Human Resources Redefined: Self Improvement Techniques

Santa had a fundamental question. Santa approached Banta and asked whenever a ball is thrown in the sky, it comes back. Why does it happen? Banta smiled and told that ball comes back because of gravity. Obviously next question from Banta was ?I want to meet gravity?? Banta explained that gravity is not a person or a thing, it is a phenomenon. Gravity cannot be seen or heard, it can only be experienced.

Banta told that four hundred years back Sir Isaac Newton asked a similar question when apple fell on Newton?s head. ?Why does apple always fall perpendicularly on the ground?? This simple question was the origin of theory of gravity. Santa asked whether people were laughing at Newton when Newton asked that question. Banta was not sure but how does it matter. Santa said that when Santa asked the question about the ball. People were laughing at Santa. Banta told Santa that all great things look stupid in the beginning. People have right to laugh and they can laugh at anyone or anything. One should not lose hope and always strive to find answers. Banta narrated a story of Socrates to boost morale of Santa.

Story says that Oracle of Delphi revealed that Socrates was the wisest man in Athens. Socrates was not ready to believe Oracle. Socrates decided to question everyone he could find, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer. Instead they all pretended to know something they clearly did not. ?Finally Socrates realized the Oracle might be right after all. Socrates was the wisest man in Athens because Socrates alone was prepared to admit his own ignorance rather than pretend to know something he did not.

Santa was impressed by the story. Santa wanted to be the wisest man on the earth. Santa decided to go to all the people who knew Santa and ask them a question. Issue was what should be the question. Santa thought for a while and finalized the question ? ?What do you think about Santa?? Banta admired Santa for choosing the right question. In case Santa has certain weaknesses, all those weaknesses will come out and Santa will have an opportunity to be a better person, if not the wisest.

Santa went to 200 odd people and got answer from everyone. Not even a single person was in a doubt and everyone had a firm opinion about Santa. When asked to elaborate, people conveniently elaborated comments made by them about Santa. Socrates formula did not work in case of Santa. Santa was dejected. One because Santa is not the wisest, secondly because direct feedback received from various people was too direct.

Banta consoled Santa that getting feedback is the best part of someone?s life. Now Santa knows about the things which Santa need to improve upon. Santa was not sure how much of that feedback is relevant or even valid. There were around 100 items which people wanted Santa to improve upon. Banta recognized the denial and appreciated the problem. Banta advised Santa to consolidate the feedback. After consolidation Santa found that 80% people had problems with 20% things Santa does. Top of the chart was picking nose in public. Santa was embarrassed. Santa asked Banta whether Santa actually picks his nose. Banta confirmed the finding. Santa was more appreciative of the feedback now.

Banta introduced the concept of Johari window. Johari window has four quadrants. Open Quadrant is aspects of ourselves known by self and others. Blind Quadrant is aspects others see but we are not aware of. Fa?ade Quadrant is our private space and Unknown Quadrant is subconscious part of us, not seen by self or others. Santa understood that by asking others about self, Blind spots have come to the open space. Santa is more aware about certain things Santa was doing unknowingly.

Banta explained that the concept of Johari window is about exploring the subconscious. There are many things, which our subconscious makes us do and our conscious is not even aware about them. When others give feedback, it brings our subconscious to the conscious zone and we have more self-control. Interestingly when we share our private space with others, it also helps us in understanding our subconscious behavior. Santa asked whether Santa should share private things like how many times Santa takes bath in a year. Banta said that one has to be prudent. However feedback given by people gets refined because people start understanding your perspective. Santa shared his first journey by plane, Santa had a doubt about the functioning of life jacket but Santa thought that nothing untoward will happen and did not ask cabin crew. Unfortunately the plane had to land on water and Santa was not able to locate the life jacket. Santa was survived by the rescue team and took three months to come out of the trauma. Banta immediately pointed out whether this is the origin of Santa?s inquisitiveness and endless questions.

Santa was amazed by the power of Johari window. As Blind and Fa?ade quadrants shrunk, Santa was more aware about his subconscious. Santa wanted to experiment more and wanted to go to more people for feedback. Banta said that Santa does not need to go to more people for feedback. There is a powerful technique called ?Khanduja Technique? which does not require external intervention for feedback. Khanduja technique is based on two simple principles.

First principle is that ?Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder?. Each individual experiences the world with own sensory organs. Perception of the individual about the world is the real world for the individual. Our brain is very selective in storing the information received by our sensing organs; hence each individual experiences the same world differently depending on the preferences of the individual. Second principle is ?When you point one finger towards someone, other three fingers point at you.? We are good at identifying our strengths and shortcomings in other individuals. Whenever we give feedback to someone, it is apparently feedback to self.

Khanduja Technique requires 45 chits, pen, A4 size paper and a glass container. Khanduja technique tells you to write down names of 5 people you like, names of 5 people you dislike and names of 5 people you are neutral to, on the A4 size paper. You should have observed these people for at least 10 hours in past one month. Then pick up a chit and write one feedback for one person in a chit without mentioning name of the individual. Put the chit in the jar. Feedback may be negative or positive but should be constructive. There should be three feedbacks for each person. At the end of the exercise, you will have 45 feedbacks. Destroy the A4 size paper. Keep the jar safe for one week. After one week, start taking one chit out every day as if you have been given the feedback.

Banta said that this is one of effective methods of exploring subconscious and identifying areas of improvement for self. Santa was all excited because Santa got the answer to his first question. The answer is when you throw the ball in the sky. It comes back to you because there is no one else to catch.

This article is inspired by my Professor?Neil Bearden?at INSEAD.
www.harjeetkhanduja.com by Harjeet Khanduja publishes HR relevant topics in layman language and redefines conventional concepts in current context without making HR too technical or complicated

Source: http://www.harjeetkhanduja.com/2012/10/self-improvement-techniques.html

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