Communication Mythos: Should the burden of understanding be on the message giver or receiver?

The message-giver thanks the message-receiver for enabling him to better understand human desire and capability. 

A friend told me something very interesting. She said, "I have noticed that during a conference Americans and Japanese behave very differently . If an American does not understand anything, he blames the communication skills of the message-giver. If a Japanese is under stress he blames himself, placing the burden of understanding on the message-receiver . Objectively speaking, who has the burden of understanding — the message-giver or the message-receiver ?

In the Western world, currently dominated by Greek mythology, where individuals are constantly suspicious of authority, the burden of understanding falls on the authority that seeks to govern. However, in the Eastern part of the world, dominated by Confucian mythology, where everyone respects authority, who has the Mandate of Heaven or legitimate power, the burden of understanding falls on the people who are being governed.

This divide is evident in communication techniques taught in training programs of modern management. The first being keep it short and simple, for people's attention span is low as is their capacity to comprehend . Another technique is repetition: "Say what you have to say, say it, and say what you have said." This we are told will get the message across. Here the burden is always on the speaker. Hence the obsession with over-clarifying and over-communicating .

We see this in the long documents and numerous posters that repeatedly seek to explain values and behaviours that the company endorses. There is anxiety that communication has not been clear or comprehensive enough. The message-giver has to constantly bring himself down to the level of the message-receiver.

This is influenced by the shift from the Imperial British system of communication to the more egalitarian American system of communication . It is not uncommon in many Indian family owned companies for owners to not bother with clear communication. Often innuendoes and signals are used to get messages across. For example: the person who is being repeatedly called for a meeting becomes the authority or the favoured one of the moment, irrespective of his designation.

It is assumed that the people who understand the leader get the message. Those who don't get the message don't matter in the scheme of things. On a more manipulative note, if the directive does not work, the leader simply gets a chance of escape. This puts great pressure on professionals who are not trained to deal with family businesses in B-schools.

Such practices are frowned in modern management as it is unclear, inefficient and adds to the burden of anxiety amongst employees. They are qualified as feudal, befitting an oriental despot. In other words, the criticism is rooted in Western prejudices about the East.

Though many business families in India tilt Eastwards, traditional Indian methods of communication actually stands between the East and the West. Who bears the burden of understanding is a function of context. It depends on who has more to lose: the message-giver or message-receiver ? This is demonstrated in the following story from the Upanishads.

A young boy called Satyakama wanted to understand the 'brahman' from his teacher, Gautama. So his teacher gave him some cows and told him to take them out to the pastures and to return only after the number of cows had doubled. While the cows grazed, Satyakama had nothing to do. He kept observing the world around him. As he watched the bull, the sun, the fire, the swan, and the fowl, his mind was filled with insight. When he returned his thanked his guru for revealing to him the 'brahman' .

In modern understanding of communication , the guru had done nothing to facilitate understanding. But in the traditional understanding of communication, the guru had created an ecosystem based on the desire and capability of Satyakama. Thus the message-giver understands the best way to communicate to the message receiver. Sometimes it may be instructive and directive, sometimes it may be full of innuendoes and symbols, depending on what the message-receiver can handle.

Here, the guru is not obliged to transmit the message but does so in order to improve his own understanding of human nature. Here, the student is not obliged to listen to the guru but does, because he wants knowledge. The teacher is merely a facilitator.

The message receiver thanks the message-giver for facilitating his understanding of the subject. The message-giver thanks the message-receiver for enabling him to better understand human desire and capability, hence his communication skills. Both win. There is no authority or rules. It is cyclical, not linear. This is what the guru-shishya parampara was actually about.

Source: Devdutt Pattanaik in The Economic Times

http://m.economictimes.com/features/corporate-dossier/management-mythos-should-the-burden-of-understanding-be-on-the-message-giver-or-receiver/articleshow/36461815.cms

Overcome Your Soft Addictions

Many 'harmless' habits that we overindulge in like nail-biting, shopping, web-surfing, continuous texting or checking for messages, overworking, procrastinating, gossiping, watching too much television, and too many cups of tea or coffee, can become what are called "soft addictions" that limit our potential, ultimately draining us of both energy and self-respect.

Unlike hard addictions, which are usually related to a chemical substance, you don't die from soft addictions. ''But you don't really live, either,'' said Judith Wright, author of The Soft Addiction Solution, who labelled this phenomenon.

