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Ici tout va bien; massage tête et épaules pendant 15 mins, à 4 mains sur les jambes et fessiers, quel délice!! En plus, stimulation de la main droite tous les jours suivie d’une marche de 15 minutes avant le dîner. Check up médical quotidien, à ce régime là, si je n’améliore pas, on aura tout essayé!! Marie Anne aussi adore ses massages quotidiens et se sent très légère, surtout après les résultats des enemas! Aujourd’hui notre detox de 8 jours se termine, et nous allons élaborer un programme pour les jours à venir avec le docteur en chef. Sinon, nous avons droit à de la nourriture strictement vegetarienne, délicieuse et variée Des dholls, toujours de dholls au menu, mais différentes variétés et préparations. Par contre, au menu tous les jours, du cumin et du cari poulet, les feuilles j’entends, comme condiments. Le dicton “malbar manzere dholl” ne peut être plus vrai !!
Le cadre enchanteur du domaine avec d’innombrables cocotiers, une végétation luxuriante et choisie, avec des fleurs sur tous les parcours. Par contre, les chalets sont très confortables mais manquent de finition pour être classes 5 étoiles! Je donnerais plutôt 3 étoiles. Le personnel est extrêmement gentil, et d’une courtoisie sans faille. Leur compréhension de l’anglais est suffisamment correcte, sans pourtant être très poussée, car nous sommes dans l’état de Karnataka et la langue est le karnak, même pas l’hindi, qu’ils comprennent par ailleurs.

En face de notre chalet se construisent deux salles de massage supplémentaires. Ils ont déjà tracé au sol les repères et fouillent les tranchées pour les fondations. Il sont très bien équipés, car les travaux et dessins sont effectués par leur ingénieur résident de la propriété, avec une manœuvre recrutée temporairement pour la durée de la construction. Ils comptent terminer les deux salles d’ici un mois pour répondre à la demande grandissante, surtout les week-ends où il y a une forte clientèle locale, friquée.

Quel bonheur d’être à l’IVAC !!!

We met with an interesting couple who left the Ayurvedic Center last night: Juan Ramon, a performance artist from Peru. After a successful career in giving concert in his country and in many overseas countries, is now with his american wife from Colorado spending some time visiting India. Juan Ramon has taken up playing sitar and teaching music in Hurdowar. He has, during his extended stay in India, been composing fusion music. A fusion blend of latin South American sounds with Indian tempo and beats played on various string instruments is his present passion. He has composed a number of pieces which will soon be produced and released soon.They spend some of their time meditating and educating themselves on Indian Culture and Traditions. They are eagerly reading the Vedas and resourcing themselves in the wisdom that can be drawn from the ancient Indian writings.

I found it extremely enriching talking to people with such creativity and willing to be different from the crowd in their ways.  The Difference that makes the difference! Yes, indeed each of us is unique and different. Each of us need to make our mark in bringing our single contribution to the universe. Have you thought out which different contributions are you bringing to your entourage, your loved ones, spouse, parents. children and friends? I am asking, here and now, this  very question to myself.

For the last 3 evenings, we were seated in the dinner lounge next to an elderly gentleman, American looking with a crew cut, with a slow demeanour, he looked to me to be quite old and yet, quite fit. This was my chance to get to know him better. Born in 1919, Jim Cox had a very successful career as a sea farer, he started life in the army to be trained as a marine cadet. During the war, he had 3 years of training, and fought in the 2^nd world war. One of his greatest joys of life was the moment he left the academy. He was then happy to be liberated from the army and yet, was lost as many of his then colleagues were, when they were relieved from their disciplined and strict life. Luckily for Jim, he immediately found employment as an officer in Delta Shipping formerly known as Mississipi Steamship co. After a few years of sailing for that company, he was promoted to captainship, and for the next 17 years he sailed as a sea captain on a passenger and cargo vessel from New Orleans to the South American ports. During that time he met his German wife who was then a passenger on the ship. He married her at age 37 while she was only 21. Their union gave them 2 sons, the elder one is presently an airline pilot instructor, whilst the second one is a Yoga teacher based in Bangkok. Jim talked about his second son with much emotion; in fact, when he divorced his wife, 20 years ago, when the lattter son was only 14, and that, in a way, caused a lot of trouble to the son’s upbringing. He had quite a bit of problem to educate his second son because of the broken family situation. He even thought, during one of his trip to Israel, to send his son to be trained in a kibboutz, to give him a more regimented life. This son chose to follow his friends in a Japanese homestay program where he enjoyed learning Japanese and even managed to find temporary work in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Later on, the blue eyed blond son travelled to India and more particularly to Bihar State, to learn yoga. Afterwards, he also obtained a diploma in yoga training from a New York institute. His studio in Bangkok now, not only dispenses yoga lessons, but is also a centre for yoga teachers’ training.

