I had just moved into Sales from my HR profession and we were discussing one of the possible deals. As we sat around to discuss our proposed solution, my enthusiastic sales person poured out information on competition…. Who is our competitor, who is the person involved from their side, his background, competitor’s strategy, solution…. Being novice to the sales function I was impressed! Next few hours we dissected the information received and finally shut our mouths and laptops to go home quite late into night…… As I drove back in the quiet of the night, something was troubling me……While trying to catch up sleep on reaching home, I realized what was it….. Yes, we had a great in-depth discussion on competitor solution and strategy, but we were no nearer to our own solution…. Next day as we met and resumed our discussion I had a simple question, “What’s our game?” As we slugged it out, we repeatedly came back to competitor’s strengths and our relative problems ….. We took a long time and in the end I still felt something missing…… not a very great feeling when you go out to win a deal…..
…. A few months down the line we were on another one… this time I was little more confident to lead the sales effort from the front…. As we sat around looking at the Request For Proposal (RFQ), we realized that we did not even have a clue about 3 of the 8 services required. This time I had declared –Lets first get together what we have and what we know….. I’ll do something about the 3 service lines that we don’t know…… I remember we had a great time and when we were ready with what we knew, the effort looked pretty good …. Almost a feeling an artist striking a right symphony…… “so what’s the plan for the other 3 service lines?” Someone asked me..... “I’ll present something on that”….. knowing my technical competency, everyone was bewildered! “What do you mean?” “Have we tied up with some partners?”…. “No” ….. “then what?” “We’ll tell them that we do not know” …. “Are you mad??” “No, look at it this way, you guys have almost created an artwork in your areas, I don’t want to stick some patchwork on that”….. One good part about that team was we trusted each other completely ….. As we stood for the presentation, I told our future prospects “Gentlemen, We are going to present only 5 service lines because even the spelling of other 3 service lines we know from your Request For Proposal document” they chuckled and said “Go ahead guys” …… Our guys did a fantastic job as they came into their elements in their respective areas for the balance of the presentation….. As the long drawn process concluded, we finally bagged one of the biggest deals for the region …. Later on as I talked to that CIO at his office, he told me “Look, I know perhaps you guys are not biggest or the best but you were the only ones who were candid right from the word go. We were doing Offshore work for the first time and the most important parameter was we wanted to work with someone we could trust. After all we are not asking to develop rocket science!” I confess …. That it was not a planned strategy or something ….. neither did we win only because of honesty …. Our technical guys did an outstanding job in presenting the solution but what I guessed worked in the retrospect was follows:
1. We focused on what we knew and came with our own solution based on our own strength ….. most importantly we believed in what we said
2. Other competitors were so big in size that the gap was just scary …. Even if we had stood on our heads we wouldn’t have come even close to their areas of strengths
3. We trusted each other and had a secret pact of flying under the radar lest someone from within organization should get alarmed at the stupid things we were doing on a big deal…. Rather than attracting all help and information, we picked and chose what we wanted or rather what we could process!
I am neither an expert on Sales or Strategy (or actually on anything for that matter!!) but I strongly feel that there is merit in taking a look at the philosophy that equates information with power. I don’t claim to have all right answers but sometimes focusing too much on information available like a competitor’s information makes you more reactive. I have always preferred to take stock of my resources and play by my strengths …. Information can be intoxicating …. Overdose of it can be quite confusing if you cannot process it all or influence any change based on it.
It is better to stay focused on your objective and seek relevant information rather than being led by information. Information is key to all decisions but overdose of information can be a liability……..
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Mirrors don’t lie...
“The mirror of this new dressing table has some fault. It gives a little distorted image – a little horizontal distortion”. My wife chuckled ,”Mirrors don’t lie my dear – you have put on weight” Well, I hated hearing this but I guess she was right! Sometimes it is really difficult to accept what you see in the mirror –it contradicts the image that you have in your mind. If you think you have a great voice as you merrily sing – just record your singing next time you sing and try listening to the recording – you will exactly know what I mean!
