Care-is-Cure: Concern

The PJ (poor joke) above might no longer remain a PJ if banana peel is replaced by a typical problematic situation one encounters in daily routine. The question remains unanswered then: Why do some people find it difficult to act beyond cure? They do think 'Prevention is The Best Cure' though! I was no different from them! But now my journey is gathering speed, hopefully in the direction that the blog is supposed to drive towards. Checkout my other blogs and work at http://www.worldOFkaizen.com/

Showing posts with label Concern. Show all posts

Thursday, 7 November 2013

In A Big-Problem?: Wear Hats To Solve It !!

Life is about tackling gaps! Gaps among:

1/ what we 'want' (i.e. what we desire to have),
2/ what we 'need' (i.e. what we need to survive) and
3/ what we 'have' (i.e. our current situation).

These gaps are referred to as problems in day to day language. Gaps may be in terms of physical, mental, financial, social or spiritual health, both at individual & societal level.

So life is about overcoming various hurdles or problem-situations in order to bridge gaps at individual & societal level. In positive sense, life is about opportunities to add value to self & society while tackling problematic situations.

This post is an extension of my blog-post titled In a Problem?: No Problem ! Dwell A While !! In that post, I dwelled upon the fact that 'dwelling' provides 'adult-in-you' to 'respect' others like 'adults'. It provides an opportunity to look at a given problematic situation in totality. It allows asking 'what-when-where-who-why-how' questions to it's components without a bias.

This ability is particularly important in order to solve chronic problems as well as crises and larger issues.

Sometimes acknowledging a problem as a problem itself is a problem as in P.J. (Poor Joke) in punchline of this blog where Mr Foolhardy falls again-and-again at same place! Like Foolhardy, some do 'love falling' and getting 'cured again-n-again' rather than taking preventive 'care'. Some hardly go beyond first-aid attitude during entire lifetime.

Why is this so? What should the case really be?

One reason may be lack of respecting discipline: the undesirable habit nurtured by both, one's own parent-ego and child-ego. Other one may be lack of training the adult-ego to solve complicated problems.

One way to overcome the former reason is instituting strict disciplinary measures as a stick on undesired behavior of parent-and-child-ego. The other way may be to install measures for attitudinal change so that adult-ego takes active charge of the situation to steer it to a desired one.

This blog-post is about tackling the latter i.e. training mind (the adult-ego) on importance of 'dwelling meaningfully' in order to improve effectiveness of problem solving.

Problem Solving Steps

Problems can be categorized in four quadrants based on combination of:

1/ ease or difficulty level of identifying them and/or their causes and
2/ ease or difficulty in finding and/or implementing countermeasures on them.

Difficult-Difficult-type problems in particular need to be resolved step-by-step by breaking them down into smaller stones so that prioritized one can be taken one at a time. It's like breaking a mountain over a period of time in steps of blasts in a typical mine and thereafter hammering the larger (post-blast) rocks into smaller stones with an objective of making them worthy of utility.

Need for undertaking logical steps with equanimity gets enhanced with rising level of difficulty to identify the problems and/or to resolve them.

7-steps in the Plan-Do-Check-Act Improvement (Kaizen) Cycle are:

Plan Step-1: Define a problem or a goal to create an innovative utility-value

Plan Step-2: Observe gaps in the current situation with reference to the goal (This is done after the first-aid solution is put in place)

Plan Step-3: Analyse and find root-causes of the gaps

Plan Step-4: Plan countermeasures to prevent occurrence and recurrence of causes

Do Step-5: Implement countermeasures

Check Step-6: Study effect of the countermeasures

Act Step-7: 7a/ Standardize so that favorable effects are sustained

Step-7b: Rotate the above steps: 1/ until favorable effects are achieved in case of unfavorable effects, 2/ to attain higher levels in case of favorable effects, 3/ to take a new improvement goal

''Dwelling'' on a predefined agenda in each problem-solving-step allows flow of unbiased creative thoughts useful for complicated problem solving. It allows 'brain-writing' those. It involves 'speaking-to-self' by asking 'why-why & what-where-who-when-why-how' kind of questions and 'writing' the evolved thoughts.

