Author: Anand Surana

I am a software consultant by profession and reside in Hyderabad, India. I love to travel, listen to music, cook and make friends.
Posted in Leadership

Can We Accommodate True Creativity?

Posted on by Anand Surana
Many of the most creative persons are also the most misunderstood people in the world because they choose to see the world and its problems through a different lens. Where the world sees problems they see opportunity. These are the people who change the world and in many case these are also the people who are the most ridiculed before they are accepted. We have many examples in history of such genius who walked the Earth. Here is one such story.
 
Some time ago I received call from a colleague. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physics question, while the student claimed a perfect score. The instructor and the student agreed to an impartial arbiter, and I was selected.
 
I read the examination question: “SHOW HOW IT IS POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE THE HEIGHT OF TALL BUILDING WITH THE AID OF A BAROMETER.”
 
The student had answered, “Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to the street, and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of the rope is the height of the building.”
 
The student really had a strong case for full credit since he had really answered the question completely and correctly! On the other hand, if full credit were given, it could well contribute to a high grade in his physics course and to certify competence in physics, but the answer did not confirm this.
 
I suggested that the student have another try. I gavethe student six minutes to answer the question with the warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics. At the end of five minutes, he had not written anything. I asked if he wished to give up, but he said he had many answers to this problem; he was just thinking of the best one. I excused myself for interrupting him and asked him to please go on. In the next minute, he dashed off his answer, which read: “Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its all with a stopwatch. Then, using the formula x=0.5*a*t^^2, calculate the height of the building.”
 
At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He conceded, and gave the student almost full credit. While leaving my colleague’s office, I recalled that the student had said that he had other answers to the problem, so I asked him what they were.
 
“Well,” said the student, “there are many ways of getting the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer. For example, you could take the barometer out on a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and the length of the shadow of the building, and by the use of simple proportion, determine the height of the building.”
 
“Fine,” I said, “and others?” “Yes,” said the student, “there is a very basic measurement method you will like. In this method, you take climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks, and this will give you the height of the building in barometer units.”
 
“A very direct method.” “Of course. If you want a more sophisticated method, you can tie the barometer to the end of a string, swing it as a pendulum, and determine the value of ‘g’ at the street level and at the top of the building. From the difference between the two values of g, the height of the building, in principle, can be calculated.”
 
“On this same tact, you could take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to just above the street, and then swing it as a pendulum. You could then calculate the height of the building by the period of the precession”.
 
“Finally,” he concluded, “there are many other ways of solving the problem. Probably the best,” he said, “is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent’s door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows: ‘Mr. Superintendent, here is a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of the building, I will give you this barometer.”
 
At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.
 
The student was “Neils Bohr” (quantum theory, physics, mechanics, hydrogen atom guru etc ) and the arbiter “Rutherford”.
 
Posted in Life Gyan

212º – The Extra Degree

Posted on by Anand Surana

Here is an inspiring excerpt from the new eBook by Sam Parker – 212º The Extra Degree, which will give you a new perspective and motivate you to go that extra mile and make the difference in the various walks of your life. It is an inspiring book with a singular focus on the essential life fundamental of effort – the primary fundamental that feeds all others.

At 211 degrees, water is hot.
At 212 degrees, it boils.
And with boiling water, comes steam.And with steam, you can power a train.
One degree. Applying one extra degree of temperature to water means the difference between something that is simply very hot and something that generates enough force to power a machine – a beautifully uncomplicated metaphor that ideally should feed our every endeavour – consistently pushing us to make the extra effort in every task and action we undertake.

Two-twelve serves as a forceful drill sergeant with its motivating and focused message while adhering to a scientific law – a natural law. It reminds us that seemingly small things can make tremendous differences. So simple is the analogy that you can stop reading right now, walk away with the opening thought firmly planted in your mind and benefit from it for the rest of your life. That’s the goal of 212 – to help you internally define and take ownership of the most fundamental principle behind achieving life results beyond your expectations – a simple idea with a singular focus – an actionable focus. Two-twelve.

