Archive for January, 2006
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 26 Jan 2006, 2:25 AM - 4 Comments
OK, if everyone starts ignoring blogs, who will read my blog? So, for
my own selfish reason, I have to write something on the above mentioned
topic. Just kidding, of course!
The velocity with which change is happening in this world is maddening. Everyone of us knows that change is the only thing that is constant. This statement needs some overhauling. The modified version may look something like this
“Change at a breathtaking speed is the only thing that is constant”
The being the case, it is important for us to adapt to the new world
order at a breathtaking speed. The questions, therefore are:
1. How do we know what are the new rules of the game?
2. How to we know how to adapt to these new rules?
One answer may be to become an eternal student and keep upgrading our
knowledge at a breathtaking speed. Traditional education mediums have a
disadvantage here. The curriculum in most traditional institutions will
lag at least by a few months, if not years!
On the other hand, blogs have a distinct advantage here. By religiously
following the blogs of about a hundred or so thought leaders, we get to
tap into the brains of people like Tom Peters, Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki and Doc Searls.
These thought leaders discuss ideas that are VERY relevant to the
current times. Over a period of time, following these blogs can:
(a) bring you closer to the realities of the new world
(b) prepare you for the massive changes that are happening
(c) help you adapt to the new rules
(d) make you smarter (almost on a daily basis)
(e) provides you with a huge leverage. Many of these thought leaders
charge a fortune if you want them to consult for you. Through their
blogs you get “almost” the same leverage
The best part is that you get all the above advantages for FREE!
What could be a more profitable deal in 2006?
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 25 Jan 2006, 6:23 PM - Leave Comment
You need to distinguish yourself if you want to succeed and thrive. There is no question about it. Hardy’s quote provides an another perspective on the same topic
“It is not worth an intelligent man’s time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people to do that”
- G.H. Hardy
Posted under Great Quotes, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 24 Jan 2006, 4:11 PM - Leave Comment
This trip to India has been exciting on many fronts. Apart from meeting my family and getting together with old friends, I was blessed to get an opportunity to be see Sri Sathya Sai Baba in Whitefield, Bangalore. It was an experience to be cherished. Here is one quote that I picked up at the entrance of Brindavanam, the place where Sri Sathya Sai Baba resides when he is in Bangalore. The quote captures the essence of service beautifully.
“The hands that help are holier than lips that pray”
- Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Posted under Great Quotes, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 24 Jan 2006, 4:02 PM - Leave Comment
I am honored again as Brandon McNamara reviews my book “Beyond Code” over at BizBookTalk. Here is the link:
Beyond Code by Rajesh Setty
Thanks Brandon for your kind words.
Posted under Endorsements, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 24 Jan 2006, 3:49 PM - Leave Comment
When you make a mistake, the cost effective way to stop further mess-ups is to admit the mistake. Carnegie’s quote explains this – albeit very strongly 
“Any fool can defend his mistake – and most fools do”
- Dale Carnegie
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By Rajesh Setty on Mon 23 Jan 2006, 5:36 AM - Leave Comment
Joaquim Menezes, Editor of IT World Canada interviewed me on the above mentioned topic a few days ago. The audio as well as the transcript is available on the IT World Canada website. Here is the link:
Beyond Code: Success principles for Today’s IT Professional
Good luck!
Posted under Endorsements, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 23 Jan 2006, 12:00 AM - Leave Comment
JIMP is an acronym for “Just Interrupt Me Please!” JIMP syndrome is very common and there is a chance that you might also be affected by this syndrome
I had a severe case of JIMP syndrome a couple of years ago. My symptom was simple – I would be obsessed with checking my emails by clicking on the Send/Receive button alomost every five minutes (a couple of times.) I knew that it was ridiculous to keep clicking on that button so frequently. There was no logical explanation. I was just not able to avoid the temptation of reading (and responding to) emails. When this was at a peak, one of my co-workers would joke around saying that “If you see the Send/Receive button in Rajesh’s outlook program, you will find that it’s a bit worn out.” I think I still have some remnants of the JIMP syndrome but it’s no longer severe.
I started observing and talking to other people and found that I was not the only one affected by the JIMP syndrome. There are a ton of people like me waiting for someone to interrupt them almost on a daily basis. When I found another person with a JIMP syndrome, I would ask questions like “Why do you check your email so often. Is there something that you are expecting from someone?” The answers I would get were interesting. Without going into all the details, let me say that most often there was nothing urgent or important that people were expecting in the email. It was almost like they wanted someone to say or ask something from them so that they can get BUSY. In other words, if something comes up on the email, they got an EXCUSE to NOT work on executing their DESIGN of life. If there are no interruptions, there are no REAL excuses to not deliver on your promises. However, if there are interruptions, you can always blame your lack of results on those interruptions.
JIMP syndrome provides fantastic results by making you a victim of circumstances and move you away from your design of your life.
Are you one of those people affected by JIMP syndrome? Here is a quick test.
Answer the following questions (score one point for each “Yes”)
1. You check your email more than 6 times in a day (even when you can manage with a lower frequency)
2. You can’t live without an IM (Instant Messenger)
3. You are a Blackberry addict. You wonder how would people live without a blackberry
4. You don’t have a weekly plan or a daily plan. Your plan depends on what happens during the day.
5. You are spontaneous and you like to be spontaneous.
6. If the average number of emails to you drops significantly, you feel sad
If you got more than 2 points, you have some case of JIMP syndrome. There is no doctor who can cure this except you.
