Corona departs, but lessons remain

The recent declaration by the World Health Organisation says that the pandemic is no longer a public health emergency.In other words it is over. But there are certain crucial lessons that it leaves for us to remember. Whether humanity will learn those lessons is the big question. Particularly, because our past record is not very encouraging on this count. It was some three years back that the corona virus descended on humanity. Call it a natural catastrophe or God’s ire, the impact was devastating as the entire humanity came to a standstill.  Probably, God wanted humanity to get a taste of what divine disruption is all about. We had been interfering with the ways of nature and creating all sorts of disruptions to feed our ego. Without any sense of remorse we kept on advocating exploitative disruption as the new way of life, caring two hoots for those warnings that nature intermittently had been giving. Pride had to come to a fall.Nursing assumptions that our escapades would not irk God, we failed to realise that even the divine patience can give way,as in the past. So Corona, like its previous avatars, was pressed into service. For one more time God was angry. And rightly so, because we had not learnt from the past,  and the punishments that befell were conveniently forgotten. From the great Deluge of the Old Testament to the wrath of modern times, humanity has hardly changed. Even the deadly scourge of 100 years ago had no trace in our collective  unconscious as we continued with our rampage on nature. Our actions continued to disrupt the equilibrium of the wonderful system created by the Lord, leaving for him just one option.Corona, thus, was a  divinely ordained course correction.Rather, the coarse correction. Humanity had failed to mend its ways and is still not learning.

Where have we gone wrong? Our attitude and ego are the culprits. Instead of acknowledging God’ s munificence and showing gratitude for all that has come by His grace, we take those as our entitlement. The mission of the corona virus pandemic was to make humanity realise that being the highest order in the creation of the Almighty, it needs to behave virtuously like human beings. Instead, it tampered with nature’s bounty, throwing spanners in God’s design for sensual gratification. The intervention,for the umpteenth time, was for the same reason -to make us learn the art of living with nature. To utilise rather than exploit resources. To live and let live. The experience of the past suggests that much learning is still to come despite several periodic attempts from the Lord Almighty. True, human beings have come out of the stone age, but the stone age has not come out of them. Even as we watch our tribe perish, our greed keeps us blind and our ego continues to drive us to unreason. We need to ponder whether pandemics are all biology, or there is a good bit of psychology involved.

Climate Change- Act or perish

Whether one likes it or not the problems of humanity are mounting as mother Earth is striking back with vengeance. And rightly so.We have taxed the earth far beyond her carrying capacity and she is not willing to tolerate anymore.The writing on the wall is bold and clear – Act or perish. If soaring temperatures in the month of April are any indication worse is yet to come. And this is not a pessimistic outlook but an assessment based on sound realistic observation. The impact of climate change is being felt far and wide.Even the geographically blessed region like Europe is facing the heat.There is need to understand that it is time for fast action. Things have gone beyond the scope of awareness. In fact, it was some five decades ago that leaders of several countries deliberated over the problems related to the environment at Stockholm in which the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was also present. We have come a long way since then as far as creating awareness is concerned. But apart from observing World Environment Day or Earth Day, we still do not have the right clues as to what more is urgently needed to be done. Though some action has been taken they are not enough.The Problem is that the action to reverse the climate change has still not involved the masses. It has to be realised that the magnitude of the problem is too big to be left to a small class of elite whose actions  based on seminary and academic sophistication  will not have the desired impact. Moreover, climate change is the sum total of all human actions and the entire humanity has to be a part of the efforts to reverse the climate change.

Look where we have come. If we take  Jharkhand as a case study we can easily realise how grim the situation is. We are only in the beginning of the summer season and look at the temperatures that we are facing. Forty degrees plus by mid April is quite a significant pointer to the shape of things to come. Remember it is the same Jharkhand that was once the South Bihar plateau as per the class six or seven geography books that mentioned about the forests and the summer rains of the region. That was typical of a plateau region. It was due to the pleasant climate during the summers that Ranchi, the now capital of the new state Jharkhand was the summer capital of Bihar State. And the older generation may remember that April used to be quite pleasant in Jharkhand due to the intermittent rain and squall that would make afternoons and evenings quite enjoyable.

What has gone wrong? The very name Jharkhand suggests trees, bushes and forests. But they have all dwindled with time and the denuded landscape stands witness to the reckless human exploits as we  replace greenery with jungles of concrete. High rise buildings are our symbols of development and prosperity. But we hardly realise that they are also our road to disaster. The lop sided development has taken more than It has given.A deeper analysis would reveal that environmental health also is a result of faulty lifestyles like our physical health. All those so called indices of development like air conditioners, refrigerators, luxury cars and gadgets are in fact more villainous than friendly. And to cap it all hi tech water purifying techniques like reverse osmosis waste three litres of precious water to produce one. It is time to pause and think. Is all this sustainable?

It cannot be. The problems have been created by human beings. The answer also has to come from human beings. The so-called brouhaha over green technology will not take us far unless backed by sincere human action. Even small efforts of conservation by human beings will lead to a much faster reversal of climate change.The sooner we realise this the better it is.

Cricket is not just a game

The IPL season is on and the cricket fever appears to be as infectious as corona, albeit less dangerous, affecting people across age and gender. Talking about cricket at this time may be quite appropriate. Not just the commerce, the excitement, the charm, the emotion and the drama, but a lot more can be said and written.

From the gentleman’s game to a gladiator sport cricket has come a long way. What started as a pastime for English aristocracy has now become a means of global engagement, with not just the gentlemen but even the ladies becoming equally hooked. And in the course of this transformation there are many lessons that can be learnt. Lessons on life, on chance, on luck, on motivation, and of course on human potential. It is no longer about the two umpires who used to err at times, but also about the third umpire whose judgement is final.

A lot has happened on the field and beyond ever since the game was first played. While the history is long, the mystery that it unravels is even bigger. There was a time when  transistors were the only source of getting a ball by ball account. And yes, the commentary was a treat to listen to, offering many  lessons  on language and literature. Commentators excelled in the art of communication and could build an excitement that would make even the bollywood movies look ordinary.

Let us then talk cricket. 

There was a time when only test matches were played  and 200 to 215 odd runs by a batting side was the norm. Anything more was an  exception. But then came Kerry Packer, a marketer, on the scene. And the game changed forever. Initially the limited over format would see a batting side score around 225 to 230 runs. Anything more was a high score. The mathematics was 450 to 460 runs in a day. But this was the beginning. Some tweaking in style and even 400 per side was not enough. It was now 800 runs in a day. In fact, single batsmen would score double centuries. Then came the T20. Look what it has done to cricket, 200 runs in 20 overs. And to understand the way it is played just the recent IPL match between KKR and Gujarat Tigers is a pointer, 205 was the target for KKR. The score read 176/7 in 19 overs, 29 runs to be scored in the last over. A hopeless case for most observers. A tailender is to face the pace bowler. He manages a single that brings Rinku Singh on the strike. And then cricket  unfolds. A rarely hit six over the extra cover, and the commentator, who praises  the effort  finds it not enough for the winning cause.The other commentator, however, says stranger things have happened. And then comes the second six. And then the third, and the fourth and the fifth. The match is over. But cricket is on.The game of glorious uncertainties at its best.You need wit and grit. And,of course luck, a bit. But luck has always been  the factor X in life. Even our very consistent Sunil Gavaskar wrote in Sunny Days that had he not got  those two chances in his first innings, things would have been different. But luck apart, cricket is also about temperament and persistence.You can win, rightly has someone said that impossible is in the dictionary of the fools. The adage is right, at least for cricket as the match is not over till the last ball is bowled

The RECIPE FOR ANARCHY

Moonlighting cannot be justified, for it fails loyalty test to contracts 

Right and wrong, fair and unfair, ethical and unethical are no longer subjects that have standard definitions. Logic, convenience, personal interests, hedonism are the determining features that influence the judgment or opinion about an action or conduct. Universal benchmarks are missing.

These are strange times. No one likes to be wrong so everyone thinks he is right and defends his viewpoints with logic which veers largely around commerce. We are into an era of commerce. The moonlighting issue of the IT services is no different. It is also about commerce. But the matter needs to be discussed in a wider perspective. Ends cannot justify the means.

One big IT company chairman has recently admitted that the company has fired 300 of its employees in the past few months for working for direct competitors. Now here comes another question. Does it imply that the employees working in one industry can work beyond office hours or weekends in some other industry that is not in the same business?

