In Search of Excellence

For any who delights and is confounded by the structure and functions (or lack of) of large organizations this book is a delightful read, the first two thirds of it anyway. The authors have done extensive research to come up with their eight points that according to them are indicative of an organization's long term success and health (some of them sound repetitive and start to tire toward the end).

It is interesting to note that many of the great companies of the time of the first publication for this book in the mid eighties - HP, IBM, Digital, TI, etc - are either struggling to remain relevant or are not to be found anywhere anymore. This is not to say that the recommendations in the book are not meaningful but it does point out the complexity and the unpredictability of the world in which organizations operate. It does, however, is indicative of the book's failure at noting and addressing the requisites for sustaining a culture of excellence through the market demands, changing leadership, large expanse of time, and disappearing founders, which often leads to value corrosion - the root of all cultural sickness.

One of the most critical aspects of good leadership is the passing of the baton, developing other leaders who can take the torch forward while deeply understanding and upholding the values on which an organization succeeds. Both HP and IBM have severely suffered since the loss of their founding fathers. In spite of having good leaders come and go they no longer carry the glean with which they once used to shine.

One other area where I found this work lacking was that it never touched upon in detail on what it considers as "excellence". One could construe from the writings that to the authors excellence is about a work culture where people naturally feel empowered and motivated, organization's output is innovative and ever fresh, and financial results are strong. To me these are results of excellence but not excellence itself.

I have often asked myself about excellence, it's presence and its absence, and how do we know when we are in presence of excellence and how to tell when we are witness to sloppiness. Excellence shines of its own accord. It is hard to put a definition around excellence. It is almost a spiritual quality, which is hard to confine in a definition but easier to express in what it is not or how it expresses itself. To me excellence is beauty, it is the bringer of delight, desirable yet unexpected, it exudes a pride of craftsmanship, it is skill in action, it is the WoW! factor, it makes the ordinary seem extraordinary, it is love, passion, pride, quality, and competence manifested. Excellence above all is an expression of genuine care.

Interestingly, all of the above attributes of excellence are an outer expression of an inner experience. These cannot really be forced by external means. Excellence requires a certain level of willingness to excel coupled with the skill to do so and a challenge that engages that skill adequately. It reminds me of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's work on Flow.

The organizational structure then has to address this indirectly by creating an environment in which the workers can experience such inspiration and intrinsic desire to do great things with utmost care. Most cultures today fail miserably at inspiring their workers. This has partially to do with our acceptance of defects, sub par results, and being more focused on money than on quality.

I think Antoine de Saint-Exupery captured it most sublimely when he said, "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." I cannot think of anything more succinct, more beautiful, or more powerful to communicate what is at stake here and where we are going wrong.

Some of the good quotes and insights from the book:

1. The primary role of a CEO is to manage values for the organization.

2. Leadership should have the courage to acknowledge a great product and pursue it even if the numbers at the outset do not favor its launch. Corollary, almost no big invention (so labeled after the fact) is ever used as originally intended: computers were seen to have only a handful of applications, transistors were developed for a tiny set of military uses, diesel locomotives originally were perceived as useful only in freight yard switching, Xerography was aimed at a small existing part of the lithography market (mass copies were not at all a driving force in either the invention or the early marketing).

3. People are the greatest asset to an organization and this needs to be given more than lip service. 

4. "The majority of business are incapable of original thought because they are unable to escape from the tyranny of reason" - David Ogilvy

5. "...the numerative, analytical component has an in-built conservative bias. Cost reduction becomes priority number one and revenue enhancement takes a back seat".

6. "If quantitative precision is demanded, it is gained in the current state of things, only by so reducing the scope of what is analyzed that most of the important problems remain external to the analysis" - John Steinbruner (Harvard)

7. "...the only way to count the spines of the sierra... is to sit in a laboratory, open an evil-smelling jar, remove a stiff colorless fish from the formalin solution, count the spines and write the truth.... There you have recorded a reality which cannot be assailed - probably the least important reality concerning either the fish or yourself.... It is good to know what you are doing. The man with this pickled fish has set down one truth and recorded in his experience many lies. The fish is not that color, that texture, that dead, nor does he smell that way."

8. "Professional management today sees itself often in he role of a judge who says 'yes' or 'no' to ideas as they come up.... A top management that believes its job is to sit in judgement will inevitably veto the new idea. It is always 'impractical'." - Peter Drucker

9. (Faith and) not logic is the true engine of scientific progress.

