Saturday, July 22, 2017

Do Schools serve their end?

The caption from Bruce Springsteen's famous words really says it all. Maybe, I need not expound on this further. However, to do a fair evaluation of the subject of school and learning, we shall start with positives.     
       
School taught us to think. What does that mean? The process of structuring thought. To use logic, to recognise emotions, to react with thought or impulse. To read a situation and come up with an answer - unfortunately the answers are wrong, because the motivation targeted behind the thought, is wrong.      
What else did school teach us? It taught us to concentrate for long and some of us learned to work hard and understand the worldly equation of success and rewards, failure and repercussions. Again the problem is this worldly equation (driven by economics and competition) itself is a lie, so our chase itself is wrong.  
      
That is mostly it. Yes, I understand we learned many subjects, but all those have been forgotten. Even language as taught at school, was not used in our daily lives. We just learned a different method to write and talk at work and in the house. And to add, this is not to denigrate the wonderful caring souls who taught us in school, i.e. our teachers. They are not to be faulted at all, it's the crazy system. 

For a sum total of plus 20 years of education, that is pretty awful results.    
   
Now if I alone was saying this, then it was I, who must have been a lower quadrant student. But, it's what almost all my contemporaries tell me also. School did not teach us life. It taught us stuff which failed to translate into any use in the real world. It did not teach us the art of living. It did not reach inside and touch us lifelong.  
     
Along the way, outside the curriculum and in the real world, we learned much. Firstly somewhere we learned a bit of a value system and secondly we learned the emotions quotient. We learned how to deal with people, how to interact in various situations, how to live together in society and how to get ahead. Laughter, fear, scorn, friendship, love, hardships, pain, rejection all came as a dose and left us more knowledgeable. Many of us learned compassion and giving, unfortunately many learned taking and exploitation.     
  
Now looking back over a life which has wound its normal course, surely, there must be a better way? Packed together, stressing out over results, facing the wrath of teachers and parents, we have collectively lived a lie. It has made some of us weak, others evil,  a few rebels and many saddened normal humans. This could have been much better, because schooling has been around forever, but we do not seem to have learned and improved.
      
Schools sole purpose should be to create rounded humans, who will go on and create harmony in their environment. Society's betterment has to be our end goal. No wonder, the world is such a dog-eat-dog place, where today only eight people own more than the sum of half the worlds population. Surely that cannot be right? ( Oxfam report on world wealth )


The worlds 7.3 billion people, are paying the price of our schooling. 

*picture from weheartit.com

Saturday, July 1, 2017

Making Pakistanis tick



Pakistanis are emotional, vibrant and insecure. It's our history, our colonialism, our sardari nizaam and our deprivation. We love to be recognized and praised. A bit of narcissism in this too. So a vision which inspires us will put electricity in us. We will give our all and die for a cause. But the mundane, the routine, the disciplined is not our game. Just watch our cricket team. It tells us all. Tigers against the wall in 1992; denigrated as losers in 2017. Winners against all odds in both cases. 

The cause (vision) gives us common purpose. This belief leads to passion. Passion leads to ownership and diligence. Ends up making a team and once a team, any goal is achievable. Absolutely any goal! But there has to be a leader. That leader should be at one with the vision and also connected to the team. The leader has to provide security; which means protecting the team from pressures and retribution, so they be free to operate without fear of failure. The leader has to be human, demonstrating empathy and a lack of ego. Most of all the leader has to sacrifice the self for the team and cause. Sacrifice can be time, money and health - e.g. Quaid-e-Azam. You have such a leader, you will have a team and you will have your success.


Former CEO Engro Foods Limited, Executive Coach and Consultant



This has been reblogged from the below mentioned site.

http://managingpakistanis.blogspot.com/2017/07/making-pakistanis-tick.html

Monday, June 12, 2017

Yunus(as), The Fish and Nineveh


  
The town of Nineveh is the only populace that survived impending disaster (ordained by Allah), when they came back from the edge of a precipice. The Quran confirms this in Surah Yunus (10:98). These events seemingly taking place in the 8th century BC.                              
      
