One of the most memorable case studies on Management was the case of the empty soap box, which happened in one of biggest cosmetics companies. The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soap box that was empty. Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For some reason, one soap box went through the assembly line empty. Management asked its engineers to solve the problem.
Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soap boxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but they spent whoopee amount to do so.
But when a rank-and-file employee in a small company was posed with the same problem, did not get into complications of X-rays, etc .but instead came out with another solution. He bought a strong industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soap box passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.
Moral: Keep It Simple. Devise the simplest possible solution that solves the problem and learn to focus on solutions not on problems.
Friday 3 December 2010
The little things in life
After the September 11th attack on the Twin Towers, one company invited the remaining members of other companies who had been decimated by that to share their available office space. At a morning meeting, the head of security told stories of why these people were alive... and all the stories were just: the 'L I T T L E' things. As you might know, the head of the company survived that day because his son started kindergarten. Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts. One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time. One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto accident. One of them missed his bus. One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change. One's car wouldn't start. One went back to answer the telephone. One had a child that dawdled and didn't get ready as soon as he should have. One couldn't get a taxi. The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning,took the various means to get to work but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot.
He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today. Now when I am stuck in traffic, miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone...all the little things that annoy me.
I think to myself, this is exactly where God wants me to be at this very moment. Next time your morning seems to be going wrong, the children are slow getting dressed, you can't seem to find the car keys, you hit every traffic light, don't get mad or frustrated; God is at work watching over you! May God continue to bless you with all those annoying little things and may you remember their possible purpose
He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today. Now when I am stuck in traffic, miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone...all the little things that annoy me.
I think to myself, this is exactly where God wants me to be at this very moment. Next time your morning seems to be going wrong, the children are slow getting dressed, you can't seem to find the car keys, you hit every traffic light, don't get mad or frustrated; God is at work watching over you! May God continue to bless you with all those annoying little things and may you remember their possible purpose
Great Facts
Great Facts:: Did you know? - Must See
1. MOPED is the short term for Motorized Pedaling
2. POP MUSIC is Popular Music shortened.
3. BUS is the short term for Omnibus that means everybody.
4. FORTNIGHT comes from Fourteen Nights (Two Weeks).
5. DRAWING ROOM was actually a withdrawing room where people withdrew after Dinner. Later the prefix with was dropped..
6. NEWS refers to information from Four directions N, E, W and S..
7. AG-MARK, which some products bear, stems from Agricultural Marketing.
8. JOURNAL is a diary that tells about Journey for a day during each Days business.
9. QUEUE comes from Queens Quest. Long back a long row of people as waiting to see the Queen. Someone made the comment Queens Quest..
10. TIPS come from To Insure Prompt Service. In olden days to get Prompt service from servants in an inn, travelers used to drop coins in a Box on which was written To Insure Prompt Service. This gave rise to the custom of Tips.
11. JEEP is a vehicle with unique Gear system. It was invented during World War II (1939-1945). It was named General Purpose Vehicle (GP).GP was changed into JEEP later.
12. Coca-Cola was originally green.
13. The most common name in the world is Mohammed..
14. The name of all the continents ends with the same letter that they start with.
15. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
16. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
17. Women blink nearly twice as much as men!!
18. You can’t kill yourself by holding your breath.
19. It is impossible to lick your elbow.
20. People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.
21. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.22. The "sixth sick sheiks sixth sheep’s sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
23. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history.>> Spades - King David>> Clubs - Alexander the Great,>> Hearts - Charlemagne>> Diamonds - Julius Caesar.
24. Horse Statue in a Park>> If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.>> If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle>> If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
25. What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common? - All invented by women.26. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
27. A snail can sleep for three years.
28. All polar bears are left handed.
29. Butterflies taste with their feet.
30. Elephants are the only animals that cant jump.
31. In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
32. On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.
33. Shakespeare invented the word assassination and bump.
34. Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
35. The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.
36. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
37. The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
38. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.
39. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
40. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.
41. The cigarette lighter was invented before the matchbox.
1. MOPED is the short term for Motorized Pedaling
2. POP MUSIC is Popular Music shortened.
3. BUS is the short term for Omnibus that means everybody.
4. FORTNIGHT comes from Fourteen Nights (Two Weeks).
5. DRAWING ROOM was actually a withdrawing room where people withdrew after Dinner. Later the prefix with was dropped..
6. NEWS refers to information from Four directions N, E, W and S..
7. AG-MARK, which some products bear, stems from Agricultural Marketing.
8. JOURNAL is a diary that tells about Journey for a day during each Days business.
9. QUEUE comes from Queens Quest. Long back a long row of people as waiting to see the Queen. Someone made the comment Queens Quest..
10. TIPS come from To Insure Prompt Service. In olden days to get Prompt service from servants in an inn, travelers used to drop coins in a Box on which was written To Insure Prompt Service. This gave rise to the custom of Tips.
11. JEEP is a vehicle with unique Gear system. It was invented during World War II (1939-1945). It was named General Purpose Vehicle (GP).GP was changed into JEEP later.
12. Coca-Cola was originally green.
13. The most common name in the world is Mohammed..
14. The name of all the continents ends with the same letter that they start with.
15. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
16. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
17. Women blink nearly twice as much as men!!
18. You can’t kill yourself by holding your breath.
19. It is impossible to lick your elbow.
20. People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.
21. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.22. The "sixth sick sheiks sixth sheep’s sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
23. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history.>> Spades - King David>> Clubs - Alexander the Great,>> Hearts - Charlemagne>> Diamonds - Julius Caesar.
