Like good actors, good managers are born. By the same logic bad managers are also born. They may study in best of management institutes and consult best of management treatise but remain unmanageable themselves.
The top ten Fundas of a successful manager, not necessarily good manager (good manager is a myth) are given below for your benefit. Who knows with so much liberalization setting in you may be elevated or simply redesigned as a Manager one of these days.–
1--Subordinate is always at fault. This is different than saying boss is always right.
2– Give up politeness. Being polite is a symbol of weakness.
3– Keep one or two confidants who can bring you the latest news and explain you in simple terms, things you don't understand.
4– Do not hurry to dispose off files. If you do so, not only more files will pile up, you will be termed as casual and not being thorough.
5– In case you are under pressure to 'fix' responsibility and take up, catch hold of the last man in the row (lowest in rung)
6– Announce inquiry only after deciding what line inquiry should adopt and what would be the findings.
7– Feeling out of place in a discussion with nobody bothered/aware of your presence? Butt in by diverting the topic from Sahara to Antarctica or Vice Versa.
8– Keep them guessing and fighting among themselves. Avinash, Sekhar, Sai, Rama and Raghu need to be kissed and kicked as per occasion. Remember tale of wise monkey and stupid cats with a loaf of bread.
9– In case you simply fail to understand a subject, (after all managers too are human being) you want to avoid or want to kill the issue, try one of these:
Please discuss
Please link rules/instructions
Please link practice
Please quote precedent
Please call a meeting of section heads/inter-section/inter-dept/inter-ministry.
10– If all these fundas fail, go for this SOS - Discuss nation, national character and moral values. You can feel a strange hush overpowering the atmosphere.
Keep these top ten fundas clear and you would find `line clear' throughout your career.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Leaders need to listen !
Most leaders want to engage their team in planning processes but don't always do so effectively.
Recently I attended a session with a group of executives from my company.
The conversation was lively, the questions were thought provoking and we ultimately developed a decent plan for the future. Unfortunately, the Boss who was heading that meeting need to control the outcome limited the value of the session and dampened our team's enthusiasm and confidence in the future. He was was well intentioned. He asked us to come up with ideas and told them that he would just listen. This was welcomed. But somehow i thought too frequently he dominated the meetings and limited the contribution of our team. Ideas began to flow, discussion was animated and there was a sense of possibility and excitement in the room. The conversation was still lively when he ended the meeting when he said that he'd heard most of it before, and that we didn't come up with anything new and the meeting had been a waste of time. The animation ceased, the mood changed, energy dissipated and people looked embarrassed. I was bemused, however gathered the notes from the meeting, confident that there'd been many good ideas generated that could be harnessed and used. I later found out that he had wanted his team to adopt a particular strategy he'd articulated at a prior meeting. He was so focused on his own idea he had failed to listen to others. When I shared the outcomes of the meeting with him later, he was decent enough to admit he'd been too rash in dismissing the meeting as a waste of time. Unfortunately he was not quite able to articulate his error of judgement to his team.
I feel that Your role as a leader is to enlist followers and engage the hearts, minds and resources of the whole organisation to achieve something compelling - and then get out of the way.
Leaders who are too directive and don't let go, lose not only great ideas but eventually the people as well.
I am sure I have been to that same meeting. The one where the convenor purports to listen but in reality only wants to convince people to do something they have already decided. As said by many people earlier "anger dissipates when people are listened to". I think the converse is also true. We need to learn from examples such as the one above. If only we could apply the 'law of two feet' from Open Space Technology when we find ourselves in sessions like this.
Recently I attended a session with a group of executives from my company.
The conversation was lively, the questions were thought provoking and we ultimately developed a decent plan for the future. Unfortunately, the Boss who was heading that meeting need to control the outcome limited the value of the session and dampened our team's enthusiasm and confidence in the future. He was was well intentioned. He asked us to come up with ideas and told them that he would just listen. This was welcomed. But somehow i thought too frequently he dominated the meetings and limited the contribution of our team. Ideas began to flow, discussion was animated and there was a sense of possibility and excitement in the room. The conversation was still lively when he ended the meeting when he said that he'd heard most of it before, and that we didn't come up with anything new and the meeting had been a waste of time. The animation ceased, the mood changed, energy dissipated and people looked embarrassed. I was bemused, however gathered the notes from the meeting, confident that there'd been many good ideas generated that could be harnessed and used. I later found out that he had wanted his team to adopt a particular strategy he'd articulated at a prior meeting. He was so focused on his own idea he had failed to listen to others. When I shared the outcomes of the meeting with him later, he was decent enough to admit he'd been too rash in dismissing the meeting as a waste of time. Unfortunately he was not quite able to articulate his error of judgement to his team.
