Cheers to Life!

7th May, 2011
David Hume’s Tercentenary had been in good attendance. New York Times writes:

Saturday [May 7th] is the 300th birthday of David Hume, the most important philosopher ever to write in English according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Hume's philosophy has inspired a significant branch of cognitive and analytics philosophers and thinkers over the last three centuries. His theory of "Problem of Induction" has stirred many debates. Most recently, it has been assumed by Nassim Taleb as one of the core concepts of his "Randomness". Many credit Sir Karl Popper’s comprehensive response to "Problem of Induction" as the penultimate insight into reality of the modern society.

• See also:
• Related posts: Cheers to Life!
• Go here for New Your Times article, and here for WP entry
• Go here for more philosophical musings at Cognition & Culture, and here for Times Higher Ed feature
• Recent podcasts: Go here for OpenUniversity, and here for PhilosophyBites

SKR, Education, Three videos, and "3 idiots"

EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE THERE COMES AN IDEA THAT has at least three beautiful things together: holistic relevance, sincerity towards applicability, and honest and bold presentation. Such ideas carry an element for illumination and invokes belief in the audience.

Let's listen to Sir Ken Robinson (SKR). The Professor of Education has thus far given two of the best and most popular TED talks (see below). His ideas on the challenges of modern Education systems across the world, and possible solutions through paradigm shift have been path-breaking (including, earning the professor his knighthood).

When the idea is larger than life, it is often easy to miss the whole picture while focusing on the point if delivery of the idea, beautiful that it mostly is. For this reason, RSA Animation has done a great job in the video below in creating a sort of "skeleton key" based on SKR's RSA speech - Changing Education Paradigm. Within a couple of minutes into the animation, it is most likely that one gets reminded of some of the ideas that got reflected in Raju Hirani's recent bollywood script "3 idiots", that made the film immensely popular.

• See also:
• Go here for the official website of Sir Ken Robinson, and here for his wikipedia entry.
• Three videos: 1) TEDtalk-Do schools kill creativity? (Feb 2006, Monterey CA, ~20:00m), 2) TEDtalk-Bring on the learning revolution! (Feb 2010, LA, ~20:00m), 3) RSA lecture-Changing Paradigms (~55:00m)
• Go here for various publications, and here for the list on Amazon.com

HBR: Most Popular Articles of 2010

AN EXCITING YEAR IS DRAWING TO A CLOSE. Coming full circle of seasons it is winter again while the haven freezes over and a friend messaged from Leh in north-western Himalayas, "Its -15.4° C (4.2° F) here. Expect snow typing." I am almost sure it was meant to read "slow typing".

HBR on their part collectively published some 1000+ articles over the last 365 days. Recently, one of the editors listed the top 10 most popular articles among them (try here). Listed below are the five articles that I liked most.

1. Why I Returned My iPad by Peter Bregman
Peter Bregman stands in a two-hour queue-for-a-gadget for the first time to get his hands on iPad on its launch day. And within days, he is hooked. In this I-fear-I-might-loose-boredom post, Bregman talks about returning his iPad to Apple because it was "too good". He writes, "It's too easy. Too accessible. Both too fast and too long-lasting. For the most part, it does everything I could want. Which, as it turns out, is a problem." Because, he feared, he might loose his boredom, and hence, creativity. Go here to know why. [Tags: Managing yourself, Time management]

2. 12 Things Good Bosses Believe by Robert Sutton
Coming from Sutton’s popular book "Good Boss, Bad Boss", this short article is more of a link list where the items in the list go on to become articles in themselves. Some pretty common-sense stuff that sounds too apparently recognizable and one might just nod one’s head through it without the real attention or much effort in remembering it. That’s where the associated articles come in useful. Go here for the first branch of the tree. [Tags: Managing people, Leadership]

3. The Best Cover Letter I Ever Received by David Silverman
This remains one of the most popular articles of 2010 even though Silverman actually published it the year before. The answer to the question in the title is rather sarcastic. Silverman doesn't want people to waste time over writing cover letters, and explains the reasons in this post. Go here for this short and sweet post, and go here for his preceding and popular article - How to Write a Résumé That Doesn't Annoy People. [Tags: Career planning, Hiring, Business writing]