The mirror took me to an incident long back when I was studying in final year graduation. Though I studied in one of the best schools that time, I studied in vernacular medium. Conversing fluently in English had almost become an ambition that looked more like a mirage. I was literally wrestling with English language – I had aborted reading about 25-30 novels after struggling with first twenty pages, I had developed a strong nausea for news-reading as I struggled with the pages of Times. Otherwise life was pretty alright, I had great friends and couldn’t have asked for a better quality of student life. I was also the elected secretary of my college which had given me rights to strut around like a proud rooster. Even when I sat in the library, it was not without the group of friends. It was one of those lazy afternoons in the library. My friends and me were sitting around in library with books in front. I guess no-one would have turned more than 2 pages in an hour. We just loved to idle away in the library discussing life! “Hmm, I don’t know – I am still not happy with my English speaking” I almost said to myself. A friend sitting next to me looked at me and started laughing. I asked her “what’s funny?” “Your problem is you think in Marathi (my mother tongue), then translate it in English by checking grammar and all. By the time you are ready to speak its too late.” As she said this in front of so many, my pride was hurt. When you are 19-20 years, what hurts you is not only the content but also the fact that a girl speaks to you like that in public, especially when I had a reputation to defend!! I was almost stunned – but something in me stopped me from reacting back – I just kept quiet. She was a very dear friend and couldn’t have meant bad! What happened in a few months that followed is really hard to describe. Around six months later as I appeared for one of my MBA admission interviews, a lady on the interview panel asked me “Are you really from vernacular medium?” I was so pleased that I was not even bothered about the result of the interview!!
..... I have thought about this incident many a times in my mind over past few years but I am yet to reach any definite cause-effect relationship between the incident in college library and my progress in spoken English...... I have speculated but no clear answer yet......
.....May be more often than not I was always surrounded by friends whom I completely trusted...... we never bothered about being politically correct to each other....we just used to speak out our heart....
Many a times an awareness about a problem solves more than half of it.... the trick is you need someone to tell you the problem bluntly....As the years pass by sometimes our ability take feedback diminishes ..... its our success, growing pride.... insecurity whatever it may be.....but more often than not we surround ourselves with people who are politically correct with no sharp edges...... I think this is where we start losing the game. Actually you always need people around you whom you can trust and who can call spade a spade..... simply because mirrors don’t lie!
The mirror took me to an incident long back when I was studying in final year graduation. Though I studied in one of the best schools that time, I studied in vernacular medium. Conversing fluently in English had almost become an ambition that looked more like a mirage. I was literally wrestling with English language – I had aborted reading about 25-30 novels after struggling with first twenty pages, I had developed a strong nausea for news-reading as I struggled with the pages of Times. Otherwise life was pretty alright, I had great friends and couldn’t have asked for a better quality of student life. I was also the elected secretary of my college which had given me rights to strut around like a proud rooster. Even when I sat in the library, it was not without the group of friends. It was one of those lazy afternoons in the library. My friends and me were sitting around in library with books in front. I guess no-one would have turned more than 2 pages in an hour. We just loved to idle away in the library discussing life! “Hmm, I don’t know – I am still not happy with my English speaking” I almost said to myself. A friend sitting next to me looked at me and started laughing. I asked her “what’s funny?” “Your problem is you think in Marathi (my mother tongue), then translate it in English by checking grammar and all. By the time you are ready to speak its too late.” As she said this in front of so many, my pride was hurt. When you are 19-20 years, what hurts you is not only the content but also the fact that a girl speaks to you like that in public, especially when I had a reputation to defend!! I was almost stunned – but something in me stopped me from reacting back – I just kept quiet. She was a very dear friend and couldn’t have meant bad! What happened in a few months that followed is really hard to describe. Around six months later as I appeared for one of my MBA admission interviews, a lady on the interview panel asked me “Are you really from vernacular medium?” I was so pleased that I was not even bothered about the result of the interview!!
..... I have thought about this incident many a times in my mind over past few years but I am yet to reach any definite cause-effect relationship between the incident in college library and my progress in spoken English...... I have speculated but no clear answer yet......
.....May be more often than not I was always surrounded by friends whom I completely trusted...... we never bothered about being politically correct to each other....we just used to speak out our heart....
Many a times an awareness about a problem solves more than half of it.... the trick is you need someone to tell you the problem bluntly....As the years pass by sometimes our ability take feedback diminishes ..... its our success, growing pride.... insecurity whatever it may be.....but more often than not we surround ourselves with people who are politically correct with no sharp edges...... I think this is where we start losing the game. Actually you always need people around you whom you can trust and who can call spade a spade..... simply because mirrors don’t lie!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Growing with your child
“My friends are going to stay over with us for the week-end” she told me third time almost in a span of an hour. “Ya sure, I am not travelling this weekend so I can take you people around”, I offered to be a good host ..... she was somehow irritated. I was thoroughly confused now. “What happened?” I asked out of sheer frustration. “Are you going to be like this?” she asked looking at me from head to toe. “What do you mean?” “Are you going to move around in the house wearing shorts like this when my friends are around?” “Oh!”
