Right the First Time?

Right the First Time? No! Never!!

Japanese, we hear and read, have become famous for doing every thing right the first time. What with their TQM, zero defect programs, kaizen and gemba kaizen etc.

However, in many other countries, it is opposite; right the first time? No. Never. It is not even right the second time or the third time.

A friend of mine who is a business manager in one of the reputed organizations in a big city was narrating me an experience. He wanted to organize a training program for the managerial staff in his company on "productivity". For this, he was in search of a good video film on "productivity" with around 20 to 30 minutes of running time. He came to know that an organization devoting itself fully to the cause of productivity training was having such videos. He contacted the organization personally. He was put to a clerk who was supposed to show him the list of videos the organization had and also to arrange a preview of videos which my friend would select.

My friend had to sit in front of the clerk for nearly half an hour before the file containing the list of videos was traced. After the list was traced, it was found to be an old version. The clerk said, "I think that we have received some twenty more videos since then". Let me check my other records. Other records were equally difficult to locate. So, he stretched his memory and and updated that list- God alone knows how much and how accurately updated that list was!

My friend scanned through the list and selected two videos titled "Productivity" and "Productivity is Every One's Business". In the list against the titles of the videos was written the language in which narration was for the video. On checking with the clerk, he ensured that the narration for the two selected videos was in English, which is what my friend required.

Then, my friend met the officer in that organization who asked my friend to come again the next day for the preview. He instructed the clerk to ensure that at 4 PM sharp the next day everything would be in readiness for showing the videos. The clerk nodded in confirmation.

As per the program, the next day, my friend reached the productivity organization at 4 PM and met the officer. The officer asked my friend to sit down and asked, "Yes gentleman, what can I do for you? From which company you are? etc." My friend some how checked his annoyance and keeping his cool said, "I met you yesterday and you asked me to come today at 4 PM for preview of those videos, you remember?"

The officer looked amused. "Yes, yes, now I remember. I never thought that you would really be so serious about them and also be so punctual". He called the clerk and ordered him to do the needful and asked my friend to follow the clerk.

The clerk gave a big yawn first and then called his computer cum LCD operator, "Listen, show these videos to the gentleman". The operator quipped, "But how's that possible? We have already given the projection screen to ABC Company this morning only". The clerk went on, "Doesn't matter, project on the wall; after all this gentleman wants to have just a peek at them. Even if the projection on the wall is not very decent, don't worry".

Well, that's that. The operator took him to a small dingy room which was supposed to be the computer laboratory cum the projection room for LCD projector. In an almirah, the DVDs and VCDs containing the videos were kept one on other quite haphazardly. The operator took nearly twenty minutes to pull out the jackets of the DVDs on which were written the titles of the videos that my friend wanted to see. The operator connected the LCD to the computer but LCD's lamp would not light up. He started fiddling with the wires, plugs and adapters and in the process, got a mild electric shock. He smiled at my friend, "That's part of the job. This is not the first time". Finally, the LCD and computer, both started. My friend adjusted himself on to a broken stool trying himself to keep away from the open electrical wiring all around. And what did he see on the wall, a video titled, "Do it Right the First Time".

"My God, this is not the video I wanted to see", my friend said. The operator was not much disturbed though. He said, "Doesn't matter. The video you want to see must be in the jacket meant for the video "Do it Right the First Time". So, he took out the DVD from the jacket labelled "Do it Right the First time" and loaded into the computer.

This time the title that came on the screen-wall was, "Right Methods, Right Answers".

And that was the beginning of an unending research project. The operator was taking out DVDs/VCDs one by one from each jacket (right method!) and started showing their titles to my friend through projection on the wall-screen. Not a single video was kept in it's proper jacket. "Effective Executive" video was kept in "Negative Attitudes" and "Negative Attitudes" video was kept in the jacket meant for "Modern Scientific Management" and so on.

It took the operator exactly one hour before he stumbled on "Productivity". My friend, at last, took a deep breath and the operator beamed as if he had made the greatest achievement in the world.

"Yes, the title came all right- "Productivity". Only the title was in English- narration in the film that followed was in some language other than English.

Just above this dingy small computer laboratory cum LCD projector room, in the lecture hall of this productivity organization, a training program was being conducted by the same organization. The name of the program was "How to Solve the Problems Systematically?"

