Entries Tagged 'books' ↓
January 19th, 2007 — books, Entrepreneurship
“Ram Charan [consults] for the largest and most powerful companies . . . even more than his dedication; it’s his insights that have won him the ear of hundreds of top managers. . . . What Charan loves to do is to solve business problems. With his plainspoken Socratic approach, he helps demolish organizational silos or persuade entrenched executives to change their points of view. . . . Companies seek him out for his ‘wise man’ approach rather than choosing a consultant with a narrow specialty.”
—Fast Company
I had last night, the opportunity to scrutinize his latest book: Know how. I have taken some notes therein which would be handy to entrepreneurs, in search of leadership skills, and who are reading me.
The Eight Know-Hows
Here is a breakdown of the eight know-hows:
1. Positioning and Repositioning: Finding a central
Idea for business that meets customer demands and that
makes money.
2. Pinpointing External Change: Detecting patterns
in a complex world to put the business on the offensive.
3. Leading the Social System: Getting the right people
together with the right behaviors and the right information
to make better, faster decisions and achieve business
results.
4. Judging People: Calibrating people based on their
actions, decisions and behaviors, and matching them to
the non-negotiables of the job.
5. Molding a Team: Getting highly competent, highego
leaders to coordinate seamlessly.
6. Setting Goals: Determining the set of goals that
balances what the business can become with what it can
realistically achieve.
7. Setting Laser-Sharp Priorities: Defining the path
and aligning resources, actions and energy to accomplish
the goals.
8. Dealing With Forces Beyond the Market:
Anticipating and responding to societal pressures you
don’t control but that can affect your business.
Command of the eight know-hows enables you to
diagnose any situation and take appropriate action, lifting
you out of your comfort zone of expertise by developing
skills that prepare you to do what the situation
requires, not just what you’ve traditionally been good at.
Personal Traits and the
Know-Hows
The following are the personal traits that can help
or interfere with the know-hows:
✓ Ambition — to accomplish something noteworthy
BUT NOT win at all costs.
✓ Drive and Tenacity — to search, persist and
follow through BUT NOT hold on too long.
✓ Self-Confidence — to overcome the fear of
failure, fear of response or the need to be liked and
use power judiciously BUT NOT become arrogant
and narcissistic.
✓ Psychological Openness — to be receptive
to new and different ideas AND NOT shut other
people down.
✓ Realism — to see what can actually be accomplished
AND NOT gloss over problems or assume
the worst.
✓ Appetite for Learning — to continue to grow
and improve the know-hows AND NOT repeat the
same mistakes.
Detecting Patterns in the
Complex World
Here are seven simple questions that can help you
sort through and detect patterns in the complex
world around you:
1. What is happening in the world today? The
most significant trends affecting business transcend
company and industry.
2. What part of my frame of reference has
worked for me? What hasn’t worked for me? The
construction of your own frame of reference based
on previous experience is a large part of learning to
detect changes in external patterns.
3. What does it mean for anyone? The newspaper
industry is undergoing vast changes as a result
of the Internet and Google.
4. What does it mean for us? Once you have the
big picture, you can begin to examine what it means
for your own company’s strategies. That’s what
General Electric’s CEO Jeff Immelt did when he
decided to meld several of GE’s businesses into the
infrastructure business to sell items such as energy
equipment and services, railroad locomotives and
aircraft items — all necessary ingredients in rapidly
growing economies.
5. What would have to happen? Apple’s invention
of the iPod would have been considerably less successful
had it not created iTunes, the online source
of downloadable music.
6. What do we have to do to play a role? GE’s
decision to market its infrastructure products in
emerging markets required it to reorganize those
businesses in a way that recognized the difference
between selling a power plant to an American utility
and selling that same power plant to a foreign
government.
7. What do we do next?
In the nutshell, the role of the entrepreneur is thus: Diagnosing, Designing and Leading.
I thoroughly enjoyed my reading and would recommend you to read Ram Charan for his insights. As is often the case, knowing something is only good enough…Applying the knowledge is more important.
January 14th, 2007 — books, Mauritius
J’étais enthousiasmé de lire le livre de Jacques Attali : « une brevet histoire de l’avenir ». Un ouvrage de prospective, ou il appréhende le futur de la societe « hyper ».
Ce pavé de 420 pages se lit très facilement. Il n’a tenu en haleine et je l’ai dévore en quelques jours. Merci à Elizabeth Markevitch qui m’a passé son livre.
Â
Jacques Attali, au dernier chapitre, prescrit quelques actions réformatrices à la France pour se  positionner par rapport aux changements de la ‘9eme forme de  l’ordre marchand’ surtout dans le sillage des  présidentielles.
