Newsletter #19

September 2013

Welcome to this edition of the Voyages of Discovery Newsletter, the newsletter that is all about you and your voyages of discovery of your genius. If you missed our previous newsletters, get them here from our archives.

In This Issue

Are you turning out WOW projects?

The Magic of ONE!

Next Issue

Are you turning out WOW projects?

What do you stand for?

WOW Projects

In the perennial classic, The Pursuit of WOW, Tom Peters, the firebrand management guru talks about the worthwhile pursuit of turning out only WOW projects. He goes on to say that if you do work, be it in your employment or your business or social work, if you are not producing work that is inspiring, you might as well not expend energy on going through the motions. He says, work must wow people - your customers, company, bosses, peers and any others that you serve, work with, partner with and generally become associated with.

Excellence, a philosophy

It all boils down to key questions that you ask yourself. For example, does your work matter? What do you and your work stand for? What would you like to be known for?

Every one of us is carrying out work in one way or the other. Some of us are in employment, some running businesses, some doing social service and so on. However, the common thread here is a degree of input which produces some output. It is this output that we are talking about in terms of excellence.

Deadlines and completion of projects are not the same as turning out WOW projects. Wow projects are more than just the sum of their parts. They inspire, enthrall, educate. And they do something more. They reinforce your brand. What do I mean by that? They tell in no uncertain way what you stand for. As the saying goes: "What you are is so deafening that I can hardly hear what you are saying."

You do not need to say anything at all. What you are, meaning, what you do, the way you turn out your work, the way you appear to others is enough for others to form an opinion on what you represent. In another of his best sellers, Brand You, Tom Peters says you are a brand. This is irrespective of whether you are in employment, run your own business or doing social work. You stand for something. You stand for excellence, you stand for anything that WOWs!

The Apple example

Apple is one of the most iconic brands in recent times apart from being the most valuable company in the world based on market capitalization. But more than the brand or its market capitalization or any other commercial or financial index, Apple is a philosophy. A philosophy rooted in quality and turning out WOW products.

The most significant tribute paid to Apple, ironically in a facetious sort of manner is that:"Apple makes you buy their products that you do not even need." Now this has to be the ultimate of measures. Every customer wants bang for the buck and you will not part with your money unless you perceive value higher than the price you are paying. From that angle, to be ready to pay for something that you may not even need is the mother of all salutes to a product. Your emotions are taking the decision and a product that can evoke such emotions is a WOW product.

Consider among the many WOW products that Apple threw up, the iconic iPad. A cutting edge technology tablet that a 2 year old can operate (kids are a huge market for the iPad and this includes toddlers in a big way) with a solitary button on its face. Centuries ago Leonardo Da Vinci said: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." And Apple is living proof of that.

Brand You

But you can as well become a la Apple in your own area of work, study or profession. You just need to turn out consistent excellence in what you do and that will produce at some point of time a WOW effect. It is something to live for, exult and feel proud about. It is enough to make you jump out of bed each morning to face a day fully inspired and energized.

Ingredients of WOW

It is all very well to extoll the virtues of having, representing or being a WOW project, product or person. But how does that happen or how can you make it happen?

The 3 most critical ingredients for attaining a WOW factor are:
1. Excellence
2. Simplicity
3. Joy

Excellence
Perfection is merely a destination. It ends somewhere. Many times it ends somewhere you do not want to be! Excellence is a journey. It never ends. It keeps raising the bar. It puts you on the path to perennial progress. It stokes your senses and entire being. It is definitely more exciting than any destination.

Simplicity
Apart from Leonardo's ode to simplicity, Sir Richard Branson, an icon (and WOW person to boot!) in business and risk taking said: "Any fool can make things complicated; It requires creativity to make things simple."

Endeavor to simplify things - products, services, work, output and it will release you from the fetters of a false sense of power (only I can understand this, no one else can!). It will point you towards a path of greater common good for others. It will actually force you to tread the path of excellence.

Joy
Joy is the last ingredient in a WOW offering. Joy, as in the happiness it gives the receiver. Whatever work you put your signature on, make it a work of art - no, not some painting or sculpture but something that is inspiring, that will WOW everyone around. You can be manufacturing shoe laces and yet turn out such a phenomenally crafted product that the shoe will be proud to show it off. It is that inner feeling of passion that results in quality work.

So, think about this.

The next time you put your signature to something, just briefly consider whether the output is something you would rate as having a WOW factor. What does it say about Brand You?

It will give new meaning to what you represent.

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The Magic of ONE!

Are you mistaking intention for action?

