Loud Thinking

Archive for April, 2014

Get Over Your Procrastination Problem

We all find ourselves procrastinating on occasion. Sometimes you leave a project on the backburner, or hold off on returning a phone call. It’s possible to get better about not putting things off, but you need to figure out why you’re postponing something in the first place.
If you’re afraid of screwing something up: Look at the task as a way to avoid loss – for example, to keep your boss and colleagues from thinking less of you, perhaps. Think of the dire consequences of doing nothing at all. It might feel awful, but it works.
If the task is difficult, tedious, or otherwise unpleasant: Use “if-then planning.” Decide in advance what you need to do, as well as when you need to do it. (“If it is 2pm, then I will stop what I’m doing and start working on that report.”) With a clear plan, you won’t rely on (often weak) willpower.

Adapted by HBR from “ How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To” by Heidi Grant Halvorson.

Dhaka Debacle..!

A Passionate Appeal to the PM Pakistan.

Dear Mr. Prime minister & The Patron in Chief PCB

AoA.

Sir,

There is no shame in losing a match but abject surrender is absolutely unacceptable.

Someone, somewhere, has to be held accountable for the disgraceful manner, in which Pakistan’s cricket team was thrashed by the West Indies team, in the super ten round’s last match of the T20 World Cup 2014.

Here, we should also not forget that in the past, our team never performed so badly; and that for the first time in the history of the T20 World Cup, we could not even enter the semi finals, of the T20 World Cup.

Now, the buck sits at the head of your favourite Najam Sethi, who must be sacked IMMEDIATELY for not just the defeat, but also for turning the Pakistani cricket team to a club level team, so that the nation knows, without any doubt that our Prime Minister is a man of pure merit, not SIFARISH.

Sir, now your own image is at stake and Najam Sethi, who is a nincompoop and knows nothing about cricket, must not be allowed to hide behind you.

Best regards,

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

Lahore.

Sent from my iPad3 4G LTE

May be, tonight between 10PM – 12 midnight, on GeoSuper TV, I will be giving my opinion over, live telephone call, regarding cricketing matters.

“Flowers only bloom when they are ready. People are the same way. You cannot rush or force them open just because you think it’s time. Be patient.”

— Timber Hawkeye

Sentiments of an expatriate Pakistani on the performance of Pakistani cricket team in the T20 World Cup.

I am very shocked with the manner of defeat, especially with the performance of Shaoib Malik, Kamran Akmal & Umar Gull. Pakistan has the weakest team in one days & T20. We are the only team that play with 3 specialist batsmen only- Ahmad Shahzad, Sohaib & Umar Akmal. Out of these 3 only Umar Akmal & Ahmad Shahzad are T20 specialist.

I am not surprised with these results, rather Pakistan played better than my expectation.

One thing was very clear from this tournament, Ashwin, Mishra, Badri. Naraine & Imran Tahir are much better spin bowlers than Saeed Ajmal. Saeed Ajmal looked very ordinary & is no way near to these bowlers class. Afridi bowled very well though.

We should give credit to WI. They bowled wonderfully well. I really enjoyed watching their bowling. It was a treat to watch. Pakistan played as per their potential. These players made their best to perform, but this is what they were capable of.

Would love to see WI winning this tournament.

cheers,

Don’t Make This Common Problem-Solving Mistake

Too often, project managers leap to solutions before taking time to completely understand the problem that needs solving. Defining the problem is a critical first step; if you fail to do this, you risk designing a solution that doesn’t address what users need or want — or one that does far more than required. Either way, you’re wasting time and money. To focus your efforts on truly understanding the issue, answer:
What problem do people think this project will address? Why do they see this as something that needs solving?
Who has a stake in the outcome? Do all stakeholders have the same goal, or do their goals differ?
What criteria will people use to judge this project’s success?

Adapted by HBR from Managing Projects (20-Minute Manager Series).

For Pakistani cricket team the World Cup party is over….in an ignominious manner.

Pak score of 13/4 in power play 6 overs is a world record in T20 game.

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life that you don’t need to escape from.”

— Seth Godin

WI played 59 dot balls, which means they played half of the match or almost 10 overs as maiden.