Â
Promouvoir les technologies de l’avenir.
Créer une societe équitable.
Renforcer l’efficacité du marché.
Créer, attirer et retenir une classe créative.
Renforcer les moyens de l’influence et de la souveraineté.
Faire naître l’hyperdemocratie.
Â
L’auteur m’a permis de vivre et suivre les différentes formes de l’ordre marchand depuis que l’homme est homme. Le parcours de l’Homo sapiens vers notre siècle est vu sous un regard evolutif, sous des filtres,temps en temps, humain, historique ou social ou geopolitique ou encore politique  et ceci contraste  avec le regard paleo-anthropologique que m’avait donne Pascal Picq il y a quelques années.
Sans conteste, le savoir partagé et l’étendu du travail fourni m’ont  bien enrichi. Je vous recommande de lire l’ouvrage vous les nouveaux nomades.
Et Maurice,notre patrie cherie dans tout cela?
Â
January 4th, 2007 — books, Reflexion
I have for quite a number of years( may be 10 years) signed off my emails by the words BE HAPPY.You may be wondering whether you are yourself Happy? If you are, then good for you. If you were not then,How do you become Happy? Just BE HAPPY! I would like to share with you an article from the mystic Anthony de Mello which might enlighten you early in this year and get you to be on the road to your happiness as from now.
The Most Important Minutes In Your Lives
Anthony de Mello, SJ
What I’m about to say will sound a bit pompous, but it’s true. What is coming could be the most important minutes in your lives. If you could grasp this, you’d hit upon the secret of awakening. You would be happy forever. You would never be unhappy again. Nothing would have the power to hurt you again. I mean that, nothing. It’s like when you throw black paint in the air, the air remains uncontaminated. You never color the air black. No matter what happens to you, you remain uncontaminated. You remain at peace. There are human beings who have attained this, what I call being human. Not this nonsense of being a puppet, jerked about this way and that way, letting events or other people tell you how to feel. So you proceed to feel it and you call it being vulnerable. Ha! I call it being a puppet. So you want to be a puppet? Press a button and you’re down; do you like that? But if you refuse to identify with any of those labels, most of your worries cease.
Later we’ll talk about fear of disease and death, but ordinarily you’re worried about what’s going to happen to your career. A small-time businessman, fifty-five years old, is sipping beer at a bar somewhere and he’s saying, “Well, look at my classmates, they’ve really made it.” The idiot! What does he mean, “They made it”? They’ve got their names in the newspaper. Do you call that making it? One is president of the corporation; the other has become the Chief Justice; somebody else has become this or that. Monkeys, all of them.
Who determines what it means to be a success? This stupid society! The main preoccupation of society is to keep society sick! And the sooner you realize that, the better. Sick, every one of them. They are loony, they’re crazy. You became president of the lunatic asylum and you’re proud of it even though it means nothing. Being president of a corporation has nothing to do with being a success in life. Having a lot of money has nothing to do with being a success in life. You’re a success in life when you wake up! Then you don’t have to apologize to anyone, you don’t have to explain anything to anyone, you don’t give a damn what anybody thinks about you or what anybody says about you. You have no worries; you’re happy. That’s what I call being a success. Having a good job or being famous or having a great reputation has absolutely nothing to do with happiness or success. Nothing! It is totally irrelevant. All he’s really worried about is what his children will think about him, what the neighbors will think about him, what his wife will think about him. He should have become famous. Our society and culture drill that into our heads day and night. People who made it! Made what?! Made asses of themselves. Because they drained all their energy getting something that was worthless. They’re frightened and confused, they are puppets like the rest. Look at them strutting across the stage. Look how upset they get if they have a stain on their shirt. Do you call that a success? Look at how frightened they are at the prospect they might not be reelected. Do you call that a success? They are controlled, so manipulated. They are unhappy people, they are miserable people. They don’t enjoy life. They are constantly tense and anxious. Do you call that human? And do you know why that happens? Only one reason: They identified with some label. They identified the “I” with their money or their job or their profession. That was their error.
Did you hear about the lawyer who was presented with a plumber’s bill? He said to the plumber, “Hey, you’re charging me two hundred dollars an hour. I don’t make that kind of money as a lawyer.” The plumber said, “I didn’t make that kind of money when I was a lawyer either!” You could be a plumber or a lawyer or a business man or a priest, but that does not affect the essential “I.” It doesn’t affect you. If I change my profession tomorrow, it’s just like changing my clothes. I am untouched. Are you your clothes? Are you your name? Are you your profession? Stop identifying with them. They come and go.
