Obsessed with round numbers!

To begin with, let me brag a bit. I started running some 2 months back. I use to struggle to complete 5kms in 45 minutes, but now I can finish 7kms in 42 minutes. To a commoner that’s just an improvement of 2kms but to a novice runner it means a lot because every breath counts. I must than my adidas shoes, my nike shorts, apple ipod and Katrina Kaif for this.

By the way, did you notice the numbers here? 7kms in 42 minutes, that’s an average of 6minutes per Km. There are days where my Nike Running app tells me that the average is 6.04 minutes and that seriously bothers me – because it’s more than 6. But, an excess of 0.04 minutes is just 2.4 seconds, so should I actually be bothered? There are days, when I do 6.85km, this again upsets me as I couldn’t do 7km.

My other problem is rounding while tipping. What if the total bill on credit card charge slip is 1317, in all likelihood, I’ll spend some 19 seconds to make it round. So depending on the service, tip may be 83 or 183 just to arrive at total bill of 1400 or 1500. But, shouldn't I be just adding 100 or 200 instead of doing this rounding drill?

Am I the only one who is obsessed with a round number?

I think I am not alone; we all are obsessed with some or other patterns as far as numbers are concerned. Sometimes Round Numbers, say 80% marks are hugely better than 76.2%. Sometimes a Special Sequence, Car license plate number 1234 is far better than 1247. There are people who like numbers associated with Special Dates, a guy born on November Ten says,1011 is all he wants. There’s also a category of people who have their Lucky Numbers, and this tribe can go beyond any imagination to get that.

While I understand that 60% marks are better than 59% because our education system classifies 60% as a first-division but why a car license number 1234 is better than 1247? Sometimes we give logic that these special numbers are easier to remember. So, mobile number ending with 12345 is far better than 26749 because 12345 is easy to remember, right? But, who remembers mobile numbers anyways, it’s all stored in memory of phones – and I am sure that phone program won’t have any more difficulty in remembering 26749 than 12345.

Other obsession is our ‘show-off’ tendency – car number 007 is damn special. You really think a Honda City with 007 numbers has more ‘show-off’ potential than a Merc with 2680?

There are some who take this obsession to absurd heights, Read this report Wannabe mothers line up for 12/12/12 babies. So, I am sure Sunny becomes special because he is born on 12/12/12  and that's enough to get him a wild card entry to IIT, IIM or MTV Roadies!

Let’s stop obsessing over special numbers, move on, and enjoy life without numbers. Ok.

PS: By the way, I have crossed 1000 followers on twitter and just 900 short of 2000.

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Age is no guarantee of efficiency!

I turned 38 recently. Well, some say 40 is the new 30, so by that standard I am yet to begin. But, there are others (including me) who want Sachin (39) to retire. For those, who are about to tell me the difference between physical vis a vis mental condition, you didn't hear about 100 year old Fauja Singh yet.  Won't be surprised if he is Sachin's inspiration. 

Till now there was at least one vocation where even being 40+ was considered to be youth or good enough to begin, yes, politics. Alas! even there, we see some 30+ making waves and reducing the average "youthful" age. Sigh.

We even saw 'young' SRK (47) playing 25 year old Samar Anand in Jab Tak Hai Jan, but if I discuss Bollywood here, we'll digress.

My point is what's the professional shelf life of a human in an average corporate job? These days corporates start hiring directly from the campus and one may start his/her professional career at as young as 20. Now if Gladwell is to be believed all it takes is 10000 hrs to be be an expert - that makes around 4-5 years of practice. So, 5-6 years in a job are good enough to make you expert. 

I very well know that in corporates there isn't a specific task to be performed, yet, even if one does "Boss Management" for 5 years, he gonna master it by 26-27. So, who needs a 35+ or a 40+ guy in any new job!

Ok, every thing else being same, if you have to hire a 28 year old guy with 8 years of relevant experience and 38 year with 18 years, why would you hire a 38 years old guy? What extra benefit that experienced guy would bring to you?

Somehow, I think, after a point, age (read experience) doesn't bring much value, rather, it makes people difficult to unlearn. Forget the new job, even in the existing job, times are changing and 'being young' is no more a disadvantage for that promotion or getting a corner office.

I agree that there are ways and means to Botox yourself by continuous learning, up-skilling and being the 'known devil' yet, it's like Rani Mukherjee learning bike-racing and other stunts to compete with Deepika Padukone for a role in Dhoom 3. (Apologies to Rani's fans, if any).

Even that 20 something Quartermaster in Skyfall (Q) told much older Bond, "Age is no guarantee of efficiency". 

Focus has changed, isn't it?

So, how many of you think that age brings a disadvantage in a corporate job?

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Out of Office!

"Out of Office" is an important feature of an Email Program, not sure why some of us go bonkers while using it. Here is how I treat some of the creativity displayed in such messages.

“I am in a meeting till 1 pm so shall be able to reply to your email post that only”

Dude, no need to announce if you are away from desk for couple of hours. Next you’ll say “I am off too the loo and shall be able to reply post washing my hands only”.

“I am not in Mumbai but operating out of Delhi office,  please expect a delay in reply”

What the hell man, both are in the same time zone, If you got a PC/Laptop there, why delay!

“I am in an offsite at Lonavala till 19^th and shall have only intermittent access to emails, I'll reply when back in office”

We all know what happens in off-sites,  well, without digressing what purpose does it solve for the email sender whether you are in offsite or not.

Image acquired through web

“There are public holidays in India on 13^th, 16^th 18^th and I am on leave on 14^th, 15^th, 17^th and 19^th. I’ll be replying to you when back”

Now this is heights, why you announce full India Holiday Calendar and your leave plan in Out Of Office email. Email sender is smart enough to figure out that you have clubbed leaves with holidays to have a long vacation, so don't try to fool around.

Mind you, "Out of Office" auto-reply is not a four-square that you'll convey your offsite locations. It's also not a twitter timeline that you need to tell what are you doing. No way it's your appraisal form that you convey to your boss and all others, saying "I am busy in back to back meetings". 

Well, to me, an email out of office message is just to intimate the email sender that you are not in a position to reply and whom the sender should contact in your absence. In the era of Blackberry and iPhones, it’s even meaningless to call it “Out Of Office” because you are any how connected even if not in office. 

A simple and effective out of office should say – when you’ll be back in office (don’t confuse the sender by saying, I am out till 19^th if 20^th and 21^st are weekend) and whom to contact if urgent.

“Hi, I’ll be back in office on 21^st, please contact John at John.Abraham@ja.com. 

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Recently Added!

What's the first thing we do after we transfer some new songs to our ipod or iphone? We just choose the playlist "Recently Added" and get going. Easy, isn't it. I am sure lots of surveys would have led to the finding that the first thing one wants to do after downloading new songs is to listen the recently acquired songs.

What next! If you like some of them, you quickly make an "On the go" list and here is your quick playlist. Once we start liking the songs, we try making a rather permanent playlist and name it, right. 

Now, see if we can apply the same routine to our newly acquired skills or habits. Think.

Step by Step

1. Recently Added
2. On the Go
3. Thoughtful Named Playlist

Let me explain a bit, say if you acquired a new skill - some expertise in statistics, a new IT certification - keep this on top of your mind for quick access, as this "recently added" playlist does for your music. Apply this skill "On the go" see if it works. If working, then add it into the Thoughtful Named Playlist and practice when required. 

If this new skill is damn good and working, try "On the Loop" but don't overdo that you or others get a fatigue.

Go Play!

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I Run, You?

"Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the fastest lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be running." - Roger Bannister

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