Not easy to answer because it cannot be considered ethical. Quite intriguing why this matter is not discussed in that context and even the chairman who described moonlighting as cheating is trying to soften his stand. It is not clear what he means when he says that employees can have a transparent dialogue with the organisation about their second or weekend work.

Why this ambiguity? Will the disclosure allow people to work for two different companies? Even if some companies may like to take a more generous view of the phenomenon, the fact remains that the practice of moonlighting cannot be a fair practice.

Rightly, some CEOs said that moonlighting is an ethical issue. Every employee who joins a company enters into a contract which has two aspects. An explicit one which is the appointment letter that mentions about the job conditions, duties and responsibilities, etc. But there is also an unwritten contract, the implicit one which requires that the employee should be devoted and loyal to the company.

Holding two jobs may thus be antithetical to this. Even if moonlighting may not exactly be about one person having two jobs, it certainly is some kind of opportunity cost that the company will have to bear. Full-time employment should not go along with part time employment. Conflict of interest of one kind or the other is likely to arise. And we have seen what kind of damage conflict of interest can do.

Moonlighting, of course, is not something which is a new phenomenon and has been a concern in the past, too. The only difference was that in those times people engaging in moonlighting would do it in a hush-hush manner as they realised fully well that it was not fair.

From teachers to doctors, earning extra money outside the scope of the respective jobs was happening. But people were not seeking approval for the act as its fairness was always under the cloud. Conscience during those days still existed. However, as commerce is driving everything these days, such values do not count.

Ethics is something that these days is only for the sake of writing essays or being taught in schools and colleges. It is no longer a practice. And even bigger irony is that some sections want it to be legalised and are creating pressure groups to justify moonlighting.

The big question is where is society headed for? Anomie ultimately leads to anarchy.

Significance of Pitripaksh

The 15 day period preceding the Navratra is called the Pitripaksh in the Hindu religion. This is the period during which we perform various rituals to propitiate our ancestors and the relatives who have passed away. It is a belief that rests on the basic premise that the soul never dies and is beginningless and endless. This is also one of the principal teachings of Geeta. When the human being dies it’s the body that perishes but the soul leaves to another world that is called the pitrilok. However, if the soul is not satisfied it remains wandering and is in perennial turmoil. The rituals performed during the Pitripaksh is to make the sole rest in peace and also to express the gratitude of the descendants to their ancestors.

The Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita tell us about the journey of the dead and the importance of the various rituals dedicated to them. The idea behind these rituals is to ensure the well-being of the departed ancestors and is a very lofty ideal of the Hindu religion that elevates ancestry to Godliness. Various acts and prayers performed during the Pitripaksh are for the peace of the dead relatives and their fond remembrance. It is through the various offerings made during the period that we seek their blessings for our well-being. It is a firm belief in the Hindu religion that even after leaving the body the soul remains and is active and agile and feels for its kith and kin because it is emotionally attached. If the soul is neglected and not given due respect during the Pitripaksh it is hurt and feels offended. This may even invite their ire. That is why it is said that pitri kriya is of far greater significance and implication than Dev kriya. Our scriptures like the Garud Puran, Matsya Puran, Vishnu Puran and Vayu Puran give an account of the importance of Pitripaksh and pitri kriya. These Purans tell us that by worshipping ancestors and performing Tarpan we gratify our forefathers who get pleased and bless us. The worship that is called the shradh karm is performed on the tithi (date according to Hindu calendar) of the departure of the soul. This tithi is the lunar day which may be different from the calendar date.

The rituals performed during this period have great religious significance. The worship is performed with great sanctity and every effort is made to please the ancestors so that they can rest in peace for the rest of the year. The food that was the favourite of the departed person is prepared and offered after performing puja and feeding the brahmins is carried out. Many feed the poor, too. A small portion of the food prepared is also offered to the cow, the crow and the dog. They are believed to help in connecting with the pitri lok, the abode of the ancestors. The shraddh performed during this period is holy act like a yagn to worship the ancestors as deities. They are different from worshipping God. Shraddh is mainly performed for three generations of pitris or ancestors. The procedures and practices of these rituals vary from culture to culture and region to region but their essence is the same. To express gratitude to our ancestors, remember them, seek their blessings, and pass a message to the next generation about the significance of ancestry. This is the greatness of Hindu religion. It worships the past generations while caring for the future generation.

