I just finished discussion with my first ever customer...I was one month old in my business and this was the first instance of revenue .... I tried to be remain as composed as possible when he finally told me the figure which would have been almost my half year’s salary in my job......”You send me an invoice and I’ll send you a cheque”..... Once the initial euphoria settled down I was sheepishly standing in front of my father with a simple question.... how to raise an invoice (they don’t teach this in management school even today I guess).....
...I was presenting in a Gartner outsourcing event in Capetown, South Africa in front of about 70 odd CIOs / technology folks. I was presenting a new software delivery model........ something I was simply not qualified for (it is the mildest statement I can make about the situation!)..... my technology knowledge and awareness is butt of innumerable jokes amongst friends (few made up but mostly true!).....
Several times I have asked myself a question .... why am I so happy when I do things I am not meant to do ... I am not trained or qualified to do ... is it just a rebel in me? But no – I am not so much of an anti-establishment guy ..... rebel to me has always had a negative connotation ..... rebel is against something .... with an aim to defeat someone .... my feelings are far more positive .... more of indulging ..... so much focused on my own joy that there is hardly any space for anyone else! The more I think of it, there is only one word which comes closest to describe what I do..... a prank .... yes a prank!
Prank by its very nature is intended to have some fun in a short run without much of a thought for long term repercussions ( I dread this word) ... it requires an alacrity of mind .... a great sense of humour.... an ability to laugh at yourself if it goes wrong.
When I look back at my career I think the single most effective tool I have used to manage my career is ... yes ... a prank...
I have made up my mind regarding certain facts about career:
• Whatever looks exciting starts getting dull beyond a point
• If you take yourself too seriously there is only one title you are heading towards - a Moron!
• The world is changing so fast that it is meaningless to plot far ahead .... if you decide to plot every step you are either arrogant or plain stupid (in my dictionary these are synonyms)
• If you start getting praised for something ... it is best to drop it like hot potato ... if you continue with your ‘expertise’, you are as intelligent as a well-trained monkey in a circus...
• If you get bored, the most honest thing to do is to accept that you are bored rather than marinating your mind with thoughts of ‘maturity’ and ‘stability’ (these are two more words that I dread!!)
• Between career and family, it is always family that is more important ..... simple litmus test – you may change your career but may not like to change your family (here we are talking about normal people!)
The key to managing a career is so obvious that it is invariably missed out – the only way to manage a career is - "Have Fun":
Fun is situational so you are always responding to your surroundings with an alert mind (I have never heard anything like 3 year fun strategy!) .... it invariably beats the boredom ...... fun by its definition is short-lived so you never get ‘stuck’ with fun ..... you can continue having fun only if you find something new ..... it brings out the strengths unknown to you or others
My pranks of playing entrepreneur , salesman, software delivery head (this is the funniest) have kept me alive ......and I have not done too badly for myself (let me clarify – for me the only unit of success is how much fun I had!)
If you want to have a great career .... its a beautiful world out there ..... ready for your pranks ..... have fun!!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Letting Someone go... (Management Lessons from Vasudeo - Part 3)
Vasudeo is my father’s name. In a normal middle class Indian family of 70’s and 80’s me and my siblings grew up enjoying the freedom of calling him by first name within the four walls of our house. While we enjoy his friendship - his status for us is nothing less than that of a god…. This in fact is a first lesson… you need not follow any rituals to get your natural respect….. He being a man of few words, I learnt innumerable lessons through his simple actions…though the meaning of many I was to understand much later…..these are the few moments that have always stayed with me …..management lessons learnt from Vasudeo
Doorbell rang and when I opened the door, my father went up to the door to receive the guest. When they greeted each other I realized that I should not hang around…. The man looked distraught…. As I served him some water, my father quietly told me not to disturb them for next half an hour…..
As soon as the guest left, I asked my father about the man “He was from my bank and had come to see me as he needed some personal guidance” “Oh, but why did he come home then?”, little surprised knowing well that my father never mixed his workplace and home. “There was a problem with him and we had to let him go (even in a casual conversation at home he never used the word like sacked etc!!)” Suddenly I understood the reason behind the distraught expression on his face. “But if you sacked him, why did he come home?” I must admit I was little anxious as I asked (I guess this must be the hangover of Bollywood where the sacked man comes to boss’s house and shoots everyone!). “He needed some personal guidance”. “But you sacked him!” “We let him go because there was a problem with his work. That does not make him criminal! He knew that there was nothing personal about my action. He also has a family and he has to live his life!”…….. Hardly did I know that this small incident would serve as a guiding principle as I got in the situations where I had to take some decisions…..
Much later in life I got into a situation where I had to carry out an operation to let go quite a few people. It was a slow-down post dotcom bust and the phenomenon of workforce rationalization was quite common…. Media had a field day publishing stories about how lives were ruined, proposed marriages were called off due to people losing jobs. When I had to execute my job all this was weighing on my mind apart from the sheer burden of the task itself.
