In Search of Excellence

Read this beutiful Doha (couplet) from Kabir

Bada Hua to Kya Hua, Jaise Ped Khajoor
Panthi Ko Chhaya Nahin, Phal Lage Atidoor

Here is my attempt at translation for those who don’t understand Hindi:

“Being big (great) like a Khajoor (dates) tree is useless as Khajoor tree is tall but gives no shade to a traveller and it’s fruits are not accessible.”

My blog has a new URL: www.livexcel.com

We have to market ourselves so many times and at so many places, we run the risk of advertising to ourselves. There is a very fine line between being confident in our abilities and conning ourselves.

Success comes from dedicated, focused efforts and the dedication comes from not conning ourselves. Here is an interesting example:

One question from the interview of Nadal after he had won Australian open defeating Federer in the final:
—————————————————————————————————————-
Q. You proved yourself as a true king.
RAFAEL NADAL: Oh, no, no. Well, the true, no. I don’t know. I just win for sure an important title for my careera. But I no better five hours before than now, no? That’s the true, no?
When you win an important match, but you have to know before the match who you are and after the match you have to know who you are, too. You are the same, no?
—————————————————————————————————————-
You can read the entire interview at:
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/interviews/2009-02-01/200902011233415660437.html

Ted talk presentation on an emerging technology. Simply brilliant.

Last week, I had lunch in New Jersey with Anjan Lahiri (President and Co-CEO, MindTree). We were talking about our families, how he has settled in Bangalore, the school his daughter goes to etc. He talked about how kids learn and how we learn many things from being around them. He narrated a funny story. One day Anjan was watching his wife tie his daughters shoe laces. He realized that the knot was a little different. When he tied the knot the same way, his shoe laces would stay tied. All of us (at least I do), face this problem of the shoe laces coming untied.

Although that was a very small part of our lunch conversation, the thought of tying shoe laces the right way stuck with me all day. I found a Wikipedia article on shoelaces:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoelaces

It has a section on ‘Shoelace Tying’. I use the most common knot; ‘the bow’, which is basically two half knots. There are two kinds of half knots. Two consecutive right over left half knots (or two consecutive left over right half knots) is called a ‘Granny Knot’. A right over left half-knot followed by a left over right half knot (or vice versa) is called a ‘Square’ or ‘Reef Knot’. I (and I am sure; or hope most of you J ) have always used the ‘Granny Knot’. My shoe laces come untied every now and then (about once or twice a day). For the last 4 days I have used the ‘Square’ or ‘Reef Knot’. The shoe laces have not come untied even once.

All you have to change is if you put left side lace over right side lace for your first half knot, put right side lace over the left for your second knot (or vice versa). It is that simple.

Sure, thank me if you face this minor nuisance and I have helped you avoid it. But that’s not the point of this article. How many other minor irritants do we tolerate like this in our daily life; not only in our personal grooming but at our home or at work? How keenly do we observe people, events, and surroundings and learn from it?

‘I want to give myself the best possible chance’ is a common theme I have observed in interviews of committed and outstanding performers. Those who perform at the highest possible level prepare to the best of their abilities.

We get to enjoy the performances but it is a pity that we don’t get to learn about the hard work and the dedication behind them. High performers do everything in their capacity to be at the best of their abilities when the show starts. That involves hard work and sacrifices.

I recently read Shane Watson’s interview on cricketnext.in.com. The full interview is at:

http://cricketnext.in.com/news/watson-credits-booze-ban-for-consistency/35056-13.html

He was one of the top performers in the recently concluded India-Australia cricket series. He was also a star performer in the IPL (Indian Professional League). The early part of his career was hampered by injuries and because of that he was not a permanent member of the Australian team despite being extremely talented. He is now relatively injury-free but his focus has improved as well. In the interview he attributed his performance to saying ‘no’ to alcohol, even during celebration parties.

Here are some quotes from his interview:

“I’m off drinking while playing and training so I’m giving myself every chance I possibly can to be right throughout this big workload especially,” Watson said.

“It’s been since I injured my hamstring in South Africa during the Tweny20 (last September). So the only time I had a drink was after the IPL to celebrate, just a couple of glasses of champagne. But, after that, once I get back into training and playing, I’ve got to give myself the best possible chance to get through games,”

“I definitely celebrate. I’ve made sure it doesn’t take away from celebrations. I’m not isolating myself from the group because I’ve not sat down and just said ‘I’m not going to drink’; I want to make sure I’m still involved and be celebrating and have fun which I always do,” he said.

