Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?

Sitting in Texas today, enjoying the mild-chilly weather, was trying to catch up on some past memories. Out of many, one common statement that I heard the most flashed across – Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?

Now that does not mean I am someone who hops jobs too frequently. Fortunately, I am not one of those, but still I came across this Q several times. Before I tell mine, Out of curiosity, I tried to Google what others had to say. One smart answer was “I want to be a child again”. Well, that’s not my own, so would refrain from saying that

My honest answer to this Q was and is – I want to see myself doing the same thing, that I do now. Give each moment the best like never before, Give each opportunity the zeal like there is no tomorrow, Apply myself honestly like I have been doing, Be a Student like yesterday and Keep searching for “Options”

Small and yet smaller incidents of daily life has taught me one very special thing – “Look for options around you. You will most probably find (at least) one or the necessity to think different.” This, I personally believe, can be applied to work and personal life alike. Of course, this comes with a pre-condition that you are not attached to the situation personally and watch the situation as if it is happening with someone else. We, as humans, are more emotionally controlled when it comes to others. They say even a doctor cannot operate on someone he / she loves

Learning is real-fun. It keeps you fresh and afloat and needless to say, stand apart from the crowd. If not learning is a crime, then doing so in the Consulting profession is a SIN. Today, when we look at ourselves, we are probably technically and technologically more sound than the previous generation. We have ways and means like they never had. The technology is here to change and what that means to me? This means, I don’t have the access to ways and means like the next-generation is going to have. So, there is no chance of survival without being a student

We as a generation have seen tremendous changes around us. I would not compare the monster size radios to pocket transistors, because I never saw those monster ones. But I certainly saw the manual banking system with pass books evolving up to internet banking, the paper-based monetary transactions evolving up to Plastic money (And Guess What, Sweden is going to be the first ever Country without paper currency notes), From going to the banks to withdraw the cash -> To drawing that from the ATMs, From standing in the Queues to book a ticket – > To book it myself from the comfort of my home, and what not!!

And lets look back a few years. What an awesome innovation it was to introduce the social networking platforms. I am sure we all have found at least one old friend through one of these. And now, businesses have started using Social platforms to collaborate better with their Supply Chains. From Customers & Vendors, we moved to the word “Business Partners”

If the smart phones were not enough, we have smart watches which can double up as your fitness companion. And if that was not enough, we have the IOT (Internet of Things) where your refrigerator can be intimated by your Smart Phone that you are in a Departmental store and in turn it can remind you back to get some milk.

SAP is probably very quick to have drawn a leaf from the future book and we have Simple Finance, New Logistics Solution and S4 HANA – A future ready product from SAP. And this takes my joy to the Cloud 9 that once again I will have to learn, I will have to reinvent myself and struggle the way I used to struggle when I started in SAP. Is it going back in life? Even if it is, I welcome this change with open arms, for I know taking this step back will only help me to pounce me with a roar!!

But a word of caution though!! In the desire to pursue the technology, lets not cease to be humans. For Einstein famously said, “I fear the day that technology would surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation od idiots”

Lets thank the “GJAHR” 2015 for all that it taught us, as we usher into a new year.

A Happy X’mas & A Very Happy New Year to you all !!

Regards

Ajay Maheshwari