The unsustainable paradigm

It was some two months ago that a leading businessman of the country tweeted the resignation letter of one of his employees with the remark that it was too short but very deep and points out to a serious malaise that needs to be addressed. The letter could certainly be one of the shortest resignation letters that one may have come across. It read-Dear sir, I resign. ‘Mazaa nahin aa raha’. These few words from an employee speak volumes about what people are experiencing these days at the workplace. The ideal workplaces that elicit the best from an employee are supposed to make them feel at home. Ironically, even Work From Home is not providing a homely feeling. WFH may well stand for Work From Hell. While the physical workplace provided for the kind of stimulation human beings get through interactions, the virtual workplace gave a dry, drab and dreary environment that would sap both the energy and the intellect of the person. To make things worse the bosses on the other side of the digital fence enjoy this. There is no discipline as the working hours are anytime and the workplace is anywhere. The interesting aspect is that this practice of the virtual has now got extended to the real.

The workplace of today has become too stressful for normal human beings. While the Corona pandemic had a role to play in this, post Corona it is continuing.

Actually, the Corona experience gave an opportunity to many employers to extract the maximum from an employee. Though it all started with a compulsion due to restrictions and risks, it gradually became a practice that would help employers raise productivity to unsustainable levels. The efficiency bug has stung the organisation deep. The wheel has come full circle and Taylor’s ghost is rising after 100 years in organisation after organisation. The work life balance concept has been thrown for a toss.

What exactly is happening? Something like the 996 formula of the Chinese work culture has plagued work places elsewhere. That is working from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. 6 days a week. And mind you, even Sundays are not free from those virtual meetings that serve more as fodder to the boss’s ego rather than fulfilling any meaningful business purpose. It is this excessive pressure that is leading to a counter revolution that is being called Quiet Quitting. It is nothing but the retaliation of the employee who finds himself pushed to the wall. Naturally, he thinks enough is enough. So, he asserts, but silently. He doesn’t say no, but quietly resists as he is no longer ready to stretch himself beyond the working hours. And he has every reason. The pressure that is being put on him is threatening to cross the elastic limit.

There is another angle to the whole story. Having tasted profits during the pandemic, the paradigm appears quite lucrative for the employer. Emboldened by compliance of some needy and a few greedy employees who accept the undesirable condition for some short-term gains, the paradigm this present day work culture is based on appears attractive. The reality is that too few people are doing too many jobs and as a result too few people are getting too much wealth. But the vast majority is getting crushed in this grind. It cannot work in the long run. As this capitalistic model is leading to rising inequity the big question arises. Is this Paradigm sustainable?

INDIA@2047 MUST WEED OUT CORRUPTION

There is no limit to what a man can do if he does not care who gets the credit: this famous quote was written on a plaque that US President Ronald Regan kept on his desk. Something similar needs to happen here.

Leaders may come and go, but the country moves on. And the credit for this goes to all those people, leaders and all, in the last 75 years who saw to it that India keeps on marching. As we enter the 76th year of independence, we need to look forward to the next milestone. Where next? And the Prime Minister has pointed that out. India@100 needs to be a developed country.

From an underdeveloped country 75 years ago to a developing one has been a long and challenging journey. That a member of the third world with a poor and colonial past can think of getting the developed tag is no small deal. More so, because we proved many prophets of doom wrong. But we still have a long way to go. We cannot just sit on the laurels.

Two important questions, then, arise. Where do we go from here? And how do we reach there? The first question has already been dealt with in the Independence Day speech of the Prime Minister who has set a target for the hundredth year. But goal setting is not enough. How do we get there? This calls for a comprehensive and serious SWOT analysis.

Our strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities need to be carefully thought over. In a typical management jargon, this requires a detailed environmental appraisal and an objective status report. If we are honest enough, the past 75 years have been a mixed bag. We succeeded on some counts and floundered on others.

Those on which we failed will have to be addressed in real earnest. The reason being that most of these are persisting ever since we got freedom. Lest we forget, in one of his popular speeches, Jawaharlal Nehru had talked about hoarders and black marketeers, emphasizing the need to hang them from the nearest lamp post. Alas, their tribe has grown, both in numbers and variety. Despite prime minister after prime minister raising concern over corruption, much does not seem to have been achieved.

