Uncertainty Principle in Organizational Strategy

When the new particle collidor was commissioned in CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research www.cern.ch) Geneva last year there has been a speculation that apart from couple of nobel prizes, the future of science and physics in particular is at stake. I do recommending reading “The trouble with Physics” (http://www.thetroublewithphysics.com/) by the great theoretical physicist “Lee Smolin” (founders of Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics, http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/)who has put up some serious questions on how physics is being hijacked with the obsession with “String Theory” (http://www.superstringtheory.com/). Well this (string theory) has been a fundamental drive in physics since last decade for the quest of “unification theory” that unites all four fundamental forces (electromagnetism, strong interaction, weak interaction (also known as "strong" and "weak nuclear force"), and gravitation) in one grand theory. Another interesting aspect of modern quantum gravity has been this mysterious energy called the dark energy and particle , Higgs-Boson , popularly known as God’s particle. Recent observations of supernovae are consistent with the fact that the universe is made up of 71.3% of dark energy (http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/mysteries_l1/dark_energy.html).

So essentially , almost three fourth of the universe composition is unknown to mankind (though I doubt even if we know remaining one-fourth fully! . Go through “What we Don’t Know” at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.02/bigquestions.html?pg=3 )

Essentially our inability to know the majority of composition of universe also makes us quite inefficient on how , what , when and why a universe creates a particular element and thereafter its interactions as well. Yes we all know through elementary physics that vacuum triggers electrons, etc etc. And now physics knows leptons, dutrons, quarks etc etc. There are roughly 2.5 x 10⁸⁹ elementary particles in the observable universe

From an organizational perspective , we can consider universe as a macrocosm and organization as a microcosm , this (organization) boils down to a system reflecting the complexities of particles (human beings, economic etc ) and making it as difficult to decipher and predict as it is for the universe. By the way I strongly urge you to google “The story of Stuff” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAYXp8) a wonderful research which shows 99 % of what consumers buy ends up in TRASH IN 6 MONTHS in North America, others are not far behind.. And we can imagine this shelf life getting even shorter and shorter. The fundamental aspect that we ignore in our discussions is trying to see everything in a linear fashion which makes things so damn easy. If we have to understand on what will happen or more “controlled” way what should happen, we should know the “uncertainty principle in the organization”. In elementary physics most of us have read the Heisenberg uncertainty principle which stated that certain pairs of physical properties, like position and momentum, cannot both be known to arbitrary precision. That is, the more precisely one property is known, the less precisely the other can be known. It is impossible to measure simultaneously both position and velocity of a microscopic particle with any degree of accuracy or certainty.

Although philosophers of Science like Karl Popper (pls read All Life is Problem Solving

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Problem-Solving-Karl-Popper/dp/0415174864 have questioned uncertainty , but I always have had my faith in probabilistic theories. In Fact its high time that we make Probability , Logic and Epistemology (theory of knowledge It addresses the questions: What is knowledge? How is knowledge acquired? What do people know? How do we know what we know? Why do we know what we know?) as essential subjects in Management & Engineering in the curriculum..

So if through principles of equivalence I deduce position ( from Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle) Organizational Position (positioning a firm, what should it sell , how much etc, position can be a point of reference in a cost-quality-competition-map for an organization) and Momentum where and how fast should the organization head towards ? (what should it become and how should it become based on its size and financials) in terms of an organization, there would be a fair amount of uncertainty in the two.

Strategists, thinkers, and thought leaders all dwell on this for loads of time. There are interactions all along the strategy formulation path with unaccounted factors.

So what should Strategists do ? May be assemble a probability of options keeping in mind principles of uncertainty , by first recognizing that lots of things around are uncertain (not just the mathematical , analytical way only) but with a model which is dynamic and has subjective considerations as well, not just objective. The strategy formulation is an art many a time we have a conceptual model of the end painting when we start , but end product can turn out to be varied, different or completely something else than we imagined.

Here again I reemphasize that our models of thinking are growing static day by day. I am often intrigued by the Philosophy of Fallibilism ( philosophical doctrine) that all claims of knowledge could, in principle, be mistaken. Some fallibilists go further, arguing that absolute certainty about knowledge is impossible. (Read “Knowing and the Known” is a 1949 book by John Dewey who was a great Fallibilist and Arthur Bentley. A full version of the book in pdf is available from the American Institute for Economic Research).

We need to reinvent our ways of thinking as said in one of the Shiva Sutras “ Gyanam Bandah” , ultimately knowledge itself becomes a limitation.

