Awesome America!

( The picture is by Kishore, shot at the Nandi Hills, close to Bengaluru, India )
Apparently the cool tender coconut, that you find being sold for about Rs 10 a nut on the roadside,in India, has become hot news in the United States.The tender coconut's water is touted as the new fail safe Isotonic panacea and is said to deal with a wide variety of health issues ranging from kidney stones to diabetes to being a rich source of potassium.

The tender coconut is receiving a great deal of attention as it is being associated with a host of Hollywood celebrities from Madonna to Demi Moore. No more carbonated drinks for them, tender coconut water is the new flavour of season.

This has caused a host of folk scurrying to market bottled coconut water post which you will have folk branding the stuff and carrying out a high profile marketing campaign where you will see, guys or better still pretty girls,with bronzed sweat stained bodies & skimpy outfits, amidst a game of beach volleyball, endorsing the new exilir! The process of getting the stuff into little bottles will be patented and will create issues of IPR across the world. There is also sure to be a great deal of media coverage talking about celebrities experience with the tender coconut and its benefits to one's health and otherwise.

All this while, the poor Indian, continues to sell his nut, on probably an old bicycle for Rs.10, on a hot afternoon, to tired pedestrians, by the wayside, storing the shell for firewood and after removing the meat which makes a delightful snack.

I'm amazed at the Americans chutzpah to exploit the mundane and create an industry where none existed, surrounded by hype, hoopla and glitz.The coconut is not new to us, but did we create a buzz around the nut? No way!It, probably been quietly drunk in this part of the world for centuries.For that you need to be an entrepreneur and an MBA from a premier B School, hopefully from the USA!It is also not surprising as why you have boom-bust cycles in quick succession, where virtual industries disappear causing immense pain to the poor bystander.

Carrying out a quick SWOT Analysis, what is the 'weakness' that the coconut water faces? Apparently some Americans feel it tastes like 'smelly unwashed socks', which throws up the fundamental question: 'Why in the first place do they chew on, dirty socks?'

Human Resources & Human Beings!

Are humans resources or are they simply human beings who turn up for work ? Are they resources at the work spot and cease to be resources when they walk out of your office? These are fundamental questions that need to be answered by the 'Talent Philosophy' of an organization.

Many an organization,treat sacked employees very poorly,subjecting them to the humiliation of a body search as well as searching their car and so on. These are departing employees who had probably served your organization for a number of years before you found them incompetent.

The fundamental point is, is an employee as asset. Infosys says that employees are assets and so reflected in their balance sheet. Wonderful, but the problem is when the value of the asset depreciates. What then? Sack them..............

How else would you look at at an employee in an age when everything is to be measured and encapsulated in a 'bottom line'? Many Japanese firms treat their employees as 'investors', where the employee is investing their skills & time with the organization. The perspective now changes, dramatically. It is probably the reason why Japanese firms see longer serving employees.

While I respect American Management practise, I also believe that,we should be wary of blindly following imported practices. Management has much to do with a nations philosophy, ethos and culture. To ignore these is stupid and akin to throwing the baby out with the bath water............

While my line of thought looks utopian, I firmly belive that humans are not only about resources and business and bottom lines!

The Power of an idea!

A dozen ships,five hundred soldiers & a few horse was all that was required for the Spanish Conquistador Cortes to roll the mighty Aztec Empire over, who ruled what is today's Mexico. Just spare a thought, a few straggling barbarians from Spain, pursued by their Governor in Cuba, destroying a solidly established empire with a large standing army backed by experience and wealth. How was this possible?

Montezuma the king of the Aztecs was also their general and high priest. A divine ruler whose decision was final.When Montezuma first heard of Cortes he though he might be Quetzalcoatl, the God of Wisdom, who hated human sacrifice and, according to legend, was due to return to Mexico after being banished by wizards, rulers of the land. This worked to the advantage of Cortes, because it made Montezuma indecisive in his dealings with Cortes. He sent gifts instead of armies to Cortes and his men.This indecisiveness allowed the Spaniards the leeway to consolidate and press on.
It took two years, but in the end Cortes and the conquisitatadores prevailed even though outnumbered a thousand to one. At one point Cortes kidnapped Montezuma and threatened to kill him if he did not follow his wishes. Finally, Montezuma was killed by his own people according to the Spaniards. Cortes and his men looted the country, then settled the country, tore down its sacrificial altars, replacing the Aztec rituals with Christianity, and brought European government to the New World, with immense brutality.

A nation and its culture vanished for ever...................!

The power of an idea is all conquering. Ideas can motivate & debilitate as in the case of Montezuma and Cortes. Don't let the wrong ideas take root in your head and lose a battle before it begins.

There will be people who will tell you why you are not good enough or why you will lose or why you cannot do something.Shut them out!

The tragedy of culture!

Culturally Japan is one of the most 'masculine' nations of the world. This does not mean that they are a macho tribe and menfolk of other nations are wimps. Japanese men have traditionally been the breadwinners for the family while the wife patiently waited at home to welcome an unemotional husband.No kiss, no hug for the waiting wife, all things that you would see in a Hollywood flick. Japanese husbands do not believe in overt affection. How about the Japanese wife? Well, fed on a staple diet of western culture she is looking for more of the hug-kiss routine from her husband.........so much so the the divorce rate in Japan has shot up a whopping 70% the last ten years, the impact of an alien culture on the Japanese way of life. A tragedy but that's how it works.With the physical intimacy the Japanese have also imported American divorce rates.These days Japanese woman are said to frequent special restaurants where they pick men off a menu to talk to. Just to talk to and be praised by..............
Cut to the USA. A bevy of Indian students, treated as illegal entrants after enrolling at a fly by night college and worse being deported to India. The Indian media has gone to town, screaming about the fact that the students have been 'dog collared' with a RFID tag that would be used to track them till they are shipped off to India. How can Indians be treated that way? Not done to us, no way!

What the media seems to have forgotten are the following:

#1. The Indians were illegally present in the USA.
#2. The 'Dog Collar tag' was placed only when the students refused to pay a bond.
#3. Only a small percentage of students have been tagged.

Culturally we do not like to lose face & rules mean little to us, but then the action is in the US of A, where rules are to be followed and in an achievement oriented culture 'Power Distance' is low.

A lack of understanding is one thing, discarding our way of life for another, without serious introspection is foolish!