I feel that Your role as a leader is to enlist followers and engage the hearts, minds and resources of the whole organisation to achieve something compelling - and then get out of the way.
Leaders who are too directive and don't let go, lose not only great ideas but eventually the people as well.
I am sure I have been to that same meeting. The one where the convenor purports to listen but in reality only wants to convince people to do something they have already decided. As said by many people earlier "anger dissipates when people are listened to". I think the converse is also true. We need to learn from examples such as the one above. If only we could apply the 'law of two feet' from Open Space Technology when we find ourselves in sessions like this.
Monday, July 28, 2008
More Management Fundas !!
Corporate Lesson 1
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower when the doorbell rings. After a few seconds of arguing overwhich one should go and answer the doorbell, the wife gives up, quickly wraps herself up in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour.Before she says a word, Bob says,
"I'll give you £800 to drop that towel that you have on"After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob.
After a few seconds, Bob hands her £800 and leaves.Confused, but excited about her good fortune, the woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.
When she gets back to the bathroom, her husband asks from the shower,"Who was that?""It was Bob the next door neighbour," she replies.
"Great," the husband says, "did he say anything about the £800 he owes me?"
Management Lesson:If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk in a timely fashion with your stakeholders, you may be in a position toprevent avoidable exposure.
Corporate Lesson 2
A sales rep, an administration clerk and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out in a puff of smoke.The Genie says, "I usually only grant three wishes, so I'll give each of you just one.""Me first! Me first!" says the admin clerk "I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world." Poof! She's gone.In astonishment,
"Me next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endlesssupply of pina coladas and the love of my life."
Poof! He's gone."OK, you're up," the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, "I want those two back in the office after lunch."
Management Lesson: Always let your boss have the first say.
Corporate Lesson 3
A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all daylong?"
The crow answered: "Sure, why not."
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested.
All of a sudden a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high.
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower when the doorbell rings. After a few seconds of arguing overwhich one should go and answer the doorbell, the wife gives up, quickly wraps herself up in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour.Before she says a word, Bob says,
"I'll give you £800 to drop that towel that you have on"After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob.
After a few seconds, Bob hands her £800 and leaves.Confused, but excited about her good fortune, the woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.
When she gets back to the bathroom, her husband asks from the shower,"Who was that?""It was Bob the next door neighbour," she replies.
"Great," the husband says, "did he say anything about the £800 he owes me?"
Management Lesson:If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk in a timely fashion with your stakeholders, you may be in a position toprevent avoidable exposure.
Corporate Lesson 2
A sales rep, an administration clerk and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out in a puff of smoke.The Genie says, "I usually only grant three wishes, so I'll give each of you just one.""Me first! Me first!" says the admin clerk "I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world." Poof! She's gone.In astonishment,
"Me next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endlesssupply of pina coladas and the love of my life."
Poof! He's gone."OK, you're up," the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, "I want those two back in the office after lunch."
Management Lesson: Always let your boss have the first say.
Corporate Lesson 3
A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all daylong?"
The crow answered: "Sure, why not."
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested.
All of a sudden a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high.
Management Lesssons for Managers :)
Management Lessons :
Summary : An interesting and funny way of describing management lessons.
Somebody forwarded me the following funny email and I just wanted to share it with you guys. Lesson No.1 A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day.A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?" The crow answered: " Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
Lesson No.2 A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree.The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.
Management Lesson: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.
Lesson No.3 When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss. The brain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body's responses and functions." The feet said, " We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go." The hands said, "We should be the Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money." And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. So the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work. Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered.Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be the Boss.
Management Lesson: You don't need brains to be a Boss - any asshole will do.
Lesson No.4 A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold, the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung,it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him!
Management Lesson: 1) Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy. 2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend. 3) And when you're in deep shit, keep your mouth shut!
Summary : An interesting and funny way of describing management lessons.
Somebody forwarded me the following funny email and I just wanted to share it with you guys. Lesson No.1 A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day.A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?" The crow answered: " Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
Lesson No.2 A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree.The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.
Management Lesson: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.
Lesson No.3 When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss. The brain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body's responses and functions." The feet said, " We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go." The hands said, "We should be the Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money." And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. So the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work. Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered.Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be the Boss.
Management Lesson: You don't need brains to be a Boss - any asshole will do.
Lesson No.4 A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold, the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung,it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him!
