Enigma Solution

 "I have a problem", that is how many people often approach colleagues and bosses. We humans are fascinated by the problems of others because our basic instincts to both protect ourselves and see if we can benefit from 'the problem'. So we inevitably ask 'What is the problem?' Socially and politically asking more about the problem may not be a bad thing, but for a boss or colleague it can be very bad. Let me explain. 'What is the problem?' is an open ended question. As a result the pace, content, length and duration of the conversation is decided by the complainer, i.e. the person with the perceived 'problem'. If unchecked the complainer will rarely be brief. He or she will come to the point only after a lot of moaning and groaning, consuming a rather significant amount of the listeners patience, energy and time.  This is exactly what the complainer seeks to achieve by their droning on. To get us to accept, that there is a problem and since we ...

Work never ends, especially if you are looking for it. There is always something new to be planned, and executed, or something that needs to be attended to. Such people who are obsessed with work are known as workaholics. If one is focussed, result oriented and fortunate, success is bound to come. The danger is workaholics become magnets for more work and challenges, especially if one commands  necessary resources and authority. The danger for workaholics is that they grown distant from family, friends, and even they themselves. When one is young, one possesses boundless energy and enthusiasm and one can cope with this pleasing burden. However with passage, of time one can easily get overwhelmed, as I was. To cope, workaholics recruit more people into the team. Instead of productivity and output improving, it actually decreases. This is because new recruits learn quickly that 'upward delegation' can free them from much work and responsibility. This is not on...

Failing to plan, is planning to fail. This article is a sequel to an earlier article  Sir, we might have a problem As owner and head of my own manufacturing organisation, initially I had to face numerous embarrassments because of failed commitments to customers. Commitments made by me or members of my team. We all face this problem. Colleagues, subordinates or even we ourselves fail to deliver on commitments. Monday comes and goes and then another Monday passes by as we fail to deliver. We land up with muck on our face and our reputations. We lose both our money and our sanity along with our reputation. Failure often occurs due to bad or no planning. Here is an approach that I adopted and it worked very well. It seems that one of the most difficult thing for most people is to sit down, think, focus and plan out things in detail. Thinking, analysing, planning are the bane of most humans because, it is intellectually demanding and can be exhausting. Rarel...

Attack Problems,  Not People

When my junior colleagues approached me and said, "Sir we have a problem". I used to immediately ask, "What is the problem?" That was it, then I was in a big trouble. Then a lot of my precious time would  be consumed in listening to loads of moaning and whining. Unfortunately, the reward for good work is more work. If you are good at solving issues, you are inundated with more issues to tackle. So I became a magnet for problems and issues. Initially one gets excited about the ability to tackle issues, after sometime one begins to tire and then frustration sets in which turns into rage. Frustration often leads to depression and that is unhelpful and rage is a kind of insanity and highly self destructive.  Many clients also often tell me, "You know the problem is ......... " or "You don't understand what the problem is."  They are probably right, I do not understand. The greater issue is, that they themselves also do not k...

Success needs no explanation and failure tolerates no excuse. Yet few people appreciate this point. Many people who fail, dole out excuses one after another, everyone and everything else is to blame except themselves. The situation is most pathetic, when owners, managers and leaders blame their own employees, team members and followers. Their opening statement is "The problem is ........", and this is followed by a long tirade or moan of nonsense. The first step in solving a 'problem' is, to learn what is the problem? Surprisingly most people have no idea what the problem is? A problem is defined as an obstruction 'C' which prevents you from going from  Situation 'A'  to situation 'B'. Unfortunately most people don't know where they are, where they want to get to and what is obstructing them. In that case the person does not have a problem, they just have an excuse for their failure.

Blaming others is easy and allows us to deny the reality, that we may be the problem or the one causing the problem. We try to solve problems by changing partners, friends, and team members but rarely ourselves. A sure sign of a problematic person is one who sees negative things in everyone and everything all the time. Are you the problem  or the solution?

Image by Ben Heine I was nearly lynched while driving in Texas where I blew my car horn freely as I did in my native Pune (India).  It took me a very short while to realise that that this behaviour upset people so much that it could get me killed.  It is generally believed particularly in the west and Japan that blowing the horn is considered rude and reserved as an insult to others.  There is a another deeper reason why people hate these loud noises, because it has become a killer. Yes noise destroys sanity before it takes your life.  Census reports in USA and UK   cite noise – more than any other problem even more than crime, litter, traffic, or inefficient government – as the biggest problem citizens face particularly in urban neighborhoods.  40% of people are regularly exposed to noise levels labeled as excessive by the Environmental Protection Agency."  The noise pollution is causing brain damage and heightened stress across communities...

In 1993, in pursuit of a large and significant business contract, we travelled to Detroit, to meet with a 5 member team at Visteon. It was a division of Ford motor Company.  Discussions concluded favourably. Both parties were in agreement on everything, except the time frame for development and delivery of samples. They demanded that we deliver in 8 weeks, and we insisted on 14 weeks. It looked like the deal was going to fall through. My export manager took me aside, "Sir we can't afford to lose this order. Please, I implore you to agree to whatever they demand and bag the order. We can always make some excuse and come back later and and ask for a time extension." I knew we could do it in 8 weeks, but past experience taught me that developments projects tend to encounter delays and one should always provide for the unexpected, and in India the variables were simply too many. I decided to shave the safety margin from 6 weeks to 3 weeks.  I said, ...

We have problems. This is the most often heard statement when I deal with clients. This statement is then typically followed by a long tirade, this and that thing is not ok, so and so person is a nuisance etc. After listening for quite a while I find that most people still can't define the problem. They do however have a list of frustrations and complaints but not a problem. What then, can we call a problem? A problem is something that is stopping you from getting from point 'A' to point 'B'. (Points ‘A’ & ‘B’ could be anything. Maybe physical, financial or other targets, situations, a geographical location etc.) This presupposes that; You know where you are You know where you want to get to You have an idea what is blocking you from getting there or what is obstructing you. If you do not know where you are at this present time, nor where you want to go and what is obstructing you, then you certainly do not have a problem. Most people and organisations are purel...