Sunsigns, Best books of 2009, Panama Canal, HBR

Good to be back after the Xmas Holidays. I would make this short post as to catch up on things.

I was amazed to read this post on predicting your boss nature based on his sun sign. I guess this is partly correct in as far as me as a boss as well as with some of the boss with whom I had interacted. Cant take it all the way though!.... On the boss front, I came across this fabulous picture post by Kris Ashok on doing Jalsa and showing Jilpa(Dont know what it means, not that I have heard till 1985, when I left Tamilnad) on how boss react to your sick leave. I also came across the post on Interviewing smart tips for tech folks, who miss the nuance of preparing and working out the job interviewing aspects.

As indicated in my earlier posts, I am trying to understand the essence of Bhagavad Gita thro the Discourse of Chinmayananda. I was fascinated with this post on linking Githa in modern management terms. Very apt and practical explaining Passion, Ignorance, Goodness, the 3 key aspects in human being.

I leave with the thoughts on Best business books of 2009, worth the list. Also I look forward to revamped HBR from 2010.

I was fascinated reading about Panama canal, never knew that you need Millions of gallon of Fresh water to move ship and more so to lift 85 Feet...... Marvel..

So 2009 was a decent year, lot of challenges, well overcome with ways to find a practical solution and move on. Ofcourse, ultimately it all boils down to what your stakeholders feel and that's what matters.

Take it easy and take care; live Consciously.
Karthik

Avatar, Meetings, Despair, Cheques bounce

I am still in daze from the Avatar effect. My son persuaded me that I should accompany all to the movie(My 4th movie in 11 years, Titanic, HP V and Spider man) were the other 3. Also I was pulled in as I wanted to experience the 3D progress from the days of the Poltergeist. my dear Kuttichatan.

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Avatar is a mixture of Indian beleif(Moving soul from body to body, Spirits etc which are well documented in Indian history) and technology. For 160 minutes you are at a different world forgetting traffic jams, Lousy situations etc. The music of James Horner is master piece (Austrian touch of Mozart!) (As good as John Williams in Star Wars, Riders of the last ark and his own Titanic) adds to the thrill. It is a must watch for every one. The take away for me is It might help me to dream better and get better ideas as seed for thought process/ innovation to continuous improvement.

Cheques are going to be part of the history. With all the plastics, Digital aspects happening, Cheques may become extinct as per decision taken in UK. So the term Rain check may become Rain Digital.

With Cynicism at it's height in these depressing work state across,no wonder the site Despair.com, would help to let out the frustration and show out. Slogans, mug, posters etc. This site came to my knowledge in response to the practices of dog and pony show on safety thro behavior change in Let's get real which I shared with friends.

On the management side, 3 of the articles this week caught my attention. 50 Minute meeting by David Silverman on setting tight time and not just stick to calendar timings. 10 min saving can go a long way. The other post was on How to detect if your colleagues are lying.(Very apt both when lied or lied up on!!). The third one was Retaining top performer in tough times. Show your feeling and thank them is key also work out non cash rewards and align career expectations. Also I want to mention Mike and Mark podcast on Making your favourite candidate succeeding in your interview process. Top Stuff.

Google has come with a navigator that adapted to the Indian needs. In India the concept direction like North, south are alien. It is more to do with street, shop, temple, post office and work reference to that. So Google maps have adapted to that. GMAIL language typing in to TAMIL தமிழ் is a cool stuff.
I leave this week with the chart that caught my eye on How web Browser use has changed over years from all MS to Others. This is what they call CHANGE HAS COME TO THE WORLD. Also a quick look at the top 10 Web platforms.

Till next week, Take it easy and take care; Live consciously.

Regards
Karhik.

PS: As a favor to my son for taking me to Avatar and giving me good time, I will watch and support CHELSEA his team tonight.

Spousal Jealousy, Drucker, Soft Skills, Password

So the year is coming to an end, 2009 looks like went like a whistle.

Came across this interesting article on Spousal Jealousy arising out of a new term I came across as work spouse. Of course, keeping the relations to the platonic level is the key and to avoid the wrath of home spouse I guess. Very practical article in MI and It covers indepth analysis of various issues at work and has a distinct UK flavor. I also came across lot of good management information at Management today. This also covers practical happening at the Management aspects. From an Indian perspective, Tickledby life is a good website on all updates in management.

I cant help keep writing about Peter Drucker. This HBR Website article just moved me I thought that I should share with all. This covers the personal side of Drucker which we seldom get to know.

Two articles which got Twitted around caught my attention. 1) The soft skills people require to work their way around by Kate Nasser. 2) 10 HR trends of the decade by Susan Heathfield for with web taking over the process. Wonder if HR folks would change their Mindset????

Everyday we use a lot of passwords for various access to websites, machines. A practical way to remember the password is explained here.

A live update of all the trains running in India are covered in the South Central Railway website. This covers update within 20min of current time and give the train status.

Till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Thumb impressions, Tiny URL, Dictinoary, Gil Schwartz

I am glad to be back on blogging after a week's gap as I was away last Sunday evening for some shopping and couldn't get time to blog. So feels good to be back.

