Article - The Making of An Expert

Well, let us adopt the saying “No one is born a thief, but life makes them so”, to gently modify it to suit our purpose, “no one born an expert, life makes them so”. It takes much more than hard work and determination to become an expert in a field. It takes aid from devoted teachers, great amount of support from the family, and a quality time and energy spend in continuous practice.

Echoing Thomas Alva Edison’s quote, “Genius is 1%inspiration and 99% perspiration.”  :

When the goal is to become an expert in a field, no bother should be given to the sacrifices made or the hard paths traversed. Concern bout the self can never help anyone achieve anything    hence the best option is to lose yourself in your struggle and to become a part of that strife. Endless struggles and continuous stretch of self-assessment and self-correction claims the life of a person determined to become an expert.

So, what is it that you consider to be expertise? Mere knowledge in a field can never be explained as expertise. It is more of a talent or a skill that has been developed overtime. Experience and hard work plays a good factor.    But, in effective words, expertise cannot be claimed by oneself. It is an honor bestowed on us by others. Individual accounts of expertise can never be relied upon and hence it is always best to go with the general idea of the person. This takes not any kind of prejudices, but actual demonstrations of the talent or the skill. The performance of an expert comprises not just the knowledge concerning the field, but also a superior quality performance is expected to be delivered by an expert. One’s expertise in a field is always a measurable entity as the quantum of knowledge reveals.

When you are on the way to preparing yourself to become an expert in a concerned field, the first thing that should be included in your routine is a quality time spend in practice. This practice is to focus on areas you are weak and to gradually develop in you all the qualities that is to be absolute necessity to become an expert in the field. Improving our skills, focusing on improving the range of our performance, and negating any areas of below average performance is another necessity.

The words by  Sam Snead ( Golfing Champion) is well adoptable at this point of the article: “It is only human nature to want to practice what you can already do well, since it is a hell of a lot less work and a hell of a lot more fun.”

The most important thing to be remembered when you are on the run to be an expert is that it takes time, a lot of time. Years put into practice, years of exploration, correction, outstanding performance, earning a reputation, all this can never happen in a day. It takes years; no amount of age is short to become an expert.

The next measure into becoming an expert is to have someone supervise you, to guide you and to correct you on a strict basis. One person may not be able to help you with everything connected to your field; in that case resorting to more guides will not be a bad idea. Expert coaches help accelerate the learning process. They may be harsh at times, but pricking remarks and ruthless criticism is the only thing that can mould out a better you, so accept them seriously. Self evaluation is always a good option, but the knowledge that you are never perfect will be the only things that will keep you going.

Reference [K Anders Ericsson, Michael J Prietula & Edward T Cokely  ; Harvard Business Review, July-August 2007 ]

Further Reading:  Deep Smarts - Dorothy Leonard

Story - Magic Vase

Once upon a time, there was an unlucky poor man. His home was also very poor, a small and empty house, where mice made their nests and spiders made their webs. People tried to avoid coming into his house – why should they stick their noses into those poor ruins? And the poor man thought that poverty is the reason of his misfortunes, his eternal destiny.

So once, the poor man met a wizard and complained to him about his poverty and miserable life. The wizard felt sorry for the poor man and gave him an unprecedented vase. 

And said:

"This is a magical vase that will save you from poverty".

The poor man took the vase and wanted to sell it at first and then spend the money on alcohol, as usual, besides, why would he need such a beautiful thing? But then he started admiring the vase and couldn't take it to the market. He brought the vase home, put it on the table and started admiring it.

'It’s not right for such a beautiful thing to be empty', the poor man thought. So he picked some wild-flowers and put them into the vase. It became even more beautiful.

'Not good, - the poor man though again', - that such a beautiful thing stands next to a spider web.

So the poor man started cleaning his house from spider webs, sweeping out cockroaches and mice, cleaning the dust, washing the floor and the walls, whitening the ceiling.

And it became clear that his house wasn't poor, but rather warm and cosy. And the poor man wasn't a poor man anymore, but a hard working host, who had no time for thoughts about misfortune.

Story - The Monkey and the Bird

         

There lived a group of monkeys in the mountains. During one winter, there were heavy rains. Drenched in the rain, they began to shiver in the cold.

They were thinking for a solution and one among them found a firefly, which appeared to them as ember of fire. Hoping to make some fire for themselves, they caught it and began to blow it with some dried leaves. 

A bird on a nearby tree was watching the monkeys from above. Considering the vain attempts the monkeys were busy with, it thought of advising them against it, "What big fools you are. You are blowing at a firefly and not spark of fire. You will never be able to make any fire out of it." 

