(Not Just) Great Expectations

Expectation - to look for with reason or justification. Regardless of timescale, we all have expectations. I expect people to read this post tomorrow (albeit very few people!). I expect this post to continue existing, and over time a few more people will read this. I also expect that in a few years time I will look back at this post, and be delighted with my former naivety on making this post. I also have the expectation that I may be kicking myself because this post has somehow found its way to a million different websites (it's happened before - Google my name!).

Defining and establishing expectation can make all the difference in the workplace. Enterprise Architecture: Thought Leadership: Enterprise Architecture and turning failures into success... takes a good look into the importance of setting expectation in the work place. As a systems architect, one must always be working under the impression that the sales team have sold the client the world - they wouldn't be doing their job right if they were to under promise and over deliver. You're expected to deliver the world, with the intention that they'll then go ahead and take the periphery moon, sun and stars when their budget allows. The difference between success and failure can often lie in expectation, and from the moment a system architect walks into a client site, it's their onus to set the expectations on what is possible in the given timeframe.

'Start with projecting the worst-case scenario publicly, when you fully anticipate that you will be able to bring the system up earlier. It has to be all about 100% delivery. If you deliver 99% of what you promised, it will only lead people to sorely miss the remaining one percent. Keep in mind that there are a multitude of opportunities to disappoint folks (NOTE: I do this way too much at work) and it can be even harder to impress them.' (James McGovern)

Budhism teaches 'Mindfulness'; looking at the world as a series of moments, a finite number of instances that we live through. These can be grouped into a series of experiences, falling under the categories of preempted and unexpected. Those expectations that were preempted will come complete with a level of expectation - taken from your own past experiences of similar experiences, or those of others. The purpose of this viewpoint from a theological perspective is to remove context - allowing each moment to be handled with equanimity (thus reducing the karmic value of the action).

If we can assume a reaction is based on
* the expectation for a reaction
* the process behind the action coming to fruition (the history before the action)

With equanimity we can react - not based on the degree of expectation or the historical events that led to the action - but with a degree of emotional stability and composure that can add value to whatever decision is being made. Considering that the majority of our waking hours are spent in the workplace, managed expectation coupled with equanimity could be the first steps towards making this town a better place....

For my next trick, I'm going to turn water into...funk!

As I sat atop the rocking HSBC tower in canary wharf today, watching the tiny people below getting picked up and dropped by the gale force winds that shook the country today, I thought:

"My. that's some mighty strong wind out there"

If (according to Jainism) the wind has a soul, and the water has a soul, and the wind is blatantly upsetting the water; does the wind get bad karma? Ten people died today as a direct result of the wind. Does that mean that the soul of the wind will come back reincarnated as an even lesser single sense ajiva being?

As I had mentioned earlier, is it right that we should pay the penance of actions performed in our past lives through our current life? I can't tell if I had a past life, and if I did I can't remember it. Many may argue that they would not want to be punished for something they do not remember doing. Let's turn this around: if someone hurt me in my past life, and their soul was reborn as one of my friends (or for that sake, a stranger), I wouldn't want to see them hurt. I can't remember what they did. They can't remember what they did. They are of no threat to me now - why should they be punished?

I like the idea of reincarnation and karma to attain salvation - but sometimes bad things happen to you because of circumstance. If you walk around in rough neighbourhoods, you'll probably get mugged. If you smoke, you'll probably get cancer. If you steal, you'll get caught and adopt the title of 'girlfriend' for some burly (yet sensitive) in-mate. One may argue that it's karma that puts us in the compromised position in the first place. If this is the case, are we just part of the deterministic world-view of causality; embroiled in a neverending chain of events according to the laws of karma? Are we simply running through the pre-defined (brownian) motions?

At that point my thoughts were rudely interrupted by the call of work. For those who know me, I have a slight penchant to start ranting, and I promised myself I would say something interesting that did not involve religion (me! limit my religion rants! I got a bloomin' E for GCSE religion!?). Over the past weeks I've become very interested in a number of blogs - one of which is 'Enterprise Architecture: Thought Leadership'. The term thought leadership (always italics - it looks better that way!) has become an almost sacred scripture in my company (pardon the religious term, but one could say it's been canonified). The blogs author is James McGovern. He's a great author on enterprise architecture. Like a real author. Books and everthing! I came across this diagram on one of his posts - titled 'How to be an expert'





Having trouble? The number one route to becoming an expert in your field is to be passionate about it. Want more? Check out the home for creating passionate users: headrush.

Right - topical discussion? check. religion? check. work? check.

wonderful, this could be the most boring blog post ever created.