On working under pressure.
Ships which are driven by the wind, the ones with sails have always fascinated me. Human ingenuity took what was supposed to be a hurdle, the wind, and made it into an asset, by aligning the ship's sails to catch the wind. I guess that's what people may construe with the saying " Go with the tide". I have a slightly different take here. I say convert liabilities into assets by changing the way we handle them.
Taking an analogy out out of the sail boat example, let's talk about pressure, work or other wise. When we take on pressure head on, it's literally a job stopper, whereas if we understand the nature of the pressure, it's intensity, it's velocity, it's direction, we can align our sails (efforts) so that we catch the wind and not buttress it.
So how do we go about achieving it. The first step is to classify the pressure. Broadly 3 types:
1. Man
2. Machine
3. Time
Lets take the first one:
Man
Even a hermit has to deal with at least one man during his working life, himself. Most often than not, we are our own source of pressure. Unreasonably high expectation of oneself leads to this kind of pressure. The source of this unreasonably high expectation is half knowledge about our capabilities and most often than not, having an external frame of reference of oneself, that is seeing ourselves through the eyes of others. The result, self induced pressure that we blame on "peer pressure".
The fact of the matter is that no body is really bothered about you, and the fun fact is that we always think otherwise.
You might argue that your boss, customer, supplier is putting undue pressure on you on some work which is impossible to achieve, but that is not a factor of the person but on the next two factors given below.
Machine
"What is a machine?", this is a line from one of the most unarguably great films made in the decade, "3 Idiots". The answer given by the protagonist is that any device that makes life easier or simpler, is a machine. Taking that thought forward, let's not stop at devices, but move on to attitudes, systems and processes.
If one thinks on what makes great companies great, the first thing that comes to our mind is that they are efficient machines who harness the potential of human beings using fantastic systems that automate / remove non value added work thus leaving time for individuals to be creative and use this creativity to push companies on new growth paths.
A human being is also a machine, we have organs that work as individuals in a team and our brain creates the systems and processes to keep this wonderful machine humming along. If our body can do this without our explicit knowledge, why cant we create, develop and enhance systems and processes that makes our lives easier.
A simple diary (paper or excel) to start off with can make life simpler. 2 sections, one for personal and the other for professional entries. Start the day by jotting down major milestones for the day and then gradually increase the time horizon to a week, month, year. This gives an infallible edge when speaking to your boss, customers or suppliers. Since you are very clear on what goals you need to achieve and by what time, you can always take stake holders into confidence on what are the goals, what needs to be done and when. When people buy into your goals, they are aligned to your requirements. Remember what sails do?
Time
"Time and tide wait for no man", says a popular proverb. Times are never the same. Time is the only constant. Everything changes with time. The first two factors, man and machine can change over time. Yesterday's goals and priorities may not be the same or relevant today. The only way to leverage this is to accept it and move forward.
Every day is a new beginning. Start your day with a fresh slate. It is good to know history as it inspires one to reach beyond oneself, and also gives us a perspective of how fallible humans are. But that is what history is for. It shows where the speed bumps are, where the inclines and ravines are. It is left to us whether we want to ride over the ravines or fly over it.
Ships which are driven by the wind, the ones with sails have always fascinated me. Human ingenuity took what was supposed to be a hurdle, the wind, and made it into an asset, by aligning the ship's sails to catch the wind. I guess that's what people may construe with the saying " Go with the tide". I have a slightly different take here. I say convert liabilities into assets by changing the way we handle them.
Taking an analogy out out of the sail boat example, let's talk about pressure, work or other wise. When we take on pressure head on, it's literally a job stopper, whereas if we understand the nature of the pressure, it's intensity, it's velocity, it's direction, we can align our sails (efforts) so that we catch the wind and not buttress it.
So how do we go about achieving it. The first step is to classify the pressure. Broadly 3 types:
1. Man
2. Machine
3. Time
Lets take the first one:
Man
Even a hermit has to deal with at least one man during his working life, himself. Most often than not, we are our own source of pressure. Unreasonably high expectation of oneself leads to this kind of pressure. The source of this unreasonably high expectation is half knowledge about our capabilities and most often than not, having an external frame of reference of oneself, that is seeing ourselves through the eyes of others. The result, self induced pressure that we blame on "peer pressure".
The fact of the matter is that no body is really bothered about you, and the fun fact is that we always think otherwise.
You might argue that your boss, customer, supplier is putting undue pressure on you on some work which is impossible to achieve, but that is not a factor of the person but on the next two factors given below.
Machine
"What is a machine?", this is a line from one of the most unarguably great films made in the decade, "3 Idiots". The answer given by the protagonist is that any device that makes life easier or simpler, is a machine. Taking that thought forward, let's not stop at devices, but move on to attitudes, systems and processes.
If one thinks on what makes great companies great, the first thing that comes to our mind is that they are efficient machines who harness the potential of human beings using fantastic systems that automate / remove non value added work thus leaving time for individuals to be creative and use this creativity to push companies on new growth paths.
A human being is also a machine, we have organs that work as individuals in a team and our brain creates the systems and processes to keep this wonderful machine humming along. If our body can do this without our explicit knowledge, why cant we create, develop and enhance systems and processes that makes our lives easier.
A simple diary (paper or excel) to start off with can make life simpler. 2 sections, one for personal and the other for professional entries. Start the day by jotting down major milestones for the day and then gradually increase the time horizon to a week, month, year. This gives an infallible edge when speaking to your boss, customers or suppliers. Since you are very clear on what goals you need to achieve and by what time, you can always take stake holders into confidence on what are the goals, what needs to be done and when. When people buy into your goals, they are aligned to your requirements. Remember what sails do?
Time
"Time and tide wait for no man", says a popular proverb. Times are never the same. Time is the only constant. Everything changes with time. The first two factors, man and machine can change over time. Yesterday's goals and priorities may not be the same or relevant today. The only way to leverage this is to accept it and move forward.
Every day is a new beginning. Start your day with a fresh slate. It is good to know history as it inspires one to reach beyond oneself, and also gives us a perspective of how fallible humans are. But that is what history is for. It shows where the speed bumps are, where the inclines and ravines are. It is left to us whether we want to ride over the ravines or fly over it.