Is anyone reading this? Please comment "Yes" if you are. Thanks

The common thread in Why a school trip failed and a contractor lost his contract

People grossly underestimate the value of keeping others informed. It is absolutely critical that what we are thinking , be they are assumptions, feelings, thoughts, next steps etc are shared with the right people. We are so engulfed in our own thinking that we mostly assume that our assumption is a universal truth. Well, that's not always the case. The absence of information, creates a communication void. And when there is a void, it will get filled up with all kinds of stuff. Most often with negative thoughts. All this can be easily avoided by keeping each other in the (communication) loop. Even saying that I dont have an update is an update.

Here is an example of how 2 scenarios could have turned out so differently had the customers been kept in the loop. There was no other changes required only keeping the customer in the loop!

Scenario 1: 

Bob was in grade 6 and went on an out of town school trip for a 3 days. Bob's parents were nervous. After all this was his first trip outside home without the parents being there. They gave Bob a phone and asked him to send updates on a regular basis. As luck would have it, the phone's battery died and Bob lost the charger the very first hour of the trip. Bob's parents were scrambling for information. They called other parents. Emailed school and any other contact that they could think of but no luck. They knew that Bob was safe but still wanted to get the assurance. The school charged $750 for the trip. There were a no. of staff who went with the class to ensure safety and comfort. Yet none of the teachers and organizers thought that they should keep providing a simple email update to the parents! They planned every single aspect of the trip, except communication.

The trend continued for the rest of the trip. 

The kids had a great time but parents were furious. In the minds of the parents the trip didnt go well. Now if only the teachers would have thought the importance of updates

Scenario 2:

I scheduled a handyman to do some repairs around the house. He was supposed to have come at 7pm but didn't show up. After waiting impatiently till 8pm, I called him, "We are running late. We should be there in the next hour or so", was the response. I told him to not worry about it. Now if he only would have told me earlier that he would be late, I probably would have been able to juggle my plans around his availability. 

We tend to underestimate the value of updates but they are absolutely the key when it comes to customer service. 

Big Rocks

As long as you focus on the big rocks of your life, you will be ok. What are the big rocks in your life? As most of the cases, the answer is "It is up to you to decide" For some it will be  vacation, family time, for others it will be career or something else.

But whatever it is, it is critical that you take care of the big items in your life

So have you moved the big rocks from your life today? 

Today's Lesson

Do not react based on an assumption

It ain't done until it is done. Ask the Spurs or the Leafs

Success formula

In my mind success can be created by the following process.

1- Vision
A vision in my mind is an evolving goal. I think that we must have the end goal/objective in mind as we   begin the journey. We always evolve the goals and thats ok however it is critical that we begin with the end in mind (ref Covey)

2- Thinking. 
Thinking to figure out the right choices. After all it is our choices which determine who we are. In order to make these "correct" choices, we need to think correctly

By the way, the correct choice will be correct for each individual. In other words, what is correct for one may be completely different for another. As an example, someone may think that the best way to spend the day is to go fishing, whereas the other may decide that the best way to spend the day is working at the career to get ahead. They are both "correct" choices as long as they align with the life goals off the individual

3- Discipline
The thinking will not be enacted on its own. It requires a lot of will power and sacrifices of the secondary choices. For example, for the person deciding to fish, he will need to understand that because he is not working on the career, he will not be getting the next big promotion and all that is associated with it. Same for the person working on the career, he will be sacrificing a lot for that promotion as well. As long as you have the discipline to follow through on the choices thats what counts

After this, I think you need luck. Often times, life happens and this can throw us off track. This is both in a good way as well as not so good. 

What is your formula for success?

If you look, then I will run

Home crowd is considered to be an advantage. With crowds cheering, players are likely to perform better. I guess they tend to become more aware that their are some who care

Well, bloggers are no different. They also tend to go to the stats to see how many people are interested in what they are saying. Also, they tend to get excited by the fact that people from far away lands are interested in hearing about some topics. So if you reading this blog, it will be fantastic if you can provide your comments - either about this one or another one which was written previously. Thank you

Winning at all cost - is it worth it?

"Winning wins everything" is a common theme that keeps on coming across. But is it really true?

There are few, very few instances in which all it matters is a victory. Irrespective of how it is achieved  and how many rules are broken, the victory is all that counts. However in a vast majority of cases, any win which involves cheating feels like a hollow victory.

Sports - the big equalizer. Really?

When playing, we are all equal. The skills, talent and abilities are what counts. It does not matter who has the most expensive attire or who is driving the most luxurious car, ultimately the "hero" title goes  to the one who plays the best

But is it really so? Are we naive about the influence of money in Sports?

I think it was Napoleon who said that the battles are won and lost during planning.  Though it is correct that the on field performances are the ones that count, but most of the on-field stuff takes is determined by preparation that takes place prior to the game day performance. After all, a player who has access to a well equipped gym is likely to outperform the one who has barely enough to have 3 square meals a day. It is no wonder that the Olympics are dominated by participants from rich nations

Should Pittsburgh Penguins keep faith in the failed 2013 crew ?

