Office Politics And Being Political Savvy

‘Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be.’ - Jack Welch Office politics is much discussed topic in organisation, people hate it ( atleast no one openly supports it) , but no organisation is free from it. It is something no one can avoid. Employees should learn …

Vision Statement and Management of Change

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude – Maya Angelou In “Vision, Mission and Values” workshop, the leadership team comes up with a very ambitious vision statement ex. “To be $ 10 billion organisation by 20XX”. To execute the strategy a balanced score card is designed which …

Prejudice and Bogardus Social Distance Scale

"I wish to go to another country because they will help me with my future and my son's future. I will go to any place. I want to go somewhere where I will not have to rely on handouts at all.” -Nadia, a 47-year-old Syrian woman “I think we should help, but I think we …

Chris Guillebeau, Conformity and Average Life

Chris Guillebeau is an American author who writes books on        entrepreneurship like The $ 100 Startup, The Art of Non Conformity etc. In his book on Art of Non Conformity he talks about 11 things that an person do to remain average in his life. 1. Accept what people tell you at face …

Psychometric tests used in organisations-II

Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character. Now question is how many factors describe personality completely? Psychologists differ on number of factors. Hans Jürgen Eysenck believed that three factors extroversion, neuroticism and psychoticism were sufficient to map a personality. He designed Eysenck's Personality Inventory to study personality. Raymond …

Psychometric tests used in organisations-I

Many organisations use psychometrics tests during various phases of employee’s life cycle. It starts with hiring, it is used to judge existing competencies and potential, to understand training needs and finally during outplacement. Some popular ones are MBTI, FIRO-B, Belbin, Five factor tests, DISC, Hogan etc. Purpose of FIRO-B is to understand interpersonal needs, these …

Svetlana Alexievich, Boris Pasternak and Noble Prize

“We excommunicated Tolstoy, we disowned Dostoevsky, and now we disown Pasternak. Everything that brings us glory we try to banish to the West...” -Speaker at Boris Pasternak’s funeral   Boris Pasternak was Russian poet and novelist. Pasternak disliked restriction on freedom of expression in Russia. During his time no one could speak against the communist …

Bystanders, Evil doers and Acolytes

“Leaders need followers, if followers are lacking, the best and worst ideas have little or no effect.” -Al Gini, Professor of Business Ethics at Loyola University Barbara Kellerman, an organisational psychologist has written lot of books on leadership and followership. While most of the experts on organisational leadership focus on traits of individuals (what traits …

Vestergaard, Innovation, Water & Vector Borne Diseases

“Waterborne diseases affect 37.7 million Indians annually. In India, diarrhoea alone causes more than 1,600 deaths daily. The World Bank estimates that 21% of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water.” -Swadesh Foundation “Malaria is a public health problem in several parts of the country. About 95% population in the country resides in …