5 things B-schools don’t teach!

Stepping out of B-school into the real world is like learning golf from manuals, or like teaching yourself cricket online. You have all the required theoretical inputs; a clear understanding of the rule book, the jargon and concepts; a dash of history to boot; and anecdotes and trivia as fillers.As this package comes in contact with reality, it goes through a range of emotions, starting with denial, wrath, angst, confusion, wonder, and finally settles into pragmatism, with bouts of nostalgia and a few clear learnings that are far removed from what the rule books preached.
The moral of the story: the real world teaches you some home truths that academia does not touch upon. In our journey down the road of experience, some of them get etched as gospels. If I were to pick a few of them, and share them here, they would be:
1. Brevity:
All the case studies, presentations, analysis and concept notes do not prepare you for the first reality of life. The world does not give you the opportunity to expound on theories over a 40-page Word document, or a 120-slide PowerPoint presentation.
In most real life situations, you get a tiny window in which you need to make your point, in as impactful a manner as possible. The more august the audience, the shorter the time.
From 10-second one-line summaries, to elevator pitches, to one paragraph e-mail, you need to cultivate the habit of being concise. There are no second opportunities in a real-time scenario.
Keeping that in mind, all your thinking needs to be crystallised and constantly carried around, to capitalise on the opportunity.
The clearer the thinking, the easier it is to say it succinctly. I would like to see the day when we put tight leashes around time, space and resources, and start recognising and appreciating brevity as a virtue in academics, instead of letting duration, length or aesthetics drive judgement.
2. People skills:
Real life is about real people. It involves dealing with diverse personalities, cultural backgrounds and competencies that you do not normally encounter in B-school. The challenge is, thus, compounded and you often see stars of academia unable to deal with this core reality.
Working with, dealing with, and successfully arriving at mutually beneficial and satisfactory decisions on a day-to-day basis is what the real world teaches you — sometimes harshly.
Understanding, communication and appreciating someone else’s point of view is difficult. It is seldom as the books expound, a clear rational process aided by the theories of people management.
3. Execution:
In B-school, all that you learn is from books, periodicals, case studies, which do not prepare you for the biggest differentiator in the real world: the ability to execute.
Perhaps the most understated competency needed, it hits you between the eyes the first time you try to execute a plan, a project or a campaign.
The various parameters you deal with and the fickle nature of the elements are not issues you think about in B-school.
The need to plan with buffers, with alternatives, and the need to keep an eye on the ball at all stages of execution, cannot be overemphasised.
Unfortunately, in our desire to move ourselves up the knowledge curve, there is a propensity to take this skill for granted, and most management programmes don’t expose you to this harsh reality.
4. Dealing with failure:
Learning to live with failure is another of those often not realised truths. In the real world, we are constantly dealing with the fact that not all decisions, activities, interactions, strategies, or communication translate into success.
My favourite saying is that learning comes from experience and good learning from bad experience. But no B-school teaches you to take failure in your stride.
More often than not, there is enough time to mull over a failure or even lick your wounds. Facing it with grace and bracing yourself for the next set of decisions or actions is what the real world is all about.
We will still deal with the same environment where we failed; at times, lead the same team that could not pull it off, have the same limited facts and figures and information; and more importantly, yet have the same objectives to achieve. It can be a humbling experience, which no education with books or classrooms can simulate.
Dealing with failures is paramount. Otherwise, a propensity to shy away from decision and action for fear of failure can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
5. Multi-tasking:
This is probably the most common, yet the most demanding task. Unlike academics, more often than not, executives have to deal with the very real implications of their ability or inability to multi-task.
Financial, organisational and people implications are the riders we contend with. On a day-to-day basis, the ability to multi-task, yet prioritise and drop a few tasks and live with the implications is something no classroom can teach in its entirety.
To quickly estimate the impact, segregate the critical, handle them with speed and calm, constantly scan the environment for changes, and build them into your thoughts and actions as you go through the day, is an experiential learning.
Add to this the fact that often, the information available is scant or incomplete, there are always a few angles no one knew about, the unpredictability of people we are dealing with — and your hands are more than full. In hindsight, vision is often 20-20, but reality is not.
B-schools do give you an understanding of the tools, aids and theories with which you need to arm yourselves, but where they fall short is in correctly teaching the application and the virtues of experiential learning.
- Raj Raman (senior vice president, sales and marketing, Prudential ICICI AMC Ltd. Hegraduated from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. )

When you can’t earn an MBA

Recently while I was going thru review of book “When you can’t earn an MBA” by RajeshShetty. as per this book he inspired by one of Seth Godin article in which he suggested that “actual experience combined wit a dedicated reading of 30 or 40 books” might be a better use of time and money than an MBA degree.It’s a good book,describing abt what you can do when you can’t earn MBA degree… he give 10 step alternate approach to MBA.@ last, he write about 10 Things that one have that the people who are pursuing MBA won’t have !!! I really like it and after reading it.. I just tried to give a second thought to it..that to invest in an MBA or not to invest in an MBA?
I posted 10 things that author talk about in book…
1 More Timeyou have two more years of time on your side. Now, if you just spend those two year with “zero” investment in yourself, you can be guaranteedthat the MBA route is far better. However, if you design your life to take advantage of those two years, then the game is different!
2 More MoneyYou save $100K in fees and earned two more year of income - may be another $200K. So you literally save $300K

3 Short-Term career advantage unless someone is doing an executive MBA program, they lose two years of their career. You don’t !! Again, how your career grows during two years is entirely up to you. In two years, you should be able to add value to your organization and grow as a person. If not, you may want to check your attitude and behavior. There may be problem that even an MBA degreecouldn’t fix.