Management Lesson: 1) Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy. 2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend. 3) And when you're in deep shit, keep your mouth shut!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Dasavataram Movie - Not up to the expectations …
A very good base script, good songs,annoying background music, lot of junk animation, totally sloppy screenplay, literally zero choreo, jokes that will make you cry, ear blasting sounds, unwanted and totally Hollywood-copied stunts, mediocre make-up, unbelievable pre-launch marketing and one man’s idiosyncrasy – Well that the movie in short.
Dasavataram is Dr.Kamal Hassan’s much hyped up latest movie, in which he does 10 different characters. The movie had so much hype and media attention that even personalities like M.Karunanidhi, Amitabh Bachan and Jackie Chan were brought in for the audio release. But we should have easily predicted about the content when the movie’s release date was postponed due to a trivial thing like IPL.
He portrayed 10 different roles in the film as:
Rangaraj Nambi, the Vaishnav Brahmin Govind, the US Scientist Fletcher, American Terrorist Balaram Nadar, the Security Officer A Japanese Fighter Kamakshi, the Old Woman Avatar Singh, the Sikh Singer Punyakoti, the Dalit leader Bush, the American President and Khareemulla, the Tall Man
The movie starts with a verbose speech by Kamal Hasan in scientist's get up. He says that there is relation for every calamity in this universe quoting 'Chaos Theory' and takes the story to 12th century AD where Rangaraj Nambi, a Vaishvaite Brahmin was drowned alive in sea by the Saivaite rule 2nd Kulothunga Chola. (Idea to establish would be-People used to fight with differences of Vaishnav and Shaiva theories. And now people are fighting for supremacy!!!-but that was not established with clarity). The story comes to the present from then. Govind, a scientist discovers a bio-virus and the terrorists plan to grab that from him for supremacy. He keeps on escaping from them taking the virus in a vial. He loses that in a dramatic situation and moves till Chidambaram in Tamilnadu in search of that. He meets a girl Lakshmi there and runs along with her escaping from terrorists and also from police those assume him to be a terrorist. Finally what happens to the virus and how it gets deactivated is the theme.
And as everything ends fine, the viewer is left at his own mercy pondering whether he got all the 10 Kamal’s – or oops!! did He miss one ??
My final verdict : Well the movie has a solid theme and some very good acting but lacks the hyped up class and doesn’t deliver as per expectations. The animations and graphics are a total waste of money and play detrimental role but again some of the special effects like multiple Kamal’s in the same scene fighting with each other are really good. So finally I would say - Do watch the movie , but with less expectations.
Dasavataram is Dr.Kamal Hassan’s much hyped up latest movie, in which he does 10 different characters. The movie had so much hype and media attention that even personalities like M.Karunanidhi, Amitabh Bachan and Jackie Chan were brought in for the audio release. But we should have easily predicted about the content when the movie’s release date was postponed due to a trivial thing like IPL.
He portrayed 10 different roles in the film as:
Rangaraj Nambi, the Vaishnav Brahmin Govind, the US Scientist Fletcher, American Terrorist Balaram Nadar, the Security Officer A Japanese Fighter Kamakshi, the Old Woman Avatar Singh, the Sikh Singer Punyakoti, the Dalit leader Bush, the American President and Khareemulla, the Tall Man
The movie starts with a verbose speech by Kamal Hasan in scientist's get up. He says that there is relation for every calamity in this universe quoting 'Chaos Theory' and takes the story to 12th century AD where Rangaraj Nambi, a Vaishvaite Brahmin was drowned alive in sea by the Saivaite rule 2nd Kulothunga Chola. (Idea to establish would be-People used to fight with differences of Vaishnav and Shaiva theories. And now people are fighting for supremacy!!!-but that was not established with clarity). The story comes to the present from then. Govind, a scientist discovers a bio-virus and the terrorists plan to grab that from him for supremacy. He keeps on escaping from them taking the virus in a vial. He loses that in a dramatic situation and moves till Chidambaram in Tamilnadu in search of that. He meets a girl Lakshmi there and runs along with her escaping from terrorists and also from police those assume him to be a terrorist. Finally what happens to the virus and how it gets deactivated is the theme.
And as everything ends fine, the viewer is left at his own mercy pondering whether he got all the 10 Kamal’s – or oops!! did He miss one ??
My final verdict : Well the movie has a solid theme and some very good acting but lacks the hyped up class and doesn’t deliver as per expectations. The animations and graphics are a total waste of money and play detrimental role but again some of the special effects like multiple Kamal’s in the same scene fighting with each other are really good. So finally I would say - Do watch the movie , but with less expectations.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
GAMYAM - Review
The film Gamyam comes as a breath of fresh air. The year 2008 has seen a series of flop films .
