Thursday, November 11, 2010

Saturday, November 06, 2010

3 traits theory

My first theory

Exams are going on. Final exams for the first semester. And all of us here are working hard(well almost near to hard) to increase our CGPA. 6 papers happened till now. And I am not satisfied with even one paper. Marketing, Organizational Behaviour, Principles of management, Financial accounting or what ever you take, I have done them horrible. Though I wont fail- thanks to CGPA system - but I am not satisfied with my performace. During the course of studies, I learnt many theories - maslow, herzberg, theory X, Y, theory of firm, Ansoff, BCG and a hell lot. I then thought of creating my own theory.

Its been almost four years that I have received any success. Yes this is a long time. The last success I received was when I cleared Satyam and TCS. way back in 2006. And then have been facing a series of failures. The SF ratio (Success to failure ratio, thanks to finance) is too low. Way low than the industry standards. 2 in 8 years is 0.25 per year. Time for a revolution now. I thought a lot. What is going wrong? AM I dumd? Am I a retard? well, no. am none of it. Do I lack in confidence? No. Or else I would have done this study quite ahead in time. In fact I suffer from COC symdrome (Continuously Over Confident). So whats happening dude! Something is worng. And I don't know what.

I lack in certain traits. And probably every person who is a failure or on path to failure surely lacks in these traits, if not all then atleast 60% of it.
Thses traits are:

1.Timeliness
2.Sense of urgency
3.Consistency

Timeliness: Not to be on time, or taking it positively, following IST is in our bloods. So please do not expect any Indian to arrive right at the stroke of the hour. Its the degree of time lapse that matters. How much late you are - is the correct question. I am trying hard to over come this problem. plus-minus(rather only plus) 5 minutes is my target. Time is definitely not money. Other wise I would have been the poorest human. But still time is important. So that doesn't mean you keep on buying watches around! Well, I would phrase it the other way.
There are 2 aspects of timeliness. one - being at right place at the right time and other being investing the time in a fruitful manner. I know it all boils down to 'Time is Money', but it feels good to deny some theory and discover a new one though it finally is all the same. Let us see the first point - Being at a place at the right time. Now 'right' time is defined by how late or early can you afford to be. This varies widely with the place you are going to go. You just cannot expect me to be right on time for a party. Right at 6 pm on the dance floor - sounds weired. But if I would have been the host, I would be there at 6:30 atleast - though alone waiting for my friends. Now if it was an interview with the dream company, I would be 30 minutes before the schedule. Now where does this timliness habbit come into me when it was the interview! It's the level of importance we give to the person or place. So if 'being on time' is proportional to 'importance' stands true then it implies that keeping your girl wait lessens her importance to you. The more you make her wait, the less important she is. (Girls, it is the same for you too. ) Now step yourself into the waiting position and your dear one is making you wait - implying that you are less important to her. Hurts? So be on time. Be it a movie, interview, friends, date, parents, relatives, boss, conference, lecture, train, flight or your words - make it a habbit of being on time. It really helps. This actually is very important to me. And I write this to read it iteratively to have a 'Be On Time' habbit.
The Other point is investing the time in fruitful manner. This fruitfulness is subjective in nature. Its meaning may vary from person to person. For some, it may be money, for others it may be knowledge and for some others it may be family. We ourselves need to think what is important to me. Is the activity I am doing in anyway relate to my set target? Is it a step forward in achieving that goal? Or Is it making some one happy, Is it making some money? Such questions may help you in understanding if the time you are investing is going to be fruitful. Take care of the time and time would take your care.

Sense of urgency: Laziness is a desease. And I am a victim of it. I have a habbit of keeping things under the carpet unless it becomes too critical or my father scolds me to do that. waiting for some one else to do it for you would not help. It is your task and you have to do it. No way out! So better do it fast so that one item lessens from the to do list and you can think of other things. Have a sense of urgency in doing things. The world is full of competetitors. If you dont complete the job at hand, some one else would do it and take the next opportunity. So you need to have a sense of urgency in grabbiing the opportunities and completinng the tasks. This is very much required in the times where the world is getting flatter and individuals are competing from across the globe. Complete the job at hand at the earliest, you will feel the satisfaction.

Consistency: Any habbit or rules are of no use if not practiced consistently. Going to gym on one day and working out for 5 hours does not help. Walking 20 mins for weeks along would help in reducing the weight. Being on time only for the interview does not help. Every one would be on time for an interview. But being on time at a social gathering every time, values you. Understand the importance of consistency.

These three things are very important for you. Try to get them in place and that would definitely help you in achieving results. But how do you mesure the results? Have you defined your success parameters? You say that you have been successful very few times in last 8 years. How did you measure that? Clearing satyam or TCS is a success parameter for you. for some other, it may not be a parameter. For him, planting 2 trees may be one of the parameters. These parameters change. You need to understand you own priorities and decide you own parameters. For defining them, you need to understand your own goals, your mission and your values. Our life is similar to an organization. An organization would not be successful if it does not have a clear vision, mission and values. same is the case for an individual. So understand your priorities, define your goals, set the targets and go for it with the 3 traits discussed above.