THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE BY STEPHEN COVEY - ANIMATED BOOK REVIEW

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2015 , you shall be missed !!

What was a better place than Louis Khan Plaza @ IIM Ahmedabad to kick off 2015- The most amazing place on Earth; its simple yet so grand, confined yet so expansive ! It leaves you with profound memories for a lifetime!!

It was a roller -coaster year - the last semester at B-school, the convocation, corporate life, cajobportal, "Accounting for People Who Think They Hate Accounting" and almost importantly, Ms Dhwani Singal - our Chief Motivation Officer !

 









 

The year that saw my little bundle of joy growing every day, bit by bit, into an addiction , so much that I now cajole Sonia to not visit her "maayka" as I would have to miss Dhwani so much . Time flies- from being that little girl in the baby cot who used to cry and clamour for milk and then doze off to sleep again to that adorable angel who would urge me to take her in a stroller to Old Campus on college or to meet Vinmay, her bestie on campus to go to terrace to meet her pigeons when back home at Kolkata. " Chalo, bhaagengey (lets run) to "Papa, please office mat jao" to "Papa, please horse ban jaao naa " to "mujhe cake chahiye"  From one who would cringe at the thought of being sent to school - "Aaj chutti hai" in May to desperately missing and clamouring for school even on a Sunday in Dec, she has changed so much !! She's a 'goondi' now but has enamoured us so much that we are willing to pay her 'goondi tax' in form of cakes, chips and chocolates

 





Its time for me to  acknowledge the role played by this Rishra girl in the year that went by. First she stepped in to see me sail through my MBA with elan( Life in MSH 901 with her and Dhwani was certainly way way better than Dorm 27). Then as she morphed into a digital women and fitted so seamlessly into the shoes of COO @ cajobportal.com when Ayush had to move to Mumbai for his Industrial Training @ Unilever



 



So much to say for the pillars in my life- Mom, Dad and Didz- they have seen the dark shadows inside and yet stood by like a rock for all seasons. I distinctly remember that one feedback from my batch mates on my resilience and I owe it completely to Mom - I can face anything and everything in the world but not the disappointment in her silent eyes.





On the personal side, the year that saw the culmination of me also staying away from the comfort zone of home and returning to Kolkata to keep hearing - "You've matured  a lot".

You see so many facets of human behaviour that it leaves you so much wordly wise. You lose your innocence , stop trusting people blindly, try to get into the real intent of human behavior ( there were people who walked in life to fetch a job for themselves and stepped out once they had secured it) and they say you have matured.

Realized that no matter what you do and how you do it, you will get your fair share of criticism !! The  masterstroke by Genna Rulone quite summed up a lot of what happened this year

Coming to the professional side



B-school was 'baptism by fire' - quite aptly put as "Sacrifices for 1 year; Branded for Life"- it was certainly not easy to quit a job for 1 year , spend Rs 2150,000 and enter an educational institution to learn, unlearn and re-learn. But God was kind and somehow managed to pull it off !! In-fact with a lot of elan !! A Chartered Accountant, living in a world of NPVs and IRRs suddenly realised that there is so much in life- Serotonin, Amagdyla, Yognidra, Game Theory, Porter's 5 Forces, 4Ps and the 5Cs

 



It was an year of epic moments, an year of with people like Mr Birla whom I had hitherto only seen in newspapers and television. Who would have imagined such high profile people randomly walking into life and gifting a rare pic, a new dream, a strategic direction !!

 



An year that saw me complete internship at HUL- a dream company ever since I started studying for CAs. Learnt so much in the course of deciphering alternate Forex Management strategies for this FMCG behemoth

 



GMCS, It would so often shake in my boots when I had embarked on the GMCS journey a few years ago; mugging scripts 'by heart' to execute on stage and wondering what the students would think about me. Now things are more under control, I feel that can deliver them value worth Rs 367 (5500/15). So when even after a tiring week, I do look forward to these random interactions with young minds



 

From running pillar to post to have this printed by any Indian publisher for even Rs 99 to having it launched globally for 60$ by an iconic US based publisher , Accounting for People Who Think They Hate Accounting" w !!as one memorable part of the year that went by !



