts: that which we found ourselves ‘attracted to’ or those we were ‘repulsed’ from. In short, liking or disliking is fundamental to our nature. True bliss lies in equanimity.<br /><br />If then every frame of reference is personal to the observer, then as J. Krishnamurthy, avers, the observer is the observed itself. We describe others with filters, around lenses we ‘like’ or ‘dislike’. Someone would appear confident or cocky, someone slow and deliberate, while others may view this as tentative and unsure. There is no ultimate reality: only facets of that reality.<br /><br />Through years of receiving feedback or working with people giving feedback I have learnt, that when one gives feedback to another, one is also providing feedback on the feedback giver itself. It points out to his/ her valuation process. What is it that the feedback values most: in its presence and in its absence.<br /><br />Reflect back on feedback you received from your boss for instance or a critical stakeholder. Do you recognise that much of the feedback is from his/her lens of what is important for them to see more of/less of. We all have a perceptual canvas, from which we see. Or when you provide feedback to your direct report are you not sharing what matters to you most. Don’t get me wrong: the feedback is about YOU, but it does reveal the interface that would now be required to improve the quality of engagement. Once you recognise this phenomena, you will be able to understand people much better around you. And to cater to their specific needs to improve that engagement.<br /><br />Feedback is then more about knowing others, rather than just knowing about you. In every comment, there is the said, then the unsaid, and the edited. Are you aware of all three? To every question you are asked, the questioner has already a favoured answer: are you aware of what that is.<br /><br />Feedback is from expectation from the other: either met or unmet. Expectations always fall short. As long as there is expectation disappointment will follow. As truly, as how Sunrise follows Sunset. Feedback comes from a notion, a phantasy, an imagined. It is only with acceptance that expectations drop. Feedback is about, what is it, that I want to see as an image that I agree with, expect. And from you. Drop expectation, Accept.<br /><br />Right from birth, we have received feedback, most of it, non-verbally. From the way we were picked up at birth, held, offered gifts and responded to. We unconsciously picked these cues and adhered. What we are, seemed not to matter: what mattered is what was acceptable in us. That lesson we learnt quickly and since then we have adapted. And we have been adapting ever since.<br /><br />We have learnt to distrust: the advice, ‘Be Yourself.’ Instead, we have created a persona: a special mask for each occasion. Think about this the next time you receive or give feedback: Who is it about?<br /><br /><b><i>Does this resonate with your own experience? Do comment, even with a few words. </i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-5561172977854700262020-09-06T19:51:00.003+05:302020-09-06T19:51:48.507+05:30Leadership Hubris<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGHSeyesAiSj9wWWg3lupm4qZ5rYP9zY9u7yGkMGhzy2r264cVA2nWemKDNiWV1trcOwfBHra9Td3NAgrFDwJSPMrGyikwkEuINiMr1IBOAsoGrl7cnRyYu_tjHXDdMEeFs656x3WKuedj/s483/hubris+main-qimg-3f98999cc55fc58c37809b784838d629.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="373" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGHSeyesAiSj9wWWg3lupm4qZ5rYP9zY9u7yGkMGhzy2r264cVA2nWemKDNiWV1trcOwfBHra9Td3NAgrFDwJSPMrGyikwkEuINiMr1IBOAsoGrl7cnRyYu_tjHXDdMEeFs656x3WKuedj/w386-h500/hubris+main-qimg-3f98999cc55fc58c37809b784838d629.jpeg" width="386" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hubris (in Greek tragedy) refers to excessive pride or defiance of the Gods leading to nemesis. This fatal flaw, or an error in action (Hamartia) leads to the downfall of the protagonist. For example, Oedipus’s Hamartia is pride, hastiness and anger leading him to make unfortunate misjudgements. For Macbeth, it was his pride and greed. For Richard II, it is his irresoluteness, unwillingness to confront the changing situations. For King Lear it is his inability to strike a balance between his volatile temperament and arrogance. Hamlet’s faltering judgment and Othello’s jealousy. This Hamartia is built into the Hero’s character, even as he has many virtues. The right type of the tragic hero, according to Aristotle, exists between these extremes, a person who is neither perfect in virtue and justice, nor one who falls into misfortune through vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty (Hamartia) Unlike, a villainous person, his downfall, does not arouse either pity or fear. Hamartia in its broadened context include: Chance, accident, circumstances, and the craftiness of others. Hamartia is not just a flaw in character; but an entire gamut of tragic happenings.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On one hand there are several instances of corporate scams and shenanigans that have led to the downfall of many Corporate Leaders, some who have served time in prison, and some under who investigation is in progress. Some have fled the country to escape retribution. They hardly arouse pity or fear, although at one point they led ‘king size’ lives, were celebrities and walked proudly in the corridors of power.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In Indian tradition, the role of a leader is to be a Rajshri, a combination of king and a Rishi. When he serves his duty zealously, but forgets to be inclusive and all embracing, he is potentially, exposing his personal Hamartia, with hubris bound to follow leading to nemesis.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I will stop here. Are you able to spot Corporate leaders with Hamartia?</span></p>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-42600866678866944062020-09-03T10:24:00.005+05:302020-09-03T10:27:14.250+05:30Why the Study of Humans is different?<p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "source serif pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "source serif pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaAqFXgiy26C5O-M3Z0PShlk_P2n8vc5lqge6F3KTj5vyfc_8XqdNUsj8_rFT1qh7vRzYnOJmdIKoaolnp-Cmn4JQnTL0TdSEtwGdNKVZGw01Gqr11e3ChdvJRJ5vEGVGqUT_wLKw2gAfo/s1079/humans.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1079" height="419" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaAqFXgiy26C5O-M3Z0PShlk_P2n8vc5lqge6F3KTj5vyfc_8XqdNUsj8_rFT1qh7vRzYnOJmdIKoaolnp-Cmn4JQnTL0TdSEtwGdNKVZGw01Gqr11e3ChdvJRJ5vEGVGqUT_wLKw2gAfo/w625-h419/humans.jpeg" width="625" /></a></div><br />I have spent over 30 years in the field of HR and involved with Human Process workshops over 20 years. Herein are my reflections on distinctive nature of the function and extended to humans in general.