AGILE - A Human Perspective !!!

(Picture courtesy - www.lynnecazaly.com)

I have just finished studying Agile and am an Agile Certified Professional(PMI-ACP) today ! 😎

After having tucked the kids in bed the brain went agile and this is the result of that. So don't blame me if you think I am getting carried away with the Agility. 😀

I think like all other product/software development methodologies, Agile could be applied to our lives as well. It will make our actions nimble and focussed consequently helping us continuously deliver value to ourselves and at work as well. 

We could directly apply the values and methodologies of Agile in our daily lives and continuously deliver the one product that we all endeavour for all our lives.

ONESELF !!!

I will present more on this thought in this context in upcoming blog posts. Need some time to structure them properly so that they make sense.

Are you in your senses ?

Today, my six-year-old asked me a question which led me to talk to her and make new sense of life and living in general. The question was "Why do Bubbles and Buttercup not get along?". Needless to say but yet, she watches Powerpuff Girls regularly.

I decided, I shall answer the question.

The question was about not getting along.

And so I asked myself why do I not get along with the people that I do not get along with?

The answer was simple. I did not like them !

But why? What was it about them that I did not like?

They did or behaved something or things in a way that was not acceptable to me or my brain or my heart.

Was what they did so bad or so wrong?

Well, in certain cases it was really bad or wrong but more often than not it wasn't anything wrong or bad. It just did not appeal my "sensibility".

That was like a thunderbolt. It did not appeal to "my" sensibility. And this led me to believe that in most scenarios it is us who are creating a wall of "sensibility" around us.

But really, Are we in our senses?

The answer lies therein. What we need is to be sensitive to people and their reactions and behaviors. This will give us insight into why they do what they do, what are their triggers their ideologies or notions that drive them. But that's not where the story ends, we also need to be sensible about how we need to or must react in these situations. I believe a little common sense can make all the difference. We will end up being a tad bit happier than what we were before.

So, simple sensible sensitization is what will make us get along with people more than we do today.

And then I asked myself... Do I really get along with myself?

Getting to say "My glass is half full..."

Looking at the cup as half-empty depicts the existence of negativity or helplessness in your outlook. The negativity or helplessness often translates into depression and a general state of being unwell. This is one of the root cause of negativity at the workplace and even in personal life. Following are some generic identifiers and the possible solutions to protect or wean yourself away from the sources of negativity.

Remove or Minimize the negative people around you – One of the principal causes of unhappiness and negativity is that you are surrounded by people who are negative. In some cases, it could even be one single person (like your boss). The best approach would be to simply stop being around this person. If it is unavoidable (like if it is your boss) then be a little more patient, I shall be posting an article on that soon.

Find like-minded positive people for friends – Generally, our friends rub off on us and therefore as important it is to remove negative people from our lives, it is equally important to have positive people in. Friends are not hard to find. Just take up a hobby course and be sure to find a bunch of like-minded folks out there who you enjoy hanging out with.

Practice Positive Auto-Suggestion– Positive auto-suggestion is the induction of positive thoughts by continuously repeating them to yourself. Much like inducing a magnetic field in a metal by using magnetic induction. Stick positive thought provoking quotations or proverbs or any sentence that you think will generate a positive thought in you and drive away your negativity. I remember one of my colleague pin-up a print out on the board in front of his desk directly in his line of sight which simply said: “You are CAPABLE!”

Practice Yoga or Meditation or take up a sport– Meditation and yoga can help us relax and clear our minds, bringing in new energy and positive vibes. On the other hand, working out can help us burn off the anxiety, anger, and negativity that has formed a layer of toxic fat inside us. Go for a run, walk, ride a bike, play tennis, swim – just do some physical activity to help reduce the negativity.

Pursue a hobby –We all have hobbies and in the kind of world we live in it is very easy to stop following them at some point in time. Hold on to your hobby and you will notice how it helps you massage your mind and soul to bring out an individual in you who sees things in a new light. You can take up a course in photography and go on a click frenzy with the cool gadget that transforms into a smartphone when you are not clicking pictures.

There are myriad ways to fill your half-empty cup and make it half-full. A handful of them are listed above. Find your own way of getting to your inner peace and happiness and you will find that your cup will be full to the tipping-point.

Happy Now!

