Entries Tagged 'Reflexion' ↓

Through a common friend, I got introduced to Andrew Cheah a “Lean Management” specialist who is presently in the country, sharing his skills and helping Mauritian enterprises to improve their productivity. His tour of Mauritius is under the aegis of Enterprise Mauritius.

As it was last Friday, the eve of Diwali, my friend very appropriately, hosted the meeting at Indra the Indian restaurant where we had a delicious dinner. The Indian music and the north Indian cuisine, though not so lean created the décor for discovery of Andrew Cheah’s knowledge and competences.I thus was enlightened on Diwali

I found common grounds with his expertise and the experiences. It reminded me of the time, I went through in 1997 and there after when I was given the task to redress ailing companies. In Socal, the then Renault car agency and Sunquick bottling plant, my team applied Gemba Kaizen systems to streamline our processes and to bring in higher productivity and performance. As far as I can recall, our net productivity gain in the first month after the Gemba kaizen’s initial implementation, was calculated to be 20%. Stunning isn’t it? Gemba Kaizen is the essence of lean manufacturing, and some experts name the Japanese based systems as the TPS( Toyota Production System).

You may be interested to read the 14 management principles detailed by Jeffrey K Liker in his book entitled “The Toyota way.” I am willing to share the documents I have on the subject,

The success formula in any business or enterprise is conceptually simple: increase your output and reduce the cost of your input cut all wastes. Easily said isn’t it? The devil is not in the “What”, it is in the “How”. Execution is the key. Lean Management, TPS, Gemba Kaizen, Six Sigma, and others are system tools that give the methods. Lean Management can be and should be applied through out what we do. It then becomes a habit, a way of life,

You will recall under the impulse of the NPCC which was then lead by Nikhil Treebhoohun, a vast popular campaign was launched to cut waste in everything that we do. “Muda” was used as the buzz word. It would seem that we as a nation have lost the benefit of this movement because after the spark there has been no sustained action. The campaign was short lived because it did not become a way of life of Mauritians. Just like to live in a clean environment has become a way of life for the Singaporeans. I can tell you on my ever first visit to Singapore, way back in 1967, I can vouch that Singapore was a filthy, smelly, dirty seaport infested with flies and mosquitoes. No focus, no persistence, no follow through, equal no success!

We discuss at length with Andrew, precisely on the sustainability of the “Lean Management” which integrates a follow through and ensure that the enterprise continuously remain Lean. “KAIZEN” is the magic word.

Thanks Emmauel for the introduction of Andrew.

La lecture de ce dimanche à la messe, m’a donné ce matin, une nouvelle dimension et une réflexion approfondie du mois de Ramadan que nos frères musulmans ont vécus ce mois passé. Pourquoi se sont ils privés de nourriture et de boisson pour un mois ? Pourquoi faire pénitence et pourquoi cette pratique de privation qu’ont subi également nos frères hindous pour la fête de Diwali ?

De même que vous ne pouvez pas imaginer la joie et le bonheur que vous, bien portants, avez dans l’utilisation de votre main droite ? J’ai perdu pour l’instant cette faculté, momentanément, je l’espère. Je vous partage la joie et satisfaction, dans me rêves pour l’instant, de frapper avec force une balle de tennis de ma raquette, et de la placer à la ligne, comme je le faisais autrefois.

Ainsi, la mortification volontaire et la privation nous font réaliser que nous prenons comme normales et acquises trop de choses. Ce n’est que dans la disette ou le manque que le bonheur absent de l’abondance prend sa plus grande valeur d’appréciation.

Pensez vous à l’instant que vous n’avez pas d’air ou d’oxygène ? Jamais ! Vous n’appréciez donc pas votre bonheur de respirer les poumons pleins et d’être en bonne santé.

Ainsi la pratique de la mortification deviendrait –t- il une voie vers une plus grande sagesse ou vers la sanctification ?

