Re: [MTC Global] Natures' way of nurturing the specialist

Dear members,

At first look, we may find the article is well written. On a cursory
look, it may seem that the nature is in favour of the specialist.
However, it is superficial and just 'tip of the iceberg' to come to
such a conclusion. Taking the example of water, one of the five
elements of the nature, it performs more than just one function, even
simultaneously. We use water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, as a
solvent, freeze it to make ice creams, heat it to make steam, and what
not? [multi-skilling]. If water is meant to perform only one task
(specialisation), it would put life on Earth out of gear. Next, take
the case of air, if it contains just one gas (specialist), imagine the
possibility of life on Mother Earth! Just because, fire exists in
various conditions (multi-tasking), such as heat in our body,
atmosphere, etc. we are able to survive. The sky (atmosphere) performs
various functions through its multiple layers (including the depleted
Ozone layer) to sustain life and technology on Earth. The important
element, Land (Earth), exists in all shapes and sizes without which
life cannot sustain on earth for long. So, it is natural to be
multi-tasking.

Let us turn our attention to the human body, for that matter any
living or non-living matter. [We have defined living and non-living as
per our conventions, but the so called non-living things can be
'living' as well. Let us reserve that topic for another discussion].
Taking the ubiquitous part our bodies, the skin performs a multitude
of functions such as protecting the body from external things,
maintaining the temperature of the body, provides the required
elasticity in bodily movements, maintain the required amount of body
hair, exhibit the body colour, absorb sun light for synthesis of
vitamin D, and what not? Our digestive system is not a 'specialist' to
digest a particular food, rather capable of digesting a variety of
food items, even simultaneously. Our brains are the best example for
nature's way of nurturing multi-tasking rather than specialisation. A
human made (not natural) computer's parts may not be able to replace
other parts. However, being the super computer, a human brain is
capable of re-assigning and replacing dysfunctional neurons with the
functional ones (even from other 'departments' in the brain). This has
been evidenced through recent research breakthroughs.

So, in a gist, the nature and most natural things are nurturing multi-tasking.

Expecting expert opinion from members,
Maharajan K


On 8/30/14, goparaju jayanth kumar <gjayanthkumar@rediffmail.com> wrote:
> dear colleague
>
> please go through the attached article and spare a couple of moments to pass
> your
> valuable comments
>
> thanking you
>
> Jayanth
>
>
>
> On Sat, 30 Aug 2014 14:04:50 +0530 Shekhar wrote
>> G. A. The qualities of good leader have been defined by the great saint
>> of
> Maharashtra Samarth Ramdas in his book Daasbodh about 400 years ago.It seemd
>
> Modiji also follows the same.RegardsDr. C. M. Joshi
>
>
> Sent from Samsung Mobile
>
>
> Virendra Goel wrote:
>
>
> A good follower means a good learner.RegardsVirendra GoelFrom:
> join_mtc@googlegroups.com [mailto:join_mtc@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of
> drjaganmohanreddy
> Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2014 8:32 AM
> To: 'Dr Vinod Dumblekar' via Management Teachers Consortium, Global
> Cc: drjaganmohanreddy@gmail com
> Subject: Re: [MTC Global] Leaders and GovernanceWell said Vinod bhai. When
> individuals fail to rise to the occasion a leader emerges assuring to
> resolve the
> issues. That's how I see the rise of Modi (of course it has something to do
> with
> incompetence of UPA government).However, sone say it's the followers who
> make the
> leader great (Father of Nation). The first thing they teach, it seems, at US
>
> Military Academy(which reportedly produced more leaders than the Harvard) is
> to
> become a good follower.As such may be that both are interdependent and make
> each
> other serve the purpose.Best wishes.DrA Jagan Mohan ReddySent from Samsung
> Mobile
> -------- Original message --------From: "'Dr Vinod Dumblekar' via Management
>
> Teachers Consortium, Global" Date:29/08/2014 14:49 (GMT+05:30) To:
