Of technology, change and habit!

Change being the only constant is oft quoted truism- we talk about it, we profess to be votaries of change, we urge others to embrace it all the time- there are change management consultants who revel in giving advice on managing change in organizations. But change is inevitably an emotional experience and depending upon how well we deal with it, we buld a certain confidence about dealing with it in the future or conversely shun it forever.

Let me explain with a simple example. Since the end of last year, we have been wanting to buy an ibook to go along with our ipod. We felt it was a cool thing to have and that we should use something else apart from microsoft products. We didn't think it would be a big deal making the switch. And so, yesterday, we bought an ibook, brought it home and promptly set about working on it. Suddenly, it seemed like a different world. Simple things three both me and my wife off. For example, the key 'delete' works like backspace and I still haven't figured how to make the words delete going forward. And this is just one of the many changes. The entire look was different, the feel was different- I felt somebody had given me a very different toy to work with. I struggled with basic commands as if I was learning computers for the first time. And even as we tried to instal the microsoft word, powerpoint and excel from the "Student- Teacher" edition of the Mac, and found ourselves unsuccessful, we got increasingly frustrated. And it was a Saturday evening- we could only reach the prerecorded voices of all tech support. We struggled gamely with commands that were on our fingertips all along till after midnight, both of us just gave up. We decided that we could not make the switch and would return our new machine. The penalty would be 99 dollars and it was a price that we would pay for trying to make a change and not being competent to do it. We were clearly more creatures of habit than we had thought ourselves to be.

Even as we hit the bed, the thought of having failed at making the switch rankled both of us and so we were up again- adn slowly but surely we found our way back- installing the office to begin with and as we got to something fimiliar- it began to feel like familiar territory. Suddenly, the doubts and fears were gone and we began to appreciate the more cool features of the Mac. It is still early day as yet but suffice it to say that we havent returned our machine and I am actually beginning to like the portability, the features and the just the layout of the Mac- it is refreshingly different.

We make such switches often, sometimes intended and sometimes they are thrust upon us. I guess what we need to do is figure out something familiar in there, try it out in the new set-up, get comfortable with it and then, try and make the bigger leap. I guess the battle is more in the head, not so much in the technology. Most often, the former is the most difficult battle to win. Tenacity is important but so is just the self belief that nothing is too difficult as not being able to make the switch. And the Mac is just an apt illustration. Of course, this blog comes from the new machine and the fact that it has nothing in bold, or italics is because I still haven't figured that out yet. But I will soon I guess.

We are indeed creatures of habit. However, we have tremendously flexible personalities too and given the right circumstances, we would love to keep moving on rather than staying put in one place. Doesn't that make life that much more exciting??!!!

Knowing when your time is up!

Great men have a great sense of timing- they know when to play their trump cards and when to hold back. They also know when to retire. Its graceful and they like to go out into the sunset while people are still clamoring for them to be there.

Nowhere is this more evident than in sport. And it is devastating to see a hero of sport grovelling against weak opposition when all you have in your mind are images of extreme supremacy against the very best in the world. The current Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly is a classic case in point. A classy batsman in his prime, he was feared by bowlers around the world not too far back. Since 2003, the slide in his form and confidence has been cataclysmic. Questions are being raised all around. Can he inspire the team when he can't inspire confidence in his own self? Can he really lead from the front? Is he growing too old and is blocking the passage of youngsters? All valid questions and none would be asked if Ganguly would just let go. And this is where he will lose his chance to be a true great of sport. Gavaskar had excellent timing about his retirement, so did Steve Waugh and will therefore forever be remembered fondly. Not so with Ganguly I suspect. He built a great team, led from the front but has gone on for way too long.

The curtain is coming down soon and the mark of greatness is to act yourself and exit the stage than be forced out. Ganguly, with his poor sense of timing and inappropriate comments about the coach, is likely to be facing the latter.

We shall see what happens but its an important lesson for all of us.

What a series!

There are moments in sports when the tide seems to turn, when a dominating team suddenly seems to falter, when the challengers have more hunger than the ones holding the trophy- and the shift in momentum begins to create a sense of excitment amongst the sports fan that makes all his trips to the stadium worthwhile. It happened in Boston last year when the Red Sox came from 0-3 deficit to beat the Yankees to win the ALCS and eventually the coveted World Series after 86 years. Fans went wild, and celebrations went on for days and months.

Something similar happened in London yesterday. Australia, the dominant team in World Cricket was vanquished by a resurgent English team that showed enormous resolve and consistency throughout the summer and thoroughly deserved the prize. I followed the series, match by match, ball by ball and was enthralled by the ebb and flow of what was a truly outstanding cricket series by any standards. Even as it became evident that the Aussies were nowhere near their best in this series, their tenacity under pressure, their refusal to give up, their unbelievable fight to the finish was something that showed me why they have been the best team in the world for so long.