To fire them or to keep faith? This is a mega million dollar qs that the Pittsburgh Penguins need to grapple with after the team was humiliated by the Boston Bruins in the 3rd round of the NHL 2013 Playoffs.

To provide some context, the  Pittsburgh Penguins' 2013 team was destined to be a history maker. After having a fantastic regular season in which they almost broke the record of the longest winning streak in NHL history, they won the first 2 playoff series with relative ease. In fact, so strong was their offense that they chased the Ottawa's stingy goaly, Anderson, out of the post. This event is a rarity, after all Anderson had the best record of all the NHL goalies in the 2013 regular season. So strong was their performance, that Ottawa Senator's coach quipped after Senators' loss to the Penguins, "I hope they don't charge us for the (hockey) clinic".  Yet when it came to the 3rd round, the same team failed miserably against the Bruins. So bad was their performance that they could not score more than 2 goals in the entire series. They lost every single game. And sucked big time.

So a hockey club who has some of the the world's best players had to make a tough choice. Keep their heroes for the next year or ditch at least some of them. 

It looks like they are going to keep them. They signed the coach and the coaching assistants to a 2 year contract. They were clear that their failed goalie will again start in the net next year. They signed Malkin to a 7 year deal. Bottom line, they decided that this is the team of the future.

Though the hockey fans may disagree, but the reality is that this is a fantastic long term strategy. After all, gelling as a team is what makes teams great. The players need to be a band of brothers. And yes they will make mistakes but the message of the organization is clear - we have faith in your abilities. This is a strong message and you can be rest assured that the players will respond forcefully in 2014 and beyond!

Pakistan govt decides: Army bigger priority than heath, education and economy

Pakistan had the first transfer of power in almost 7 decades! It was hailed around the world and showcased for how the democratic roots have taken a strong hold in the country. But is that really the case?

It is true the massive turnout in the election is a tribute to the resilience of the people and the strong commitment of the population to the democratic values. The turnout was higher than that in many western countries but that's not the only reason to celebrate. When put this in perspective that the brutal Taliban have openly issued threats of attacking the civilians to disrupt elections, the turnout is amazingly brave. Old and young, men and women, rich and poor, boys and girls of all ages came to cast their vote. And they spoke loud and clear. They wanted a new government. But more importantly they wanted to vote!

Armed with this massive arsenal of public support, you would expect that the incoming governing party of PML-N, would be confident about the what the people really want. But think again

With literacy rates going down the drain, public health (ie hospitals and other publicly medical clinics in far flung areas), power cuts, blackouts and rationing causing protests almost on a daily basis, and terrorism which is causing havoc in the lives of every single Pakistani it would be a hard choice to pick which they would decide to tackle first. But all these problems can wait. The biggest problem in the eyes of the Pakistani government is not all these internal threats and problems but India! Yup, you read it correctly. It is India that PM Nawaz Sharif and his government is most concerned about. At least that's the impression you would get when you look at the recently introduced budget.

Despite all the back breaking social, economic and security problems that the country is facing, Nawaz Sharif's government decided to allocate more funds for country's defense. Not to Education, not for Health, not for social infrastructure, but for the national defense! And the increase is not a single digit increase, the army is need of such repairs that the increase is a  whopping 10%!

Now we all know that any budget, including the household ones, all comes down to priorities. Putting more coins in one bucket means that you have to take it from another bucket as the pie is fixed. So what this means is that the government is taking medicines and school books away and instead investing in the army!

Dont be mistaken that this is a surplus budget. The national exchequer will be borrowing heavily to manage the huge deficits.

There are those that think that this is not the government setting its priorities but the army setting its own priorities. It is not a secret that the army has been a, nay the, major force in Pakistan,. However given the heavy duty vote of confidence, you would think that the government would have pushed back on the army. But either they didnt have the backbone, or consciously decided that Army is underfunded and is a bigger priority than anything else. Regardless of the reason, the hungry, illiterate and sick masses have taken the back seat to the army brass 

The one thing that you must know

What is the one thing that is critical to you? 

Is it the family? 

Is it the career?

Is it money?

We all want it all. But you must know what that one thing is that you will regret the most, if you dont get it. 

When you are on the rocking chair. And cant turn back the clock, it will be terrible to come all that distance without knowing what that thing is. Worse, if you spend all your time and energy trying to get after the "wrong" thing, regardless of whether or not you achieved that or not

So do you know what that thing is for you?

Potential or Experience - which one will you prefer?

Do you want the steady hand of Experience to keep the ship steady, specially when the vessel hit rough waters, Or, do you think it is better to have the flair, flamboyance and risk taking of Potential? 

