IMPACT JOURNAL ISSUE 03

IMPACT impactmanagement.org

IMPACT With Greetings from IMPACT Here is our July ‘15 issue on your hands and minds. We in the e journal team, Editorial, Marketing and Technical are delighted EDITORIAL TEAM to share with our esteemed readers, Mr. N V Subbaraman subscribers and contributors that the Mr. “Kalki” V Murali IMPACT’s readership has crossed FIFTY Dr. M G Bhaskar THOUSAND mark! While on the one hand, we are happy that we are in a position to give quality articles of interest to our target readers from a panel of great scholars experienced richly in their respective fields of management , on the other hand we are immensely grateful to the learned management professionals and practioners, who are enthused and impressed with their presentations in this journal. In this issue, the readers will find four new contributors besides our regular contributors. Readers feed back inspire Designed by SRIKANTH and encourage us immensely. We have [email protected] received very encouraging response to Management jargons. We are sure with the current issue of All opinions expressed in the articles ap- IMPACT, the readership will further soar. pearing in the e-journal IMPACT, are that Wishing you all the best, we solicit your of the respective authors and the Pub- continued support till we meet through lisher or Editor of IMPACT cannot be held responsible/liable in any manner whatso- the August’15 issue. ever for any claims and/or damages. - Editorial Team impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 3 INSIDE IMPACT MANAGEMENT IN VALLUVAM PART III – N V Subbaraman................................................................................................................4 RISING FROM THE ASHES – G D SHARMA.......................................................................................................................8 READERS REVIEW................................................................................................................11 NEW WORK ENVIRONMENT – S MUTHUMALA................................................................................................................12 HOW TO COPE WITH STRESS – Dr BALASUBRAMANIYAN...............................................................................................15 ON HEALTH MANAGEMENT – LION M DESIKAN.............................................................................................................16 BOOK REVIEW – R VENUGOPAL..................................................................................................................18 MANAGEMENT MADE SIMPLE – R VENUGOPAL..................................................................................................................20 LAW OF SURVIVAL FOR THE UP COMING MANAGERS – K NANDAKUMAR.............................................................................................................22 THE LINE GAME – CLIFFORD MARTIS..........................................................................................................24 EFFECTIVE PRODUCTIVITY – N S RAMNATH...................................................................................................................26 MANAGEMENT JARGONS..................................................................................................28 HUMOR ............................................................................................................14, 17, 21, 30 impactmanagement.org

4 IMPACT MANAGEMENT IN VALLUVAM - Part III A bilingual poet, writer, trainer, translator, thinker and speaker from Chennai, Mr Subbaraman has written 36 books. His paper, “Val- luvam Inspired Mahatma Gandhi,” was approved for presentation in the Inter- national Tirukkural Conference held in Washington, USA. His translated works include Thirukkural, Bharathiyar’s Kuy- ilpattu and Ramana Maharishi’s Ak- sharamanamalai. He is connected with the publication of the Management e- journal IMPACT. Former Dy. Zonal Manager, L I C of India In the last part (IMPACT ISSUE II-JUNE 2015), we have seen the role of ‘communication’ in “Human Relationship Management”. Ul- timately it is the powerful communication that makes or mars human relationship management. We have to deal with people of different attainments, standards, culture, habits, conduct, behavior, status in life and so on and hence the manner in which we communicate goes a long way in build- ing up sustaining the human relationship. Thiruvalluvar’s recipe in that regard is not theoretical but is capable of being followed in day to day life and yields great results. impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 5 In this issue we shall take up how ‘love md;NghL ,iae;j tof;nfd;g MUaph;f;F and kindness’ is a great cementing force vd;NghL ,iae;j njhlh;G (Fws; 73) in building up happy human relation- ship and how to manage the same. Soul is encased in frame of bone Chapter 8 of Thirukkural viz md;Gilik- To taste the life of love alone. (kural 73) Loving-Kindness- deals with this aspect of “Human Relationship Management”. Just as the valuable soul goes with the body, love and life go together. md;gph;Fk; cz;Nlh milf;Fe;jho; Mh;tyh; That is to say that there cannot be a life worth Gq;fzPh; g+ry; jUk; (Fws; 71) living without love. Love is the cornerstone on which the life stands. If this is strictly taken What bolt can bar true love in fact to heart, and love is shown to all those whom The trickling tears reveal the heart. (kural 71) we come across, what else is needed to build up and manage happy human relationship? Love cannot be hidden inside; it can- not be kept under lock and key! Even md;gPDk; Mh;tk; cilik mJ<Dk; the tears that fall from the eyes of the ez;Gvd;Dk; ehlhr; rpwg;G (Fws; 74) people who are kind and loving in abun- dance will display one’s love and kindness. Love yields aspiration and thence If it is so, what else is needed in building Friendship springs in excellence. (Kural 74) up a good relationship with others in the society? “Love all” is one of the dictums to Love makes liking others; that leads be followed to ensure better relationship to ‘friendship’ the greatest gift of life. with all-good or bad, young or old, rich or Yes; love helps the practitioners to like poor, men or women, literate or illiterate! others and that in turn leads to excellent ‘friendship’. If excellent friendship is de- md;gpyhh; vy;yhk; jkf;Fhpah; md;Glahh; veloped with those with whom we have to vd;Gk; chpah; gpwh;f;F (Fws; 72) deal with professionally, domestically, or socially, nothing else is required for great- To selves belong the loveless ones, er human relationship management!!!! To others the loving e’en to bones.(kural 72) The people without love own every- thing to themselves; those with love give up even their limbs and bones to others. Yes; those who are prepared to sacrifice ev- erything including their body and soul for others, naturally endear themselves to oth- ers which is the foundation on which the big mansion of human relationship is built! impactmanagement.org