4. Define Your Personal Leadership Brand by Norm Smallwood
Smallwood published his book around personal branding about three years ago. This article provides a decent synopsis of his overall ideas. Targeted at leaders in general and consultants in particular, this five-step approach is a good lead to put the basics in place, and to build upwards from there. How different this is from developing and grooming a leadership personality? Well, I suppose a "personal leadership brand" is short-lived in comparison, and like most products, it carries a shelf-life and an expiry date. Go here for your own branding tips. [Tags: Personal effectiveness, Leadership development]

5. Six Social Media Trends for 2011 by David Armano
Published earlier this month, this forecasting post talks about the six likely trends that we could encounter in '11: Social media integration in corporate policies, Cheaper devices and faster connectivity, Facebook reigning over Foursquare for more business-friendly services, Social media schizophrenia and Identity crisis, Google to "strike back", and finally, Integration of brands in Social media e.g. Apple + Twitter = Ping. Go here for Armano's blog post. [Tags: Social media]

Book: "Inside Steve's [Jobs] Brain"

WHILE READING "Inside Steve’s Brain" (sic) by Leander Kahney I got reminded of the following anecdote:

This diplomat from the East was deputed to their embassy in Washington DC, in the United States. Having come to live in a Western country for the first time, the little man decided to pick up the holy book and began studying it in hopes of getting acquainted to the new culture more thoroughly. After a while when he met with a professor of religious studies at one of the colleges in New York, the humble man pronounced his predicament that after reading through the book almost three times over, he couldn’t figure out any religion in it.

Nothing could be more illuminating in terms of human mindsets. For example, to an Eastern mindset that is used to live a life with abstractions and of elemental powers, such as the dance of the Shinto priests who proudly claim to have no theology; or with millennia old traditions of having religion a part of the daily routine as naturally as sun-drying the woodblocks with Indian sandalwood to gain aroma out of stove; understandably it could be a difficult comprehension in considering a given narration about a certain ruling family of a given tribe of Levantian peoples as a dictum of mainstream and organized religious practice, with due respects that it being the most successful, loved and practiced one in our contemporary world.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL, the world's largest IT company by market cap) fan following has attained a sort of a cult status for some time. And perhaps a similar experience could be derived by a business oriented mindset trying to approach "Inside Steve's Brain". It is a book that tells the story of an individual’s work-life, sketchily and at time contradictorily, and irrespective of what the text claims on the cover the book makes it rather difficult to draw business lessons out of it – unless one counts ‘gospels’ among them, akin to God’s word that cannot be challenged. The writer hardly makes any attempts in drawing his own conclusions or opining about certain event, or the controversies, or the specific products, or even the fallouts. Whatever is being said, is said by somebody else, and there are references quoted about them, which seem to come straight out of Google search results.

One can’t afford be judgmental about this being either a work of fiction or a factual biography; for anyone hardly knows, let alone understands, “The Holy Ghost” Steve Jobs (cf. pp112). The book takes off fairly well, and evidently Kahney has worked on “Forward” and the first chapters. But the landing is rough – from an iPod design studio to directly into acknowledgements is rather abrupt and bumpy. The writer should have cared to close the loop - summery pages would be an asset here. Towards the last 10% the reader gets a bit tired; suggesting that the writer was tired by the last couple of chapters.

But one must consider reading this book. At least for its entertainment value. It should also make a good companion for Pirates of Silicon Valley (try here). And most apparently, should sugarcoat the bitterness of the aftertaste of other fictions like iCon (try here). Initially, the title suggested that the book is a collection of leadership lessons, if not psychological analysis, about this enigmatic personality at the helm of Apple Inc. It turned out to be a gross error of judgment: First, there cannot be leadership lessons here, for Steve is not a leader in the classical sense of modern leadership. (In the contemporary sense of classical leadership? A "Great intimidator"? Perhaps yes, like many Generals in the army with their typical command-and-control leadership). And secondly, it is most likely that any attempt of psychoanalysis would end up in a lawsuit.

Apple products speak for themselves. Almost anyone who likes to love, hold and showoff a piece of electronics knows that a visit to the nearby Apple Imagine store does the trick. This book might just make that experience more enjoyable. On the other hand, if you are tech novice, looking for a practical yet well-built device and haven’t been to any Apple experience, the book might help you take the plunge and contribute toward your loss of innocence. And one would actually love Steve here before it start getting a little irritating, and then one is left to looking for his or her own reasoning to continue loving. Mostly, one finds one.

For that, Kahney deserves credit and appreciation for sure. And then, also for sticking his neck out and going all out in praising the man he adores.

Go here to check out the book at Amazon.