When it was decided whom to let go we also decided how would we do it. We just followed simple guiding principles:
• The people we were letting go were our colleagues and not some hardened criminals
• Losing jobs itself was enough burden to handle and we need not burden them with extra load of clearing our conscience.
• Our objective was separation from jobs that they were doing and we were not in the judgement seat to decide their lives!
As we set out to do the unpleasant task, we actually structured Do’s and Don’t of the communication. Another important decision that we took was - we will not do any mass communication but we’ll spend time with each individual losing job even if it means our speed was slow! (Its good to do away with process efficiency parameters sometimes….sensitivity could be more valuable than efficiency!)
When we started talking to people we communicated few points clearly:
• This is the decision which has been taken (If you are breaking a bad news it is good to sometimes to come straight to the point rather than beating around the bush)
• This is a decision for separation from the current assignment and we are not passing any judgement on them. As this is a human decision we acknowledge the fact that there is a chance that we could be wrong (yes… we actually used to say that)
• We spent significant time on discussing the life after….. we allowed them to resign than a termination…… Though they had to disengage immediately we let them be on the payroll for a month so that the chances of finding other jobs are better (In any case we owed them one month salary)… In many cases we extended this period as leave without pay till they got alternate assignments….. We offered drafting resumes
Make no mistake…. In spite of all this life was hell! It was sheer trauma! We just held our nerves and their hands….. In the end almost everyone got a job ….. most of them called back to thank for the support during that difficult phase.
If nothing else the experience made me wiser. More often than not it is our anxiety to clear our conscience that makes us lose our sensitivity. If you are letting someone go, why should you heap further insults by justifying your decision. Most important of all, can you look at the person you are letting go as a flesh and blood human being like yourself than a piece of trash being thrown in a dustbin!!
Doorbell rang and when I opened the door, my father went up to the door to receive the guest. When they greeted each other I realized that I should not hang around…. The man looked distraught…. As I served him some water, my father quietly told me not to disturb them for next half an hour…..
As soon as the guest left, I asked my father about the man “He was from my bank and had come to see me as he needed some personal guidance” “Oh, but why did he come home then?”, little surprised knowing well that my father never mixed his workplace and home. “There was a problem with him and we had to let him go (even in a casual conversation at home he never used the word like sacked etc!!)” Suddenly I understood the reason behind the distraught expression on his face. “But if you sacked him, why did he come home?” I must admit I was little anxious as I asked (I guess this must be the hangover of Bollywood where the sacked man comes to boss’s house and shoots everyone!). “He needed some personal guidance”. “But you sacked him!” “We let him go because there was a problem with his work. That does not make him criminal! He knew that there was nothing personal about my action. He also has a family and he has to live his life!”…….. Hardly did I know that this small incident would serve as a guiding principle as I got in the situations where I had to take some decisions…..
Much later in life I got into a situation where I had to carry out an operation to let go quite a few people. It was a slow-down post dotcom bust and the phenomenon of workforce rationalization was quite common…. Media had a field day publishing stories about how lives were ruined, proposed marriages were called off due to people losing jobs. When I had to execute my job all this was weighing on my mind apart from the sheer burden of the task itself.
When it was decided whom to let go we also decided how would we do it. We just followed simple guiding principles:
• The people we were letting go were our colleagues and not some hardened criminals
• Losing jobs itself was enough burden to handle and we need not burden them with extra load of clearing our conscience.
• Our objective was separation from jobs that they were doing and we were not in the judgement seat to decide their lives!
As we set out to do the unpleasant task, we actually structured Do’s and Don’t of the communication. Another important decision that we took was - we will not do any mass communication but we’ll spend time with each individual losing job even if it means our speed was slow! (Its good to do away with process efficiency parameters sometimes….sensitivity could be more valuable than efficiency!)
When we started talking to people we communicated few points clearly:
• This is the decision which has been taken (If you are breaking a bad news it is good to sometimes to come straight to the point rather than beating around the bush)
• This is a decision for separation from the current assignment and we are not passing any judgement on them. As this is a human decision we acknowledge the fact that there is a chance that we could be wrong (yes… we actually used to say that)
• We spent significant time on discussing the life after….. we allowed them to resign than a termination…… Though they had to disengage immediately we let them be on the payroll for a month so that the chances of finding other jobs are better (In any case we owed them one month salary)… In many cases we extended this period as leave without pay till they got alternate assignments….. We offered drafting resumes
Make no mistake…. In spite of all this life was hell! It was sheer trauma! We just held our nerves and their hands….. In the end almost everyone got a job ….. most of them called back to thank for the support during that difficult phase.