It’s this dramatic – three numbers joined together to form one, crystallising a message that absolutely assures life-altering positive results for those who choose to apply it. Why do we enter into any activity with anything but a commitment to achieve our objective – not a desire to achieve our objective, but a commitment?

Emerson said, “All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man had taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first.”

Vince Lombardi tightened it up with, “Inches make champions.”

212 distills it even further: Often in life we miss the opportunity to do more and create better results because we are not aware of the possibilities that could occur if we applied a small amount of effort beyond what we normally do. For instance, consider the impact of making an extra contact each day at work: a sales call, a customer follow up, a brief discussion with a colleague, an encouraging talk with a member of your team. With contact comes opportunity. At the end of a year you’ll have opened more than 200 additional doors of possibility.

On the personal side, imagine the exponentially positive results of investing an additional 15 minutes of quality time each day with your children or spouse – an equivalent of more than two weeks each year at work. Fortunately, because you’re reading this, you’re now aware of 212º the extra degree. No longer will you be able to do only what is required of you and only what is expected of you. Because with awareness comes responsibility – to yourself and to others.

You are now aware.
The excitement has begun.
Are you smiling yet?
212: a new target for everything you do. . .

Posted in Financial Gyan

The Cobra Effect

Posted on by Anand Surana

The term Cobra Effect originated in an anecdote set at the time of British rule of colonial India. It is particularly important to know about it especially for the decision makers. If you are in a role which is responsible for making decisions which impact a large number of people, you must read it.

The Cobra Effect is a term in economics. It refers to a situation when an attempted solution to a problem makes the problem worse. And here is the anecdote from the British rule when the term is said to be coined.

For some reasons, there were too many venomous cobra snakes in Delhi. People were dying due to snake-bites and it became scary for almost everyone to step out of their houses. The government of the day had to get into action to stop this menace and it offered a silver coin for every dead cobra. The results were great, a large number of snakes were killed for the reward.

Eventually, however, it led to some serious unwanted consequences. After a short-term dip in cobra population, it started going up. This was because few people began to breed cobras for the income. When the news reached the government, the reward program was scrapped, causing the cobra breeders to set the now-worthless snakes free. As a result, the cobra population further increased. The solution for the problem made the situation even worse. The unintended consequence for a well-intentioned idea led to making the problem worst.

Trying a new solution?
or
Planning to tackle an existing problem with a new idea?

Well, it’s time to pause and think about how people would respond to the new idea that may sound great on paper! Specially the solutions that try to affect how people behave. There’s always a certain group of people who have a tendency to game the system -intentionally or otherwise.

They have a tendency to take short-term advantage of any situation though that may lead to harm to them & society-at-large only in the long run.

Every solution has consequences and those consequences may lead to certain situations where rather than solving a current problem, you may end up with more complex problems.

Few more examples: A similar type of incident like increasing cobra-population occurred in Vietnam. The rulers realised that there were too many rats in Hanoi and spread of plague was imminent They created a reward program that paid a prize for each rat killed. To obtain the bounty, people would provide the severed rat tail. After initial success, the officials, however, started noticing rats with no tails. The rat catchers would capture rats, cut off their tails, and then release them back into the sewers so that they could breed and produce more rats, thereby increasing the rat catchers’ profits.

As they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, the similar mistakes are happening around us everyday when the decision-makers fail to take a 360 degree view of all the possible outcomes of an action before implementation.

Nearly 2 years ago, city of Philadelphia in USA passed a “soda tax” – a US $1 tax on a typical 2-liter bottle of soft-drink- as a “sin tax” in the national war on obesity. But the natives didn’t cut calories as a result of the tax on sweetened drinks, nor there was a shift towards any healthier option. Instead, most of them just drove outside the city to buy the same colas , from stores where they didn’t have to pay the tax. But the poorest paid more as they could not find it affordable to drive out of the city to buy their drinks. In the end , city suffered loss of revenue due to lower sales whereas the lower section society paid more .

The unintended consequence for a well-intentioned idea led to making the problem worst.

Even big & brilliant companies do the same mistake!

It is not that mistakes happen only with the government run programs, there’re n numbers of examples in great private companies too where the best & brilliant people lose sight of certain negative outcomes due to the initial magic of seemingly great looking ideas.

The Nano Car – a small car that could never it make it big !
The car once touted as the world’s cheapest, Tata Nano, ran into a dead end as sales and production went down to a trickle. The poor demand resulted in Tata Motors shutting down the plant.

A car considered as a brilliant product, launched in a segment having a billion dollar opportunity. Hope ran high , the company expected all present and potential two-wheeler owners would shift to Nano.

But they forgot to dwell deeper – a car marketed as ‘the cheapest car’, created huge initial interest. But it never took off. Later on, Ratan Tata admitted that the reason for failure of this idea was none other than the term which became synonymous with Nano – “The cheapest car”. Buying a car in India is associated with social status and prestige; if a person owns a car, he is assumed to be successful and settled. But the word ‘cheap’ in its marketing campaigns spoiled everything.

The company also failed to dwell upon the competition from used-cars. Used cars from other companies, which were much better in quality, space and mileage were available to the same customer-segment at the same or lesser price than Nano.

An intelligent team of people failed to think about the above likely outcomes because it became temporarily blinded by the brilliance of such a great idea, by the idea of tapping a billion-dollar opportunity.

Apple turning sour!
In 2017 Apple admitted that it was slowing down the speed of old iPhones as the batteries of those old phones were degrading with the passage of time. To make up on loss of brand image and to satisfy its erstwhile customers, it offered to cut its US $79 battery replacement feed down to US $29 as a way of apologising. This lower fee led to more people in 2018 ended up swapping their batteries — instead of upgrading to the latest iPhone models thus affecting new iPhone sales. As iPhone batteries became cheaper and easier to replace, fewer people are shelling out for new iPhones that can now cost up to US $1,449.

In January that year, Apple revealed that it was expecting a $9 billion loss in revenue due to weak iPhone demand that’s partly caused by more people replacing their batteries, according to a letter issued by CEO Tim Cook addressed to investors.
Slowing down of iPhones sales can be attributed to many external reasons too (better Chines phones, better Apps on Android phones etc ), but strategy of battery-replacement was an internal idea. It would have been handled better if people at top would have thought more about it , if they would have filtered this program from Cobra effect.

What’s in it for you ? Next time if you or your team has some brilliant idea , get your brilliant guys together in a room and think about the Cobra- effects before implementing that idea.

You can always fine-tune the idea to minimize the negative implications by spending few extra hours/days before rushing to announce it. Don’t rush to implement it while you’re under the awe of the brilliance of a never-tested, nice-looking solution or idea, think about the Cobra-effects first.

Posted in Leadership

What Happened To The Last 3 Years…

Posted on by Anand Surana

This is an excerpt from the book “The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE” by Tom Peters. I was introduced to this piece of exceptional insight  many years ago by one of my mentors who is popularly known by the initials KK. He was conducting a session on Excellence at work and he shared the below article with the audience. The impact of this insightful piece of writing was visible as everyone was able to reflect on their forgotten dreams and being busy managing the daily grind. I urge you to read it and reflect on your own journey and share what you felt.

I cannot begin to tell you how important and practical I think this item is.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I would like to reach out from this page, and shake you, and shout …
You can do this.
To myself, I keep saying …
IF NOT THIS, WHAT?
You take over a department. Twenty-eight people. You aim to make it a “smoothly functioning unit.” As time goes by, and you deal with brush fire after brush fire after brush fire (we all do), your aspiration-in-reality becomes “making it through the day.”