4. More varied networking opportunities While you miss opportunities to network inside the MBA program, you get to network in your workplace, your profession, and your community. The MBA folks are often so busy that they won’t have any time to network outside their school.

5 Fewer debts to repay since you don’t have to borrow money for an MBA program, you don’t have to worry about those education loan.
6. Opportunity to get more creative Since you don’t have an MBA and you know that it’s going to be a disadvantage you need to get creative to fill the gap. You will start looking for alternate option. Here’s a quick example. We all know that communication and public speaking are two important skills that you can develop in an MBA program. You could seek out other ways to develop these skills -may be bye joining a group such as Toastmaste International. Instead of spending $100K in tution, you might spend $100 a year in membership dues.

7. More time to develop your strength In an MBA or any educational program with a set coursework, chances are that you need to study a number of required subjects. This is true even when the subjects are :
- Not completely relevant in near future

- Not in your area of strength and/or interests.
Because you aren’t inside formal program, you will have the freedom to focus on the topics that interests you and will move you towards your goal. You can focus on continuing to read and develop your strengths.

8 Time to build your brand when you are in an MBA program, the course will be so intensive that you don’t get time to build your brand. Personal Branding is extremely important in this age of rapid commoditization. You develop a chance to build a reputation based on real-world action and achievement. Two years of focused investment in building your personal brand may provide you with a huge competitive advantage over an MBA

9 More Grounded I have heard time and again that several MBA graduates tend to be “over confident” and assume that they have that extra dash of smartness because of their MBA degree. You don’t have an MBA so you can’t have that problem. So, in essence you are more grounded on that subject that many MBA graduates.
10 TIME TO RELAX If you think getting into a good MBA program is hard work, you just have to wait until you get into one.One MBA student remarked to me once that before he joined an MBA program, he had difficulty in grasping the meaning of the term “Time Flies”. He had no problem with that term at the first quarter in his program.Once you get into an MBA program you really don’t have a choice but to keep running as fast sa you can. You are not alone. Everyone there is running.
If you are not pursuing MBA though, sometimes you can carve out some time to relax
Confused???? what to do??
well, It all depends on you.. on action you take… If you don’t take any action no knowledge in world can help you… this apply to both the cases here… to do MBA or not to do. If you don’t do MBA and don’t take any action to improve yourself it won’t work and if you do MBA and get the knowledge but still don’t take any action.. it won’t work either

Powered by CUT{ctrl X} & driven by PASTE{ctrl V}

Your Colleague: Hey!! Kya yahan baitha mail forward karta rahta hai yaar !!
Naye packages dekh…. Naye language seekh. Night out Maar….Fundoo programming kar like me….!
Do something cool man !!
You : Achha! To usse Kya hoga …Your Colleague : Impression!!! Appraisal !!! ar appraisal main tu No 1! Hike in salary !! Extra Stocks
You hir kya hoga…Your Colleague : Project Leader ban jaayega..Phir Project Manager!!! Phir Business Manager! One day U will be a Director of the Company man!!
You : Acchha to phir kya hoga…Your Colleague : Abe phir tu aish karega! Koi kaam nahin karna padega ! Araam se office aayega aur MAIL check karega.
You : To ab main kya kar raha hoon????