If nothing else the experience made me wiser. More often than not it is our anxiety to clear our conscience that makes us lose our sensitivity. If you are letting someone go, why should you heap further insults by justifying your decision. Most important of all, can you look at the person you are letting go as a flesh and blood human being like yourself than a piece of trash being thrown in a dustbin!!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Faces Beyond Facebook
My mother called me excitedly, “Why don’t we all gather this Saturday? Vinaya (my elder sister) has come back from Mauritius and says the photographs are amazing – Lets see the photographs together – will be fun” “Yes, but we have already seen the pictures”, I almost regretted my response as soon as I uttered those words. I could almost sense her disappointment on the other side of the phone. “Siddharth (my nephew) had uploaded them on Facebook but yes watching it together will be lot of fun”, while I desperately tried to salvage the situation, I knew that I had already spoiled her party!
This small incident set me thinking.... Personally I am a great fan of facebook... I have been able to reconnect with so many people whom I thought I have lost forever. In the era when you spend most of your waking hours at office it almost saves you from getting alienated from the rest of the world..... Its just kind of nice to stay connected with your friends and know what they are upto... whenever you see anything interesting, funny you share it instantly with the world for it to appreciate......
I must admit – I am relatively new to all social media........ I am a sort of fellow who always craves for feedback, reinforcements so whenever I upload anything on facebook, I am almost eager to know the comments on it.... it always amused me how your basic nature does not change even in the virtual world!
There is a tremendous information that explodes right in your face electronically....be it your mails – official and personal, your orkut, facebook, linked-in, Twitter and what not.... it is not very uncommon to have multiple windows open on anyone’s desktop. There is an interesting study published by Stanford University (I hope I remember it right) on multitasking – it says that the information explosion today also causes lot of distraction. Multitasking is not the best way to respond as your brain almost works in a fragmented manner. It also remains that way even if you are not multitasking – basically it narrows down your span of concentration. Your mail and your electronic communication is a stimulus which is always easy to react and you are almost looking forward to your next one to guide your life.
I think the process has not really started with Social media or internet.... Television channel surfing is the predecessor for most of us when it comes to surfing....
The beauty of it all is that though options are plenty, that most precious resource – time has remained constant...... it means the timeshare occupied by the new options will take toll on something else and couple of incidents come readily to my mind....
I was talking to one of the Ph.D. guides of Mumbai University who has been a Guide for years and quite contemporary in her outlook. I asked her how has the field of research changed due to availability of information at fingertips. “Its good that you don’t have to lose precious hours and days searching for the information. But somehow the cut-paste regime is really going out of hand.... rather than spending some quality time on thinking followed by looking for relevant references, today they almost feel handicapped without google. Reading habits and span of concentration definitely has taken a heavy toll”.....
I believe that best conversations always happen when you finish your meals and just continue on the table chatting. Once, all of us were sitting around the dining table on a Sunday post lunch.... we heard an alarm on my sister-in-law’s phone....she just got up saying “Its harvest time on my Farmville”.... I had a tough time explaining the elders on table that she is ok...this is normal....... only to have them worrying about my sanity at the end of 15 minutes!!............
All the social media is great .. in fact I dare say that this is even a necessity of today’s life.....provided................
you still catch up with old friends for a no-agenda talk.....
you still appreciate fresh air and farms in real life........
you still get lost in a book over a steaming cup of coffee......
you still lose the track of time playing with your toddler........
you still sneak out those 15 minutes to gossip with your mother.....
..... and..... never forget that there are faces beyond facebook for whom you mean the world!
This small incident set me thinking.... Personally I am a great fan of facebook... I have been able to reconnect with so many people whom I thought I have lost forever. In the era when you spend most of your waking hours at office it almost saves you from getting alienated from the rest of the world..... Its just kind of nice to stay connected with your friends and know what they are upto... whenever you see anything interesting, funny you share it instantly with the world for it to appreciate......
I must admit – I am relatively new to all social media........ I am a sort of fellow who always craves for feedback, reinforcements so whenever I upload anything on facebook, I am almost eager to know the comments on it.... it always amused me how your basic nature does not change even in the virtual world!
There is a tremendous information that explodes right in your face electronically....be it your mails – official and personal, your orkut, facebook, linked-in, Twitter and what not.... it is not very uncommon to have multiple windows open on anyone’s desktop. There is an interesting study published by Stanford University (I hope I remember it right) on multitasking – it says that the information explosion today also causes lot of distraction. Multitasking is not the best way to respond as your brain almost works in a fragmented manner. It also remains that way even if you are not multitasking – basically it narrows down your span of concentration. Your mail and your electronic communication is a stimulus which is always easy to react and you are almost looking forward to your next one to guide your life.
I think the process has not really started with Social media or internet.... Television channel surfing is the predecessor for most of us when it comes to surfing....
The beauty of it all is that though options are plenty, that most precious resource – time has remained constant...... it means the timeshare occupied by the new options will take toll on something else and couple of incidents come readily to my mind....
