Airlines too can teach Lean and philosophy!

Airlines can make you more mature looks like!  On my recent return trip to India, one of the famous airlines made me think about a few different things

I could carry 64 kilos of checked in baggage and 7 kilos of carry on in addition to my laptop bag, handbag and a personal item. I needed only about 30 kilos worth items including the chocolates and sweets I bought; however, a few of my friends wanted some items from North America and the total weight I checked in was about 50 kilos and I had my laptop bag, handbag and a carry on bag.

The story was good till the time I reached Detroit airport. The airlines told me that they can not check me thru to Chennai as their partnership with the other airlines does not exist anymore; they said I have to claim the bags in my next stop and check them back in. I did not have a choice and time to manage it differently; had to accept it. At the next stop, I realised that they do not have trolleys  and I have to walk for about 15 mins with all these baggage - three trolley bags, a laptop bag and a handbag! Officials there simply said that they were not a very convenient / friendly airport and apologised. That was very helpful!  For the first time, I was appreciating and scolding myself for the choice of my luggage - all the bags can stroll on four wheels, they move freely in any directions with a little push and my laptop bag was a backpack; the only annoyance was my handbag - I would have carried a belt-pouch otherwise! Fortunately, I could dump that on top of the strollers.

Did I say it was 15 mins walk?!? It would have taken so long if I walked without any of the items listed! It took more than 25 mins and it felt like a decade of walking!!! By the time I reached the right counter, I was dead tired and in deep thoughts!

 I was wondering, just because I was allowed to carry so much, should I have planned for so much? I was thinking of the people who I checked with if they need any thing from the US. They would not have felt bad if I had not checked with them. What made me do this? Is it resource / capacity utilisation? Should a Lean practitioner be thinking of utilisation so much? Hmm.. an important principle broken was yielding its result!

As a person, I do not like to carry weight and I prefer to keep my hands free while traveling. Just the opposite was happening! I was responsible neither for the broken partnership between the airlines nor for the missing  trolleys in the airport; But I was hit by them!!! Vinoba Bhave is said to have explained the true spirit of renunciation as not only renouncing what you like but also accepting something you do not like too! In the recent past I have been thinking of life as a process that makes us numb to many things. Maybe, this was one more experience towards that!! I became too philosophical :-)

The 30 kilos of my luggage included some items that I never used. Some of them were essentials; at the same time, I am glad that I did not have to use them. They were like the "code associated with disaster recovery plans". (You are happy that they are there and you are also happy that you did not have to invoke that part of the code :-) :-)!!) But some items  were pure "just in case" and some for just remembrance - things I could not let go!   I was thinking of my plans for my old-age. Many of them are "just in case"! In Tamil there is a saying "அதனினும் கொடிது முதுமையில் செல்வம்". Hmm…

சிந்தை தெளிவாக்கு!

இது பராசக்தியிடம் பாரதியின் கோரிக்கை! கவிதை உடல் சார்ந்து இருந்தாலும், மனம் சார்ந்த குழப்பங்களுக்கும் பொருந்தத்தான் செய்கிறது! மொத்தக் கவிதையின் அழகு இருப்பது இந்த இருசொற்களுக்குள்தான் என்று தோன்றுகிறது !

சிந்தை தெளிவாக்கு என்னும் இரட்டைப்பதத்துக்குள் எத்தனை வீரியம்! சிந்தை தெளிவாயில்லாமல் எதுவும் நகராது! வாழ்வின் ஆனந்தம் என்பது சிந்தனை, சொல், செயல் மூன்றும் ஒன்றுக்கொன்று முரண்படாமல் வாழ்வது! ஒன்று பிறழ்ந்தாலும் மனத்துள் கசப்பு கசியும்! அதே சமயம் பிறழ்ச்சியின்றி வாழ்தல் என்பது எளிதன்று! நீரில் மிதந்து செல்லும் இலை போல, காற்றில் பறக்கும் இறகுபோல, சிந்தையிருப்பின் இது கைவரக்கூடும்!

ஆனால், நதியிலோடும் இலையாய் இருப்பது எளிதா என்ன?நாற்றாகக்கூட இருக்க மனமில்லையெனில், மிதக்கும் இலையாக மாறுவது எப்படி? ஆழமான ஆணிவேர்களை உதிர்க்க இயலுமோ? இலை உதிர்த்த தாவரங்களுண்டு; வேர் உதிர்த்த தாவரங்களுண்டோ? வேரின்றி இலை உண்டோ? பற்றின்றி வாழ்தல் எளிதாமோ?

Minimalistic decision making!

This is a side effect article I should say; a side track to the Sea shells and Inky pinkyponky!

I always wondered why do I take so little time to shop while others take days to do the same thing. Let me give a bit of context to the subject! I take about 15 minutes to select an attire, bill it, pay for it and take the delivery out. Even my wedding saree was chosen in 30 minutes; it took double the time because the one I chose first was rejected by my family members stating it is too simple to be a wedding saree and I had to redo the whole thing. My entire wedding purchase was done in about 3 to 4 hours - and it included a lunch :-) ! For the same event, my friends - with equal education, similar tastes, economical background, same kind of freedom to choose etc.- took more than a couple of days!

