Sarfaraz A Rehman: Managing by Trial and Error

Slow and sure is out of the door, experimentation, trial and error has landed.



Sarfaraz A Rehman: Managing by Trial and Error: These are turbulent and exciting times. Greenfield, startups and groundbreaking environment inevitably leading to experimentation. The...

Managing by Trial and Error

These are turbulent and exciting times. Greenfield, startups and groundbreaking environment inevitably leading to experimentation. The pace of change; speed of technology; variance in generational thinking and culture; all compel innovations. Slow and sure is out of the door, experimentation, trial and error has landed.

The displayed model is a normal trial and error loop. Repeated iterations, then implement the feedback on results, to find an efficient core. We have all used it in our work. More so, as you go up the corporate ladder. Contrary to what younger management thinks, older senior fogeys are experimenting too, because what they learned years ago is history and the ‘new’ has arrived. 

In today’s world of uncertainty and change, this is a valid method of operating. Hence, I am not writing a justification of the method, as there is no alternative. The blog is more about conditions and attributes required, to be at home in the current environment. Some thoughts are listed below.

• Knowledge of what is happening, e.g. what research is saying.
• Strong analytics, especially in the big data world.
• Listening to and observing others.
• And conversing with others.
• Not having a dogmatic outlook. Do not take things for granted.
• Chew, analyse and think. Impulse can be dangerous nowadays.
• But, also requires fast turnaround and quick decision making.
• Since there is constant change, one can be wrong! Learn to live with that and it means not having an “ego”.
• It does mean having a strong value system. Without this value system, one drifts towards wrong, as the voices are many. 

I would now take this further and add ‘countries and public office’ into the same approach. In dealing with public office, add further tenets to the ones mentioned above.

• Listening to numbers all the time. Not a one off election result.  It means a constant watch on polling insights
• It requires repeated iterations on actions, events and results looping back into ever-changing decisions.
• This leads to gradually capturing the centre ground. Repeated iterations will naturally tend towards the centre. (No wonder political parties today cannot be differentiated)
• The process and environment will look machine like.

Politics and rulers may well go this route in the future. It is something which Angela Merkel has applied over a decade and half in Germany. Looking at what our own Prime Minister is doing, I think it is what his government is also tilting towards. 

There is nothing wrong with this trial and error approach. It can be applied in government, as it can be applied in systems and organisations. We just need to be calm, controlled and follow the attributes to gradually achieve systemic efficiency.

Sarfaraz A Rehman: Time and Money relationship

Sarfaraz A Rehman: Time and Money relationship:                                                                         *worldatlas.com On reviewing insights into a time and money...

Time and Money relationship

                                                                        *worldatlas.com

On reviewing insights into a time and money relationship curve, based on information from the internet, I came to some startling conclusions. Let me caution, these are my own thoughts and may not be correct.

In a lifetime of approximately 80 years (remember today’s world average is already over 70), we essentially live it in three periods:

Pre-adulthood (25 years)

Regular work period (35 years)

Retirement (20 years)

Breaking down the above 80 years into broad activities:

Sleep (30%)

Work  (27%)

Drudgery, exercise, playing, eating, health (21%)

Own time (12%)

Spirituality/religiosity/conscience work (5%)

Miscellaneous (5%) 

'Disposable available money' during the three periods, as a percentage of a whole lifetime, is skewed dramatically towards the retirement period. This happens because you earn little in the pre-adulthood period; have many commitments in the work years; and build up a savings bank just pre-retirement (which is normally a period of less commitments/higher earnings). This is then available as disposable money during the retirement years.

Divide 'disposable available money', in terms of the spending on above named activities. The 'drudgery, exercise, playing, eating, health' activity takes more than 50% of disposable available money; ‘Miscellaneous’ over 40% (in retireiment our expenditure narrows, as our activities narrow).  So the following fascinating conclusions occur.

A) we do not have money most of our lives, while striving to obtain it - i.e. the first 60 years.

B) when we do have money, we are old, unable to use it, and a large portion is spent on health maintenance or recovery. Not on using the available money for enjoyment.

C) 40% of our money is spent on an amorphous/ambiguous ‘Miscellaneous’. This ‘Miscellaneous’ in time spent proportion, is only 5% of our lifetime and that too mostly in our later years. The conclusion derived from this statement is, that ‘Miscellaneous’ spent is either wasted or left as a legacy for our progeny. 

D) so the real question is, why do we struggle, take stress and spoil our health to get money, when it does not benefit us at all?

I am, to say the least, flummoxed. 

Sarfaraz A Rehman: What is strength?

Sarfaraz A Rehman: What is strength?:                                                        * From Wikipedia   Maria Andreyevna Rogova waddles off to the roadside cafe in...

What is strength?

                                                       *From Wikipedia 

Maria Andreyevna Rogova waddles off to the roadside cafe in emigre Paris accompanied by the forceful stranger, under huge duress, high emotion and great fear. She has just been informed her long lost daughter is in great distress and the stranger brings news of this, forcing her to abandon her fear and sit down with him. The thought which occurs to Maria is “from the strong I can protect myself. God preserve me from the weak.”  

  

Thirty plus years ago, when I first read these words in Smiley’s People, I passed them by without much thought. In later years as experience gathered, the words of John Le Carre have turned profound and have carried deeper and deeper meaning and I keep returning to these words, as they have been proved time and again. 

The characteristic of strength, is a lack of genuine fear. Not the gung-ho ‘I am a brave person and take on everyone’ variety. That is bravado; anyone can talk it up. The identification of this real lack of fear is a quiet understanding of what one is and within this capability, to live by principles, treat all as equals, be equitable and fair, have patience and show grace in all circumstances. Above all to be honest and help others, without prejudice. Such people are strong, they exude comfort and trust. They typically will go about their life with humility and contentment.  

The weak abound. Deep within they know the cracks. Cracks they hide, because they do not have the strength to face and repair these flaws. So they delude themselves. Instead a facade of power is created. They will dominate much, force much, carry this wrecking show through life damaging much. As time goes on they will become more entrenched, as the facade is established and they have to maintain it. Deeper and deeper this spiral will go and they will go stamping on their domain, creating fear rather than respect. That is the fear which Le Carre is talking about.

Of the strong there are few left, in this helter skelter, fast, humbug consumer world of ours, but wherever they are they leave much bigger footsteps, than seems possible. The weak are everywhere. Social media reveals them in droves. Trolls, bullies pushing their thoughts, shouting down others. You see them in the racists, the superior intellectual, the tough corporate hitman, the liberal beating their drum, the dogmatic reformer who rules by fear not reason.

Whenever you find someone who is genuinely strong, they will be doing something of worth, despite the struggle they are going through. Typically, this something is for others. The weak, they will have only one beneficiary, that is themselves. 

Le Carre said much in just one small sentence.