A day in the life of LIFE

It's been a year and seven months at Birlasoft, and I have learnt much, during this period. That's majorly contributed to, by the discussions with a group of like minded colleagues ( spanning departments, designations and age spectrum)which has brought out many interesting dimensions.

Let me share one such "pearl of wisdom" shared with us, by Ravi.

Ravi has over 10 years of experience and is the Head of the Infrastructure practice at Birlasoft.

This conversation had its origins in one of the many tete-a-tete s that we've had.

How do pilots prevent from crashing their planes while landing?
It's because when they land they focus on the horizon and the wheels descend in a trajectory almost parallel to the horizon thus ensuring a smooth landing.

Thinking of which, had the pilots focussed their vision directly on the runway, they would end up nose diving and kissing the ground.

Leveraging the same line of thought to the mindset of individuals, we would all be better off, focussing on the big picture - keeping in mind the long term end state.

What I m getting to, is that in the process of firefighting day to day activities, we sometimes lose track.

A good thumbrule on what kind of thoughts we need to foster, for supporting meaningful dialogue in conversations is called the PII pyramid..[Copyright - Ravi]

PII - read as People, Incidents and Ideas defines the three levels of thought maturity.

At the base level, indicating the least level of intellectual maturity, is discussing about people. X has these negatives. Y is incapable of doing the job. so on and so forth.

The medium level of maturity is demonstrated by discussions on Incidents involving individuals. Don't get me wrong, but is is typically a squabble between two housewives as to who should fill the water first, fights among their children et. al

The highest level of maturity is seen in dialogue involving a clash of Ideas. Ideas have been accorded the highest priority owing to the fact that ideas act as the spark of innovation. And the moment a person is convinced that the debate has to happen over ideas per say,it does not matter who wins because at the end of the day, the best idea triumphs over people, thus resulting in effective way forward.

Again, I am not getting into the mode of deciding the grey areas between the pyramid, for it is for the individuals to decide where they fit into.

As the adage goes, " In a fight between a fool and a wise man, it is the wise man to blame, for it is he who stoops to the level of the fool".

I am also reminded of the Kannada folk song that goes thus "Aachara villada Naalige, Ninna Neecha buddiya bidu naalige", where the poet addresses the tongue asking it to shed its non righteous task of talking ill of others.

The wise men have spoken. Hope history does not repeat itself [Period]
(Click on the image to enlage)