6 IMPACT md;Gw;W mkh;e;j tof;Fvd;g itafj;J ,d;Gw;whh; va;Jk; rpwg;G (Fws; 75) Boneless creatures will be affected by ; the hot sun. Similarly people without The crowning joy of home life flows love will be affected by justice – virtue. From peaceful psychic love always.(Kural 75) Since love is all powerful tool for leading a The people who are happy in the world de- happy and peaceful life, based on a happy rive that happiness from the love that they and harmonious human relationship, one bestow on others. has to learn to bestow love on all; other- Once the love is shown to all without exception, wise they will suffer like boneless creatures happiness flows out of it. Nothing else is needed unable to withstand the rays of the hot sun. to build and manage cordial human relations. mwj;jpw;f;Nf md;Grhh;G vd;g mwpahh; kwj;jpw;Fk; m/Nj Jiz (Fws; 76) Love is virtue’s friend say know-nots It helps us against evil plots. (Kural 76) Those who say love only help the virtuous do not know the reality of life. It indeed helps the valorous too to combat evils. md;gfj;J ,y;yh caph;tho;f;if td;ghw;fz; tw;wy; kuk; jsph;j;jw;W (Fws; 78) Normally people feel that love as a concept goes hand in hand with the virtuous and vir- Life bereft of love is gloom tues. In fact the same love helps the valorous Can sapless tree in desert bloom? (Kural 78) people to fight with the evils in the society. For maintaining a happy and healthy human Life without love cannot blossom with joy and relationship, we need to be cautious and happiness; surely a withered tree in a desert save ourselves from the wrath of the evils for cannot come to life again. which also love helps. Did we not see the Fa- ther of our Nation Mahatma Gandhi brought True; a man born in this world has to build up round the indomitable Britishers through his his life with love never to get dried up; if it is weapons of love and non violence? allowed to, the very purpose of his life will be lost. Love, no doubt, builds up a healthy vd;G ,yjid ntapy;Nghyf; fhANk human relationship and that is absolutely es- md;G ,ymjid mwk; (Fws; 77) sential for success in the world. Justice burns the loveless form Gwj;JWg;G vy;yhk; vtd; nra;Ak; ahf;if Like solar blaze the boneless worms. (Kural 77) mfj;JWg;G md;gp yth;f;F (Fws; 79) impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 7 The seat of life is love alone; Or beings are but skin and bones. (Kural 80) Yes the life that we live based on love alone is living; those human beings without love are nothing but simple frames of bones covered with flesh! Love is the heart that limbs must move From ‘A’ to ‘Z’ it is love that lends color to a Or vain the outer parts will prove. (Kural 79) human being and not the physical features. Again, physical body is not to be ignored and Internal virtue of love alone can make the life sufficient care and concern must be shown. noble and purposeful more than the outer parts of the body. Hence nurturing love is Yes; in the considered view of the great Saint more important and useful than taking care Thiruvalluvar, one of the greatest manage- of the limbs and all. ment experts among the philosophers the It points out the significant role love plays world of management has witnessed, it is in human relations management much more LOVE, LOVE, LOVE towards others that builds than others. Not that we can afford to be in- up great human relationship and the manage- different towards our physical appearance ment of the same leads to success in the lives and maintenance. of the practicing Managers, students and ex- ponents of management principles. md;gpd; topaJ caph;epiy m/J,yhh;f;F In the next issue we shall deal with another aspect. vd;GNjhy; Nghh;j;j clk;G (Fws; 80) TO ADVERTISE IN THIS MAGAZINE CONTACT DR M G BHASKAR 9840599888 impactmanagement.org

8 IMPACT Rising from the Ashes (How Individuals and Organisations Bounce Back) G. D. Sharma, is distinguished alumnus of the Tata Insti- tute of Social Sciences, Mumbai (TISS, 1979 Batch) with over 36 years’ experience in leading the HR function in several industry verticals, and currently HR & Organisa- tion Consultant, Trainer, Mentor & Teacher throu’ his Consulting firm, Beeline HR Advisory, based in Chennai. I was reading the story some- ing change, and the transition rience of a lifetime. time ago, of how Mr. C. K. successfully is the key. To make these mammoth Ranganathan of CavinKare Let us review a few real-life public sector undertakings converted adversities into examples, and understand (PSUs) viable, and then to un- opportunities, when, at a very how individuals and organi- leash their vast potential and early age and stage of his life, zations have overcome the unlock significant value, we he was struggling to succeed downslide, and emerged vic- had to – in business. His story also torious and positive at the • First get the ‘buying in’ of all demonstrates that it takes end. the employees down the line, more than academics to be- and lock-in the commitment come a successful entrepre- Organisation-level of the key management staff neur. A friend of mine often Change to the agenda for change. says that if it were not for pos- • Second, articulate and com- itive attitude and the zest for I was associated with the Ve- municate the ‘big picture’ of life, most of us would be lan- danta (Sterlite) Group partic- where we want to be, and guishing in our past, cowed ularly during the time when the potential that is avail- down by our woes and prob- two large public sector orga- able to be achieved in terms lems. After a trauma at the in- nizations were acquired and of volume, value, geometric dividual level or a downturn integrated with the Group. increase in productivity & in business, positive psychol- The manner in which we went profitability, and the scope ogy often prompts us to ask about the change manage- for achieving international & – “what now” or shall we say ment, and made the transi- ‘best in class’ benchmarks. “let the show go on”. Manag- tion successful was an expe- • Third, clearly define the impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 9 change (from ‘as is’ to ‘to be’), and involve the employees in workshops across the organi- zation. • Fourth, involve those who will be impacted, in devis- ing the change agenda – the Unions, the Workmen and the Executives and Managers. There was at all times, con- tinuous and consistent com- munication about what we need to do, ‘the why’ and ‘the mined in the process of iden- threatening disease, to add how’, and thus demonstrate tifying potential leaders from zing to their own life, and to the steps by which the chang- amongst the existing pool of the lives of those around us, es will be achieved in clearly talent. Many of them were are abound. To cite a case in measurable terms. quickly assigned to these point, a friend whose case • Finally measure and show- new roles with higher levels was given up after he suf- case the change outcomes, of responsibility with com- fered a cerebral hemorrhage which reflected the marked mensurate financial and per- due to a stroke 8 years ago, is improvements - in overall ef- formance rewards. An ‘also today, the epitome of positiv- ficiency, productivity, profit- ran’ business enterprise was ity and self-confidence. How ability, reduction in costs and transformed into a highly ef- did he manage this change overheads, and a much vi- ficient and profitable jugger- and re-emerge to become a brant workforce than ever in naut, staking claim to inter- role model for all of us? His the past. national benchmarks. advice – Today both these organiza- Individual-level • Nothing in life is a perma- tions are leaders in their own Change nent setback. These are op- right, and marching forward portunities for us to re-posi- gallantly. People are at the At the individual level too, we tion ourselves. core of all these changes. It pass through a depression or was these same people who face a sudden setback in the • Pull yourself out from a cri- worked in the Public Sector family or financial sphere, sis, and fight – we can all do undertaking, in its previous or in health. We would al- it. This ability to fight back is avatar, who achieved these most give up; but the zest not restricted to some indi- significant improvements on for life prompts us to fight viduals – we all have it in us. all fronts in the new environ- back. Known examples of Only fighting back will give ment. friends who have come back us success. Giving up is cow- Several ‘diamonds’ were also from a breast cancer or a life- ardice. impactmanagement.org

