Habits

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore,
is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle

Leadership

Last night, I was there at the Sime Darby Lecture series with my colleague Subra to listen to Prof Ram Charan, renowned author and former Harvard Professor. Simple message: Leaders work on their basics just like athletes do. And, they are not shy of hiring people who are more clever than them.

Wellness

I read a wonderful piece by A R Samson in the Town & Country, a Philippines magazine. The article on Social Graces: Vintage Years emphasised the simple truth that age serves as a kind of social boundary, much like milestones on the way to a destination.

• Twelve when airlines charge you full fare
• Sixteen to get a driver’s license
• Eighteen when you can vote
• Twenty one for males and twenty three for females when you can marry without parental consent
• Thirty when you are no longer a whiz kid
• Forty when life is supposed to begin but passes by un-remarked
• Forty five when you are certified middle age no matter how you dress
• Sixties when you are eligible for senior citizen status and discounts

Wellness and happiness comes from accepting yourself, whatever age you are. The ultimate test of wellness is equanimity and avoiding the stress of trying to become what you cannot be. It’s fine to be greedy but more important is the acceptance of the gift of life.

Aamir Khan's Three Idiots

Aamir or Rancho as he is known in the film is a true Rainbow Creator.

I watched this lovely film today with my family. Enjoyed it immensely. The message do what you are passionate about and follow your heart resonated with me.

Become an engineer if you desire so, become a photographer if you desire so not because of parental or peer pressure.

All is Well were three most powerful words I took away from the film.

My name is Khan

I watched Sharukh Khan's movie, I was so touched by the story line. My family enjoyed it too. The film is about an autistic person but who said such a person cannot create a perfect world for others.

He shows you to be yourself, taught me so much about what prejudices mean. I only wish every American Caucasian gets to see this film. The country that elected a non Caucasian to the country's highest office must be proud of this movie.

It helps erase so much of the prejudices prevailing about Muslims and clearly communicates you cannot stop someone from showering their love and goodwill for you.

A wonderful movie. Just made me sit up and recognise what I should be doing for the needy every day of my life.

Creating a perfect world

Mahatma Gandhi remarked that we must be the change we wish to see in this world.
Yet, we expect others to change but not us.

The world may not be a perfect place but there are huge opportunities for us to create a perfect world for at least some if not all the people. We can touch people’s lives if only we stop for some time in our busy lives and take notice of what is happening in the world. This requires personal change, a personal commitment and a resolve to do things differently.

If we just look around, we see numerous problems that we wish will go away. Problems stubbornly persist despite all our good intentions. Just take the Haiti earthquake or the one in Indonesia; what do we do more than just think about it for a few minutes. It is strange that other than a few minutes of sadness, most of us just go about our lives in a routine way. We take many things for granted. This largely arises from the thought that what can an individual do.

Mahatma Gandhi started the Indian independence movement; Mohamed Yunus started the micro credit revolution. They did not expect others to change; they initiated the change stemming from the belief that they can do something substantial to make the world a better place.

In our work with people to develop them into Rainbow Creators, we work on the principle:

Recognize you can make a difference

My friend and colleague Scott Friedman talks about creating a perfect world. He says this starts from recognising that you can create a perfect world for your loved ones and the communities you desire to serve. This is my 2010 goal.

How can I create a perfect world for my family, colleagues and society in my own way?

What can I do to touch people’s lives?

Annual Survey of the Training Industry

The Annual Survey highlights the Training Industry status. We need to create Rainbow Creators but budgets have been cut. How do we exceed retrun on expectations as Jim Kirkpatrick calls or provide greater value to the end user. Some key points from the Bersin survey.
The Bersin & Associates Annual Training Industry Survey is interesting; visit their website for more details. Some salient points:
In 2009, the faltering U.S. economy continued to take its toll on training organizations. Companies cut their L&D budgets by another 11 percent from 2008 levels, with median spending falling to $714 per learner. Combined with the budget reductions that occurred in 2008, training budgets have fallen a total of 21 percent over the past two years. Spending was down across all company size categories. Small companies cut their L&D spending by 10 percent; midsize companies cut 11 percent and large companies cut 12 percent of their L&D spending.

Many L&D organizations also shed jobs in 2009. The median L&D staff fell from 7.0 staff per 1,000 learners in 2008 to 6.2 in 2009. Small businesses reduced their training staffs by four percent, while midsize firms cut five percent and large companies cut eight percent of their L&D headcount.

These budget and staffing figures show that large businesses have taken the hardest hit in 2009. Large companies generally have more “fat” to cut, with more L&D program offerings and more L&D staff playing specialized roles. Although they are often slower to respond to economic changes, they are assessing – and cutting now. As part of these cost-cutting efforts, many large companies are centralizing their training operations and moving toward a shared services model.