Soft addictions begin as normal, everyday, soothing activities, but can end up numbing your feelings and leaving you drained of energy. Some addictions like television zone you out; others like shopping bring temporary ease. Overeating or overusing gadgets are the adult equivalent of thumb-sucking. Though these feel like solutions to a problem, they can get in the way of leading a more fulfilling life.

They can also often have long-term consequences. Stress snacking can cause you to be constantly unhappy about how you look, how your clothes don't fit, and worse, get you to an unhealthy weight. A runaway shopping addiction can destroy your finances, or at least cause you to lie about it. Excessive caffeine intake can cause headaches, insomnia, irritability and anxiety. Too much TV on a regular basis, especially at night, makes it both hard to sleep and hard to wake up.

Thought to be patterns that begin innocuously in early life, Nathalie Anderson's fairytale take-off poem on the subject humorously yet painfully reveals the truth about soft addictions:
"…And so it's been. The prim princess royal, gifted with itty-bitty knitted booties, now acquires shoes – so many, she'll never go slipshod or round-heeled, a pair for every coloured thread in every Persian carpet…

"There's a prince who bets on ponies. There's a prince who marries showgirls. There's a princess who reads twelve mysteries whenever she's down…"

Because they seem so benign, and we even sheepishly admit them or laugh them off, often it's friends, family or colleagues who point out when this gets in the way of our work, relationships or other aspects of our lives.

If people tease you about always being late, your friends get mad when you are texting while seeming to engage with them, your husband complains that you spend more time with your online friends than him, if your wife points out you are becoming a couch potato – these are warnings of a soft addiction. Also pay attention to those little feelings of discomfort that softly but persistently nag you when you're off track.

You have to recognise that there is a deeper need or hunger under the soft addiction. You need to make the distinction between what you want and what you hunger for. As Wright said, ''You might want a new designer dress, but you're really hungry to feel good about yourself.''

The first step to beating a soft addiction requires making a commitment to higher quality of life. When we pay attention to where our soft addictions are getting in the way of our wellbeing, daily functioning, our intimacy, and ultimately our dreams, we can regain hours of wasted time, choose health-supporting options, save money wasted on comfort-shopping, and restore a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives.

First Published by Marguerite Theophil on SpeakingTree.in

My Thoughts On Being Helpful

"Only by helping others can I help myself."  "Don't feel guilty if you can't help everyone you want. But always try to help those you feel you can. Don't insist - only offer."  - @aseems

My Thoughts on Forgiveness ...

"I cannot forgive myself if I don't forgive others. I cannot progress if I don't forgive myself. It is easier to forget than it is to forgive. But we never truly forget till we forgive - till then we are merely suppressing the emotional thought, and postponing our growth. Surrender is a way to forgiveness - stop fighting - let life win. " - @aseems  ATTN: Tumblrbot  35 East 21st St, 10th Floor  New York, NY 10010

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Aseem Seth

More than a clash of cymbals: Making Sense of Indian TV News Channels

They're very shrill, but they're not anchoring TV news. Instead, they're critics sharply criticising television discussions for giving shrill thrills whenever Pakistan fires at India or a politician crosses an ethical LoC. As TV anchors prepare arsenals, critics also craft lofty columns about Outdoor Broadcast vans winging it to the borders or wars raging inside newscasters' heads. They thus reveal how they're stuck at a centuries-old version of Indian news, unable to understand powerful new changes underway.

For such critics, news still lingers somewhere in the good old days between Doordarshan and AIR, where it was read out to placid listeners, and views were a one-sided affair. Even when there were two speakers to tango, they either agreed or civilly agreed to disagree. Nothing could be more civil, in fact, except perhaps a chat over cheese toast and chai at a club where you rang a little bell for a refill.

In the 1990s, when non-government TV news emerged, reportage grew more hectic but analyses felt the same. Government views were presented as fait accompli, politicians and anchors looked cosier-than-thou while daily events were treated as an amiable wrangle over an invisible gin.

Today's 'shrill' TV news shatters that clubby calm. With its furious arguments and accusations, direct insults and cutting responses, its blood pressure, scowls and tears, it shreds the warm 'ideological quilt' Slavoj Zizek describes. It bridges the gap between metropolitan leaders and citizens across this vast land. And it emphasises the one element traditionally erased from Indian news — emotion.

From the ancient myth of Sanjay live-streaming the Maha-bharata battle, to modern milestones from Bhakra Nangal to Bollywood, the telling of Indian news set itself on an air-waved version of the Westminster model — calm and steady, whilst side-stepping the latter's insights. Our model snuggled easily into the familiar gurukul, the lazy lecture hall, the seminary of yawns, where audiences simply heard and the speaker never once said, the nation wants to know.