10 IMPACT He cites Lord Krishna - ‘he is of people challenge prompts you to noble who has fallen and got- who are positive and lively. change your way of dealing ten up after every fall’. Even being amongst young with the situation at hand. people brings back the ‘live Change your perception of At the individual level, we life king-size’ feeling. the people and circumstanc- must - 4. Have a ‘higher order es, and change our approach 1. Put positive psychol- philosophy’ attached to your and methodology to resolve. ogy to work. life – what is it that we wish Change, on the other hand, 2. Find ‘meaning’ in what to do in our life and for those is indeed a challenge that we do – in our professional or around us? Should we not threatens our mindset and personal vocation. give back to society more methodology; challenges our 3. Build a network of than what we have received? assumptions; and challenges friends whose encourage- In monetary or non-monetary our thinking & the strategies ment and involvement will terms? that arise therefrom. Life prod us on to accomplish itself, constantly and con- new things. Surrounding our- ‘Change’ and ‘Challenge’ tinuously, challenges us to selves and being in the midst are inter-changeable; every change. A One Day Seminar for HR Heads, Professionals and Practioners Innovative HR Strategies in Managing Gen-Y Organized by IMPACT On 29th July, Wednesday, 2015 at J.P.Hotels, Koyambedu, Chennai. Time: 9.30am – 5.30pm Leading HR Heads from Media, Infrastructure, Manufacturing & IT Sectors will further enrich your knowledge. For Details please visit our website: www.impactmanagement.org for the Brochure. or Contact IMPACT : +91 98405 99888 / 044-23636363 or Email: [email protected] and request for the details about the Seminar. Look forward to your Lively Presence. impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 11 READERS REVIEW Read Online version of Impact and found it is excellent in presentation and content . It is indeed a great milestone of year 2015 !! Congratulations and Best Wishes Arul Varman Sir, Received your e-Journal -IMPACT. Lot of thanks for the same. My hearty congratulations; Thanks and Regards, Dr.M.Ravikumar M.A.M.B.A.M.PHIL,PH.D,PGDSM& HOS.M., Asst.Prof,BBA Dept,Sir Theagaraya College,Chennai 21., Seen Impact May and June issues. Both were brought out very well. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TEAM,. Lion M. DESIKAN I took a good look of the June issue of IMPACT. I read with keen interest the article about selling. The heading of this article “If you are selling, don’t try to sell,” caught my immediate attention and compelled me to read it. This only underlines the importance of a catchy headline which can make people sit up and arouse their interest. The layout and design of this issue have come out very well. The photos chosen for each article were apt and had pleasant, reader-friendly colours and were not cluttered in the pages. Overall, the colour scheme for the various columns had an artistic feel. I feel the contents page can have a different look for the next issue; that is, instead of following the same pattern of flowing the content in boxes, a new design can be thought of. My best wishes to you for your future endeavours. M V KAUSSHIK Your IMPACT is FANTASTIC Sir. All the best! Elizabeth Kurian ‘Mona’ Hyderabad Hearty congrats on this excellent initiative- with the profound articles on Management & Valluvum, the Management key words and their meanings and incisive pieces from successful entrepreneurs- not to mention about the humorous articles from Mr C Martis. I wish you success in all your endeavours. R.Venugopal. Executive Director (Retired), Life Insurance Corporation of India Including Humour - very good idea - helps retaining reader`s interest Sure to have great impact in management circles Ramani K.R., Hyderabad Kudos to the team behind this edition. I enjoyed reading every article. Quite useful& informative. Keep it up ! Best Regards, Raghavan, RKM alumini group. impactmanagement.org