<br /><br /><br /><br />Unlike most functions, HR does not have a unified coded theory that allows guidance to what one needs to do when influencing and impacting people. It borrows eclectically from many fields: Psychology, Sociology and also from sciences: Maths, Finance (black scholes for ESOP’s) Industrial Engineering, Neuroscience (incentives for manufacturing), etc. It does have a set of rules around compensation benchmarking, and principles around OD designs and learning interventions, but at broad principle levels only.<br /><br />Not that I am saying, this is a setback. Not at all. It is for this reason that it is fascinating.<br /><br />Unlike Science which is causal and can be verified by experiments, people practice is different: it is an Art, in service of Business and a Craft – one needs to learn the ABC’s.If you read, 7-8 chapters of any text book, the subsequent chapters become easier. That’s because once a good foundation has been established, subsequent chapters become easier to follow and relate to.<br /><br />In HR, or to be more broader, in the study of human process, subsequent studies gets even more complex, more astounding, even bewildering at times. In behavioural science as you go deeper, newer insights emerge. I am amused when some amateur Leader remarks, “people are simple: either this or that, or to be seen, by this X axis and that Y axis, as if one or other quadrant make up the entire world. Even worriedly, when someone says, ‘I am an ENTJ (MBTI Type) and he is and ISFP, etc. Interestingly, some even use MBTI as a basis to hire people, the ultimate abomination of ignorance.<br /><br />Models are akin to maps. The map is not the territory. The maps can be a mere sketch or highly detailed, and as you go deeper, the embellishment is awesome in what unfolds, as if every texture, tone, dimension and element unfold to the keen eye. Almost like Dhyana (full concentration) and Dharana (contemplation) when they come together provides for a wider perspective. In a highly structured analytical world, demand is placed on causality: do this, and the expected phenomena is observed. Every effect has a cause. Not so with human beings, who do not respond to causality. Science is great for interrogation of the material world, but not for the inner world of discovery.<br /><br />Human behaviour is a function F (I, C), where behaviour is a function of the identity and Self in the location or role. The interaction of these four create multiple forces that enable creative forces, or which leads to mortgage. Identity and its movement, through ‘being and becoming’ is the play of the private self and the public self, while location and roles offers resonance and dissonance and often normativeness around role taking, prescribed by self (thru self injunctions) or by community (a kind of Social Mirror).<br /><br />As a result no two individuals feel alike, think or act alike. Yet, at the gestalt of all evocations, one sees an array of similar emotions: love, disgust, joy, but the tone, notes, and context, and intensity varies. For example, a woman who discovers her husband is having an affair may not necessarily respond with the expected “ feeling betrayed”, as a large segment would obviously do. A plethora of possible responses can also exist:<br />Good for him, off my back.<br /> I’ll do the same and get my revenge<br />That poor thing (referring to the new girlfriend)<br />I could not care. I like the comfort I am in, so it’s cool<br /><br />And so on….<br /><br />The point is, there is no causality: were it so, it would be a science. It would be predictable, made repeatable and lend itself to correlates of validity and reliability quantification.<br /><br />Another interesting dimension of the world of Human Process study is that learning happens when the events happen: there is no prefix or suffix. The prefix or preface does not accurately reflect the phenomena ahead, nor can the suffix, be the real experience of the event. At best it would be a ‘remembered memory’ not the ‘experienced memory’. Daniel Kahneman, writes quite a bit on this for those interested. All we can recall is the remembered memory, and not the actual experience itself.<br /><br />Learning takes place within the gestalt of the phenomena. The micro, macro and alter ego looms largely and ever present, exorcising its will over the event. This is the psychodrama, often exaggerated by the ‘shadow’ of the protagonist.<br /><br />At a phenomenological level multiple substratum’s emerge: initially defined as a problem (eg ‘I am stressed’), seen at the interpersonal level “I have a problem with my boss’), then reflectively, emerges the intra-personal level of self-introjects (‘I can see a pattern of my behaviour as to how I respond to authority’), introjections , splits and projection, of transference and counter transference.<br /><br />At a intra psychic level (both a sum of personal and collective unconscious), one comes to gain insight of one’s own perceptual filters, and sees the canvas in quite a different way: the observed is the observer himself. Else, there is no observation.<br /><br />Even deeper is the intra-existential level, the Atmic self; the ‘Brahmi Sthithi’, the true intelligence of the self that sees beyond the absorptive nature of the senses, that is beyond attachment, desire, anger, bewilderment and ignorance and wherein misery awakens. (refer Bhagwad Gita for more on this). Thus, there are multiple depths of exploration.<br /><br />No two individuals are alike: there is no comparison possible: no better or worse. Each is unique, so how do you compare two unique things – on what parameters? The choice of the criteria’s itself is subjective bias: that is the fallacy. Yet we are always comparing, contrasting, role modelling, aligning with….<br /><br />No wonder Socrates said, ALL I KNOW IS THAT I KNOW NOTHING.<br /><br />Please join in and CommentSteve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-42232112331018557512020-09-02T20:11:00.000+05:302020-09-02T20:11:01.999+05:30Quo Vadis?<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What is common to humans with other living creatures?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidn68kMGizM6reEYCzViPiaKUihPw80C_ovaYCitsp6YnEe6cBAnEZyoCS4zVodORNKf4zilQYyLLDecsejaiQWZbPSda5hOZ58jfJ4HEH118xQyrPhsmefWlwfnIaS6d8_WE2TPfthmfb/s276/quo+vadis.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidn68kMGizM6reEYCzViPiaKUihPw80C_ovaYCitsp6YnEe6cBAnEZyoCS4zVodORNKf4zilQYyLLDecsejaiQWZbPSda5hOZ58jfJ4HEH118xQyrPhsmefWlwfnIaS6d8_WE2TPfthmfb/s0/quo+vadis.jpeg" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">We are common in that we have a desire to Express and Relate. What distinguishes us </span><span style="font-size: medium;">significantly from most primates is that we have a well-developed neo-cortex, that allows us to reflect ‘back’, and imagine our world Forward, envisioning our future, our possibilities. With this ability for self-reflexivity and imagination, we cannot just see ‘objects’ out there, but we can work with abstractions, imagined worlds, and imagined ideas.