Spirituality as part of Self-Management

Gone are the days when spirituality is considered as an activity during our last lap of our lives. Today it became quite evident that a bit of self-realization, spiritual understanding is essential to combat the stresses of our every day to day activity. Not only individuals, but also Corporates’and Government is taking measures to bring in ways and means to combat the pressures of the modern world.

Everything in this world is moving at rapid pace. Even the wait at signals for seconds, seems to be too much of a waiting for people. The countdown begins everywhere and for everything. Catching the school bus, carpool on time, swiping in time at offices on time, planned cooking or surviving in pre-cooked food, back to back conference calls and meetings, deadlines and deliverables, just like that updating attendance to social events and functions, doing hundreds of things and not giving a closer watch to anything has become a routine to many people in this modern world.

The end result: Ill-health, unwarranted lifestyles, unsatisfied relationships, broken families, below expected work performances, loss of friends and extended family, lack of social recognition, unplanned finances and meager savings and retirement plans. The outcome: Stress and Burnout.

There is an absolute need to stop. Just stop for a while and re-assess where this life is heading to. Is this stress worth? Speaking to lot of my friends who settled in west over the decades do tell me, that irrespective of the so-called hi-lifestyle and happiness they project to people back home in India, most of them go through immense stress of balancing life within very limited resources, chasing deals and second hand goods, demanding children and socialializing and expectations of the people back home to support, understand and share the wealth, which in reality is just a myth. Finally they end up feeling nowhere, not belonging to the country they left behind, nor totally absorbed in the country they migrated to, for they still want to be Indians, dress that way, eat the Indian food, follow Indian festivals and rituals. The challenge is not being able to break the bridge at some point and adopt in totality. The stress of synchronization is immense in families spread across the world.

So how does the spirituality help in this self- management? The good old rituals of getting up early, eating on time, leaving to work on time, come back by sun set., sit in the verandah and update each other the happenings in the family, spend some time together in prayers, and having family dinners together and sleeping early used to be stress-free. But now, working different time zones, different cultures and different technologies, and companies, have disturbed the whole fabric of a routine life.

Spirituality is all about self-realization. Getting more organized and believing in the strength of a super power that guides us, and reinstating the fact that, “no matter what, what is destined to happen, would happen”. Spirituality in truth understands the purpose of your existence. Visualizing what you want to be today, tomorrow, in the next few years, towards the end of your life. Spirituality is attaining an immense happiness coupled with satisfaction on the life lived...For there is absolutely no evidence that we can relive the life that once gone by?

The spiritual quest can be in any way. Some do meditation and yoga. Some go to temples and spend time. Some go to lectures and gurus for seeking guidance and setting up a path. It is not an entertainment that provides refreshment to life. It is an endeavor to make life more easy and meaningful. Re-questioning oneself time and again, on what is that we want in this life will create a pattern of understanding the urge within. The urge is absolutely connecting to the divine. Here the divine can be of any religion, any practice, any culture, any methodology, any path, but as long as the divine spells out the truth of what you want to achieve in life, it is fine.

Spirituality unknowingly brings in a disciplined way in which each one of us can lead our lives. It connects you not just to any God or Religion of your choice, but to your inner-self. All of us would accept the fact that what we portray in our professional lives, we are not the same in our personal lives. It is not a split personality. It is all about being as expected in professional lives and being natural in personal lives. For example, though I may be angry with my boss, I would still smile at him and say that I would do the task assigned for I may not like the idea of getting into the wrong books…at the same time, I take the liberty to express my anger and frustration with my spouse and do not mind fighting with him openly, for we take our own people for granted. Spirituality gives strength to gain a balance in these two ways of handling a similar issue or expectation.

I always write to myself, that “when it is beyond me, I look upon God”. This goes with the Management concept of “Line of Control”. What is within my ability and line of control can be controlled. What is external to my control, I leave it as an unknown unknown. Same time, make contingency plans and mitigation strategy to handle unknown unknowns. So acceptance of this fact becomes an important way to handle things. Stop getting frustrated for the things not in your control and making adequate space and giving thought to handle known unknowns is possible through a spiritual path. Yoga provides a way of life that helps to maintain good health, physical exercise and mental strength. Prayers provide a solace to people burdened with the day to day stress…the belief that there is super natural power that could help is always a hope and a way of leaving things to an external control and focusing on the things in hand. In one way, some of our ancient practices have a scientific reason and logical meaning to follow even today.

Thus, spirituality as a method of self-management supersedes every other management practice as this control individuals and their way of life. After all management is all about people doing different things in different ways. As long as it is in the most organized and fruitful manner, there is no harm in practicing an old trick that will do the trade :-)

Thanks to Sundar, who suggested that I should write on Spirituality and I thought I would write something that is very much applicable to me as well :-)

Remembering Michael Jackson

An year ago, on this day, June 25th 2009, an SMS that conveyed MJ's death is one of the most unfortunate things happened to all MJ's fans...including me.  To me Michael Jackson is synonym to the western music in my growing years and to me that moment, all the controversies surrounding his life that is ever in spotlight vanished.   It was a moment of respect to the talent and the music he gave to this world.  Nothing else mattered.  His legal battles, his insecurities, his loneliness, his sleeplessness and his overall personality vanished. What remained is a flow of unconditional love in his lyrics and rhythm, a flow of unparalleled level of music and pop, and totally a flow of wave of loss, a feeling of someone who was close to you gone for ever.   I am sure most of the MJ fans would feel it this way.  Eternal.

After coming to California, Los Angeles, to me visiting his final resting place was on my list of things to do.  Now living just 2 miles away from Glendale Forest Lawn and getting a chance to drive through the Glendale avenue quite often, I look at the Cross on the top of the hill that has the FLG with due respect, for it is not just a final home to celebrities of Hollywood including Walt Disney, but now the final home for MJ, and that makes the difference.

One Saturday afternoon,  just drove through the FLG iron gates.  It was an amazing experience, a silence, a kind of reality sinking in, that it is the final destination for mankind. For lot many years, I liked looking at cemeteries and the kind of respect and command they have over people's life's.  That day, I could feel it. As we walked inside the Great Mausoleum, to view the last supper window, it was creepy feeling.  For a moment, surrounded by crypts of the famous and celebrities of the most cherished world,  and the beauty of the Forest lawn, drove a sense of divinity. 

The statues and glass paintings sent in a wave of life in death.  To me it looked like more of a place to celebrate the great lives than mourn for their ending. The best way to cherish any one's memory is to relive their lives in our memories and celebrating it.  To me, visiting forest lawns Glendale was like a transforming experience, awakening the soul's ardent search towards an eternal end.  The struggle for survival in between the two poles of life seemed  be meaningless..., including for that of Michael as he lays untouched in Holly Terrace. 

I know he is there.  Living in an eternal bliss.  Without his fans and family overwhelming him like they did when he was alive.  He is finally having his silent sleep, that no amount of medication, doctors, family , children, fans, friends could not bring in to him when he was alive.  Rest in Peace Michael, you need to now.

Glendale Forest Lawn have its own way of providing peace to his mourners... a chance to celebrate their King of Pop finally in peace.   The serenity, the nature, the mountains, the fountains, the Italian art, the big corridors, the dimmed lights of the arc windows and tall roofs bring in a kind of celebration to the lives that lived larger than life could contain.  

The best respect that can be paid would be not to tress pass into the areas restricted by the Forest Lawn administrators and leave them all in silence and privacy that they for sure deserve in death.   To many, the fitting tribute would be to pay a visit and leave behind the burden or heaviness of having lost someone who was dear to you all the time, for he entertained you and made you sway in his music.   But Michael, would have loved his fans pay him a visit, bring him the flowers he loved, and spread the message of his love. May be one day, his children will open the doors to his final resting place for the public to pay their respects.  Till then, leave him in peace:-)

Love you MJ, Miss your Music.....

For more interesting photographs and writeups on MJ and his final resting place, visit :http://lisaburks.typepad.com/gravehunting/michael-jackson/.  She did a great job by putting it all together....MJ's Fan club of Southern California.

Marshmallows, Red Peppers and Toothpaste - An International Potluck

On the way to Office, this morning, had an interesting topic on the air, on the International Potluck in school. 