This is contrary to 'speaking-to-others' as in brain-storming. Such a 'don't-speak' rule wearing a pink-hat virtually to represent that the problem-solver is in 'dwelling-mode' allows flow of 'wild-thoughts' that otherwise may get killed as in brain-storming.

I have added the Pink-Hat as the 7th-Hat to Edward De Bono's idea of 6-Hats: White, Red, Green, Black, Yellow And Blue, each with a purpose.

The Pink-Hat as a common one represents 'brain-writing' activity as above in each of the 7-steps that I have connected to an appropriate hat each. Pink-Hat is used in combination with each of Bono's 6- hats primary to a corresponding step. Each hat forces adult-ego to focus primarily on the agenda predefined for that particular hat and that particular step.

In step-1, Pink-Hat begins with taking ('brain-writing') inventory of problems. Then a priority problem is picked up to solve. As stated earlier, Pink-Hat is used in each step in combination with corresponding hat of that step to 'brain-write'.

In step-2, White-Hat is used to find factual gaps in an unbiased manner.

In step-3, Red-Hat is used to find root-causes of the gaps without keeping any emotional attachment to the problem.

In step-4, Green-Hat is used to find alternative ideas (innovative countermeasures) to arrest root-causes.

In step-5, Black-Hat is used to critically assess risk while innovatively implementing ideas (countermeasures) .

In step-6, Yellow-Hat is used to assess benefits of the countermeasures taken.

In step-7, Blue-Hat is used to take an overview in an unbiased manner.

Going back to the earlier blog-post, the problem therein that of locked-door not opening was Easy-Easy-type. However applying structured steps as above could have yielded additional opportunities as follows over and above the first-aid solution that 'clicked' then:

1/ Create a 'how-to' operating-procedure for odd-season working of equipment,
2/ Create a 'checklist' to prevent abnormal behavior of equipment in odd-season,
3/ Create an innovative-design or material for the door and lock capable of handling abnormal conditions.

So one can imagine the potential and impact of application of hats in structured steps in case of Easy-Difficult-type, Difficult-Easy-type and in particular that of Difficult-Difficult-type chronic and complicated crises situations.

Also read a few relevant blog-posts hereunder: Please do consider leaving a comment or sharing this post.

Strategise To Achieve Targets Daily

Old-Problems, New-Reasons !

Ant Knocks Elephant Down
Will It Work Here?
Can-changing-thoughts-change-nation?
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture
WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling
IQ-EQ-or-SQ: What-is-more-important
Talent-Is-Latent: Enable It!
Judge If It's Paralysis-By-Analysis
Will It Work Here?
Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy
Does recognition really matter
Who Comes First: Consumer Or Customer ?
Treat Root-causes, Not Symptoms !
Do You Ask Right Questions?
Am I 'Short-sighted' or 'Long-sighted'?

Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy

Comprehensive-Strategic-Audits

Prevention: The Best Cure! ... Is it really so?
Treat Root-causes, Not Symptoms !
When Safety Becomes Sorry
Drove To Hell ... Almost !
WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling
In a Problem?: No Problem ! Dwell A While !!
Part-1
In-big-problem? Wear-hats-to-solve-it! Part-2
How To Make A Difference
Big-Be Or Bug-Be !
Make checklists your friends
Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis
That's How Morons Work
You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable
Waste-to-eat-sea-to-drink

Success Or Failure: What Do You Like?

This blog-post is a standalone extenson of my blog-post titled In a Problem?: No Problem ! Dwell A While !! When the door-lock referred in there failed to open 's/he' (character in the blogpost) overcame the initial panic by 'dwelling-a-while' in a smile (on self)!

