pharosl2025, Author at Pharos Learning

What if you have a choice between Reaching top of Mount Everest Using Helicopter and Climbing with a Group of Friends from the Base Camp? Which One Would you Choose?

August 25, 2023

by pharosl2025 Project Management

I am sure, most of us will choose the later.

𝙂𝙮𝙖𝙣𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙨𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙬𝙖𝙢𝙞 once said, there is a difference between “Growth, Progress & Success”. He said …

When you are chasing materialistic things, running behind collecting expensive possessions, stretching yourself to get that extra increment or promotion, position and bonuses, and actually getting it, then you are definitely accomplishing 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒕𝒉. You did everything needed to reach the top of the mountain. Doesn’t matter if you used helicopter to do so, or any other means.

If you are reaching your target by hook OR crook, you are growing, but not progressing. When you choose Ethics, Integrity and Discipline as your core values to Grow, then you are doing a 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔. Progress in the right direction, in a right way.

Then what is 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔? When you progress keeping humanity, morality and spirituality in mind, you are actually becoming successful. You get utmost satisfaction when you actually achieve it. You can Grow, you can Progress every year, but if you are not happy, you are not enjoying the journey, you cannot call yourself successful, even after you reach your destination in ethical way.

No wonder, we see lot of dissatisfied persons around us, who keep crying even after growing their business to new heights every year. Even after getting promotions in shortest possible time. Even after getting highest increment compared to their colleagues and peers.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔?

Should I Be Perfectionist OR Pursue Excellence?

August 9, 2023

by pharosl2025 Project Management

Few weeks back, I was working with my junior colleague on creating “𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴” parameters customized to my portfolio. We both tried to come on the same page, but everyday there was an argument. Mostly from my side. Since the work completed was never at par with my expectations. And I was constantly pushing him to do better. He was trying his best, but not to my satisfaction.

This made me think, he really doesn’t understand the scope of work OR is he intentionally doing it below par OR he doesn’t have enough skills to perform the job. In reality, none of that was true. He has been doing that work for years, and everyone else was happy with the result, except me this time.

Then one day, I was listening to a recorded leadership lecture given at IIT Kanpur. The professor suggested to students that “𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬”. That enlightened me, Ohh YES, that’s the weakness in me and not in the other person.

I was trying to accomplish “perfect” results overlooking what small improvements he was doing and making the product better & better. I was becoming judgmental about him, rather than looking inward within myself.

My realization : When work completed is not perfect, doesn’t mean, it’s wrong. Doesn’t mean it’s a failure. Why should one carry the mindset of “𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘵”? Pursuing excellence on the other hand, allows us to do better every day. Allowing us to see improvements done by others, with open mindset.

Someone rightly said, “𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗣𝗨𝗧, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘”. It also boils down to famous debate … “Does PROCESS is important OR RESULT is important?”

What do you think?”

Paradox of Choice … How Amazing!!!

August 9, 2023

by pharosl2025 Project Management

Few research findings published many years back still show it’s worth and applicability. I witnessed one recently.

My wife was buying saree to be gifted to someone. Actually, she wanted two. And hence, she went for shopping twice.

On first occasion, at that saree shop, she was going through lots of varieties. Around 20 she shortlisted, out of how many she doesn’t even remember, and then bought the second one, which she liked the most.

On second occasion, at another saree shop, she shortlisted 6 out of 10 and then bought the 4th one she liked the most.

And, on both occasions she was not completely happy. And what she answered proved that it’s not necessary that when you have more choices, it makes you happy. I correlated this immediately when I wanted to see a good movie or web-series on OTT platform out of infinity of options and then get exhausted. I end up watching “something” and then curse myself, for wasting time.

Psychology professor Barry Schwarz had the answer. Reduce your choices. So next time, when you want to buy something, just choose the one you like the most “at first glance” and then move on, assuming no other option is available.

So simple … isn’t it? Can you, do it? Can you control yourself? 😀

Good Job is a Harmful Word

August 9, 2023

by pharosl2025 Project Management

Recently watched a movie “Whiplash”. Movie revolves around a student and his abusive teacher. Like the main character of the movie, “Andrew”, who wanted to be the best drummer, there are many around us, who just want themselves to be “The Best”. They don’t want to settle for something less. And for that, they are ready to sacrifice anything, which includes their personal and family life.