Dikhawe pe na jao, apni akal lagao.Programming hai waste, trust only copy-paste

Anil Ambani Convocation Address @ ISB'04

I have the rare privilege and honour of being part of two convocation functions on the same day. What I thought was that I will not talk about leadership or leadership styles because over the last one year as you have been through the program, you have had enough of showcasing of everything that potentially I learnt, and that, you have learnt at businessschool.It really is a strong endorsement to the fact that just 125 years ago, Sarojini Naidu, one of our greatest leaders, orator, poetess, was born in Hyderabad,in 1879, had to travel to Madras to pursue her school education. Therewas no education infrastructure in Hyderabad at that time. But, today of course, amongst many things, Hyderabad also boasts of ISB.This then takes my thoughts to women in business and politics. Sarojini Naidu played a key role in the freedom movement of the country. And today, in a vast number of states we have had women Chief Ministers.We have had women Prime Ministers, not only in India but, even in Egypt.Then why is it that we do not have them well represented in thecorporate world . And, it starts with the fact that we do not have enough women entering business schools. I was looking at the statistics which showed that close to 17% of the graduating class today comprises of women. Let’s just compare this to a lesser known school called Harvard. In the class of 2005,more than 35% of the graduating class is women. More than double and,the class size is much much larger than where we are today. I said, a lesserknown school called Harvard, primarily because, I believe, Rajat comes from Harvard and I come from a better known school called Wharton.
So, I clearly believe that women, and especially young women have a verylarge responsibility and have to aim for the future.The second thought that really struck me was, the power of youth. It isthe young power of India that has really put India on the global map. Whenwe talk about IT and IT enabled services, the average age of the peoplewho are serving that sector is 26. Why is it that the best and the brightestof our people don’t want to join politics? Is that changing?And, I feel that it is changing. Let’s take a look at newer entrances to Parliament. Sachin Pilot, a Wharton MBA, Omar Abdullah, Jyotiraditya Scindia, an MBA from Stanford. These are all people who are turning to politics. And maybe their fathers have been in politics so they are turning to it but after their education, they really had the choice of every possible alternate career they could think of.And why do we need young blood in politics? I recently looked at the Lok Sabha website, 72% of the members of Lok Sabha are over the age of 50. More than 50% are over the age of 60. More than 25% are even older. Let’s contrast that with 75% of our population really being under the age of 40. And as all of us put our heads together, we are talking abouteffectively running organisations in the future. Can all of us really excel in what we are doing? But we don’t have an inducive, vital and a booming external environment. So, can we truly grow? Can we truly evolve simultaneously both internally and externally? In this case, internally I mean,institutions, organisations, companies and corporations and externally, I am referring to our political environment. I do see this as a challenge thatall of us will have to face.
If there was one thing I would like to do with the advancement of technology, is to rewind, and instead of graduating in 1982 from Wharton, graduatein 2004 with all of you. The world has changed and so has India. Theopportunities and linked with them, the challenges, the threats are sodifferent that I could not have imagined in my wildest imagination, whenI graduated from Wharton that this is where our country is really goingto be. So, I believe, that all of you are very privileged children of godthat you are here at one of the most exciting times that this country hasseen and India is clearly on its way to gain its rightful place of being an economic superpower. All of you are already armed with a lot of detailed understanding and a lot of management and organisational techniques thatare really needed in the new world. But let me make a few observations.
Compared to the past, all of you will live much longer. This is the contribution of rapid progress made by science and so all of you are going to have a much longer working life. Also, you are living in a borderless,seamless techno world where opportunities really know no boundaries.This is the era of intellectual capital. Intellectual capital is king. And with these challenges and these new evolutions what you should be ready with is, competition, at the individual level, at the family level, at the institutionallevel, at the country level and this is no longer local, global or regional.The longer working life, will also mean that career planning and choiceswill have to be made many times as you grow 70 and 80. So, I don’t believe, that there is going to be retirement at 50 or 55. This means that skills will get redundant extremely fast and they will have to be replaced as quickly. This will undoubtedly put tremendous pressure on each one of us. Lifestyle change, faster pace of living puts tremendous pressure on individuals and creates both constructive and destructive tension leading to high stress. So the importance of mental and physical fitness and a balanced life, I think, will also be extremely important. I would really be failing in my comments today, if I didn’t share with you what I call, “Conversations with Dhirubhai”. Because if it was not for him,his vision, his commitment and his dreams, Reliance, my brother Mukesh and I would not have existed.
I recall, it was 13th of December 1982, when I landed back in Bombay,now Mumbai, after graduating from Wharton. I ran through some summer school, summer program and graduated in 14-15 months. Though I wasclass of 1983, I graduated actually in 1982. So on arrival, when I met him,I told him, look dad I have become an MBA and am just going to takea break as I have really worked hard. He said to me, I am very happy,I am delighted that you have accomplished this. But since I didn’t go to any formal school or college and I don’t have any degree, why don’t you tell me from your learnings at Wharton, what does an MBA stand for?I thought that’s a rather simple and easy question. It’s Master of Business Administration. He said in his imitable style, his interpretation of an MBA was ‘Mane badhu avde chhe’. Literally meaning , ‘I am know all, I know everything’. He said, you are entering India and you need to Indianise your MBA. I said, fine, I am going to work here and naturally that should not be a very big issue.He said, did they at Wharton school teach you of custom duties? About excise duties? About income tax? About sales tax? About Parliament? AndI see in the audience, a former member of the Parliament, Shri. Kamal Choudhary, whom my father knew well. And he said, do you know what is the zero hour question? What is the call in attention motion? What is the starred and unstarred question? He said, if you don’t get to know all these things, let me assure you that all your formal education is not really going to help you. You need your practical Indian MBA and I am going to go and create that environment for you so that you can get that.He then went on to ask me, saying, tell me as you are a fresh MBA, just entering corporate life, what is the definition of a leader? I said, I have really forgotten all my books back at Philadelphia and I have really no interest today to talk about theoretical definitions. He said, no, it’s pretty easy for you if you just admit that you don’t know what the definition is. I said to him, okay, let’s assume that I don’t know the definition, why don’t you tell me since you have all the answers to everything, what is a leader?
He said, in his very simplistic style, “A leader is a person who can attract
followers, if you think you are a leader, please look back when you are walking. If there is nobody following you, you are not a leader of any type”.Very simplistic but very deep rooted meaning.
He then went on to say, you are entering Reliance. I am the trustee of over lakhs of individual shareholders, who are the real owners of Reliance. Anil,you have really a choice. You have a choice to demand respect or youhave a choice to command respect, you choose. You can demand respect being an ‘Ambani’, you are ‘Dhirubhai’s son’, so people will have to listento what you say. Or, you can command respect on the basis of your skills set, your attitude, your upbringing, and your knowledge on issues. And that is what will carry people with you. But you still have that choice to make as you enter corporate life. And I would highly recommend to you that you command respect rather than demand respect. These were very simplistic messages to me. But given to me more than 25 years ago are still very deep in my mind, in my heart, in my soul.I asked him, everybody tells me that your father is a great visionary, can you explain to me, what do you think is your definition of a visionary? He looked at me and said, I don’t even know if you will understand what I am going to say because you are an MBA, and I am a MABF. I looked at him with some puzzlement and said, I have heard of FRCS, MBBS,MBA, B.Com, B.A, LLB, but, I have never heard of MABF, what is that degree? As I was aware that he had no degree. He said, it was ‘Matric Appeared But Failed’.
He then went on to say, Anil, I am very very grateful to god. He was a very strong believer in god. God has been very kind to me and he has given me the power and the ability to dream. But, this difference between your dreaming and my dreaming, is very simple. Everyone of us dreams but there is a small difference between the way we dream. God has given me the power to dream with my eyes open. Dreaming with my eyes open I have a better chance than you to convert my dreams into a reality. For you dream with your eyes closed, you have a lesser chance to make it into reality but a higher chance to convert it into a nightmare. He said, everybody talks about ‘Karma’ and everybody talks about destiny but let me tell you that destiny, fate is not a matter only of chance, it is also a matter of choice. And in my father’s words, for all of you and for all of us in India, I believe, that if you can dream it, you can do it.
Thank you.

