Things change.

A picture is worth a thousand words...

And right next to all this.... is this on the photo below.

Things change.

How to recover from a knock-out

In life and work, sometimes you get knocked out.  A knock-out in life or work is not at all different as a knock-out in boxing.  How so?  And how do you recover?  Can you recover?

Part 1 - The initial shock

When you get hit by the other boxer you feel the speed of the punch, the weight of the other guys fist, the force he used and immediate pain at the spot he hit you.  All together they force you to crumble and fall down flat on your face not knowing, and forgive the pun, not knowing what hit you.

It's the same in life or work....  

It's about the moment in time, the severity of the news given, who is giving you the news and the manner in which the news is being told to you, the pain you feel immediately after being notified.  You are left gob smacked and unsure how to react or if you could react, or if you could, what would you say or do?

It's the severity of the initial shock that will prove to be the key to how you react.

Part 2 - The reaction

In boxing, the initial shock is followed by a state of confusion where you are not sure what was happening to you, caused by a momentary lapse in memory and loss of balance.  You flail about trying to grab a hold of something, anything, the rope or your mental awareness.  You look for an anchor to stand on.

In life, or indeed work, after the shock, you are also left confused and unsure as to what was happening.  Almost always you bow down with your head, lose colour in your face and collapse on the nearest sitting fixture.  You start nodding your head left to right to express your disbelief at what had transpired. You try to make sense of it in these first few minutes.

Part 3 - The realization

A boxer, down on the floor, ringing in his ears, the ref counting down, has to decide at that point if he is to get up and fight or if he was to give up and concede.  In those few seconds, he has to figure out how to get up or how to, well, stay down.  And if he was able to.

At work or in life, you realize that this had to come, surely it was inevitable.  Suddenly, it is all too clear what has happened and how it will affect you.  You find yourself back in real life and back in the view of others.  Others who are waiting to see how you are going to act.

Part 4 - The reply (the "give up" scenario)

A boxer sometimes decides that he can't take any more blows to the body, that he has been beaten, that he was better off waiting for the ref to blow the whistle.  After the count, he breathes a sigh of relief.

In our lives, at work, we also sometimes make peace with the fact that we can't influence or change anything and that we have been beaten.  That it would be better to accept your fate and move on.  That it would be better if we retreated at this point.  Heads down, tails between our legs.

Part 4 - The reply (the "fight back" scenario)

A real fighter will not give up until he was made unconscious.  A fighter grabs the nearest piece of rope, struggles himself up, steadies himself, turns around and says to the opponent "Is that all you got?"  He smiles at the prospect of either throwing in a few punches or, to be honest, smiles in the face of another knock-out.  Nevertheless, he got up and he's fighting again.

In real life, it is the same.  The decision is yours.  You can take it or you can learn from it, adapt and dish out some revenge.  You can hit the wall near you until your fist bleeds, you can grit your teeth, make a determined face, you can breathe deeply in and out and summon all the strength you have.  In life of course this can happen in the moment or over a period of time.  But when it happens, you have a clear vision of what you need to do with your life.  You see the light.  You fight back, one way or another.  You try and try until you succeed and then... then you smile in the face of success and know that you will be much stronger the next time.

Giving people bad news

"Can you please call Mr. Jones to the office, thank you" says the Manager (who shall by all means stay universal and only be known as The Manager)

Mr. Jones walks into the office with some trepidation, nervously shuts the door and just stands there.  

"Sit down, Mr. Jones.", says The Manager.  "As you know, from the conversations we've had before, we agreed that we would give you some time to adjust and make some changes in your work.  How do you think you faired?" , says The Manager, sits down on his over priced leather chair and waits patiently.

"I don't know, I guess I've tried my best to perform my duties and fit in.  I think I deserve to be where I am.", says Mr. Jones with, what he didn't know at the time, false hope that everything would be fine.

"What about all the mistakes you still keep making?", asks the Manager, thereby killing the hope in it's tracks.

No answer.

"I am sorry Mr. Jones, we have decided to implement a few changes around the office and unfortunately we have decided to let you go.", says the Manager with a flat, strong voice, getting up at the same time to show the finality of the decision.

"You can stay here for a month, while you look for another job." he added.

............... That's pretty much how the story goes.  It isn't pretty, it isn't comfortable and it isn't supposed to be.  If we observe this conversation from the point of view of The Manager.  He is no doubt a professional but he is either a cold hearted managing machine who is performing his duties or he is an empathic leader who has the unfortunate task of giving someone the bad news. Which one are you?

It surely is the worst thing about jobs in Management, the situations where you have to police, where you have to punish, situations where you have to act accordingly and harshly, because that is your job.  Analyse, evaluate, look at all the options and decide.

Often you are deciding about people's lives.

From the point of view of Mr. Jones, who probably isn't even a bad person, who probably has but one thought in his head which is "What do I tell Mrs. Jones when I get back home??"  

With more experience, especially with more experience in managing people, hiring them, firing them, you build up a certain stance which you use in these situations, you have a certain way of acting, you have a certain pose, you have a certain voice you use.  You end up playing a role.  Which is the only way, in the end, if you want to keep your professionalism. 

However and no matter what, after it, you always end up with a bitter taste in your mouth.

But that's just the cost of doing business. 

And it is the only way you should look at it.  You are not the bad guy; you are just doing your job.

Napisano a nepromišljeno.

Za početak ove novo-nađene ozbiljnosti, hteo bih da se osvrnem na tri sportska naslova iz prethodnih 30 dana.

1. Krstić i Teo u deset najplaćenijih

Iznad je link koji vodi na internet prezentaciju B92 i sam tekst.  

Da li je ovaj tekst stavljen zbog jednog od dole navedenih razloga?

• Da bi nas podjebavali zato što je na završenom euro basketu 2011 Teodosić bio katastrofalan a Krstić skoro nevidljiv uzeći u obzir njegovu poziciju na terenu i konkurenciju?
• Da bi se dičili time što su dva Srbina, nevezano za to kakvi su igrači, u deset najplaćenijih u Evropi?
• Da nam saopšte koliko je u stvari sve ovo jadno i kako njih nije briga za nas navijače, niti ih je briga za reprezentaciju?
• Nijedan od gornjih razloga već su samo prenosili vesti?

Iskreno, mene je bilo sramota ovog teksta.

2. McLaren boss praises Button's resolve

U naslovu je link koji će vas odvesti na tekst, na sajtu ITV-a za formulu 1.  O čemu se radi?  Posle trke u Singapuru, šef McLaren tima, Martin Whitmarsh je mislio da treba da ili brani, ili veliča, ili potapše (javno) Buttona po ramenu zbog, na kraju krajeva, dobrog rezultata na kraju trke,  Nije bilo dovoljno što je Button završio drugi i što je dobro vozio - ne, nije bilo dovoljno.  Morali su svi da znaju da je jadni Button, ljubi ga majka, bio bolestan celog vikenda i da je takav i vozio.  Au, pa kako je preživeo!!  Pa on bi, da je bio zdrav, ladno pobedio Vettela!!!  

Mislim, stvarno, .... šta je u stvari Whitmarsh hteo da kaže?

3. Terzić. "Najbolji smo u Evropi."

Isto kao i prethodne dve vesti....

OK, Terziću, pobedili ste Tursku, i to ne baš ubedljivo pa i ako su tvoje devojke tvrdile da nisu mogle da izgube u Pioniru.  I uz dužno poštovanje, svaka čast na pobedi, nije bilo lako izgubiti dva seta posle vođstva od 2:0 u setovima, siguran sam.

Ali, aman, Terziću čoveče, pobedili ste u polu-finalu, ostaje finale sa Nemačkom.  Zašto daješ ovakve izjave pre finala?  Kako je moguće da smo najbolji u Evropi ako izgubimo od Nemačke večeras?  Zar, po defaultu, ne bi oni bili najbolji u Evropi?

Zašto uvek sebi stvaramo ta visoka očekivanja; zar vam nije jasno da će nam titula biti još draža ako nemamo neka očekivanja???

Zašto se uvek ku**imo???