Just last night had my plans for my kid's school potluck on Friday, being the last day of the school.   Surprisingly she wanted an traditional Indian Receipe which should not be really Indian...I didnt understand what she meant...may be a traditional receipe in a continental way...I have few more hours to figure that out and send something....unlike a child who took "Marshmallows, Red peppers and Toothpaste" to a potluck in school in Washington D.C to celebrate July 4 Independence Day! Oh Yeah!  The theme for potluck was "American Flag"  and hence translated into Blue Marshmallows, Red Peppers and White Toothpaste.

To me "Outsourcing" Projects almost look like an International Potluck... But believe me, we dont have the option to celebrate with any of the real requirements fulfilled in the real sense.  Infact, I appreciate the child who took MRT for Potluck....for Marshmallows are Blue, Red peppers add color Red and Toothpaste helps kids at the end with White Finish.... and it surely satisfies the potluck need.  But again...Do you think so?

In a true outsourcing project., one classical example.... A project to be used in America, where the requirements are given by business in United States,  the Servers are built in Korea and Japan, the money is funded by China, the technology is supplied by India,  the support is done by Thailand... we expect the project to provide 100% results.  Beyond boundaries of Nations, Cultures, languages, technologies, infrastructure, the whole world of virtual projects deliver an amazingly transforming results.  That is the strength of global projects today.

With an extensive experience in a banking project, where the Global Project was build in India, with requirements coming from close to 25 countries local offices,  and the COTS product supplied by a company in United States,  senior management funding the project sitting in Europe...and finally we tested the swift message printouts in Korea and Australia sitting in office at 4 am in India.... what else can you ask for in a global project. 

It is not only important how you deliver and match requirements, it is also important to provide cost-effective solutions.  It is also important to consider the global stage, people involved, technical challenges, and interfaces that connect beyond country specific regulations and laws.   The challenge is to address the needs of the business taking into control all the factors within the line of control and also planning adequately to manage things beyond control.

If not, we still end up fulfilling the requirements with "Marshmallows, Red peppers and Toothpaste".... at no man's cost!

The Stigma of being barren or unethical practices of Fertility clinics? Growing Menace!

The Stigma of being barren or unethical practices of Fertility clinics? Growing Menace!

Every woman dreams to be a mother at some point of time in life. That makes their life complete, purposeful and more meaningful. It is a pleasure of motherhood that brings in a delight in a woman’s life as she carries her first child. Every woman is physically and mentally in need of this best part of life and more so, for her social needs in countries like India, where women who are barren are looked with a stigma.

Though the country is advancing towards lot of things and scientific fronts, this superstitious unsaid practice of avoiding married women without children to social events, and keeping them in the last of any invitation list and avoiding their participation in any special occasions, besides the parent’s pressure to have a child is still a biggest stigma. The thought of having no one to look after in old age, the thought of being ignored, the thought of being barren is becoming a much worried phenomenon to lot of women who are not blessed naturally to bear children, or driven by circumstances to have later marriages or postponing children to later date giving importance to career, acceptance of family and readiness to take the responsibility of children at young age. Readily available contraception, misconceptions of raising kids, expectations to settle first and coupled with medical issues, infertility issues and economic issues somehow do not make lot of women take right decisions at right time.

People today think it is not too late for anything in life. So for Parenthood too. Coupled with growing infertility centers making exaggerated promises and minting money from the desperate families, end up providing all wrong choices to the women in late forties and beyond. What they fail to understand here is that parenthood is a beautiful responsibility. It is a lifetime bonding. You are responsible for the child’s well being, growth and economic and social survival. The quest of motherhood should not alone being a choice to have kids using any of the infertility centers promoted techniques including IVF, test tube babies and egg donations. The growing trend of new mothers at the age of 50, 60, 70, is now throwing biggest challenges to the medical fraternity. Is it ethical to do or even support such a quest of families?

Unless you are affected by these circumstances, you will not be able to justify the same, but however, there are few things that strongly should be considered by every doctor who encourages his patient couple to go through this process. Their ability to take care of the child at a very late age in life. The oldest new mother in the world is said to be slowly dying at the age of 72 after having given birth to a baby girl when she was 70 years old. Does her responsibility ends by bringing in a child to this world and leaving it at the mercy of her relatives when she is no more physically capable of managing a 2 year old girl. Does the little one not need her parents at least till she is of certain age to handle herself?. What is the guarantee that her so called relatives will take care of the child.