I was talking to one of the Ph.D. guides of Mumbai University who has been a Guide for years and quite contemporary in her outlook. I asked her how has the field of research changed due to availability of information at fingertips. “Its good that you don’t have to lose precious hours and days searching for the information. But somehow the cut-paste regime is really going out of hand.... rather than spending some quality time on thinking followed by looking for relevant references, today they almost feel handicapped without google. Reading habits and span of concentration definitely has taken a heavy toll”.....
I believe that best conversations always happen when you finish your meals and just continue on the table chatting. Once, all of us were sitting around the dining table on a Sunday post lunch.... we heard an alarm on my sister-in-law’s phone....she just got up saying “Its harvest time on my Farmville”.... I had a tough time explaining the elders on table that she is ok...this is normal....... only to have them worrying about my sanity at the end of 15 minutes!!............
All the social media is great .. in fact I dare say that this is even a necessity of today’s life.....provided................
you still catch up with old friends for a no-agenda talk.....
you still appreciate fresh air and farms in real life........
you still get lost in a book over a steaming cup of coffee......
you still lose the track of time playing with your toddler........
you still sneak out those 15 minutes to gossip with your mother.....
..... and..... never forget that there are faces beyond facebook for whom you mean the world!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Management Lessons learnt from Vasudeo – Part 2
Vasudeo is my father’s name. In a normal middle class Indian family of 70’s and 80’s me and my siblings grew up enjoying the freedom of calling him by first name within the four walls of our house. While we enjoy his friendship - his status for us is nothing less than that of a god…. This in fact is a first lesson… you need not follow any rituals to get your natural respect….. He being a man of few words, I learnt innumerable lessons through his simple actions…though the meaning of many I was to understand much later…..these are the few moments that have always stayed with me …..management lessons learnt from Vasudeo
“People spend their lifetime earnings in gold or something, we spent it on wood!” I remember my mother saying as my father chuckled. For no reason some statements stay with you…this one definitely did.
The story behind this statement was again a story of a simple middle-class family with its hero Vasudeo behaving a little off-beat – a story that guides me to date!
My father decided long back that he would not take his official quarters but go for acquiring his own house. In mid-seventies when he decided to go for his own house that was way beyond his means – it was a story of struggle which he and my mother were to live for next few years. His philosophy was simple – it was the house he was buying for his family and that could not be defined by any constraints – he would make the decision work.
I and my sibling would always remember our childhood as a happy one. There was neither a semblance of any furniture nor any electronic items in the house. When I look back I am amazed at the simplicity with which my parents kept us happy. I and my brother happily played cricket in the living room as there was no fear of breaking anything! Our finest memories are about our everyday family dinner – I think ours remained one of the few houses that did not have television but we had an entertainment of our own – we could see couple of flats in the far off building as we dined and my father would weave an amazing story about the characters in those houses whom we had named – in today’s sensibilities it may seem little odd but it was one of the most innocent entertainments I would always cherish!
As my father turned fifty he decided to take a voluntary retirement from his government job where he was doing well and join an “unstable” private sector (remember this was around 1983). When he received his entire lifetimes retirement funds, he first paid off his debts and then blew up every single penny to fully furnish the house in one go! Now that I have worked for a few years, the enormity of what he did strikes me – In the era where job opportunities were not as abundant as today he not only left his government job but also blew up every penny to start a new life…..all this he did without great expression of any sort of bravado. Later on, when I asked him about this decision, he had a very simple explanation – “I was due for a promotion but wouldn’t have earned much. Though I enjoyed what I was doing I decided that we all deserve a better life. I had told your mother not to worry and I’ll work for another 15 odd years to see us through safely”….something that he actually did. Now looking back I think it was a decision that had far better impact on our lives than staying in a furnished house…simplicity has its own charm but as you grow in the real world - a forced simplicity also may leave deep scars on your mind!!
I was to learn a few lessons as I grew up with this story……..
“Keep risk in its own rightful place in life – don’t let that be an overriding principle. Risk can’t be a guiding force in your future planning – it just indicates to you what fall-back you need to have in place (my father would often mention that if living where we were, became non-viable, we would have shifted to a cheaper place and would have actually ended in cash surplus!). You can’t really get ahead if you are too pre-occupied ‘avoiding’ the risk – no decision is ever risk-free”
“You need to assess your capabilities and leverage them wisely – the choice is really between living within your means and creating means to live your dream”
“Austerity is great but it is just a means to implement basic discipline….austerity by itself never ensures growth….. never use austerity as a façade to glorify your under performance or hide from ‘risks’ that you perceive”
“Feelings are good when they empower your passion to pursue dreams but sentiments have no place in decision making…”
As I thought I have learnt a lot from this story, there is a new beginning…. When I visited him last time he was quite excited with new developments….he told me there is a redevelopment proposal for our building….all of us have lots of sentiments for the house where we grew up when the least affected man is the one who bought that place!.... – “this building is old now and we’ll get a new bigger flat” he beamed betraying his 78 years!!