> join_mtc@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: [MTC Global] Leaders and Governance
> Heroes
> and leaders arise when the individual has failed to solve a problem either
> because
> of his lack of courage, principles, authority, intellect, urge (called
> motivation
> in management circles), or energy.Why they succeed is due to their
> personality
> characteristics, and not due to those of their 'followers'.Best
> wishes.-----------
> ---------------------------------------------The great aim of education is
> not
> knowledge but action. ~ Herbert SpencerDr Vinod DumblekarMANTISManagement
> Simulation Gamesdesign | development | deliveryPh :
> +91.9818631280www.mantis.co.inFrom: Virendra Goel
> To: join_mtc@googlegroups.com
> Sent: Friday, August 29, 2014 12:00 PM
> Subject: [MTC Global] Leaders and GovernanceDo we see in Modi with
> leadership
> qualities mentioned herein and do we need to make our own contribution as he
>
> cannot do it alone.RegardsVirendra GoelI alone cannot change the world, but
> I can
> cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples. -- Mother
> TeresaLeadership
> In The Age Of Complexity: From Hero To Host--byMargaret Wheatley and Deborah
>
> Frieze, Aug 28, 2014For too long, too many of us have been entranced by
> heroes.
> Perhaps it's our desire tobe saved, to not have to do the hard work, to rely
> on
> someone else to figure things out.Constantly we are barraged by politicians
>
> presenting themselves as heroes, the oneswho will fix everything and make
> our
> problems go away. It's aseductive image, anenticing promise. And we keep
> believingit.Somewhere there's someone who will makeit allbetter.Somewhere,
> there's
> someone who's visionary, inspiring,brilliant,trustworthy, and we'll all
> happily
> follow him or her.Somewhere…Well, it is time for all the heroes to go home,
> as the
> poet WilliamStafford wrote. It istime for us to give up these hopes
> andexpectations that only breed dependency andpassivity, andthat do not give
> us
> solutions to the challenges we face. It istime to stopwaiting for someone to
> save
> us. It is time to face thetruth of our situation—that we'reall in this
> together,
> that we allhave a voice—and figure out how to mobilize the heartsandminds of
>
> everyone in our workplaces and communities.Why do we continue to hope for
> heroes?
> It seems we assumecertain things: * Leaders have the answers. They know
> what to
> do. * People do what they're told. They just have to be given good plans
> andinstructions. * High risk requires high control. As situations grow
> more
> complex andchallenging, power needs to shift to the top (with the leaders
> who know
> what to do.)These beliefs give rise to the models of command and control
> revered
> in organizationsand governments world-wide. Those at the bottom of the
> hierarchy
> submit to thegreater vision and expertise of those above. Leaders promise to
> get
> us out of this mess;we willingly surrender individual autonomy in exchange
> for
> security.The only predictable consequence of leaders attempts to wrest
> control of
> a complex,even chaotic situation, is that they create more chaos. They go
> into
> isolation with just afew key advisors, and attempt to find a simple solution
>
> (quickly) to a complex problem.And people pressure them to do just that.
> Everyone
> wants the problem to disappear;cries of "fix it!" arise from the public.
> Leaders
> scramble to look like they've taken chargeand have everything in hand.But
> the
> causes of today's problems are complex and interconnected.There are no
> simple
> answers, and no one individualcan possibly know what to do. We seem
> unabletoacknowledge these complex realities. Instead, when theleader fails
> to
> resolve thecrisis, we fire him or her, andimmediately begin searching for
> the next
> (more perfect)one.We don't question our expectations of leaders, wedon't
> question
> ourdesire for heroes.The Illusion of ControlHeroic leadership rests on the
> illusion that someone can be incontrol. Yet we live in aworld of complex
> systems
> whose veryexistence means they are inherentlyuncontrollable. No one isin
> charge of
> our food systems. No one is in charge ofourschools. No one is in charge of
> the
> environment. No one is incharge of nationalsecurity. No one is in charge!
