Tag Archives: Management

Business, Engineering, Management, Money, Time

TIME AS A RESOURCE

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by R. Srinivasan

Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else.
Peter F. Drucker

Peter Drucker is right, of course. Time has immense practical value. Time is money. But do we really understand what time is? We only sense its passing, based on the regular daily rounds of the sun, phases of the moon, devices known as clocks … et cetera. Some people relate time to karma, others relate time to entropy – while others still blame Einstein for all the confusion. After all, if everything in the universe is in ceaseless relative motion, whom can we trust?

When we harken back to our childhood, this inevitable question pops up in the mind: ‘O Father Time! What have you done to me?’ But perhaps that plaint should be addressed to Father Karma? Or to Father God? Is time just another name for God?

Indeed, we have no choice but to be humble. So let us turn to practical matters, related to our livelihoods. We do so by delving into Srini’s first-hand account of his many years of professional experience in the efficient management of time.

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Life, Management, Politics, Psychology, Search for truth

MOTIVES, MOTIVES!

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Last week, Srini discussed ‘politics of management’. Clearly, almost every agent in that kind of a political environment has hidden motives, or personal agenda. An agent’s personal agenda must be kept hidden, quite simply because it is not aligned with organizational goals; discussing it openly would let the cat out of the bag – and allow others to plot against it.

Srini made it clear that one learns about such politics only when one gets into the real word – which is where one runs into conflicting human motives. Text-book knowledge of management principles cannot impart the valuable lessons which real life experience does. In text-books, human beings are assumed to take up some idealized roles – as ‘director’, ‘manager’ … and so on. Real human emotions and motives cannot be captured in text-books.

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Business, Happiness, Life, Management, Power

Politics of Management

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Over the years, R. Srinivasan (Srini to friends), a co-editor of the blog, has written many posts originating in his work as independent management consultant. Today we are re-posting one of Srini’s earlier posts, which we believe readers will find of great interest.

One of the first lessons in management schools is titled Principles and Practice of Management, which forms the core basis of understanding how modern organizations are supposed to be managed. However, as one gets into the real world, every student of management, and even those who do not have formal management education, soon come to realize that there is one more ‘P’ that governs the management of organizations. This ‘P’ is not formally stated anywhere; I have decided to call it ‘the politics of management’.

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