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

Solution to Recession is Not Throwing People from Their Jobs

Lay-off is Not Combating the Recession

Rather, it is cowardice.

Try to reason out as to who are the culprits of the world wide slow down/recession? The answer is: the decisions and actions of the people at the helm of the affairs of all kinds of organizations, companies, institutions and governments. The answer is: the greed, profiteering, irresponsible behavior towards the customers, abnormally (forced) high prices of lands/construction/buildings/houses/education/health care/all kinds of products, artificially jacked up stock prices, corruption/scams/frauds etc. It is the top management everywhere of every organization (including governments), that is the real culprit.

As an extreme statement, any Tom, Dick and Harry can run the organizations in good times. It is during bad times, they need to really run the organizations. It is then that their mettle can be tested.

Running the organization in such bad times does not mean chucking out people of the organization as the first and the easiest of all the solutions. And yet, how many organizations throw out their top management guys? Perhaps none.

The business sense will tell any fool that we need people to buy things. If you throw out a large numbers of people from their jobs, the purchasing power dips further which is one major cause of recession or slow down. Apart from that, you are putting millions of people and their families under the traumatic experiences without jobs. Families after families get uprooted when you throw them out of jobs during recession or slow down and many people have committed suicide due to the trauma of job loss and loss of earnings for the family.

Better solution will be to reduce the salaries of every one in the organizations and not lay off any one.

More salary cuts should be for the top guys of various organizations (including the ones in the governments) since their salaries are abnormally high in general and they are the ones who made horrendous mistakes and drove everyone to this disaster called recession. There have been numerous instances when despite recession and despite employees being laid off, the company top bosses distributed huge bonuses to themselves. And then, these same top bosses go to the governments (in other words, to the same public whom they are chucking out from their jobs) with the begging bowls for the bail-out money. More steep salary cuts of the top brass of the companies and moderate/reasonable salary cuts of other employees will bring down the salary costs of the organizations dramatically.

Then having achieved this, motivate all the people in the organizations to apply their minds towards further cost cutting. As a result, organizations will be in position to reduce the prices of land, construction, buildings, houses, education, health care and all kinds of products. As the prices become reasonably low and realistic and within the reach of people, they will start buying the things and investing in things. The whole resurrection will be absolutely painless.

Also, devise and implement stricter controls over the governance of the organizations (including those of external auditors and justice departments) so that the scams/frauds/corruption are brought down to minimum and ultimately eliminated.

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

Don't Hero-worship, Your Hero May Be A Zero

Don't Hero-worship, Your Hero May Be A Zero

It's no use hero-worshipping any one these days. In fact, it wasn't any different even in the days gone by.

You just don't know that your hero may be a zero after all.

There have been innumerable incidents in the past and in the present when some one whom you had put on pedestal disappointed you sooner or later. And you felt terribly cheated because all along that person was your torch bearer, your leader, guru, mentor, ideal, idol and what else?

Many of these so called great men have been hoodwinking every one but you just did not have even the slightest hint. And one fine (or is it bad) day, that great person gets exposed doing some scam or fraud, committing day light robbery and looting the public.

All along you had been idolizing your hero for having built up a great empire or a great business or for holding a very high position in a high office. You looked at his success and got mesmerized. He was in the newspapers, on TV, on the net and every where you can think of, every second of every minute. The media and along with the media, you also went ga-ga over his professional and personal achievements. But after getting exposed, the same media painted him in mud and you started realizing that his professional and personal success were a big fraud and scam. By now you know that his personal wealth is all stolen money; your own money, the public money he has so smartly snatched away from you under your very nose.

I do not wish to dirty my hands by writing the names of such thousands of hero-zeros of the world but one can always do it by referring to the archives. And millions of people all over the world used to rave about these people in superlatives until these people were caught red handed doing horrible activities.

Lesson to learn: don't hero worship any one; all you may know, some other day, is that your hero is actually a big zero. After all, every one is made up of clay finally. Don't get awed by any one.

On the other hand, believe in yourself. Believe that you are a complete entity in yourself. Live life as per your own values making sure that they are correct in every way and yet, do learn from various people and circumstances, wisely. But, definitely, you don't need to copy or imitate any flashy soul (generally hyped by the media) who may in fact be a big bad wolf in disguise.

