Food for thought!

A couple of days ago, I had the most exhilarating, ride to the southern suburb of Koramanagala, here in Bangalore, on the pillion of a friends bike.After transacting, the business, that we were there for, feeling ravenously hungry, I scouted around for a bite, and not finding anything appropriate, settled for a packet of Haldiram's Moong Dal.

Post quenching the fires in my belly, while attempting to dispose, the wrapper, the name Haldiram struck a chord.Why? Read on & you shall comprehend!

Haldiram Bhujiawala proprietor Prabhu Shankar Agarwal was sentenced to life imprisonment along with four others by a fast track court for conspiring to kill a tea stall owner, whose shop came in the way of a food plaza he was building, a few days ago.

Agarwal, owner of the multi-crore food and confectionery chain, which has outlets in many cities and also in London and elsewhere, had failed to persuade tea stall owner Satyanarayan Sharma in Burrabazar area of Kolkata to move out as the shop would spoil the facade of the food plaza he was constructing.

His hired goons who threatened the tea stall owner & had then raided the shop looking for Satyanarayan, but not finding him, shot his nephew Pramod Sharma, injuring him seriously on March 30, 2005. These acts followed attempts to reason with Sharma and as this cut no ice, Agarwal tried to buy him off.Sharma would not budge.
The rather bizarre behavior displayed by Agarwal, is not uncommon & in Psychological parlance termed as 'Escalation of Commitment'.

An example.......After a heated and aggressive bidding war, Robert Campeau ended up buying Bloomingdale's for an estimated 600 million dollars more than it was worth. The Wall Street Journal noted that "we're not dealing in price anymore but egos". Campeau was forced to declare bankruptcy soon afterwards.

Escalation of commitment, is a phenomenon where decision making turns seemingly irrational piggybacking on rational decisions, because you do not want to cut your losses & admit that you were wrong in the first place.The phenomenon of escalation can be described in the following fashion. First, a decision-maker performs a choice under conditions of uncertainty. Later, the decision-maker learns that another course of action is more advantageous (this different course may be as simple as the termination of the original project). At this stage the decision-maker has an option of altering the original decision. Having received the negative feedback, however, the decision-maker escalates the original commitment, thus becoming "locked in the losing course of action" (Staw, 1981).

As I finally managed to dispose the 'Moong Dal' wrapper, I wistfully thought- What if our friend Agarwal, had heard about escalation of commitment? In the managers world, it is imperative that we understand, EOC.

Responsibility with authority!

I read an interesting piece of news, regarding the Captain of a King Fisher Airlines plane, disembarking an unruly passenger, yesterday.

A few years ago, on a trip back to India from Bangkok, I was seated beside a gent who took off with his liquor, as soon as the plane was airborne. He downed cocktails at the speed of light! Soon the chap was drunk & demanding more. When the cabin crew politely declined, he got abusive & demanded to see the "Pilot". The frightened girl called the flight steward, who tried to calm the situation down, even as the decibel level grew and the rarefied air was thick with expletives.All of a sudden, the cockpit door burst open & the Commander, a Brit, strode down the aisle and asked what was going on. After getting the full picture- he told the drunk passenger, that he would be clapped in irons ( hand cuffed ) and locked in a toilet. The silence that followed was deafening. There was no further issue & the rest of the journey was very uneventful.

A friend of mine, a erstwhile helicopter pilot, told of me of an interesting incident, when he was flying a senior politician. Prior to take off the weather turned bad & my friend refused to fly. The politician was furious and threatened the pilot with dire consequences. My friend stood his ground & still refused to fly. The next day the politician, invited him to breakfast & apologized for his unreasonable behavior!

The point I'm trying to make is that responsibility calls for authority.To handle great responsibility you need great authority. Many a time we are quick off the blocks to frame, rules & responsibilities, for our subordinates without giving them adequate authority to carry the responsibility.When they fail ( which they will ), we question their competence. There can be no responsibility without authority, is what you will find if you read the Japan Convention on Air Safety. On an aircraft the Captain's decision reigns supreme & the next time you have the urge to be naughty on an aircraft, watch your step.