10. We are more influence by stories than by data.

11. We all like to think of ourselves as winners. 

12. "Punishment does not suppress the desire to "do bad". The person who has been punished is not thereby simply less inclined to behave in a given way; at best he learns how to avoid punishment." - B F Skinner

13. The management's most significant output is getting others to shift attention in desirable direction (through positive reinforcement - specific, immediate, reward small wins, reward with intangibles (such as attention, small rewards), unpredictable and intermittent reinforcement works better).

14. "You are more likely to act yourself into feeling than to feel yourself into action". - Jerome Bruner (Harvard Psychologist)

15. Some basic needs in an organization:
      a) People's need for meaning
      b) People's need for modicum of control
      c) People's need for positive reinforcement (to think of themselves as winners in some way)
      d) The degree to which actions and behaviors shape attitudes and beliefs rather than vice versa.

16. "Profit is like health. You need it, and the more the better. But it's not why you exist."

17. Gordon Siu´s bees versus flies trying to escape from a bottle:
"If you place in a bottle half a dozen bees and the same number of flies, and lay the bottle horizontally, with its base to the window, you will find the that bees persist, till they die of exhaustion or hunger, in their endeavor to discover an opening through (the base) while the flies, in less than two minutes, will all have sallied forth through the neck on the opposite side. . . It is the bees´ . . . intelligence, that is their undoing in this experiment. They evidently imagine that the issue from every prison must be where the light shines clearest; and they act in accordance, and persist in too-logical action. . . and the greater their intelligence, the more inadmissible, more incomprehensible, will the strange obstacle appear. Whereas the featherbrained flies, careless of logic . . . flutter wildly hither and thither, and meeting here with the good fortune that often waits on the simple. . . end up by discovering the friendly opening that restores their liberty to them"

18. One of the great advantages of being new in a company is that you are thoroughly unaware of what cannot be done. 

19. "I lean more to being a believer of low cunning and expediency.... How do you go about starting a job? You have the people who read everything; they don't get anywhere; and the people who don't read anything - they don't get anywhere either. The people who go around asking everybody and people who ask nobody. I say to my own people, "I don't know how to start a project. Why don't you step out and do an experiment?" - By the man who invented the transistor

20. Make cost of experimentation less than the cost of fail-proofing the idea (it usually already is).

21. Results-first approach. Focus immediately on tangible results. 

22. Big town halls with decked up presentations are merely distractions away from real conversations. 

23. Innovation is a numbers game - No matter how small the odds are of any one thing's working, the probability of something's succeeding is very high if you try lots of things.

24. "The way you stay fresh is that you never stop traveling, you never stop listening, and you never stop asking people what they think." Rene McPherson

25 "Substituting rules for judgement starts a self-defeating cycle, since judgement can only be developed by using it" - Dee Hock, Visa

26. "Set and demand standards of excellence. Anybody who accepts mediocrity - in school, in job, in life - is a guy who compromises. And when the leader compromises, the whole damn organization compromises." - Charles Knight, Emerson

27. "You cannot accomplish anything unless you have some fun.... Encourage exuberance. Get rid of sad dogs that spread gloom" - David Ogilvy

28. The most critical problem is that in the name of "balance" everything is somehow hooked to everything else. The organization gets paralyzed because the structure not only does not make priorities clear, it automatically dilutes priorities. In effect, it says to the people down the line: "Everything is important; pay equal attention to everything." The message is paralyzing.

Swimming Across: A Memoir

The book is an interesting walk down the memory corridors of the horrific WW II, which Andrew Grove happened to walk as a child.

Given Andrew's celebrity status, as one of Intel's star CEOs, many readers might come to this book looking for deep insights and life lessons that make for fruitful rags-to-influence story. This book does not deliver on this promise. It is more informative than instructive; more history than personality. It reads like a typical fiction novel, except that it is based on a true story. The book lacks personality. It could have been recorded from the eyes of another kid who went through the same times and hardships as Andrew did and would have read about the same. It also does not speak anything of Andy's path to success and comes to an abrupt end shortly after Andy's arrival in America and change of name.

This book would be a good read for members of Andrew's family, especially the younger generation, to understand their roots and heritage. However, for the casual reader who knows Andrew and Andy Grove and seeks to learn more from his life to deliver on one's own success, there is little content.

Now that we understand what the book really covers, it is worth mentioning that it is a great read (if you can set aside your desire to learn and grow from Andrew grove's life). The story is a delightful experience of what it means to have a strong mother and a wise father as parents. One can also read into how one's future is often reflected during one's growing up years - the diamond shines even through dust. This was evident in prophetic comments by some of Andy's teachers where they could see distant lights of impending greatness.