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

Massacre of Customer Service

Murder and Death of Customer Service

Did you ever experience good customer service any where, by any one, any time?

Who so ever says "yes" to this question must be hallucinating. Frankly, I always desired for it but was hopelessly searching for it till lately.

And yesterday, there was the final blow- the customer service was finally murdered and died a glorious death. For me, at least.

I was to cancel my credit card with one of the credit card companies. I decided about doing so, because the (useless) credit card company charges me credit card renewal annual fees. I now believe that in fact, rather than charging me fee for that plastic piece, they should pay me annually because I make money for them. So, I got philosophically aroused yesterday, finally. I picked up my land line phone (I still trust the land line phone since I get a dial tone there, it works without need to charge it at all unlike it's younger brother "cell" who just stops working and becomes useless if I forget to charge, it works without electricity or power, it does not send me prompts like "network is not available", the voice still sounds like that of a human being on both sides of phone- does not break or does not feel like that of robots or ET etc).

It was one most nightmarish experience, telephoning that credit card company's Help Line or BPO or Call Center or Customer Care Center (is there any other nomenclature?)- what so ever fancy names they give these days for "not providing the customer service" from the real service professionals of the company. The companies have ganged against us poor customers and have totally stopped us from directly dealing with the company's own customer service experts. However, when the company wanted to sell me it's goods and services, every Tom, Dick and Harry of the company was talking to me personally to palm off their products to me at a huge price, as always. Every one from CEO of the company to the salesman of the company directly talked to me, was so sweet, entertained me and finally fooled me in buying things from them with lots of talk of customer service also. In the excitement of buying, I forgot to ask them as to whom to contact for after sales service and they never told.

Well, let me get back to this horrendous telephonic experience with that call center. First, it took me several hours to figure out which telephone number to call for getting in touch with the customer service guys. Once I got the number, I dialled it again and again but it was engaged. It took me another half hour to finally get a ring on the other side. I thought that some one would warmly welcome me personally. But all I got was a recorded human voice, painfully professional in style and accent. I would have been happier being greeted by a live human being, howsoever plain. It totally put me off. Then, it (the recorded voice) rattled out some 8 or 9 options on what am I supposed to do as the next step- like it said, "press button 1 for this, press 2 for that and press 3 for something else and 5 for............and 9 for customer service executive". Since I forgot everything that was rattled out by the time I came to know about the use of number 9, I decided to press 9 in desperation.

In the mean time, I was dreaming that with within next two to three minutes I would be finishing my business with them and could concentrate on my own business. But that was not to be.

I heard another recorded voice saying that I should punch the credit card number using telephone keys. These days I get terribly confused with numbers. There are hundred of numbers with me: telephone numbers, credit card numbers, debit card numbers, passport number, income tax card number, bank account numbers, id card numbers, ATM card numbers, zip codes, complaints registration numbers and more numbers and yet more numbers. And all of them are miles long. Yet, with great difficulty I carefully pulled out the right credit card and punched its mile long number into the phone.

That was not sufficient. Another recorded voice asked me to punch my date of birth and zip code. I always tend to forget these two things. I did punch those two numbers too, after referring to my ready reckoner of numbers, which I always keep on my person these days.

Now having done this Himalayan task of punching endless numbers, I was looking forward to meet my dear customer service executive (of that call center, surely not of the original company that sold me the credit card so sweetly). To my shock, the next recorded voice announced that all of their customer service executives were busy with other calls (this is because they recruit lots less people than are really required to provide prompt reply over the phones and the technology is dismally inadequate and incompetent too). The recorded voice also said, "It will take 16 minutes 23 seconds before a customer service executive comes on line for you". I almost started admiring the exact prediction about the wait period. What technology!! But soon reminded myself, "Don't get drifted away from your original mission of sorting out your own problem".

During this 16 minutes and 23 seconds wait, I was compulsorily bombarded into my ear all sorts of advertisements and announcements of the company shamelessly. We make out so much about the spams on the Internet unnecessarily when here I was receiving spams after spams into my ear (same things happens to me on the 150 channels of television every five minutes when I am showered mercilessly all spam ads and same thing happens in the news papers and through the postal direct mailers etc). The recoded voices also suggested, "Why don't you send an email to us about your complaint etc". I thought that if I take the course of email to get my problem addressed, I would end up not solving my problem sine die. So I hanged on.

