United in sympathies

 UNITED IN SYMPATHIES

 Decades from now the world will remember this unrelenting pandemic 

Moreover, wonder how we made it through . The year the Grim Reaper decided to make a stop over 

 Wielding a sharpened scythe and harvesting at will

 Family gatherings will suddenly turn nostalgic ‘Covid’, will be discussed, and 2020 revisited – painfully 

Those poor wretched brave souls whose toil was in vain 

 Many of who would have passed on

 A single candle will be lit 

and fervent prayers recited 

 The melodious chants of well-loved hymns 

will echo in the wind 

 On a cold, dark, wintery night 

 There will be stories and tears 

and families will reminisce 

On the good old days which were suddenly turned upside down

 Lockdowns, masks, social distancing and contact tracing

 Symptomatic, Asymptomatic, containment and herd immunity 

Incubation, screening, super spreader& ventilator .

May just be words by then – mere words

 But what of now 

 These, are words we shudder to repeat 

 As they force us to conjure images 

Of harrowing disease, agonizing suffering Unbearable pain and excruciating death 

 Of loved ones, of friends, colleagues and others Who continue to depart this world

 And fade into oblivion with grim regularity. 

 We reach out- console their grieving families And extend a helping hand 

 Then life goes on as before 

 Yes – we question our own mortality 

 While pondering on matters, 

better left unsaid 

 Today, we are united by sympathies 

 Therefore, what still divides us?

United in sympathies

 UNITED IN SYMPATHIES

 Decades from now the world will remember this unrelenting pandemic 

Moreover, wonder how we made it through . The year the Grim Reaper decided to make a stop over 

 Wielding a sharpened scythe and harvesting at will

 Family gatherings will suddenly turn nostalgic ‘Covid’, will be discussed, and 2020 revisited – painfully 

Those poor wretched brave souls whose toil was in vain 

 Many of who would have passed on

 A single candle will be lit 

and fervent prayers recited 

 The melodious chants of well-loved hymns 

will echo in the wind 

 On a cold, dark, wintery night 

 There will be stories and tears 

and families will reminisce 

On the good old days which were suddenly turned upside down

 Lockdowns, masks, social distancing and contact tracing

 Symptomatic, Asymptomatic, containment and herd immunity 

Incubation, screening, super spreader& ventilator .

May just be words by then – mere words

 But what of now 

 These, are words we shudder to repeat 

 As they force us to conjure images 

Of harrowing disease, agonizing suffering Unbearable pain and excruciating death 

 Of loved ones, of friends, colleagues and others Who continue to depart this world

 And fade into oblivion with grim regularity. 

 We reach out- console their grieving families And extend a helping hand 

 Then life goes on as before 

 Yes – we question our own mortality 

 While pondering on matters, 

better left unsaid 

 Today, we are united by sympathies 

 Therefore, what still divides us?

You

 You

The untamed rivers are running their course.

And emptying themselves into the expansive, tempestuous seas

Only to refill and repeat the process afresh.

Day after day and night after night.

Yes – day after day and night after night.

The great horned owl hoots.

And the deadliest jaws hunt

And the weak are chased down and devoured mercilessly

It’s the circle of life.

Day after day and night after night

The scorching sun rises in the east, and sets in the west.

And the sequin – silver stars appear in the night- time sky.

And we gaze up and stare with wonder

At Polaris, Sirius, Antares and Rigel

Without even blinking our eyes

And everything is so foreseeable & predictable.

In this amazing universe

And then there’s you.

You

 You

The untamed rivers are running their course.

And emptying themselves into the expansive, tempestuous seas

Only to refill and repeat the process afresh.

Day after day and night after night.

Yes – day after day and night after night.

The great horned owl hoots.

And the deadliest jaws hunt

And the weak are chased down and devoured mercilessly

It’s the circle of life.

Day after day and night after night

The scorching sun rises in the east, and sets in the west.

And the sequin – silver stars appear in the night- time sky.

And we gaze up and stare with wonder

At Polaris, Sirius, Antares and Rigel

Without even blinking our eyes

And everything is so foreseeable & predictable.

In this amazing universe

And then there’s you.

Wake up and smell the roses

 WAKE UP AND SMELL THE ROSES

(A 4.45 am weekend thought )

Have you ever wondered why people behave the way they do?

Punching below their weight- intentionally!

being critical and confrontational,

While attempting to validate alleged grievances .

Are they just captious perfectionists?

Entangled in mystifying arguments with themselves?

Or nebby, boisterous, busybodies- acting on a whim?

Taking it upon themselves

to sweep the Augean stables clean.

Why do otherwise principled, right thinking, intelligent humans, behave irrationally?

Totally out of sync with their habitual, ethical selves

and think nothing of it.

Topic for a dissertation maybe?

Is it trepidation, apprehension, anxiety, over thinking?

Is it a, ‘yeah I am awesome syndrome’?

Or could it be an inflated ego, and over estimation of self-worth?

Is it one of these or an amalgamation of the above?

One minute all is quiet on the western front.

Music, peace, friends, laughter, tranquility-

and then without warning,

or so much as a, ‘by your leave’,

Or a, ‘may I please’

Pandemonium ensues and the world knows it .

Off they go on an irrevocable tangent.

Cursing the rainbow and cuddling serpents!

Spiralling out of control – frenzied, raving, and ranting

Refusing to listen to reason, logic, or even common sense.

They become unpredictable, unresponsive, ludicrous & irrational

Lashing out

And often throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Is it letting feelings override facts?

Is it decision paralysis?

Is it perception based on biases?

Or are they just befuddled, bewildered and punch- drunk?

Zoned out Angels can start to grow horns- can’t they?

Wake up and smell the roses!

Or the coffee if you will!

Life is all about choices.

About fulfilling purposes and accomplishing goals

Its an aspect of existence

Wake up and smell the roses

 WAKE UP AND SMELL THE ROSES

(A 4.45 am weekend thought )

Have you ever wondered why people behave the way they do?

Punching below their weight- intentionally!

being critical and confrontational,

While attempting to validate alleged grievances .

Are they just captious perfectionists?

Entangled in mystifying arguments with themselves?

Or nebby, boisterous, busybodies- acting on a whim?

Taking it upon themselves

to sweep the Augean stables clean.

Why do otherwise principled, right thinking, intelligent humans, behave irrationally?

Totally out of sync with their habitual, ethical selves

and think nothing of it.

Topic for a dissertation maybe?

Is it trepidation, apprehension, anxiety, over thinking?

Is it a, ‘yeah I am awesome syndrome’?

Or could it be an inflated ego, and over estimation of self-worth?

Is it one of these or an amalgamation of the above?

One minute all is quiet on the western front.

Music, peace, friends, laughter, tranquility-

and then without warning,

or so much as a, ‘by your leave’,

Or a, ‘may I please’

Pandemonium ensues and the world knows it .

Off they go on an irrevocable tangent.

Cursing the rainbow and cuddling serpents!

Spiralling out of control – frenzied, raving, and ranting

Refusing to listen to reason, logic, or even common sense.

They become unpredictable, unresponsive, ludicrous & irrational

Lashing out

And often throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Is it letting feelings override facts?

Is it decision paralysis?

Is it perception based on biases?

Or are they just befuddled, bewildered and punch- drunk?

Zoned out Angels can start to grow horns- can’t they?

Wake up and smell the roses!

Or the coffee if you will!

Life is all about choices.

