The Building Of Your Life

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire, and he told his boss of his plans to leave and live a more leisure life. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire and he could get by.
The owner of the company was sorry to see such a good worker go, and he asked the carpenter to build just one more house as a personal favor.

The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, the employer came to see the house but before he stepped into the house, he handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said. "It is my gift to you."

The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then with a shock we came to realize that we have to live in the house we have built.
If we could do it over, we'd do it much differently. But, on that day of realization, we cannot go back...

You are the carpenter of your life. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board or erect a wall. Your attitudes, choices, decisions, behaviors and actions you make today build your "house" for tomorrow. Build wisely!

It's the end of another year. For some people, it has been a year of satisfaction. For others, it is yet another year that "could've been better". Before that day come, make that change!

Why We Should Go Home On Time

I received the following email some time back and still think it is meaningful to share it.

Mr. Narayana Murthy is undoubtedly one of the most famous persons from Karnataka. He is known not just for building the biggest IT Empire in India but also for his simplicity. Almost every important dignitary visits InfoSys campus. He delivered an interesting speech during an employee session with another IT company in India. He is incidentally, one of the top 50 influential people of Asia according to an Asiaweek publication and also the new IT Advisor to the Thailand Prime Minister.

Extract of Mr. Narayana Murthy's Speech during Mentor Session:

I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a week, or more. Some people do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only temporary. Other people I know have put in these hours for years. I do not know if they are working all these hours, but I do know they are in the office this long. Others put in long office hours because they are addicted to the work place. Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over the long term is harmful to the person and to the organization. There are things managers can do to change this for everyone's benefit. Being in the office long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for potential errors.

My colleagues who are in the office long hours frequently make mistakes caused by fatigue. Correcting these mistakes requires their time as well as the time and energy of others. I have seen people work Tuesday through Friday to correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday.

Another problem is that people who are in the office long hours are not pleasant company. They often complain about other people (who are not working as hard); they are irritable, or cranky, or even angry. Other people avoid them. Such behaviour poses problems, where work goes much better when people work together instead of avoiding one another.

As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the office. First and foremost is to set the example and go home ourselves. I work with a manager who chides people for working long hours. His words quickly lose their meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails with a time-stamp of 2 AM, Sunday.

Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives. For instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:
1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.
2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.
3) Go home.
4) Read the books/comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt, playwith your kids, etc.
5) Eat well and sleep well.

This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2. Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts. They are hard for some of us because that requires 'personal change'. They are possible since we all have the power to choose to do them.

In considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my oldest son. When he was a toddler, if people were visiting the apartment, he would not fall asleep no matter how long the visit was, and no matter what time of day it was. He would fight off sleep until the visitors left. It was as if he was afraid that he would miss some thing. Once our visitors' left, he would go to sleep. By this time, however, he was over tired and would scream through half the night with nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid the price for his fear of missing out.

Perhaps some people put in such long hours because they do not want to miss anything when they leave the office. The trouble with this is that events will never stop happening. That is life! Things happen 24 hours a day. Allowing for little rest is not ultimately practical. So, take a nap. Things will happen while you are asleep, but you will have the energy to catch up when you wake.

Hence, "Love your job, but never fall in love with your company because you never know when the company stops loving you" - Narayana Murthy

Career vs Social Life?

In this modern fast-paced living, we are always torn apart between career and social life. To balance the two is indeed challenging since we need to be very discipline to decide when, where and how to draw the line. The following story would be a useful reminder of balancing between career and social life.

Once upon a time a Washerman was bringing up two donkeys (Arnold and Billy). Arnold felt he was very energetic and could do better than the other. He always tried to attract the Washerman's attention by taking more load and walking faster in front of him. Innocent Billy is normal, so he will walk and work at a normal pace, irrespective of the Washerman's presence. After a period of time, Washerman started pressurising Billy to walk and work like Arnold. But Billy, unable to walk and work fast, got continuous punishment from Washerman.

Billy then pleaded to Arnold: "Dear friend, there are only two of us here, why do we have to compete with each other .... we can carry equal load at normal speed.". That made Arnold all the more energetic and Arnold told the Washerman that he could carry more load and could even run faster. Obviously the happier washerman looked at Billy and started kicking Billy.

The next day with smile, Arnold carried even more load and started running fast. But it was breathtaking for Billy and he couldn't work that way. The Washerman was frustrated, so he harassed Billy terribly, and finally Billy collapsed. Arnold instantly felt more superior and happily started carrying more load with great speed. But with Billy's load now also being shouldered by Arnold, Arnold was still expected to maintain his speed. For some period Arnold did, until finally due to fatigue, Arnold got tired and started feeling the pain. But washerman expected more from Arnold. Arnold also tried his best, but he just couldn't cope with his owner's demand. The Washerman got angry with Arnold and started harassing Arnold to take more load... Arnold just could not meet the owner's expectations.

Finally, with built-up frustration, the Washerman killed Arnold and went searching some other donkeys who could meet the Washerman's expectation. Its an endless story.......

The moral of the story also applies to our corporate and social life is. Remember, all colleagues are same and that everyone is capable.... Always share the load equally. And it does not matter if you are Arnold or Billy, for the Boss you will always be a "DONKEY". So it is important that we learn to work smart and not hard in today's fast-paced and dynamic environment and to always balance our social life at the same time.

Success is a journey not a destination.