80/20 - Be the 20!

I was going through this book on Time Management for professionals (*flattered* ;), which hopefully i'll photocopy and distribute among my father's company's gifted employees, i'll learn from them as soon as i marry (well, that's mission impossible for me). Khair, it's all about the '20' yaar, any 'chill-dude' pakistani would happily proclaim.

Pareto was an Italian economist. He "observed that 20% of Italians owned 80% of that nation's wealth."* People, like you and me, really generalized, successfully this ratio of 80/20 proportion to other fields as well. Here are some examples where this rule fits the book mentions:

• 20% of your products account for 80% of products
• 20% do 80% of work (that's from the Tipping Point)
• 20% of people cause 80% of the interruptions (see, that's not a law, for in Pakistan, the "low-trust" great nation of Quaid-e-Azam, 80% cause 80% of interruptions, yeah, that's no exaggeration)
• 20% of your problems cause 80% of your concerns

So, the book advises to focus on those activities which produce maximally. I got excited. Think about it, if all Muslims pray 5 times a day (which for many is like going millions times a day to mosque, and very time-consuming) sincerely, such that it stops them from doing fuhash - which is only 20% of our life - then Allah will solve 80% of other problems, local, personal, national, international, inter-planet, and inter-galaxy, and on and on. For Allah alone is victorious.

O muslims! you always begin your earthly carrier by solving the biggest question West thinks it encounters - Does God exist? - with an unequivocal Yea to it. Think of your intiha (maximum point of achievement). Be true to Allah. Be not slaves of your lower self. (How can i move you to act? Well. That's what recitation of qur'an is there for...)

* Time Management: 24 Techniques to Make Each Minute Count at Work, Marc Mancini, McGraw-Hill, Professional Education.

‘Don’t Nudge Anyone toward Choices’

Depending on the customer’s taste and temperament, an entrepreneur would devise his services and products accordingly. You may like to refer it as customizing. Some people do have troubles with choosing. I have a strong one. I hate choosing. I simply cannot take the pain of going over and over again the ‘critical’ process of decision making, which a strategist has to. The burden of proof in favor of having or providing someone with alternatives is what makes the following aphorism exciting and thought provoking, apart from providing safe heaven for muddle heads like me. That is to say, despite the odds, it works. Here goes our aphorism of the day:

Necessity saves us the trouble of choosing.

- Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vaunvenargues (1715-1747)

But you’ll also notice that the aphorism does not conform to the frustrations of intellectually weak escapism school-of-thought. It is, rather, very philosophical; for it makes an attempt to capture an aspect of reality.

Quality of Relationship

Quality of relationship among humans matters everywhere, where ever humans are to interact. That's the universality of it, which we might ignore due to our likeness or idslikeness, or what we call as having 'narrow visions of our mnd'. Previously, and regretfully, I thinked of importance of 'quality of relationship' as a prime variable in persoanl matters alone, more than anywhere else. How wrong I was, I realised when I read the following paragraph somewhere: 

"The Gallup Organization, which has polled millions of empolyees and tens of thousands of managers, has found that the single most important variable in employee productivity and loyality isn't pay or benefits or workplace environment; it's the quality of the realationship between employees and their direct supervisors."

Source: K. A. Tucker and V. Allman, "Don't Be a Cat-and-Mouse Manager,' The Gallup Organization, September 9, 2004. Visit the website.

Read Summary on Planning Tools

For Forman College Business School readers: You can read a summary by me and my Griffin group [griffin stands for 'who is new' and indeed an object of mockery, as it those new British Indian Civil Servants were] on Chapter # 9 of Managment by S. P. Robbins. At this link.

Lessons In Entrepreneurship

You don't want to do things entrepreneurs must not do. Perhaps, more than this you don't want to fail. However, if this 'want' be replaced by 'fear, becoming "I don't fear failure", is an essential traits of entrepreneurs. In the following article-link you'll find why fearing not failure is an 'essential' mark of entrepreneurs, and those who do fear are not your peers. Here is the link. 