The bigger picture is for managers, to exercise caution, before they delegate responsibility!Don't forget the authority part.....................

Pup & The Pauper!

Two events over the last month or so have prompted this piece...............

Event # 1:

Yesterday over dinner, a friend of mine ( He holds a senior position at an IT American MNC ) was describing how people are fired in his establishment. Apparently the sacked employee receives an e mail from the HR that he need not turn up for work the following day & would he be so kind as to deposit his id card, lap top & associated paraphernalia at the front desk.He/She is told that they would receive their dues by post in the near future. Excellent I said, very simple and uncomplicated.

Event # 2:

On my morning walks ( my wife says it's more of a stroll ), I bump into a vegetable seller, with his cart. The guy is there, come sun, rain or cold. No casual leave, earned leaves & so on for the bloke. On occasion when time permits & vegetables are required at short notice I stop over & a desultory conversation ensues.About a month ago the grocer looked disturbed and unhappy. With some prodding he told me that he had lost a close family member and missed the person.He continued to be morose as the days passed.

Yesterday morning he hailed me from across the road. He looked pleased as a punch and very happy. Why? He gestured to three pups that were nipping at his ankles and were full of fun. He offered me one of them, for free, as the mother had taken off & he had become the surrogate mom, a responsibility that he wanted to lighten.It was obvious that he loved the pup's and felt responsible for them. The guy looked positively radiant.He empathized. While politely declining his offer ( how could I look after this mongrel pup, who has the time, I'm moving home shortly ) I went on my way............

The point I'm trying to make ( in a rather ham handed way ) is why do we lose our ability to empathize, with education and progress? I think, one reason being that culturally we are very individualistic. Indian's are quite individualistic but with exposure to western culture ( read American ) we have become even more so. Individualism has its own set of advantages, primary one being, the ability to generate rapid material progress.You do not get held back by stragglers!Why waste time in surrogating roadside pups? Also, once in the rat race insecurities grow and it is extremely difficult to pull oneself back.

One city, similar people but different cultures & behavior. The vegetable vendor does not talk about bottom lines ( as in a P & L account ) and share holder value but for me made a point.

A fundemental trait for the HR is empathy & if the HR professional cannot empathize with people around them and feel their pain then it would be prudent to park themselves elsewhere..................................

Today morning I found one pup missing. 'Where's the pup I queried?' He tersely told me that it was run over by a speeding vehicle. While turning away, I suspect, he hid a look of disgust.

Are you a Protean!

If you ever thought that management was a project,then I'm afraid you are mistaken. Management is one long road with little or no time to stop and rest on your oars. A good story to substantiate this is Homer's Odyssey.I'm amazed as to why history is not taught as a course in management, because we can laern a good deal from folk who preceeded us.But then that's not what holds my attention right now.

Post the pillage of Troy the victorious Greeks, would have probably heaved a sigh of relief, and look forward to returning home. Not the case for Hercules. The heroes of the 'Iliad'- rebellious Achilles, brave Hector and the bossy Menelaus are all gone and the Odyssey is the story of Hercules and his labors.

This short blog is not a piece on Greek history but on one of the characters of the Odyssey- Proteus. Proteus, supposedly son of Poseidon was a sea god. He was special because he could tell the future but avoided doing so by changing shape and form. He was versatile and quick. He bought time, in decision making and eventually made a commitment only when captured.

Plato, Euthyphro 15d (trans. Fowler) (Greek philosopher C4Th B.C.) :
"[Plato uses Proteus as a metaphor for the reluctant speaker :]

Like Proteus, you must be held until you speak."

Plato, Ion 541e (trans. Lamb) :
"[Plato uses Proteus as a metaphor for the twisting arguments of a debate :]

You are a perfect Proteus in the way you take on every kind of shape, twisting about this way and that, until at last you elude my grasp."



While I do not subscribe to the evasive tactics of Proteus, I do like his ability to change shape and appearance at will. Drawing a parallel with our world today, I think managers should draw a leaf from his book and develop the ability to adapt to and change depending upon the situation.

