Kazira

The Last Lecture

by Randy Pausch (Author), Jeffrey Zaslow (Author)

Randy Pausch, a Computer Science professor at Carnegie Mellon, struggling with all the physical and phychological issues related to pancreatic cancer – gives his last lecture in front of Carnegie Mellon Students and other audiences. The lecture was given last fall and; subsequently, the professor died on July 25, 2008 at the age of 47. His book has become a phenomenon.

It’s an academic tradition to giving students a last lecture, where the professors hypothesize that if this were their last lecture – what would they say to the students? For Randy Pausch, this was not a hypothetical frame work – it was all too real. He came to know about the fatality of his disease after he was invited to give this last lecture. He used up this opportunity to collect his thoughts and wisdom to pass along not only to his three kids but also to the rest of the world. The wisdom passed along from a dying intellectual is always forceful.

Reading this book has really made me think. If I knew that I would die within 6 months or so; what exactly would I write or say to my son. He is only 2-1/2 years old – What could I possibly leave behind that would tie my trajectory of life so he can use to propagate himself forward? I know its morbid and it is depressing – But face it – life is not always full of fun and frolic – and some times (more than what we would care to acknowledge) life really comes at you fast. "What would you like to see scribed on your tomb stone" is a potent motivational force - But thinking of what you would impart upon the next generation on your deathbed is a different beast altogether.

So, me personally - I would tell my kid about –

• My life’s story (history of family as far and as far out as I can remember)
• His life’s story as perceived by me
• All the life’s incidences and books that have changed my life forever.
• All the dreams and aspirations that I have for him
• A synopsis of world history, religion, and evolution of human psychology as far as I have understood them ….
• Some secrets of religion and history that I have collected over the years

But enough about my morbid thoughts…. Randy, in his book, gives a list of ideals and philosophies to live by – inspired by his life and nicely summarized in the book with stories from his own life. The take away message from his book to me was – It’s not the quantity but the quality of life that matters. Randy also gives some great pointers on work ethics, time management, and work performance optimization. “Don’t sweat over what other people think”, “Dance with the one who brung you”, “Treat the disease and not the symptoms”, and “look for the best in everyone” are some of my favorite pearls of wisdom from this book.

A definite must read for getting some really cool ideas on improving your family life, work life and spiritual life.

You can download an iTunes version of Randy’s actual last lecture from the Carnegie Melon University Website at

http://www.cmu.edu/index.shtml

A transcript of his last lecture can be found at –

www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/Randy/pauschlastlecturetranscript.pdf

As you can tell (This is my second blog on stress management), I worry about stress way too much. I stress about stress. Hence I consider myself sort of an expert at managing stress. I feel I must share my experience and tid-bits of techniques that I picked up over the years.

Being a part of the American Corporate world for a while now; I know a thing or two about stress. I have experienced and survived extreme stresses to the point where they became severe strain on my body. I’m sure those working on the Wall Street or at an Air Traffic Control Tower at JFK Airport, NY must experience way more stress than I could ever imagine. But I consider my feat to be worth mentioning. Also, I guess with the current economic and job market woes; we’ll see more and more of stress creeping up on our back. A little stress is healthy – it helps a person propel forward - but when it becomes chronic and starts affecting your life – you need to really watch out then.

Let me start with a real life story – which has made a tremendous impact on my attitude towards stress, work, and life. I thank god for letting me experience this when I was only starting my professional career. I met a distance relative of mine for the first time – he was 65 or so years of age – highly successful in life – retiree VP of a larger Pharmaceutical company – spoke proudly of using corporate jets on his whims. On the swing side, he underwent so much of work related stress, he had two heart by-pass surgeries already and his family-life showed clear evidence of a severe deterioration. He, secretly, confided into me – saying that I should dedicate more time on my family than at work (His idea of stress reduction) – He added that I should take plenty of vacations with the family (again his stress reduction technique) and spend as much time with them as possible. He mentioned all this by giving his own example. He said that at times he was so involved in his work that he thought very soon he will accomplish enough (that he set as goal) for him to take plenty of time off and take care of himself and family. That time, he said, never came. As he climbed up the corporate ladder, there was less and less time for him and family - and more and more of work related stress. He soon died of a heart attach, during one of his business trips, in a hotel room, all by himself.

