Wake up XXXVII - Delay it...

There is this Hindi couplet (part of Kabir's Dohas) that we learnt in school – everyone who studied Hindi would know it:
Kal Kare So Aaj Kar, Aaj Kare So Ub
Pal Mein Pralaya Hoyegi, Bahuri Karoge Kub

Translation:
Tomorrow's work do today, today's work do now
If the moment is lost, when will the work be done.

But in the work we do (at least in IT services) it might be better to apply the following:
Today's work do tomorrow and tomorrow's the day after the more you delay will make requirements clear!

How many times have we had to rework on codes just because requirements aren't clear upfront. And requirements tend to get frozen as we near the deadline because at that time everyone wants something to be in working condition and all stakeholders are more willing to arrive at a consensus. I forgot the name but there is even a management style that advocates this policy - it says 'delay taking decisions till it becomes critical to decide'. It will help cut down some portion of our rework if we took this route.
"Delay is preferable to error" - Thomas Jefferson
"Ah! nothing is too late Till the tires heart shall cease to palpitate" - H.W.Longfellow

So the next time you find yourself in such a sticky situation try applying this management style.
Disclaimer: the writer and DQz are not responsible for any consequences that might arise :-)

---

Wake up XXXVIII - Fortune and effort go hand in hand

There was this boy I saw a few days back who took part in the National juniors tennis tournament in Trivandrum and went up to the quarterfinals. His parents were both well placed in the IT industry for over 10 years and lived quite comfortably. His parents have a couple of cars and the boy had grandparents who were active and ready to take him to any part of the country for tournaments.

I wondered if a boy whose parents were not so well to do, could have scaled such heights. The cost of training, equipment and travel will take its toll on family finances. This boy had the right environment, favourable surroundings and supportive parents who could afford his expenses. How many times do you see a child having such a favourable environment? Of course the boy deserves credit for having gone through the rigors of training regularly to have reached this point. It is a matter of putting in effort and having good fortune that leads to success.

I read in an article about Bill Gates about a letter that his mom had written before she passed away. She wrote, "From those to whom much has been given much is expected". Another famous saying used frequently in cricket goes, "Fortune favours the brave" – it comes from the Latin proverb "Fortes fortuna adiuvat" (The Goddess of luck, Fortuna, is more likely to favour those that take risks and develop their skills proactively). And rightly so; because you are more willing to say that the athlete who won 8 golds in one Olympics really deserved it because he trained for up to five hours per day.

Go on and give your best…

---

Wake up XXXX - "My dear mind, detach now..."

In this edition I shall leave you with questions to ponder over – perhaps I've anyway been doing it in many other editions as well :-)

A thought crossed me a few days back - I wondered over what it is in life that is really hard to achieve; becoming famous, becoming a billionaire, becoming the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, winning 8 Olympic gold medals, performing a critical surgery that takes eight hours, entering IIT/IIMs? Or is it just the simple things like controlling temptation and detachment/separation? And the winner, according to me would be the last two.

It is usually the basics that are the hardest to do. Separation is something that most of us find really hard to digest; get to know someone, spend time with them, time flies by and before we know it, it is time to part. It happens in school, in college, in work and in personal life. Separation because of different paths that each of us tread or because of the different worlds that we enter. Everything is fleeting. The best part is that all of us know that we will leave this earth one day, that everything here is temporary, that nothing from here we will carry forward and yet accepting separation seems so tough. Attachment happens so easily but detachment is very very hard. Why do we even get attached in the first place? Why aren't we able to be like the actor on stage when it comes to real life? Why do we recollect the past and relive old moments? Why can't we just think about the present and act?

Enough whys for you to keep thinking till the next edition!