IIT Convocation Address by Azim H Premji

This is one of the most inspiring speeches I ever heard. It is a wonderful amalgamation of all ingredients essential for a beautiful and successful life. Many will be aware of it, but this speech should be read by almost everybody. And so I am posting it here. Please put your thoughts too on this as Comments. Here we go:
IIT Convocation Address by Azim H Premji, Chairman, Wipro Technologies
I am privileged to be with you here today and to share this significant moment of your life.
The convocation marks the culmination of all the endless nights you worked through, all the anxieties you have gone through facing one examination after another and all the preparation you have put in, not only to enter this prestigious institution but also to graduate from it successfully. It is no mean achievement.Only a handful of the most talented people in the world have shared this success with you.Let me just say that I am very proud of each and every one of you. I am a little wary about giving you advice-because advice is one thing young people all over the world do not like receiving. I cannot fault you for that. The world does look very different when it is seen with your eyes. You are filled with enthusiasm and are straining at the leash to get on with life.And the world is very different from what it waswhen I was at your age. Never before has the role of technology been so pervasive and so central. The Internet has breached all physical borders and connected the world together like noother force has done before. For the first time, opportunities for creating wealth in India are at par with the best in world. There is no need for you to sacrifice the joy of remaining in your own country any more.
All opportunities are accompanied by their own challenges. I thought I would share with you a few of the lessons I have learnt in my own life, while loading the transformation at Wipro, from a small company three and a half decades back into a global corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange. I hope you find them useful.
Lesson # 1: Dare to dream
When I entered Wipro at the age of 21, it was a sudden and unexpected event. I had no warning of what lay ahead of me and I was caught completely unprepared. All I had with me was a dream. A dream of building a great Organization. It compensated for my inexperience and I guess, also prevented me from being overwhelmed by the enormity of the task before me. What I am happy is that we never stopped dreaming. Even when we achieved a position of leadership in every business we operated in India. We now have a dream of becoming one of the top 10 global it service companies.
Many people wonder whether having unrealistic dreams is foolish. My reply to that is dreams by themselves can never be realistic or safe. If they were, they would not be dreams. I do agree that one must have strategies to execute dreams. And, of course, one must slog to transform dreams into reality. But dreams come first. What saddens me most is to see young, bright people getting completely disillusioned by a few initial setbacks and slowly turning cynical and some of them want to migrate to America in the hope this is the solution. It requires courage to keep dreaming. And that is when dreams are most needed- not when everything is going right, but when just about everything is going wrong.

Lesson # 2: Define what you stand for
While success is important, it can become enduring only if it is built on a strong foundation of Values. Define what you stand for as early as possible and do not compromise with it for any reason. Nobody can enjoy the fruits of success if you have to argue withyour own conscience. In Wipro, we defined our Beliefs long before it became a fashion to do so. It not only helped us in becoming more resilient to stand up to crises we faced along the way, but it also helped us in attracting the right kind of people. Eventually, we realized that our values made eminent business sense. Values help in clarifying what everyone should do or not do in any business situation. It saves enormous time and effort because each issue does not have to be individually debated at length.
But remember that values are meaningful only if you practice them. People may listen to what you say but they will believe what you do. Values are a matter of trust. They must be reflected in each one of your actions. Trust takes a long time to build but can be lost quickly by just one inconsistent act.

Lesson #3: Never lose your zest and curiosity
All the available knowledge in the world is accelerating at a phenomenal rate. The whole world’s codified knowledge base (all documented information in library books and electronic files) doubled every 30 years in the early 20th century. By the 1970s, the world’s knowledge base doubled every seven years. Information researchers predict that by the year 2010, the world’s codified knowledge will double every 11 hours. Remaining on top of what you need to know will become one of the greatest challenges for you.
The natural zest and curiosity for learning is one of the greatest drivers for keeping updated on knowledge. A child’s curiosity is insatiable because every new object is a thing of wonder and mystery. The same zest is needed to keep learning new things. I personally spend at least ten hours every week on reading. If I do not do that, I find myself quickly outdated.

Lesson # 4: Always strive for excellence
There is a tremendous difference between being good and being excellent in whatever you do. In the world of tomorrow, just being good is not good enough. One of the greatest advantages of globalization is that it has brought in completely different standards. Being the best in the country is not enough; one has to be the best in the world. Excellence is a moving target. One has to constantly raise the bar. In the knowledge-based industries, India has the unique advantage of being a quality leader. Just like Japan was able to win in the overseas market with its quality leadership in automobile manufacturing, India has been able to do the same in information technology. t Wipro, we treat quality as the #1 priority. This enabled us not only to become the world’s first SEI CMM Level 5 software services company in the world but also a leader in Six Sigma approach to quality in India.

