Brilliance can be selfless

MJ shared this link and I couldn't just resist sharing it with you.  Unilever has come with some brilliant ads in the past but this is beautiful and simply made.

Some takeaways from this ad:

1. I am definitely washing my hands more frequently
2. Ads that say I don't need to buy anything attract more shares
3. You needn't be a buyer now, you needn't be a beneficiary now to like this
4. Look at advertisement as an investment

In the name of discipline!

What is discipline anyway? Is it related to what you ask me to abide by or is it something that is good to do? Now how do you determine what is good to do? Is it because the majority is doing it? I am seriously looking for an answer.

 If discipline is what the majority has chosen or made to do then there is no need for everyone to follow it. You are defeating the principle of the creativity. Thinking out of the box is encouraged in all the modern day workplaces where you are supposed to be one step ahead of everyone else and be resourceful where in you are needed to fill in to other departments when required. If you do not teach the kids to be proactive, creative and responsive where is the chance for them to learn about being creative?

If you are wounding up children to a strict stupid rule, like wearing an uniform like it is the military, then where is the notion of creativity. How does one decide what a child should grow up to when you could decide your next meal without a consent/consultation from several members of your social fabric?\

Today's Bangalore Mirror cover page spoke of a child being sent home for not wearing the school-issued-footwear. Though the article was about the way the child was sent home during working hours and was dropped outside her gated community and the issues related to safety which I completely agree, the issue is about adherence of some stupid rules which clearly points out to what kind of education would be taught in a school headed by a headstrong principal who felt it was wise to penalize the child  for a mismatch of the school uniform.

While I agree that enforcing uniform to a certain extent encourages discipline, it shouldn't be the primary focus. Schools should focus on mentoring talent, encourage kids to think beyond the cover to cover syllabus and learn more by exploration, research.

Would you send your child to conform to the rhetoric, a mundane, military like system run by a dull methodical system thereby killing/curbing the child's creativity? Or would you like your child to think out of the box, be creative, spontaneous and lively where you would have a living human being and not a zombie?

Doubt?

This is my dear friend Pooja's facebook status today. I can't agree more.

" If it is true faith, let it shake. Truth will never go, and if the faith is with the truth, let it shake. It will never get lost. In fact, you should doubt as much as possible. You can say, 'Don’t doubt', only when a thing is not a genuine thing. If it is genuine gold, I tell you, go on scratching as much as possible. But if it is just rolled in gold, or gold polished, and then you say, 'Don’t scratch too much because it will disappear.' With true gold, any amount of scratching will not make it go away. Doubt is simply lack of energy. When you are high in energy, where is the doubt? Doubt comes when the energy is low. True faith is that which you shake a hundred times and it still stays on. That is true faith, and it will remain. "

Work for free?

(Click on the image to enlarge)

From Seth's blog:

Some of the factors to consider:

• Do they pay other people who do this work? Do their competitors?
• Am I learning enough from this interaction to call this part of my education?
• Is this public work with my name on it, or am I just saving them cash to do a job they should pay for?
• If I get paid, is it more likely the organization will pay closer attention, promote it better and treat it more seriously?
• Do I care about their mission? Can they afford to do this professionally?
• Will I get noticed by the right people, people who will help me spread the word to the point where I can get hired to do this professionally?
• What's the risk to me, my internal monologue and my reputation if I do this work?

The invisible truth

Just because you didn't see doesn't mean it's not there.

Monday Blues: Ways to be creative

Found this online... beat monday blues with some creativity :)

Monday Blues: Stay inspired

Art by Gapingvoid

Monday blues: Keys to Synergy

Synergy does not just happen between people. There are certain things that they need to do which help it to manifest.

Some keys to achieving synergy are

1. "LISTEN ACTIVELY". If anyone in your group (or your relationship) is an 'expert' then you are unlikely to achieve synergy. If you want to achieve synergy, then the ego has to be put to one side. The 'expert' is the kiss of death to synergy. 
2. "TRUST YOUR INTUITION - SPEAK UP". The second kiss of death for synergy is not as obvious as the expert. This is the person who knows the answers but KEEPS IT TO THEMSELVES. These people need to speak up and be heard. 
3. "AGREE TO AGREE". The third key to synergy is to "agree to agree". This means to agree to reach a resolution. Compromise is not an option. What does compromise mean? A settlement of a disagreement where each side makes concessions. The end result is usually unsatisfactory to both. What does Resolution mean? Both sides are happy. In order for this to happen, what do you usually need? A third option. If you are going to achieve synergy, you are going to start being creative thinking up 'third options'. 
4. 'BE FLEXIBLE. The fourth key to achieving synergy is to "Be flexible". The first solution proposed is not necessarily the best one. Groups that fail to acknowledge and consider multiple courses of action run the risk of accepting a suboptimal solution. 
5. "BE COMPASSIONATE". The fifth key to achieving synergy is to be compassionate. We tend to put other people's ideas down. When we do this, we stop people from thinking and contributing. Thinking is the hardest work there is, so we need to encourage people to do it. To get synergy we need to support others efforts to do well. When we differ from others we need to do it in a manner which is constructive rather than defensive.

Taken from here.

Lesson from nothing

Keep smiling & have a nice day!

Be a farmer

One of the oldest and simplest professions of all time. Farming! Here is one of the best videos I have seen in a long time!

Do something that your child would like to follow and be proud of!

How to listen?

Seth nails it...

Live interaction still matters. Teachers, meetings, presentations, one on one brainstorms--they can lead to real change. The listener has nearly as big a responsibility as the speaker does, though. And yet, Google reports four times as many matches for "how to speak" as "how to listen." It's not a passive act, not if you want to do it right.

If listening better leads to better speaking, then it becomes a competitive advantage.

Ask an entrepreneur leaving the office of a great VC like Fred Wilson. She'll tell you that she gave the best pitch of her career--largely because of the audience. The hardest step in better listening is the first one: do it on purpose. Make the effort to actually be good at it.

Don't worry so much about taking notes. Notes can be summarized in a memo (or a book) later.
Pay the person who's speaking back with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm shown by the expression on your face, in your posture, in your questions.

Play back what you hear but in your own words, using your own situation. Don't ask questions as much as make statements, building on what you just heard but making it your own. Take what you heard and make it the foundation for what you are trying on as your next idea.

If you disagree, wait a few beats, let the thought finish, and then explain why. Don't challenge the speaker, challenge the idea.

The best way to honor someone who has said something smart and useful is to say something back that is smart and useful. The other way to honor them is to go do something with what you learned.

Good listeners get what they deserve--better speakers.

Touch souls!

To succeed

To succeed...

1. Find a good driver
2. Grow stimulation
3. Embrace courage