Il me semble que nous sommes dans l’ère du « plaisir instantané avant tout, effort après » et que « jouir du fruit subséquent des efforts fournis » soit rétrograde. « Enjoy now pay later ! » c’est le motto du jour ! « Delayed Gratification » dirait Scott Peck dans son livre « The Road Less Travelled »

Bonne et sainte fête à nos frères musulmans qui pratiquent cet esprit de mortification durant le Ramadan et que la fête EID devienne le fruit de leur efforts. EID message d amour et de paix.« Dieu est Amour »,les musulmans « accordent beaucoup d’importance et d’espace à l’amour, à la compassion et à la solidarité », mais que « l’amour, pour être crédible, doit être effectif », notamment dans le « service de tous dans la vie de tous les jours » et « au service de la recherche de solutions justes et pacifiques aux graves problèmes qui assaillent notre monde ». EID MUBARAK !

Living in our dear multi-cultural island, I feel compel to wish to my blog readers, especially those to whom this auspicious day is meaningful a Happy Divali. “The celebration of the victory of light over darkness” has always been the general theme of Diwali, I have always been taught. As I understood, unlike other nations in India, the people make no distinction between a religious celebration and a cultural feast.

To enrich my cultural knowledge, I have ever since my youth always sought to understand the celebrations of my fellow Mauritians. Today, is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of meaning Diwali or Deepavali as expressed by Indians of southern states, Tamil Nadu and others.

“The Festival signifies the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, justice over injustice and intelligence over ignorance. The goddess worshipped at Divali is Mother Lakshmi or Lakshmi Mata. Lakshmi Mata is the goddess of light, wealth and beauty and is also associated with prosperity, luck, riches, abundance, financial well being, and generosity.”

A Toronto based Hindu religious personality Shri Gyan Rajhans gives his 10 reasons for celebrating Diwali:

The Festival of Lights is for All

Why do we celebrate Diwali? It’s not just the festive mood in the air that makes you happy, or just that it’s a good time to enjoy before the advent of winter. There are 10 mythical and historical reasons why Diwali is a great time to celebrate. And there are good reasons not just for Hindus but also for all others to celebrate this great Festival of Lights.

1.Goddess Lakshmi’s Birthday: The Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi incarnated on the new moon day (amaavasyaa) of the Kartik month during the churning of the ocean (samudra-manthan), hence the association of Diwali with Lakshmi.

2. Vishnu Rescued Lakshmi: On this very day (Diwali day), Lord Vishnu in his fifth incarnation as Vaman-avtaara rescued Lakshmi from the prison of King Bali and this is another reason of worshipping Ma Larkshmi on Diwali.

3. Krishna Killed Narakaasur: On the day preceding Diwali, Lord Krishna killed the demon king Narakaasur and rescued 16,000 women from his captivity. The celebration of this freedom went on for two days including the Diwali day as a victory festival.

4. The Return of the Pandavas: According to the great epic ‘Mahabharata’, it was ‘Kartik Amavashya’ when the Pandavas appeared from their 12 years of banishment as a result of their defeat in the hands of the Kauravas at the game of dice (gambling). The subjects who loved the Pandavas celebrated the day by lighting the earthen lamps.

5. The Victory of Rama: According to the epic ‘Ramayana’, it was the new moon day of Kartik when Lord Ram, Ma Sita and Lakshman returned to Ayodhya after vanquishing Ravana and conquering Lanka. The citizens of Ayodhya decorated the entire city with the earthen lamps and illuminated it like never before.

6. Coronation of Vikramaditya: One of the greatest Hindu King Vikramaditya was coroneted on the Diwali day, hence Diwali became a historical event as well.

7. Special Day for the Arya Samaj: It was the new moon day of Kartik (Diwali day) when Maharshi Dayananda, one of the greatest reformers of Hinduism and the founder of Arya Samaj attained his nirvana.

8. Special Day for the Jains: Mahavir Tirthankar, considered to be the founder of modern Jainism also attained his nirvana on Diwali day.

9. Special Day for the Sikhs: The third Sikh Guru Amar Das institutionalized Diwali as a Red-Letter Day when all Sikhs would gather to receive the Gurus blessings. In 1577, the foundation stone of the Golden Temple at Amritsar was laid on Diwali. In 1619, the sixth Sikh Guru Hargobind, who was held by the Mughal Emperor Jahengir, was released from the Gwalior fort along with 52 kings.

