personal
Zen and the art of rapid change management
5 years ago
This is an article I finished recently comparing management of changes with Rafting experience. Tagged under Management, general and Rafting tags and not related to main theme of this blog which is psychological in nature:-)
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I had gone some 2 yrs back on a maiden River rafting expedition and while I was reminiscing about that trip recently I came to realize how that experience had some valuable learning that could be applied to Management especially most relevant to management regarding rapid changes.
Co-ordination and teamwork: For starters, rafting demands harmonious and synchronus coordination between all rafters ensuring that all rowing movements by individuals are in perfect synchrony to the one in front and the one behind so as to enable the raft to make maximum possible movement and in the required direction. This much is apparent and trivial.
Unknowns and unpredictable: Then there are the current/wave directions and strengths that have to be dealt with and these are obviously unpredictable and uncontrollable. These are not unknowns also, as they can be discerned some time well in advance by an acute observer so as to adapt the rowing strategy accordingly.
Different stratagem’s based on changing priorities/external realities: There are different possible rowing actions and strokes and the guide who is watching the river current/waves keeps instructing the rowers to change movements on the drop of a hat, taking into account the way the wind/water is currently drifting and determining what actions would best ensure movement in the right direction…. and this is all very short term planning and maneuvering. The guide does not bother with very long term foresight into what the current/weather will be 5 hrs down the line. For taking into account unknowns that were not apparent, he would rather rely on advise of weather department and not take an expedition on the day bad weather conditions are forecasted. The guide himself actively uses an instrument situated at the back of the boat to keep steering and doing course corrections.
Apparently discordant behaviors in time and space: Not always everyone is rowing in the forward direction only. Sometimes the people in front and those in back have different instructions and rowing movements. Sometimes people on the left and those on the right have different instructions. Sometimes people on the right are REQUIRED to STOP rowing and rest and ensuring that only left rowers row, to ensure correct behavior and direction. Not all rowers need to understand why they are required to make the required actions on a particular time for ex just revering their rowing direction whereby one moment they were rowing forward and now they are rowing backwards,, but with experience they start getting insights that if they do follow the directions religiously they are better off keeping on track towards destination despite apparent short time backtracks or seemingly impossible currents which they though could not be navigated.
RAPIDS or Toppling Points: The most feared (by some) and awaited (by others) are the moments when the boat needs to navigate past the RAPIDS or areas in the river bed where there is a sudden change in river-bed depth, leading to turbulent local currents on the surface. These are avoided if possible, warned beforehand to all rowers, closely watched by the guide, forewarned to everybody that everyone needs to navigate with all their strengths during and prior to the Rapid crossing and special Tips given to each to ensure that neither the boat topples nor individuals are thrown off-board.
The Rapid Dynamics: In Rapids, though all who are rowing need to row with all their strengths, yet it is not the classical case of ‘all hands on the board’. The guide himself keeps watching, getting ready for action in case the boat topples to ensure that boat bumps back up, that all the oars that are needed for rowing further downstream are intact and not lost by the individual rowers to the water and above all to ensure that everyone (though they have life jackets strapped) are brought back on the boat as soon as possible. Also, most importantly, some people who are normally involved in rowing are asked to stop rowing, move to the front of the row and are required to strategically position themselves in the front of the boat, leaning towards the most forward point in the boat and putting their weight in the front, so as to reduce the impact of the onslaught of wave. These should ideally be people who have most weight.
The Thrill of Toppling : The most amazing insight was the revelation that some of the people most knowledgeable about water and rafting, good swimmers and experienced rafters, were also the ones who would most often ‘engineer’ the topples while navigating the rapids. Just like there are well known ways to avid the boat from toppling in the rapids, there are equally well known counter actions to engineer the topple. One straightforward, and apparent by now, way is to ensure that few like minded people lean backwards at the time of RAPID concentrating weight towards the back. No problems with that, one does get a different experience while the boat is turned upside down and one is floating by ones own in the water, and these people being good swimmers and all, would also be the ones who would put the boat back, et fellows on board and get a kick out of it in all ways: the thrill of topple and the subsequent opportunity to play the savior.