How to become sane
We all have good, even noble intentions. We want to do good stuff. We want to be productive and yes successful. The problem is intentions tend to remain just that - intentions. They do not translate into action unless you, well, acted on them. And herein lies a huge problem. You are full of good intentions, ideas, thoughts, plans, projects and so forth but unfortunately tend to dither when it comes to doing something with them.

Albert Einstein once said that if you keep on doing the same thing and expect different results, (even miracles to happen) that is insanity.

So, per the venerable professor's quote, you need to do different things in order to get different results and thereby restore sanity.

I would say that being sane can also be achieved by translating intentions, ideas or thoughts into action - any kind of action, minor, major, halfhearted but still action which is different from merely hypothesizing about things.

An old Chinese proverb says that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So there it is laid out for you. A ton of planning cannot beat an ounce of action. It is taking that first step and them step after step.

Action mode

What do you think really happens when you take action. When you breach the cozy comfort of intention into the kinetic world of action, the first thing that happens is a change of perspective. Even a morsel of action is a giant step towards the results that you originally had thought up in that intention package. In fact, it is probably the first concrete step towards your result.

And that accomplishment does wonders to your soul and spirit. It appears as if you have scaled the wall of inertia and are now in motion. It is a liberating feeling. And wait, there is more. With this liberating feeling comes the enthusiasm and commitment to replicate the action. You want to be in that inspirational moment again. And so you take that second step of action. Soon you are chugging along at a speed which astonishingly seemed an impossibility just a while back. This is magic! That is what action does to you. Try it. It never fails.

Action cures Fear

You had planned and planned for months and agonized over the details of how you would go to the gym and work out every morning. It was planning on steroids. And finally that morning arrives. But oops, that very morning it starts raining. And you think: "How can I go out in this rain? I may get wet. I may fall sick." The mind is a monkey. If you feed it falsehood and excuses, it will return the same, sometimes, in a magnified way.

But if you did what you had shown you could do earlier, (take action), the situation will be different. You say to yourself: "I must go to the gym irrespective of the rain. I will wear a raincoat, carry an umbrella and so forth. Or it could be cold or snow or heat or whatever.. This is a second great thing that happens when you decide to take action and actually act. You will surmount difficulties as easily as getting on to a treadmill. Action cures fear. Fear is what paralyzes you and leaves you in the intention rut.

Gather momentum
And so you start taking these small action steps - remember again that a ton of intention is no match for an ounce of action - and soon you are gaining momentum. Your project is finally moving. It is a fantastic feeling. Before you realize, hey presto, you have completed the project. Kudos to you. You have beaten the intention mindset. Never mind whether the project is minor or major. In fact, the smaller the project, the more major your win is. For you have vanquished procrastination and dithering which are the bane of inaction.

Replicate
Now replicate that huge success. Remember the saying: Nothing succeeds like success. If you can do it once, you can do it again. And this becomes an ongoing process. It is a process which will embellish your efforts. No more wallowing in theories and hypothesis. You are now an action person. Way to go dude!

Assignment

You must be saying now, enough of that Nara, let us have some action. After all, you fed us all this gibberish about being an action person. It is time to walk the talk. Well here you go.

Pick one thought, idea or intention that you have been having for some time. Just one. There is Magic in that one thought. Don't dwell on the selection too much. Just pick one and TAKE ACTION TODAY. Any small or big action that is required for the thought, idea or intention.

Go on. be what Nike says: JUST DO IT!

And make it a point to pick one such intention, thought or idea each day and run with it.
Take action. Make mistakes. Learn from them. Correct yourself. And then, yes, take action again. It is perennial. It is a manifestation of the wheel of life which keeps rolling.

Resolve NEVER to get stuck in the mire of intention. Embrace action.

You will find yourself bouncing with energy and enthusiasm. And yes, you will accomplish the impossible. Oh, what a feeling!

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Next Issue (see you in October 2013)

The road to your passion

Design is ubiquitous. It touches all facets of your life and every waking moment. Read why and how.

Is technology your master or your slave. No honest? It makes a difference! Find out how.

and many more......

Feedback on the newsletter is welcome including any suggestions for improvement and may be sent to narasimhan@ignite-insight.biz.

Believe in yourself and discover the genius in you.

Talk to you soon.
S Lakshmi Narasimhan
Author of the just released Book: Discover the Genius in the Mirror
e-Learning Portal: http://www.elearningcloudacademy.com

About Ignite Insight LLC: I am the Founder of Ignite Insight LLC, a Consultancy specializing in providing Group/Executive Training, Coaching and consulting services to companies, business groups and individuals. We empower you to discover the genius in yourself!

Contact me at: 1-201-253-5000