The Manoj Sharma Blog

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2009-04-05T06:08:00.001+08:00

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True Wealth Moment #1 by Manoj Sharma

2008-08-07T23:42:00.003+08:00

True Wealth Moment #1 by Manoj Sharma

Don't Engage In A Conspiracy Of Convenience

Don't stand by idly when you know your or someone else's decision is wrong. Do not allows errors in judgement to prevail, hate to be harboured and jealously to be fed.

Doing so is to engage in a conspiracy of convenience. A conspiracy of convenience, where you conspire with yourself and/or others and make it just too convenient for you not to do anything. This will allow small wrongs to escalate into bigger wrongs.

You may feel the trouble of avoiding a conspiracy of convenience is just too much to undertake and the burden not worth your time to bear. But that would be an error of judgement, because the pangs of your consciousness will slowly, but surely eat away at your heart.

The wrongs you allow to pass will not set themselves right on their own. Do not mistake your curious silence as a noble act of self-resistance. To not bring up and assist to correct (with respect of course), a henious act no matter how small, is to partake in the henious act itself.

To mindlessly support someone in the wrong, for whatever reasons, with no care for the ethical and spiritual crime being perpetuated is to kill the wealth in your heart and undo all the good you have done.

An ill-conceived war between your consciousness and your ego will slowly, but sure erupt from within you. Know that it is your responsibility to avert the disaster of a conspiracy of convenience, and when you do so you allow yourself to live a wealthier life.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com

If you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above please feel free call me at now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Be Happy by Manoj Sharma

2008-08-07T13:07:00.003+08:00

Be Happy by Manoj Sharma

Everybody deserves to be happy - be happy at work, at home and at play, be happy in the company of others and especially to be happy when alone.

It has been suggested that the key to a great life is to bring happiness into it. Notice that I mentioned the word "bring". It is in the bringing of happiness that happiness unravels in a human being's life.

To bring happiness, one has to contemplate....

1) What happiness actually is and is not.
2) What the causes of happiness are.
3) Why is there an absence of happiness in the first place.
4) What actually causes the absence of happiness.

Consider that being happy requires one to "be with what is, as it is and not how they would want it to be" and then you will give yourself a chance to bring happiness into your life.

Upon understanding the above truth, I can guarantee, you will bring happiness into your life and then, happiness will on its own accord, start to create itself over and over again.

As you mull over the above, read the following Chinese Proverb too and allow it to seep deep into the heart of you.

"Grant yourself a moment of peace, and you will understand how foolishly you have scurried about.

Learn to be silent, and you will notice that you have talked too much.

Be kind, and you will realize that your judgement of others was too severe."

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com

If you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above please feel free call me at now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

8 Angles To Freedom by Manoj Sharma

2008-07-03T23:54:00.004+08:00

8 Angles To FREEDOM by Manoj Sharma

It seems everybody desires freedom in some shape or form. So the question must be asked, "What does freedom really mean to us?"

While there are multiple uses of the word freedom and almost everybody strives or hides under its umbrella, there are in principle only a few angles to it.

Freedom ultimately it seems to limited to...

1) The state of being free from any confinement and/or restraint.

2) The release from obligation and/or duty.

3) The ease of movement of any type.

4) The acceptance of any genuine manner and/or speech.

5) The immunity from a general norm.

6) The liberty taken on ones own accord.

7) The privilege enjoyed due to come circumstance.

While the above 7 angles are the most common and often strived for it is the 8th that is most meaningful.

To discover the 8th and possibly ultimate angle to freedom, we need to first consider that freedom means nothing until it is contrasted against a background of the absence and/or perceived absence of freedom. Consider the following 7 examples and see if they can shed significant light on your consciousness.

1) There needs to be a state of confinement and/or the perception of confinement for freedom to have any meaning.

2) There needs to be obligation and/or duty and/or the perception of obligation and/or duty for there to be a release from obligation and/or duty.

3) There needs to be restrictions and/or the perception of restrictions for there to be any ease of movement of any type to be appreciated.

4) There needs to be nonacceptance and/or the perception of nonacceptance for any acceptance of any kind.

5) There needs to be a lack of immunity and/or the perception of a lack of immunity for there to be immunity from a general norm.

6) There needs to be the inability to take liberty and/or the perception of an inability to take liberty for liberty to be taken.

7) There needs to be an unprivileged circumstance and/or the perception of an unprivileged circumstance for there to be a circumstance in which a privilege is enjoyed.

From common parlance, we can glim that seems people genuinely believe that freedom is something external and separate from them.

But the 8th Angle of FREEDOM suggests something entirely different.

Ultimately FREEDOM is...

8) The power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraints from within or without.

The truth that all of humanity needs to wake up to, to discover its humanity, is that FREEDOM is only of value when it is the consequence of choices and decisions made without constraints from within and without.

Ultimately, FREEDOM is not doing and/or having whatever you please, FREEDOM is being pleased with whatever you are doing and/or have.

Contemplate it!

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com

If you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above please feel free call me at now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Is this the start of a chain of cataclysmic events?

2008-06-06T13:05:00.005+08:00

Is This The Start Of A Chain Of Cataclysmic Events?

Continental cuts 3,000 jobs, grounds planes.

Nation's fourth-largest airline takes 67 airplanes out of service and slashes payroll in response to high fuel prices.

By David Goldman, CNNMoney.com June 5th 2008

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The crisis facing the airline industry, propelled by out-of-control fuel costs, claimed another victim on Thursday.

Continental Airlines said it is eliminating about 3,000 jobs, or 6.7% of its staff, and grounding 67 mainline aircraft in an attempt to cut costs amid record oil and fuel prices.

The airline - the nation's fourth-largest by miles flown by paying passengers - said it was facing the worst industry conditions since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"The airline industry is in a crisis: Its business model doesn't work with the current price of fuel and the existing level of capacity in the marketplace," said Larry Kellner, Continental's chairman and chief executive officer, and President Jeff Smisek in a letter to employees. "We need to make changes in response." In recognition of the company's crisis Smisek and Kellner said they would not be paid the remainder of their 2008 salaries and will refuse payment under the company's annual incentive program. "The move to decline their salaries is symbolically important, but the company's image will still be weighed down by the impending layoffs," said DePaul University transportation expert Joe Schwieterman.

New airline economics

The company said the 3,000 job cuts will come starting in September, and it expects most will be made with voluntary severance packages. After 9/11, Continental cut 12,000 staff, then about 21% of staff, in reaction to the terrorist attack and the drop in demand for flights that followed. "These record fuel costs have fundamentally shifted the economics of our businesses," the letter said.

Continental estimates that the year-over-year rise in jet fuel amounts to about $50,000 per company employee. Many airlines have hiked fuel surcharges to fares and added fees to once-free benefits, such as food and checked baggage.

This latest move by Continental most likely means that passengers will need to pay even more to fly, according to Schwieterman. "There's going to be enormous upward pressure on fares," he said. "Consumers are going to feel this in a big way."

Continental would not offer further comment beyond the press release. Despite other cost cutting attempts, Continental said its increased fares will lead to fewer passengers, which will necessitate a reduction in its capacity. The airline said it will trim its domestic mainline departures by 16% starting in September by accelerating the retirement of much of its Boeing 737 fleet.

Customers should expect crowded planes as airlines reduce capacity."The bad news is that airplane load factors could be pushed to 90%, which greatly affects the perceived quality of service," said Schwieterman. "The good news is that if they can shrink by as much as 20%, the airlines will become financially stable."

Fuel fallout may not be over

The last time U.S. airlines were under this much pressure from fuel prices - in September 2005 - two of them, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, filed for bankruptcy.

On Wednesday, No. 2 airline United announced it was grounding 100 planes and cutting up to 1,600 jobs. But it may not be long before another airline makes a similar announcement. Some analysts believe that airlines will continue attempt to show Wall Street that they have a handle on the fuel crisis."The cuts have been bigger than we expected, and more are still to come," said Schwieterman. "Low cost carriers haven't yet played their hand."

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com

If you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above please feel free call me at (65) 6338 5669 now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Is this what's happenig in our world?

2008-06-06T12:15:00.005+08:00

Is this what's happening in our world?

Is this the gridlock of our global socio-economic situation?

Boss says to Secretary: For a week we will go abroad for a meeting, so make the necessary arrangements.

Secretary make a call to her Husband: For a week my Boss and I will be going abroad for a meeting, so please look after yourself.

Husband make call to his Secret Lover: My Wife is going abroad for a week, so let’s spend the week together.

Secret Lover make a call to Small Boy whom she is giving private tuition: I have work for a week, so please do not come for class.

Small Boy make call to his Grandfather: Grandpa, for a week I don't have class because my Teacher is busy. Lets spend the week together.

Grandpa (The Boss) makes a call to his Secretary: This week I am spending my time with my grandson. We cannot attend that meeting.

Secretary make a call to her Husband: This week my boss has some work, we cancelled our trip.

Husband make call to his Secret Lover: We cannot spend this week together, my Wife has canceled her trip.

Secret Lover make call to the Small Boy whom she is giving private tuition: This week we will have class as usual.

Small Boy make a call to his Grandfather: Grandpa, my teacher said this week I have to attend class. Sorry I can't keep you company.

Grandpa make call to his Secretary: This week, we will attend that overseas meeting after all, so make the necessary arrangement.

And so the gridlock goes on....

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at (65) 6338 5669 now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

What Is The Difference Between Truth, Marketing, Hope and Lies

2008-06-04T11:26:00.004+08:00

What Is The Difference Between Truth, Marketing, Hope and Lies?

Read the following article from the the WashingtonPost.com on Tuesday the 3rd of June 08, till the absolute end and draw your own conclusions.

Clinton's Count Doesn't Add Up

You have to admire Hillary Clinton for her ability to reshape reality to her preferred outcome. She seems to assume that if she says something loudly enough, and repeats it often enough, it will become true. Her victory speech in Puerto Rico was a minor masterpiece in carefully parsed self-delusion. Unfortunately for her, it takes more than conviction to win the Democratic nominating contest.

The Facts

Whatever Clinton might say, there is considerable doubt about her claim to be "winning the popular vote." The only sense in which that is true is if she includes all the people who voted for her not only in Florida but also in Michigan, an election that she previously said "is not going to count for anything." She also has to exclude the 230,000 "uncommitted" voters in Michigan, most of whom would have probably supported Barack Obama had he been on the ballot, and caucus participants in four states -- Iowa, Nevada, Maine and Washington.

The best running tally that I have seen on various definitions of the popular vote comes from Real Clear Politics. It shows that if all the votes are included, and the uncommitted Michigan vote is awarded to Obama, the Land of Lincolner ends up with a slight lead in the overall "popular vote." He also has a small lead in the popular vote including Florida but excluding Michigan and the caucus states.

The more important point, of course, is that the popular vote has nothing to do with the Democratic presidential nominating process, which is decided by delegates. After the Puerto Rico primary, and the rules changes adopted over the weekend, most estimates now put Obama within 45 votes of the 2,118 needed to secure the nomination. Clinton, meanwhile, is 200 votes away from the magic figure. That is hardly "a slight lead" in the delegate count.

Contrary to Clinton's wishful thinking, it seems highly probable that Obama will nail down the number of delegates needed to win the nomination after today's primaries in Montana and South Dakota, where there are a total of 31 pledged delegates. In order to win the nomination, Obama needs roughly 20 percent of the remaining pledged and unpledged delegates, while Clinton needs around 80 percent.

Clinton's campaign also likes to claim that more Americans have voted for her "than anyone in primary history." That is an artful formula, because it neatly sidesteps the controversy over the disputed elections in Florida and Michigan. It may or may not be true, depending on how you define your terminology.

The Pinocchio Test

This is one of those cases where the candidate can provide some data to back up his or her claim, but the claim itself is essentially meaningless. To paraphrase Hillary Clinton, "the people have spoken" and they have chosen their candidate. That candidate is . . . Barack Obama.

ONE PINOCCHIO: Some shading of the facts.

TWO PINOCCHIOS: Significant omissions or exaggerations.

THREE PINOCCHIOS: Significant factual errors.

FOUR PINOCCHIOS: Real whoppers.

THE GEPPETTO CHECK MARK: Statements and claims contain the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Do you do this?

2008-05-31T00:36:00.000+08:00

Do you do this?

"For a knight that has an overlord, life is here today, uncertain tomorrow. Therefore he realizes everyday that he has this one day to serve, so he does not become bored or neglect any of his duties. Because he does every task that very day, it stands to reason that he does not overlook anything or forget anything.

In contrast to this, when you think you will be on the job forever, then trouble starts. You get bored, so you become inattentive and lazy. You begin neglecting even urgent matters, to say nothing of less pressing affairs, putting them off to the next day or claiming that they've already been arranged, or fobbing them off to colleagues or flunkies. Since no one takes personal responsibility for taking care of them, tasks pile up and there is nothing but snafus. These are all mistakes that come from counting on having time in the future. You should be most wary of this.

For example, if you are assigned to a certain number of days a month on watch, you should be sure to figure out the route from your home to your post. calculate how long it will take you to get there, and set out to be slightly early for the time of the changing of the guard. If you dawdle over tea, tobacco, and family talk, leaving home late for a post that you have to work in any event, suddenly you are in a blind rush, galloping to your post in a big sweat. Fanning yourself even in winter, you may try to quip that you were late because you have a little bit of bothersome business. That is moronic. The watch duty of a warrior is security duty; no one should show up late for work for any personal reason whatsoever.

Now then, there are those who understand this much and so always show up for work early themselves, yet they become restless waiting for tardy colleagues, fidgeting and yawing, and hate to stay inside the governor's mansion even for a while, being in a hurry to go home. these are unseemly things of recent times." -- from the Bushido Shoshinshu of Taira Shigesuke

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Four Major Transformations by Herbert Meyer

2008-05-29T00:41:00.000+08:00

Four Major Transformations by Herbert Meyer

Currently, there are four major transformations that are shaping political, economic and world events. These transformations have profound implications for American business owners, our culture and our way of life.

1. The War in Iraq

There are three major monotheistic religions in the world: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. In the 16th century, Judaism and Christianity reconciled with the modern world. The rabbis, priests and scholars found a way to settle up and pave the way forward. Religion remained at the center of life, church and state became separate. Rule of law, idea of economic liberty, individual rights, human rights - all these are defining points of modern Western civilization. These concepts started with the Greeks but didn’t take off until the 15th and 16th century when Judaism and Christianity found a way to reconcile with the modern world. When that happened, it unleashed the scientific revolution and the greatest outpouring of art, literature and music the world has ever known.

Islam, which developed in the 7th century, counts millions of Moslems around the world who are normal people. However, there is a radical streak within Islam. When the radicals are in charge, Islam attacks Western civilization. Islam first attacked Western civilization in the 7th century, and later in the 16th and 17th centuries. By 1683, the Moslems (Turks from the Ottoman Empire) were literally at the gates of Vienna. It was in Vienna that the climatic battle between Islam and Western civilization took place. The West won and went forward. Islam lost and went backward. Interestingly, the date of that battle was September 11. Since then, Islam has not found a way to reconcile with the modern world.

Today, terrorism is the third attack on Western civilization by radical Islam. To deal with terrorism, the U.S. is doing two things. First, units of our armed forces are in 30 countries around the world hunting down terrorist groups and dealing with them. This gets very little publicity. Second we are taking military action in Afghanistan and Iraq. These are covered relentlessly by the media. People can argue about whether the war in Iraq is right or wrong. However, the underlying strategy behind the war is to use our military to remove the radicals from power and give the moderates a chance. Our hope is that, over time, the moderates will find a way to bring Islam forward into the 21st century. That’s what our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan is all about.

The lesson of 9/11 is that we live in a world where a small number of people can kill a large number of people very quickly. They can use airplanes, bombs, anthrax, chemical weapons or dirty bombs. Even with a first-rate intelligence service (which the U.S. does not have), you can’t stop every attack. That means our tolerance for political horseplay has dropped to zero. No longer will we play games with terrorists or weapons of mass destructions.

Most of the instability and horseplay is coming from the Middle East. That’s why we have thought that if we could knock out the radicals and give the moderates a chance to hold power, they might find a way to reconcile Islam with the modern world. So when looking at Afghanistan or Iraq, it’s important to look for any signs that they are modernizing. For example, women being brought into the workforce and colleges in Afghanistan is good. The Iraqis stumbling toward a constitution is good. People can argue about what the U.S. is doing and how we’re doing it, but anything that suggests Islam is finding its way forward is good.

2. The Emergence of China

In the last 20 years, China has moved 250 million people from the farms and villages into the cities. Their plan is to move another 300 million in the next 20 years. When you put that many people into the cities, you have to find work for them. That’s why China is addicted to manufacturing; they have to put all the relocated people to work. When we decide to manufacture something in the U.S., it’s based on market needs and the opportunity to make a profit. In China, they make the decision because they want the jobs, which is a very different calculation.

While China is addicted to manufacturing, Americans are addicted to low prices. As a result, a unique kind of economic codependency has developed between the two countries. If we ever stop buying from China, they will explode politically. If China stops selling to us, our economy will take a huge hit because prices will jump. We are subsidizing their economic development, they are subsidizing our economic growth.

Because of their huge growth in manufacturing, China is hungry for raw materials, which drives prices up worldwide. China is also thirsty for oil, which is one reason oil is now at $60 a barrel. By 2020, China will produce more cars than the U.S. China is also buying its way into the oil infrastructure around the world. They are doing it in the open market and paying fair market prices, but millions of barrels of oil that would have gone to the U.S. are now going to China. China’s quest to assure it has the oil it needs to fuel its economy is a major factor in world politics and economics. We have our Navy fleets protecting the sea lines, specifically the ability to get the tankers through. It won’t be long before the Chinese have an aircraft carrier sitting in the Persian Gulf as well. The question is, will their aircraft carrier be pointing in the same direction as ours or against us?

3. Shifting Demographics of Western Civilization

Most countries in the Western world have stopped breeding. For a civilization obsessed with sex, this is remarkable. Maintaining a steady population requires a birth rate of 2.1. In Western Europe, the birth rate currently stands at 1.5, or 30 percent below replacement. In 30 years there will be 70 to 80 million fewer Europeans than there are today. The current birth rate in Germany is 1.3. Italy and Spain are even lower at 1.2. At that rate, the working age population declines by 30 percent in 20 years, which has a huge impact on the economy.

When you don’t have young workers to replace the older ones, you have to import them. The European countries are currently importing Moslems. Today, the Moslems comprise 10 percent of France and Germany, and the percentage is rising rapidly because they have higher birthrates. However, the Moslem populations are not being integrated into the cultures of their host countries, which is a political catastrophe. One reason Germany and France don’t support the Iraq war is they fear their Moslem populations will explode on them. By 2020, more than half of all births in the Netherlands will be non-European.

The huge design flaw in the post-modern secular state is that you need a traditional religious society birth rate to sustain it. The Europeans simply don’t wish to have children, so they are dying.

In Japan, the birthrate is 1.3. As a result, Japan will lose up to 60 million people over the next 30 years. Because Japan has a very different society than Europe, they refuse to import workers. Instead, they are just shutting down. Japan has already closed 2000 schools, and is closing them down at the rate of 300 per year. Japan is also aging very rapidly. By 2020, one out of every five Japanese will be at least 70 years old. Nobody has any idea about how to run an economy with those demographics.

Europe and Japan, which comprise two of the world’s major economic engines, aren’t merely in recession, they’re shutting down. This will have a huge impact on the world economy, and it is already beginning to happen. Why are the birthrates so low? There is a direct correlation between abandonment of traditional religious society and a drop in birth rate, and Christianity in Europe is becoming irrelevant. The second reason is economic. When the birth rate drops below replacement, the population ages. With fewer working people to support more retired people, it puts a crushing tax burden on the smaller group of working age people. As a result, young people delay marriage and having a family. Once this trend starts, the downward spiral only gets worse. These countries have abandoned all the traditions they formerly held in regards to having families and raising children.

The U.S. birth rate is 2.0, just below replacement. We have an increase in population because of immigration. When broken down by ethnicity, the Anglo birth rate is 1.6 (same as France) while the Hispanic birth rate is 2.7. In the U.S., the baby boomers are starting to retire in massive numbers. This will push the ‘elder dependency’ ratio from 19 to 38 over the next 10 to 15 years. This is not as bad as Europe, but still represents the same kind of trend.

Western civilization seems to have forgotten what every primitive society understands you need kids to have a healthy society. Children are huge consumers. Then they grow up to become taxpayers. That’s how a society works, but the post-modern secular state seems to have forgotten that. If U.S. birth rates of the past 20 to 30 years had been the same as post-World War II, there would be no Social Security or Medicare problems.

The world’s most effective birth control device is money. As society creates a middle class and women move into the workforce, birth rates drop. Having large families is incompatible with middle class living. The quickest way to drop the birth rate is through rapid economic development. After World War II, the U.S. instituted a $600 tax credit per child. The idea was to enable mom and dad to have four children without being troubled by taxes. This led to a baby boom of 22 million kids, which was a huge consumer market that turned into a huge tax base. However, to match that incentive in today’s dollars would cost $12,000 per child.

China and India do not have declining populations. However, in both countries, there is a preference for boys over girls, and we now have the technology to know which is which before they are born. In China and India, many families are aborting the girls. As a result, in each of these countries there are 70 million boys growing up who will never find wives. When left alone, nature produces 103 boys for every 100 girls. In some provinces, however, the ratio is 128 boys to every 100 girls.

The birth rate in Russia is so low that by 2050 their population will be smaller than that of Yemen. Russia has one-sixth of the earth’s land surface and much of its oil. You can’t control that much area with such a small population. Immediately to the south, you have China with 70 million unmarried men - a real potential nightmare scenario for Russia.

4. Restructuring of American Business

The fourth major transformation involves a fundamental restructuring of American business. Today’s business environment is very complex and competitive. To succeed, you have to be the best, which means having the highest quality and lowest cost. Whatever your price point, you must have the best quality and lowest price. To be the best, you have to concentrate on one thing. You can’t be all things to all people and be the best.

A generation ago, IBM used to make every part of their computer. Now Intel makes the chips, Microsoft makes the software, and someone else makes the modems, hard drives, monitors, etc. IBM even outsources their call center. Because IBM has all these companies supplying goods and services cheaper and better than they could do it themselves, they can make a better computer at a lower cost. This is called a ‘fracturing’ of business. When one company can make a better product by relying on others to perform functions the business used to do itself, it creates a complex pyramid of companies that serve and support each other.

This fracturing of American business is now in its second generation. The companies who supply IBM are now doing the same thing- outsourcing many of their core services and production process. As a result, they can make cheaper, better products. Over time, this pyramid continues to get bigger and bigger. Just when you think it can’t fracture again, it does. Even very small businesses can have a large pyramid of corporate entities that perform many of its important functions. One aspect of this trend is that companies end up with fewer employees and more independent contractors.

