A ship is safe in harbor…

Here is an interesting poem which caught my attention recently. The author is not known. I found it thought provoking for its depth and Ship is a metaphor which can be applied to many spheres of life. So pleased to write about it in today’s post:

All I live for is now,
All I stand for is where and how,
All I wish for are magic moments…

As I sail through change,
My resolve remains the same–
What I choose are magic moments,

Ships are safe in the harbor
But that is not what ships are made for;
The mind could stretch much further
But it seems that is not what our minds are trained for… 

Sail on…

The poem is self explanatory. The author presents his ideas in simple words with considerable depth. He says he lives in the present and expecting some magic moments in his life. He speaks about managing change in life, taking calculated risks and moving forward.
The most striking lines of the poem are:

“Ships are safe in the harbor
But that is not what ships are made for”

Think for a while... the positioning of ship offers an interesting perspective..

A ship may be safe in a harbor, but if you wanted something safe, you would have built a structure, not a ship. A ship, by nature of being lighter than water, is vulnerable to wind, waves, the rocks and reefs and of course action of pirates. But unlike structures, it can move wherever the captain chooses to go.

A ship is built to travel on seas, to cruise through the waters, navigate the waves, and brave the weather and to go to distant lands. Whether to trade goods, discover new places or connect the nations together, ship exists to go places. In harbor it is almost useless. Outside harbor, it is at risk.

Balance between safety and risk

Safety is nice, but when you are completely safe, you really can’t do much. To do things, you have to leave some of your safety behind and take risks. While prudence has a prominent role in balancing safety and risk, what you have in the absence of risk is hardly much of a life. 

Risk is what ships are designed and built for. They balance the risks of the seas and waves by designing how high the sides of the ships are. Compare seagoing craft to those on small lakes or rivers. Look at the naval vessels which participate in wars. Their design and build is in tune with their objectives and a balance of safety and risk.

Where can we apply in our lives? 

Some people are wary of taking risks in life. They crave for stability and security. Stability in life style, in finances, in their house and job. Stability means consistency. Consistency means safety. Who doesn’t want to be safe? Unfortunately life just doesn’t work that way all the time. Life isn’t always calm, stable or safe. While you may have safe harbors such as your parent’s house, your bedroom, enjoyable company of childhood friends and relatives, you still have to get out those comforting situations and and weather the storm to do something meaningful in life. 

There is another set of people who love to take risk. For them, racing on motorcycles, sports cars, trucks or bicycles is a thrill, they cannot give up. The balance of safety and risk says they should use proper safety gear, and only do their racing on a closed course away from bystanders and normal traffic.  Racing without any safety gear in public places like ORR(Outer Ring Road) of Hyderabad does not make them heroes, rather results in fatalities, making them zeroes.

Those who do not follow the path of prudence, and fail to balance safety with the risk can end up hurting themselves or worse, hurt others. That is not the path of prudence or intelligence.

Move ahead and Sail on..

While taking blind risks is unwise, it is foolish to not to take any risks in life. There is risk every activity we take up. There is a risk of choking if you take food. Does it mean we don’t take food at all? 

It is always advisable to take on newer and bigger challenges in life. However, while doing it, consider what information you could gather to help you better understand the risks, and therefore mitigate them. 

Life is full of exciting opportunities. It is all about how you understand risk-reward equation and what appetite you have for taking the risks involved. At the end, let me reiterate, ships are not meant to be in harbors, they should be sailing on high seas, crossing frontiers. 

Do you agree? What do you say?

Out of Comfort Zone

Imagine for a moment that you are about to stand up in front of a thousand people to make a presentation…what is your feeling?

You are about to appear for a test or an interview for a dream job that would make or break your career… what is your feeling? Is it the same?

We are quite familiar with how it feels to step out of our ‘Comfort Zones’ whether it is facing an interview, making a presentation or starting a new business.

If you are like many people, you will feel butterflies in the stomach, your mouth goes dry, your knees feel week and your heart starts thumping!

Usually many people do everything to avoid this feeling as they feel uncomfortable.

I’d say, it is a mistake to avoid this feeling. Everything you want in life is waiting outside your comfort zone. When we stay secure in our comfort zones we limit ourselves to experiencing something which is already part of our life.