At his age, Jim lives on his own, sharing his time between his apartment in Pattaya and the one in Seattle. He prided himself to have worked until age 70 and was still very active when asked to retire, in spite of his will to stay on. Somewhat, out of obligation, he wanted to work further because his divorce got him into financial strains. But he admitted that, looking back today, he lives comfortably with his pension and savings. What he enjoys today is travelling and discovering new places and things. His immediate plan is to spend the next week in the hill station of Ooti which is 150 miles away from Mysore. From this encounter, I could sense a person of great self independence, with a positive mind and very much in touch with reality.

I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet such a character, and the lesson I draw from this encounter is that, in spite of any difficult situation, with a positive mind, self –reliance, and looking towards the future, you will always be able to triumph over the difficulties. THANK YOU Jim.

After a good trip on the Air Mauritius flight from Mauritius to Mumbai we landed half an hour earlier than scheduled. The Mumbai Airport was chaotic as usual; I saw no improvement in the cleanliness. I had to wait for my wheelchair for a good half hour after the exit of all the passengers. I was glad to meet my old friend Oscar who is still in post as the Station Manager of Air Mauritius @ Bombay Airport. I have to admit that there was a substantial improvement at the immigrations counters. The immigration and customs halls were well planned; the queue was orderly managed and the immigration & customs officers were courteous and welcoming. A pleasant surprise for me!

The hassle came when we had to check in our baggage to our flight to Bangalore at the international airport. A queue of at least 30 passengers for only two counters at 1 am in the morning. The average check in per person took at least 5 minutes per person. Luckily we had Bob Fernando to help us through. We just had to relax and wait. Patience is a virtue to acquire and practice in those circumstances. Mr. Raju Kulkarni, a friend of Bob drove from Poona ( 200 kms away) purposefully to meet us.He runs Roj Entreprises. He took us to a restaurant to relax and have some tea while we were waiting for the flight scheduled at 6.45. A very pleasant and kind person was Mr. Kulkarni. Marie Anne, observing the shape of his face and body morphology could guess that he was a joyful, easy going and generous character. This was later confirmed by Bob who told us how generous Raju was and how, with his kindness and generosity, became prey of unscrupulous associates. Raju fortunately is a creative entrepreneur and has been able to sustain these temporary shortcomings. His main activity now is in the export of seafood out of India.

We spent a good 3 hours talking to Raju, knowing him better and learning about his projects.

We enjoyed therafter a very smooth flight and arrived in Bangalore, where we were met by Mr. Babu in the morning cool weather. He had arranged for us to freshen up at his office before starting our car journey to Mysore.

The 2 hour and a half trip in a comfortable Toyota 4 wheel drive car, was quickly passed as we were tired enough to snore and catch up with some sleep.

We thus reached IVAC a few minutes to Midday where we were led to our chalet apartment Hatai. After medical consultation with the ayurvedic doctor, we had lunch at about 3.30 p.m.! By taking our pulses, the doctor could tell our physical history since childhood, that I was always overweight, very active and organized, that I did not look after my eating habits well, not eating at regular times (which was true!). He also guessed that I liked spicy foods. The way to take the pulse reminded me of the consultation I had with the chinese doctor in Montreal. In fact, it turns out that through ayurvedic practice, the doctor can read 72 types of information pertinent to your general health, biological & emotional! My treatment started in the same evening with body massage and enema. We are in a detoxification phase (panchakarma).

