Stick to your choice

Your choice

To accomplish our dreams one of the habit that one needs to develop is to confidently, without getting intimidated by people, circumstances and consequences be able to speak one’s mind. In the current environment, we need to set boundaries.  By setting clear boundaries of our values, we are enabling ourselves to find the balance it will actually provide energy to each aspect of our lives. Setting boundaries in our heart and mind will enable us to speak our mind and get the important things done.

“To thy own self, be true, and it must follow, as the night and the day, thou canst not then be false to any man” (William Shakespeare, 1564-1616). The wonderful thing about character and integrity is that they are intimately related and also one of the few things in life that no one will ever be able to forcefully take away from you. Your good choices are your own. Even though someone can take your life, they can't force you to make a choice that you believe is wrong.  Look at the choices you've made in your past and observe how much you have or haven't lived by those principles. Be conscious every day of the decisions you make, however big or small and how close they bring you to being the person you really want to become.

Remember "...until a person can say deeply and honestly, I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday, that person cannot say, I choose otherwise."  Stephen R. Covey

A hungry wolf killed a sheep and wore its skin to get to the flock of sheep and kill some more. The sheep all thought that the wolf was also one of them and they lost their life. To accomplish your dream be with your gut level original choice.

I was reading “Achal Bakeri rescued Symphony by zeroing in on the products and tactics that were the company’s original recipe for success”, [ Forbes India, Aug’2012] Achal Bakeri narrated to Samar Srivastava as: Here is how it happened. In 1987 we moved into a new house in Ahmadabad, India, parts of which could not be air conditioned as it had high ceilings and long passages. Our architects suggested that we install air cooling. Till then we had never used air cooler. The performance was great but the product was an eyesore and we had to camouflage it.  That gave me an idea: Why can’t I make a better air cooler?  The next year I introduced my first cooler in the market under the Symphony brand name. I made sure it looked exactly like a wind air conditioner. By 1994 it became the national brand and we had our IPO. With lot of reasons of financial market and customer expectations we diversified into many more products such as washing machines, water heaters, flour mills, water purifiers and exhaust fans. None of these products succeeded. The reasons were different for each product category. First a lot of money went into development. Second, money went into marketing. As none of these products succeeded, there was a financial strain. The other thing that happened was that we took eye off the ball in the air cooler business, so the innovation was stopped with that result the range could not be expanded. As a result, by 2001 we had completely eroded our net worth and we became Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction Company.

That’s when I had two options – to shut shop or to revive the Company and stuck to the original choice of “Air cooler”. So we decided to focus and exited from all the other product lines. Between 2002 to 2008, our net margins doubled from 10 to 20 percent. Our most significant turning point came in 2008. We got an opportunity to acquire a majority stake in a Mexican company. Later we cooled a 200,000 square foot hall. This is something no one is doing on an organized scale in India. This is a virgin market. The potential is huge and we are currently talking to Walmart to air cool their super centers in Central America.

We have come a long way since our BIFR days. Today our market cap is at Rs. 800 crore, we are world’s largest air cooling company. Today, when we meet people from the markets, they ask me why I don’t get into other categories. But this time history is not going to repeat itself.  

Achal Bakeri’s Symphony stuck to the original good choice and instincts that steered them from being a sick company to a largest air cooler world player. 

Stick to your original choice

SYM

To accomplish our dreams one of the habit that one needs to develop is to confidently, without getting intimidated by people, circumstances and consequences be able to speak one’s mind. In the current environment, we need to set boundaries.  By setting clear boundaries of our values, we are enabling ourselves to find the balance it will actually provide energy to each aspect of our lives. Setting boundaries in our heart and mind will enable us to speak our mind and get the important things done.

“To thy own self, be true, and it must follow, as the night and the day, thou canst not then be false to any man” (William Shakespeare, 1564-1616). The wonderful thing about character and integrity is that they are intimately related and also one of the few things in life that no one will ever be able to forcefully take away from you. Your good choices are your own. Even though someone can take your life, they can't force you to make a choice that you believe is wrong.  Look at the choices you've made in your past and observe how much you have or haven't lived by those principles. Be conscious every day of the decisions you make, however big or small and how close they bring you to being the person you really want to become.

Remember "...until a person can say deeply and honestly, I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday, that person cannot say, I choose otherwise."  Stephen R. Covey

A hungry wolf killed a sheep and wore its skin to get to the flock of sheep and kill some more. The sheep all thought that the wolf was also one of them and they lost their life. To accomplish your dream be with your gut level original choice.

I was reading “Achal Bakeri rescued Symphony by zeroing in on the products and tactics that were the company’s original recipe for success”, [ Forbes India, Aug’2012] Achal Bakeri narrated to Samar Srivastava as: Here is how it happened. In 1987 we moved into a new house in Ahmadabad, India, parts of which could not be air conditioned as it had high ceilings and long passages. Our architects suggested that we install air cooling. Till then we had never used air cooler. The performance was great but the product was an eyesore and we had to camouflage it.  That gave me an idea: Why can’t I make a better air cooler?  The next year I introduced my first cooler in the market under the Symphony brand name. I made sure it looked exactly like a wind air conditioner. By 1994 it became the national brand and we had our IPO. With lot of reasons of financial market and customer expectations we diversified into many more products such as washing machines, water heaters, flour mills, water purifiers and exhaust fans. None of these products succeeded. The reasons were different for each product category. First a lot of money went into development. Second, money went into marketing. As none of these products succeeded, there was a financial strain. The other thing that happened was that we took eye off the ball in the air cooler business, so the innovation was stopped with that result the range could not be expanded. As a result, by 2001 we had completely eroded our net worth and we became Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction Company.

