MIssed Opportunities?

Here's a pic from one of my presentations prepared in 2010 when I tried to capture some of my favorite quotes and juxtapose them with appropriate pictures.

They say opportunities come knocking. Not once... but.. several times.  But we often ignore them or overlook them. As Winston Churchill said "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity while the optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

This can happen only when we are aware of the opportunity. So, coming from a positivist school, I believe the world is not full of pessimists.  Then the question is why do people miss opportunities. 

First the problem of not being able to identify opportunities.  Reason can be explained as unawareness.  Did you remember someone you knew saying " I could have taken the Design Course.. but ....." or"I could easily have done engineering.....' but  or I was up for a top modeling assignment but chose medicine.... imagine what life could have been today OR the more common one among investors "I was about to invest in XYX stock.... only if I did I could have been millionaire like my friend."   One of the  most common mistakes made by students who get into the wrong course (they dislike after joining) or graduates getting into wrong jobs (hate the profession)  is they did not do enough homework preparing to understand what it meant. Most often doing some home work or some kind of scrutiny would have helped make better decisions. 

The other point about missing out opportunity is being overly cautious.    We fear taking risks, fear the unknown, fear not being able to make it, fear the hard work and thus ... miss out the opportunity.    Thus you end up giving a let go to something that you should have seized.  I remember one person telling me that he got into IIT Mumbai in the 1970's but did not go as it was too far and he preferred staying at his village and studying in a college nearby but.. the real reason when we explored more was about the fear of going to the city and competing with the boys there. 

Another reason especially among those who are talented, gifted or have some strength they never capitalized is their inherent lethargy.   Left to themselves they would prefer to chill, enjoy life as it comes and no one was there to push them to the wall and drive them.  So it is mostly talent wasted kind of situations that fall in this category. 

Next think of the dreams you had but never converted to reality.   To give wings to dreams you should have a plan.  Lack of Planning  is another way one has missed opportunities.  By the time the race had to be run you were still working on the equipment and missed the race.   

In human relationships we can often hear someone say "if only I could have made up with him / her.. Now he's no longer here..." .  This happens when we don't mend relationships or build broken bridges with someone while they are there with us but regret it later when they moved away to something new and no longer are with us or when they unfortunately pass away from this world. 

In all probability you find that when people are old and in the evening of their lives they often think and speak about what they did not do... the missed opportunities.  But I think being aware of how one can avoid the chance of categorizing the wrong one's and regretting them is something we should understand.   I will be discussing a very simple framework on how to avoid regretting the wrong missed opportunities.   It is a very simple framework I use in my coaching sessions and training programs. 

Even Inventing Is a Process....

They say that human society progressed on stepping stones of inventions.   This is nothing but reality.   The world has changed more, there has been more progress and more inventions in the last  sixty years or so than previous three centuries.  Such is the contribution of invention that has made this possible. 

We think that invention is the forte or realm of few different kind of people.   Some may be wondering if invention is a random,  hit and run, trial and error,  way of getting new things created, thought of or implemented.  This may have been in the past as there was no framework or pattern that could be generalized and imposed on the process of invention. 

However over past few decades thinkers have come up with frameworks for innovation and invention.   One such methodology I came across was the TRIZ framework. (Pronounced and TREEZ) that was developed in USSR and now being explored in many parts of the world.    While it may apply to engineering inventions it can be extended to other kinds of inventions too.

So from a understanding that it was impossible to learn how to invent today there is clear evidence on how to learn to invent.   I am not going to elaborate what TRIZ methodology is all about.  Google can do it for you but what I would like to emphasize here is that there is yet another process that can be broken down into a set of logical steps.   Can be mastered, can be transition and will provide opportunities for outsourcing in the future days.   Some of it may already be done in bits and pieces but along with robotic automation,   transformation etc,  will be things to watch out in the future.

Other BPS Industry Topics

Myth Busters about BPS

BPS Industry : Some Sectoral Challenges

FIVE LEVERS WITH TODAY'S MANAGERS AND LEADERS

 Who does not want happy people?  Who does not want a motivated team?  Who does not want to see and celebrate successful performances? 