This trend has also created two new words in business: integrator and complementor. At the top of the pyramid, IBM is the integrator. As you go down the pyramid, Microsoft, Intel and the other companies that support IBM are the complementors. However, each of the complementors is itself an integrator for the complementors underneath it. This has several implications, the first of which is that we are now getting false readings on the economy. People who used to be employees are now independent contractors launching their own businesses. There are many people working whose work is not listed as a job. As a result, the economy is perking along better than the numbers are telling us.

Outsourcing also confused the numbers. Suppose a company like General Motors decides to outsource all its employee cafeteria functions to Marriott (which it did). It lays off hundreds of cafeteria workers, who then get hired right back by Marriott. The only thing that has changed is that these people work for Marriott rather than GM. Yet, the headlines will scream that America has lost more manufacturing jobs. All that really happened is that these workers are now reclassified as service workers. So the old way of counting jobs contributes to false economic readings. As yet, we haven’t figured out how to make the numbers catch up with the changing realities of the business world.

Another implication of this massive restructuring is that because companies are getting rid of units and people that used to work for them, the entity is smaller. As the companies+ get smaller and more efficient, revenues are going down but profits are going up. As a result, the old notion that ‘revenues are up and we’re doing great’ isn’t always the case anymore. Companies are getting smaller but are becoming more efficient and profitable in the process.

Implications Of The Four Transformations

1. The War in Iraq

In some ways, the war is going very well. Afghanistan and Iraq have the beginnings of a modern government, which is a huge step forward. The Saudis are starting to talk about some good things, while Egypt and Lebanon are beginning to move in a good direction.

A series of revolutions have taken place in countries like Ukraine and Georgia. There will be more of these revolutions for an interesting reason. In every revolution, there comes a point where the dictator turns to the general and says, ‘Fire into the crowd.’ If the general fires into the crowd, it stops the revolution. If the general says ‘No,’ the revolution is over. Increasingly, the generals are saying ‘No’ because their kids are in the crowd.

Thanks to TV and the Internet, the average 18-year old outside the U.S. is very savvy about what is going on in the world, especially in terms of popular culture. There is a huge global consciousness, and young people around the world want to be a part of it. It is increasingly apparent to them that the miserable government where they live is the only thing standing in their way. More and more, it is the well-educated kids, the children of the generals and the elite, who are leading the revolutions.

At the same time, not all is well with the war. The level of violence in Iraq is much worse and doesn’t appear to be improving. It’s possible that we’re asking too much of Islam all at one time. We’re trying to jolt them from the 7th century to the 21st century all at once, which may be further than they can go. They might make it and they might not. Nobody knows for sure. The point is, we don’t know how the war will turn out. Anyone who says they know is just guessing.

The real place to watch is Iran. If they actually obtain nuclear weapons it will be a terrible situation. There are two ways to deal with it. The first is a military strike, which will be very difficult. The Iranians have dispersed their nuclear development facilities and put them underground. The U.S. has nuclear weapons that can go under the earth and take out those facilities, but we don’t want to do that. The other way is to separate the radical mullahs from the government, which is the most likely course of action.

Seventy percent of the Iranian population is under 30. They are Moslem but not Arab. They are mostly pro-Western. Many experts think the U.S. should have dealt with Iran before going to war with Iraq. The problem isn’t so much the weapons, it’s the people who control them. If Iran has a moderate government, the weapons become less of a concern.

We don’t know if we will win the war in Iraq. We could lose or win. What we’re looking for is any indicator that Islam is moving into the 21st century and stabilizing.

2. China

It may be that pushing 500 million people from farms and villages into cities is too much too soon. Although it gets almost no publicity, China is experiencing hundreds of demonstrations around the country, which is unprecedented. These are not students in Tiananmen Square. These are average citizens who are angry with the government for building chemical plants and polluting the water they drink and the air they breathe.

The Chinese are a smart and industrious people. They may be able to pull it off and become a very successful economic and military superpower. If so, we will have to learn to live with it. If they want to share the responsibility of keeping the world’s oil lanes open, that’s a good thing. They currently have eight new nuclear electric power generators under way and 45 on the books to build. Soon, they will leave the U.S. way behind in their ability to generate nuclear power.

What can go wrong with China? For one, you can’t move 550 million people into the cities without major problems. Two, China really wants Taiwan- not so much for economic reasons, they just want it. The Chinese know that their system of communism can’t survive much longer in the 21st century. The last thing they want to do before they morph into some sort of more capitalistic government is to take over Taiwan.

We may wake up one morning and find they have launched an attack on Taiwan. If so, it will be a mess, both economically and militarily. The U.S. has committed to the military defense of Taiwan. If China attacks Taiwan, will we really go to war against them? If the Chinese generals believe the answer is no, they may attack. If we don’t defend Taiwan, every treaty the U.S. has will be worthless. Hopefully, China won’t do anything stupid.

3. Demographics

Europe and Japan are dying because their populations are aging and shrinking. These trends can be reversed if the young people start breeding. However, the birth rates in these areas are so low it will take two generations to turn things around. No economic model exists that permits 50 years to turn things around. Some countries are beginning to offer incentives for people to have bigger families. For example, Italy is offering tax breaks for having children. However, it’s a lifestyle issue versus a tiny amount of money. Europeans aren’t willing to give up their comfortable lifestyles in order to have more children.

In general, everyone in Europe just wants it to last a while longer. Europeans have a real talent for living. They don’t want to work very hard. The average European worker gets 400 more hours of vacation time per year than Americans. They don’t want to work and they don’t want to make any of the changes needed to revive their economies.

The summer after 9/11, France lost 15,000 people in a heat wave. In August, the country basically shuts down when everyone goes on vacation. That year, a severe heat wave struck and 15,000 elderly people living in nursing homes and hospitals died. Their children didn’t even leave the beaches to come back and take care of the bodies. Institutions had to scramble to find enough refrigeration units to hold the bodies until people came to claim them.

This loss of life was five times bigger than 9/11 in America, yet it didn’t trigger any change in French society. When birth rates are so low, it creates a tremendous tax burden on the young. Under those circumstances, keeping mom and dad alive is not an attractive option. That’s why euthanasia is becoming so popular in most European countries. The only country that doesn’t permit (and even encourage) euthanasia is Germany, because of all the baggage from World War II.

The European economy is beginning to fracture. The Euro is down. Countries like Italy are starting to talk about pulling out of the European Union because it is killing them. When things get bad economically in Europe, they tend to get very nasty politically. The canary in the mine is anti-Semitism. When it goes up, it means trouble is coming. Current levels of anti-Semitism are higher than ever. Germany won’t launch another war, but Europe will likely get shabbier, more dangerous and less pleasant to live in.

Japan has a birth rate of 1.3 and has no intention of bringing in immigrants. By 2020, one out of every five Japanese will be 70 years old. Property values in Japan have dropped every year for the past 14 years. The country is simply shutting down.

In the U.S. we also have an aging population. Boomers are starting to retire at a massive rate. These retirements will have several major impacts:

Possible massive sell-off of large four-bedroom houses and a movement to condos.
An enormous drain on the treasury. Boomers vote, and they want their benefits, even if it means putting a crushing tax burden on their kids to get them. Social Security will be a huge problem. As this generation ages, it will start to drain the system. We are the only country in the world where there are no age limits on medical procedures.
An enormous drain on the health care system. This will also increase the tax burden on the young, which will cause them to delay marriage and having families, which will drive down the birth rate even further.

Although scary, these demographics also present enormous opportunities for products and services tailored to aging populations. There will be tremendous demand for caring for older people, especially those who don’t need nursing homes but need some level of care. Some people will have a business where they take care of three or four people in their homes. The demand for that type of service and for products to physically care for aging people will be huge.

Make sure the demographics of your business are attuned to where the action is. For example, you don’t want to be a baby food company in Europe or Japan. Demographics are much underrated as an indicator of where the opportunities are. Businesses need customers. Go where the customers are.

4. Restructuring of American Business

The restructuring of American business means we are coming to the end of the age of the employer and employee. With all this fracturing of businesses into different and smaller units, employers can’t guarantee jobs anymore because they don’t know what their companies will look like next year. Everyone is on their way to becoming an independent contractor. The new workforce contract will be, ‘Show up at the my office five days a week and do what I want you to do, but you handle your own insurance, benefits, health care and everything else.’

Husbands and wives are becoming economic units. They take different jobs and work different shifts depending on where they are in their careers and families. They make tradeoffs to put together a compensation package to take care of the family. This used to happen only with highly educated professionals with high incomes. Now it is happening at the level of the factory floor worker. Couples at all levels are designing their compensation packages based on their individual needs. The only way this can work is if everything is portable and flexible, which requires a huge shift in the American economy.

The U.S. is in the process of building the world’s first 21st century model economy. The only other countries doing this are U.K. and Australia. The model is fast, flexible, highly productive and unstable in that it is always fracturing and re-fracturing. This will increase the economic gap between the U.S. and everybody else, especially Europe and Japan .

At the same time, the military gap is increasing. Other than China, we are the only country that is continuing to put money into their military. Plus, we are the only military getting on-the-ground military experience through our war in Iraq. We know which high-tech weapons are working and which ones aren’t. There is almost no one who can take us on economically or militarily. There has never been a superpower in this position before.

On the one hand, this makes the U.S. a magnet for bright and ambitious people. It also makes us a target. We are becoming one of the last holdouts of the traditional Judeo-Christian culture. There is no better place in the world to be in business and raise children. The U.S. is by far the best place to have an idea, form a business and put it into the marketplace. We take it for granted, but it isn’t as available in other countries of the world.

Ultimately, it’s an issue of culture. The only people who can hurt us are ourselves, by losing our culture. If we give up our Judeo-Christian culture, we become just like the Europeans. The culture war is the whole ballgame. If we lose it, there isn’t another America to pull us out.

About Herbert Meyer

Herbert Meyer served during the Reagan administration as special assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence and Vice Chairman of the CIA’s National Intelligence Council. In these positions, he managed production of the U.S. National Intelligence Estimates and other top-secret projections for the President and his national security advisers. Meyer is widely credited with being the first senior U.S. Government official to forecast the Soviet Unions collapse, for which he later was awarded the U.S. National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the intelligence community's highest honor. Formerly an associate editor of FORTUNE he is also the author of several books.

What Does Your Organization Need To Do To Profit From This Economic Downturn? by Manoj Sharma

2008-03-24T21:50:00.004+08:00

What Does Your Organization Need To Do To Profit From This Economic Downturn? by Manoj Sharma

People everywhere are aware that the global economy has taken a downturn. Your organization as part of the global business community either has already or will most likely be impacted in some shape or form. Regardless of the impact, thinking ahead what are some of the things you need to pay attention to, to ensure your organization makes the best of this change in economic climate? Below is a short list of things you might want to consider to have your organization bound back stronger still.

Focus on making things better.

Take everything you have and figure out how to make it better. Then keep making it better and even better still till the downturn is over. Know that if you make something truly great, everybody will want it and your market share, along with your profitability and fulfillment levels will certainly increase.

Distinguish creativity and invention from innovation.

When it comes to business, don’t confuse creativity with invention and innovation. Creativity is mind set related and is about making new connections. Invention is skill set related and is about creating new things in a physical reality. Innovation is business set related and is about inventing a new way to add value to other people’s lives. Innovate with a clear focus on increasing your top line, bottom line and customer engagement or you will waste both your time and money.

Go with your educated gut feeling.

Seize the opportunity to get customer feedback. Don’t directly ask your customers what they want through a survey as they won’t understand your business as well as you and cannot see it from your perspective. Do however ask your employees to ask your customers what they want. Then get your employees to improve on what your customers want.

In a downturn your employees need to be prepped to further engage your customers and potential customers. They need to establish an educated gut feeling and innovatively engage in internal innovation dialogues to create products, services and experiences that emotionally turn people on.

Embrace the age of disruption.

You are in the age of disruptions, short attention spans, and faster half-lives. You are on a maniacal roller coaster ride. While going on this maniacal roller coaster ride start to pay closer attention to value propositions and core values. Learn to build greater value propositions and lean how people are actually buying to coincide with their core values. This will give all your subsequent marketing a new competitive edge once the economy picks up.

Transcend your industry.

From the year 2000 onwards the business world has become rich with organizations that transcend industries and consolidate industry wide value propositions. Your organization needs to conjure up value propositions so compelling, ingenious and new that they upend industries. To profit from the above you also need to identify the biggest market possible and work towards capturing it in the down cycle. Get professional assistance on this as it will reap huge dividends.

Dedicate yourself to discovery and excellence.

Now dedicate or re-dedicate yourself to discovery and excellence. Discover what the hugest leap forward may be and strive to excel at it. Do not necessarily attempt to go for it alone. Collaborate with willing parties, bring together value propositions, clarify individual and collective gains and you will magnify your chance of success. People are far more willing to collaborate in downtimes when a new angle is needed, than uptimes when everyone is too caught up in busyness.

Strip away the fat.

Strip away the fat and get lean. Identify the few things you need to do well right now and do them exceedingly well. Do not get consumed with doing everything, it will be too much for you to handle. In the world of sports the downtime is called post-season and it is a time for athletes to recuperate followed by a pre-season which is the time for them to train and shape up. In the world of business the downtime, is called a downturn and the pre-season, is called a troughs.

Stop selling.

To benefit from creating a lasting value proposition, you need to stop selling and focus on having people fall in love with you, our ideas, your ideals, your products, services and experiences instead. Now is the time to ignore fads and look for the established principles that give rise to them instead. Now is the time to stop attempting to get people to buy what they don’t want to and to figure out what they need, want and desire instead. Now is the time to cease attempting to fool people through your marketing campaigns and learn to communicate clear, truthful value propositions.

Answer the “Wouldn’t it be great if….” question.

Work with your team and identify 10 propositions that would be great for both your customer and you. Then find workable solutions to them. If you can’t find workable solutions, innovate workable solutions. Also conduct a “100 New Ideas and Ideals Workshop” and then focus on the few you feel it would be best for you to focus on.

Know the impermanence of all cycles.

Appreciate that creation, maintenance and destruction is a cycle of life. Get clear that your life is brief and then you die. Know that you can only do that many things in your life time. So take the opportunity to figure out how you’d like to live your life, what you would like to bring to it and then go out there and do it with a spirit of excellence. Your reward for doing this now will come when the economy picks up.

Examine proficiency, personality and potential.

You need people who have great mind sets and skill sets to create great business sets. Quickly re-evaluate all your people. Where is the proficiency great and where is it poor? What personality traits do you think would assist your business grow and what personality traits can you do without in a hurry? Who is living up to their potential and who is not? All these are important questions as your people are either your competitive assets or competitive liabilities.

Re-evaluate people, products and processes.

Take the time to re-evaluate your investment in people, products and processes. If you hired well, it would have taken you a long time to get your people together and most will probably work well. Get rid of the poor performers and those who have not capitalized on living up to their potential. Enhance the value propositions of your products or innovate new ones. Tidy up your processes to become more optimal. Invest whatever you can in your research, development and innovation so you can compete better when the economy picks up.

I trust this will assist you to take the problems that come around in a downturn and turn them into profitable opportunities. How well and how fast you do the above will determine your success in the years ahead.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to call me at DIFFERWORLD! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

What Are Some Of The Most Important Challenges You Need To Address Now? by Manoj Sharma

2008-03-21T18:54:00.004+08:00

What Are Some Of The Most Important Challenges You Need To Address Now? by Manoj Sharma

Everybody from Individuals, Teams, Organizations, Communities and The World are facing a set of Problems, Issues, Difficulties, Obstacles and Challenges.

While everybody professes that they would like to overcome their problems, issues, difficulties, obstacles and challenges, few actually do what is actually required to do so. Most put in some variety of a structured and unstructured effort, but ultimately, almost all, continue largely down the "same-old, same-old" path, barely experiencing the "different-new, different-new". While the smart get professional assistance to save themselves time and money, the foolish attempt it on their own.

Ask yourself, how many from the list below do you realize you desire, but remain as yet unachieved for you? Once you are done, identify how many things are on your list.

I would like to...

Elevate my consciousness?
Expand my conscientiousness?
Experience true contentment?
Be expansive in my thinking?
Interact with greater sophistication?
Remove my pretenses?
Be more productive?
Apportion my time better?
Get myself into shape?
Inspire others to live a better life?
Delegate more effectively?
Be financially independent?
Just be happy?
Eat healthier?
Be more influential?
Be more compelling?
Communicate more effectively?
Be a confident speaker?
Represent myself/ my organization better?
Write artfully?
Be more creative?
Improve the overall quality of my life?
Improve the overall standard of my living?
Assist to improve others lives?
Live the way I'd really like to?
Be incredibly empowered?
Boost my / my organization's profitability?
Assist to increase my family's / friend's financial well-being?
Assist my community in a multitude of ways?
Expand my professional and/or personal network?
Stop selling and find buyers instead?
Relax?
Stop wasting time?
Stop wasting money?
Be a magnificent asset and not a liability?
Not burn out and pace myself well?
Put life and not work at the core of my life?
Be more astute?
Be more aware?
Be a better listener?
Enjoy work-life harmony?
Be wiser?
Be more worldly?
Accelerate my learning curve?
Start a new business successfully?
Further grow my existing business?
Avoid the pitfalls of life?
Not be so reactive?
Build a great reservoir of goodwill?
Increase my knowledge base?
Redesign my entire life?
Re-orientate myself for greater fulfillment?
Rethink my purpose?
Strive for greatness?
Clear out physical, mental and emotional clutter?
Stop being so mediocre?
Be clear?
Interact powerfully?
Be ahead of the curve?
Remove dissonance?
Enhance my education?
Build upon my strengths?
Eliminate my weaknesses?
Cleanse my perceptions?
Be patient?
Be self-directed?
Be focused on my targets?
Be devoted to causes that matter?
Be a congruent personality?
Be a person of substance?
Achieve my goals faster and better?
Be highly disciplined?
Be magnanimous?
Be masterful?
Be a pillar of my society?
Be of great value to others?
Be dignified in my dealings?
Be more proactive?
Be highly responsible?
Be innovative in finding solutions?
Establish fabulous skill sets?
Stop procrastinating?
Weight out and seize opportunities faster?
Accurately appreciate the possibilities of situations?
Stop struggling?
Start winning?
Be involved with something
Invest more quality time with myself / my loved ones?
Deal better with stressful situations?
Be generous and prudent at the same time?
Know my fear and desire motivators?
Understand my empowering and limiting strategies?
Live more dynamically?
Have higher energy levels?
Enjoy more vacations?
See the world?
Broaden my horizons?
Be more respected by others?
Just chill out?
Be peaceful?
Be a solid leader?

How many things are on your list?
What are you going to do about them?
And when?

Also, feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Where Does Your Business Stand In The Mind Of Your Customers by Manoj Sharma

2008-03-19T11:19:00.005+08:00

Where Does Your Business Stand In The Mind Of Your Customers by Manoj Sharma

Which of these 12 levels are your customers predominantly at?

Poor awareness of you, your products, services and ideas
An awareness that you exist but no awareness of your products, services and ideas
An awareness of you and a brief awareness of your products, services and ideas
An good appreciation of your value propositions but no idea of how it benefits them
A good appreciation of your value proposition and a good idea of how it benefits them
A very good appreciation of their benefits from your value proposition and a good mind share to contact you when they need them
An immediate request for you to quote when they have a challenge that needs to be addressed
A full understanding of why they should engage you regardless of other pressures
Engaging you on win -win terms
A great experience of you, your value proposition and your products, services and ideas
Immediate engagement of you, whenever they require your products, services and ideas
Promotion of you to others to also engage your products, services and ideas

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Lies, Illusions, Delusions and The Truth by Manoj Sharma

2008-03-17T23:26:00.006+08:00

Lies, Illusions, Delusions and The Truth by Manoj Sharma

People reveal their true identity most accurately, in the lies they tell behind closed doors to themselves, more so than the lies they attempt to cover up in the publics eye.

There is a state of mind present in the early stages of unconsciousness of all in all human beings; a state of mind in which we conveniently lie to ourselves to, strangely, hide the truth from ourselves. Some call this a defense mechanism, a convenient pretense and/or an artful fake. Whatever the name we accord to it, the truth is it the individual ego's attempt towards self-preservation.

The individual's ego, hiding in the shadows, having convinced the host that it does not exist, does this by creating an illusion than it deems more conducive to its aims. Fundamentally there is nothing wrong with this, but at the same time, let us acknowledge that there is also nothing right about this either. It is just that, like the rest of life, unconsciously there is a choice that has been made, and in every choice lies a cause to which, there is a consequence. The consequence in this case being, the illusion is created so unknowingly and masqueraded so normally, that naturally over time, it systematically creates a delusion. A delusion that by design is separated from reality and over time moves further and further away from truth.

While most of these lies are trivial, all of these lies are significant. Why? Because behind closed doors, when one is only with oneself, the liar and the lied to, are one and the same. The liar is both the perpetrator of the crime and also the victim of the crime. But, neither the perpetrator nor the victim takes responsibility for the act.

So, a state of 1) Denial is the first to set in, because, "It wasn't me!" is the loudest thought that echoes in the recesses of the mind. Followed by a combination of....

2) Arguments - internally or externally with yourself or others
3) Blame - always of others to project and escape - physically, mentally and emotionally
4) Complaints - to other unconscious victims in the pursuit of company and comfort
5) Excuses - disguised as reasons (know that a reason is a one time event, that ceases to be once one is conscious of the reason, but excuses, regardless of circumstances, are repetitive)
6) Fault - rarely of oneself and if so, almost always at the expense of taking responsibility
7) Guilt - as a strategy towards not having to face the truth
8) Hatred - of anybody who attempts to lift the veil and destroy the delusion
9) Ignorance - as the maintainer of status quo

"Genuine" protest, disbelief and outrage are also often observed. But the ability to take ownership, hold yourself accountable to be a leader in your life and subsequently to correct is what is missing to escape the clutches of a vicious circle in which the lesson to be learned remains unlearned are distinctly absent.

Slowly but surely, the unknowing victim become the willing victim. Unless and until, consciousness is brought to the now willing victim or arises in the now willing victim, the pattern has no choice but to continue, the lies get compounded, the illusion becomes more real, the delusion separates the person further from reality and the opportunity for truth is all but lost. This creates in congruence, the unraveling from which becomes tougher and tougher.

The time to do something about is now. If not you, who? If not now, when?

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

The Planet In Peril

2008-03-12T19:08:00.004+08:00

The Planet In Peril

GLOBAL WARMING: Time now for ruthless measures, not compromise.

By Nirmal Ghosh, Thailand Correspondent

INFORMATION that emerged last year set off alarm bells on global warming, but we may still be oversleeping. Some of the world's foremost climate scientists now say that global warming is far more advanced than was believed at last year's Bali conference on the Kyoto Protocol.

Proposed targets for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases - the main drivers of global warming - under the Kyoto Protocol and beyond, they say, are looking outdated. The impact of climate change is happening at lower temperature increases and more quickly than projected.

The most striking symptom of this is the Arctic's floating sea ice. It is headed towards summer disintegration as early as 2013, a century ahead of the projections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

In what scientists describe as 'positive feedback', the warmer the planet gets, the faster it warms.