What I could relate to the most was the flight of a child's fancy. Illustrations of how passion in another can be contagious; how success and progress can really build momentum for a journey, putting it on auto-pilot of sorts. The story also captures beautifully how being a witness to excellence can be a great turn on as great as being subject to unfair treatment can be a turn off. Andy's ride into journalistic fame and his ensuing fallout clearly speak of this. his life story also illustrates how seeming lack of progress can kill enthusiasm even when supplanted with great passion.

A few personality traits that do happen to come across regarding Andy show him to be a person of above average intelligence, persistent and capable of arduous practice in pursuit of things that spoke to his heart, and courageous.

Last but not the least topic of interest and insight touched upon in the book was about inter-religious tolerance, specifically as it relates to the Jews. The book helped me understand the alienation that the Jews were subject to at the hands of non-Jews in their day to day ordinary lives. Even though the society has come a long way since such scars take many generations to heal. It helped me understand why some of the Jews that I did come across in my life remained aloof in our time together or in our seemingly one-sided (from my end) friendship and eventually dropped off from the scene altogether. The book also highlighted how the Jews watched out for each other by pulling their friends and families into their success at educational and other institutions. Such nepotism can be a turn off and may be seen by some as a justification for their antisemitic views. However, that would be a shortsighted way of looking at it. It is the nature of human beings to be helpful to those whom they see in need and we see most clearly the needs of those who are either oppressed or of those whom we dearly love, and both were the case here.

The softness underneath the hard shells...

My friend in Arizona, has two desert turtles for pets. During my recent visit, her husband reached down, picked up one of the turtles, and asked me to feel the turtle’s skin that was within the shell. He wanted me to get a feel for how soft and tender that skin was. It was indeed. 

I did not make much of it then. However, later in the day, back at home, while sorting through the clutter, which had found home in my mind over the weekend, I thought of the turtles. 

The skin under the shell was very soft. Quite in contrast to the parts of skin exposed to the elements, which were sturdy, rough, and harsh. 

In there I discovered a parable for the human condition. We are very much like the turtles except that our shells are not that apparent. 

Only when we feel safe and secure in our associations are we able to let our guard down and expose our true tender loving nature. In intimate relationships, where partners feel safe sharing their physical and emotional selves, the tenderness is easily expressed, perceived, received, and reciprocated. However, the same partners, in their routine interactions, may choose to carry a thick skin, sharp claws, and a harshness that could make people cringe. All because hey did not feel safe. 

Security, however, is a fleeting phenomenon in a highly unpredictable world, which continually puts our sense of well-being to test. In relationships, the demands, complaints, asks, responsibilities, the daily chores, the burden of expectations of another and of ourselves, all are a barrage of tests that we each of to respond or react to on a continual basis. They challenge us to keep an open heart when everything screams to strengthen the shell that would make us safe. 

When faced with these challenges it is easy for us to burrow our tender selves behind a hard shell. It is not hard to imagine the din and clamor of two shells colliding against each other, trying to dig out the tenderness from underneath, that once was, only to find the shells getting stronger and thicker in return. Neither wants to expose the tenderness until it is known that the other shell has been withdrawn; and many a times, not even then. 

Life in a shell is safe. Life in a shell is not alive. Life in a shell is long. Life inside a shell feels long. 

Life presents opportunities but makes no demands of us to come out of our shells. We may demand the other drop the shell first. There is no way to know if the other shell is still there when one is clenched tightly within one’s own shell. If we choose to keep the tenderness trapped then all that is there is a fearful mind, sharp claws, rough skin, and a scared being. Living but not alive. 

The thing to do about To-do lists

To-do lists get things done. How would you know what all needs to get done unless you had written down a To-do list? There is always a chance you will miss doing something that needed to get done because you had not recorded it on your To-do list. That would just cause waste of time, and potentially money and convenience as well, since it would require additional effort or another trip to the same place or something of similar nature or even of greater repentance.

I hence created To-do lists with a fervor that few can match or imagine. I had multiple lists on my phone, some written on paper at the house, couple in the car, and several at work. These lists found me their diligent follower and servant as I feverishly worked day-in day-out, on weekdays and on weekends, to help reduce their load while keeping a diligent eye out for where they needed to be perfected by new additions.

I got things done!