It’s the free spirit ultimately

Thought Engineering

After a long spell of literary dryness , I have finally decided to write , and what motivated me to write this time was the “thought” itself. One of my favorite parts of Rig Veda is the “Nasadiya Suktam” translated as the "not the non-existent" which is the 129th hymn of the 10th Mandala of the Rig-Veda and has attracted a large body of literature of commentaries both in Indian theology and in Western philology. The foundation of this Mandala is its emphasis on how the universe was first created which is now an important question for modern day cosmologists, particle physicists and quantum theory specialists. Nasadiya Suktam goes on to attribute creation to what it calls as the “primal germ of mind” or the “thought” , the question being if nothing was there where was the mind.. Lets assume for a second that mind is a hypothetical center for thought creation, the primal germ or the thought which emerged, triggered creation. So our fundamental basis is thought itself. For me mind is a fictional center in human physiology not occupying a defined set of coordinates. We may unlock the power of neurons and various centers in our brain , but still we are left void of the origin of thought. Does that mean thoughts essentially are self existent ? I can safely say that we are all inundated with millions of thoughts every day and every second itself. Dwelling more on Nasadiya Suktam , one of the several creation stanzas in Rig Veda , there is a quintessential assumption that thought is the source of universal creation and thought (the first thought) itself is self created.. This is a strange dichotomy from an existentialist perspective, if creation is from “x” and x is self created. In Sanskrit and in Upanishads we call it as Swayambhu, but again from where ? answer is from Void, vacuum or in metaphysical terms “shunya or zero”.. the essence of creation of thought is thoughtlessness ..

Lets look it in context of existentialist perspective , all our actions arise by a single thought. Somewhere and sometime.. A thought as an energy vehicle is more or less assumed by even neo classical psychologists. All the motivational write ups revolve around constructing effective thought energies which are essence to our well being. But the question is if a thought is self created (if we assume that), why does it so happen and can we engineer our thoughts.

Engineering our thought is basically trying to put our hands on this process of self creation. we can look this from a perspective of self direction, coz if its self created so it can be self directed as well. In a cathode ray experiment we all know that from vacuum electrons arise which can be directed to an electrode, so if thoughts arise from void can we direct their movement. We need to look at this question little deeper. How do we engineer our thoughts ? This can be achieved stage by stage. As a first step we need to cultivate the power of observation, many of us try to control our thoughts which is an anti-nature cycle ,coz if the creation of fundamental thought itself is through the process of self creation , who are we and what power do we have to stop/interfere in the thought creation process. Observation is important because the moment we start observing something we have two demarcations, that which is being observed and the person who is observing. An observer who is observing. Even though this can be in a fraction of a second we split ourselves from being experienced. No doubt our medium vehicle is again a thought to observe but the click is this is the Creation thought. This thought what I call it as a T=0 thought is a creation thought or an observer thought. Being the first thought or an observer thought its free from any toxicity. The creation of universe is a perfect creation by this thought. the first stanza of Isha Upanishad states that “OM – Purnamadah Purnamidam Purnat purnamudachyate.
Purnasya Purnamadaya Purnamevavashisyate.” meaning, “That is perfect, this is perfect, from perfect comes out of perfect. If perfect is subtracted from perfect, still perfect is left.”. so essentially again through our T=0 thought we can guide creation which would be perfect. Its through gradual cultivation of observation of macro and microcosm around one can dwell on this thought. Our sensitivity has considerably depreciated over ages of human growth. Why so ? this because our physical , mental and spiritual endeavors have been so outwardly that our inner faculty development has been the consequent victim. Then again question comes of self direction, aren’t we then interfering in the creationist process, no , this because the moment we bifurcate observer and experiencer we tend to detach our personalized imprint in the thought. Our thoughts many a times (whether selfish or selfless) tend to be anti creationist , so if we align ourselves with the universal or T=0 thought, automatically we endeavor for a universal harmony. Again as a matter of emphasis our well being is attached to universal well being then only we reap true happiness. Just to give an example if we have a hundred million dollars in an isolated island , whats the use. Our world around is a necessary condition to spend and experience that hundred million dollars. So engineering is moving along the path of self direction. And self here is universal. The word "Aham" in Sanskrit is the equivalent world , its an interesting mix that this word is made of .. a is first alphabet and ha is the last alphabet is Sanskrit so Aham spans across first and last.. similarly self here encompasses everything around..

hAPPY BIRTH DAY CHARLES DARWIN.. 200th birth anniversery

BY the way a quick correction in my last post first  "one of my principal spiritual belief is NOT TO see the universe/religion in a good vs bad.. god vs evil".