For instance, a warmer planet sparks more forest fires - which in turn pump more carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air, warming the planet further. When the Arctic region's frozen peat known as permafrost melts, it releases methane - a greenhouse gas 21 times more powerful than CO2 - which again further drives global warming.

In fact, the data shows that we are now producing more CO2 at the same time as the ability of the planet's surface to absorb it is falling - mainly because of deforestation.

'POSITIVE FEEDBACK' PHENOMENON

For instance, a warmer planet sparks more forest fires - which in turn pumps more carbon dioxide into the air, warming the planet further. When the Arctic region's frozen peat melts, it releases methane, which again further drives global warming.

The combination of these factors creates 'positive feedback', accelerating global warming.

In the words of the Climate Code Red report released this month in Australia: 'We have already created the conditions for extremely dangerous climate change...that will induce further, and possibly uncontrollable, feedback.'

The report was done for Friends of the Earth by the think tanks Carbon Equity and Green Leap Strategic Institute.

It is almost too hot for many in the government and corporate sectors to handle. They remain locked in what the report calls 'failure-inducing compromise'.

The Australian report brings together a far more up-to-date picture than the IPCC report did. Because of time lags, the IPCC report contained data which in many cases was already outdated by the time the report was published.

Code Red brings together views from a range of scientists involved in climate change research, including some of the world's foremost thinkers on the subject like Dr James Hansen of Nasa's Goddard Institute of Space Studies.

Dr Hansen told an Australian radio station last week: 'As it stands now, we will lose the Arctic sea ice without any more greenhouse gases, because there is (already) additional warming in the pipeline.'

He added: 'Talking about a date (by which we should reduce greenhouse gases) which is quite a distance in the future is...a way for politicians to get out of doing something now. They put off the target to a date when they'll be out of office.'

The 101-page Code Red report concludes that the climate 'will not respond to incremental modification of the business-as-usual model'.

The summer melting of the Arctic's floating ice - supplemented soon by melting in western Antarctica - will trigger a sea level rise of 5m or more by 2100.

Meanwhile, many coastal cities and their fresh-water supplies will be compromised by salt water. Marine life will be affected by acidification.

The report warns that if the acceleration is too rapid, humanity will no longer have the power to reverse the processes it has set in motion. The planet will look very different from now - and the changes will come within the lifetimes of most adults alive today.

Warning against 'trading off thousands if not millions of species, and perhaps hundreds of millions of people, by opting for compromised goals', the report's authors, Mr Philip Sutton of Green Leap and Mr David Spratt of Carbon Equity, say global warming demands an emergency response beyond 'business as usual' and 'politics as usual'.

It is not that the IPCC did not warn of this. But the IPCC's data had by late 2007 been outstripped by growth in greenhouse gases - not only from countries like India and China but also from developed nations such as Australia.

Another problem, the Code Red authors contend, is scientific reticence. Many whose work centres on climate change have struggled to gain recognition on the issue and remain concerned about being dismissed as 'alarmist' and 'crazy'.

'Now that the science is showing that the situation is far worse than most scientists expected only a short while ago, this ingrained reticence is adding to the problem,' they said.

There is also pressure - mainly from industry and countries heavily reliant on fossil fuels - to dilute worst-case estimates.

The report does not include the views of professors Steve Rayner of Oxford's James Martin Institute of Science and Civilisation, and Gwyn Prins of the Mackinder Centre for the Study of Long Wave Events at the London School of Economics. But it echoes what they wrote at the time of last year's Bali conference: 'Kyoto has given only an illusion of action. It has become the sole focus of our efforts and, as a result, we have wasted 15 years.'

What do the scientists and the authors of the Climate Code Red report advocate? They draw on the example of World War II to show that human society can indeed change.

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour in December 1941, America's military imperatives demanded 'a rapid conversion of great swathes of economic capacity from civil to military purposes'.

'Within weeks, car production lines became tank lines and manufacture of passenger cars ceased for the duration of the war, new methods to mass- produce military aircraft were devised, and consumer spending was dampened by selling 'war bonds' to fund the cost of rapidly expanding military production and control inflation,' they say.

'Price controls were introduced and rationing of key goods was mandated. Yet the economy, real wages and profits all grew, though civil rights were significantly curtailed.'

It is just such a response that is needed to deal with global warming. Humanity will have to change the way its societies and economies are structured - both by using new technologies and ruthlessly eliminating or taxing greenhouse gas emissions.

That means fundamental changes - but not intolerable ones compared to the ravages of global warming. As Mr Sutton and Mr Spratt write: 'We can do without jet-transported Californian spring cherries at our fresh food markets in the middle of a cold Melbourne winter.'

The Shell Must Be Cracked Apart by Meister Eckhart

2008-03-11T21:29:00.003+08:00

The Shell Must Be Cracked Apart by Meister Eckhart

"The shell must be cracked apart if what is in it is to come out, for if you want the kernel you must break the shell.

And therefore, if you want to discover nature's nakedness, you must destroy its symbols, and the farther you get in the nearer you come to its essence.

When you come to the One that gathers all things up into itself, there your soul must stay" -- Meister Eckhart

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

If You Cannot by Manoj Sharma

2008-03-09T22:43:00.004+08:00

If You Cannot by Manoj Sharma

If you cannot find happiness right now, where else do you expect to find it?

If you cannot seize the opportunity right now, where else will you be able to seize it?

If you cannot learn the lesson right now, where else will you learn it?

If you cannot see the truth right now, where else will you see it?

If you cannot elevate your consciousness right now, where else will you elevate it?

If you cannot correct your thinking right now, where else will you correct it?

If you cannot listen right now, where else will you listen?

If you cannot shed your ignorance right now, where else will you shed it?

If you cannot allay your ego right now, where else will you shed it?

If you cannot be of service right now, where else can you serve?

If you cannot enjoy the moment right now, where else will you enjoy it?

If you cannot put in the effort to appreciate this right now, where else can you appreciate it?

It is now or never. Know that now is all there is and ever will be. The rest is simply the delusion of believing in an illusion.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

The Many Are Riding On the Backs Of The Few And Something Needs To Be Done To Assist Right Now by Manoj Sharma

2008-02-28T21:10:00.005+08:00

The Many Are Riding On the Backs Of The Few And Something Needs To Be Done To Assist Right Now by Manoj Sharma

Failure is lurking at every corner in your organization and is rarely spotted, because the accepted norm when it comes to success is a case of stumbling forward on the effort of the few. Whether you have realized this or not, it is absolute true. Don't take my work for it, do however think about it! And please note this is not a criticism, but an observation and a call to raise consciousness.

Possibly like you, I too never realized the extent of the problem, but the more I work with organization around the world, the more obvious this is becoming to me. The many are riding on the backs of the few and something needs to be done to break this cycle, especially if your organization is to fulfill its function in the world.

Arguably...

the global population explosion,
the opening up on trade boundaries,
the convenience of travel,
the improvements in communication,
the gravitation towards cities,
the mobility of the global workforce,
the availability of higher education,
the creation of jobs,
the pursuit of capitalism,
the explosion of consumerism and
ultimately the money multiplier effect...

...are more responsible for the explosive growth the world is experiencing then the efforts of the masses.

If you are paying attention, allow me to suggest that the symptoms of the above can be clearly seen within the structure of organizations. Yes, your organization too. Without getting into too many specifics, see if you can link the relationship between what is stated below and the fact that "The Many Are Riding On The Backs Of The Few".

In organizations, the many, are more often in a reaction, waiting for directions, trying to get away with the minimum they need to do, lost in apathy, stuck in inertia and haven't escaped the effects of past ills, while the few are Proactive - Eager, Energetic and Make Things Happen.

In organizations, the many, are actively or passively caught in arguments, blame, complaints, denial, excuses, fault, guilt, hatred and ignorance, while the few are Responsible - Reliable, Accountable and take Ownership.

In organizations, the many, are unimaginative, mundane, boring, stale, repetitive, dead and unquestioning, while the few are Innovative - Creative, Inventive and Imaginative.

In an organization, the many, are half-hearted, hesitant, indecisive, uncertain, uninterested and convenience-driven, while the few are Committed - Devoted, Purposeful and Whole-Hearted.

In an organization, the many, do the ordinary, pedestrian, common, mediocre, normal, regular and typical, while the few deliver Excellence - Extraordinary, Exemplary and Noteworthy results.

Being intelligent and extrapolating the obvious, do you really need any further proof that The Many Are Riding On The Backs Of The Few?

So, where do your people stand when it comes to Proactivity, Responsibility, Innovation, Commitment and Excellence?

What do you know you need to do about it now?

How can we assist you meet your ideals?

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Opportunity by Manoj Sharma

2008-02-22T11:34:00.004+08:00

Opportunity by Manoj Sharma

"Contrary to conventional understanding, the truth about opportunity is that, an opportunity can only exist in the right here and right now - you either seize it immediately or you miss out on that opportunity forever!

The illusion that the same opportunity is there later, is exactly that; an illusion resulting from muddled thinking. Very few people understand this fundamental point and therefore many miss out on the opportunity to live a wealthier life." -- Manoj Sharma from KNOWING - An Illuminating Experience

Happiness by Kitaro Nishida

2008-01-15T23:56:00.000+08:00

Happiness by Kitaro Nishida

"If my heart can become pure and simple like that of a child, I think there probably can be no greater happiness than this." - Kitaro Nishida

The Fewest Things by Socrates

2008-01-15T23:51:00.000+08:00

The Fewest Things by Socrates

"Those who want the fewest things are nearest to the Gods." - Socrates

In Dwelling - The Tao Te Ching

2008-01-15T00:07:00.000+08:00

In Dwelling - The Tao Te Ching

"In dwelling, live close to the ground.

In thinking, keep to the simple.

In conflict, be fair and generous.

In governing, don't try to control.

In work, do what you enjoy.

In family life, be completely present."

-- The Tao Te Ching

Warning - Mind Control Made Easy or How To Become a Cult Leader

2007-12-19T07:50:00.000+08:00

Warning - Mind Control Made Easy or How To Become a Cult Leader

The following clip shows you how cults and cult like organizations operate. It shows how cults and cult like organizations masquerade as educational, personal development, self-help and quasi-religious groups.

It shows the basic inner workings and strategies of these cults and cults like organizations, how they prey on people's psychological, physiological, sociological and financial needs and bait them with other benefits before slowly ensnaring even the most intelligent minds into become their stanchest supporters.

How cults and cult like organizations strive to gain devoted followers, who are ultimately willing to leave their families for them, give their money to them, give up their bodies and lives to them, consider them God, and in extreme cases even kill for them.

How cult and cult like organizations structure themselves "like an onion, with the most benign and helpful features on the outside and the most kookie, controlling and evil parts at the secret inner core."

How cults and cult like organizations "use deception" don't "tell you who they really are", "lie" "leave out important information" or "distort information" and "recruit you" under the guise of wanting to "share something meaningful with you".

How they establish front groups such as, "we are a bible study group", "we are a management course", "we are a meditation centre", "we are a world peace organization", "we are a personal development centre", "we are a drug rehab centre" and so on.

How they promise to fulfill your dreams of, "unconditional love", "secrets to self improvements", "being special", "saving the world", "special powers", "personal power", "psychic power", "past life connection" and even "telekinesis".

How they lure you and "offer you something free and make you feel obliged to give back something in return". How you will hear things like, "we gave you that free dinner, the least you can do is come to our weekend intensives".

How they use time pressure on you. You will hear things like, "this is your only chance to make it, don't blow it", "it is important to make this commitment NOW", and "this is an issue of burning urgency".

How they will "diminish doubt", "separate you from others you know", "surround you with happy true believers", "start with a prolonged period of love bomb you, surround you with unconditional love and attention", "act friendly and interested, get information and hone your weak spots" get you to "tell them about yourself", "take a personality test" and then use this information to "manipulate you". All this will happen gradually, you will think you are being helped and no matter how intelligent you think you are, you won't even realizing where it is really going.

Gradually over time, after two or three seminar, some higher curriculum or after progressing up to higher levels, "demand" will be made of you and that it when it all starts to really operate like a cult.

What the clip does not show is how cults and cult like organizations recruit people from the upper echelons of society and get them to give credibility to their cause. How cults and cult like organizations sway key government divisions and get their nod to continue with their activities. How cults and cult like organizations work with leaders of commerce and get entire organizations to undergo their seminars.

Know that for cults and cult like organizations to survive as global entities they would have to hone and refine their approach so that even the most discerning can be indoctrinated. This should alert you as to how much longer they have been playing the game and preying on the unsuspecting. You become wise you might need to appreciate that they have been at it for decades and almost certainly for a period of time much longer than you have been discerning of them.

Watch the clip and learn their activities for yourself.

Also for more information on cults and cult like organizations please go to...

And have an open, discerning mind on what you read.

http://www.rickross.com/
http://www.culthelp.info/
http://www.freedomofmind.com/

Five Questions for Creatively Re-Thinking your Organization and Business by Manoj Sharma

2007-12-18T10:21:00.000+08:00

Five Questions for Creatively Re-Thinking your Organization and Business by Manoj Sharma

Thinking is truly the hardest work in the world. Anybody who believes otherwise obvious hasn't really done some great, fresh, breakthrough thinking. Another thing that is true is that people rather get the answers than have to think them through.

If you are willing to do the work, here are some questions that, will force you to rethink things through when it comes to your organization and business.

Ask the following questions and see what answers you are able to come up with.

What would you do differently, what would happen if...

1) You start to realize everything your organization does has everything to do with energy of the quantifiable and unquantifiable kind?

2) Your "competitors" started to provide more and more products and services for free?

3) You truly started to formulate your strategies based entirely on your customers demands, even if they seem to be to your determent?

4) A true appreciation of the "principles of abundance creating new scarcities" permeated every facet of your thinking, actions and results?

5) You realized "attention, reputation, conversion, retention and expansion" were the key metrics you need to measure both for your organization and your people?

What are the answers you came up with and what new questions arose as a result of it?

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Do You Really Know Anything About Money?

2007-12-15T21:11:00.000+08:00

Do You Really Know Anything About Money?

Watch this clip entitled Money As Debt and see for yourself.

Nonviolence by Gandhi

2007-12-14T22:45:00.000+08:00

Nonviolence by Gandhi

"I wanted to avoid violence. Non-violence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed. But I had to make my choice. I had to either submit to a system that I considered had done an irreparable harm to my country, or incur the risk of the mad fury of my people bursting forth when they understood the truth from my lips. I know that my people have sometimes gone mad. I am deeply sorry for it and I am, therefore, here to submit not to a light penalty but to the highest penalty. I do not ask for mercy. I do not plead any extenuating act. I am here therefore to invite, and cheerfully submit to the highest penalty that can be inflicted upon me for what in law is a deliberate crime, and what appears to me to be the highest duty of a citizen... I owe it perhaps to the Indian public and the public in England... To the court too I should say why I plead guilty to the charge of promoting disaffection towards the Government established by law in India.

Affection cannot be manufactured or regulated by law. If one has no affection for a person or a system, one should be free to give the fullest expression to his disaffection, so long as he does not contemplate, promote, or incite to violence. But the section under which mere promotion of disaffection is a crime. I have studied some of the cases tried under it; I know that some of the most loved of India's patriots have been convicted under it. I consider it a privilege, therefore, to be charged under that section.

In my opinion, noncooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good. But in the past, noncooperation had been deliberately expressed in violence to the evil-doer. I am endeavouring to show to my countrymen that violent noncooperation only multiplies evil, and that as evil can only be sustained by violence, withdrawal of support of evil requires complete abstention from violence." -- Gandhi

Redefining The 48 Laws of Power by Manoj Sharma

2007-12-14T12:45:00.000+08:00

Redefining The 48 Laws Of Power by Manoj Sharma

I write this with respect for the work that Robert Green and Joost Elfers have been doing and safe in the knowledge that they are big and open enough to entertain another point of view.

Law 1

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Never outshine your master"

Manoj Sharma says, "Strive to outshine your master"

You should strive to build a win-win relationship with your Master based on mutual respect, trust and and above all contribution to each other such that you have their permission and support to go beyond where they have gone and show total respect towards each other as professionals at the same time. A true master ultimately seeks for nothing more than to have a disciple build upon their work and take it to the next level. Any master who does not strive for this end is not really a master but a power hungry, praise seeking, ego-maniac.

Law 2

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies."

Manoj Sharma says, "Deepen your relationship with people and build greater enduring friendships"

If you have friends who will be only too happy to betray you quickly due to their envy as suggested by Robert Green, then you only have envious acquaintances, not friends and you might as well cultivate enemies as Robert Green suggests. Consider that you need to deepen your relationships with people and build greater enduring relationships instead. In the long term your goodwill with people is what will see you and them through the ups and downs of life. Human relationships are fragile, so even more important that you learn how to deepen your relationships with people and build deep reservoirs of goodwill.

Law 3

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Conceal your intentions"

Manoj Sharma says, "Be as open as you can as often as you can.

If you have been living Robert Greens 2nd Law you had best conceal your intentions as the knives would long have been sharpened and waiting for you. If on the other hand you have been deepening your relationships with people, you would definitely want to be as open as possible as often as you can. Sure many things are confidential but as one billionaire told me, "I rather my competitors, who have become my great friends know what I am up to before they read about it in the papers." It is only the petty and small, without unique competitive advantages that fear reprisal and are thus engaged in a constant battle with the world around them.

Law 4

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Always say less than necessary"

Manoj Sharma says, "Always say less than necessary"

This is great advice.

Law 5

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "So much depends on reputation - guard it with your life"

Manoj Sharma says, "Your reputation is your everything, but, don't worry about guarding it"

Invest in building a reputation that serves you for a life time, remembering that what you build is predominantly what people will relate to. If you build a sound, society serving reputation for example, it does not mean that people will not talk bad about it. As the saying goes, "Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about situations and great minds talk about ideas." You can never stop small minds from talking and nitpicking and scandalizing and putting others down, so ignore and don't give it energy. Also don't attempt to destroy someone else's reputation, if they are really as bad as you think they are, don't concern yourself about it, people will eventually pick up on it too. You can't fool everyone all the time.

Law 6

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Court attention at all cost"

Manoj Sharma says, "Develop an attractive personality and let people court you"

An attention seeker can never gather enough attention and will go to all lengths and all cost to gather just a little bit more, sadly through a variety of increasingly desperate ways. A great human being does not seek to court attention, a great human being seeks to be of value to people and embody the best of humanity. People love being around people who are of value and embody the best of humanity. With that in mind, consider developing an attractive personality instead that allows the best in you to shine. People will enjoy being in your company, will court you instead and you will be comfortable at the same time because you are being congruent. If you are wondering what facets of your personality you need to develop to be attractive to people, ask yourself what makes people genuinely attractive to you beyond the flash and the glamour, and that is what you can start to work on.

Law 7

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Let others do the work for you, but always take the credit"

Manoj Sharma says, "Give credit as often as possible, even when the person does not fully deserve it"

Isn't it true that there is little more that aggrieves you when someone is takes credit for your good work? How co-operative do you continue to be when this happens to you? How much effort will you put into doing excellent work knowing that someone else is taking going to take the credit?

By all means delegate, encourage others to do the work they must do, but for everyone's sake share the credit around appropriately. If you are the linchpin around which it is all happening, you do not loose by giving generous credit to all those who have done parts of the work. If you are one of the spokes of the wheel and wholeheartedly give credit where due, you will also only win as people build an affinity for you. Leaders need to know that giving praise and sharing credit sets a new standard, elevates their leadership and that people on their own are more likely to rise to that standard than become complacent. Put this into practice and see the benefits all round for yourself.

Law 8

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Make other people come to you, use bait if necessary."

Manoj Sharma says, "Initiate collaboration."

Robert Green and Joost Elfers suggest that you should "make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains then attack."

Can we afford to look at this and shift the orientation to a more beneficial cause? You might want to consider inviting other people to collaborate with you such that they gain as much, if not more than what they would have gained on their own. Instead of having people abandon their own plans, why not lays the cards out openly and give them choice instead.

As for "lure him with fabulous gains then attack" how silly and short sighted does one have to be to believe that a baited and then weakened enemy will not harbour a vendetta and seek to rapidly recuperate to attack you back. Pursue this course of action and in no time all the enemies you have cultivated will band together and gang up on you. The saying, "my enemy's, enemy is my friend" will haunt you in the worst possible way.

Law 9

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Win through actions, never through arguments."

Manoj Sharma says, "Let you actions speak louder than your words."

This is great advice. You can attempt to convince someone till you are blue in the face and not get anywhere. You actions on the other hand and especially your concrete results are not debatable.

Law 10

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Infection: avoid the unhappy and unlucky."

Manoj Sharma says, "Keep the company of wealthy people."

Wealthy people in this case refers to those who are not just financially wealthy, but also those who are non-financially wealthy. Positive people, solution focused people, people who move things forwards, deeply connected people, socially conscious people, contented people, people who serve humanity and so on. And while keeping their company assist the circumstantially less fortunate, "unhappy and unlucky" enjoy wealth too.

Law 11

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Learn to keep people dependent on you."

Manoj Sharma says, "Learn to enjoy the benefits of interdependence."

Keeping people dependent on you encourages servitude and legal slavery. The world is full of this today, and many people who do not know better are happy in this situation and in many cases evenly deeply gratefully so.

Everybody desires independence, be it financial or non-financial independence. Know that your independence does not necessitate another's dependence upon you, although the world of business is rife with rich examples of this. Humanity will evolve onto another more sustainable and scalable platform when people realize that breeding dependence is not the way forward, that having people become independent and ultimately interdependent is.

Wealth creation through dependence is leveraged wealth. Wealth creation through independence is contributed wealth. Wealth creation through interdependence is true wealth for all.

Law 12

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Use selective honestly and generosity to disarm your victims."

Manoj Sharma says, "Your real intention is best known by you and at the end of the day you still have to live with yourself."

Robert Green and Joost Elfers write, "Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift - A Trojan Horse - will serve the same purpose."

Sure this will work and work like a charm because people always love gifts, are always open to flattery even when they know it is untrue. Yes, you may get your way, pat yourself on the back for your guile and clever work and even boast to others of how brilliantly your strategy worked. But, at the end of the day you will still be nothing more than a deceiver, manipulator and a person of poor moral and ethics. Those who have developed win-win-win propositions, attractive personalities, great empowering mindsets and fabulous competencies do not need to manipulate, deceive and distract, they can morally and ethically win at the games they choose to engage in.

The truth is, those who invest their time figuring out how to manipulate, deceive and con will not invest enough time in developing moral, legal and ethical strategies to succeed by and thus will sell their magnificence short. While we can fool others with respect to our intentions, we will still have to suffer the guilt and consequences of not being able to fool ourselves. Thinking ahead it is better to clear up your act, get your intentions right and live a great life.

Law 13

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "When asking for help appeal to people's self-interest. Never to their mercy or gratitude."

Manoj Sharma says, "Always appeal to the selfishness of little people and the selflessness of big people."

