A case for open culture at organisations

I believe strongly that the minds which created the problem cannot really identify and solve it. One always need fresh perspective at the problems and an open organisation facilitates that.

What are the things that do not lead to corruption?

What are the things that do not lead to corruption?
Knowing that your turn will come
Knowing that your gain will far outweigh the loss if caught
Knowing that you will be caught if complained
Knowing that people are free to complain
Knowing that people will be able to prove

Is competition the answer? How do you bring in competition within the government and what are the downsides?

Simplistic and Naive I believe…

Learning to Learn and Think

I was in Denmark this past summer. Moller, my friend (who himself is a good artist and I went to the National Museum of Art in Copenhagen. The Museum displayed the evolution of Danish Life and Art especially from the time the Monarchy was replaced by the parliament 300-350 years ago. (Contrast it to what we were doing at that time – fighting against theocratic policies of Mughals)

At that time, the intellectuals and leaders got together and outlined the vision for Denmark and set it on road to progress and prosperity. One of the key decisions that was made at that time,, and which is still being followed, was to impart education in a manner so as to enable people to – learn to learn – rather than learning facts. The idea was simple and profound at the same time. Till the time one knows ‘how to learn’, new things and the vast ocean of knowledge is accessible to him. Otherwise the person is stuck and has nowhere to go. I do not see such a thing being taught in India and was clueless about what are the essentials. I went back home juggling the idea in my head and eventually on Google. I found this nice link on Clara.net for helping students to learn in school and believe that it could help students a long way.

However, an extension of learning to learn in college is to apply the learning in real life. This can be put in simplified terms to be equivalent to learning to think and making decisions. One of the ways is termed model based thinking – promoted by Charlie Munger. Charlie Munger is partner of Warren Buffet in Berkshire Hathaway. He uses mental models to evaluate the value in potential investments. He advocates that there are a handful of models that enable clear thinking while making decisions and one should make a mental checklist of these mental models. These models are derived from various spheres of education such as Physics, Psychology, Economics, Biology and Accounting. Go read a speech of his at this link

Further, I believe that another important aspect to learning and thinking is to ask questions if you think you know the answer. It really helps a lot.

Profit and Manipulation

are the 2 basic drivers of human interpersonal interaction and the dna of the society at large?

Human Knowledge – Structured and Managable

The portal page of Wikipedia has to be one of the greatest tools available to us for making sense of things around us.

The sum total of human knowledge is structured and I think its for the first time that an individual can grasp the enormity of the world knowledge in such a quick fashion! Using this tool one can get a sense of proportion, sense of origin and the context of various issues and situations one handles.

Facts are Fluid. Aren’t They?

What are facts? They are defined as “A piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred”

What exists are generally the accounts of information written by the survivor or the winner. The complete picture is generally always missing. I guess, that is the reason why so many books exist on a certain topic. Then, on top of it, there are ‘mischievous’ accounts of facts which are intended to create doubts in the reader’s mind.

I am myself perturbed by the ‘facts’ and their interpretation thereof, that have been dished out in text books. Sometimes, as I now re-learn (by exposure, reading and experience) I get disillusioned. What I have now are a ‘bundle of facts’ that contradict each other, moulded by the perspective of the writer. They are Fluid.

So how do you know the right thing and know what works?
First, I concur that to be gullible is a crime.

Second, Question the ‘facts’ rather be cynical.

Third, read, listen and understand.