Business to the Buddha

Tag: Master Oogway

  • Big data – lesson on spirituality







    I was talking to my MD – Dr Vivek Damle. I said, Big data is “relevant information provider” for real time. One cannot rely on old data generated by a person, say in 2010, for marketing strategy (I am writing this blog in 4th Quarter of 2013). The discussion went on a very strange yet lovely tangent, Dr Damle said – “… so big data would take us on the road of spirituality, is it? I mean to say – like suggesting us to live in the present!”

    I was impressed with this thought. So here comes the lesson learnt from spirituality and applied to the Big Data and vice versa.

    Big-dataBig data is all about volume, variety and velocity… so data generate say 2 yrs back is likely to be irrelevant for today’s marketing campaign. In coming days or say months – all analytics would move to the real time e.g. at the moment of truth. Spirituality teaches us this very simple lesson (difficult to apply in real life though) – “live in the present moment”. As Master Oogway says in The Kung Fu Panda – Yesterday Is History, Tomorrow Is a Mystery, but Today Is a Gift. That Is Why It Is Called the Present.

    I was thinking – is technology forcing us today to spiritual concepts? Or unknowingly are we moving towards concepts of spirituality through technology?

    Big data can help identify a persons choices and predict his or her future course of action… but what in case of older data? That data would have lesser significance. Take an example in India, Narendra Modi (PM candidate in India from Opposition Party – BJP) for someone was communal few years back now is a hope, why? because perceptions changed. Vice versa for Dr Man Mohan Singh (PM of India). Old data less relevance. If I talk about my owns example of last month – I was searching for rental apartment, not now. The data I created while searching for a rental apartment last month is irrelevant now. The marketing campaigns will be more real time e.g. the present not based on “Historical” data.

    Earlier in my professional engagement as a marketing analytics consultant, we made a predictive model. The client executed the recommendation more than 8 months later. result – failed. no one wanted to take the blame. That’s what is the case is in a fast moving world.

    Live in the present.

    For Business people – try to be more real-time data based decision makers.

    Image source – http://www.greenbookblog.org/2012/03/21/big-data-opportunity-or-threat-for-market-research/

  • Illusion of control







    I was watching Kung Fu Panda. In one discussion Master Shi Fu and Master Oogway are talking. Watch the video below Illusion of control

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li9wgw0a2QI]

    This video is interesting, it talks about the “illusion’ of control we’ve in our mind. Actually, for a couple of months I’ve been thinking – am I controlling my life? Am I in control of the project I have in my hand? I remembered my MBA days – at times, I used to be authoritative with my group (confession, I may be wrong though). I remember Ashar (he blogs here) and I discussing about being on top of the deadlines. Ashar is very diligent, committed and punctual guy, I always enjoyed working with him in a team.

    So I always tried to be on top my deadlines, work etc. At occasion this control of being on top of deadlines and control of everything related to me seemed an illusion. This began with few questions and few things I slowly connected later.

    As a kid I had heard about Jaora in MP (there is a tomb of a Sufi saint there), had heard about possession and the other world. Recently, I came to know about Meera Datar Dargah and witness firsthand what we watch in movies (e.g. Vidya Balan in Bhool Bhulaiya). This is called possession (demonic possession), and under this influence a person loses his control on him/her self. When I saw that I asked myself – are we in control in our life? Lately, I got to know about Hazarat Gazali’s Dargah near RC Church. At the Dargah I met Taufik bhai, a very simple, devoted and pious person. Though I want to talk to him but he is generally very busy. Does something else (the other world) dictate us? The question remained – are we in control in our life?

    Next thing that made me think about control was astrology. One of my friends father is an astrologer – he predicted about Harshvardhan Navathe would win in KBC (Ref old Mid-Day news). Do stars dictate us? So the question remains – are we in control?

    I was getting puzzled, kept on doing my work and thinking also. One night, just out of the blue, I started watching Kung Fu Panda. I have watched this movie many a times so forwarded stuff I didn’t want to see again. Suddenly I reached the part of the movie where Master Oogway talks about ‘Illusion of control’. I stopped there, switched off computer and slept (it was already 1:20AM next day I had office). Somehow, I thought that I got a direction for answer, if not answer. I somehow could connect the dialog of Master Oogway of illusion of control to the Geeta (Karmanye Vadhikaraste…)

    कर्मणयेवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
    मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि।   2.47 – more on this by another blogger here

    My inference was this -1.  forget about control, 2. even the illusion of control and 3. do you work! Well 4. forget about the result too.

    There have been some connections made but few dots have opened Pandora’s box because we have many questions on – possession, astrology etc.

    Disclaimer – Author only knows about paranormal activities, demonic possession or astrology, but is no way an expert to provide inputs etc.