Many in our country view Globalisation as a threat. The industries and companies who have been enjoying positive results up to now feel unsecured. Why? They established their businesses in an environment and found the appropriate niche within the given set. Now and in the foreseeable near future, the environment and conditions are changing the « Fit for purpose » is changing. The thrust brought by Globalisation movement with its battery of changes is pressuring us externally with the new world rules imposed by WTO. If you have not thought of your « fit for purpose » in the fast coming environment, you will definitely feel unsecured and panicky.

Can you alter or intervene on the external factors changing the scene of globalisation? I would bet that there is not much (to be euphemistic) or there is nothing we can about it. The rollercoaster is rolling! The set of conditions which very prevailing when we found our niche of business and giving us our live hood is no more there. We may attempt to delay the effect on us. End of the day, it will be only a provisional and temporary measure. We need to « Fit back to our purpose » fast.

Those who are agile see in Globalisation new opportunities. I am still in the euphoria of the lectures of Timothy Radcliffe to whom I listened last night and last saturday. He said that against the back drop of Mass Media pumping us fear and negativity all day,we have to be the angels of hope and better tomorrows. He is giving a lecture @ the University of Mauritius today.Agility and flexibility of mind and spirit are the qualities we should nuture to drive us. So,I choose to hear Globalisation equals changes, synonymus to opportunities and challenges. In an editorial of the newsletter of a consultancy firm, I read:

« Although the word is widely used, globalization is much misunderstood.

A common mistake is to see its impact in over-simplistic terms: Asia wins,

While Europe and the United States lose. A sense of the passing of America’s

hegemony is palpable, while the rise of China and India is seen as irresistible.

These are developments of epoch-making proportions. It is probably not an

exaggeration to point to the post-World War II boom, or even the Industrial

Revolution, as shifts on a comparable scale. It is a work in progress that may

take 50 years – and, what’s more, the outcomes are neither predictable nor

inevitable.

Globalisation is for many companies both a threat and an opportunity. It gives

access to fast-growing new markets, but it can also bring new and unknown

competitors who have matured rapidly in distant parts. For a large number of

products and services the notion of a purely national market no longer exists. »

If we see Globalisation as an opportunity then we stand to being able to find our « fit for purpose » and be successful.

I would suggest that we review our business under three sets of filters:

Market Strategy and business model (What to, Choice to find the fit?)

Organisation structure and Processes (How to?)

People (Who?)

In short, new environment bring changes which we have to proceed with fast. Do you want to be in the “has been” companies or part of the enterprises of the present & future? Changes bring its lot of challenges with opportunies yet to be discovered. Entrepreneurs your role is to find you’re “fit for purpose” and you bring in creative solutions yet to be rolled out.

I am indebted to my friend Donald Lam, a Mauritian friend working in the UK who provided me the inspiration to write this blog after reading the editorial of his company Siddal & company.

“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.

Last night, after publishing my recent blog on Branding, I had a skype call from Toronto and my caller discussed on the theme. I recalled an article that I had stored and which sold the importance of branding.

“The circle of innovation” and was written by Tom Peters way back in 1997. The points raised then are still very pertinent today and perhaps more so in Mauritius which lags behind in market innovation. You will find for quick reading a one page summary of the book. I am a great fan of Tom and have been watching videos of him and reading his numerous books. Wow! A very energetic speaker he is and very convincing in both content as well as style.

By the way, Tom Peters maintains a blog which I read regularly. He is very generous and offers for free his latest speeches and lectures. I enjoy reading them.

Tom Peters preview of Innovation

I became obsessed with innovation because my clients, in effect, begged me to.

With global competition heating up, company after company–banks, insurers, Big Six accountancies, brokerages, office-furniture makers, packaged-goods firms, software and pharmaceutical houses, engineering services firms–tell me: “My service or product is becoming commoditized.”

