Enigma Solution

We often take competent, capable, sincere individuals and assign them to do things or take up responsibilities without preparing them for the task? As a consequence we land up harming both the organisation and the confidence of the individual concerned. This is the story of how we accidentally hurt Derek, our number 2 team member without even meaning to when we promoted him to top slot. When Derek's boss the Works Manager resigned, we had to fill up the position fast. So we promoted Derek our no 2 man to replace him. Our World Class mission goals placed high demands on productivity, quality, cost effectiveness and continuous improvement from our team and leadership. We had no doubts about Derek's ability to meet our mutually agreed expectations and targets. Alas it was not to be. Six months after his promotion, a frazzled looking Derek came to see me. He handed me his resignation letter was resigning and requested to be relieved from his job at the earliest. I felt confused, an...

The Indo Gangetic Plain is one the most  fertile land in the world, thanks to the rivers that flow down from the Himalayas and the Tibet Plateau . This is why this region evolved naturally to have the highest population densities in the world. Now imagine this all turning to desert. A political party, China's Communist Party of China   (CCP) with plans to weaponise these waters by depriving much of the natural waters to the Indo Gangetic Plain has already reached an advanced stage of doing that. Water stress and wide spread devastation is certain and lives of 3 billion of South Asia and South East Asia has already started becoming imperilled. This is not science fiction, this is a reality. , The CCP  has always affirmed its intent to exploit Tibet and to use the waters of the Tibetan Plateau for its own benefits while holding Asia to ransom. In pursuit of this objective, China annexed Tibet in 1950 and completely occupied Tibet by 1959. To implement their p...

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...

An interesting reaction to my writing, is that people begin to ask for advice. Though this is flattering it can be a bit dangerous both for me and the person seeking my advice. I wish they would realize that, all I have to share with most of them is only my confusion. Pradeep recently wrote to me, that he felt he was a zombie without a meaningful life. He worked for a very big and famous multinational organization. He was paid very well and had a lot of perks and facilities provided to him. He felt trapped in a line up of demanding and aggressive bosses, exhausted subordinates and impossible targets. Like most of his colleagues, even 12 hour work days and six days a week of slogging were insufficient to meet the workload demanded from them. He felt he was unable to satisfy his bosses because of lack of competence and ability. Constant battering by his bosses and unhappiness at home had eroded his confidence. He wanted my advise on ways and means to boost his confidence. I tol...

Sincere, competent and reliable and conscientious, Derek D'souza was a good production manager.  One day Derek's boss the works manager opted to take up a job overseas. With a salary hike we promoted Derek our no 2 man to look after all manufacturing. Technically capable the indefatigable and sincere, Mr. D'souza took to his new role like a duck takes to water.  Derek faced many problems in discharging his new responsibilities well. Our organisation's performance on productivity and quality as did the morale of the team remained a concern. Six months after his promotion, a frazzled looking Derek came to see me. After the usual courtesies he placed an envelope in front of me. With apprehension I read the contents of the letter inside. Derek was resigning and wished to be relieved from his job at the earliest. To say I was shocked would be an understatement.   He said he could not handle the pressure.  What? Why? I threw many questions at Derek. I exper...