Thursday, November 13, 2008

Today is a special day for me.November 14th 2008 is the birthday of my Daughter Arundhati who has just completed her 25th year in the journey of her life.I became quite nostalgic about her being a toddler 25 years ago and how I had experienced as her father her childhood pranks and it was quite a happy experience listening to her childhood pranks.It is quite unbelievable that she is now a grown up KID NOW and kickstarted her career life at the US.How I wish that she was with me today to celebrate her birthday with me and her mother.I recall that during all her birthdays till she was a five year old child ,there used to be thunderstorm with heavy rainslashing at Besant Nagar with power cut through out that day spoiling my daughter's moods as her friends could not be with her for her birthday.The roads used to be inundated with floods preventing her friends to join her to wish her for her birtday.I just laughed to myself how time flies faster and my daughter grew very fast and I am not able to reconcile myself about her being away from me even today.She called me up and I wished her all the best in all her future endeavours and informed her to have a birthday blast especially with Raleigh friends.

N.C.Balachandran.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Creativity and Innovation

Hai Everybody!

I thought I could share my thoughts as a Director-Career Development& Placement with faculty members and student fraternity like you of our great institution.

Let me at the outset start writing about creativity and innovation and how it will be a value addition for all of you.

Stimulate your intellectual curiosity to get new ideas.Get aroused.

Are you an ideas person? Are you in sync with those defining moments that lead to the sudden sparks of creativity, innovation and brilliance that make a difference to our life and those of others around us?

Ideas don’t always happen on their own. Exchange of communication, inquisitiveness, sharing thoughts, perspectives, ideas and feedback create a fertile environment necessary for the birth of new ideas.

Listen actively .

Get into the habit of active listening. Listen to as many different people as possible-your friends, your family, your boss, co-workers, customers-anybody who can give you a new thought or perspective to think about. Ideas are almost always born of dynamic blending of thoughts, and the more you listen to what other people have to say, the greater your chances of striking a new idea you might not have thought of on your own.

Develop curiosity.
Yes, that’s right. The right attitude can act as a catalyst for new ideas. A person with intellectual curiosity and an overwhelming desire for knowledge will be inspired to dig deeper into issues, understand alien concepts and develop them into completely new ideas.
In the same way, staying open and responsive to diverse perspectives will make your ideas stronger and more powerful.Ask questions
Asking the right questions is the dominant tool for activating your intellectual curiosity. Just by asking simple questions about an issue, you can further strengthen your understanding even if you don’t know the answers!

The best part of asking questions is that almost anyone can learn to ask the right questions with a little practice. Strive for improvement .

Necessity is the mother of innovation. The moment you get satisfied with how things are, you stop thinking about creativity, improvement and innovation. Instead of falling into the trap of just doing something just for the sake of doing it, take time to think about the rationale behind it and constantly focus on how it can be enhanced and made superior. The need for continuous and never ending improvement is a catalyst for the birth of new ideas.

Take risks
If you made a list of some of the greatest innovations of today, you would find that people whose brilliance was largely ignored by their contemporaries created them.
At the time their ideas were first introduced, the general public was sceptical, even openly scoffed at them. It took decades, in some cases even centuries, before they were recognised for what they were worth and hailed as brilliant ideas.

Putting an idea into practice demands a great deal of conviction and fortitude.

When support is not forthcoming, you may have to take risks and make that leap of faith when you trust and believe that your idea can make a difference and be a OUT OF THE BOX THINKER FROM NOW ON.

So long and Adieu ,

N.C.Balachandran