Why I am Reluctant to Support Anna Hazare Today.

(Adapted from a Facebook note that I posted on August 19, 2011)

With millions of Indians supporting Anna Hazare (as per media or FB, at least), is it so difficult for IAC to find one MP who will introduce their version of the Lokpal bill in Parliament and then get a majority of the MPs to vote in favour?

If they can, they should pursue that path. If they cannot, they should continue to protest / debate till they can convince enough MPs. Threatening the Government with deadlines & fasts unto death is excessive and arbitrary. This Government may be discredited, but the institutions of Parliament & Executive needn't be. Also, if the Government / politicians are as bad as we imagine they are, do we think that getting them to agree to the JLP bill will end corruption? If they have delayed the Lokpal for so many years, they can delay effective implementation for a long time to come.

There is no denying that most Indians are fed up of corruption; they are also fed up with lethargy in decision making and reforms. India, in the 21st century, has failed to keep pace with our aspirations and expectations. The middle class that has tasted the benefits of superior economic growth and competitive choice has no patience for poor infrastructure or galloping inflation. This angst requires solutions; it requires leadership. Unfortunately, not one amongst the political class has stood up to be counted. The opposition, in particular, failed miserably to capitalize on a wonderful opportunity to grab the initiative. 

What you have is a motley crowd of activists, NGOs, godmen and others that have captured popular imagination. Ok, so they'll probably win this round. What happens next? We are back to the same old choices. You know what I'd love to see: Anna Hazare and his team should convert IAC into a political party, demand mid-term elections and seek to come to power, if not now, perhaps by 2014. Then, I might vote for IAC - if I agree with their politics and economics. 

A democracy requires politicians; whether they are good ones or bad ones is our choice.

(Disclosure: I disagree that Jan Lokpal Bill is the solution to the corruption problem that we are facing. I strongly believe that reducing government and related controls is the 'cure' to big ticket corruption that has characterized the last decade. For the daily corruption that all of us face, I think that this suggestion from Kaushik Basu is seriously worth evaluating.)

 

PS. I had an interesting discussion with my friend Mohan Kannegal in the comments of my FB note; offered without any further comment.

The Escalation Problem

A couple of months ago, Shachin Bharadwaj, founder of TastyKhana in Pune, sent me this Twitter message... 

This was in response to...

Just days later, I faced an almost similar situation. I was trying to buy some products urgently for my home and reached out to the relevant sales guys in Pune. For almost a week there was no response, in spite of several calls and messages. Finally, I called a friend who is a senior manager in that company. Although he was not responsible for this line of products, I called him on a Sunday morning, having run out of ideas. Within an hour, the sales guy called me asking for the details.

I receive several "escalations" from customers and friends, even though I am not in a "line" role... I am sure those who are in business sales / marketing or customer service leadership roles are inundated with escalations. Why does this happen? Why is it that large organizations - usually - are often unable to handle sales or customer service issues at the operating level? Surely they realize that "escalations" are not good for them, not only from a reputation perspective but also from a cost point of view.

Corporates would argue that such escalations are few, relative to the overall number of transactions that they manage, and therefore, statistically insignificant. If you have a 100 million subscribers with 10 "transactions" each, even a 99.9% quality level would still leave a million "failed" transactions. The best businesses would have (or aspire to) lower failure rates, however, it is impossible even for them to achieve 100% out of their operations. 

Earlier, they could have gotten away with it. An individual (customer) had limited ability to influence others or have her voice heard. An aggrieved customer could write to the company's senior management or to a publication and hope that something would come out of it. Perhaps some would go to a consumer court. Things have changed today. One aggrieved customer (even if accounting for the fourth decimal of all transactions) can ruin a company's carefully crafted (usually at huge expense) image.

The only way to get it always right is if every member of the organization focuses on solving customer issues or preventing the creation of any issues. How often does that happen? I can think of three main reasons why issues do not get addressed at the operating / first level and lead to dissatisfaction, frustration and inevitably, escalation.

1. Lack (or Mismatch) of Incentives

What are the most popular metrics for customer service organizations? Call centre staff are usually measured on number of calls, hold time, etc. A telecom service engineer is measured on network uptime, capacity utilization, etc. Very rarely are they tasked to enable happy customers. Customer satisfaction indices become part of larger corporate imperatives and company performance scores. I have not seen too many companies that directly measure (and consequently, incentivize) customer satisfaction - satisfaction that is tracked at an individual transaction level and not at the aggregate in an annual or quarterly survey. 