The question is, as a leader, coach, manager do we have that “eye” to spot that raw talent? Do we have those skills to transform that individual to his desired greatness? Do we as coach or mentor have “at least” 5% of skills like Ramakant Achrekar to train Sachin Tendulkar? Do we “really understand” what Chanakya has done to transform raw kid like Chandragupta to that greatness level. These could be extreme examples, but still thought provoking for me as a coach/ mentor/ trainer/ manager. It made me thinking, if I don’t those skills, am I ready to loose him/her to another mentor or organization, on purpose?

One example I recollect. One fresh graduate was very interested in joining Army in India. He tried a lot, but every time he failed. On social pressure, he kept doing the job in hand. But, he never progressed on the corporate ladder in that organization, as his superiors didn’t understand his true worth. He struggled, struggled and struggled. Though he regretted, he couldn’t join Army, he used to say, I’ll use all those strategies and techniques Army uses while doing the job. His bosses, of course, wanted him to do the work they are accustomed to, under their supervision, as they dictate.

After many years of frustration, he left the job and joined another organization. His way of working didn’t change, but now he was in an environment where he could only excel using his acquired skills. And that’s what happened. He became Director of that company within a few years.

Like the student Andrew in the movie, he believed in his own potential and when the platform was right, just threw all burdens, allegations away and performed to his best. He got the result he was looking for.

Again, the point is, how many (including you & me) can actually stick to their beliefs. If yes, what do they have to sacrifice? How much price they have to pay? And where will they find that “Master”, who will guide them? How? Movie shows an abusive teacher who wants just the best from each of his students, no matter what. Can today’s generation withstand that pressure?

In ancient days, students used to go in a search of “Right Guru” who can extract the best from his chosen discipline. Are we searching for that Guru in our corporate life?

Movie had a scene, where teacher says to student … “Good Job” is a harmful word. How many times, do we use it for others, probably everyday, just to motivate an individual. In the process, are we restricting him to strive for his true potential ?

Think about it !!!

Curious Case of Preparation

August 9, 2023

by pharosl2025 Project Management

In December 22, I attended Project Management South Asia Conference organized by PMI. On the 2nd day, there was a 𝘗𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘕𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘬𝘢 𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘳 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢 – 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴. Navika Sagar Parikrama was a project wherein a team of women officers of the Indian Navy circumnavigated the globe on an Indian-built sailboat INSV “Tarini”. It was a very proud moment to listen to experiences shared by all those officers.

However, one thing that stuck with me during the discussion was about “𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻”. We all know importance of preparation, of course, but I got a different meaning all together. So far, proper planning and then perfect execution is what I am following. But, as I checked more & more references, I realized, Preparation phase is also the most important part, to make any project successful.

We can plan to the last detail, and then start executing as per plan, however, what if team members are new, what if that project is the first of its kind & no one has done before, what if we have missed certain key aspects during the planning which will impact the execution ?

Preparation phase should come between planning & execution. You may call it rehearsal of execution. Look at some examples:

Some of the members of Tarini mission were not expert swimmers. They can plan the route and start executing, but in difficult situation, swimming skills was the must to survive. They prepared for those events.
We know the quote “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘵.” You may replace the word “training” by “preparation” here.
In defense academy of any country, it’s always said … War is 99% preparation and 1% execution.
Chankaya’s “Game Theory” says “𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯”. Again, replace the word “practice” by “prepare”.
All of us wrote multiple study plans during college days, and then given exam. But what made us successful is how well we prepared.

All these learnings, point out to one thing. “Preparation” is the key phase, which should fall between planning and execution.

My tribute to Tarini team once again, for making all Indians proud & giving new meaning of word “Preparation” for me.

The More I Know, The More I Know, That I Don’t Know… Socrates!

December 9, 2022

by pharosl2025 Project Management

Last week, while interacting with managers, I realized that it’s not so easy to say “𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸” to your seniors OR during a team meeting OR to a client. The general feeling is, either you will be considered as incompetent person OR you will lose that opportunity to someone else. He/she might be a more competent person than you, to perform that activity.

However, this decision of pretending to be knowledgeable, is going to harm you or others? People say, it depends upon the situation and who is asking that question. It depends upon what is at stake. May be. But, in the long run isn’t it more beneficial to remove ignorance and be more knowledgeable!!

Interestingly, gaining more & more knowledge randomly may also impact you adversely. As now, you are swimming in an ocean where you don’t have a compass to direct your efforts in the right direction.

Then, it’s equally important to say “NO” to lot many things. Steve Job’s interesting quote that “𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘕𝘖, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵”.

It’s thought provoking, simply for the reason, when I am concentrating on those “real” needs, I can make better decisions. And the decisions we make today do not impact our past, but only the future, be it one minute, one year or ten years from now.