It is a tough choice and so often the answer appears to be "it depends" :-)

It depends on:
- the type of business you are in
- the risk threshold ie whether a business where taking risk (and failing while doing so) is considered a good thing.
- your own style as well as those around you
- whether it is a short term or long term stint

So what is your preference?

Think Ahead - Live Now

It was game 7 of Round 1. Toronto ahead by 4 goals to 1 against Boston with only 10 mins left. The series is pretty much a wrap. And what a series it has been for Toronto. They came from 3-1 deficit to (almost) win the game 7 of the best in 7 series. What comeback. What grit! 

But as the music was playing in the ears of the Toronto Maple Leafs`players, Boston Bruins knew that it is not done yet. They still have 10 mins left to throw everything at the Leafs. And so they did. And the rest is all history as never in the history of the NHL`s several thousand games has a team able to come back from behind to score such an upset.

Thinking ahead is a great thing. It helps prepare for the events which are about to happen. More prepared you are the easier it is to deal with the situation. But thinking ahead must not confuse us to live in future. For we cant. We don`t have a choice but to live in the present. 

Toronto was living in the future. Boston was living in the moment.

A List of Interesting books

Over the years I have had a chance to enjoy various books. Following is a list of some which I will be recommending:

Good to read often:

7 habits of highly effective people

Never Eat Alone

The Happiness Project

The science of influence

Non-Fiction:

Guns, Germs and Steel

Blink

The Tipping Point

Drive

How The Great Golfers Think

Leave No Doubt

The End of Growth

Innovator's Dilemna

The Singularity it Near

Wikinomics

Black Swan

Flow

Outliers

Freakeconomics

Fiction:

All Creatures Great and Small

Life of Pi

Watership Down

To kill a mocking bird

Moments matter

We chase dreams and rainbows. It is about the journey, we are told. Yes journey is important but it is the fleeting moment when reaching the destination and finding the rainbow which is the key to success. 

This according to Mike Babcock.

For those who don't know him, Mike Babcock knows a thing or two about success. He is the only hockey coach in the history of Ice Hockey to be part of the Triple Gold Club. Triple Gold Club is coined for someone who has won a Stanley Cup, an Olympics Gold and a World Championship. So when he talks about winning strategies in his book Leave No Doubt, it is worth listening to. 

So when you spend a few seconds at the victory stand, or get the promotion (or publish the blog :-) ), it is worth cherishing the moment. It is also worth cherishing the moments when you are at the beach on your vacation. After all, these are memorable moments that  are worth remembering and living for 

How to write effective emails

I came across some very useful ideas about writing emails. They are:

- start of each paragraph with a leading sentence which describes the core of the message. For example, if there is a decision, recommendation etc that you want to highlight, say that first before getting into the rationale for it

- use bullets to make some quick points. This will help increase white space in the email,. White spaces help with readability and are visually more appealing

- Plan before writing the email. Plan should answer the question as to what the reader of the email will be thinking and be interested in 

- Be mindful that people are reading emails on their smartphones as well as laptops

- Use "You" whenever you have an opportunity. This will help your reader visualize himself as the center of the email

- Be brief. 

- Be mindful of the tone of the email and not just the content

Hope this is helpful

Cricket for sale

There are yet new reports of mega paid cricketers trying to make quick bucks by cheating. The cricketers involved are from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and previously from South Africa. Though there are no reports of losing the entire game, or spot fixing, yet Australian Shane Warne has also been news for all the wrong reasons. After all this bad press, will the crowds actually come to watch cricket in droves?

I think they will. Cricket is entertainment. It provides a past time for the masses of the sub continent. With the players trying

Will the sun shine tomorrow?

How confident we all are that the sun will be shining tomorrow. We have plans 5 years, 10 years, even 20+ years. Yer life is fickle. A few seconds can throw a big wrench in the whole plans. Priorities changes right away. Or perhaps we recognize what the priorities are.

Perhaps my thinking today is influenced by a friend whom I visited to offer condolences. His mother passed away. Suddenly. "There were no warnings. No signs (that she will be dying so soon)", he informed me. But is that not so uncommon? Of course there are cases when people are terminally ill and there death is not a surprise but then there are a whole lot of us, who just move on from here, without really giving any tell tale signs that this (move) is about to happen. 

Scary. But so true

Perhaps, it will be wise to always focus on what the real priorities are. But this is something that everyone says. The key question is how do you determine that. 

Many wise people have suggested interesting, simple and at times complex methods to figure this out. I like the 5 year rule. The rule is simple (at least that's what I think). Ask yourself the rhetorical question about a (any) event. "Will this event be still important when I try to remember it after 5 years?" This helps weed out the real important stuff from the mundane stuff that we deal with every day. 

It is real important to set the priorities right. We always think that there will be tomorrow when we can take care of the real, important  stuff. But then, there may not be a tomorrow

Free Stuff - that you have to pay for dearly :-)

I wonder why they include the 30 point inspection "for free" as part of a car's oil change package. I was told by the service desk manager that "it is as a courtesy to the customers". Really!

