I learned one of the most important life lessons from my gym instructor a few years ago. I had then joined the gym with an objective of shedding a few kilos. We would start our routine with some basic warm-up exercises and as the time passed, the rigor of our work-outs became more extensive. When […]
Most quality management theories and modern management practices rely heavily on checklists as an important tool to get things right the first time. Checklists are a great aid to our memories, because they document important points that we would have learned by doing things. Another way to define a checklist is that it is a […]
Simon Young at iJump reviews my book “#QUALITYtweet – 140 bite-sized ideas to deliver quality in every project” and other books in Thinkaha Series. You can also watch this video at iJump TV website. I resumed my article series on ActiveGarage with my 13th article titled “Reviews Can be Fun (if done right)” published a […]
Businesses today are plagued by people who are "installed" in leadership positions just because of their prior performance as a "worker". I have seen some excellent technical brains failing miserably as project leaders. Why so? The answer is simple – they got into a leadership position as a natural progression without any reality check on […]
On 8th Jan, 2010, I wrote a post on Quality and Quantity – Compliance and Excellence. The post resulted in some very interesting conversations in form of comments and in-person conversations. The gist of my post was: Quality is to first ask “Why are we doing it?”, “Is it worth doing it at-all?”. Quality is […]
You are not doing much if you are not being criticized, it is said. As you set out to start your week, remember the following quote from Theodore Roosevelt. It is awe-inspiring. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of […]
Going by numbers is a great way to stay in control (or at least feel that way). Numbers are exciting. But when you choose to go by numbers alone, the tradeoff can be huge. Numbers should map with a purpose, else they can mislead. Consider the following conversations. Have you heard them before? I have! […]
A few weeks back, I wrote about “toxic leadership” and how it is a huge cost to organizations. This week, I was led to think about another cost – “reactive leadership”. Leaders cannot be instinctively reactive. Have you ever seen leaders who react to situations and take immediate tactical decisions without analyzing the long-term, strategic […]
Nicholas Bate is a prolific thinker, blogger and author. More than that, he is a wonderful friend. He shared some of his best work with me in 2009, in form of his books and innovatively done cards. With his book titled “Instant MBA" – Think, perform and earn like a top business-school graduate” – I […]