Nineveh lived an existence of excesses and to it came Hazrat Yunus as Prophet. For thirty plus years he endeavoured to teach them, but truth be told had scanty success, with only a handful of conversions. His warnings of the wrath of Allah made no difference and they ridiculed him. Eventually his patience ran out and he told them he is leaving Nineveh and punishment will follow. Alas, Yunus(as) was supposed to ask Allah for his directions and not go off in anger.       
    
Remember Dhan Nun (Yunus), when he went off in anger, and imagined that We shall not punish him (21:87)  

When Hazrat Yunus left the town, the skies changed colour  and dark clouds and rumblings appeared overhead. The people now fearful, gathered and implored Allah for His forgiveness. Since their repentance was sincere Allah withdrew his punishment. The storm was lifted, and the people now prayed for the return of Yunus(as) for proper guidance.    
 
Yunus (as) on leaving the town, boarded a ship and it sailed off into the sea. But by night-time the sea became turbulent and a storm tossed and rocked the ship, as if to break it up. This was no ordinary storm and despite baggage being thrown overboard it did not help. A sacrifice was necessary according to sea faring superstitions. Lots were drawn and Yunus(as) name came up. And so the Prophet Yunus dived into a dark stormy sea, with no support in the world but our Allah.          
In these stormy waters, a struggling Yunus(as) was miraculously swallowed by a very large fish (lots of disputes on the type of fish. Suffice to say Allah, the Qadir, caused this to happen). Enveloped in darkness, inside a fish, immersed in its digestive juices and with no hope. There can not have been a worse position of any human in history. Even Hazrat Ibrahim (as)  in the fire was out in the open, where he could see and had faith Allah will save him. In desperation, totally repentant and knowing Allah was there, Yunus (as) said the very famous words of Ayat Karima. 

"La ilaha illa anta subhanaka, inni kuntu minaz zalimeen."

There is no god but You. Glory be to You! I have done wrong. (21:87)    
   
Allah is Rahman and Rahim and heard the sincere repentance of Yunus(as) and commanded the fish to eject him onto land. Once ejected on land, he was weak and his skin burning. A gourd tree grew over him and Yunus(as) was able to feed from it, and had shelter against the elements. Allah (swt) informed him that without repentance he would have stayed in the fish's stomach till the Day of Judgment. Instead due to repentance and Allah's mercy, Yunus (as) went back to Nineveh to a people who were waiting for him.

And We sent him to a hundred thousand people or even more, and they believed; so We gave them enjoyment for a while. (37:147-148 )

The Ayat Karima ( as we know it in Pakistan) is one of the most powerful supplications to Allah (swt), during desperate times. The Prophet (saw) has stated in a Hadith.   

“I know words that will cause Allah to remove one’s distress. These are the words (of supplication) of my brother Yunus (as).” (Tirmidhi)

Of all the legacies of Hazrat Yunus, this is the one, that almost three thousand years later, over a billion people repeat his words to Allah (swt) in times of repentance, sorrow and need.  


Saturday, June 3, 2017

A Big Heart

Abdullah bin Amr bin Al Aas was one of the first Sahabas to record the Hadith. He is credited with over a thousand Hadith and Abu Huraira swore by his knowledge. In his recordings is one iconic event, which sheds light on this struggle to reach goodness.          
   
Abdullah bin Amr records that he was one of the most constant in worship; he fasted everyday and said prayers all night. Then one day the Prophet Muhammad (saw) advised him to reduce it to alternate days fasting and a third of the night as prayers. Such were the huge efforts of worship of this man, that he was advised reduction by the Prophet (saw).     
        
So on a day when prayer was about to take place in Masjid Nabawi, a man walked in after wuduu and the Prophet (saw) mentioned that a Jannati has just walked in. We shall not name the Sahaba, for the name is irrelevant to the essence. The next day, the same Sahaba walked in again and the Prophet (saw) made the same statement. And so it occurred on a third day. Abdullah ibn Amr was present on all three days, and was greatly perturbed, as he considered himself to be the most diligent in practice of the faith in Allah(swt). A man who possessed a learning mind, Abdullah ibn Amr, asked the particular Sahaba, that he wished to live with him for a time to learn from him. That wish was granted.          
       