12 IMPACT New Work Environment MUTHU MALA, Chennai Ms. Muthumala S, heads the human resource function for Congruent Solutions Private Limited. In this role, she is re- sponsible for HR strategy formulation and execution. With about 17 years of experience in HR, Mala has performed a wide variety of operational as well as strategic roles encom- passing Talent Acquisition, Talent Management and Talent Development functions. She topped the university in her Master’s in Social Work which she pursued after completing her bachelor’s degree in business administration. Mala is a frequent speaker in forums like NASSCOM, CII, MSME etc.. An office bearer and an active member of the Toastmasters International, she is also a guest faculty in few colleges at Chennai. Today the conversations are vice to ‘productivization’ or bid as against T&M model to around driving corporate platform anchored outcome reduce the cost of delivery growth in the reset economy. based service models. Cloud by juniorizing the delivery Organizations banking on lin- based BPaaS or SaaS seems organization (Using entry ear business growth based to be the way of the future. level trainees/professionals on headcount are facing Companies are increasingly as against experienced high challenges around increas- trying to reduce their infra- cost resources). The business ing employee costs in India. structure cost and demand- models have moved beyond Cost-arbitrage is no long the ing business transformation pure body shopping to T&M differentiator as alternative value from their vendors. assignments to fixed fee ser- outsourcing destinations are The linkage between revenue vices. We are talking about being identified. Hence the and number of resources in- new delivery models such as need for the hour is para- volved may shortly cease to outcome based pricing, risk- digm shift towards nonlin- exist. Even in the traditional reward pricing models. ear growth pattern. There services model, organiza- Increase in headcount is no is a push to shift from ser- tions are pushing for fixed more relevant to portray the impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 13 health of the industry which increasingly work across mul- To establish Value propo- was the case earlier. Non tiple time zones, cultures and sition to the customer it is linear growth also started customer segments. Increase imperative that work force identifying new technology in Knowledge work is more needs to be highly innovative, trends such as mobility, social becoming - Introduction of should have domain knowl- media, big data and analyt- “big data” to the work place edge. We live in an era where ics which is transforming the has led to more automation/ customers know more than entire business operations. outsourcing – work in general the manufacturer because of Organizations that success- has become more data and technology. We have people fully manage the cost-growth information intensive, less working in different teams, trade off significantly outper- routine and more “excep- levels, different locations form. In short the corporate tions” based. Employees are and sometimes even differ- bottom line depends on get- expected to make decisions. ent functions. Biggest shift is ting more efficiency out of Work is more interdependent that work is done horizontal- the workforce. Moving up the and organizations have be- ly than vertically. Employees value chain would require come more matrixes based work with multiple managers. 1. in-depth understanding of - Share more responsibility, Individual contribution is no customers’ business and ac- accountability and author- longer sufficient. Employees cess to the best practices & ity for more work outcomes. must be effective working processes of that industry “Do more with less and be with and through others. The 2. consulting skills to advo- the differentiator” is the millennial difference is creat- cate and facilitate business mantra of non linear growth. ing a change in how work gets process changes This means organization done, as they work more in According to NASSCOM, IT needs to transform itself to teams and use more technol- sector has achieved annual high performance work cul- ogy, which is the need for the revenue growth of 14% with ture. Widespread agreement day. The millennial employee just 9% yearly rise in head- is that organizations need is interested in feedback on count, on an average. break through employee per- his or her performance. They Economic outlook is cloudier formance want to know whether they than ever. In the last 2 years global GDP (Gross Domes- tic Product) has shrunk by 1.2%. One of the important aspects of new work environ- ment is frequent, significant organization change. Wide- spread changes in organiza- tion environment have led to fundamental changes in how work gets done. Employees impactmanagement.org

14 IMPACT have done a good job or not, Rising salary costs, cost of Companies need to do more “now”. Not only about the hiring and retention issues is to build and upgrade skills timing and frequency but steadily applying pressure on and manage bench. Identify the way in which feedback is profitability. Companies need disengaged employees which framed and delivered – Feed- to do more to manage cost but will have impact on quality of back needs to be clear, spe- at the same time be an attrac- output and customer satis- cific and effective tive employer. Developing a faction. Each organization’s robust leadership pipeline is Performance management 1. Employee engagement a challenge. Booming market program must be designed drivers vary with Geny, X and for talent is stretching people and implemented with the baby boomers manager’s ability to build and unique characteristics of the 2. Have multiple strate- retain top talent. Consistent organization in mind. What gies – Need to have different “benchmarking” and “Best works for one organization’s strategies for baby boomers, Practices” reference are forc- employees may not work Xers and millennial. ing to follow one another well in a different organiza- 360 degree Feedback which with limited alignment one’s tion. However there are ba- focuses on holistic perfor- requirement and strategy. sic principles to follow, when mance and Crowd source Complex skill requirements how these elements will be feedback lends itself to take and saturating talent catch- used to support the business feedback from everyone who ments are testing the depth strategy and meet organiza- works with an employee. of the talent pool tion goals. impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 15 How to cope with stress? Dr. K. Balasubramanian – Founder and CEO of Vision Unlimited. He is a PhD in Psychology & Post Graduate Diploma in Training & De- velopment. His name has been appearing in the popular people of Tamil Nadu Directory for the past 25 years. How about involving all of the family in your weekend of stress relief? A picnic is a great day out for all of the family. Zoos, theme parks, the beach, the lakes are places all of the family will enjoy but you zons and will keep life fresh of the main reasons for their don’t have to venture afar to and interesting as well as success. enjoy a picnic. helping to relieve stress. Try it, I have and it is a great You could enjoy a picnic in Why not spend a cozy night way to bust stress and im- the comfort of your garden, indoors with your lover and prove your relationship. maybe even fire up the bar- cook a special dinner? A Take a timeout and spend a becue while you’re at it? Your great idea is to try different day or two completely away picnics, your call, just make cuisines - be as exotic as you from the firing line. sure all the families are in- dare! Go somewhere tranquil, volved in preparing the food This is time for indulging somewhere you can take so they feel part of it. your relationship so leave walks or cycle rides to take Why not take full advantage the stressful stuff like work in the scenery and immerse of the free time the week- elsewhere. yourself in the natural beauty end brings by doing some- Make the effort to dress for of the place. Lakes, a beach, a thing new? You could visit a dinner and have candles and park, the countryside - what- new town or village, a park, a relaxing music in the back- ever you enjoy. Just leave museum, or even a new res- ground to create a nice ambi- your cares and worries be- taurant or a coffee shop. You ence. hind and enjoy the peace could go watch some sport, I know one couple who’ve and tranquility. or even take up a new sport done this at least once a You can use these tips to help or hobby. month for more than 30 you make the most of your This will broaden your hori- years and they say it’s one weekends and relieve stress. impactmanagement.org