The only way to change our circumstances is to step out of our comfort zone and venture into the 'Possibility Zone'. It is in the possibility zone you will find everything you wanted in your life.

We all know that no profession is fully secure. The only thing that is secure in life is you – your spirit, your knowledge, your talents and gifts, and your ability to contribute to something that matters to you in life. When you live from that knowledge and experience, you’ll find gainful and rewarding work no matter where you go, despite the turbulence around you. And to do that, you need to continually push yourself out of your comfort zone.

Whether it is better health, career, money or a personal goal, the life you want waits outside your comfort zone. With consistent effort, you can expand your comfort zone. The only way to expand your comfort zone is to bite the 'bullet' and step out into possibility zone. Initially this would be uncomfortable, but with some effort your comfort zone would slowly expand to cover the things you want in your life.

So next time, when you have that uneasy feeling, while stepping out of comfort zone, don’t shy away. Go ahead and embrace it. It is an indication that you are on your way to expand your horizons!

In fact, the more often you step out of your comfort zone, the faster you will be realizing your goals. 

Do you agree? What are your thoughts?

The Hermit and his loincloth

Here is an interesting story of a Hermit and loincloth with a very curious turn of events. What happens if we do not define a problem properly and if the solution is not consistent with the mission and values of the organization? It brings out a unique perspective in problem solving!

In a forest near a village there lived a guru (master) and his disciples who spent all their time in prayer and meditation. The villagers around the forest used to visit the hermitage and respect the guru and disciples. 

One day the guru decided to go on a long pilgrimage. He called all his disciples and announced his decision. He told them, “I am going on a pilgrimage. I’d like all of you to maintain the daily routine of the hermitage and ensure its peaceful environment and sanctity. I’ll be back after a few years. Among his disciples there was one young boy who joined the hermitage a few years back and was sincere and dedicated in prayer and meditation. He chose that disciple to lead the hermitage in his absence and handed over the charge. 

As he bid farewell to his disciples, the guru turned to the in-charge said, my son, remember all that I have taught you and lead a simple life."I will Gurudev!", the disciple replied as he lay himself down before his guru in respect.

The disciples’ possessions were very limited. He had only two loin clothes (kaupin) to wear. Every day he would wear one and wash the other. As was the custom for ascetics, he begged at the village for his food.

One day, when he returned from the village, he saw a rat running off with a piece of his spare loin cloth in its mouth. He quickly checked and sure enough, the spare loin cloth was full of holes!.Oh no! I will have to beg at the village for another loincloth. the disciple thought in dismay.

So when he went begging for alms at the village the next day, he also asked for a loincloth.

"I have a new one", the villager replied. "I will give it to you Oh holy sage."

The disciple gratefully accepted the loincloth and decided that from then on he would dry his loin clothes on top of the hut so that the rats wouldn't get to it. But he was wrong.

When he returned from begging at the village the next day, he once again found that the rats had torn up his loincloth. I must get myself a cat in order to get rid of the rats, the disciple decided.

So the disciple got a cat and the rats disappeared in no time. But the cat was not getting enough food and it was starving. It was becoming leaner and leaner day by day.

Then he began to think, I must keep the cat well fed. She is doing such a good job! I know! I will get a cow.

So he got a cow from the benevolent villagers and took care of her. The cow was happy and so also the cat. Now the cow needed grass and someone who can take it for grazing. I need straw to feed my cow the disciple began to think.

He hired a servant who would take care of the cow. He came to the hermitage and started living with his wife. He and his family need to be taken care of. 

"I should cultivate the land around my hut, and when the grain is harvested I will have all the straw for my cow the paddy will meet the needs of the person who takes care of the cow," he thought.

So he started to cultivate the land around his hut. The land produced a good crop. So now he needed a place to store the grain. He hired laborers to build barns for him. The disciple found that the needs of the hermitage and its possessions kept growing and soon a lavish estate replaced the hermitage where he lived. Living a luxurious life, the disciple decided to get married. The other disciples also followed suit and soon there was a beautiful colony with vibrant atmosphere, children playing, cattle in their sheds, bags of grains in granaries and women busy with family chores

One day his guru returned from his long pilgrimage. Have I come to the wrong place? the guru thought as he looked around at the lavish estate. Then finding that he was in the right place he then worried that a rich man must have driven his poor disciple away and built his estate where the hermitage used to be.

