Teeny Weeny : Rain ....

Rain,
Rain on my heart,
Drench it with your silvery , sparkling drops ....

Rain,
Calm my soul with your  incessant pitter-patter,
Wash away my agony,
Guise the tears streaking down my face.

Rain,
Help me pause .....
Let me soak in the moments ...
Swamp me with love ....
Immerse me in the soft luminescence of life ....

Rain,
The paper boat is washed away,
The earthy aroma of the soil has faded...
Dry,
Depleted.
Parched.

Rain,
Torrential rain ,
Deluge me ....
Enfold me in your showers ...
Rejuvenate my leaves....
Make me green again  ....

Rain,
Come to me ,
Once More ....

***

Teeny-Weenies will spice up the monotony of the leadership posts . Hope you like them.     
Looking forward to your comments.

The Customer's Pencil

This is a true life incident and I often talk about this during my sessions on Quality. 

The age of "Customer Satisfaction" is passe ... now is the age of "Customer Delight" . 

All the organizations talk about their own methods of nurturing their customers . Vishal Sikka, the CEO of  Infosys is personally monitoring the top 100 customers of the company - taking care of their stated as well as unstated needs. The senior management of the companies address their teams about how innovation should be deployed so that the customers are not only delighted but they become ecstatic !

But we have to be careful.  

First we have to understand what our clients need. The cut and dry requirements which we document , do they meet the business purpose ?  What we think as "innovation" and "value addition", do the customers really think so ? It might be the other way round ! 

This anecdote will elucidate the point. 

A very large MNC had ordered the manufacture of fancy pencils with the name of the company embossed on it , for business promotion and gifts.  Accurate specifications , design , colour etc was provided . It was a huge order for the pencil manufacturing vendor and they were all geared up to do their best . 

After lots of thought the Vendor put a colourful, scented eraser  that the top of the pencils as "value addition". This was supposed to be the surprise element ... promotion of customer delight and ecstasy. 

When the consignment was delivered, the customer was furious !  He did not want the pencils ! 

"Why did you put these erasers ? Now you will have to pay for the losses which we have incurred  ... and it runs into millions !"

What do you think went wrong ??? 

....

......
.............

................. 

It so happened that the client had engaged another vendor for the manufacture of the pencil boxes.  

And with the eraser fitted on the top, the pencil did not fit in the box ! 

So.... whenever you think of Customer Delight or Customer Ecstasy or Value addition, first think of "Conformance to Requirements" .... and this anecdote !!

Cheers and have a nice weekend !

14 Traits of a Bad Boss

We all love Bad Bosses in Reel life. 

The stylish Miranda Priestley in The Devil wears Prada , Bill Lumbergh in Office Space and Bhavani Shanker in Golmaal .

But in real life, Bad Bosses have the most harmful effect in your job, heart, mind and soul.  

It is said that 90% of the people quit their jobs due to their immediate supervisors.  

Sometime or the other, all of us have experienced bad bosses . But I have also seen that when people like us become bosses, we too tend to become nasty. We forget our own experiences.  

And trust me, it is really easy to become a bad boss ! 

Test Yourself as a Boss

Check these and answer in Yes or No

• You do not forget the mistake or failure of  your subordinate and cite those as examples whenever there is an opportunity

• You hardly have an appreciative word for the good work done but do not take even a minute to point out the faults

• You take the credit for the good work done, but for failures, your fingers point to your subordinates

• Whenever any suggestion is given to you by your subordinates, you smirk and make him feel like a fool

• Constructive feedback angers you

• You are a control freak and micromanage your team

• You  are actually spineless and do not have courage to tackle a difficult situation though you know that it is the right thing to do

• You do not keep your word and  back out by saying "I never said this"

• You do not trust your team and lack integrity

• You admonish your subordinate in front of  this juniors 

• You fail to motivate your team . You think that "fear" is the only way to make the employees work.

• Use disciplinary measures inappropriately when simple, positive communication would correct the problem

• You generally speak offensively and your team is not comfortable with you. They never come to you for guidance

• You think that you have the answer to everything

Your score :  1 point for each "No" and 0 for each "Yes"

14-12 points : Excellent Boss - people bloom under you

11 - 8 points : You are a Good boss , try to improve though

7 - 4   points : Hmmm.... beware ... you are fast turning into a Devilish Boss

3 - 0   points : You are the worst Boss ever !