 Author* lost his major business, and his father told him:   

"You're fortunate to have failed. You now have the opportunity to learn how to turn bad luck into good luck. If you can do that, you'll have a life of more and more good luck."  

 Roberts teaches in this short article that there are three simple immutable things an entrepreneur must stick to:   1) Not to blame (you know it). 2) Make New partners (says, best when you're doomed and you hate them. He says there are good people in perilous moments). 3) Learn from your mistakes. 

___________________________

Notes:

* Website: richdad.com. Robert, author of the Rich Dad series of books, is an investor, entrepreneur and educator whose perspectives have changed the way people think about money and investing.

What on Earth is a Manager?

Who Are Managers?

Managers coordinate and oversee the work of other people so that organizational goals can be accomplished. His job is helping others do their work. His duties are not merely restricted to coordinating.

• Top Managers (executives, who make nonprogrammed new decisions; establish plans & goals)
• Middle Managers (all levels the extreme two)
• First-line Managers (who work in field make programmed decisions)

What Is Management:

What managers do is management. Formally speaking, management is coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively.

• Efficiency: -- getting the most output from the leasat amount of input; doing things right
• Effectively: -- doing those work activities that help the organization reach its goals; doing right htings

What Managers Do?

Functions

• Planning -- defining goals, establishing strategies, and developing plans
• Organizing -- arranging and structuring work
• Leading -- working with and through people
• Controlling -- evaluating whether things are going as planned

Roles

• Interpersonal -- figurehead (symbolic figure), leader (responsible for motivation of subordinate), liasion (maintains self-developed network of outside contacts and informers)
• Informational -- monitor (seeks and receives information to understand organizationa and enviornment), disseminator (transmits information within organization), spokesperson (transmits information to outsider)
• Decisional -- entrepreneur (searches for opportunities and reforming plans), disturbance handler (corretcs disturbtive events affecting organization), resource allocator, negotiator

How Manager's job Is Changing

• Changes impact manager's job - changing technology, increased security threats, increased emphasis on ethics, increased competitiveness
• Importance of customer (customer responsive organization'scan only please the customer)
• importance of Innovation (nothing is more risky than not innovating for manager. A normal strategy of a small organization is that they must issue a new brand with three weeks. They are doing so only for mere survival)

What Is an Organization Where Manager Works?

Def: Organization is a deliberate arrangement of people to accomplishsome specific purpose. Traditional organization are being replaced by contemporary organization beacuse the world is in change.

It has three elements: Distinct Purpose (goals or set of goals); Deliberate Structure (structure is their to unable people to do work); People (a persoan working alone is not an organization). When they all overlap each other, lo! an organization is formed.

Why Study Management?

Even if are majoring in marketing, finance, accounting, sciences or art, we can explain to you the need of looking at management from its own view-point. We would like appreciate management on these basis:

• The Universality of Managment: the reality that management is needed in all types and sizes of organizations, at all organizational levels, in all organizational areas, and in organizations in all countries around the globe.
• The Reality of 'Work': either you manage or be managed; either you act or be acted upon.
• Chanlleneges and Rewards of a Manager

The Essence of the Manager's Job

Decision making Process:

Introduction:

First you detect a problem. Your home ceiling is in bad order. You wish not that clumsy ceiling, you want a refined and cemented and well-painted ceiling. That's a real problem. Ok. So you pick all of your tools or hire a constructor and get your ceiling anew. And, after doing so you will probably check whether its up to your expectation or not. A job well carried out.
But have you noticed you've done what exactly we call decision making process? If not time has come just to realize that.

Decision-making process (D.M.P):

A wholistic comprehensve process... Not merely selecting of alternatives. Not identifying the problem. Not merely reevaluating decisiosn effectiveness. Rather integration of all of them. DMP is an all-relevant process for all seasons and ages! Its as relevent to your personal decision about which class to bunk as it is to a billion-dollar corporate deal.

What is a Problem: A discrepency or 'gap' between an existing and a desired state of affair.