Similarly, a sales person is tasked to maximize new sales or revenues; most companies have complex commission structures that encourage sales of certain products (or to certain segments) over others. A sales person inevitably follows the money. If you are not a "priority" customer segment or seeking a low-value product, the sales guy has no interest in you, period. In my case where the sales folks showed no interest in my order, I suspect that there is no (or very little) incentive for sales to a "group" employee, so why would a sales guy waste time on my order when there are other deals to pursue in the market?

2. Lack of Empowerment

What are you willing to do to solve a customer issue? Ask any senior manager and you will always hear the answer, "Anything, customer is king." Unfortunately, that message rarely reaches the line staff -- not from a communication perspective, mind you, but in terms of policies and delegations. Does the organization recognize and celebrate moments when difficult customer issues were resolved speedily? Were employees who went out of their way to solve the problem rewarded immediately? Or was the first reaction of the management to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the event?

Empowerment is also in terms of information. Customers are, mostly, not irrational. They understand that things/systems/machines do fail. What they'd like to know is why, and more importantly, how/when will the issue be resolved. I have never seen a customer service executive that has been empowered with such information. In the absence of facts, the CSE responds with vague promises and a generic assurance of resolving the issue within 24 hours or 48. 

A few years ago, my broadband connection was down and every time I called, I was told the issue would be resolved "soon". A week later, the connection was still down and my blood pressure was up. After a few rounds of escalation, I learnt that some equipment had been damaged due to a short-circuit and that the new equipment was waiting for the electricity department's go ahead for reconnection. This permission was awaited and could take a few more days; the telco could do nothing about it. Fine, but if only I had been informed earlier, I might have made other temporary arrangements for Internet connectivity without staring at the modem daily or shouting at the customer service staff. 

3. Lack of Learning from Mistakes

Each escalation is a moment of learning. Why did it not get addressed at the level it should have been? What was lacking? Senior executives that receive escalations focus on the immediate solution (as they must) but often fail to deep dive into the real problem. Whether it is a change in incentives or a process, or a reprimand in case of negligence, something must change after each deviation from the norm of operations.

It is also important that even after an escalation, the issue be addressed by the operating teams. That sends a message to the operating staff as well as to the customer: the escalation was an exception, the point of contact for the issues does not change. Escalation should not become a habit.

Of the three, I believe that wrong measurement/incentives is the most serious. Organization structures by business units, functions, regions, etc. and their corresponding incentive systems worsen the situation. Most employees in any organization do not think they are responsible for customers or customer "service". In a telecom company, network, operations and finance staff would constitute over two-thirds of the organization; how many of them are measured directly on customer related parameters? I am sure similar situations exist in financial services, travel, retail, etc. Are there examples of companies where customer-related metrics drive business performance and incentives?  

The Leadership Dilemma

Continuing from my previous post about Prof. Ram Charan's seminar on Putting People Before Numbers, I wanted to share and discuss a hypothesis that most organizations fail to distinguish between Managers and Leaders.

Prof. Ram Charan had shared a concept of segmenting managers into categories like P&L Managers, Functional Managers, Experts, etc. That is a wonderful way of thinking about people, capabilities and careers. I had also shared about the popular perception that the P&L Manager role is the one that everyone aspires to (or is expected to aspire to). What this has led to is the confusion between a Manager's job and that of a Leader. It is popularly understood that a leader, whether that of a Business Unit or an Organization, is the ultimate P&L Manager. Therefore, by default, the best P&L Manager is expected to become the CEO or the best Function Manager is asked to lead a function or a division. 

This is the biggest mistake that many organizations make.

A leader need not be the best manager that an organization has. Leadership has been defined by many gurus, so I will only provide three things that I believe characterize leaders:

1. Vision: A leader has a clear picture of the future, aspirational state of the organization, and the confidence that we will get there.

2. Inspiring: Either through crystal-clear communication or pure induction, the leader inspires her team to believe in the vision and strategy.

3. Collaborating: The leader attracts the best people into his team and enables superior performance, jointly and individually, towards the shared vision.

The third quality includes, by extension, the ability to spot talented people and future leaders.

How often have we not seen that the crack sales person, crafty financial expert or creative marketing lead  possesses none of these qualities. However, the accepted career progression for a wonderful manager is to become a "leader". It is likely that a good leader was a good manager, but it is not at all necessary that every successful manager would be an effective leader. But who can argue against established career paths? Both are hurt in this process: many a great manager starts underperforming when thrust with a leadership role; many potential leaders languish in roles where their capabilities are under-utllized.

Most leaders know about the importance of talent management, yet they fail to do much about it. A reason I mentioned in the earlier post was that talent management has been mystified. Perhaps there is another reason. Maybe many of those who are in leadership roles are not leaders themselves and therefore, do not possess that innate quality of identifying and nurturing talent. Have we become victim to traditional norms of career progressions and promotions?