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">We have compelled our environment to bend before the power of our minds: the discovery and use of fire, the wheel, the steam engine, printing press, the logic of digital ‘0 and 1’ to further AI, neural networks. We see further, and mysteries bend before our persistent gaze. We now have the capacity to explain our world in mathematical equations that would not take even two pages. This has made us proud.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">We live in an age of compelling ‘ideas’ which has gripped our imagination. We have found ways to connect and engage with our ideas. We have discovered ways to connect both with ‘head and heart’ and even join in ‘concerted action’.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The future will allow us to take even further leaps: to co-create on ideas, and to combine thinking, feeling and action. If I know what you are thinking, feeling and modes of acting and you know mine, it would be possible to ‘connect us two’ – to create a third force. I am intrigued that married couples after decades of marriage almost seem to ‘think, feel and act’ almost alike, a kind of synchronicity, if you like. Neuro scientist have already discovered that we have empathy ‘mirror neurons’ that help us stay connected with each other. Despite all the selectively ‘violent’ reports we hear on media of looting, arson, riots, during a crisis, the fact is that humans are primed to act with reciprocity (Caldini / Peter Bloom) and we have a moral and ethical mental structure that allows us to help out each other. In other words, we are a ‘relational and connected world’ and we wish to find commune, both physically and in terms of well-being. Like hedgehogs on a cold wintry night, we huddle for ‘touch’ yet when we come two close get hurt with the ‘spines’ and keep a ‘safe distance’ as well. Our world vacillates between Existential Aloneness and Existential Connectedness.The first step would lie in our evolving to 'CyberHumans'.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We wish to be distinctive from the other, but when we do, we end up comparing: failing to realise, we are unique – that there is no one like us. The world then becomes an Arena and a means to demonstrate our prowess. When we live in communes, we feel stifled and restless, and find the commune suppressing, and we wish to break out – find our freedom. This pendulum swing back and forth – to be a part of and be apart, is characteristic of our times. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yesterday, in my article ‘<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What lies beneath’</em> I referred to collective unconscious. We are in the age of what Fromm would describe as Social Character, which is Collective Consciousness. In another article, a day earlier, I referred to ‘East meeting West’ as it is now at a point, when from both sides one discovers – the unknown and starts to grasp at the possibility, that somethings will be unknowable. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">These COVID times have reminded us, that we were the VIRUS that was spreading, destroying our planet. It was nature’s way of resetting the balance. For many, who have not lost themselves in ‘planned and unplanned zoom calls, webinars’, the uncertainty has allowed us the time and space to reflect on our lives, our livelihood, our relationships, and what is the real source of our joy. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I aver from our current world of globalisation, the inevitable next step would be polarisation (building firewalls around roles and boundaries for ourselves, however, in some form slowed down, yet on the other hand enabled by digitalisation), leading to alliances for mutual performance and achievement. From there to ‘connecting with meaningfulness and shared intimacy. From there a leap….into holding simultaneity and multiplicity, but that is for another post.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I wholeheartedly welcome your comments. Please do join me. </span></em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 2rem; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px;" /></p>Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-9244706111041035122020-07-24T19:03:00.000+05:302020-07-24T19:03:39.316+05:30What lies beneath? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /><br />We feel proud that we have unravelled the mysteries of the smallest matter and can explain the laws of the Universe. Yet, the ‘mystery’ of Self within remains elusive. Yet, most of our actions are driven unconsciously. Carl Jung said: “Men’s task is to become conscious of the content that press upward from the unconscious.” The Unconscious is that part of the mind which is inaccessible to the conscious mind but which effects behaviour and emotions. That’s so with the Individual mind – the the Personal Unconscious.<br /><br /><br />Is there something as a Collective Unconscious? Carl Jung avers that this is the aspect of mind that is not shaped by experience but genetically inherited and common to mankind – something akin to an inherited hard disk. According to Jung, they contain archetypes or universal primordial images and ideas. One form of ‘awareness’ of the collective unconscious is through our dreams, and explored through the design of ‘Social Dreaming Matrix’.<br /><br /><br />For a nation, the ‘Kaal’ (time), ‘Desh’ (region) and ‘Patra’ (the inherent characteristics) influence the ‘Conscious and the Personal Unconscious as also the Collective Unconscious’. Therefore, it is not just our experience, but the ‘hard disk’ as well that became the ‘ground for how we ‘Think, Feel and Act’.<br /><br /><br />Through exploration in Human Process Labs and Group Relations Conferences, I have discovered these insights for myself:<br /><br /><br />1. Collective Conscious is a reality.<br /><br /><br />2. We unconsciously carry ‘past baggage’<br /><br /><br />3. I do not see it, does not mean it does not exist.<br /><br /><br />4. What I see, also what I choose NOT to see, is significant.<br /><br /><br />5. There is no ‘slip of tongue’ or ‘forgetting’ or ‘coincidence’.<br /><br /><br />6. Insights come laced as ‘finished products’ yet also contain with it messiness.<br /><br /><br />7. Our narrative of ourselves or the other can shape ‘group think’.<br /><br /><br />8. Not just intergroup exploration, but systems level exploration is to be explored.<br /><br /><br />9. We feel we are being objective yet is always judgement and assessment.<br /><br /><br />10. Hierarchy exists in the mind.<br /><br /><br />11. Not just the other, the self can also cause itself to be ‘othered’.<br /><br /><br />12. Conflict does not have to be scary.<br /><br /><br />13. Aggression can be explicit, or covert as in ‘holding back and being silent’.<br /><br /><br />14. Being silent, can impact me and the other.<br /><br /><br />15. In staying silent, not confirming our ‘Ayes’ or ‘Nays’ we are unconsciously colluding with the system.<br /><br /><br />Dear Reader, I would love to hear your reflections to this article and any incidents or comments you may wish to share.</div>
Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-78560053619293941182020-07-10T20:20:00.002+05:302020-07-10T20:20:42.001+05:30Will East meet West?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Swami Chinmayananda explains three universal laws which I guess those with a scientific mind would agree with<br /><br />· Every effect is on account of a cause<br /><br />· The effect is the cause itself in different forms<br /><br />· If one removes the cause, there is nothing that remains<br /><br />What is Consciousness?<br /><br />Consciousness, the state of being aware, is a least understood phenomenon. The dominant western thought is that biology and chemistry combine to create the inexplicable awareness, an emergence if you like. There is much to be considered for this line of thinking, the parts are never great than the whole (Holonic principles), and emergence creates ‘new’ forms, that defy logic, as can be seen in neural networks.<br /><br />Quantum Mechanics and multi-universe have eroded the notion, long popular that the world is material. On one side you have the inflation theory and ‘big bang’ to explain the origins, on the other Michio Kaku firmly believes unwaveringly on String Field theory.<br /><br />The study of black holes and singularity confirm that ‘total information’ is never lost. While we have discovered and confirmed the Higg’s boson, we are disappointed nothing else was found!<br /><br />This brings us to the startling fact: What we see is not what is. Mind you, It is not false or a deception – it is illusory. Akin to mistaking a rope for a snake.<br /><br />What we are discovering…thru Science<br /><br />If quantum mechanics is to be believed, then the observer himself is entangled with the observation. Jiddu K, shared, ‘The observed is the observer’. It is believed that all (‘particles’ exist when observed, but are waves when unobserved) are in superpositions. In order words, they have the dual property of ‘exist/non-exist’ (Schrodinger), and each (there are exceptions) has a unique spin (one aspect). In the double slit experiment, the Copenhagen experiment explains ‘wave collapse’ when measurement occurs, and in their potential state are infinite possibilities. For it is a fact that the observer is also entangled with the observed world.<br /><br />They take on mass with acceleration, given their energy potential as Einstein famously clarified – E=MC2 . No doubt, Einstein was troubled with the issue of non-locality (wherein one state knows the other, even if separated by large distances or time). While Einstein alluded to ‘space time’ being warped, he confirmed that both were illusions.<br /><br />Where I am going with this is that quantum processing generates physical events and ‘illusionary’ reality with the physical world just being an interface.<br /><br />Thus at both levels: micro and macro as we peek we recognise that there are unknowns that can be known, but there exists too, the unknowable. I am fascinated with ‘existing knowledge giving way’ – like Euclid to Newton, to Einstein to Quantum, even as we search for the Holy Grail – the Grand Unified Theory.<br /><br />Thus, some truths (or at least knowable truths) are made true by the abstract structure of the world, the pattern in which fundamental properties and relations are instantiated by fundamental particulars, irrespective of the identity of the properties, relations, and particulars. Haecceitism argues properties have a primitive identity – a ‘thisness’. Again, quidditism argues that the fundamental properties are ‘quiddities’ (or suchness).<br /><br /><b>Do I understand all this?</b><br /><br />No one real does….’Nobody understands (quantum mechanics)’ said Richard Feynman. I am excited with modern scrutiny by science: West started with matter, and discover, matter does not exist in the form we think. East started with Consciousness. Kipling will be proven wrong once again – on ‘The East is east and West is west….never shall the twain meet’<br /><br />East has clarified on brahman (ultimate reality), maya (illusion), trigunas (basic primary particles that constitutes all. With mooldhara (complete balance disturbed), Prakriti (Energy) enjoins with Purush (inert) to create its 24 evolutes. The fundamental difference is that Consciousness precedes all, Not an outcome of.<br /><br />Sabda, according to Nyaya philosophy are drstartha (perceptible objects) and adrstartha (imperceptible objects). Indian philosophy explored realms both of the physical and metaphysical worlds. Indian science has excelled in all areas thousands of years before the West grasped this. She invented the Number system, the Zero was invented by Aryabhatta and the decimal system in 100 BC. In the 5th Centaury Bhaskaracharya correctly calculated time taken for earth to orbit the sun. Gravitation was known before Newton. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, who went on to explain the now well-known Pythagorean Theorem. Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus from Sridharacharya in the 11th centaury. Ayurveda, is the earliest school of medicine known to humans, consolidated by Charaka 2500 years ago. Surgery was introduced by Sushruta 2600 years ago. Navigation, originating from the Sanskrit word, Navgatih, originated from sea travel across the Sindhu river. <br /><br />The first university was established in Takshashila in 700 BC, and students included those from other countries as well. Sanskrit, originating in India, is the mother of all European languages All of this has been possible, as India had a matured civilisation in the Harappan culture in the Sindhu valley 5000 years ago, while most cultures in the world were still nomads and forest dwellers. More recently India was the 4th country to almost land a vehicle on moon.<br /><br /><b>Why East has not delved on the brain?