16 IMPACT Lion M. DESIKAN is a for- ON HEALTH mer District Chairman and Life Member, Lions Club Interna- MANAGEMENT tional, District 324A. He is a social activist and literary lover. (1) How to determine Protein need. One can get enough Protein from a vegetarian diet if he/she eats a wide variety of VEGETABLES. For example Broccoli has 35% protein. To find out one’s requirement of protein: (a) Divide body weight by 2.2 this is one’s weight in Kgs. (b) Then multiply this No. by 0.8. Here is an example; For a 120 lb. person 120 X 2.2 = 54.5 Kgs. X o.8 = 43.6 grams. This person needs 44 grams of protein per day. (2) Given below is the various blood grouping and nature of the people with each of the group’ A+ - ATTRACTIVE A - SELFISH B + - SENSITIVE B - KIND AB+ - BEAUTIFUL AB - INNOCENT O+ - LOVELY O - COMEDY (3). KNOWLEDGE AND TIMBER SHOULD NOT BE MUCH USED TILL THEY ARE SEASONED. An apple a day, KEEPS…………………………… Apple is very beneficial to promote skill health. Apple exfoliates and has antioxidant properties. Apple is rich in vitamins A, B & C and feeds the skin. Apple makes a good face pack for those with open pores on the skin. Apple contains abundant amount of collagen & elastic. S. A. D As many as 20% of Americans suffer from S.A.D (Seasonal Active Disorder) each winter. Symptoms include sadness, fatigue, even depression as sunlight becomes less frequent. The cheapest and best invasive treatment for S. A. D. is regular use of full spectrum light impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 17 bulbs or light box. It is also helpful to get out door when the sun comes out. SUN STROKE RISKS. Researchers at Kyoto University developed a simple 20 seconds test to determine stroke risk. Those in the study who had difficulty holding a WERRIOR II YOGA POSE for 20 second were shown to have a much higher risk of stroke or to have already had a minor stroke. MEDICINE; IMITINEF MERCLET - cures Blood Cancer. Supplements for recovery of LUNG CANCER; Your body makes vitiamin D from sunrays. Researchers have found that those who had their lung cancer surgery in the summer and had high levels of vitamin D - the sun shine vitamin d- through diet and supplements were more likely to be active for five years later. The RDA from vitamin d is 400 mg. impactmanagement.org

18 IMPACT Book Review THE FOUR AGREEMENTS by DON MIGUEL RUIZ Reviewed by Mr R.Venugopal, Executive Director (Retd) LIC of India & Professor NIA Pune. The Four Agreements is a practical guide to personal freedom written by Mr Don Miguel Ruiz, published by Amber- Allen Publishing, Inc. San Rafael, California. The four Agreements are: impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 19 Be Impeccable with your of communication. We make it? etc”. words: false promises and use angry This happens because nor- Speak with integrity and say words and indulge in gossip. mally we see what we want to what you mean and not in- Gossip is like a computer vi- see in others and hear what dulge in gossip. rus. we wish to hear. As children, we obey our Human beings are the only Always do your best parents, elders and teachers species created by God who This is the 4th Agreement. because we have the fear of can speak- let us use this gift You will avoid self-abuse, punishment as well as rejec- judiciously. self-judgment and regret. tion. We want to be accepted Your best is not constant- it and we become Mamma’s Don’t take anything per- changes every hour, every beliefs and Papas’ beliefs. In sonally day. short, we are domesticated. This is the second Agree- Do your best without expect- Hence when we want to de- ment- When you are immune ing a reward. velop our own beliefs, we are to the opinions and actions of When you do your best ex- called ‘rebels’. Actually 95% others; you won’t be a victim pecting a return, then you of our beliefs are not true- of needless suffering. don’t love your action and au- they are simply handed over When somebody calls you tomatically your best will not to us for generations. foolish, it is his/her opinion be there. In short, we live for others. We and it should not affect you. have to break these shackles Otherwise you begin defend- Summing up and start living for ourselves. ing yourself and creating con- If you are impeccable with For this, the first Agreement flicts. your words, is “I will be impeccable with This applies to praise too. Be- If you don’t take anything my words”. cause often people lie. personally, Your use of Good Word is pure You live the way you like. You If you don’t make assump- magic, whereas your misuse are not responsible for the tions about others and of word is black magic. For actions of others. You are re- If you always do your best, example, Hitler’s words led sponsible only for you. You are going to have a beau- to a World War. Don’t make assumptions tiful life. When we call somebody as This is the third Agreement. You are going to control your useless, that person starts Communicate as clearly as life 100%. believing it and becomes re- possible to avoid misunder- These Four Agreements are ally useless. standing, sadness and drama. a summary of the Mastery of Impeccability is ‘without sin’. Let us ask questions and clar- Transformation. You take responsibility for ifications instead of making This book is an excellent your words. This is the cor- assumptions. guide for personal freedom rect use of energy in the di- Often we say “I assumed…… or to be followed by each and rection of truth, whereas we you should have known…….. everyone to lead a care-free have made lying as a means Or how could you think like life impactmanagement.org