TED 2011 Prize Goes to "Anonymous" J R

TED PRIZE IS AN ANNUAL AWARD INVOLVING USD 100,000 AND SUPPORT TO AN IDEA TO CHANGE THE WORLD. The 2011 prize has been awarded to someone only known as JR. It is believed to be a French photographer and artist, who anonymously painted and created installations on the walls of the world – mainly the urban slums. Known as "pervasive art", JR took help from urban volunteers to create black & white paintings on large urban walls and highlights the burning issues of the city and the region.

Writings on the wall, literally.

While the Guardian featured him as "the hippiest street artist" earlier this year, the 27 years old prefers the term "photograffeur", adding that, "If there is one thing I've always taken care of with my work, it's that it's never an advertisement for anything other than the work itself and for the people it's about — no 'Coca-Cola presents'". Fiercely protective of his anonymity, he actually appeared with sunglasses and a hat when the TED organizers first got in touch with him on Skype after the prize announcement. The anonymity is crucial for his work. It allows his to travel freely and take on large projects, and it also helps avoiding the distraction away from his actual work and the main message. Representing people living on the margins, JR's anonymity goes with his philosophy of representing the nameless.

[Above: "Giving Slums a Human Face". Source: J R/Agence UV]

In his late teen years, JR found a camera dropped by someone in the Paris metro and took on photography from there. He sampled various graffiti artists across Europe for a couple of years, and in 2002 started work on his first major project. In 2003, two major photographs were discovered on the walls of Paris and Rome each. "Portrait of Generation" came after three years when the slums of Paris witnessed huge portraits highlighting the marginal population. In 2007, eight cities on either sides of Israel-Palestine border found installations by JR involving photographs of a rabbi, imam and priest. This was the largest illegal exhibition of its kind in Europe. The following years found him in different countries of Africa, South America and Asia (see the trailer for "Women Are Heroes" below).

The coveted TED prize money may not seem as high as other contemporary awards, but the real deal is with the one idea that JR can put forward to the TED community at large towards implementation. TED can mobilize its global reach of motivated individuals, garner large corporate donations through its affiliates, and provide platform for debates, discussions and diffusion of the ideas. JR has been surviving on money generated through various auctions of his art, which goes towards expenses of prints and materials of his various larger-than-life campaigns. The financial aid shall help keep JR independent as he is, and the limelight through TED could inspire similar artists to take up social causes of similar nature. The British celebrity chef Jeremy Oliver was the winner of the prize last year, and his TED 'wish' has been a war against obesity. The year before, former American president Bill Clinton was the winner, and he channelized resources towards rebuilding the health-care system in Rwanda.

When the Ted team reached out to him, JR was in Shanghai campaigning against the destruction of older buildings and habitats of the elderly and the poor. He said that he had learnt of the award only recently and hadn't thought about the 'wish' yet, though it was to be on the same line as his campaigns in the slumps of Brazil, Cambodia, and Kenya. Further, the apparently bigger challenge than deciding his wish would be the impact that such limelight might bring to his anonymity and freedom to operate.

Following are some of JR's "ideas worth spreading":

J R Wins TED 2011 Prize

"Women Are Heroes" - part of the campaign that took place in Kenya: (at YouTube)

• See also:
• Go here, here, and here for pages on the TED.com
• Go here for J R's website.
• Go here for the NYTimes coverage, and here for the feature by The Guardian from earlier this year.

HBR: What Is The Work Of The CEO?

"The CEO is the link between the Inside that is 'the organization,' and the Outside of society, economy, technology, markets, and customers. Inside there are only costs. Results are only on the outside."
-- Peter Drucker, "The American CEO"

Alan ("A.G.") Lafley TOOK OVER AS CEO of Procter & Gamble in June 2000 when the FMCG behemoth was battling turbulent times. At 6pm on his first day at the office as the new (and first time) CEO he was facing a hostile press conference live on national television – like a "deer in the headlights" as he recalls. P&G stock price that had crashed from $86 to $60 in one day tanking Dow index by 374 points, went further down by 11% at the news of Lafely's appointment as the new chief. The headlines went from "P&G Investor Confidence Shot" to "We love their products, But we hate their stocks." to "Does P&G Still Matter?"

Four years into working hard at trying to turn the tide and leading P&G as the chief executive, one day out of the blue, A.G. decided to give a call to Peter Drucker at his residence. Drucker, 83 at that time, answered the calls himself, and apparently invited A.G. to come over for a chat.

