Friday, September 26, 2008

Leadership games..

It seems like it is again, a time for dumb heros, of victims heroics, of hot-air inspiring speeches, of heart-stirring warcries and of leaders.

Every good company needs good leadership in order to grow (as in, grow in a sensible way. company merges, dumb takeovers, stupid hirings don't count), and in the effort to have more people leading the dumb masses, my company started leadership training.

The first steps of leadership training apparently involves what is written at the delphi: "Know Thyself". The participants are required to fill in a multiple-choice questionaire that taxes the limits of intelligence, patience and privacy.

I'm not sure, but afaik, great leaders tend to result in great results. Looking in history, those who have achieved much (attila the hun, al capone, J. Edgar Hoover comes to mind) seems to have stood out. and I betcha that they didn't need to fill out any questionaire!

Thursday, September 04, 2008

[real life] Ping-pong, aka "Watch my backhand!"

The ping-pong opponents squared off on the grounds, glaring at each other. The first serve sent the ball swiftly across, with maximum impact. Being ready, the opposite player intercepted the ball, and returned the ball with god-like speed. Almost breaking the soundbarrier, the missile reached the first player - whose vast experience in ping-pong served him well. With amazing dexterity and expertise, the challenge was met with great gusto.

stroke for stroke, serve for serve, the ball hyperspaced from one end of the table to the other. Sound barriers were tested, sonic booms almost produced, and the laws of physics defied.

(at the first instance where established laws of physics were proven wrong, Einstein was heard turning in his grave, and all physics doctorates were declared null, void and useless. The gravity of the situation was getting from serious to absurdly stiffling.)

With a final stroke of genius, the first player hit the ball with some ancient technique that had long thought to be lost from the ping-pong world. The serve was so successful that the ball broke all limits ever known to man, and burst into a fiery meteor. The opponent was utterly consumed and the game was conclusively ended.

No, that was not some scene from Balls of Fury. Its not from some futuristic street fighter game either.

Its actually a visualization of how responsibilities were thrown from department to department, with each department trying to make the next department shoulder the work.

The Olympics might have been over, but games are definitely still ongoing.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

today's little contribution to the darker side of life..

from today's darker side..

Colleague: "what is that word to describe the ability to inflict maximum chaos on many people?"

Me: "erm. i think that's called terrorism"