20 IMPACT Management Made Simple Mr. Venugopal has served in LIC of India from 1968 to 2006 for 38 years and retired as an Executive Director. Then he served as the Pro- fessor of life insurance at the National Insurance Academy Pune for nearly 3 years. Now settled down at Bengaluru. He is a member of the Syllabus Committee for the MSc- Actuarial Science course at the Christ University as well as one of their guest faculty. He is one of the editorial consultants for the Insurance World magazine cessful manager. Take wrong (If it is an office in South In- decisions, get the experience dia, these names can be sub- and then make the right stituted by Srinivasans and decisions. The only lesson to Subramaniams.) be learnt is not making the Another management style same mistake again. But the is to form a Committee of 3 Once a journalist asked a se- irony of management is new persons, whenever there is nior manager the secret of and new situations develop, a ticklish problem where the his success. we make more new mistakes manager alone can’t take a The Manager replied “Very and learn from them. decision or he is unwilling simple….only 2 words…Right Management Varieties (afraid) to take a decision. Decisions”. Galore. One Manager was The advantage in the forma- The journalist asked “How do marking the ‘dak’ to differ- tion of the Committee is that you take Right Decisions”? ent officers like ‘Mr. Sharma’, it can be given a time frame The Manager mentioned ‘Mr.Khanna’ etc. His PA was to arrive at a decision, cer- “Again simple….only one wonder-struck ‘Sir, Great! tain to be extended once or word…Experience”. How do you know the names twice, so easily the manager The journalist persisted “Sir, of all officers so well, just in a gets a breathing time of six how did you get Experience”? week’s time of your joining in months. Here again the age- The Manager responded this office?’ He replied non- old dictum comes to his res- “Simple. Only 2 words… chalantly “my dear, what is so cue- “Time is the greatest Wrong Decisions”. great about it? After all in an Healer”. So either the prob- office like this, there will be lem would have been forgot- Simple Management definitely 3-4 Khannas and ten or some other new prob- This appears to be the ‘magi- 2-3 Sharmas, they will sort lem would have arrived so as cal mantra’ behind every suc- out their letters themselves.” to over-shadow the earlier or impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 21 saying that he could open them, whenever he had in- surmountable problems. The new manager, after a year, had some ticklish issue. Then he recalled the envelopes. He opened the first one which said “Blame your Predeces- the problem would have got follow it. This is an easy way sor”. This advice was fol- solved by itself. of escape in case there is any lowed. There is one more advantage goof-up. After some time there was a in forming a Committee. If Once the file for celebrating Union issue. The second en- the problem persists still, the Silver Jubilee of the Com- velope was opened. It men- then one smaller Committee pany went up to the manager tioned “Blame the Higher can be formed to study the for approval. Management”. So the issue first Committee’s report and Our manager in his usual way was taken to the higher of- present a gist, which means gave his decision “Put up any fice. another three months easily. precedent”. A third problem arose. The Some managers are always Three Envelope Solutions. manager had no other go but in the habit of looking for Once a Manager on his trans- to seek the help of the third precedents. If there is any fer handed over three en- envelope. It said “Now pre- earlier example, they would velopes to the successor pare 3 envelopes”! impactmanagement.org

22 IMPACT LAW OF SURVIVAL FOR THE UP-COMING MANAGERS Mr. K Nandakumar formerly vice-president in the Indian Express Group of publications for three decades. Presently, he is the founder and director of Vibes Acadamy. All managers perennially do tight- rope walking against the mutually opposing forces of corporate pressure and indifference/incompetence of their subordinates. There is no single proved formula to be a successful manager. However there are a few eternal thumb rules that may provide the required security blanket for very survival, especially of the fresh and up- coming managers. not get the warmth of his YOUR PERFECTION MAY BE *Do not think that you are support. So.. PLAY “KABADI” CONSIDERED A THREAT TO smarter than your boss. *Do not seem very perfect HIS POSITION. BOSS IS ALWAYS RIGHT always. Make mistakes once *Your immediate boss is your *Do not relax because your in a while. Give your boss’s only boss. Do not be tempted boss has just then appreciated superior ego a chance to to by-pass him to the next one of your works. He will display. higher level. Hence.. be most unpredictable. Remember that A PAT ON THE BACK IS ONLY A FEW CENTIMETERS FROM A KICK IN THE PANTS. *Do not try to be very close to the boss. The bosses are like fire. Being too close you may get accidentally burnt and being far off you may impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 23 SERIOUS ENOUGH AND DO NOT FORGET TO CARRY A BIG FILE IN YOUR HAND. ONCE A JOB IS FOULED UP ANY THING DONE TO IMPROVE IT MAKES IT WORSE. *BEWARE IF YOU ARE GOOD YOU WILL BE ASSIGNED ALL THE WORK (IF YOU ARE REALLY GOOD YOU KNOW HOW TO GET OUT OF IT). *NEVER ASK TWO QUESTIONS IN A BUSINESS LETTER. THE REPLY WILL DISCUSS THE ONE IN WHICH YOU ARE LEAST INTERESTED KEEP YOUR BOSS’S BOSS OFF ANY ONE CAN DO ANY AND WILL SAY NOTHING YOUR BACK. AMOUNT OF (ADVISORY) ABOUT THE OTHER VITAL ONE. *Better always keep some WORK PROVIDED; THEY ARE *EVERY THING CAN BE FILED written documents on your NOT THE WORK YOU ARE UNDER “MISCELLANEOUS”. table for your immediate SUPPOSED TO BE DOING. (An important theory on file grab. The anti-survival law *In the first attempt if you do management) states that.. not succeed do not try and *GETTING THE JOB DONE IS YOU WILL BE ALWAYS IDLE try again. Better quit. No use NOT AN EXCUSE FOR NOT OR DOING SOMETHING being a damn fool about it. FOLLOWING THE RULES. MARGINALLY WHEN THE BOSS *DO NOT BE INDISPENSABLE. BUT, FOLLOWING THE RULES DROPS BY YOUR DESK. IF YOU ARE NOT REPLACEABLE WOULD NOT GET THE JOB *Do not look and dress FROM YOUR CURRENT DONE. prosperous. Boss will think POSTING YOU WILL NEVER BE With so many odds working that you are being paid very PROMOTED. against the managers, the high. However the nature will *IT DOES NOT MATTER only way to make your always play against you WHAT YOU DO. IT ONLY working day pleasanter is THERE WILL INVARIABLY BE MATTERS WHAT YOU SAY SWALLOW ONE LIVE FROG, BEER CANS ROLLING IN THE (CONVINCINGLY) THAT YOU THE VERY THING IN THE FLOOR OF YOUR CAR WHEN HAVE DONE AND WHAT YOU MORNING AS BREAKFAST. THE BOSS ASKS FOR A LIFT IN SAY (CONVINCINGLY) THAT THEN COMPARITIVELY YOUR CAR. YOU ARE GOING TO DO. NOTHING WORSE THAN THIS *Give as many advices and *WHEN YOU DO NOT HAVE CAN HAPPEN FOR YOU FOR suggestions for improvements ANY WORK WALK FAST IN THE REST OF THE DAY. in other departments, those THE CORRIDOR AND LOOK WELCOME TO FIELD OF which you are not handling. WORRIED. BETTER LOOK MANAGEMENT. impactmanagement.org

