Top 17 Welcome for 2018 - Rajiv Maheshwari

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Welcome for 2018 – The Reflection Ritual

The unfolding of a new year and bidding adieu to the year that flew past (typically faster than the year before last) is always an exciting event. Why should our Welcome for 2018 be any different?

I have been religiously (NB: no offence to secularists) using this opportunity to reflect on the past and make more aggressive plans for the time to come. Last year, I did share a copious review in “Sweet Sixteens Top 10 Welcomes 2017”.

In keeping with the spirit of aiming for one notch higher, I am attempting a “Top 17 Welcome for 2018”.

Without further ado, here is a quick snapshot of my Top 17 that will be back next year, in some form or other:

Chapter 1: Child is Father of The Man

I always love starting with childhood, for obvious reasons (read my earlier post about Child is Father of the Man to know why). The curiosity and creativity that the unadulterated minds of children exhibit is worth emulating, even for most accomplished professionals. Here are some samplers:

#1 What the Freaklet

It was summer vacations and our 10 year old daughter, Tanvee, wanted to join a creative writing workshop. We figured out that Sahitya Akademi conducts a limited seat workshop with a multi-stage selection / elimination process. One of her responses in the interview stunned me at that time and has somehow stuck in my head.

Interviewer (apparently wants to test vocabulary): Give an example of a young one whose name ends with “let”?

Tanvee (without battling an eyelid): Freaklet

Interviewer: What the F*? (or some other words, basically intending to probe further into this unusual choice)

Tanvee: Well, a freaklet is a young kid who freaks out…I just made up this word and I think it describes a lot of young kids

Well, a few wisecracks later the interview ended and she came out of the interview room oozing with confidence. On expected lines, she did manage to break the clutter, enough to secure her a prized place in the engaging workshop.

The world is getting more unpredictable and intelligent automation will facilitate even more smart delegation in 2018 (ok, elimination, if you will). Spontaneity and creativity are your best friends as you face the turbulence and prepare your Welcome for 2018.

#2 BOT is happening here

Carrying on from the theme of intelligent automation, here is another one that sets the tone for the future.

Our 13 year old son, Tanish, has been interested in robotics for as long as I can remember. His exploits with sensors, chips, programming and electronic circuits etc. have become a routine feature over time.

However, even we were taken by surprise this year. One fine day he announced that he is going with some friends to participate in an Open Robo-Soccer competition.

This was surprising on two fronts.

Welcome for 2018 : Tanish's Tech & Robotics Centre : Robo-Soccer at ESYA at IIIT Delhi — Tanish (far right) with his buddies and couple of robots they made to play Robo-Soccer

Firstly, this was not supported or sponsored by the school and he just decided along with his buddies to skip school and attend the event.

Secondly, this competition was Robo-Soccer, essentially meant for students of engineering colleges. It was part of ESYA, the flagship tech event organized by IIIT-D, a leading engineering college specializing in Information Sciences. Imagine the cheeks of students studying in Std VIII to ‘bunk’ school to participate in a tech fest in an engineering college.

I reflect back on my childhood and I know for a fact that I did not have half the skills or the guts at that age. These kids (and their slightly older siblings) are in the process of entering your workplace or challenging the norms of your industry.

How should that shape our Welcome for 2018? My response is very simple – If you cant beat them, join them; since this is the sign of things to come, in 2018 and beyond!

#3 – Leading from the young

You might be slightly dismissive of the magnitude of changes that we need to embrace and believe that this is restricted to hi-tech and gadgets. Spoiler alert – Get ready to be surprised as the change is all pervasive.

Let’s take an example of an area that requires maturity and years of experience – Leadership.

One day my daughter came to me and said that she was looking for ideas for her blog (that she had started when she was five years old). I suggested that she can write a series of posts on a related topic and she narrowed down to a 10 part series on Leadership!

I was bemused and quizzed her regarding her rather peculiar choice, given her tender age. Sure enough, she had her rationale…

She is given projects in school that require working together in teams. As luck would have it, some (read most) team members do not have the skills or the motivation to do the job. Even if she is not the appointed group leader, her teachers always look upto her to deliver the goods. (I am quite sure most of you will empathize with the situation and identify several parallels from your life experiences).

Welcome for 2018 : Tanvees Kids Corner - Leadership Series — The 10 part Leadership Series on “Tanvee’s Kids Corner”

So, she pens down some 20 odd points in her diary drawing upon her experiences of dealing with these tough situations. After a little bit of consolidation and clean-up emerges an original 10 part leadership series post (yes, without googling, if that’s what you are thinking).

Trivia – Just in case you were wondering, given her freaklet experience… Yes, she did coin a new word in this series as well – “Imaginize”

Watch out for these millennials as you prepare your Welcome for 2018…they are not just geeky…they can lead on the leadership front as well!