But modern TV news insists on this and thus becomes the shrill but vibrant beast it is, rushing to all corners of stories, perhaps not pausing long and deep enough, but certainly giving you a clue as to what lies where. Its energy surprised even Amartya Sen recently, the Nobel laureate confronted by his economics on live TV, multiple analysts offering versions and views, cutting into each other and Sen simultaneously. Such discussions make the ancestors of Sen's own argumentative Indian, debating din-e-elahi in palatial Fatehpur Sikri or reflecting on life under the shade of a Bodhi tree, look just that — ancestral.

For today's 'shrill' TV news has understood something its critics haven't. India is aspiring and not just to buy designer shoes and emulate the powerful, but also to access news that truly empowers ordinary lives. With a sudden profusion of media, India's citizen wants to know everything, and not for vicari-ous thrills.

Faced with corruption, ineptitude and criminality, the citizen wants to know how to live with dignity and hope. She wants to draw courage from others and offer sustenance to them too. She wants to connect to a community bound by middle-class ideals, which, in the previous obsession with patricians and proletariats, was completely overlooked.

And living in an interconnected world, where American drones, Chinese dolls and EU visas impact her life, she wants to know exactly how India's policies are made. Old TV discussions, involving chatty camaraderie, don't touch this need but 'shrill' TV news, with daily stamina and occasional skill, presents emotions, ideals and demands that do.

Yet critics claim events are pumped up for decibels to follow suit. They couldn't be more cynical or wrong — the shocked public protests following the Nirbhaya gang rape, the frustration over Pakistan's border-line madness, or the support to Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement weren't spurred on by TV. These emotions — disappointment, grief, hope — exist tangibly around us. Smart TV simply picks up on this pulse and gets its act together, presenting an emotional nation inside a studio.

Against a backdrop where mandarins and manholes both impact lives, a shrill TV show doesn't reflect its creators' lack of imagination or their ratings race. It reflects the far greater failures of politicians, bureaucrats and public services — everyone taxpayers pay — to do their job. Why quibble at righteous indignation there?

Thus, an OB van becomes the opposite of a red-beacon car, its earnestness a contrast to the shiny pomposity of those paid to serve. The proliferation of shrill TV is much more than Indian media adopting loud, pushy Ame-ricana over polished, restrained Britannica — it is ordinary India reshaping its own democratic space, giving voice to emotions birthed from politics, posing loud questions and demanding answers after 66 patient years.

This is also the acknowledgment that 'news' is simply the opera of our collective life, its drama reflecting our beauty and tragedies, our chaos and brilliance. It is this opera that has changed from muted and mundane to shrill and surprising. The nation's volume has indeed shot up and with good cause. As Pierre Bourdieu writes, the most successful censorship gives voice to people who have nothing to say except what is expected of them — quietly at that.

Source: http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Doctor-in-the-House/entry/more-than-a-clash-of-cymbals

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Aseem Seth - Unmistakably speaking  of , without naming, my channel http://www.timesnow.tv/ ;)

Tomorrow is Organ Donation Day! Sign up on ileadindia.com

Let Go of a Part of You

DEVDUTT PATTANAIK brings you two unusual stories from Indic mythology on organ donation — one about a renunciate and the other, the story of a bhakta.

To donate an organ, two critical emotions are needed: Vairagya or renunciation and bhakti or devotion. The former is more intellectual in nature and the latter is more emotional in nature. While vairagya allows one to detach oneself from the organ and say, “That is not me,” bhakti empowers one to be generous towards another, saying,” He needs that more than I do.” These two aspects; these two emotions of giving of oneself are very evident in the stories of Dadhichi and Kannappa in Indic tradition.

Dadhichi’s Story

 The story of Dadhichi comes from the Sanskrit puranas. The devas or celestial beings were busy fighting the asuras who were led by one Vritra who was considered invincible and, therefore, was impossible to defeat. The gods needed a strong weapon and nothing was stronger than the bones of a sage called Dadhichi who had been practicing tapasya for hundreds of years. So Indra, king of the devas, went to Dadhichi and asked him to give up his bones. This would mean Dadhichi had to die so that his bones could be harvested. 

Dadhichi agreed without a moment’s hesitation. He had attained kaivalya, Supreme Knowledge and so was not dependent on or attached to his body. He renounced his body through the yogic practice of samadhi and let the devas claim his bones. From these bones, the celestial artisan, Vishwakarma, created the weapon called Vajra or thunderbolt. Indra wielded the Vajra to defeat Vritra and the asuras. 