The Perils of Toppling: Some people who have been exposed to that ‘drowning’ experience for the first time, though realistically there was no real danger with life jackets strapped, are left shaken with that experience. For them those 2-3 minutes in water, with water churning at great speed, chaos all around them with all team members floating by themselves, the boat and their guide himself in water turned upside down, some of them not knowing how to swim or even to keep afloat the water correctly with life jackets, with taste of water in mouth, over eyes and nostrils, those 2-3 minutes are very real to them and represent a reality that is not apparent to the more seasoned rafters/ swimmers. The guide of course is normally aware of this and so he avoids topples at all costs, but the more adventurous experts amongst the crew somehow never realize the repercussions or effects they may have on others. Some of those shaken by the experience react extremely with not going on a rafting trip again ( I am not one of them:-)…though unfortunately I have not managed to go on another rafting trip after that…in any case my raft had toppled but it was a genuine toppling….it was 2 of the other rafts which had the ‘engineered’ toppling.), others are just shaken to the extent that they dread the RAPIDS much more than is needed, while still others are barely affected and even enjoy the thrill- the most effect on them being some time sitting ideally recovering from panting and all, and getting back to rowing again.
Toppling: The Damage Control: The guide ‘inoculates’ the rafters (non-swimmers esp) against the bad version of toppling experience by encouraging them to float in water by themselves while the waters are calm. this ensures that they are exposed to the ‘real bad world’ and the exposure is under conditions that are not threatening. This also gives the guide time and occasion to instruct and observe whether the rafters know the correct way to stay afloat using their life jackets. More than anything else it ensures that the rafters are not nervous, but more towards being confident, when they face the rapid, or are actually thrown into the water. Also, early warning and special maneuvering, as well as very clear communication on severity of the rapid that is coming, the realistic assessment of toppling chance, and the assurance of rapid recovery ensure that not only the toppling probabilities are minimized, but the toppling experience is of a different degree.
Celebration/Relaxation/ Dangers of Rapids all the way: When the waters are calm one can relax and sing and have fun (you are supposed to have fun all the way) , when the current is strong it is not expected that you still keep rowing with all your strength, it is ensured that not many rapids follow each other on a particular course and there is ample scope for the team to recover its strength, stamina and composure before being asked to face another rapid. All said and done, rowing is an activity that demands immense physical activity from each team member- one needs hard work all the way —especially in rapids- and one also has to ensure that the hard work is done in a smart way (is inline with the directions of the guide). There is no simple trade off here between hard work and smart work. Hard work needs to be done smartly. If after exposing a rafting team to a volley of rapids that is never ending, and observing that the boat has toppled on 1 or 2 occasions, we conclude that rafters are either not working hardly or smartly enough and need to change strategy (may do more smart work than hard work) (or on a different note conclude that guide is incompetent, having a whale of time and maybe instead of doing the ‘overhead work’ needs to ensure that all rafters including himself and the ‘weighty’ ones are all the time exclusively involved in rowing- and rowing hard) and if we wonder why the rafters are finding the rafting experience not exactly enjoyable and not too keen on signing in for the next expedition or why the toppling is becoming more and more probable with time, then maybe we are missing something that should be apparent.
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The Genesis of The Mouse Trap
6 years ago
I first wrote a draft story titled “The Mouse Trap” in the year 2002. As expected, it is still in the draft stage:-) and I look forward to finish it within the lifespan of this blog:-)
I took it as an apt illustration for my CogSci blog as I believe it hints at my other idiosyncrasies : interest in astrology or occult, interest in literature and above all interest in the battle of the sexes!!
So am starting the blog with snippets from the still-in-making short story that inspired the name of this page.
( I was delighted recently while watching a movie adaptation of Hamlet and it dawned to me that Hamlet had used “The Mouse Trap” as the name of the play he staged for his mother and uncle. What a co-incidence that I refer to Hamlet’s famous line “To be or not to be…” In this story)
So here are excerpts from the short story:
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The Mouse Trap
The mouse lay in that room, unaware of the cat, never fearing that cats could exist and gently bringing magic to the lives of other mouse, bringing a smile on their face and moving around a lot in all the other rooms, making friends and whiling her time away. Whenever she had a lazy afternoon all by herself, she felt so selfish and miserable at her selfishness, that she made up to it, by moving around a lot with all the other mouse on the next day. But this evening was one of the days when she was exhausted from her constant caring about other mousses, and was feeling a bit indulgent (and a byte more selfish and guilty).
She saw the cat and she closed her eyes, for she knew that if you close your eyes cats do not exist. She was pleased at her intelligence and opened one eye slowly and surely to check if the cat exists. Of course it did…and it was all the more nearer. She started dancing, desperately trying to lift her blues and manage her emotions in the face of crisis. She knew this was a wheel of life and if she was so close to being eaten, in some time she’ll be back to lying lazily in the sun. What goes up also comes down. And being the Just one, she thus justified, her guilt when she was enjoying the sun….