When you really understand this, no criticism can affect you. No flattery or praise can affect you either. When someone says, “You’re a great guy,” what is he talking about? He’s talking about “me,” he’s not talking about “I.” “I” is neither great nor small. “I” is neither successful nor a failure. It is none of these labels. These things come and go. These things depend on the criteria society establishes. These things depend on your conditioning. These things depend on the mood of the person who happens to be talking to you right now. It has nothing to do with “I.” “I” is none of these labels. “Me” is generally selfish, foolish, childish — a great big ass. So when you say, “You’re an ass,” I’ve known it for years! The conditioned self — what did you expect? I’ve known it for years. Why do you identify with him? Silly! That isn’t “I,” that’s “me.”
Do you want to be happy? Uninterrupted happiness is uncaused. True happiness is uncaused. You cannot make me happy. You are not my happiness. You say to the awakened person, “Why are you happy?” and the awakened person replies, “Why not?”
Happiness is our natural state. Happiness is the natural state of little children, to whom the kingdom belongs until they have been polluted and contaminated by the stupidity of society and culture. To acquire happiness you don’t have to do anything, because happiness cannot be acquired. Does anybody know why? Because we have it already. How can you acquire what you already have? Then why don’t you experience it? Because you’ve got to drop something. You’ve got to drop illusions. You don’t have to add anything in order to be happy; you’ve got to drop something. Life is easy, life is delightful. It’s only hard on your illusions, your ambitions, your greed, your cravings. Do you know where these things come from? From having identified with all kinds of labels!
Â
January 3rd, 2007 — books, Reflexion
I was again blessed to receive the visit of Fr. Micheal who brought to me yesterday, communion, our Lord’s gift to mankind. Thereafter,we had an interesting talk when we shared our thoughts and life paths.Then he presented to me the book of Anthony de Mello S.J. : The Song of the Bird which was first published in 1982 in India. Looking at the condition of the book tendered to me I could imagine to the number of hands this copy has been through and imagine the benefits the contents would have been drawn by the readers.Do I become some what mystical if I dare say ” I could feel the vibrations oozing to and from this apparently inert lump of stacked paper and dried printed ink each time it was read?” Yes, to see beyond the physical present state!De Mello is in eternity now, in the timeless,he passed away in 1987 and yet he is still communicating to us through his gospel, his writings….
In first inside cover page reads:
I imagine that today is the last day of my life.I ask for writing materials and compose for my friends and loved ones a sort of testament,a gospel of my life. The points that follow are possible titles to the chapters of that Gospel:
These things I have loved in life… Things I tasted….and looked at…and smelt…and heard…and touched…
The experiences I have cherished…
These ideas have liberated me…
These beliefs that I have outgrown…
These convictions I have lived by…
These things I have lived for…
These insights I have arrived at in the course of my life: insights into God,Christ,the world,human nature,love, prayer,religion…
The risks I have taken…
These sufferings have seasoned me….
These lessons have taught me…
These influences(persons,events,occupations,books,…)have shaped my life….
These scripture passages have lit my path…
These things I regret about my life…
These are my life’s achievement….
These persons are enshrined in my heart…
These are my unfulfilled desires….
The song of the bird is a book of short and numerous stories to be read and reread, to be reflected on,and perhaps discussed in small group to share the insights with each other….
The author Anthony de Mello wishes to create a silence within the reader and to let the story reveal its inner depth and meaning. A meaning beyond words and reflections,gradually giving a feel for the mystical.
So well and poetically said by the author:’allow the fragrance or its melody to haunt you”.
“Why does the bird sing?” said the Master.
A bird does not sing because he has a statement. He sings because he has a song.
The word of the scholar are to be understood. The words of the master are not to be understood.They are to be listened to as one listens to the wind in the trees and the sound of the river and the song of the bird.They will awaken something within the heart that is beyond knowledge.
My very good friend Andre would have loved to read more of Anthony de Mello!
December 28th, 2006 — Ayurveda, books
Before he leaves to San Diego Dr.Talavane Krishna the man who is the creator and engine driving the IVAC’s realization gave a short lecture on yet another Vedic subject which is of great interest to him. His studies in Vaastu was aroused out of necessity. When he started the project of setting up a home in Mysore and an Ayurvedic centre he had so much difficulties.He described:How by getting the positioning and erection of buildings in conformity with the energies changed the course of his life events? He has, by way of this experience learned and studied Vaastu and has now become a Vaastu consultant. Through his studies and his previous Ayurvedic studies, it was relatively easy for him to draw parallels between Vedic Astrology(Jyotish), Avyurveda( the science of well being)and Vaastu( the science of structures) as they all are founded in the same principles and may be sourced in the common Vedic literatures.