Lesson # 5: Build self-confidence
Self-confidence comes from a positive attitude even in adverse situations. Self-confident people assume responsibility for their mistakes and share credit with their team members.
They are able to distinguish between what is in their control and what is not. They do not waste their energies on events that are outside their control and hence they can take setbacks in their stride. Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Lesson # 6: Learn to work in teams
The challenges ahead are so complex that no individual will be able to face them alone. While most of our education is focused in individual strength, teaming with others is equally important. You cannot fire a missile from a canoe. Unless you build a strong network of people with complimentary skills, you will be restricted by your own limitations.Globalization has brought in people of different origin, different upbringing and different cultures together. Ability to become an integral part of a cross-cultural team will be a must for your success.

Lesson # 7: Take care of yourself
The stress that a young person faces today while beginning his or her career is the same as the last generation faced at the time of retirement.I have myself found that my job has become enormously more complex over the last two or three years. Along with mutual alertness, physical fitness will also assume a great importance in your life.
You must develop your own mechanism for dealing with stress. I have found that a daily jog for me, goes a long way in releasing the pressure and building up energy. You will need lots of energy to deal with the challenges. Unless you take care of yourself there is no way you can take care of others.

Lesson # 8: Persevere
Finally, no matter what you decide to do in your life, you must persevere. Keep at it and you will succeed, no matter how hopeless it seems at times. In the last three and half decades, we have gone through many difficult times. But we have found that if we remain true to what we believe in, we can surmount every difficulty that comes in the way. Perseverance can make miracles happen.

Lesson # 9: Have a broader social vision
For decades we have been waiting for some one who will help us in ‘priming the pump’ of the economy.The government was the logical choice for doing it, but it was strapped for resources. Other countries were willing to give us loans and aids but there was a limit to this.
In the millennium of the mind, knowledge-based industries like Information Technology are in a unique position to earn wealth from outside. While earning is important, we must have mechanisms by which we use it for the larger good of our society.

Through the Azim Premji Foundation, we have targeted over the next 12 months to enroll over a million children, who are out of school due to economic or social reasons.I personally believe that the greatest gift one can give to others is the gift of education. We who have been so fortunate to receive this gift know how valuable it is.
Lesson # 10: Never let success go to your head
No matter what we achieve, it is important to remember that we owe this success to many factors and people outside us. This will not only help us in keeping our sense of modesty and humility intact but also help us to retain our sense of proportion and balance. The moment we allow success to build a feeling or arrogance, we become vulnerable to makin bad judgments.

If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, Okay, time for a quiz.
Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide mouth mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, Is this jar full? Everyone in the class said, Yes.

Then he said, “Really?” He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, Is the jar full? By this time the class was on to him. Probably not, one of them answered.

Good he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, Is this jar full? No the class shouted.

Once again he said, Good. Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, What is the point of this illustration? One eager beaver raised his hand and said, The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it. No, the speaker replied, that’s not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.

What are the big rocks in your life? Time with your loved ones? faith, education, your dreams? A worthy cause? Teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all.
So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the big rocks in my life?

Then, put those in your jar first.

Sand and Stone

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE."

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one, who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After the friend recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE."

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?"

The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND, AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE

windoW

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should hehave all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn't seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence--deathly silence.

The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away--no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

Moral of the story:
The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice...it is a positive attitude we consciously choose to express. It is not a gift that gets delivered to our doorstep each morning, nor does it come through the window. And I am certain that our circumstances are just a small part of what makes us joyful. If we wait for them to get just right, we will never find lasting joy.

The pursuit of happiness is an inward journey. Our minds are like programs, awaiting the code that will determine behaviors; like bank vaults awaiting our deposits. If we regularly deposit positive, encouraging, and uplifting thoughts, if we continue to bite our lips just before we begin to grumble and complain, if we shoot down that seemingly harmless negative thought as it germinates, we will find that there is much to rejoice about.

Life’s problems

Once a professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see; asked the students,
“How much do you think this glass weighs?’50gms!’?…’100gms!….’125gms’ ….
The students answered, “I really don’t know unless I weigh it.”

The professor said, ‘now, my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?’
‘Nothing’ the students said.
“OK what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?” the professor asked.
“Your arm would begin to ache” said one of the students.
“You’re right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?”
“Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress & paralysis; have to go to hospital for sure! Ventured another student”, all the students laughed.

“Very good! But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?” asked the professor.
“No” was the reply of all the students

“Then what caused the arm to ache; the muscle to stress?” After a pause the professor asked “Before my arm ache what should I do?”

The students were puzzled. “Put the glass down!” said one of the students.

“Exactly!” said the professor, “Life’s problems are exactly like this. Hold it for a few minutes in your head; they seem OK. Think of them for a long time; they begin to ache. Hold it even longer; they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything.” It’s important to think of the challenges (problems) in your life, but EVEN MORE IMPORTANT to ‘put them down’ at the end of every day before you go to sleep. That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh; strong; can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!
Remember friends to…. PUT THE GLASS DOWN EVERYDAY!

company and their logo

Amazon

You might think the arrow does nothing here. But it says that amazon.com has
everything from a to z and it also represents the smile brought to
the customer’s face.