In October 2004, A.G. and a groups of executives spent quality hours discussing the leadership challenge with Peter Drucker at his residence. Drucker made numerous side notes during the meetings, and others made notes of Drucker's advisory quotes and observations. In 2009, before retiring after 10 years as the CEO of P&G, A.G. compiled an HBR article and published a very interesting case study on how he turned around P&G's fortunes to make it one of world's largest consumer goods manufacturer. On the larger part, A.G. credits Drucker for his strategy and success.

In a nutshell, A.G. Lafley notes the following four fundamental tasks of the CEO as per Drucker’s simple and clear observations, with Drucker's comments as quotes:

1. DEFINE The Meaningful Outside –
Determine which external constituency matters most. Your company has many stakeholders, each with important demands. Once you’ve defined your most important external constituency, ensure that everyone acts on that understanding.

2. DECIDE What Business You Are In –

"Equally important—and also a task only the CEO can fulfill—is to decide, What is our business? What should it be? What is not our business? And what should it not be?"

For example, what are your core businesses, and which of them will you grow? Analyze the attractiveness of the businesses you’re already in, your company’s position in existing industries relative to competitors’, and industries’ strategic fit with your core competencies.

3. BALANCE The Present And The Future –

"The CEO decides on the balance between yield from the present activities, and investment in an unknown, unknowable and highly uncertain future... it is a judgment rather than [a decision] based on 'facts.'" Adding that, "Effective CEOs make sure that the performing people are allocated to opportunities rather than only to 'problems.' And they make sure that people are placed where their strengths can become effective."

Ensure that stakeholders’ near-term interests don’t overshadow your company’s long-term future. Balance short-term investments with investments in resources needed for your company’s longer-term future.

4. SHAPE Values and Standards –

"CEOs set the values, the standards, the ethics of an organization. They either lead or they mislead."

Define your company’s values (its identity) and standards (expectations) in ways that encourage the right behaviors.

• See also:
• Related article: HBR: Managing Oneself - by Peter Drucker
• Related article: "What would Peter do?" – A Tribute at Drucker Century
• Go here for A.G. Lafley's HRB article: "What Only the CEO Can Do"
• Go here for more on A.G. Lafley at "Leading Authorities" website

Sachin Tendulkar’s Stock Market Run

AUSTRALIA, THE DOMINANT SPORTING powerhouse among the 71 the Commonwealth countries, have invested into researching India’s cricket performance and how it relates to equity trading at Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of Dalal Street in Mumbai, India. The market cap of BSE stands close to USD 1.4 trillion, and NSE, with market cap of nearly USD 1.5 trillion, is the third largest Stock Exchange in the world in terms of the number of trades in equities.

Australia were dethroned by India from #1 spot for ICC test cricket ranking earlier this year, and are being challenged for their spot for the ODI ranking as the contest is on. And their desperation is evident on the field while the Test Series between the two national sides is currently under way.

As Sachin Tendulkar, the cricketing legend goes on to slam his sixth double century for India, his second against Australia, (and the only International player to ever score a double hundred in the ODI format of the game), the report by the economists goes on to suggest that when Sachin is playing in good form and ends up on the losing side, the stock-market takes an additional 20% hit on the negative side.

Russell Smyth, Head of Economics department at Monash University of Australia and economist Vinod Mishra have the following to say:

"While a win by the Indian cricket team has no statistically significant upward impact on stock market returns, a loss generates a significant downward movement in the stock market.

India's main index, the CNX Nifty, shows that the Nifty index was generally flat the day after a win, but the day following a loss, the index dropped by an average of 0.231 per cent. The drop following a loss was more than seven times greater than the movement following a win.

In the 100 matches in which Tendulkar played and India lost, the average return the day after the match was 0.328 per cent, an 18 per cent higher drop compared to the average drop after losing a match (which Tendulkar did not play).

A feeling of sadness might make investors withdraw from the world and the stock market, thus resulting in reduced trading for a while, whereas anger might make them behave in an impulsive manner, which might involve selling of a lot of the stocks."

Edit: included score details from the 2nd Test match between Australia and India.

• See also:
• Related post: Sach Is Life
• Go here for Financial Times coverage on the Smyth & Mishra report, here for Indian Express coverage and here for Deccan Herald take on the topic
• Go here for report on Tendulkar, 37, and after 21 years on the international pitch, clinching yet another ICC Player of the Year
• Go here for a similar report at cxoadvisory.com linking American NFL Super Bowl with Stock market