The economic well being itself is not an end to this situation, what the child needs is a lasting parental care during the growing years. Will the doctors ensure that it is there, if by any reasons, the parents pass away? Why should even couples wait till they are that old to have children? Why can’t they adopt a child when they are in middle age and know that they may not have children in the natural way? A growing number of people who are already parents are coming forward these days to adopt another child into the family. Why this mindset is not instigated into desperate couples and gives them a guidance to go about it instead of spending all their life’s earning on an infertility centre that does not bring out to them the reality.

It is unfortunate that I have this very issue in my extended family, but am not able to voice out my opinion strongly and oppose their quest of having child after crossing 50, yet only wish at least the doctors would be sensible to advice them to focus on things that are more practical and real, than giving them false hopes even after 25 years of expectations, heartthrobs, fertility treatments and what not. In today’s world, no one can be guaranteed to be taken care by our children in old age, giving the circumstances of global employments, nuclear families and different situations. So, having children at old age only to wipe out the social stigma really makes no sense.

Infertility is no longer a social taboo or a divine curse. Handling it scientifically, by all means is a blessing to couples who want to be parents.  Only wish, they take the decision at the right time in life, keeping into consideration the well being of the child, health of the mother and socio-economic conditions.  This will help the close to 15% of Indian Population suffering from various infertility problems and provide a solace instead of making this scientific advanced procedures a growing menace in the society. 

Four Things to Avoid in a Resume

A good resume is always a gateway to a good opportunity in the market. 

But why is it that some of the resume really don't impress the recruiters and companies and get rejected most of the time.   Lot of surveys pointed to 4 major points that kill a resume from reaching the right opening. 

As the IT recruitment have speedened in 2010 and lot of people are awakened from the recession slumber, I hope these tips would help people looking out for new jobs.

Pictures or Photos:   Though I would always love to know how you look, as a recruiter it doesn't worry me any longer.  Pictures are a sure no-no in resumes, and good to get a good impression in the first personal interview... Look doesn't matter, but how you carry yourself, your overall personality and your confidence is what would impress recruiters.

Personal Objectives:    Corporates are no longer interested to see what your personal ambition or goal in life is.  You may want to become the CEO of the company in 10 years, but that is not the recruiter's goal.  The corporate goal is important and the skill sets have to match with the recruiter's requirement than your own dreams, aims and vision of the future. 

References :    References often proved to be planned, informed and organized.  So it is not important any longer to add references in the resumes or provided the line "Will be provided on request", for this is no longer a need.  Corporates have their own way of doing background checks and go a way beyond to understand you than what you put in the CV, for  IT security has become an watchword and integrity the biggest essential character in a person to be recruited.

Hobbies and Interests:   Companies having their own fun clubs, sports clubs and corporate community service teams, are no longer interested to see your hobbies or personal interest in the resume, unless they are directly related to the work.   You having 10 different accounts on social media is irrelevant unless you are applying for a post in the team of social innovation or content management of a social media site or a corporate blog.   It is better to avoid this list, as may provide a mis-guided perception that you have many interests that actually divert your focus from the mainstream work :-)

Above all, clear and precise business scenarios that you are capable to handle will add weight age to the resume, than giving a long list of tasks you did. 

Too much or  too little of information do not make any sense. 

Adding significant achievements will make the recruiter know how much you are capable of.  But remember, past glory or history is never taken as a best way to analyze you and recruit you.  So handle it with care.  After all it is your future.....

Why ThyPulchritude?

I have been writing since my childhood., mostly small poems, articles for school magazines, the Hindu young world,  small writeups to Deccan Chronicle,  then essays and papers for seminars..., scripts for skits in college,

and then came ICE Times in my life, where I became a corporate inhouse magazine's writer cum editor and then it expanded to submitting articles to online forums, and found that the vivid interests lead me everywhere but no one place where I can preserve my own thoughts, my own beliefs and pour out my anger, aspirations, awakenings and inner urge. 

In this quest, came out my blog, the one you are reading now.  But slowly, this blog started getting listed into professional forums as a "good to read" blog and at one point, gave me a speed breaker to stop writing anything personal here, or sharing any of my pictures that meant "for me" for future, not for all, kind... for I got many a time teased by my friends as being a little damn open book in life!....

so I wanted a place where I can only put out the things I loved watching, seeing and preserving, ....but no writing..thats a real challenge for a writer like me, who would jus love to scribble out anything and everything that I feel, in words and prose and poem..... so thougth now need a placeholder to lock my pictures in a order of importance as the years go by...and there came in my blog http://www.thypulchritude.blogspot.com/  a home for my pictures, and otherwise lot more "Self" side..... within me lies a bug... a bug that is curious, love being busy, love being tired, love being in stress, love being in dreaming and what not!  Enough now! I guess!!! Stop dear, Stop!!! my hearts' crying now!

Can all Managers be good Leaders and viceversa?

It is my perception that leaders are born where as managers are made!.   Managers are guided by the organizational policies and procedures, structured way of management, guided by the goals and vision, and mostly go by the rule book on assigning tasks, reviewing and measuring performance.  The responsibility ends there strictly speaking.  But modern day managers also try to be good leaders.  

Leaders lead by example.  They try to set a way of working,  maintain their own pattern of dealing with issues, problem solving, team motivation and going out of the box to bring in a bonding, culture, or a phenomenon at the work place.     Leaders can become good managers because of the fact, that they command respect to get the work done without using much of authority or power to get things done.   Leader's exhibition of integrity and self-discipline, guides the team to follow.   Sometimes its because, that the leader himself is hardworking, commitment, punctual and well-organized, the team tends to follow a process in which the leader is working. This is Management by Leadership and not the Management by Objectives like in most cases how it happens with the managers and  the team.

Managers are made because of their experience, education and achievements in the corporate ladder.   Most managers would have been great leaders at times.   Managers necessarily need not have that friendship, bonding, team building,  adoration which leaders usually get from the peers and subordinates.   Leaders can be good managers for their skills of managing people, maintaining equilibrium and ability to get the work done.  Ultimately, it is the relationship of a good manager being a good leader that succeeds.   In the long run, leaders would have draw a line between personal and professional understanding to make good managers.  Assertiveness, proactive control, abiding by corporate requirements make a good leader a successful manager.   

Leaders cannot achieve business success unless they try to be good managers as well, for the passion of a leader has to be combined with the goals of management to bring in a vital factor that can define success.   Bias, discrimination, fan following, friendship, family relationships and such factors cannot come into consideration to both leaders or managers in any business environment.   This does not mean that such bonding should not exist in teams or between managers and subordinates.  But none of these factors should come in between the performance purely in the best interests of the Organizational objectives. 

From my experience, the best of managers are the best of leaders who showed empathy, consideration, motivation and team building.  The best of leaders in the long run became best of managers for they know to handle business priorities coupled with emotional quotient...after all what you deal with are People-  the biggest assets of any Organization.   The Human Potential of an Organization stay motivated, committed and dedicated only when the Senior Management not only acts as good managers but also prove to be good leaders!!

Haunting Bhopal Tragedy Ends With No Solace

25 Years and 15000 confirmed death in the city of Bhopal in India....the tragedy that stuck  on December 2nd 1984 is still a long lasting childhood memory.  Those were the initial days of television in India, and the news papers and magazines dominated our households with news.... the picture that covered the "India Today" magazine haunted me for long not knowing what the heck it was.    The industrial catastrophe that shook the Nation not just a next dawn but for generations to come left a lasting impact on the land of survivors.  Close to 2,00,000 people were affected and became a National health hazard.  Corporate liability and Social responsibility stopped being the words on the walls and documented ethics.  Judiciary and local political environment took its own long time of 25 years to come to final judgement. 

It is heart throbbing to note that the Union Carbide and Dow Chemical Companies ex-employees face a judgement of 2 years imprisonment after 25 years and of 8 convicted, one person already dead.   Why not wait for another 10 years and let the other 7 also have their own natural death???   Children effected by genetic influences still leave a scar on how worse this tragedy could have been?   It is not the question of being judgemental and punishments that matter. 