There has not been many of these inspections in which I have come back with an all clear. Most of the time it is a small warning. The message from the service manager is quite typical "You dont need to get it done now but it is better if you do so soon as you are going to be taking a chance if you are going for longer distances". Now I dont know about many people who only use their car to go from their home to the local convenience store around the corner. Most often you use the car to go "longer distances". The highways are clogged with people making these trips - daily. Dont take my word for it, just tune into any tv or radio news station during morning or evening and you will get a list of sections where the traffic is so thick that you can even squeeze a needle in it. 

So if you are like one of the other 100% folks who have to use the car for travelling, then it is bound to bug you that your car has this defect which can blow up any time. Now you can be going to drop your kids off to school, getting to an important meeting, on the highway, or anywhere else, and it can just hit you. It is like a ticking time bomb. You know this because the "service expert" has told you so. Now you can rely on your instincts to make the judgement that the car is fine. After all, there is nothing visibly or audibly wrong with it. The motor is making the usual sounds, it "feels" right as well. But will you have the guts to move forward and let this "fact" pinch you that there is something wrong. I dont know about you, but in the battle of "instinct vs fact" it is usually the fact which wins in my case. That is why you will see me dishing out the grandiose sums of money to my mechanic. Only for him to find some other flaws in these "free inspections".

A world without oil

Can you imagine a world where there is no affordable energy source? It means that you may not drive to your work. It means that instead of going to a super store or a mall about 30 mins away, you will need to rely on your corner store for your groceries. It means that instead of flying across the ocean for your vacation, you will be spending time with your family at a local park. IT means that you cannot take kids to their soccer games if there is extensive driving involved. In essence you will effectively be transported back a century, perhaps more back. 

Is this possible? Is what Jeff Rubin saying, makes sense?

Well, it definitely makes sense. I hope he is not right though

The premise of Rubin's argument is relatively simple and straight forward. The crux of the argument is that we rely on cheap oil for our day to day living. It is not just for the fuel that we use in our cars but also the electricity that we use requires oil for manufacturing. The clothes that we wear require transport from far away lands which requires oil. Even the food that we eat, is delivered to us from far away farms which requires cheap oil 

He has also highlighted the significant roles that cheap oil plays in the growth of a nation's economy. In short oil, or more importantly, affordable oil is the key to economic well being of nations as well as individuals. If oil gets to be too expensive, then that there is no other replacement fuel source that exists today. In other words, if oil gets to be too expensive to afford, then we will need to make tough choices (the likes of which our parents didnt have to worry about.

Imagine the scenario that the gas prices go up 10 times than what they are today. That will significantly increase our gas budget. Since our income is unlikely to increase 10 fold, we will need to cut back on other places. However, there is another catch, as the gas prices are going up, so will the price of all things requiring transport, will go up at least 10 times. Therefore the loaf of bread, the stick of butter, the milk, the clothes, everything will cost more.  Also, what about the prices for items which require oil in its production -eg electricity,their prices will be going up to.

 So, as you can see, it is not a pretty economic picture.

The unanswered questions by the media to Torontonians

The line up at the grocery store was unusually long this Sunday. I was hoping to get a few items quickly and get back home by 1 pm but it looked like that there are many other folks also deciding to pick up the raw materials for their next few meals at this time. The reason I wanted to get back by 1pm was to listen in to the Fords. They have been in a swarm of controversy all week and I was curious to hear what they had to say about the various allegations in their weekly talk show.

I tuned in to their show late and when I did, it was Doug Ford who was on air and was taking a call from a retired police officer.  The officer was the supervisor of drugs investigation unit when the elder brother (Doug) Ford was alleged to have been dealing drugs in the streets of Toronto. The officer gave his name and (former) rank on air (but I cant remember it) along with  a clear and crisp description of his responsibilities. As supervisor of the drugs investigation unit, he was in the know of all the major drug investigations that were ongoing at that time. He was also in liaison with the RCMP to help with busting drug dealers. His span, when he was the supervisor was around 10 years. He called out of "duty" and wanted to set the record straight. He stated, very factually and without any frills, that during his entire time that he was leading the investigation, he has not heard Doug Ford's name at all. The officer's view was that had Doug Ford would have been involved, the officer would have heard about him for sure. 

I heard another caller as well. He was a Councillor from Richmond Hill. He was the person who came out and presented the eye witness account when Sarah Thompson made her own allegations against the mayor. 

I had to take care of the honey to do list and did not listen to any other stuff. But I was curious to hear what happened and decided to look up the details on the Toronto Star and the CTV news I was sure they would have carried the story about the mayor's radio show as they were quite interested in what he is up to. I was not wrong. They did carry the story. However, have a look at what they wrote. There was not a word about the retired police officer's  comments refuting the allegations of the Globe and Media. 