He saw one of the servants as called out to him, my good man, an ascetic used to live here once. Do you know where he is now?

The servant was taken aback. He started stuttering...

Just then, the disciple heard his guru's voice and rushed out and prostrated before him. 

“My son, what is all this?” the guru asked. “I left you leading the simple life of an ascetic. I return to find you surrounded by wealth and possessions. How did this happen?”

“ Oh Gurudev, the disciple said remorsefully. It all started with a single loincloth. To protect the cloth from the rats I needed a cat and then there was no end to my needs." He narrated the sequence of events and said, " Forgive me, Gurudev.”

Then Gurudev said, “You could have used a rat trap…”

The story was narrated by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the legendary Indian mystic and philosopher. 

From managerial perspective, the story is all about about finding a right solution to a small problem. This kind of things happen in modern organizations too. We usually tend to find a solution from a specific perspective which may give rise to another problem. When we identify and define the problem with a limited scope this kind of issues crop up. If we take a birds’s eye view of the same, the alternatives look different.  Problem solving typically involves a systematic approach and passing through five stages. 

The following are the stages of problem solving: 

• Identify and define the problem 
• Generate possible alternatives 
• Choose the best alternative 
• Implement the solution
• Evaluate whether the objective is achieved. 

The solution provided should be consistent with the mission, objectives and values of the organization or the individual. It should not go against them. 

Do you agree? What are your thoughts?

Super Stars and Black Holes

There are basically two types of people in the world. You can observe.

First type of people are Super Stars. Just like their celestial counterparts, superstars radiate warmth, enthusiasm and positive energy. 

You can recognize a super star by the following characteristics:

• They are positive 
• They speak well of the people around them 
• They smile and laugh easily 
• They accept compliments graciously 
• They encourage and support those around them 
• They have clear goals and enjoy the process of working and reaching them 
• They take action 

Then there are those Black Holes of the universe. These are the people who seem to suck the life, energy and light out of everything and everyone around them.

You can recognize a black hole by the following characteristics :

• They generally have a negative view of the world around them 
• They constantly crib and complain
• They regularly criticize others 
• They are often found lamenting over some or other thing
• They are quick to point out why the other people’s plans will never work 
• They rarely smile or laugh unless they are laughing at someone else 
• They often do not have clear goals and instead plod along from day to day 

You probably know people who fit well into these two categories, but as with anything in real life, these distinctions are not clear cut. 

In reality all of us capable of being super stars or black holes depending on what we think and how we feel at any given moment. Take a moment and observe yourself how you are interacting with people around you on daily basis. Are you a super star – radiating warmth and positive energy or you tend to be a little bit of a black hole?

The great thing about becoming aware of how you are acting is that you always have a choice of how to behave in a particular circumstance. Each and every day you can choose whether you are going to be either super star and spread positive energy or black hole and suck everything.

Enjoy the Coffee!

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old college lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer said: “If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other’s cups.”

 “Now, if Life is coffee, then the job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change.” “Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it.”

Cups hold the coffee and make it look better, however they don't determine the taste of coffee.

 So folks, don't let the cups drive you…enjoy the coffee instead.

Can You Sleep When the Wind Blows?

I'm glad to come back after some time with an interesting post,  a story I heard some time back in a Leadership Development Program. It highlights the importance of planning for business continuity. The theme is quite useful for all the people irrespective of profession and I thought of sharing it with all of you.

Long ago there was a farmer who was looking for someone who can help him in managing his farm and cattle. He was frantically looking for people, but no one was available. At last a young man was eagerly looking for a job, approached him and said, "I hear you've been looking for help."

"I sure have", replied the farmer. "What do you do? Can you drive a tractor?"

"No", answered the young man.

"How about a milking cows?"

"Never been into that activity," answered the lad.

The farmer continued his questions but after hearing no positive answers, finally asked, "Well, what can you do?"

"I can sleep when the wind blows," said the young man.

