NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

Pedro needed to plough his field before the rains set in, but his own plough had broken. He decided to ask his neighbor, Ladro to lend his plough. He knew that Ladro was a good man and that he would have done his ploughing by now and he would be happy to lend him the machine. With confidence he proceeded to his neighbour’s farm which was four fields away.

After a field of walking, Pedro said to himself, ‘I hope that he has finished his own ploughing or he'll not be able to lend me his machine.’ Then after a few more minutes of worrying and walking, Pedro said to himself, ‘what if Ladro's plough is old and on its last legs – he will not want to lend it to me, will he?’

After another field, Pedro was seized with more dread, ‘Ladro was never a very cooperative fellow, he won't be too eager to lend me his plough even if it is in perfect working order and he has no further need.‘ As he reaches his neighbour’s farm, Pedro confirms to himself, ‘Ladro can be real mean. Even if he can, he will not lend it to me just so watch me go to ruin.’

Pedro crossed his neighbour’s gate and knocked on the door. Ladro opened the door with a big smile, ‘hey, Pedro what can I do for you?’  An incensed Pedro shouted back, ‘To hell with you and your bloody plough!’

So often, we allow ourselves our minds to be ploughed by negative contemplation. When they come in a sequence, the harmful thoughts unite to create a depressing impact on positive thinking and hopeful beliefs. Indeed this predicament can be overcome only by ensuring that to not allow the burden of experience to weigh us down.

So often, we tend to remember only negative experiences or imagine only negative perceptions. What is not desirable is that we allow the negative thoughts to unite to impact us regressively. Hence we must proactively connect our thinking to the positive experiences and positive perceptions. That would ensure that we do not put ourselves in the wrong corner.

Do not allow sequence of negative thoughts to create rage...

 ‘Unite to impact’ perceptions that ensure positive image!

                              

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Life's Cube

Forty years ago, a professor of architecture at the Budapest College of Applied Arts, worked on designing a three-dimensional puzzle! Starting with blocks of wood and rubber bands, he set out to create a structure which would allow the individual pieces to move without the whole structure falling apart. Professor Erno Rubik’s Cube continues to engage learners worldwide as a thinking-toy. 

In a classic Rubik's Cube, each of the six sides has nine squares of the same colour. The six sides have six different colours. An internal pivot mechanism enables each layer to turn independently, thus mixing up the colours. For the puzzle to be solved, each side must be returned to comprise of one colour. It is easy to align same colour squares on one side. It is while setting right the other sides, as per single colours, that the first ‘solved’ side starts getting undone.

The state of a one side solution getting undone while trying to solve other sides is not just true in the case of Rubik’s cube! We see similar analogies in real life situations when we are unable to cope with multiple commitments. While we are setting right a few of the commitments, we see the worsening of the ones which we had already put into place.

Now let’s imagine life’s cube to have the following six sides: self, family, friends, community, career, life purpose. Each has many sub facets. Self would include values, health, hobbies, leisure, etc. Family and friends would include various relationships. Community would include various concerns and responsibilities. Life purpose would include larger dreams, commitments, etc.

Like in solving Rubik’s cube, to solve only a couple of sides to our Life Cube is no big deal. Real success lies in solving all the facets to the multidimensional predicaments. The impact happens only when all sides of our Life Cube are united in the resolution of their challenges. We need to learn from the many that solve Rubik’s Cube with ease. That, it is possible!

Yes, the Life Cube can be set right for every dimension...

Like Rubik’s Cube ‘Unite to impact’ the series of actions!

                              

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

DOING GREAT

The owner of a gardening business, Pedro seemed to be happy at all times. His work team too were a happy lot. Customers loved to visit Pedro’s store, or have his men work on their landscapes or make deliveries - anything from seeds to tools. Most assumed that Pedro was perpetually happy because he ran a flourishing business. But, it was the other way around...

Pedro always wore a big badge that proclaimed ‘Business Is Great’! Even, when times were tough, Pedro's attitude never changed nor did his badge! Everyone who saw the badge for the first time invariably asked, ‘What's so great about business?’ Sometimes people would comment that their own business was down, or even that they personally were dejected or stressed.

In fact, the badge was a conversation-starter, which typically involved Pedro talking about the positive aspects of his enterprise: his pleasure of meeting different people every day... his gratitude towards his helpful team members...  his personal happiness in the work itself... the new things he learnt from things going right as well as wrong... Pedro’s list would go on.

It was pertinent to note that no matter how unhappy a person was, he would end up feeling happier after listening to Pedro’s infectious positivity. However the enthusiasm was not a put on. Pedro had no doubt of the secret of his success: the badge came first. The great business followed!

It is interesting to note the replies to the query, ‘how are you doing?’ There are those who play victim and point out to pitfalls in their predicament. And there are others who choose to unite the overall positives of the situation. These are happy to be doing what they are doing and end up doing great work.

We must look at the larger perspective by noticing the affirmatives. Happiness is not just a choice. It is a choice that comes from seeing the larger picture of positives that surround us. We must unite to impact the heartening happenings in our life and ensure that we are always ‘doing great’!

 Own up to the positives around and ‘Unite to impact’...

The badge of ‘doing great’ will ensure the success pact!

