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How to Examine a Process and Ask the Right Questions

September 29, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi 2 Comments

Method Study and Critical Examination

Method study is a practice of examining methods of doing work: work-flows, processes, etc. The key component of method study is ‘critical examination.’ Author Michael Armstrong describes critical examination in his ‘Handbook of Management Techniques.’

Critical examination uses the questioning approach to find out what, how, when, where and, most importantly, why and activity is carried out, and who does it. From this analysis, two fundamental questions are posed: (1) Does the activity need to be done at all? If so, (2) Are there any better ways of doing it?

The questioning approach for critical examination is described in the following chart. This chart is also available as a hand-out (PDF download) for quick reference.

Questioning Approach Critical Examination

Call for Action

A great degree of professional work–in engineering, management, finances, and other functions of the modern corporation–involves analysis of products, procedures and systems. Here, thought-processes involve asking, and seeking answers to, a series of questions.

In my role as an engineer and manager, I carry the above chart of questions to meetings and brainstorming sessions. The chart helps me ask the right questions on the intent of a process or system and gain a big-picture perspective for my work or task at hand.

Download the critical examination handout, post it at your cubicle and refer to the chart for help on asking the right questions.

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  5. Build, Then Optimize

Filed Under: Mental Models, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Creativity, Questioning, Thought Process

Inspirational Quotations #188

September 23, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
—John Wooden (American Sportsperson)

It is not enough to succeed, others must fail.
—Gore Vidal (American Novelist)

If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle.
—Vincent van Gogh (Dutch Painter)

Habit is thus the enormous flywheel of society, its most precious conservative agent. It alone is what keeps us all within the bounds of ordinance, and saves the children of fortune from the envious uprisings of the poor.
—William James (American Philosopher)

There is no use going back looking for the lost opportunity; someone else has found it.
—Anonymous

One of things I keep learning is that the secret of being happy is doing things for other people.
—Dick Gregory

Aim at the sun, and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a level with yourself.
—Joel Hawes

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
—Unknown

The character and qualifications of the leader are reflected in the men he selects, develops and gathers around him. Show me the leader and I will know his men. Show me the men and I will know their leader. Therefore, to have loyal, efficient employees-be a loyal and efficient employer.
—Arthur W. Newcomb

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #187

September 16, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Richer is one hour of repentance and good works in this world than all of life of the world to come; and richer is one hour’s calm of spirit in the world to come than all of life of this world.
—The Talmud (Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith)

To succeed you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.
—Tony Dorsett

I have never been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others.
—Thomas Jefferson (American Head of State)

Quite often we change jobs, friends and spouses instead of ourselves.
—Akbarali H. Jetha (Indian Author)

We cannot do everything, but we must do everything we can.
—Glenn L. Pace

Habits are safer than rules; you don’t have to watch them. And you don’t have to keep them, either. They keep you.
—Frank Hall Crane

It doesn’t hurt to be optimistic, you can always cry later.
—Lucimar Santos de Lima

After all is said and done, a lot more will have been said than done.
—Unknown

It is possible to fail in many ways… while to succeed is possible only in one way.
—Aristotle (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

After all is said and done, more is said than done.
—U.S. Proverb

If you achieve success, you will get applause, and if you get applause, you will hear it. My advice to you concerning applause is this; enjoy it but never quite believe it.
—Robert Montgomery

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

The Waiter Rule: A Window to Personality

September 12, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi 1 Comment

Window to An Individual’s Personality

This article in USA Today says that how one treats a waiter can predict a lot about the person’s character.

The article quotes Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson and Sara Lee CEO Brenda Barnes.

A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person. Watch out for people who have a situational value system, who can turn the charm on and off depending on the status of the person they are interacting with. Be especially wary of those who are rude to people perceived to be in subordinate roles.

How executives treat waiters probably demonstrates how they treat their actual employees. Sitting in the chair of CEO makes me no better of a person than the forklift operator in our plant. If you treat the waiter, or a subordinate, like garbage, guess what? Are they going to give it their all? I don’t think so.

“The Waiter Rule”

We presume each person’s influence is a function of his/her rank or title. Consequently, we may fail to treat everybody as we wish to be treated.