In his three days of residence with the Sahaba, Abdullah bin Amr found that the particular Sahaba lived an unexceptional life. He prayed the five prayers at the mosque; did all the daily activities of existence; did nothing wrong; helped others; participated in the community; but also did not do anything overly exceptional. Perturbed and disappointed, Abdullah decided to depart, but before doing so, questioned the Sahaba on his status and why the Prophet (saw) declared him a Jannati. The Sahaba smiled, but refused to shed any light on this conundrum. After much insistence and refusal, Abdullah disappointed departed to his home. As he was leaving the house, his host called him back. Perhaps, out of sympathy he had reconsidered and decided to answer Abdullah.    

His words should be looked at by all of us who are desirous of good, feel the next world is our real objective and that this world is but a playground test.  
      
The Sahaba said " I think that the Prophet (saw) has seen my heart. In this heart there is no keena or bughz. I have an open heart. I share all I have and I have no rancour against anyone. I do not envy anyone. I hold no anger against anyone. My heart is like a clean slate". Abdullah bin Amr spontaneously burst out with admiration and said "yes that is the one. So easy to say, but the most difficult thing in the world." 
  
Truly the Prophet (saw) had seen the deepest part of this mans heart. And set us on a path which can take us to our ultimate destination.      
       
For my part, I can count on my fingers the times when I have recognised a big heart. Such people are extremely rare. They are open, charming, ready to give their all to everyone. They have no arrogance and they are rarely unhappy. Even when hurt, these people never withdraw their goodwill. They will not complain and do not indulge in gossip or hurt. If they rarely get angry, they shortly will forget it and moreover will apologise if need be. They have no agendas and life is a road which is traveled as an adventure, touching as many lives with tenderness as possible. But at the same time, the belief in Allah is their guiding light and it is demonstrated by goodness to humanity.

If you find such a being, then know that you have discovered gold and do not let this person out of your grasp. We can all testify that there are so few of them around. 
 *Abdullah bin Amr Al Aas wrote Al-Sahifah al-Sadiqah. He carried the banner at Yarmuk, but refused to throw an arrow in Siffin, as he only participated to obey his father, but would not raise his hands against other Muslims. He remained reclusive and non-political all his life.  Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal incorporated the whole of the work of Abdullah ibn Amr in his voluminous book Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal.  

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Size has a Price to pay

      
When I first joined Engro Foods in late 2005, most friends thought it was my version of madness and a withdrawal into failure. To drop out of main stream corporations, return to Pakistan and join a company which (at that time) was just a hole in the ground in Sukkur, was considered sub-optimal. That the decision turned out well, is not the subject of this blog. A great team with a strong passion to add to Pakistan was what made it happen, and I was blessed, lucky and at the right place.  
   
Be that as it may, my main topic here is about events which  happen, when companies which are young, graduate into becoming successful institutions. This is about the journey of growth and how it pans out.
       
During the first four years or so, the company was characterised by a young lot of people with an adventurous mind-set. There was no 'impossible', it was totally interconnected and anyone could come up with ideas. Hierarchy was just 'by the way'. Someone ten steps junior could walk in to tell me I was wrong and suggest change. Engagement was absolute. Fun was absolute. Risks were the bread and butter of the day. There was no need to be afraid of innovation. If it failed, we would learn and move on. If it was successful, we would enjoy the fruits and look for new directions. Speed was incessant. Decisions would be taken with sufficient data points (but not many), based on belief, experience and a willingness to risk failure.         
    
This was where our Board of Directors with Asad Umar as Chairman, played a huge roll. They were part of the adventure, and as events unfolded, so they were there in spirit. Very easily at some stage Asad could have said enough, and pulled this determined horse and broken it into shape. They chose not to and in taking that risk went along with the whole. It was a rollicking journey, full of passion, fun and successful - as I could never have imagined at the beginning of things.     
 
I vividly remember the period it all started changing. The day I knew it was no more an adventure, but a business and an institution. And with that went the most 'happening years' of my professional existence. Sometime third quarter of 2009, our retail audit share data identified that EFL had now overtaken Nestle for the liquid share of the market, with Haleeb running a distant third. EFL had arrived! And suddenly came the realisation that we have a large structure, which was worth a lot and which we could not put  at risk anymore.     
     
