One of the main themes of the movie "3 Idiots" is to follow your heart. In the examples shown in the movie, the people concerned already know what they want to do, but many times it does not happen that way. As Amitabh Bachchan said in one of his interviews, "I was lucky that early in life, I knew correctly that I wanted to become an actor. I have come across several people in my life who do not know what to do with themselves." To my mind, he is the best example of "Follow your heart." He went to the film industry in 1969 after five years in the corporate world, and what a stupendous success he turned out to be. It goes without saying that for every such case, there are bound to be failures as well. For that matter, a good degree also cannot ensure commercial success for a lifetime, but chances of success are better where real passions and strengths lie if the concerned profession pays reasonably well.
There is a saying that "In work, we have the possibility of discovering ourselves." Whenever we discover ourselves, we have to face the prospect of career transition.
My earlier posts on this subject drew no response in this forum:
<link outdated-removed>
<link outdated-removed>
I may have appeared like "Alice in Wonderland" in the above posts, but since the movie has brought out the theme so well, I will also give a real-life example of someone who switched from being a dentist to a photographer (as against an engineer to a photographer shown in the movie).
<link outdated-removed>
Since nobody in this vast forum was interested in the subject, I did not post my article on Lateral career transition, which was published in Management Compass in February 2009 and has examples of Jack Welch and Jawaharlal Nehru, among others. I am attaching a PDF for those interested. It may not be out of place to mention that earlier, I had written articles on movies like "Taare Zameen Par," "Apna Aasmaan," and "Rock On" for the same theme.
One dialogue in "3 Idiots" that keeps getting repeated is "All is well." In reel life, all may be well, but in real life, it could be a case of misplaced or misinformed optimism if you go by some strange book titles (written by Americans on misery in the wrong profession) that appear on the opening page of my blog - "Make your passion your profession." [http://mypyp.wordpress.com/](http://mypyp.wordpress.com/). Apart from the titles, if you read my article on "Soul of a profession," which is a link to the main blog, it reveals how frustrating being in the wrong job can be. Some articles under "Work hatred" on the right-hand side of the blog under relevant links and books are also worth a look. One may not realize at the start of one's career, but by mid-life, it can become dicey, as revealed by one Sanjiv Bhamre from Tata Consultancy Services who wrote an entire book on the subject, "By the time people find meaning in their lives at the age of 40, other responsibilities in life may make it too difficult to alter anything. Those who can, retire at the age of forty-five or engage in social projects to find meaning, while others continue to live the same grind, unable to gather energy to change anything." Another Indian book worth mentioning is by Virendra Kapoor, who was on the HR committee of CII at the time of publication of the book by the name of "Your Passion Quotient - the greatest secret of success."
What amazes me is that the western world has so many career coaches (by that I don't mean the CAT and other exam coaches but those who help people in making the career shift). I did a coaching course from the Results Coaching System in February 2009, and I am surprised that they are not offering career coaching as a specialization because other books on the subject reveal what a complex and vast subject it is. That apart, one needs broad-minded employers (In my articles, I have given examples of Dhirubhai Ambani, Bill Gates, Jack Welch, etc.) who are willing to take risks with talented people without a formal background and career transition experts. I have read many interesting posts on this forum on out-of-the-box thinking. Many times, this happens more naturally to people who are not formally trained in the subject, and there have been instances of people winning the Nobel Prize for this. However, not very many employers would take the risk. It is not just the education system that has limitations. Movies like "Rang De Basanti" may raise awareness of corruption, but it is too deep-rooted and complex a problem in reality. Following your heart is still possible to tackle if we have the kind of career coaching available in the West like some of the coaches at [www.careershifters.org](http://www.careershifters.org). We are not immune to this problem as there are plenty of Indian examples as well, which get published in magazines and newspapers from time to time.
Despite doing well in my Coaching and Training courses, I was not successful in making a switch as the opportunities offered have also been somewhat half-hearted. I am, however, grateful to this forum and the management magazine which published most of my articles on various HR themes. Thanks for tolerating me despite not being formally from HR.
Happy New Year to all of you. Maybe someday, it will be happy for me too.
From India, New Delhi
Acknowledge(0)
Amend(0)
8There is a saying that "In work, we have the possibility of discovering ourselves." Whenever we discover ourselves, we have to face the prospect of career transition.