Ever since, whenever there is thunder and lightening in the sky, people exclaim: There is Indra, striking the asuras with his Vajra, the weapon created with the bones of Dadhichi!

(FYI - Dadichi's Ashram is Here - http://goo.gl/maps/u99bm :)

The Eye Sage

The story of Kannappa comes from the Peria Purana, a Tamil collection of the works of Nayanars, poet-saints devoted to Shiva. Every day, Thinnan, a hunter of the Boyar or Gaddi community, would visit the shrine of the Shiva Lingam and share with the lingam all that he found during his daily hunt: water from mountain springs — which he would carry in his mouth, flowers from the trees that grew on the slopes that he carried in his hair, and the best portions of the game he hunted. 

One day, Shiva decided to test Thinnan’s devotion. The Shiva lingam grew a pair of eyes; one of them started to bleed. Thinnan tried healing the bleeding eye with herbs but nothing worked. Finally, Thinnan cut out his eye and replaced the bleeding eye with his own eye. Then, to his shock, he found that now the other eye had started to bleed. Thinnan decided to offer his other eye as well, but realised that with both eyes gone, he would not know where to place the second eye.

So he placed his foot on the bleeding eye to help him locate the second eye of Shiva after he had plucked out his own other eye. Shiva was so pleased with this act of unconditional sacrifice that he named Thinnan as Kannappa or the ‘eye sage’. 

While Dadhichi displays renunciation on giving up his bones, Kannappa expresses his utter devotion while giving up his eyes.

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Understanding GEN Y Millennials

Times have changed, to see how simply turn on the TV. The shows that were watched in 70's and 80's were about "values" they were more focused on family, friendships, hard work and character.

Year 2013, now we tune into Desperate Housewives, Who wants to marry a Millionaire and American Idol. These shows tend to involve lies, deceit and quick, easy routes to fame and fortune.

The same is the case with our workforce:

The unasked questions on the minds of every baby boomer and members of Generation X in the workplace today about Generation Y is:

·         Who are these strange creatures?

·         How do you deal with them?

·         And, how can they possibly become an asset to an organization?

Look around your office. Managers are struggling to keep their high-performing talent within the ranks, especially the up-and-coming young superstars from Generation Y.

You may know them as the Generation Why, the Trophy Generation, Gen Y, or Millennials. They are the generation born between 1978 and 1995. This generation has completely infiltrated your organization. They come with their own unique traits that, when harnessed correctly, can produce incredible results.

But not everyone sees it that way.

By 2020, these young hires will make up 60 percent of the workforce.  They are rapidly climbing the corporate ladder, and much has been made of the supposedly needy mindset they bring to the workplace—and how their predecessors, the Baby Boomers, must change their approach if they want to accommodate these over-coddled upstarts.

They've got the attitude, they've got the ambition, they've got the BlackBerry in one hand and the half-café mocha latte in the other. Welcome to the world of Generation Y.

GEN Y , Also known as the Net Generation, Millennials, iGeneration, Second Baby Boom, Google Generation, and the Cynical Generation, currently are the most influential consumer and employee group in the world.

Although they bring energy and innovation to the workplace, the Generation Y is challenging to manage.

Millennials are creating a change in how work gets done, as they work more in teams and use more technology. Their social mindset, however, is also a significant factor. As Leigh Buchanon writes in Meet the Millennials, "One of the characteristics of Millennials, besides the fact that they are masters of digital communication, is that they are primed to do well by doing good. Almost 70 percent say that giving back and being civically engaged are their highest priorities."

Coupled with the socially minded millennial comes their desire to be creative. Millennials have grown up in a time where information has become available instantly. Through a Google or Wikipedia search, answers to even quite complicated questions can be found. As such, millennials have developed into a group that wants to work on new and tough problems, and ones that require creative solutions.

In a 2009 article by Tamara Erickson, a millennial who had been struggling in her role, admitted to peers that, "I guess I just expected that I would get to act on more of my ideas, and that the higher ups here would have figured out by now that the model's changing." (Gen Y in the Workforce, Tamara Erickson, Harvard Business Review, February 2009)

They appreciate clear direction, demand immediate feedback on performance, expect to be Consulted and included in management decisions, and demand constant intellectual challenge.

In India, they make up the more than half of the population. Despite the large potential workforce, not all are 'employment ready' and so their talents are in short supply.

