Communication that works

The importance of communication has been so widely discussed, debated & recognized in the recent past that not much seems to be left to say on the topic. However all this frenzy has spawned off a rhetoric of its own. So long as it concerns individuals, communication seems to be doing well. When it comes to an organizational level, the politics of communication combined with the diplomacy of denying clarity often takes precedence over its spirit.

The rise of Google has seen knowledge being commoditized, but understanding still remains elusive to many. Spread of the MBA culture has further strengthened the practice of using jargons without practicing them. More often than not, the sense of what is to be communicated gets lost in the cloak of diplomacy, resulting in a lot of goody-goody noise being made without any substance. The tragedy is that there is too much sound to hear but nothing worth listening to.

This politics of making statements destroys the very essence of communication. Communication was neither meant to be a showcase of linguistic excellence, nor a sales demo of the Oxford dictionary. It was meant to convey messages, simple & clear. It should not be a verbose diarrhea of complex vocabulary that even complicated minds cannot digest. Communication must be precise & the meaning loud. What should be paraphrased is the spirit of the message, with the exuberance of jargon being silently subtle. This is a fact that most fail to fathom, especially the people at the senior management levels who later lament upon the inability of their juniors to be in sync with them.

Let us pledge to say whatever we want to or will do, even if it be a sour statement to make. Merely coating a sour reality with sugary coatings gives no positive results. Not that sugar is expensive. The cost of opportunity lost due to the intent not conveyed is drastically more so.

The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation.

These are the words of Pearl Buck, the first American Woman to win the Nobel
Prize for literature. She herself received the Pulitzer & the Nobel at a very
young age, thus living her words. While Pearl ascribed this tendency to Youth, it
is equally true for other age groups as well. People of all sorts have plunged in
the seemingly impossible abyss & come out thundering that impossible is a
word found in the dictionary of fools. Fact of the matter is not that nothing is
impossible but that everything is possible, provide it is attempted & the correct
logic is applied. But just as one doesn't discover new lands without consenting
to lose sight of the shore for a very long time, there comes a time when the risk
to remain tight in the bud becomes more painful than the risk it takes to
blossom.
Moral of the sayings is that we can achieve if we attempt, Success will be ours if
we are willing to risk failure, but risk we must take, for there is no security on
this earth. Only opportunity, if you want to go high places. Intellect must not
take precedence over adventure & the heart should rule the mind. If we listened
to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship.
We'd never go into business, because we'd be too cynical. Well, that's
nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the
way down. The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice
what we are for what we could become. Many mistake will be made on the way,
many ideas would prove futile but remember that the only person who never
makes mistakes is the person who never does anything & It is better to have
enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having
no ideas at all. A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but
more useful than a life spent in doing nothing.
We must set very high goals. Let them look difficult & distant. Always Bite off
more than you can chew, then chew it. Our teeth might be hurt by the
uncertain stones in between but Creativity requires the courage to let go of
certainties. Don't be afraid to climb a branch thinking it would break. That's
where the fruits are. If you fall, learn to appreciate that only those who dare to
fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
Think of things that you would like to do, would like to have & then run for
them. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away
from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.

Something about 'Risk'

This issue seems to me to be one of the best in recent times. Very informative, practical & of real use to all. The snapshot on the Consumer Protection Act is especially interesting. The government has provided us a means to solve many of our problems, but we seldom use it the way & to the extent it should have been used. Awareness of our rights can really make a difference when dealing with problematic products or services.



Of special interest is the inspirational story about the Tomato seller. If one observes in depth, we & especially today’s younger lot has become so accustomed & addicted to the internet for everything that they seldom seem to realize that there is a life outside the net too. Internet was supposed to be the means that would enable our lives & a habit that will disable our creativity off it. But alas! It is sadly acquiring the status of a self sustained maize which is not only addictive in nature but also keeps on whirling the unaware habitual user into endless helices & spirals of its huge world wide web. Its time we start realizing that the world outside the internet is bigger, has been in existence for much longer & has far more potential.



The other thing worth mention is “Risk”. We in the finance industry have a fairly good idea of ‘Risk’ for our business hinges on it & its able management. The same thing applies in real, personal lives too. Many are in the habit of playing safe & reaping he benefits of both worlds. The winners however are those who jump in the fire & emerge unscathed. In one of our previous issues, we had dwelled on the importance of seizing the opportunities. Here it comes again. To win a game for yourselves, you have to play it. Playing comes with the risk of loosing, but should you play, there is the prospect of winning the game – For Yourself. If we just play safe from the stands, we can cheer for either team (& can always side with the winner), but the win will be theirs not ours.

If you can feel it; you can do it.

Thinkers & philosophers are often seen attaching great significance to developing one’s self confidence. Many of them are often seen advising people to develop confidence in their abilities even if they don’t yet possess the abilities in reality. In doing so, unrestrained self confidence often becomes a Damocles sword capable of transgressing to the category of over confidence, which is detrimental to the well being of all & sundry. What then is the ideal way out?



When we look at case studies of instances like the above in retrospect & analyse them for the causes & consequences, it comes to light that the answer lies in something called ‘self esteem’. These two words represent the difference between the positive trait of displaying self confidence & the negative one of being over confident.



We all need to have a self esteem about ourselves, if we aim to take giant leaps of progress. Self esteem is different from self confidence in that it means it believes in the inherent ability of the individual’s resourcefulness to tide over the hardships by searching for & finding out the suitable solution as against self confidence, which is the belief of an individual of possessing the solution to the problems. Both qualities do look a lot similar, but have a fine line dividing them.



Having a high self esteem forces one to look for & find solutions to problem that might actually work. Having a high level of self confidence often leads to bits of despair, if the assumed solutions do not work as well as planned.



High self esteem is also necessary to propel oneself forward. We will move ahead only if we firmly believe in our capability of being able to do so. forward. High self esteem itself compels our inner selves to action & leads the way beyond. This along with a positive attitude shall mean that the faculties required for development shall surely be acquired by us, sooner or later.



To succeed, it is not necessary to have a perfect beginning. Our behaviour in managing the progression of later events is more important. Mountaineers do not reach the summit directly, the beginning is always made at the humble ground below

Welcome to my New year

April is the start of a new year for us. The financial year is in fact more important for all of us, not the least because we being professionals have to align all over activities to the Financial year. This is the time for all professional new year resolutions (target/goal setting in layman’slanguage), analysing our performance in the past year, deriving learnings from the same & planning for the times ahead.



At present, we are on the threshold of a massive upsurge not only in terms of the traditional parameter of business volumes, but also in terms of the way we look at different perspectives of doing business. We are undergoing a radical transformation of outlook & approach in the way we function. Results are already very encouraging & the future promises to be very bright.

The markets also seem to be faring quite well, adding to the optimism.


Let us then, gear up for the great future that lies ahead. Let us promise to our own selves that this shall be the best financial year we have ever had.