Sound: Potent Energy

The universe is made from sound, and sound is the basic and main source of energy. Every being has energy. It transcends from one form to another. Similarly, each being has a sound of its own. That’s how we can tell the sound of glass from the sound of metal or wood or water. Sanskrit is the most evolved and ancient language in the world. It actually has 46 alphabets denoting a sound each. When these alphabets form words and then mantras, it is energy coming together to form a force that has the power to change and manifest.
As sound is of the nature of the syllables composing it, the tantra affirms that the creative force of the universe resides in all the letters of the alphabet. The different letters symbolize the different functions of that creative force, and their totality is designated as matrika or the "mother in essence".
Thus the mantras and shlokas are not just mere combinations of whimsical sounds but the subtle form of the presiding energy; and hence the technique of reciting these mantras is to create the force required to connect and communicate with the energy, of that particular mantra.
It is not only mantras or shlokas, but even our classical music, is a form of potent energy. That is why it has the power to cause rain and light lamps.
Even in our daily communication, our tone is more important that our words. How we say things is more important that what we say. It is the pitch, the rise and fall, the stretch, in our tone that decides the response we get. Responses are seen, but on a deeper level, it is our psyche, and the auras around us that get influenced by the tone and lead us to respond the way we do.

Softskills for Agile

First time I heard of Agile, I didn’t have a clue as to what it was. I thought, as the name suggests, it should be something to do with getting your work done faster! Later when my friend took me through the entire cycle of Scrum, did I realize that this is a very helpful tool for all individuals working as teams in organizations. In short, it was for everybody and anybody who wanted to evolve not only as professionals, but also as individuals.
However, I was surprised to know that Agile had failed in some organizations. Reason was, the same human factor, which had made it successful was creating obstacles for its smooth functioning. That’s where my friend needed my help. At the end of the day after training teams on the Agile methodology, when he saw that there were problems and gaps in the process, it hurt him. It was like his baby was not well, and he couldn’t do anything about it!
When asked, he said,” Communication!”. Either people don’t want to or don’t know how to communicate.
Communication is an art, a tool, a weapon. It behaves the way you treat it. If you know how to control it, you can mould your life the way you want. But, if you don’t, then rest assured, the world will shape your life for you.
Though we all start communicating from day one of our lives, we need help as we grow older! Isn’t it ironical that with age and experience should come mastery, instead, we become even more incompetent!
There are numerous obstacles in communicating smoothly; however, attitude takes the cake. All types of attitudes, fear, ego, jealousy, presumptions, good Samaritan, and so on. People go to great lengths to hide data, information, incompetency, emotions. Main reasons for this are fear of losing face and fear of losing power.
When we talk of Agile, the problem arises when the team is not in sync with each other as well as with the PO. Either there are some misunderstandings within the team, or between the team and the PO. There is a chasm between the demand from the PO and the supply from the team and both refuse or are incapable of understanding the other’s point of view.
Both need to understand that this difference of opinion is because they are handling different domains. The team is passionate about the functionality whereas the PO is bothered about the ROI. Instead of locking horns, if they can educate each other on the ‘musts’ of each other’s domain, they can spell success. The problem is there are a lot of ‘ifs’ and ‘butts’ involved. IF only you move away from this one ‘BUT’, you’ll realize that it’s actually not so bad. What it takes is a bit of tolerance and the urge to learn something new, not only about another domain, but also about yourself.
The Scrum master has a very important role to play in the success of Agile. He is like the conductor of an orchestra. He has a team of highly talented individuals who know their parts well, however, they need him there to make sure they function as ONE. His guidance and knowledge makes sure they give the audience a symphony and not a racket!

Team

TEAM Spirit

T – Tolerance

E – Empathy

A – Acceptance

M – Mould

We all want a team that will help us to succeed and win, and when that doesn’t happen, we get frustrated and start blaming our team for our failure.

Why do we treat our own team as a punching bag? Is it the one responsible for our failure? Does it have an identity of its own?  Are we not a part of it?

Think. What is a team?

A group of individuals coming together for a common purpose, to achieve a common goal.

We are always working in teams. As a family at home, with friends on a picnic, at the signal with strangers. We are social animals and hence live in groups. However, we still haven’t mastered the art of living in harmony in these groups.

We need to stop and think where we are going wrong. Why can’t we function successfully as a team?

Problem lies with us. We are not strong enough, to take the onus, the responsibility of our actions and reactions. How many times in a week, do you forgive mistakes, not others for their mistakes but also ourselves for our mistakes? It takes a great deal of guts to forgive, because forgiveness asks for acceptance. Once you accept people the way they are, it is easy to forgive. And if you can forgive, then harmony will rule. And once there’s harmony, there’s better understanding, and better synchronicity, and more success.

We will talk about the functions of the team in the next post.

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