This was significantly huge. If I would have relied on getting my news about the show from these outlets, I would have completely missed out on the context of the show!

Whats more important, in my view, is that this is a 2 hour show on a Sunday afternoon This being the start of the warm season in the city, it is unlikely that a huge percentage of Toronto residents are listening in. In other words, people are relying on the reporting of the media to get the news about the show. And if they dont read about this retired police officer's comments were not mentioned in the media. Then it is just like that he has not made that call at all. This is alarming and dangerous.

After all, we expect the media to be fair. To be just. Unbiased. And more importantly to be honest. But is it? 

Why is it only showing up one side of the story? Why is it omitting out details which does not fit in with the view that they appear to want to project? Is this that the reporters are not filing the reports correctly (which i dont think is the case)? Or is this the editorial directions are making some folks to edit out "unimportant" details?

There are lots of questions. Few answers. 

Media has a right to ask questions of Mayor Ford. But what about the media? Dont they have a few questions that they need to answer as well?




 

Guilty - until proven otherwise

Toronto's Mayor Ford has been pronounced guilty - at least in the court of public opinion. He is guilty of smoking crack in an alleged video, which 3 people have alleged to have seen, there are also many sources, all nameless, who have claimed about various illegal acts that he has committed. Ford's biggest problem appears to be that he has not come out an outrightedly denied these allegations. He is tippy toeing around them. But is this really fair to him? Also, what interest does it serve the city of Toronto and its resident to prove or disprove whether or not he has smoked cocaine? Will the taxes increase/decrease because of it? Will there be a change in the level of service that Torontonians receive change because of it?

Come to think of it, is there not two sets of rules here? I mean what if you go out an allege that your neighbor has committed a serious crime but when asked for proof you respond that you are protecting your sources and will not reveal them. What will happen if you dont share the names of your sources, yet you keep on reminding everyone that the illegal act has actually been committed and everyone can take their word for it. I bet that this will land in a court of law and you will be penalized severely - as should be the case. Yet the media appears to be free from providing the burden of proof. They do not have to answer question as to why they didnt buy the alleged video first before making the allegation - after all the video was up for sale, at least according to them. 

Another major concern with the Ford's case is that the amount of reporters who appear to have been assigned on Ford's file by the Toronto Star and now the Globe and Mail. Imagine that there are people who are getting paid to do nothing else but to come to work to sift through data, past records, his personal files, call his associates. In short do whatever that they have to, to get some flaw (or dirt, as it is called) on him. I guess politicians are fair game but his case is not similar to that of Senator Duffy or Senator Wallin who have helped themselves to some  (ok lots of) free money by cheating the system and have not got caught red handed. This is a guy who did, sorry alleged to have done something, which the city of Toronto nor its residents will be affected.

This is neither fair nor right.

What a wonderful world

As I was cycling through the Petticoat Creek’s wooded area with my son, I could not help but think that this is truly a wonderful world. The lake next to us and the sounds of the waves crashing into the rocks, was the most melodious of music. The wind gushing through causing the trees laden with the heavily leafed branches, dancing to stay straight. It was a sight to behold. And as if it was not enough, to top it off, we came across a couple of deer who were prancing around, perhaps to catch a glimpse of the heavenly scene.

Oh what a wonderful world.

Lets face it - We like neagtivity

Negative ads work in political arena. It is not a hypothesis. It is a fact. You don't have to look far - Prime Minister Harper has won 3 successive federal elections due to it. In all these elections, he didn't focus on what he will do but trained his guns on his opponent. Often times the stuff he was bringing up was all far fetched fabrications, yet he still won.

Liberal's BC win is another example of why negative campaigning works

Toronto Star's vendetta against Toronto Mayor and Councillor Fords is also leveraging our baser instincts.

But lets not look at the political arena how about our private households or the social scene at the office. Does not gossiping always find attentive ears.

Perhaps the reason why gossiping is so popular, negative political ads are so effective and malicious news stories sell is because we as humans are creatures focusing on flaws. If there would have been more people focusing on the positives, we should be seeing more positive ads. If we would focus on facts, then rumors will not be finding any legs to travel (or wings to fly). What is it in us that tends to always get attracted to the meanest instincts. Mind you we always condemn it. We always complain that (other) people should stop doing it. But this holier than thou attitude is yet another example that we are primarily attracted to negative or base emotions

Fords and the media

The media is continuing to train its guns on the Fords. With his weight problems, his "intellectual" style and interesting choice of words and often times, his actions, he remains an interesting target for the media. After all, the news has to sell. For the news to sell, it has to be entertaining. And Mayor Ford provides ideal recipe for the media.

Toronto Star has set aside at least 2 full time reporters on Ford. Globe and Mail also has followed suit. Their job description is simple. Get as much dirt as possible on Ford. These journalists appear to be very well thorough and also honest. When Torontonians think about the Star, they equate it to the neatly dressed, kind and thoroughly factual, honest journalists that these guys are. The reality is that it is not about these journalists. It is about the full might of the multi millon dollar industry.