“Never confuse means with an end itself…do not get attached to milestones….they are just to be crossed and move forward!”
I guess I have still a lot to learn and of course miles to cross……..
“People spend their lifetime earnings in gold or something, we spent it on wood!” I remember my mother saying as my father chuckled. For no reason some statements stay with you…this one definitely did.
The story behind this statement was again a story of a simple middle-class family with its hero Vasudeo behaving a little off-beat – a story that guides me to date!
My father decided long back that he would not take his official quarters but go for acquiring his own house. In mid-seventies when he decided to go for his own house that was way beyond his means – it was a story of struggle which he and my mother were to live for next few years. His philosophy was simple – it was the house he was buying for his family and that could not be defined by any constraints – he would make the decision work.
I and my sibling would always remember our childhood as a happy one. There was neither a semblance of any furniture nor any electronic items in the house. When I look back I am amazed at the simplicity with which my parents kept us happy. I and my brother happily played cricket in the living room as there was no fear of breaking anything! Our finest memories are about our everyday family dinner – I think ours remained one of the few houses that did not have television but we had an entertainment of our own – we could see couple of flats in the far off building as we dined and my father would weave an amazing story about the characters in those houses whom we had named – in today’s sensibilities it may seem little odd but it was one of the most innocent entertainments I would always cherish!
As my father turned fifty he decided to take a voluntary retirement from his government job where he was doing well and join an “unstable” private sector (remember this was around 1983). When he received his entire lifetimes retirement funds, he first paid off his debts and then blew up every single penny to fully furnish the house in one go! Now that I have worked for a few years, the enormity of what he did strikes me – In the era where job opportunities were not as abundant as today he not only left his government job but also blew up every penny to start a new life…..all this he did without great expression of any sort of bravado. Later on, when I asked him about this decision, he had a very simple explanation – “I was due for a promotion but wouldn’t have earned much. Though I enjoyed what I was doing I decided that we all deserve a better life. I had told your mother not to worry and I’ll work for another 15 odd years to see us through safely”….something that he actually did. Now looking back I think it was a decision that had far better impact on our lives than staying in a furnished house…simplicity has its own charm but as you grow in the real world - a forced simplicity also may leave deep scars on your mind!!
I was to learn a few lessons as I grew up with this story……..
“Keep risk in its own rightful place in life – don’t let that be an overriding principle. Risk can’t be a guiding force in your future planning – it just indicates to you what fall-back you need to have in place (my father would often mention that if living where we were, became non-viable, we would have shifted to a cheaper place and would have actually ended in cash surplus!). You can’t really get ahead if you are too pre-occupied ‘avoiding’ the risk – no decision is ever risk-free”
“You need to assess your capabilities and leverage them wisely – the choice is really between living within your means and creating means to live your dream”
“Austerity is great but it is just a means to implement basic discipline….austerity by itself never ensures growth….. never use austerity as a façade to glorify your under performance or hide from ‘risks’ that you perceive”
“Feelings are good when they empower your passion to pursue dreams but sentiments have no place in decision making…”
As I thought I have learnt a lot from this story, there is a new beginning…. When I visited him last time he was quite excited with new developments….he told me there is a redevelopment proposal for our building….all of us have lots of sentiments for the house where we grew up when the least affected man is the one who bought that place!.... – “this building is old now and we’ll get a new bigger flat” he beamed betraying his 78 years!!
“Never confuse means with an end itself…do not get attached to milestones….they are just to be crossed and move forward!”
I guess I have still a lot to learn and of course miles to cross……..
Friday, March 12, 2010
Management Lessons learnt from Vasudeo – Part 1
Vasudeo is my father’s name. In a normal middle class Indian family of 70’s and 80’s me and my siblings grew up enjoying the freedom of calling him by first name within the four walls of our house. While we enjoy his friendship - his status for us is nothing less than that of a god…. This in fact is a first lesson… you need not follow any rituals to get your natural respect….. He being a man of few words, I learnt innumerable lessons through his simple actions…though the meaning of many I was to understand much later…..these are the few moments that have always stayed with me …..management lessons learnt from Vasudeo
Dusshera is a festival where we follow a tradition of giving gold to each other…well not the real gold, but the leaves of a particular tree that is accepted as symbol of gold in this part of the country. As a part of this tradition, younger ones visit the elders and give them gold while touching their feet.
On one occasion on a Dusshera day, my father and I went to Dadar (a central suburb of Mumbai) near the famous Shivaji Park. One of my father’s colleagues – Mr Bapat used to stay there so we stopped by. My father was a senior government officer with central government and worked long years with BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Center). Mr Bapat worked under him….in today’s parlance may be my father was equivalent to his two-up manager. If I remember it right, Mr Bapat was a Sanskrit scholar. He was also elder to my father in age.
