Life: learning to dance in the rain

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain

There are so many worries all around us. It’s easy to get overload by the doubts and the challenges that the external environment poses in front of us. It seems much easier to delay decisions; expecting that the clouds of uncertainties and the storm of challenges will pass by, leaving us in a much better and calm state to take decisions, to answer the difficult queries in our mind we have been avoiding for long and pick up the threads of life.

 
However, it doesn’t always happen like that. Often we find ourselves hit by a new storm, just as we are improving from one and jump from one state of doubt to another. Life is often an endless chain of chaos linked by a few indeterminate pauses.  “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain” – Vivian Greene
When one thinks of starting something, we often look for a stable, risk free environment, where we feel our actions will lead to the anticipated output with more faith. However, it’s very difficult to find the perfect time for starting up. Even, while in our life, we need to plan a new course, we often delay decision making. Maybe, the race is strong, with a major competitor. Problems can appear in many shapes and forms.

Sometimes, we hope, the problems will take care of themselves or will simply go away by us looking in the other direction. Or, we hope that one day when we wake up, there will be a clear sky, with a sign for us to move forward. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen.

One thing, that almost all of us will agree upon is, that things are going to become more difficult in the coming days. Market conditions, Research & Development, new technology launches, get appointed in right organization are all going to become more difficult and definitely cost more in the future. So, if you have an idea, which you think, can change your life, there’s no better time to set cruise.

The right thing to do will be to let you adjust to the environment and be agile and responsive to changing dynamics in the world.

Performance Appraisal

Time has come for Performance appraisal, so thought of sharing it.

People worry about Performance Appraisals. How hard to guillotine your performance rating. The management does not like it either. You may think they love playing the hangman, but they don’t. Most of them fear the discussion that follows – not to mention the labor of filling up elaborate appraisal forms that organization likes to have. Instead of gratefulness towards their management for filling up these forms, the employees get battle-ready when they step in for a discussion.
 

This is where it gets tough for a management too. Having to disappoint someone by telling them that their performance was not good enough makes most squirms. So performance appraisals cause a lot of anxiety regardless of where someone is in the food chain.

I believe that the appraisal form, the rating scale etc. are the unimportant elements of the process that takes up most of the airtime. The only element of significance is the appraiser’s ability to differentiate shades of quality in the output and to use that data to help the appraisee improve.
 

Many employees hate the process of differentiation based on performance. That is because we are often poor judges of our own performance. An overwhelming majority of employees rate themselves as “above average” in skill and overrate their contributions towards organization. Since this is statistically impossible, it is not surprising that appraisals are disappointing for most people. Hence the skill of the person giving the feedback matters even more.
 

Getting feedback about one’s work is the biggest value one could get from the appraisal process. More frequent feedback has the ability to motivate an employee far more than an annual conversation. We all know that highly motivated individuals perform better. Many parents have the ability to help their children reinvent themselves after experiencing failure.
 

The popular game Angry Birds was the software maker Rovio’s 52nd attempt. Failure can be the trigger for success.
 

How energized and confident an appraisee feels after a discussion about performance is a direct reflection on the management’s skill.

Successful person acts on these beliefs

Time doesn't fill me. I fill time.

The average person who is given two hours to complete a task will intuitively adjust his effort so it actually takes two hours.

Forget project deadlines, at least as a way to manage your activity. Tasks should only take as long as they need to take. Do everything as quickly and effectively as you can. Then use your "free" time to get other things done. Average people allow time to enforce its will on them; extraordinary people impose their will on their time.

The people around me are the people I chose.

Some of employees drive you nuts. Some of your friends are selfish. You chose them. If the people around you make you unhappy it's not their fault. It's your fault. They're in your life because you drew them to you--and you let them remain. Think about the type of people you want to work with. Hardworking people want to work with hardworking people. Remarkable employees want to work for remarkable bosses. Successful people are naturally drawn to successful people.

Experience is irrelevant. Accomplishments are everything.

You have "10 years in the IT industry." Nobody cares how long you've been doing what you do. Years of service indicate nothing. All that matters is what you've done.

Successful people don't need to describe themselves using hyperbolic adjectives like passionate, innovative, driven, etc. They can just describe, in a humble way, what they've done.

Failure is something I accomplish; it doesn't just happen to me.

Ask people why they have been successful. Their answers will be filled with personal pronouns: I, me, and the sometimes too occasional we.

Ask them why they failed. Most will says, "My project was too boring and demanding" instead of, "I did not cope up with the expectation of project."

Occasionally something completely outside your control will cause you to fail. Every successful person has failed, numerous times. Most of them have failed a lot more often than you. That's why they're successful now.

Volunteers always win.

Whenever you raise your hand you wind up being asked to do more. Doing more is an opportunity: to learn, to impress, to gain skills, to build new relationships--to do something more than you would otherwise been able to do.

Remarkably successful people sprint forward.

As long as I'm paid well, it's all good.

Your customers want you to deliver outside your normal territory? If they'll pay you for it, fine. They want you to add services you don't normally include? If they'll pay you for it, fine. The customer wants you to perform some relatively manual labor and you're a high-tech shop? Shut up, roll 'em up, do the work, and get paid.

Only do what you want to do and you might build an okay business. Be willing to do what customers want you to do and you can build a successful business. Be willing to do even more and you can build a remarkable business.

The extra mile is a vast, unpopulated wasteland.

Everyone says they go the extra mile. Almost no one actually does. Most people who go there think, "Wait... no one else is here... why am I doing this?" and leave, never to return. That's why the extra mile is such a lonely place. That's also why the extra mile is a place filled with opportunities.

Be early. Leave on time late. Make the extra phone call. Send the extra email. Do the extra research. Help a customer going one step ahead.

Every time you do something, think of one extra thing you can do--especially if other people aren't doing that one thing. Sure, it's hard.

But that's what will make you different.

And over time, that's what will make you incredibly successful.

Thanks for your time, if you have made till here.