I took a vow never to get so involved in my work that I forget my health and family. What does this story tell you? Stress is a monkey that once it gets on your back – it feeds on your work habits and family discord culminating into severe body injury or break-up of a family. Here are a few tips to keep this monkey off your back (or at least in check).

WHEN AT WORK –

a) Leave your work bench and take a walk out in the open air for a few minutes everyday. A walk after the afternoon meal is not just de-stressing but also reinvigorating.

b) Manage your time well – Know when to say ‘When’. This may be one of the greatest tricks or stress management.

c) Never miss a meal – No matter how busy you are. If you are that super-busy dude – a critical contributor – working on that precious proposal due by the end of the week – there is still access to some ‘healthy fast food’ (This is not an oxymoron anymore).

d) Keep an iPod with music that relaxes you; handy – listen to it when there is a few minutes of downtime.

e) Don’t sweat over things at work that are beyond your control.

WHEN AT HOME –

a) Alcohol, caffeine, and TV are not your friends when it comes to stress management.

b) Exercise and family time are your best friends in stress reduction. Try Tai-Chi or Yoga – Any of those mind-body harmonizing practice will do. For example, when you are really tired when you come home from work, a simple Yoga posture such as ‘SAVASANA’ helps immensely - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savasana

c) Take regular short family outing trips in addition to the big ones that you plan for every year.

d) Never bring work home. Try to finish everything that you need to do at your work. Not even a thought of your work should cross as you step out. I know, in the age of E-mails on cell phones and Blackberries – I’m fighting a losing battle here.

e) Get hold of a good masseur or a masseuse. An occasional good massage really relaxes and rejuvenates the body. I have noticed these small kiosks of massage parlors pop up at airports and at malls. Just stay away from the massage parlors in San Francisco – They offer way more stress reliving services than I would care to employ.

f) Eat vegetarian when possible. Stay away from red meat diets (big source of stress in your body). ‘Vegetarianism’ is catching up as a source of stress reduction technique and is not for those weirdos anymore.

g) Do some community service on the weekends. In whatever form it may be …

I’ll end this blog by stating a great line of wisdom – probably from native American tribes – “God, give me courage to accept the things that I can not change; give me strength to change the things that I can, and above all – give me the wisdom to know the difference between the two.”

** Image curtsy http://5dresses.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/stress-picture-stress-relief-kit.jpg

At first, when I heard of the term Emotional Intelligence (EI) or Emotional Quotient (EQ) – I thought to myself, this is cool – especially for those of us who didn’t scope too high on our Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test – and for those who have always sensed a bit standoffishness from those who scored high on their IQ test – finally, there is another measurement of capability where we (The less fortunate IQ deprived folks) would be able to turn the table around. I’ll show you now Aagashe (He was an all around topper when I was studying in Mumbai). As you can tell, I used to be very naive and hyper-competitive during my adolescence.

Emotional Intelligence is a term well researched in the past but was popularized by a psychologist turned reporter, Mr. Daniel Goleman and his best seller book – Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ . Wikipedia describes Emotional Intelligence Quotient ( EQ ) as an ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups . So, emotional intelligence is a measure of your zeal, determination, motivation, persistence, hope etc. It is also a measure of how well you can regulate your mood, frustration, empathy and also how well you play with others etc. There is another way of looking at it – if IQ is your measure of rational brain; EQ provides a sense of your irrational side.

There is no equivalent bench mark test to measure your EQ (Good!!! Last thing I need now is another test score to tell me how ungifted I am).

So, why bother with EI or EQ at all? How do I figure where do I stand on the EQ spectrum and could I improve my EQ? If I can improve it – How do I do that? Or is this just another technical term that psychologists use to explain why some folks with mediocre IQ excel above their more IQ-gifted peers????