If the other guy’s getting better, you’d better be getting better faster–or you’re getting worse.

Translation: It’s innovation, stupid.

And “It” applies to my career, your career, the six-person training department, and the 60,000-body behemoth.

My new book, Innovation, is about one BIG idea: innovation–a “top-line” obsession. And it’s about 15 discrete, biggish ideas. The Circle of Innovation is the overarching idea. Here’s a quick preview.

1. Distance is dead. We’re all next-door neighbors. Incrementalism is innovation’s worst enemy. Mid- to long-term: Business is about augmenting the top line, not cost minimization.

2. Destruction is cool! CDO: Chief Destruction Officer. Easier to kill an organization–and repot it–than change it substantially. Learn to swallow it: destruction is job 1 (before the competition does it to you).

3. You can’t live without an eraser. Forgetting–not learning–is the highest art. Think: organized forgetting, strategic forgetfulness. How? Cherish waste, silliness, failure. Ready. FIRE! Aim.

4. We are all Michelangelos. Convert every “jobholder” into a business person. Convert every job into a business. “Business” is a very different–and more encompassing–word than “empowerment.” Keys: trust and respect; Michelangelos of Housekeeping; Michelangelos of Telemarketing. Boss as relentless architect of the possibilities of human beings.

5. Welcome to the white collar revolution. If you can’t say (specifically) why you make your company a better place, you’re out! As of Now: Me, Inc.! Take me immediate responsibility for change! You (me) are a brand. (Perform a personal brand equity evaluation now!) There are no guarantees, and that can be liberating. Stomp out indentured servitude to BigCorp.

6. All value comes from the professional services. Make staff units the vital centers of intellectual capital accumulation, rather than the prime sources of bureaucratic drag. Tool: Turn purchasing (HR, IS, Finance) into Purchasing, Inc.–a full-fledged professional service firm–devoted to transformational projects and awesome client service!

7. The intermediary is doomed. (Big) organizations without employees. Every task your organization performs is performed better (higher quality, faster, more imaginatively) by some hyper-fast specialist (somewhere) who lives, eats, sleeps, and breathes the narrow task. Flat is too modest a term. (By far.) We are gutting the “center” of vertical enterprises. The intermediary is dying or dead! Hail the disintermediated network “organization”–transparent to its customers (and all members of the value-creation chain).

8. The system is the solution. Systems are the glue in ephemeral, network “orgs.” Great systems are not about “nuts and bolts.” They can be beautiful. Systems Engineering Dept.? No! Dept. of Beauty? Yes! It’s way beyond reengineering.

9. Create waves of lust. (Almost) everything works. Quality per se is not the advantage it once (recently) was. So: Just shout “No!” to commoditization (of anything) /me-too/look-alikes. Embrace: WOW!!!! lusted-after products and services. Ultimate sin: When we do it “Right,” It’s still pretty ordinary.

10. Tommy Hilfiger knows. In a (very) crowded marketplace . . . branding is (far) more important than ever before. It is . . . the age of the brand! Anything can be branded (e.g., chicken, milk). Branding is as much for very wee outfits as for Levis or Nike or starbucks or Intel (Inside).

11. Become a connoisseur of talent. Recruit diversity! Hire crazies! Make revolutionary renewal everyone’s (literal) Job 1. We are all RDAs: Rapidly Depreciating Assets. Therefore: (Continuing) Vitality=(Continuing) Commitment to (Bold/Formal) Renewal Programs by everyone.

12. It’s a woman’s world. Women purchase. They are purchasing agents for well over half the U.S. GDP (commercial and consumer goods). Almost no Big Co.–financial services, healthcare, autos, business services–“gets” catering-to-women-as-premier-purchasers. Why? It takes total transformation–not a “women’s initiative”–to take advantage of this bizarrely neglected commercial opportunity No. 1.