DARWANian model of evolution has been more of a philosophical and church centric debate rather than that of scientific merit.. again politics of religion.. evolution is the most fantastic concept availble for human thinking.. everything evolves to a pattern .. those who dont evolve die as furthered in survival of the fittest theory.. what about organizations.. there is a constant evolution happening within the structures evolve and so its strategy.. people.. resources..

i want to hear your views first on theory of evolution w.r.t organizations.. 

i will then post my underlying view

THE HIDDEN DIMENSION..

thanks for posting views again on ravana and rama.. quickies.. have i been biased towards ravana , my answer is no .. i just want to bring the other side of the coin.. whether your hero/god is rama or ravana is a matter of personal choice, its just my endevaour to uncover facts and present it to you.. esp since i believe to  a tribe of "participative sociologists" who observe and try to bring multi dimensional perspectives.. one of my principal spiritual belief is to see the universe/religion in a good vs bad.. god vs evil.. all religions have this bifrucation so it limits our perspective of understanding..  how many of us dig Vedas/ upanishads/  which is monotheistic and works on nature .. logic and judgement.. ? we as human psyche wants love to dramatize our gods beliefs.. 

anyways why do i say all this ? somebody had queried is it related to strategy ? well everything is connected.. i want to develop multidimensionality  of perspectives and approach in viewing things/objects/organizations.. much of the views i see is single at most bi dimensional.. reality many a times (as string theorists proclaim .. i am from the other school though) is in 6th.. 7th or nth dimension.. i call this as hidden dimension..

welcome to the world of mind-physics.. as now its proved as  the god's particle (Higgs's Boson.. did the cyclotron find it by the way )..  unravels the truth..

its very easy to bisect or trisect a strategy or organization and pinpoint causes of success/failure.. but what about the hidden dimension..

in coming days i will write about this "HIDDEN DIMENSION" ... in strategy, organizations, economics, society and behaviours.. let the suspense continue

A book that changed my life .. early on

Among all the books that I have read or heard.. This is a life changer and I mean it. I had heard some sort of an audio version of this book when a great (unknown) master had mentioned in his discourses which in turn was brought in by my teacher at my engineering college.

Just a jist : is a 1981 book by Harold Kushner, a Conservative rabbi. Kushner addresses in the book one of the principal problems of theodicy (justice of god), the conundrum of why, if the universe was created and is governed by a God who is of a good and loving nature, there is nonetheless so much suffering and pain in it — essentially, the evidential problem of evil.

This devout Rabbi (jewish priest), an excellent human being , devoted to god throughout his life
has to see his young son, Aaron, who die at age 14 in 1977 of the incurable genetic disease progeria in which the body ages faster.

Bottomline : he had to see his son die in front of his eyes , every day by seeing him grow old much faster than him and was helpless..

if you are a biking enthusiast .. you will like this

The first pictures of the production version of the BMW S1000RR supersport motorcycle have been unveiled at BMW’s Berlin production plant. Until now, only the carbon-fiber clad World Superbike-spec version has been seen in action. This 403-lb performance riding machine is as high tech as any M-series automobile the Bavarian-based company has ever produced. Everything from traction-control to ABS as well as high-tech engine internals will make this first-ever BMW superbike a legitimate challenger to the Italian and Japanese sportbikes that have ruled the racetracks and back-canyon bi-ways of our little blue planet. Below is the press release on the unveiling as provided by BMW. -Ken

Staff and fans of BMW Motorrad are looking forward to March 1, 2009 with great excitement. At the introductory race to the Superbike World Championship in Phillip Island, Australia, two BMW motorcycles will be in the starting line-up for the first time. After recent tests in Portimao and Valencia, riders Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus are optimistic about the future and the mood in the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team is positive. The racing bikes will be fairly close to serial production models, allowing for the greater audience identification characteristic of the sport. Behind the scenes meanwhile, production of the serial machine is getting underway: the BMW S 1000 RR. The package of this completely newly developed motorcycle with its 999cc in-line 4-cylinder engine is very compact and light. The dry weight of the motorcycle is 183 kg. Both its supreme performance figures and its outstanding riding properties make the BMW S 1000 RR an extremely attractive offer in the supersports segment.

The engine has a very compact cylinder head and is narrow in shape. The valves are activated by means of very small, light cam followers, virtually at Formula 1 level in terms of their dimensions. This construction ensures very high engine speeds and allows maximum freedom in engine design in terms of torque and output. For the supersports bike BMW S 1000 RR, a completely newly developed sports ABS featuring four different modes as well as the dynamic traction control system DTC will be available. The functional principle of the traction control system has been borrowed directly from racing.

The distinctive design of the S 1000 RR reflects the general style of the segment but also clearly represents the brand BMW. The new S 1000 RR will be available in the four finishes Mineral Silver metallic, Acid Green metallic, Thunder Grey metallic and - based on the BMW Motorrad racing colours - Alpine White/Lupine Blue/Magma Red. The serial production machine BMW S 1000 RR will be presented to the public in the early summer of 2009 but can already be ordered in dealerships.

Servant Leadership: Book of the week