K R Ravi |
K.R. Ravi is a management graduate from XLRI Jamshedpur. He is also South Asia\\\'s First Dr.Edward De Bono certified public trainer in Lateral Thinking.
He has been a pioneer in spreading lateral thinking in the Indian corporate sector.
He has authored three books in the areas of thinking skills and creativity. He currently lives in Maryland in the US and travels frequently to India to conduct workshops on Lateral Thinking. createravi@hotmail.com http://www.krravi.com |
Contributions by K R Ravi | |
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Why Not Legalise Corruption? by K R Ravi The CEO of a large company asked me to meet with his HR manager to discuss the possibility of conducting workshops on Lateral Thinking for his colleagues. I sought an appointment with the HR manager only to find the man was not interested in meeting me. I suspected that he did not like the idea of being told whom to meet. |
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How racist are we? by K R Ravi Recent trends in the US and Australia have brought home a fundamental aspect of human nature. In times of trouble the atavistic tendencies that are inherent in us come to the surface. The veneer of civilization vanishes once we see a threat that is perceived as existential. |
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Has India Reached A Dead End? by K R Ravi Here is the headline from a newspaper, the sort of headline that has us wringing our hands in despair: THREATS TO JUDGES, GOVERNMENT LAWYERS SOARING! The report then says that threats to the nation’s judges and government lawyers have sharply increased prompting hundreds to get 24 hour protection from armed guard |
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You've Been Framed! by K R Ravi Years of conditioning and training can lead to a freezing of frames. These frames help us to simplify the world but the danger lies in oversimplification and holding on to frames after they are no longer relevant. Albert Einstein admonished his colleagues, “Make it as simple as possible but no simpler.” |
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The Power of NO by K R Ravi An oft repeated fault in many organisations, is to automatically attribute success to the brilliance of the manager concerned or the team. Failure conversely is attributed rather automatically to incompetence. This is a serious flaw. In the above instance the CEO could have requested the ‘star’ performer to make a presentation to all the sales staff and share his insights into the strategy and tactics that in fact led to his grand ‘success’. |
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Paradox: The Heart of Creativity! by K R Ravi One of the most brilliant displays of paradoxical thinking is by scientist Faraday in the 1830’s. He had observed that a current of electricity passingthrough a wire could have the effect of causing the magnetized needle of a compass to deflect, that is, move in a rotational direction when a compass was located close to the wire. This was the basis of his invention of the electric motor. |
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The neo-oligarchs! by K R Ravi I was talking to my cabbie in New York who happened to be an emigrant from Hungary. I asked him how life was these days in his home country. I was taken aback when he stated rather casually that the ‘oligarchs’ were enjoying themselves while the public suffered privation. |
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Jurassic India: Where Dinosaurs Still Rule The Roost! by K R Ravi dinosaurI still recall with laughter my first day at B school. Students introduced themselves dutifully and solemnly till one guy said that he was working for Hindustan Motors, makers of the Ambassador car. Later we ribbed him on this, telling him that his department had an entire year to decide on the shape of the headlights -- this being the only innovation in what has been billed as the world’s only vintage car under active production and use. A living dinosaur. |
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Thinking Clearly by K R Ravi One of the wonders of the world is that obviously intelligent people make elementary but serious errors in thinking. I happened to meet a friend of mine, a successful banker in California who had migrated from India to the US more than a decade ago. He was talking about violence in India and gave that as one reason for his disappointment with his home country. |
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Can You Figure It Out? by K R Ravi That the U.S or for that matter many other countries are in recession is well known. The question is how does one measure recession? In the US the main yardstick is the shrinking of the GDP for two successive quarters. There are also many other indices that are closely monitored as indicating the health of the economy like retail sales, new house purchases and real estate prices, motor car sales, and so on. |
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New-year resolutions and the rule of 21 by K R Ravi What many people may not know is that to lead a rich and satisfying life we ought to devote about 70% of our time and effort on our long-term developmental goals. We are so caught up in day-to-day issues which in the final analysis turn out to be of small significance to our lives. We lose sight of our main and meaningful goals. |
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Deciding how to decide! by K R Ravi Meta decision should take place before you frame the issue. ‘Plunging’ into the various stages of decision making can lead to disastrous consequences. Not devoting sufficient time and effort to this phase may lead to you solving the wrong problem thereby exacerbating the actual problem. |
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Understanding the Indian psyche will solve our language problem! by K R Ravi There is one issue never dies out in India. Just when I thought that it was settled -- not by any serious thinking by our netas -- but by the collective wisdom of our people, the controversy has resurfaced. By sheer coincidence events have indicated the solution that no policy maker can devise in his head. I refer to the language issue. |
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If Excellence Is Your Ideal Everything Else Will Fall Into Place by K R Ravi A young man went to Gautama Buddha and sought the Master’s guidance on how to achieve Enlightenment. The conversation, which in my opinion must be required reading for anyone, went roughly as follows: Young Man (YM): Master, how long will it tak... |