8 Step The Process:

1. Identifying the problem (watch-out for symptoms of a deeper problem, they're not the problem),

2. Identifying decision criteria (determine what's relevant in a decision)
3. Allocating Wieghts to the criteria (giving correct priority)

4. Developing Alternatives (don't you need best of the best?)

5. Analyzing Alternatives (evaluating the alternatives against step 2 & 3)

6. Selecting an alternative
7. Implementing the alternative (putting the decision into actions)

8. Evaluating Decision Effectiveness (see Part 6 of book).

How are decisions made?

We are here dealing with decisions in management functions. Decisions in management are of four types - planning, organizing, leading and controlling. When managers do these activities they're called decision makers.

There are three ways of looking at how decisions are made:

• Rationality: The foundations of rational-choice-decisions are described as when having clear, unambiguous problems, when time-pressures are low, when action against problems have known consequences and results. Remember in managerial context, decision maker keeps only in view value-maximizing of its own company.
• Bounded Rationality: Rationality is very limited in real world, at least the kind of assumptions suggested already. Managers are supposed to be making 'rational-choice-decisions'. Yet, they are bound to make limited rational decisions because of 'human capacities and abilities'. This is called bounded rationality. That is, they don't maximise them, rather satisfice.
• Intuition: Making decisions on the basis of experience, feelings, and accumulated judgment spontaneously. Organically, intuition and intellect are same, complementary rather than sui generis (as Al-Ghazali thought wrongly). Almost half of the corporate executives use to run their companies,one survey study found.

Types of Problems & Conditions in Decision Making:

Types of Problems: There are total of two major problems which managers face in approaching to a problem with DMP.

• Structured Problems: Logical, trivial, understanable, straight-forward problems which have a priori structured or defined rules, solutions or procedures. Happily, in tackling such problems a manager don't need to go through even DMP.
• Unstructured Problems: When you're having problems that are new or unusual having incomplete information, then such problems are categorised as unstructured problems. To such problems there lie no black-and-white ready-made solution. Key to them is creative bend of mind.

Who gets which?

-Low-level mangers - they face structured problems

-Upper-level managers - they deal with nonprogrammed problems.

Decision-Making Conditions: Multiplicity and diversity is everywhere, decision-making, no exceptions. Therefore, there are three conditions managers face as they make decisions:

• Certainity: A situation in which a manager can make accurate decisions because all outcomes are known.
• Risk: A position form whre estimates of outcomes can be made, only (this happens when 'doubts' are alive, but dormant).
• Uncertainity: When any probable estimated outcome seems as unlikely as another guess. Amount of information and psychological aptitude of the decision-maker are indicators of either success or complete failure. We have three choices: maximax, maximin and minimax. Again, a manger shall follow anyone of these choices based on his psychological orientation and amount of data.

Decision-Making Styles:

Directive Style: they tend to have low level tolerance for incomplete information and are highly rationalistic. (Thinker)

Analytic Style: they tend to have high level tolerance for ambiguity and their way of thinking is rationalistic. (Sensor)

Conceptual Style: Intuitively they think and keep high level acceptance for ambiguity. (Intuitor.)

Behavioral Style: They think intuitively while having low-level tolerance for ambiguity. (Feeler.)

Biases and Errors in Decision Making:

Humans are humans. Their professional decision making goes not without having a mark of their nature on it. Thus they can commit mistakes in the form of biases and trivial errors - overconfidence, sunk cost (lack of realisation that today's actions cannot rectify past's mistakes), randomness, availability, self-serving bias, selective perception (narrow-mindedness), hindsight bias etc.

Todays' World and Decision Making:

Americans feel better with Americans, Japanese with Japanese, Pakistanis with Pakistanis and so on. My question to you is you don't you open up? Understand Cultural differences. Carlos ghosn did this in Nissan in1999 as he was the first ever non-japanese in Nissan. Yet he changed many persisting traditions in the company. In Japanese culture people with old-age and long experience mostly reached at higher levels. It wasn't happening on the basis of performance, primarily. Ghosn changed this paradigm as well the tradition. But how? He was able to resolve this apparent conflictin proposition on the basis of securing respect of his employees, in the first place. Japanese who worked with him, never doubted him.