Of course, this does not mean that I do not like to look good or I do not dress up! I like to look professional and be cheerful; dressing up properly is part of it! sure, I forget my earrings, perfume etc.! I have these items in my handbags, car etc. as a workaround!  More interestingly, I do not spend much time shopping for clothes does not mean that my clothes do not look good on me. I even have a fan club :-) :-) ! In fact, I did a Chi-Square test to see if the time taken to buy clothes had any impact on the looks of it and proved that there is no difference! But I was not sure of the reason or potential reasons! Sometimes, I felt that some women take longer time to shop for clothes because of the social conditioning! Sometimes I thought it is due to attention to details which I skip in some cases! Intuitively, if I like something, I just go with my first picks instead of surfing all the available options! But both of these arguments felt incomplete - probably they are true but do not define the whole process I felt! 

From time to time, this topic popped up in my mind and in some of the casual conversations with colleagues and friends! People tease me that I am impatient, careless…. Some of my friends felt that I do not understand the value of money & pay higher cost unnecessarily and some of my friends felt the other way - that I am stingy and not interested in spending money in shopping! For me, it was not a question of money though I had an upper limit for the money I would spend usually! So what makes me spend less time in shopping had been an open question so far!

During my downsizing operation, I got an opportunity to read about decision making process. When to go intuitive  & sensing and neuroscience of decision making process are some interesting topics I read during this period! Interestingly, we go intuitive or we can afford to go intuitive when we have reasonable expertise in a domain; if we don’t have that expertise, then it is better to be sensing! Similarly, if the impact of a decision is negligible, then it is safe and cost effective to be intuitive; if the impact is significant, it is better to go sensing! It resonates with the "decentralise control" principle of lean too! Neuroscience has its impact too! Decision making and thinking tires us as much as (may be worse than) physical activities do! It is advisable to take important decisions when we are fresh; if not we may revert to default options that are not necessarily the correct decisions!

But, in some cases, it may be a better idea to have a default decision option and / or rules to help reducing the time taken for decisions. Some people can not assess the significance of the decision and they may find it hard to assess their own expertise level; this category of people can not take decision for even small things. To help them, most of the communities have default options - clean the house on all Tuesdays and Fridays (in Tamilnadu) etc. are good examples for such default options! 

I know my limitations with clothing! I don’t usually remember what dress I wore the previous day; if it is washed and ironed, I will just wear the same thing next day too without even blinking an eye! But, many times people assume that I am sad or upset or not in my senses when I do such things (BTW, such assumptions happen only with women! Men can afford to wear  the same thing for any number of days without questions!)! The impact is rather high! I have a work around for this! I keep clothes for a week in an order; I do not have to think of options everyday, I just have to pick the top item in the stack and use it :-) :-) 

For buying clothes, I have a few simple rules: I check if the color suits me, does the clothe have any jazzy designs / colors that will prevent me from wearing it, is it cotton or light weight silk,  is the price within my budget. If the answers to these questions are favourable, I choose that item! It does not take more than a few minutes to assess these! It is almost like my eyes and fingers know how to do it without even me thinking about it! Interesting

The strange thing about "feelings"!!

An accident that kills just a couple of people in Tirunelveli hurts more than an accident killing thousands in a far away land. The latter is just a news. What makes you feel bad for the former?

The missing Malaysian plane is not in my memory that much as my second class friend I never met after that year. What makes me think about a little girl who was with me for just one year about 30 years back more than the few hundred people that went missing just a year back!

When you lose a match against an equal opponent, it hurts less than losing against an unknown / unskilled player. What hurts more then? Is it just losing the match?

When a crook swindles you, it hurts less than a friend giving a manipulated account statement. Is it just losing money?

Outcomes alone do not influence feelings, looks like! The association seems to have more influence! How do we get disassociated / detached and focus just on outcomes?

Gokulashtami

The happiness and cheerfulness "Gokulashtami" brings in is just awesome. It is so nice to see small children dressed up like Krishna and Radha. Like all the other festivals, this one also makes one thinking deeply. 

When Krishna was born, only His parents were awake! The rest of the world was deep asleep! His mother was worried about His life; father was concerned with crossing a river on a rainy day. Step mother did not even know that He is not her son. But His birthday is celebrated with all the cheerfulness in the world! That probably is the result of living a strong life with an ever present joyful smile in spite of all the odds!

Though He is one of the greatest Gurus, He is considered as the most mischievous and adorable child too. Sweets of all kinds are offered to Him. How can some one be highly regarded for wisdom and cherished like a child at the same time?

Like him, can we retain the child like innocence and curiosity while developing ourselves in various other aspects of life? Are these really contradictory requirements as they feel like?