One area where managers falter regularly is in their Cultural Intelligence. Like other forms of intelligence, CI is fundamental to success in a globalized world. Stories of deals that have failed due to a lack of cultural sensitivity abound but we still refuse to learn that culture and cultural practices are various and different across the world.

In my last organization, we had a gent from a pacific Island. The guy was very polite, but behaved strangely- avoided eye contact, sat before he was offered a seat & generally did not shake hands. He was summarily labelled as uncouth.

Was this the truth................. no!

In his part of the world, you avoided eye contact with a person you respected and did not appear bigger than a superior so he sat uninvited.

Culture can be complicated and you need a high Culture Quotient, to avoid pitfalls in a world that is increasingly turning flat.More importantly a high CQ would preclude us from being judgemental.

Proteus, or as Homer called him, 'The Old Man of the Sea' would be a great example in cultural adaptability!

Morale!

I've said it earlier & will say it again. Losing a job is akin to death in India & must be dealt with sensitively by HR. Layoffs are the order of the day & a fact of corporate life. No organization worth its salt is going to tolerate poor competence & sloth and will get rid of employees who do not contribute, particularly in recessionary times. However, the process requires a great deal of empathy and tact.

More than anything it requires the 'Human Touch'.

Here are afew tips:

1. Be transparent. The first thing you need to do is to be more open with your employees. Start by exposing your employees to all of your major business and financial metrics, because laying everything out on the table builds employee trust. Not only will exposing employees to this information give them some warning about downturns, but it might also spur them to come up with some approaches to solve your business problems.

2. Over-communicate. Not knowing what’s happening always breeds fear.The best approach to minimize fear and speculation is to over-communicate—saturating people with information. Keep rumour mongers at bay. They can destroy morale.

3. Focus your retention efforts. Generally, rather than low morale, the biggest negative business impact comes from increased turnover. The best retention approach begins by identifying and prioritizing the most critical segments of your employee population that are at risk of leaving (i.e., top performers and individuals in revenue-producing and mission-critical positions).

4. Educate them about the consequences. Educate your current employees so that they realize that losing a job isn’t the end of the world. Start by letting all employees know what help they will receive from the firm if they are laid off. In addition, if a significant percentage of your previously laid-off employees have successfully found jobs, make your employees aware of it.

5. When I've laid off people, I take the responsibility of informing the concerned person that it was a decision that was made by me & why it was made. I also offer to help the person find another job if he/she allows me to.I also insist that the persons department head and HR are around. The occasion is a serious one and is not to be dealt with flippantly.


It’s important to realize that having no layoffs can actually backfire, because it can cause employees to develop the expectation of permanent job security getting them to rest their oars and drift. This isn’t a good result, because a reasonable fear of business downturns actually tends to keep your employees from becoming complacent.

Not all employees have equal value.......

A while ago a young friend of mine told me that she was petrified of facing interviews and selection processes.I was taken aback because this particular girl has a wonderful presence, a calm demeanour, is very articulate and to top it has a wonderful smile ! ( the strengths far outweigh the weaknessess )We are generally ( except for narcissists ) are our worst critics and my advise is to look at your strengths while managing your weaknesses and not to get bogged down by what we are not endowed with.

This is a debate which has gone back and forth for quite a while and as far as I'm concerned the truly successful ( not necessarily rich ) are those who leverage their strenghts, not those who keep trying to buttress their weaknesses.

Continuing in the same vein, I'm amazed at many an organization's inability to recognize its best people and work with them.Most organization's generally ponder upon their laggards and furiously debate as to either how they may be improved or jettisoned, even while ignoring their best performers ( who are expected to perform anyway).This to me is inherently flawed, because most high performers look for constant feedback and appreciation.

It would be prudent for organization's to identify their best people and closely monitor the loads that they carry.You do not want them to go up in flames and burn out or look for other pastures, as the job market for high performers is very competitive and alluring.

As a manager you do not want to be left holding the can and your under performers while the better ones have moved on. It is fundamental that you 're recruit' your top performers at regular intervals, by incentivizing them, not necessarily with money but by recognizing them and showing them that you care.

