Eureka Moment: CrossLoop

IT never ever fails to amaze me. Just when you think it has all been done, something innovative comes along and just blows you away. Compound that with the fact that you've been looking for something like it.

So my folks at home, far far away had a big spyware problem with the PC and as I was the only one who fixed it before I relocated, they sent out cries of help. Now its an interesting situation... I can connect to the internet from a cybercafe with a public IP address while they were on a PPPoE link with a natted private IP address. In simple words, I could not connect to them directly. That made every remote management option, PC Anywhere, VNC [Tight, Ultra or otherwise] and the "famed" Microsoft Remote Desktop go out of the window.

And I just wondered.... what if it can be done over the internet, irrespective of firewalls, network architecture, protocols etc.......

ENTER CrossLoop!!!!

CrossLoop is "a consumer Internet company that empowers everyone to help someone anywhere in the world with its free and easy-to-use software application for desktop sharing. CrossLoop connects computer users with trusted, qualified service providers and friends who can provide the support they need quickly and conveniently."

So that is the equivalent of turning the internet into one big helpdesk. The company intends to play host to a large number of Technical experts, like ExpertExchange, but who can actually log into your computer and help you with your problems.

The company intends to build a business model around it which would enable homemakers, students, friends, tech help consultants all help other people in need of tech help and get paid for it.

As far as security is concerned, even though this allows a remote user to log into your machine, your presence in front of your machine is essential. That keeps you alert for misuse or information theft, because you can see what happening on your PC.

And as far as marketing speil is concerned, CrossLoop floored me with this:

"Inherently, there is tremendous potential for knowledge to be transferred – a grandparent who has been taught how to edit and post videos online should be able to take that knowledge to a peer. With CrossLoop, you can teach someone (or even a class) remotely. CrossLoop shrinks distances – between countries and between those who have and do not have expertise. In the process, we reduce our carbon footprint!"

I know, the purists are gonna scream "BUT WHAT ABOUT SECURITY??" The people at CrossLoop have really thought about this, judging from the slick FAQ they wrote about security, covering every aspect from the security of the download to the security of the connection.

But then, coming back to my specific problem, I found the concept real neat. I've still to try this with my home PC. But this is gonna be very very exciting to watch in the future.

Bangalore at the polls!

With the world watching the American Presidential elections intently and its seeming impact on the state of affairs globally, Karnataka state went to the polls on Saturday, May 11 2008. It was a rather amusing experience for me, as it was for the first time that I witnessed an election as a bystander!! Nope, I did not vote!!

Now before you all jump to conclusions and classify me as an irresponsible citizen, let me make my interesting position clear. My voting constituency is in Mumbai, so essentially, in a Karnataka election, I don't get to vote!!!

Rather ironic, considering the outcome would affect me bigtime!! I work here, in the IT industry!! Much of the policy decisions that take place in the Karnataka Assembly would directly affect my job!! So I had an ulterior stake in getting my local brethren to exercise their franchise responsibly!!!

There was an interesting article that then appeared in the following Sunday news websites. Despairing news about the voter turnout, but rather interesting in its demographic analysis. Apparently it went on about the following points:

1. 72.5% people voted in the rural districts compared to the 44% BBMP residents
2. Women outnumbered men in most booths
3. First-time voters said candidates mattered to them and not parties

A few interesting insights develop here.

Firstly, rural India is more concerned with who governs them than Urban India. It is difficult to say whether New Age consumerism or old world apathy insulates the urban population from wanting political stability. However, I'm not sure whether urban India really understands the implication of long term political stability on their daily lives. True, most of them have food on the table, irrespective of who's in power, but eventually there is no explanation for not wanting more out of the political system.

Secondly, kitchen economics are a powerful motivating factor for demanding political stability. For a mother or wife who wants to ensure the best for her family, economic phenomena like inflation and commodity shortfalls are experienced and dealt with at an operational level. Compound that with the fact that the education levels of the population keep increasing, thanks to IT and new age economies in this Silicon Valley of the East!!!

Lastly, I believe there is a general decline in interest for casting one's ballot, as one takes part in more number of elections. A young voter who has just turned 18 cannot wait to get to the polls and "do it"!! Again, couple that with the increase in understanding and responsibility for the political selection process which goes beyond party ideologies and answers the simple question: "What can that particular candidate do for me??" The solution is to have fewer elections, by voting for more stable governments!!

