How To Get To The Root Cause Of Problem?

There are problems everywhere. Still, some seem to be comfortable with it and are happy to solve them to move on. While others may just defer the problem and not solve them, others solve it comfortably. The solution lies in the conditioning of the mind. We should be conditioned to find the root cause of the problem. Problems come and go. Fire fighting is the main task of many managers of otherwise smooth running company. Problems arise and for that these managers need to run and solve them. However, some problems are solved only on surface. Instead if they would have been solved at the root, then it may not come again. For example, there is a faulty reading in the electricity bill. The customer goes to the Electricity board office. The bill is corrected and paid in this month. Next month, again the bill is erratic. Again it is corrected and paid. The customer has to go again and again to the office of Electric board. The fault with the meter. If the meter is corrected in one shot, it might just release the pain of going to the office in each month. 

For that our mind should be conditioned to find the root cause of the problem. For finding the root cause, it is good to ask Why? Ask Why till you arrive at the root cause. It is also called as Root Cause Analysis. Another way is to find list all the reasons for the failure and writing a value/percentage against all the reason. The top one or two reasons might be causing the bulk of the problem. This problem might be tackled by investing to cure those one or two reasons. This is on the line of 80:20 rule meaning that 80 % of the results are due to 20 % of the work/problem. 

There is another method also called as the Fish bone diagram. You can a horizontal line at the centre, which is the problem statement. And slanted vertical lines at the top and bottom may be drawn to drive the attention to the causes. After identifying the causes, it is easy to find the root cause. Once the root cause is identified, attack it.

Daily Meetings - How They Can Go Long Way In Increasing Efficiency?

Meeting is a word often cursed by many people. In one of my companies, seniors often complained that they had to attend many meetings. And some departments/persons are such that they need to be there in almost any meeting.  In humor, one of them called himself as 'Aloo' (Potato), which needs to be put in any 'Sabji'(curry). Be it any meeting, he needed to be there. The meeting is cursed by some people, because often it comes as an hindrance to day to day activity. If you are giving 50 % of your working time for meeting, then it is difficult to do actual work. 

The daily meeting though is very essential. The daily meeting in the morning normally covers all the activities that happened yesterday, while discussing the production activities, the problem areas and the solution to fix them up. The plan for production and the availability of raw material, readiness of machines, etc. is also discussed in them. What daily meeting does is that it gives a direction for work. If we do work without any guidance, it will be difficult. It all starts with communication that is done through the meeting. Since all the departments represent during the meeting, it is a common platform to come to the solutions.  The chairperson decides all the responsibilities and others need to bide by it. If any problems, they need to be discussed. 

However, these meetings should be short in nature. For the meeting to be short and meaningful, all of those coming to the meeting need to be clear about the agenda of the meeting. All the figures, problems need to be seen and identified, so that right data comes up in the meeting. The responsibility should be given to some particular  person to propagate the agenda for the meeting. Similarly, what is discussed in the meeting should also be followed up with individuals. If decisions are done and not followed up, the desired results may not be achieved. 

Body Rejunevation

Mind & Body go hand in hand. Do you feel dull when you are slightly feverish? When your mind is not so fresh, is there a body pain? Just as what you eat are what you are, it is also true that to keep your mind healthy, you need to keep your body healthy. You need to keep your body fit so that your mind remains as sharp and fit as ever. If you have not been exercising, just try a walk for around half an hour, either in the morning or in the evening, and you are bound to feel a difference. Just a walk around for 15 minutes or so, will make you feel good. And if you are regularly going for exercising, then you are bound to feel very light and energetic. This is the Mantra to be cheerful and happy. Happy body brings in happy mind. 

From years together, we have been putting too many things inside our body. The body gets tired and it is a good idea to get your body detoxication once in a while. If you can do once in a quarter or so, it will be very good. The body rejuvenation activity will make you feel good. Your body pain, tiredness, etc. will go for a toss. You can go for a face massage, body massage, head massage, etc. to get it detoxified. Even spending some time in a pool of water will detoxicate you. You can also do the classic Ayurveda Panchkarma to get rejuvenated. I heard you say that these things are luxury. But the cumulative effect of not doing rejunevation will make you spend much higher at old age. For getting the feel, go for a cheaper version of massage like head massage and see if you feel fresh.

Capital For Expansion

Every organization goes through different stages. In earlier stages, it is about getting settled and growth. Growth is the focus in earlier stages because you want to have sizable market share. When you are in growth mode, there is constant need for capital. Unless, it is like a consumer business where you get money as soon as you sell your goods. This is where good business models come into picture. It is a different picture altogether when growth is common but cash flow is different. When there is a credit involvement of customer, you are stretched to the hilt. More so, if you are having more growth. This is because you may not get enough credit from the supplier, but you have to give credit to the new customers. Whenever new customers come, it is very tough for the first 2-3 months. This is because you are just supplying them material without getting the cash. Revenues are generated but are not in hand. That makes the cash flow a little difficult. So much so, that you might be at your wits end, if you have more than a couple of such big customers. 