"What you are doing is a waste of time. The firefly will not help you to protect yourself against the cold. Go and find some shelter instead. You may find a cave or a burrow where you will be protected from the rains and the cold winds." 

The monkeys did not like his advice. One of the old monkeys said, "Go fool yourself. Why are you interfering in our task?" 

But the bird disagreed. Not heeding what the old monkey had said, it flew down from the tree and persisted that the monkeys stop what they were doing. The monkey ignored his chatter but the bird refused to stop. 

In an effort to convince the monkeys, the bird came close to explain that their efforts were useless. 

Already frustrated by their vain efforts, the monkeys became furious. One of the monkeys caught hold of the bird and smashed him against a stone in anger, killing him. 

The wise indeed say: Never give advice unless you are asked for it.

Article - Tips to Enhance Creativity

A common issue faced by a majority of the professional and student groups is that they are deemed as “not creative.” At the very onset let me clarify that no one can be so. Every person is born creative. This, we will understand if we observe children. They are considered to be the most creative group. Give them an absurd painting and they can come up with such wide varieties and numbers of guesses that all the adult minds put together can never surpass them! We are born with the gift of creativity, but, it is ourselves who put a limit to that gift of ours. The theory is similar to the evolution theory of Darwin- the body parts that remain unused either shrink in size or else become negated in the next generation. Here, the more we try to mimic the world and restrict ourselves from broader thoughts, our creativity also stops expanding and starts shrinking overcome by the limitations of the world.

An analysis of professionals revealed that about two-thirds or more were above average in creative talent. All the eminent personalities starting from Shakespeare to Bill Gates to Steve Jobs, their creativity is what aided and nourished their growth. It is said that Einstein used to imagine himself as a ray of light travelling through the space, which enabled him to come up with his path-breaking theories. They were all not extraordinarily creative at the beginning, but gradually developed their talent by constant use of it.

Creativity is not “thinking absurd”, but “thinking new”. It is the ability to think different and to think futuristic. We have a tendency to follow a path that has already been paved by someone or else to start a task only after referring to examples. This is what pulls us back from being creative. When we lack models and lack predecessors, it is the time that our creativity works at its best. With no ideas to modify or restrict our mind, our thought process will simply shoot up to its zenith giving birth to innovative thinking.

You can easily build up your own creative power. How? Here are the ways:-

1)      Experience and expose yourself to new areas of study and to new methods. Experience the world around you more fully and observe it carefully – Staying updated about new areas of study, new technology, new methods, new ways of life etc. can augment to your thought process when you face the need of an idea. There are many things, many people around us that we see every day but never give any importance to. Observing these details can give you more knowledge as well as new ideas. Ideas are within you and come from what you absorb from the world.

2)      Have a purpose, as your mind works best when you have a purpose. A clear vision can assist in the formation of a clear idea.

3)      Write down your ideas as soon as you get them. Ideas are most often products of spur of a moment and may easily escape from your memory. Keep a paper and pen nearby. A few scribbling can help unburden your memory. A crammed up mind is hard to be creative.

4)      When you think that you have an idea, keep away every other work. When you have an idea your creativity will be at work. Keep away every other wok and concentrate in making use of the creativity that has just been kindled. No one is creative at all times. Make use of the time when you have your creativity at its peak rather than pushing it away hoping to rekindle it later.

5)      Never wait to value your ideas as soon as they are born. Creativity can come up with crazy ideas as well, but better to wait before evaluating you thoughts. It may just come in handy.

6)      Give yourself a break. Often ideas flow into your mind when you are not thinking about your problem, when you have almost forgotten about it a new idea hits your brain. So give your head a little rest and it’ll never let you down; over heat it and you’ll end up being crazy.

7)      Be well aware of your purpose. Narrowing and defining your purpose after gathering maximum facts about it can help in focusing your mind. This will also help in concentrating your creativity on your particular goal and coming up with more focused ideas.

8)      Find the drawbacks first. Coming up with creative remedies for the drawbacks is a better option. Finding solution to a given problem will become much easier if the drawbacks are found and rectified first. Then think of innovative plans to improve it.

9)      Associate more with children. As mentioned above, children are the most creative group. They have a new way of looking at things and in questioning things. Their curiosity, their wild guess works, their very genuine, but often unsolvable questions, all push our limits into thinking more. There can be no better exercise for your imagination.   

10)   Engage in rhythmic tasks like knitting, playing instruments, horseback riding, dancing etc. it helps to stir up creativity. Even crossword games or games like chess or Sudoku can help to keep your mind alert for creative ideas. 