24. Horse Statue in a Park>> If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.>> If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle>> If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
25. What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common? - All invented by women.26. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
27. A snail can sleep for three years.
28. All polar bears are left handed.
29. Butterflies taste with their feet.
30. Elephants are the only animals that cant jump.
31. In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
32. On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.
33. Shakespeare invented the word assassination and bump.
34. Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
35. The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.
36. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
37. The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
38. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.
39. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
40. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.
41. The cigarette lighter was invented before the matchbox.
Story of Appreciation
One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company. He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, made the last decision. The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduateresearch, never had a year when he did not score. The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" the youth answered "none". The director asked, " Was it your father who paid for your school fees?" The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it was mymother who paid for my school fees. The director asked, " Where did your mother work?" The youth answered, "My mother worked as clothes cleaner. The director requested the youth to showhis hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect. The director asked, " Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?" The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study andread more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me. The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.* The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid. The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled,and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water. This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. Thebruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future. After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother. That night, mother and son talked for a very long time. Next morning, the youth went to the director's office. The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked: " Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?" The youth answered, " I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes' The Director asked, " please tell me your feelings." The youth said, Number 1, I know now what appreciation is. Without my Mother, there would not the successful me today. Number 2, by workingtogether and helping my mother, only I now realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I have come to appreciate theimportance and value of family relationship. The director said, "This is what I am looking for to be my manager. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a personwho knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired. Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously. A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, would develop "entitlement mentality" and would always put himself first. Hewould be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, hewould never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame others. For this kind of people, who may be good academically, may besuccessful for a while, but eventually would not feel sense of achievement. He will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more. If we are thiskind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying the kid instead?* You can let your kid live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let themexperience it. After a meal, let them wash their plates and bowls together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money tohire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day theirhair will grow gray, same as the mother of that young person. The most important thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort andexperience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done.
PASSBOOK
Priya married Hitesh this day. At the end of the wedding party, Priya's mother gave her a newly opened bank saving passbook. With Rs.1000 deposit amount. Mother: Priya, take this passbook. Keep it as a record of your marriage life. When there's something happy and memorable happened in your new life, put some money in. Write down what it's about next to the line. The more memorable the event is, the more money you can put in. I've done the first one for you today. Do the others with Hitesh. When you look back after years, you can know how much happiness you've had.' Priya shared this with Hitesh when getting home. They both thought it was a great idea and were anxious to know when the second deposit can be made. This was what they did after certain time: - 7 Feb: Rs.100, first birthday celebration for Hitesh after marriage - 1 Mar: Rs.300, salary raise for Priya - 20 Mar: Rs.200, vacation trip to Bali - 15 Apr: Rs.2000, Priya got pregnant - 1 Jun: Rs.1000, Hitesh got promoted .... and so on... However, after years, they started fighting and arguing for trivial things. They didn't talk much. They regretted that they had married the most nasty people in the world.... no more love... Kind of typical nowadays, huh? One day Priya talked to her Mother: 'Mom, we can't stand it anymore. We agree to divorce. I can't imagine how I decided to marry this guy!!!' Mother: 'Sure, girl, that's no big deal. Just do whatever you want if you really can't stand it. But before that, do one thing first. Remember the saving passbook I gave you on your wedding day? Take out all money and spend it first. You shouldn't keep any record of such a poor marriage.' Priya thought it was true. So she went to the bank, waiting at the queue and planning to cancel the account. While she was waiting, she took a look at the passbook record. She looked, and looked, and looked. Then the memory of all the previous joy and happiness just came up her mind. Her eyes were then filled with tears. She left and went home. When she was home, she handed the passbook to Hitesh, asked him to spend the money before getting divorce. The next day, Hitesh gave the passbook back to Priya. She found a new deposit of Rs.5000. And a line next to the record: 'This is the day I notice how much I've loved you thru out all these years. How much happiness you've brought me.' They hugged and cried, putting the passbook back to the safe. Do you know how much money they had saved when they retired? I did not ask. I believe the money did not matter any more after they had gone thru all the good years in their life. "When you fall, in any way, Don't see the place where you fell, Instead see the place from where you slipped. Life is about correcting mistakes."
THE SIGN - A GREAT MESSAGE
A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet, holding up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help me." There were only a few coins in the hat. A man who was walking by took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign and wrote some words.
He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"
The man said, "I wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way." I wrote: "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it." Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that they were lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?
Moral: Think differently and positively. The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling. And even more beautiful, is knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!
He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"
The man said, "I wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way." I wrote: "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it." Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that they were lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?
Moral: Think differently and positively. The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling. And even more beautiful, is knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!
Friday 22 August 2008
IDEALS - Live life like this
1. Set a Goal for yourself
2. Smile as often as you can
3. share your happiness
4. Be ready to help "people"
5. Be childish
6. Learn to live in harmony with different people
7. Keep your humor
8. Do not be afraid under difficult situations
9. Forgive, Yes, Forgive
10. Cherish real friendship
11. Be cooperative and enjoy team work
12. Do not ignore your loved one
13. Be confident
14. respect the weak
15. Spoil yourself occationally
16. Do you favorite internet thing at least at lunch in the office
17. Be brave and try new things
18 Do not take money too seriously
live simply so that others may simply live.
2. Smile as often as you can
3. share your happiness
4. Be ready to help "people"
5. Be childish
6. Learn to live in harmony with different people
7. Keep your humor
8. Do not be afraid under difficult situations
9. Forgive, Yes, Forgive
10. Cherish real friendship
11. Be cooperative and enjoy team work
12. Do not ignore your loved one
13. Be confident
14. respect the weak
15. Spoil yourself occationally
16. Do you favorite internet thing at least at lunch in the office
17. Be brave and try new things
18 Do not take money too seriously
live simply so that others may simply live.
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