Loud Thinking

Archive for March, 2014

Shame on the PCB person responsible (Zakir Khan) for purchase of substandard kit for the Pak team.

The shape and stitching of the cap on the head of Hafeez was no comparison with the cap on the head of MS Dhoni.

Mr. Najam Sethi must conduct an enquiry over the purchase of pathetic kits for our national team and hand over the responsible person to NAB for defaming Pakistan’s image and reputation.

An Excerpt from
Own Your Dreams: Discovering Your Purpose in Life!
by John C. Maxwell
If you are unsure of what your dream might be—either because you are afraid to dream or because you somehow lost your dream along the way—then start preparing yourself to receive your dream by doing five things to put yourself in the best possible position to receive a dream.

Once you do these five things, focus on discovering your dream. As you do, keep this in mind: ‘A dream is what you desire if anything and everything is possible.’
1. Mental Preparation: Read and study in areas of your greatest interest.
2. Experiential Preparation: Engage in activities in areas related to your interests.
3. Visual Preparation: Put up pictures of people and things that inspire you.
4. Hero Preparation: Read about and try to meet people you admire and who inspire you.
5. Physical preparation: Get your body in optimal shape to pursue your dream.

Try This Exercise to Clarify What Your Company Stands For

For your organization to be successful, you must be crystal clear about your brand essence – i.e. your brand’s essential, enduring value. When what you stand for is clearly expressed and delivered in everything you do, every day, you leave an indelible mark on people’s hearts and minds. If that’s not clear yet, ask yourself:

What was the brand’s biggest accomplishment? What will it be remembered for?

What did the brand leave unaccomplished? Who would miss the brand if it was gone? Why?

What lessons can be learned from the brand’s life?

If the brand disappeared, what would take its place?

Adapted by HBR from “Write Your Brand’s Obituary” by Denise Lee Yohn.

Revised Version

Recipe for victory in T20 World Cup matches for Pakistan

1. Must target to score above 60 runs in the power play overs.

2. Must bat second in case of winning the toss for night matches.

3. No over dependence on any one player, more so on Shahid Afridi.

4. Must not, repeat must not, include Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal in the playing XI.

5. Must control, repeat must control, wide balls. To control this habit every bowler be fined Rs.50,000 per wide ball.

6. Must not, repeat must not, play a dot ball which is the biggest crime in the T20 and the ODI matches. To control this bad habit, every player be fined Rs.50,000 per dot ball. According to Sunil Gavaskar, dot ball is like giving a wicket to the opponent team in the T20 matches.

7. To control the habit of catch dropping during the fielding, every fielder be fined Rs.1,00,000 for every dropped catch.

8. Every fielder be rewarded with a direct throw run outs with Rs.50,000/-, an excellent attempt for fielding with Rs.10,000. Two or more fielders involved in indirect throw run outs, be rewarded with Rs.50,000/- prize, equally divided among the fielders.

9. Batsmen hitting a six be rewarded with Rs.10,000/- and a boundary with Rs.5,000/-. Batsmen scoring 1, 2 and 3 runs be awarded with Rs.1,000/-, Rs 2,000/- and Rs.3,000/- respectively.

10. Every bowler be rewarded with Rs.50,000 per wicket and also penalised for each no ball with Rs.50,000.

Recipe for victory in T20 World Cup matches for Pakistan

1. Must target to score above 60 runs in the power play overs.

2. Must bat second in case of winning the toss for night matches.

3. No over dependence on any one player, more so on Shahid Afridi.

4. Must not repeat must not include Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal in the playing XI.

5. Must control repeat must control wide balls. To control this habit every bowler be fined Rs.50,000 per wide ball.

6. Must not repeat must play a dot ball which is the biggest crime in the T20 and the ODI matches. To control this bad habit, every player be fined Rs.50,000 per dot ball.

7. To control the habit of catch dropping during the fielding, every fielder be fined Rs.1,00,000 for every dropped catch.

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”

— John Lubbock

Innovation is to create new ideas or new ways to apply an existing idea.

“Discovery consists of seeing what everyone has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.”

Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (1893-1986);
Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine in 1937

How to save Pakistan?