In the 'relaxed' moments thereafter, s/he didn't 'worry' about the situation as a problem although appeared concerned' about it. S/he considered it as a passing-phase. The adult-ego part of her mind as in Transactional-Analysis (TA) considered the problem as a stepping-stone! Problems as opportunities in work-clothes' as Henri Kaiser says. S/he crossed the 'stone' with care.

Most often rather than end-result itself, it is 'worry' in the interim (before and after an event fueled by Murphy's-law as they say) that intimidates & affects activities in the present. It consummates us in the process. It pushes even the bravest of the braves towards undesired results as its ill-effects.

Why does this happen?

There is a thin line between 'worry' and 'concern'!

From the perspective of Transactional-Analysis, former is the prerogative of child-ego or parent-ego. Latter is that of the adult-ego. While day-dreaming about unpleasant things of past or future, the worry-struck person forces herself into inaction. S/he pushes herself into a vicious cycle of negative thoughts as happened in the case of the locked-situation referred above.

When 'care' was taken with 'positive-attitude' (rather with 'meditative-attitude' of 'concern') locked-equipment did behave favorably. It has scientific-explanation to it though.

Perhaps an equipment 'behaves' the way the concerned operator/mechanic behaves or causes it to behave. May be behavior of machines around us is often the 'reflection' of the 'behavior' of the concerned operator.

Although a little difficult to get convinced, rather than the situation itself it's the meditative-positive 'attitude' in the interim towards a situation that is likely to help. Meditative-positive-attitude reminds one's adult-ego to revolve her thinking around what one really 'needs'. Mere positive-attitude instead may unnecessarily 'push' one's child-ego or parent-ego in the rat-race of what others 'want' of you.

So after training the mind to calm down by 'forcibly dwelling' in pleasurable moments imaginary though as above, as a natural sequel the next aim should be 'equanimity'.

What is Equanimity?

Usually human nature or rather (the child-ego or parent-ego part of) the mind is programmed to rejoice successes and to cry-out failures.

An equanimous behavior is: - not to (overly) worry about result/s per-se, - nor about the undesired effect of a cause or of multiple causes together as also - not to (overly) rejoice even if desired effects are achieved.

First of all, both the desired as also the undesired effects may not last for ever. Moreover, indulging into rejoice or getting worried as the case may be hinders the learning process in either of the cases.

An equanimous mind tends to study both the situations.

And in work-life in particular, it studies corresponding processes in order to find out causes and their complex interrelationships that result into effects. The objective as the Robust-design fame Taguchi San says is to learn and act upon them in future in such a way that the desired causes recur and undesired causes get prevented from recurring or occurring.

In this context, a saint's advice "Theviley-Anantey-Taisechi-Raahave" that loosely means "Live and enjoy God's design for you" largely seems to be misunderstood. For me, it means 'Live-with-equanimity' while making genuine efforts to design a future for your own-self.

Years ago, I was standing the whole day under the scorching Sun in a queue to seek admission in Sydenham college. The college was considered to be the 'top' in commerce-stream then in Mumbai. I couldn't get admitted.

Next day I found myself wandering around Ruparel college about eight kilometers away. And funnily I got admitted in science-stream. The then Vice Principal Dr. Shinde personally helped me to fill in the form in spite of no acquaintance with me whatsoever.

Goal-less, aim-less and clue-less, overnight my thoughts and actions got a swing like a pendulum from considering apprenticeship in an industrial trade to the commerce stream and then swinging from the commerce to the science stream. Being from vernacular medium, I struggled making sense of science subjects & biology terms in particular in the first year. But finally I landed (the right course although) 'off' (the original) course.

Looking back, funnily I am happy.

Repeating 'funnily' is about another story for another blog-post some other time.

While writing this, I was dwelling upon whether the so-called 'happiness' as above was an absolute one or relative one! Holding on to the handle of the 'see-saw' tight-n-tough (see picture) I tried to recall that.