Sun Microsystem
The SUN Microsystems logo is a wonderful example of symmetry and order.
It
was a brilliant observation that the letters u and n while arranged adjacent to
each other look a lot like the letter S in a perpendicular direction.
Spectacular.

IBM
the horizontal stripes suggest “speed and dynamism.” The logo was designed by graphic designer Paul Rand.

Microsoft
In 1987, Microsoft adopted its current logo, the so-called “Pacman Logo” designed by Scott Baker. According to the March 1987 Computer Reseller News Magazine, “The new logo, in Helvetica italic typeface, has a slash between the o and s to emphasize the “soft” part of the name and convey motion and speed.”

FedEx
Am not sure how many of you have noticed a hidden symbol in the Federal
Express logo. Yeah, I am talking about the ‘arrow’ that you can see between
the E and the x in this logo.
The arrow was introduced to underscore speed and
precision, which are part of the positioning of the company.

Accenture
The font used in the Accenture logo is Rotis Sans Serif. Rotis SemiSans was used from 1998 through 2000 in the “A to the Power of C” Andersen Consulting logo.
The greater-than sign over the ‘t’ is intended to show that the company is looking to the future. The mark is also an accent mark in music.

TATA
The now ubiquitous blue-coloured Tata logo was designed by the Wolff Olins consultancy. The logo was meant to signify fluidity; it may also be seen as a fountain of knowledge, also as a tree of trust under which people can take refuge.

Ford
The Ford oval trademark was first introduced in 1907. The dark blue background of the oval is known to designers as Pantone 294C, the same color used in Finland’s flag. The Ford script is credited to Childe Harold Wills, Ford’s first chief engineer and designer. He created a script in 1903 based on the one he used for his business cards. Today, the oval has evolved into a perfect oval with a width-to-height ratio of 8:3.
The current Centennial Oval was introduced on June 17, 2003 as part of the 100th anniversary of Ford Motor Company

Eighty-20
Eighty-20 is a small consulting company which does sophisticated financial
modeling, as well as some solid database work. All their work is highly
quantitative and relies on some serious computational power, and the logo is
meant to convey it.
People first guess that 20% of the squares are
darkened, but that turns out to be false after counting them. The trick is to
view the dark squares as 1’s and the light squares as 0’s. Then the top line
reads 1010000 and the bottom line reads 0010100, which represent 80 and 20 in
binary.

Mind your language; you never know what it will land you in

There were these 4 guys, a Russian, a German, an American and a French, who found this small genie bottle. When they rubbed the bottle, a genie appears. Thankful that the 4 guys had released him
out of the bottle, he said, "Next to you all are 4 swimming pools, I will give each of you a wish. When you run towards the pool and jump, you shout What you want the pool of water to become, then
your wish will come true."

The French wanted to start. He ran towards the pool, jumped and shouted WINE". The pool immediately changed into a pool of wine. The Frenchman was so happy swimming and drinking from the pool.

Next is the Russian's turn, he did the same and shouted, "VODKA" and immersed himself into a pool of vodka.

The German was next and he jumped and shouted, "BEER". He was so contented with his beer pool.

The last is the American. He was running towards the pool when suddenly he steps on a banana peel. He slipped towards the pool and shouted, "SH** !!!!!!!........."

MORAL OF THE STORY: Mind your language; you never know what it will land you in.

Bullshìt might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there

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 my droppings?” replied the bull. “They’re packed with nutrients.”
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.
The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.
Finally after a fourth night, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree.
Soon he was spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.
Moral of the story: Bullshìt might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.

To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very high up.

A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day.
A rabbit 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.
A fox jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very high up.

Always let your boss have the first say

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.
The Genie says, “I’ll give each of you just one wish.”
“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.
“Me next! Me next!” says the sales rep. “I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply 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.”
Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say.

If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

A priest offered a lift to a Nun.
She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.
The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.
The nun said, “Father, remember Psalm 129?”
The priest removed his hand.
But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again.
The nun once again said, “Father, remember Psalm 129?”
The priest apologized “Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.”
Arriving at the convent, the nun went on her way.
On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129.
It said, “Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.”
Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Don't share critical information

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.
The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, “I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel,”
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 dollars and leaves.
The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.
When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, “Who was that?”
“It was Bob the next door neighbor,” she replies.
“Great!” the husband says, “did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?”
Moral of the story: If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

smart wife

Letter from husband ( who is abroad) to wife
Dear Sweetheart:
I can’t send my salary this month, so I am sending 100 kisses.
You are my sweetheart
Your husband,
Allen

============ =========

His wife replied back after some days to her husband:

Dearest sweetheart,
Thanks for your 100 kisses, I am sending the expenses details.
1. The Milk man agreed on 2 kisses for one month’s milk.
2. The electricity man only agreed after 7 kisses.
3. Your house owner is coming every day and taking two or three kisses Instead of the rent.
4. Supermarket owner did not accept kisses only, so I have given him Some other items……. ….
5. Other expenses 40 kisses
Please don’t worry for me, I have a remaining balance of 35 kisses and I hope I can complete the month using this balance.
Shall I plan same way for next months, Please Advise!!!

Your Sweet Heart

Stanford Convocation speech Steve Jobs'05

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Always consider a business proposal in its entirety before agreeing to it and getting screwed

Johnny wanted to have s e x with a girl in his office, but she belonged to someone else...