“Well you know, you are such a handsome and big cat. Don’t you think you are doing something wrong by attacking me?”
The Cat was flattered” Oh yes! Yes! I am big…no doubt about that. But….u r so beautiful, don’t you think it will be just right that cat as big as me should have a mouse as beautiful as you”
This was firm logic, and the cat could not deny it. Besides, she was pleased on being called beautiful “ you see its like this….you need to eat me…and I need to run away….your attacking me is fine on your part, on the other hand wont it be unjust if I did not defend myself”. She had already sized up her opponent and was all thrilled by the competition that and conflict that lay ahead After all “Isn’t it the competition that makes the Victory worthwhile”
The cat stood there amused, seeing her take arms and move from one corner to other and then he noticed that there were two exits, close-to-each-other from the room. He positioned himself, such that if she took either of the roots, he would be able to reposition quickly and she will walk straight in his jaws.
The mouse saw the two doors and knew that safety lay behind them and no matter which door she chooses, she will be safe and victory was all hers. Yet she could not decide which one was better. She closed her eyes, and moved first towards one door and then towards the other and kept doing so till she forgot whether she was in front of the left door, or the right door, or the wrong door, or the door that was left. So she stood in deep trepidation (& meditation), and realized that the issue involved were really simple…it was whether she wanted to be eaten or not. Once she realized that, she moved straight out of the door that was in front of her.
Meanwhile the Cat who had been repositioning himself, each time she moved one way or the other, had got a much needed respite during her time of meditation and to overcome his own confusion had rested in the middle of the two doors ready to catch her whichever way she took., but he was so bored up by the time she made her mind, that he dozed off to sleep, and she went past him confidently with her eyes closed and straight to another room, where there was a party that was going on and she forget all about the Cat as she started dancing once again.
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The cat was furious and wanted to chase her all the way to the room in which the mice were partying, but he knew that she would have become quite popular by now, and he’ll have to face an army of hostile mice, so he ventured forth to a room that looked as if it had been recently overhauled and transformed. The mouse was still bus peeling off old plasters and repainting them with another hue.
When she saw the cat enter, she was already on her guard. But she knew she could never be defeated, nor could someone know better how to handle such a situation. But she was not sure whether it was a cat or a dog in cat’s clothing.
“Stop there”, she thundered, “Are you cat or dog ion a cat’s clothing. Fear not me, for if you are a dog, you need not cover yourself, but if you are a cat indeed, I ought to know your motives for entering my den.”
The Cat didn’t reply. He just purred. Then he said in a lame voice “I have come to kill you”. It sounded so funny. He was sure the mouse would laugh. But the mouse stood there with the stern look in her eyes. “You cannot fool me. That is not the real reason. Come on. Tell me. Out with the truth.”
The cat didn’t say anything but started advancing. The mouse suddenly pulled a rabbit mask over her face and said in a seductive voice” Why do you want to eat some stupid mouse, when a rabbit is available”….as the Cat advanced towards the rabbit, she again pulled a mask and this time she was a frog “ Frog, I’m sure you know , are a delicacy…and more tasty than rabbit or rates…but tell me what do you want”…thus she kept him confused, pulling masks of different shapes and sizes…and she never waited for an answer. Suddenly, it appeared as if she was transformed and had finally decided to trust the cat and let her steam out. She broke in a passionate discourse over “How mice keep fooling themselves that cats are after them, while all cats want to have is some fun” and speaking so she leaped in one Jump and ( by this time she was almost in reach of the cat), gave him a passionate kiss on the lips. The Cat felt weak in his knees, and found his entire grip melting away. And in no time the mouse had run herself to safety in the next room. And she stared from there towards the cat with an ominous look in her eyes. The cat shivered form the apprehension of things that were to come and decided to go elsewhere.
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The Cat darted into the next room and found no one. He was about to leave, when something fell out of the ceiling.
“Oh dear me! What were you up to?” the cat started advancing even as he drawled.
“I was pondering over the mysteries of the sky and what better ways than to climb onto the ceiling and gaze at the sky. I suspect, a thunderstorm is coming tonight”
“Isnt the room covered, I see a ceiling instead of a sky.” The cat was advancing all the time, keeping her engaged, but yes he was cautious and even reluctant, for he was not sure what he was doing here. He wanted to ask the mouse the same but he said instead” What did you find in the sky?”