My earlier posts on this subject drew no response in this forum:
<link outdated-removed>
<link outdated-removed>
I may have appeared like "Alice in Wonderland" in the above posts, but since the movie has brought out the theme so well, I will also give a real-life example of someone who switched from being a dentist to a photographer (as against an engineer to a photographer shown in the movie).
<link outdated-removed>
Since nobody in this vast forum was interested in the subject, I did not post my article on Lateral career transition, which was published in Management Compass in February 2009 and has examples of Jack Welch and Jawaharlal Nehru, among others. I am attaching a PDF for those interested. It may not be out of place to mention that earlier, I had written articles on movies like "Taare Zameen Par," "Apna Aasmaan," and "Rock On" for the same theme.
One dialogue in "3 Idiots" that keeps getting repeated is "All is well." In reel life, all may be well, but in real life, it could be a case of misplaced or misinformed optimism if you go by some strange book titles (written by Americans on misery in the wrong profession) that appear on the opening page of my blog - "Make your passion your profession." [http://mypyp.wordpress.com/](http://mypyp.wordpress.com/). Apart from the titles, if you read my article on "Soul of a profession," which is a link to the main blog, it reveals how frustrating being in the wrong job can be. Some articles under "Work hatred" on the right-hand side of the blog under relevant links and books are also worth a look. One may not realize at the start of one's career, but by mid-life, it can become dicey, as revealed by one Sanjiv Bhamre from Tata Consultancy Services who wrote an entire book on the subject, "By the time people find meaning in their lives at the age of 40, other responsibilities in life may make it too difficult to alter anything. Those who can, retire at the age of forty-five or engage in social projects to find meaning, while others continue to live the same grind, unable to gather energy to change anything." Another Indian book worth mentioning is by Virendra Kapoor, who was on the HR committee of CII at the time of publication of the book by the name of "Your Passion Quotient - the greatest secret of success."
What amazes me is that the western world has so many career coaches (by that I don't mean the CAT and other exam coaches but those who help people in making the career shift). I did a coaching course from the Results Coaching System in February 2009, and I am surprised that they are not offering career coaching as a specialization because other books on the subject reveal what a complex and vast subject it is. That apart, one needs broad-minded employers (In my articles, I have given examples of Dhirubhai Ambani, Bill Gates, Jack Welch, etc.) who are willing to take risks with talented people without a formal background and career transition experts. I have read many interesting posts on this forum on out-of-the-box thinking. Many times, this happens more naturally to people who are not formally trained in the subject, and there have been instances of people winning the Nobel Prize for this. However, not very many employers would take the risk. It is not just the education system that has limitations. Movies like "Rang De Basanti" may raise awareness of corruption, but it is too deep-rooted and complex a problem in reality. Following your heart is still possible to tackle if we have the kind of career coaching available in the West like some of the coaches at [www.careershifters.org](http://www.careershifters.org). We are not immune to this problem as there are plenty of Indian examples as well, which get published in magazines and newspapers from time to time.
Despite doing well in my Coaching and Training courses, I was not successful in making a switch as the opportunities offered have also been somewhat half-hearted. I am, however, grateful to this forum and the management magazine which published most of my articles on various HR themes. Thanks for tolerating me despite not being formally from HR.
Happy New Year to all of you. Maybe someday, it will be happy for me too.
From India, New Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
One thing I forgot to mention above is this article "Hire talent and passion over skill and experience" by Joe Santana. (Search On Cite | Search On Google). How many employers would do this? The book "Your soul at work" states that very few take a chance even in the US. I am mentioning this as Aamir says in the movie emphatically to his friend "Engineering is my passion. Why don't you become a photographer as that is yours." One site actually lists in the order of passion, strengths, and skills - Next Generation Career & Recruitment Services - Careerspice.com. Maybe future generations shall be well off.
In case anybody knows about career transition experts/career coaching courses or proper specialized career coaches in India, do let me know.
From India, New Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
In case anybody knows about career transition experts/career coaching courses or proper specialized career coaches in India, do let me know.
From India, New Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Hi Hiren,
You have provided vibrant information that is so compressed and interesting to read. I'm not sure how I missed your earlier post! As an HR professional, I always advise my candidates who come for interviews not to accept jobs solely for the sake of employment. Understanding our skills and aligning them with our goals is something most of us fail to recognize. Keep contributing, and I wish you a very Happy New Year!