Peace Keeping by Delegation

Delegation By Authority

When I first came to know of possible conflicts that can happen while decision making in teams, I was elusive of any concrete solution. Some teams are stuck by dictator-by-default syndrome of CEO or team-leader, mentions an article in Harvard Busines Review. It has, to me, a good solution, namely, Delegation, though very indirectly!

Def: When managers get things done by 'transfering' a part of their authority through others, they're delegating by authority.
Now, what's precisely the use of it for a man who manages?
A handbook for managers states, "Delegating reponsibilities to others increases your available time to carry other important tasks." 'Willingness to delegate is a mark of leadership'. But its difficult a task to delegate. Therefore, here I'll summarise five of those behaviours which effective delegators use:

1. Review and Specify the Task and Objective:

Tell what is to be delegated. Without clarification of the task, which is to be delegated, doesn't make any sense. Moreover, delegation need not a lengthy written plan, as night fighter F-117 takes in its hardware before going on the mission. It means that you're are to specify details of task, deadline and resources. Since, it is a high-risk management, briefing is only essential.
It is much an intuitive approach or strategy. The delegator only mentions the intent of the mission, tell what results he wants and forget everything about it till the outcome comes out.

2. Selecting Appropriate Person:

Select appropriate man for the job who has previous expreince and availability. You can do so effectively by asking yourself questions before selecting the delegates: Who has the stomach for challenges? Who should not do? Does the task need previous experience? What interpersonal or intrapersonal qualities might be needed for the job? and so on and so forth.

3. Bound Your Employee, Bound the Delegation:

Specify employee's range of discretion or his freedom and power to decide. Its important. Because you, as a manager, don't want to or mean to be delegating whole of your authority. Specify the parameters, leave no doubts in letting the delegate know this.

4. Allow the employee to participate:

This point can help you to decide in best manner how much authority is to be delegated. You've selected an experienced and appropriate delegate and have called him to meeting. After going through step 1 and 3, discuss with him to check his understanding of the job and ensure commitment. Encourage him to feedback.

Be aware! Letting amployee decide how much authority he needs can present you with problems, like of 'self-interests, biases in evaluating their own abilities'.

5. Inform Others that Delegation has occurred:

Communicate throughout the organization that delegation has taken place. Issue all the parameters, tasks and objectives of the delegation especially to those, inside or outside the organization, who might be affected by the decisions of the delegate.

6. Establish Feedback Channels & Monitor Progress:

The next logical step can be, in order to aviod any management problems, 'establishment of feedback channels on the regular basis'. You can do so by 'fixing official reporting schedule, if appropriate'. You should also encourage feedback. This essential for controlling and coordinating. Moreover, regular updates can help to evaluate performance, not only the basis of outcomes but also on the basis of the actions, which issued the results. After, evaluation and re-evaluation, if appropriate, 'apply lessons to future delegations'.

Summary: Chapter 7, Management, by Stephen Robbins

FOUNDATIONS OF PLANNING

What Is Planning and Why Is It Important

Consider this: A motorcycle manufacturing company Harley-Davidson recognizes that the demand for its motorcycles will continue to grow in the range of 7-9% per year. Realising this problem, they now plan to continue expanding production capacity. This is exactly like doing planning.

Planning - Def:
Defining organization's goals, establishing an overall strategy for achieving those goals, and developing plans for organizational work activities.

Formal Planning: In formal planning, specific goals covering a period of years are defined. These goals are written and shared with organizational members.

Importance of Formal Planning:

1. Provides Direction: When every employee knows what he has contirbute to the company, what it takes to do so, that he can cooperate with each other - such a company is mostly likely to reach its goals efficiently.

2. Reduces Uncertainty: Planning cannot utterly defy dynamic situations. Best it can do is unable managers to see ahead, anticipate changes and develop appropriate responses.