13. Little things are the only things. As markets get more and more crowded, design is often the best “tool” in services and manufacturing for sustainable differentiation. Sad fact: Most companies do anything but OBSESS (e.g., Braun-like, Sony-like) on design. Personal design sensitization is Set No. 1: Home in on (open your eyes to) the pervasive role that design plays in damn near everything–signage, forms, typeface, color (a big deal), etc.

14. Love all, Serve all. Even today a ridiculously small number of sizable firms seek a sustainable edge through incredible service–Disney–or caterpillar–style. To get from (tawdry) here to (Olympian) there takes a wholesale commitment to nothing less than reconceiving the way business is done in your market or niche.

15. We’re here to live life out loud. Transformational leaders will eschew “hands off.” They will be bizarrely focused, tell the truth, and live life on the LUNATIC FRINGE. Revolutionary times call for revolutionary zeal and leaders. Those 15 ideas equal one big idea: Innovation should be your top-line obsession

The last week, we saw on the news, a series of seminars conducted by Laurence Danon, PDG des grands magasins “Le Printemps” for l’Association mauricienne des femmes chefs d’entreprises (AMFCE).

She promoted and argued on the value of Branding. I am pleased to share with you, more specially to the entrepreneurs amongst you, a short reading on communicating your brand and its 5 communication steps.

As such, a brand may be a product, services or even you. Do you market yourself to your entourage, friends or boy/girl companion? Come to think about it: we all need to do so!

Five Communication Steps

To communicate your brand (and your promise) to your target market, Scott Randall of the The Executive Club recently renamed Vistage International suggests the following:

1. Create awareness. People can’t do business with you if they don’t know you’re out there—no matter how good your product is. Building awareness starts with the basic tools of advertising, public relations, newsletters, direct mail and all the things you do to promote your products and services in the marketplace. It also involves the salespeople who get in front of the customer each and every day. How they dress, what they say—everything they do should send a consistent message about your brand. Make sure you have identified your differentiators before you start generating awareness.
2. Get on your customers’ short list (consideration). Make it easy for people to say that you qualify to do business with them. How do you get on your customers’ short list? Identify their purchasing hot buttons and incorporate them into your brand messaging. “Listen to the buzzwords your customers use again and again,” suggests Randall. “They will tell you what your brand promise is.”
3. Establish your differentiators (preference). Consideration answers the question, “Why should I buy this product?” Differentiation answers the question, “Why should I buy this product from you?” Find out what it is about your business or your business model that separates you from the pack. Beware of terms like “service” and “quality.” These have become benchmarks in most industries and are no longer true differentiators.”Don’t expect an ad agency or PR firm to answer the preference question for you,” cautions Randall. “That’s your job. Their job is to take the differentiators you have identified and communicate them to your customer base in the most effective manner.”
4. Study your purchase process. A brand is about experiences. Look closely at the process customers go through to buy from you and assess how difficult or easy it is. Examine everything you do—from purchase price to delivery to exchanges, returns and satisfaction guarantees—and look for ways to improve the experience for the customer. Make the purchase experience as pleasant as possible, and don’t make guarantees you can’t live up to. A pleasant purchase experience combined with a pleasant brand experience leads to customer loyalty.
   
5. Make it difficult for customers to leave (loyalty). Once you have customers in the door, don’t let go. Once they buy, know who they are and get permission to start a dialog. Know the buying cycles for your customers and get permission to contact them at appropriate times during the cycle (but never spam them).

In a nutshell:

1. Establish your differentiators

2. Get on your customers’ short list

3. Make it hard for your customers to leave.

I cannot insist enough with our entrepreneurs who will take hopefully our economy to a new height, of the importance of Purpose and Innovation. Nikos Mourkogiannis, in his book, “Purpose and Innovation”, cites generously Microsoft and Toyota in their quests in focusing relentlessly and consistently on their Purpose to bring Innovation in their ventures.

“Innovate or Evaporate”, you will recall, was a campaign brought some 2 years ago by NPCC. Since what has happened? Have we experienced an evaporation of our innovative spirit? I understood that NPCC is following up with an Incubator program. Well done!