I tend to agree with Robert Green and Joost Elfers on this. Know which tree you are barking up. The little people tree is a tree of selfishness. When speaking with little people you need to appeal to their self-interest and self-serving ego. The "what is in it for me" factor.

Big people are not moved by self-aggrandizement, they know the game of appeals, have been there, done that and moved on. When speaking with big people appeal to their selflessness, their desire to serve others and their efforts to alleviate the pains of society. The "what is in it for others" factor.

Law 14

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Pose as a friend, work as a spy."

Manoj Sharma says, "Just be a friend."

Knowledge is important and there are a million moral, legal and ethical ways to get it without having to resort to spying or clandestine efforts. If you understand human behaviour and the game of business well, it is not too difficult to join the dots, fill in the missing pieces and form a reasonably complete picture, even from a distance. This allows you to be open and just be friend.

What sort of a human being would you be if you follow the advice of "use spies... play the spy yourself.... there is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying"?

Remember that there is no honour amongst thieves. The poser is always wondering if others are posing with her. The robber is always frightened that someone is going to rob him. The betrayer is always paranoid that someone is going the betray her. The conman always fears he is going to get conned. The spy is always worried that someone is spying on her. The pretender is left in doubt if anyone is being straight forward with him. And so it goes on and on.

Law 15

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Crush your enemies totally."

Manoj Sharma says, "Best to make your peace with your enemies at the soonest."

Crushing your enemies totally is only an illusion and creates a sense of false comfort. The victory is short-lived and for all intents and purpose hollow. History has proven that people on a worthwhile mission can only be put down for so long, that others take on the cause of those who perish in the process, that a great idea and ideal is only waiting for its time to come.

In war as in life, the victor may writes history, but everybody always gets their just desserts one way or another. Best to make your peace with your enemies as soon as possible for the repercussions of not doing so tend to live on in perpetuity. Say "sorry" at the soonest or learn to live with your sorrows for the longest times.

Law 16

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Use absence to increase respect and honor"

Manoj Sharma says, "Avoid the familiarity that breeds contempt."

This law does no harm, so by all means go right ahead with it.

Law 17

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Keep others in suspended terror: cultivate an air of unpredictability."

Manoj Sharma says, "Keep things and yourself fresh."

There is no need to keep others in suspended terror, only tyrants, dictatorships, the personally insecure and professionally inadequate need to do that to maintain their power. Keep things fresh through. Avoid becoming a one trick pony, get some flexibility into you, entertain, explore and work with ideas contrary to you own. Be adventurous, become young again.

Law 18

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Don't build fortresses to protect yourself -isolation is dangerous."

Manoj Sharma says, "You create your world."

"The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere." We all do not live in the world, we live in our own worlds. Our own worlds that are different from other people's worlds. The funny thing is that over time we create our worlds.

If you have created a world for yourself in which "the world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere" what else can you expect but a dangerous world in which you enemies are just waiting to rub you out. It is only natural then that you build your fortresses and tend to do your best to fortify your position and then suffer the isolation you created.

Know that you create your world, you have created it the way it is and therefore you can recreate it the way you would live. Recreate you world, a world without fortresses in which you do not have to protect yourself and be isolated in the process.

Law 19

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Know who you are dealing with - do not offend the wrong person."

Manoj Sharma says, "Don't pick who you are going to offend, do your best not to offend anyone."

Choosing to offend based on a profile you have put together of who you can offend and get away with is calculated cowardice and blatant manipulation and you should call yourself on it, if you are guilty.

Having said that it is also important to keep being practical and be aware that some people with take offense to you with no ill intention on your part. As a friend of mine told me more than a decade ago, "If someone does not like you, they will take even take offense to how you hold your chopsticks."

Law 20

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Do not commit to anyone."

Manoj Sharma says, "Be the view point, not point of view."

Know that everybody has a point of view, yourself included. And that everybody if trying to put forth a point of view that works out in their favour. If you can learn to entertain all points of view without limiting yourself to any one particular one; if you can learn to separate yourself from your own point of view and look at things from a distance, you would be seeing things from view point - a vantage point from which decisions for the collective best can be made, communicated and buy in gotten. This is a point that few take but many appreciate and a habit you need to cultivate so you do not have to lower yourself down to the level of "playing people against one another".

Law 21

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Play a sucker to catch a sucker - seem dumber than your mark."

Manoj Sharma says, "Give people their time in the spotlight."

Marianne Williamson said, "There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you." There is no reason to play dumb or pretend to be a sucker in life, but every reason to be big enough to listen to another person's point of view and most importantly not suppress them such that they do not have their turn in the spotlight.

Listening to the intelligence of others will assist you to continue to improve upon your intelligence. Being intelligent in the presence of others will allow them to improve their intelligence and you too could benefit from this. Intelligence benefits all, dumbing down is no good to anyone.

Law 22

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Use the surrender tactic: transform weakness into power."

Manoj Sharma says, "Avoid fighting your enemies altogether."

I am slowly seeing the value of the way Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi lived his life. Nothing I can say can shed adequate light on the man, best to read his autobiography entitled "Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth".

Law 23

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Concentrate your force."

Manoj Sharma says, "Focus your attention with intention."

This is a brilliantly written piece by Robert Green and Joost Elfers, I say fundamentally the same thing in a different way. I see tremendous merit in focusing all your attention with one clear intention to have one powerful outcome as opposed to many weak results.

Law 24

Robert Green and Joost Elfers say, "Play the perfect courtier."

Manoj Sharma says, "Allow the best in you to surface."

Instead of cultivating the best traits of a courtier such as "power, political dexterity, indirection, flattery, yielding to superiors and asserting power over others." why not cultivate the best traits of great human beings such as "goodness of heart, service of humanity, achievement of worthy goals, self-discovery of oneself, wisdom of the ages, loyalty towards others, a cheerful disposition, magnanimousness of heart and harmony of mind".

Please keep a look out for Part II of Redefining The 48 Laws Of Power by Manoj Sharma

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

The Impact of System And Structure on Performance Potential by Jim Clemmer

2007-12-12T09:01:00.000+08:00

The Impact of System And Structure on Performance Potential by Jim Clemmer

"Structure is a very powerful shaper of behavior. It's like the strange pumpkin I once saw at a country fair.

It had been grown in a four-cornered Mason jar. The jar had since been broken and removed. The remaining pumpkin was shaped exactly like a small Mason jar. Beside it was a pumpkin from the same batch of seeds that was allowed to grow without constraints. It was five times bigger.

Organization structures and systems have the same effect on the people in them. They either limit or liberate their performance potential." -- Jim Clemmer from Pathway to Performance

Change by Gandhi

2007-12-12T08:59:00.000+08:00

Change by Gandhi

"You must be the change you want to see in the world." - Gandhi

The Difference Between Human Resources, Human Capital and Human Investment by Manoj Sharma

2007-12-11T21:32:00.000+08:00

The Difference Between Human Resources, Human Capital And Human Investment by Manoj Sharma

Human resources is a general term used to represent the people element within organizations. In years past while organizations robotically said that their people were their greatest assets, this was mostly just lip service. Today with the human resource function within most professionally run organizations taking on a broader role beyond menial administration, the question of human capital and even human investment has become a topic of huge interest.

Naturally, this interest stems from the realization that human being are an expense that cost financial capital to acquire, maintain and retain. That the right human being in the right place within an organization can prove to be huge competitive advantages in the face of various challenges. And ultimately that if as an organization is investing in human resources, an organization needs to show clear return on investment in an increasingly pay-per-performance world.

At present (and in the foreseeable future) we still live in a world in which, without the human being there is no organization to speak off. The term organization in itself suggests a coming together, and somewhat ordered structuring of human beings. Human beings are at the core of all organizations and that is unlikely to change in a hurry.

While everything you and I can see, hear, smell, taste and touch comes from nature and transits along a value chain evolving into a commodity, then a product or service that finally culminates in an experience we are willing to pay for, the ultimate value creator and sustainer is always a human being. Therefore in the setting of an organization, the ultimate wealth creator, sustainer and scaler is a human being, aka. - a human resource.

The question of our time is how to translate our human resources into human capital and ultimately into human investment with the intention of reaping handsome financial and non-financial returns for the the human being involved and all concerned at the same time?

To answer this question, we need to start by becoming clear and defining what is human resource, what is human capital and what is human investment.

Consider the following as a starting points (and you are welcome to build upon them).

Human Resource is simply human potential. Potential with infinite capabilities and capacity with the possibility of beneficial engagement. Potential however, it must be noted does not have to be productive and that an opportunity has to be seized to translate potential into real value. Human Resource is a question of physicality.

Human Capital is a well employed human resource that is actively engaged in meaningful, worthwhile work and delivering some level of desired productivity. Human Capital is a question of factoring knowledge and application to physicality.

Human Investment is determined by the degree to which the human capital is productive and producing dividends. Human Investment is a question of physicality, knowledge and application channeled towards great returns on investment.

Consider that the challenge we are facing in the work environment today, is not just the lack of qualified people but the efficiency, effectiveness and efficacy with which our human resources are being translated into human capital and our human capital is being transformed into human investment.

The landscape has, a long time ago, in a progressive professional organization gone beyond just the physical presence of a human being; it has long since become about the human knowledge that comes with the presence of the human being and is increasing all about the human competency atop of the human knowledge that is quantified in solid results.

Great leaders and minds have clearly noticed a clear shift in the competitive world of business from a world of mind sets, to a world of skill sets and are now a world of business sets.

The question is, where does your organization stand in relation to this shifting paradigm? Are you focused on human resources, human capital or human investment? Your accurate and truthful answer and seeking of professional assistance when it comes to Human Resource, Human Capital and Human Investment Consultancy will determine your success and failure over the next few years.

Don't just think about it, like everyone else is, act upon it right now!

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Religions by Gandhi

2007-12-11T21:19:00.000+08:00

Religions by Gandhi

"Religions are different roads converging to the same point. What does it matter that we take different road, as long as we reach the same goal?" - Gandhi

Key Elements Of A Great Marketing Plan For A Successful Business by Manoj Sharma

2007-12-10T18:29:00.000+08:00

Key Elements Of A Great Marketing Plan For A Successful Business by Manoj Sharma - Part I

No matter what business you are in or plan to get into, it is always great (especially towards the end of the year) to create a new marketing plan as part of an on-going effort. I know to many doing a marketing plan for an established business may sound strange but there is tremendous value in zero-basing your business and creating it a fresh year on year. For starters, it will put aside all that has happened and allow you to look at things afresh, not to mention it will also keep you on your toes. Finally it will force you to engage in creative destruction - reevaluating all that is no longer relevant and of value (even if it may have been of great value in the past. This also applies to employees and business partners) and consciously recreate the future that best serves all parties concerned.

a) Executive Summary

A marketing plan is best fronted by an Executive Summary that sums up the key elements of your marketing plan and acts as a quick overview. Although this part of an Executive Summary comes first, it is from personal experience best kept to last after you have done all the various elements of the Marketing Plan.

In your Executive Summary you should give an accurate account of the

i) Current Situation & Future Situation,
ii) Description of Present & Future Products & Services,
iii) Strategic Marketing & Financial Objectives, &
iv) Keys to Overall Success

At the end of the day, to a new reader, your Executive Summary should answer at the least the following questions.

What does your company do?
Who are its target customers?
What are the products, services and ideas you offer?
What are the new products, services and ideas you will be offering?
Who will you target as new customers?
What markets do you presently cater in?
What new markets do you plan on catering to?
What plans are you planning on implementing?
What are the result you expect from these plans?
What are your projected sales figures?
What are the costs attached to them?
What is your expected profitability?
What is your overall investment and return on investment?
What are the challenges you are likely to face?
What are your strategies to over these challenges?

b) Industry Analysis

1) The Market

History & Evolution of Market
Present Revenue Size of Market
Present Geographical Size of Market
Present Unit Size of Market
Present Growth Rate of Market - Geographically, Revenue & Unit
Present Major Players
Future Growth Rate of Market - Geographically, Revenue & Unit
Future Major Players

2) The Trends

Known Industry Trends, Fads, Demand & Supply
Drivers Of Change
Potential Changes In Usage of Products, Services & Ideas
Demographic Changes - Age Groups, Educational Group, Organization Types, Income Ranges, etc
Psychological Changes - Affluence, Habits, Preferences, Values, Desires, Attitudes, Opinions, Orientations, etc
Other Variables - Demand Cycles, Seasonal Events, Global Events, etc

3) The Factors - Legal, Economic, Political, Sociological, Environmental & Technology

Present Legal Regulations That Affect Your Business
Future Legal Regulations That Affect Your Business
Present Orientation of Government Regulations and Policies
Future Orientation of Government Regulations and Policies
Present Corporate Tax Benefits & Breaks
Future Corporate Tax Benefits & Breaks
Effects of Interest Rates, Inflation & Exchange Rates
Effects of Developments in International Trade, Economic Unions & Free Trade Zones
Political Climate, Political Stability & Political Transparency
Lifestyle Changes
Environmental Concerns
Disposable Incomes
Living Conditions
Inter-city, Inter-state, Inter-country Mobility
Breakthrough Technologies
Killer Applications
Technological Adoption
Technological Infrastructure
Technological Innovation

4) Projected Sales Analysis

Projection of Industry Sales
Projection of Company Sales
Projections of Market Share
Projection of Average Selling Price
Projection of variable Costs
Projections of Gross Margin
Projections of Number of Units Sold
Projections of Gross Revenue
Projections of Total Gross Margin
Projections of Marketing Expenses
Projections of Operational Expenses
Projections of Other Expenses
Projections of Net Profit

5) Competitive Terrain

Number of Competitors
Points of Competition
Constant New Entrants & Exits
Key Players
Key Players Strategic Advantages
Key Players Strategic Disadvantages
Your Side By Side Comparison With Key Players
Products, Services & Ideas
Price Points
Size
Strategic Objectives
Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities & Threats
Brand Equity & Goodwill
Marketing Strategies
Unique Value Proposition
Targeting Strategy
Positioning Strategy
Branding Strategy
Advertising Strategy
Promotions Strategy
Public Relations Strategy
Cost Structure, Sustainability & Scalability
Leadership Strength
Financial Strength

Look out for Part II of Key Elements Of A Great Marketing Plan For A Successful Business soon!

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Unity In Diversity by Gandhi

2007-12-09T20:43:00.000+08:00

Unity In Diversity by Gandhi

"Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization." - Gandhi

The 2P2S Professional Coaching Fact-Finding System by Manoj Sharma

2007-12-09T18:35:00.000+08:00

The 2P2S Professional Coaching Fact-Finding System by Manoj Sharma

I often get asked by other professional coaches and professional coaches-to-be partaking in DifferWorld's Professional Coaching Champions what has made me so successful in getting and retaining coaching clients. The answer can never one dimensional as I have over the years added many elements of sophistication into my professional practice that has given me a solid competitive lead over my peers internationally - elements such as the years of research, trial and error to formulate the professional coaching technologies, methodologies and techniques I have developed and use, my professional background and especially my competency in deeply appreciating the gamut of personal and professional challenges that we all face.

While all of the above cannot be replicated fully unless people undergo a solid coaching program with me, what can be replicated immediately is what I call my 2P2S Professional Coaching Fact-Finding System.

I use this 2P2S Professional Coaching Fact-Finding System to effectively appreciate the challenges at hand and where I can be a contribution as a Professional Coach. This in itself sets a greatly under appreciated tone for the coaching to potentially start on.

The 2P2S Professional Coaching Fact-Finding System involves asking my prospective clients 4 basic questions in a variety of ways.

The questions are...

1) What are the most significant Problems they are facing at work, home or at play?

Everybody has problems in one shape or form. While some people put in a tremendous amount of effort towards leading you to believe that they don't, this is just a front or a case of being in denial. While it is true that some people are excellent at resolving their problems, these people or the incidents in which they resolve their own problems speedily and effectively are sadly far and few in between. What is also true is that the more success a person experiences in their professional and personal lives the more sophisticated the problems they face and thus the more tricky it is to surmount them. One of your roles as a Professional Coach if you plan to be a contribution is to elicit these problems in a safe and secure way and assist people to resolve them effectively.

2) Will they be willing to Partner with me if I were able to assist them resolve these Problems?

Nothing happens without partnership. Your role as a professional coach is to partner your client fully and completely. You are not there to resolve their problems for them, you are there to assist them resolve them. This involves both you and your partner giving your 100%. This needs to be clarified with your partner. Also a great professional coach knows that you need your partners permission to allow you to assist them.

3) What are the specific Solutions they feel they should be seeking or are presently seeking?

You need to know and they also need to listen to where they are coming from or what strategies they have in mind. Please note that whatever your potential coachee says at this point is not necessarily right and is certainly not wrong, even if you know better. This is what I call an orientation and insight question that if you are listening actively to will speak volume and give you an opportunity to start being a further contribution.

4) What would their financial and non-financial return on investment be if they achieved Success having made these specific Solutions a reality?

My stand point is that professional coaching must have a handsome financial and non-financial return on invest, that it has to be more than just "talk-value", that solid action must be taken and stipulated results produced with bonuses attached to it. Clarifying potential successes upfront and delivering on promises is what gives Professional Coaching a good name and builds a great reputation for excellence for you.

While the above seems simple and straight forward you will be surprised to know how most coaches either do not have this system in place or simply do not use it effectively. Obviously, the art lies in knowing how to be flexible in your usage of this system and in appreciating the multi-dimensional effect it really has, for a great professional coach knows how to use language such that "no word goes wasted."

And that in essence is the 2p2S Professional Coaching Fact-Finding System, which will get your coaching on the right footing and will also put you as a Professional Coach in the right state of mind to best assist the potential coachee.

To the uninitiated the above may seem like a small trivial thing, but I assure you it is a critical step amongst many towards being a great professional coach.

Use it, have it work for you and let me know how it went.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Top 15 Ways To Promote Your Professional Coaching Practice by Manoj Sharma

2007-12-09T16:22:00.000+08:00

Top 15 Ways To Promote Your Professional Coaching Practice by Manoj Sharma

One of the keys to being a successful professional coach is to promote yourself and give yourself a better chance to contribute to as many people's lives as possible. Below are the Top 15 ways for you to get started. Naturally, when you attend Professional Coaching Champions you will learn more about exactly how to translate these strategies into reality and how to immediately profit from them. Furthermore as a Professionally Certified Coach, you will be introduced to a few more secret strategies that will assist you get your name out there and be a huge success as a Professional Coach. In the meantime do read the brief list below to get a sense of what you will need to do to promote yourself as a Professional Coach.

Have meaningful dialogues with everyone you meet, be genuinely interested in them and if appropriate introduce how you and your services can assist them.
Create a website or a web page that features the products and services your provide.
Create postcard size brochures that can be mailed to people with a URL that leads to your website or web page for them to find out more.
Print and hand out creatively conceptualized and memorable business cards that also reflect your accreditations.
Give educational talks at various gatherings.
Offer free samples of your services.
Write a book or at the least write a booklet.
Work with strategic partners who will promote you while you promote them.
Donate your products and services as prizes.
Write and have articles published in various publications.
Offer your services to media as a subject area expert.
Advertise across various media.
Maintain and send emails and newsletters to an opted in list.
Write a blog, create podcasts and videocasts and invite people to subscribe to them.
Get referrals from present clients.

Causes by Gandhi

2007-12-06T22:51:00.000+08:00

Causes by Gandhi

"There are many causes I am prepared to die for, but no cause that I am prepared to kill for." - Gandhi

11 Questions To Contemplate On About Communication by Manoj Sharma

2007-12-06T22:31:00.000+08:00

11 Questions To Contemplate On About Communication by Manoj Sharma

Ponder the following. I would love to hear your answers, which you are welcome to drop to me at Info@DifferWorld.com

Is all uneducated communication doomed to failure and its success only coincidental?
If there is only a slim chance of failure in communication, is failure still its natural course?
If communication is primed to succeed, does its major tendency still tilt towards failure?
If communication succeeds is its success merely coincidental?
Is communication crafted for yourself doomed to fail with others?
Is the possibility of numerous interpretations in communication inviting failure?
If someone phantoms your communication better than you do, have you failed in your communication?
Is the greater frequency of communication the cause of greater communication failure or success?
In communication is "what is" more important that "what was" or "what can be" or does perception override reality?
Is proximity to the source an indicator of the importance of the communication?
Is it ironically true that the most important detail is most forgotten in communications?

You are welcome to drop me your thoughts on the questions above at Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Being a Professional Coach by Manoj Sharma

2007-12-05T18:24:00.000+08:00

Being a Professional Coach by Manoj Sharma

Being a professional coach is a calling. A calling to be greater than you are, a calling to contribute to other's lives and a calling to continue to self-adjust without abasement. You do not become a professional coach by accident, by printing a name card that says so, and you certainly do not become a professional coach without major sacrifice - be it sacrifices of your time, your money or your energy in its various forms.

Being a professional coach is a systematic evolution, that happens second by second, hour by hour, day by day, week by week and year by year. It is a gradual process, which can be catalyzed, that when looked at from a distance seems to others like a sudden revolution.

It starts with becoming ruthlessly good at what you do, and requires a dogged willingness to be great. It calls for mentors, masters and masterful coaches to take you under their wing, show you the ropes and save you years of frustration in trail and error. It takes being willing to have egg thrown at your face, having people belittle your ambitions and facing and surmounting your self-doubt.

It takes becoming an expert on human beings and human relationships, and having a deep appreciation of mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and financial quotients. It takes going down the path less traveled and seeing the world with a new sets of eyes - eyes through which you see yourself in others and others in you.

It takes an significant global appreciation for the world of business, where we have come from as an interdependent society and where we are heading towards. It takes tremendous clarity, foresight and uncommon sense not just to appreciate what we need to do differently right now, but also to influence others to a more empowering course of action.

It takes competencies; correction - it takes bucket loads of competencies. Competencies starting off with a superb communication skills and building the universal competencies of service, sales, leadership, teamwork, entrepreneurship, creativity, invention, innovation and negotiations, just to point out a few.

Finally, it takes flair, as a topping to finish off the efficiency, effectiveness and efficacy you need to develop in yourself. And above all else, it takes ruthless self-examination. Self-examination like you presently will struggle to imagine, self-examination that makes you conscious and brings you closer to consciousness.

Yes, the rewards of being a professional coach are great and yes, the sacrifices to be a masterful professional coach are greater still, as the above only tells a fraction of the full story. Why anybody would strive to be masterful professional coach is beyond me, but for some questions there are no answers, only the fulfillment of a calling. To be a professional coach is a calling.

If you, are interested to be a professional coach through DifferWorld's Professional Coaching Champions, please contact us at Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Ideal by Gandhi

2007-12-05T18:20:00.000+08:00

Ideal by Gandhi

"An ideal is one thing; living up to it is quite another... We may be said to have an ideal only when we put forth an effort to realize it."

Is Spiritual Computing The Next Level of Evolution

2007-10-31T11:04:00.000+08:00

Is Spiritual Computing The Next Level of Evolution?