3. Minimizes Waste and Redundancy: When all means and ends are made clear, inefficiences are
easily detected and can be corrected. This happens so when work activities and plans are coordinated with the company.

4. Establishes goals or standards used in Controlling: When managers plan, they develop goals and plans. Thus they easily control the progress. Without any planning there would be no control.

5. Positive Financial Results: Planning is as such concerned with higher profits, higher return on assets. Planning seems good if its implemented good rather than does the extent and amount of planning

- Critical Enviormental Forces: Studies have found that when some company's planning fails, it is majorly because of external conditions as Government regulations, Tough Labor Unions etc, which leave managers with little or no choice.
- Time Frame: Usualy a company can take four years for its complete formal plans.

Types of Goals:

Goals in short are the foundations of management science/art. In real and profession life there are two kinds of goals:
-stated goals
-real goals

Stated goals: are those statements which show what we want to achieve, what we aspire to do. From organization's perspective, stated goals are "outlines of what an organiztion say, and what it wants its stakeholders/customers to believe, its goals are."

Real goals: The goals organization actually pursues. It is manifested only in the 'doings' of its members, not in it's sayings.

One thing must not go unwatched in the discussion of goals. There maybe a conflict/contradiction b/w what a company say and what it does. The gap b/w stated and real goals is- conflict in stated goals.*

Types of Plans:

There are four ways to describe a plan, we'll mention only there names:

1. Breadth: strategic plans (positioning of entire org. relative to enviornment); operational plans (to limit details as to how achieve overall goals)

2. Time Frame: Long-Term Plans (beyond 3 years); Short-Term Plans (1 year or less)

3. Specificity: Directional Plans (in which intent is revealed, its flexible, leaves room of interpretations); Specific Plans (Rigid, clearly defined, no place for interpretation)

4. Frequency of Use: Single use; Standing (ongoing plans)- Approaches to establishing/implementing goals.

How do Mangers Set Goals?


- Traditional Approach: "Top-Down"

In a traditional goal setting, there's always an elite which works at top management level, very few in numbers. They're the head, the boss. And they are followed by a number of officials, managers, employees, workers etc., but in "hierarchy", in descending order everyone gets samller in rank.

(a) If Hierarchy of goals is clearly defined, a mean-end chain is formed
(b) If it is not clear, goals lose clarity and unity

- Management by Objectives (MBO) approach:

Def: A process of setting mutually agreed-upon goals and using those goals to evaluate employee performance.

A four-step process:
1. Goal Specificity
2. Participative Decision Making
3. Explicit Time Period

4. Performance Feed-Back
What is needed in an organization is: a corporate culture in which the heirarchic levels break up, where it needs to. So that the bosses assure that plans are not being imposed from the top. And, that the different isolated levels of the order mix up with each other, so as to let everyone understand complexity of the problem and find integrated solutions..... I call it- decentralization. "Decentralization, if implemented with sophistication and best monitring tools, could be great."

Charatersitics of Well-Defined Goals

They are
-Stated are stated in terms of outcomes rather than actions
- Measureable and quanitifiable
-Clear time time-frame
-written down
- and, communicated to all organizational members.

What Contemporary Planning Issues Managers Face?

Criticisms of Planning:

1. Creates ridigity: Since Plans are written at a point in time, it can fail us to react to changing situations

2. Can't be Developed for Dynamic Enviornment.

3. Can't replace intuition and creativity: A research study has found that a greater percentage of CEOs get their business flourish better if they're more intuitive in anticipation than those who are not. Gut feeling has no alternative.

4. Focuses on today, not tommorrow.

5. Reinforces success, which can lead to failure: Unique situations demand unique solutions. Established plans are no option in unique crisises.

When Established Superiority Isn't everything !!

When Established Superiority Isn't everything !!

Posted By Muhammad Umer Toor, 21-Nov-2008.