The Board knew we were worth a lot of money and the valuations told us that. It started looking at institutionalising EFL. Till that day, the human content ruled process, but suddenly process became the master. We had systems before this also, but if need be, we could reach down and change things at the drop of a hat. That was the basic tenet of our speed equation. By 2010, we had implemented SAP and put in an online realtime system for milk collection and also totally structured our HR processes. Our factories had thousands of SOPs and we could not mould and break things to make action happen. Our human numbers reached into thousands and when one went for a market or milk collection visit, there were so many colleagues one did not know. That family feeling was gone. We were turning into a machine. The feeling was accentuated, when we were listed in 2011 and were subject to market evaluation norms and the KSE rules.      
 
This is a perennial problem in creating institutions. While the goal is sustenance and longevity, but the truth is that the process is better done by other sorts of people. Not everyone is suited to this institutionalisation game. Hence, over the years most of the original employees of EFL have gone to other pastures - most of them are doing that same greenfield stuff in various new adventures. What has cropped up instead, is a more mainline company and human resource, who over time will learn to sustain EFL's position and with steady growth and systems,  make it a giant for the future. Simply put, the company will step from one orientation box into another.  

Sadly size has a price to pay on both a personal and company level, as has been shown in this change from one orientation to another, with a new set of leaders facing that change. The trick will be to ensure institutionalisation does not kill the innovation and passion of people. Easier said than done, unfortunately. I can foresee years of dedicated effort by the new team, which would then lead to this institutionalisation being achieved.


Friday, April 28, 2017

On Authenticity

Humanity arrived at our present day status, because of iconic events in the second half of the 18th century.  

We learnt the value of mass quantity during the advancement of the Industrial Revolution. Later, we acquired our desire for materialism and the aspiration to rise above the prevailing state of being, through the American and French Revolutions. The phenomenal success of the Industrial Floor meant many things were eventually designed based on it. Today, schools, offices, factories, warehouses are all designed as the Industrial Floor.  Man understood how large volume was imperative for critical mass, which in turn led to great material success. This understanding drove our growth and we reached for more. Thus, Man ended up consuming more and more.

This sustained need to grow ushered in the mega corporation, accentuated all the more, through the excesses of the stock exchange system. To facilitate the drive for mass quantum and growth, along came the HR revolution and humans became pawns. Humans needed to be mechanical and focussed on performance. We were subjected to the Bell Curve and our lives at work were now designed through it. Welcome to the machine like existence of the present day. This living, breathing, functioning machine is supposed to follow an optimum career plan and last out forty years for the benefit of the corporations. That is the HR optimisation vision.     

As it so happens, we are actually not machines. We are humans! Our DNA, our retina pattern, our voice print and our finger print are all unique. All 7.4 bn of us on this planet are truly unique. So why should we not be living unique lives, rather than cloned mechanical lives? There must be more to life than clocking up hours for forty years, living a programmed corporate existence, taking retirement and going to the grave. Our corporate card cannot be our identity; we are a name, a human of value and purpose.     

So we need more authenticity - i.e. we need to live lives which are real and owned by us. It should not belong to a corporate, or a government, or an army etc. We need to contemplate and find our 'very own reason to be' - raison de'tre, ikigai. 

Before individuals can find their 'reason to be', they need to know 'who they are inside'. They need to look inwards, find their personal vision and value system. Once found, only then can we proceed to live 'our reason to be'. There is no point in hiding behind a facade. Why would you live life as someone else or replicating someone else's values and desires? Unfortunately, we accomplish only this, when we go hammer and tong trying to deliver corporate vision and targets. After all it is only one existence and it passes by in a jiffy, so let's use it.   

So once you have discovered yourself, then you need to find out what is it that will actually satisfy this Real You.  What is your passion? Is it social regeneration, is it impact on the world eco system, is it simply to touch the senses through art or sport, or it could be more than one calling. Once you find what really appeals to your passion, you then have an answer of 'why you want to do something'. That something becomes life's purpose, your essence; you live and breathe that purpose. You love your passion and you OWN why you do this work. If you own that work, you will eventually find your way to achieving success. It will actually be easier to live this sort of life.  In our present world, almost all of us are doing something, because it is available at hand, we need to do it for money and we end up not loving it. Over time we lose our authenticity through attrition, and we become a cloned machine. 

