All Entries Tagged With: "Problem Solving"

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.

What on earth are ‚ÄòBusiness Burps‚Äô you may be asking? It was a phrase I thought of whilst … burping. Can you remember as a child when you first let out a burp after gulping a fizzy drink? Wasn‚Äôt it a bit exciting (as well as a little bit rude)? Weren‚Äôt your parents just a tiny bit embarrassed?

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.

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.

How can we stop wasting water? First we will have to change our attitude. We will have to feel responsible for the world that we will create for future generations. And what is the solution? How can we make everybody aware of this problem? Through public education programmes, water metres and higher water rates perhaps? As far as I am concerned I have always felt that the children can make a world of difference. Let’s also begin by adding water conservation and environmental studies as key subjects on schools’ curricula.

Are you tired of trying again and again? Are you are bored of doing what you don’t want to do? If you no longer believe in ‘Never Give Up’…. If you believe your old pattern of life can’t work anymore…. If you are too stressed and unhappy… Then why don’t you give up? Free yourself! [...]

I am sure the sentiment is shared by many who have a rather…er… chequered career. And questions abound. What gets one closer to the seat of power? And the fruits it has to offer? To begin with the answer is darn simple. It’s only made complex by know-alls or know-nothings or know-half or know-half-but-don’t-know-which-halves. That [...]

One tends to see a lot of stressed out people around nowadays, across gender and age group. Most seem to be running against time to complete a task or several of them. First, I am never able to understand the context of ‘running against’ time. Time is eternal and is a constant. Some people say [...]

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 not thought through any problem with [...]

The best writing advice I ever received was this: “Sometimes you have to let go of the jewels.” You have to cut out the best part. You have to detach from your brilliance. You have to trust that the whole piece is better the individual shiny parts that make you seem clever or wise. So [...]

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending – Carl Bard Frustration! It is a word which is commonly associated with feelings of helplessness and sometimes rage. So is there a way out? The answer is a big Yes! Any [...]

Ask yourself these two questions every day. 1. Do I Ask? 2. Did I Ask? Ask for what? It could be anything, that you may be contemplating/struggling/yearning to find/learn about: Help Answers, Advice, Counselling, Mentoring, Coaching or Teaching Ask How? Ask What? Ask Whom? Life is all about learning, unlearning and relearning. Learning happens through [...]

Businesses fail because of people, period. The effects of the failure can be observed, for example, on organization, processes, product or service, finances, marketing and sales. The causes can be related to strategic planning, implementation, management, control, human resources, absence of competitive intelligence and external factors like market dynamics or government regulations. If we are [...]

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 happened to meet the Indian ambassador in the US some years [...]

In career services we preach that you need to find yourself a mentor.  A mentor is someone who guides you, gives you their insight and their professional advice.  I have been very lucky to have had some GREAT mentors during the course of my career in education.  Betty Wilting, my former Dean at the technical [...]

If at all you want to develop political will, go to the kids, learn from them! I have come across two kinds of people. First kind are the ones who want to get something done and they get it done no matter what (read as beg, borrow or steal). The second kind are those who [...]

¬† Most readers will be familiar with, or have heard of Malcolm Gladwell’s best selling business book ‘The Tipping Point’. The author suggests that there is a point at which you need apply only a small effort to create an effect. This is rather like giving the final push to topple a large boulder or [...]

I had occasion to discuss the ongoing Wall Street crisis with two of my friends. One of them lives in Singapore and the other works for a nationalised bank in Chennai. My Singapore friend remarked that with capitalism having capitulated his executive friends are reading Karl Marx with great respect! My Chennai friend who dreaded [...]

Everything begins with the way we think, leading to the way we act and behave. By changing the way we think, we can find new ways to do things better and be better in every aspect of our lives. Mind Maps are a profound tool for effective thinking. Their contribution and impact on our thinking [...]

Here is an example of T-shirt folding that I use when I want to demonstrate the point that “creativity is about making tasks/things faster/better”. The traditional way of folding a T-shirt takes about 15 seconds. A few years ago I received a video clip showing a Japanese lady folding a T-shirt much faster, taking about [...]