Always keep in mind what first paragraph of page # 199, 227 (exhibit 8-7) of Management book [1] states, whenever you're in the business. Even when your organization is touching skies or, worst, in a downturn, and if you cease to bring innovation, cease to find new directions and so on and so fourth - this is a worst pitfall. Becoming best is one thing, and trudging along a constant line is not a safe strategy. Because, whenever you find that everything is going smooth, actually something is going wrong there. This happens mainly with those companies whose tasks demand optimum performance; when everything around them is changing without any notices. What I learnt from Stanely Hainsworth, 'former creative genius behind campaigns for Lego, Nike and Starbacks' [2], is that eternal reconstruction is the price of success for any brand. Editor at Entrepreneur magazine calls it as 'Survival of Fittest' [3]!

The basic idea behind finding new directions or cracking innovation, a necessity of established companies and else, is well explained by Hainsworth, and in his own words:

"Many [companies] wait until a crisis hits and then go through the cycle of
ahiring freeze, cost-cutting and
layoffs. [Refocus] while you're strong, while have the resources and before you
start cutting."[4]

This happens (-unexpected shocks-) mainly becuase of 'market-shifts', customer choices change (like our favorite ice-cream example!), and of course, due to dynamic enviornment, generally. [5] Doing something ahead of hard times isn't at all a weak idea. It's an expert view as well as well-researched thesis. (To quote you one more example). According to a research done [6] on the four common causes of growth stall, two majors reasons given for growth stalls confirm Hainsworth point of view.

One big reason, according to HBR [7], is that 'innocvation management breaks'. Second, because 'company lacks a strong talent bench'. [8]

Once, I asked a senior student of criminal psychology, "What is the remedy for a criminal-minded person?" And, his reply, which I found quite witty, was, "You shouldn't be criminal in the first place." 'That's the best strategy', he whispered to me without even whispering! And, business studies are no exceptions!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

[1] Page 199 (Chapter # 7), Ist paragraph states the successful plans are not likely to work in changed situations. Whereas page 227 (exhibit 8-7) (Chapter # 8) urges the need for creating strategic flexibility, i.e, it consists of: monitoring and measuring results; gaining fresh perspectives and ideas outside organizations; sharing negative information and learning from the mistakes; while making strategic decisions, having multiple alternatives. (From: Management, 9th Ed., by S. P. Robbins& M. Coulter.)

[2] Quote from Entrepreneur, November 2008, article, INSGHIT "Survival of the Fittest,' by Lindsay Holloway.

[3] Quote from Entrepreneur, November 2008, article, INSGHIT "Survival of the Fittest,' by Lindsay Holloway, Pg. # 33.

[4] Quote from Entrepreneur, November 2008, article, INSGHIT "Survival of the Fittest,' by Lindsay Holloway, Pg. # 33.

[5] Quote from Entrepreneur, November 2008, article, INSGHIT "Survival of the Fittest,' by Lindsay Holloway, Pg. # 33.

[6] When Growth Stalls, by Mathhew S. Olson, Derek van Bever, and Seth Verry, HBR (Harvard Business Review), OnPoint, Fall 2008, Article Published Originally March 2008.

[7] Excerpt from HBR (Harvard Business Review), OnPoint, Fall 2008, When Growth Stalls, from Idea in Brief coulmn, Pg. # 33, Article Published Originally March 2008.

[8] It is further explained in the article, (OnPoint, Fall 2008, When Growth Stalls, from Idea in Brief coulmn, Pg. # 33, Article Published Originally March 2008) as:

"The firm has few executives and staff with strategy-execution capabilities."

How Cisco Uses Our Chapter 9 Pg # 241 to 'See the Future'*

Since when I started reading out carefully Harvard Business Review (HBR), I have come to respect my course management book (i.e, Management, 9th Ed., Stephen P. Robbins & Mary Coulter). I have appreciated that this book summarizes or states, at least, all those principles on which all of today's successful organizations work and win.

Quoting a small example which I came across in this month's (Nov.) issue of HBR, will make you take my claim more seriously.

Cisco Systems are "the world's largest provider of internet networking." And, Cisco's new CEO John Chambers, who will begin his 14th year at Cisco in January, has always been good at listening. And, so has his company been such that - they have scored loads of capital, merely by listening to their clients and customers, as HBR puts it.