As Mr Bapat and my father sat chatting, the tea and refreshments were served. My father got up, took out the gold (the leaves of course!) from his bag, offered it to Mr Bapat and touched his feet…. The most natural Dusshera ritual ,which no one ,except me, felt odd. Well, I knew my father’s rank and I was not sure I exactly agreed with what I saw. As we walked out, I couldn’t resist asking, “you are his boss, right?” “Yes” he smiled, “that’s in office”….nothing more was said or discussed but this incident stayed with me since then for some reason (I was just a High school kid then)
Later on when I witnessed a lot of debate around the stuff like protocols, whether to call your boss by his name, how friendly you can be as a boss and still be effective in the results…. I could somewhat understand the significance of what I witnessed as a schoolboy
You have a position in an organization for a specific goal…your designation is not really your identity that is meant to separate you from the rest… can we ever keep it aside when we are not interacting for a task?....do we really have to carry our corporate identity all the time….
Though these things sound idealistic, they are actually more pragmatic….
My father was known to be an absolute no-nonsense manager, but whenever as an individual he took any risks, people working under him could go and tell him exactly what they felt….please remember this was Government environment in 70’s and early 80’s….even at home as kids we could always speak up if we thought he made a mistake…
Segregating you from your designation is meritorious in more than one ways:
you always know who is interacting with you as a person and who is interacting with your designation
You are not slave of any pattern that your designation can beautifully weave around you
You can enjoy simple pleasures of life
Some of these lessons helped me a great deal, when for a part of my life I was an entrepreneur – I neither had a corporate logo, nor a designation on my visiting card….after a few initial nervous days I must say it was a very powerful experience!
Well, can I do what my father did on that Dusshera day? I’m not very sure… But then I am not Vasudeo… hopefully I’m learning!!!
Dusshera is a festival where we follow a tradition of giving gold to each other…well not the real gold, but the leaves of a particular tree that is accepted as symbol of gold in this part of the country. As a part of this tradition, younger ones visit the elders and give them gold while touching their feet.
On one occasion on a Dusshera day, my father and I went to Dadar (a central suburb of Mumbai) near the famous Shivaji Park. One of my father’s colleagues – Mr Bapat used to stay there so we stopped by. My father was a senior government officer with central government and worked long years with BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Center). Mr Bapat worked under him….in today’s parlance may be my father was equivalent to his two-up manager. If I remember it right, Mr Bapat was a Sanskrit scholar. He was also elder to my father in age.
As Mr Bapat and my father sat chatting, the tea and refreshments were served. My father got up, took out the gold (the leaves of course!) from his bag, offered it to Mr Bapat and touched his feet…. The most natural Dusshera ritual ,which no one ,except me, felt odd. Well, I knew my father’s rank and I was not sure I exactly agreed with what I saw. As we walked out, I couldn’t resist asking, “you are his boss, right?” “Yes” he smiled, “that’s in office”….nothing more was said or discussed but this incident stayed with me since then for some reason (I was just a High school kid then)
Later on when I witnessed a lot of debate around the stuff like protocols, whether to call your boss by his name, how friendly you can be as a boss and still be effective in the results…. I could somewhat understand the significance of what I witnessed as a schoolboy
You have a position in an organization for a specific goal…your designation is not really your identity that is meant to separate you from the rest… can we ever keep it aside when we are not interacting for a task?....do we really have to carry our corporate identity all the time….
Though these things sound idealistic, they are actually more pragmatic….
My father was known to be an absolute no-nonsense manager, but whenever as an individual he took any risks, people working under him could go and tell him exactly what they felt….please remember this was Government environment in 70’s and early 80’s….even at home as kids we could always speak up if we thought he made a mistake…
Segregating you from your designation is meritorious in more than one ways:
you always know who is interacting with you as a person and who is interacting with your designation
You are not slave of any pattern that your designation can beautifully weave around you
You can enjoy simple pleasures of life
Some of these lessons helped me a great deal, when for a part of my life I was an entrepreneur – I neither had a corporate logo, nor a designation on my visiting card….after a few initial nervous days I must say it was a very powerful experience!
Well, can I do what my father did on that Dusshera day? I’m not very sure… But then I am not Vasudeo… hopefully I’m learning!!!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Rewards of Failure
I was watching the promos of a film that was launched recently with lot of fanfare. The film talks about the ill-effects of current education system, with the director boldly displaying his educational exploits below his name – “12th STD Fail”. The director being one of the well-known successful directors, it was a great marketing tactic.
I wondered – Was he always so proud of his educational exploits – especially at the time when he failed. How much time and how much pain he must have suffered before boldly displaying that failure?
