strategy

Art of Playing small!

Yes! Looks like this is truly the most sought after art form!

Met around 8 different, highly talented  people (toppers recruited from their institutes) with very similar outlook to life – Remaining shielded from action is the best way – to keep themselves safe & secured at work!

Proof point being over 25 yrs of working in the same company – mostly in 2-3 different levels of the same role – undisturbed & hardly noticed!

Not sure what they gained and the company!

Everyone is expected to make it big/large – something, sometime, somewhere,… and somehow! – that’s the DREAM! But majority, give up – somewhere, sometime,… somehow!

Dreamer doers in the crowd of any section/segment will not be more than 10% of the population! It seems everyone else, practice and master the art of playing small! – mostly unknowingly! That’s the big stealth virus!

The world is so big, and it is easy to feel like just another number! We see so many things that need to be changed, so many things that could be better – at work, at home, in the neighborhood… everywhere! But we choose to feel powerless! So, we shrink from our expectations, desires and responsibilities!

It is easy to remain – a victim, silent to the calling, shy admitting a mistake or staying away from acting on candid feedback! – Simplest way for becoming prisoners of unfounded fears!

Playing small may offer comfort, but does no good to anyone! Still, we find a lot of people – living on playing small!

Does this justify the “art” form?

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Doing Work That Matters!

The best advice one can get in any stage of their career is simple – do what you like and like what you do! Unless this is truly internalized, chances are that this state of mind will be a flip-flop – triggered by external, circumstantial influences, is very high! Fragile, Oscillatory and not sustainable!

Sustainability is associated with Happiness! – most sought after state of mind! If happiness is your business model, there is a different need – Doing Work That Matters!

Yesterday, met a water pump mechanic who is always busy finding & fixing problems with a bright smile on the face – glued permanently. He is known for not being on-time, generally expensive and adventurous! Interestingly, people are ready to wait for him, pay as much he demands and willing to let him try innovative solutions!

He sounded rich in experience and money! It seems he has the habit of working on own with couple of helping hands employed as trainees for 6 months! There is a queue of people interested in working with him on probation. Mostly, these folks start own business after the training! Imagine – a master, training and building a base of competition for his own business!

Ask how does this work for him – He says: “I love seeing the smile on the face of my customers when their problem is solved. I have been lucky to put people in their happy zone once I solve their water problem. People call me ‘Bagiratha’ the saintly king who was instrumental in getting Ganga down to earth!. I count the smiles, the money follows. Will not charge any thing if I don’t solve the problem or my solution fails! When it is fixed, I ask for 10, people give me additional 100! My trainees are happy to learn and be on their own. They will never compete with me – in fact, they form my independent network. End of the day, I make my customers happy, employees happy and I am happy! I think the work I do matters a lot to everyone around me, so I have stuck to this business in this fashion for over 20 yrs!”

Doing work that matters!

Knowing that our work counts is to know that we count! A definitive goal for the year is – to explore and do what really matters!

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Pygmalion Effect in action!

It is hard to disassociate  Pygmalion Effect from teachers – @school, @home or @work! Effective teachers, parents and mentors are the masters of this powerful expectation management principle.

Positive Pygmalion Effect makes you a brilliant star while the negative ensures a complete villain! They both create wonders almost from nothing!

As the master puts it –

“A backlog of challenge, freedom, respect, warmth, control and success develops positive self-images in students (employees) and encourages academic (professional) achievement. The absence of these factors makes for the person who is crippled psychologically.” ~ W.W. Purkey

To see the magic of Pygmalion Effect in action, it is important to build a life style around the characteristics described by  W.W. Purkey.

CHALLENGE: proposing high and achievable levels of accomplishment good enough to let the person (student/employee) discover their capacity for greater achievement – to ensure increase in Self-Esteem!

FREEDOM: allowing & accepting failure, mistakes so that they learn to take decisions on their own – without fear of rejection/humiliation! – to improve Self-Esteem!

RESPECT: authentic respect towards the individual to increase their self-respect and helping them learn to show respect to others. – improves Self-Esteem!

WARMTH: cordial relationship with the individual to ensure self-esteem.

CONTROL: control the feedback loop for sustainability of self-esteem

SUCCESS: style appropriate to facilitate & celebrate success v/s underscore & correct mistakes! Meaningful praise is more impactful than punitive criticism / correction. Reinforces Self-Esteem!

Pygmalion Effect

It appears that working on “Self-Esteem” can guarantee to bring the magical power of Pygmalion Effect into action!

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