And next thing you know, you’ve indeed “made it through the day”—about 700 times.
And three years have passed. There have been no mutinies. And your annual evaluations have been consistently “pretty damn good.”
But what do you really have to show for … three whole years of your precious life?
Actually, not much. “Competent survival” might be an accurate description.But nobody’s beating down the door to get into your unit.
And you really don’t have one or two … stupendous … accomplishments to brag about or sleep on.
Well, I don’t think that’s good enough.
For you. For the people in your unit.
I beg you … yes, beg … to review the definition-aspiration with which I launched this item.
I beg you … yes, beg … to talk with your peers and your folks and anyone you can buttonhole about … WHAT COULD BE.
I beg you … yes, beg … to “go public” with a doc called, more or less… “Towering Aspirations of Growth and Excellence” ... and then use it as a litmus test against which you judge 
…every decision, small or large; 
… every project, small or large; 
… every people move small or large.
I believe there is a decent chance that, if you get moving ASAP, three years from now you will be able to look back and say
…“Oh my God, we did that…”
“How cool…”
“How ‘Wow’…
”And, yes, people from all over the organization will be hammering on your door, begging (yes, begging) to sign up and become part of your … Greatest Show on Earth.

Posted in Life Gyan

10 Fresh Ideas To Add To Your Bucket List

Posted on by Anand Surana

Here are some really fresh ideas to add zing to your bucket list and give it a meaningful twist – 

(1) Travel Solo – It is always fun to travel in a group either with family or friends. But if you want to spend time with yourself and connect with your inner self then travel solo. Travel activates our senses and creates a feeling of freshness away from the mundane and the routine of day-to-day life. Travelling alone can be a very enriching experience.

(2) Have a terrace garden – and use it to cultivate essential herbs and veggies for your own kitchen. It is a daily joy to watch the plants grow and you will experience a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction when you use the produce of your own kitchen garden.

(3) Live in another country at least for an year – If you get an opportunity to relocate and stay in another country welcome it with open arms and live there for at least one full year. it is a great experience as you get to experience their culture, all the seasons of the year and take part in all the festivals of that land. It surely will expand your horizons and help you become a better person.


(4) Give back to the society – Giving only money to the charities is not what I mean. When your contribute some of your personal time and effort, and sometimes a little sweat, back to the society you will realise that it is such a humbling experience. And your heart will be filled with gratitude for the abundance in your own life. 

(5) Start a Bullet Journal – Bullet journal is a shorter version of the classic journalling. In that way you get to jot down the key aspects of your life and observations with our spending too much time. Additionally it also helps you express your creativity in the form of doodles. You can search the internet for the many many ideas available and choose what suits your style.


(6) Learn a new skill – it could be a life skill like swimming or learning to give primary first-aid or CPR or it could be something you are passionate about like playing a guitar. It will boost your confidence and above all add a feather in your cap.

(7) Achieve your ideal weight – make health your priority and sign up for a fitness regime to look your best. This one thing will have multiple benefits in various aspects of your life.


(8) Run a marathon – It is a great milestone to achieve and it also helps you become a fitter version of yourself. 

(9) Connect with past teachers and mentors who have had an impact on your life and thank them. Very few people actually reach out to the teachers and thank them once they have moved out of school/college even though the teachers leave a lifelong impact. Take time to Thank them.

(10) Give a heartfelt surprise to someone – We all have one or two such longings in our heart but due to various constraints we keep postponing them to the next time. You may not realise that life slips away like sand from our hand. Don’t postpone the joy. 

Posted in Life Gyan

Is This How You Deal With Emotional Stress?

Posted on by Anand Surana

At times we get overwhelmed by our own emotions. Sometimes it could be sheer frustration at other times it could be grief. It can be betrayal or even separation from a loved one. Emotional turmoil can mean different things for different people both in type and intensity. One of the most common reasons for emotional turmoil is the mismatch between expectations and reality. This could be in the form of a bad appraisal, betrayal of a friend, separation from a loved one, heated altercation with spouse or not being able to keep up with the daily grind when there is too much on your plate. 