Coalitions sadly cannot be eliminated, but its better to have a group of sensible cooks cooking the broth!!! Much lesser chance of them spoiling it!!

On a lighter note, the article also made a small observation on logistical problems:

However, army security personnel had difficulty communicating with the people. “Hindi ka problem hai. People don’t seem to understand what we say,’’ Sube Singh, a BSF officer said.

I understand the problem perfectly, my man!! I've been facing it for six months now!!!

On Setting Corporate Values and Brand Values

I saw a great fundamental question on LinkedIn asked by Pasi Rahikka.... and I came up with a classic answer. Somehow, LinkedIn won't allow me to post it. So I'm putting it up here.

Here is his question:

• How should the corporate values be created?
• Where do they come from?
• Can the brands a company has have their own values?
• Can these extend the corporate core values?
• Where do the brand values come from?

Here's my answer:

There are two ways to set corporate values.

The easy method is to take a lot of jargon words like Stewardship, Respect, Trust, Honor etc etc., flip a coin and chose five and write real professional sounding and complex sentences around each one...... That's the Dilbert method....

Jokes aside, there is only one foolproof way to develop corporate values. And it takes time, maybe weeks, maybe even months.

Start with closing your eyes and trying to answer the single most important question that one should ask while setting corporate values:

"What do I want people to think about when they think of my company?"

For example, when Richard Branson thinks about what people think about Virgin, he visualizes smiling people having a ball of a time with really innovative, "WOW" products and services.... Now check the Virgin website, you'll find this: "In our customers' eyes, Virgin stands for value for money, quality, innovation, fun and a sense of competitive challenge." See the point??

So obviously, there is your starting point. The more vivid your visualization of how people should react to your brand or company, the stronger the chance that that is you identity. This visualization can take a long time to develop, but it is a foolproof way to pinpoint your values.

Now, write 5 simple words that capture that visual. Forget the jargon, the marketing, the MBA vocabulary..... 5 simple adjectives that describe your visual in completeness. These are your target qualities.

Now the final step. For each target quality, write what you need to become to achieve that target quality. These are your CORE VALUES. For example, Mother Theresa's Missionaries of Charity would have a target quality like "Service to the Poorest of the Poor". The core value would be "Benevolence".

Its not an easy method, but if you refrain from taking shortcuts, it is indeed the most effective.


Let me now answer the other questions:

Yes, individual brands, like whole companies can have their own values. The process for finding these is basically the same... to find what people think about when they think of your brand. One word of caution, let not a single brand specific value be in conflict with even one the company values. This can ruin either the brand or company, usually both. This is the danger zone.

It is safer to extend the corporate values to the brand specific values, but it should never be forced on the brand. This can cause an identity crisis for the brand. Rather, it is better to do the above exercise for each individual brand. That way, each brand will develop its own unique identity.

On a final note, I leave you with a real example of Corporate Values. Visit this site and then ask the nearest Indian you can find about the company...... and listen carefully to what they have to say..... you'll know what I mean by the "visual" in the exercise!!!

Honor among thieves???

Frankly there's nothing to the title of the post, but then it was the first thing that came to my mind when I sat down to write on this.

So when two former bitter rivals sit together for a conversation about the future of the Computer industry, sparks will fly. Guy Kawasaki, former Apple evangelist and Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, sit for a fireside chat at MIX'08. The result is a lot of fun as well as a lot of insight...

Guy asks the right kind of questions and Steve answers with each one of them with excited clarity....

So here's the link to the actual video. It was on the Microsoft site, so you would have to install Microsoft Silverlight..... but it was really worth it.... after all, you can uninstall it later!! So if you want the Silverlight version, here it is!!

Watch out for the point where, right at the start, Guy calls Steve and Microsoft "racists" for not hiring him in 1987!!! That's classic Guy!!!! And then Steve tries to almost "destroy" Guy's new Macbook Air..............

I guess old habits die hard, even with age!!!!

Oh, and Steve supposedly gives out his supposed "official" email id for the record!!! And Guy eggs him to give out his phone number as well!!! Watch out for that, just in case you get the blue screen on your Windows machine!!