Next day morning as I dressed up at 7’o clock in the morning, my wife asked me “where are you going so early on a Saturday?” “Nowhere”...... “Then why are you dressed up?” I was trying to avoid the answer but finally blurted out, ”Because Janhavi’s friends are going to stay with us today and tomorrow”...... my wife burst out laughing and rushed to tell this to my mother ...... I feel like a guest in my own house if I have to be fully clad! And next two days I exactly felt like that.....
Of late I am being groomed day in day out ..... “why are you wearing this shirt?” “why not?” “It does not go well with that trouser” ..... “Its ok I’m going to the office not for a ramp walk” “Thats right but you don’t have to be funny” .... I give up!
Even when I had just started dating my wife (I mean my girlfriend whom I married later) I don’t remember paying particular attention to my looks and throughout my life I have maintained a fairly mediocre dress sense. With this background it is little gruesome for me to be under observation of my daughter all the time ....
“What’s her problem? Off late why is she doing this to me?” I asked my wife “Am I so embarrassing to her or something?”. “No, on the contrary, you are her hero, thats why she is so particular about you”......... I was quite relieved when she said “Shah Rukh Khan has started looking older after he developed six pack Abs. You should never do that”......
Now-a-days my daughter has an opinion on everything “I think congress will win the Lok sabha elections this time around” .....”Why don’t they just shoot the fools who shoot the tigers” ..... “I don’t think Kites will do well on Box Office” ..... I have no issues with all this......... The problem is very simple ... I desperately try to hold her childhood as tightly as I can and it is slowly but surely slipping away.......... I cannot resist the temptation of pulling her cheeks ...while she is busy admiring her own looks in the mirror ....... I can get very sentimental when she walks away to school and can’t resist calling her by her pet name ..... fully knowing the consequences of this blunder!!
I don’t think you feel childhood is a gift when you are a child! It is only when you grow up you realize what a gift it was. You then almost wait for your child’s childhood and try to hold it as tightly as you can while the child is desperate to escape from it ..... the conflict is never really between a parent and a child ..... it is between a parent and an adult who is often misunderstood as a child!
As my daughter falls asleep every night, I slowly walk over to her, pull her cheeks, ruffle her hair ...... the only problem seems to be with my eyesight now-a-days – somehow sometimes- my eyes get moist – I think I need to be careful!!
Next day morning as I dressed up at 7’o clock in the morning, my wife asked me “where are you going so early on a Saturday?” “Nowhere”...... “Then why are you dressed up?” I was trying to avoid the answer but finally blurted out, ”Because Janhavi’s friends are going to stay with us today and tomorrow”...... my wife burst out laughing and rushed to tell this to my mother ...... I feel like a guest in my own house if I have to be fully clad! And next two days I exactly felt like that.....
Of late I am being groomed day in day out ..... “why are you wearing this shirt?” “why not?” “It does not go well with that trouser” ..... “Its ok I’m going to the office not for a ramp walk” “Thats right but you don’t have to be funny” .... I give up!
Even when I had just started dating my wife (I mean my girlfriend whom I married later) I don’t remember paying particular attention to my looks and throughout my life I have maintained a fairly mediocre dress sense. With this background it is little gruesome for me to be under observation of my daughter all the time ....
“What’s her problem? Off late why is she doing this to me?” I asked my wife “Am I so embarrassing to her or something?”. “No, on the contrary, you are her hero, thats why she is so particular about you”......... I was quite relieved when she said “Shah Rukh Khan has started looking older after he developed six pack Abs. You should never do that”......
Now-a-days my daughter has an opinion on everything “I think congress will win the Lok sabha elections this time around” .....”Why don’t they just shoot the fools who shoot the tigers” ..... “I don’t think Kites will do well on Box Office” ..... I have no issues with all this......... The problem is very simple ... I desperately try to hold her childhood as tightly as I can and it is slowly but surely slipping away.......... I cannot resist the temptation of pulling her cheeks ...while she is busy admiring her own looks in the mirror ....... I can get very sentimental when she walks away to school and can’t resist calling her by her pet name ..... fully knowing the consequences of this blunder!!
I don’t think you feel childhood is a gift when you are a child! It is only when you grow up you realize what a gift it was. You then almost wait for your child’s childhood and try to hold it as tightly as you can while the child is desperate to escape from it ..... the conflict is never really between a parent and a child ..... it is between a parent and an adult who is often misunderstood as a child!
As my daughter falls asleep every night, I slowly walk over to her, pull her cheeks, ruffle her hair ...... the only problem seems to be with my eyesight now-a-days – somehow sometimes- my eyes get moist – I think I need to be careful!!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
A prank called career
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!!
...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 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……..
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