| You need not be a Christian to follow the pope |
The Prophet Isaiah once foretold
A Voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken
Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation on 11th February; we could hear the gasping sound of not only many Christians but other good Samaritans from different cross walks of life. No pope had resigned in the last 600 years. Although this was not the first resignation in form but, to me, it was the first resignation in substance (how can I ever hide my accountant identity). Prior to him there were eight popes who had resigned. Most popes who had resigned in the past were either under duress or political turmoil or in other words did not resign of their free will. He was not the first pope Benedict to resign as Benedict V( 964) and Benedict 1X ( 1032-45) also resigned. Pope Benedict resigned for reasons which I quote here “ After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited for the task”
He further added, which to my mind is the most important part of his reasoning, which I quote again “ both strength of mind and body are necessary , strengths which in the last few months have deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me’.
This is one of the key transformational decisions I have ever come across for a long time. In one single moment he has redefined the role and the aura of the papacy. What needs to be read through this transformative message is deeper than what appears on the surface. He did not want to be a mere proxy and paved way for someone who can meet the immense demands of the church. Few other questions that crossed my mind are – what should be the right age for the pope? (I found out that most Popes in the last three centuries were in the age group of 60-75 when they assumed office) Should Popes serve terms like some country heads? When the Pope talked about strength – is this just a self-determination or, in future, some agency in Church could decide as well.
I am not a Christian but I do understand that Pope’s action has some ramification in other religions as well. Not only that, as a corporate manager one needs to learn a greater lesson from this in terms of knowing when to let things go in the larger interest of corporation and society. If most leaders learn this lesson, the entire corporate world would be better served.
So I rest my case that one need not be a Christian to follow the pope.
Time Warner to sell magazines
You must be wondering that I am out of my mind after reading this sub heading. We all knew that Time Warner sells magazine (People, InStyle, Real Simple) so what is new about it. I just reproduced what I saw in one of the newspapers. I was curious as well and on detailed reading, I figured that Time Warner wants to sell their Magazine Division. Obviously, continuing in the paper media business is not making sense for them and hence this course of action.
These headlines made me think hard about the future of Magazine industry.First of all, is there a future for paper magazine? What is the differentiator for the news magazines? When do you read paper Magazines? I read when I am waiting in the saloon, in the aircraft when I can’t switch on my electronic device, waiting for doctor’s appointment etc. All these circumstances are forced one and not by choice. So I grab whatever is available and read for a while to kill the time. So I don’t care whether it is ‘Times” or “ News week”. I am sure Time Warner realized this and wants to get out of this business. The question that begs is “who wants to get in?”. Most News companies develop an app which people can download and read their favorite news. These apps which push news to your device are doing the job of “paper boy” delivering news to your door step.
Some reflection with nostalgia about morning newspapers – Gone are those days of sipping a hot coffee, eagerly waiting for the news paper boy to throw your favorite news paper into your balcony or door step. There used to be fight between family members on who picks the news paper first. Newspaper would lose its charm by noon and ready to be stacked for disposal. However, the quality of writing used to be great and my grandfather always advised me to read the editorial to improve my English skills. It is a different story today as evidenced by the headline I picked up from one of the newspapers. Electronic age has changed people’s habit of reading news and people learn as things develop. The focus of reading news paper in the morning has dwindled and the quality of the news coverage and art of writing news report is scarce these days. “AIG reports $ 4bn loss for this quarter” was the news I read last night. Someone reads it and immediately jumps to the conclusion that AIG is not doing well. However, reading between lines will tell you a different story. A good analyst would have reported “ AIG reports book loss but way to recovery”. Wait a minute! What am I talking here about reading between the lines? These days there are only headlines so where is the substantiate reporting? Most news reporting happens in SMS language. Who knows if this could be the language of future? There will be language schools teaching you SMS language. Teachers telling you OMG does not mean ‘Oh my goodness’ but it is “Oh My God”. There is a difference between the two. Goodness may not be necessarily equal to God. Apologies for the digression and abrupt end to this but I rest my case that paper media’s future is a question mark.
How our mind works- Sorry folks this is not cricket
Recently met one of my Indian Colleague (who grew up in US) along with a Australian friend in a bowling alley. I was playing bowling for the first time and the Australian was doing well. So I wanted to get into some mind games to embarrass my Australian friend. I pulled him into a conversation with my Indian colleague stating how Australians are good in under arm bowling (Reference Trevor Chappell incident in 1981). I assumed my other Indian colleague would follow the conversation as most Indians would follow cricket. This was a fatal mistake as after I finished my conversation he uttered ‘ guys, I know you guys are talking something about cricket, but I don’t follow what you are talking about.’ I sheepishly apologized and switched topics to baseball. Lessons learnt – Do not make a generic assumption. Always ask the question. How many times have we made an assumption about a person just based on their looks or the way they are dressed? How many times have we form an opinion through our first impression? Food for thought and practice using more of our System-2 brain ( analytical and logical brain).
Dessert- Don’t worry be happy. Life is beautiful
See you soon.
MELT 52 