Accessible HR for the H!!!

I was discussing "work life" with a friend over coffee and he brought up a very peculiar practice in his organization.

Apparently the HR department of his organization was placed in a secured cubicle room in the building. Few employees, if any, had access to this secured cubicle enclosure.... which evidently made use of state-of-the-art electronic access methods.

So each time my friend needed some help with HR, eventually he was supposed to address this on the phone or if the matter needed the "physical presence" (sic) of the HR person, he was supposed to reach the place and call the HR person out of the enclosure.

This reminded me of a strange business model that banks had, where you would be charged each time you used the services of a human teller at the bank. Another reason I kept my money with the nationalized banks.... after all, I hate to be restricted to finite options of machines.....

But that's digressing from my point. Eventually Human Resources is a function to manage the Human Capital of an organization. Restricting access to the HR department is similar to not allowing the Materials Manager into the stockroom, or maybe not allowing the Finance Manager to touch the Account Books.

Perhaps the HR department was inundated with multiple queries about trivialities like "Where do I get the company transport?", "What is my PF number??" [PF is akin to 401k in India] or during appraisal time, when that million dollar question is repeated a thousand times: "When are the raises being announced??".

But the solution for that is definitely not putting HR in solitary confinement. Companies would rather do well by checking whether there is a discrepancy with the policy or processes by which these trivial issues are addressed in the organization. If a trivial query continues to arise with clockwork regularity, there is a good chance that the issue has not been addressed adequately enough in the process implementations, inductions, knowledge sharing sessions, HR orientations etc. that companies do as part of their onboarding or employee engagement initiatives.

The fallout of this, as I see it, will be a sure disconnect that employees of a company will develop with the organization. Sooner than later, employees will consider HR as an ornament, who comes in and organizes the occasional party or off-site outing..... and that possibly the only sensible way to solve a problem that genuinely requires HR intervention, like a coworker conflict or harassment, would be to QUIT.

Just like a bank that offers me lousy service, I'll just take my business elsewhere!!!!

So much for talent retention..........

Corporates and Web 2.0 in practice

Something I came across while surfing the IBM website. I'm usually a regular visitor here for all the good content they put online.

And then, I scroll down to the bottom of the page, looking for the email option to share it with my friend and I see this....



Now though it may seem like something very very obvious to do in this day and age, this was the first time I saw Digg and del.icio.us on a corporate website. Maybe I'm just slow.....

But that got me intrigued enough to check the websites of all the big corporates I could think of. And the score was 3 out of 15 big brands using newer non-conventional tools to reach out to larger audiences faster......

This tells me two things:

• The company cares about its visitors. So if those visitors are adopters on the Internet curve, they just care that you can connect to them in a way that you care about. And then you tell everyone you know about it.
  
• They care about their web presence and brand. They're not shy to use tools that only social networking sites, bloggers or otherwise tech geeks would use. Effectively leveraging every available way of reaching out to whoever wants to listen.

As Seth would say, "Being safe [read conservative] is dangerous". No wonder I keep going back to IBM's site..........

Eureka Moment: VisualCV

Each time I visit Guy's blog, I get a "eureka" moment [minus the "running naked in public" act]!!! So I've decided to put in a new post type in my blog, called "Eureka Moment". Its going to be the place where I post about new stuff that I find neat.... or as Seth would say.."remarkable"!!!

The latest is a cool thing called VisualCV. According to the creators:

"VisualCV makes a traditional resume come alive with video, pictures and a portfolio of your best work samples and other supporting documents. Informational pop-ups provide background data on the companies you’ve worked at and the colleges you’ve attended. You can securely share different versions with your own network of employers, colleagues and friends, and control who sees what. "

I signed up immediately and checked out the features. Its pretty neat, considering I've always wanted a Flash-type resume like all those hotshot web developers... but was limited to Microsoft Word Hell!!!

The best features I like are:

1. Its on the Internet. So no more gripes about not having access to my mail to send out my resume to someone who asks for it.
2. Its easy formatting, so your resume looks real nice and you don't have to go Cntrl-Z Cntrl-Z over and over again.
3. You've got lots of jing-bangs like pop-up keywords, pictures, videos and the rest. You won't find me integrating it with my Orkut or Facebook sites, but hey, it's possible!!!!

