The South Korean Growth Story

Dear Readers,

Last month, I had the opportunity to visit South Korea, as a part of the CII Business Delegation. We were a team of 10 members, representing different companies in India. We visited the Capital City, Seoul and one of the important port cities of the world, Busan. A trade meeting was organised by the Busan Foundation of International Activities, to enhance the scope of trade relation between the 2 countries. This visit served as an opportunity for me to learn more about Korea. We had a series of meetings with many Govt bodies and trade bodies and this gave me some insights into the growth story of Korea, which I would like to share.

The economy of South Korea is the fourth largest economy in Asia and the 11th largest in the world. South Korea is famous for its spectacular rise from one of the poorest countries in the world to an advanced, high-income country in just one generation. This country has witnessed its biggest growth between 1960 and 1980, and still remains one of the fastest growing developed countries. It has been a head turner for many countries, as to how Korea has been able to achive this. These are the few pointers, I found that could be the possible reason for their quick growth.

One of the notable point is to know that Korea gained from its adversity. Korea was ruled by the Japanese till 1945. It is only after the 2^nd world war, when Japan lost to America, South Korea became a separate country with the support of America. As Korea was located in close proximity to Japan, it gained the American foot hold strength, which was the starting point of their growth story.

It is a well known fact that, Koreans are skilled in Ship Building & Ship Repairs. And this is a very big business, by itself. This has to a great extent helped them to be globally recognised, as a technologically advanced country. Some of their other strong areas include automobile manufacturing (Hyundai), Electronics (Samsung & LG), Armaments and Cosmetics. Today all the brands have become global and found in every household.

Another strength of South Korea, is that  they are constantly innovating. They are always looking for better way of doing things. They are not happy with  status quo. The principle of Kaizen (consistent performace, continuous improvement), seems to be in action everywhere in Korea. It is not surprising to note that  South Korea ranks No.1 in the world in 2015 Bloomberg Innovation Index.

South Korea is also considered a  safe place, to do business, as there has not been many incidents of frauds and cheating. This gives Korea a good image and makes it a safe country to do business with.

Every country has a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) to make itself marketable to the other countries in the world. The Korean USP, is quiet interesting. The USP of Korea is “Quality of  Japan @ Prices of China”. We all know that Japanese quality is highly commendable, but bit expensive, whereas the Chinese products are very cheap, whereas not highly reliable on quality. The Koreans seem to have understood this and the result have come out with an unique promise which appeals to all the other countries, who are looking at a better alternative.

On the whole, the Korean growth story is characterised by their resilience, reliability,  innovation, competitive focus on their core areas and strategical positioning of their product in the global market.

Korea’s growth story is undoubtedly an inspirational one, especially for the fast developing countries of this millennium.

Happy Reading

D. Senthil Kannan

Article date July 2016

No God? Are you Sure?

Dear Readers,

Off late, it is had become more common for people to self-declare themselves, as Atheists.  I tend to hear it more often among youngsters. I was curious to understand why this shift in pattern of thought. Is it just a trend? Or is it the excessive reliance in Science and technology? Or is it just the over confidence of in one’s own self? I was clueless.

I made a quick search on google to check some statistics.  I was surprised to find, that about 16% of the world population are Atheists, making them the 3^rd largest population, after Christianity and Islam. What was more alarming to see, was that the number of Atheists are proportionately increasing year after year. It was a bit of puzzle to me, because on one side I am able to witness the religious shrines of all the religions, getting over crowded with devotees, day after day and here on the other side is a contrasting figure of the number of people choosing to be  non- believers.

So what does, Atheism mean. The word “Atheism” itself is differently understood by different people and as such even an Atheist finds it difficult to explain, as to which classification of Atheism, he/she belongs too. For example, there are the agnostics, the antagonist, the secular, the non-religious and also a combination of one or more. The term, “Atheism” originates from the Greek word, “Atheos” which means “without God”. So, to put it simply, Atheist are people who don’t feel the need for God. On the contrary, “Theist” are those who believe that that there is something supreme beyond them to guide them, which they call God.

So “Atheists” and “Theists” are two contrasting sects of people, who have contrasting beliefs. For example:

·        To an atheist, an idol is just a piece of rock, but to a theist it is an identity of God.

·        To an atheist, it is absurd to think of God in a human form and give it a name, but a theist finds it as the best way to personify God.

·        To an atheist, the universe was formed as a result of the big bang, but to a theist it was a creation of God.

·        To an atheist, everything that happens in the world has a Science behind it, but to a theist, there is a divine force operating beyond it.

There are so many such contrasting beliefs. In a way, “Atheism” and “Theism” are just two different forms of spiritual enquiry. While the Theist, starts from the presupposition that there is God and finds evidence to substantiate his belief, the Atheist starts from the presupposition that there is no God and finds evidence to prove there is no God.  As it the nature of the human mind, to see only what it believes, both are right from their own experiences.

I have been an atheist myself, at one point of time. I have argued against the existence of God, but when I came to read and hear about some of the greatest thinkers, scientists, mathematicians, social workers such as Einstein, Ramanujan Mahatma Gandhi and many more, I became aware that they were ardent believers of God. All these people were far more intelligent than the common man and they belief in something beyond their intellectual comprehension, made me to think, that I could be wrong. This thought furthermore strengthened, when I became a member of an organisation called JCI, which had it’s  first tenant as follows: “Faith in God, gives meaning and purpose to human life.” I pondered on this and could relate it as well.

One of the senior trainer of JCI, Mr. K.V. Ratnam, once quoted, “Science has an answer for all the questions. But man has not learned enough Science to know all the answers. Till then let us believe in God”. This was a new and interesting perspective.

In this context, it is pertinent to Everyone thinks differently and therefore everyone has the right to choose what they want to be, and just because I am an Theist , I am not against the Atheist ideology. It is just my appeal to Atheist, to periodically revisit our beliefs, from time to time.

Because, while there is no hard and fast rule to believe in God, there is nothing we lose by believing in God.

While I am not against the Atheist, I

It is purely our choice to be a Theist or an Atheist. What is more important is not to mock anyone’s belief. We should learn to respect this difference and give each other the space and freedom to be themselves, rather than argue and prove that we are right.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated June 2016

SECURITY CHECK

Dear Readers,

I was at the Delhi Airport a few days back, when I had to stand in a long queue for the routine security check. As I was standing, I looked around to see how much of congestion this security checking procedure was causing.

It was an early morning flight for which I had to wake up quiet early, get ready and find a cab to reach the airport atleast 2 hour ahead of schedule.

While, I was getting a little restless, with this snail speed security procedure, my mind started to ponders to as “Why is it we have to come to the airport so early, while we can rush to the railway station or the bus stop, even at the last moment?” It is because of this time taking security check, where we need to go through an entire gamut of process, which includes showing our id card and ticket before we enter the airport, then getting the check-in baggage scanned and sealed, proceeding to pick the boarding card and moving towards the security check gate, where our hand baggage gets scanned, and we are asked to remove our laptops and mobiles to be send separately through the scanner. (In some countries, the passenger is also asked to remove his belt and shoes, which also passes through the scanning machine). After which we walk through the scanning metal frame and being frisked by the security officer, before he could stamp a security seal in our boarding card and make us, “Flight worthy”.

So, I was just thinking, “Why is that we need to go through SECURITY CHECK  procedure at the first place.” Well, the answer is obvious. It is in common interest of all and primarily to ensure the safety of the passengers. As the safety of everyone is important, everyone wilfully goes through this systematic process, to ensure they travel safely. When I am being checked, I am also sure that all the other passengers are equally being checked which gives me the peace of mind, that no untoward event would happen in the course of my travel. Probably, it is the prayer and wish of everyone to travel safe.

I was just guessing, how many flight hijacks or terrorist attacks would have happened on an aeroplane, over the years. Probably a few, inspite of all these security checks.

Looking at it from the other way, how many hijacks or attacks have been possibly avoided owing to the security checks. The answer is unknown. It could be a lot more or a few more, but not something which we can take a chance of guessing.

If we were to think about this as a percentage it would be hardly negligible, but even one negative incident, can cause the lives of many innocent people. And the life of everyone is important.

While we cannot leave the aspect of security to chance, undoubtedly it is one of the annoying experiences, every passenger faces every time, he/she makes a flight travel. Moreover, the collective amount of time lost, by all passengers is so huge. The amount of money, spent on such security measures are too high. In an age, where we work on a time – productivity matrix, this is a huge chunk of time that goes waste on an unproductive task.

It is such an irony of life, that the negative intentions of a few people, results in so much of disturbance to the common man. While I don’t foresee a solution to this problem, I only pray and wish a simpler and quicker system evolves, to take care of this security check aspect. Even more ideal would be a day, when everyone is in peace with each other, that there is not a need for a security check, at all.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated May 2016

Finesse makes a difference

Dear Readers,

I would like to share a small shopping experience, to emphasise on how finesse in hanling  a customers, can make a difference.  I was looking at buying a pair of footwear. So, I went to Express Avenue Mall in Chennai, to check out some options.

There were two footwear shops, next to each other.  I first entered one shop. The salesman greeted me, but made me wait for some time as he was handling another customer. Fair enough! I told myself, as I started to look through the collections on display. After few minutes, the salesman stepped in and asked. “May, I help you?” I said, “Yes”, and pointed out to two models on the shelf and told him, I would like to try it out. He asked for my size and started to search for it. After some time he brought the same, and I started trying it out. I felt that the size was a bit loose and so asked him if he can show me the same model, but of 2 lower sizes. He showed some frustration in his face, however he went and brought it. I tried out the new sizes, but that was, too tight and I felt that it was not the right fit, for me. I said it is not fitting. He became a little annoyed with me and said, “I gave you all the sizes you asked for and you say nothing is fitting.” I asked him, “What am I to do?”. He started to feel disturbed as the closure of the sale did not seem to happen. He then asked me, if he can show me some other models. However, as I started feeling that he is not comfortable dealing with me and also could sense that he is pushing me to take a quick decision, I said, “No, I don’t want” and moved out of the shop.

Just next to the shop, was another footwear shop and I entered the shop. The moment, I entered a sales executive rushed to my service and asked what I was looking for and I answered. He then said, “Sir, I am attending to one customer. Meanwhile, please have a look at the collections in our display and I shall get back to you in a few minutes.” As promised, after a few minutes, he came back and said, “Sorry Sir for keeping you waiting. Please tell me which model, you would like to try?”.  I showed him a particular model. He took it and as he was helping me try it out, he said it is one of the fast moving models. I asked him, any other colour and he said a firm, “No” with a great confidence of seeming to know all the goods available in the shop. I tried it and felt comfortable and as I was about to finalise it. He said, “Can I show you one of our latest product.” He then added, “Sir, this is quite highly priced, but we show it to our premium customers.” I don’t know from where he got an idea, that I was a premium customer. Anyway the word he used, made me feel good. He then said, “Sir, there is no obligation to buy. I just want you to see it.” His approach was so convincing and also tempting, that with some hesitation I said OK and he showed me the product. It was a truly a great product, with equally a great price tag, which I was not ready for. So, I told him, “It is very good, but I don’t need it now.” With a big smile, he said, “No issues, Sir”. Saying this he asked me whether he can pack the product I had first selected. I gave a green signal. He then asked whether I have their membership card. I said, “I have the card, but I am not carrying it with me”. He told me, “No problem Sir, just tell me your mobile number” and in a jiffy, he found my name in the billing computer system and applied the bonus points applicable for the product. That was an Rs.200/- discount on the billing and I happily walked out of the shop.

As I got back to my cab, I started to contemplate on my shopping experience, with both the shops. Both the shops were almost of the same size, had almost similar collections, and the price range were also similar but what is that one thing that made me to buy from the second shop? Looking at the selling process, there is not much of a difference in both these shops, but the experience made a big difference, as to from where to buy. While the first guy also did his job, he was not polite enough. Whereas the second guy was not just polite, but also made me feel elite.

So, in a world of tough competition, where we are in the same business, where there is nothing much to differentiate ourselves for our competitors, it is our attitude in dealing with the customers, that could be the winning edge.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

                                                                                          Article Dated April 2016

Overcoming Complexes

There is nothing more demeaning in life

than to live with low self-esteem

Dear Readers,

One of the problems that has been a limiting factor for many people to grow in life is their “Inferiority Complex”. This is a word many of you might have heard and few of you would have experienced or still experiencing. Inferiority complex is a psychological state of mind, which can drastically drain one’s energy, make one feel incapacitated, shrinks one’s potential and lower one’s self-esteem. 

Today, I find a lot of students, especially the rural students have a difficulty facing an interview, because of their lack of English fluency. This leads to inferiority complex, as they tend to compare themselves with the urban students, who speak English fluently.  This makes it difficult for them to perform well in an interview.  Similarly, I have met many intelligent people, who don’t dare to go and speak up on a stage, because they think they are not physically beautiful.  Being short or dark or fat are some of the physical features, which makes people develop an inferiority complex. This in turn reduces their chances of shining in life. I feel sorry for them or rather I am able to empathize with them, because I myself have been a victim of such inferiority complex, during my school days and I have gone through the pain and struggle. This gives me a perspective.