                              

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Rope Holders

20 years ago, during a trek in the Himalayas, we met a German scientist. The man was a muse… every expression of his emerged from deep thinking. There were many correlations he made between the realities of mountaineering and the philosophies of life. One such powerful analogy lingers in the mind…

‘When you are hanging down a cliff... with a deep fall beneath… and only a rope to hold on to… who do you want to be holding the rope on the other side?’, he asked. Most of us ended up declaring names of our most trusted friends or relatives. Surely, we needed someone who could endure the burning pain of holding the rope with a sense of commitment and determination.

The modern sage then asked us whether those trustworthy persons would be constantly around us to hold the rope. We immediately looked around at each of us in the team. We knew that in real terms, it was the people in our team who would hold the rope for us. That night, we held hands around the campfire, resolving to be dependable rope-holders to each other.    

We must look around every team we belong to and do everything necessary to unite to impact the possibilities of symbiotic support. We need to be able to confirm the trust that everyone would endure the bleeding pain that is inflicted on the hands of those holding the rope. In every team, we need persons who stand up for the others in difficult situations.

It is pertinent to note that committed rope-holders are often an ignored tribe. They are the ones who don’t let go even in the toughest predicaments. True leaders can identify that these rope-holders are the real reasons for the survival and success of the team. And of course, true leaders will display the fullest commitment by holding the rope for the others in the team.

Truly, it is rope-holders who ‘unite to impact’...

For they ensure the team’s dependability tract!

                              

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Mea Culpa

The 2011 Malayalam film Adaminte Makan Abu (Abu, Son of Adam) is the story of a poor perfume seller and his wife who yearn to go on a pilgrimage to Haj. After raising the money, the couple begins preparations which include attending preparation classes conducted by the travel agency, being vaccinated and buying new clothes. Abu pays off even the smallest of his old debts as part of the preparations and travels miles to seek forgiveness from Sulaiman, a previous neighbour with whom he once had differences.

It was interesting to learn about the Islamic ritual of begging forgiveness from everyone. Jains observe a forgiveness day when they request forgiveness from each other for offences committed. The ancient Prakrit phrase, ‘Michchhāmi Dukkadam’ (may all the evil that has been done be fruitless) is used when a person makes a mistake, or recollects making one in everyday life, or when asking for forgiveness in advance for inadvertent ones.

In Latin, we find the word ‘Mea culpa’ (through my fault). It comes from a prayer of confession in the Catholic Church. Said by itself, it's an exclamation of apology or remorse that is used to mean ‘It was my fault’ or ‘I apologize.’ Mea culpa is one of many English terms that derive from the Latin ‘culpa’ meaning guilt. By owning up to the guilt, one is liberated of the burden of denial.

However, taking ownership of ‘mea culpa’ should not be an occasional emotion! We need to take stock regularly at the slights or the hurts we cause to others. As often as possible, we must own up to our errors. If we procrastinate, we may delude ourselves with justifications. When we unite our consciousness with the choice to own up and ask for forgiveness; we positively impact the demolition of the burden of guilt.

When ‘mea culpa’ is connected with forgiving

the ‘unite to impact’ results in guilt-less living!

                              

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Bed of Nails

Some persons seek to impress their audience into believing that they have acquired powers that make them immune to pain. To demonstrate this capacity, they sleep on a sharp pointed bed of nails. The gullible audience can be swayed by such acts, but the facade of super powers is ripped off when we realise that the impact is due to the method in the union of the nails.

3 inch long nails are fixed on a plank half an inch apart. The nails, being at close distance, naturally act as a bed and will not enter the flesh as the body weight is equally distributed on the nail bed. Since the nails are numerous enough, the weight is distributed between them such that the pressure exerted by each nail is not enough to break the person's skin.

This demonstration of the principles of weight distribution shows that the weight of the volunteer is spread over as many nails as possible. And it is this lesson that needs to be learnt. When the members of the team are aligned in close proximity and they do not feel the burden as it is distributed over many. The weight of the load is reduced when shared among various load bearers.

The bed of nails is based on simple code

We ‘unite to impact’ by sharing the load!

                              

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Efficiency

Two weekends ago, Dr Pawan Agarwal had everyone spellbound at BNI Goa Member’s Day. His zeal was reflected in his fluently flowing presentation based on his research of an amazing community. With his trademark flair, he shared the motives and the methods of Mumbai’s Dabbawallas.

Every working day, over 5,000 white-capped ‘dabbawallas’ get on cycles, each loaded with about 40 lunch boxes. Weaving their way through the gridlocked traffic of India's business capital, they collect, deliver and bring back lunch boxes from home to office and back using the railways. The logistics needed would almost certainly defeat the best efforts of any other supply chain network. In fact, they maintain the same method over the years and it works!

It is testimony to what simplicity can achieve. Dabbawallas are recognised for consistently delivering efficiency but sans a complex, technology-driven system. They have built a reputation of trustworthiness by using simple ways of coding, delegation and team working. All these are further empowered by fortnightly meetings to resolve conflicts and bolster best practices. Come storm or rain, they ensure that no external or interpersonal conflict will derail their efficiency.

So often we invest on complex technological systems and lose focus on the most important human resource. We focus on the method and skip the importance of team building. Eventually success comes from using simple innovative methods and empowering ownership among the team members. The Dabbawallas carry devout commitment to their work along with happiness that comes from pride in their community.

Indeed, to deliver efficiency we need to focus on building such devotion to work and feeling of ownership in our teams. This is done best by connecting to best practices and regular sharing at meetings to cope with incidental issues. These basics unite to impact our capacities when applied to simple systems that have worked over the years.

No need to reinvent the wheel, stick to basics plain

When teams ‘unite to impact’ efficiency is the gain!

                              

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.