A professor stood before his Philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
 
 
He then asked the students if the jar was full.
 
They agreed that it was. 

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.
 
He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
 
They agreed it was.
 
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
 
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
 
 
He asked once more if the jar was full.
 
The students responded with a unanimous “yes.”
 
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

 
The students laughed.
 
“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life”.
 
“The golf balls are the important things – your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full”.
 
 
“The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car”.
 
“The sand is everything else–the small stuff”.
 
“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the  golf balls”.
 
 
“The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you”.
 
“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness”.
 
“Play with your children”.
 
“Take time to get medical checkups”.
 
“Take your partner out to dinner”.
 
“Play another game you like”.
 
“There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal”.
 
 
“Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter”.
 
“Set your priorities”.
 
“The rest is just sand.”
 
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
 
The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a cup of coffee
with a friend”.


Contibution: AK Raman, N.Swaminathan (Om Spectrum financials)

Question: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure?

Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India ’s satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India ’s ‘Rohini’ satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources — but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.
By 1979 — I think the month was August — we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts — I had four or five of them with me — told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal . It was a big failure.
That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish D hawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am , and the press conference — where journalists from around the world were present — was at 7:45 am at ISRO’s satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India ]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure — he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed.. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.
The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite — and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, ‘You conduct the press conference today.’
I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience.