The silver medal.

No one wins the silver medal. You play to win and you play to win gold. When you win a silver, its a round or a match well played, they loved watching you factor - but at the end of the day, you might have lost valiantly but you have still lost.

But in life you end up on the losing side and its the grace with which you take this pitch of salt which forms the mark of the true champion.  The trick here is to learn from the game, accept defeat gracefully and prepare well for that next game.


post script.....
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Jerry Seinfeld once said "The Olympics is really my favorite sporting event. Although, I think I have a problem with that silver medal. Because when you think about it,you win the gold - you feel good, you win the bronze - you think, "Well, at least I got something". But when you win that silver it's like, "Congratulations, you *almost* won. Of all the losers *you* came in first of that group. You're the number one *loser*. No one lost ahead of you!"



By Ninad Tatke






  

How to achieve a win-win situation in a business?

Profit versus Social benefit- what to choose.

Try to meet customer expectations and you will find that the customer wants every thing. They want the best service in least possible price. Few don't mind paying more but then they look for some thing exclusive.

So a Decision is sought in every business as to - How much should a profit be for an organization? Should it take a social benefit angle. And this is a very hard thing to decide.

But actually there might be a possibility that profit and social benefit are interlinked as buddies and not as competitors. Reliance did it in its growth years, Idea (What a Idea sirji) & Tata Docomo (1 paisa per sec) did it recently in a very crowded telecom environment. Even Fab India did it . Infact Fab India has marketed the Indian wear well, increased demand for good quality Indian wear and thus it has helped the craftsmen earn better wages.

 As per a quote by William Bissell, (Owner Fab India) "It seems contradictory that we pursue both profit and a social goal, but I believe that is the only way to do it."

So if you have to choose - choose profit which also leads to social benefit and thus its a win-win. 

India Watch - God. The Religion and the humanity.

Are we expressing Solidarity for Japan. As per google news India is. But right now lakhs of people are praying that Harbhajan spins his web on Republic of South Africa. Few more are wondering as to what price will the stock market - BSE/NSE will open on monday morning. Others might be wondering as to what exactly is Aamir Khan doing in Dhoom 3 or some such trivial matters. Few people may be having genuine concerns on health, welfare, poverty, safety. But excluding those people, others should hang their heads in shame.


Are we so insensitive that we cant observe some sort of mourning. I am not saying that we switch off the TV - forget that Sachin scored yet another century. But some sort of silence. 


Even when India faces a internal disaster or a tragedy - lets say a bomb blast in Mumbai. How many people from Chennai are really going to be concerned. Are we so individualistic, so full of our own little worlds. 


We are divided. We do live in our own little world and yet think of ourselves as melting pot. 


So after pointing the problem, I believe that their has to be a solution, or we can try finding one.


We need to be open minded,united and we need to be sensitive, as to how can this be done, I will need to work on this,I hope you as a reader might have one or two solutions/suggestions. If you do, please share. If I have any, I will of-course add on to this.

Lavale Watch - A prayer

It felt so wrong when all that exists just gets swept away in the matter of seconds. Tsunami in Japan did just that yesterday and it has once agin reminded us how small our worries are.

 Worries like money, love, status, prilivege for which all of us strive for. But then a disaster like we witnessed yesterday puts everything back in perspective.

We are sad for what happened but also glad that it did not happen here.

Hence we pray. Pray for the lost lives. Pray for the people and pray even harder that we help each other and no one goes through a disaster like yesterday.

May the force be with those how require it.

Lavale Watch - The classic no story.

Its been a while that I have seen my beloved Lavale campus with out any buzz or exciting activity. First we were awed by presence of stars like Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma and Sunny Deol. (May be not Sunny Deol). But even now a untitled Youth oriented film from YRF is being shot in our campus. Thus our campus sees make overs from Learning Resource centre being renamed as Library, (It should have been called that in the first place) to Canteen being redecorated.

Also we saw the famous photoshop prone brand sign  disappear completely. Let us not get into a debate about that. Not in this post.

So I went about minding my own work, not disturbing, not getting awed. Until one day I realized that I should actively enjoy this scenario. Its not every day that one sees a dream created in front of you. You can start by observing the hard work the unit puts in. Then you can realize that it takes so many factors to get the blend right. All proportions need to be right and each work is important.

The magic that one may see on screen is a visual illusion but it requires real people and real work to pull it off.

There is nothing heroic in what the unit does and hence I guess, we shall  thus remain star struck and we would not notice backend people to these stars.



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How to reinvent your personal brand.

I liked this article.


http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/11/how_to_reinvent_your_personal.html

Icons - some pointers- Based on a HBR case study on Icons by Douglas Holt

(Based on a case study on Icons by Douglas Holt)

• Iconic brands win because they build a deep connection with culture.

• The Strategic focus is on what a brand stands for, and not how the brand performs.

• Through Brands people get to experience powerful myths

• Myths are required as they ideals to live by and work to resolve some of the most difficult questions in life.

• Icons are condensed myths

• They are powerful as they deliver myths to us in a tangible form, and thus they are assessable.

• Icons are not just brands, they can be people too.

• When Icons create a myth, consumers come to perceive the myth as embodied in the product. So when they consume it, they forge a relationship with the brand.

• In Brief a Brand becomes Icon when it does 5 things.

1. They talk to intense anxities and desires. (They do speak to mass audience). 
2. They redefine and create new culture . They just do not follow the existing culture. ie. Pepsi - Youngistan.
3. Iconic brands rebel - they speak in rebels voice- ie. Apple
4. If the brand myth bursts, the brand uses the same line of logic/thinking to rebuild a new relevant myth in a convincing way. It does not have a stick to one single myth. ie. Reliance, Tata
5. Notice new contradictions in the culture and align with the brands line of thinking/logic. In short icon has to have its pulse with changing culture. ie. Old Spice.