Finally, 16 minutes 23 seconds elapsed. That to me, looked like a few years literally. Now came the voice of my dear customer service executive, "I am so & so and what can I do for you sir?" I knew that it was her fake name and she was faking on her courtesies too. It felt as if she was reading directly from the manual that was given to her. Any way, that is none of my business.

So I explained to her that no other credit card company charges the annual renewal fees for credit cards and so, you should not do it too. I am your customer for past many years and I would appreciate if you fall in line with the current practices. I was expecting that she would reply, "Let me check up what can I do for you in this respect" and was expecting to hear, "It's OK, we won't charge you that fee here onwards. Thanks for being our customer". On the contrary, I heard her saying, "Sorry, that's our company policy. you will have to pay the renewal fees". I was not expecting this and so got a bit worked up and threatened to cancel my account with them and she happily replied, "OK, will cancel your credit card account with us. But I need your wife to talk to me since yours is only an add-on card and your wife is the first card holder". I assured her that it is perfectly OK with her to cancel the card. She has already instructed about it to me and she has her concurrence. The customer service executive won't buzz and demanded that my wife be brought on the phone.

I just could not bring my wife over the phone that time since she had gone out of home for some work and so was not present there, then. I explained the customer service executive about this and requested to cancel the account; after all it's the same thing whether my wife tells her or I tell her. Additionally, my credentials were also already checked by making me punch so many endless numbers on the phone machine. And I told her about my plight in getting through to her after crossing few thousand hurdles over the phone. She showed no pity on me. She was not willing to listen to me any more and in absolute finality declared , "If you have to cancel this account, ask your wife to speak with us."

Now, I shudder at the thought of my wife going through the same appalling experience that I had just gone through.

That day I mourned the demise of customer service.

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

Be Tidy and Get Back Your Lost One Third of Life

Most people must be wondering as to how can one get back so many lost years of one's life for better use. We have done some work out for you. Read:

Suppose you live for 90 years (We pray that you should live for ever. We took 90 years life span merely for ease of calculations).

Of 90 years, one uses about 8 hours per day in sleeping (and that you must do for good health). So, you spend approximately one third of your entire life in sleeping i.e. 30 years.

Left with you are: 60 years when you are awake.

Now recall your every day routine from the time you wake up till you go to sleep. It is full of one activity i.e. searching. Searching everything- searching towel, clothes, shoes, spectacles, vehicle keys, office keys, identity card, papers, data, information, files, telephone numbers and hundreds of other things.

Researches have shown that on an average, an OK (or so-so) tidy and lukewarmly (dis)organized person (not the real tidy and organized person) wastes some 30% of his available waking time in searching for all kinds of things because he cannot find things in place and takes lots of time locating and retrieving them. You will agree that a large number of people come in this category.

So 30% of available 60 years of life go phat in air without really being put to any good use (searching things is definitely not a good use of time). That's precious some 20 years of life.

Imagine losing big 20 years of life in a non-value adding activity called searching because of not being tidy and organized.

Lesson: Get tidy. Get organized- place for everything and everything in place and recover your otherwise lost 20 long years of life for doing more purposeful activities.

Good luck!!

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

Fundamentals That Should Be Strictly Followed ALL the Times to Avert Global Recession

On November 19, 2008, we published a post titled:

When The Fundamentals Are Massacred, Global Recession Is Born

Sine then, we received a large number of requests to suggest as to what those fundamentals could be. We give below some of them. If all kinds of organizations and people in general follow them all the times (even in good times), recession can be eliminated, averted and tackled.