As a manager show your high performer that you value him/her. Many a time a pat on the back and an informal thank you will have the job done.Ignoring your best talent is done at your own peril because remember, your competitor is just around the corner waiting to snare your numero uno employee.

The 'Hawthorne Studies' are an example of this phenomenon. Just by creating a special group scientists found that employee productivity went up and sustained itself.

Hiring great employees is one part of the story, keeping folk motivated and gung ho is the tougher act to follow........

Recruitment Culture!

It has been widely recognized that some of the most important decision to be made in the corporate world centre on recruitment and selection. Even with the best intentions one generally lands up with guys who do not measure up to the task and when firing decisions are to be made it is a sad day with much soul searching and breast beating. As a culture we do not fire easily in India.

Why fire if you can hire wisely, is the point of discussion. Poor manpower planning and recruitment and selection procedure land many a new employee on the ‘bench’ only to be told that they have warmed the bench sufficiently long and may now look for other pastures. This message generally comes from the junior most HR executive while the senior line managers and HR managers are either in a meeting or out playing golf. (It is little wonder that HR is feared and many an employee runs for cover when they see the HR)
Apparently one American company has adopted a method wherein the recruiters watch how a person crosses a street dense with traffic and then conclusions are drawn on the suitability of the candidate for various profiles & whether he/she should be on board or not.

While the method may raise a few eyebrows, I think it is well worth a try, because who knows………………………..what may succeed !

As an example, an owner of a large firm hired his SCUBA diving instructor as the CEO of his firm, as the man impressed him. Did the diver succeed? You bet he did……..much to the amazement of all and sundry.

Why did he succeed? It’s all about attitude, chum………………………………………………

The street crosser:

1. Matador. Fearless, the Matador thinks nothing of daring the cars and taxis with his elegant dance through traffic. Crosswalks are just paint to a Matador. Red lights are mere suggestions. Nor does the Matador care whether the oncoming traffic shows no sign of stopping. After all, what’s a little glancing blow? Best Positions: Entrepreneurs, super salesmen, and financial mavericks.
2. Wader. Bold but not fearless, the Wader is eager to cross, demonstrating ample initiative but a little more common sense. Waders may phone and text while on the move…but not when venturing into traffic. They recognize that getting struck by any part of a car is a bad thing. That’s why they let the Matadors run interference. While the hotshots are busy tempting fate, the Wader is getting to the other side first. Best Positions: Excellent CEOs, vice presidents, software designers, project leaders and design heads.
3. Text Walker. Having mastered typing, talking and walking at once, the Text Walker tends to forget that crossing a car-clotted street is real life while tapping keys on a little plastic box is not. Text Walkers may appear on the surface to be Waders or even Matadors, but with one critical distinction—progress in their case is often an illusion. The Text walker tends to meander, drift, and even pause midway. They lack the presence of mind to stay on task. Best Positions: Creative’s and lower-level programmers. They exhibit flashes of talent but are ill-suited for management or higher-level responsibilities.
4. Light Jumper. Though a Light Jumper starts out determined to follow the letter of the law, when the crosswalk light turns yellow he can’t help but jump the curb. Dr. Jekyll turns into Mr. Hyde. A Light Jumper is not above shouting and glaring at motorists who narrowly miss him even though they still legally have the right of way. Best Positions: Dependable but ballsy attorneys, independent CPAs and trusty managers with hidden tattoos.
5. Curb Huggers. No matter how empty the street, Curb Huggers would never dream of leaving the sidewalk for the crosswalk a second earlier than the law (or the “Walk” sign) allows. Ironically, Curb Huggers rarely make it across before the light turns and, by playing it safe, are often sitting ducks for signal-jumping taxis. Best Positions: Accountants, statisticians, or rules-based occupations. Excellent at scheduling and attending meetings, especially when the purpose is to schedule new meetings.

I'm thinking of introducing this concept to my students, next month, when I launch into a course on HRM.

The way you learn is crucial................

