Loud Thinking

Archive for July, 2013

Creating opportunities

A letter published by the daily “The Nation” on March 03, 2013

Adaptation is the secret of success. Building a robust test team is no rocket science. One has to be just one step ahead of the competition. Just closely watch how South Africa, England and Australia are focusing their time and energy on keeping a top level in test format. Moreover, until and unless Pakistani players are given rigorous sessions of fast pitches, with special bouncing balls, to expect our batsmen to perform better than their opponents, is to live in a fool’s paradise.
As they say, practice makes one perfect. And for an ordinary person, it was never difficult to predict the outcome of the ensuing Pakistan Vs South Africa Test encounters in South Africa. Particularly when Misbahul Haq is known for his pessimism, he spread his negative energy. To think that you have lost, without even trying, can be a killer blow. A positive attitude brings strength, energy, motivation and initiative. Just before the start of the series, his comments left no doubt that he had surrendered the series before even a ball was bowled.
As Viv Richards said “Cricket is a mind game.” And as Imran Khan said “playing for a draw is the best recipe for defeat.” If the objective of any captain, before entering the ground, is to wait and see, rather than win, how can he marshal his players to victory? You have to create opportunities, like they say you have to create run outs. At times, you have to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. In any sport, one team wins and the other loses. There is no harm in losing if, you give a good fight. The only objectionable thing is abject surrender.
Now, someone must tell Misbah that, “In any fight, if a wolf is given to lead the lions, all lions will die fighting like a wolf. However, in any fight, if a lion is given to lead the wolves, all wolves will put up a fight like a lion, irrespective of the outcome of that fight.” Our team management should have told Misbah that offence is the best defence.

SYED NAYYAR UDDIN AHMAD,
Lahore, February 26.

Rebuilding Pakistan

3-4-2013

Pakistan is slowly inching towards economic bankruptcy and civil war. I suggest that we formulate a new social contract especially designed for the betterment of the 95 percent of the ‘have-nots’, who always pay 100 percent bills and taxes and never default on bank loans. Let us make a new Pakistan, which is redesigned to cater to the needs of the exploited. In order to achieve these objectives, it is proposed that the following steps may be initiated jointly by the government, the opposition, the bench and the bar, civil and military bureaucracy, students, trade unions and the civil society.

For this: the constitution may be amended to change the current faulty election system, which ensures the rule of the minority over the majority. The election system should also be changed so that the whole country directly votes for a president or the prime minister. Pakistan’s charter of development for the next fifty years should also be finalised in such a way that it is not politicised. And in order to empower the maximum number of people to enjoy the fruits of self-rule, we should convert every division of Pakistan into a province.

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad
Lahore

Patience is to wait calmly for someone or something even if they are really really late.

“Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.”

Ray Bradbury (born 1920);
author

May be it is not a fit case of suo moto action as mostly poorest of the poor kids are dying and for whom there is no country, no government, no law and no justice, no food, no security, no education and no health care in this world.

The latest Measles epidemic situation in Punjab:

Total children deaths in the province of Punjab……187

Total children deaths in Lahore………………….85

Last 24 hours reported cases in the province of Punjab…………………102
Lahore………………….12

In spite of the reported breaking of the cold chain (and consequent loss of the vaccine efficacy) of the measles vaccine, due to the embezzlement and theft of the refrigerators, not a soul has moved and no responsibility fixed as yet.

Hope sooner than later Mian Shahbaz Sharif will soon spring into action to console with the poor to assure them that they are not citizens of a lesser country.

3 People to Talk to When You’re New on the Job

When you start at a new company, there is so much new information that it’s difficult to know where to focus. Here are three important sources you don’t want to overlook:
Frontline employees. People who develop and manufacture products or deliver services can familiarize you with the organization’s basic processes and relationships with key customers.
Integrators. Colleagues who coordinate interaction across functions (think project or plant managers) can tell you how different areas mesh—or don’t. They can shed light on the true political hierarchies.
Natural historians. Keep an eye out for “old-timers” who have been with the firm for a long time. They’ll be able to teach you about the company’s mythology and the roots of its culture.

Adapted by HBR from The First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded.

“Don’t waste your time looking back at what you’ve lost. Move
on, life is not meant to be traveled backwards.”

— Author Unknown

Mr. Chief Minister Punjab today’s tomato rate was Rs. 160 per KG.

Believe-In-Yourself is having a good self-confidence.

“Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Steve Jobs (1955-2011);
Co-founder Apple Inc.