• No one should try to exploit the general public in any way.
• No one should try to exploit the customers in any way.
• Prices of lands, buildings, goods and services (particularly education and health care) as well as share (stock) prices should not be artificially inflated. If need be, there should be a non-corrupt state control over the prices of land, houses, essential food stuff, health care and education.
• Buyers should not take loans to buy the things needed by them. They should try to buy what they can afford without taking loans. If at all they wish to take some loans, the loan amount should be absolute minimum which they can return very easily within their income levels.
• Propelling the economy by way of promoting easy and unsubstantiated loans to individuals and corporations by any financial institution or government is never the sound and lasting way of bringing up economy.
• Jacking up the motivation among people and corporations for purchases/demands of goods and services artificially and in un-natural ways will never build up strong permanent economy.
• Profit margins should not be draconically out of proportions.
• Prices of goods should be an outcome of free economy based on sound principles of supply and demand and healthy competition and should not be an outcome of lobbying and cartels (there should be a strict curb on it by the law).
• Corruption of various kinds in corporate- public and private sectors and governments should be eliminated. Corrupt people at all the levels should be severely punished.
• Real competent (competence includes ethics obviously) people should be put at the helm of affairs of various important and vital organizations like government, banks, financial institutions, life and general insurance companies and even in the corporate- industrial and business sectors etc.
• The organizations should be run at the highest effectiveness and efficiency levels all the time.
• All kinds of non-value adding expenses should be controlled; cost management should be at its peak all the time.
• The salaries, perquisites and profit sharing percentages of people particularly, the promoters of companies, CEOs, directors and other top/senior managers of various organizations, politicians, ministers and top/senior bureaucrats should be decided in proportion, based on their likely long term as well as short term contributions and not out of their greed.
• The bonuses/profit sharing, particularly to the top brass of all the organizations of any type and even to the other employees, should not be distributed as cash but can be given in the form of the shares of that organization and there must be some controls over the period (number of years) during which they can not be sold/traded. It will put responsibility on the top brass to look after the health of the companies they run on a longer term basis.
• Rather than removing the people from their jobs in the times of down-trends of the organizations under the notorious garb of downsizing and right sizing, the salaries of the people particularly at the levels where they are paid astronomically high salaries in a lop- sided manner should be curtailed. Thus, people will not be out of employment and this will retain the purchasing power in the system at reasonably stable and good levels so as not to upset the economy and create recession.

There may be some more fundamentals which are not listed here. Readers are requested to add them in the comments column of this write-up.

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

Do the Countries Really Need Politicians and Politics?

Do the Countries Really Need Politicians and Politics?

This is an important question to answer in today's times.

Most democracies are still following the King/Queen model even after adopting democracy. The elected politicians start behaving like kings/queens. They literally start acting like lords. Do we really need such people with "politics" as their main or only competency?

Or do we need people with other competencies that are needed by any nation and it's people who know how to manage various aspects of science, technology, economy, development, people, education, employment, progress, health, environment, discipline and peace.

The candidates who wish to offer their services and expertise as a part of the institution called "government" should possess these kinds of competencies, education and experience. The election authorities should have a body of known and proven experts in these fields and they should screen out and reject the candidates who do not possess the right competencies, education and experience.

The candidates who stand good as per these criteria should only be allowed to present themselves for getting elected in the government. The highest posts in each department should not be that of a "political minister" but should be like that of CEOs, departmental heads etc.

With this type of model, the nations will function better.

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

When The Fundamentals Are Massacred, Global Recession Is Born

Fundamentals Slaughtered: Global Recession (2008) Is The Outcome

Wrong exploiting practices bordering on cheating the general public led by the ever increasing greed adopted by the corporations, the industrialists, directors of the board of companies, CEOs, promoters of businesses, banks and bankers, financial institutions, builders and property dealers, the governments, politicians and bureaucrats, life and other insurance companies, credit card joints and value-flouting professionals have all finally culminated in the dangerous world wide recession (2008).

And the funniest part is, they are all asking for help from the governments who in fact collect the money, in the form of taxes from the very public (the gullible public) who are ultimately the suckers, the same very people who have been duped by the recession. So, the culprits are begging for their existence from the same very people whom they have looted in the first place. Where from this public who is losing their earnings and jobs in millions will pay taxes to the governments and where from the governments will pay these losing corporations?

Utter paradox and contradictions!! It's a full foul circle or more correctly put, negatively increasing spiral- damn difficult to break in. Only way to break in it and cut into it to convert it into a positively increasing spiral is: Start following the FUNDAMENTALS and Don't Fool With.

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

What They Don't Teach You In Best of Schools and Families

Life is no bed of roses automatically. Yet many schools, colleges, institutions, governments and families show only the easier side of life and how the emerging global, political, economical environment are going to help large population of people on earth. Many people take it as gospel truth literally and think that their lot will be taken care of by the system.