I don't know if I am shy or scared of making friends or talking to people. I always look for some support in initiation unless I have some work with the other person. I think I should change in that I should assume that making friends is also some kind if work.
But, is it?

Maybe the initiation is not as scary as the follow through. I think the thought of what will I speak after the "Hello" causes uneasiness. Will we be able to hit common ground and if not the awkwardness of looking at each other and just smiling is even more scary. Could anyone teach smalltalk? Or maybe chat sense? Is it inborn talent? Or can it be developed? Or is it due to some psychological complex?

I dare not dwell on those questions, from the fear of going crazy. Let me try to dwell on something less maddening...

The fact that in a gathering of about 200 people no one has yet approached me to break ice means that all of them out here are that way. Unless what happened now...  There is group event where we are supposed to form groups of people with a similarity.What am I doing??? Blogging?? 
This is an opportunity...
Let me try..

Lo and behold! I know all the 10 ppl in our team and we have started talking if nothing about the activity that we are involved in.

I guess it is only the initiation...  Small talk comes naturally. It has nothing to do with talent and need not be acquired and for god's sake it does not mean I am a psycho...

Happy now!!!

P.S.: Sometimes you just walk up to someone...  And start talking...  It's not difficult! Just tried it.
:-)

Thinking “Out of the Box”

This is a story I received as a Group Chat forward. I liked it instantly and decided to share it on this blog.

Here goes...

Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant’s beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant’s debt if he could marry the daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.

The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag.If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender’s wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant’s garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her pebble from the bag.

What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.

2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.

3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.” Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY

Most complex problems do have a solution, sometimes we have to think about them in a different way.

Find Today...

Find beauty... Amid the chores,

Find a window... Behind the doors.

Find a smile... In all the worries,

Find joy... Despite the scurries.

Find laughter... To wipe the tears,

Find a "Darling"... In all the "Dears".

Find a friend... Within the crowd,

Find yourself... Do not shroud.

Find happiness... Behind your sorrows,

Find Today ... In all tomorrows !!! 

- Anurag Sharma.

Leen(a)

Leena oh Leena, Leena Leena...
Dil tune cheena, cheena cheena...

It's very easy to guess that I'm married to Leena and have become absolutely Leen(a) in her. Leena is this one person who has the ability to motivate as much as to understand.
She infuses speed, alertness and ambition without any effort(on her part, of course). She is the reason behind a newfound happiness in life.
She is the air that has filled the vacuum in my life.
She is the cause of all the effects(special ones too) in my life.
She is the constructor of my life's class.
She is the garbage collector of my life's framework.
She is the "On Error...Resume Next" statement in my life.
She is the Quartz crystal in my life's CPU.
She is me outside of me.

I Love her. And, all I remember now is....
"Main tere pyar mein kya kya na banaa Leeena,
Kabhi banaa Kutta, kabhi Kameena..."

On My Mood Swings....

Being the Cancerian that I am, "MOOD SWINGS" are a part of daily living. It's just that many Cancerians are able to cope with it most of the times while there are these sometimes they throw them in this infinite loop(it's more like a "Mobius strip"). Now, that's what I dread the most(in fact most Cancerians will agree with me). While it may not be all correct to attribute these mood swings to my being a cancerian, it may simply be due to the fact that I think more from the heart than from the head. Nevertheless, I attribute it to "Cancerianism"(the skeptic that I am).
Now, what is commonly said about Cancerian moods is that they are dominated by the Moon and its own moods. Therefore the best way to get away with a mood swing is to "Blame it on the Moon". And, the best excuse is(in my freind's words) "Aaj Full Moon hai...Aaj new Moon hai...Aaj Moon ka yeh Phase hai...Aaj Moon ka woh Phase hai"(LOL). Now, that's pretty convenient isn't it.
Thanks to the Moon I don't have to come up with excuses that are easily understood to be stupid(not that this one is super intelligent, but its one which is difficult for anyone to counter). And all Cancerians would be in unison with me when I say that(I swear) many of our mood swings cannot be explained by Cause-and-effect theory. No need for a Cause to have an Effect. The Effect is independent of worldliness and the vagaries of Life.
So, when you meet a Cancerian and he/she says that he/she is in a good or a bad mood, please don't ask "Why???" just start talking about something else like Food, Places, movies, songs or whatever crap that comes to your mind and attribute the change to the MOON.