The all-rounder added: “It just saves me. I know when I wake up in the morning, a few blokes are feeling a bit dusty and I’m fresh as a daisy, a bit tired but fresh.”

Here are some quotes from other famous stars on this subject:

Sachin Tendulkar

‘It doesn’t always happen according to the way you have planned things out but I feel if you have covered most of the aspects, it does help out there in the middle. ‘

‘At least with me, the match starts much, much earlier than the actual match. ‘

Tiger Woods

“People thought it was asinine for me to change my swing after I won the Masters by 12 shots. … Why would you want to change that? Well, I thought I could become better. If I play my best, I’m pretty tough to beat. I’d like to play my best more frequently, and that’s the whole idea. That’s why you make changes. I thought I could become more consistent.”

Excerpt from ’How I play Golf’ by Tiger Woods

Winning is about Preparation

Have you seen how Tiger Woods will back away after he putt the ball, and seemingly prepares himself for a victory pump even before the ball reach the hole. How did he know that a shot is going in before it goes in?

In the book, Tiger Woods talked about the importance of preparation.

Tiger learned from his dad the importance of preparation for the game. Before a tournament, he would spend hours analyzing the different holes, visualizing the different scenarios that could happen after each shot. His talent merely brings him in line with the top golfers in the world. Its his preparation that sets him apart from the rest of the field.

How Much Importance Do You Place On Preparation

Preparation is boring. You do not do any actual stuff. You merely spend hours analyzing videos, brainstorming on different possible scenarios that might occur, and visualizing them. Many of the scenarios will never occur, and you might find it a waste of time.

Indeed, many people prefer to jump straight into a game without preparing for it. Yet it has been proven time and again that the best athletes are the ones that spend an enormous amount of time on preparation.

Tiger Woods is one of them.

Michael Jordan

Phil Jackson once said this about his protégé, “You cannot find anyone that competes as hard in training as in competition”

A man once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, “Do you need two statues of the same idol?” “No,” said the sculptor without looking up, “We need   only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage.” The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. “Where is the damage?” he asked. “There is a scratch on the nose of the idol.” said the sculptor, still busy with his work.  ”Where are you   going to install the idol?” The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high. “If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?” the gentleman asked.

The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, “I will know it.”

The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it or not. “Excellence” is a drive from inside, not outside.

Excellence is not for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction and excellence.

There is immense knowledge hidden in the scriptures; knowledge that is eternal.

Here is a gem of a shloka (couplet) from Purva Mimansa written by Jaimini many centuries ago (exact timeframe not known).  

Purva: Previous Mimansa: Investigation, research or examination 

Here it is: 

Upakramopasamharo abhyaso-purvata phalam
arthavadopapatti cha lingam tatparya nirnaye 

Meaning of the couplet This couplet prescribes a review process. This process should be used to review articles, books, white papers etc.

It says that to analyze, understand, conclude (tatparya nirnaye) and learn from a piece of writing one must look at seven things (lingam).  

First, read the beginning (Upakram) and ending (Upasamhar). The beginning and ending tell us the purpose for writing the piece. Understand the purpose first. 

Then look for repetition (Abhyas). What is reiterated in this article many times? Make a note of it.  

Now look for novelty (Apurvata). Is there anything in the article that is new or unprecedented? Understand that.  

Next, look for result expected (Phalam). Find out what will you gain as a result of this article. The author will use sentences like “If you do it this way, ….”, “If this continues, …”  in the article look for them. 

After this, look for exaggeration or glorification (Arthavad). Leave it aside as that part serves no purpose.

And finally look for logical and appropriate arguments (Upapatti). Look for logically developed arguments, references, relevant examples etc.

Great prescription, isn’t it?

Here is an excerpt from Harsha Bhogle’s talk at one of the IIM’s. IT gives an insight into Sachin’s mind and an insight into why he is one of the greats.

 Mohammed Ali Quotes

Muhammad Ali said and I quote, I think I quote this quite often but it’s a favourite quote. He says “Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them- a desire, a dream, a vision, They have to have last minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”

“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights. “