CREATIVITY

Creativity is the ultimate

SPHERE
skill of mankind

( H o w e v e r t h e r e i s n o t h i n g c a l l e d u l t i m at e i n c r e at i v i t y )

February 2010 / 63
I was conveying new-year greetings to one of my friends. He suddenly responded, You have already told, how many times you will say? It was rather a surprise to me, if not a shock. I could understand his plight. He has already put a tick mark in the receipt column. His problem was, where to put the tick mark again, as the computers do not allow a second tick mark in the same column. His concern for me was that I am wasting my energy and efforts by doing the same work second time. Several organisations have the practice of people carrying their plates to the wash basin after having the meals. There are several formats to this you have to carry only the plates, not the water tumblers, in some other companies you have to throw the left-over food in the proper bins, in few companies you have to wash the plates and so on. But in none of the companies you have to clean the table as well. In one place, I was picking up the spilled-over pecks of food particles and was cleaning the table before carrying the plate. The shock came when the manager told, No, no, you dont have to do that, they will take care. The way he told, conveyed as though I am doing something, which I should not do. Why are you wearing the helmet? Otherwise, police will catch me. Why do you say, Good Morning? Thats our company practice.

Why do I do what I do?

Why do you take feed-backs after the programme? That is an ISO requirement. Why are you generating MIS reports? That is my job requirement. Why are you collecting the telephone numbers of the visitors? That is our chiefs order. Why do you go to temple? My astrologer has told me to do for six weeks. Why do you drink so much water? My doctor has asked me to do that. Why do you have the morning prayer? That is our corporate directive. Why do you tie the cat? That is our masters order. We can see such things everywhere in the workplace, in the house, in the supermarket, in the railway station, in the temple, in the canteen and where not? For each such activity, if we try to find the real purpose and do that keeping the purpose in mind, we can see a sea of changes in the way we do. We do any activity mechanically, just for the sake of doing. I am keen only in completing the activity, without any involvement. The purpose of carrying the plate is to leave a clean table for the next person to come and sit comfortably. When I am clear about the purpose, my cleaning the table is perfectly in order. But how many of us do this?

Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly, and not saying no soon enough - Josh Billings

When I am wearing the helmet for the sake of the policeman, then the helmet he becomes just a show piece. Even a cap will deceive the policeman. The moment policeman disappears, I curse him and remove the cap. If I am conscious of the purpose that the helmet is meant to protect my head, I choose the best one, wear it all the time, carefully, irrespective of whether the policeman is around or not. When I know that saying good morning is to give good feelings and positive energy to other person, I say it enthusiastically, with a smiling face, looking at the eyes of the person whole heartedly. Else, I do it mechanically, sometimes even by just nodding the head, head put a tick mark, and happy that the first work of the day is completed. When I am serious about the abou effectiveness of the programme and really interested in knowing how the participants liked it and how to make it more effective, then I design the format so carefully that I really understand the feelings of the participants from their feedbacks. Otherwise, I just file the forms and am happy that system requirement is completed. The MIS reports are to give a clear picture of the state of affairs so that bosses can make decisions from the information available there. So I go even out of the way to collect all the data, see that they are complete and accurate. Else with whatever data is available I make the report and pass it. What can I do if people p dont provide data? I cannot go and verify their accuracy everywhere everywhere. Security people are collecting telephone numbers of the visitors to ensure their identity and also to use it in case of

emergency. So it ought to be a number other than his cell phone which he himself r is carrying. It can be a landline or a cell phone number of his people. When I am doing it only for the Chiefs order, I dont bother to see the correctness of the number and with whatever the visitor gives, I am happy that the requirements are fulfilled. The activity is completed, but he the purpose is not fulfilled. My going to the temple is for praying ing with full faith so that I get peace of mind and to find a meaning and purpose for my life. But when I do it for the sake of the hen astrologer, it is done like a formal formality, for the sake of doing. Sometimes I do it by sitting in my moving vehicle and just n bowing down to the deity. I do not have time to go inside the temple, not even to stop the vehicle and the god is great enough to understand my busyness. Even I have seen people smoking a cigarette, doing it as an activity as though something that must be done after a meal or after a cup of tea - quick three or four puffs and heaving a sigh of relief that one very important work is completed completed. When I do anything for the sake of doing, I am only counting the number or looking at the clock. My heart is not in the ing thing I am doing.