Soon after my marriage in 1992, my wife & I were on board a ship with some pretty smart officers who played Table Tennis very well. TT is a sport that I love & I would head down to the TT room to play a few games every day. At first, my wife, would keep away as she did not play the sport. However, soon she was a spectator and after a few days, wanted to play. I was skeptical and tried to fob her off, as I was afraid of being embarrassed. My wife can be bull headed at times and play she did. The funny thing was that she was amazingly good & even more peculiar was that she had my style. The speed at which she had mastered the game puzzled me till I heard of vicarious learning.
Kirk uses very offensive language in talking back to Mr. Winters. Mr. Winters realizes that Kirk is just trying to get his attention, and so he calmly ignores Kirk and attempts to go on with the class. Soon, other students start using offensive language.

Vicarious Learning" (VL) is the notion that people can and will learn through being given access to the learning experiences of others.

There are four separate types of vicarious learning.
• Modeling Effect occurs when a person almost directly duplicates a behavior he has seen someone else perform and which the observer has not previously suppressed. The observer displays new behaviors that prior to the modeling had a zero probability of occurring. For example, my son bats the way he does because Rahul Dravid is successful with that batting stance.
• The Eliciting Effect occurs when the observer performs a behavior to the model's, but still somewhat different. For example, if I hear that a famous celebrity has donated Rs 50,000 to charity, I would be demonstrating the Eliciting Effect if this generosity prompted me to volunteer to umpire in the local cricket games.
• The Disinhibitory Effect occurs when a person who has previously refrained from a behavior goes ahead and performs that behavior after seeing a model perform the behavior without receiving any negative consequences. For example, if I already knew how to speed in my automobile but refrained from doing so out of fear of a speeding ticket, I could demonstrate the Disinhibitory Effect by driving more quickly after several cars passed me on the expressway with no apparent negative consequences.
• The Inhibitory Effect occurs when a person refrains from a behavior after seeing a model punished for engaging in that behavior. For example, I once stopped asking questions in a high school class after I saw several students receive assignments to write reports on topics about which they asked questions.

Vicarious learning as an OB concept is crucial in organizations, because it can determine the culture that an organization has.

As a senior manager, if you allow subordinates to be harassed and bullied, you may be sure that others in the organization will learn and repeat the behavior, unless punitive measures are adopted and the dysfunctional behavior is stamped out.

Similarly if you allow incompetence and sloth you are encouraging people to learn the behavior and mimic it, which eventually will pull the plug on your boat and sink it.
Organization learning is crucial to organization culture and it is important what employees learn and from whom……………………………..it is more important that managers understand learning concepts, well...............

I think it the reason why psychologists talk about the environment at home.

Wandering Hazards............

A new term that I chanced upon a few day's ago was 'depersonalization'.
What does it mean?
It means that depersonalized people are people who view the world through grey foggy lenses and nothing, absolutely nothing can satisfy them. These folk have burnt themselves out in course of their lives and are wandering hazards ( a term coined by me ).
They are a threat to an organizations well being and will destroy much of what is there around them, unless treated with care. You may be more likely to have job burnout if:
You identify so strongly with work that you lack a reasonable balance between work and your personal life.
You try to be everything to everyone.
Your job is monotonous.
You feel you have little or no control over your work.
You work in a helping profession, such as health care, counseling, teaching or law enforcement.
Many Hr practitioners would fall under this category, so watch your step...... Ask yourself these questions to see if you're experiencing job burnout signs or symptoms:
Do you find yourself being more cynical, critical and sarcastic at work? Have you lost the ability to experience joy?
Do you drag yourself into work and have trouble getting started once you arrive? Have you become more irritable and less patient with co-workers, customers or clients? Do you feel that you face insurmountable barriers at work?
Do you feel that you lack the energy to be consistently productive?
Do you no longer feel satisfaction from your achievements?
Do you have a hard time laughing at yourself?
Are you tired of your co-workers asking if you're OK?
Do you feel disillusioned about your job?
Are you self-medicating — using food, drugs or alcohol — to feel better or to simply not feel?
Have your sleep habits or appetite changed?
Are you troubled by unexplained headaches, neck pain or lower back pain?

