Loud Thinking

Posts Tagged ‘My Views’

Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire.

“Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”

Vaclav Havel (born 1936);
poet, playwright, 1st president of Czech Republic

Great Leaders Know When to Forgive

by Rosabeth Moss Kanter |

Leaders must be firm and foster accountability, but they also must know when to forgive past wrongs in the service of building a brighter future. One of the most courageous acts of leadership is to forgo the temptation to take revenge on those on the other side of an issue or those who opposed the leader’s rise to power.

Instead of settling scores, great leaders make gestures of reconciliation that heal wounds and get on with business. This is essential for turnarounds or to prevent mergers from turning into rebellions against acquirers who act like conquering armies.

Nelson Mandela famously forgave his oppressors. After the end of apartheid, which had fostered racial separation and kept blacks impoverished, Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically elected President. Some in his political party clamored for revenge against members of the previous regime or perhaps even all privileged white people. Instead, to avoid violence, stabilize and unite the nation, and attract investment in the economy, Mandela appointed a racially integrated cabinet, visited the widow of one of the top apartheid leaders, and created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that would clear the air and permit moving forward.

If revenge is not justice, it is not strategy either. The founder of a second-tier computer company was pushed out a few years after the company went public. I watched him gather investors and regain control with something to prove — that they were wrong to push him out. Once back at the helm, he had no clear alternative direction. The company foundered and was sold at a low valuation. Let’s hope that revenge against critics isn’t the motivation for Michael Dell to take Dell private or the founder of Best Buy to attempt a takeover.

Anger and blame are unproductive emotions that tie up energy in destroying rather than creating. People who want to save a marriage, for example, must let go of the desire to hurt a partner the way they think the partner has hurt them and instead make a gesture of reconciliation.

Those whose main motivation is to settle scores and get payback — to obstruct rather than construct — are on the wrong side of history. Their legacy is not rebuilding, but rubble. From (ahem) members of Congress to leaders in any turnaround situation, it’s a lesson worth remembering: Taking revenge can destroy countries, companies, and relationships. Forgiveness can rebuild them.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter is a professor at Harvard Business School and the
author of Confidence and SuperCorp. Her 2011 HBR article, “How Great Companies Think Differently,”

“It’s not who you are that holds you back. It’s who you think
you’re not.”

— Denis Waitley

Way Out of Pakistan’s Energy Crisis by Mr. Ishfaq A. Sheikh, Ex. Senior Information Analyst (Pakistan & World Bank).

The PM should order to devise comprehensive short, medium and long term policies by the technical experts. A committee of volunteers may be constituted to focus on short and medium term solutions to ease the loadsheding, as follows:

Short and Medium Term Solutions:

1. Enhance generation capacity of the existing production units by conducting energy audits by the energy experts for preventive maintenance and upgradation where needed.

2. Zakat money to be deducted on the Ist of Ramzan be diverted for upgradation and maintenance of non-operational units. PM to take nation into confidence to spend zakat money on this noble cause for the welfare of the society to avoid criticism

3. Control line losses, theft and recovery of outstanding bills without any discrimination.

4. Stop free electricity to wapda employees and all other sundaries.

5. Declare energy emergency in the country and ban forthwith using jackets, nickties, waste coats, etc, from top to bottom (inclusive PM) and wear light clothes during all types of official, private and other social gatherings.

6. Stop forthwith provision of official cars to ministers, all government officials and state enterprises executives. put on auction all the retrieved cars while only few vehicles shall be kept in each department in the car pool to use for official duties. The officials shall be given lump sum salary only. The money fetched from the auction shall be utilized to clear the circular debt. Such action automatically will take care of misuse and corruption.

7. Exploit and promote alternate energy resrouces to generate power from solar and wind. In this connection, I can share my experience about California. The government has installed solar panels on roof tops and the cost occurred is deducted in easy instalments thru monthly bill of consumers spreaded over a period of five years or so.

8. At the same time, foreign/local investors can be attracted to install panel manufacturing units locally to make its usage cost effective.

Long Term Solutions:

1. Set up EMI (Energy Management Institute) to produce energy managers/technicians to conduct energy audits of industrial units and official buildings to bridge the gap between demand and supply. There is a tremendous scope of saving energy and in return huge money saving to industrialists. I have done it and proved it. however, we have lack of energy auditors in the country and setting up of EMI is very important to develop human resource.

2. Speed up work on completing under construction dams including construction of Kalabagh dam which is a cheap source of power generation.

3. Set up wind turbines and make usage of bagas in cooperation with sugar mills.

4. Coal must be used for power generation, a viable long term solutions to meet the ever growing demand of energy.

Keep Your Company’s Social Media Accounts Safe

It’s happened to high-profile companies like McDonalds and Jeep — hackers take control of corporate social media accounts and send inappropriate messages to tens of thousands of followers. Don’t let it happen to your company. Take these precautions:
Get serious about passwords: Don’t let social media managers choose their own passwords (“password” is still commonly used). Instead, use a social media management system that allows employees to log in with the same username and password used for company email. That way the master switch for turning accounts on and off remains in IT’s hands.
Centralize channels: Consolidate all of your accounts within a single system that allows users to publish to multiple profiles on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other networks from one secure interface.
Offer basic social media education: Just a little can go a long way. Provide training on security and compliance issues.

Adapted by HBR from “Hack-Proof Your Company’s Social Media” by Ryan Holmes.

“Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the
beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins.”

— Jim Rohn

Optimism is having the most favorable outlook.

“A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.”

Harry S. Truman (1884-1972);
33rd President of the United States

Make Your Marketing Fast

In an age when consumers decide within seconds whether or not to abandon a website, marketers need to maneuver and adapt in real-time. Here are three ways to pick up the pace:

Test and learn. Set up experiments that help you learn about your customers and constantly adjust your approach as you get new insights. Start assessing the campaign even before it ends. If it’s clear you’re not influencing 18 to 25 year olds the way you wanted, alter it in real time.

Know when to stop. Some marketers spend weeks chasing the “perfect” solution when “good enough” will do. Prioritize speed over quality.

Simplify your results. Don’t get bogged down by reviewing outcomes for weeks. Rather than reporting dozens of metrics, focus on the handful that tell you whether your campaign is working and what you might do differently next time.

Adapted HBR from “Four Ways to Market Like a Startup” by Brian Gregg and Vivian Weng.