Often we can hear such comments: I have conveyed it to the service ed department, I have told the right I people, I have done my work, etc. They are clear messages that the activity is completed. Let us start living by enjoying and do things for the purpose. Let even the glass of water we drink let us enjoy it and drink and not do it for the doctor. *

Your biggest competitor is your own view of your future Watts Wacker & Jim Taylor

Howst?
The bus that is late is also overcrowded For a child everything is fun When the stock is little, requirement also increases All the CEOs take charge in the midst of crises

Letters
Girjesh Kumar Gour, Sirohi: Thank you , very much for sending me the CS regularly, I was not reading them due to one or other reason. I read CS 62 after a long time and it gave me energy. Now I have decided that I will read the past issues one by one daily. Vijay Kumar Mishra, Mumbai , C M Gupta, T Anand, Madurai, Manisha Dwivedi, Mumbai: Your programme was very good and it helped me gain knowledge, especially how to identify the problem. A S Ratia, Veraval: CS is very interesting and it is helping in reviewing me what I have learnt in the training and also in keeping connected with new developments. I find the content quite encouraging. Ratan Jadhav, Pune: After coming to , know that Russians used pencils for writing in the zero gravity, I can think of several alternatives. R Ravindra Humar, Bengaluru: Your , articles are excellent. We most of the times concentrate on routine work within some frame work and we never think beyond that. Your articles, truly ignite creativity in our minds. R Krishnakumar, Kolkata: Your idea on tapping business potential, by engaging people during their waiting times was very interesting. Surendra Nahata: Some hotels have : already started giving Shaving gels in small sachets. S K Borde, Aurangabad: Some of the problems of competition in CS are close closeended, i.e,. only one right answer. What is the need for imaginative right right-brain? Wherever there are standard formulae ever for solving such problems, then right brain is not required. In all thos those competiton problems, there is no known method for solving. Our imaginative right ur brain is required for formulating the problem so that the available standard methods can be used to get the single answer. Kamrunnissa, Kuwait: CS is enlightening , enlightenin and a good way to begin the day with. CK Tiwari, Barauni: , My sincere compliments to you for acting as torch bearer for many of us. In this world of competition most of the time we are lost and simple things appear very complex. Periodically, going through your articles in ugh creativity sphere ignite me and bring back on original track for doing things differently.

It doesnt take a lot of strength to hang on. It takes a lot of strength to let go J C Watts

(From CS 26 - Excerpted from the annual report of Paripurnata a half-way half way-home in pursuit of rehabilitation) I was a neurotic for years anxious, depressed and selfish. And everyone kept telling me to change. And I resented them, but agreed with them, and wanted to change, but couldnt, no matter m, how I tried. What hurt the most was that, like the others my closest friend kept urging me to change. So I felt powerless and trapped. One day he said. Dont change; I love you as you are. Those were music to my ears. Dont change, dont change I love you as you are. I relaxed. I came alive. And suddenly I changed. Now I know that I couldnt really change till I found someone to love me whether I changed or not.

I Couldnt really change till

What are the differences between 100 and 1000? There are at least 15 differences. Think of them and send me the list.

Competition 63

Discussions

A doctor used to predict the sex of the to-be born babies exactly. to be He claimed 100% success. (This was several years ago when the sex determining scans were not available.) What tricks he might have used to take the patients for a ride? Answer: The doctor will first find out the expectation of the parents and he will disclose the same gender during consultations. ill But he will record the opposite gender in a different register. If the baby born is as per what he has been saying, he is correct in his prediction. If the baby is of opposite gender, he will open the register, show it to the parents and will regret for the mistake in ster, conveying. I have received several mails with ideas as using Chinese calendar, switching babies, bluffing and what not? CONGRATULATIONS!: E V A T Babu of Kakinada, P V Shaju, R Krishnakumar of Kolkata, Sathyaseelan of New Delhi, Susan John of Coimbatore, Avesh Patil of Pune, Ram Babu of , Sambalpur, S K Das of Porbandar et.al.

Competition 62 CLEVER DOCTOR

A man takes real notice of a woman only after another man takes notice of her Ferenc Molnar
Dr N ANNAMALAI
annamalai_n@vsnl.com / www.CreativitySphere.com
Tel: 044 23719267, Cellphone: 09444269395 Cell