11)   Keep yourself Motivated. Unless you believe that you have the potential to be creative, you are bound to kill your innate creativity. 

Article- Team Management

A team is a group of individuals who come together for a single goal. They possess complementary skills and are committed to a common purpose. A team differs greatly from a group as a group is just a gathering of people and it is not necessary that they share the same motive. But in a team, a task is at hand and the team members contribute one’s share to achieve the goal. A team always works more effectively than individual performances as there is a sharing of ideas and intermingling of personnel. The expertise, the knowledge, the experience, the skill and the perspectives are better off shared and analyzed in a team that set on a goal individually. It is conflation of many brilliant minds melting down a single task and moulding it desirably. This brings about to the co-mingling of wisdoms and experiences in a single go, producing the most effective outcome possible.

 

The building of a team is as essential as ingredients to a tasty dish. Every person has his/her own trait that may or may not be suitable for a team and this depends greatly upon the task.  So the preliminary step in making a team is to identify the purpose of the team and to employ an able leader who can handle all the personality types and situations very well.

The selection of a team is very important. Hence, the team members should not be of a random choice, but a result of careful analysis of each person, their style, manners, experience, skill and effectiveness. Both existing and potential skills are to be considered and also blend of problem solving and decision making talents and interpretational talents are weighed dearly.

 The goal determines the team size as a great team may create more fuss. Hence, a smaller team is to be assigned for complex tasks and a large team is better off bestowed on with simpler tasks that demands straightforward measures.

Before the team begins to pour upon a task, it is necessary to prescribe the leadership roles and to define the goals well. This also includes a briefing up on other such teams that specialize in areas related to their tasks. This will help in inter-team relations. The norms and guides of team behaviors is also set up in the early stages, while building a team so as to limit clashes and confusions. The rules are to be clearly drawn out right at the beginning.

When leading a team, it is necessary to pick up certain break points. The goals should be set at the onset to give a clear cut idea of what is to be done. The goals should also be communicated clearly without any scope of confusions. Every achievement is to be valued and celebrated. Individual contributions are to be brought to the forefront.

Participation from each and every member is to be ensured and the team members are to be delegated special roles so that no further tension would arise in the group later. Decision making should be more of a contributed effort rather than an individual act. The leader is to ensure group participation during decision makings and everyone is to have a say. This is possible only if the leader approach the team mates with an open mind, free of prejudices. Unity and participation in the group decides the team efficiency.

It is necessary to build a consensus within the team and every conflict is to be resolved as quick as it arose. Once an agreement is made, it is safe not to ponder more upon it and to move quickly to catch up the pace. Setting expectations for the team boosts up its overall performance and also keeps them pressurized so as not to wander into petty conflicts and time killers but helps them stay on track. Whenever it is necessary intervene immediately rather than waiting for things to go beyond control. The team’s cohesion is a strong factor.

The easiest way to improve the team’s performance is to establish a clear purpose and to issue proper directions. The selection of the team members greatly affects the performance, so the most suitable personality types are to be gathered as a team. Clear rules of behavior and clear work space are deciding factors when it comes to a team’s performance. All possible feedbacks and reviews ( peer review, customer review, self appraisal, team leader review and management review) are to be considered seriously and dealt with, rewarding or warning the person accordingly.

It is always easy avoiding clashes in a team and slowing paces and it all depends on the bringing together of a team that can withstand clashes and problems from both inside and outside the team.

Story - Sticking to habits can limit our potentials

There lived a King who loved birds. His fascination lay mainly in falcons. Once he was gifted two beautiful falcons by a friend and he was pleased beyond limits. He immediately hired a trainer and expressed his deep desire to see them soar into the heights.

 After a few months of training the trainer went to the King, “Your Majesty”, he said, “I have trained both the Falcons equally well with all my skills and knowledge. One of the Falcons can now fly to heights, where even the eyes may fail to track him”, he paused.

“This is excellent news for me Trainer, bring him fifty gold coins”, ordered the King.

“Wait, but what about the other Falcon?” he asked quizzically.

“I am extremely sorry Your Majesty but I am helpless in his case”, the trainer’s face fell. “He simply sits glued to a branch and shows no sign of flying at all. I have taught him all that I know. He knows how to fly, but he just doesn’t do it.” The trainer looked frightened thinking how the King would accept this news.

“It just might not be your fault”, spoke the King after a thought. “You did train them and one of them did achieve what I wanted”, he paused. “We’ll put up the problem in the council”, he declared.