It turns out – EQ is an emotional quality in you that you use most to succeed in life. A well balanced, less temperamental and stable mind is more useful to succeed in life than an unstable, temperamental, and erratic logical brilliance. Who would you rather have; a boss with calm-mind that gives you constructive criticism or a yelling maniac who is always stresses you out…

Unlike IQ where test scores, which generally do not change much after the teen years, EQ is a set of skills learned throughout life. By understanding ones current EQ individuals can begin to implement effective action plans to improve their emotional intelligence. By learning to be aware of the power and wisdom of emotions in themselves and others and achieving the balance between logical and emotional approaches, individuals can become much more effective in their roles as managers, workers or co-workers.

EQ spectrum for any individual contains a measure of the following emotions –

a) Happiness/Sadness

b) Anger/Cheerful

c) Stress

d) Gratification (Delayed or instant)

e) Empathys

f) Self awareness

g) Anxiety

h) Depression/Optimism

i) Ability to resolve conflict

j) Social skills

k) Impulse

l) Aggression etc.

So, how do I improve my EI? First trying to figure out which of the emotions mentioned above affect your performance. Which of these emotions completely and negatively overtakes your life once in a while? Then work on those using specific self help plan developed with friends, family or a therapist. For example, if anger is the one emotion that causes you mental and other social issues – Count till 10 before you say something hurtful – Deliberate long breaths for a few minutes dissipates the anger quickly – Wait for 24 hours before you send that scathing e-mail etc. are plans to help yourself manage your emotion in life and at work place.

Last thing I want to bring into these discussions is ‘Religion’ – But it turns out – Silent prayers, meditation, and contemplation plays a bigger role in improving your EQ.

OK. I’m sick of people of complaining about how dysfunctional the company that they-work-for is!!! So I’m writing this blog to at least start the thought process of what an ideal company aught to do – Yeh Yeh don’t tell me you want to work for a company like GOOGLE or the World Bank just because you heard that they have great benefits – there has to be more that what these companies do that would constitute a GREAT PLACE to work … If not, at least develop a comprehensive list of all benefits that Google offers. And don’t tell me that an ideal company is the one that makes adult toys and an ideal job is in this company’s testing department (my current boss gave me this as a response when I posed him the question on what an ideal company is?).

Let me be honest; I have not yet worked for a company that I would label as good (let alone the best) company in the world – but I travel a lot and have met a lot of people from different companies and have visited several companies that perform diverse functions – from behemoth’s such as Boeing, Lockheed martin, and Northrop Grumman to a small business that perform innovative research and system development; all the way down to a company of 2.

And on these travel and visits to different companies, I have observed or you can say sensed a certain energy that pretty much gave away, in advance, how the company’s performance is going to be – Then I have confirmed this “initial gut feeling” by noticing the quality of work performed by the company. So, I picked up on a few things that a GOOD company does and what mistakes some of the bad ones make.

OK here the disclaimer - Once I have most of these benefits and their feasibility solidified in my head – who knows – I may start a company with these basic principals – I’m currently struggling with my own demons that restrain me to implement these ideas in the form of a company.

OK, with all these caveats – lets start – what would be a good company do and why? Here are some BROAD BRUSH ideas (that fall under Profit Sharing, Employee Empowerment, Management Optimization, and Enhanced benefits) –

• EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP – An ownership of the company by the employees will get the best employee friendly policies to be implemented. Ownership reduces the resource wastage within a company and motivates people to do more for their benefit.
• IDEAL MEDICAL COVERAGE AND RETIREMENT PACKAGES – Like I said – we are all working so we can keep ourselves healthy, happy and then eventually retire peacefully. By establishing an employee body, the company can ensure that the employees are getting the best as far as the medical coverage are concerned and also are hiring the right investment company to take care of their retirement – 401(k).
• HIRE THE BEST – A company that actively tracks talent while they are studying in college and then entices them to join the company once they finish studies will guarantee the best of the lot coming and working for you. A constant touch with the educational instituted that produce talents for your field of work will ensure an easier transition. A constant research funding to these professors will guarantee that the talents will come across your company’s need before they graduate. This way, there would not be any need for internship etc. If you are looking for experienced talent – then entice them from your competitors with better benefits.
• FOSTERS INNOVATION – How does one company does this? Check out the web link http://mindymcadams.com/tojou/2008/how-to-foster-innovation/ for some ideas.
• RETAIN THE BEST AND LET THEM GO IF NECESSARY – When you hire a talent, go through their plans in life in detail. If they have not responded your question of “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” during the interview – let them sit and ponder that question for a while. Ask them to chock out a plan for their life for the next 5 years and then make them follow that plan. Make them take the STRENGTH FINDER test that I mentioned in an earlier blog titled “know thyself”. This way the manager and the person hired would know exactly what his/her strengths are and how to properly utilize them for mutual benefit.
• ENCOURAGE TELECOMMUTING – For those who can – for those who have well defined tasking and due dates, and do not require customer interfacing, mentoring, or other employee interactions – must be allowed to telecommute as much as possible. As a matter of fact, in general, for all employees, the work day should be task-driven rather than clock-driven.
• HAVE A SINGLE MINDED GOAL OF THE COPANY – A company that has a well defined goal usually succeeds since they create a cult like following in the company to achieve success. A quantifiable measure of company performance (Other than the revenue coming in) and making it available to the employees on a regular basis also helps.
• SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE – an ideal company would have to comply with this, if applicable. This is a no brainer. More on this in a later blog.
• PROVIDE DESIGNATED MENTORS FOR THE NEW HIRES – Every time a new hire joins a company, have a mentor assigned who not only provide day-to-day tasking but also provides help achieve the short and long-term goals established for the employee.
• OTHER BENEFITS – Provide them additional benefits such as money and recognition for publishing – sabbaticals after certain time of employment in the company. Free time for creative thinking and ideas persuals (Approved by the managers, of course).
• ON SITE DAY CARE – There is so much of lost productivity due to folks concerned about their kids – Having kids on site will not only provide them with peace of mind but also make them more productive.
• GIVE THEM TOOLS TO BE SUCCESSFUL – Hardware such as Laptops, BlackBerry’s etc. and not to forget – ‘regular training’ to keep them upto speed with the advancements in your field.
• FIND AND ELIMINATE FAVORATISM WHENEVER AND WHEREVER POSSIBLE – Self explanatory. There is no escaping this but energy must be spent minimizing this.
• RESTRICT ETHERNET ACCESS – BUT PROVIDE HALF AN HOUR A DAY OF SURIFNG ON THE COMPANY TIME IN AN OPEN INERNET AREA – Internet is not only a source of distraction but also provides a great arena to waste the company time away. Taking uninhibited Ethernet access away (by publishing hours spent ‘non work related’ surfing to each employee); and providing them with internet access for half an hour to check their personal e-mails or to order the books from Amazon does not hurt.
• OUTTA BOY – An Occasional praise for the employees gives great confidence boost – Team outta boys also work.
• MONTHLY LUNCH HOUR WITH THE COMPANY EXPERTS – Have experts in your company provide brief primer on the new breakthroughs that they are working on or issues that they are tackling. Who knows which team member would have the right answer for them?
• OPEN ACCESS TO COMPANY DIGITAL LIBRARY – This is the brain of the company – everything that an employee produces (be it report, presentation, paper, analysis, patent, ideas, code etc.) must be properly organized and must be accessible to all.
• GIVE THEM STARBUCKS AT WORK (FOR GOD SAKES) – You know, I have seen too many talented folks wasting their precious time and energy going to Starbucks nearby – give them the best of coffee (Yes, including an espresso machine) right there in the company kitchen area. This will save time and enhance productivity.
• HAVE A FAIR YEARLY EVALUATION – I have no idea how to conduct fair yearly evaluation – Still trying to find the best. All that I have seen so far are so dysfunctional – everyone has lost faith in those. Someone need to find a good way to do this – If you have any ideas, pass along.
• ENCOURAGE SAVING – Some ideas currently being implemented in some companies is – to give additional yearly raises to folks who pledge it all to their 401(k).
• HAVE A SIGNIFICANT INTERNAL R&D – Those companies that reinvest significant chunk of their profit into investigating newer and better ways to do business succeeds in the long run.