During my school days I used to be short, thin and puny. I was put up in a boarding school at the age of 10. I was the weakest of the lot, in my class. Because, I was weak it was easy for every tom, dick and harry to tease me, nag me or bully me for no reason at all, and I was absolutely helpless, at that point of time. In spite of feeling immense emotional pain, I was not able to assert my rights, owing to the fear, that I will be hit by them. As I did not have the strength to fight back, I was just boiling within myself, but could find no way to redress it. As I had a very poor physique, I was not selected for any sports activities. I used to be the last one in a 100 metre dash, chasing all the runners and used to be booed and mocked, by all my school mates.  I used to be the last pick, when teams were formed for any game, be it football, hockey or volleyball. All these incidents, have been more than embarrassing.  Moreover, I wasn’t good at studies too. I was an average student. It was a very bad period of my life.  On the whole, my life was miserable.  There are so many days, I have cried within myself and have been angry with God for making me like that.

When I moved from my high school to higher secondary, there was a sudden sprout of growth in my height and physic. I couldn’t believe myself. May be, God felt sorry for me and decided to answer my prayers. This change, gave me an instant boost of confidence, which I have never experienced before. I felt good about myself. However, whatever has happened to us over a period of time, affects not only our conscious mind but also our sub conscious mind, which is more powerful. As my sub conscious mind was conditioned by the negative inputs, it kept pulling me down. So, while outgrowing physically was a nature’s blessing, overcoming my sub conscious conditioning was a big challenge, I had on myself. However, as I was a highly ambitious person, I was determined to overcome this complex. So, I was looking at ways, by which I could overcome this.

It is then, I discovered that the best way to come over my inferiority complex, is by turning my attention towards my strengths and operating from that source of strength, rather than worrying over my weakness. I started to look at the areas, I was good at or have had positive experience in life. I tried to recall, such positive experiences and I was able to come up with a few. I had won the fancy dress competition, at school a number of times, and so I realized I was creative. I had represented my school table tennis team for few external tournaments, so I realized I was good in that game. I was the class topper in a subject called, Advanced English throughout my higher secondary, so I realised, I was good in English. So these were the only strengths, I had to begin with. The day I started to focus on my strength and not bother about my weaknesses, I started to feel stronger. Like a snowball effect, one strength helped me to gain the next strength and slowly I acquired more and more strength, through learning and training, till I became quite confident about myself.

There are few things in life, that is God given and cannot be changed, whereas there are many things in life, that we can improve upon by our effort. By working on the things, we can improve upon by our effort, we can get over the limitations given to us by nature. So don’t, let inferiority complex to overpower you, when you have the ability to overcome your complexes.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Mar 2016

3 Golden Rules to take control of your time

Of all the resources we have, the resource of TIME seems to be the most precious, because as we all know, time once lost never comes back. No matter how rich or how powerful a person is, he is given only 24 hours a day and he need to manage his life in such a way that it perfectly fits, this fixed amount of time. As all the achievements of our life are a direct outcome of how well we manage and use our time, it makes good sense to learn as to how to manage it well. So here are the 3 golden rules to take control of your time.

·           Don't waste your time

·           Don't waste other's time

·           Don't let others waste your time.

Let me elaborate a little more on each of this for the purpose of clarity.

Don't waste your time: Knowingly or unknowingly, there is a good amount of time we all waste I have heard many people saying, "My time is not under my control". But this is not true. There is a good majority of time, which is within our control and it is up to us, as to how to use it. We can use the time to sleep till late in the morning or wake up early and do some exercise. We can use the time to watch a TV serial or read a book. We can use our time to work on an important project or just spend it chatting with friends. It is our choice.

I am not suggesting that this is right and this is wrong, because everyone finds relaxation and happiness in different ways. Rather, what I would suggest, is to check, which of your daily activities are productive and which of them are not. If you make an audit of your daily schedule, you can find where your time is going? Once, you gain this awareness, you will know what are the better options available, to lead a more Productive life. This in turn will help you to use your time more wisely.

Don't waste other's time: Just like how our time is important to us, other's time are equally important to them. So we need to make sure that we do not waste other's time too. Just because we have some free/ leisure time, it does not mean, we can go and disturb someone else's productive time.