</b><br /><br />I have often wondered why no emphasis in East over 7000 years explaining the brain (neuroscience) in great details. Our Sages simply treated the brain as a ‘device’ – a room, if you like to enter and jump out thru a window. It was at best a launchpad. No need to spend time to examine the ‘room’ describe it, arrange it, categorise it, that was simply not the point. Out there lay the opportunity for delving into fundamental science. Through Dharana (concentration) Dhyana (contemplation) Samadhi (dissolution). Patanjali writes with the precision of a scientist. He does not form hypothesis, he states facts you will experience. He writes for many ‘minds’, each of the chapter will have a different appeal to different temperaments. He assures that the ‘science of the material world’ would also be available, but that’s not the point to. His goal is to guide you to ultimate dissolution – being one with reality. <br /><br /><b>Winding down….</b><br /><br />Back to Swami Chinmayananda: who clarifies that the manifest arises from a universal source, ie Consciousness, that is singular, all that exists is the plurality of the source itself, and it is life itself (read energy force) that creates all, which once removed renders the effects non-existent.<br /><br />I hope dear reader this article has created a curiosity in you on the wonder of Science and Spirituality. I hope you will explore this yourself more fully.<br /><br />The outer world lends itself to Science, the inner world to search through Yogic means. In the end, we strive towards one thing: to discover the grandeur!</div>
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Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-70817156056408760182020-07-09T07:07:00.000+05:302020-07-09T07:07:00.393+05:30How Society Shapes Our Behaviour<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /><br />Social Construction of Behaviour – impact of Kaal(time), Desh(region) and Context<br /><br />For millennials, humans have lived in tribes, communities and societies. Their behaviour has been evolved to best support their survival, against predators – both animals and other tribes, for resources, and for better reproductive success. <br /><br />Ethologist Michael Chance, studies higher primates and humans and describes two basic modes in which a community is organised and the resultant social interaction: Agonic and Hedonic. Read through the next two paragraphs to determine where do you Indian-ness leans towards? <br /><br />The Agonic (with anchor in Power) mode is based upon the collective’s perception and experience of threat, power and anxiety, and the group is essentially a source of defence against external threat, call it in-group / out-group. (Apna/Paraya).The intra-group relations are marked by mutual defensiveness and the group has to develop ways to ensure that hostilities are controlled and contained. This could also include submission or appeasement. This would be basis the assessment of the adversary and their ‘relative holding potential’ compared to their own. This results in the creation of the pecking order, compliance and threat of punishment. The bonding is an alliance against a potential enemy. All relationships are determined by the relative positions of people in the hierarchy.<br /><br />Consequently, the group is organised hierarchically around that individual who has the maximum fighting capability and the intra-group relations are marked by mutual defensiveness. Thus aggression is a valued attribute, and would determine the status and entitlements. Leaders here are expected to be decisive, lead from the front, and courageous.<br /><br />The Hedonic (with anchor in prestige) mode is based upon playful catching up of attention, prestige and mutual support. Consequently, the focus shifts from negative attention (being potentially harmful) to positive attention (being competent and potentially helpful).Qualities that would enhance social approval such as beauty, intelligence, talents, special skills would be held in higher esteem. The group is seen as a source of mutual confidence and the intra-group relations are marked by interdependency, rather than defensiveness. These communities are characterised by ‘egalitarian values’ – it is more affectional. Maximising positive attention is the goal here. Intimacy, personal relationships are encouraged, and aggression is discouraged in this mode. Focus is on harmony instead, and good relationships. In somewhat similar vein, Gert Hofstede*1 refers to this as ‘Masculine and Feminine Cultures’ and confirms India is moderate on Masculine (the elaboration of which is another post by itself :)). Leaders get pay-off in 'giving/gifting' as such acts earn him a reputation of being good.<br /><br />Such groups are organised around the individual who has maximum prestige which is derived either through altruistic acts or demonstration of superior skills. The leader is one who emerges with the maximum prestige, which is acquired by acts of altruism or through demonstration of a superior skill. Leaders value dialogue, consensus, and harmony. Much time is spent on building alignment.<br /><br />Quiz: So what mode does India lean towards? <br /><br />To cut to the chase, Ashok Malhotra basis his EUM empirical research says that the data (on Indian Managers) reveals that “My inclination is towards hedonic mode, and hence the best I can do to survive and prosper is to modify myself and embrace the agonic mode”*2. <br /><br />You can readily appreciate that one aspect of India is a ‘collage’ of both traditional and modern influences. There are two simultaneous modes operating in India: primary axis 'relational' and secondary 'competitive' influenced by western education, and 'aping' the west. These create dilemmas in managing polarities, contradictions, and paradoxes. Also, there is 'No one India' - it differs from regions, to class, and income levels. Also, depending on which 'varna' one identifies with, how one is expected to behave in situations may also vary. At Corporate level, the Nurturant Task Leader, or 'Karta' is the most accepted and effective mode. I argue that the 'recommended western leadership models' from the West do NOT work in India, (a subject for another post).<br /><br />There are several other facets of Indian-ness. Do share if you have found this useful and I will be encouraged to build on other aspects of the dualities, polarities, and paradoxes that constitutes the Indian culture. <br /><br />Please Like, Comment or Share. <br /><br />Citations: *1https://www.andrews.edu/~tidwell/bsad560/HofstedeMasculinity.html<br /><br />*2 Ashok Malhotra, Indian Managers and Organisations – Boons and burdens, Routledge, page 183</div>
Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-87866413911251807052020-07-09T07:04:00.002+05:302020-07-09T07:04:43.823+05:30Leadership in Crisis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /><br />In the story of ‘Odyssey’ one learns about Odysseus is shipwrecked and marooned, while powerful young men in his community back home, run riot in gluttonous, unrestrained and wanton behaviour. The story steers to an undeniable fact, that the quality of life in a human community (and this includes business organisations) depends on the quality of its leaders. <br /><br />In a democratic world (which includes Business Organisations owned by shareholders) we have the responsibility to choose our leaders with care. We should stay vigilant to ‘camera facing’ leaders who are adroit at managing their ‘charisma’ even while paying scant attention to their leadership style. <br /><br />In Indian tradition, there was a Yuga (a period) when no leader (king) was necessary. However, when ‘evil forces’ grew, Indra was selected by the Devas to lead them – the first King. What followed, was the coding of Dharma. In today’s time, with our world losing its way to ineffective leadership in crisis, plummeting into dubious practices, and some outright scams and financial impropriety, now more than ever before is the need for the emergence of the Corporate Rishi – a ‘Rajarshi’ Leadership style for our times. <br /><br />Rajarshi leadership style has been advocated in Indian thought for centuries. The modern mind is too egoistic to admits it illness. Modern day leadership styles and definitions flow largely from Academia, researched with WEIRD participants (western educated, industrialised nations, rich and democratic), which by itself is non-inclusive and undemocratic. Worse still, the notion, ‘sauce for the goose, must be sauce for the gander’ and its belief that it has universal application. We seem to be headed on a slippery slope of ‘technological advancement, with diminishing consciousness’. <br /><br />All is fair in love and war, is not a mode for Rajarshi Leadership. Our own tradition offer us insights on Appadharma in times of crisis and emergency as well. In a crisis, we need to be even more guarded to protect a few citadels.<br /><br />For one, Values stand out the most. I applaud a few companies who have gone out of their way to do what is right (increments, continued focus on training, etc) while the majority have responded to the imperatives: down-sizing, lay-offs, work beyond office hours, etc.<br /><br />The espoused ‘we value our people’ flies against the practiced and the experienced. Employees are ‘burning out’ at home, working longer, are far more stressed, while bosses continue to intrude and violate boundaries of personal time. In some states, even the authorities have colluded to ‘suspend’ labour laws, rather than intelligently modify them. When one suspends the social contract (especially legal contracts), both sides act ‘lawlessly’. <br /><br />When there are ‘no rights and duties’ from both sides it gives way to use of power, and legitimate authority is undermined. Indeed it is said that ‘The wise build bridges, the foolish build dams’. I leave you to judge which category of actions determine your behaviour as a leader.<br /><br />The time now is for an Organisation (as a community) to show its humane face, sensitivity, compassion and care. In this leadership is crucial to steer towards the North Star, a code of unflinching principles and values, despite everything. Adaptability is enhanced when there are ‘core’ principles rather than hampered by it. We expect Individuals to get on with their ‘leadership development’ hoping that transformation will emerge from this, yet fail to provide the scaffold to support the transformation within the organisation. The reason that SEALs and other fighting forces (always working in crisis) are so successful, because they train to do just three things: Move, Shoot, Communicate, and they spend a lifetime skilling themselves in all art forms of these. They are individually brilliant, but they hunt in packs! That’s the difference. How can leadership provide the inspiration to ‘fight in formation’ during a crisis? For me, I see new warriors - and they are actually quite different to the folks in black suits! I see warriors in everyday places, in different shapes and sizes who act with leadership. May the tribe increase!<br /><br />What we need now is humility, compassion, and a newer kind of response. The ‘normal’ has changed. It would be helpful for leaders to remember, that ‘normal leadership’ will be irrelevant to our current times. I am hoping we act as trustees to leave a richer legacy for those that follow us. For each of us, we will be remembered for not just what we did, but what we failed to do. </div>
Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-7706796556054463402020-07-07T20:46:00.001+05:302020-07-07T20:46:24.612+05:30The Illusion of the Self<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Who are you?</b><br />
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These Covid days have left me reflecting on the question.<br />
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All responses to the first inevitably relate to ‘my possessions’ (such as titles,), my ‘labelling of myself’ through reductionism (intelligent, funny, sensitive) or in ‘relationship’ terms in society(father, son, spouse, Consultant, etc). In some regions, with leanings more towards Individualism or collectives, the descriptors are more ‘individualistic’ and in others more ‘relational’. Are these responses truly responding to Who are You, or, What are You? It seems the latter, as these are our ‘attachments’(in Indian philosophy) or our ‘identification’ (as Gurdjieff calls it) or ‘Identity’ or Personality as the West would call it.<br />
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Many years ago I attended a three day ‘Art of Living’ and we worked in pairs, each one taking turns to respond to this one question: Who are you? repeated once again after every response. It became clear, that I was subsisting, my notion of What I am, to offer a responses to “Who am I’. In a ten day Vipassana programme, I came to an awareness, that I am not just my body, nor am I my thought. Both are identified by me as ‘I’. The wisest of Indian sages, maharishi Ramana, has advised, ‘Simply ask the question, Who is asking, Who am I?’<br />
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In a world, so filled with etching out an existence, combating innumerable adversities and challenges, we experience what Buddha calls ‘Dukkha’ (or sadness). One sees the world in one which when you delve deeper springs up with existential aloneness. There seems to be no release from this ‘existential pain or angst’ that always confronts us.<br />
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Some more fortunate to reflect ask themselves: What is the meaning of Life, what is my purpose? Does being born, offer me a purpose for my existence. Who is there to respond to this question? With our birth to a family, region, one is usually provided a 'religion' as well.<br />