One day, Johnny got so frustrated that he went up to her and said, "I'll give you a $100 if you let me screw you. But the girl said NO.

Johnny said, "I'll be fast. I'll throw the money on the floor, you bend down, and I'll be finished by the time you pick it up."

She thought for a moment and said that she would have to consult her boyfriend... So she called her boyfriend and told him the story.

Her boyfriend says, "Ask him for $200, pick up the money very fast, he won't even be able to get his pants down."

So she agrees and accepts the proposal. Half an hour goes by, and the boyfriend is waiting for his girlfriend to call.

Finally, after 45 minutes, the boyfriend calls and asks what happened.

She responded, "The bastard used coins!"

Management lesson: Always consider a business proposal in its entirety before agreeing to it and getting screwed!

smart cock

A farmer rears twenty-five young hens and one old cock. As he feels that the old cock could no longer handle his job efficiently, the farmer bought one young cock from the market.
Old cock to Young cock : “Welcome to join me, we will work together towards productivity.
Young cock : What ya mean? As far as I know, you are old and should be retired.
Old cock : Young boy, there are twenty-five hens here, can’t I help you with some?
Young cock : No! Not even one, all of them will be mine.
Old cock : In this case, I shall challenge you to a competition and if I win you shall allow me to have one hen and if I loose you will have all.
Young cock : O.K. What kind of competition?
Old cock : 50 meter run. From here to that tree. But due to my age, I hope you allow me to start off the first 10 meters.
Young cock : No problem ! We will compete tomorrow morning.
Confidently, the following morning, the Young cock allows the Old cock to start off and when the Old cock crosses the 10 meters mark the Young cock chases him with all his might.
Soon enough, he was behind the Old cock back in a matter of seconds.Suddenly,Bang! ……before he could overtake the old cock..
He was shot dead by the farmer, who cursed, “What the hell ! This is the fifth GAY chicken I’ve bought this week!“

when u think the other is dumb you are making a fool of urself

A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his Customer,“This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.”The barber puts a dollar in one hand and 25 cents in the other,then calls the boy over and asks, “Which do you want, son?”The boy takes 25 cents and leaves.”What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!”

Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. “Hey,son, May I ask you a question? Why did you take 25 cents instead of the dollar?”The boy licked his cone and replied, “Because the day I take the dollar, the game’s over!”

Moral: Sometimes, when you think the other is dumb, you are making a fool of yourself.

Life is going to shovel dirt on you

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously forhours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him.They all grabbed a shovel and begin to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that fell on his back, the donkey was doing some thing amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon,everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and totted off !
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick is too not
to get bogged down by it. We can get out of the deepest wells by not stopping.
And by never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up !-

Azim Premji on The Chang€ IIM-A CONVOCATION02

This is very interesting and inspiring speech by Azim Premji At the 37th Annual Convocation 2002, IIM, Ahmedabad 37th Annual Convocation 2002, IIM, Ahmedabad. In this speech he share guiding principles of staying afloat in a changing world based on his experience in Wipro. In this speech he speak about 11 different lesson to learn to adapt change in our life.
(1) Be alert for the first signs of change.
Change descends on every One equally; it is just that some realize it faster. Some changes are sudden but many others are gradual.While sudden changes get attention because they are dramatic, it is the gradual changes that are ignored till it is too late. You must have all heard of story of the frog in boiling water. If the temperature of the water is suddenly increased, the frog realizes it and jumps out of the water. But if the temperature is very slowly increased, one degree at a time, the frog does not realize it till it boils to death. You must develop your own early warning system, which warns you of changes and calls your attention to it. In the case of change, being forewarned is being forearmed.
(2) Anticipate change even when things are “Anticipate change even when things are going right.
Most people wait for something to go wrong before they think of change. It is like going to the doctor for a check up only when you are seriously sick or thinking of maintaining your vehicle only when it breaks down. The biggest enemy of future success is past success. When you succeed, you feel that you must be doing something right for it to happen. But when
the parameters for success change, doing the same things may or may not continue to lead to success. Guard against complacency all the time. Complacency makes you blind to the early signals from the environment that something is going wrong.
(3) Always look at the opportunities that change represents.
Managing change has a lot to go with our own attitude towards it. It is proverbial half-full or half empty glass approach. For every problem that change represents, there is an opportunity lurking in disguise somewhere. It is up to you to spot it before someone else does.
(4) Do not allow routines to become chains.
For many of us the routine. We have got accustomed to obstructs change. Routines represent our own zones of comfort. There is a sense of predictability about them. They have structured our time and even our thought in a certain way. While routines are useful, do not let them enslave you. Deliberately break out of them from time to time.
(5) Realize that fear of the unknown is natural.
With change comes a feeling of insecurity. Many people believe that brave people are not afflicted by this malady. The truth is different. Every one feels the fear of unknown. Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to manage fear without getting paralyzed. Feel the fear, but move on regardless.
(6) Keep renewing yourself.
This prepares you to anticipate change and be ready for it when it comes. Constantly ask yourself what new skills and competencies will be needed. Begin working on them before it becomes necessary and you will have a natural advantage. The greatest benefit of your education lies not only in what you have learnt, but in working how to learn. Formal education is the beginning of the journey of learning. Yet I do meet youngsters who feel that
they have already learnt all there is to learn. You have to constantly learn about people and how to interact effectively with them. In the world of tomorrow, only those individuals and organizations will succeed who have mastered the art of rapid and on-going learning.
(7) Surround yourself with people who are open to change.
If you are always in the company of cynics, you will soon find yourself becoming like them. A cynic knows all the reasons why something cannot be done. Instead, spend time with people who have a "can-do" approach. Choose your advisors and mentors correctly. Pessimism is contagious, but then so is enthusiasm. In fact, reasonable optimism can be an amazing
force multiplier.
8) Play to win..!!
I have said this many times in the past. Playing to win is not the same as cutting corners. When you play to win, you stretch yourself to your maximum and use all your potential. It alsohelps you to concentrate your energy on what you can influence instead of gettingbogged down with the worry of what you cannot change. Do your best and leave the rest.
(9) Respect yourself.
The world will reward you on your successes. Success requires no explanation and failure permits none. But you need to respect yourself enough so that your self-confidence remains intact whether you succeed or fail. If you succeed 90 per cent of the time, you are doing fine. If you are succeeding all the time, you should ask yourself if you are taking enough risks. If you do not take enough risks, you may also be losing out on many opportunities. Think through but take the plunge. If some things do go wrong, learn from them.
(10) Never change: your core values.
In spite of all the change around you, decide upon what you will never change: your core values. Take your time to decide what they are but once you do, do not compromise on them for any reason.
(11) We must remember that succeeding in a changing world is beyond just surviving.
It is our responsibility to create and contribute something to the world that has given us so much. We must remember that many have contributed to our success, including our parents and others from our society. All of us have a responsibility to utilize our potential for making our nation a better place for others, who may not be as well endowed as us, or as fortunate
in having the opportunities that we have got. Let us do our bit, because doing one good deed can have multiple benefits not only for us but also for many others.
@! last
Change is the Only thing that will Never change. So better adapt to it.
If one desires a change, one must be that change before that must be that change before that change can take place.

