Future of life and work

For the last few years we have been discussing the changing world, VUCA and new way of working. There are a lot of research papers, opinions and views expressed by many wise people. I have been watching market and business trends for the last 10 years. While studying, I had predicted a few things in 2014. Changes because of these trends were inevitable, however Covid19 has pushed all to adapt to those changes. Please read different articles and my sessions available on this blog.    

And my all predictions are reality today..

• Accelerated digitalisation in all areas of life;
• Automation of jobs resulting unemployment but creation of new roles;
• Flexible working, rise of contract and freelancers;
• Increased gap: qualification vs employability;
• Your privacy is at stake, you are tracked every time, you are subject to experimentation; 
• Behaviour skills are the differentiations;
• False propaganda and narratives created by hypocrites extremists, leftist, fake liberals and secular will impact your life;
• Explosion of information and news will confuse you and hence you have to learn how to interpret the same;
• You are used and controlled by algorithms, capitalists, marketing companies, PR agencies, media and politicians;
• Societies will be fragmented and people will fight with each other;
• Majority and stable governments will be destabilised. Everything is challenged in this world; The ecosystem will work against each other. This is another business model. 
• Health and wellness is at stake, mental health is the topmost issue today.,

Everything has changed. We are modern and advanced but broken, fragmented, isolated.

Of course there are some positive signs where our millennial and Z generation is becoming more sensible about people, planet & ethical profits and increased participation of women in the workforce and economy.  

With these all realities you need to reflect, unlearn and relearn.

In such an uncertain situation you are vulnerable, challenged, subject to all types of attack and hence...

• Step back and pause,
• Think for a while,
• And then Act,
• Unlearn what you learned,
• Learn new skills,
• Recondition your mind cautiously,
• Don’t fall in a trap of status, shallow world of life, materialistic things, false propaganda etc.
• Connect and network with people.

Respect diverse views and perspectives,

Be happy with what you have and express gratitude. 

©Vinod Bidwaik

Author's book are available on Amazon, Flipkart, Pothi and BookGanga 

Vitality in Human Resource is now available in paperback edition. Please click here to buy

Buy Industrial Relations Strategy Framework For Every Manager on amazon. Click IR Strategy Framework.

Coping with the anxiety due to Covid19

Covid19 situation is very bad in India. The second wave is more dangerous but more dangerous are that news about unavailability of beds, oxygen supply, medicine, and vaccines. The invisible virus has spoiled the fun in our lives. Every family is affected by the virus. People lost their beloved ones. We still don’t have the solutions to handle the situation. People are scared and are worried about their families.

This is bringing anxiety, panic attacks. Few deaths are not because of the infection but because of the panic attacks. The negative information is flowing like a fire on social media. Because of the illogical and irrational thoughts anxieties are magnified. Most of the people are so sure that something bad will happen to them and their families. In nuclear families, this fear is prominent. The fear of losing something is creating panic and people are becoming anxious.          

We need to understand that we can’t change this situation, but we can help to improve the situation by taking enough care and following the guidelines given by the health ministry from time to time. At least this time we have the vaccine to fight with the virus and eventually it will be available for everybody as the government is scaling up the production of different vaccines. We need to fight with the covid but along with it we need to fight with our anxiety.

Our thoughts have the power to change how we feel. If you think something sad would happen, it’s likely you’ll start to feel sad about the situation. The beauty of the mind and thought is you feel what you think. Yes, when you think of something positive and calming, you feel relaxed. 

If you want to be relaxed and free from anxiety then, 

Challenge irrational thoughts: To overcome the anxiety, start challenging your thoughts, which you will realise, are irrational. You can do it by examining the evidence and challenging those thoughts, you can reduce anxiety. Stop watching negative news, reading forwards on social media and start investing your time in value added activities. When you encounter any negative thoughts about Covid, put thoughts on trial. Choose a thought that has contributed to your anxiety. Gather evidence in support of your thought (verifiable facts only), and against your thought. Compare the evidence and determine whether your thought is accurate or not. Most of the time, you will realise that the negative news, and forwards are politically motivated, faked, or with distorted facts. Sometimes those are based on the narratives created to frame you by the so called political analysts, urban naxals, corrupt journalists and agents of political parties.

When you are anxious and in a panic mode, please question the thoughts that contribute to your anxiety. Ask yourself, below questions and affirmations as explained in brackets. 

“Is my thought based on facts or feelings? Are the news I am reading are opinions of somebody or based on the factual data?

(Most of the time, the news will be based on opinions and not the facts. There are different narratives which I should not think about much.)   

“How would my best friend, beloved one see this situation? What precautions I should take”

“How likely is it that my fear will come true?” Do I have any solution to handle this? Like if Covid is infected, what support do I need?

(However, after the research you will find that the recovery rate is almost 90%-95% and those who are suffering are those who ignored early symptoms, you will also find that people died because of the secondary infection or panic attack.)

“What’s most likely to happen?” If I am following all safety protocols, why do I need to worry?

(But in case if it happens, I am sure I will recover. And now most of the cases are home quarantine, it means those are not that serious. Check around you, in your colony and you will find that almost all people are recovered from the infection.)

“If my fear comes true, will it still matter in a week? A month? A year?”   

(I am taking all precautions; I am safe and yes vaccination is already there. The situation is just a matter of time. Everything will be fine. In both cases I will gain something. If infected, antibodies and experience, however, I don’t want to be infected, hence I should take all precautions and enroll for the vaccine if it is available for all.)

Create your own narrative for you and get free from the anxiety. You will be happy.

Be safe, be happy!

Author's book are available on Amazon, Flipkart, Pothi and BookGanga 

Vitality in Human Resource is now available in paperback edition. Please click here to buy

Buy Industrial Relations Strategy Framework For Every Manager on amazon. Click IR Strategy Framework.

