On A Lighter Note - II

Hey There Everyone,

Hope you all are having a great weekend.

The Expo 2020 Dubai has crossed 20 Million Visits and is ending soon on 31st of March.

So Do Visit the Expo 2020 Dubai & Enjoy.

= = =

On A Lighter Note

Writing a humour filled post is a bit challenging.?

Humour needs a stretch of imagination which needs time and as you all know “Am A Very Busy Person & I Don't Have Time”.?hahaha

Am a novice but me thinks humour has to be natural & spontaneous coming from wider observations of our day to day world as well as experiences that most can relate to.

So based on current events & social listening?

Presenting This week’s On a Lighter Note?

Starring: Platov, Elona Musk, Cultural Musings, A NZ Clown & The Big Bad Boys of Finance

= = =

Part I: Resolving Conflict through Sport

Starring : Platov, Elona Musk & Kadyrov

The Plot:?Swayed by western hysteria on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and with news of the Judo federation withdrawing the Judo Titles earned by the Russian President, Elon Musk wanted to do his bit to end the conflict or to save Tesla (without metals it can’t survive) or save the Western World or Ukraine from the Russian President.?

So he tweeted a challenge to the Russian President

Translation:

I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to single combat

Stakes are Ukraine ?

(Stakes are Ukraine - Ukrainians please don’t feel bad. Its Social Media & specifically Twitter so let’s forgive him he is rooting for you & provided star link internet access too).

The Russian President has a long list of nicknames but it seems he fondly recalls his nickname from the Intelligence school, PLATOV, so lets go with that.

Platov did not respond to Musk but his close associate Mr. Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic responded with advice?

“Dont measure your strength against Putin, you are in two different leagues and it will be unsportsmanlike when he beats the hell out of you, a weaker opponent” and invited Musk to train at several training centres in the Chechen Republic to pump up those muscles in order to change from the gentle (effeminate) “Elona” to the brutal Elon who can challenge the Russian President.

So "Elona" came to life and Musk proudly changed his twitter handle for few days with the name “Elona Musk”.

Whether the bout will take place or not, twitterati had a field day creating memes and posters for the imaginary bout.

The idea of resolving conflicts / war with hand to hand combat between the heads of two warring nations is an old one and would be lot better than whats happening now with so much of loss of life and humanitarian suffering.

I can’t help but wonder what would happen in a bout between an Ex-Comedian Turned War Hero and Platov. It will be total entertainment with sell out crowds with the ex-comic star putting on a great show just jumping around, ducking and frustrating Platov.?

It is a good idea though. What do you say Russians & Ukrainians?

PLATOV?Vs?NATO, let’s not go there.

Mr. Platov, most people understand this conflict is much bigger than Ukraine but kindly remember it is never clear what is the acceptable Price we have to pay for the change we want in the world.

I urge you to not make it too long and hard on the people.?

I urge you to make that value judgement with heart and in favour of the people of Ukraine and Russia.

= = = ?

Part II: Culture is not something Unattainable Or just for Snobs?

Culture is not some distant abstract thing for snobs that we see in Art, Luxury, Architecture, Languages & Performing Arts and say wow culture is something high up there, nice & unattainable, can we reach it, rather it is each one of us who are the true embodiments of culture.?

Our beliefs & traditions, our values, the way we think, the way we give expression to what we think through various forms of expression, the way we interact, the way we talk, the way we behave, the things we support & appreciate & the things that we impart to our children etc etc etc., is all Culture and we all are collectively its manifestations.

So culture is not a chic museum, or a library or an art gallery and you go in there and you come out cultured.

Culture is practice & living it, so let’s teach Culture holistically in all its dimensions and develop Cultural Appreciation & Cultural Understanding from a young age as the returns will far far outweigh the loss of little of our identity may be. Thats human progress and development.

Most of you may be familiar with the “Attention” and “Stand At Ease” routine mostly seen in the Military and Security Services.

Did Some One Somewhere Forget to Tell “Stand At Ease” to Society.

Because Most People these days seem to be on 24 / 7 / 365 Attention Mode

Have you been to a Gym lately, do you see Machines with shoulders raised walking like robots. Thats a growing sub-culture within the larger fitness culture, most of whom use artificial proteins to pump up their muscles & transform from Elona to Elon.

Plus in the larger society too since someone forgot to say stand at ease so many people are walking & living in Attention Mode all the time and walk, talk & interact like robots with no feelings. I feel like they are carrying the burden of the Everest on their shoulders.

I understand there are conscious global efforts in popular culture to convert masculinity in femininity and femininity into masculinity but having some feelings does not make men feminine.

So can someone please says “Stand At Ease” so people can relax their shoulders and put the heavy burdens they carry down.?

If most people are in Attention Mode how are they going to connect with others and explore opportunities to collaborate & co-operate and build connections. Will the Attention Mode not scare other people & act as a barrier especially since we want to build bridges?

I have been highlighting about Culture, not that people are not cultured. All are cultured in their own ways because every society or group of people have their culture as they are born & brought up in it but for multicultural societies a different playbook is required. Besides narrow national and linguistic sub-cultures there is the larger Universal Culture with its own values which all people irrespective of backgrounds understand and connect with, which is essential for Multi-Cultural Societies.

Can we say since you came here you have to adopt to our culture and business practices (assuming educated or talented people from around the world had nothing better to do anywhere else in the world) or we create a Universal Social & Work Culture thats ideal for multicultural societies and everyone can feel part of it.

What is needed is to learn to demystify our excessive self importance & develop the ability to interact & communicate appropriately in different situations with different people and do little real research in advance and learn to extend appropriate courtesies.?

It is very ironic that people expect everyone to respect them by default but they have difficulty to extend the same respect to others.

Besides giving and receiving respect & clear communication, it is high time to learn to Value Time; Our time, others time, and timing of things so we do things according to urgency of things and not according to our whims and fancies. Coz in a world where software is becoming more important than hardware, it is time to give up old habits & time waits for no one.

= = =

Part III: Hedge Funds want to play by Rules

This piece of news made me smile. It really made me smile.?

I get a dimple too when I really smile. hahaha

The real bad boys of Finance, Hedge Funds want to become good boys & play by ESG Rules. What?

An article in Bloomberg states “Hedge funds frustrated over lack of clear ESG regulations”

Hedge funds keen to get a piece of the $40 trillion environmental, social and governance (ESG) market are voicing growing frustration over what they say is an absence of clear regulations for one of their most popular investment strategies, Short-selling.

Last year, the EU led the way in trying to rein in the ESG boom by enforcing an anti-greenwashing rulebook: the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SDFR). The EU says it covers all corners of the asset management industry, including short selling.

“There are genuinely green strategies that involve shorting”, but “SFDR generally speaking doesn’t take into account short positions”.

In the absence of clear compliance rules & regulations hedge funds are in a limbo.

My 2 cents: When in doubt use your heart and align business practices with your core values and the impact your decisions will have on stakeholders.

A strategy where everyone else is losing money and you make profits, sounds kinda wrong in any which way you look at it. Thats what Shorting is. How about changing the practice itself considering the negative impact it has on the stock price, markets as well as small investors.

Stay optimistic guys there is hope that the world may eventually become a much better place if all start caring about the impact of their decisions and play by fair rules.

When Institutions become too detached from reality, lack transparency and become corrupt then change emerges organically.?It is better to be proactive in identifying & addressing issues & lead the change.

May be its time just like the secretive world of Hedge Funds is having change of heart and reflecting on their practices so will the military industrial complex as their core products & their use is only meant for conflict and war and they seem to be making a killing in Ukraine.

= = =

PART IV: Professional Business & HR Practices

As in any Multi-Cultural Society, here in the region we have people from all parts of the world who bring their unique set of beliefs and business practices. There is definitely big variance in how people see their teams with Eastern People thinking that they are doing a favour by giving a job to a qualified person who will deliver some service in return for the pay. While the culture and work environment of MNCs is what most aspire to and is a straight forward professional transaction - you give me your time and skills and deliver on agreed performance and we offer the best of pay and benefits.

All business people who are doing Favours by Hiring People, Please don’t assume you are doing favours in Business. No you are not.

You are getting value and you are paying for it. If Not value is added in few months he will eventually have to go out. The logic that for each job we get 200 CVs so we have enough people seeking work and am hiring you so am doing a favour is flawed.?

If you are large hearted and want to do favours then do personal favours outside of the business by helping people in any which way you can. Don’t mix up personal with professional.

If you hire a person who is not skilled because you are kind and want to do favours, he will become a liability for your business if he is not useful. So No Favours Please.

At Work its best to be Professional so work remains purely work and people will be more satisfied.

Don’t do favours at work or in Business. PERIOD. Let it be purely a healthy mutually beneficial relationship.?

This shift in business mindset & organisational culture and the folklore stories of the past needs to change for productivity and staff satisfaction and the best schools of management from around the world have shared enough insights on how to do so.

Since business executives have different backgrounds and not all of them update their knowledge with the latest in work culture and employee engagement and satisfaction, we hear amazing stories about unprofessional HR practices.

With economic challenges worldwide, the rate of layoffs may have increased significantly and it is never easy or a pleasant experience for the employee or the person firing him going through the exit interview etc,

So New Zealand has found a solution to make it little easier & better experience by allowing a person being fired to bring an “emotional Support person”.

So one person brought a Clown to the Exit Interview and asked the manager whatever difficult things you want to say, do say it to Mr. Pickles, my hired clown.

The idea is to humanise difficult conversations because we are all human and?for that the person making the difficult decision has to get into the shoes of the person experiencing it. Until then you can’t feel it.

It is a good idea to reduce emotional damage especially if you work for a company that has unprofessional managers with funny HR practices.

= = =

If today’s On A Lighter note gets heavy & I am laughing re-reading what I wrote but if you are not then its not cool. Hahahahaha

Laugh, no one is watching & there is no Tax on It.