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.