Eventually tough situations in past did not last for me forever particularly whenever 'I' stayed tough (in mind, spirit and actions) in the interim.

Locks did open for me when caused with efforts. Walls did turn into windows and the windows turned into doors.

So it all depends on how you interpret the See-Saw. It depends upon whether you stay confident in the interim. It's a great idea to dwell upon such questions with relaxed mind in order to find your own answers:

Is it really failing?

Or is it actually a stepping-stone towards success?

If at all trapped in so-called 'failed' situation, is it worth wasting time 'staying-put' in 'fallen' condition!

Or Is it worth 'standing-up to an act' with more zeal!

Isn't it worth taking concrete actions without 'overly worrying' about undesired results!

Isn't it worth acting upon the learning from the desired ones instead of emoting out 'rejoice'!

Taking concrete actions is what tough people do consciously. They put in extra efforts. And they do it a little longer than others. They learn from both the, so-called failed or successful situations.

Whatever happens thereafter happens for the good, as the saints say.

That's equanimity for me!

Also read a few relevant blog-posts hereunder: Please do consider leaving a comment or sharing this post.

Strategise To Achieve Targets Daily

Old-Problems, New-Reasons !

Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy

Sunday, 12 May 2013

In a Problem?: No Problem ! Dwell A While !!

On a winter morning he was out to take an admission test. Just before boarding bus to the exam-center, he realized that he had forgotten hall-ticket at home.

He rushed back. The door-lock failed to open as he tried vehemently. Tension began mounting as he consulted his wrist-watch repeatedly.

The lock was behaving the way it wanted to: funnily. His body was trying to cope up by pumping in more adrenaline in reaction.

What to do? What to do?

He consulted neighbors. Called-up parents in office. Both advised him to calm down.

Taking a small break he sat on staircase. With closed eyes he meditated on sound the lift was making. Took a couple of deep breaths. Suddenly something clicked to him. He got up. Kept bag by the side. Inserted key in the lock. Pushed the door slightly up pulled it towards him gently while murmuring "Khul-ja Sim-Sim"!

Voila! The door opened.. He grabbed hall-ticket. Luckily he had (not luckily, he often has by-design) extra time at hand. So rest all went fine.

How does 'dwelling' help?

What had changed between 'non-working' and 'working' status of the lock? Three things changed.

1/ The break that he took offered him a moment to change his tensed mind into relaxed and uncluttered one.
2/ Uncluttered mind offered empty space for fresh thoughts that clicked an idea.
3/ The idea got implemented without tension.

After a couple of iterations the equipment did work. The problem that seemed very difficult, appeared exceedingly simple as it usually does in the end.

One thing was common among three things that changed: The Relaxed mind.

Non-judgmental relaxed mind coolly directed (hands to) focus on actions. It prevented negative reactions. It directed attention on choicely responding to the situation: Positive re-actions or simply put response instead of reactions as the respons-a-ble people give if you may like to call it.

Apart from quality of space and time it offers during the nano-dwelling-moment, there is a deep meaning behind 'mind' being 'relaxed' if one is willing to receive.

Mind gets more powerful to work efficiently and effectively if 'one doesn't allow' it to (overly) 'worry' about symptoms and end-result: be them good or bad. That's a gateway to equanimity! That is what Yog-Gurus advise and practitioners of meditation do.

Scientific explanation to how 'dwelling' helps

To put it in research-language of Behavioral-Modulation-Technique (BMT), peaceful 'dwelling' helps in providing a positive antecedent that encourages active-listening to the-self. As a result, instead of preconceived thoughts, facts of the matter get attention for further analysis and for follow-up action. Peaceful mind prohibits entry of negative emotions (the negative antecedents) that otherwise trigger ego-clashes and harmful consequences therefrom.