That’s when I had two options – to shut shop or to revive the Company and stuck to the original choice of “Air cooler”. So we decided to focus and exited from all the other product lines. Between 2002 to 2008, our net margins doubled from 10 to 20 percent. Our most significant turning point came in 2008. We got an opportunity to acquire a majority stake in a Mexican company. Later we cooled a 200,000 square foot hall. This is something no one is doing on an organized scale in India. This is a virgin market. The potential is huge and we are currently talking to Walmart to air cool their super centers in Central America.

We have come a long way since our BIFR days. Today our market cap is at Rs. 800 crore, we are world’s largest air cooling company. Today, when we meet people from the markets, they ask me why I don’t get into other categories. But this time history is not going to repeat itself.  

Achal Bakeri’s Symphony stuck to the original good choice and instincts that steered them from being a sick company to a largest air cooler world player. 

Use every possible knowledge and wisdom to build your credibility

Build your wisdom

Good leaders, mentors and teachers preach us many life learning, best practices, pitfalls, dos and don’ts. We must learn quickly and not waste time implementing them. If you want to test them before you implement it, you may have to wait for a life time.  You can find a lot of knowledge and experience readily available by reading the vast repository of information in the form of books. You might probably be able to remember some learning someone taught you and instantly apply it to your own daily actions and thus help you improve, achieve and win.  If your preaching and practicing do not match, society can easily smell the rat without any cat.

Da La Rue, the world’s largest commercial banknote printer. The firm devises 100 or so new banknotes each year as well as around 2000 “design concepts” – a security feature, say, or a new image for a big-denomination bill. It has helped produce more than 150 currencies and won design awards. “Trust creates a high entry barrier into the industry. “Few firms can do what we do and those that can, have a long history and established relationships.” Says Tim Cobbold, Da La, Rue CEO. The business was founded in 1813. This is one of the best examples of walking the talk for almost 200 years. [Economist July’2012]

Yes, we do a lot of actions, to lead the people, organization, business and personal life. However, effective communication based on knowledge brings that element of credibility to the actions. All national and international preachers of all regions use the “knowledge” of their life time learning in to their preaching the real time lessons to the future generations of mankind.

A company that can successfully assemble and sell 11 million personal computers a year 1999 using 40,000 possible configurations is clearly one that has learned something about knowledge management. Each configuration is used average only about 275 times each year, Dell has captured the knowledge of its talented engineers in the process used to custom assemble PCs en masse. This advantage provides Dell with a 25 % share of the US PC market. By integrating the entire value chain with its knowledge management system, Dell has given itself an edge in the intensely competitive market [M T Hansen, N Nohria and T Tierney, “What’s your strategy for managing knowledge?” HBR, 1999].

 If, you want the age of the horse the best way to find out is to take a look at the horse’s teeth and mouth. So rather than asking the seller of the horse, about the beast’s condition, all you need to do is to get it straight from the horse’s mouth. Knowledge and wisdom are only the tools that can build your credibility.

Measure results to build trust

Measure performance

Data, metrics, measures, assessments, evaluations, scorecards, progress reports, report cards… Many of us have been faced with a host of measurement opportunities. Seems like some of the performance measurements are moving targets that we seldom hit. Some measurement processes come and go like a fog. I recall hearing this maxim years ago: “What gets measured gets done.” It has been attributed to Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, Edwards Deming, Lord Kelvin and others.
We can learn some lessons from renowned stalwarts.
Cisco systems once the invincible momentum stock adored by Wall Street, came crashing down just as we were headed towards the 21^st century. Problems started when Cisco announced a $2.2 billion inventory write-off – Wall Street severely punished the stock as a result. With all its experience, why didn't Cisco see the problems coming? Cisco made a common mistake: it projected the past into the future. Past demand had been vigorous, but the customers were requiring less and less of the firm’s products. And financing was cheap-it was no problem for a company like Cisco to find capital to finance ongoing operations even though the horizon looked invisible and unclear because of wrong measurements and forecasting. Cisco failed to see the slowdown in customer demand. Cisco missed this important point and inaccurately forecast-ed the new demand. [J Weber, “Management Lessons from the Bust” Business Week, Aug’2001]

We need to measure all types of results, for that measurement have to be correct, focused and realistic, so that we can take appropriate action while doing “Walking the talk”, which results into trust for our future steps.