Its interesting what a failure does to you. When I look back – one bold failure that quickly comes to my mind is my own 12th standard. I completed by bachelor’s degree in science. However, in my time rarely anyone went to B.Sc. out of choice – one was either a failure in securing engineering admission or medicine admission. In my case it was medicine. Life suddenly looked bleak….. out of the bunch of guys that used to hang around with me till 12th Standard, I was the only one left behind with everyone else gone either for an engineering college or a medical college..... its little difficult to imagine now, that I actually behaved the way I behaved that time…. For six months in my graduation, this was the pattern I followed:
1. I genuinely believed that I do not belong to my B.Sc. degree but its just a sheer mistake that has got me there – almost always behaved like a martyr however weird it may sound.
2. I did not bother to make a single friend ( I also remember what helped was a long teachers’ strike where colleges were closed down for more than a month)
3. Anyone who cared to listen, I would make it a point to impress that I missed my medicine admission only by 3 marks (big deal!)
As the time passed, I started realizing that I was going to be in that place. I also developed a faint suspicion that people were avoiding me….. I think people generally do not hang around a failure not because the person is a failure but actually avoid him/her because of the way a person behaves in failure…. Who would hang around someone who is perpetually mourning?..... Of course, I must confess that this learning did not touch me that time and came much later after I almost mastered the art of failing.
That time I had no enlightenment that changed me…. It was just boredom with my state of being at that point of time. I reluctantly started looking around… and life around was quite interesting (pun intended!) …. Library suddenly became the most interesting place to hang around, apart from canteen (could you believe – we actually had separate canteens for boys and girls!!!) …. Rose-days and valentine days came and went by… not that I had any luck but taught me to be an eternal optimist!! Not that I became careless about my career but it just did not consume me…. I made some great friends…. My own patterns got shattered – Till my 12th standard, friends would generally come from similar background and with similar aspirations…. Talking to girls was earlier avoidable (how stupid we could get!!) – then I landed in Microbiology class as the only boy with 25 girls!
Life had its own way of holding my hand and taking me on a great journey that was not marked with any great achievement in conventional sense, but strangely I was on a high!!
Strange was the effect of that phase on me – I remained as competitive and ambitious as I ever was – I just could take string of failures in my stride better…. Ability to bounce back after every failure became better….. these shorter cycles post-failure always allowed me to experiment more….. even today there is no great success but I have realized the journey of struggles and experiments itself is lot of fun….. life has its finite beginning and a defined end…what you do in between is entirely up to you!!
Every time I achieve something…. I chuckle… as my first educational qualification flashes some where at the back of my mind….. a failed doctor!!
I wondered – Was he always so proud of his educational exploits – especially at the time when he failed. How much time and how much pain he must have suffered before boldly displaying that failure?
Its interesting what a failure does to you. When I look back – one bold failure that quickly comes to my mind is my own 12th standard. I completed by bachelor’s degree in science. However, in my time rarely anyone went to B.Sc. out of choice – one was either a failure in securing engineering admission or medicine admission. In my case it was medicine. Life suddenly looked bleak….. out of the bunch of guys that used to hang around with me till 12th Standard, I was the only one left behind with everyone else gone either for an engineering college or a medical college..... its little difficult to imagine now, that I actually behaved the way I behaved that time…. For six months in my graduation, this was the pattern I followed:
1. I genuinely believed that I do not belong to my B.Sc. degree but its just a sheer mistake that has got me there – almost always behaved like a martyr however weird it may sound.
2. I did not bother to make a single friend ( I also remember what helped was a long teachers’ strike where colleges were closed down for more than a month)
3. Anyone who cared to listen, I would make it a point to impress that I missed my medicine admission only by 3 marks (big deal!)
As the time passed, I started realizing that I was going to be in that place. I also developed a faint suspicion that people were avoiding me….. I think people generally do not hang around a failure not because the person is a failure but actually avoid him/her because of the way a person behaves in failure…. Who would hang around someone who is perpetually mourning?..... Of course, I must confess that this learning did not touch me that time and came much later after I almost mastered the art of failing.
That time I had no enlightenment that changed me…. It was just boredom with my state of being at that point of time. I reluctantly started looking around… and life around was quite interesting (pun intended!) …. Library suddenly became the most interesting place to hang around, apart from canteen (could you believe – we actually had separate canteens for boys and girls!!!) …. Rose-days and valentine days came and went by… not that I had any luck but taught me to be an eternal optimist!! Not that I became careless about my career but it just did not consume me…. I made some great friends…. My own patterns got shattered – Till my 12th standard, friends would generally come from similar background and with similar aspirations…. Talking to girls was earlier avoidable (how stupid we could get!!) – then I landed in Microbiology class as the only boy with 25 girls!
Life had its own way of holding my hand and taking me on a great journey that was not marked with any great achievement in conventional sense, but strangely I was on a high!!