After all, why are these journalists asked to dig up stuff on the Fords. What difference does it matter what Fords have done decades ago. It will have no impact whatsoever in the lives of the Toronotonians. What should count is the politics and the effectiveness now. 

Mayor is claiming to be saving the city $65 M. Lets challenge him on that. Make sure that he is counting it correctly. Identify other areas that he should be reducing. Also, lets not forget to congratulate him for championing this.

Best Uses of Time

Best uses of your time:

• Attempting different things that hardly anyone else is doing
• Utilizing books to educate yourself
• Developing intellectual property
• Meditating and exercising
• Laughing and being playful

Those who make us proud

There are people that you hear about who are welfare bums. Who choose to enjoy the handouts. And then there are those that work really really hard - day in and day out, just to make ends meet. Yet refusing a handout. At times even refusing a handup. 

We all have come across those individuals. Who smile in the face of adversity. Who always respond with, "Very Well, thank you", each and every time they get asked about their well being. They are proud to not bore you with the tales of their ill fortunes.  Life may have thrown everything at that them, but they carry their burden with a smile, with their head held high. They are amazing human beings. 

I am proud to know them.

Is Doug Ford right about the media?

Doug Ford vigorously defended himself against the allegations by the Globe and Mail of him being a drug dealer. He trained his guns on the media. His point was simple. They (ie the media) is out to get him and his family because the Fords are standing up to the special interests groups. Is he right?

He appears to be.

It is interesting to see that both the centrist and left wing media has launched a full scale attack on the Fords' character. The attacks have been horrendous.They included a range of allegations, some as serious as sexual assault and drug trafficking. None of these allegations have been proven. In fact for drug use and trafficking, even the sources of these allegations have not been revealed. In other words, the Torontonians are expected to take the word of the journalists at face value. The rationale being, what do these journalists have to gain by lying. After all, these are professionals and wont jeopardize their careers by fabricating facts.

The argument of journalistic integrity makes sense. However the bigger issue is that what is the relevance of what Fords are doing in their private lives to their political activities. More importantly, why has the media decided to unleash their enormous  resources and asked the journalists to go and fetch any dirt that they can dig up about the Fords. Yes they are running the city but so are many others who are leading many other important organizations (I am thinking of the Premiers of the various provinces, the Ministers, the Prime Minister etc). Why are the Fords so news worthy?

I think Doug Ford has a point when he says that the Fords are being unfairly treated by the media.

I have not been a supporter of the Fords (due to their political views). But they should be given the respect and people, specially the media, needs to focus on their political agenda. To be fair to the Fords, that is what they have been asking for.

Cricket and the culture of greed

"No point cancelling the tournament" screamed a headline in one of the popular cricket website. This of course after fresh arrests made by the police on May 24. This time reaching the upper echelon of the IPL masterminds and managers.

For those who dont know, IPL stands for India Premier League. It is a professional organization in the world of Cricket. For those living in Europe you can think of it as the FA cup and for those living in North America, it is somewhat similar to the NHL or MLB. It involves huge amounts of money and huge contracts for the players. More importantly, it also invites the attraction of gamblers. These gamblers are putting millions of dollars worth of bets on various facets of the game eg runs being scored, who scores them, who does not score, including the results of the game. The gamblers are willing to go the distance and pay money to players for not performing in certain segments of the game. In other words they, and they includes both the gamblers and the players, cheat.

There have been numerous instances of cheating which have been rumored (yet remains unproven) and also instances where the proof was so enormous that the players and now officials of the game, have been arrested. 

These cricketers have actually robbed the fans of their love of the game. Now ever time that a catch gets dropped, or someone gets out in what appears to be a soft dismissal or other things like that happens, the fans remain unsure whether it is a simple (un)lucky event or are there bigger principles at play here. 

Cricket has been around for over 100 years. It has survived many ups and downs, changes in the culture, expansion into different corners of the world, the pace of life. Yet this is one body blow that may rob it of its fan base, if it goes uncorrected.

Think to Win (or Lose)

Ottawa Senators is a fantastic hockey club. Daniel Alfredsson, the Captain of the team and a fine hockey player has contributed a lot to its success and prestige. So it was a surprise when Ottawa Senator loyalist were upset with him over his post game comments on May 22. 

Alfredsson was asked after the loss to Pittsburgh Penguins if Ottawa can win the next 3 games. They needed to do that to win the 7 game series against the Penguins. Alfredsson's response was "Probably Not".

Alfredsson's clarified later that he was telling the truth or being realistic.  

Was he doing the right thing by being realistic?

Probably not. 

In the book by Bob Skura, "How the Great Golfers Think", there is an interesting principle that Bob has talked about. It is about Positivity.

The principle is very simple. 