> These
> systemsare emergent phenomena—the result ofthousands ofsmall, local actions
> that
> converged to create powerful systemswithproperties that may bear little or
> no
> resemblance tothe smaller actions that gave rise tothem. These are
> thesystems that
> now dominate our lives; they cannot be changedbyworking backwards, focusing
> on
> only a few simplecauses. And certainly they cannot bechanged by theboldest
> visions
> of our most heroic leaders.If we want to be able to get these complex
> systems to
> workbetter,we need to abandonour reliance on the leader-as-heroandinvite in
> the
> leader-as-host. We need to supportthoseleaderswho know that problems are
> complex,
> whoknow that inorder tounderstand the full complexity of anyissue, all parts
> ofthe
> system need to be invited into participateand contribute.We, as followers,
> need to
> give ourleaders time,patience,forgiveness; and we need to be willing tostep
> upand
> contribute.These leaders-as-hosts are candid enough to admit that they
> don'tknow
> what to do;they realize that it's sheer foolishness to relyonly on them for
>
> answers. But they alsoknow they can trust inother people's creativity and
> commitment to get the work done.They know that other people, no matter where
> they
> are in theorganizational hierarchy,can be as motivated, diligent andcreative
> as
> the leader, given the right invitation.The Journey from Hero to HostLeaders
> who
> journey from hero to host have seen past the negativedynamics of politicsand
>
> opposition that hierarchy breeds,they've ignored the organizational charts
> androledescriptions that confine people's potential. Instead,they've become
>
> curious. Who's inthis organization orcommunity? What skills and capacities
> might
> they offer if theywereinvited into the work as full contributors? What do
> theyknow, what insights do theyhave that might lead to a solutionto this
> problem?
> Leaders-as-hosts know that people willingly support those thingsthey've
> played a
> partin creating—that you can't expectpeople to'buy-in' to plans and projects
>
> developedelsewhere.Leaders-as-hosts invest in meaningfulconversations among
> people
> from manyparts of thesystem as the most productive way to engendernew
> insightsandpossibilities for action. They trust thatpeople arewilling to
> contribute, and that mostpeople yearn tofind meaningand possibility in their
> lives
> and work.Andtheseleadersknow that hosting others is the only way
> togetcomplex,
> intractable problems solved.Leaders-as-hosts don't just benevolently let go
> and
> trust that peoplewill do good workon their own Leaders have a great
> manythings to
> attend to, but these are quitedifferent than the workof heroes. Hosting
> leaders
> must: * provide conditions and good group processes for people to work
> together.
> * provide resources of time, the scarcest commodity of all. * insist that
> people
> and the system learn from experience, frequently. * offer unequivocal
> support—
> people know the leader is there for them. * keep the bureaucracy at bay,
> creating oases (or bunkers) where people are lessencumbered by senseless
> demands
> for reports and administrivia. * play defense with other leaders who want
> to
> take back control, who are criticalthat people have been given too much
> freedom.
> * reflect back to people on a regular basis how they're doing, what
> they'reaccomplishing, how far they've journeyed. * work with people to
> develop
> relevant measures of progress to make theirachievements visible. * value
> conviviality and esprit de corps—not false rah†rah activities, but the
> spiritthat arises in any group that accomplishes difficult work
> together.Challenges from SuperiorsIt's important to note how leaders
> journeying
> from hero to hostusetheir positionalpower. They have to work all levels
> ofthehierarchy; most often, it's easier to gainsupport andrespectfrom the
> people
> they lead than it is to gain it fromtheirsuperiors.Most senior leaders of
> large
> hierarchies believeintheir inherent superiority, as provenby the
> positionthey'veattained. They don't believe that everydaypeopleareascreative
> or
> self-motivated as are they. Whenparticipation issuggested as the means
> togather
> insightsand ideas from staffon a complex problem, senior leadersoften
> willblock
> suchactivities. They justify their oppositionby stating that peoplewould use
>
> thisopportunity to takeadvantage of theorganization; or that they would
> suggest
> ideasthathave nobearing to the organization's mission; or thatpeople would
> feeloverlyconfident and overstep their roles. Intruth, many seniorleaders
> view
> engaging thewhole system as athreat to theirown power and control. They
> consistently chooseforcontrol,and the resultant chaos, rather than invite
> peoplein
> tosolve difficult andcomplex problems.Leaders who do know the value of full
>
> engagement, who do trustthose they lead, haveto constantly defend their
> staff
> fromsenior leaders who insist on more controls and morebureaucracy to
> curtail
> their activities, even when those veryactivities areproducing excellent
> results.