“Oh! I couldn’t see the sky. There was a cobweb in the corner of the ceiling and I got caught up in it. I had to first walk through all the myriad of threads of that web and only then could I move on. I hope you understand.” The Cat’s expression didn’t look any close to comprehension, so the mouse explained” The web of our life is made up of mingled yarn –that was said by Shake Chilli, and he was so right. Sheikh Chilli had a way with webs…”’…the mouse continued backing away inch-by-inch as the cat advanced and this infuriated her, for she was getting distracted from her prime task of explaining all the silken threads she had discovered and how they gave meaning to life, by this constant bewilderment on who the cat was and what he wanted from her? Suddenly, she stopped mid-way, with an unfinished thread still hanging in the air, as she exclaimed, “ you are a Cat and you are out to kill me”, the matter so settled, she was now at ease , and stopping her retreat,, once again got immersed in her web.
The relief was mutual. For the Cat too, reassured of his motives, did not find any room for hesitancy now and pounced on her in one leap. She had finished the excited narration of her discovery of how the sky indeed exists (and how she had accidentally discovered it one day…and had forgotten all about it until she remembered it today) and how you just have to touch the ceilings to listen to the sky and so on and so forth…but seeing that this was not having any effect on the Cat, she decided to go on the offensive. For she thought it highly unjust. That a Cat should kill a mouse and on purely Ratatarian grounds decided to intervene. Though her concerns were limited to the rats that inhibit this earth, she didn’t mind pulling a few cats out of her bag to save Ratanity. So she pulled forth a litter of them and started her discourse
“Why don’t you form a group of Cats and to feed each-other, decide to die by draws! That would make perfect sense…alone you may never be able to feed yourself, but as a part of a big group of like-minded Cats, you will be able to solve your problems! We do the same for rats here. I once discovered a prophet who told me that we must all unite to redeem ourselves and from that date I have been bringing like-minded rats together and spreading his message of truth…Of course being an inventive little mouse I had once built a safety-trap to escape from Cats. And I can easily save myself and escape to safety, but how can I forget all my other brethren who will perpetually live in danger of being attacked by the Cats and all you lost Cats who would be in danger of losing their souls by eating more mice. I am not afraid of dying, for dying is just as certain as sunset and sunrise. But I get saddened when I think about you. Don’t you realize you have eaten enough mice and now is the time to go to Haz? So listen to me. Do not do what the real you doesn’t want to do, and reflect whether 10 years from now, you will feel good or bad about all the mice that you have eaten and the Haj pilgrimage you have not taken.
“To eat or not to eat, that is the question,
Whether it’s nobler in the stomach to suffer
The stabs and pangs of outrageous hunger,
Or to take a Haj pilgrim instead,
& by getting stampeded, end them”
I am such a fan of Shake Chilli u know….So think and think deeply…Its all in your hands… how do you want to feel 10 years from now”
“I’ll just like to feel not hungry” said the Cat in a miserable voice, for he was starting to feel the pangs of conscience and hunger at the same time.
Just when he was about to put her in his mouth, she suddenly enquired quite innocently “why do cats have whiskers? Funny you never notice things of importance unless they stare you in the face” and she was so tickled by her joke that she laughed at her own naivete and broke into a smile that was graced by all the stars in the sky.
The cat was lost in her smile (for it stretched form one corner to the other (of her mouth) and then to his astonishment continued spreading further until it filled the whole room and enveloped him too. Thus as the smile kept spreading and turning and embracing him, he found himself caught up in it and felt a bit lost in all those dazzling loops), when she brought him to his senses by repeating the question on whiskers.
“Well….ummm” the cat muttered trying to find an answer.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightening hit the ceiling and a crack the size of two eyes appeared in the ceiling. The mouse shrieked a cry of excitement and jumped from the Cats paws to take a look at the skies. What she saw drew her towards it with such a force that first her head, then her neck, and then her stomach squeezed through that tiny space, and disappeared from the Cat’s view, until finally as the last of her tail disappeared, the Cat was again brought to his sense by her departing words “The Cats have whiskers, so the good mouse can see the sky. And the sky is beautiful and worth seeing, and I’ll comeback after counting all the stars….and then her voice got lost and she became so fascinated by the sky that she forgot all about the Cat and the mouse trap.
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PS: Endgame: Can someone identify which sun signs the 3 mouses refer to? The original idea was to depict the typical courtship behaviour and attitudes associated with a Sun Sign.
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