"Cisco is able to predict trends six to 8 years (remember budgeting, forecasting, or projecting is always futuristic) in the highly volatile technology market by recognizing early-warning signals its customers unwittingly give off**." This is what they call "market shifts." And, Chambers, Cisco's CEO, himself abandoned his own old 'command-and-control' style in decision making. (I will share more ideas on this topic in future posts, hopefully.)

Cisco was founded in 1984. It did went in a downturn (i.e, crisis). And it came out. Regained its superiority in Internet Communications Equipment providers. But. Only through seeing the future. And, it has been doing so for long only by listening to its customers.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

* Harvard Business Review, November 2008. "The HBR Interview: John Chambers", Heading Topic & Pg. 241 of, Management, 9th Ed., Stephen P. Robbins & Mary Coulter
** Harvard Business Review, November 2008. "The HBR Interview: John Chambers"

A Word of Caution for 'Managers'

Managers are overseers. While a building is being erected and in the process of making, a craftsman, (be him a painter, a constructor or carpenter, et al) concerned with his job, has nothing doing what's outside his area of expertise.

But, a manager, as mentioned earlier, does nothing artistic as making. He rather- partly- enjoys like a bird, which sits on wetty , greeny branches of morning tree, and sees the night and sun shuffle and replace each other. And partly does he enjoys the taste of directorship. All of you have become enough mature to repeat such trite phrases, half asleep, as to what a manager exaclty does (rather much abstractly). Decision-making (don't yawn) is directorship, and their sole-business.

Enough of wandering. For my intelligent readers are still focused on to hear an admonition? Yes, it is one.

Behind your noses (don't turn back) are 'ventromedial prefrontal cortexes'. An area that plays critical role in making decisions. Thereby, Managers! you are instructed not to play with your noses as Mr. Bean or circus-stuntmen do.

Here it the visulization:

If, it is damaged or paralysed a person loses all abilities of taking decisions. He may become a great philosopher- not a manager. (Some literary critics believed that Hamlet, of Shakespeare's play 'Hamlet', had had this. However, it wasn't so, some justify. No matter what. Lesson is: because of Hamlet's habit of reflecting a lot, while avioding action, he brought his own destruction. For more details read: "Hamlet" by Shakespeare.)

----------------------------------

BONUS FEATURE(s)

Making business:

Suppose, we work in a medicine-making company in product department and are a part of cross-functional team with research & development department. We hire medical scientists. We direct them to carry out a research on how VMPFC gets damaged or paralysed; which type of persons in certain enviornments are likely to get it damaged; what's its importance to tough decision making professions or professionals and so on. Finally, how we cure or prevent it. Invent the medicine. Leave what they do then. Here, allow me to answer, why I hit upon this idea and what's it got to do with your business studies. Reasons are twofold:

Number one: CEOs of big companies, high government officials, military heads - they are worth billions or themselves billionares. And, they decision-making factories. If our research clicks and shows that they need it...... We might share their luxuries at a point in time.

Number two: simply because its a business thing.

---------------------------------------------------
By Muhammad Umer Toor, 18-11-08.

Questions on "7 Habits.." 'Principles of Change'

The question of this discussion demands, before anyone comments on it, that we must have a deep understanding of the content of this book. Even lacking this prerequisite, I'll not stop from commenting on it.

I have perplexing questions about the 1st three (3) habits, because I've only touched these ones. And, I don't feel shy publishing their fury.I too realise, as some others have - I am a reactive person. After reading a lengthy, tedious and dense habit no. 1, I have seen in the light of my small experiences that it is easy starting doing something to create a change. This happens because the real enemy is spotted and teh friend discovered (identifying one doesn't let the opposite go undetected). And, I think, there lies a victory on the part of the author for he has shown other 'selfs' to identify their enemies and friends. Thus the conscious reader starts thinking and doing to bring about a change. All they have to believe in, as Obama says, "Yes, We Can!" And, to my knowledge, the problems this book (7 Habits, of course) address to are not unique to humans. They are old-age, but not out of order. Some are (this book focus on) perennial, some may not be.