24 IMPACT THE LINE GAME Mr Clifford Martis, former Executive Director Life Insurance Corporation of India, served for three and a half decades in Administration, Housing Finance and Investment. He is a prolific writer in English, Kannada and Hindi on various social subjects, humor, management, etc. His articles are being published in Women’s Era, Alive, Yogaskshema, Vinoda, etc. One day my little grandson There are many instances able for the post. Vikram drew a line on a pa- where I can put the line game If I am a bowler in a cricket per and asked me whether I in practice and think of my match, I can try to improve could make it smaller without victory or gain without be- my skill and bowl better and touching it. littling or undermining the better and not try to bowl ______________________ other person who also is in in a way which is harmful I thought deeply for a long the race. If I am standing for to the batsman. (Beamers time but could not find a so- elections I can talk of my- and bouncers they say, don’t lution to his poser. How can self and my claim for being they? Sometimes when there you make the line smaller elected instead of condemn- is an unintentional delivery without even touching it! Fi- ing or finding fault with the of that type the bowler is nally I said, “I give up”. Vikram other candidates. We often seen apologizing or making laughed and simply drew a see politicians speaking ill gestures of an apology.) longer line above his original of the other candidates or line. This naturally made the the parties to which they There is a subtle extension first line shorter. Very inter- belong. Can they not talk of of the line game. Sometimes esting I thought. themselves or their party, we are not the ones who try I myself tried this line game their achievements and their to put the other person down. with some friends and en- commitments to develop and Circumstances make the oth- joyed their reaction. But as I serve the country instead of er person unable to compete. played the game I began to talking ill of the others? Let us imagine that you are see a very important lesson Imagine that I am facing an the captain of a cricket team. in it. Vikram drew a bigger interview and the person There are one or two great line and automatically his interviewing me somehow players in the rival team. It line became longer than the points to the achievements is going to be an uphill task earlier line. He did not even of the other candidate and for you to win if those tough touch the earlier line. I need asks me why he or she should players play. Sometimes in not make the other person not be selected. I need not such situations you hear that small in order to make myself try to pick holes in the other the formidable players are big. I can try to become big or person’s C.V. I can simply say down due to an injury or some great without putting my ri- how well I am qualified and other problem. Should that vals or opponents down. how I can be considered suit- make you happy? Wouldn’t impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 25 you like to win in spite of the When we underestimate the route of putting down our ri- tough guys? There is a story enemy or the rival or the vals or competitors. of a child who told his father competitor we mentally try that he came second in the to shorten the line. Instead of I have read an interesting school race. Papa was very doing that we should give the article titled “A salute to Mr happy and gave his son a nice devil its due and think of de- Two.” The idea of this article present. Later when Papa ca- veloping our own strengths. is to show how the man who is sually asked how many boys second in the race or in other had taken part in the race the I remember a humorous an- spheres of competition drives son said, “Two” and ran away ecdote. The General Manager the winner to work harder from the scene. had come by plane which ar- and achieve higher. We can rived very early in the morn- imagine a race in which there When we discuss matters or ing. A few senior officers went are formidable runners. The argue about something we to the airport to receive him. one who wants to come first often use words like, “You The G M casually asked the must run faster and faster. don’t understand.......” Clearly officers what time they rise in In fact, much faster than the we try to say that their under- the morning. One said, 5 am one in the second position. standing ability is poorer than and another said 4.30 am and Had it not been for the chal- ours. Suppose we use better, so on. One smart chap said, lenge thrown by the man in more refined words like, “Let “Sir, I rise to the occasion.” the second position the win- me clarify my point............” This was no doubt a funny re- ner would have scored low. ply but we can see the inner Many people try to win the point where the officer did There is a touching parable in battle of life by doing vari- not try to out beat the others the Bible which has a bearing ous things which give them by stating an earlier hour. on the line game. Two men illegitimate advantage or went to the temple to pray. put their rivals to disadvan- In general, in all matters we One was rich and the other tage. We hear of quite a few can try to win, achieve, excel poor. The rich man boast- sportspeople and athletes by our own worth and abili- ed about his goodness and who take drugs. Candidates ties. We need not try to move righteous life. The poor man standing for elections get forward by pushing others or simply prayed in a very hum- their rivals kidnapped or pulling them down. No doubt ble manner. Unfortunately send goondas to beat their there is competition in the the rich man did not stop at supporters or prevent them world and only the smarter, boasting about himself. He from voting. better, more qualified person went a step further and said, must win. But the whole point “Lord, See I am not like that Another aspect of the line is, in order to win, to achieve fellow. I am .................” Jesus game is to remember the old and to excel we should work said “it is the poor man who Machiavellian maxim ‘Do not hard and practice much and will win God’s favour and not underestimate the enemy” not try to take the dubious the boastful rich man.” impactmanagement.org