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The Curse Of Caste Is Alive And Doing Well In India! by K R Ravi It is eerie how disparate news items are related to each other in a manner that provides interesting insights if you look at them closely. First came the news about how iconic athlete PT Usha was ill treated at Bhopal where she was present as the ma... |
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Hurling Chappals At Obama by K R Ravi An incident took place recently when the US President Barack Obama addressed Congress that needs to be discussed seriously in India for its many ramifications. It occurred when President Obama was addressing both the Houses -- Representatives and Se... |
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At The Risk Of Offending Some Indians..... by K R Ravi Unlike Archimedes it is unlikely that I will be remembered even minutes after I have my tryst with my Maker. That kind of destiny is reserved for the best among us and I cannot certify that I belong to that elite group. But I had my Eureka moment whe... |
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Look At What India Can Teach The USA! by K R Ravi My friend Asha works at the National Institute of Health in Washington, DC. Her boss had asked her to find out why India’s most powerful people had not been affected by swine flu, known here as H1N1. She asked me for my views on this interesting ... |
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India: Where is the creative facet of our culture of destruction? by K R Ravi In recent weeks a couple of incidents told the true story of India in a manner that nothing else can. The Delhi metro bridge crashed killing some poor people one early morning a few weeks ago. When my quality control friend of Indian origin in t... |
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3 Monkeys Anyone? by K R Ravi The birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi that fell on 2nd October, was also a time when we recalled the 3 monkeys that we have always associated with him. But the symbolism has changed. They now stand for: See No Criticism Hear No Criticism Speak ... |
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What Does It Mean To Be An Indian? by K R Ravi A friend remarked to me that what defines America is its veneration of entrepreneurship. The French, he added, most admired style and elegance. What defines India? That was the challenge my American friend posed. Before I could speak a word, he admo... |
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Simplistic Thinking: Misunderstanding India and Her Growing Pains by K R Ravi I am often accosted by NRI’s in the US who ask me why is India unable to solve its myriad problems. I usually ask them to name one specific problem and tell me how India could solve that problem. It becomes obvious in most cases that the NRI has n... |
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The FEW WORDS, FAST FORWARD Young Generation by K R Ravi I thought I was lucky to get a front row seat at a musical evening in Washington DC where a top Bollywood singer was scheduled to sing -- an event that Indians abroad await with excitement. My excitement quickly turned into disappointment as the ... |
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Modern India: The ghosts of our past still haunt us by K R Ravi When Jaswant Singh wrote something about Mohammed Ali Jinnah the ensuing brouhaha in the BJP told a tale about India that needs to be analysed. I suggest that we as a nation are prisoners of the past in many of our activities in daily life. In o... |
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Evidence Based Thinking by K R Ravi A few of us were drinking beer and discussing movies when the conversation veered round to Bollywood screen villains. Milind, a film fanatic felt that yesteryear villain Pran, was the finest bad man ever. His evidence? AFTER PRAN’S ADVENT NO PAR... |
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Counterfactual Thinking by K R Ravi An internationally acclaimed management guru writes that Harvard Business school is like a doorway through which if a bright youngster passes he or she will emerge a bright person anyway! The point he was making was that there is no great value... |
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The dangers of idolatrous thinking by K R Ravi Two events in recent times brought to my mind a characteristic of human thinking that needs examination. The media hype and mass hysteria surrounding the death of Michael Jackson was, to put it mildly, a case of overdose. It was said that MJ was ... |
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Thinking Against The Grain by K R Ravi Most of us, if not all of us, would like a casteless Indian society. An egalitarian society is our dream. There are some who assert that our forms for admission to educational institutions, our job application blanks etc should not ask for ‘cas... |
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Are You A Thinker Or A Sage? by K R Ravi My two and a half year old Boston-born grand nephew was taken on his first visit to India. At Chennai, the highlight of the day for him was the evening at the beaches of the city He clearly enjoyed the sand, the water and the relief from the summer... |
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Words As Weapons by K R Ravi For several decades, scholars and researchers have been telling us that the structure of languages shapes human thought. Language habits contribute to conflict, misunderstanding and even psychological maladjustment. Alfred Korzybski is one such scho... |
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In Defence of Scapegoats by K R Ravi A friend of mine is an auditor whose job it is to audit the accounts of government departments and companies. She complains that her audit reports are consigned to dusty cupboards a minute after she has handed them and left the office building. ... |
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The Most Powerful Form of Worship by K R Ravi I recently saw the following newspaper headline: MAHAKUMBABHISHEKHAM OF MADURAI MEENAKSHI TEMPLE. The report indicated that the golden tower of the goddess Sri Meenakshi was plated with 30 kilograms of gold. A Hundred and eight pots containing ... |
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The Purpose Of Focused Thinking by K R Ravi My friend Megha, a lifelong Delhi-ite, remarked that the Pavadai Melaku worn by some Tamil girls was a most unattractive attire. “How unfashionable,” she fumed. Some countries have banned yoga since this is considered a Hindu, or worse still, ... |