Turing back to what interests me more, on this forum - My problems with the 3 chapters. I fear I don't have capacity to mention all of them here (imagine how idiot I am). But I will share what I am discussing with others these days.My 1st problem for today is - bringing a change in (a pathetic) situation which goes against my interests, and I realise it, through an independent will (the latter this the only hope in Stephen's eyes), even when all perceptions are clear!AS all of you know, Covey says that in order to change a situation, you need to change your perceptions. My perceptions anout the problem, do not doubt are clear.

No change yet!

Example: I made some years ago a contract with God, The Absolute, that for Him only I will wake up early in the morning around 5-6 am to meet Him under the tense but refreshing canopy of earth. You can understand how big this priority is, of course if you are not a secular fundamentalist who abhors what was beyond and before the Big Bang. As a matter of fact, I say this regretfully, that I didn't meet Him in several years for time period more than 5 months. And, even that's an exaggeration. If there is no quick fix, where is the sluggish fix that 'shall last for eternity'? How I can change this situation- remember the compulsion- how do I change this situation .... beginning first in the mind? Such that .... mind triggers or initiates the .... movement .... and then comes 'action to commitment' period? (Managers always work under compulsions.)

Take the people around you, not to blame or hurt anyone. But first please answer me. Is Not 'Perception' About Objective, Adequate, Full, Deep and Correct knowledge of the reality? If it is not in your opinion, please re-read the book.Take the world now: Many knowledgable persons who know so much act against what they know of. AS you may find (I have found) the knower of law exploding what is legal and what is lawful; you'll find a doctor who smokes, he the one who warned me not to touch it . Mention an evil, lo! they, the intelligent, knowledgable beings the ultimate man, has surpassed it. Many CSS officers had become criminal minded. DO they not see? DO they not know the complex implications of their immoral actions on their own self and on the large society? Where lies the difference?

Sticking to correct moral principles and its logic can be the only solution, as Covey would like to agree. Because, he quoted Cecil b. deMille saying,"It is impossible for us to break the law. We can only break ourselves against the law."

The discussion has to come to an end. Yet, I am sceptic about the mechanisms of bringing the change, maybe I am not clear about the practical ones, suggested in the 'Habits'. I also do not demand the ready-made quick fix pills. I believe in revolutions, small revolutions, big revolutions, results of constant meditations and actions, actions and meditations. The question that I could not solve I leave that up to you to solve for me, yourself and others: Where's the tipping point? Where lie those small changes that trigger off to make big changes?

Guy Kawasaki on Presentations

Links, sites and blogs on "The 7 Habits.." by Stephen Covey

Here are some useful links, which consists of summaries, reviews, notes and expositions of Stephen Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People".

The following address is a fan blog. It can be a good learning place as you may find some interesting discussions on "7 Habits.." The blogger also discusses the philosophy of S.Covey and of his book. The author has generously provided its readers with many a useful links to other sources on 7 Habits. I have enjoyed this blog and I wish you also do.

http://stephen-covey-seven-habits-effective.blogspot.com/

In this link (the following one) you will find not the summary, not rigorous analysis or exposition of Covey's book. But, only small and short notes on each chapter, which are.... like highlights of a few but key points .

www.gp-training.net/training/leadership/7habits/index.htm

Follow this link and come to understand what a paradigm is: http://www.egs.edu/faculty/agamben/agamben-what-is-a-paradigm-2002.html

This is another good link. A fine review, charming as well, and very much to the point.

http://www.bainvestor.com/Seven-habits-effectiveness-Covey.html

I should have given this link at the beginning of this post. Because. It contains a PDF, and free, version of 7 Habits- whole book and you can also download it. And, also, it contains a few articles and presentations on some of the concepts of this book.

http://www.docstoc.com/search/stephen-covey/.

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I request my readers to please discuss if you have liked a link and found it interesting to be shared.