Till I form my own company with these values – enjoy your work – stop complaining – do something about it … If you have more ideas – do pass them along. I’ll keep working on the list ….

A few years ago, I had heard of the news of Wall Street firms attracting scientists from various disciplines, such as sociologists and quantum physicists. I could not understand why? Why would the firms that work in the area of financial analysis attracting these experts in physics, psychology and sociology in addition to the MBAs and financial analysts from around the world? What do these expets bring to the table that is helping these financial firms out?

While I was struggling with this point (always resident somewhere in the corner of my brain) I noticed another phenomenon – all of the my friends who I consider financially savvy (some of whom I consider investing geniuses) began reporting that the market has become more and more erratic and that it is becoming more and more difficult to make any money on the stock market. One of them said that the days of “buy low – hold – and then sell high” are way gone. He then mentioned a new investment strategy surfacing recently – that the only way to make money in this market is to “PLAY THE MARKET MOMENTUM”. In summary – buy a stock that has the positive momentum to go up (I’ll outline details this philosophy in detail in a later blog) – and then sell after a few days when the “steam” or the “momentum“ is gone. He said that the conventional way of investing (by looking at the health of a company by their market capitalization, Profit/Earning ratio and other financial indicators) are a thing of the past – He added that most companies are “playing” the stock market by posting profits generated not by true sales but by clever accounting. He ended his argument to support his philosophy by saying that “all of them are a bunch of crooks.”

Then two things happened – The sub-prime mortgage collapse and George Soros published his latest book to describe a new paradigm in the financial markets. And putting two and two together by looking-at the stock market through ‘George Soros lens’ – things started to make sense to me …

George Soros, a legendary investment banker who made gazillions on the stock market as a Hedge Fund Manager and independent investor – in this book on the philosophy of boom and bust – is summarizing his life-long and deeply-held beliefs on THOERY OF REFLEXIVITY. Being a Hungarian immigrant to the west (from Nazi oppression) and then making it big in the free world by using his piercing insight on the subject of “impact of human behavior on the financial markets”. He, by the way, commands a cult following in the investment world – While reading this book, I got the feeling that this (probably) octogenarian would like the world to remember him as a philosopher rather than a “money hungry” hedge fund manager who made it big by “playing the system”.

In this book, Mr. Soros takes on the recent debacle in the political arena and on the financial markets – and validates his theory over the conventional theories of economics (that are based on the assumption of Perfect Knowledge and Perfect Competition). Mr. Soros contests that the humans are irrational by nature and thus the conventional laws of economics (That assume rational behavior on the participants and independence of supply and demand) are flawed by extension. These flaws in the conventional economic theories fail to explain the booms and the busts that we have observed in the past decades (Some more painfully than the others). Be it the DOT COM boom and bust, be it the housing market boom or bust, be it the financial market boom or bust, be it currency market and commodity market boom (hopefully with a bust) – Mr. Soros says that these phenomenons are prime examples of Theory of Reflexivity. His theory is not applicable for only the financial markets but applies to any scenario where human interaction takes place (He calls the irrational human behavior as the manipulative function).

He adds that the he has used the stock markets as the example to validate his theory because in this case quantifiable artifacts are readily available. Reflexivity develops and can be controlled by regulations – but when the human irrationality or the biases go out of hand (without proper or any regulations) – reflexivity takes the form of a boom following by a bust. Hence, this manipulative function on part of participants of the system to the causes the erratic behavior of the system. So, going back on the fact of why the wall street giants attracting experts in fields other than finance – the investment bankers have realized that the classical economic theories are all false and they are actively hiring the Sociologists and the quantum physicists to explain the way things are goings, develop a model based on a new theory and try to predict the stock market behavior.

I’ll be eagerly waiting for someone to publish details on a new theory (based on Mr. Soro’s philosophy) so I can FINALLY start making money on the market.

A DEFINITE MUST READ for those who seek the truth…….