The Generation Y in India is a remarkable group that is ambitious, optimistic, embraces change and have a clear sense of where they are headed. Most are 'entrepreneurial and business savvy, as well as technologically capable and connected.

With about half of India's one billion people under the age of 25, Generation Y in India is the world's largest. Positioned in a time of exciting and rapid economic growth in the country, they are keen to participate in the country's future and success. The country's recent parliament elections saw a huge turnout of Generation Y population, demonstrating their ambition to take the country forward.

Gen Ys expect challenging work assignments, accelerated career growth, socially responsible workplaces, flexible work environments, freedom, and collaboration and innovation from their jobs and employers.

Highly competitive, Generation Y is more than ever before seeking higher education and landing jobs in multi-national companies in areas such as IT, back office operations, media, strategy and management positions. With opportunities aplenty in the current economy, they are also job-hopping, something not seen in their parents' generation.

There are certainly a lot of negative feelings about this young generation and the impacts they are having on companies. From their use of social media, loyalty to their friends over the organization and their need to be heard (even during meetings on topics they have little experience with), this generation is certainly different.

Trying to change a generation is akin to changing the direction of the mighty Mississippi: It's not going to happen. Instead of trying to force behaviour changes think about how you are managing your Gen Y employees.

The time has come to think differently, act differently and start re-focusing on long-term success. Today's forward-thinking businesses are repositioning themselves….don't be left behind…

With a better understanding of the Gen Y mindset which drives behaviour, business can better attract, manage and engage this generation both as customers and as staff.

Source: email forward

A Victim of Virtues

I found this was very relevant to me, so I am reposting it here to share with you.

Posted: 16 Feb 2013 03:24 AM PST A dying tree can offer neither shade nor fruits. It looks one sorry scene. From the outset, we are taught to be good, to be compassionate, to be giving, forgiving and so forth. Good teachings. No doubt. A virtuous living — religions preach it, teachers teach it, parents instill it, society expects it, your loved ones want it. You often find yourself constantly working towards it, never-ending, like the dog catching its own tail. Their expectations never seem to end and probably they can say the same about you. Here is my take on this, you may find my perspective a little unusual: Imagine a tree, a strong and a fruit-laden tree. If it is nurtured well, it will give more fruits season after season, vines may creep around it, it may give shade to others, on its boughs birds may build their nests, squirrels may home themselves somewhere in its trunk, there may be an aroma, a fragrance of freshness in the air. Not only does it seem to be supporting an ecosystem, it has almost become an ecosystem in itself. All of the above is only possible if the tree is strong, if it gets nourishment and nutrition, if it has the room to spread and grow its roots, if it gets the fresh air, the oxygen, the sunlight it needs. If, however, the tree is starved and deprived of its basic requirements, it will start to decay before completely perishing one day. Consumers of its fruits, the birds, squirrels, other creepers, the ecosystem, everything gets affected adversely. Now envision you are that tree. What a beautiful sight when you are fragrant and fruit-laden, when you are green and healthy, when birds are singing, everyone gets the benefit. But you can only provide such value on a sustainable basis when you remain alive and strong. For that to happen, you ought to give yourself what you require. No matter who you are, a daughter, a mother, a CEO, whoever, whatever, if you do not work on your own fulfillment, if you keep ignoring what matters to you simply to keep up with the expectations of others, you will increasingly find the charm of life disappearing like dew in sunlight. If you are happy within, fulfilled, somewhat complete, taken care of, you will be able to take care of others much better. Be not so busy that you forget yourself. There is a fine line between being a pushover and being polite. And what is that fine line? You need not ask me or anyone else. Inquire within. Your inner voice will give you the most accurate answer. Someone with good financial acumen will tell you to divide your earnings between savings and spending, between expenses and investments, between borrowing and lending. Your financial success depends on that balance. The same goes for your time, for your own life too. Some part of it you give to others and some you retain for yourself, some you spend while some of it you invest. If you do not engage in what gives you joy, gives you happiness, your inner peace and bliss will evaporate. You will keep feeling something is missing without knowing what, you will feel angrier with others, with yourself, with the world, you will find yourself getting irritated quickly, you will wonder why you are not as patient as before. If you are experiencing these things, I can say with much conviction, you are not taking care of yourself. Behind your smile, you are hiding the privilege of freedom. You may fool others but you cannot fool yourself. You know your own reality. Spend some time in introspection. Write down what you would like to do, what gives you joy, what makes you feel complete, what gives meaning to your life. And start devoting some time, however little, to yourself. You will be amazed at the discovery of new you. Everyone around you will get even more of you, virtues will no longer need to be played, they will come naturally, automatically. Mulla Nasrudin, when a little boy, was left home alone one day. His parents promised him a reward if he behaved himself while they were away. Upon their return they asked, "So, did you stay out of trouble and be a good boy?" "Just Good? I was way gooder than good. In fact, I was so good that I could hardly stand myself!" What good is being so good that you cannot even stand yourself! You have to find time now because moment by moment, life continues to pass by, clock continues to tick, expectations will stay if not grow. Present mirth hath present laughter as Shakespeare would tell you. Do not let this slip by. Start living. Now is a good time. To take care of yourself is no sacrilege, only taking care of yourself maybe. Be not a casualty of virtues, be the cause. No, not a victim. A victor. (Image credit: Léon Richet) Peace. Swami Source: A Victim of Virtues