To put it in research-language of Dr Eric Bern's Transactional-Analysis (TA): In the later part, his 'relaxed' mind didn't 'worry' about the situation as a problem. It's parent-ego part however did stay 'concerned' about it while considering the situation as a passing-phase. It kept advising him to stay cool having experienced favorable benefits of doing so in past. Thereby his mind was free of 'emotions' of fear not allowing it's child-ego part to waver. It allowed it's 'logical' counterpart, the adult-ego, to take charge.

Adult-ego in turn kept both the child-ego and parent-ego in control and took next logical step.

It uncluttered the mind's passage off negative thoughts in order to accommodate flowing-in of more logical information and options in response to inquisitive questions such as 'what-when-where-who-why-how'.

A factual information 'click-occurred' and surfaced out of that, that 'this-is-how' the door behaves sometimes during monsoon. And 'that's-the-way' it needs to be opened then.

While his mind was buried under the emotions of worry and tension, it's child-ego part was ruling and behaving funnily, prohibiting recall of abnormal behavioral patterns of the door.

According to Dr Eric Bern, mind chooses to behave differently in different situations. Sometimes it behaves as a 'parent', sometimes as an 'adult' and sometimes as a 'child'. In his words:

Parent-ego is one's 'Taught' concept of life (revolving around conventions, one's past conditioning or programming)

Adult-ego is one's 'Thought' concept of life (revolving around logic)

Child-ego is one's 'Felt' concept of life (revolving around emotions)

In the language of BMT, each of the above egos have their pluses and minuses depending upon a given situation. Adult-ego is however supposed to prevent both the 'parent-ego' and 'child-ego' from hijacking a given situation. It also treats others as 'adults' and 'respects' their opinions. That's what is called as 'respecting people' and behaving with maturity.

What is the learning?

What should one do when confronted with or when locked in an undesired situation such as above, or on failing in an exam, or on failing in an interview?

In a given situation it's but natural to have emotions. But it's important not to get emotional by getting carried away under the influence of emotions. Consciously keeping cool by meditative breathing does help here in getting over emotions.

Meditative Breathing To Help Dwelling

First of all count 1-2-3.. ...10 in order to arrest reaction and stay cool.

Close eyes gently.

Take a couple of de..eeeee-ep breaths.

Focus on 'feeling' the 'cool' breathing-in and 'warm' breathing-out process.

The process de-focusses you from the clutter of undesired thoughts.

Hence you feel better! More composed!!

Open eyes if you wish, but slow-o-ly and gen...nnnttt...tly.

Here is a beautiful time-slot you have 'hard-earned' for yourself.
Now you can 'dwell-a-while-meaningfully' on the agenda on hand.

Focus on the facts that you see around concerning the situation.

Analyse the facts and process them in order to derive actionables.

That in turn helps one to choose, rather act by design like a parent, adult or a child as appropriate to a given situation. It prevents internal ego clashes and thereby prevents clashes with others i.e. external ego clashes (see in picture the red-colored arrows shooting out).

While stuck in messy situations or while making important decisions, 'parent-in-you' may help keeping your cool. It assists 'adult-in-you' to take charge of both the 'parent-in-you' as well as the 'child-in-you'. 'Adult-in-you' thereby can choose safe-n-sound course of action by striking a balance between emotions and logic.

While in play-ground, 'child-in-you' may take charge and enjoy while letting the 'adult-in-you' to keep both the 'parent' and 'child' in you in control and balanced.

At workplace or otherwise the 'adult' in you 'respects' other people.

In this blog-post I have covered how 'dwelling' helps alongwith it's scientific explanation offered by BMT and TA. I have extended this learning and tips to my blog-posts titled "Success Or Failure: What Do You Like?" in order to understand equanimity and to "In A Big-Problem?: Wear Hats To Solve It !!" in order to see how it helps in solving chronic problems and larger issues. I hope it helps. Looking forward to your experiences. Do write those in comment box hereunder.

Also read a few relevant blog-posts hereunder: Please do consider leaving a comment or sharing this post.

Strategise To Achieve Targets Daily

Old-Problems, New-Reasons !

Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy