That little “extra” to ordinary

“The difference between ordinary and extra-ordinary is that little extra” – Albert Einstein.
I came across this quote from Einstein yesterday. Not to sound like or compare myself with him, I have followed this and preached this to my friends for a while.

This is a mantra I have been following since my PhD and it surely makes you glitter. Some extra’s I can think of right on top of my head are

When you solve a problem, it is ordinary
When you think about preventing it in future or solving for everyone, it is extraordinary.
When you spend time with your loved ones when they need it, it is ordinary
When you never let the need creep up, it is extraordinary
When you pray to god thanking him for the food you eat, it is ordinary
When you resolve to feed the less fortunate than you always, it is extraordinary
When you exercise when you have time, it is ordinary
When you exercise regularly, it is extraordinary
When you think about why someone has been unfair to you, it is ordinary
When you smile at the helpless nature of that person, it is extraordinary
When you judge someone based on their reactions to you and your problems, it is ordinary
When you overlook your biases and stop judging, it is extraordinary

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Several things from our daily lives can be listed. The line between ordinary and extraordinary might be small, but it is very distinct. In your work place or home or community, where ever your interactions are with others, you can definitely take the extra effort to provide an extra ordinary experience to others. Companies can do it too. Some people I have watched on TV or have come across in my everyday life have done it…

When Sony introduces a MP3 player, I think it is ordinary
When Apple presents their ipod, I think it is extraordinary
When Bill Gates presents, I think it is ordinary
When Steve Jobs charms, I think it is extraordinary
When I have my coffee at Jim and Joes, it is ordinary
The experience I get at Starbucks is extraordinary…

I agree! it is your quote!!

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Ambition vs. Perception

It is very important not to let ambition to achieve cloud the ability to perceive things clearly. In a company, the ability to succeed really depends on your ability to understand the situation, politics and priorities of the management. I have been found guilty of not doing this recently and had to deal with some distractions that could have been easily avoided.

What ever your goals and visions are, never forget that if those goals and visions are not nicely aligned with the right time, it is going to backfire. What is the right time? Sometimes you know it in heart (can be wrong) or find a trusted friend or mentor, who has been in the company long enough to know. The latter always helps!

A world of kind(l)er possibilities

Yesterday, I had an idea when thinking about the Amazon Kindle. Now, several people have bought the kindles and that means that have to buy the ebooks along with it. Say,  have 100 paper books in my library, what will happen to those books? If I want them on my kindle, I need to buy these 100 books (100 * 10 dollars = 1000 dollars). I have an idea:

1. What if the publishers decide to give away the electronic version of a book in exchage of the paper version?

-The way it would work is, that publisher announces that everybody who has a copy of some book can ship the book back and in turn receive a kindle ebook. They can charge a nominal fee like 2-3 dollars for this service, which is much less than the actual Kindle book price.

2. The paper books that are returned can be donated to organizations like to Room to read who help the children in developing countries by building schools and libraries.

-This would generate a bonus money for the publishing company to justify doing this. Also, it would help millions of children and adults in developing countries an access to knowledge.

I guess there are a lot publishing policies issue that might prevent this from happening. I guess this is more of bureaucratic nature than anything else. If this would happen, the world would be kind(l)er.

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Article in EDAdesignline

http://www.edadesignline.com/howto/211600976;jsessionid=SX0YTBH3FKYTIQSNDLOSKHSCJUNN2JVN

I wrote this a while back.

Let’em Sniff

If you want to sell your idea, you have to let people sniff it. it is similar to the nice ladies standing in the food court of a shopping mall offering you samples of their wonderful teriyaki chicken or minestrone soup. You are hungry after shopping for a long time with your significant other and you lap up the not-so-good tasting food. Actually, my wife is very good at this. Lot of times when I say I am not hungry or I do not want to eat, she just convinces me to try a little. Well, there I go! She is a good cook and she needed to just give me a taste of the wonderful food I am going to eat, if I choose to .

Selling deas both inside an organization or in the outside world is the same. You need to give it away just enough so that people have a chance to see what a great product/idea they are going to own.

Let

Power of Motivation

The last 12 months are so, I have seen first with great interest. then with great appreciation and now with great awe, how a man who was given no chance what-so-ever has managed to move the entire nation. The thing that inspires me about Obama is his ability to feel the pain and address the need of the people listening to him. He is no wonder an extremely powerful speaker, because he moves people with his speech.

The power of the voice

He is a great example of selling ideas across. Several people are excited about hearing what he has to say.

Exciting people is very important in selling one’s ideas. If you want your ideas to be accepted, then go out and talk. Talk about how your ideas address the pain and how they solve the most important problems of your listeners. This is the fundamental secret of connecting with people no matter where you are giving the talk.