But my pet peeve is the data entry. I hate filling up forms, especially the long online CV ones. I know about cut and paste magic, but its so damn boring!!! One reason you won't find me on a matrimonial site.....

But I loved LinkedIn, and I'm sure this is going to be as useful.... but its just cool pointing someone to a link when they ask for my CV.

Have fun, people!!!

In search of practicing Presentation Zen.....

Through my general reading of Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki, I was introduced to a great book called Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. Garr effectively says that the best presentations are the ones that deliver the message effectively, in the simplest manner possible. He draws on the profound simplicity of Zen principles to illustrate how Presentations can be made more effective and essentially more communicative. After all, that's what presentations are supposed to do, right? Oh, and its not a How-to for Powerpoint, Keynote or the OpenSource Impress.... Its a great book. Garr also evangelizes about it on his supporting website.

But I have a small doubt [I usually have one with all the popular stuff, but then, that's just me!!!] Its great, when you're doing presentations like Seth or Guy or any other Management guru.... you have the choice of content, flow, design and many a time, delivery methodology.

But what about the little guy at the bottom [LGATB]?? Chances are, he works on more presentations than Guy and Seth together work on in a week. And chances are, someone else decides the content, the flow, the design [usually official] and even the delivery!!! So what's a LGATB to do if he's read Presentation Zen, the Laws of Simplicity and knows Guy's 10-20-30 rule by heart??? Some of the reasoning not to practice zen which come his way are:

1. Its not the official template and format. The big guys will object to that....
2. You're not going to put in the explanation text?? What do you mean "text heavy"??
3. This is a business presentation. We can't put cartoons in there....
4. Just one word?? Just the word "THINK" on a black background?? You're gonna waste the rest of the slide??? [I'm sure there were others who came up with that idea before IBM and its ad agencies did!!!]
5. What do you mean you won't put this graph?? Its not relevant and there's no space?? Increase the number of slides, but that graph stays. What if the boss comes with a question on that??

And the number one reasoning:

I'm the boss/presenter/speaker/the guy with his neck on the line!!! Just do it my way!!! No need to get creative!!!!

Ouch!! That last one kinda nails it!! If I had a penny for every time I heard that one.....

So I believe you have to write a few books, be a VC, start-up a few firms, make tons of money or in the least, be way up in the hierarchy to start practicing Presentation Zen.

Achieving nirvana, however, is a personal thing...........

Check out this Guy.........

One of the nicer and more "value-adding" blogs I've followed in cyberspace belongs to a guy named just that... Guy Kawasaki. Now though Guy needs no introduction... er... at least to the right people, [sorry Guy, my neighbor's grandma did not know who you were!!] all that I need to say is that he's a Venture Capitalist who he believes is a bit different from the rest of them.

I've read Guy's books since I got into Business School [and you thought B-School only gave you bad habits like making simple things complex with graphs and pie charts!!]. Actually I've just read 1/4th of his book, Art of the Start. Yeah I know, I thought I'll go through his bibliography backwards!!!

One thing about Guy I like is that he finds the same things to be cool that I find cool. That's when I read his blog entry about Spokeo. Now though I think it might give you glimpses into your friends' lives that they might not want you to know [for example, he did not send you his Flicker link of his vacation pics, because he did not want you to see them, right??]. It'll also give you a glimpse of that cute girl who messaged you by mistake but will not send you her picture. So I'm concerned that this may raise those silly privacy issues, but if you just wanna be friendly and keep a tab on your pals, then Spokeo can help you do it!!! Check Spokeo out here!!

Oh and if you want to see pics of a 50+ Japanese guy reliving his childhood with his kids on a WW II submarine, check out Guy's blog here

Of Recruitment Consultants.............

This one I could not resist. I'm sure I echo the pain of millions of IT jobseekers when I post this. I'm really not sure whether I'm getting a bit emotionally motivated to post this, but I just had to make a point.

For any job seeker worth his resume, especially in the IT field, we have got into the habit of recieving 35 mails a day from recruitment consultants trying to convince you that you are a right fit for a profile that has nothing to do.

Just for the record, I'm an IT Infrastructure Consultant. I advise and guide customers about how to use IT Infrastructure effectively. My experience in writing code is limited to C and Perl and that too, just for kicks. I've never written commercial code in my life.