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Listen to your heart and keep the faith

Listen to your heart

Society and financial conditions direct us to be logical and "use our brains". When you live and work only using our brain and not paying heed to our inner voice, we miss out on the vital purpose of life. The inner voice is a second "brain" and the epic center. Listening to our brain and heart is crucial to good decision-making about life, business and relationships as a whole. Our inner voice simply knows something without knowing exactly, how we know it, which is a "gut level feeling". That inner voice is directing you. The following is a true story about listening to your heart as a part of “Walk the talk”:

“Everyone needs to feel protected…”

Dear Wellendorff family,

Many years ago, while I was vacationing on the west coast of Denmark, I found an amulet with a hand-painted angel on it. A name and year had been engraved on the back. Since no one claimed the amulet, it became mine, and a talisman that I wore every day. Several years later I met an Englishman in Munich. He scrutinized my pendant and told me that his late wife used to have an angel just like mine. When we parted he gave me his business card, and my heart almost stood still.. Not only did he live in Denmark, his name was same as the one engraved on the back of the amulet. Yes, it was the same angel that he had given to his wife on their wedding day. Without hesitation I returned the angel to its proper owner. The situation was upsetting for both of us, I no longer had the guardian angel I had become so fond of and he was reliving sad memories. A few weeks later he announced he was coming to Munich over Christmas. He brought me the amulet back and proposed to me! Despite the objections of my parents and my son, who was then 20, I married the man who was still almost a stranger, in a very quite ceremony in Denmark. In our case the amulet was a cupid that has kept us together for 29 happy years.

Sincerely yours, Heidi Thomas Wellendorff the finest jewelry since 1893 

[Reference:Boeing 747-8 Lufthansa, special Magazine, 2012]

When we come across hurdles, challenges and the dream looks difficult, do not behave like rats abandoning a sinking ship. You will have to listen to your inner heart to sail forward to reach to your destination.

Run every minute for a cultural shift

Cultural shift

We have no choice but to change. The world is moving and shifting fast; you know that.  Take for example a multi-national company having a mix of cultures and backgrounds working towards identical goals. In working with multi-cultural setups, it happens that each culture is pointing fingers about the shortcomings of another’s culture, rather than trying to imbibe the best of both cultures that enables them to progress toward their common goals. Therefore the need for a cultural shift will start only when all agree and actually practice in their daily actions – rather every minute.

One good example is how meetings proceed during cross country people participation?   First of all other country men will be at meeting venue at least a minute early. As usual some of our Indian colleagues will arrive at the venue very late giving excuses of late arrival of the train, traffic and flight delay. This is a cultural issue where we don’t respect others time and commitment. It’s because of our casual approach. During discussion on any point some of our Indian colleagues will respond in chaos and in groups we speak tend to very loud this is also a systemic cultural habit we need to break. When it comes to the actions of other country men, they spend too much time in discussions and clarifications, and are never ready to deal with changes and uncertainties, which is also a big cultural issue for them, which they need to break.

When I was a kid my mother gave me a responsibility to feed cows everyday being a south Indian family rice was the main dish for food for the family and cows too. Every day I was very eager to feed them, cows were very keen to eat and I was enjoying those moments. About 20 years later: I wanted to feed cows with same type of food (rice dishes) but they were not eager to eat delicious rice items. I was upset with that reaction from cows because an anticipated joy moment became a sad moment for a while when I discussed with neighbors and they educated me that they feed cows “Roti”, which is an Indian bread.  

As a kid I was feeding an Andhra southern part of India cow and 20 years later initially I failed to feed them because I never understood the culture and/or eating habits of a Gujarati cow.

One more example: How the world class companies perpetuate the culture?

• By systematic indoctrination of new members in the cultural fundamentals
• By screening and selecting new employees that mesh well with the culture
• By the efforts of senior group members to reiterate core values in daily conversations and pronouncements
• By telling and retelling of the company legends
• By regular ceremonies honoring members who display desired cultural values and practices under complex conditions and situations
• By visibly rewarding those who display cultural norms and penalizing who do not

We must to align our behavior for the change, which we would like to attain as a cultural shift.No more casual behavior will work to win our dreams.

Define, write and live your values

Write down your values

The founders of great, enduring organizations like TATA, 3M and Johnson & Johnson often did not have a vision statement when they started out. They usually began with a set of strong personal core values and a relentless drive for progress and most importantly—a remarkable ability to translate these values into solid mechanisms.  “If these are our core values and this is fundamentally why we exist, what are the obstacles that get in our way? Defined values give us confidence and will help to have the courage and confidence to make choices. There’s something about actually writing down your values that makes you more committed to living them. When you don’t know or you haven’t clearly defined your values, you end up drifting along in life. Instead of basing your decisions on an internal compass, you make choices based on circumstances and social pressures.

Consider, for example, Granite Rock Company, a small construction-materials outfit that won the Baldrige award in 1992. The company espouses continuous improvement in customer satisfaction.[7] They tell their customers, “If there’s anything about an order you don’t like, simply don’t pay us for it. Deduct that amount from the invoice and send us a check for the balance.” They call it short pay.

Likewise, 3M could simply say, “We don’t get in the way of innovators,” fine. But that’s very different from creating mechanisms—like requiring that 30 percent of revenues be generated by new products—to actually stimulate innovation.

People would examine horse teeth to check whether it was a young horse or an old one. People would check values whether we are actually doing what we talked?