My three leadership lessons in 2020

HRTales asked me my top three leadership lessons during 2020 and I responded as follows. 

Year 2020 was a learning year for everybody. VUCA was the most abused and used jargon in the corporate world.  However, we all learnt the actual meaning of VUCA in 2020. In fact, it was a great leadership lesson.

My first lesson is 

In a crisis situation, leaders are in the line of fire from various key people in the ecosystem, customers, government, employees, stakeholders, society and political leaders. These all people may have unrealistic expectations from the leaders. This brings tremendous stress and possibly the leader may make mistakes. In such a situation, leaders need to be courageous and confident. When your employees and customers are watching you, you need to demonstrate the behaviour where they should feel comfortable working with you. By demonstrating courage and confidence, you drive the right behaviours in your team too. This includes taking a calculated risk, saying no at appropriate time, taking care of employees and simultaneously focusing on the business continuity.

Second Learning is

Leaders too have their weaknesses and blind spots. The maturity is when we recognise those weaknesses and blind spots and be vulnerable. During the pandemic we all were struggling to find the solutions to different aspects like, converting the office into home offices, motivating employees, handling infections and health issues of family and teams, customers not honouring the contracts, loss of revenue and poor cash flows. The situation was so unique that there was not one fit all solutions. In this process, i learnt that as a leader, we also have vulnerability and it is okay to admit our blind spots and lack of knowledge in certain areas.

My third leadership lesson is

Purpose, values and creating the trust capital is crucial. We understood the value of relations, human interactions, social life and also understood that we have very little needs, if we manage it properly as we did during the pandemic. Such feeling takes you to the purpose in life. As a leader, one of the imperative is to give the larger “purpose” to the team, work on the values essential for survival in business or in personal life and create the trust capital in the organization. Build the trust during good times, so that you are not alone during a crisis situation. As a leader continuously invest in building meaningful relations with employees, customers and other stakeholders in the ecosystem. You can use this trust capital to set the directions, get the alignment and commitment from employees and other stakeholders. 

Author's book are available on Amazon, Flipkart, Pothi and BookGanga 

Vitality in Human Resource is now available in paperback edition. Please click here to buy

Buy Industrial Relations Strategy Framework For Every Manager on amazon. Click IR Strategy Framework.

Let's welcome the year 2021 with an inspiring experience of the year 2020

Year 2020 has given us a unique experience. It started with an uncertain and unpredictable situation resulting in fear, triggered emotional threat. Everybody was not sure what to do? Leaders were disoriented. People were at stress. Nobody expected what life would be. It was a human crisis, economic crisis, medical crisis and you name it, the world was in all types of crisis. However, we learn to deal with the crisis. We overcame all fear, uncertainties, ambiguities. Millions lost their job, but they started something different to earn their livelihood. This pandemic also surfaced the good side of humanity. People came together without any leadership to support the needy people. This is the beauty of humanhood in India. Few organizations rightsized the organization and laid off employees, but many organizations took care of their employees, paid their salaries on time and supported employees and their families during this crucial period. Employees reciprocated by volunteering for salary reduction and supported organizations. People learnt new skills, worked in a different environment, stretched themselves and proved that human beings can overcome any odds in life.

There is a famous statement Dag Hammerskjold, “Never measure the height of a mountain until you reach the top. Then you will see how low it was.'' When we reflect and see the pandemic attack, it is the same. Pandemic was like a mountain and when it started, we never thought how strong it would be. When we entered, we realised it was a really life threatening year. But when we look back, we see that there is a silver lining. 2020 was a great teacher, mentor and coach, a difficult year but gave us a unique experience.

What we learnt? We learnt that traditional thinking has to be challenged. We never thought that remote working is possible fully. We never thought that in spite of all odds, people come together and collaborate very well.  We realised that everything is possible, what we used to think was impossible.

There is great learning for everybody, government organizations, private organizations, education institutions etc. However, the Government has to work on creating a meaningful ecosystem for different strata in society. Different departments need to work in sync and collaborate for delivering services. It should be for Awareness and Education, Medical, Incentives, Assistance Programme etc. The central government has done it at some extent; however, politicians have seen the opportunity to run their agenda. We need matured society, matured citizens and sensible politicians to make democracy strong.
Private organizations are more successful in collaboration and bringing new ideas to bounce back. Organizations came with such ecosystems like task force, crisis management team, etc.

Scenario planning is another area where our government has planned the medical facilities; however they could have done better on an economic side. Private organizations have done exceptionally good on this front.

During the pandemic, we learnt many things,
We learnt to push our boundaries,
We learnt to think out of the box,
We learnt that we have minimum needs,
We learnt that wealth and money is not everything,
We learnt that relationships always matter; we learnt who are ours.
We learnt sometimes we need “me time”
We learnt that if we try something, we can get it done, 
We learnt that we can’t fully predict the future and all plans may not work,
We learnt that life is on hopes and hopes keep us surviving,
We learnt to learn which we had stopped in the past.

We learnt so many things during just one year. We should keep this spirit of reinventing ourselves and take this journey forward even in 2021. Let’s welcome in 2021 in true spirit. 

I would like to quote of author, Har Borland, “Year end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on with all the wisdom, that experience can instill in us.”

The year 2020 has given that moments and experience which will inspire us to live and perform better in 2021. Wish you all a happy and prosperous new year. Stay safe and stay healthy.  

Please read the print replica of my latest book written for leaders on amazon kindle, Vitality in Human Resource: Adding human dimensions in HR processes

(Opinions are purely personal & does not represent my organization)    

Author's book are available on Amazon, Flipkart and BookGanga 

(Income from books is donated to the Janseva foundation which works for orphans, street children & abandoned elders)