Many burn out victims try and combat burnout by compulsive drinking or turn workaholics. This can be particularly dangerous in high risk jobs, where rational decisions have to be taken under great pressure.
The attached video is a case in point where the Captain of a Nuclear armed submarine wants to launch nuclear missiles without adequate reason and forces subordinates to accept his point of view, subverting regulations........Unfortunately to many burnouts & their maverick behavior looks appealing because they can be a very persuasive.( see the opening speech )
Organizations neglect this aspect of Organization Behavior at their dire peril, because Burnouts are a disaster to themselves & the people that they lead......
More often than not burnouts need empathy and understanding, do not deny them the human touch.....

Why do you go to work?

A friend sent this piece to me a short while ago..............I thought it must be shared........
Ready for the root cause of most of your work issues? Here it is:

You (or the people you work with) forget why you go to work.
This may sound overly simplistic but let me share a story that will illustrate how powerful this really can be.
Tim, an old friend of mine has a long history of short stints at work. That frustrates me. He is a super-qualified, high-profile media guy. He’s personable, intelligent and……can’t keep a job.
He’s been married for 2 years. His wife Patti is working her tail off trying to keep them afloat and she’s just about had enough. She sees how qualified Tim is but thinks he gets himself fired (on purpose or subconsciously) because he’s lazy. She doesn’t want another 40 years of this kind of life. She’s threatened to leave if Tim doesn’t get it together. If that wasn’t enough pressure, the couple is just about to lose their home to foreclosure.
You can imagine that Tim was really relieved two weeks ago when he got hired at one of the most prestigious media companies in the world.
I asked him how it was going when we spoke a few days ago. His answer knocked me out of my chair.
He told me that his boss made a slight “remark” and it really made Tim angry. He was already complaining about his new boss and was “re-thinking” his decision to take the job.
Tim may have had a justifiable gripe but I didn’t think it mattered. I just couldn’t believe he was complaining. Here he had an opportunity to work again – and the alternative was foreclosure and divorce.
It occurred to me that Tim was either completely insane or he was going to work for the wrong reasons.

I asked him to tell me why he goes work and this is what he came up with:
a. To support his family.
b. To be of service to the company he works for.
c. To contribute to the world.
Intellectually…very nice. But to me, his answer wasn’t complete.

I asked him if there were other reasons. He couldn’t come up with any so I suggested he also goes to work to be:

a. Important
b. Right
c. Liked
d. Looked up to
e. Taken care of
f. Powerful and strong
I gave him examples of how he sought out those payoffs time and time again.
For example, I asked why he reacted so strongly to the remark his boss made.
I suggested that it was because we wasn’t getting what he wanted – which was to be important, strong, looked up to etc..


If all he wanted to do was to take care of his family and contribute to his new firm and the world, he would have let that remark made by the employer roll off his back…right?
Tim takes what other people do and say personally – especially at his job. As a result, work… doesn’t work. That’s why he usually finds himself unemployed shortly after he lands a job.
I suggested that he has a real opportunity to turn this situation around once and for all.
If you struggle with the people at work, this exercise can help you too:
1. Write down why you think you go to work.
Like Tim, this list probably includes paying your bills, taking care of your family, doing a good job for your employer, advancement etc.
2. Write down all the social and psychological payoffs that you don’t want to admit to.
This is show time. You have to be honest. Part of the reason you go to work is because you have social and personal needs that have nothing to do with money. Nothing wrong with that.
You probably want to enjoy yourself. Why not? You spend more of your waking time at work than any other place….right? You want to be liked and respected…..who doesn’t?
In moderation, these are all just human needs and they won’t get you into trouble. The real rough water starts when you want to be “important”.
This is something you may not want to admit to – I certainly don’t. But if you find yourself at odds with others, it may be something you need to look at.
This is all about ego. It has nothing to do with why you are really go to work. If you allow your ego to call the shots at work – always looking for a way to be revered by your co-workers or employer, you’ll alienate everyone around you. Just don’t be surprised when you don’t have a job.
Even if you are the smart one, it doesn’t matter.
If you go looking for worshipers at work, you’re going to tick people off.
You may not realize what you are doing but other people do. Need proof?
When the guy in the next office is positioning….you see what he’s up to…right?
Well…guess what……he knows it when you are doing the same thing.