Rajiv Gandhi in his famous Congress centenary speech at Bombay in 1985 expressed his anguish at the ‘fence eating the crop’. It still continues. The present Prime Minister sounded no less concerned about corruption. Why we are so helpless against corruption is the question that must find answers.

Poverty is another concern that is persisting since the famous ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech of the first Prime Minister. Another Prime Minister reminded us loud and clear about the need for ‘Garibi Hatao’. Poverty has been a major challenge all these 75 years, tweaking with definitions and statistics notwithstanding.

If we have to provide free food grains to 80 crore people because they can’t earn them, something is amiss somewhere. After all, it is more than half the population.

If we want to graduate from a developing country to a developed one in the next 25 years, there is a need for a complete overhaul of the entire governance system. A paradigm shift is called for to force India’s entry into a different orbit. Solutions that did not work will not work. An India where the mind is without fear and the head is held high can do it. We will have to unleash the potential of every Indian.

Ramayana for Managers

Ramayana as one of the most widely read Indian epics is not just a scholarly narration of the life and times of Lord Ram but also a treatise on Management, the most modern of the applied social sciences. It has lessons on politics, strategy, economics, values and ethics, leadership and even the recent subject areas like CSR. Quite a surprise  that it has not been considered as a text or even a reference in the course curriculum as suggested readings. In fact, this one piece of literature could offer valuable insights on different papers that are a part of a typical business school curriculum. While copious Western literature finds a place in a typical course structure of a business school program, Ramayan that can offer vital clues to management practice to the students of business schools is found missing. Anyone who has gone through the text of Ramayan, either Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas, or Valmiki Ramayan would know that crucial management lessons are offered in this Indian epic through the various role players like Lord Ram, his three younger brothers, his wife Sita and Hanuman. The best part of Ramayana is that the main lead played by Lord Ram provides immensely valuable insights into what ethical conduct is all about. Values and ethics these days is in focus as a part of the course curriculum in almost every business school as Business Organizations are emphasizing  ethics and Morality Quotient becomes a more important attribute of managers as compared to Intelligence Quotient. Lord Ram has led by example. He is an epitome of values and ethics and a role model to be emulated. He is also a picture of humility, commitment and character. Humility, it may be recalled, is a highly thought after managerial quality. Similarly, his brothers also show what ethical conduct is all about. These are the times when everyone is hankering for power and pelf. But here is a person who, despite being the legitimate heir to the throne, is magnanimous enough to let go the authority to rule just to keep his father’s words. The entire population of the kingdom wanted him to be the ruler. But he declined. The beauty of the whole Ramayana is that his younger brother Bharat, who was given the throne is equally unwilling to occupy the throne because he thinks it was not legitimate. Contrast this with present times. Ramayana also contains some very crucial lessons on state craft. In fact, the dialogue between the two brothers Ram and Bharat in Ayodhya kand is a treatise on administrative wisdom. No aspect of administration has been left out. The Valmiki Ramayana presents this very comprehensively. Duty, sacrifice, integrity, values and righteousness are reflected in behaviour of all leading characters. Not only this, there are strategy lessons to be picked up on teamwork, project management, human resource management and warfare. It will be an understatement to say that Ramayan is a text that contains lessons for management practitioners. In fact, Ramayan is a complete text on social sciences dealing with all aspects including economics, philosophy, politics and even commerce. Only we need to read it comprehensively and seriously.

