Viva la Espana

The biggest spectacle of the year is over and what an event it was ! The world cup promised Surprise and it dint let down.

The world cup started slowly with the Jabulani looking more like Jackie shroff not ready to move at all , But as the tournament progressed it was the referee who looked like the scapegoats with glaring errors. Some suggested "karma of 1966" during the England - Germany game. But due credits to the winners Spain who proved that playing Good quality and attractive style can actually win you games. But what i more loved about the Spaniards were the way they lined up and how they clicked as a team outsmarting other tacticians.

The important aspect they had is the backbone of the Squad plays the club football together thus the understanding was very high and the Defence was rock solid which allowed them eke out 1-0 wins in all of their knock out matches and then the skill of the players they had a squad which had multi talented players who could play in various positions and change them which fooled the opposition's strategies and this is what any organization needs to beat competition the joker who can help you perform well.

The crucial part is that they did not over rely on any part i.e. unlike others either going out all attacking or going out too defensive they had the skill to handle any situations and finally they had match winners, Its often said you win a game by playing to your strengths and when you have people who can work under extreme conditions and delver the best can you ask for more and that is what this team had in abundance creating a winning mark. They may not have looked the best every time they took to the field but they made it counted when it mattered



Cheers !!

Arvind !!

Softer competencies

Competency Mapping based recruitment was the summer project of one my Good buddies and this is the area where i have to thank Web2.0 for giving a chance to interact with fellow students who share similar interests. He was talking about developing a system in which based on the skill set of current employees and by taking the Job description requirements he was creating a Mapping system for talents which could be recruited soon.

The idea seemed and fantastic and really well and it was implemented for a manufacturing plant at the workmen level proving an immense success but suddenly when it was taken over by an FMCG company to replicate the similar model it failed causing him to wonder what went wrong and during the analysis we found the following things

1) The higher your pay and rank the work is more planning than execution and people are different when it comes down to planning.

2) Values are inbuilt within us and comes down to our basics thus the value system of one individual cannot be replicated and thus becomes irreplaceable.

3) With organizations looking at efficiency Multi skilled Multi lingual people are the need of the hour and they are not easily available and if they become available they are sure to burn a hole in your pocket

4) It ultimately also plans to work out on how is the relationship with the immediate superior and subordinate and that may not be replicated

With these thoughts in Mind i was wondering how could we create a model with which we can work and am still waiting for that answer

Cheers

Arvind !!

True India

The best part about a train journey is when you meet new people and have a conversation with them on wide ranging topics. This time i made blunder which helped me in finding a voice to interact with during the onwards journey. We were all tired when we boarded the train from Mumbai it was 2 in the morning and were vaguely sleeping on some seats when some one woke me up at 5.30 and claimed it as their seat. I was half dazed and trying to find what happened and sooner i realized my mistake and started a conversation with him on various issues ranging from SIFE topics and what we can do to the society and agriculture and so on and so forth when he mentioned one point which was something we have rarely observed.

When we go in a train travelling for 24 or 30 hours we observe that only signs of modernization and growth seems to be for about 5-6 kms surrounding a station other than that there is only barren land or agricultural land. Only during 10% of the trip you see modernization and urbanization orelse it is all rural and still agriculture contributes so low to our economy in comparison so all the people who wants agri to flourish at the expense of industries should suggest ways and ideas in which it can be improved if not let us industrialize we have abundant resources which are being wasted by infighting amongst ourselves.

For all my life i have been travelling long distances in train and i suddenly was able to relate to him and what he was saying. A country like Israel which has Desert soil is able to export foods after having surplus and barely has lands we have so much resources invested and we wait for transgenic foods? Time agri experts golden words are listened


Cheers !!

Arvind

SIFE Story

Last week was the most fulfilling week in my journey as a student of Madras School Of Social work When i was a part of the team which reached the National Semifinals of SIFE.

A brief Introduction about SIFE : SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise) is an international network of students, academics and business leaders.
Working in partnership with business and higher education, SIFE "mobilizes university students around the world to use the knowledge gained in the classroom to address real world business and economic issues in their communities. SIFE students form teams on their university campuses and perform community service projects that teach market economics, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, personal success skills, business ethics, and environmental sustainability."

The team was selected in Nov.2009 and it was an honor to be a part of the team considering the Mark set by our predecessors who were national finalists and along with the other core team of Hadeeja, Madhumitha Sowndararajan, Prashanthi, Adline Sophia, Sowmya Mathews, Harish, RakeshKumar Patil, Tanvir Ahmed we identified and tried to find out various communities with which we could work in creating our projects and after a month of searching we narrowed down to two communities

*Tsunami Affected women community near Thiruvanmiyur

*Tsunami affected Women community who were involved in Making of office stationery made out of recycled paper

Personally the icing on the cake was the fact that the second community was identified by me thanks to my association with the Theosophical Society which through its sister body the Theosophical order Of Service helped in setting up the recycling plant

In essence we worked with totally about 55 women affecting the lives of about 165 people. The experience was full of rich memories like Boating Trips and Travel and also the testing times of trying to find a community and working with them.

We were selected as Winners of the regional Competition and we finished just short of National Finals which was our aim leaving us disappointed. But in the end when we question ourselves on the fact whether this was worth burning our weekends and free days ? the answer would be an Emphatic "YES" the experience of setting up a business model for them has surely revived the entrepreneurial spirit in me and coupled with the chances in the wings the dream is not far away !! Thanks SIFE !!

Cheers

Arvind !!