Then there is a different debate … would you concentrate on very few things and become an expert ? OR would like to diversify, since you acknowledge that you don’t know the future ?

See … the more I know, I feel I don’t know!! 😀

Murder Your Darlings

December 9, 2022

by pharosl2025 General

This is advice given by experienced writers to get rid of an unnecessary storyline, character, or sentence in a piece of creative writing. It’s simple to understand but very difficult to implement. Because you work hard on that creative writing piece. You research, strategize, coin new quotes and then it’s expected that you remove those for the sake of overall story.

I guess, this is not only applicable to writing but it’s equally applicable to business world.

When new year starts, every organization go through strategy meetings, multiple rounds of discussions, huddle meetings, and various presentations, excel charts (nowadays Power BI dashboards), doing SWOT analysis, defining new KRAs/ KPIs and so on.

But we all know, how much actually we could implement throughout the year !! And why that fails is simply because, many times strategies are designed by someone at the top with lots of assumptions and overreliance on execution team. In today’s uncertain world, things keep changing and we go back to our own world, that we are familiar with. Year after year.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗶𝗮𝘀 also explains the same phenomenon. We filter out any new information that contradicts our existing theories, beliefs and understandings. Warren Buffet said, “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵.” We keep searching for support or proof to substantiate our beliefs.

Preparing strategy is good but execution of strategy is difficult. We spend enormous time in strategizing but lack skill of executing it to perfection. We don’t want to challenge ourselves to do different or out of the box things, to avoid failures and look bad in our management eyes. In fact, there is no KRA defined for experimenting failures.

It’s important then to murder all other wish list items, irrespective of how much we love them, and focus on most important, very few goals for perfect execution. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆.

What is your experience ?

Can We Derive Relationship or Similarities Between Project Management and Cricket?

December 9, 2022

by pharosl2025 Project Management

I am a fan of cricket and played professional cricket during my college days. Like many sports I learnt a lot about importance of winning and losing in life. I am an advocate of saying every person should know and play at least one sport. It develops character in you.

Being at home for last 3 months, I watched lot of cricket matches … One Day, Test Matches, T20s and of course now IPL. And at some point, of time, I started correlating this with my professional life of Project Management.

As in cricket, situations keep changing as the game progresses, project scenarios also do not remain the same throughout its life cycle. But, unlike sport, how many times we change the execution strategy in between? In fact, many of us are afraid of changing anything in between, saying the history and legacy will be lost.

However, we probably need different skillsets at different stages of the project.

Someone can start the project very well, establish processes, set ground rules, make a team, and then start working on it. We need “organization skills” more. We need a PM who is methodical and who knows how to “set the project” within different cultures. His/ her organization and client organization.
During the prime phase of the project, we need “leaders” who can guide the team and drive the project forward. Not only his/her own team, but also client, vendors and other stakeholders. He/ she who is a good communicator, who has people skills. Who can do risk management effectively.
And, then we need someone who can close the project properly. He who can plug the gaps, collate all information, document lessons, and set the path for next projects and PMs. We need “experience” here to connect past and future.

Is it worth then to have multiple Project Managers for a single project, with different skillsets? What do you think?

Traditionally, we take a pride in saying we started the project and finished the project in time, within set budget and it was successful. But as I researched more, definition of success itself keep changing throughout the project lifecycle. Especially, when we are doing client projects, success for client could be entirely different than success of project that we define. At times it’s contradictory, if we are more focused only on commercial success of the project.

Are you ready to experiment with your project? Is it easy to convince your management to adopt this change? Do you think it will work? Will it help Project Managers to grow their skillsets this way, rather than executing projects in similar fashion one after the other?

Pharos Learning

All posts by : pharosl2025

What if you have a choice between Reaching top of Mount Everest Using Helicopter and Climbing with a Group of Friends from the Base Camp? Which One Would you Choose?

Should I Be Perfectionist OR Pursue Excellence?

Paradox of Choice … How Amazing!!!

Good Job is a Harmful Word

Curious Case of Preparation

Preparation phase should come between planning & execution. You may call it rehearsal of execution. Look at some examples:

The More I Know, The More I Know, That I Don’t Know… Socrates!

Murder Your Darlings

I guess, this is not only applicable to writing but it’s equally applicable to business world.

What is your experience ?

Can We Derive Relationship or Similarities Between Project Management and Cricket?

However, we probably need different skillsets at different stages of the project.

Is it worth then to have multiple Project Managers for a single project, with different skillsets? What do you think?

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