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Cultural alignment- An ever-evolving pursuit

Cultural alignment- An ever-evolving pursuit Culture is a very important aspect of our being and yet is a very loosely thrown around word. May it be our personal lives, family, organization, community, country, anywhere and everywhere. We tend to be extremely mindful of what culture we belong to, and how we live up to it. But is culture a never-changing and ever-binding way of being? Or is it an acceptable way of behaving as time changes? Or maybe even deeper-rooted subconscious that drives our entire lives? I do not have an answer that can be written on a stone forever, but that is how human knowledge is. We learn and we unlearn. We explore and we settle. We are sure and then we aren’t. It is a journey, and ever-evolving pursuit. All I have to offer in these lines, is just another glimpse out of the window while we are on our journey to attain and sustain cultural alignment in our lives. In their book “Culture Change on the Fast Track to Business Success” the authors define culture as
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Entrepreneur - A Mystical Being

Entrepreneur - A Mystical Being Entrepreneur is a big word; I mean literally a big word with 12 letters! The mystical aura of this word begins right with its pronunciation. I still struggle with it. But does it really matter? With all my limited experiences and understanding I have come to believe that being an entrepreneur is not just a role one plays or a job one does, rather it is a way of life, a state of being. A simple google search would tell us about the key skills required to be a successful entrepreneur. Skills like, Business Management, Communication, Strategic Thinking, Creativity, Go-Getter Attitude, Hustler (Jugaadu), etc. Most of this is true, but the underlying essence of way of life is much more subtle and integrated with every aspect of being. Simply learning the management tools and implementing the right analytical strategic approach integrating varied business functions by driving people towards common goal, although sounds like a good plan, often does not deliver
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Western OD ideas may not work in the East!

Western OD ideas may not work in the East! Well, I agree the statement is a little dramatic, but let’s understand the essence of the idea and how this statement may make sense. A while ago two groups of engineers were given a task of designing a vehicle to carry water from a nearby river to a village. However, both the teams had different villages to cater to; one on a mountain, and other in a forest. Teams began scouting for resources available, and accordingly began designing the vehicle. After a while, both teams successfully made a vehicle each to help those villages get water. The interesting part is, both the designs were completely different. The distinction was majorly caused due to different terrain. Each terrain has its own ‘rules’ of facilitating or objecting, propelling and maneuvering of vehicle. Although the desired end-result was the same, none of the two vehicles would function very productively in reverse terrain. Understanding the analogy in terms of
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Analytics in People Science is Ostrich with head in sand

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Analytics in People Science is Ostrich with head in sand Analytics driving precision in prediction and control has been immensely successful in proving its effectiveness across various fields of science and study, almost every. Hence, the obvious tendency to look at and aim for analytics or artificial intelligence to act as guiding path on achieving predictability leading to control over people behaviour. However, people science is different from other, so called, ‘materialistic science’. ‘Enlightenment Effect’, a term from organisational behavioural science which describes how different patterns or theories observed and identified about people behaviour instantly change the behaviour. Elaborating briefly, if we are to observe a group of people and share details about their behaviour patterns observed, as soon as they become ‘aware’ of the patterns, those patterns are either avoided or amplified depending upon the ‘values’ of individuals and group as a whole. In either cas
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Annapurna – Ever-flowing Nectar

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Annapurna – Ever-flowing Nectar Love and Attachment are those twin sisters who are very difficult, yet much needed, to be separated… It’s very basic common sense understanding that if you cannot be attached to something/someone you cannot claim to truly love the person, but as Einstein said, Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen . The interdependency statement usually comes from those who have not experimented separating them. Well, those who have, ALWAYS advocate separation in the interest of ‘Flourishing’ Love… This is it about the perceived controversy that exists, often understood by few… Let’s dive into understanding the distinction. The simplest way this can be put is; Love = Giving Attachment = Asking (expecting) or Taking So, if I’m to rephrase the beginning statement by replacing these words, it looks like this… Giving and Taking are those twin sisters who are very difficult, yet much needed, to be separated…
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An Open Letter to ‘Boss’

An Open Letter to ‘Boss’ Dear Boss, It is with great hesitancy I’m penning down my thoughts. Hesitancy because I’m not sure if what I feel and my opinion is in sync with ‘Management Strategy’ for driving business and people productivity and I’m also scared of repercussions of being ‘Right’, so termed as rebellious. In fact this hesitancy is the reason I’m writing this letter…. Why should I feel hesitant???…. I’ve been going over this several times in my mind, trying to figure if I’m completely ‘Right’, if I’m ‘Smart’ enough to understand ‘Management’ well, if I’ll be able to articulate my thoughts in ‘Required Professional’ language, if I have enough ‘Data’ supporting what I have to say, etc., etc., etc.……. While sitting alone in the office canteen, on Saturday late evening, sipping tea, I realised my desire to make the conversation ‘Perfect’ was driven by hesitancy, was driven by fear….. Fear of losing respect (being insulted), fear of losing credibility, fear of b
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Risk Taking – A Myth

Risk Taking – A Myth People NEVER take Risk!!!… This certainly sounds like an incorrect statement, people obviously take Risks, some take small, some big, some take calculated risks, etc… ‘Risk’ or say ‘Uncertainty’ is a pat of common sense… Well, I dunno, I don’t think it is so… Let’s find out what exactly ‘Risk’ is… As Wikipedia describes ‘Risk’… Risk  is the potential of gaining or losing something of value… This certainly makes sense, but the question here is… ‘With Respect to Whom?’ I saw an interesting video on YouTube, titled ‘Leadership and Decision-making in the Face of Great Risk’ by Dutch Leonard – Harvard Kennedy School. Taking some insight from that… I’ll share a something about Dan Osman… As Wikipedia describes him… Daniel Eugene Osman was an American extreme sport practitioner, known for the dangerous sports of free-soloing, rock climbing without ropes or other safety gear. He participated in rope free-flying or rope jumping, falling several hu
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