 

Can't thank Deepika enough for the 3 fabulous hits she delivered !! And most importantly, for taking up the cause of the depressed in our society (Online ), acknowledging that she has gone to those lows and then bounced back. Such bravado in a society where more than one-third Indians are depressed but keep it under wraps. The reason - society can boast of blood pressure and sugar levels but confuses a chemical imbalance in the brain for madness

 

However, if it was that one word that I would dedicate 2015 to, it would be @cajobportal



For cajobportal, it was such a magical experience; people who like Alchemists came into life and gave this little initiative such a huge form

I remember how I would be super tired in course of a long and tiring day at IIMA that started at 845 AM and ended at 1030 PM. From literally dozing off in the class to returning home and spending 4 hours on the cajobportal B-Plan, never knew from where this energy emanated. Have cut short exams - end term exams in 1 hour instead of the stipulated 2.5 hrs so that I could leave the exam hall and pitch for cajobportal in front of some external guests.

Was it easy to be a David pitched against the Goliaths - Mafoi Randstads and Michael Pages? To learn to hear infinite 'No, we already have an existing vendor'

Was it easy to be a player who gave no kickbacks and rather refused business  than be unethical in a rather shady industry

Was it easy to have the likes of the co-founder of naukri.com, WIRC Vice Chairman, ex Group CFO of RPG, IIMA Dean-Alumni , IIMA HR Profto agree to be on our Advisory Board !

Was it easy to have a client list which included Unilever, ITC, Britannia,Cipla, Pirama, Olam India, HDFC,Goldman Sachs, DSP Blackrock, Fullerton Credit, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank,Titan, Tata Motors, Dalmia Bharat, Schneider, Schindler, Caterpillar, Amazon, Linde, Bharti Airtel, TCS, Landmark Group, Indorama Group, Tolaram Nigeria, Dunia Finance !!

Was it easy to secure jobs  across the world with aggregate CTC of Rs 5 crores for users?

Was it easy to understand technological jargons - APIs and Javascripts, so as to deal more effectively with IT vendors and not allow them to take you for a ride

Was it easy to attract employees who would believe in your vision , who would work from home in different parts of the country, be it Kolkata or Kerala ?

Was it easy to chase media and get our 'bootstrapped' startup covered amidst frenzied funding chasing every Tom Dick and Harry  in the market

Not sure but it was exciting, exhilarating ...........every bit of it !!

Thank you God for such an event packed year !!

2015 , you shall be missed !!

16 Great Coincidences In Human History Bound To Make Your Jaw Drop

1. Coincidences in life have happened throughout history and they might just happen to you anytime anywhere. Isn't it just funny when you swear at someone on your way to work and find out that that person is your new colleague in office?These coincidences have all happened in the past from India and around the world. Get ready to have your funny bone tickled or question aloud in disbelief.
   

   1. In 2013, Rajkumar Rao acted in a movie called Shahid. A few days later, Shahid Kapoor starred in the film R. Rajkumar.

   
   
   
   youtube.com
   

   2. Arvind Kejriwal recently won the Delhi elections and will take the oath of office on 14th February, 2015. A year ago, he resigned on Valentines Day.

   
   
   
   quora.com
   

   3. The sad demise of the Ebbin brothers.

   
   Neville and Erskine Ebbin both died at the tender age of 17 in an accident with a taxi. Here's the weird part. They both died a year apart while riding the same moped. So so much of a coincidence. But here's where it gets weirder. Both brothers were killed by the same taxi, which was being driven by the same driver and it was carrying the same passenger. Don't believe us? Here's a clipping from 1975 reporting the incident.
   
   
   
   quora.com
   

   4. Mark Twain's prediction.

   
   In 1909, the author of Tom Sawyer was quoted saying, "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together'."
   
   Twain died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910, one day after the comet's closest approach to Earth.
   
