Loud Thinking

Archive for April, 2013

“Take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly, and try another. But by all means, try something.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945);
32nd U.S. President

Find Out How Skilled a Job Candidate Really Is
The point of a job interview is to make sure the candidate has the necessary skills to do the work. But aside from references, how can you determine if a potential employee actually knows what he claims to know? Here are two tips for finding out how deep a person’s knowledge and experience goes:
Ask “how” and “why.” When an interviewee relays a success story, drill down to understand as much as you can. Keep asking, “How did you do that?” or “Why?” until you get to a question the candidate can’t answer. This isn’t always comfortable but it will shed light on his true capabilities.
Bring in a fellow interviewer. With two people conducting the interview, one of you can focus on asking the right questions and the other can listen attentively to responses.

Today’s Management Tip was adapted from “The Right Way to Conduct a Job Interview” by

The silence of all top political leaders of PTI, PMLN, PPP, MQM and ANP on Musharraf’s escaping arrest after his cancellation of his bail.
Why these parties are NOT demanding the dismissal of CT interior federal minister and concerned Police I G’s.

As if, cowardliness is embedded in the genes of the dictators.

You never know the DNA tests of these dictators may prove that they were not in fact, the biological sons of their fathers.

I salute all the worlds brave civilian leaders, who went smiling to the gallows and the jails.

How come Musharraf again wanted to rule and lead Pakistan, when he is so chicken hearted that he can’t (despite being a former commando of Pak Army SSG) face arrest in court and ran away like a petty criminal? Even Indra Gandhi was more stronger person who accepted the court verdict and went to jail gracefully, for the punishment of imposing illegal emergency.
Pity on timid Musharraf.
A timid person can be a ruler but he can’t be leader.

Garlic: Wonder drug for healthy life

A Times of India Article.
TNN | Apr 17, 2013, 12.00 AM I

Ga ga about garlic!
According to old wives’ tales, garlic can ward off vampires. While this benefit may just be folklore, what’s true about garlic is that it has many health benefits.

This ‘wonder-drug’ contains more than 100 biologically useful chemicals. It also has various anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-oxidant properties. Here’s a list of some of it’s proven properties…

– Studies have shown that taking 600 mgs of garlic daily, lowers cholesterol levels considerably.

– Garlic’s ability to fight infections and bacteria makes it an effective cure for warts and skin problems.

– It’s a great aphrodisiac. It helps improve blood circulation and also helps prolong an erection.

– Regulates blood sugar levels by increasing the release of insulin in diabetics.

– Garlic’s antibacterial and anesthetising properties can help cure toothaches.

PCB and GEO Super in collusion to promote IPL at the cost of Pakistan’s cricket.

What a shame.

Government must hold inquiry and sack the chairman PCB and black list the TV broad caster for promoting Indian interest over Pakistan.

This is nothing but stabbing Pakistan in the back. All responsible should also be arrested for defaming Pakistan and the TV broadcaster’s license be also cancelled.

NEWS:-

President’s Cup: Broadcaster forced PCB to reschedule national event

By Nabeel HashmiPublished: April 16, 2013

Pakistan cricket hit a new low as the scheduling of domestic matches is now being dictated by broadcasters in order to accommodate the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.
The President’s Cup semi-final between HBL and SNGPL was forced to start one hour before the normal scheduled timing of 9:30 am as the IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and KKR was set to start at 3:30 pm, according to Pakistan Standard Time.
The change proved important in context of the game as HBL, who batted first, failed to handle the early fresh conditions of the National Stadium and lost to SNGPL by eight wickets.
The rescheduling was also criticised by players and experts who believe that the broadcaster and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had undermined the importance of their national events by giving preference to the IPL — a tournament that has banned Pakistani players from participating in it.
“It’s an embarrassing moment for Pakistan cricket as broadcasters are having a say over the PCB,” an HBL official told The Express Tribune.
“PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf should look into this serious matter and question the concerned board officials. And if the chairman was already privy to this change, then I’m afraid to say that Pakistan cricket is in the wrong hands.”
Even the SNGPL team and its management expressed their astonishment, saying that the semi-final could have been staged on a different date if the airing of IPL matches was unavoidable.
“Today we’ve shunned our cricket and this indicates the level of importance that we attach to our national events,” said an SNGPL official.
When contacted, the PCB officials confirmed that the match had been rescheduled upon the broadcaster’s request who wished to give the maximum possible air time to both the national and IPL fixtures.
Pacers demolish star-studded HBL
Having won the toss, SNGPL asked HBL to bat first in order to take maximum benefit of the moisture present in the wicket and their opening bowlers did not disappoint.
Samiullah Khan Niazi and Asad Ali responded to the call by taking two wickets apiece to leave HBL reeling at 22 for four.
The bankers were eventually bowled out for 111 in 35.1 overs as Bilawal Bhatti and leg-spinner Yasir Shah ran through their middle order, picking up three and two wickets respectively. Shahid Afridi and Abdur Rehman were the top-scorers (26), with the former hitting five boundaries.
In reply, Mohammad Hafeez led SNGPL by scoring 62 off 70 with a six and nine boundaries while Taufiq Umar chipped in with 23 as they reached the target in 23.5 overs for the loss of just two wickets. Afridi and Rehman claimed a wicket each.
One of the international stars of HBL said that even before the start of play, they were aware of the fact that the toss will play a vital role.
“When you start play at 8:30 am, it means that the team batting first would have to survive nearly 20-24 overs instead of normally surviving for eight to 10 overs,” he said. “The PCB should think twice before making such self-serving decisions.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 17th, 2013.

“Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.”

Sam Ewing (born 1949);
former professional baseball player

Aim for Smart Failure
If you want to encourage people to take healthy risks, you need to make sure they’re not afraid to fail. The first step in doing that is defining what a smart failure — a thoughtful and well-planned project that for some reason didn’t work — looks like. Chances are that everyone in your organization knows what success is. Far fewer know what a smart failure is. Specify what guidelines, approaches, or processes characterize smart risk taking. Provide clear examples of both smart failures and dumb failures and discuss why they’re different. Point out what the smart ones have in common, so people know how to structure their experiments. If you don’t define it, all failure looks risky and that kind of mindset will kill creativity.

Today’s Management Tip was adapted from “To Increase Innovation, Take the Sting Out of Failure” by Doug Sundheim.

“There is only so much energy available to us in life.
Spending it on solving problems is one possible way of living your life, but this may leave you empty-hearted; spending it on what excites you is a lot more fulfilling and fun — and effortless; and usually, the previously experienced problems vanish on their own. We don’t have to battle against the darkness when all we need to do is turn on the light.”

— Andrea Moritz