It is a "High Alert" for industrial safety and ethical responsibility of Corporate when they operate chemical industries close to human habitations.   What may seem to be just a small incident of negligence and carefree attitude leaves a scar on mankind to a certain extent for a life time.   Awakening to the reality, should be drive to check all industry and ensure standards are followed.  No corruption involved to trespass any of the regulations at any of the industrial and manufacturing sites, including waste management, scrap disposal and maintenance of chemicals beyond the permitted limits.   Unless and until this is done throughout India, no tribute would be enough to those whose lives were laid to rest in this bleak tragedy.  RIP to all lives laid in this worst ever gas tragedy in history.

Outsourcing - Pros and Cons! The true dimensions

Outsourcing is not the product of IT revolution in the world.  It is an ancient way of handling the exchange of goods and services.  From the times, the barter system existed, replaced with currency transaction, to today's knowledge era that heads with shared services, shared resources, shared domains, shared cultures, and shared boundaries,...the picture only has just enlarged beyond human comprehension.

With this saga continuing only to grow, it is time to realize the realities beyond this most discussed term.

Outsourcing has its own set of positive things, negative impacts, myths and realities.  If you by any chance, a part of this process, somewhere in your personal or professional life, read further. 

For it makes sense only for people who are bitten by this  bug at some point in their lives,...both for good and bad.

Every parameter will have two dimensions...be it a pro or a con.  Someones pro may be other's con in this cult.  So I don't want to call out any specific parameter as a pro or con.  As a reader, you can decide which is a pro to you or a con... view this from a general perspective.

1.  Economies of scale :  Every organization aims at cost savings to the maximum extent possible.  When recessions hit, and revenues are limited, the only way to show growing profits or maintaining standards is cutting costs.  We all do it in our personal lives too right... same way Corporates look at cheap labour,  more long working employees,  easy infrastructure, shared facilities and anything and everything that would save them another penny.

Example:  A box of chocolates cost me Rs.100 in shop A, the same chocolates cost me just Rs 40 but a mile away, as a consumer, I would prefer driving down a mile for saving Rs 60.  This will be a permanent option if my need is frequent.

2.  Uncompromising Quality:  In this world of competition and growing service providers, quality is no more a concern.  All you need to do is identify where is it available and grab it.   You don't need to live with a substandard goods or services any longer for a better product or a better service is available with many a time lesser price, customized to your needs and on time.

Example:  Chocolate box costing me Rs 100 is now available with free shipping and gift packing for Rs 60, that too delivered ahead of time to the address I prefer.   Any freebie or a discount is always a customer's delight.   Now the distance of one mile doesn't seem to be far at all!

3.  Matching Skills and Technical ability:   Again, in this knowledge era, every day is a learning experience.  There is dying need for keeping the skill sets up to date and technical ability to handle unexpected challenges. 

Example : A corporate used Oracle Forms and Reports for close to 10 years.  One day, management decided to move on to a SAP database.  Instead of the client retraining all of its IT folks to SAP at a huge cost and challenges in terms of adoption to change,  learning and certification, the ideal decision was to outsource it to SAP experts in the field, all packaged for a far better price.  Catering to immediate need, with expertize and low cost. 

4.  No longer commitment:  The outsourcing contracts range anywhere between 3 months to 7 years or even shorter or longer depending upon the type of business and services needed.   But there is no permanent liability like an employment for lifetime in government institutions towards most of the outsourcing deals and hence the question of retaining the employees for longer duration doesn't arise.  Need based management has become a norm today

Example:  My chocolate shop needs to supply chocolate cakes during Christmas season.  If I hire cake making experts, am sure they are of great utility during the season, but what am I do with them after the season is over.   Better is to hire a contractor or outsource to a cake shop to supply for my business on the customer orders.  This way, both of us have our profits shared.

5. Risk and Resource handling:  The risk of non-availability of any given infrastructure needed for a project at a given time, or the biggest challenge of modern day organizations in hiring, retaining and managing resources can be handled effectively in the outsourcing world. 

Example:  My chocolate shop decided to come up with the new moulds for the design of my chocolates.  Instead of me concentrating on making my own moulds, I can prefer buying the common moulds from the market or hire a company designing the moulds to do my customized shapes and designs.  I am not only saving my time and effort on it, probably it is cost-effective many a time, and also to the fact that I am not an expert in that field saves me from screwing up the whole thing.