About fulfilling purposes and accomplishing goals

Its an aspect of existence

Workshops and me

 I am someone who does not like ‘Workshops ’. Let me elucidate – Workshops per se would be okay, if the process itself was revamped. Now, this is a very broad and general statement and has no reflection whatsoever on the company I work for, where the culture is exceedingly progressive & very different from the run of the mill. Not enjoying workshops may sound odd or strange, considering I am in the ‘education field’, and have been so for 40 years, but hear me out before you pass judgement. A great Workshop or Professional Development event is to supposed to refine skills, be simple, be fun, energize one, be an invigorating learning experience, and above all, motivate, and inspire the attendee to do better and think differently. However, for many employees, the world over, it is usually the opposite. More often than not, they come out feeling bored, disillusioned and even disgusted. The reason –a large number of PD’s that people attend are repetitive, passive, jargon heavy, tiresome, too simplistic, or just downright monotonous. It is often the case of ‘old wine in a new bottle’ and if I may add- not exactly, very palatable wine either! Now you may say that it is not workshops, which are a bad thing, but the resource persons who conduct them – for me it is the complete package. Here is a question, along with some advice to Educationists and others who may read this, as it pertains to all segments of the workforce. Why is so much of the professional development that people attend, such a waste of energy and resources? The number of person-hours that probably go down the drain in companies and institutions is such a criminal waste of time. I have, over the years, had this discussion with innumerable friends and colleagues, and almost all have had similar views. According to a recent survey, ‘the majority of PD is provided in a workshop model, and workshop models are inherently ineffective. This has been a perennial debate and the jury is still out on this one. It amounts to giving everyone the same information, regardless of their prior knowledge, skills, experience, and leaving it up to them to determine how, or if, it is implemented at all. The follow up is zilch. People have obviously heard of the word Differentiation. In 1999, the American educator, author and speaker, Carol Ann Tomlinson, wrote about the “Differentiated classroom- responding to the need of all learners” Over the years, we have seen how Differentiation continues to play an effective & substantial role in how pupils are taught, and it has proved a boom, to tens of thousands of pupils, especially those with a special educational need. Now what about adults in a PD classroom? If it has worked for children, then why won’t it work for adults? They could be bankers, teachers, marketing professionals or accountants – it does not matter and mark you, this is not rocket science. We would certainly not teach our students this way. In addition, if we do not expect our students to come to class at the same level and learn in the exact same way- so why do we expect it from others? It is about time managers and leaders started thinking differently. Prior to conducting a workshop or a PD session , it would be wise to take a survey of your staff to see what they know about a professional development topic, and how skilled they consider themselves in that area. I am an educationist, and hence I know that schools already have a sense of this, from knowing the teachers well and being in their classrooms regularly, but it is about time that all administrators, in diverse companies, realize, that getting prior reflective feedback from the intended participants is critical to the success of the PD as well. Educational institutions can do better too. This information will also then allow leaders to tailor this professional development session to meet the needs of the individual, designing smaller group sessions with flexible groupings to instruct them at their varying levels of readiness and need. Thus, the more experienced ones can get together to problem solve difficulties they might be having, or compare solutions while simultaneously sharing strategies and best practices. This way, participants of all readiness levels are meaningfully engaged, and the ensuing workshop becomes an enjoyable learning experience-, which was obviously the intention in the first place. When you work on the interest or need of the participants, they are more likely to be deeply engaged, making the work more productive -- just like with students in a school. In the classroom, we often have stronger students help their peers. Allow the workshop participants that have particular skill sets or experience, to run smaller group sessions. It provides leadership opportunities and develops a sense of ownership over the institutional improvement process. It is also worth considering that fact, that sometimes adults are more open to listening to someone in a similar position to himself or herself, than they are in taking directives from a senior administrator. I had the wonderful opportunity, while in my present company, to attend a Leadership course at The Tuck School of Business – part of the Graduate business school of Dartmouth College, an Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. To say that I returned with a fresh perspective, not only on education, but also on life itself would be putting it mildly. The sessions were interactive, simplistic, thought provoking and fun, and it was time well spent. I feel if we truly practice what we preach where differentiation is concerned it will surely add value. If professional development is about growth and improvement then leaders must first strive to improve the process itself.