Just like when you search for something in Google, it fetches you the search results for that specific word(s), our mind does the same thing. You ask the question of yourself, "How I suck so much?" or "How can I be so stupid?" and the brain will faithfully and efficiently supply you with the responses to your question. It will not understand that you actually are not looking for responses for these questions but are instead are being sarcastic. If you change the question and ask "So how can I fix this?" And you will be provided with the responses for this question. It is absolutely critical that we ask the right question and talk "correctly".

As it turned out, Ottawa was "stream rolled" by the Penguins in the next game, exactly as Alfredsson predicted so realistically. 

So had Alfredsson answered the question differently, would the result have been any different? Possibly.

Harper Conservatives should thank Ford for taking the heat off them

What goes on in personal lives of politicians should remain personal (to them). At least that is the view I have. Though it is at times enticing and entertaining to peek into the personal lives of others yet we don't do it as we consider it to be impolite and unconscionable. Yet when it comes to politicians, we use a different yard stick. We have no qualms in taking our turn at the peep hole to see what is going inside their bedrooms and what are they doing at the crack houses. Instead of feeling guilty we enjoy their tales of human failings and share that with each other without any qualms, at times just to fill up dead air

After all, whatever that Clinton and Monica Lewinsky had going between them, was not affecting the lives of Americans in any tangible way. Similarly, whether or not Ford has smoked crack or not, does not affect ordinary Torontonians. 

Though I strongly hold the views about entitlement of personal freedom by politicians, I am still upset that Rob Ford is continuing to be mute about the allegations of him smoking crack. The reason is simple. It does not really affect me what he does in his spare time, ie coaching a football team, smoking crack, or being a good father to his kids. It does however affect me when his past time squabbles are affecting city business. By not speaking to the media, sneaking out of his office through back doors and playing all kinds of cat/mouse games that you can think of, this guy has turned this whole episode into a circus. He is not a politician any more but an entertainer. And this is not what he was elected to do.

Worse than him not being able to effectively run city business (because from what has been reported, he was hardly in the office in the first place even before this issue came about), he has provided a perfect get away to Prime Minister Harper and his Conservative government. And this is affecting ordinary Canadians big time. After all, $90 000 to Senator Duffy, his strange and dubious expense claims, should be the only political story at this time. Yet Ford's daily entertainment has caused that serious matter to be over shadowed.

Now the Senate corruption scandal is important. Boring yes. Entertaining, no. Important, yes. Why? Because it involved public officials (unelected politicians, be it in the PMO or in the Senate, embezzling heaps and heaps of tax payers money. Yet somehow this cant be reported because there is no air time available to discuss it.

This, to me, is the real tragedy.

Dream On

"The biggest mistake is not dreaming big dreams". This was inscribed in a message in a local elementary school of Karachi. And how true is it.

Whether it is individuals, organizations,  sports teams, enterprises or nations. As soon as the courage to dream big or make big bets die, the journey downwards start.

So how compelling is your dream? Have you thought about who your legacy? What is the one thing that you will be remembered for? Remembered by?

It all starts with a dream.

Risk Taker or Utter Fool - Part 1

So here is something interesting. Toronto's mayor Rob Ford has a weight challenge - ok to put it bluntly he is overweight, way overweight, some may call him fat. And he decided to lose a few pounds. Which is a great thing. After all, it is great for health and in the "thin and health conscious culture that we are in, it is fantastic. Loosing weight will also make him look sharper - an added bonus. So why did he become a laughing stock of Torontonians planning on losing weight? Well .... It is somewhat of an interesting story.

His worship, decided to make it a very public commitment and spectacle of him losing weight. Perhaps the idea was to inspire others to do so. Or perhaps it was a strategy to distract his opponents who were saying he is not putting in 8 hours a day. Or perhaps, he felt that it is a great idea at the time. Well, whatever the reason is. He did decide to make his weight loss a big deal (pardon the pun). He called the men and women of the press. Told them that he is going to stop the gravy train. And will do so publicly. He also told them that for those who deride him for not having a plan. He told the press folks that he has one. It is simple and yes, it is fool proof. He will weigh in every week. And these weigh ins will be very very public. All will be welcome. Including the Toronto Star and Canada's irrepressible Warrior Princess, Marg Delahunty of CBC.

Well he started of with the initial weigh in. I cant recall what it was - likely around 500 lbs (rounding off). He cancelled in the weigh in for the next week as it interfered with his scheduled stop to McDonald's for a quarter pounder for his morning snack. He did struggled through the weigh ins for 3-4 weeks - on and off. And finally decided to give up. For all his struggles, he was not any thinner, sharper or smarter than what he was when he started the public weigh ins.

Perhaps, and this is something that I dont think is his fault but his advisers',  he should have not decided to go so damn public with his weigh ins. Perhaps he should have "kicked the tires" so to speak in privacy to see if he can actually go through it. May be for a month, or at least a week, or at least by skipping a meal to see what it feels like. And more importantly if he actually can go through with it

But alas our mayor is a risk taker. Or is he ...?  