Recently, however, I have come to realize a few other aspects of these To-do lists, which have been eye opening in other ways.

I have come to question life as a list of things to do. I believe life is more than a laundry list of things to be accomplished. Buried under my plethora of lists, I had some sense of this sentiment, but never truly actualized it.

Lately I have stopped creating To-do lists. When I say stopped, I mean totally, completely, absolutely stopped. I create them no more. Nada.

To those of us who still live in the world of To-do lists, it would sound scary and perhaps even stupid. Many may be going in their head, “Yeah, right! We shall see how long it would last. He would never get anything done and will always be playing catch up! Good luck buddy!”.

Yet, the truth of the situation is that even though I had similar concerns going in, I am yet to miss having these lists.

There are two very important lessons that I have learned by not having To-do lists anymore.

The first important thing I learned is about prioritization. Much of what we jot down on our lists is not all that important to begin with. It would be okay if half of those items did not get done at all. Then there are other items that do not need to be done right then-and-there, aka, they do not deserve the sense of urgency that they may find showered on them as when they are added to this elite To-do list. There are in reality very few items that are truly that important that they need to get done. For such items, I really do not need a list. For some who are totally remiss on memory faculties, a list may be a much needed aid. However, for most of us, average memory is good enough to remember these items and it may also improve our memory functions by learning to retain a couple of items, which we, with the advent and adoption of latest technologies, are becoming increasingly stale at.

The other important lesson I learned has to do with our tendency to procrastinate. I realized that writing down a thing to be done on the To-do list gave me an excuse to not attend to it at the moment - It is now recorded and I will get to it in due corse of time; I am assured it will get done and I can relax. Wrong! The list, given the nature of it and of one’s mind, continues to grow. Items get added all the time. It does not always get addressed in a first in first out basis. We address items of the list randomly. Consequently, the items that were not all that important to begin with, continue to weigh on the list and on our minds as we continue to defer them until a later time when we will be able to attend to them. Or conversely, we busy ourselves with the not-so-important items at the expense of the truly important ones, to get a sense of accomplishment and busyness, without really getting much of import done. Lists accentuate procrastination.

In absence of lists, I remember to do that which is important and do it as it needs to get done, without deferring. This is not to say that there are things that on occasion do need to get done and do not get done. It also does not mean that this system is for everyone. There are people who will swear by To-do lists - and I was one of them and I know how you feel - and more power to them. To me it has really come down to understanding what is important for me in my life at this point of time - and it is not about getting more things done in less time nor is it about getting done everything that possibly can be done.

I have come to the realization that my life is not about checking things off a To-do lists. I want to experience an abundance of time to dwell in the seemingly trivial acts of a day. These acts may be of no importance to other but to my own quality of life - reading, meditating, spending time in nature, and like. I do not want my days to be filled with running around managing lists and being managed by them. I trust myself to do that which is important and needs to get done. And I am comfortable with assuming responsibility for dropping a few balls here and there in interest of this new found freedom and relief.

Now that I do not have these lists, I find my weekends to be truly relaxing. I am able to read much more than what I was able to before. I am less stressed. I am less hurried, I am more at peace with myself, and, best of all, my efficiency has gone up! This sounds paradoxical but it is true - that which is truly important gets the required attention and that which is noise, gets ignored. 

For now, I am basking in my new found freedom and joy at being free of the heavy chains and bounds of needing to constantly check things off a silly list of things to do. I am more at ease in accepting myself with my accomplishments as well as with any misses.

After all, the joy of the journey is available only to the traveler riding the chariot. For the one pulling the chariot, there is only labor and a feverish hunger to arrive expediently at the destination. I have decided to let the chariot of life pull itself forward while I witness and contemplate upon, in reverence and in gratitude, its unfolding mysteries in their ever-pristine unsung glory.

The Journey Within

I feel tired

the road seems long
I feel I have been traveling
for long, forlorn.

So far I have come
Yet so far to go still
What distances have I covered
What roads await still

To what end
I sometimes ask
All this travel
All this running about

A voice, my own
tells me to move on
There is no arrival it says,
Only moving on

Moving on to what
I ask
It does not know
it says

It itself
keeps moving on
So should I
for that's the way

The way to what
I ask again
You ask too much
Is all she says

I then
look ahead
I then
look behind

Nowhere
From where I have come
No place
To which I may arrive

The world moves
As I stand still
Sands of time
Burn in my eyes

From this stillness I watch
The roads go by
Decorations of flowers
Tears from swollen eyes