kinshuk sunilit aint no, dessert if therez no caek

I am looking for a decent collabware that supports intuitive task management, project management, document management and knowledge-base management plus some aspects of social networking for internal employees, specifically for a small business or a startup. So, I have done a brief preliminary research and highlighted the following products for a quick peek, and then will make an informed choice. The list includes:

(more…)

Updates:

• I am trying out Google Chrome… Seems so fluid and powerful
• I am waiting for september 7… Spore comes out that day.. did you know Spore also means ‘Some More‘
• I will be heavily experimenting with my blog design in the coming days and everything will be live for soe testing purposes. Be prepared for nuances
• I am busy working on OSScamp Delhi September 2008. A slumbering community makes things different. That’s not what I meant, when I said we should have a slumber party!!!
• I m bored in general, and tired too.
• Keeping 11AM to 3AM day cycles these days. So much to learn out there.
• I want to write a proper post, but I don’t have time. That doesnt imply that I am very busy, only that I have some crappy time management skills.
• Some how my old ‘Series’ fail to link up.
• Gift me Spore and GTA 4 and N96 please! A bundle of the three will be much appreciated. Wait! GTA comes in November… Hark!
• Fear me, I am Evil.

Johari window is a management concept which describes a person’s personality in terms of two variables: Attributes known to self and Attributes known to others. On the basis of these two, the personality of any individual is defined in terms of four specific windows:

1. Facade: Attributes known to self, not known to any one else
2. Arena: Attributes known to self, also known to others
3. Blind Spot: Attributes not known to self, but known to others
4. Unknown: Attributes known to no one.

It makes an excellent exercise to build one’s own Johari Window; it is also a useful tool for self-discovery and self-improvement. Read more about Johari Window.

During my graduation, we used to conduct a small exercise in class. On any given day, we would select a single student and for the next ten minutes the class would contemplate about him and then on a small chit of paper, write some positive and negative points about the individual. This is a primitive implementation of the Johari Window. Though an interesting exercise, it was not done on a regular basis and hardly beyond a frequency of about five times.

On a particular day, I was made subject to this exercise. Out of a class of 60, I got a total of 43 replies of which I have been able to preserve about 9 chits (it has been over 4 years since this exercise was conducted). It was quite true to what I was then, to an extent it is true for what I am today too. I share these 9 chits with you today (I have added my own remarks in parentheses with every chit):

1. The first chit lists my positive attributes as: “Very helpful during exams, down to earth, and helpful”; while my negative traits are: “shakl achchi nahi hai (does not have a pretty face), chashma bahut bada hai (wears glasses of a big frame), shave nahi karta (does not shave)”… Okay, a bad chit to start with…
2. The second chit does not see any negative in me, it says Kinshuk is “good in studies and hard working”.
3. The next chit also doesn’t see any negative traits in me, strangely it doesn’t see anything positive either. it simply states some of my behaviours. Kinshuk is, it says, a “man of principles and values, always talks of philosophy, and has a different perspective to life”. Hmm….
4. The next chit is a wise one. according to it, I am a “typical bihari, our own joker, and very intelligent”. That means either I have a good sense of humour, or an extremely pathetic sense of humour so as my follies make others laugh; silly me.
5. The next one stays true to the exercise, a bit. It says, my positive traits are: “punctual, intelligent, and helpful” and my negative traits are: “hairless (??), too outspoken, and always raising questions”. Now, outspoken-ness has always been a big problem of mine.
6. The next one again skips my negative traits (I love all my classmates). My positive traits, according to it are: “computer mechanic (must mean skilled in computers), always lives in technical world (trying to be geek), sentimental towards Bihar and —– (knowing my classmates, must be ‘girls’; how and why, escapes me), and motivator (a-ha!)”.
7. The seventh chit is critical of me and also tries to state facts about me. It says: Kinshuk is “argumentative, changes words very oftenly (I am quoting the exact wordings from the chits), is mad for something he himself doesn’t know, is very rational and logical, and wants to be a very true human being”.
8. The next one finds me praiseworthy: Kinshuk is “decent, helpful, soft spoken, good in studies, jolly, and small in size (err…)”.
9. The next one looks like a person who didn’t know me well, for they attempted to copy what the person writing the 8th chit had to say: Kinshuk is “decent, helpful, soft spoken, good in studies, and [some scribbling]“. Perhaps, they ran out of time.

I would recommend such activity to you but with some alterations. An effective Johari exercise should be conducted:

• In small groups. Don’t go for a huge sample of 60 students. Do it with a group of 4-7 friends. Repeat it with a number of such groups.
• Prefer people who know you well, but do not exclude people who have just got to know you. First impression, after all, is the last impression.
• Be honest and sincere. Take all criticism positively.
• Don’t try to suck up to people; Don’t try to impress them or be in their good books; Don’t try to be too harsh or over-critical. You are ruining the exercise.
• Document all results.

I found an online solution that simplifies this process to an extent. There is a web application developed by Kevan Davies (at Kevan.org) that provides you your own Johari Window. In fact, Kevan went a step further and created another application of Johari Window, which he calls Nohari Window. The first application is your Johari Window for your positive traits or Virtues. The Nohari Window is your Johari Window for Negative Traits.

You can find my Johari Window and Nohari Window at these individual locations.

Feel free to share your experiences with Johari Windows, suggested exercise, or anything else for that matter.

Since the 20th of July, 2007, A lot has happened in my life… I faced my first ever hospital admission and a lot of health issues… I wanted to blog about all of it, but the backlog just kept increasing… So, I’ll be skipping most of it and talking in overviews.

On 20th July, I experienced an unbearable pressure in my right kidney angle, for which I had to be hospitalized. After three days of pain management I was discharged. But soon admitted on 27th to undergo a stone removal operation. While the stone was successfully, I was told my grade II Hydronephrosis will take some time to heal all by itself. A follow up is pending. Since, I have been advised to avoid strainous labour, long sitting sessions, drink at least 6 liters of water and discipline my lifestyle. As a consequence, my sessions at the PC have been reduced not only in quantity but quality too. Tell my parents about Quality-implications or the present day business!

On a second note, I had a fabulous dispute and disagreement at my college and with friends involving a lot of mud slinging and personal commenting and stuff. Glad to claim, I am learning from our model of democracy (talking of some exceptional events, not demeaning the Indian Democracy, which is Fab as compared to rest of the world). Needless to say, i don’t have many fans at college these days.

But, on a brighter note (where is the sun?), we have got a prodigious bunch of juniors at GBO… ok, maybe i exaggerated, but they do have a lot of zeal and enthusiasm.

I had this post in edit mode for about 3 hours… so this is volume one.. I post the later half, later…