Monday, May 29, 2006

Root Cause of Problems

You would have had many heartburns as you had grown.

Your father had promised to take you to a movie in the evening, but he didn't turn up.
Your mom had told you that she will get you a new dress and she did not, on time.
You had asked a friend to pick you up from home to college, but he did not.
You had done well in the exams but did not get satisfactory marks.
You expected the team member to complete a set of job and he did not do it properly.
You had promised a deliverable on Monday to the client and could not fulfill.
And the list goes on...

Krishna says - "expect less".
The root cause of all the problems is expectation. You set the expectations too high at the first go. When the outcomes don't match the high expectation you had set, you are bound to feel the pinch. The pinch you feel could be most often quite sufficient to lead to multiple other reactions or problems.

I was speaking to one of my friend when she had completed 5 years of marriage. I asked her how it feels after 5 years of marriage. Her answer was mind blowing! She said, "After 5 years of marriage, my expectations have become zero" :)

Golden word is that keep the expectations low. When anything better than what you had expected happens, then you are bound to feel more happy.

Setting expectation right is very important when it comes to Management. Be it your peers, client or your supervisors.

These days, Management is looking at setting the expectations low, especially to the clients. This reduces the pain points and helps a healthy relationship with the client.

Case 1: You say that you will give 10 things in 1 month and give 9 things by time. You are going to see the client red.

Case 2: You tell him that you will give 7 things in 1 month and give 9 things by time, client will be very happy that you delivered more than what you promised.

Both the cases, your deliverables were 9 items, but the reactions of the client were totally different.

Which case you would prefer dude?

Friday, May 26, 2006

Listening? Eh! I am Hearing

How often do we interchange the two words - Hear and Listen! Most of us really don't understand meaning of the two.

Hearing is like a train passing through your ears. Nothing remains, nothing provoked, nothing inspired and of no use.

Listening on the other hand inspires you to think, provokes you to give your 100% and remains in your brain.

How often have you felt a jerk while in a meeting? You would have been "hearing" and still enjoying your own world of thoughts. Awaken by a question asked twice, and you will be a man who doesn’t even know where you are.

Most of the communication gaps arise because of “hearing”. And you know well that Communication Gap is the root cause of verb –failed, lost.

We want to be listened. We seldom are listeners and most of the time, pretend to listen. Pretension is good in short term, but again in long-term it brings back the verb which we hate to see in our life.

For a change, why don’t we start listening? On your marks, Get Set….