3. Keep this list on your desk at all times.
You’re only human. You aren’t perfect. You have character flaws; everyone does. Review this list often and it will help you remain aware and “awake”.
Don’t beat yourself up – but it’s time to put a leash on your ego.
When you catch yourself trying to flex your muscles for all the wrong reasons, call it out. Laugh at yourself and tell your co-workers that your ego must have gotten the better of you – then get back on track. Don’t have a 3-day seminar on the subject but don’t try to cover it up either. If you make a mistake, be honest about it and then move on. Believe me, the people you work with will be amazed and appreciate your honesty.
4. Don’t expect the world to be perfect.
Believe it or not, not everyone is going to read this post. Your boss might be a huge ego freak and you can’t change it.
Realize that it’s not about you. If she’s looking for ego strokes and by so doing, puts you down, she probably does that to other people too. Don’t take it personally. I know that’s easy to say and hard to do.
If it gets to be too much, you’ll need to look for a different boss somehow. I’ll leave that part to you. Just don’t allow someone else to push your buttons if you can.
What make me such an expert on this subject?
I spent years trying to make sure everyone know how smart I was. When I didn’t get what I wanted, I went ballistic. I had to do a lot of work on myself in order to stop doing that. I’m not perfect…but I do it considerably less now.
That old behavior cost me so much time, life and love. It almost cost me everything.
That’s why this is such a hot button for me.
I still blow it from time to time. When I do, I try to call it out and move on. When people at work try to prove how important they are, I just try to remember that I have the same character flaw and it helps me stay calm.
Pardon me.
After all the years I spent making this mistake, I just think it’s really dumb to struggle when you don’t have to. If you are clear about why you go to work and get back on track when you forget……..most of your work challenges will disappear.

How about you. What do you think is the main cause of trouble at work? How does it impact you? What have you done about it?

The High Mach..................