6.  Accent Neutralization:  World with over 160 countries, thousands of dialects, hundreds of  languages, different ways of business communication throws up a bigger challenge in terms of language and understanding.  Demographic diversity and cultural differences play a major role when all the world's a stage.   There is a need for accent neutralization and common business communication standards, but it is many a time only a nice to have feature and cannot be truly made mandatory.

Example:  For 30 long years, I have spoken English in an accent that my British ancestors left back after ruling India for 200 years.  For a 3 month project in west,  with one week notice, you cannot expect me to change my accent overnight.  That's a reality.   Today, most of the population in the world come across such situations and this instead of a challenge should be a way to respect and regard the fact that I can still speak and write English which is neither my mother tongue nor my country's main language, tolerance to different cultures and ways of living in the world for a common benefit is a need today.   

Facebook has almost 9% of the world's population using the social media, but not sure, if there is any one language that is predominant across the globe.  English treads the world and binds the business communication, but no surprising that it is not the only language that is capturing the world's communication.

7.  Responsibility towards all:  There is an immense social responsibility when it comes to outsourcing world.   Any country that only tries to take cost advantage will lead its Nation towards a negative self-reliance.   The goal of any outsourcing can be cost effectiveness, at the same time, it has a social responsibility to ensure that they do not trigger massive unemployment to local people,  closure of opportunities to grow, and neglect its own corporate responsibility and participation in the economic well being of the Nation.

Example:  I am a farmer, and to help me in cultivation, my labor charged me Rs 1000.   My neighbour's labor promised me to do the same work for Rs 200 and slowly, I started giving all my work to him   He slowly raised his cost, and started to share his services to others as well.  Now I cannot get back my own labor for I already lost his trust and loyalty and the other neighbour's labor is also become costly and shared service.   Finally I end up doing my work, resulting is less productivity,  and borrowing money to run my farming business.   The neighbour comes to my rescue in terms of loan.  I end up in huge debt slowly.  There is no win-win situation..  Does it remind you something????

8. Expertise, knowledge and commitment-   It takes many years to build an expertise in any field, any domain.  Especially in the sectors of manufacturing, chemical engineering, bio-medical, paramedics, civil science and scientific studies, it takes years of experience and continuous learning to build a knowledge level.  The outsourcing will trigger a transition process and with a limited timeline. Can the entire knowledge be shared and digested?

Example:  I built a system for over 5 years, investigating in to many aspects of the business, doing loads of research and collecting valuable data.  After 5 years, my company is sold of to an outsourced corporate. And I am axed.  In the transition period of 3-6 months, how much will I be able to truly transit to the new people handling it in future.   Is there a good enough?   Am I satisfied that my baby will be taken care properly, or is the other person comfortable doing it with the knowledge he had to digest all at a time. I don't know.

9. Relocation and Collaboration:  People travelling to the other side of the world has become common in outsourcing parlance.   The myths of cultural shocks is no more predominant with the world become smaller and smaller day by day.   Yet, it is not totally non-existence as well.  Right from the way your dress, food you eat, places where you live, time zone difference, catering to multiple teams spread across the globe on a single team, virtual world has become a reality.   A stronger collaboration and organizational support on relocation would provide relief to people involved in this process.   Professional challenges would become manageable when personal needs are taken care of.

10.  Where do I belong?   The feeling of employee restlessness coupled with new environment challenges grows when there are communication bottlenecks in a team spread across the globe.   Assurances from the home office that you still belong there, makes employees work with more dedication and focus at client locations.   Regular business updates, weekly status calls,  personal motivations, recognition beyond borders,  participation in technical forums, contributing to organizational updates, continuous learning, equal opportunities in terms of recognition, promotion and growth in the corporate ladder  motivate the employees who take that extra mile to work under stressful circumstances.   Corporate responsibility includes accountability to all people in the organization irrespective of their place of work.  This will erase the day to day challenges in the lives of managers who are managing outsourcing project world over!

Good Luck!   Outsourcing should be a strength to the world economy and not a threat!

Disclaimer:  Please note that this do not have any indication to the way my organization works, or the experience from my clients.  The examples and view points are all my own out of years of experience in multiple business environments with multiple traditional and cross cultural teams.