The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn: – ALVIN TOFFLER
Thinking over it, this is the conversation between me and the Ravishankar the VP of a department at my company.
Its worth reading …
ME : But what will we do with those ‘illiterates’, holding on to something that was like a 100 year old idea and not having a mind open to change.
I always think, how can i go ahead with those people and yet i find myself where i stared.
RAVI :Unfortunately, we no longer live in the easygoing, tolerant, “adjusting” world. People that cannot change and adapt will simply get left behind (you know what happened to the dinosaurs)! As leaders (not necessarily only the managers), we have responsibility to make them understand.
At the same time, it is important for us to understand that it is not necessary that we know better always. There may be many things that others may be right or better with. Here is where our own “open mindedness” comes in (for all we know, others might be thinking the same way about us). None of us can afford to behave like an ostrich in today’s connected world. The best way is to accept life and people as they are (believe me, it is very difficult to understand this), have patience, engage in dialogs, discuss and debate and agree on the best way forward. You will be amazed to see that we can achieve so many more things so much better when a team agrees on a common goal and works for it.
Manendra had a different question, and i say its the best reply i have ever got on the Shortcut to Success.
MANENDRA : What is the secret of your success? What do you attribute it to ?
RAVI : I am not sure if becoming a VP is the same as being successful! I regret that I may be confusing you. But here is a small part of my life’s philosophy:
- I don’t believe that some people are very bright and are saviors of mankind and the rest are stupid. Everyone has a gift; he or she will have to put it to work. Finally, it is sheer hard (sometimes you can make it smart also) work. I have not seen anyone who has become rich and famous by whiling away precious time. Even a criminal who earns ill-gotten wealth needs to work hard.
- Don’t put self before team. You don’t achieve much all alone. You need to lead packs of apparently disparate individuals that give you all the strength. You need to understand that everyone has a need to succeed. Make use of this need. Make others successful and you will automatically succeed. But it requires courage and perseverance.
- Stand up for what you think is right.
- Overall, maintain a balance. Accept life. After all, this is real life! This will reduce your stress, in the worst case. Not everyone will agree with you all the time.