   
   
   wikipedia
   

   5. The former and present stars of Indian cricket have more than extraordinary talent in common.

   
   On December 28, 1999, Sachin Tendulkar scored a total of 1000 runs versus Australia in the 5th test on Melbourne Cricket Ground in the 19th innings. Exactly 15 years later, Virat Kohli also scored a total of 1000 runs versus Australia in the 5th test in the 19th innings at MCG. They were both 26 years old at their respective times of setting this milestone.
   
   
   
   facebook.com/cricketrevolt
   

   6. Did the cartoonists of Johnny Bravo know?

   
   An episode of Johnny Bravo that aired on Cartoon Network in April 2001 featured a movie poster with an image of a burning building with the label 'Coming Soon'. Five months later 9/11 happened.
   
   
   
   quora.com
   

   7. A weird pattern of the hosts and winners of the T20 World Cup since 2009.

   
   a. 2009
   
   - Host was England
   
   - The winner was Pakistan
   
   b. 2010
   
   - Host was West Indies
   
   - The winner was England
   
   c. 2012
   
   - Host was Sri Lanka
   
   - The winner was West Indies
   
   d. 2014
   
   - The host was Bangladesh
   
   - The winner was Sri Lanka
   
   So will Bangladesh be the next winner?
   
   
   
   sports008811.blogspot
   

   8. Licence to pass (or fail).

   
   In 1990, a 15-year-old student from Argoed High School in the UK sat for his GCSE examinations. His name was Bond...James Bond and his paper reference number was 007 ;)
   
   
   
   theguardian.com
   

   9. Alastair + Michael = Sachin

   
   Before you get freaked out by our disturbing equation, let me explain.
   
   Sachin Tendulkar's stats, i.e. 200 matches, 15921 runs and 51 centuries, is the sum of Alastair Cook and Michael Clarke's stats.
   
   
   
   quora.com
   

   10. Identical twins who were separated at birth, lived identical lives.

   
   Jim Springer and Jim Lewis who were separated at birth were reunited at the age of 39. They discovered that they were both married to women named Linda, divorced, and remarried to women named Betty. One of them had a son named James Allan while the other named his son James Alan. They both had dogs named Toy.
   
   
   
   galleryhip.com
   

   11. Dennis the Menace across the Atlantic.

   
   The famous comic strip "Denace the Menace" existed in both the US and the UK. However they were completely different entities created by two different cartoonists. Hank Ketcham's Dennis the menace (the boy with the golden hair and a dog named Ruff) in the USA released the same time as David Law's entirely different comic under the same name in the UK. Both comics were about a little boy who liked wreaking havoc, although Law's version was dirtier and grittier.
   
   We are more familiar with the US comic as it appears on the newspaper daily and was made into a movie in 1993.
   
   
   
   cracked.com
   

   12. A bullet is not lost until it serves its purpose (well at least for this guy).

   
   Henry Ziegland, a resident of Texas, dumped his girlfriend, which made her commit suicide. Her brother shot Ziegland and hurriedly took his own life. Ziegland had survived the shot as the bullet touched his face and got lodged in a nearby tree. Years later, when he was trying to cut the tree down, he used dynamite. The explosion caused the bullet to fly through and hit his head. R.I.P Mr. Ziegland.
   
   
   
   paul.cerrone.me
   

   13. Stupid computer or simply confused computer?

   
   A computer error gave two women in America called Patricia the same social security number. When the two women were brought together in an office to rectify the blunder they discovered that:
   
   - They had both been born with the names Patricia Ann Campbell
   
   - Both of their fathers were called Robert Campbell
   
   - Their birthdays were on 13th March 1941
   
   - They had both married military men in the year 1959 (within eleven days of each other)
   
   - They each had two children aged 19 and 21
   
   - They both had an interest in oil painting
   
   - Both had studied cosmetics
   
   - Both had worked as book-keepers
   
   
   
   popular1000.com
   

   14. Divine Wind or Divine Intervention?

   
   The Mongolians tried to conquer Japan in the 13th century but were prevented from doing so after a typhoon broke out upon their arrival at the Japanese port of Hakata. They retreated and returned the following year in summer where they were once again greeted by a typhoon at Hakata. Being superstitious, the Mongols decided never to invade the country again. The weird coincidence? Typhoons don't occur in summer.
   
