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Archive for the ‘Life’ Category

Three days, three cities…

Posted in Entertainment, Life, Social Networking, Travel on November 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

There are many road warriors out there who may beat this story but this week I saw myself becoming one. Hopped on a plane Sunday night, another one Monday night, and another one on Tuesday night and yet another one Wednesday night! It almost felt like navigating Google maps to find a town except that I actually traveled to such places.

So what is it like? Definitely not fun when you find yourself spending more time at the airport than in a bed. But it has it’s own charm. When I am at the airport I make it a point to the local gift shop because that’s one place where you get to learn something about the town/city. Try driving through the downtown, particularly if it is a small town or village. You will find the experience soothing if you are used to living in a big city. Recently I have tried doing one more thing – eating at local restaurants rather than popular chains. You will find amazing food at the local places because most of the time owners use traditional recipes and put their lifetime’s worth of hard work in serving you.

Even with a busy schedule you can create some fun for yourself. It only helps you by relieving some of that work pressure and by relaxing your airplane back!

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Ten Years Later…

Posted in Life, Patriot, Public Service, USA, tagged , , , on September 23, 2011| 1 Comment »

Time has come to change the political scene in the USA. There have been so many speculations about Obama and his policies but clearly “the change” that he had promised has not been delivered. And now it is too late for the 2012 elections to turnaround a country. But is it really Obama or merely the repercussion of policies of the past?

I was coming back home from Dallas when I met this interesting lady who wanted to talk about America’s political scene. She was probably in her 50’s and has seen several American presidents. She told me that she has not voted since Clinton left Washington. According to her, despite Clinton’s personal issues he was the last “good” president who did something meaningful for the country. Her view on Bush Jr. and Obama were quite funny yet thought provoking.

In the last decade US has seen two recessions, significant job loss, tremendous deficit and “Dollar” has started to lose its dominance in this global economy. If we look back, economic policies of the last two presidents have not been very comprehensive – one focused more on “war on terrorism” and the other on reviving “manufacturing in America”. United States has been victim of both internal and external factors, external far more than the internal. For e.g. US cannot compete with China in prices. Emerging markets will continue to grow strong on a global platform. Then why are the economic policies so focused on internal environment? And how will the manufacturing jobs come back? Obama announced last year that he will bring back the jobs by increasing manufacturing however Corporate America is not ready to do that. It cuts into the profitability of the large American corporates who already struggling due to internal economic weaknesses and external threat from global substitutes.

Result is that unemployment is still very high in the manufacturing sector and only way Obama administration could show recovery was by cutting down government jobs. Rob Peter to pay Paul but the Americans are still there where they were ten years ago. This whole situation is so convoluted that the hopes of a true economic recovery are far from remote. It does not matter who fixes it but the people of United States need a leader who can not only show the plan but execute it as well.

On the tenth anniversary of September 11, the day that changed the future of United States for many years to come, I say again “God Bless America”

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Creating Value in Workplace

Posted in Efficiency, Life, Management, Social Networking, Work on August 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

It’s Monday afternoon and you have just recovered from Monday morning blues! It is time to get back to work with full force and make a difference!

There is one problem – you have this second thought in your mind – am I really making a difference? Is my job and my years of hard work creating any value for the company and in turn for me? And as you start sorting out these thoughts, your Monday afternoon productivity has taken a dive already. However, you are not alone in this world having these doubts. This is normal. There are probably a million people in the United States alone who have this thought every Monday.

This thought is even more prevalent during this economic downturn when many employees feel obligated to prove their relevance in the company. So what should you be doing? Remember, like all management theories, there is no silver bullet. There are several keys to success, most important ones being patience and perseverance.

Create Value at your workplace – not for one day but every day! Infuse some enthusiasm in you and your colleagues. Here are some things you can start trying tomorrow when you walk-in to your office.

  1. Death by Meeting – how many times you have attended a meeting where you felt you were not providing any value or you felt disassociated with the subject? Next time when you get invited to a meeting, reach out to the host and clarify the purpose and your role in advance. Then prepare accordingly – you don’t have to go buy books for that. Read relevant information on your company’s intranet, talk to other colleagues about it and when nothing else works – Google it! So in the upcoming meeting, walk in like a smart individual and share your wealth of knowledge with the other invitees. You will see people will start respecting your point of view.
  2. Socialize and not gossip – you have just come out of a meeting with a great idea and a list of action items. The project you and your colleagues have been working on is going to bring great value for your company. Top management knows it but besides them it is an unknown entity. Don’t stop there. Create wow internally. Water Cooler talk, lunch time conversation, hallway conversations, message on intranet – use all these tools to socialize the idea and its importance. Don’t brag about it but educate and inform your colleagues. And again, your co-workers will start seeing you as an important source of information while management will view this as a great effort to collaborate.
  3. The Need of a new idea – many management gurus talk about innovation and often people associate innovation with a new idea. I have a different take on it. Statistically, only 15% of human beings on this planet have the genes to be exclusively creative. Majority of them are artists of some sort. When it comes down to corporate innovation, the number is probably down to 5% or something. I am not saying don’t develop new ideas, but the concept is don’t over work yourself on it. There is a merit to taking an existing idea and putting it into execution. Make it successful for your customers, your company, your colleagues and yourself! Not everyone who can think of a new idea can make it happen. You can be the “make it happen” person.
  4. Time sharing is not only for vacations – you have a long list of emails in your mailbox. Then there is a laundry list of items from home. Your manager has asked you for 10 high priority deliverables. And the constraint is – you have one soul! There are several things which are wrong with this picture. I am not going to touch the domestic affairs but when it comes to work I am also swamped with millions of things which I took upon myself. There cannot be 10 high priorities in anyone’s work. It’s math, it’s logic! Even your manager cannot handle 10 high priorities. So learn to distribute or re-prioritize. Share the time with other colleagues who may not be as swamped as you are. Believe me, every organization has some. Just look around your office.

These are 4 simple techniques that don’t require extensive training. Try to make them a habit and spread your influence by creating value for yourself and others!

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