Tips for Seminars

A quote from the US TV Comedy, 'The Office':

" People expect a lot from Seminars. A Seminar Presenter has to bring fun and mystery. He has to be  Robin Williams and  Manoj Night Shyamalan. He has to be Robin Shyamalan !" 

(quoted from memory)

How true!

Wal-Mart or Walmart?

This may be old hat for many. Wal-mart will no longer be called the 'hyphenated beast from Bentonville'

About two years ago Walmart dropped the hyphen from its Logo. It also replaced the star with a wheel or a starburst. I noticed this during my visit to the US in the Summer of 2009. (See photo).The change in logo was accompanied by the usual spin about 'Refresh', 'Sense of Purpose' 'help to Save Money: Live Better' etc.

Around the same time, it opened the "green" Supercenter at McKinney, Texas, near Dallas. This centre operates 24 x 7 with 450 employees. It claims to have reduced the use of resources drastically in the construction and in operations.

Walmart has more than  3600 outlets in USA accounting for about 80% of its worldwide revenue of over $400 billion. With Government of India practicing its '100- foot rule' for FDI in multibrand retail, Walmart's presence in India is limited to a JV with Bharti Enterprises. The JV, Bharti Walmart Pvt. Limited has two Best Price cash-and-carry wholesale outlets. Walmart manages the back-end supply chain.

5 Minds for the Future

Today, I read a summary of the book  ‘5 Minds For The Future’ by Howard Gardner. Gardner is a psychologist and Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

He identifies the five ‘minds’ that are required for any one to cope with the complex world and emerge successful.

The 5 Minds according to him, are:

1. Disciplined Mind. 2. Synthesizing Mind 3. Creating Mind 4. Respectful Mind and  5. Ethical Mind.

Disciplined Mind: This is a basic requirement for success. A person should have competency at least in one discipline, science or art. It is not shallow knowledge of facts (subject matter) that he is talking about, but in-depth knowledge of the discipline –its purpose and boundaries. It could take, on an average 10 years for one to reach this level of competency.

Synthesizing Mind: Synthesizing mind is able to identify the relevant from the irrelevant. It is able to sift through the information overload and see trends, patterns and relationships.

Creating Mind: Creating mind thinks outside the box. To think outside the box, you need the box. That is where the Disciplined mind and the Synthesizing mind come in. Creating mind looks at the problem in new perspectives, asks different questions and comes up with unconventional but acceptable solutions. Creating mind can be acquired by anyone by training and practice.

Respecting Mind: In a world of great diversity, you need a mind which is not just passively tolerant but which welcomes and respects differences. In a way, this could also pave the way for creative approaches. Without respecting minds, the world could be full of conflicts.

Ethical Mind: This not only advocates ethics in all walks of life but also practices it in an exemplary way. It looks for common good beyond self-interest. The acid test for the Ethical mind is when there is a conflict of public good with self-interest.

While the first three minds are within the domain of cognition, the last two concern relationship with the outside world.

The summary also has some tips for organizations. For example, if a person is lacking in any one of the traits, say Respecting mind, he may be removed from the group and given responsibilities that do not require that trait. He may be counseled and trained to acquire those minds which he lacks.

10^th June 2010