10. The Pope’s Diwali Speech: In 1999, Pope John Paul II performed a special Eucharist in an Indian church where the altar was decorated with Diwali lamps, the Pope had a ‘tilak’ marked on his forehead and his speech was bristled with references to the festival of light.

What I found most interesting was his 10^th reason which gives this day its universal peace dimension.The above message seems also to calls for the unity of the different factions of Hinduism: AryaSamajist, Jainism and Sikhs.

I wish that Diwali be a day where all Mauritians would look up to and work towards our common heritage, our common goals and our need for unity.A day from when on, we take the resolution to stop our differences from dividing us. A day, when we become conscious that our differences enrich our Mauritian Nation and that because we are different, together we can do far better. Diwali, the festival day of Synergy over Division!

1. What do I want?

Ask this question about the context you are considering. State what you want in positive terms, ie what do you want, and what do you want it to do? Where do you want it? When do you want it? Eg ‘I want to be, do or have X’. If the answer forms as ‘I do not want…’ then ask, ‘What do I want instead of …’.

2. Is it achievable?

Is it possible for a human being to achieve the outcome? If it has been done by someone, then in theory it can be done by you, too. If you are the first, find out if it is possible.

3. What will I accept as evidence that I have achieved my outcome?

What evidence will you accept that lets you know when you have the outcome? Ensure that your evidence criteria are described in sensory based terms ie: That which you can see, hear and/or touch that proves to you and/or third parties that you have done what you set out to do.

4. Is achieving this outcome within my control?

Is it under your control, ie can you, personally do, authorise or arrange it? Anything outside your control is not ‘well formed’. Instructing your broker is within your control. So is buying in expertise. Asking your employer for time off is not. The time off will only become well formed if it is granted.

5. Are the costs and consequences of obtaining this outcome acceptable?

Ensure that the outcome is worth the time, outlay and effort involved in achieving it, and that impact on third parties or the environment is accounted for.

6. Do I have all the resources I need to achieve my outcome?

Do you have or can you obtain all the resources, both tangible and intangible that you need to achieve your outcome? Resources include knowledge, beliefs, objects, premises, people, money, time.

7. If I could have it now, would I take it?

Are all costs and consequences of achieving your outcome, including the time involved, acceptable to you and anyone else affected by it? This is known as ecology. Consider the costs, consequences, environmental and third party impact of having the outcome.

This is an NLP version of SMART goals.You will recall on my earlier blog Practice Practice Practice where I write on goal setting.

Most entrepreneurs and more importantly marketers are in the business of influencing consumers to buy and consume their product or services. The basics principles of Attention, Retention, Motivation and Action have been the subject of deep study and publishing by Albert Bandura under his Social Learning Theory. I came to know the works of Bandura because of my reading on human behavior in respect of Modeling behavior and Learning in the business world.

Of particular interest to me today is Albert Bandura’s comments on the effect of Television in the mounting violence and aggressiveness of the society. Are we experiencing now greater violence than a few decades ago? Are we subjected to more sexual aggression? The story of Tyler Richie as accounted by the author is very telling. More so; Albert Bandura supported his theory with experiments and serious studies. I recommend you to read chapter 31 and to promote the reading his theory to our journalists and media.

Drugs addictions, violence in all its forms, pornography suggestive or otherwise are all gaining grounds in our society. Most of us, would not want to see the progress of these modern nuisances. We may well be encouraging and helping to the decay of our future society through sheer ignorance, by accepting that these negative values seep in. What do we hear on the radio and see on our TV everyday? Nothing wrong in openly talking or discussing these “news” items described in exciting formats it would appear? Would we be insidiously introducing counter moral values and unconsciously accepting them or seen to be accepting them?

“Bandura says that people learn from vicarious observation”.

“But arousal researchers note that people also get excited watching suspense, comedy, or sexy bedroom scenes.

In the morning news paper a fortnight or so earlier, the detailed description of the physical and sexual abuses that underwent a victim in the report of a legal court case was shocking to me. The news item was sheer voyeurism or sensationalism. Sometimes I wonder whether the motive of the press is for economic gain above all other considerations.

You will be glad to know that Social Learning theory is very much used in criminology.

Based on this theory,may be, we should support the campaign waged by Veronique Leclezio to ban all publicity on tobacco. Likewise, a total blackout on all advertising media should apply on Alcohol as well!