Next day the problem was presented in the council and the word was sent throughout the kingdom announcing the problem with the King’s Falcon. At the end of the day an old man turned up in the court claiming that he can fix the problem. The King allowed the old man to leave with the trainer to the Falcon.

Next morning, the first thing the King saw upon waking was his two Falcons soaring into the sky. He was overjoyed and rushed to the old man and the trainer who stood in the garden watching them.

“What magic have you worked upon my Falcon?” he questioned with a wild excitement ringing in his voice.

“Your Majesty”, began the old man slowly, “I simply cut down the tree that the Falcon always sat on” was the reply.

The quality and tenure of the training you undergo is never the deciding factor. There are always habits or negatives in you that keep you chained into your previous, undeveloped and crude self. The only way to express your true potential and to soar into heights is by breaking away from certain traditions and believes as well as habits that thwart your progress. Once you break free and sever away from that which chains you, you are ready to fly high, unbridled and intimidating. 

Article - “To be or not to be, that is the question”- The Psychology of Procrastination.

Procrastination is a term we are all well aware of. The attribute itself is not unknown to us. It is a feeling that is mutual but its degree differs in every individual. Procrastination, i.e. putting off one’s work or task to be done later, has always sucked out our time, pushing us to a mad sprint at the nearing of a deadline. Is procrastination a big issue that has to be checked in an early stage? Well, the answer depends on you, whether you want to get things done or not. But, if you really want to finish off things rather than hurrying at the last hour, it is better to chain this attribute before it uproots you entirely. The tragedy of Prince Hamlet penned by the mastermind of Shakespeare still exists before as an excellent example of the ill effects of procrastination. 

Procrastination has proved its existence in us when we failed to submit our projects or assignments or when we have lost golden opportunities putting off work for a later time.  According to Ferrari, Johnson, and McCown, there are some major cognitive distortions that lead to academic procrastination. These reasons (listed below) have at some point of time discouraged every individual from performing a task on time:

1. Overestimating how much time is left to perform tasks
2. Overestimating the result of the action in the future
3. Underestimating how long certain activities will take to complete
4. Mistakenly assuming that we need to be in the right mood to work on a project

Procrastination is not a problem; it is a tendency that is very hard to overcome. It almost becomes a lifestyle, which Dr. Joseph Ferrari refers to as a maladaptive lifestyle. In an interview with the American Psychological Association, Dr Ferrari explains on non-procrastinators that "Non-procrastinators focus on the task that needs to be done. They have a stronger personal identity and are less concerned about what psychologists call "social esteem" - how others like us - as opposed to self-esteem which is how we feel about ourselves,"

Studies have shown that the people who procrastinate mainly belong to the intuitive personality type.  It is almost logical why they tend to procrastinate. Procrastination is simply the integral part of their behavior. They remain submerged in thoughts, deriving pleasure from thinking alone. They experience the continuous and non-stop queuing up of ideas and they fail to take action at the right time, often due to their inability to prioritize. This directly affects their social relationships as well as health.

 The pressure that is experience during the final days of deadline, when we will be racing past time to finish off the task can negatively affect your mental as well as physical health. It has been proved that people who tend to put off their work for later notice experience far more health problems, mental and physical, compared to people who engage in their tasks early on (non-procrastinators). In a group, by putting off a task, a large burden falls on the members of the team which negatively affects the person’s social relationships. Failing to complete tasks, or even failing to at least start one, can seriously affect our social image as well as relations.

According to Tuckman, Abry, and Smith, there are 15 key reasons why people procrastinate:

1. Not knowing what needs to be done
2. Not knowing how to do something
3. Not wanting to do something
4. Not caring if it gets done or not
5. Not caring when something gets done
6. Not feeling in the mood to do it
7. Being in the habit of waiting until the last minute
8. Believing that you work better under pressure
9. Thinking that you can finish it at the last minute
10. Lacking the initiative to get started
11. Forgetting
12. Blaming sickness or poor health
13. Waiting for the right moment
14. Needing time to think about the task
15. Delaying one task in favor of working on another

Procrastination lends us a false sense of security that is sure to crumble sooner or later, which is mostly later. The right time we expect to do a task simply never comes the more we wait for it. But, once we start acting, everything will fall into its place almost magically aiding our efforts.

 The only way to overcome the tendency of procrastination is to start working without wasting time. The best way that can help you in this is to calculate the time required for the task and to prepare a deadline of your own which is at least 5 days ahead of the real deadline and work dedicatedly on it. There is not shortcut or medicines that can save you from procrastination, other than yourself. Don’t forget, hard work (at the right time) is the key to success.