Whatever the reason might be, the important thing to understand is how you respond to adverse situations in your life. Observe what you do when you find yourself in one such situation and feel completely helpless? 

Do you sulk and sulk till you get over it. Do you brood over it over a cup of coffee or over a smoke break. Do you just pull the blanket over your head and hit the bed to cut out the continuous chatter in your brain  Or do you throw temper tantrums. 

Some people weep and need to be left alone till they get over it. Some look for solace in a friend’s company. While some others subconsciously binge on chocolates and junk food. Some even go shopping to divert their mind. 

Different people have different ways of dealing with emotional stress. At a very broad level – it is either FIGHT or FLIGHT. 

Some things heal with time, some are bundled and pushed into a corner of your mind as you get busy with the things at hand till someone pulls the skeletons out of the closet once again. And in most cases you learn to live with the pain. 

What if I tell you a that there is a way which will help you deal with your emotional stress in a better way. What If you could channelize your emotions in a positive way. It may also help you heal over a period of time. For the healing to happen we need to learn to manage our emotions.  

If you want to learn about a healthier way to deal with your emotional stress watch this space for updates.

Posted in Life Gyan

17 Camels & The Wise Man

Posted on by Anand Surana

Long ago in a village in Rajasthan, a farmer left a strange will for his three sons. The will stated that,
“The eldest son should get half of his Camels,
The middle Son should be given 1/3rd of the Camels, and
the youngest Son should be given 1/9th of the Camels“

The problem was that the farmer had 17 camels. The sons realised that it is not possible to divide 17 into half or 17 by a third or 17 by a ninth. And neither of them were interested to give the other two more than the share mentioned in the Will.

Unable to resolve the issue amicably, they decided to go to a wise man for help. The wise man listened to the issue patiently and they showed him the Will and told him about the problem of dividing the 17 camels as per the Will of their father.

The wise man, after giving the problem a careful thought, smiled, got up and brought one of his own camel & added the same to the 17. That increased the total to 18 camels. “Now”, he said, “let’s read the Will one more time.”

The eldest son should get half of the Camels – 18/2 = 9.
So he gave 9 camels to the eldest son.

The middle Son should be given 1/3rd of Camels, 18/3 = 6
So he gave 6 camels to the middle son.

Youngest Son should be given 1/9th of the Camels, 18/9 =2
So he gave 2 camels to the youngest son

Now adding : 9 + 6 + 2 = 17 & this leaves 1 camel, which the wise man took back.

MORAL: The art of negotiation & problem solving is to find the 18th camel i.e. the common ground. Once a person is able to find the common ground, the issue can be resolved. Though it can be difficult at times. However, to reach a solution, the first step is to believe that there IS a solution. If we think that there is no solution, we won’t be able to reach any!

Posted in Life Gyan

7 Ways to Read More Books Each Year

Posted on by Anand Surana

Most people I speak to these days lament that they hardly find time to read books. Even though they somehow start one, the progress is negligible. And the time gap between two successive times when they reach for the book is so large that they have to re-read a few of the previous pages just to refresh where they left off last time. I am sure by now you are nodding in agreement and smiling. 

So here are a few easy hacks that you can adopt to increase the number of books that you manage to read each year. These hacks recommend small changes that are easy to make and will help you connect with your passion of reading books in newer ways. 