Are great leaders High Mach's? Is it a personality trait that successful leaders require?
Machiavellianism is, "the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct", deriving from the Italian Renaissance diplomat and writer Niccolò Machiavelli, who wrote Il Principe (The Prince) and other works.
Machiavellian and variants became very popular in the late 16th century in English.The word has a similar use in modern psychology. Machiavelli, according to the popular view, although this is disputed at least in part by most Machiavelli scholars, held that people were by nature untrustworthy, malevolent and self-serving, and thus those in power could only maintain their position through exploitative and deceitful actions.
Strangely, one person, who came closest to Machiavelli's definition was a woman. She grew up in a palace filled with intrigue & deceit, where defeat was death. Cleopatra, the much vilified Egyptian queen, known for her legendary beauty was the epitome of brains and courage. She used her great skills to keep her kingdom of Egypt independent, amidst great political uncertainty and a rampant Rome.She married two of the most powerful Romans of the time- Julius Cesar & Mark Antony. When she was ordered to meet Mark Antony at 'Tarsus', she skilfully manipulated him to come aboard her skiff on the Nile. Imagine doing this to the most powerful man in the world, at the time! Her skillful maneuvering was the order of the day, till it all fell apart at the Battle of Actium where, she & Mark Antony were defeated in a Naval engagement, off Greece, by Octavian Cesar.
It's easy to dismiss the Machiavellian approach to running organisations in today's kinder, gentler world of new age, team-based management. Many believe ( privately ) that leaders can accomplish their goals only by being tough, manipulative, dictatorial, or paternalistic as the situation requires. Take this example of the manipulative and paternalistic style of management. ( It works & then it does not ) When Henry Ford set up his first plant, he was generous in providing for free schools, hospitals and subsidised food for his workers - something unheard of at that time. The "labour welfare" measures were then termed revolutionary and progressive, but Ford's approach was essentially Machiavellian (manipulative) in nature. His purpose was that his workers should have more disposable income so that they could turn out to be potential and captive buyers of the cars he produced. This met with some success. But to Ford's and the industry's utter surprise, the Ford workers one day went on strike as they found their owner was trying to be too much of a "paternalistic" manager by trying to control their lives through diktats such as one which said no worker's children could study in any other school but the one he had set up.
Why did Machiavelli recommend that a prince (read the CEO in the present context) must be ready to be cruel and devious? He himself gives the answer: in the long run, this is often kinder than to expose citizens (staffers in an organisation) to the turmoil let loose by a weak ruler. Even the worst of Machiavelli's critics should find nothing wrong with these arguments. After all, expediency is the name of the game in effective management.
His colleagues often derided one of the greatest business leaders of all times - GE's Jack Welch - as a modern-day Machiavelli. Listen to the Machiavellian ring in Welch's own words in 1982: "Managements that hang on to weakness for whatever reason - tradition, sentiment, goodness or their own weakness - won't be around in 1990". That explains Welch's vow to fix, close or sell any business that could not achieve market leadership. That meant layoffs - big ones - and by the end of 1982, GE squeezed out 35,000 employees, almost 9 per cent of the 1980 total.
Simple arithmetic done by Noel M Tichy and Stratford Sherman in their famous book Control your destiny or someone else will suggests why Welch took this step. "In 1982, GE's net income was $1.8 billion. Imagine that GE had not already terminated 35,000 employees. Their average salary and benefits of a little over $25,000 per person would have increased GE's pretax expenses by nearly $900 million". But while adopting this seemingly "cruel" style of management advocated by Machiavelli, Welch didn't forget the thinker's advocacy of a "human" face. Welch believed the victims of layoffs deserved compassionate treatment - not only generous financial settlements, but humane consideration of their feelings. He personally answered letters of complaint from laid-off employees, and directly intervened in cases of injustice that came to his attention. Executives who mismanaged the downsizing felt his wrath.
The past and present Machiavellis were only practising a dictum that has now become an all-too-familiar phrase in India: Labour reforms with a human face.
From Cleopatra to Jack Welch, we see a generous dose of Machiavellianism, coloring their personality! Are all of us to be High Machs? That's a choice that you have to make. Cleopatra committed suicide after Actium & Welch has been known to have had unsuccessful relationships at home.............

Literature and OB!

What has literature & drama got to do with Organization Behavior ? By my guess, plenty. They are facets of life played out on different stages.

Isn't all life a drama and all of us actors of one hue or another?

The 1964 film, My Fair Lady is a case in point.

My Fair Lady (1964), a film version of the musical starring Audrey Hepburn as "Eliza" and Rex Harrison as "Higgins", is loosely based on George Bernard Shaw's classic, drama, 'Pygmalion' ( 1913).

What does it deal with- Higgins, a professor, full of himself, is firmly of the opinion that he can pick up a poor flower girl, train her to speak with an upper class accent & pass her off as nobility, in all of six months.

While Eliza, the girl, does wonderfully well & makes the transition, Higgins is surprised, that only in his presence does she slip back to her old cockney accent.

Eliza later says that, because Higgins treats her like a flower girl, she behaves like one, before walking out on the very much in love Higgins !

The concept has been developed into a full blown OB theory & the Pygmalion Effect, is a captivating model which makes a lot of sense. I think all managers must reflect and set a high enough bar for their subordinates, guiding them to get there. If you assume, that your staff, are going to fail, be certain that they will not disappoint you & fail they will.

As for the film, I watched it in the 1980's, and loved it, much to the amusement of my friends who thought me rather quaint in watching romantic flicks that seem to go nowhere.

I, always the die hard romantic, worried for a quite a while, as to why, Eliza & the Professor, could not reach a rapprochement and live life happily ever after. With time & age I've realized, that it was best, that it ended the way it did.Though the, pretty cockney accented flower girl and the sauve professor do make a handsome couple.

As an OB concept, I'm a great believer in the Pygmalion Effect and as for the movie, one of my all time favourites! As for the songs, amazing..