I was amazed to read this story of a Florida, USA, bank insisting on a thumb impression of a man who has no hands to cash his cheque. You think you will hear such stories in this part of the world. Looks like the" crow is black" every where as they say in India, Kawwa Kaala Hi.

Tiny URL is a good feature to use when you have to shorten the URL which are lengthy. More so when you have to use it in Twitter or other microblog or send as link in email. It shortens and cuts it to less than 10 characters.

Google has done it again, The new Google dictionary is amazing to translate meanings. Not only that it gives meanings in various context of word and gives example. I tried features in my mother tongue Tamil and found it fascinating.

Bing, Stanley aka Gil Schwarz, (Bing, not the search engine) has come out with a new book, and has done a great podcast with Wayne on CMM. Give a listen. Bing writes fantastic column on Fortune and blogsite. Wayne in another podcast called Working week has covered the link between environmental sustainability and employee engagement in a conversation with Jagan Nemani. Give it a listen.

Mike and Mark have come out with a fabulous podcast on DISC Behavioral profile downfall and have covered HighC this week. Eureka, that is it.....

Gina Trapani, some time has written an excellent blog post in HBR on throw away your business card and create your GOOGLE Profile. Very true. I have done my Google profile . Of course, GOOGLE exposes you on all about you or what others write about you as this case study "We googled you" indicates.

Ok, Untill next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.

Regards
Karthik

Education, Scandal, Steve Jobs,2611

Education access is an universal right for every one. I recollect reading some time back that Indian government passed a bill making basic education a fundamental right. In that connection, reading goes as a part of education. So I was amazed to see the SLS Planet read effort by subtitling film songs/ programs which would make people read and improve learning. This is common sense as one might say, but how many common sense ideas get implemented??.

So on to some of the scandals I came across this week.
1) 112 Year old man marrying 17 year old girl in Somalia- Mother of all scandals I guess!!..
2)Read the scandal by Tony Young in duping investor funds. The modus operandi was too common and wonder how people fall for it...

You can love him, you can hate him, you can forget him, but you cant Ignore him. Steve Jobs is back. He has been chosen as Fortune's CEO of the decade. You have to agree, the Ipod, The Iphone and Macs.. What is next? Just cant wait, made music a common access. My son was on for a music recording for his school program yesterday and he got a feel of Mac Pro tools 8.0 for that and says that MAC a thing to have.

This week on Friday will be the First anniversary of the Bombay Seize. Time flies. But you wonder any significant learning has happened and the sense of security has improved. It is time to ask the questions and see if we get answers. Meanwhile I share the grief, memory for the departed. Vir Sanghvi has written a great article.

Ok, until next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Drucker,9 ways, Kalashnikov,Fitbit,

This week is the 100th Birth anniversary of Peter Drucker. I am sure we are very lucky that Like Gandhi, Drucker was amongst us and helped us to charter a way forward in management. As I read more and more of other authors on management issues, I see the fundamental concepts all boil from Drucker. We are blessed. Interesting would be his thoughts on today's chaos......

Read an interesting article by Liz Ryan on 9 ways to find a perspective employer. Yes, some of it are common sense and practically known in this part of the world like reaching early to find latent aspects, linkedin aspects. Good thoughts.....

With Google wave mania catching here is a practical guide written by Gina Trapani. She covers practical aspects in office work in HBR as well as in her blog called Lifehacker which is a good read. On HBR this article why parents make a great manager, was a good one.....

This week marks the 90th Birthday of Mr Kalashnikov the inventor of AK 47. The weapon yes, has taken lives, but brought more peace I guess. He was my childhood hero.. So salute.....

Yes, It is good to see Linkedin connected to Twitter, but no use in this part of the world as many service providers don't provide twitter connect so just dream.......Also many company firewalls bar twitter.....

Just got the fortune print article which has recognised Steve Jobs as Fortune CEO of the decade. Great accolade. The man has revolutionised digital waves.... Hopefully he takes it to next level on digital reads.....

I leave this week with FITBIT the device that can measure your movements and give feedback. Wish it comes sooner to this part of the world.

Till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Qacks, Disagreement, Students, Readit forme.

When I was 12 years old in my 7th Grade, I had allergic rashes on my body (reason never known) and my grandmother immediately suggested that I go the Quack to get it treated. Nothing came out of the roadside treatment after 12 hrs, my dad decided to take me to alopathic Doctor in Karaikudi(Far and few that time) and I was Ok in 6 Hrs. This CNN article on the quacks reminded me of that. The other side is the way the medical costs are skyrocketing this way of treatment would be beyond reach for many average Indians.......

Mike and Mark again have done it again. While you may have disagreements with your boss and it will be big joke if you had not had one over time(then it is career derail). They have come out with a fantastic podcast on how to disagree with your boss. I would even take this to work out over my children and family and friends based on this article when to shut up.

Here is an interesting piece on advice supposedly given by Bill Gates to Children. (of course now confirmed that he is not the source). Good thoughts to pass on to children regardless of source.

Came across this website Readitforme gives summary of best books released to go thro on a video. Also liked the web page Aggregated Alltop as a good source to read all threads in one page.

OK, till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.

Regards
Karthik.