Often, the game is won or lost in the mind, not really on skill. On form, man to man, the English team was way better, but the mental resolve not to lose from the Aussies made the series so nail-bitingly close. For the neutral, it was the very best that cricket epitomises-skill, ability to read difficult situations and respond appropriately, plan but be flexible and play accordingly, never give up even when the chips are down and statistics is against you and of course, play the game in the best spirit possible. There were a few incidents here and there but in a tough series like this, those were minimal and few and far between.

We don't know whether the tide has truly turned for good- but this was indeed refreshing. The Aussies have only been challenged by the Indians, and that too, sporadically- for them to lose a series to England means that at least, there are chinks in their once impregnable fortress and that is great for sport. But just as you can never write off the Yankees, people hastening to write off the Aussies may be speaking too soon just yet!

The color of money

I am not much of a gambler. But I like visiting a casino. Like I did this Labor Day weekend. We were in Atlantic City, a good 350 miles drive south of Boston.

I like going to a casino for several reasons. One- it amazes me that people who haggle for pennies outside are so willing to bet 5 or 10 dollar bills in hoards on a roulette where the probability of winning is heavily stacked against them. Yet, people flock to these games. Again and again.
Second- the wide range of people you see at a casino is only topped by a good sports game. You see old women, young women, flashing young men to older people well into retirement, all playing hoping their luck would turn just at the instant that they are there.

Playing in a casino is clearly something more than just playing a game. It is fact trying to chase a dream- the easy way out! Little or no sweat, little thought, a few colored coins that represent money and people chase it- day in and day out. It gives people hope, of instant gratification, of fast forwarding their dreams, of a better lifestyle, a newer car, a better home. There is an adrenalin rush- knowing that it could all be done in a matter of hours, not months or years of hard work, but in a few moments of instant luck and literally good fortune. In that sense, the crowd at the casino represents our faith in miracles, our eternal hope of a better future and our optimism even in the face of adversity. Casinos succeed because despite everything that probability has to say, we still feel we could be the chosen ones and have a fortune that will make our dreams come true. They succeed because of our faith in ourselves and each repeated failure at it only strengthens our resolve that good fortune is just round the corner. At a more visceral level, they represent our urge to splurge, feel good about it and just have a good time in a scenario where everybody is willing to bet a little bit hoping the tide would turn. Whether it is the notoriously fickle roulette or the more steady black jack, the thinking is still the same and the pump of adrenalin almost unmatched by any other activity.

I have played in different casinos from Genting Highlands in Malaysia to Cebu in the Philippines to Atlantic City now and it seems there is a universal appeal to the casinos which in my view represents a certain yearning to make our futures and fortunes better- as quickly as we possibly can; and though we all know in our heart of hearts that sustainable fortune is more than just getting a few numbers right, we still keep hoping. And thats what works! We are eternal optimists, arent we and thats not a bad way to be at all!

Life without a laptop

It is easy to get used to things. Very quickly. I was introduced to the computer and the internet in 1997 and some would say, thats fairly late. I took to it with some trepidation. But once I took my dive into the corporate sector, discovered the joys of preparing wonderful presentations of powerpoint, of writing long-ish mails to friends, all now connected on email- it just seemed like a wonderful accessory to have.

And now- I do not consider it an accessory at all! I think it is an absolute necessity. I moved houses a few days back and was not connected to the net. I felt lost, almost like a ship without its rudder or its power. It really felt like I couldn't do anything. I was not connected on mail, I was not connected to the news, to my friends, to this blog- nothing!

Nothing. Complete emptiness.

The thing is- I was so disoriented I didn't even want to pick up a book and read which is something I could very well have done. Clearly, the computer and the internet have become an inextricable part of my life. And more so with each passing day, I am becoming more and more entrenched in the wired world. Some people bemoan the fact that the more we work on a computer, the more individualistic we become and less social. I have found the reverse to be true. I have been able to get in touch with old friends courtesy google, have been able to trace some who I lost touch with completely. The only catch is this- courtesy all this communication on the net, I tend to communicating less with people on snail mail. But in the list of people who are not connected to the net, my parents are the only ones I am really concerned about. I am glad that at least I am having the discipline to write to them once every month. The art of letter writing, conventional writing is clearly dying out and I do not want to be a part of that breed.

But I cannot imagine my life without a laptop and an internet connection, I far cry from just a few years back. Things change and so do we. Hopefully, for the better!