This is a Google TechTalk, given by Craig Warren Smith, a former Harvard (Kennedy School) professor, a founder of the global movement to close the Digital Divide on the 28th of September 2006. In the mid-1990s as a consultant to Bill Gates, Craig led a strategic planning process that helped Microsoft and its founder find the distinct role of philanthropy in its corporate culture, the effect of which also shaped the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In this talk at Google Craig brings up the question, "Can the next generation of technologies advance the spiritual development of individuals and communities?" Craig who is also the director of The Spiritual Computing Research Group, will argue that several trends – Web 2.0 innovations, neuroscience's interactions with the Dalai Lama, and West's new embrace of premodern wisdom traditions – all combine to bring spiritual principles at the doorstep of the world's technological laboratories.

The upshot: today's system architects may be able to measure fuzzy notions like user empowerment. "Tech researchers will get algorithms that show if they are empowering users, addicting them or just delivering ease of use," he says.

Spiritual technologies, he says, could release enormous pent up demand for web services in advanced markets (where 83% of users are "spiritual") and in emerging markets such as India where spirituality is fundamental for survival. Examples: versions of Wikipedia in which wisdom, not mere knowledge, rises to the surface; gaming as spiritual quest; online enhancement of Islamic rituals; locative technologies that use feng shui to create sacred spaces, biofeedback interfaces that bring mindfulness into cancerous organs; technological support for 12 step programs that transform addiction into empowerment.

Enjoy the talk.

You Absolutely Have To Identify Which One Of These Two Path You Are On by Manoj Sharma

2007-10-30T20:02:00.000+08:00

You Absolutely Have To Identify Which One Of These Two Path You Are On by Manoj Sharma

Are you on the path to something or nothing. Read on and identify it for yourself. Your harmony, peace and bliss is on the line.

Everything in the known material universe originates through thought. From thought, through a series of processes, the world as you know it created and continues to create itself.

Every thing you see, the world, every region, every country, every community, every organization, every landscape, every infrastructure and even every human being, is the way they are, because of thoughts that were there and thoughts that were not there. Everything and everybody is the result of thoughts that express themselves materially and non-thoughts that do not express themselves materially.

An artist has a painting in mind before he paints and then creates a painting. An architect has a building in mind before she plans and then creates a building. A director has a movie in mind before he directs and then creates a movie. An entrepreneur has an organization in mind, before she organizes and then creates an organization. The material of life is created from the non-material of thinking and non-material of thinking comes from the subtlety of mind. Appreciating this truth opens up the knowing that everything and everyone forms as a result of thoughts, and equally, does not form, as a result of a missing thoughts the origins of which can be traced back to mind.

The mind allows things to appear. What the mind is on, appears and what the mind is not on disappears. This is a phenomena I often refer to in my initiatives as The Appearing-Disappearing World Phenomena which at some level every human being is at the very least, at least once in their life, subconsciously aware of. Naturally few are consciously aware of this in everyday moment to moment reality and fewer still understand its true power in manifesting and un-manifesting their realities as they would like them. Regardless of your depth of appreciation for and competency with The Appearing-Disappearing World Phenomena at present just understand that in the presence of mind things appear to the observer and in the absence of mind things do not appear to the observer.

So, where there is no mind, there is no appearance and where there is no appearance there is nothing. A nothing that, in that reality, cannot be contrasted against any something - an emptiness that, the more we remain in the presence of, the more we appreciate as the progressive evolutionary experience from harmony to peace to ultimately bliss. Harmony, peace and bliss being amongst the top three things a human being ultimately desires.

Please note that all human beings are born without a presence of mind and all human beings learn at their own pace to have a presence of mind. Also please note, that not all human beings learn to no longer have presence of mind and then wonder why the continuing experience of harmony, peace and bliss elude them.

Truthfully examine and you too will realize that to gain presence of mind required an interaction between teachers, coaches, masters and you. The quality of your teachers, coaches, masters along with the quality you were willing to develop in yourself determined the quality of presence of mind you presently have. Similarly to gain absence of mind also requires teachers, coaches, masters and you. The quality of your teachers, coaches, masters and you will determine the quality of harmony, peace and bliss you are to experience.

Human beings do not have to, but tend to go through, usually due to ignorance, the three paths of survival, security and success as a means to the ends of their real desires. Most human beings don't realize that they are wasting a precious lifetime on the three paths of survival, security and success, and that they are spending time on the path of scruples when they could accelerate their progress by investing time instead by being on the path of serenity. The path of serenity is the path of harmony, peace and bliss.

Now, while everybody has a mind, obviously nobody has seen it because it is not material, and way too subtle. However everybody can have and has had various experiences of it. The challenge is not in experiencing the variations of the mind, the challenge is in experiencing the consistency of the mind. The challenge further lies in that, when you attempt to fully experience the consistency of your mind, your mind itself starts to fade away. If you stick with it as it is fading and are still able to be with it when it can no longer fade you will find that what is left behind is your mind in its original, most subtle form. Your mind in its original, most subtle form projects "I".

The "I" from which all thoughts for you and most other human beings arose. The "I" which you learned to relate to as a child that distinguished you first as some-thing and then as some-body. A some-thing that was different from other-things and then a some-body that was different from other-bodies. The rest of your progression through life, while important, is arguably trivial in relation to this insight. Unknown to you and your teachers, coaches and masters, you fell (as they may have fallen before) ignorantly into the process of limiting yourself and experiencing yourself thereafter as a limited being.

Consider that while the first thought of the dawning mind is always "I am something" the last realization of a dusking mind will always be, "I am nothing". Paradoxically, living as "I am something" limits, while living as "I am nothing" liberates.

As humanity, as a generalized whole, continues racing on the path to be some-thing it needs to, or at least a critical mass needs to stop long enough to appreciate that to have our collective ultimate desires met we need to learn to be on the path to no-thing.

Only either the wise through themselves or by proxy, or the brilliantly illuminated through bitter experience, can fully appreciate that the path to some-thing, whatever that some-thing is, is paved with fleeting survival, security and success and is laden with one suffering after another. All the great masters of the world, throughout our known history attempted to get this point through - very few understand why.

Know that only the path to no-thing can bring about lasting harmony, peace and bliss.

So which path are you on?

As you answer please note that the above is not an opportunity for an opinion, it is an opportunity to experience the truth for only once you are on a path can you taste the fruits of that path.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

What Does All Of Humanity Desire by Manoj Sharma

2007-10-29T11:09:00.000+08:00

What Does All Of Humanity Desire? by Manoj Sharma

All of humanity knowingly or unknowingly ultimately desires to re-discover, re-connect and re-merge with the source of the universe. This does not necessarily have to only happen in seclusion, it can well happen through the normal course of an active modern life.

The above is true for all people, of all ages, all educational levels, all economic standings, all political affiliations, all societal variations, all geographical regions and all manner of sophistication. And this in itself should be spectacularly illuminating.

Those in the know, know that something magnificent comes to light from within a human being as the human being pursues this most ultimate of human desires. A certain clarity of mind, stability of emotions, soundness of body and freeing of the spirit are just some of the obvious observations.

While it is intuitively well known that there is something very powerful, purposeful, meaningful, timeless and true at play in the pursuit of this desire, unfortunately too few people actually experience this often enough in their lives. You are about to be the exception to this rule.

Through the pages of this book, you will give yourself the opportunity to independently, through your own effort, experience living your life at a much higher level of integrity, service, achievement, expression, knowledge, trust, happiness, freedom, peace and ultimately all the other things that are most precious to you. I do not know if it is already clear within you or how fast it will become clear within you that the rewards for your effort are very high, regardless I feel compelled to let you know your inkling about the great gift you are about to give yourself is true.

While traditionally this desire to re-discover, re-connect and re-merge with the source of the universe has been addressed via various religions, in todays world, many of the wisest suggest it is better addressed individually in the sphere of personal spirituality, internally, without any external bias or dogma.

Historically, what we now term as "religions" were all started at various particular periods of time and were intended to illuminate the lives of the particular people, at that particular place with a particular message that could but unfortunately did not necessarily translate well on to other people, at another place, at another time.

Therefore over time, almost out of necessity, new particular religions formed and organized. When the perspective of the followers of various organized religions are taken into consideration, we get to know these organized religions to be the continuation of the source of the universe manifesting into being (or through a being) and guiding people to re-discover, re-connect and re-merge with "the one, the only, omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient" divine. The irony being that to most of these organized religions only their religion best allows people to re-discover, re-connect and re-merge with the "the one, the only, omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient" divine. It seems to be a case of "my Ego has no room for your Ego". It is said that this is the problem with organized religion and its select group of misinformed adherents (who by logic have difficulty considering themselves misinformed) and because of this organized religious itself has been accused, especially as of late, to be "the root of all evil."

To compound the matter, over the millenniums, based on the challenges and perspectives at various times, various factions within various religious have arose. Factions that way too easily fall victim to the Ego's desire to distinguish itself, leading to agreements on certain principles and disagreements on many others. Factions that seem to become blind to the truth that what is most important is mostly similar and what is least important is the least of differences.

Upon closer examination, the message delivered across these factions has been essentially the same. However, who delivered it, how it was delivered, where it was delivered, when it was delivered and why it needed to be delivered has varied greatly. Unfortunately, these variations, have over time, mostly due to human ignorance, misinterpretations and mis-promotion, led to many mis-appreciations, disagreements and ultimately conflicts.

While various organized religions surely can afford to take a higher level of responsibility and ownership for their teachings and how their teachings are practiced in reality, the organized religion as a whole need not necessarily be straddled with the accountability of what its followers do in its name. This accountability needs to rest (and in a bigger scheme of things it does rest) squarely on the shoulders of those who have and are violating the universal principles of not just their religion but all religions, under the guise of religion.

The organized religions we know of were never intended by their founders to be a marriage of convenience and therefore they should never be permitted to be. Any erring done in the name of any religion can always be traced back to a human erring. A human erring fueled by the human Ego, caused by a separation from Consciousness.

To realize this truth is to know that any representation of Ego is itself a separation from Consciousness. Due to the separation from Consciousness, Egoistic craving by those who cannot discern the real from the un-real, the valuable from the un-valuable and the beneficial from the un-beneficial have lead to a shying away from scruples and serenity. Instead the rampant pursuit of self-gratifying (but not self-fulfilling) survival, security, success and supremacy can be observed that nobody really gains from in the long term.

In light of this it seems the world either needs a new religion, a new appreciation of their own religion or to dispense with organized religion altogether and potentially pursue a religion-unspecific spiritual path filled with the wisdom of the ages instead. A wisdom of the ages path that makes humanity realize, recognize and live the truth that there is a certain Oneness - a one Universal Supreme Being. A Oneness that does not go by any one name, that does not have any one face, and that does not have any one form. A wisdom of the ages path that is universally tolerant, accepting and inclusive of the light of a larger truth. A wisdom of the ages path based on the larger truth that exists in all faiths, that can be received by all people of - all ages, all educational levels, all economic standings, all political affiliations, all societal variations, all geographical regions and all manner of sophistication.

It is important to note that this book is not a replacement for any religion and should never be view as such. In the pages of this book, while numerous insights can equally be credited to various religious and spiritual traditions know that these insights are impartial to them all.

A human being is unique on this planet in many ways. One of the unique features of a human being is that we have been endowed with the power of consciousness, contemplation (perceiving, distinguishing, thinking, recalling, holding, imagining, analyzing, reasoning, synthesizing, assimilating) and choice. Because we have the power of consciousness, contemplation and choice we have the ability to more intimately know our real fears and desires; to understand what causes us pain and pleasure and its impact on us; to create, sustain and destroy our own empowering and limiting tendencies; and re-look our own selfish and selfless orientations.

Every human being is at anytime in the pursuit of one of the following things - the pursuit of survival, security, success, supremacy and serenity. Unfortunately we seem to pursue these ends without scruples - without the ethical considerations that factor in all of humanity. And that may need to be the first thing to change. Regardless of how successful and supreme you may or may not be, you can certainly afford to live your life as a better human being and enjoy everything material and non-material that comes with it.

So, at the very least this book is designed to do is to assist you to enjoy a better life by raising your awareness in the course of your daily activities. The end result of which is to assist you be wealthier spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically and financially too.

A human being not driven by ego is a conscious human being, a conscious human being is automatically scrupulous. While there is no effort required of a conscious human being to be scrupulous it does take effort to be conscious. The primary effort required of a human being to enjoy greater lasting wealth is simply to be conscious and not fall victim to his or her ego. To do that the human being simply needs to be in the knowing of principles and the best way to do so is to assimilate the wisdom of the ages. The wisdom of the ages that synthesize the practical and basic universal principles that all human being at various levels can immediately profit from, not just for their sake but for the benefit of all of humanity.

Gandhi said, "You have to be the change, you want to see in your world." I invite you through the pages of this book to be the change you want to see in your world.

Be the change, be the cause, be the difference, live the wisdom of the ages.

The above is an except from the book The Wisdom Of The Ages by Manoj Sharma that is available in all major bookstores.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

You Are The Problem & The Solution by Manoj Sharma

2007-10-23T00:53:00.001+08:00

You Are The Problem & The Solution by Manoj Sharma

The Problem is that You are Seeking the Subjective.

Seeking higher levels of Subjective Survival, Security, Success, Status and eventually Serenity.

This very Seeking causes Struggle, Stress, Suffering, Sacrifice till you eventually Surrender.

Surrender to the realization that the Subjective will never Satisfy the Seeker.

As long as there is Subjectivity there is a Separation; Separation between the Seeker and the Sought which compromises Satisfaction.

The Solution lies in the Shift from the Seeker Seeking the Subjective to the Seeker Seeking the Subject; the Subject of the Seeking.

And only when the Subject becomes the Sought can the Solution reveal itself.

Know that You are both The Problem and The Solution.

For VijaySai for embracing The Principles Of Money so wholeheartedly.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Things To Remember In Relation To A Dialogue by Manoj Sharma

2007-10-21T23:13:00.000+08:00

Things To Remember In Relation To A Dialogue by Manoj Sharma

Remember that....

1) Your life is a living laboratory, for you to experiment and experience till you gain the liberation of enlightenment.

2) Human relationships are a dialogue and that when the dialogue is over, the relationship is over.

3) For there to be a true dialogue, human being needs to "check in" with themselves and other human beings too. We can loosely term these "check ins" as intra-personal communication and inter-personal communication that involve becoming present to intentions, contexts, contents, feelings and meanings.

4) Once people re-discover the value of a dialogue, it is like a re-recognition of an art form they knew and a re-gaining of something they seem to have lost.

5) Having a real dialogue, is having a real awakening that once had is impossible to put to sleep, as it is being in the midst of the most sublime of experiences.

6) Just because you are having a conversation with another party it may not tantamount to a dialogue.

7) A dialogue does not exist on its own. That in a modern society the art of dialogue at work, home and play is virtually lost. That to enjoy the benefits of a dialogue you need to learn how to create, sustain and even destroy it - all in its own time.

8) The opportunity to understand the value of a dialogue must be sought. That a dialogue has always existed in ancient cultures and that it is one of the true universal practices that distinguishes humanity.

9) In and around a dialogue there are always creators, sustainers, abstainers, restrainers and destroyers.

10) In a dialogue the biggest problem and opportunity is actually your ego. Your ego that is separating you from the reconnection to consciousness that a dialogue is ultimately designed to induce.

11) That your private, intra-personal dialogues of yesterday are your public, inter-personal dialogues of today.

12) A dialogue from an inter-personal sense is not something you do to another, but is something you do with another. The intent of which, when brought into reality, opens up areas for all parties that they could not previously have imagined.

13) Dialogues and non-dialogues point to intentions, illuminate contexts, give substance to content, explore feelings and highlight meanings.

14) Dialogues allow the un-listened to be listened, the un-spoken to be spoken, the uncover the covered. Dialogues also allow the listened to be un-listened, the spoken to be un-spoken and the covered to be un-covered.

15) Dialogues promote awareness, acceptance, acknowledgment, action, adjustment, achievement and advancement.

16) Dialogues encompass different cultures, different languages, different thinking, different assumptions and different worlds and bridge them towards greater comprehension of points of view which result in resolving conflicts and collective benefits.

17) Knowing dialogues is knowing success, knowing power and knowing mastery.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

If A Man Empties His Purse Into His Head by Benjamin Franklin

2007-10-17T19:24:00.000+08:00

If A Man Empties His Purse Into His Head by Benjamin Franklin

“If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him.

An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

-- Benjamin Franklin

Give Every Man Thy Ear by Lord Polonius from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

2007-10-17T19:13:00.000+08:00

Give Every Man Thy Ear by Lord Polonius from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

"Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;

Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,

But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;

For the apparel oft proclaims the man,

And they in France of the best rank and station

Are of a most select and generous chief in that.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be;

For loan oft loses both itself and friend,

And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

This above all: to thine ownself be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!"

-- Lord Polonius from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Success by Ralph Waldo Emerson

2007-10-16T22:23:00.000+08:00

Success by Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is truly the curse and wonder of being famous. The following quote, while often accredited to Ralph Waldo Emerson, is nowhere to be found in his body of work. Nevertheless it is a beautiful piece whoever the author may be and gives us an opportunity to re-look how we live our lives.

"To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded."

-- supposedly by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Professional Wealth Coaching Program by Manoj Sharma

2007-10-15T19:59:00.000+08:00

Professional Wealth Coaching Program by Manoj Sharma

Today we launched a fabulous program that has been in the works for the past 3 years. Being the first launch of it, it is by invitation for past alumna and alumnae only and by special interview only for those who are new to us.

The program does not discriminate against how financially and non-financially successful you already are as it is future focused and entirely about how much more successful you desire to be.

To give you the reader of The Manoj Sharma Blog a brief feel of the program and a priceless early opportunity I have extracted and highlighted below some of what the program will do for you, just in case you are able to see value and are interested to attend it to enhance your personal financial and non-financial wealth.

So here is what this Professional Wealth Coaching Program will assist you with.

DifferWorld's Professional Wealth Coaching Program will...

Assist you clarify your present financial and non-financial wealth.
Assist you craft out a congruent financial and non-financial wealth future.
Assist you create a compelling financial and non-financial wealth target.
Assist you comprehend everything you need to know about financial and non-financial wealth creation, wealth protection, wealth multiplication, wealth enjoyment and wealth contribution.
Assist you conceptualize your unique financial and non-financial wealth strategy.
Assist you compel yourself to action your unique financial and non-financial wealth strategy.
Assist you coach yourself till you hit your financial and non-financial wealth target.

To be invited for a personal interview to see if you meet the selection criteria of attending please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now!

The Blueprint For Inspiring Next Generation Leadership by Manoj Sharma

2007-10-14T22:11:00.000+08:00

The Blueprint For Inspiring Next Generation Leadership by Manoj Sharma

As a modern leader, especially in an international organization, you wear many hats, you play various roles, you juggle multiple responsibilities and you are accountable for numerous key targets. What is required of you over the years has evolved and will continue to do so. Your responsibilities have shifted from simply delivering great profitability, to including having to inspire performance and ensure the fulfillment of those around you.

The role of a modern leader; your role, is no longer simple, it has become complex and requires higher levels of sophistication on your part to execute successfully. You simply cannot keep up with everything that is going on around you, but by developing your congruency, competency and compassion you can prepare yourself, your teams and your organization to rise above whatever challenges that may come your way. Don't wait for the future to catch you, catch on to what it will take to develop yourself and the other leaders in your organization as inspiring next generation leaders right now.

Become A Congruent Personality

If not forever, just for a while lay down your arms, drop your armour and allow your humanity to come through. This will give you the opportunity to iron out the chinks you know you possess even if they are expertly hidden from your very sight. Face the truths you have been shying away from no matter how tough this may be. Stop playing small, be big. Get to know your motivators, strategies, gravitations and orientations even better than before while gaining more depth. Understand your value system, fuel your passion, crystallize your vision and live more purposefully. Fully enjoy the fruits of your labour and live as a truly congruent personality.

Enhance Your Communicate Competencies

Become a world-class communicator. Learn to lead yourself at higher levels through improving your intra-personal communication. Then learn to lead others more effectively and ultimately inspire others to lead too. To do this you need to start by first polishing up your communication with yourself - this is virtually impossible for you to do on your own as your mind will get in your way. Once you have sorted out your intra-personal communication competencies, enhance your inter-personal communication competencies. Become well versed not just in communication models and theories but develop the skill sets of various facets of communication that will last your entire life time.

Use The Language of Compassion

A human being - any human being relates universally and most powerfully to compassion. Learn to use the language of compassion when you lead. Understand the values that make other human beings tick and learn to speak directly to this value system as you communicate vision, missions and strategies to inspire profitability, performance and fulfillment for your organization, your team and you too. Become an expert at rhetoric with a new appreciation of ethos, logos and pathos. Furthermore learn to synergize people through stories, metaphors and similes.

Learn how to do the above three things, develop them as you and you evolution as a leaders will be spectacular within in a remarkably short time. You will easily become more confident, clear and compelling in one-to-one, groups and even public speaking environments. Do not be surprised if people suddenly find you more charming and charismatic as well, as all of the above are a function of becoming more congruent as a human being, enhancing your professional communication competencies and using the personable language of compassion.

Now that you have a blueprint for inspiring next generation leadership what are you going to do next?

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

It Is Not The Critic Who Counts by Theodore Roosevelt

2007-10-14T21:26:00.001+08:00

It Is Not The Critic Who Counts by Theodore Roosevelt

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Shame on the man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to develop into a fastidiousness that unfits him for doing the rough work of a workaday world. Among the free peoples who govern themselves there is but a small field of usefulness open for the men of cloistered life who shrink from contact with their fellows. Still less room is there for those who deride or slight what is done by those who actually bear the brunt of the day; nor yet for those others who always profess that they would like to take action, if only the conditions of life were not what they actually are. The man who does nothing cuts the same sordid figure in the pages of history, whether he by cynic, or fop, or voluptuary. There is little use for the being whose tepid soul knows nothing of the great and generous emotion, of the high pride, the stern belief, the lofty enthusiasm, of the men who quell the storm and ride the thunder.

Well for these men if they succeed; well also, though not so well, if they fail, given only that they have nobly ventured, and have put forth all their heart and strength."

-- Theodore Roosevelt, deliver at the University of Paris, Sorbonne on the 23rd of April , 1910

How To Create A Culture Of Service Excellence by Manoj Sharma

2007-10-12T12:08:00.000+08:00

How To Create A Culture Of Service Excellence by Manoj Sharma

Service standards are becoming more and more crucial to the longevity and success of organizations. They are a key differentiator and a competitive advantage that is rarely fully realized. The problem lies in that most organization while lauding the importance of service only pay lip service to it. Service is mostly promoted in organizations in spits and spurts with ad hoc service initiatives and almost never (with the exception of top-notch service organizations) as a complete whole, across-the-board, fully-infused, year-after-year cultural initiative.

For an organization, its people and its customers to fully benefit from the true value and meaning of service, organizations need to invest a considerable more by gaining a clearer idea as to how to create a culture of service excellence.

The following guide should give you some food for thought.

1) Don't run a service initiative until leadership has completely bought into it and is commitment to lead from the top.