During the Q&A session,Dr. Krishna discussed briefly on the similarities & differences between Feng Shiu as there were members of the assembly who were of Chinese origin.Both are art of placement and have their roots in the knowledge of planetary energies and basic elements that govern them.Vaastu considers space, air,fire water and earth whilst Feng shiu Wind,water,fire & air. Height/weight distribution,exalted/debilitated positions and extensions & cuts are additional elements proposed in a more mathematically inclined Vaastu.
He responded to my interrogation on the effects of energies direction when one is situated in the southern hemisphere.According to him the climatic forces orientations being different, in fact opposite,he reckoned that Vaastu reading could be different. The Vedas were observations and writings made for the Northern hemisphere.As to the interplanetary system there would be no changes.
He then presented his book: The Vaastu Workbook, a simple to read book with numerous drawings and practical examples.
Thank you Dr. Krishna for entertaining us and sharing your wide knowledge and experiences.
December 13th, 2006 — Ayurveda, Blogging, books, Uncategorized
Marlyse Grossenbacher, who I mentioned in my blog of the 12th is now spending more time at the centre to deepen her knowledge in Ayurveda massage and treatments. She is a very well versed lady in the subject and has studies years to tune her up to run a reputable centre in Switzerland, not so many of its kind!Her web site is well worth a visit. I found that the Vedic chanting provided thereon to be exceptionally soothing for relaxation and meditation. Bravo Marlyse!Marie Anne got to know her a little better. “Marlyse degage un air de serenite!”
Her set up in Switzerland is in association with the well known French institution dispensing Ayurvedic treatment in Normandie and Paris directed by Kiran Vyas who has published several books in french on Yoga and related subject.
December 1st, 2006 — books, Entrepreneurship
One of the most important task of any entrepreneur in this stern age is Team Building. The complexitity of any venture today demands so many special skills and competences that you have to be supported by a team which you have to nurture and motivate constantly.
In a recent article written by Peter Grazier, I retained the essentials of Team building. The bonding of individuals in a team are achieved through 6 elements:Common purpose, shared challenge,great camaraderie,collective responsability,desire for growth of the team and a motivating leadership.
I quote After having spent years in the construction industry as a civil engineer, Peter Grazier began using employee involvement concepts in 1981 to improve productivity on construction work sites. Having been significantly affected by the results of involving employees directly in work improvement, he formed Teambuilding, Inc. in 1985. Since that time, he has worked with over one hundred organizations in all industries throughout the United States and Canada, and his work had been noted in more than seventy-five publications including The Wall Street Journal.
He is the author and publisher of two books on employee involvement and teamwork and formerly a 12-year-old newsletter on employee involvement. Mr. Grazier was honored with the prestigious President’s Award from the Association for Quality and Participation for his contributions to the field.
He wrote
A team whose members are aligned with its purpose, feel a challenge in their task, have a strong sense of camaraderie, feel responsibility for the outcome, and experience growth as a team and in their personal lives, will tend to sustain motivation over the long haul.
This is not to say that they will not have difficulties at times, or that members’ wants and needs won’t change over time. In these cases, sometimes changes will have to be made. A member who no longer feels the team is meeting his or her needs may have to leave the team to continue on their own path.
But, in as much as it is possible to sustain motivation indefinitely, the factors above will tend to create the best possible environment for it.
Copyright © Teambuilding, Inc
November 25th, 2006 — Ayurveda, books, Entrepreneurship
Yesterday after lunch at the Indus Valley Ayurvedic Centre, I lingered awhile at the common lobby to digest my great vegetarian lunch and to have a social chit chat with the reception staff. Past by the lunch room to get back to my chalet, I found two European looking guys who were still eating well after the normal lunch opening hour.
My interrogative face immediate got an answer from Sunil, the luncheon Captain without having had to utter a single word from my part. This only demonstrated the power of people to read the visual expression of others. The phenomenon is particularly true and widely used by persons in service industries where they are trained and continuously anticipating the needs of their clients. Bravo to Sunil! Who read my mind promptly? By the way I am reading EMOTIONS REVEALED by Paul Ekman. The reading has probably prompted this present diversion to my present story!
“Sir, these gentlemen came in for a late treatment and we are giving them lunch now†Sunil said.