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We chase after ‘solutions’ and are offered a ‘belief system’ in return. Each of these belief systems (call it Religion if you like or a spiritual philosophy) have a dogged conviction, that it has discovered the Truth (the Holy Grail). One would claim, that “I am the Way, I am the Light’ another ‘There is no god, but God’ or another may claim, “I am That’. Often unsatisfied with one ‘belief system’ we switch to another. For in a belief, the truth is not known: it is to be believed. You are reading this post: that is ‘known’ to you, but you have to believe or have belief in something, of which you are unsure. This includes a belief in God, in Life after death, and so have you. It is a belief.<br />
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Some belief systems would have you ‘enhance the self’ – to work on your SELF, (an Ego if you like with moral and conscience) so that you are a ‘responsible citizen. It holds the assumption that if Man was left to himself, ‘natural forces’ would unleash itself, as Hobbes would share that would create jungle like chaos. Thus, Social and Moral laws and Governance is a must.<br />
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Some belief system rejects the SELF, and wishes for it to be dissolved. It holds the notion that Ahamkara (the ego) needs to be dissolved with the viveka of Buddhi, to get in touch with a Mahat (intelligence) the ‘first born’ of the co-joining of Purush (inert) and Prakriti (dynamic energy) to recognise that we are finally, divinity and part of the cosmic Brahman (Sankhya Philosophy).<br />
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This tradition rejects the notion of the western concept of Self, and confirms that true reality is not possible because of Avidya (ignorance) of failing to recognise the transitionary nature of life: Asmita (ego), raga (attachment), Dvesha (aversion) and Abhinivesh (fear of death). True bliss is when one is in touch with Sat(truth) Chit Ananda – the ultimate bliss of self. In the absence of this, there is suffering and pain.<br />
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There are many other schools of philosophy..... and 'pundits, priests, and God-Men' to explain this to you.<br />
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Replete in any school is the striving to move away from ‘suffering, and pain’ and seek ‘happiness’. Some seek it in materialism, some spiritually. With so many philosophies, which one steers to the truth? Indian philosophy avers that “The Truth is One, but the Wise speak of it in many ways’. What is Truth was a rhetorical question Pontius Pilate asked of Christ, and promptly then condemned him to be crucified.<br />
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What is Truth is a question that has been on our lips, and our thoughts over the millennial of man’s existence.<br />
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It is the right for each one of us to choose a philosophy by which we affirm our being and our lifestyle, even if it includes ‘Carvaka’ (Atheism) , Monotheism or Polytheism. Any path will do as long as one is steadfast. For this, we also have to ‘live’ with the others ‘right to choose’ else we may label them as infidels, heretics, non-believers, and sinners.<br />
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Comparison of one with another is like a game of cricket and baseball: there are many similarities, but so what? They are two different games. So why compare? In the end, each one of us have the responsibility to journey on our own, within, to explore our notion of Truth. For most, the ‘busyness’ of life is more important and these questions seem interesting, but not practical. </div>
Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-11883741962117252132020-07-06T10:32:00.003+05:302020-07-06T10:32:49.683+05:30It takes just one story to create interest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Art of War is a 5th-century BCE military treatise written by the Chinese strategist Sun-Tzu. Covering all aspects of warfare, it seeks to advise commanders on how to prepare, mobilise, attack, defend, and treat the vanquished. It is one of the best books I have read.<br />
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It takes one story to create an interest in a book. Here goes:<br />
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Ho Lu, King of Wu was intrigued with Sun Tzu’s ART OF WAR and they met. The King said to him: “I have carefully read your 13 chapters. May I submit your theory of managing soldiers to a slight test?” Sun Tzu agreed. Ho Lu asked: “May the test be applied to women?” Yes, You may, said Sun Tzu.<br />
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180 ladies were summoned out of the Palace. Sun Tzu divided them into two companies, and placed one of the King’s favourite concubines at the head of each. He then bade them all take spears in their hands, and addressed them thus: “I presume you know the difference between front and back, right hand and left hand?” The girls replied: Yes.<br />
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Sun Tzu went on: “When I say “Eyes front,” you must look straight ahead. When I say “Left turn,” you must face towards your left hand. When I say “Right turn,” you must face towards your right hand. When I say “About turn,” you must face right round towards your back.”<br />
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Again the girls assented. The words of command having been thus explained, he set up the halberds and battle-axes in order to begin the drill. Then, to the sound of drums, he gave the order “Right turn.” But the girls only burst out laughing. Sun Tzu said: “If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, then the general is to blame.”<br />
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So he started drilling them again, and this time gave the order “Left turn,” whereupon the girls once more burst into fits of laughter. Sun Tzu: “If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame. But if his orders ARE clear, and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers.”<br />
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So saying, he ordered the leaders of the two companies to be beheaded. Now the king of Wu was watching the scene from the top of a raised pavilion; and when he saw that his favourite concubines were about to be executed, he was greatly alarmed and hurriedly sent down the following message: “We are now quite satisfied as to our general’s ability to handle troops. If we are bereft of these two concubines, our meat and drink will lose their savour. It is our wish that they shall not be beheaded.”<br />
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Sun Tzu replied: “Having once received His Majesty’s commission to be the general of his forces, there are certain commands of His Majesty which, acting in that capacity, I am unable to accept.”<br />
