Our most forgotten question : Why ?

Curiosity is a trait that we see diminishing when people grow up and we talk about them getting "wiser" ?

Whenever I talk to a child, I'm struck by the number of times I'm asked "why ?"
I'm also struck at the number of times I'm NOT asked "why ?" by an adult !

How I wish we could all magically retain our ability to ask "why ?". To me, this is the most important question that needs to be asked and it needs to be asked first. Inatech is a company that does business consulting and it takes us a LOT of time to convince our own employees to ask this question. Unfortunately, either the Indian education system or the society has converted all the "whys ?" to "whats ?"

It is hard work to get an individual to ask the customer "Why do you need this process ?" instead of "What do you need done in this process ?" - thereby, missing the whole point of "NEED" ?

Maybe it is due to our education system that encourages learning by "rote". I do remember one of my own science teacher who said - "You do not need to know that to pass your exam" as a response to my question. (incidentally, ever since, She's lost all respect from the child in me)

Or, is it due to the societal pressure of accepting what is said by "elders" and not to "question elders ?". I can almost visualize the conversation - a child asking a parent "why is the sky blue" and the parent replying "Because, it is so" and adding almost casually "don't waste time asking obvious questions".

How many of the "elders" have the maturity to accept that he / she does not know and takes the effort to go and look up "Rayleigh scattering" or just "Why is the sky blue" in google / or an encyclopedia ?

Or, maybe we can also blame this on our famous Indian "fate" and quote like Lord Tennyson : "Ours is not to reason why, ours but to do and die" :-(

Think before you act - Why is it so difficult to enforce this maxim ?

I think we Indians have been "directed" for so long, told what to do and instructed on action being the best policy for so long (primary education to choice of career are all dictated in most cases) that we seem to have lost the ability to think for ourselves. What does it take for us to get to a mode where an individual thinks - one as himself (detached from the problem) and two, as a customer (as a recipient) ?

In my opinion, this will change India to be the leader and not be led.

I was THRILLED when I was told that in my child's class - 6th Std, they introduced a rule that the student is not allowed to start answering immediately after the question paper is distributed.
This is the best thing that I can think of for instigating the thought process ??
How I wish people in my school were forced to do this. In those days (and I'm sure in pretty much the whole of the country today), there is a mad rush to start answering the questions before even glancing through the question paper.

There have been numerous occasions when I was told by individuals in my class that they have answered ALL the questions (including the choices !!!)

This trait of acting without thinking is spilling over to the work arena with disastrous effect. We are fulfilling the prophecy made by a few newspapers / analyst about a decade ago that India was a nation of "Tech Coolies".

It is time we stopped and thought ...
Ideas as to how ?

Urgent and Important : Managing the difference

I thought I'd put up a couple of posts that try and elaborate the Indian difficulty in understanding key differences.
The first one is the difference between what is Urgent and what is important ?
This is a typical issue with the folks who work in an onsite-offshore model. While the person is working on a priority list, the assignments of priority themselves seem to be out of a hidden agenda from the perspective of the onsite person.

While some of this can be put down to communication gaps. I personally think that there is a more fundamental issue related to prioritizing.

There seems to be a mixup in priorities as the individual concerned cannot differentiate between the two. While one requires a response, some acknowledgement that the issue has been picked up, the other requires action.

This invariably leads to the constant Onsite complaint that whatever has gone offshore seems to have gone into a "black hole"

This leads to a post in the near future - one related to "response .vs. reply"
:-)

A device to record verbal commitments / add onto mobile phones

Today, again, I have had to control my temper when faced with a set of unkept promises. Maybe I did not get people to take a oath on Gita or Bible or some reference point before I let them get away with a verbal committment - but, you get the picture ?

It seems to be one more of those "Indian" things.... where someone states that they will get back today / tomorrow of next monday with absolutely NO mechanism to follow through !!

I think it is time someone built an application onto the mobile phone. The moment someone commits a deliverable, it should be recorded (voice recording is a standard feature) and then we should assign a date (default to 24 hours reminder). This way, these reminders can be sent across either as an sms or a voice reminder.

If this does not work, then, there should be a cattle prod kind of jolt that goes to the individual ;-)

If anyone were to come up to me with the statement that this is far too harsh, then, I'd be willing to tell them that on the reverse, am happy to get them a "electronic / electric massage" for every promise kept.

That should be an equitable carrot-stick policy ?

Tourism in India - what ails the industry ?

Yesterday, I was in Savandurga with the kids trying out trekking, cave exploration and rappelling.
While the whole tour was a great success and everyone had a whale of a time, some of the sights / things that I saw made me think of current issues with tourism.

I'm told that the domestic tourists going out of the country has been the highest and growing at a tremendous pace, as is the influx of external folks. However, I do think that we should get to more domestic internal tourists interested. Things that I think are low hanging fruits

- Visibility and access to information
I'm sure it is quite easy with the current information base + technology to provide a very factual and up-to-date information about the tourist spot. Simple tips like the best route to take (given the pothole / roadworks situation), what to watch out for (eg. No water source / shade all the way up the hill), where to park a vehicle (even if there is no separate parking area marked) etc. Other than this, it will be good to get some local weather, nearby places to eat etc. info. I'm sure someone will state that this is what blogs are meant to do - but, that is not the point. These cannot be a "voluntary" bit that has no throat to choke / nobody to hold responsible

- Civic amenities
Given the footfall / number of visitors, I'm sure places like this will sustain (or better even, provide a sustainable employment) local participation in civic amenities - eg. Garbage clearing, distribution of local information pamplet (even if charged on a individual pamplet basis / paid for by local vendors like restaurants etc), manned toilets etc.

- Clear markings
I've seen some boards up in a few places, but, this is another piece I think, that is easily done. Markings for trails, directions, historical significance etc. Simple bits that can be put up without too much of an issue and also linked to a locally available facility / public building. Eg. in this case, there is a temple that seems pretty well attended / taken care of - except the premises outside is under nobodys watch. Even if there were to be resistance in putting up this info board within the temple premises, I'm sure it would stay as long as it was put on the outer compound wall ?

Maybe the start is to come up with a "model" that is clear and replicable. Again, when I have the time, maybe I'll start with a info portal ?

Restart, Renew and ReUse on Global hour day ?

After a long hiatus, I've found the time or more importantly the inclination to blog again.
What better way to start than to pen a few thoughts on Earth Hour Day ?

As I write this while sitting in a hotel room in the US, it is "TIME" in India. Time for people to switch off for an hour as a gesture to energy conservation. Pity is, it seems to be a very "high brow" campaign.

Not sure how many see this ?

Maybe we should do this on a working day when the schools are in and all the kids are told about this and then they can convince their parents, peers and the public ?

The important factor is to impress upon people and bring in peer pressure. Let me illustrate the point with an example.

In Inatech, I've seen on numerous occasions that systems (PCs) are left on, lights are left on etc while winding up for the day. All opportunities to drill down the message seems to have had very little long-lasting effect. Things simmer down for a while and then cropup again (epidemic mode ?).

As an experiment, we now have BIG laminated notices that are left on each desk when we find the PC left on. This notice remains up during the day just to let the neighbours know that somone has forgotten (again !) to turn off equipment.

It seems to work !

What can we do at a global level for this kind of peer pressure ?