You will only get to the end of life once and when you do get there, you want to look back and say I have lived this one life doing things which are important to me.

*free picture from dreamstime.com 

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Dhul Qarnain


Where is the Wall situated?

A few thousand years ago, Dhul Qarnain went West and came to a murky water, where he found a people, for whom he set rules to guide them. Then he veered and set off towards the East and he came to where he could see the Sun rising, and found  a shelter less people. He then went on a path between two mountains to the place of Gog and Magog (G&M). Today these events take major significance, as the world (maybe) edges towards the time of the Malhama (Armageddon). Hence, scholars trace Dhul Qarnain's movements, to get to know more about G&M.       

The Quran has succinctly described how Dhul Qarnain, the two horned warrior, went to the shores of the Black Sea (murky water) and then moved east to the Caspian (rising of the Sun). Then he took a path which brought him between two mountains and a people oppressed by G&M. A great leader of humanity, he rescued these people by imprisoning G&M, behind a huge wall. Forever, through millennia G&M have been endeavouring to get out and one day they will succeed.    

It is unusual, in this day of satellite imagery that a huge wall structure cannot be identified. Is there any area left which has not been explored on the earths surface? Remember, G&M are human descendants of Hazrat Nuh(as) and there is nothing supernatural about them. It is with this thought in mind, that scholars research this topic. Where is the Wall and G&M?      

There are two historical figures who are better identified with Dhul Qarnain. Alexander and Cyrus. Alexander is supported by some, because at one time during his conquest, he built a big gate at Derbent, to ensure safety in The Caspian. However, not enough of his travels coincides with the Quran's description. Cyrus is closer to the description given and he traveled much in this region during his Central and West Asian conquests. The description and characteristics of the two horned one, also seem to favour the concept of Cyrus the wise king. Hence, many scholars believe Cyrus is Dhul Qarnain. 
     
As Cyrus conquered, he moved North and ran into the area of the Caucasus. Passing between this mountain range, north of Tbilisi in Georgia, is the Darial Pass. It's wide enough and allows an approach to the region south of the mountains, from the plains in Russia. Today highways are providing access, but in Cyrus time, he came across G&M and it is here that he may have built the Wall in the pass. If you look at a photograph of Darial Gorge from 1872, you see that there is an ancient tall broken structure there. Furthermore, other photographs suggest a tall wall between two mountains, now absorbed by nature. So it would seem, that the Wall of Dhul Qarnain has been destroyed or overcome.    
What about G&M? Our present eschatology indicates G&M will emerge during the time of Hazrat Isa(as). That obviously is in a time yet to happen. Could it be that our chronology is wrong and G&M are already out and about in this world? Would it not explain the chaos which is building up in the world today? A couple of possible proofs of this conclusion.

There is the famous event when the Prophet (saw) woke from a dream, red and worried. He said to his wife Zainab bint Jahsh (ra), today the G&M have driven a hole in the Wall. This happened 1400 years ago. What is the likelihood of the Wall not being destroyed by now?  

There is another Hadith which recently has perturbed scholars. It states that when the last G&M is passing the Lake Tiberius (Sea of Galilee), he will say " when the first G&M passed by, this place was full of water. Now when I pass it, the water is dry." Lake Tiberius supplies a third of the water of Israel and also its water flows into the River Jordan. The problem is that today, Lake Tiberius has almost reached dead levels. It is dying very fast and is beyond recovery! It will go dry very soon.
So the conclusion has to be that G&M are already resident in the present day world. Out of this inference comes a whole host of conclusions, which just turns the traditional eschatology timescales upside down. The timing of Malhama, the coming of the Dajjal, the economic deprivation which will come through the droughts in that time, and all the escalation of suffering and chaos. Sadly, people do not care in this fragmented world. Here, the self has become all important and sceptics about religion and history are in fashion.  However, there might be serious times ahead and the people of the world, need to stop worrying about economics and profits and start looking at how to make it more peaceful. This will be mankinds biggest test in its long history. We need to come together to face it.

Note: Eschatology is difficult to prove. It's part material substance, part belief and part historical reference. I have written this based on some research, but there are scholars who have spent decades and still are not certain. These conclusions are by no means the only argument out there. Allah knows best.