   
   
   defence.pk
   

   15. Old Mc Donald had a farm.

   
   Mr Mc Donald, a farmer in Canada, has a postal address EIEIO.
   
   
   
   youtube
   

   16. This one about Enzo Ferrari's death, and footballer Ozil's birth.

   
   
   
   Facebook

Who is packing your parachute?

Air Commodore Vishal was a Jet Pilot. In a combat mission his fighter plane was destroyed by a missile. He however ejected himself and parachuted safely. He won acclaims and appreciations from many.

After five years one day he was sitting with his wife in a restaurant. A man from another table came to him and said "You're Captain Vishal ! You flew jet fighters. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Vishal.

"I packed your parachute," the man smiled and replied.
Vishal gasped in surprise and gratitude and thought if parachute hadn't worked, I wouldn’t be here today.

Vishal couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. He wondered how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, he was a fighter pilot and that person was just a safety worker"

So friends, who is packing your parachute?
Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day.

We need many kinds of parachutes when our plane is shot down – we need the physical parachute, the mental parachute, the emotional parachute, and the spiritual parachute. We call on all these supports before reaching safety.

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important.

We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason.

As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize the people who pack your parachute.

@anuragsingal

By Akash Gautam

# Cash Burn # Smoke without Loyalty

Recently Uber  altered the incentive scheme for drivers in Kolkata ! From what I gather from conversations with drivers is that the structure has changed dramatically , with attendant consequences both for the drivers and the customers. This reinforced a lot of lessons as far as the Indian e-commerce space was concerned

Instead of a  trip based flat incentive structure (say Rs 200), the Uber will now pay as incentive only 50% of the actual billing in specific time slots during mornings and evening. After deducting service tax and its commission, it only remains a 37.5% incentive.Not lucrative enough for drivers plying AC cars @ Rs 8 per km plus Rs 1 per running minute. especially when the plain jane yellow taxi costs Rs 12 per km in Kolkata

The result of this is that drivers have migrated en-masse to Taxi for Sure as it still continues to offer a lucrative trip based flat incentive structure, that was hitherto offered by Uber. As a result availability of Uber cars has dropped significantly

Now whenever you try Uber during peak hours, it either shows No Cars Available or wants a surge pricing , ranging anywhere from 1.3X to 2X. This instantly turns off the customer and he migrates to Taxi for Sure

Investors have given a lot of money to Uber, which is now valued at $50 billion, and Uber is burning this cash to buy market share all over the world. But the purported amazing growth number actually needs to be dissected into the real/sustainable part and the unreal/unsustainable part bought by throwing crazy money !! The latter is literally useless, especially in the price sensitive Indian context. So as per Bloomberg estimates, what was the point Uber making an operating loss of $470 million when it had revenue of $415 million

So what was the use of all the cash burn in the recent past? It could earn zero customer loyalty and zero supplier loyalty

Looking at how customers and suppliers dump your brand at the drop of a hat , I am unable to fathom the rationale for all this ; neither the CA in me who looks at only MIS numbers nor the MBA in me who has been taught to try and understand the large strategic play ( organized taxi market in India being only 800 mn $ of the overall 14 bn$ and thus massive growth etc etc)

And this is not just Uber, I am completely disillusioned by the multiple concepts floating around in  the Indian e-commerce space. To my mind, they are only wanting to bet heavily on customer acquisition at a crazily high price without bothering about profits or customer retention.

But in India, people are high price conscious. They know that its an Apple i-phone irrespective of whether its purchased on Amazon or Flipkart or Snapdeal or Shopclues. Look at websites like this - http://compare.buyhatke.com/extension.php. You compare prices from all the shopping sites ! The customer will buy the cheapest , no charm for any brand please

So what's next for the Indian startup space?