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Clash Of The Norms by K R Ravi Many years ago, when foreign travel was very rare in India, a friend of mine asked me what he could get me from Singapore, the country to which he was traveling. I told him that I really did not want anything at all and would be happy if he were to... |
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The Beast and The Best In Us by K R Ravi Sometime in the 1960’s a cricket test match was in progress at the Eden Gardens in Kolkatta. At a very tense moment in the match the umpire gave an LBW decision against an Indian batsman. With this decision, the match went out of India’s hands.... |
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Misperceptions, Minorities and Mother India by K R Ravi There is a joke going around on the web. An American went visiting India. On his return, his NRI friend asks him how he found the Indians.The American replies laconically that everywhere he went he met Tamilians, Punjabis, Sindhis. Telugus, Hindus,... |
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Beyond The Boundaries by K R Ravi My friend Katyal says that he had flown from the US to Jaipur just to see a cricket match between India and Pakistan. He checked into a five star hotel in Jaipur, refreshed himself and took the lift to the bar. He was both shocked and amazed to see ... |
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Yes Bharat! by K R Ravi Do we value knowledge and learning? Do we accept charity with grace? Do we have our priorities straight? These questions flashed in my mind when at a party in Washington DC, an NRI who is a reputed medical practitioner told me this story. He hap... |
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Past is Prologue by K R Ravi In the week after the Mumbai massacre I asked two politician friends of mine the following question: Which scourge affecting India is a bigger killer - terrorism or kids dying of starvation? They both replied, "It is obviously terrorism. Look a... |
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Understand Anchored Thinking to make smarter choices by K R Ravi When I began my career as a corporate trainer I conducted workshops on public speaking for which I was paid a modest remuneration. Subsequently I offered workshops on a high value added subject of Lateral Thinking. I found myself runnin... |
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Thinking creatively by K R Ravi Based on an experiment that was carried out in the US, I tried this with my trainees, relatives and friends – all Indians. Here is the experiment. Find out the odd one out in the following: A cow, a stack of hay and a pig. Most people poi... |
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AR Rahman and multiple order thinking by K R Ravi I practice a kind of thinking called multiple order thinking. This means that I try to go beyond the obvious and the apparent. At first I try and get into the second order thinking where one can grasp what lies beneath. In the third order I try to ge... |
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Randomness, patterns and the theory of probability by K R Ravi There was an animated discussion when I had hosted a party at my home in the US yesterday. Most of the guests were Indians. These were successful people in diverse professions but all united in their love for India with deep regret that they could no... |
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Lessons from Slumdog Millionaire by K R Ravi Beyond the film itself and beyond the awards that the film has received, there is a dimension that might have escaped your attention. This movie has brought into sharper focus India and its development experience. A correspondent for the Financial... |
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Creativity, idlis and nuclear power by K R Ravi In my lateral thinking sessions I like to entertain and educate trainees with this small exercise: “Write down the rule that generates the series of numbers 2, 4, 6...” I would then ask each trainees to tell me another three number series ba... |
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Experts are not always creative by K R Ravi Try this experiment when in India. Walk past a cobbler and notice where his eyes are focused. I can guarantee his eyes will be riveted on your footwear. He, being an expert on footwear repair, cannot but focus on his area of expertise which leads his... |
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Creativity and Amitabh Bachchan by K R Ravi About two decades ago a CEO faced an existential crisis. His company was in a very bad shape and his career was in danger. As he and his deputy sat in his office late into the night they asked themselves one final question - what would a new CEO do t... |
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Why do Tamilians commit self-immolation? by K R Ravi It was barely a week after I wrote a blog on the tendency of some Tamilians in Tamilnadu to commit self immolation I read that a youngster committed the act in a fit of emotion over the developments in Sri Lanka. I believe the matter is no l... |
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Solutions? No problem. by K R Ravi Traffic authorities in a city faced a problem typical of any busy city - a street choc-a-bloc with vehicles, bumper-to-bumper in ordinary parlance. It is evening time and harried office goers are returning home. Suddenly a pedestrian darts across the... |
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The other side of Slumdog Millionaire by K R Ravi The film Slumdog Millionaire has aroused strong emotions in both India and the U.S. Let me start with India. Amitabh started it all with his blog in which he despaired at the film showing the dark underbelly of India, a tradition that goes ba... |
- Anitha: Rather than getting an MBA degree, an entrepreneur must be able to handle a MBA and extract work, ideas, and...
- Anitha: The spokes of the wheel can represent family, health, money, career, social intelligence, and...
- Anitha: I was thinking if in these days of Facebook and Twitter the “e” in Bye is everlasting...
- Jennifer: I am an American who works with a number of Indians by helping them with their immigration paperwork. I...
- Becky: Good God woman! No evolutionist anywhere ever has claimed that BEARS evolved into WHALES! Thank about it. Your...
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