The biggest strength of the film is Allari Naresh. Allari Naresh’s character and dominates the show with his comedy and energy . Sharwanand too looks better in the role of a rich brat. Kamlinee as always is a bankable actress. She has lesser character but gives what is required of.
Story :
Gamyam is the story of a rich and spoilt young boy Abhiram (Saravanand).He is the son of a rich industrialist. As is the case with many rich people, Abhiram too is of the notion that the poor and the middle class people are bad.He never mingles with people who are not as rich as him. At this time, he comes across a beautiful girl Janaki (Kamalini Mukherjee). Janaki is an orphan who comes up in life the hard way. She is a doctor by profession and she serves the poor and the less privileged.The two become close but Abhiram does not like her modest background and her social service. Janaki also hates his attitude of looking down upon the poor people. Janaki leaves Abhiram and goes away. Abhiram is now desperately looking for her.
Enter Seenu (Allari Naresh) who is a petty thief. Abhiram comes in contact with him and with his help, tries to trace Janaki. Abhiram and Seenu go in search of Janaki on a bike. Abhiram finally manages to trace Janaki at a small village where she is serving the poor. Abhiram learns a lot bout life during his long journey in search of Janaki.
Finally, Abhiram is also a changed man. With this, the film ends on a happy note.
The biggest strength of the film is Allari Naresh. Allari Naresh’s character and dominates the show with his comedy and energy . Sharwanand too looks better in the role of a rich brat. Kamlinee as always is a bankable actress. She has lesser character but gives what is required of.
Story :
Gamyam is the story of a rich and spoilt young boy Abhiram (Saravanand).He is the son of a rich industrialist. As is the case with many rich people, Abhiram too is of the notion that the poor and the middle class people are bad.He never mingles with people who are not as rich as him. At this time, he comes across a beautiful girl Janaki (Kamalini Mukherjee). Janaki is an orphan who comes up in life the hard way. She is a doctor by profession and she serves the poor and the less privileged.The two become close but Abhiram does not like her modest background and her social service. Janaki also hates his attitude of looking down upon the poor people. Janaki leaves Abhiram and goes away. Abhiram is now desperately looking for her.
Enter Seenu (Allari Naresh) who is a petty thief. Abhiram comes in contact with him and with his help, tries to trace Janaki. Abhiram and Seenu go in search of Janaki on a bike. Abhiram finally manages to trace Janaki at a small village where she is serving the poor. Abhiram learns a lot bout life during his long journey in search of Janaki.
Finally, Abhiram is also a changed man. With this, the film ends on a happy note.
Parugu Review ... I know its too late :)
After a long time i found time to watch Parugu movie.
Did not blog as well for some time so thought of writing its review for my international friends who can only watch this on a DVD when it is released later..
The Story :
Neelakantam (Prakash Raj) is a rich person who lives in a village. His elder daughter (Poonam Bajwa) runs away with her boyfriend just before her marriage. Neelakantam catches all the friends of her boyfriend to find the couple. Krishna (Allu Arjun) is one of her boyfriend's friend. Once Krishna comes across Meena (Sheela) and falls in love with her. He does not know at that time that Meena is none other than Neelakantam's younger daughter. She is an innocent girl who was blamed by all for her sister's mistake. Neelakantam is very careful now as he does not want the same incidence to happen with his younger daughter. How Krishna wins his love is the remaining story.
The major let down of this movie is its thin story line. I had to walk out of the theater completely confused. 'Bommarillu' Bhaskar concluded this movie with a lot of confusion in his mind. The heroine, Sheila is one of the other lowlights of the movie. She failed to bring life to the character. .
Overall a watchable movie if you are a Allu Arjun Fan
Did not blog as well for some time so thought of writing its review for my international friends who can only watch this on a DVD when it is released later..
The Story :
Neelakantam (Prakash Raj) is a rich person who lives in a village. His elder daughter (Poonam Bajwa) runs away with her boyfriend just before her marriage. Neelakantam catches all the friends of her boyfriend to find the couple. Krishna (Allu Arjun) is one of her boyfriend's friend. Once Krishna comes across Meena (Sheela) and falls in love with her. He does not know at that time that Meena is none other than Neelakantam's younger daughter. She is an innocent girl who was blamed by all for her sister's mistake. Neelakantam is very careful now as he does not want the same incidence to happen with his younger daughter. How Krishna wins his love is the remaining story.
The major let down of this movie is its thin story line. I had to walk out of the theater completely confused. 'Bommarillu' Bhaskar concluded this movie with a lot of confusion in his mind. The heroine, Sheila is one of the other lowlights of the movie. She failed to bring life to the character. .
Overall a watchable movie if you are a Allu Arjun Fan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)