Reaching There

To err is human. This apparently implies the inherent nature of my species is flawed. The innumerable defects in me far overtake any virtues I may have been blessed with. As an engineer I know any mechanical design isn't perfect. The designer made some assumptions about the nature of work and designed within certain limits. Apparently that's how I work too! I have certain limitations within which I perform well enough to be classified as a normal human being. While in case of machines there are predefined tests which can expose any weaknesses in the design. But as a human being there are no set of "tests" which can help me find the flaws in me. So in a normal world I may live out my whole lifetime without getting a chance to know myself. In a world where technology and science have made our lives comfortable, I may never get a chance to explore myself. Although certain times in my life I have faced extraordinary events that force me to find who I am. But these events ...

Just in case anybody is wondering what "Lord, free me of myself. So I can look at the stars shining for me" means. Here it goes. Lord, free me of myself so I can please you is a quoted to Michelangelo, an Italian renaissance painter, architect, poet and engineer. Want to learn more about him click here . So I can look at the stars shining for me is a reference to the Coldplay song "Yellow". Want to listen to the song or read about it? These two lines from different sources describe the current state of my mind. It is up to you to make any inference! Enjoy the quote as well as the song. As for the "Reaching There" it is pretty simple to understand. If life is a journey so there is a destination out there.

Be yourself, be natural, don't be somebody else. We all have heard these words sometimes in our lives or at least have reached this realization based on some experiences. Like you I too have thought about this sometimes in my life and work. The meaning of being yourself or being true to oneself sound a bit abstract concepts. Can it be explained in easier terms? Recently watching Jodie Foster's interview on Inside Actors Studio, she said something that stuck with me. Jodie Foster on being asked a question about what should a new actor should show the producer to get his or her foot in the door. It sounded like a sensible question to ask. I am curious about what others' are interested in seeing in me that would make them like me or hire me or marry me! In others word I am generalizing myself for others' convenience. I am aligning myself to what society or media has deemed to be usual and suitable to be liked or hired or married. Before wandering too far giving my own ...

Am I growing? If I am, what is the parameter of my growth? Is it the right parameter to measure my growth? These are the questions that bugs me often these days. I try to ignore these questions. But they keep stirring in my mind as small storms which don't cause much disruption but gives a feeling of restlessness. I had a meeting  with HR department a couple of days back. The objective was to listen to employees' concerns on various matters. In a room full of twenty employees the majority of questions were about finances, promotions and hikes. All relevant questions but it left me a bit dumbfounded. Is this all to it, are we living the life with a sole aim of planning the finances? Is this the only way we measure ourselves, with the money we take home at the end of each month? So as long as my paycheck increases every year I am growing? I hope it is not the parameter of my personal success. I hope I can find and experience something beyond the bills in my hand. So what is a b...

I recently watched two interesting talks on www.TED.com . It has an eclectic collection of talks by speakers all around the globe. The two speakers that got me thinking were Stephen Wolfram and George Whitesides . The former, a American chemist, talked about "Towards the Science of Simplicity. While the later, a mathematician, physicist & the developer of Mathematics, spoke on "Computing A Theory of Everything". The talks were interesting from two aspects. One, both the speakers are trying to bare down a phenomenon or a system to its' basics Dr. Whitesides is moving towards simplifying things as he quoted Antoine de Saint-Exupery as " A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. " He is working on creating a "lab" which is cheap and would be useful in quick diagnosis. While Dr. Wolfram is using mathematical computation to develop a computation engine for inf...

The biggest challenge anyone can have is to adopt a different perspective than their own. It calls us to use every ounce of trust, respect and care we can garner from our conscience or heart. A perspective not our own leaves a feeling of vulnerability and insecurity; emotions we always try to run away from. Yet these are the emotions which can lead to higher rewards and realizations if we develop the patience to sustain them for longer periods of  time. What is a different perspective? It is the point of view you haven't explored yet. It is the deviation from the fixed, the desire to find out what's beyond the horizon or simply the desire to experience the unknown. Whatever we do with our lives there is always other things that could have been done too! But it is not always about taking the bold step into the unknown. It is just about accepting the presence of unknown. This itself leads to an enlightenment that it's not always about me. It's about somethings which may...

In industrial engineering it is a very common to observe a system to learn about it and suggest ways to improve it.  As an industrial engineer I have spent numerous hours collecting data on machining assembly lines and operator moments on a shop floor. The collection and analysis of data is the heart of any process improvement process. It helps to study the current behavior of a system (a system could be an assembly line, flow of shoppers in a departmental store or your internet searching habits). After all the data has been collected analysts/engineer try and make sense of it. This leads to a baseline formation on which you can base your improvement process. After a certain prescribed time you measure the change due to the improvement and evaluate the progress. It is a long and painstakingly slow process. A major such study is called Time & Motion Study. It is very similar to our lives. Our lifetime is a series of time and motion. A time is our natural progression from being...