LADDER // LATTICE

 

LADDER // LATTICE

In most workplaces opportunity exists on a ladder, not on a lattice. While the ladder, in the corporate structure, shows you the path to the leader at the top, the lattice is a crisscrossing structure like checker board that offers multiple paths to the top.

The lattice system rejects two unwritten rules that dominate ladder hierarchies – don’t go behind your boss’s back or above your boss’s head. These implicit rules often stop many people from speaking up and being heard. It removes the threat of punishment for going around and above the boss.

In the Ladder system a single ‘no’ is enough to kill an idea or even a career.

Managers often say no because your idea might be a threat to their ego – if it’s good -- or their image if it’s bad. The tide is invariably turned against the one who comes up with a creative suggestion.

It happens like that because unproven ideas carry too much risk and uncertainty.

Managers know that if they bet on a bad idea, it might be a career limiting move, but if they ignore a good idea, it’s unlikely anyone will ever find out.

And even if managers are supportive of an idea, if they perceive leaders above them would not like it, they tend to see it as a losing proposition.

All it takes is just one gatekeeper to shut out a new frontier

‘Hidden Potential’

Adam Grant

SHE

 

SHE

She is the incredible co-founder of everything that matters in my life.

I am fortunate to be cast as her companion.

She has always surprised me.

Ever since we became one, we have always been going around together.

She had been conscientious at her job till she superannuated

However, family  was and is her prime concern.

She had always pursued whatever she liked most.

Though her own people discouraged her, she went ahead to learn driving and had become an expert driver.

Retirement did not halt her.

She had sought out a school where they taught embroidery and stitching.

She went on to stitch her own dresses and was happily doing embroidery work on saris.

She was quite good in stitching her granddaughter’s dresses

She is an expert cook, with experimentation her forte.

She now takes the initiative to do things that she loves, finding happiness over whatever she does.

She is an excellent example, no matter the age; you can find your own happiness.

She knows very well improvisation is an important constituent of life.

Improvisation comes with experience, exposure, practice and the tasks you accomplish employing your skill.

To improvise her system is fully charged with what she has read and assimilated and they come together at the most appropriate time.

Dynamic all along, she never has a rigid frame of mind.

She is with you.

 

 

CHARACTER

 

CHARACTER

Character matters more than talent.

Character skills propel you to higher peaks.

They predict and produce success in life.

Character and personality are not the same.

Personality is your predisposition – your instincts for how to think, feel and act.

Character is your capacity to prioritize your values over your instincts.

Knowing your principles doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to practice them, particularly under stress or pressure.

The true test of character is whether you manage to stand by the values when the deck is stacked against you.

If personality is how you respond on a typical day, character is how you show up on a hard day.

Personality is your tendency.

Character skills enable you to transcend it and remain true to your principles

PIVOTAL

 

Understanding of self and mastering of self are pivotal in life

Opportunity would never come knocking.

You have to build your own doors.

RATING CHILDREN

 

RATING CHILDREN

Rate children on the following parameters

PROACTIVE

Do they take the initiative to ask questions, volunteer answers, seek information from books and engage the teacher to learn outside the class/

PROSOCIAL

Do they get along well and collaborate with their peers?

DISCIPLINE

Do they effectively pay attention and resist the impulse to disrupt the class?

DETERMINATION

Do they consistently take on challenging problems, do more than the assigned work and persist in the face of obstacles?

These capabilities, once they are imbibed by the children stay with them forever.

DISCOVER THE SMARTS

 

If we listen only to the smartest person in the room, we miss out on discovering the smarts that the rest of the room has to offer. 

Our greatest potential isn't always hidden inside us - sometimes it sparks between us, and sometimes it comes from outside our team altogether.

WEAK LEADERS

 

Weak leaders silence voice and shoot the messenger.

Strong leaders welcome voice and thank the messenger

Great leaders build systems to amplify voice and elevate the messenger.