The farmer was in no mood for joking and almost told the young fellow to get out. But the lad seemed so genuine and he needed help so badly, that he decided to give him a try.

A week or so later the farm was hit by a ferocious storm in the middle of the night. Rain, and gales stormed against the farm windows and doors. The farmer flew out of bed and went to the young lad's room but all efforts to get him up failed.

Furious with himself for having hired an idle a youth, the farmer decided to take care of things himself. He rushed outdoors into the howling storm. But when he got to the barn the doors were shut and safely bolted. The animals were firmly tethered to their stalls. And the hay and feed, instead of being blown away by the wind, had been carefully covered under piles of securely fastened-down canvas. While the storm raged outside, the barn was safe, secure, and protected. It was then that the farmer knew what the young lad meant when he said, "I can sleep when the wind blows."

Can You Sleep When the Wind Blows?

 If you run anything in your life, whether a home, a shop, or a unit of a bigger business, you'll recognize the moral of this story: always plan for the worst that can happen and put in place measures to protect your assets. It may not be the most glamorous of your day's tasks. And often it will not seem the most urgent or pressing. But you need a plan to manage the very worst that can happen to you. And then you need to do something to put this plan into action. It is called Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning business terminology. Organizations which have this plan ready can handle the stormy situations easily and recover fast than those which are not well prepared.

Similarly as individuals you need to manage the risks associated with health and wealth through adoption of healthy life styles and disciplined Financial Management. So, have your plan ready for a possible stormy day. When the nature’s fury is its peak and wind blows, you can be warm and cozy at your home with all the arrangements in place.

The Milkman of India

I think there is nobody, who doesn’t know Amul Dairy, the taste of India, Dr. Varghese Kurien was the man behind the success of Amul. Kurien is the Father of White Revolution in India.

He is also known as Milkman of India. Kurien set up the Anand model of cooperative dairy development, engineered white revolution in India and transformed India from a milk deficient country to the largest milk producer in the world.

After returning from US, having studied Dairy Engineering under government scholarship, he was posted in Anand where he decided to work for a while. He wanted to leave soon after that. But under the guidance of Mr. Tribhuvandas Patel he realized the power in the idea of all milk producers cooperating and pooling their resources to build a better life and achieving what they could never achieve alone. Together they began working on this model with all their energy and determination. It was this idea that brought out the White Revolution.

Kurien was responsible for the creation and success of the Amul brand of dairy products managed by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation which today is jointly owned by 3.03 million milk producers in Gujarat. After the key invention of milk powder from buffalo milk, there was no stopping to the growth in dairy sector in India.

It was after he was appointed founder-chairman of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1965, to replicate Amul's model nationwide he started the revolution. He founded 30 institutions in some of the major states organizing farmers into cooperatives. In this process he faced many challenges from the politicians as they didn't believe that Indian farmers were capable of managing their own business. On being questioned the same by Indira Gandhi he proudly acclaimed, "You are now talking like the British who said we will give you freedom when you are ready."

Kurien is known for his blunt behaviour with the politicians and bureaucrats. He never let anything come between his missions. He was a man of his words and delivered what he promised. The biggest example of this is how he brought the same revolution with edible oils.

When he presented NDDB's plan to make India self-sufficient in edible oils in five years, Rajiv Gandhi questioned his targets by saying, 'you took 20 years in milk, and how you can do this in five years?' Kurien's reply was, "This time we are asking for a complete package of policy and powers to implement it."

"But what are the guarantees?" quipped the Prime Minister. "Our heads," replied Kurien. He got what he asked for and delivered self-sufficiency in three years instead of five.


He is an inspiration for all. The sense of professionalism, integrity and his constant search for excellence in everything that he did set a shining example for those who followed him, to live up to. He has taught us that in order to succeed, our integrity must be beyond reproach, for those who oppose, cannot successfully defeat an honest man. He had an extraordinary ability to convert threats into opportunities - never letting an opportunity to pass him by that could be of advantage to the organisation or those it served. He was an honest man who never asked anything for himself.