Micheal Porter, who I admire and regularly search for his great thinking puts: “Innovation has become perhaps the most important source of competitive advantage in advanced economies.”

Are we nurturing a culture of Innovation in Mauritius? Wrong question, my friend Watson would dare say! We cannot afford not to create and not to nourish such a culture. It is a necessity full stop. The question would rather be: “How to we create a culture of innovation?”

I do not know if we have a department of “creativity and innovation” at our University of Mauritius or any of our tertiary institution. I feel that we could start off with one. Mauritian, like any human being, is endowed with a creative mind and ingenuity; what is lacking, is the awakening of the creative mind. Creativity, according to E. De Bono, world renowned “Creativity” author, now based in Australia, states that is a process which can be taught and learned.

Creavitity should be taught at all stages of schooling. The development of the habit of “lateral thinking” will enhance the creative spirit of the individuals. Could we introduce creativity in our school curriculum at all levels?

I had the chance of meeting some Malaysians who are interested in the subject of Creativity and Innovation. We could well learn from Prof. Augustine Ong, who has been recognized by his country, bestowing him wih the title of “Tan Sri Datuk”, for his forward- looking mind and for his great innovative work in the field of Palm oil cultivation and industry.I was honoured to have met him and to have had a glimpse of his wonderful achievement first hand.

Prof. Augustine Ong, to maintain the spirit of creativity in Malaysia, has created and is now driving an organization called “Minds”. Why can’t we do likewise?

After Lean Management which is a “Toyota” much acclaimed management system to be model from for our busineeses, I take much pleasure in sharing the practices of Toyota in making Innovation happen.

Mathew E. May showcases the following Ten Practices that Toyota has adopted on its core principles towards making Innovation happen:

1. Let Learning Lead
“Learning and innovation go hand in hand, but learning comes first.” Education and Learning can drive substantial innovation.

2. Learn to See
“Elegant solutions often come from customers — get out more and live in their world.” The key is to unearth the latent needs of the customers, and perceive the emerging needs.

3. Design for Today
“Focus on clear and present needs, or your great ideas remain just that.” Innovation that drives business in today’s market is likely to get funded and succeed.

4. Think in Pictures
“Make your intentions visual — you’ll surprise yourself with the image.” In Six ways to find innovation, we talked about the need for visual imagery.

5. Capture the Intangible
“The most compelling solutions are often perceptual and emotional.” This is where the product manager needs intuition and the ability to read their customers’ minds.

6. Leverage the Limits
“Restraining forces rule — resource constraints can spur ingenuity.” It is critical to know what you can deliver, how you can deliver and by when.

7. Master the Tension
“Breakthrough thinking demands something to break through.” In Failures and Stumbles driving innovation, we talked about the five takeaways stimulating innovation. Accept that mistakes will be made.

8. Run the Numbers
“Think for yourself — temper instinct with insight, focus on facts, and do the math.” A sound technical analysis is critical before you begin a new product innovation. This should take into account such factors as risks, probabilities of success, and lessons learned from past projects.

9. Make Kaizen Mandatory
“Pursuing perfection requires great discipline — create a standard, follow it, and find a better way.” A process is a must have. Think Six Sigma. Think Rigor at Intuit.

10. Keep It Lean
“Complexity kills — scale it back, make it simple, and let it flow.” Innovation happens when you can simplify the intended application and make it so easy-to-use that it becomes a no-brainer.

Bottomline:

Toyota has become the dominant car maker today based on large part due to the Innovation Factory. A Factory based on a foundation of creating elegant solutions through three guiding principles, avoiding three “temptations” and driving ten production practices.

“Toyota is becoming a double threat: the world’s finest manufacturer and a truly great innovator . . . that formula, a combination of production prowess and technical innovation, is an unbeatable recipe for success.”

* Fortune, February 2006

References:

Matthew E. May: “The Elegant Solution: Toyota’s Formula for Mastering Innovation”. Free Press. 2006.