When I entered the living room,
Through the rear door,
She was still alive,
And heard her almost mumble, ‘Kollo…’
Mistaken me for my father, her son.
I slipped in,
Without saying so much as a word,
For I was used,
To taking her grumbles for granted.
Perhaps I was insensitive,
To the plain fact that her voice,
Was more markedly feeble than ever.
When I walked past her bed again,
She lay facing the wall,
Next to the bed,
Her right hand, almost limp,
Stretched outwards to her right,
Rested on the bed.
I convinced myself
She was breathing yet;
It was when Aunt Rani, our benign neighbor,
Pronounced her dead,
That I began to doubt myself.
Perhaps, this was the way to die:
No final words, no last will,
No lachrymose leave-taking;
Now she was alive,
Now dead.
Just recently, I finished reading ‘Different Thinking: Creative strategies for developing the innovative business’ by Anja Foerster & Peter Kreuz, two European-based management thinkers. I would like to share with our readers a few insights from this illuminating book.
“At dusk on Friday, 13 December 1907 the sailing ship Thomas W Lawson sank off the Scilly Isles in the English Channel…” goes the opening line of The Attacker`s Advantage by Richard N. Foster. What happened? The owners of the colossal seven-masted schooner wanted to make a splash in the commercial shipping in a bid to eclipse the steamers which were becoming popular fast. But, it never worked out. According to Foster, “The age of commercial sailing vessels ended with the Thomas Lawson, and from that moment on, the steamers ruled the seas.”
Obviously, the owners of Thomas W Lawson did not bother to question the status quo and were completely blind to all signs of technological progress. And the cost of failure was enormous. We can`t change history, but we can learn from it. What is sad is that even today there are managers who cling tenaciously to obsolete products, processes and attitudes. Seemingly, it`s no myth that the spirit of Thomas W Lawson still sails the waters of our business world.
The majority of managers tend to like the familiar, the known or the tried and tested. Similarly, they more or less resist change. This is why it is so difficult for them to deviate from the established practices. Change may be profitable, but there is inherent risk whenever you go for it. Change and risk, however, is an essential component of growth. So, questioning and where necessary, challenging the status quo is critical to business success.
Let`s take another example. In 1977, Zundapp, the Bavarian motorcycle manufacturer had a workforce of 1900 and produced 115000 mopeds. Sans the fascination of a BMW or a Harly Davidson though, the Zundapp mopeds were still popular because they were both robust and inexpensive. But, the Zundapp management failed to recognize the changes taking place in the environment around them. For example, insurance premiums shot up and legislation was passed making it mandatory for moped riders to take a driving test which saw the moped sales taking a nosedive. Consequently, in 1984, they were forced into liquidation.
Digital Equipment, the American computer manufacturer too fell prey to the Thomas Lawson Syndrome. So blind had they been to the developments taking place in the competitive landscape that they were caught completely off-guard by the development of the personal computer.
However, it is not that easy to change the conventional mindset of the believers and the defenders of the status quo. This`s why Guy Kawsaki, a marketing expert says: “The defenders of the status quo will doubtlessly tell you that it is not possible or necessary to implement your idea. After all, they are the people who established the status quo, and now they are under attack from you! And so if you want to bring about a revolution, you must steadfastly ignore these arguments.”
So, while giving due consideration to the risk, uncertainty, incomprehension and confusion inherently associated with change, in this fast-moving moving world, you always have to be ready to change your strategic direction without waiting for confirmed insights.
Courtesy:http://lmd.lk/?p=7301
Tomorrow, I thought,
I’d surely meet her,
The sweet trouble-maker,
Persistently taxing my time,
But enrapturing my lonely heart,
With her sunshiny presence,
And warm, loving, blithe words,
Irradiating my heart’s gloom…..
But now I feel,
I’d not meet her tomorrow,
And that our rendezvous,
Would have to be postponed,
For an indefinite time……
Thwarted expectation,
Stymied hope,
Distresses my childish heart,
Constantly yearning,
For her warm, wonderful friendship,
Her blithe smiles,
And warm affectionate words,
But anticipation is still alive in my heart,
For a longer, lovelier, better rendezvous!
For Mr. Shantha Herath (Faculty of Business Studies and Finance, Wayamba University)
“A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses.”
A Chinese Proverb
Rummaging through,
A file of old lecture-notes,
I came across it – a printout,
Of a front-page,
Of an assignment.
A flowery border,
Fencing a rainbow text.
A request, a rebuke, and resentment!
A smile, a signature and love!
The printout evoked memories,
As indelible as stone inscriptions,
As deep as life.
One day, I know, it’ll fade away
Into nothingness.
But not his kindness.
I saw the grotesque creature,
Lying placidly,
On the recently trimmed grass,
In our garden,
In embarrassing oblivion,
To the man-made reality,
That it didn’t belong,
In our garden,
Or in our civilized world…..
Its grey spotty skin,
Which thorns or pricks can’t puncture
Or jagged stones,
Cannot tear or graze….
And its sharp, serrated tail,
Possessing tremendous strength,
With which it whips away the approachers….
From a safe distance,
I stood watching it,
With a long pole in my hand,
With which I poked at it,
Every now and then….
For all its ferocity,
It lay passive, patient, and tranquil,
Like a real gentleman,
Never once resisting,
My cowardly mean assaults….
Soon I gave up,
My attempts to drive it away,
Realizing that,
I was but a spiritless coward,
Trying in vain,
To bring down a mountain,
With a fragile pole….
Before long,
It crawled away,
In magnanimous resignation,
Leaving behind for cruel cravens like me,
A silent lesson of patience!
My heart began to flutter despoiling my ease.
From where I stood, I clearly saw her excited, red face,
I was more excited than her, to talk about my case.
She tightly clutched the papers with trembling fingers.
How frightened she looked that moment in my memory still lingers.
And off her blushed face, my eyes I could never take,
It was all like a dream, from which I refused to wake.
With jealousy I watched all eyes fixed on her face.
They forever kept looking at her, those gazers so base!
She belonged totally to me, that I wanted them all to know,
They shouldn’t question my claim, she wasn’t mine yet though.
Mesmerized by her beauty, her I kept watching.
With her, my sweet girl, few girls could be matching.
Little of what she presented made any sense to me,
As I dived deeper and deeper in the Joy’s vast sea.
Now that, like a queen, she was descending the staircase,
I could closely watch her pretty, flushed face.
I don’t want to lie; she really wasn’t the best,
But she was my girl-to-be, and little mattered the rest!
Said the chief monk, ‘It`s time
for pan wadeema now…’
We, her grand-children, drew closer,
As my father set right,
The upended cup,
On the white plate.
As the monks,
Seated opposite the coffin,
Enwrapped with a white-cloth,
Water spouted out,
From the porcelain jug,
Held over the cup,
By all of us.
It slowly filled,
And water brimmed over,
Into the plate,
Where it rested.
Water:
The ever-young, the ever-fluid,
The ever-abundant, the ever-lasting;
What has it to do with life?
I wondered and wondered.
