Ravi Pratap Singh

Stubborn on Vision, Flexible on Details

Just read an incredible interview of Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com.

Jeff's interaction with Steven Levy allows us a peek into the mind of one of the greatest innovators of our times. There are several nuggets of wisdom strewn through the interview. But if i were to pick a single thought as my take-away from the article, then it has to be Amazon's mantra of being "stubborn on vision and flexible on details".

A powerful philosophy, simply told.

No wonder Jeff Bezos owns the web in more ways than you think.

Freedom To Fail !!!

It is that time of the year when corporates queue up at colleges to recruit (or rather, shortlist and book!) students for their organisations. And placement activities at campuses are at their zenith.

As is the norm, the smart students are spoilt for choice as far as job offers are concerned. In a not-so-cruel twist of fate, it is the students who are finally left with the arduous task of deciding which organisation they should join. The fact that these offers are from some of the biggest Indian and multi-national companies only adds more layers of confusion to the already perplexed young minds.

Last week i had the opportunity to address students of two of the premiere colleges in the city. My mission too was to attract the VERY BEST brains to join my organisation, C2 Workshop. On the face of it, C2 didn't stand a chance against the giants we had to compete against. But we offered something to the students that most organisations did not... or maybe, were even scared to offer... the FREEDOM TO FAIL!!!

C2 has consciously built a culture where team members are encouraged to think, experiment, ideate, and innovate. And risk-taking forms the very essence of these activities. As we all know, fear is one emotion an explorer does not pack in his bags when he starts on his journey to unchartered territory. So how can we ever discover anything new if our minds are hounded by demons of failure?

Going by the response we received from the two colleges, i am delighted to see that the students too believe in our philosophy... that the FREEDOM TO FAIL is infact, the greatest freedom a creative mind can ever ask for. After all, failure is the mother of invention!

On seeing Thomas Edison fail repeatedly in his quest for inventing the first long-lasting electric light bulb, one of his colleagues asked Edison if he felt like a failure. "Not at all. Now i definitely know more than a thousand ways how NOT to make a light bulb.", Edison replied. A few days later, Thomas Edison brought light into our lives... forever!

The Art of Uncovering Hidden Talents

Debutante bowler, Ravichandran Ashwin, spun India to victory in the first test match against the West Indies this week. Can you believe that the off-spinner who turned in the second best match figures by an Indian cricketer on debut actually wanted to be a batsman? And that too, an opener???

Yes, you heard that right. Ashwin was a wannabe opening batsman who could also bowl a bit of off-spin. At one of the trials for junior cricketers, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan had a look at the youngster and adviced him to focus on his bowling skills rather than his batting. And the rest, as they say, is history.

This is what the art of uncovering hidden talents is all about. A good leader/coach can see in his protégé what s/he cannot see in herself/himself. And then help the protégé discover and develop the talent within.

By the way, there is another example of a cricketer who wanted to be a fast bowler but was adviced by the coach to take up batting instead. The coach was Dennis Lillee. And the batsman... any guesses???

Well, it was Sachin Tendulkar!!! :)

Leadership & Mimicry!

The India versus West Indies test series kicked off at Kotla yesterday with the visitors winning the toss and electing to bat first.

The resurgent Caribbean team is packed with some exciting young cricketers. But the one I really looked forward to watching was Darren Bravo. The kid is talented, no doubt. But the most striking feature about Bravo’s batting style is the uncanny resemblance it bears to that of his cousin and idol, Brian Lara’s. His walk to the crease, his bat grip, his stance, his shots… all have the unmistakable Lara stamp!

Have you ever noticed how we consciously or unconsciously start mimicking the person we admire? The brain observes and absorbs the minutest of behavioural nuances of our role model and makes us respond in identical fashion. Therefore, it is no surprise to see a 5 year old girl insisting on wearing lipstick like her mother… a younger brother wanting to excel in the same sport as his older sibling… or a rookie business executive craving to emulate the career path of his CEO.

The important thing we need to understand from this “mimicry phenomenon” is that most of us are either mimicking or being mimicked or doing both at all times. Therefore, we need to be extremely careful in ensuring that we either follow or be responsible role models.