I found in the Forum section of Le Mauricien last week: “The Choice is ours by Vandana Hunma” most interesting. The essay was published in 4 parts all along the past week Monday through to Saturday. I concur to Vandana’s views on education in Mauritius. I was so enthused that I took the pain to look up the telephone directory to locate her and to congratulate her for her writings. Thereafter, I had an interesting chat with her. I was pleased to have spoken to her and to know her a tiny bit better.

I have to admit that at first the title of the forum attracted me. “The choice is ours” rang a bell to me as I had used very often a power point slide in my leadership training seminar which I had entitled “The choice is mine”. The slide was used to culminate Habit 1 of Stephen Covey’s teaching “Be Proactive”. The essence of which is to recognize that by being proactive: one takes conscience of one’s freedom of choice; one takes ownership of the positive & negative consequences of our choice’s action and one has to think, plan ahead and envision the potential outcomes of one’s action. “Be Proactive” is in opposition to “Be Reactive”.

I see in Vandana’s essay the questioning of the essence of education as practiced in Mauritius. What is the prime aim of our educational system? Is it only to provide more CPE s certificates at primary level to enter the next level? Is it to provide more HSC or SC holders or to provide to a more educated population to meet the challenges of tomorrow? Education for life! Creating an ever learning and regenearting Mauritius organisation! Developping talents for tomorrow’s citizens.

I once, in my fits of wittyness, asked the following question to a candidate that the company’ I was working for, was interviewing for a senior position: “We have seen your numerous qualifications and have read your CV in which gave an account of your past experiences. Now that you have an idea of the deliverables, new position demands, could you indicate to us what are the competencies and skills you possesss and what are the skills and comptencies you need to acquire that will allow you to perform outstandingly should you be recruited for the post?”

Diplomas and qualifications only show and testify what were achieved in the past. What is pertinent is now and the future? Will the curriculum now being used in our education system answer the demands and needs of our forcasted tomorrow?

My wish is to direct us all, Mauritians to the vision of the future. The technical term in the NLP jargon is “Future Pacing”.

Organizations have responded to “leadership” with myriads of education and training resources, which seem to be plentiful, (Amazon.com has over 9,000 references on leadership.), yet most attempts at building high performance leadership are either far too complex or too simplistic to be of any practical use to leaders who need to make things happen.I found from the net, an article from Brian Ward, who in a nut shell gives briefly and to the point the 5 key facets of leadership.You may of course join in one of the seminars of Brian Ward to learn more about his methodology. I fancy & love the acronym FACET.

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So what does work?

In working with leaders we have isolated five key characteristics that successful leaders demonstrate. These work extremely well whether the emphasis is on ‘quality’ or some other approach to building and sustaining a customer focused, team based organization that pays as much attention to results as it does to process…a high performance organization.

Here are the five key facets of high performance leadership:

Focus – Authenticity – Courage – Empathy – Timing

Focus
Effective leaders stay focused on the outcomes they wish to create, and don’t get too married to the methods used to achieve them. They provide this ‘outcomes focus’ for their organization by emphasizing the mission, vision, values and strategic goals of their organization and at the same time building the capacity of their organizations to achieve them. This capacity building emphasizes the need to be flexible, creative and innovative and avoid becoming fossilized through the adoption of bureaucratic structures, policies and processes.

Authenticity
Leaders who are authentic attract followers, even leaders who are viewed as being highly driven and difficult to work for. Simply put, they are viewed as always being themselves…and therefore followers know what to expect from them and can rely on them, come thick or thin. Authenticity provides the leader with the currency to obtain ‘buy-in’ from key stakeholders, because it builds and maintains trust. Authenticity is the bedrock upon which the other facets are built.

Courage
The challenges facing leaders today are immense, and require great courage to overcome. Leaders are constantly being challenged by others, be it their own team, customers, the public or other stakeholders. Standing firm in the face of criticism, yet having the courage to admit when they are wrong, are hallmarks of courageous leaders. For example, shifting an organization from being introspective to becoming customer focused requires courage when people pay lip service to the new direction…it means calling people on their bluff.