The Essence of Yoga

Everyone is talking about yoga these days. As we celebrate yoga day with much fanfare a question crops up. How many actually understand the objective of yoga as given in the original Yoga Sutra. While we all practice yoga these days for physical fitness, seldom do we realize that the purpose of yoga goes much beyond that. Examination of the internal psychological states and processes which is called chittavritti, is one of the central ideas in the Indian philosophical literature. And this inquiry is not just a scientific investigation into the general nature of human emotions and behaviour as they are, or as they can be observed. In the Indian thought emphasis is also given to understand and analyze natural inclinations, desires, etc., called the vasnas so that they can be consciously controlled. The purpose of this is to refine and raise the human personality by overcoming these desires and rising to a higher level of consciousness. Yoga is a way to achieve this. It is the process of purifying the self which is called Chitta Suddhi. This purification of self serves a yet higher purpose. That is, to prepare the person to  achieve higher spiritual realization. Yoga can help reach the highest state of harmony, integration and bliss.It is for this reason that the Indian view of psychological values is called psycho-spiritual values. Spirituality has always remained the core of Indian value system. The Indian approach to psychology is comprehensively discussed in Patanjali’s Yog Sutra. It says that the mind or Chitta is made up of three entities namely the Manas, the Buddhi and Ahankar. Manas is the receptor that catches sensations and impressions from the outside world through the sense organs. These sensations are converted into understandable patterns. Buddhi is the discriminative faculty which classifies these impressions and gives meaning and values to these perceptions and then responds to them in accordance with the past experience that  is stored in our mind. Ahankara is the ego that assimilates this knowledge and uses it through personal interpretation. It also relates this knowledge with personal wellbeing. It is this ego that often gives the belief that it is the real self. But this is an illusion. The real self is the soul or the atma. All our sorrows and pleasures and pains are results of ego. The prime objective of yoga philosophy and practice is to  realize the true self by gaining spiritual enlightenment and controlling the chitta vritti, the mental thought waves. Therefore, Patanjali proclaims that yoga is the control of thought waves in mind. Yoga has a much higher purpose than what is commonly believed. It certainly tones the body, but more than that it trains the mind and awakens the soul. It’s important to understand that yoga goes much beyond the asanas  and postures. It is a complete exercise of the mind, the body and the soul. It’s the way to union or yoga with the ultimate reality. Yoga means to connect. This is what the Lord Krishna has explained in the Bhagavad Gita.

The Essence of Ethics

Defining ethics has never been easy. Understanding it has been even more difficult. And  practicing  it is a job few will be able to carry out. Yet, it is a subject that is in great demand. The term, that originated from Philosophy, has today become a part of several disciplines and is an important area of study in Management theory and practice. This is the reason why the word Ethics has acquired several connotations. But when it comes to the essence, Ethics still remains the science of right and wrong. Being essentially a practice, right and wrong often does not have a clear-cut boundary. It usually depends on the actor or the observer. How he interprets an act or a conduct. The same act may be interpreted variously by different people. Many a times, even the same act may be construed differently by the same individual under different conditions. Theoretical ethics, then, is not always a complete guide to ethical conduct. Time and space, society and culture, religion and country have their own ways to make sense of what is ethical and what is not. It is only obvious, because there is a wide range of determinants that goes into qualifying an act or behaviour as ethical or unethical.

Over the ages, the Indian philosophical approach to ethics  from Satyug through Treta and Dwapar to Kalyug, i.e., the present times, has metamorphosed considerably, inviting critical opinion and conflicting views. And rightly so, because human beings have their own touchstone in the form of ego that drives logic which often clouds the concept of ethics. The Western approach is equally fluid and there are many views and approaches towards understanding the concept and practice of ethics. However, amid all this the important point to note is that despite the welter of approaches and stances one can still make out whether an act or conduct is ethical or not, the three critical qualifying attributes being intent, outcome and situation in the same order of priority. intent certainly being the most crucial one .

The universal element of what is ethical and what is not, thus, depends to the maximum extent on intent. Another important dimension of ethics is that it is a practice one can learn by acquiring maturity of mind and sensitivity of heart. The common understanding of an ethical behaviour is that it is something which is beyond the ambit of the ordinary or the mundane and is laced in spirituality, religion and renunciation. But the truth is that ethics can be practiced in day-to-day life and without much hassle, the golden rule being the belief that it pays to be good. Yes, goodness has to be defined objectively.

Ethics is something that needs to be understood, practiced and carried out on a regular basis. It is the Dharma, one’s duty in a given situation, the right action or conduct. It is not about religiosity, but about religiously doing the right things with purity of intent. While actions on their own may appear right or wrong to an external observer, it is what goes in the mind that will determine the ethicality. The outcome of the act is not the soul determinant. In one word it is the conscientiousness that is the final arbiter. This is the reason why actions of even Gods can be interpreted differently. Lord Ram’s killing of Bali, or Lord Krishna’s actions in Mahabharata war can all be open to interpretation. Ethics is not something that can be seen in black and white. There are shades of grey that also matter. To under ethics, one needs to develop the ability to see the big picture with all the different shades.