Today India needs such leaders who can engineer great revolutions and reforms. He is an inspiring personality who transformed the lives of millions farmers. Contribution to Space Missions, Technology and Stock Market is fine, however we need to have strong focus on raising the living standards of all the people. Empowering the poor and developing the rural areas is the only way to build a strong India. Our roots are deeply sown in the rural soil and development is impossible until we learn to water our roots.

Wood Chopping Challenge

Two neighbors lived near each other in the mountains. They were quite competitive and always testing each other’s strength. One day, the first neighbor challenged the second to see who could chop the most wood in three hours. The second neighbor agreed to the challenge. The first man started out strong. As he chopped away, the second man chopped for about a half hour and then sat down for ten minutes under the shade of a large tree. The first man could not believe his neighbor’s laziness. To his surprise, the second man continued to take these ten-minute breaks each hour for the duration of the contest. Finally the three hours passed.

Not having paused to take even a single break, the first neighbor was sure victory was his. To his dismay, he found that the second neighbor had chopped twice as much wood as he had! In disbelief, he said, ‘‘That’s impossible! You took a break every hour.’’ Without batting an eye, the second man replied, ‘‘I wasn’t resting; I was sharpening my axe.’’

Sharpen you Axe!

If we don’t take the time to develop and fine tune our core qualities , we will always lose in the end. As in sharpening the axe, we may not see the instant short-term gain from working on our core qualities, but the long-term benefits are huge. We know we should sharpen the axe, i.e., work on these skills, but who has the time, energy, desire, or focus? If you don’t sharpen your axe, it will become dull and useless. When we master these core qualities, our axes are sharp, and we develop strength at a much faster rate.

Sharpen the Axe means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have--you. It means having a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual. Here are some examples of activities:

Physical: Proper eating, exercising, and resting

Social/Emotional: Making social and meaningful connections with others

Mental: Learning, reading, writing, and teaching

Spiritual: Spending time in nature, prayer, music, art, or service

As you renew yourself in each of the four areas, you create growth and change in your life. Sharpening the Axe keeps you fresh, energetic and capable. You increase your capacity to produce and handle the challenges around you. Without this renewal, the body becomes weak, the mind slow, the emotions raw, the spirit low. Not a pretty picture, is it?

Life is a like the above Wood Chopping Challenge that goes on for decades. Living a life in balance means taking the necessary time to renew yourself. It's all up to you. You can renew yourself through regular learning, exercise and relaxation. Or you can totally burn yourself out by overdoing everything. You have a choice to renew yourself and experience the vibrant energy or procrastinate and miss out the benefits of good health and exercise. Do you want to keep your curiosity up and keep learning new things keep yourself updated or be happy with what you learned years ago? The choice is yours.

The principle of Sharpening Your Axe emphasizes the need for recharging your battery. It could be your skills/ knowledge that are useful at work or your fitness routine or your prayer/meditation session.
Being busy with chopping the tree doesn't help in long term. Do you have time for those self renewal activities?

Working Together Works

There is no limit to what a man can do, as long as he doesn’t mind who takes the credit. Team building works. Build a core group around yourself. American billionaire oil tyconn J.Paul Getty calls them “men with millionaire mentality: people who are forward-thinking. Cost conscious and profit-oriented. And, they will build teams around themselves. It will soon become a pyramid reaching for the moon!

Even for our body to function well physically, it is very important that its parts work in perfect coordination. If any of the parts is damaged or becomes inactive, it has a crippling effect on the whole body. This is the simplest way to explain the concept of “Working together Works.”

In a machine, it is the various components of the mechanism that work together to make it run. The same is true for work situations where everybody must work together.

And, once you are working together, why not do it with a smile? Try asking for a favor from a colleague with your face all lit up. There is a remote possibility that he will refuse. A smile is like a drop of oil that makes the complex human mechanism work without friction. Spread a smile around and your workplace becomes a better place.

In praise of Teamwork:

We work together
We work as one
Though there may be times
When we don't 'get on'

We may not always
See 'eye to eye'
And sometimes we feel
Like saying 'good-bye'

When this happens
We shouldn't lose heart
For of 'something greater'
We are all a part

Each one of us
Has a role to play
In making this
A brighter day

We work together
For the good of all
It's in our hearts
Where we feel the call

God's love lives within
Every heart that shares
and every soul
that really cares!