> Strange to say, buttoo many senior leaders choose controlover
> effectiveness;they're willing to risk creating more chaos bycontinuing their
> take-
> charge, command and control leadership.Re-engaging PeopleThose who've been
> held
> back in confining roles, who've beenburiedin the hierarchy,will eventually
> blossom
> and develop inthecompany of a hosting leader. Yet, it takestime for
> employeestobelieve that this boss is different, that this leaderactually
> wantsthem
> to contribute. It can take 12 to 18months in systemswhere people have
> beensilenced
> intosubmission byautocratic leadership. These days, most peopletake a
> wait-and-see
> attitude, no longer interested inparticipating because pastinvitations
> weren'tsincere, or didn'tengage them in meaningfulwork. The leader needs to
>
> provehim orherself bycontinually insisting that work cannot beaccomplished,
>
> norproblems solvedwithout the participation ofeveryone. If themessage is
> sincere
> and consistent,peoplegradually return tolife; even people who havedied on
> the job,
> who're just waitinguntilretirement, can comealive in the presence of a
> leaderwho
> encourages themandcreates opportunities for them
> tocontribute.Leaders-as-hosts
> need to be skilled conveners. They realize thattheir organization
> orcommunity is
> rich in resources, and thatthe easiest way to discover these is to
> bringdiverse
> peopletogether in conversations that matter. People who didn't likeeach
> other,people who discounted and ignored each other,people who felt
> invisible,
> neglected, leftout—these are thepeople who can emerge from their boxes and
> labels
> tobecomeinteresting, engaged colleagues and citizens.Hosting meaningful
> conversations isn't about getting people to likeeach other or feelgood. It's
> about
> creating the means forproblems to get solved, for teams to functionwell, for
>
> people tobecome energetic activists. Hosting Leaders createsubstantivechange
> by
> relying on everyone's creativity,commitment and generosity. They learnfrom
> firsthand experience that these qualities are present in just about
> everyoneand
> inevery organization. They extend sincere invitations,ask good questions,
> and have
> thecourage to supportrisk-taking and experimentation.Are You a Hero?Many of
> us can
> get caught up acting like heroes, not from powerdrives, but from ourgood
> intentions and desires to help. Areyou acting as a hero? Here's how to
> know.You're
> acting as ahero when you believe that if you just work harder, you'll
> fixthings;that if you just get smarter or learn a newtechnique,you'll be
> able to
> solve problemsfor others. You'reacting as a hero if you take on more and
> more
> projects andcausesand have less time for relationships. You're playing
> thehero if
> you believe that you cansave the situation, the person,the world.Our heroic
>
> impulses most often are born from the best of intentions.We want to help,we
> want
> to solve, we want to fix. Yetthis is the illusion of specialness, that we're
>
> theonly ones whocan offer help, service, skills. If we don't do it, nobody
> will.
> Thishero'spath has only one guaranteed destination—we end upfeeling lonely,
>
> exhausted andunappreciated.It is time for all us heroes to go home because,
> if we
> do, we'll noticethat we're notalone. We're surrounded by people just like
> us.They
> too want to contribute, they toohave ideas, they want tobe useful to others
> and
> solve their own problems.Truth be told, they never wanted heroes to rescue
> them
> anyway.--
> MTC GLOBAL- Educate, Empower, Elevate
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