Strange was the effect of that phase on me – I remained as competitive and ambitious as I ever was – I just could take string of failures in my stride better…. Ability to bounce back after every failure became better….. these shorter cycles post-failure always allowed me to experiment more….. even today there is no great success but I have realized the journey of struggles and experiments itself is lot of fun….. life has its finite beginning and a defined end…what you do in between is entirely up to you!!
Every time I achieve something…. I chuckle… as my first educational qualification flashes some where at the back of my mind….. a failed doctor!!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
A memorable DATE!
“What’s a DATE?” – I almost dropped my mug when my daughter asked me this question! “Well…mmm… date is like today is 28th August” I just tried to evade the question...honestly just had no clue how to explain this to a 7 year old! “NO..not that date….whats a DATE?” she asked me with a body language that suggested she was in no mood to tolerate any nonsense…how kids pick up stuff from their mothers, I always wonder..!!
“Hmm…well… generally a DATE is an occasion when two people who like each other decide to have great time together… so they go out to a restaurant, watch a movie…generally have lot of fun together, you know!” “Wow!! is that so? .. so lets go for a DATE today … you and me” …. Honestly I did not know how to react to this sweetest proposal of a DATE I could ever imagine! ‘Not a bad idea’, I thought. It was a lovely Saturday morning in Pune and Saturday mornings used to be time for me and my daughter, as my wife would be away at work. “Ok! Lets go out for a DATE” “Where are we going?” “Hmm… lets go to Meridian…they have a nice buffet lunch…you will like it” “Do they have ice-creams?” “I think so” …… “Ok, you wear your Jeans and that blue shirt, I’ll wear my new blue dress”….I was just beginning to realize the seriousness of my DATE!
As we drove to Meridian, she was quite well-behaved…almost dignified, I would say and I had to remind myself that it would not be polite to laugh. As we entered the Meridian and settled with our plates, she returnd to her normal cheerful self…. As we enjoyed our meals, her eyes lit up…. She looked around the Meridian Lobby from where we sat and exclaimed “shall we play hide & seek here?” …. I almost swallowed my fork!!! “HERE??” “Ya, its kind of nice…we are on a DATE no?”… “Yes of course!” I had to think quickly on my feet… “Well, we will just play it quietly but will not run around” “Why?” “Hmm.. no generally you don’t run around like that on a DATE” “OK, your den first” “sure”
If you have not tried out Hide & Seek at Meridian lobby in Pune…try it out. Its actually an awesome place to play Hide & Seek. We had a great time for next half an hour! Easily it was THE DATE of my life!
Six years down the line, my daughter is 13 now, standing 5 Ft 7” tall… she seriously thinks she is grown up … I’m little amused to see her getting little conscious about herself… spending little more time in front of mirror everyday!
Of late, a thought has started gnawing my mind – I am sure it has troubled million fathers before me….. a few year down the line she may not ask me meaning of DATE and more importantly, may not ask me for a DATE!
“Hmm…well… generally a DATE is an occasion when two people who like each other decide to have great time together… so they go out to a restaurant, watch a movie…generally have lot of fun together, you know!” “Wow!! is that so? .. so lets go for a DATE today … you and me” …. Honestly I did not know how to react to this sweetest proposal of a DATE I could ever imagine! ‘Not a bad idea’, I thought. It was a lovely Saturday morning in Pune and Saturday mornings used to be time for me and my daughter, as my wife would be away at work. “Ok! Lets go out for a DATE” “Where are we going?” “Hmm… lets go to Meridian…they have a nice buffet lunch…you will like it” “Do they have ice-creams?” “I think so” …… “Ok, you wear your Jeans and that blue shirt, I’ll wear my new blue dress”….I was just beginning to realize the seriousness of my DATE!
As we drove to Meridian, she was quite well-behaved…almost dignified, I would say and I had to remind myself that it would not be polite to laugh. As we entered the Meridian and settled with our plates, she returnd to her normal cheerful self…. As we enjoyed our meals, her eyes lit up…. She looked around the Meridian Lobby from where we sat and exclaimed “shall we play hide & seek here?” …. I almost swallowed my fork!!! “HERE??” “Ya, its kind of nice…we are on a DATE no?”… “Yes of course!” I had to think quickly on my feet… “Well, we will just play it quietly but will not run around” “Why?” “Hmm.. no generally you don’t run around like that on a DATE” “OK, your den first” “sure”
If you have not tried out Hide & Seek at Meridian lobby in Pune…try it out. Its actually an awesome place to play Hide & Seek. We had a great time for next half an hour! Easily it was THE DATE of my life!
Six years down the line, my daughter is 13 now, standing 5 Ft 7” tall… she seriously thinks she is grown up … I’m little amused to see her getting little conscious about herself… spending little more time in front of mirror everyday!
Of late, a thought has started gnawing my mind – I am sure it has troubled million fathers before me….. a few year down the line she may not ask me meaning of DATE and more importantly, may not ask me for a DATE!
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