To my greatest surprise, I heard them speaking French with a Quebecois accent. Needless to say, I had to greet them and was burning to know more about them. They told me that they are on a business trip to Mysore and just concluded a deal with a local partner to establish a joint venture company in the field of computers. On being asked where I came from? I played the game which I pull out from my bag of tricks. “I shall pay you 50 Dollars if you give my country and you will be allowed 5 answers and for each wrong answer I shall reduce 10 dollars from the prize. The first answer was Japan. No, you are left with 40 dollars. Thereafter Vietnam! Laos! They were searching for Asian country where French was spoken. Canada! Australia! “Now that you have consumed your 5 chances it would be you to pay me 10 Dollars for each new reply†I retorted. With this joke we broke the ice.
Ile Maurice bien sur! They were in development of online computer games and have been in this line for a number of years. One of their customers is in Reunion Island. Philippe Nadeau explained to me very briefly the niche market they were exploiting within the Computer Games market. Guess who their customers in Reunion were? Frederic Caille & Alfred Chane Pane! My APM Reunion island pals! Olala! Que le monde est petit!
Soon Alchemic Dream India will be born to give service to the world and cover the world time zone. According to them their business is growing exponentially. The market for online computer games is only budding and the potential is enormous.
This is the tale of Ayurveda and world wide online Computer games. What alchemy?
November 12th, 2006 — books, Entrepreneurship, Reflexion
Last Saturday, I had the great pleasure and the highest privilege, I felt, to listen to a talk by Bro. Timothy Radcliffe on leadership. During his talk, to describe the present environment of today s world where fear, an acceleration of change and unprecedented uncertainty prevails, Bro. Timothy hinted us to read the works of Zygmunt Bauman to understand the phenomenon.
When I came back home, and as soon as I could afford the time, I went to my desktop to look for Prof. Bauman’s great insights. I struck my gold pot of luck. I found a lecture given to by Prof. Zygmunt Bauman to an EU organization: Lecture on the ANSE-conference 2004 “Value dilemmas as a challenge in the practice and concepts of supervision and coaching”.
Do you want to understand to which destination our society is moving to? What is From Solid Modernity to liquid Modernity? Do you want to understand what has become of loyalty of employees in a work environment? What are the new meanings of responsibility, working in project teams and emancipation in the liquid Modernity? Should you be interested in human behavior, I highly recommend you to read the lecture notes. I found it most enlightening.
Indeed, man management in today’s context is a subject I am very interested in and I think, is the greatest challenge & most vital to entrepreneurs. By the way,on the past Friday, I had a full day lecture on the subject “Comment Manager votre equipe, Confiance, delegation et sens du client†by Sylvain Lecoq.
Funnily enough I had the impression after studying the few articles from Prof. Bauman today as if on the Friday I had lessons on the practical aspect of management and now the understanding of the changing trends of managing in the near future.
Should you be interested in the philosophical aspect of Bauman works I would recommend you to read Dolan Cummings comment “the trouble with being human these days: Identityâ€.
Bauman has written a series of books on his “Liquid†vision.
November 9th, 2006 — books, Entrepreneurship, Mauritius, Reflexion
“People are brand†says William Arruda, also called the Personal Branding Guru. Last week, with a group of Company Directors, we derived great pleasure and more importantly gained much insight for our work when we attended a seminar conducted by Helene LACROIX-SABLAYROLLES the dean of marketing of the prestigious French Business school: HEC.
Author of several business books of which the latest “Etes vous vraiment orienté client?†Helene enthused the participants of the seminar. She was given an evaluation score of almost 5/5 by the participants. She replaced the perspective of clients back in haze of Marketing buzz words, techniques and models particularly in today’s fast changing, finicky, volatile environment of zapping. She gave a new meaning to “Segmentation†of products as well as of customers. I found that the practical tools she proposed to extract from, express to and exude our customers in its entity to be most useful.
Bearing in mind that all enterprises should possess a distinctive Brand, she insisted that the enterprises has the duty to deliver on the promises of the Brand values.
We may take the question at a personal level. What Brand are you? Just like in your enterprises you would ask: who are we? What are our values, beliefs goals? How to our customers view us? Are we delivering our brand promises? I invite you to visit a web site which will name the brand you are, once you give your values and goals. Try it out.
This latter part seems very much akin to the exercises of knowing who we want to be and making it happen; I used to conduct in the 7 habits seminars.Looking back to those days. I still feel great joy and thankful to the yonder days and to participants who taught me so much on humans and their interactions.A special note of appreciation to a lady, now living in Australia Perth who assisted & accompanied me through a vast number of such corporate seminars.