Sure, you know leadership must walk the talk, set the example, put their money where their mouth is, and understand service from all facets. Knowing that service is not just superficially wanting your staff to simply provide a better customer experience is only the first insight. Most importantly leadership, no matter how lofty or high, must be the first to attend the initiatives and live by it.

This is regardless of how good they think they already are at providing or exemplifying service.

2) Service must be infused in every facet of your organization and be in the hearts and minds of everyone.

To create a culture of service, service quality must be measured relentlessly. Feedback mechanisms for amazingly excellent and amazingly excruciating service must be everywhere and part of everyone's work experience. Customers, both internal and external must be encouraged to provide feedback. Feedback must be used at every opportunity possible by naming and highlighting excellent examples and not-naming but still highlighting terrible example.

Until your organization becomes "obsessed" with service you do not have a chance to create a culture of service excellence. The first level of obsession is when everyone has service in mind with respect to everything that they do. The second level of obsession is when everyone has service out of their mind but in their heart and just embodies service excellence naturally. It is at this point that you will know you are getting somewhere great when it comes to creating a culture of service excellence.

3) Service reminders of various types must be in sight, in mind and in heart.

Service reminders - have them in your orientation programs, in your company retreats, at the start of your meetings, in your daily activities, on your walls, at your desks, in your files, on your computer screens, in your pockets, on your collateral, in your sayings, in your focus groups, and in your service improvement teams. Service reminders need to be present everyday, everywhere and at everytime. Kind of like God. You get the point?

4) Ensure that people understand the difference between...

...serving because it is necessary and serving because it is of real value to all. In too many cases, service in an organization is promoted as a "how to" front - something to be seen (look as such), an act to be carried out (behave like this), and an artful pretense (smile) with gimmicky catch-phrases (the customer is always right, the customer is king). This is not really service, it is icing caked over mud, perfume on top of rubbish and external beauty over internal ugliness.

Service initiatives that focus on the above are often run as motivation type activities, top-down mandates and ad-hoc exercises that will only service to have a temporary positive effect, before the mud, rubbish and ugliness creeps out again.

Service need to be understood and completely internalized as a way of life, as coming from heart and something that is embodied congruently at work, at home and at play. To do this your service initiative need to appeal to ethos - betterment of the human being through service, logos - the transparent and yet not-so-obvious logic behind why you should serve and pathos - the feelings that arise as a result of excellent service.

This attention to ethos, pathos and logos must be truthful in nature. This may take longer, may not be as well received by those who just want to be entertained in training and development workshops, but will be far more effective as the whys of service will truly seep in and allow the hows of service to come naturally.

Even in the brightest of people this appreciation takes time to become second nature. But when it does, there is no going back and a culture of service excellence will be truly formed.

5) Who you engage is of paramount importance.

Don't just engage the service consultant, conceptualizer or coach who is most famous or popular, has the snazziest jokes and most comedic personality, is cheapest or the most expensive, or has the most extensive set of materials and props.

Look for substance, look for someone who truly understands service beyond the norm, find someone who lives by it, can communicate it in depth, provokes thoughts, shifts paradigms, inspire people to embrace it and truly has the heart of service in him or her. When you find this person every dollar you invest will be worth a million. And with that you have the greatest chance to create a culture of service excellence and benefit from it too.

Think when it comes to creating a culture a service excellence. Keep in mind that service is a differentiator. Don't just follow the crowd, it does not differentiate you. Following the crowd will only ensure your ordinariness. Thinking will create the platform for you to be extraordinary and accomplishing extraordinary things. So think about how best you can create a culture of service excellence in your organization right now!

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Masters by Sogyal Rinpoche from The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying

2007-10-09T12:52:00.001+08:00

Masters by Sogyal Rinpoche from The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying

"People know who a master is from who his master is. It is not a question of preserving some fossilized, ritualistic knowledge, but of transmitting from heart to heart, from mind to mind, an essential and living wisdom and its skillful and powerful methods.

Recognizing who is and who is not a true master is a very subtle and demanding business; and in an age like ours, addicted to entertainment, easy answers, quick fixes, the more sober and untheatrical attributes of spiritual mastery might well go unnoticed. Our ideas about what holiness is, that is pious, bland, and meek, may make us blind to the dynamic and sometimes exuberantly playful manifestations of the enlightened mind.
The ordinary qualities of great beings who hide their nature escapes ordinary people like us, despite our best efforts in examining them. On the other hand even ordinary charlatans are experts at deceiving others by behaving like saints.

True teachers are kind, compassionate, tireless in their desire to share whatever wisdom they have acquired from their masters, never abuse or manipulate their students under any circumstances, never under any circumstances abandon them, serve not their own ends but the greatness of the teaching, and always remain humble. Real trust can and should only grow towards someone, whom you’ve come to know, over time, embodies all these qualities. You will find that this trust becomes the ground of your life, there to support you though all the difficulties of life and death.

It cannot be stressed too often it is the truth of the teaching that is all-important, and never the personality of the teacher.

Rely on the message of the teacher, not on his personality; Rely on the meaning, not just on his words; Rely on the real meaning, not just on the provisional one; Rely on your wisdom mind, not on your ordinary, judgmental mind.

So it is important to remember that the true teacher, as we shall see, is the spokesman of the truth: its compassionate “wisdom display.” All the buddhas, masters, and prophets, I fact are the emanation of this truth, appearing in countless skillful, compassionate guises in order to guide us, though their teachings back to our true nature.

At first, then, more important than finding the teacher is finding and following the truth of the teaching, for it is thought making a connection with the truth of the teaching that you will discover the living connection with a master.

We all have to meet one spiritual path or another, and I would encourage you, from the bottom of my heart, to follow with complete sincerity the path that inspires you the most. Read the great spiritual truths of all the traditions, com to some understanding of what masters mean by liberation and enlightenment, and find out which approach to absolute reality attracts and suits you most. Exercise in your search as much discernment as you can; the spiritual path demands more intelligence, more sober understanding, more subtle powers of discrimination that any other discipline, because the highest truth is at stake.

Use your common sense at every moment. Come to the path as humorously aware as possible of the baggage you will bring with you: your lacks, your fantasies, failings and projections. Blend with a soaring awareness of what your true nature might be, a down-to-earth and level-headed humility, and a clear appreciation of where you are on your spiritual journey and what still remains to be understood and accomplished. The most important thing is not to get trapped in what I see everywhere in the West, a “shopping mentality”: shopping around from master to master, teaching to teaching, without any continuity or real, sustained dedication to any one discipline.

Nearly all the spiritual masters of all the traditions agree that the essential thing is to master one way, one path to the truth by following one tradition with all your heart and mind to the end of the spiritual journey, while remaining open and respectful towards the insights of all others.

“Knowing one, you accomplish all.” The modern faddish idea that we can always keep all our options open and so never need commit ourselves to any thing is one of the most dangerous delusions of our culture, and on of the ego’s most effective way of sabotaging our spiritual search.

When you go on searching all the time, the searching itself becomes an obsession and takes you over. You become a spiritual tourist, bustling about and never getting anywhere. As Patrul Rinpoche says, “You leave your elephant at home and look for its footprints in the forest.”

Following one teaching is not a way of confining you or jealously monopolizing you. It is a compassionate and skillful way of keeping you centered and always on the path, despite all the obstacles that you and the world will inevitably present.

So when you explore the mystical traditions, It’s one thing to set out on the spiritual journey, its quite another to find the patience and endurance, the wisdom and courage, the humility to follow it to the end. You may have the karma to find a teacher, but, you must then create the karma to follow your teacher. For choose one master and follow him or her.very few of us know how to truly follow a master, which is an art in itself. So however great the teaching or master may be, what is essential is that you find within yourself the insights and skills to learn how to love and follow the master and the teaching.

This is not easy. Things will never be perfect. How could they be? We are still in samsara. Even when you have chosen your master and are following the teachings as sincerely as you can, you will often meet with difficulties and frustrations, contradictions and imperfections. Don’t succumb to obstacles and tiny difficulties. They are often only ego’s childish emotions. Don’t let them blind you to the essential and endearing value of what you have chosen. Don’t let your emotions drag you away from your commitment to the truth. I have been saddened, again and again, to see how many people take up a teacher of master with enthusiasm and promise, only to lose heart when the smallest, unavoidable obstacles arise, then stumble back into samsara and old habits and WASTE YEARS OR PERHAPS A LIFETIME."

-- by Sogyal Rinpoche from The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying

Do You Pay Attention To These 3 Things When You Present by Manoj Sharma

2007-10-09T03:00:00.000+08:00

Do You Pay Attention To These 3 Things When You Present? by Manoj Sharma

A presentation is not just about sharing facts and information, it is also about persuading your audience to a your point of view and getting them to act upon it. Furthermore to be effective, it is important that your point of view is based on truth, is impartial and is also beneficial to all.

In order to deliver your point of view with maximum impact please consider paying attention to the following and incorporating it into your presentations.

Pay attention to Ethos

Be at the height of your character and strive to continually improve upon it. Build yourself up to qualify yourself to speak through your personal congruency. Have a depth of perspective and be agenda neutral. It will make you and your message timeless and also speak to the best in other people.

Pay attention to Logos

Appeal to people's logic. To do so you have to be well versed with the length, breath and especially the depth of the topic. You need to have a macro and micro perspective of it. You need to be able to appreciate things from multiple angles with various situations, circumstances and events factored in. You need to be prepared to take any question in relation to it, break it down into its parts, understand where it is coming from and answer relevantly in a chronological step by step process to make your audience understand where you are coming from. Accurate and revealing data, information and knowledge neutrally presented will open up the most closed and skeptical minds and there are usually more than a few in your audience.

Pay attention to Pathos

Appeal to people's emotions. The ability to touch a human beings right at heart is a rare competency. To do so you must be willing to wear your heart on your sleeve. This means you have to know when and how to allow the goodness, compassion, success (and failures), self-discovery, wonderment, loyalty, happiness, freedom and harmony from within you to resonate. Being emotional is not about being an emotional wreck and dumping on people, being emotional in this case is about bringing out the best in the human spirit and lifting people to new highs. To touch people at heart your passion must come through.

Pay attention to these 3 things the next time you present and watch how the impact you have on your audience improves dramatically.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

A Wonderful Example Of Entrepreneurs Who Understands What Is Important

2007-10-09T02:32:00.000+08:00

A Wonderful Example Of Entrepreneurs Who Understands What Is Important

As you read the below extract, keep a look out for the keywords used. Keywords such as "create what people imagine", "speed of delivery", "quicker... the more your will learn about what you need to do", "idea isn't important... execution is crucial", "what can you add" and "we'll make it fast".

"The ethos is simple: create what people imagine, in a way that is impressive, original and effective.

The aim is not to maximise profit, but rather to increase speed of delivery and creation of your application. The theory is that the quicker you can get your application to Facebook users the more you will learn about what you need to do.

The idea isn't important, the execution of that idea is crucial.

Think what you could do with the userbase that Facebook has? How can you expand your current online offering? What can you increase in your service? What can you add?

Then. We'll make it. Fast.

To get a quote simply email us with your requirements"

Who is this company and what do they do?

They are Techlightenment and they are an innovations house.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Some Thoughts On Service by Manoj Sharma

2007-10-07T23:33:00.000+08:00

Some More Thoughts On Service by Manoj Sharma

Service is an all-term solution, not just a knee-jerk, short, mid or long term solution.

Serving because...

what goes around, come around,
it is easier to sell to an existing customer,
it costs less to reach an existing customer,
if they are buying from you, they are not buying from your competitor,
repeat customers are slightly less price sensitive,
repeat customers are more willing to purchase more,
repeat customers are more willing to recommend others...

... is not service, its strategy. Let us not confuse the two.

Service is an orientation, it is where you are coming from, it is not just a before, during and after event with moments of truth.

Be of service in life, not wait for service in life. Only then will you understand not just how to serve a customer, but to be of service as a customer.

Service is not a part of your job (whatever your job may or may not be); service is your job.

Which level of service are you at?

Level 1 - not serving for whatever reason,
Level 2 - pretending to serve because you have been told to serve and it is expected of you,
Level 3 - serving genuinely when you feel like it and when you can afford to,
Level 4 - serving because you understand the value and importance of serving and the "karmic" benefits you too derive from it,
Level 5 - genuinely serving without any expectations, whole heartedly, whether you can afford to or can't, potentially even at your expense, for no other reason but to be of assistance to another human being.

Heightening your appreciation of service and level of service requires for you to improve yourself as a human being. This is something which only you can actually do.

Yesterday's exceptional level of service is today's expected level of service. Service, by nature, requires constant improvement.

Service is a personal experience created by you, through you and taken away by another.

Claiming not to know what your customer wants is a poor excuse not to serve. You can't go wrong if you simply understand that your customer wants, what you want, if you were the customer. And it would be safe to add that you want genuine service and pretend and transactional service.

To your customer, you are both you and also the organization. You cannot hide behind your organization and your organization cannot hide behind you.

When it comes to service, the public, your potential customers, your external customers, your internal customers and everyone these 4 groups are in touch with, do not just take away their experience of your product and your organization, they also take away their experience of you. In service you make a difference.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

The Future by Manoj Sharma

2007-10-07T21:11:00.000+08:00

The Future by Manoj Sharma

It is crucial that you face reality and be optimistic about the future and execute your plans now with passion. This is regardless of how volatile, bleak or pessimistic you may be told the future is, or believe the future to be.

Understand that opportunities in the future will have to be be greater than the past. Why? Because that is the law of progress.

Change will continue to alter the social, economic, political and geographical landscape. Whether you perceive this change to be good or bad, do not resist it. Instead accept it, embrace it and work with it to create a compelling future that benefits everyone.

Whatever the situation is, the circumstances you find yourself in or the events you are involved with, remember that your future calls for you to be happy now.

Become a student of history, learn the lessons of the past, act and live in the now as you think extensively about the future you are going to create and why you would like to create it.

In reality, the past has no hold on you just as the future is not beholden to you.

The future does not belong to those who react to it, it belongs to those who create it.

Forget about the "good old days" that have passed and focus on creating the "good new days" of the future.

If you as a leader desire to create a successful future for your company, you need to focus on creating intrapreneurs now. The evolution in global competition demands it. If you desire to be a successful employee you also need to start to create yourself as an intrapreneur now. All evidence points to the fact that the successful organization of the future will have to be an intrapreneurial organization with leader in the organization having the right knowledge, competency and heart to simultaneously coach for profitability, performance and fulfillment.

Regardless of how successful set minds have been in the past, they will not have a chance to succeed in the future. Set minds simply do not possess the openness, speed, dexterity and flexibility that the future will demand. It is self-evident that to succeed in the future, set minds need to be parted company with. The problem lies in that set minded people rarely recognize themselves to be set minded.

In a future of greater and greater automation, your human capacity for creativity, compassion and creating value will need to be further cultivated as a distinguishing factor along with your knowledge and competency.

If your energy today is being expended jostling for position and fighting egotistical battles amongst your peers, family and friends you need to know you are setting yourself up for a future of failure, pain and resentment. The responsibility of which will lie squarely on your shoulders.

Your ability to shape your future is limited only by your lack of willingness to learn, your lack of imagination and your lack of resolve.

Stay true to who you are at heart, take it to the nth degree and go against the grain if your must as you strive to create a better future for all. It has been said, that to lead an orchestra, the conductor has got to turn his or her back to the crowd.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

10 Step Framework For Great Decision Making by Manoj Sharma

2007-10-04T02:04:00.000+08:00

10 Step Framework For Great Decision Making by Manoj Sharma

Everybody knows the value of making great decisions, but most people do not have a clue as to how to make good decisions or even that there is a basic framework that can assist you to make great decisions.

You need to make decisions everyday as do people everywhere, at home, at work and at play. Before you explore DifferWorld's 10 Step Framework For Great Decision Making that could assist you, your teams and your organization tremendously, it would be good to get a more encompassing perspective on decision making.

Decision making is different from executing an order, carrying out a task or simply making something happen.
Great decision making does not require all the facts to be in, or even for the facts to be absolutely accurate, but requires a certain sufficiency of information, combined with good expertise, experience, gut feel and other peoples' sentiments.
No decision is not a bad decision, just as a fast decision is not a good decision. Inactivity due to laziness and procrastination, and paralysis due to fear will almost always lead to poor decision making. A doubting mind that is not cleared, activity for the sake of activity, recklessness masquerading as courage are also some of the common causes of poor decision making.
Listening to others and yourself without allowing your ego to interfere, debating the issue and not the people involved, with a neutral, open and receptive mind, and allowing yourself to be in the "wrong" is the hallmark of great decision makers.
Trusting your gut is only of value if your gut is not a victim of your ego's fears and desires.
Waiting for the perfect time and the perfect place to make the perfect decision, will usually cause you to miss the boat. The good thing is, if you are alert, this is where your experience will be built.
Look at things as a whole, factor in more than just your self-interest and think long term and your decision making skills will start to get polished.
Generally it is good to hold out on making your decision till the last possible minute if the situation permits. This however is not an excuse to switch off, not be actively engaged and be on top of things in the mean time.
If you are an "intuitive" person and your intuition has proven to be right time and time again, go with your intuition. If you are a "logical" person and your logic has proven to be right time and time again, go with your logic. And in both cases do your best to factor the other in as well.

And here is DifferWorld's 10 Step Framework For Great Decision Making...

Get clear on the intention behind the need for a great decision.
Appreciate the context in which the decision needs to be made.
Do comprehensive and neutral fact finding.
Plot various likely scenarios and outcomes.
Entertain your options.
Seek others opinions.
Make the decision.
Observe the results.
Gain experience and expertise.
Apply what you have learned.

12 Things For KSE Grads Of 2nd Oct 08 To Remember

2007-10-02T23:37:00.000+08:00

12 Things For KSE Grads of 2nd Oct 08 To Remember

1) Your Action Oriented Philosophy

If there is a job to be done, we believe we should get on with it, in the best way possible and to the best of our ability.

2) Your Customer Oriented Philosophy

We value our customer's interest in our company and believe we should strive to understand their needs and ensure their satisfaction.

3) You Live In An Appearing-Disappearing World

A world in which what you focus on comes into your existence and what you do not focus on fades out of your existence.

4) Watch Out For Barriers To Your Communication

Be mindful of your Reactions, I Already Knows, Ya,Buts and Assumptions

5) When It Comes To Service

Service is not just getting share of wallet or market, it is getting share of heart and that when you get share of heart you can rest assured you will get share of wallet and market, but should never expect it.
That in a competitive business environment that has a surplus of similar companies, employing similar people, with similar education backgrounds, doing similar jobs, coming up with similar products with similar pricing, the great differentiator is service.
That to deliver service you have to operate from heart.
That to serve is to live fully.
And ultimately service always has to begin with me.

6) The 5 Paradigm Shifts That Are Impacting You Are...

Products and services are increasingly not sold, but bought.
That there is now an evolution in competition from product focus, to service and experience focus.
There is a clear and increasing gap between expectations and delivery.
Technology and business are accelerating faster than your professional and personal development and that it is up to you to keep pace.
Who you are being and your level of competency together make a difference.

7) There Is A Technical & Non-Technical Level Of Service

And that the non-technical level of service involves heart.

8) You Need To Build Reservoirs of Goodwill To Maintain Great Relationships

How? By you adding water into the reservoir everyday and not bring your emotional baggage into play.

9) That Gandhi Was Absolutely Right...

... when he said that, "You have to be the change you want to see in your world."

10) And What Confucius Spoke About 2,500 Years Ago Is True...

... when he said, "To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right."

11) That If You - Manju, Reuben, Kai Ling, Junior, Daniel, Gary, Christopher, Ailing, Chang Kin, Kok Pheng, Malliga, Lay Leng, Denise, Gary, Mandy, Siew We and Eng Chuan...

...Continue to Listen, Learn, Think & Apply the way you did today, the change you will cause in your world and the effects you will enjoy will far exceed any expectations you could possibly imagine.

12) And that we all need to be grateful to Cheah Wai May and her team for making this happen in such a wonderful way, year on year.

On Becoming A Seeker by Peter Matthiessen

2007-10-02T00:55:00.000+08:00

On Becoming A Seeker by Peter Matthiessen

"Soon the child's clear eye is clouded over by ideas and opinions, preconceptions and abstractions.

Simple free being becomes encrusted with the burdensome armor of the ego.

Not until years later does an instinct come that a vital sense of mystery has been withdrawn.

The sun glints through the pines, and the heart is pierced in a moment of beauty and strange pain, like a memory of paradise. After that day... we become seekers." -- Peter Matthiessen

One Gains, One Loses

2007-10-02T00:51:00.000+08:00

One Gains, One Loses

"After taking the high seat to preach to the assembly, Fa-yen raised his hand and pointed to the bamboo blinds.

Two monks went over and rolled them up in the same way.

Fa-yen said, 'One gains, one loses.'" -- Zen Koan

Before A Person Studies Zen...

2007-10-02T00:46:00.000+08:00

Before A Person Studies Zen...

"Before a person studies Zen, mountains are mountains and waters are waters; after a person studies Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and waters are no longer waters; after enlightenment, mountains are once again mountains and waters and once again waters."
-- Zen Saying

Spanish Proverb - Of Bulls And Bull Rings

2007-09-30T23:25:00.000+08:00

Spanish Proverb - Of Bulls And Bull Rings

"It is not the same to talk of bulls as to be in the bull ring."

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A Dialogue Between The Man of Riches and The Woman of Wealth

2007-09-30T23:08:00.000+08:00

A Dialogue Between The Man of Riches and The Woman of Wealth

The Man of Riches asked the Woman of Wealth, "I am going to ask you a question, do you have the wisdom to answer?"

The Woman of Wealth said, "Please go ahead and ask."

The Man of Riches said, "I already have."

To which the Woman of Wealth replied, "Then I have already answered."

The Man of Riches continued, "What did you answer, when did you answer?"

To which the Woman of Wealth replied, "What did you question, when did you question?"

"I haven't yet questioned anything." said the Man of Riches.

"Then I haven't yet answered anything." said the Woman of Wealth.

"Such is life." commented Manoj Sharma

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Seize The Opportunity Here And Now by Manoj Sharma

2007-09-30T22:44:00.000+08:00

Seize The Opportunity Here And Now by Manoj Sharma

In the mind of an "ignorant" child there are infinite possibilities, but in the mind of an "knowledgeable" adult there are few.

Correspondingly, those who live their lives as being a possibility of something or another are only giving further power to their ego. Their ego, which is only too happy to convince them as to their own grandeur, legacy and "contribution".

Following the path of possibility will only serve to move you further towards the systematic failure to appreciate the underlying principle of the universe, made up of multi-verses, existing as an opportunity waiting to be seized.

An opportunity, here and now, for consciousnesses to emerge, re-merge and sub-merge with consciousness itself and ultimately realize its true nature.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

The Power Of Volition

2007-09-30T03:44:00.000+08:00

The Power Of Volition by Paramahansa Yogananda

"Volition is the dynamo that feeds all our powers. It initiates and keeps in continuous operation all our physical, mental and spiritual actions. Without the spring of volition, we cannot walk, talk, think, work or feel. In order not to exercise volition, or will power, one would have to lie down and enter a state of suspended animation. Even the slightest movement of the muscles (as in winking the eyelids) or any act of thinking is initiated by the use of volition.