In real life, this is not true. despite all the optimism and feel good factors, every individual will have to know the tougher side of life and prepare himself or herself right from the word go.

You have to understand a few hard facts about life which they don't teach you in the best of the schools and the families:

1. For your success or failure, you are responsible. No teacher, school, organization, boss, environment or system is interested in you as much as you should be. They all have their own problems and they are busy solving them. Don't be fooled if some organization claims to have a career planning system for its employees.

2. Just because a few elite colleges scream about their job placement achievements in terms of the astronomical salaries their students were offered (most times it may not be statistically correct and it may be more of their ad campaign), please remember that you are not going to get that kind of publicised salary just like that. You may get one if the employer thinks that you are the right one. Become the right one. You can't fake it. It requires real work on your part.

3. Don't dream that there will be some "ideal" organization. Every organization has strong points and weaknesses. So, choose the one with care and yet don't get disillusioned if you find faults in it.

4. Most companies have politics. Keep your eyes and ears open to know it. However, do not get involved in it and don't play it yourself. Yet, don't be naive.

5. Every job, howsoever glamorous it may look to the outside world, finally boils down to mundane, detailed and repetitive minor sets of activities. Don't get bored easily. The more you repeat, the more you practice, the better craftsman you will become. And you will earn lots too. A good surgeon makes tons of money doing repetitive operations on large numbers of patients day in and day out. The world thinks high of him.

6. There is no need to emphasize as to how many hours you stayed at the work place. Important thing to ask is: did you do a fair share of the job with good results and could you make yourself more effective? Work is un-ending. But do go back home to your family members to spend good time with them or you will lose them though you may have your job. Your spouse, kids and parents are as important as your job, employers and customers.

7. Gradually meritocracy is taking over the street smarts, show-offs and sycophants. Future is for people with merits. So, concentrate on improving your values, knowledge, competencies, skills, expertise, paradigms and internal motivation.

8. The real world is not as glamorous as they show in movies or in serials on television. There is lot of escapism built into them. Don't remain in that world for very long, get out of it soon after you have finished with a movie or a television serial and get on with the real life tasks ahead of you in case you want to accomplish something in your personal, family and professional life.

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

Women's Liberation (Women's Lib)

Women’s lib (Women’s liberation) was sensationalized by burning the bras. It did attract people’s attention and few good things might have happened superficially here and there for women due to it. It was a symbolic event to ask for equal rights for women, same as what the men have, in many areas of life.

The fact is, women still wear the bras, by their own choice. And they can or they should, if they think that they should.

The point we are making is, women should have right of a choice or choices and right of having equal rights. The things should not be imposed on them by men or by society or by religious or political (so called, self appointed) leaders or their rights should not be limited or curtailed.
The most important aspect is that women should be able to uphold their identity all the time, which is their fundamental choice.

However, in reality, it is not so. As soon as they get married, they have to change their identity. They have to change their name. In every country, all over the world, women are made to adopt their husband’s family name (and in many communities in the world, the husbands can even change the first name of women they marry). It is ridiculous. It is horrible.

After marriage, this is one of the biggest traumas women undergo. They suddenly lose their identity (not by their choice but by the social and religious traditions and customs endorsed also by the legalities). For first 20, 25, 30-35 years before marriage, she is Miss Reena Thomas and immediately after marriage she has to become Mrs Reena Fernandez. Or Miss Kavita Chopra becomes Mrs Kavita Bhatia and so on. And then she has to get this new name registered on her various legal documents: pass-port, driving license, in the documents of the organization where she works etc. While, this involves tons of avoidable non-value adding work for everyone, the worst sufferer is the lady herself, who has lost her identity of first 20, 25, 30-35 years of her life by having to change her name.

There is in fact no need for all this change of family name of women after their marriage. They can simply remain Ms Reena or Ms Kavita or Ms Najma. What’s the big purpose, what’s the big need? There is no need to suffix the family names or surnames.

In fact, it will also be a good idea for all the men folk also to forget about their family names or surnames. What’s the big harm if Mr John Fernandez just remains Mr John? Or Mr Ramesh Jain just remains Mr Ramesh. Or Mr Salam Basha just remains Mr Salam. The uniqueness of a name, whether of man or woman, can be maintained for all legal or financial requirements, by processing his or her first name along with his or her mother’s name and his or her birth date and birth year.