But once that period ends, there is a constant flow of fund. We can call it a stead state. In steady state, you are giving material, while you receive payment albeit for material given a couple of months ago. When going for expansion, always remember that you have to have cash flow such that your cycle does not get stopped. Capital requirement is a healthy sign when it comes with the growth because, this requirement is short term if supported well with growth in revenues. When you have to give credit to customers, you should always foresee your cash flow before adding the customers. Foreseeing the cash flow will make you to take a decision of either slowing down or to arrange for a bridge loan or a short term cash loan. It is always better to raise debt rather than losing equity, since it is assumed that the debt is a cheaper form of finance. 

You can also work out with your suppliers to increase the credit period since your requirement increases. This will make you more resilient to decreased cash flow, as your cash out will be delayed a bit. 

Power Of Persistence

Talent is a great thing. You get a jump start when you have talent. Look at Vinod Kambli. He had immense talent and got a break. But talent itself will not take you far. It needs a lot of hard work to remain at the top. Look at Sachin Tendulkar. He had talent. But talent is not the only thing that kept him at the top. It was hard work. Just consider this. You have been playing for 24 years and still you are being counted among the best. It is not easy. In the last couple of decades, there have been all types of analyses that happens. The playing videos can be watched many times. The opposition teams, coaches can dissect your technique and practice on how to handle you. In spite of such stiff situations, if your shelf life is 24 years, then you must have done something which others are not able to do. Talent gave him the head start because it got him launched at 16 years. But Parthiv Patel too was launched at a very young age. He too has talent. 

The power of Sachin Tendulkar lies in the power of persistence. It was his persistence with the hard work that he remained at the top. If Shane Warne got him out by bowling at the legs, he practiced and practiced and practiced the sweep shot. Next time when Warne came, Sachin came out on top of him. So much so, that Warne declared that Sachin gave him nightmares. Such persistent hard work, practice with dedication was the only think which made Sachin stand the test of time. But when we say persistence, it is not something which has to be tried again and again. The ant tries to get on top of hill and falls many a times, and each time it falls, it gets up and begins to go on top of the hill. Each time it will try different routes. Our goal remains same, but when we do not achieve or go near it, we should not quit. We should make persistent efforts. Each time, we should change our strategy, action plan, so that we get nearer to the goal. 

Remember that with persistent effort, even water can cut the rock. And you are Human Being!

Get Fresh & Energetic In Morning

I read a lot and in one of the articles I read, the author had recommended an insane way to feel very fresh, energetic & innovative inspirational thinking in the morning. How our day pans out depends a lot on the mornings. If the morning is refreshing, you will have a guaranteed good day ahead. Even if some things turn sour, you will be able to convert it into something good with your sheer energy. That makes it very important to make the mornings great, because it becomes the basic of success for that day. 

The easiest way is to sleep early, get up early and have a plan to do something in the morning. Because if you do not have anything to do in the morning, chances are that you will spill away the morning rising habit. It is best to do meditation, exercise, walking or jogging type of acrobatic exercises. Even doing warm up will make you feel better. After these things are completed, the thing that comes to us is bath. 

And it is here that the aforementioned author surprises. While most of us like to bath with hot or warm water, the author has his own views. The author says that rather what you should be doing is to bath in shower. While starting, take cold water and then gradually turn to hot or warm water. After your bath is over, you should immediately turn the water to cold shower. The sudden change in the water will make your body shrill in cold, but after you come out of the bath, you will be very fresh. It would have a feel of going up to the Mother Nature and coming out of a pool of lake / dam water. You can too give it a try.  

How Our Wear Can Affect Our Thinking

While going on work, there is a dress code? There is also uniforms for schools, colleges, police &army. As soon as a person wears the uniform, he immediately becomes conscious. Student will think about college while police & armies will become conscious about their duties. Ever thought about why the normal dress code for the marketing guy is formal. First is of course the appearance or presentation in front of the client/customer. But on a sub-conscious level, it also creates a sense of job responsibility, a realization that we are on job and we need to be decent. A mechanic or a workshop guy will wear a Boiler's suit type of dress, so that he can work with machines without worrying about his dress. Similar such instances could be found in Doctor's Apron, Lab technicians, company worker's uniform. The basic idea behind uniform is recognition and at the sub-conscious level, the realization that we are on job.

Now, let us take case of personal life. What do we wear when we are heading for a holiday or beach or picnic? Do we wear formals? No. Casuals, yes. Why. Because, when we wear casual we know that we are on a holiday and you can let your hair down. There is no worry, only enjoyment. As soon as we start to go on a holiday, we wear that clothes in which we are very comfortable and it doesn't matter if it becomes dirty. When in a marriage or a festival, we try to wear formal or traditional. When we wear traditional, we remember that today is traditional day. We behave accordingly. Though it is holiday, there will be no childish enjoying like you did on that beach. You are relaxed, but this relaxation is different from what we do on picnic. 

For this matter, it becomes important that we should wear clothes according to situations. This will bring credibility when you are on job. You would be looked at as a responsible person. The uniform will also give you a recognition. You can watch how the Business Coaches or Life coaches come groomed to the session. They will be wearing a coat or a blazer and this gives a sense of authority to them. If you have a blazer, you can also try it at your home in front of the mirror. Wear the blazer; good if you could also wear a tie and watch yourself. Watch yourself with pride and you can also give a self talk. How do you feel? You can write in the comments section.