Wishes to you and all.
From India, Madras
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
You have provided vibrant information that is so compressed and interesting to read. I'm not sure how I missed your earlier post! As an HR professional, I always advise my candidates who come for interviews not to accept jobs solely for the sake of employment. Understanding our skills and aligning them with our goals is something most of us fail to recognize. Keep contributing, and I wish you a very Happy New Year!
Wishes to you and all.
From India, Madras
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
I had read somewhere that the world's most famous investor, Warren buffet had said that he had not met any extremely successful person who did not enjoy what he was doing. Somebody sent me a link to Steve Jobs speech at Stanford University on the importance of loving one's work. Elsewhere in the forum, it is there as a pdf file and in excerpts but this complete speech"How to live before you die"(audio) may interest some-
Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com
Though the movie is undoubtedly good, one thing needs to be pointed out. I read in one of it's posters "Chase excellence and success will follow". If this implies commercial success, it is not absolutely necessary. In my earlier articles I have given examples of how people like Nandan Nilekani and Amitabh Bachchan considered themselves lucky to be the right people at the right place at the right time. The reverse could be equally true. Actor Shashi Kapoor who, as a producer made very good films in the late seventies and early eighties had to suffer big losses because of lack of commercial appeal. In the book The Kapoors by Madhu Jain it is mentioned that Kapoor lost 10 lakhs, 40 lakhs, 24 lakhs and 1.5 crores respectively for his “wonderful” films Kalyug, Vijeta, 36 Chowringhee Lane and Utsav. Ajooba, the commercial movie that he had made to make up for these losses, lost Rs 3.5 crores. This is what can happen when one ignores popular demand or does not give it its due weightage. In a recent interview, Kapoor mentioned that had the kind of multiplexes that are there now had been available then, his "wonderful" movies would have had better chance of commercial success. Kapoor might have achieved success in terms of personal fulfillment as the movies were good.
Commercial success happens when personal, business and market profile are in congruence. The last in not in anybody's hands but the first two can be managed better with the right HR practices.
From India, New Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com
Though the movie is undoubtedly good, one thing needs to be pointed out. I read in one of it's posters "Chase excellence and success will follow". If this implies commercial success, it is not absolutely necessary. In my earlier articles I have given examples of how people like Nandan Nilekani and Amitabh Bachchan considered themselves lucky to be the right people at the right place at the right time. The reverse could be equally true. Actor Shashi Kapoor who, as a producer made very good films in the late seventies and early eighties had to suffer big losses because of lack of commercial appeal. In the book The Kapoors by Madhu Jain it is mentioned that Kapoor lost 10 lakhs, 40 lakhs, 24 lakhs and 1.5 crores respectively for his “wonderful” films Kalyug, Vijeta, 36 Chowringhee Lane and Utsav. Ajooba, the commercial movie that he had made to make up for these losses, lost Rs 3.5 crores. This is what can happen when one ignores popular demand or does not give it its due weightage. In a recent interview, Kapoor mentioned that had the kind of multiplexes that are there now had been available then, his "wonderful" movies would have had better chance of commercial success. Kapoor might have achieved success in terms of personal fulfillment as the movies were good.
Commercial success happens when personal, business and market profile are in congruence. The last in not in anybody's hands but the first two can be managed better with the right HR practices.
From India, New Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
I heard Steve Jobs' lecture (link above) again, and when his second story begins, he says exactly what Amitabh Bachchan says (mentioned in the beginning). Jobs says, "I was lucky. I found what I loved to do early in life."
What I don't understand is that if it is not critical to success, why is management education and practical HR activity not directed towards that. Where are the Indian websites equivalent to www.vocationalcoach.com or www.passioncatalyst.com?
From India, New Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
What I don't understand is that if it is not critical to success, why is management education and practical HR activity not directed towards that. Where are the Indian websites equivalent to www.vocationalcoach.com or www.passioncatalyst.com?
From India, New Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)Gathering data for an AI comment.... Sending emails to relevant members...
Looking for something specific? - Join & Be Part Of Our Community and get connected with the right people who can help. Our AI-powered platform provides real-time fact-checking, peer-reviewed insights, and a vast historical knowledge base to support your search.
Five Ways To... Handling a Career Transition.pdf
Safety Always For All Riders- Wear Helmet & Follow the Traffic Rules & Signs.zip