It is always good to ask the person for prior appointment and also briefly explain the purpose you want to meet him. (even if he is a close friend)Infact you can also tell him, how much time you need. This will help the person to allot the right and necessary amount of time. For example, you can say, "I would like to discuss with you about a business opportunity. I would need 30 minutes of your time. Can you please, tell me when would be the best time to meet you?

Similarly, it would also be a good idea, to ask someone whether they are free to talk, when you make a phone call. The person may be busy in between a meeting, or getting ready to go somewhere or in a family function or some other circumstances, where he would not be comfortable to speak for long. This is not a show of courtesy, but a genuine show of concern for other's time.

If we wish others to respect our time, then we should also learn to respect other's time.

Don't let others waste your time: This is the most important. If killing our own time is suicide, allowing others to kill our time is murder. I am sure, we do not want to allow others to do that to our time. We need to fiercely protect our time from intruders in the name of friends, colleagues and relatives.

Here is where, being assertive helps. When people tend to take your time for granted, you need to emphasise the importance of your time. When you are on an important task and need to be focussed, you can tell people that you are busy and you will talk to them later.

When I say intrusion of time,it doesn't only mean the personal meetings, but also unwanted phone calls, text messages, whatsapp, facebook and everything of that sort.

Just take effort to implement these 3 golden rules and see for yourself, how more productive your life can be.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Feb 2016

The Minimalist Approach

 “Remember this:

Very little is needed to make a happy life”.

 -Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 161 - 180AD.

Dear Readers,

A few years back, I bought a DVD Tutorial on how to make great PowerPoint presentations. The tutorial introduced me to a concept called “Minimalistic approach”. The key message conveyed through this concept was that when making a presentation, we should keep the key idea of the presentation intact and eliminate all the unwanted frills, attached to it. I found that concept appealing. A few days back, I went to a resort near Kanyakumari and there too, I found a statement saying that, “This resort is designed based on the ideals of minimalism”. Notably, I observed that most of the building work in the resort, did not look fully finished, like walls had no cement plastering, floors remained just cemented without any glazed tiles and so on. This I understood was the ideology of minimalism that they were talking about.

This word “minimalism” caught my interest, and I wanted to explore more about it. Obviously, I typed the word “minimalistic approach” in Google and was amazed to discover that minimalism is not just a concept of design but a way of life.

So, what is  this minimalism all about? Minimalism is an approach to rid yourself of life’s excess in favour of focusing on what’s important—so you can find happiness, fulfilment, and freedom.

We all want to be happy. We tend to find happiness by creating material abundance, which rarely serves the purpose. The more we have, even more is our need. It is a never ending vicious cycle. Time and again, we hear stories of billionaires, who lead a miserable life. Many people are busy trying to prove to the world, what they are capable of and in the process end up straining their health and relationships. This is clear indication that money and fame, alone cannot buy them happiness. You need good health and good relationships to enjoy life.

Minimalism is a “U” turn approach. Minimalists search for happiness not through things, but through life itself. The starting point to this change is to determine what is necessary and what is superfluous in our life. Once we find this clarity we can stay more focussed on what really matters in our life and avoid the clutter of being messed up with too many things and activities. By doing so we will be less time pressed and money pressed.

Minimalist focuses on quality and not quantity. They are choosy about the thing they buy, but cherish it. They are choosy about the things they do, but they do it with passion and perfection. They are prudent in the use of resources, such as time, money and things. They believe that there is a need to pause and enjoy the things we have, rather than continuing to accumulating more and more things.

I also found a website, www.theminimalists.com, which is created by two friends who have taken up the ideology of minimalism and through this portal, they share how better their life has become, after they have adopted this approach. They say that, being a minimalist can help us:

·         Eliminate our discontent

·         Reclaim our time

·         Live in the moment

·         Discover our life  purpose

·         Pursue our passions

·         Experience real freedom

·         Create more, consume less

·         Focus on our health

·         Grow as individuals

• Rid ourselves of excess stuff
• Contribute beyond ourselves.

Their life revolves around the philosophy, “ Have little and cherish it. Do little and enjoy it”. While this may sound anti-ambitious. It is not so. It is about living the life you desire and being focussed on what is important to you, and working towards achieving it.

I was keen to share this, as my NEW YEAR message, as it is a good time to consider such a change. New Year is the time of resolutions and may be this could be one of them. Wishing you all, a new year filled with joy and  happiness.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Jan 2016