Friday, May 29, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The blind dolphins of the River Indus
This rare species of mammal faces extinction and authorities in Pakistan are doing all they can to help the few remaining to thrive.
The River Indus is one of the longest rivers in the world. It is formed by the convergence of Himalayan glacial streams and passes through two of the world's tallest mountain ranges before flowing into the Arabian Sea. The major tributaries of this mighty river are the Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab.
This mighty river has for centuries, been host to the blind dolphin (Platanista minor). Although it has a closely related cousin (Platanista gangetica) that lives in the Ganges River in India, this dolphin has some distinctive features that place it in a separate subspecies.
Locals refer to this small mammal as bhulan while the term used in India for the Platanista Gangetica is susu. The characteristics that set this dolphin apart in its class is the long beak it exhibits and the fact that it has no eye lens which effectively renders the animal blind. The bhulan navigates using echolocation to find fish, shrimp and other prey in the river bottom. It weighs 70-110 kg (155-245 lbs). The maximum size is 2.5m (8.2 ft), with males smaller than females.
Due to the fact that The Indus River dolphin swims on its side, trailing a flipper along the river bottom, it is able to move in water as shallow as 30 cm. The dolphin comes up for air every 30-60 seconds and rotates to breathe before rotating once more to swim back towards the river bed. This side-swimming behavior is unique to the Platanista. It also, sometimes, carries its young on its back above the water surface.
It is included in the IUCN (the World Conservation Union) Red List of Threatened Species. In 1988 and 1990 the dolphin was listed as vulnerable under IUCN but since 2004 it has been included on the Red List. The Inia, which is found in the Yangtze River, has an even lower chance of survival with its population numbering about 100.
Empowerment, a global mantra or a buzz word?
It is striking how often people pursue lives outside work that are full of achievement and responsibility - doing voluntary work, coaching a kids' sports team or developing an absorbing hobby. Yet at work the search for achievement and fulfillment by these same people vanishes. It is as though they leave their commitment and enthusiasm at the office door or factory gate. Listlessness and resigned indifference take over.
This phenomenon prompts a question: is there a way of winning more involvement from employees at work, thereby generating the enthusiasm and commitment they give so unstintingly outside it? If such a way exists, people will do all they can to help their organisation prosper, gaining job satisfaction and self-fulfillment along the way. Everyone benefits.
This is the challenge of empowerment.
Empowerment sounds a seductively easy way to win significant commercial benefits at little or no cost. It can, however, have major implications for the way a business is managed. Some organisations have shown that only a philosophical break with the past can overcome the mistrust and apathy that are the greatest barriers to gaining the workforce's full commitment to the organisation.
In the past, people did what management told them and no more. This approach can no longer be relied on to produce consistently high levels of performance. Not only has there been a change in employees' expectations of how they should be treated, but the business environment is so complex that everyone's active participation in solving business problems is needed.
It is human nature for people to want to feel that they are valued and that they contribute to the success of the enterprise in which they work. Many want to make decisions, devise solutions to problems, exercise their initiative and be held accountable for results. Though they may not be considered 'management material', they are quite capable of taking responsibility for their actions, behaviour and performance at work.
Empowerment is the mix of practices and behaviours that encourages people to realise their ambitions for a meaningful working life. Empowerment is a step which an individual will take only if conditions are right. Managers cannot directly empower anyone: that is a contradiction in terms. They can, however, create the conditions in which people can flourish, and without which 'empowerment' remains a mere management buzzword.
Life is a branding problem
"Branding is the promise you make; your Brand is the promise you keep." Anonymous
Life is a branding problem. You think your way through it. Implement your plan and the rest follows.
It is a branding problem or a branding challenge? I prefer to describe life as a journey of self-definition a sort of branding and then trying your dandiest to make sure you're staying true to yourself (i.e. to your brand)? Am I doing things "the Einstein way?" I hope so...
All my life I used to wonder what I would become when I grew up. Then, about seven years ago, I realized that I was never going to up, that growing is an ever on going process.
Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, "This is the real me," and when you have found that attitude, follow it. Have you ever felt as if the only thing in life that props you up is about to be pulled from under you and there is nothing that you can do about it? Don't you just hate that feeling when you have been crying and your eyes just feel so tired and you feel emotionally drained?
Some notable notes which arent a rocket science:
Service is the very purpose of life. It is the rent we pay for living on the planet.
You can’t always get what you want.
Succeed without branding? Is that heresy?
Can you afford a brand?
No brand...? You’re in good company.