With so many distractions,  disruptions, chaotic situations, upswings, declining trends,  competitive slugfest, and demands for constant change on today's leaders and managers the levers that are most effective in order to keep up motivation levels and enable a strong performance culture are just five simple levers as I call them.   These are based on what successful and engaging managers and leaders do in organizations large and small.  

One needs to constantly think and reflect on how each of these levers manifests in the workplace. This also makes sense in our professional lives beyond just routine work environments. 

Quote , Unquote !!!

"He who chooses the beginning of a road, also chooses its outcome." -  Unknown

So true, they say well begun is half done.  That's the other way to look at it. You start off on the wrong track and have to reverse the road travelled already.  Also it is good to remember that  the roughest roads make the best drivers, so you need not look at the rough one as the wrong road   

"Keep trying, It's only from the valley that the mountain seems high."  Zig Ziglar

So very true, its all about perspective. Raise your self above the problem and you see it in a different light.  That's the way it looks from the valley... all insurmountable, but once your reach somewhere at the top you feel you have conquered it all.   


"There is no limit to what can be achieved, when no one cares who gets the credit". - John Wooden, Coach

The team is sometimes the enemy of the goal.   So true that you have a goal and everyone understands it but in the quest to get name and credit the goal is side tracked.  You can always identify such people.  They will be playing ball on the sides,  send separate emails without including others who are relevant,  try calling out and dropping names and often the one's who try to take credit for others outputs.  These are missing in action but fully present at reward time. 


"Before we can properly handle a problem we must know all of the problem" - 

Einstein, once said, a problem can't be solved at the same level of understanding as that at which it was created.... he means you need a higher level of understanding.   That's why we say "Experience is the best teacher"  You can get to see various turns (understand the problem better or more in detail when you have experience.   Also it is about being wise with the worldly experiences and therefore able to handle problems as they say with grace and confidence.

The Quest for Delivering Lasting Change?

There is a saying that goes like this.... "Put a Changed Man Into an Unchanged Context and he eventually goes back to his old ways of doing things".  

 This is a paradox for trainers.  General quest for trainers is to see change come about. Their role is that of a change agent.  However the lasting change does not come by because of the above.   Which means... The trainers should understand the context from which the trainee (who you expected to change) came from and eventually went back to.  

Understanding the context and seeing that in light of the training is very important.  Therefore the role of the trainer is also to collaborate with the owner of the context (here it is the line manager)  to understand stumbling blocks as well as enablers for the desired change.  

For e.g. you wanted to make people more proactive through a training program.  However the situation on the ground once the trainee went back (here it is say one of the operations floor for customer X) was one where any hint at addressing something which was not raised as an issue by the client or any other stakeholder is not welcome and looked at with suspicion is a sure shot recipe for the trainee going back to old ways.   Why rake up issues, why search for embers to burn your feet... these are the kind of manifestations of feedback.

So what do you do?  Trainers can pass the baton to designers and say the context should be taken care of during design.  Yes but the product you create is what gets back to action in the context... (in example above it is the operations for Customer X) and it is in the trainers interest to work with the managers or leaders in the floor of operations for Customer X to see how people are encourage for being proactive.   The managers need to be sensitized that one has to encourage, reward, cajole people to be proactive just in case they have been so used to not being proactive and waiting for fires to be doused.

Operationally using Kurt Lewins - Force Field Analysis helps in identifying barriers to change and resisting forces and as a group the Trainers can work with leaders to eliminate the opposing forces.   Thereby it becomes a much easier task for trainers to achieve their goals of bringing about lasting change once the context issues have been addressed to facilitate changed behaviors. 

How do You Handle Costly... Mistakes...

"My action resulted in the department finding itself in boiled water".   This was not a statement made out of fashion but was a real lament of one of the young graduate trainees at a well known company who just managed to blow up a transformer and resulting in damages running to several hundred thousand rupees.  This was only the tip of the ice berg.  The resultant loss in productivity and material added another factor of ten to the losses. 