All of us, especially the ones from the service and hospitality industries, have our favourite stories of people who treated us with dignity: perhaps a manager who remembers her employees’ kids’ names or a fellow-passenger who helped us handle luggage on a flight. We also have our tales of people being indifferent in various contexts: perhaps a new secretary who got yelled at for mistakes by an executive-on-fast-track.

Fundamentally, the ‘Waiter Rule’ indicates that how we treat seemingly insignificant people, whether on a date or a job interview, can provide pointers to our personality and priorities.

Call for Action

Contemplate the following:

  • Consider your own experiences when you were touched by others–their thoughtfulness or consideration. How did you return their kindness? Additionally, think about circumstances when you felt disrespected or discouraged. How did you react?
  • Now, reflect on how you treat people: your loved ones, your staff and colleagues, ushers, store attendants, and the rest of the people you interact with everyday. Do you accept who they are and accommodate their concerns? Are you generous? Do you treat them as people or as a means to an end? How can you change?

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Filed Under: Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Attitudes, Courtesy, Likeability, Personality, Virtues

Inspirational Quotations #186

September 10, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

If you don’t have a test, you won’t have a testimony.
—Unknown

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
—Galileo Galilei (Italian Astronomer)

Make changes with SNAPS|S-Specify the situation|N-Name your feelings|A-Ask for what you want to happen|P-Pay off – will be either positive or negative|S-So go for the positive result.
—Unknown

If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.
—Jiddu Krishnamurti (Indian Philosopher)

Only in growth, reform and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to be found.
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh (American Author, Aviator)

Never give in—never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
—Winston Churchill (British Head of State)

If you don’t change direction, you’ll end up where you’re going.
—Unknown

If I don’t have friends, then I ain’t got nothin’.
—Billie Holiday

Minor surgery is surgery someone else is having.
—Unknown

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #185

September 2, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Live today to the fullest. Remember it’s the first day of the rest of your life.
—Unknown

We are like people with short-term leases on summer cottages; we can never seem to make our provisions come out even with our stay.
—Mignon McLaughlin (American Journalist)

To have a friend, be a friend.
—Common Proverb

Either you run the day, or the day runs you.
—Jim Rohn (American Entrepreneur)

Knowledge, a rude unprofitable mass, the mere materials with which wisdom builds, till smoothed and squared and fitted to its place, does but encumber whom it seems to enrich. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; wisdom is humble that he knows no more.
—William Cowper (English Anglican Poet)

Enduring habits I hate…. Yes, at the very bottom of my soul I feel grateful to all my misery and bouts of sickness and everything about me that is imperfect, because this sort of thing leaves me with a hundred backdoors through which I can escape from enduring habits.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (German Philosopher, Scholar)

He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (German Philosopher, Scholar)

In our lives we each act, evaluate, correct, then act again.
—Unknown

It’s all right to have butterflies in your stomach. Just get them to fly in formation.
—Rob Gilbert

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #184

August 26, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The battery in a car works only because it has a positive and a negative. As parents we also must have the same balance and be kind and loving, but also tough when it is necessary.
—Unknown

That man is successful who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much, who has gained the respect of the intelligent men and the love of children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who leaves the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish Novelist)

To change family life -|Husbands love your wives,|Wives respect your husbands,|Children obey your parents.
—Unknown

If you stop struggling, then you stop life.
—Huey P. Newton

He has achieved success, who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
—Bessie Anderson Stanley (American Poet)

Perhaps we are looking at this from a wrong perspective; this search for the truth, the meaning of life, the reason of God. We all have this mindset that the answers are so complex and so vast that it is almost impossible to comprehend. I think, on the contrary, that the answers are so simple; so simple that it is staring us straight in the face, screaming its lungs out, and yet we fail to notice it. We’re looking through a telescope, searching the stars for the answer, when the answer is actually a speck of dirt on the telescope lens.
—Unknown

How simple it is to see that all the worry in the world cannot control the future. How simple it is to see that we can only be happy now. And that there will never be a time when it is not now.
—Gerald Jampolsky

Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you’ll never cease to grow.
—Anthony J. D’Angelo

Happiness is not perfected until it is shared.
—Anonymous

Life is only a combination of different experiences. Demand to enjoy them all.
—Unknown

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #183

August 20, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

It’s only the view from where you sit that makes you fear defeat, but life is full of many aisles, so why don’t you change your seat?
—Unknown

Love is the crowning grace of humanity, the holiest right of the soul, the golden link which binds us to duty and truth, the redeeming principle that chiefly reconciles the heart of life, and is prophetic of eternal good.
—Petrarch (Italian Scholar)

Wear a smile – one size fits all
—Anonymous

Don’t re-anything. Don’t re-do, re-peat, re-cover, re-finance – do it right the first time.
—Unknown

Set patterns, incapable of adaptability, of pliability, only offer a better cage. Truth is outside all patterns.
—Bruce Lee (Hong-Kong-born American Sportsperson)

You never realize how much you love something till its gone.
—Unknown

An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.
—William Bernbach

If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.
—Shunryu Suzuki

Anyone can give up–it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when the rest of the world would understand if you fell apart… that’s true strength.
—Anonymous

Wear a smile—one size fits all.
—Anonymous

It’s no longer enough to be a ‘change agent.’ You must be a change insurgent—provoking, prodding, warning everyone in sight that complacency is death.
—Robert Reich

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

The Informed Business Traveler

August 19, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The informed business traveller: Develop Curiosity

Patrick McGovern, the founder and president of the International Data Group (IDG,) offers the following tips for business travellers in the April 2007 issue of the Inc. Magazine.

  • Get Briefed: I prepare a briefing book with the latest economic and business information on countries I am about to visit. I cull most of the information from the Internet.
  • Arrive Early: For first-time visits, I like to arrive in a country on Saturday and spend the weekend wandering around observing people’s behavior. I gain a sense of the pace and the culture: how fast people walk, how they gesture when they talk, what they wear, what they read. It puts me in sync for my Monday meetings.
  • Bear Gifts: In Asia, Latin America, and Africa its good form to present your host with a gift. It needn’t be lavish: a book about the city you live in, an engraved paperweight, or a silver business card holder will do just fine.
  • Practice Humility: In many cultures it’s considered impolite to boast about yourself or your company’s accomplishments. However, talking about your children and asking about those of your hosts is a great way to bond. Also, work in references to your philanthropic activities. It suggests you will share your success with local worthy causes.

Call for Action

To facilitate intelligent conversations with people you meet on travel, be more knowledgeable about the place and people you will visit. Ahead of your departure, collect more information about your destination: its history, the surrounding geography, the heritage, famous people, sports teams, etc. Upon arrival, try to walk around your hotel or in the downtown and get a feel for your destination. This initiative will enable you to cultivate your curiosity. People you will meet will then feel you are interested in them, thus facilitating your interactions.

Practice being an informed business traveller—being interested.

Filed Under: Sharpening Your Skills

Inspirational Quotations #182

August 15, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how things are in themselves. The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.
—Carl Jung (Swiss Psychologist)

The splendid discontent of God|With chaos, made the world…|And from the discontent of man|The world’s best progress springs.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (American Poet)

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.
—Albert Einstein (German-born Theoretical Physicist)

A closed mind is like a closed book, just a block of wood.
—Chinese Proverb

Only we can choose how great of an impact our actions have on others,|So choose something that does not discourage, but rather inspires.
—Unknown

A tool is but the extension of a man’s hand and a machine is but a complex tool; and he that invents a machine augments the power of man and the well-being of mankind.
—Henry Ward Beecher (American Protestant Clergyman)

Don’t stand shivering upon the bank; plunge in at once, and have it over.
—Thomas Chandler Haliburton (Canadian Author)

There is nothing that makes its way more directly to the soul than beauty.
—Joseph Addison (English Essayist)

We can’t live our life over again, but we can really live up to our potential from this moment on.
—Unknown

Faith will take us to the destination God wants us to get to. We have a destiny.
—Unknown

Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.
—Benjamin Disraeli (British Head of State)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

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About: Nagesh Belludi [hire] is a St. Petersburg, Florida-based freethinker, investor, and leadership coach. He specializes in helping executives and companies ensure that the overall quality of their decision-making benefits isn’t compromised by a lack of a big-picture understanding.

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Unless otherwise stated in the individual document, the works above are © Nagesh Belludi under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. You may quote, copy and share them freely, as long as you link back to RightAttitudes.com, don't make money with them, and don't modify the content. Enjoy!