All of this also will help to create one harmonious world of people who do not display their caste, creed, color, religion and nationality in an obvious manner by attaching their family names or surnames. It will prove to be one great step towards world peace.

Women, are you listening? Take this up as your next step in Women’s Liberation movement, perhaps the most important part of upholding your choices and rights.

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

The Three Letter Word "Sir"

Peep into the offices of most of the organizations in most of the countries of the world and you will notice a similar scene- the boss sitting in his well cushioned wheel chair like a super-human in an expansive manner and the subordinate sitting in front of him across the table belittling himself as much as possible and bending low, squeezing his limbs, trying to occupy as little area on the chair as possible and addressing the boss, after every other word of his dialogue, "Sir, yes sir, very good sir, you are right sir, yes sir and yes sir and .........."

Most people are so much accustomed to this master-slave relationship that a person at the lower rungs of official hierarchy is always treated as a dumb donkey. And this feeling is further aggravated by this three letter word "sir". This word when spoken, creates, immediately, a sense of false inferiority in the subject who speaks this word and a false superiority in the addressee. As soon as this phenomenon takes place, the actual work, the intended results from the work and the real objective of the discussions between the two persons get surrounded by the ego satisfaction of the boss and the selfish motives of the subordinates. Many bosses feel offended if they are called "Mr so and so", they always expect to be called "sir". The subordinates on the other hand develop an unnecessary guilt feeling if they do not address their bosses with a "sir". In majority of cases, it is not out of respect that a man wants to call other person with a dignified address. It is out of selfishness, fear, doubt and the bad custom. This word "sir" arouses the base feelings of the human beings.

There are three types of situations where you will find the "sir" culture:
1. The boss wants to be addressed "sir" (he wants sycophants around him).
2. The subordinates are in habit of calling their boss as "sir" for some reasons or other (though the boss is quite open-minded on this issue)
3. The boss and subordinate both are used to it.

It is surprising that not many human behavior experts have seriously identified this calling each other "sir" a major stumbling block in the development and progress of the human society in most parts of the world. In few organizations, in some parts of the world, they encourage address by the first names or surnames and in a way, it reflects that there is no master and there is no slave. But it is doubtful if a subordinate at a junior rung or for that matter even at a higher rung of the hierarchy will be accepted addressing any CEO or Chairman of an organization or a president or prime minister of a country by his first name or as "Mr so and so".

If "sir" is used as a mark of reverence, it has different connotation- no motives are attached.

It is time that every organization every where in the world tries to scrap this kind of address and promotes a healthy man to man relationship. This should start from homes, schools and colleges. The teachers and professors should take pride in being called by their names by their students. Mere usage of the word "sir" does not bring in the sense of discipline. It's time we change our values on "what is discipline".

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

One Common Place for Prayer for All The Faiths

During my travel abroad, I see a great concept already implemented at terminal 4 of Heathrow airport, London.

If you go towards the gate numbers 1 to 5 or so (I don't remember the exact gate numbers) on terminal 4 of Heathrow, you will read a display board: "Place (Room) for Prayer for All The Faiths" (these may not be the exact words but closer to this meaning). The place is unpretentious, it's very simple looking.

I do see many people of all the faiths going to this moderate sized corner and praying in silence and keeping the room clean. No one disturbs the other.

This concept can be and needs to be implemented everywhere- in every town and every city of every country on planet earth.

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

Rich of the World Live in Squalor

The rich people of the world, proudly announced in, you cant count how many lists by the interested parties and corporates live in the same squalor as the poor people of the world.

They live in the same singular environment.

This environment is full of all kinds of filth and they happily ever live in it: the pollutants and the black soot in air they breathe, the dirty and poisonous water that fills the water front near their mansions and that they drink after whatever possible treatment, noise pollution, ugly sights, bad and dangerous roads and the countless others.

What is the big fuss about their money if they cant correct it. Let them at least start buying the cleanliness of environment for themselves and their families. It will surely benefit the poor ones of the world too.

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

Unconventional, Avant-garde and Contemporary

I am going to give you something new to think about here: unorthodox, startling, upbeat, wow, interesting and so on.

Keep reading my posts here from time to time, frequently and enjoy.

Have fun.

Read the “inside” stories of the corporate sector at: (Management Anecdotes) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/