A wish implies a helpless desire of the mind. A desire is a stronger wish; it is often followed by fitful efforts to manifest itself into action. An intention, or a determination, is a definite, strong desire expressed very forcefully once or twice through action for the accomplishment of a certain purpose. Such a determination, however strong, is often discouraged after one or perhaps several unsuccessful efforts.

But a volition consists of a series of continuous, undiscouraged, unceasing determinations and acts revolving around a desire, until it becomes dynamic enough to produce the much-craved result. “Will and act until victory” is the slogan of all volitive activity.

No matter how impossible of accomplishment his goal may seem, the man of volition never stops repeating conscious acts of determination to achieve it. As long as he lives."

Special thanks to Prasanth Kumar for assisting to identify the author of the piece.

10 Things I Believe In by JooHock

2007-09-29T22:39:00.000+08:00

10 Things I Believe In by JooHock

1. About God?
God is not some Super duper omni-potent Being, somewhere out there in some realm of the Universe, watching us, who needs to be kowtowed to. And such that if we don't kowtow to this God, we will be punished. My thoughts and thus my mind is totally inadequate to fully comprehend this Integrity, this "Being" humans generally refer to as God.
However, I can only say my feeling, and belief is that we are all manifestations of God.

2. About Human Beings and Life?
As human beings, we feel and seem to experience ourselves in the flesh, we are not things. Under very powerful super nano-micron-microscope (if there is one) we are all but empty space. Therefore the physical beings that we are, are like holograms formed to give physical manifestation of a consciousness, the Integrity, the Life that animates this "hologram" being.

3. About Universe and humanity's place in it?
Universe is teeming with life with myriad physical forms, extra-terrestrials, which we have never yet encountered. Humanity and the creatures that lives here on Earth is but one teeny weeny part of Universe. It is a testing ground for whether humans, given consciousness, awareness, including ego, can discover and evolve itself to higher level of consciousness. Or whether human despite his consciousness, his ego can violate the laws of Universe and destroy itself, perhaps including Earth. I believe that human can make it through, as there are manifestations like Buckminster Fuller who comes along to demonstrate and transcend our ego-selves.

4. On Self.
Believing in myself is important, and to do so is believing in this Integrity God-Spirit which manifest this life and animates this physical being given the name JooHock, as well as all of humanity, past present and future.

5. On Being Different
I'm here to be different in order to make a difference for my fellow man. (that's why I'm UNIQUE).And to do so, I have to Dare to be myself, which is quite a challenge in an environment that tries to make me conform to it norms.

6. On Being Free
I believe in Freedom for all, (Freedom is Wealth) and in order to be Free, all Man and I need to be aware of the "programs", the conditioning put in us by society to control and "imprison" us. We're a walking bundle of "programs", and we need to be able to be free from them. Not easy.

7. On Buckminster Fuller
If ever there was anything in my life that I can say that I really believed in, it would be this.
Prior to my "encounter" with Bucky, I was a very skeptical person. Never could I say that I could trust anyone, nor believe in anything. Since I learnt about him and from him I'll admit that I believe in Bucky, what he shared, his experiences. He made sense to me. He had no personal agenda, nothing to "sell" me. He was Integrity personified. And that's also why I am committed to share his philosophy, his works, etc., through my Bucky sessions, with my Bucky Group and also my Bucky Workshops.

8. On Reality
I create my own reality, which is subjective.

9. On Paradoxes
The Great Consciousness, that designed this Universe, designed it perfectly, with paradoxes to give humanity constant challenges. When he solves a problem successfully, he is given more challenging problems to solve Otherwise humans will be bored, and he will be complaining of his boredom.

10. On What I'm here for?
I'm here to make my Music, Sing my Songs and Dance my Dance, through my Bucky workshops. And if they touched lives, great. If they benefits by them, fine. They did it themselves. I'm just doing my thing. Ha Ha.

What are the 10 Things You Believe In?

To create your own list of 10 Things please go to http://www.listphile.com/10_Things_I_Believe_In

Are You In The Know by Manoj Sharma

2007-09-28T19:05:00.000+08:00

Are You In The Know? by Manoj Sharma

Born you were, as everyone else is, almost completely ignorant. Ignorant about yourself, ignorant about your world and certainly about yourself in it. Sure, you had some basic survival mechanisms in place such as crying for food, not putting yourself in danger and resonating to the friendliness of a smile. Outside of the above and their likes, you were even born ignorant of mother and father and definitely ignorant of language, mathematics, science, society, ethics, arts and the other fundamentals that signify a "civilized" human being. You had precious little knowledge of anything (And in the bigger scheme of things, are you willing to be truthful enough to recognize that you still don't?) - and therefore were born largely ignorant. As knowledge crept into your presence, correspondingly ignorance started to eliminate itself and ideally this process of gaining wisdom should continue until the day you die.

Presently you are who you are and face the seemingly unique challenges you do and while this is going on, how often have you stopped to ponder why it is so?

You are, at the very least, the result of the culmination of your entire life up to this point. Consider that initially, the infinite consciousness of your spirit together with the subtle presence of your mind, animated the tangible instrument you call your body. Your body, through its five senses, and only with the support of an attentive focused mind, brought initial morsels of knowledge into your sphere of awareness.

Your body was, is, but will not forever be, in a physical world defined by action and effort. Your potential to carry out actions both voluntary and involuntary along with your ability to sense were built in. Albeit they started off as erratic and needed some honing. Given space and time you learned how to coordinate and control them, you also discovered that you could even deliberately plan them. You sensed and functioned in your existing environments and functioned and made sense of new environments. You had a remarkable ability to adapt and inquisitively sought the curiosity of the new, even though, and as, you enjoyed the comfort of the familiar.

You called on past assimilated experiences to accommodate new experiences even when they did not fit. Due to a lack of the light of knowledge the confusion started, grew, persisted and still lurks in the shadows as you dismiss it to be the way life is. So you continue to endeavour to embrace the highs of life and resist its lows.

Somewhere along the way, very early on, you learned to distinguish yourself from your world, and others from you and thus gave rise to your ego - your sense of yourself as a distinct and separate entity from others and your world; the one and only thing in your universe that you refer to when you say, "I". You soon also learned by repetition and relation that others seem to give a name to this "I", and you too started to relate to that name and responded to it as "me" when it was called. You became yourself, your own person, the "myself" - distinct, unique, special and because of that separate from the completeness, elegance and perfection of the universe.

And it was non-coincidentally then, at that very happy point of differentiation of your "me", "myself" and "I" that the eventual sadness of unfulfillment simultaneously started. Your compulsion to eliminate the partial fillment of life and be fully filled - fulfillment began. And even as you may be unaware that all gains or losses of your fears, desires, pains and pleasures, in tandem with your vast array of limiting and empowering strategies and generally situational orientations, at best will only temporarily satisfy you, the struggle continues.

Known or unknown to you, your search for fulfillment will never be satisfied through your pursuit of security, pleasure and even the localized ethics that you have been lead to believe, have adopted and will defend as the "normal" and "best" way of life.

Your ultimate outer pursuit of freedom is only an echo of your inner goal of liberation which requires an unfamiliar, different and new means of knowledge that we can call a knowing. A knowing you are unlikely to discover on your own by accident, as this knowing requires you to have been seeking it, before you stumble upon it, are drawn towards it and devote yourself to another seeker who has found it and is living it.

This is a knowing which cannot be gained through conventional action and effort and can only be illuminated through guidance and insight. A knowing, which is not so much an achievement of the not-yet-achieved, but an achievement of the already achieved, keeping in mind that all forms of knowledge are not created but acquired from a pre-existing infinite pool.

This evolutionary path to liberation is not a process of becoming or even being, but simply a question of knowing.

Contemplate this deeply. And if you need to invest hours re-reading it, please do so, it will be well worth your while.

For Keshan in appreciation of your friendship over the years.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

Another Perspective On Money by Barnaby Googe

2007-09-28T16:57:00.000+08:00

Another Perspective On Money by Barnabe Googe

"Give money me, take friendship who so list,
For friends are gone come once adversity,
When money yet remaineth safe in chest,
That quickly can thee bring from misery.
Fair faces show friends when riches do abound;
Come time of proof, farewell, they must away;
Believe me well, they are not to be found
If God but send thee once a lowering day.
Gold never starts aside, but in distress,
Finds ways enough to ease thine heaviness."

-- Barnaby Googe (1540-1594)

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com and http://www.manojsharma.com

The 4 Divisions Of Knowledge by Socrates, from Plato's The Republic

2007-09-28T15:32:00.001+08:00

The 4 Divisions Of Knowledge by Socrates, from Plato's The Republic

In this segment from Plato's The Republic, Socrates explains the 4 divisons of knowledge as he recognizes them. If you read it carefully you will clearly appreciate that most people (possibly yourself included) live vastly in the world of faith and shadows and only occassionally dwell in the world of pure and active intelligence. From personal historical experience, simply understanding this in itself seems be a great starting point to move more actively into the world of intelligence, a world in which ideas are the closest we seem to be able to get to truth.

"Imagine further worlds... one of the visible, the other of the intelligible; you may assist your fancy by figuring the distinction under the image of a line divided into two unequal parts, and may again subdivide each part into two lesser segments representative of the stages of knowledge in either sphere.

The lower portion of the lower or visible sphere will consist of shadows and reflections, and its upper and smaller portion will contain real objects in the world of nature or of art.

The sphere of the intelligible will also have two divisions, one of mathematics, in which there is no ascent but all is descent; no inquiring into premises, but only drawing of inferences.

In this division the mind works with figures and numbers, the images of which are taken not from the shadows, but from the objects, although the truth of them is seen only with the mind's eye; and they are used as hypotheses without being analysed.

Whereas in the other division reason uses the hypotheses as stages or steps in the ascent to the idea of good, to which she fastens them, and then again descends, walking firmly in the region of ideas, and of ideas only, in her ascent as well as descent, and finally resting in them.

'I partly understand,' he replied' you mean that the ideas of science are superior to the hypothetical, metaphorical conceptions of geometry and the other arts or sciences, whichever is to be the name of them; and the latter conceptions you refuse to make subjects of pure intellect, because they have no first principle, although when resting on a first principle, they pass into the highersphere.'

You understand me very well, I said. And now to those four divisions of knowledge you may assign four corresponding faculties--pure intelligence to the highest sphere; active intelligence to the second; to the third, faith; to the fourth, the perception of shadows - and the clearness of the several faculties will be in the same ratio as the truth of the objects to which they are related..."

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com/ and http://www.manojsharma.com/

Are You Enlightened, Fit To Rule And What Training Will Draw You Upwards

2007-09-28T14:31:00.000+08:00

Are You Enlightened, Fit To Rule And What Training Will Draw You Upwards?

Read through the following allegory of the cave by Plato from The Republic and decide for yourself.

"And now I will describe in a figure the enlightenment or unenlightenment of our nature: Imagine human beings living in an underground den which is open towards the light; they have been there from childhood, having their necks and legs chained, and can only see into the den. At a distance there is a fire, and between the fire and the prisoners a raised way, and a low wall is built along the way, like the screen overwhich marionette players show their puppets.

Behind the wall appear moving figures, who hold in their hands various works of art, and among them images of men and animals, wood and stone, and some of the passers-by are talking and others silent.

'A strange parable,' he said, 'and strange captives.'

They are ourselves, I replied; and they see only the shadows of the images which the fire throws on the wall of the den; to these they give names, and if we add an echo which returns from the wall, the voices of the passengers will seem to proceed from the shadows.

Suppose now that you suddenly turn them round and make them look with pain and grief to themselves at the real images; will they believe them to be real? Will not their eyes be dazzled, and will they not try to get away from the light to something which they are able to behold without blinking?

And suppose further, that they are dragged up a steep and rugged ascent into the presence of the sun himself, will not their sight be darkened with the excess of light?

Some time will pass before they get the habit of perceiving at all; and at first they will be able to perceive only shadows and reflections in the water; then they will recognize the moon and the stars, and will at length behold the sun in his own proper place as he is. Last of all they will conclude: This is he who gives us the year and the seasons, and is the author of all that we see.

How will they rejoice inpassing from darkness to light? How worthless to them will seem the honours and glories of the den!

But now imagine further, that they descend into their old habitations; in that underground dwelling they will not see as well as their fellows, and will not be able to compete with them in the measurement of the shadows on the wall; there will be many jokes about the man who went on a visit to the sun and lost his eyes, and if they find anybody trying to set free and enlighten one of their number, they will put him to death, if they can catch him.

Now the cave or den is the world of sight, the fire is the sun, the way upwards is the way to knowledge, and in the world of knowledge the idea of good is last seen and with difficulty, but when seen is inferred to be the author of good and right--parent of the lord of light in this world, and of truth and understanding in the other.

He who attains to the beatific vision is always going upwards; he is unwilling to descend into political assemblies and courts of law; for his eyes are apt to blink at the images or shadows of images which they behold in them--he cannot enter into the ideas of those who have never in their lives understood the relation of the shadow to the substance.

But blindness is of two kinds, and may be caused either by passing out of darkness into light or out of light into darkness, and a man of sense will distinguish between them, and will not laugh equally at both of them, but the blindness which arises from fulness of light he will deem blessed, and pity the other; or if he laugh at the puzzled soul looking at the sun, he will have more reason to laugh than the inhabitants of the den at those who descend from above.

There is a further lesson taught by this parable of ours.

Some persons fancy that instruction is like giving eyes to the blind, but we say that the faculty of sight was always there, and that the soul only requires to be turned round towards the light.

And this is conversion; other virtues are almost like bodily habits, and may be acquired in the same manner, but intelligence has a diviner life, and is indestructible, turning either to good or evil according to the direction given.

Did you never observe how the mind of a clever rogue peers out of his eyes, and the more clearly he sees, the more evil he does? Now if you take such an one, and cut away from him those leaden weights of pleasure and desire which bind his soul to earth, his intelligence will be turned round, and he will behold the truth as clearly as he now discerns his meaner ends.

And have we not decided that our rulers must neither be so uneducated as to have no fixed rule of life, nor so over-educated as to be unwilling to leave their paradise for the business of the world?

We must choose out therefore the natures who are most likely to ascend to the light and knowledge of the good; but we must not allow them to remain in the region of light; they must be forced down again among the captives in the den to partake of their labours and honours.

'Will they not think this a hardship?'

You should remember that our purpose in framing the State was not that our citizens should do what they like, but that they should serve the State for the common good of all. May we not fairly say to our philosopher, Friend, we do you no wrong; for in other States philosophy grows wild, and a wild plant owes nothing to the gardener, but you have been trained by us to be the rulers and kings of our hive, and therefore we must insist on your descending into the den.

You must, each of you, take your turn, and become able to use your eyes in the dark, and with a little practice you will see far better than those who quarrel about the shadows, whose knowledge is a dream only, whilst yours is a waking reality.

It may be that the saint or philosopher who is best fitted, may also be the least inclined to rule, but necessity is laid upon him, and he must no longer live in the heaven of ideas.

And this will be the salvation of the State. For those who rule must not be those who are desirous to rule; and, if you can offer to our citizens a better life than that of rulers generally is, there will be a chance that the rich, not only in this world's goods, but in virtue and wisdom, may bear rule.

And the only life which is better than the life of political ambition is that of philosophy, which is also the best preparation for the government of a State.

Then now comes the question,--How shall we create our rulers; what way is there from darkness to light?

The change is effected by philosophy; it is not the turning over of an oyster-shell, but the conversion of a soul from night to day, from becoming to being.

And what training will draw the soul upwards?" - by Plato from The Republic

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to http://www.differworld.com/ and http://www.manojsharma.com/

The Law Of Love by Mahatma Gandhi

2007-09-27T22:37:00.000+08:00

The Law Of Love by Mahatma Gandhi

"The law of love will work, just as the law of gravitation will work, whether we accept it or not.... a man who applies the law of love with scientific precision can work great wonders.... The men who discovered for us the law of love were greater scientists than any of our modern scientists... The more I work with this law, the more I feel the delight in life, the delight in the scheme of this universe. It gives me a peace and a meaning of the mysteries of nature that I have no power to describe."

-- Mahatma Gandhi

For Andy Tay, upon his return, after the start of his great journey of self-discovery.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to www.DifferWorld.com and www.ManojSharma.com

I Am That Supreme And Fiery Force by Hildegard of Bigen

2007-09-27T22:22:00.000+08:00

I Am That Supreme And Fiery Force by Hildegard of Bigen

"I am that supreme and fiery force that sends forth all the sparks of life.

Death hath no part of me, yet do I allot it, wherefore I am grit about with wisdom as with wings.

I am that living and fiery essence of that divine substance that flows in the beauty of the fields.

I shine in the water, I burn in the sun and the moon and the stars.

Mine is the mysterious force of the invisible wind...

I am life."

-- Hildegarde of Bingen

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to www.DifferWorld.com and www.ManojSharma.com

DifferWorld's Book Of The Month For Oct 08

2007-09-27T20:28:00.000+08:00

DifferWorld's Book Of The Month For Oct 08

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century

By Thomas L. Friedman

Updated Edition: Thomas L. Friedman is not so much a futurist, which he is sometimes called, as a presentist. His aim in The World Is Flat, as in his earlier, influential Lexus and the Olive Tree, is not to give you a speculative preview of the wonders that are sure to come in your lifetime, but rather to get you caught up on the wonders that are already here. The world isn't going to be flat, it is flat, which gives Friedman's breathless narrative much of its urgency, and which also saves it from the Epcot-style polyester sheen that futurists--the optimistic ones at least--are inevitably prey to.

What Friedman means by "flat" is "connected": the lowering of trade and political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution that have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. This in itself should not be news to anyone. But the news that Friedman has to deliver is that just when we stopped paying attention to these developments--when the dot-com bust turned interest away from the business and technology pages and when 9/11 and the Iraq War turned all eyes toward the Middle East--is when they actually began to accelerate. Globalization 3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and China) who can compete--and win--not just for low-wage manufacturing and information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design work as well. (He doesn't forget the "mutant supply chains" like Al-Qaeda that let the small act big in more destructive ways.)

Friedman has embraced this flat world in his own work, continuing to report on his story after his book's release and releasing an unprecedented hardcover update of the book a year later with 100 pages of revised and expanded material. What's changed in a year? Some of the sections that opened eyes in the first edition--on China and India, for example, and the global supply chain--are largely unaltered. Instead, Friedman has more to say about what he now calls "uploading," the direct-from-the-bottom creation of culture, knowledge, and innovation through blogging, podcasts, and open-source software. And in response to the pleas of many of his readers about how to survive the new flat world, he makes specific recommendations about the technical and creative training he thinks will be required to compete in the "New Middle" class. As before, Friedman tells his story with the catchy slogans and globe-hopping anecdotes that readers of his earlier books and his New York Times columns know well, and he holds to a stern sort of optimism. He wants to tell you how exciting this new world is, but he also wants you to know you're going to be trampled if you don't keep up with it. A year later, one can sense his rising impatience that our popular culture, and our political leaders, are not helping us keep pace. --Tom Nissley

Click here to purchase this DifferWorld's recommended book from Amazon.

And for other DifferWorld recommended books please go to http://www.differworld.com/resources/index.php

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to www.DifferWorld.com and www.ManojSharma.com

And Now For Something Completely Different... The Dead Parrot Sketch

2007-09-18T10:57:00.000+08:00

And Now For Something Completely Different... The Dead Parrot Sketch by Monty Pythons

Absolutely brilliant!

10 Things I Believe In by Manoj Sharma

2007-09-17T21:56:00.000+08:00

10 Things I Believe In by Manoj Sharma

1) Humanity above organized religion, as the here and now greatest power we have, with a creator - a certain Oneness, that pervades every thing and no thing and expresses itself actively and passively as pure consciousness.

2) The fallibility of our egos.

3) The nature of our world and surrendering to the process of creation, sustenance and destruction.

4) The importance of recognizing and owning our individual motivators of fears & desires, gravitations of pains & pleasures, limiting & empowering strategies and selfish & selfless orientations.

5) The need for all human beings to clearly know their core values and innermost passions, to create a compelling vision for their lives, live with a sense of mission, while becoming clear about their desired rewards and ultimately living as a congruent identity.

6) The universal principle-based, immediately-actionable, core-knowledge relationship between involution, evolution, devolution and revolution.

7) The value of creating a winning mindset through setting clear compelling targets, having an excellent relationship with opportunities, appreciating the importance of creating aligned environments, the benefits of coaching and being highly coachable.

8) The effectiveness of our professional and personal lives being a by-product of competencies, the most basic of which are communication, sales, leadership, teamwork and entrepreneurship.

9) The need for focused development of our financial, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual quotients towards creating, protecting, multiplying, enjoying and contributing our financial, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual wealth.

10) And the need for every human being to learn how to be of service to themselves, their teams, their organization, their communities, their nations, their regions and their world-at-large by being a contribution.

What are the 10 Things You Believe In?

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to www.DifferWorld.com and www.ManojSharma.com

Are You Living As A Congruent Identity? by Manoj Sharma

2007-09-17T12:13:00.000+08:00

Are You Living As A Congruent Identity? by Manoj Sharma

In the volatility and interconnectedness of the world we live in, all it takes is one bad apple to start the rot, one unknown assassin to send a city into chaos and one bad sheep to ruin everyone's good name.

We need to clearly appreciate that one conscious way of being can be a contributing factor, one powerful thought can set a direction for life, one well chosen word can shift the entire meaning, one conscientious action can define your entire life and one significant result can make a world of difference.

In the same way, when it comes to human beings, one act of pretense can cause you to live a lie, one element of self-deception can cause you to live an incongruent life and in effect this can completely compromise your potential for magnificence.

For a human being to live a truly wealthy life of fulfillment, performance and profitability, the human being first has to identify and root out incongruent and idiosyncratic limiting strategies that are counter-productive to their ideals.

Read the following, allow it to have a fair go and make a note of what does and does not stick. The 48 statements below may or may not be direct fits, but more than that, what you need to look out for are tendencies that need to be corrected for a higher level of congruence to kick in. From my professional coaching experience, on average, anywhere between 5 and 15 of these statements will stick as far as tendencies go. But remember all it takes is one significant tendency to throw all your great work out of whack.

The truth is that to live successfully, powerfully and masterfully at work, home and at play, a human being needs to recreate themselves internally and externally and live as a congruent identity.

Outside you exude certainty, well adjustedness and balance, but inside you are uncertain, self-critical and fearful you will never measure up to your own standards.
Outside you are sociable, but inside you experience alienation, loneliness and isolation.
Outside you triumph the need to share responsibility, but inside you secretly feel you are the only genuinely responsible person around.
Outside you put on a jolly face, but inside your self-harshness leads to depressive thoughts.
Outside you exercise great self-control, but inside the chaos of inadequacy is causing anguish.
Outside you exhibit a steady foundation, but inside you feel the foundation is barely being propped up.
Outside you do you best to convince others of your impartiality, but inside your self-critic is running rampant.
Outside you are there for others, but inside you feel others are not there for you.
Outside you are kind, but inside you know it is only so that you can get people to love you.
Outside you put on a strong front, but inside you are really fragile.
Outside you are okay, but inside you are not okay.
Outside you are loving, but inside you are hurt.
Outside you seem to let things slide, but inside you are touchy.
Outside you exhibit great value, but inside you feel worthless.
Outside you are composed and together, but inside you are vulnerable and insecure.
Outside you portray an effortlessly elegant image, but inside its costing you your wellbeing.
Outside you live for accolades, but inside it is caused by avoiding what you perceive as shame.
Outside you wax on about the value of your image, but inside you suffer serious self-doubt as to its value.
Outside you live in the world, but inside you live in your fantasy.
Outside you answer to your name, but inside you wish to be different from who you are.
Outside you fortify your self-image, but inside you compare this self-image unfavourably to your desired self-image.
Outside you are happy to be alone, but inside you really fear needing the love, care and concern of others.
Outside you are acknowledged for being knowledgeable, but inside you feel a vacuum of knowledge.
Outside you seek to connect with others, but inside you wrangle with the thought that this will cost you your competency and independence.
Outside you come across as being logical, but inside feel you are irrational.
Outside you seem highly organized, but inside you are being orderly just to calm you inner anxiety.
Outside you are looking for security, but inside your very thinking is dangerous.
Outside you are seeking predictability, but inside your mind is all over the place.
Outside you are exude certainty, but inside you are in doubt.
Outside you are one person, but inside you are many people.
Outside you are a rock garden, but inside you are a "three ring circus".
Outside you are silent, but inside you are a cacophony of noise.
Outside you are doing great, but inside you are not doing well.
Outside you are compelled to be the life of the party, but inside you are misery looking for company.
Outside you are carefree, jolly and light hearted, but inside you want to be taken seriously.
Outside you attempt to convince people as to your depth, but inside you invest you time in the superficial.
Outside you are always striving, but inside you have reservations as to whether you will ever get "there".
Outside you are forever optimistic, but inside you are fearfully pessimistic.
Outside you are looking for adventure, but inside you are more concerned with avoiding disappointment.
Outside you are independent, strong and courageous but inside you are dependent, vulnerable and fearful.
Outside you are objective, but inside you are sentimental.
Outside you are realistically above the fray, but inside you are emotionally tender.
Outside you want everyone to enjoy peace, but inside it is only so your peace is not destroyed.
Outside you let things go, but inside you bottle up your anger.
Outside you are easy going, but inside you are doing everything you can not to be toyed with.
Outside you are seeking the connection of others, but inside you resent them for not stepping forward and pro-actively connecting with you.
Outside you are harmonious, but inside you are struggling with your suppressed rage.

Honestly, how many tendencies were you able to identify that have some fit with you?

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now! For more, please go to www.DifferWorld.com and www.ManojSharma.com

Warning: Are You And Your Partner Falling Victim To Any Of These Relationship Destroyers? by Manoj Sharma

2007-09-16T17:08:00.000+08:00

Warning: Are You And Your Partner Falling Victim To Any Of These Relationship Destroyers? by Manoj Sharma

After working in a Professional Coaching capacity with more than 500 people there is much that I have been privileged to learn about what makes relationships succeed and especially what makes them fail. Calling on my ever increasing wealth of experience here is a short check list that you can go through to get a sense of where your personal relationship is headed. Also remember, never have I had a Relationship Coaching Client whose major problems did not start with "small & insignificant" inconveniences that they chose to ignore.

Relationships get destroyed because at the very least someone is...

Being selfish and ego-centric.
Not investing in regular quality dialogues.
Not being enough of a contribution to the relationship.
Taking the relationships too seriously and not being light hearted enough.
Not appreciating the value of mutually beneficial common standards and upholding them.
Being moody, distant and away too often.
Not being open, honest and flexible enough to correct erroneous thinking and behaviour.
Being too nitpicky, having double standards and not being fair.
Trying too hard to please and becoming needy in the process.
Suffocating the other party's need for space and time by becoming too possessive and clingy.
Not clued in to the other person's values, passion, vision, mission and rewards with sufficient depth.
Being fearful of loneliness, abandonment and rejection.
Having too many expectations that are doomed to disappointment.
Not fully listening deeply and meaningfully to what the other has to say.
Making assumptions without clarifying them.
Finding favour for their follies and thus promoting arguments, blame, complaints, denial, excuses, fault finding, guilt and hatred.
Not fully acknowledging the other's feelings.
Engaging in jealousy of some sort.
Suppressing unresolved issues leading to bottled up anger and resentment.
Not opening up sufficiently to the other.
Pretending to be someone they are not and then struggling to sustain this deceit.
Being irrationally suspicious of the other's motives, not realizing that the suspicion is really their own projection.
Not openly asking for support when needed, instead expecting the other to come forward and is instead festering in resentment because of the perception of missing out on "cues".
Doing things counter to creating intimacy.
Getting caught up in their own emotional reactions and failing to remain objective.
Being overly self-absorbed.
Being overwhelmed with their own uncleared issues.
Putting the other on an artificial pedestal, only to wake up disappointed from their own self-induced fantasy.
Hypocritically asking too much, without asking the same of themselves.
Doing things to place the relationship on tender hooks and in effect haranguing the other.
Bringing your old home, social and work relationship issues into the present one.
Not able to differentiate their dreams, nightmares and their entertainments from reality.
Witholding love, attention, caring, affection and generosity as a means of punishment or revenge.
Not being forgiving enough.
Not letting the other in for fear of what they perceive as a loss of their privacy and privileges.
Becoming easily overtaxed by their inability to cope with the other's needs.
Undermining or being dismissive of the other's insights as being trivial, superficial and irrelevant.
Endlessly testing another's loyalty.
Being defiant and stubborn for fear of losing their sense of self.
Tainting the other's behaviour with suspicion as to their motives.
Impatient as to the other's slower pace or dishonestly deflecting their own inability and unwillingness to catch up.
Avoiding taking about important issues for whatever reason.
Being an energy vampire and drawing excessively and habitually on the other's energy.
Not having a mature devotion to the relationship.
Over asserting themselves.
Being arrogantly uninterested.
Not being in control of their temperament.
Pushing the envelope to get a greater rise out of the other.
Going along without genuine agreement, only to back out when things get to intense.
Blanket imposing their desires upon the other.
Falling victim to their psychological pleasure and pain thresholds.
Not living as a congruent identity.
Lacking self-knowledge to the degree they are clueless as to their limiting and empowering strategies.
Not developing their intra-personal and inter-personal communication competencies.
Oblivious to the necessity of primary leadership, secondary leadership and tertiary leadership as prerequisites to having a great relationship.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now!

Are You Too Suffering From These Deadly Silent Killers Of Fulfillment by Manoj Sharma

2007-09-15T13:10:00.000+08:00

Are You Too Suffering From These Deadly Silent Killer Of Fulfillment? by Manoj Sharma

Even the most respected professionals, the captains of industries, leaders in their fields, the top producers in organizations and others who are the barometers of conventional success have dips in their performance. Known or unknown to them, by allowing these dips to continue unresolved, they in effect compromise their own, their team's, their organization's and even their family's (and in some cases their community's and nation's) overall fulfillment (and profitability) levels.

Not addressed professionally and immediately, these periods of unavoidable and natural lows can go on perpetually, leading to an unnatural and avoidable range of mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and financial entanglements. The longer these symptoms are ignored or a compromised without any real resolution, the harder they become to address, as they take on a life of their own, careen offtrack and snowball out of control.

Do a quick personal check to see if you too are facing some of these deadly silent killers of fulfillment and get assistance immediately where needed before you wholly fall victim to them. There is after all precious little that is more vitally important in your world then your own mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and financial well-being. With the demands of modern life, you know only too well how easy it is to get caught up in the busyness and fail to make the time, you need to immediately further invested in yourself, right now!

So, in answering the 10 sets of questions below, please make a note as to how many in the set you answered "Yes" to and keep a tally as you move along. While answering the questions please do so instinctively with full honesty to yourself.

Furthermore, if you would like a FREE PROFESSIONAL COACHING SESSION WORTH $450/- please copy and past the content below into an email along with the tallied score below and we will be more than happy to assist you.

Set 1

Do you feel yourself obligated to do things against your will?
Do you fell yourself suffering as a result of high standards being set?
Do you feel irritation with yourself, others and possibly the world too?
Do you feel it tough to attain your ideal?
Do you feel very few things come up to your exacting standards?
Do you feel yourself battling feelings of disappointment?
Do you feel yourself resenting others actions?
Do you feel your self-image at conflict with your environments image of you?
Do you feel a loss of rational control?
Do you feel you have to too often suppress your anger?
Do you feel everyday events have become too structured and rigid?
Do you feel you are inhibiting your feelings and impulses?

__ / 12

Set 2

Do you feel it is difficult to find the time to attend to other people's needs?
Do you feel others will shy away from you if you have your own issues to deal with?
Do you feel difficulty in acknowledging your own personal needs?
Do you feel you get aloofness when things don't go your way?
Do you feel you tend to put others before yourself too many times?
Do you feel problems slowly eating away at the fabric of you?
Do you feel you deny or suppress your own needs?
Do you feel yourself doing things with too many ulterior motives?
Do you feel you secretly have a hidden neediness?
Do you feel your demands may drive people away?
Do you feel you are too willing to come to people's aid?
Do you feel it is almost impossible for you to say "No" when people ask for help?

__ / 12

Set 3

Do you feel you have fallen into deceiving yourself as to what's real and what's not?
Do you feel you are investing too much time on your self-image in your or other's eyes?
Do you feel your inner attributes are inadequate or in some way unacceptable?
Do you feel yourself creating yourself as someone you are not?
Do you feel yourself doing things to seek acceptance or accolade?
Do you feel yourself putting an inequitable amount of energy into being outstanding?
Do you feel your best efforts are not reaping their just deserves?
Do you feel yourself forever trying to make things worthwhile?
Do you feel you see yourself as a failure even though the results you have produced are better than those around you?
Do you feel yourself rejecting your present situation in favour of a future more worthwhile situation?
Do you feel you silently suffer in your desire for more?
Do you feel you sometimes deceive by overstating your real worth?

__ / 12

Set 4

Do you feel you are missing out on things that others seem to have?
Do you feel something is wrong with you or your relationships?
Do you feel you spend too much time victimized by what is not working in your life?
Do you feel it is tough for you to feel good about yourself?
Do you feel it difficult for you to count your blessings?
Do you feel a discomforting feeling that something is not quite right, incomplete or inadequate about you?
Do you feel that you are suffering in isolation?
Do you feel you are in the habit of comparing yourself with others?
Do you feel you have in some way or form been shortchanged through life?
Do you feel past experiences will somehow never release their grip on you?
Do you feel yourself rehashing the past?
Do you feel it has become difficult for you to let go of past pain?

__ / 12

Set 5

Do you feel you hide behind your intellect?
Do you feel small and helpless due to insufficient knowledge?
Do you feel there is simply not enough of you to go around?
Do you feel other people's interest takes up too much of your time?
Do you feel your interaction with others has been minimized?
Do you feel you tend to horde resources?
Do you feel you have a tendency to play solo?
Do you feel you struggle to be generous to yourself?
Do you feel you suffer from the fear of not being enough?
Do you feel your progress is dependent on gaining new knowledge?
Do you feel you acquire more and more expertise in the event you just might need them to move forward in life?
Do you feel you invest too much time in the small details and nitty-gritty?

__ / 12

Set 6

Do you feel you are over anxious at times?
Do you feel you dread the unknown?
Do you feel you imagine the worst first, instead of the best?
Do you feel you too often have an agitated mind?
Do you feel you are not sufficiently prepared to deal with major problems?
Do you feel the fear of things going wrong can fill you with uncertainty?
Do you feel your mind gets too worked up too many times?
Do you feel you are less and less able to quieten your mind?
Do you feel your actions are sometimes too indecisive?
Do you feel you are endless rechecking what you have done?
Do you feel you need a reliable pillar of support?
Do you feel you are most secure amongst people who are likely to support you?

__ / 12

Set 7

Do you feel you have an inner emptiness that needs filling?
Do you feel you are ultimately alone regardless of the number of friends you have?
Do you feel you have a habit of seeking constant stimulation?
Do you feel you are often looking for pleasurable experiences to distract you from anxieties?
Do you feel you tend to dive headlong into new experiences with insufficient discrimination?
Do you feel you are always getting into new activities without fully seeing through present ones?
Do you feel that your satisfaction is largely short-lived?
Do you feel hopeful in finding fulfillment through a new source?
Do you feel that when things do go your way you feel trapped in an inescapable pain?
Do you feel old painful memories re conjured through new situations?
Do you feel you do your utmost best to escape perceived physical and mental pain?
Do you feel you have tended to pursue happiness above all else?

__ / 12

Set 8

Do you feel the desire to be intensely alive?
Do you feel everything needs to be done immediately?
Do you feel you lack patience with people?
Do you feel you have a disdain for actions without full commitment?
Do you feel it seem to be you against the world?
Do you feel you have a habit of over exerting yourself?
Do you feel you tend to want to influence others to your point of view?
Do you feel you have a tendency to be over aggressive?
Do you feel you have the ability to overwhelm other people such that they thereafter avoid you?
Do you feel your behaviour leaves you open to stress?
Do you feel if you continue down the path you are on, physical breakdown might await you?
Do you feel you tend to take on more than you can chew?

__ / 12

Set 9

Do you feel you are too easygoing?
Do you feel you do not apply your energies sufficiently to what is most worthwhile?
Do you feel you too often suppress your anger and frustration?
Do you feel your potential volatility could compromise the peace you desire in life?
Do you feel you put a lot of time and energy into reinforcing your idealized world?
Do you feel you tend to bottle, cap and store away your energies for later?
Do you feel a certain hard to describe inner numbness?
Do you feel you generally are fast to fatigue and need constant rest to recharge yourself?
Do you feel you often are passive and disengaged?
Do you feel you are somewhat reluctant or incapable to fully engage in life?
Do you feel somethings are just not worth the trouble and will compromise your harmony?
Do you feel you seek the serenity of safe and comforting routines?

__ / 12

Set 10

Do you feel mentally taxed?
Do you feel emotionally burdened?
Do you feel physically exhausted?
Do you feel spiritually disconnected?
Do you feel financially over-driven?

__ / 5

Please note due to the numerous number of emails we usually receive we will only entertain those who are genuine interested to live more fulfilling lives and thus we will require in your Full Name, Your Designation, Your Age, Your Country & Contactable Phone Number to do the coaching on. Also note this coaching is only for mentally and emotionally well individuals who are above the age of 21.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now!

What Is Responsibility by Manoj Sharma

2007-09-14T12:00:00.000+08:00

What Is Responsibility? by Manoj Sharma

Over the years responsibility has crept more and more into our everyday lexicon and has become part of our presently evolving zeitgeist. We hear the word being used, we use the word, we have a general understanding of the word, but really what is responsibility at a deeper, more sophisticated and meaningful level?

The Random House Unabridged Dictionary defines responsibility as:

the state or fact of being responsible.
an instance of being responsible: The responsibility for this mess is yours!
a particular burden of obligation upon one who is responsible: the responsibilities of authority.
a person or thing for which one is responsible: A child is a responsibility to its parents.
reliability or dependability, esp. in meeting debts or payments. —Idiom
on one's own responsibility, on one's own initiative or authority: He changed the order on his own responsibility.

While the American Heritage Dictionary defines responsibility as:

The state, quality, or fact of being responsible.Something for which one is responsible; a duty, obligation, or burden.

WordNet from Princeton University says, responsibility is:

the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force; "we must instill a sense of duty in our children"; "every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty"- John D.Rockefeller Jr [syn: duty]
the proper sphere or extent of your activities; "it was his province to take care of himself" [syn: province]
a form of trustworthiness; the trait of being answerable to someone for something or being responsible for one's conduct; "he holds a position of great responsibility" [ant: irresponsibility]

From the above we can glean that generally responsibility is, "a state or fact of being responsible, an instance of being responsible, a duty, burden or obligation of responsibility, something for which one is responsible, general reliability or dependability being identified as responsibility, responsibility as something done on one's own initiative or authority, a force that binds you to the courses of actions demanded by that force, the proper sphere or extent of one's activities, the trait of being answerable to someone, and a position.

From the above it seems responsibility is quite a few varied and sometimes interrelated things.

If you further your quest to define responsibility and take your pursuit to the streets, and ask everyday people what responsibility means to them, you will fast hear it being initially defined in terms of accountability, goodness, justness, ownership, righteousness, trustworthiness, uprightness, virtuousness, and you will soon enough you will also hear emotion filled elements of amenability, answerability, blame, burden, charge, culpability, duty, encumbrance, fault, guilt, incubus, incumbency, liability, obligation and onus described through various wordings.

At this point it is important to remember that we all use language as a means to communicate. And while we say we use language, the truth is that if we use language unconsciously, language is really using us and its not really us using it. Why? Because a human being thinks in language and language distinguishes quality of thinking, quality of wording, quality of actioning and quality of results. Your results are a product of your conscious sophistication of language. Language is a tool of communication that we really don't pay enough attention towards the quality of our lives and the standard of our living, which together determine our financial and non-financial wealth. When you start pay attention to the tool we call language, a few things start to become abundantly clear. Firstly, that language is a living entity, evolving day to day. And secondly that connotations of words used to make up language are more important then definitions of words used in language, as yesterday's connotations have become today's definitions and today's connotations will be tomorrow's definitions. Keeping the relevance of the above in mind, let us now pay attention to the present connotations of responsibility.

If you further your research responsibility comprehensively you will come across responsibility used in at least 33 different ways as a noun, with the connotations of...

accountability (contractual answerability),
burden (difficult charge),
business (area of concern),
care (genuine concern),
charge (controlled decree),
command (directed demand),
commitment (optionless obligation),
concern (established interest),
debt (outstanding score),
department (occupational expertise),
dependable (steadfast reliability),
devotion (complete dedication),
difficulty (bothersome quandary),
discretion (deliberated discernment),
encumbrance (weighty hindrance),
expense (assessed cost),
fault (culpable blame),
function (designated domain),
guilt (self-reproach),
happening (matter of affairs),
honesty (conscientious truthfulness),
job (functional task),
liability (subjected debt),
load (excess burden),
mission (purposeful pursuit),
onus (defining action),
ownership (possession of)
rap (censured reproach),
spot (appointed job),
stint (consigned bit),
trustworthiness (dependable conscientiousness),
weight (cumbersome baggage) and
work (undertaken obligation).

While the definitions and connotations of responsibility do shed tremendous light on its scope of usage they do not fully give an appreciation of the common adoption and more importantly the tendencies in usage and appreciation of the word responsibility and more so, its actual relationship with people. The last point being the most pertinent.

In my years of working with people, as individuals, teams, organizations and beyond, two things seem to have clearly evoked more emotion and resistance than the rest. One of which is obviously responsibility. The moment the the topic of responsibility is brought up a sudden surge of consciousness mixed with various defense mechanisms is immediately noticeable. The internal and external dilemma and grappling I have observed in relation to responsibility are far in excess of any other topic. And in a powerful way this end up revealing the 9 primal human tendencies people have conditioned themselves or have been conditioned to relate to responsibility.

As we dwell further into this expansive and bottomless topic of responsibility, it is good to note that appreciating responsibility at a deeper, more sophisticated and meaningful level requires the real life actuality of something having gone awry. In the absence of something having gone awry, all talk of responsibility is mostly pointless as there is no substance against which it the deeper, more sophisticated and meaningful appreciation of responsibility has the opportunity to come alive.

Unfortunately, we suffer from this truth in this very writing. If you the reader are reading this at a time in which something is not awry - a time of relative calm - you will likely miss out on the true significance of the word responsibility. If you were however, are reading this, at a time of mounting problems, issues, difficulties, obstacles and constraints signifying something having gone awry, your relationship with what is coming up next will be dramatically different as it would enable clarity and if you choose to take conscious action, will also lead to a vastly different future. Every definition of responsibility will becomes rich, every connotation will come alive, every tendency will evoke truth and ultimately your appreciation will be heightened along with your consciousness of the opportunities and solutions available to you and the course of action you have to take.

To fully appreciate responsibility we have to examine the vast majority of human behaviour and tendencies when something goes awry. So start with seeing if you are neutrally able to soak in the following.

The 'naturally' conditioned 9 primal human tendencies when something goes awry are to...

Argue incessantly about who, what, where, when, why and how something went awry
Blame whomever possible as to the fact that something has gone awry
Complain passionately to whomever is willing to listen as to something having gone awry
Fervently deny the very existence of something having gone awry
Make endless excuses for why something has gone awry
Find fault for why something has gone awry
Feel guilt about your role in the something that has gone awry
Habour hate for someone or something as a result of something having gone awry
Feign ignorance as to not having knowledge of something having gone awry

When you are in the midst of something having gone awry that is the best time to identify the above 'naturally' conditioned 9 primal human tendencies when something goes awry. You can observe the above 'naturally' conditioned 9 primal human tendencies at work, at home and even while you are at play.

When you take the time to correlate the 33 connotations of responsibility with the 9 primal ways and human tendency when something goes awry, an interesting thing happens. It is easily to relate common appreciation of responsibility with accountability, burden, business, charge, command, debt, department, debt, department, dependable, difficulty, discretion, encumbrance, expense, fault, function, guilt, happening, job, liability, load, rap, spot, stint, trustworthiness, weight and work and not as common to relate it to care, commitment, concern, devotion, honesty, mission, onus and ownership. And it is ultimately with these 8 remaining connotations that the greatest gains from responsibility are to be had.

If one can appreciate responsibility as care, commitment, concern, devotion, honesty, mission, onus and ownership; that is, responsibility as a genuine concern, with a conscientious truthfulness for an established interest, that one takes possession of and carries out defining action with the spirit of optionless obligation with complete devotion to a purposeful pursuit with the absence of argument, blame, complain, denial, excuses, fault, guilt, hate and ignorance then the magic of responsibility hold not bounds of what can be achieved for the good of all at work, at home and at play for individuals, teams, organization, communities, nations, regions and the word-at-large.

The thing about responsibility is that responsibility at its height of power is a product of conscious knowledge, and can rarely, if ever, be given. And even if it can be given, it has no power until it is fully taken. For responsibility, to have its desired effects of magnificence, it needs to first be taken or at the very least honestly contemplated to be taken. And only in this act of it being taken or honestly contemplated to be taken is conscious knowledge of it gained - taken and gained, fully, and wholly, mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Furthermore, the both the foundation and pinnacle of responsibility is ethical responsibility and an appreciation of that is a whole different dynamics.

As usual, please feel free to send me your thoughts and comments to Info@DifferWorld.com And if you'd like to explore how you, your teams and your organization can benefit from the above and other DifferWorld initiatives please feel free to drop me a note by clicking here, or call me at DIFFERWORLD at SKYPE now!