What was the reaction of the Unit Head of the Department.   "Guys'  this was a mistake, and I want each of you to learn from it"  He further added "As long as none of you will ever repeat the same mistake next time it is a price I am willing to pay and take up the ownership for this"

The engineer in question was relieved but there was a sense of guilt that lasted days after the incident.   However the tide ebbed when things were back to normal two months later and the whole lapse in process was documented back into the process.   No one told the engineer to do this but the person thought it was his / her responsibility to create a shared understanding of the problem. 

When I thought back on the leaders action my first assessment was more like... that he was being lenient.   Why did the manager at least not give any kind of penalty like a fine or a warning memo or a suspension.  But when you step back and look at it there was sense in what he did.  The process mistake that was committed was not part of the documented procedure so it fit the bill of some unknown step being used and therefore the lapse.  It was important that this lapse get documented so that people become conscious of the procedure the next time.

Today the Leader Heads a Large Organization and the engineer is a budding leader of one of the most exuberant team you can find.   

What are some of the things you can think of when it comes to grave mistakes.

Understand the context?  Was it carelessness,  non adherence to documented process?  was there a fail proof process that was given the go by ?  Such conditions warrant strict action like a disciplinary procedure or a  reprimand,  a monetary deduction or the like depending on the severity of the impact and the category of the error.  If it was a disciplinary issue then handle it like one, otherwise assess the context... The reaction by the managers to the mistake and how it was handled will have an impact on the morale of the other members of the team or other teams too.

Communicate the action and consequence:  Often I find that when such a thing happens,  it gets discussed secretly.  You need to share such grave mistakes with others (may be with confidentiality)  so that grape vine does not get stoked in corridors.   Also communicate the remedial action and if it was a disciplinary issue others also get a shared understanding.  That is why a periodic sharing of the errors and mistakes that happened are important.  How may remember the last time your organization shared a grave mistake synopsis and what can be done to prevent it.  


Don't Make the one who committed it.. a Victim :   At times it may seem it was a genuine mistake, something committed inadvertently.   Take care that the one who committed the mistake has a psychological support.  Else it leads to downward spiral on the individual's feeling of comfort and can be quite emotionally taxing.   Speak to the individual and get a pulse within day or two after the issue was discussed and the outcome or resolution completed.   


Never Cover Up A Grave Mistake:   When you cover up it means others never learn.  Also you are then you slowly build up a culture of complacency and disregard for responsible actions.  In fact always encourage and try to put at ease those who own up their mistake proactively and come to you with not just the facts but also the understanding and even perhaps and solution.  These instances can lead to a lot of good in later periods.    

Here is something interesting that was quoted in the context of committing mistakes...

“You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember that’s where you’ll find success; on the far side.” – Thomas Watson

Inspiration, Not Control is the Key to Realizing Potential

This is a brief discussion on how and why some of of the most popular quests (phrases) related to individual success often runs into a wall....  and more specifically in organizational contexts.   We hear of catchy phrases  like "Give wings to dreams",   "Realize Your Potential",  "You Can, If You Will",  "Discover your hidden power"    and so on. 

The common belief among line managers and HR fraternity is that achieving this objective is a self driven phenomenon. One has to reflect, understand what he or she can do / cannot do and work deliberately and can achieve much much more than what was possibly thought he / she could achieve.   Maybe put them in front of some achievers who have "been there, done that" kinds and there will be some kind of osmosis of inspiration to the listeners.  

Reality is that in order to enable employees achieve beyond what they think they can,  for them to realize their potential we need a whole lot of inspiration coming from the managers in organizations.   Control freaks who are there to stifle creativity and show their teams how to align with them (the manager) are doing very little to create that environment.   

Instead of showing the team how to align with the mission of the company and drive excellence in the delivery of the services or of the product,  instead of  helping overcome obstacles that impede the successful execution of  organizations goals,  instead of  working along side with them to solve problems,  they are expecting the employees to align with their stifling ways.   Align with me and you'll be successful.   Does this statement ring a bell? Familiar ??  Most often it is not explicitly stated but rather an implicit coming forth as clear message to the team led by such managers.

So the need for managers is to inspire the teams to align with the organization, to inspire them to see how their job is contributing to success,  to inspire them to understand how their job / work is relevant to customers needs,  to inspire them to go beyond and connect the dots and to enable them to work without fear.....only then we can really set an environment where everyone can realize his or her potential.