  1. Make your environment more reading friendly – Make it easier to read books – (1) have books easily accessible at your favourite places in your home especially near your bed (2) Keep the distractions away like leave the ubiquitous smartphone at a little distance from your bed
  2. Carry your book(s) along – that way you will always have a book handy when you are travelling in cabs or standing in queue or waiting for a friend
  3. Read more than one book at a time. Not everyone can do this but if you have the appetite you can read multiple books from completely different topics in parallel. It is a great way to add variety to your reading and also helps complete difficult to read books
  4. Talk about books with others – share stories & recommendations
  5. Post book reviews social media or your own blog once you have completed the book
  6. Make time to actually read the book rather than turning to the smart phone every time you get some free time.
  7. Have a goal to read at least 15 min each day and this one habit alone will be enough to get to your reading goal.
Posted in Fun & Humour

A Score of Math Jokes & Puns

Posted on by Anand Surana

1. Why was the fraction apprehensive about marrying the decimal?
– Because he would have to convert.

2. Why do plants hate math?
– It gives them square roots.

3. Why did the student get upset when his teacher called him average?
– It was a mean thing to say!

4. Why was the math book depressed?
– It had a lot of problems.

5. Why is the obtuse triangle always so frustrated?
– Because it is never right.

6. Why can you never trust a math teacher holding graphing paper?
– They must be plotting something.

7. Why was the equal sign so humble?
– Because she knew she wasn’t greater than or less than anyone else.

8. What do you call the number 7 and the number 3 when they go out on a date?
– The odd couple (but 7 is in her prime).

9. What do you call a number that can’t stay in one place?
– A Roamin’ numeral.

10. Did you hear the one about the statistician?
– Probably.

11. What do you call dudes who love math?
– Algebros.

12. I’ll do algebra, I’ll do trig. I’ll even do statistics.
– But graphing is where I draw the line!

13. Why should you never talk to Pi?
– Because she’ll go on and on and on forever.

14. How do you stay warm in any room?
– Just huddle in the corner, where it’s always 90 degrees.

15. Why is six afraid of seven?
– Because seven eight (ate) nine!

16. Why DID seven eat nine?
– Because you’re supposed to eat 3 squared meals a day!

17. Why does nobody talk to circles?
– Because there is no point.

18. What do baby parabolas drink?
– Quadratic formula.

19. How do you get from point A to point B?
– Just take an x-y plane or a rhom’bus.

20. The problem with math puns is that calculus jokes are all derivative, trigonometry jokes are too graphic, algebra jokes are usually formulaic, and arithmetic jokes are pretty basic. But I guess the occasional statistics joke is an outlier.

Posted in Life Gyan

Are You Having These Conversations?

Posted on by Anand Surana

We, as a society, really have no idea how *suffocated* people are in their emotions. Most people have *nobody* to express themselves entirely to. Everyone is holding back their *vulnerabilities* to maintain the *social image* of a confident and happy person.
Heart-to-heart conversations have become *rare, artificial and shallow*. Most hearts are filled with *empty defences*.
Most people can’t even talk to their *life-partners openly* for the fear of being judged or rejected. Emotions await just a release. Social images make sure that weakness is not glorified.
Children have *bottled up* stress. Young people suffer from anxiety and depression.
It is just lack of social support. It is *lack of non-judgmental* friendships. It is a result of *fast and busy lives* where nobody has time to just sit and watch someone cry.
It is a result of *instant and impatient lifestyle* practices, that *emotions have started feeling like a waste of time*.
Our forefathers talked to each other. Because talking helps…..
The *face-to-face* type talking, the *just-listen-to-me* type talking, the *hold-my-hand-and-let-me-cry* type talking, the *sit-next-to-me-and-listen-to-my-silence* type talking… the talking where *persons can be themselves and say anything they feel without the fear of any judgement or loss or rejection*.
Today, we don’t like that type of talking! In fact we *avoid people*. Naturally, it has led to mental illnesses…. which are becoming an epidemic.
There is not much we can do but we can offer *listening* !
It is extremely important to have those heart-to-heart conversations where you can express yourself without being judged.
It can add years to your life and more importantly life to your years.
Let’s let people talk without any fear. Let’s create conversations.
*Let’s Start Talking Again*.