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One of the biggest challenges of organization building is last mile accountability.

Which, in my opinion, starts with last mile expectations.

What is it that I expect this individual to be focusing on?

Not multiple things.

Just one thing. At one point of time.

And what is the outcome I expect from it?

It’s supremely hard to get to this.

In a small setup, everyone ends up doing everything. And while that’s necessary, it rarely brings in accountability.

So when things fail, one doesn’t know what to fix. Who to fix.

In a large setup, everyone hides behind the organizational chart. There is excess and it’s easy to be missed, if one lays low.

So when things fail, it’s cover your ass time. One again doesn’t know the root cause.

Here is a good question to ask – that helps see the problem clearly.

“What one failure will make me fire this person?”

If you are unable to answer this, or there are multiple failures as a response to this question – you are in trouble.

The goal is to find that one metric that someone is responsible for. And the company cares about.

“Here are Multiple metrics” is the wrong answer. “It’s hard” is the wrong answer. “Too early for us” is the wrong metric. “Don’t know how to do it” is the wrong answer.

If you don’t know why you would fire someone, then the person should be let go off today.

There are 4 kinds of people

1. Those who love you and celebrants your wins.

2. Those who hate you and criticize what you do.

3. Those who pull you down because they don’t want you to win.

4. And those who call out your bluff when you go wrong.

It’s a fact that one will go more wrong than right.

Which means there should technically be more type 4 people than type 1.

So isn’t it strange that we find more type 1s around us?

Or, we want more type 1s around us?

People who call out your bluffs are honest. They are truth seekers. They know you might not like it, yet they risk it. Because that’s what they do.

And only they will help you see your blind sides.

Those who call out your bluff are far more precious than those who call out your wins.

If you asked people this question

“What’s the one thing you would want, if you were lost somewhere?”

It’s quite likely most people will respond

“A map will be all that I need.”

Except,

It’s the wrong answer.

A map won’t help, because you don’t know where you are on the map.

Same is true for life too.

When lost, most of us crave for a map.

A diagram of which road leads to where.

We rarely stop to realize that in the absence of our own location on the map, the map is just a useless item.

What might help, is to retrace our steps. To try and go back where we can came from. Our fundamentals. The core. The origin. The point that might explain it all.

Because no matter how lost we are, we always know where we came from.

Recall the first time you drove a car! It’s a miracle that our feet, hands and eyes coordinate that 2,000kg machine. Especially if it’s a stick-gear car.

That’s a lot of moving parts at one time – within us and the car!

Recall how that felt the last time you drove a car.

Nearly not as much as a miracle, I assume!

To the extent we added more moving parts.

Music

Singing

Checking messages

Paying tolls

Road rage :)

I don’t know if you have ever tried, the next time you are driving, try and pay attention to your feet and hands. What they too.

It’s likely you will be left amazed yet again at how this is so natural to you now.

Same goes for tying a tie.

Same goes for writing.

Same goes for typing.

Same goes for brushing.

Same goes for buttoning your shirt.

Tying your shoe laces.

It’s all a habit now!

A habit that you don’t pay attention to anymore, and it continues to deliver. Almost without fail.

And if you were to pay attention to it any day, you might just falter.

Habits will win over awareness, almost everyday, in the battle of life.

The question then is – what are you habits?

1. You have to be told what to do

2. You know what to do

3. You do it

4. You do it well

If you feel stuck in life, which stage are you stuck at?

Knowing where you are is the first step to knowing what needs to be done to move ahead.

The dynamics around seeking forgiveness and granting it, is fascinating.

An apology is as it is rare to come by. And we don’t seem to be quite prepared to handle it, when it happens.

Quite often, we are seeking an apology but as soon as we hear “I am sorry”, our likely response is

“Oh it’s ok. Don’t worry about it. Not a big deal”

That confuses them.

“Am I stupid to have apologized?”

“Was I over thinking?”

“Did I just make a fool out of myself?”

A better response will be to tell them how much it means to them that they thought about this.

Same for gifting.

We receive a gift and go “oh you didn’t have to”

Instead “how thoughtful is that of you”

Someone pays on our behalf

“Oh no no no. I don’t take money from anyone.”

Instead, “that’s really kind of you. I will pay you back by tomorrow.”

Nothing beats an action that generates confidence in a person that their effort was worth it.

Missed a flight this Friday. It was a connecting flight and my incoming was delayed.

I reached the flight counter 30 mins prior to departure. It was evident that I wouldn’t be allowed, but I had to ask.

“The flight is closed, sir”

“I understand that. Is there something that can be done? I have already checked in and don’t have any check-in luggage.”

“Why did you come late, sir? We have mentioned that the counters close 45Mins before departure. And now it’s 25mins.”

Usually I am a big fan of any statement that starts with why.

Except when the statement follows the announcement of a mistake or a blunder.

Because most likely, the shy statement isn’t going to help. One bit.

Just as the “why are you late?” didn’t help either.

Instead of trying to solve the problem or admit that it can’t be solved, it goes into blame mode.

“Why did you do this?”

“Why couldn’t you think through this?”

“Why did you even try?”

“Why do we always end up like this?”

“What were you thinking?”

Asking why can either make you move forward or send you back in time.

This time machine operates at your command.

What are you going to use it for?

Courage is not when you face what’s in front of you, while being fully armed.

Courage is not when you face what’s in front of you, when you know you have everything needed to win.

Courage is not when you face what’s in front of you, when you are feeling the best about yourself.

That isn’t courage.

Maybe that’s the feeling of being powerful.

Maybe that’s the feeling of being ambitious.

Maybe that’s the feeling of optimism.

But it isn’t courage.

Courage is when you face what’s in front of you, knowing that you are weaker.

Courage is when you face what’s in front of you, knowing you don’t have everything that’s needed to win.

Courage is when you face what’s in front of you, with self doubt.

Courage

Is when you face what’s in front of you

Because that’s the only option you have given yourself.

Because not showing up

Is not you.

Whenever I find myself saying “I have nothing to share” – it’s a lie.

I do have a lot to share.

Just that I feel it’s not important enough for the other side.

Or that the way I will share it will not be appreciated by the other side.

So the right thing to say would be

“I have nothing important to share” or

“I won’t be able to share”

How many times in our day do we replace “I can’t do this” with “I won’t do this” or “I couldn’t do this” with “I didn’t do this”

How many times do we create an excuse when the choice is always with us?