Mad Magazine: MAD's Satire of the "M*A*S*H" Finale

My Favourite Magazine Features my Favourite Show...

What more Reason needed to blog it?

MAD's Satire of the "M*A*S*H" Finale Fri, 03/01/2013 - 8:21am CLASSIC MAD DEPT. Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the final episode of M*A*S*H — with over 100 million viewers, the most watched series finale of all time — but we were too busy updating our Trapper John M.D. Pinterest board to notice. To make amends, we present the entirety of "M*U*S*H", our satire of the beloved show's final season by Arnie Kogen and Jack Davis.  Click each page to make it bigger! SCROLL DOWN !!!! Cover Artist: Mort Drucker Tags:  Classic MAD, Movie and TV Satires, Television, M*A*S*H, MASH, Series Finales, Alan Alda, Jack Davis, Arnie Kogen, Mort Drucker, MAD Covers, Alfred E. Neuman

10 ways to boost your PR career

I loved these pointers from Lorra, so I am reporting them in my blog. Here are her insightful suggestions, most of which can be used by a professional working in any field. 

With 2013 well underway, I've been reflecting on ways to be a smarter, happier, and more productive professional. Here are my suggestions for professional resolutions:

Take risks and challenge authority.

The most successful relationships are built on mutual respect. Instead of saying "yes," when given an assignment, carefully consider business implications. Don't be afraid to offer ideas and solutions that may seem against the norm. Your ability to take initiative, generate new ideas, and deliver thoughtful counsel will earn you respect and grow your role beyond that of a tactician and into a true strategist.

Affect change as much as possible.

Focus on clients, projects, and priorities with the highest opportunities for meaningful results. Don't get distracted by process or minutia.

Stop complaining.

It is easy to dwell on reasons our career, lives, and families are challenging, unreasonable, or stressful. In 2013, instead of staying on the complaint hamster wheel, take control and change your situation for the better. And as the cliché goes, "choose your battles"—stop stressing about organizational or personal situations you truly cannot change.

Avoid drama.

You are never going to win an argument with someone who isn't rational. Instead, turn the demand or rant your boss or client spouted into a calm and positive opportunity. Don't get defensive or seek validation; overcome your need to be right or prove a point. Walk away from situations that truly aren't worth your energy. This includes office gossip.

Admit you're human.

Take responsibility for your errors. Admitting you are wrong and working to rectify the situation in a thoughtful manner builds camaraderie and encourages an honest approach to business.

Maintain perspective.

We aren't doing life-saving surgery, fighting a war, or solving the debt crisis. It may feel like that sometimes, but although the work we do may be important and meaningful, maintain perspective and lose the self-importance.

Get over it!

Your boss or client criticizes your work, or worse, you. Not everyone is going to love your work all the time. Your openness to suggestions or criticisms and ability to learn from them, and not dwell on the negative, will serve you well.

Turn off the devices.

Being accessible 24-hours a day not only kills work/life balance, but it also sets unrealistic and unreasonable expectations. Truly shutting down for even a few hours a day will lessen your stress and help you recharge your body and your brain.

Consider your legacy.

We are all too young to think about our long-term legacies, yet take a moment to think about how you wish to be remembered and reflect on how you are living your life. If you honestly consider how you are perceived by colleagues, friends, and family, you may change your behavior, relationships, and perhaps even your professional path.

Be benevolent.

Volunteer, take on a pro-bono client, and consider building your corporate social responsibility offerings or career path. Working to improve society should be an element of everyone's work and lives, regardless of the profession.

Best wishes for a productive, joyful, and healthy 2013.

