Scale-up with PK!

We don’t see things as they are; but as we think they are!

As a leader, it’s very important that while taking decisions or making choices we see things as they are, not as what we think they are.

I would like to share an incident here. It was 2nd World war time.

Allies war planes were on a bombing spree. They were being met with heavy gun fire from the enemy side. Many planes were getting hit and going down. At one point in time the casualty rate rose as high as 45%; meaning only one in two planes had a chance of returning back to the base. This was alarming.

The teams sat down to find a solution. The idea of reinforcing the bullet receiving parts with additional metal gained support as a possible solution to improve the survival rate.

The investigations conducted on returning planes indicated bullet hole damages were (only) on the fuselage and tail-wing parts. Therefore it was obvious that these parts required reinforcement. It was almost decided to go ahead on that basis.

At this point a Hungarian war veteran pointed out that they were examining only the returning planes. The ones that were not returning were out of this study. And those planes were going down for a valid reason - they were getting hit on more critical parts!

The planes with bullet holes in their fuselage and tail parts were still making it back to the base, whereas those getting hit on key parts such as cock pit and engine areas, were not returning at all! Therefore those areas were more critical and dangerous.

Following this insight, the places chosen for reinforcement changed drastically!

And rightly so.

For us the point to reflect is, do such blind-spots exist in our decision making processes too? How do we discover them?

It’s very important that while taking decisions or making choices we see things as they are, not as what we think they are.

Also, while interpreting information available, let’s stay clear of our hardened stances, our opinions, biases and prejudices. That way we increase our odds to see things as they are!

My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best, Thank you.

In this podcast I want to share an incident that happened a few years ago.

In one of our drive tours in Tamilnadu, we were having breakfast at INDeco Hotel, Swamimalai.

The coffee cup in my hand trembled before falling flat on the ground, breaking in to pieces with a thud, spilling the coffee all around.

The server who was serving us our breakfast appeared immediately in a composed manner, started clearing the pieces and cleaning the place. While this was on, the Manager of the restaurant appeared with a fresh cup of coffee for me!

When the bill came for signing, I noticed that the cost of broken cup or the coffee were not billed, not listed there!

When checked, the Manager humbly said that sometimes things break, and that cup of coffee we had not consumed anyway.

I learnt a couple of valuable lessons that day! On customer service ie. without even asking, another cup of coffee was served; and the value systems while billing a customer ie. the spilled coffee was not billed to the Customer.

Please share your comments and experiences below - Let’s celebrate these unsung heroes!

My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best, Thank you.

'Direction is so much more important than speed’ said Richard Evans.

Speed matters. Alongside speed, we also need to be watchful of the direction, which is easier to lose sight of. Speed thrills. Speed means a lot of activity. A lot of engagement. We may even mistake the increased levels of activity for achievement!

In fact, it does harm if we’re fast and we’re headed the wrong way.

If we are on a wrong road, added speed means it would take us farther out of our way. Farther off from our destination.

It’s more important to reach our destination. It’s more important to be headed the right way, the surest way to get where we want to go. Even if it’s a bit late.

How do we do that?

The first step is to set the direction, destination, setting the compass. This is the key.

Laying down the road map to reach the destination is the second step. Many aspects may need to be considered while doing this, including setting our value co-ordinates.

The third step is to make sure we stay on course. Staying on course may be challenging, yet very important. Even if we need to take short detours in between, we need to be mindful to get back on-to our course.

Alongside all these, speed happens.

What could possibly help us keep the direction?

Our conviction about the chosen path, commitment to the chosen course, persistence, resilience, grit, our value co-ordinates; though, at times some of these may even appear to seemingly affecting the speed adversely. Doesn’t matter - The key point is to travel in the right direction.

Speed matters. Direction matters even more.

If you resonate with these thoughts, please comment below with your views, experiences.

My name is PK Narayanan. Wishing you the best, Thank you.

https://pknarayanan.com

Are there things that we do in our business that have out-lived its purpose?

Are there systems and processes that had been started at some point-in-time with some purpose, but has run-out of its purpose?

Here’s a story.

A blind man was about to return to his village after a short-stay at his friend’s place. It was evening. As it was going to be a long walk, his friend gave him an oil-lit lantern.

Though the blind man protested initially about the futility of him carrying a lantern, his friend convinced him saying others can see him in the night. The blind man obliged. He started-off holding the lantern high in his hand.

After a few hours, in spite of holding the lantern high in his hand, someone collided onto him - head-on.

The blind man fell down and asked the other why he didn’t see him in the light of the lantern. The other person asked, ‘which lantern, what light?’. The fact was that the oil had got over and the lantern was off.

When the lantern was lit and the blind man held it in his hands, it made sense. But once the light was off, holding it high and walking was a meaningless ritual for the man.

Do we have such processes and rituals in our business? Systems and processes that had been started at some point-in-time with some purpose, but has run-out of its purpose?

Are there things that we do in our business that have out-lived its purpose?

This deserves a closer look!

If you resonate with these thoughts, please comment below with your views, experiences.

Wishing you the best, Thank you.

PK Narayanan, CEO Coach https://pknarayanan.com/

TRANSCRIPT

In my life or at my work, Where am I putting my energies and attention?

The time and energy that we invest on a day to day basis in our past, in our past events and experiences need to be put in perspective.

For example, Do we drive a car looking at the rear-view mirror?

If you resonate with these thoughts, please comment below with your views.

Wishing you the best, Thank you.

PK Narayanan, CEO Coach. www.pknarayanan.com

The way we perceive, changes the actions we take. The actions we take changes the outcomes we get.

What matters is what we see!

Having the required information is a key pre-requisite while taking decisions. The pertinent question is how much of it?

What we’ve done so far need not be indicative of what we’re capable of doing going forward...

Knowing what to do, thinking what to do, even deciding what to do, doesn’t change our lives. It’s the action that changes our lives, It’s the action that changes our world.

How do I bring my potential out? Requires closer attention, consideration. Listen to this 2 minute podcast and comment with your views!