Published BY PAKISTAN TODAY

JANUARY 18, 2014

After 66 years, Pakistan is a more fragmented society than our forefathers could have ever imagined. The schism is so intense that if immediate corrective steps are not taken, God forbid, this country may see even more turbulent times.

The writing on the wall is clear for all to read. The decadence of Pakistani society in every sphere of life, be it political, economic, educational, industrial, agricultural, religious, law and order or any other segment worth naming, is abysmal, to say the least.

Maybe we have one last chance to stem the rot, to unite the people and to give them a prescription, to rise again and rebuild the nation, because for the overwhelming majority a time is coming that the masses may well be forced to think that if there is no life there is no nation.

Pakistan needs a turnaround for which the basic need is our adaptation and readiness for the change, not in cosmetic but real sense. We need a complete change from one era to another, like the one witnessed by China under Mao Zedong.

Hence, for all Pakistanis failure is not an option but success is also not automatically guaranteed. In this regard, I would like to suggest that we formulate a new social contract, for the common people of Pakistan who always pay 100 percent bills and taxes and never default on their bank loans. Let us make a new Pakistan which is redesigned to practically cater to the needs of the exploited masses.

Changes must be made in the constitution to make it a presidential form of democratic setup. The election system should also be changed so that the whole country directly votes for the president. However, before voting the candidates of all political parties for presidential post must notify a list of their MPAs, MNAs and Senators who will be automatically considered elected according to the percentage of votes cast in favour of the main candidate for the top post of the country.

The decision for Pakistan’s charter of development for building dams and mega projects for the next 50 years should also be finalised on which later on no politics should be allowed. In other words, the representatives of the nation should decide now where they would like to see Pakistan in each and every field of life after 50 years. This plan should be further divided into ten five years plans.

In order to decentralise and empower the maximum number of people to enjoy the fruits of self-rule, we should convert every division of Pakistan into a province. This will also work as a panacea, for the eradication of linguistic and any other type of frictions and doubts about the hegemony of one class of the people over the other. In fact, it will work wonders in the speedy development and unity of Pakistan and kill instantly any secessionist or separatist activities currently prevailing in some parts of the country.

SYED NAYYAR UDDIN AHMAD

Lahore

World Twenty20: Hafeez, Pakistan team management at loggerheads?

KARACHI: Trouble seems to be brewing in the Pakistan cricket team in the ongoing World Twenty20 Championships in Bangladesh with speculation rife of differences between skipper Mohammed Hafeez and the team management.

There are reports that Hafeez is not seeing eye to eye with the team management which includes head coach Moin Khan, cricket consultant Zaheer Abbas and manager Zakir Khan on a number of issues within the team specially on selection matters.

“It is not a good sign for Pakistan cricket that such rumours are even circulating before the start of our campaign in a world event. I just hope they are not true but definitely I would like to see the Pakistan cricket Board step-in and talk to all the main stakeholders in the team so that the team can focus on winning the tournament,” former head coach and chief selector Mohsin Khan said.

Rumours started circulating after Hafeez made some caustic comments about the head coach and cricket consultant referring to their lack of experience in modern cricket and how the sport had changed in the last couple of years.

Similar rumours had also circulated when the team returned from the Asia Cup.

“Yes there are indications that Moin, Zaheer and the fielding coach Shoaib Muhammad in particular feel that Pakistan needs a new captain for future assignments and the names of Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan are being taken frequently now,” one source close to the team said.

There are question-marks over whether Hafeez will be able to sustain the pressure of playing India in Friday’s high-pressure tournament-opener.

Hafeez was captain when Pakistan lost to India in the last World T20 Cup in Sri Lanka in 2012.

“Definitely if you compare Hafeez with Mahendra Singh Dhoni than you can see a visible difference but the thing in his favour is that he is a senior player and an ideal all-rounder for T20 format,” former cricketer Basit Ali said.

Interestingly, neither Afridi nor Younis have made any attempts to reject talk about them being candidates for the captaincy and both have said if such a situation arises, they will give it a serious thought.

Pakistan won the 2009 World Twenty20 under Younis while Afridi led them to the semifinals of the event in 2010.