And then I recieve a mail which tries to convince me that I'm the one to do it. After 9 long years honing my skills in Networks. Here is the mail, verbatim. I thought I'd spare the recruitment consultant his 15 minutes of infamy, so I let Mr. CottonEye Joe from XYZ speak to me:

*****************************************************************

Hi Professional,

while congratulating you for your resume being picked and short-listed by us for Top 10 clients in INDIA.

We are pleased to let you know that one of our reputed client is looking for a qualitative professional just like you.
Our client particularly looking for the following skills: Technical Architecture - Microsoft Professionals with 5 to 9 years of IT Experience only.

Demand - Skill/location specification is as below

SKILL LEVEL LOCATION

Technical Architecture - Microsoft .Net Professionals
TL
Bangalore,Mu! mbai,Hyd erabad,Chennai

Technical Architecture - Microsoft .NET Professionals
AM
Bangalore, Chennai

Education: B.E degree in Computer Sciences, Electronics or equivalent; extensive experience and demonstration of required skills may be considered substitutes for
degreed educat! ion.

XYZ - In constant pursuit of Excellence
XYZ will provide you with a world full of opportunities, enviable avenues, very alluring yet enterprising cities, most incredible pay packets and some of the most prestigious corporate companies to choose from and work with. We are glad to have some of the fortune 500 companies in our clients' list to challenge your appetite for the best in the market.

Talent, merit, intelligence, hard work, and perseverance are the things we revere and respect. We value your ingenuity and strive to fit you in the best available! job and position you rightfully deserve. We see to it t! hat you will get the boost to reach for the highest orbit of your career.

XYZ - add wings to your career!

Kindly send your updated Resume along with your salary details and contact details to us in the next available moment to help us help you build your dream career.

TREAT THIS MATTER MOST URGENT AND RESPOND IMMEDIATELY.

Please send us the following details:

Current and Expected CTC:!
Notice Period:
Preferred location :
Date of Birth:
Mobile no:
Email id! :
First name:
Last name:

Kindly send your updated Resume to us in the next available moment to help you build your dream career.
&! nbsp;

Best ! Wishes
CottonEye Joe, XYZ

************************************************************************

This mail actually left me with a myraid of emotions.

It started with "elation", I've always wanted to be known as a Professional..... maybe the best way would be to make it my first name??

Then it turned to clear "joy", I had finally got so famous that I can get shortlisted for a job without an interview.

"our reputed client is looking for a qualitative professional just like you." Sure, do they look for other types as well?? Feeling: Bow down before the Master, lowly employers!!!

Then comes disbelief! Microsoft .NET!!??!! My resume is out there is cyberspace, but I can lay a bet that .NET never even featured as a typo in it!!! At this point, I kinda felt like Neo in the Matrix, where he says..." I know kung fu". Only thing, Morpheus answered, "Sure thing. No need to show me".

After this I lost track of it. Frankly because when someone is telling me about a job, I want to hear the job description. That's what they taught me in Business school!!! But then there's no more job and I get a nice marketing pitch about the recruitment consultant company.

I have still to find a recruitment consultant who is not "In constant pursuit of Excellence" and who will not "provide you with a world full of opportunities".

But then this would take the cake. "enviable avenues, very alluring yet enterprising cities". I'm still wondering!! If you can figure this one out, mail me.

"Kindly send your updated Resume to us in the next available moment to help you build your dream career." Sounds like an infomercial, doesn't it... "Our operators are standing by. Call now".

I think a disclaimer would look professional as well, in addition to that marketing tirade. Something like "If this mail is not relevant to you, please ignore the same". But NO!! The mail had to end perfectly unapologetic for wasting my time, filling up space in my mailbox and abusing my personal information which they had [I'm referring to my email id, which incidentally also contains my REAL FIRST NAME].

So now you know, with what confused emotions, I write this post. I wonder if my fellow professionals in other countries have it as bad. If only they read my resume, those two pages that I've slaved over for nine long years!!

I guess I'll just go lie down for a while now.....................

Resolutions!!!

Happy New Year to you.

Naah, I'm not going to list down a long list of wishes that I resolve to do this new year. However in the true spirit of marketers, I got curious and looked around for resolutions of the marketing masters.