Empathy
Effective leaders know how to listen empathetically…thus legitimizing others’ input. By doing so, they promote consensus building, and build strong teams. They coach others to do the same, and so create a culture of inclusiveness. They tend to be great listeners who capitalize on the ideas of others, and provide recognition for these ideas, yet they don’t get bogged down in overly complicated dialogue. While they create learning organizations that place a high value on dialogue and continuous feedback, they know when to take action, when to ‘fish or cut bait’, which brings us on to the final facet…

Timing
The one facet that can make or break a leader is in knowing when to make critical decisions and when not to. All of the other facets must be viewed as subservient to getting the timing of critical decisions right. There is a need to be focused, authentic, courageous and empathetic, but get the timing wrong on critical decisions and everything else stands to be nullified. Great leaders move with appropriate speed. They don’t believe that everything must be done immediately…they know how to prioritize, and how to get their team to prioritize. As well, they engage in timely follow-through to ensure actions that are committed to happen in a well coordinated and timely way.

Is that all it takes to be a great leader?

These facets of high performance leadership are not exhaustive. Just as one would look at the facets of a diamond, upon closer observation other facets become observable. Any person can aspire to being a great leader by commencing with these facets. If you are in a leadership role, regardless of your position in your organization, start by asking yourself the following key questions:

What can you do to create a high performance leadership culture?

Asking these questions in a candid way will open up many possibilities for you, your organization or your clients…if you have the courage to do it.

Building and sustaining a high performance leadership culture takes time, patience and a clear focus on the vital few characteristics that leaders can develop naturally and authentically. Listening to what people expect from you as a leader, and then responding empathically, in a timely fashion, will move you dramatically towards mastering these five key facets of high performance leadership.

Above all, you need to TAKE ACTION.

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In 1998, I had decided to finish my NLP certifications and took the “NLP train the trainer” course with NLP Comprehensive in Colorado USA. Whilst, I was undergoing the training with Lara Ewing, Gerry Smith,Jo Salas and other tutors, I linked up friendship with Jenny Edwards who was one of the numerous assistants of the program. Jenny shared with me her path career and told me that I should meet up with Fr. Gonzalez who would be visiting Madagascar soon after our meeting.

On my return home, I immediately contacted Fr. Gonzalez, who was professor of the Urbaniana University in Vatican City, to set up an appointment with him during his visit that year in Antananarivo. He very readily accepted to register me in a 4 day retreat that he was giving to the priests and religious persons on spiritually and NLP.

There, a few months after, I landed at Itochoa, in a Carmelite convent in company of religious participants. A very funny anecdote happened to me. On the first day of the retreat or seminar, as it is customary, the participants were asked to present themselves. In turn, we heard: “Brother so and so, been in the Carmelite congregation since X year. I am presently in Y village, responsible for the orphanage.” “Father so and so, of X Company, chaplain of Y church covering the territory of Z district.” It went on the same format for a number of times from each participant. When my turn came I said: « Père de la famille YIPTONG depuis une vingtaine année, ayant pour responsabilite la gestion et le progres de la Famille composee de Madame YIPTONG et d une fille et un garcon » The whole assembly got out of the serious atmosphere in bursts of laughter !

Fr. Luis Gonzalez shared plenty of his experiences with us and the most I retained was the use of NLP principles to bring change in our life. He must have written some 60 books, mostly published in Spanish his mother tongue. Some of them have been translated in English. Later, he told me that he visited Mauritius some years before and had run seminars for the Mauritian clergy.

As most great man, he was very kind and simple in his approach and very soft spoken. Talking to him, I could feel goodness, passion and love being radiated from him to reach my being. Thanks to Jenny Edwards for the introduction and Glory to God for the meeting with Fr. Luis. I have a collection of the English editions of Fr. Luis Gonzalez books which I read and reread all so often? The one on my bed side table now is NLP Success and personal Excellence.

In my last blog, I mentioned perceptual positioning and linked the words to the NLP University site.

A reader wrote back to me, to tell me that the term and the link is fine for guys who have the time to study the subject. Today, many of us are time scarce zappers he said. Give us the stuff in simple form!