formula for business career

This post will be interesting to read.. Go Ahead… read it..
I was getting bored in HBO (Human Behavior in Organization) that teach us how to behave in Organization… I never find this subject interesting… they can’t teach us how to behave in real life just by teaching us theory in classroom, so I have nothing to do in this lecture.. I started wondering anything.. and then one idea struck in my mind.. What is secret behind some of biggest and well known companies in the world?
with little bit brainstorming I get this two thing common in some of successful company of world.. here it is
1) To start your own company, you should get your best friend with you and start your business, bcoz I find some of the world best company started by two best friend. Like,
Apple - Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak Microsoft - Bill Gates & Paul Allen Yahoo! - David Filo n Jerry Yang HP - David Packard & William Hewlett Google - Larry Page & Sergey Brin
Wikipedia - Jimmy Donal Wales & Larry Sanger
2) Start your company in garage yes, you read it right… some of the best company initially started in garage some of them are, HP, Apple, Infosys, Google (Google’s first office was in garage) and Amazon (not much sure).
and if you live in India there is 3rd option for you. study from study engineering from IIT and MBA from IIM.
Some of well know person who studied from IIT/IIM
Rajat Gupta - B. Tech (mechanical eng), IIT-Delhi (McKinsey)
Arun Sarin - IIT Kharagpur (Vodafone CEO)
N R Narayanmurthy - IIT Kanpur (Founder of Infosys)
Nandan Nilekeni - IIT Bombay ( Infosys CEO)
Indra Nooyi -IIM Calcutta (Pepsi Co. President)
Arun Netravali - IIT Bombay (former President of Bell Laboratories)
Suhas Patil - IIT Kharagpur (Founder Cirrus Logic)
R Subramanian - IIT Madras & IIM Ahmedabad (Founder of Subhiksha Retail )
Sanjeev Bikhchandani - IIM A (Founder of Naukri.com)

B-schools don’t teach leadership skills

You can learn about management from an MBA course, but it can’t teach what kind of manager you should be.
Youneed to discover your leadership style on your own: Are you a delegatoror a hands-on manager? Should you lean more towards vision or action?Do you need to be task-driven or would it be better to buildrelationships? These are concepts you learn through 360-degree feedbackand real-life interaction, not in B-school.

A B-school can never teach you people skills. Managing teams is oftenabout building emotional bank accounts with them; that’s something youcan’t learn in an institution. Nor can an MBA course teach you toidentify and recruit senior leaders for your organisation.
Also,there isn’t enough emphasis on execution. Regular process reviews toensure strategic initiatives get converted to day-to-day operations isa critical part of running a business, but B-schools tend to overlookits importance.
Management education inIndia comes up short in dealing with global businesses. Not muchattention is paid to the intricacies of dealing with internationalcustomers and colleagues.
But perhapsthis is an area where practical experience counts more: Real life makesyou better global citizens than any course in an insulated institutioncan ever hope to. Another area where B-schools can never hope toreplicate real-life experience relates to the strategic insights anddiscoveries around new market developments.

Theability to recognise underserved or unserved markets, and act upon thatinformation, comes only when you are fully engaged in the real world.New business ideas usually spring from your operating environment, notfrom reading about business strategy.
Finally,B-schools don’t build in their students an ability to move out of theircomfort zones, whether it is behavioural (the discipline point madeabove), or about switching jobs or businesses.
Ofcourse, I don’t know how much of this is a trainable attribute, but itis a big part of big successes and needs to be recognised as such.