Seth Godin has been a favorite guru of mine, with his ideas and style of presentation both being vast learning grounds for me. For those who came in late [I love that line from the Phantom], Seth is the pioneer of Permission Marketing and of "being not necessarily the best, but definitely being Remarkable". He writes a blog which is continuously on my Netvibes Feed.

Here's what he says about New Year Resolutions:

"Google yourself.

If you're a salesperson, your prospects already do.
If you're looking for a job, your prospective employers already do.
If you've got a job, your co-workers already do."

Wanna know how to fix what you find?? Head to Seth's Blog and his post about "The first thing to do this year".

Oh yeah, and tell Seth I tracked him back. Maybe, just maybe, I can leech off some of his site traffic to mine!! Can't help it, Seth, I learnt to be remarkable from you!!!

Thinking of the Black background??

A lot of people asked me why there is a black background on my site.

Apparently a white or light background, causes the computer monitor to consume marginally more electricity to display the lighter colour than the darker shades. So if the black background comes on, instead of the white or lighter ones, there is less energy consumed, causing lesser fossil fuels burned to produce it in the first place, eventually causing a little less damage to the already abused environment.

So if you are reading this, I just saved you something on your electricity bills.

And if you think I'm just blabbering rubbish, oh and by the way, a lot of people do, you might as well visit the Blackle site. Its a spoof of Google, minus the white background. As for why, you better read their pitch on it here.

I just reserved some place in Heaven as well [I hope]

Long Time No Blog......

Well its been some time, I've been all busy with my management studies..... and frankly I've hit a blogger block!!!! No new ideas or observations.....

Watch this space!!!

Do Large companies kill smaller companies??

Obviously, duh?? Of course larger behemoths devour smaller fry. Its the law of the world. Remember Darwin?? Survival of the fittest?? Rings a bell???

Ah well, of course I've done my basic Biology course. The biggies do gobble up the little ones.

However the feast I'm talking about happens without bloodshed... no restructuring, no layoffs and definitely no takeovers. The way it happens, I'd say it's competition elimination without spending anything.... Now isn't that a dream run???

Picture the situation. Joe Engineer passes out of his engineering college with real hopes of changing the world. Though he never went to an IIT, he's had enough talk been given to him of the divinity of the engineering profession. Typically he joins up a top IT firm and begins his climb up the corporate hierarchy. At this stage, he's really happy to sit in front of a computer and wallow in megabytes of code, all with the intention of "putting a smile on the customer's face".

A year into the job, Joe suddenly realises that he's not exactly changing the world, but rather following code-correction orders from the Project Manager. Joe realises that to improve the situation, he ought to be giving those orders. So by hook or crook (more crook than hook usually), Joe Engineer becomes Joe Project Leader.

Suddenly Joe is now faced with a new monster. Project Finance and budgeting. Compared to these, building a supercomputer is a cakewalk. Joe also realises that his orders are now coming from top management, who now talk business rather than technology. Moreover, he also gets acquainted with Mr. Welch, Mr. Murthy and Mr. Gates and finally realises the path to true nirvana. And that path has a single milestone called MBA.

So Joe enrolls himself to be an MBA. Now it all starts to make sense. Organizational Behavior, Integrated Marketing, Financial Management, Project Management, all coupled with Peter Drucker, Tom Peters and Philip Kotler. He tops the Entrepreneurship course. Changing the world is now easier than ever.

Back in the job, Joe finds himself on a new pedestal. His old technology team doesn't know what to do with this 'outsider'. "After all, he's all past gone beyond understanding the beauty of a recursive algorithm", they say. So Joe goes to top management.

"Ah yes, the newbie", they say. "Promising young fellow", they say. "Let him learn the ropes", they say. And Joe is put in charge of his old team with the sage prophesy,"Someday, you will be CEO". Joe Project Leader is finally transformed into Joe Manager.

So poor Joe is back to doing what he was before he got his MBA. He'll never be back into technology, because he's an MBA. And he'll retire with the eternal hope that someday he'll be CEO, because he's an MBA!!

And that's how the new firms are killed. In the minds and morales of brilliant executives who want to break out, but don't know how and where. A sort of corporate abortion, prevalent in most top firms globally. And finally Joe disappears, a statistic, a face in the crowd. Without changing the world.

