Mistaken Orders

The other day, I was reading a story about a restaurant in Japan, where they employed ,only dementia patients. The name of the restaurant is “Mistaken orders”. They clarify to their customers upfront ,that sometimes they may order something but get something else. They should not get perturbed by this action but rather appreciate, those who live with family members or friends ,suffering from dementia.

This was a very insightful story for me. I realised that it could be put to practice in our lives too. We react or sometimes over react, for some behaviour or incident ,without understanding why that individual behaved that way or that incident happened. We all are human and react this way or the other sometimes. But, it may be a good idea to reflect on this story and change the way we live.

This could happen in the family, society or work place. We may get disturbed by the action of an individual or their behaviour in a particular situation. We may react in-appropriately ,since we do not understand ,the context of the behaviour or the action.

Let us imagine how our life would be, if we learn from the idea of “Mistaken orders” restaurant. We need to remind ourselves every day that the people around us ,may be suffering from dementia or some other issue. Dementia here is just symptomatic. We really do not understand the reasons, for their behaviour.

I was told that the customers to this restaurant ,come prepared to eat any food they get. They are not agitated by the mistaken orders delivered to them by the staff ,as they are fully aware that people suffering from dementia ,do keep forgetting frequently and they not do it deliberately.

It may not be easy to practise this idea. But may be worth a try. Our life is conditioned by our behaviour ,every day. We react based on what we see and hear around us. We may not have the time to understand, why an individual behaves or reacts ,in a particular way. But, if we are able to invest some time in this aspect, our life could be positively different. We may behave like the customers of the “Mistaken orders” restaurant in our every day life ,with most people around us.

Another interesting aspect of life is that ,we get what we give. If we give a smile, we get a smile back. If we frown, people shout back at us. If we understand people better, they probably would understand us better too.

We all are running short of time every day. We do not have time to eat our break fast nor do our daily chores. Then how do we find time to understand people around us. Yes, this may be true. But, we do invest time in things, which are important to us. Building and sustaining relationships, is critical to life. It is like maintaining good health in our life. So, it may be worth investing.

Let us rediscover our life from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

18th March 2025

Learning Organisations

One of the things which fascinates me ,is when individuals and organisations continue to learn. Our learning journey in life ,is like a tree. As the seed is sown, it grows into a tender plant and then a tree. It continues to grow every day with new leaves, then flowers, fruits and this cycle continues throughout the life of the tree.

Human learning is no different. We, as individuals descend on earth with minimal inborn intelligence. We learn from our parents, siblings, teachers, friends and colleagues ,every day. As we grow ,we learn from all people around us and this journey needs to continue, for our life time.

But, unfortunately, I have come across some people, especially in organisations, who not only cease to learn continually but prevent their team members ,to learn and grow. One of the things I have always done is to keep reading and writing ,about all the things I do. I have also encouraged my team members to read, write and share their learnings with others ,through publishing articles, paper presentations or participation in renowned conferences ,by presenting case studies etc.

However, I have come across some managers who would neither do it themselves nor allow their team members to do the same. This not only stunts their growth as individuals but also prevents their team members, to be agile and up to date ,in whatever field they are working in.

Interestingly ,many people do not realise that organisations are like living beings. An organisation is not a building, machinery in a plant or computers or gadgets ,used in offices. An organisation is matrix of people ,working in organisations. When an organisation ceases to learn, it means the people working in the organisation, start rusting and get out dated ,sooner than they realise.

While working in one of the organisations I worked in, we realised that we were not in touch with our key stakeholders like customers, suppliers and employees. We were not listening to them and learning from the mistakes ,we were doing every day. This impacted our business and it took us many years ,before our market share got impacted and our brand got eroded. When we realised and acted on this important aspect, we grew dramatically ,leaving our competitors behind and posted sustainable profits ,as well.

Organisations, which learn continually and grow are profitable and sustainable always. When we say an organisation is a learning organisation, we mean ,that individuals working in the organisation continually learn and grow. It is also when leaders in the organisation learn and enable their team members to learn and grow ,in multiple ways.

I have met leaders who discourage their team members to read or write articles and publish them. I have also met some leaders, who do not like their team members to participate in conferences or present papers or case studies. This could be either because they have an inferiority complex themselves or they are worried that their team members ,may become more popular and knowledgable than they themselves are.

Either way, when individuals cease to learn, organisations tend to decay. This decay could be in terms of ,drop in market share, stunted growth or lower profits. While it may not be very easy to link ,the rate of learning of an organisation to their rate of growth, a systematic time study ,could easily prove this correlation.

Let individuals and organisations continue to thrive to learn and grow .

S Ramesh Shankar

18th March 2025

Wanting to die or willing to die – suicide or sacrifice

Wanting to die is suicide but willing to die is sacrifice. Wanting to die may be out of desperation but willing to die for your country is patriotism. People, who are not able to face the realities of life may be wanting to die but people who want to give their lives for a cause, sacrifice for the sake of others and their countries.

I do understand ,as a student of psychology ,that sometimes people are wanting to die since they are not able to deal with what is happening to them in life. They may need support from professional counsellors or psychiatrists or psychologists to face complexities of life. Such vulnerable people should either seek such professional support or others could help them to get such support.

We hear of students committing suicide ,for failing in some examinations. We hear of ,either partners giving up their life ,since they are not able to cope up with each other ,due to various reasons. These, in my view are acts of helplessness. While some may say, it is due to their inability to deal with their own issues , I would rather state it is not their individual failure but the inability of their family or friends ,not being in a position to support them ,in time.

On the other hand, the defence personnel are willing to die for the nation. I was once attending a talk ,by an ex army captain. He was narrating of how a platoon commander ,will always lead from the front, when they have to attack an enemy. The commander will always put his life on the knife edge , before he orders his troops to plunge into the battle.

So, if we take these extreme ways of approach to dying, we realise that one is negative and the other is a positive way to die. A faint hearted commits suicide while a soldier sacrifices his life ,to save innocent humans in a terror attack. Our actions every day in life ,can either be suicidal acts or acts of sacrifice. We may either run away from situations or stand tall and face a crisis.

As parents at home or as leaders at the work place, we see both these characters. I have explained suicide and sacrifice ,as examples of how we deal with real life situations every day. Many of us are happy to run away from any crisis and transcend to safer zones. Few of us are willing to plunge and take the risk.

It is similar to a situation in a road accident. Most of us will speed past an accident site ,since we do not want to the face the music of answering difficult questions from the police. These are simple acts of suicide we commit every day. Some of us will stop, call the ambulance or even take the injured in our own car ,to the nearest hospital – these are the acts of sacrifice like a soldier, we are talking of.

So, let us review today of how suicidal or sacrificial we are ,in every day life ,from today. Do we develop cold feet and run away from uncomfortable situations at home or work or are we brave soldiers willing to die and save the life of others ?

Let us learn to sacrifice more from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

18th March 2025