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Accordingly, he had the two leaders beheaded, and straightway installed the pair next in order as leaders in their place. When this had been done, the drum was sounded for the drill once more; and the girls went through all the evolutions, turning to the right or to the left, marching ahead or wheeling back, kneeling or standing, with perfect accuracy and precision, not venturing to utter a sound. Then Sun Tzu sent a messenger to the King saying: “Your soldiers, Sire, are now properly drilled and disciplined, and ready for your majesty’s inspection. They can be put to any use that their sovereign may desire; bid them go through fire and water, and they will not disobey.”<br />
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But the King replied: “Let our general cease drilling and return to camp. As for us, we have no wish to come down and inspect the troops.”<br />
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Thereupon Sun Tzu said: “The King is only fond of words, and cannot translate them into deeds.”<br />
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After that, Ho Lu saw that Sun Tzu was one who knew how to handle an army, and finally appointed him general.<br />
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Adapted from the story by Sima Qian. Would you like to read this book now?<br />
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If you like this article, do 'Comment’ or ‘Share link with friends. </div>
Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100267257326655083.post-32240985391665228462020-07-02T14:57:00.001+05:302020-07-02T14:57:09.637+05:30Rumi - Ask not What is Love! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>On Love</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Love </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Is everything</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Its language is silence, not words</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The bridge that connects us to the universe</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A mirror to see God</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It paves its own path</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Beyond time and space</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Love </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Is a secret that is open to all who seek</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It cannot be explained</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yet when one is lit with love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All is explained </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ask no one, What is Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ask this of Love itself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Love </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Is invincible, conquers all</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The mightiest sword that cuts through all</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">An eternal blazing fire, never abating, forever bright</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">is not possessive of your possessions or your senses</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It only seeks you</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It has only one purpose to embrace the beloved</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Love </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Transforms all, It is an Alchemy, it changes all</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">An antidote for all poisons, Lover conquers all</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Villains to saints, the dead spring to life</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The greatest intoxicant</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Without Love no man is alive</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Your very breath</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Love</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Knows not good or bad, like or dislike</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Love seeks the besotted, Love just is</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When Love beckons, rush headlong</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Love is faithful, it demands your loyalty as well</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Don’t seek it. Simply Love. Nowhere to Go.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now Here – Love is. So near, It was never lost. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Just drop the wall within, Embrace Love</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Love </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Is a journey, No beginning, no end </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is the Alpha and the Omega</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When you meet Love, you meet yourself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fall into Love, Surrender</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Keep falling till you feel the love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For it will take you to the sky</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Your only fault is to stay devoid of love in life</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For when is in Love, all is Empty</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Just Love is</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And whatever you touch just love remains</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Love </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Is that eternal glow that persists</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Drink of it fully, don’t stay sober</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Go mad with Love. Be reckless with Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Share Love with abandon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lose everything in Love</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Love </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Is pure</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Is everything</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is not outside </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is within</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Love is You itself</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Inspired by the many verses of J.Rumi on Love. </span><br />
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Steve Correahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051641654579303424noreply@blogger.com0