So much for Intrapreneurship and all that gas. Intrapreneurship forces one to think in terms of the existing or emerging markets, not radically as innovation is meant to be. For example, would an IT Giant stake into gourmet foods, even if the market for gourmet foods was booming?? Unlikely, with all that jazz about corporate focus, isn't it??

And Can Joe quit?? Possible, but very unlikely. Not if he wants to constantly hear, "You quit XYZ?? What are you, an idiot??" or if he wants to suddenly wants his social circle to disappear. Its easy if you're in a mid tier company to chuck it all and go the lone road, but when you're in one of the top ten firms, its a long long long way down.

So is there a solution?? Maybe. I'm still searching... and something tells me its in the force of collective efforts... A team ... to walk the lone road together...

I'll post my findings in a future post, so until that time, Au revoir!!

World Aids Day

Its not about wearing the ribbon for today. Its about changing the way you think. The things that you say about it. The way you behave.

They need just your hand to hold onto in their loneliness. Please, if you know of anyone around you who is suffering alone, please do not treat them like they can kill you with their presence.

Most of all, get wise about HIV and AIDS. Know the facts and don't ever spread false information. What you know can never hurt you..

To all the beautiful people out there for whom we wear this ribbon, we are right here, you are never alone.

You can learn more about HIV and AIDS at The HIV Information Site

Long time no see???

Well well, its been some time since I last blogged..... blame it all on the huge merger that my organisation is going through .....

With all the things said about mergers and acquisitions, it is interesting to watch one happen so close. Maybe a book about the same is in the offing......

"Merger, he wrote"????? Maybe maybe.......

Nevertheless, in the words of the most famous Austrian alive ....... I'LL BE BACK

Mumbai - Always going on and on and on and ...........

Exactly a month from Terror Tuesday, I posted in this blog about how hardened the Mumbaikar is when it comes to the rains. Today it is eight days from that fateful day and Mumbai is up and running, tottering on its feet but with the will not to let anything bring it down.

Though everyone finds a scapegoat to blame for the mishaps, it is the unrelenting spirit of the city to never say die, the spirit of the city to reach out with a helping hand to total strangers, the spirit of the city to smile in adversity, the spirit of the city to find and share HOPE, a hope that keeps everyone in this metropolis alive.....

It is the courage of individuals that holds this city together, the true power of ONE that works..... My salutations to all those individuals who helped to restore the faith in the "Mumbaikar".

Salaam Mumbai

The better CEO - Marketing or Finance?

Well, being a student of Marketing myself, the opinion is bound to be colored, but then considering the comparisons, it seems the grass is always green on the other side. Marketing guys will always wonder about the complexity of numbers and Finance wizards would always struggle to sugarcoat bad figures effectively.

But at the end of the day, it all comes down to the student's ambition. No course relatively would give anyone an edge. All students are taught the basics of all streams and eventually every Marketing guy should know the numbers and every Finance brain should be able to sell them. Its just that in the line of duty, you lose track of your training and the inclination to actually sharpen your "standby axe" is in most cases, prohibitive.

I was asked once in an interview about where I'd like to be 10 years hence [Don't people get tired of listening to this one??], and I said I would be the CEO of a global organisation. I was told that most trends revealed that top CEOs were Finance people and I still stand by my reply to that..... "TRENDS ARE MEANT TO BE CHALLENGED" ......... and well, if fairy tales interest you, I never got that job. Maybe they loved their CEO .............

Mumbaikar!! One tough cookie in the rains!!!!

Got into a discussion with a colleague about the age-old debate of whether
Indians need to have compulsory army training. Here are the usual arguments:

Against:

• There are just too many of us!!!!


• Too costly!!

For:

• Good for the patriotic spirit!!


• Keep us disciplined!!

Nevertheless, putting the debate in perspective with the Mumbai Monsoon Experience, a "Mumbaikar" doesn't need the training!! Ever seen the comparisons??

• Obstacle Course: Unconcreted roads, Work-in-progress concreted roads, Finished(!!) concreted roads.


• Endurance testing: Ever stood in the downpour at a bus stop??


• Psychological Endurance: And the bus passes you by??? EMPTY with a RESERVED board??


• 10 km walk: What you do when your boss screams on your mobile and your bus is stuck in standstill traffic!!