26 IMPACT EFFECTIVE PRODUCTIVITY A Master of Financial Management from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Puttaparthi, Mr Ramnath is a well-known freelance journalist from Bangalore. He was earlier connected with the Economic Times and Forbes India. 1 What productive people productivity. - and focus on what’s both do? 1 Don’t just make a ‘to do list’, important and urgent. schedule your day. A CEO of a successful compo- To do lists are great. It brings 2 The second problem that nent manufacturing firm says some order and focus when To-do list doesn’t address that his customers not only you plan for the day. Put- is what’s called Parkinson’s want more, they want more ting them on paper - instead Law: for less. “They want us to ship of letting them buzz in your Tasks expand to fill the avail- more units of higher quality head - takes some stress able time. A task that might standards, faster and at lower away. Finally, when you mark take just an hour to finish, will cost. And the pressure to do each tasks as done, it gives a take two hours to finish if you more for less will only go up. lot of satisfaction. give the person as much time. Your success or failure de- But, there are a couple of There is a way around this: pends on whether you can do problems with plain vanilla Don’t just use a task list. that or not. Productivity is the To do lists. First, if the tasks Schedule your time. Give new mantra,” he says. are not prioritized, many tend yourself a deadline, and you What is true of businesses is to focus on things that are not will find that you almost al- true of individuals too. How- important, leaving little time ways manage to finish the ever, it’s true for a different for things that are. They end tasks by that time. In fact, reason. For businesses, pro- up postponing them for an- scheduling works even for ductivity is an end in itself. For other day. There are fixes to your leisure time - and by individuals higher productiv- it. You can list them according scheduling how you are go- ity means they get more done to the order of importance ing to laze around on a Sun- at workplace, and have more and ensure that you have day - or a long holiday - will time left for family and oth- finished the most important help you get the maximum er personal pursuits. Higher jobs first off. Or you can use joy out of it. productivity means they can a time management matrix - find work-life balance. dividing the tasks according 3 Dump multitasking, focus Here are five tips to increase their urgency and importance Multi-tasking, The ability impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 27 to do multiple things at the and emails. They need not laptops, tablets, smartphones same time, has an intuitive be. It’s possible to schedule and music players. Yet, before appeal to all of us. People emailing for a specific time - Steve Jobs returned to Apple who can do that - in India, and don’t let that nibble away in 1997, it was floundering, there are people who are some time even without your and on the verge of collapse. skilled in doing ten things noticing it. It’s even possible It also had a range of prod- simultaneously, and they with telephone calls. A senior ucts from printers, to cam- are called “dasavadanis”. In executive from Accenture eras to personal digital assis- some circumstances, it’s even says that he never picks up tants. After Jobs stepped in, a useful thing. Elite army of- calls till 5 pm even on his mo- he closed over 70% of those ficers are trained to do two or bile. He knows the calls data products. We might know Jobs three things at the same time is safely stored in his mobile by what he introduced with - like solving a tough problem - and he returns those calls in much fanfare - ipod, iphone, in their heads while navigat- the evening, one after anoth- ipad, MacBook Air etc. But, ing dangerous hurdles. er in one big chunk. We need he could launch these hugely However, for most people, not go that far. We can find successful products because multi tasking is the danger- our own comfort levels, and he decided not to do those ous hurdle. Texting while stick to it. other 70% products. Simi- driving, for example, is as larly, even in individual prod- dangerous as drunk driving. 4 Do a few things amazingly ucts, its success came from Shutting off all distractions is well what Jobs removed - floppy a great way to do tasks faster, disk drives from computers and better - and therefore be Today we know of Apple as and physical key boards from more productive. Among the an extremely successful com- mobile phones - as much as it top distractions during the pany, with products in four came from features he add- modern times are phone calls or five segments - desktops, ed. The lesson is simple. War- ren Buffett, one of the richest men on the earth, also fol- lowed a similar philosophy. He said he liked to stay within his circle of competence, and make a few investments in great companies rather than spread his risks by investing in a large number of average companies. The lesson from Jobs and Buffet is simple. Instead of doing 100 things which are just about average, do a few things well. impactmanagement.org

28 IMPACT 5 Focus on efforts and not re- results can be impacted by a on scoreboard, rather than on sults lot of factors beyond the con- the ball. Or, it’s like planting Ajit Jain, India-born executive trol of anyone. A very good a seed, and digging up every and one of the front runners decision might go bad, be- day to see how it’s growing. to succeed Warren Buffett cause of circumstances. And a While the score is important, at Berkshire Hathaway once very bad decision might turn and the growth is important said that he likes to work with out to be good, again, be- - focusing on that will be Buffett because he knows cause of circumstances. This counterproductive. The idea how to separate the qual- understanding helps in not is not new. It’s the same les- ity of decisions from quality only running an organization son from Bhagawad Gita: You of results. Buffett judges his well, but also in being more have the right to action, and team by the quality of the productive. Worrying about not the fruits thereof. decisions they make, and not results can be distracting. It’s What are your favorite pro- by the results. That’s because like a tennis player with eyes ductivity tips? Write to us. MANAGEMENT JARGONS 1.Deal with 4 Detailed 1 Handle and/or dispose of something in 1Provide another level to a description such a way that it may not solve and/or an- 2 Very little extra substance when the start- swer anything directly ing level is high enough 2 A postponement and/or avoidance “Send them the detailed report” “We will deal with that when the time comes” 5 Down size 2 Decisive action To fire some employees and/or reduce plant 1A change by the firm which will affect its fu- and equipment ture performance “The firm will soon down size their produc- 2 A deterministic stance tion” “This requires decisive action” 6 Drill down 3 Dehire To increase the amount of detail about a top- The firing of employees ic, the amount of additional detail is relative “We had to dehire your friend” to the starting level See: Layoff (to be seen in the later issue) “The report will drill down into the issue” impactmanagement.org

IMPACT 29 7 Drive home a point 14 Focused on 1 To emphasize 1 Give a great deal of attention to 2 Repetition used instead of additional infor- 2 The attention given by some to one of many mation things “They will drive home the point” “He is focused on the problem” 8 Effect the production 15 Follow up on 1 To reduce output 1 To check on progress at a later date 2 A reduction in output that is not desired 2 To not promise to take any corrective action “The weather may effect the production of in the future corn” “I will follow up on that” 9 Empowerment 16 Fox News 1 To give responsibility and some authority 1 Propaganda for the radical right to one or more employees. The amount of 2 NonStop Republican spin authority may not be sufficient to fulfill the 3 The religious right responsibility 4 The more conservative the better “His empowerment is over this product” 5 TV conservative political cult “No one is more conservative than Fox News” 10 Expense management 1 To limit wasteful spending 17 Free seminar 2 To keep a record of what is spent sales presentation “We must exercise more expense manage- “Come to our free seminar to learn how to ment to make a profit” buy our product” 11 Extended price 18 Fully paid moving expenses 1 A high price 1 Pay for some part of each major expense in- 2 A price that may be reduced in the future curred for employee relocation “The extended price will soon fall” 2 Pay only the minimum fees for services such as moving insurance 12 Feel good about “We offer fully paid moving expenses” 1 Optimistic 1 Investigate and learn about something 2 Can accept when very little is known before hand “You must feel good about our future” “We will respond when we get a handle on that” 13 Financial drag Expenses that are higher than desired * Jargons and Humour are taken from internet “Waste is a financial drag on us” references. impactmanagement.org

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