Hold off to your judgement as there is more to come

The Perfect Cure

So you are stuck in a boring conversation, are dealing with a way to get out of an awkward situation, trying to get a point across to an inattentive audience, or some other situation like that. 

Well, we have all been there.

And we have all tried different ways to "fix" this. Some with success and other times without success.

But there is a way which is sure to work all the time. It is simple. Does not require much effort.

It is sure to the most inattentive audience to start listening. It will help the boring conversation into a lively note, though no guarantee that the lively notes will continue.

That neat little trick is called laughter. If you can get the audience to find laughter in a boring situation, they are sure to tune to listen in to your point of view. You have done that before and you have also seen its success.

I read a while back that if you can cause the first 3 people you meet in the morning to laugh, then that will significantly increase the chances of you having a happy day. Sounds like it is worth the investment.

Want to give it a try?

Marathon - One step at a time

A marathon is 40 km - 26 miles if you prefer the British Imperial System. That is a lot of kilometers.  So if you are a runner and want to conquer this mountain of distance how would you do it?

There is no other way but to put one step in front of the other.

Sounds simple and straightforward? Yet how often do we look at an enormity of a task and are awed into inaction by it. In other words, the problem is the mental incapacity and not the physicality of the task itself.

In "How Great Golfers Think", Bob Skura has highlighted this mental aspect. The idea again is fairly simple. Break the task down into smaller chunk. How big is small? As big that you can wrap your mind around it. For a marathon, it may mean 8 segments of 5 km. 

Still a lot of distance, but 5 kms is definitely much more simpler than 40!

The One Thing

A colleague, who shall remain unnamed, confided, "I don't have time for anything. Too many emails. Too much to do. "

Sounds familiar. 

There is a simple way to address this challenge. The formula is to focus on things that you can include in your resume. In other words, don't just work on doing things but focus on doing things which matters. As an example, don't worry about responding to emails within 10 mins but perhaps focus on creating a process to address an important issue that the organization is facing. Help move the yardstick forward. Doing mundane tasks will not be the way to go about doing it

Come to think of it, we can apply the same principle in our personal lives. By focusing on things which matter, we can weed out the other 100s of things that we have to do but it does not matter if they really get done.

If you have not defined that One Thing that is important to you, then you may be finishing 100s of things but are not really accomplishing anything.

Do you know what that One Thing is for you?

Ideas from The Happiness Project

I liked The happiness Project. It is one of a few books which made me reflect and helped me grow. It is a good read with several interesting ideas. Following are some which I found appealing 

• take time for happiness by not making life an efficient project  Often times we rush through life. Whether it is the time when kids are getting ready for school, doing household chores, planning for an event eg birthday parties or any parties, vacation etc. It is ok to waste time and let kids and yourself "waste" time by not focusing on the task at hand. 

• we are happy when we "grow". When we buy a new car, house or get a promotion etc, we are actually growing. However after some times we get acclimatized in that environment and the happiness feeling wears off because we are not growing. Learning new things, whether it is a new language, learning to use new activities eg skating, snowboarding, roller blading etc, can actually enhance happiness as it leads to growth as long as the goals are something that we consider worthwhile

• Anticipation of a happy event creates more happiness than the actual event itself. For example, if you are planning for a vacation, you likely will have more pleasure and happiness as you go through the steps of choosing where to go, deciding about which activities to do during the vacation, even packing for the vacation then the actual event itself. In other words,dwell on the happy moments
• Just like you have more fun planning ahead for happy events, you get more currency when you reflect over it.  Happy memories bring happiness even after the event has ended. Similarly, when you think about an unhappy event, you are effectively living it again. Avoid that

• There are four stages for enjoying a happy event:

1. anticipation 
2. savoring 
3. expression
4. reflection 

Other ideas - though not really unique

• look at each day as a bonus and cherish it. Instead of taking it for granted that you have a "normal" day, consider the fact that you have got an extra day to live, enjoy

• instead of having new year resolutions for the entire year, it is better to have new year's resolution which are short term. For example instead of having 12 resolutions which you want to accomplish in a year, you will be more successful if you have 1 resolution for each month. Also make these resolutions very visible. 

The 7 mins workout

It was coincidental that I read about the 7 min workout while on the bike at the gym today. The idea is appealing - instead of spending hours to get yourself in decent healthy shape, all you need to do is spend 7 mins. Yes that's it only 7 mins! Sort of like a fast food of an exercise. And yes it is based on science.

Here it how it works:

There are 12 exercises. Each is to performed for 30 secs at high intensity. Intensity level should be 8+ on a scale of 1-10. After 30 sec, there is a 10 second of rest.

Equipment required is nothing more than a chair and a wall (to lean on). 

That's it!

NY Times has a good depiction of the exercises