Lorra M. Brown is an assistant professor of public relations/professional communication at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. Visit her blog www.lorrabrown.com or follow her on Twitter @LorraBrownPR.

Source: http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/13523.aspx#

Who is Alfred E. Neuman?

Today we delve into the early days of our moronic mascot, Alfred E. Neuman. One day in the 1960s a letter was delivered to the MAD offices bearing no name or address. Other than a postage stamp, the envelope bore only a picture of the magazine's cover boy, Alfred E. Neuman. Clearly, the gap-toothed face of the idiot kid had become iconic. Alfred and MAD, to use an overworked phrase, were joined at the hip. Already the grinning face had shown up in unlikely places: placards of him as a candidate — "You could do worse, you always have!" — were flaunted at political conventions. His features were sculpted in ice at a Dartmouth Winter Carnival. Fred Astaire danced in an Alfred mask during a TV special. A party of climbers planted a Neuman flag atop Mount Everest. Alfred owes his place in history to four men. The first was MAD's first editor, Harvey Kurtzman, who glimpsed the grinning face, captioned "Me worry?" on a postcard in 1954. "It was a kid that didn't have a care in the world, except mischief," Kurtzman recalled. The boy soon made his way into the pages of the magazine, though he was as yet unnamed. Kurtzman had been using the Neuman name mostly because it had the ring of a nonentity — although there was a Hollywood composer named Alfred Newman. Misspelled, with the added "E," it too was integrated into the magazine. When Al Feldstein replaced Kurtzman as editor, he decided to link "Alfred E. Neuman" with the face of the idiot kid. The idiot kid made his official debut in 1956 as a write-in candidate for President on the cover of MAD #30, and the magazine now had an official mascot and cover boy. In the next issue, Alfred made his second cover appearance pictured as an addition to Mount Rushmore. Though others had their doubts, Nick Meglin, then an assistant editor, believed that MAD should continue to use Alfred as the magazine's cover boy. "You'll have to convince me," said publisher Bill Gaines, who had veto power over all MAD covers. Playing up to Gaines' interest in archaeology, Meglin submitted a rough sketch of Alfred in an Egyptian tomb (MAD #32) and one or two others that emerged as cover illustrations later. Having been convinced there were endless possibilities, Gaines agreed that Alfred should reign as the magazine's icon. The Neuman face was created by Norman Mingo. Curiously, none of MAD's artists, though extremely versatile, has been able to render accurately the Mingo prototype. When Mingo died in 1980, his obituary in The New York Times identified him in its headline as the "Illustrator Behind 'Alfred E. Neuman' Face." What is the source of the "What — Me Worry?" Boy? MAD asked its readers to help out and was deluged by suggestions and theories. The kid was used in 1915 to advertise a patent medicine; he was a newspaperman named Old Jack; he was taken from a biology textbook as an example of a person who lacked iodine; he was a testimonial on advertisements for painless dentistry; he was originated by comedian Garry Moore; he was a greeting-card alcoholic named Hooey McManus; he was a Siamese boy named Watmi Worri. One reader dug up a 1909 German calendar bearing a version of the inane smiling face. By far the most pertinent correspondence came from a lawyer representing a Vermont woman named Helen Pratt Stuff. She claimed that her late husband, Harry Stuff, had created the kid in 1914, naming him "The Eternal Optimist." Stuff's copyrighted drawing, she charged, was the source of Alfred E. Neuman and she was taking MAD to court to prove it. Thus began the great Alfred E. Neuman lawsuit. The stakes were not small. If MAD lost, it would be liable for millions of dollars in damages. And Alfred no longer would be permitted to show his worriless countenance in any MAD publication or property... Source: http://www.madmagazine.com/blog/2012/12/19/totally-mad-excerpt-who-is-alfred-e-neuman

The Times Group ­- Where Ideas Get Wings

I am Proud to be a part of The Times Group

Here’s what I suggested to the CEO -

https://twitter.com/aseems/status/173647012368101376

This is what the CEO of TIL Replied –

https://twitter.com/aseems/status/174046517211041792

This is what Happened (after a couple of months…) –

http://www.indiadigitalreview.com/news/times-internet-launches-augmented-reality-app-alive-ios-devices

 Feels Great to be Heard!!!

Thanks @SatyanGajwani! You Rock Sir!

The Doberman, The Panther and the Squirrel

An old Dobermann starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a panther heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch. 

The old Dobermann thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep shit now!" 

Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the panther is about to leap, the old Dobermann exclaims loudly, 


"Boy, that was one delicious panther! I wonder, if there are any more around here?" 

Hearing this, the young panther halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. 

"Whew!," says the panther, "That was close! That old Dobermann nearly had me!" 

Meanwhile, a squirrel who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the panther. So, off he goes. 

The squirrel soon catches up with the panther, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the panther. 

The young panther is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, squirrel, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!" 

Now, the old Dobermann sees the panther coming with the squirrel on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?," but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old Dobermann says .......


"Where's that squirrel? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another panther!" 

Moral of this story... 


Don't mess with the old dogs... Age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery! 
Bull Shit and brilliance only come with age and experience. 


If you don't send this to five 'old' friends right away, there will be five fewer people laughing in the world. 


Of course, I am in no way insinuating that you are old, just 'youthfully challenged'. 


You did notice the size of the print, didn't you? 

Great Logos with Hidden Messages

Artists have been hiding subliminal and secret messages in their art for centuries. And this tradition lives on Today in the work of logo designers. Find out what's hidden in the FedEx, Tostitos or Baskin Robbins logo. Some of the messages are more obvious than others, but all of them are clever and revealing.

The FedEx logo has an arrow hidden between the letters E and X. Lindon Leader designed this famous logo in 1994, as Senior Design Director at Landor Associates, San Francisco. It was a result of a work where more than 200 logos were designed before the designer arrived to this solution. It won over forty logo awards worldwide.

At first all you see is modern typography, but there is actually a hidden meaning of Sony's VAIO logo. The first two letters represent an analog signal and the last two are the 1 and 0 of the digital world.

Toblerone chocolate company from Bern, Switzerland, which is known for high mountains. Bern is also called "The City Of Bears". Find the hidden silhouette of a bear in the mountain illustration.

Baskin Robbins offers 31 flavors of ice cream. The number 31 is hidden in the logo within the letters of B and R.

The Northwest Airlines logo has two hidden meanings. For one it has the letters N and W in positive and negative spaces. And there is another less apparent idea in there. The red triangle points to north-west within the circle as if it was a compass.

That yellow arrow is not just a smiley. It also suggests that you can buy everything A to Z on Amazon.

Eighty-20 is a small consulting firm. The squares actually a binary code for the name. Top line: 1010000 and on the bottom: 0010100.

The SUN Microsystems logo is a wonderful example of symmetry and order. It was a brilliant observation that the letters u and n while arranged adjacent to each other look a lot like the letter S in a perpendicular direction.

The Tostitos logo has a not so hidden message. The letters TIT are two actually people enjoying mexican food at a table.

The Formula 1 logo has a hidden number 1 between the letter F and the speed lines.

Elefont is another logo with a hidden meaning in the negative space. Find the trunk in the lowercase letter e.

The feathers of this peacock represent the 6 different divisions of NBC. The head is visible suggesting the peacock is looking toward the viewer.

Carrefour is one of the biggest European retailers, and in French, it means "Crossroads". The logo symbolizes this word via two opposite arrows. They also added the first letter of the name, because if you look closely you’ll see the letter "C" in the negative space between the two arrows.

The C and O letters at the beginning of the word shape a tyre, which Continental produces.

Unilever produces literally thousands of different products, thus the letter U is made up of symbols representing all these products and what they mean to their consumers.

Families is a Readers Digest magazine. The letter "ili" are transformed to show a simplified and stylised family of three.

Goodwill is a nonprofit organization that helps disadvantaged people in North America. The letter G in the logo is a smiling face, conveying the notion that Goodwill provides happiness and relief to those in need.

At first glance, this logo looks like a map of Africa, but if you take a closer look, you will see two people facing each other.

Conceptual logo that shows a golfer taking a swing and the head of a spartan warrior in helmet at the same time.

The Bronx Zoo logo shows the animals within a city with tall building. Smart play with positive and negative spaces.

Snooty Peacock is a jewellery store. Notice the hidden peacock in the face.

The Hartford Whalers logo shows 3 concepts at the same time. A whale's tail, letter “W” in green and the white space forming an “H” for Hartford.

The designer of ED Logo – “Elettro Domestici -Home Appliances” in English, changed the concept of traditional logo designing through this logo. The designer has amazingly used the negative space to demonstrate the letter “E” and “D” making the logo look like an electric plug.

In this Yoga Australia logo you can discover the shape of Australia in the negative space formed between the woman's raised leg and back.

Notice the palm of a hand in this MyFonts logo made out of the letters M and y.

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