For the benefits of those readers who are of the same opinion, I shall attempt to explain briefly the Perceptual Positions (PP). Mind you in a practictioner NLP course, the subject is taught for a minimum of 3 days. Luckily the concept is simple but to build up the unconscious competence in PP takes time.

These positions refer to the perspective you adopt, at some moment, to perceive your world, other people or your problems. NLP, “the science of alternatives”, shows you that when facing life and its difficulties you rely on different options to choose the perspective that suits you best.

You may choose, from among at least 4 different positions:

1. Actor

You let the world in through your 5 senses

2. Partner

You virtually enter into another person’s skin to feel through his senses.

3. Observer

You transcend the 1^st and 2^nd position to observe another person and yourself from outside.

4. Meta Observer or Creator(God)

If you are a believer, through faith you move into God’s heart to see the world and men with God’s eyes.

Surely, you can imagine how great men in history are able to choose from among these positions and make use of them according to circumstances.

If you want to be successful in the art of living, i.e. to keep life healthy and happy, you too need to use these different positions. For instance if somebody is aggressively abusing you and you are in 1^st position, you’ll become his puppet. You’ll no longer be a person in his eyes. He’ll make you feel either very angry or very discouraged, as if he held the strings of your heart in his hands.

When dealing with a destructive person, a negative situation or a difficult problem, you should avoid taking the 1^st position at all costs. Use the other positions.

On the other hand, before a beautiful landscape, a person, a constructive issue, you should open up all your senses. Take the 1^st Position and cherish the moment, the here & now.

To enhance the understanding of your counterpart, don’t you often 2^nd position the person? You need to get into his shoes to understand his perspective, his experience, his way of thinking.

The 3^rd position also called the observer position, allows you to see things coolly and more objectively. It allows you to observe the interaction you might have with a counterpart and comment in your own mind the interaction. From this perspective, it will be easier for you to suggest ideas and actions to yourself that may lead to success. The 3^rd position places you in a creative perspective.

The 4^th position, the metaobserver or transcendental one, you can see the whole situation from a much wider point of view. Imagine being assisted by omniscience, omnipotent angel.

In a nut shell:The idea is to build in the Perceptual Positioning skills in your operating mode all the time. This will allow you in any interaction, to have perspectives: which allow you to feel your senses instantly (1^st), understand your counterpart (2^nd), comment, amend,enhance and criticize the interaction (3^rd) and at the same time take in account a larger view point.

It has become a habit of mine to always ask the question: “What for?” To think about it, this should be the recurrent question. Is it the essence of purpose to any action we undertake?

During my numerous seminars, I used to run, not only will I ask the participants to work out the purpose of their attendance, I would also suggest that they ask themselves sucessively the same question “what for”for a couple of rounds to the answers they may work out. I want them to reach the “meta” purpose of their purpose. If you prefer, the ultimate purpose.

I much prefer “what for” to “why”. “Why” could deviate the answer to philosophical thinking whilst “what for” would attempt to discover the ultimate purpose.

Entrepreneurs are too often head down in the action of performing whatever they are doing, without having a clear vision of the purpose of their actions. An external person, usually a consultant, would ask: “What is your mission?” or “do you have a mission statement?” A hazy, blurred answer would often be given. If somebody would ask you “what for, and why are you going to Port Louis”.What will your counterpart think if he got a hazy, blurred answer? Either you do not want to give a straight answer or you do not know what you are doing.I would ask you to try this question to your colleagues or friends: “What for, or why do you work?”

Should you have a well thought of and defined & specific purpose, I am of opinion that you stand a much better chance of achieving the purpose. “Elementaire”, dirait Watson.” Stephen Covey always likes to rightly say: “Common sense is not always common practice”.

I came across the book: Purpose: The starting point of great companies by Nikos Mourkogiannis, which I must admit I have not yet read. The extract of the book , of which you may have a copy is well to the point I am driving at. Purpose!

Anybody sensible would always have a purpose for any action. As common sense is not always common practice, you would be surprised how often we do things without a definite and specific purpose. Is it out of laziness or unconscious behaviour? Or we are more concerned with the “how” of the things we do instead of the “why” and “what for”. Purpose driven people are more thinkers than doers. To correct this state of things, and to increase our thinking skills, I propose that we train ourselves in perceptual positionning.