Get off the JIMP syndrome and enjoy your life!
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 22 Jan 2006, 11:58 PM - 1 Comment
Albert Einstein said it beautifully – “It is the mark of an educated man to entertain a thought without accepting it”
Easier said than practiced. Think about it – Wouldn’t it be interesting if everyone always accepted everything that you said. No exceptions. For one it would be scary, unbelievable and boring. In any relationships, one thing is guaranteed – there will be times (lots of them) when the two parties will disagree on something. When I mean relationships – I mean any kind of relationships. Disagreements on their own may not be a problem. If you don’t know how to handle them, that might lead to multiple breakdowns in your life.
conflict resolution is a big topic on its own. My goal is not to summarize the art of handling disagreements or managing conflicts but merely to raise your awareness for the need to give this topic the importance it truly deserves. Chances are that when you go to a bookstore you may not gravitate towards even flipping through the pages of a book on managing conflicts. You may think that there may not be much to learn about it or it’s all common-sense stuff. While no book may cover the exact situation that you are in, it is important to for you to understand the basics of handling disagreements. Once you graduate from there, you can go towards learning the fundamentals of effectively negotiating on anything.
Think about your own life last week. Let me help you with a few questions:
1. How many times did someone disagree with you on ANY topic? This is supposed to be a trick question. If you are in a power position, sometimes people may not voice their disagreement directly. If I rephrase this question, it would be something like “How many times did you feel that you did not get complete buy-in for your ideas?”
2. How many times did you get involved in a negotiation on something? If you had a discussion for more than five minutes on a particular course of action, you were involved in some form of negotiation.
3. What was the percentage of the above two cases in the grand scheme of things
Let me give an example – If you discussed a total of ten ideas and six of them involved either a “lack of buy-in” or “some form of negotiation” or both, then the percentage is 60.
You will be amazed at what you will find out. Isn’t that a big enough motivator to start working on acquiring the skills required for handling disagreements and negotiating?
PS: Thanks to my friend Ravi Char (Musings on Information Security) for making me think through this topic.
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 22 Jan 2006, 11:24 PM - Leave Comment
Imagine this scenario. Actually since this happens quite often, I should have said – remember this scenario.
You are driving to some place and you are supposed to take an exit on a certain street. There is a signal and all the people who are going straight have stopped. You are on the last lane trying to exit but you see that there is one person on the last lane who has stopped in such a way that you can’t get past him to the exit lane. You try to get closer to him and show signs of urgency thinking that the person in front will move the car so that you can exit. Nothing happens. You have no choice but to wait until the signal turns green and everyone starts moving. No, you don’t have to tell me how you will curse the driver of that car. That’s understandable. This is a classic case where someone is going somewhere and he is stalled for some reason. For no fault of yours, he will stall you too! Now imagine that the roles reversed and you were in that car in front and someone else was behind you. How do you feel?
It may not seem like a big deal in the traffic scenario but what if it happens in your real life? If you are a leader, do some soul searching and see if there are people who are showing signs of growing so fast that very soon you will set a limit on their growth. In other words, unless you get OFF the way, their growth is stalled. What would you do or what could you do? Do you have the emotional strength and courage to see someone who is working for you grow bigger than you? Think about it – it happens a lot of times whether you like it or not.
The point to ponder is “How could you create an environment so that you are not stalling the growth of any superstars in your team?”
There is no one solution to this problem but if you have the mind-set to “get OFF the way” of other people’s growth, you will find your own creative solutions.
Good luck!
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 22 Jan 2006, 10:42 PM - Leave Comment
There have been books written about the need to forgive. So this is not new. I just want to share my perspective and emphasize on the point.
Life would be simple if everyone was nice to you, if no one took advantage of you, no one “used” you or everyone was fair to you all the time. It would almost be “Unreal” to imagine those things.
When someone does something unfair to you, for how long should you remember it?
I was talking to an old friend that apparently was not treated well in his earlier company. “Bad Boss” is what he said. Of course, he got out of the company quickly but from what he told me it was clear that he was badly hurt emotionally. Of the one hour conversation we had, he talked for forty five minutes. Of the forty-five minutes he spoke, forty minutes was about his boss. My question to him was “How important is your ex-Boss in your future life?” for which he immediately answered “He is nobody to me. If possible, I want to erase him from my memory.” and while he was speaking those words, he realized what he was doing.
People that treat us unfairly are not VERY important for us in our lives. So what is the real point in talking about people that are not important in our lives. We get a sense of pleasures re-counting all the bad things that happened to us and portray a “Poor me” attitude. It gives us something to talk about and blame someone else for our current situation. When we hold someone else accountable for our state of affairs, we can be rest assured that WE are not held accountable for where we are. It’s SOMEONE else that is the problem.
While there are many different ways to solve this problem, one simple way that has worked for me is to “Forgive and forget!” completely. When you don’t forget or always finding ways to “settle the scores” remember that your mental bandwidth is locked up and is unavailable for other creative journeys like “designing your future and executing on your plans.” Since time is almost “rationed” for each one of us, you will be the best judge to use the time appropriately – for settling scores or to designing brighter futures.
Forgiving provides a huge relief from the endless repitition of useless thoughts in your mind. What good is it if most of your waking day you spend thinking about folks that are not important to you in your life. Forgive their sins and forget them completely!
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
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