Our Armed Forces Personnel are the GREATEST and there is no doubt about that. We'll always be grateful to them for granting us the privilege to sleep peacefully at night.

But when it comes to being one tough Indian, the Mumbaikar is the closest you can get to the Army.

Quality??? What's that [in reality]???

Ever picked up a book on Quality Management?? Where the little guy exists, its seldom about "must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million 0pportunities." (isixsigma.com)

At the bottom of the hierarchical pyramid, Quality, in effect, is what is told to you it is, which usually translates to one of the two following cases:

• No defects no matter what the target [Yeah right!!]
• Hey, we got a great Replacement Policy

At the end of the day, the essence of quality rarely runs down to the "men in blue" on the production floor. Unless the guy who runs the lathe machine actually believes in the 0.5 micron finish he has to put on that chair leg, it really doesn't matter you're ISO 9833452340322 qualified [Trust me, one day that number will come].

That brings me to my bit about the various certifications about Quality that organizations strive to achieve and maintain so "diligently". Each of these certifications had been essentially designed and developed to organize the best practices about Quality in an organization's way of existence, but in 9 cases out of 10, Quality certifications have been about as effective in bringing about a commitment to quality across the organization as has Marx's Communism delivered on its "golden-era" promises. Like communism, it works...but only in places where it gets ingrained into the system. In that case, having a certificate pronouncing so doesn't really make sense, does it??

So then, the solution?? How do we get whole organizations eat, drink, sleep, breathe quality? Practically speaking [the little guy's view], there are two ways of doing it:

1. Drill it into the boys till they repeat it in their sleep
2. Visible, genuine commitment to the processes by the top management

The first method is effective to the extent that it gives a chance to the boys to consciously and ultimately subconsciously shut off the programming, the same way targets drive the salesforce performance at the end of the quarter [Get it done somehow, anyhow, BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW!!!!].

The second method however is usually easier said than done. Top management need to get out of their ivory towers and Harvard Business Review hangovers [Its a great magazine, but seldom easy to put into practice]and visit the floor. Know what you produce or offer as services. Its amazing how many IT organizations have executives who do not know what services they offer or who do not understand the business markets they are in.

Once you're familiar with "what's inside the box", start thinking "what's supposed to be in there in the first place"!!!! An analysis of Quality is not just producing the best, but analyzing whether
you're the best to produce it or are you just an "also-running"?? Is your product or service the best thing to produce with your capabilities??

Allow me to be more direct ------ Are you best qualified to produce what you produce??

Once you answer that question in the affirmative, and I do mean a BIG RESOUNDING 'HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!' , that's when you start the process of IMPROVEMENT and everything else in that book you picked up in the start.

In Sanskrit, there is a saying "Jatha raaja, thatha prajaa" which means "As is the king, so are the subjects". John C. Maxwell in his book "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" states that there can be no leader without followers. The boys on the floor look upto the Top Management for direction. Here it becomes imperative that the Top Management demonstrate a concern for quality in the product coupled with the knowledge of the product.

Imagine for a moment, the tremendous effect that is made when a Sr. Executive in an organization walks upto a guy on the floor, picks up a finished chair leg and asks him whether in his opinion, a tapering leg would be more stable without sacrificing on aesthetics?? That feedback eventually plays a role in the improvement of the design, yielding a better
chair. Voila, Quality improvement!!!!!

Whoa..it doesn't stop there!! The Sr. Executive makes another round of the floor, congratulates this guy in front of all his colleagues and honestly tells them all, in simple but quantifiable terms [$$$], how much the changed design helped boost sales. At this moment, the guy is going "WOW!! I just got recognized for the effort and the guys at the top know it!! There is a lot that can be improved out here, I'm glad they're asking now!!!!"

At the same time, each of his floor mates go, "Man, there are a lot of ways that my output can be improved. Let me try and come up with some improvement. Now that they're listening, the big boss will be shaking my hand next!!!"

BOOM!! Quality Consciousness IN THE SYSTEM!!

Driven by the boys themselves, this consciousness becomes very infectious. Much like word-of-mouth marketing.

Easier said than done, you say?? Well, its upto you to try it!! After all, I'm just the little guy at the bottom, looking up!!!! ;-)