This is a controversial topic, and as I mentioned in the seminar, usually a "career limiting" one for those who raise it. All I have for my hypothesis is anecdotal evidence. This requires more research and discussion. I welcome your thoughts and feedback.   

Putting People Before Numbers: Prof Ram Charan

This week, I attended a seminar by Prof. Ram Charan (management guru, advisor and author of several best-selling management books) for senior leaders. The program was provocatively (I thought) titled, Why Smart Leaders Put People Before Numbers.

Later, I realised that this was also the sub-title of Ram Charan's new book, Talent Masters (co-authored with Bill Conaty, former Sr. VP at General Electric). The central premise of the book (and consequently, of the program) is that "word-class companies achieve their stellar performance... by finding and nurturing leadership talent." With increasing globalisation and competition and reducing opportunities to create product differentiation, the bet is that companies that can attract and develop talent better than others would create sustainable competitive advantage.

Most leaders and senior managers know it; yet they fail to do much about it because talent management has been (in the words of a participant) "mystified into a dark-art" with lots of jargon and mumbo-jumbo thrown at it. What is needed is to demystify it: recognise that a systematic approach can be put in place to manage talent and that with practice, leaders can get better at it.

One interesting idea (amongst many) that I picked up was that of segmenting managers. Prof. Ram Charan suggested that managers (or roles) should be categorised into different segments, e.g. P&L managers, Functional managers, Experts, Innovation managers, Country managers, etc. The methodology of segmentation ought to be customised to the context, however, such segments (not too few, not too many) should be identified. Every manager cannot perform each of these roles; each also requires different development and reward mechanisms. Future people requirements of a business would vary by segment, and therefore planning the pipeline of talent has to be done at a segment level. For instance, if your future strategy is driven by expansion into new markets, you may need a pipeline of country managers whereas a product innovation driven strategy would require availability of appropriate experts and subsequently, P&L managers.

This sounds intuitively correct to me and I do believe that each manager can perform one or two types of roles without a major overhaul of skills (usually difficult at middle to senior levels). However, business culture has glorified the role of the P&L manager, thus everyone aspires to become one. In fact, if somebody does not aspire to be CEO (or Business Head) in future, he/she is perceived to be not good enough, even for the current job. Therefore, a person who may be a great functional manager or an expert is almost forced into the path of a P&L manager, irrespective of the fit. Not only do we need to plan careers for each segment of people differently, we also need to change popular perceptions about what a successful career (path) is.

I have written in the past that the enterprise of the future is going be unlike what we know from past experiences. Leaders that can make the shift now have the opportunity to create (or remain as) world-class companies. Or be left behind.   

Apple iPad 2 Event: Quick Summary

The long awaited Apple Keynote happened last night; most of you would have caught the news from various blogs and news reports. So without getting into too much detail. here is my perspective on what was announced yesterday:

1. The Announcement
As expected, the new iPad 2 was announced. It will be available March 11 in the US (orders start only that day) and March 25 in 26 other countries (of course, no India). The price points remain the same, starting at $499 and it comes in 6 configurations (16/32/64G; Wifi and 3G... note that there are now two 3G versions: GSM and CDMA). Whether the CDMA version can be activated on the Indian CDMA networks is a question mark.

2. Hardware
* Two cameras, similar to the iPhone 4... front-facing & rear. Supports FaceTime (and other video chat apps like Skype)
* Redesigned body... now quite similar to the iPod Touch. Much thinner than the earlier iPad; thinner than the iPhone 4 too. Therefore, lighter.
* 2 colour options. Black and White. White will be available from Day1.
* Faster processor... dual core A5 chip. iPad was fast, iPad 2 should be a scorcher.
* HDMI Out through an adaptor, and mirroring of iPad on the TV/screen. It is not fully clear how this feature & accessory will work with iPad but it appears from this TUAW article that the accessory will work with older iDevices but only for 720p quality slideshows and movies, and will not do full mirroring.

3. Software
iOS 4.3 will be available from March 11. Please note that most features of iOS 4.3 (except camera related) should work with the iPad.
* Airplay -- will let you play out video/photos from any app or website/Safari to your Apple TV or Airport Express (or any of the new systems that are Airplay compliant)
* iTunes Home Sharing -- now access iTunes on your computer from your iPad and watch/listen to content residing on your computer 
* Small but important -- you can now choose (in the Settings) what you want to use the Mute button for... Mute/Unmute or Screen Orientation Lock (like earlier)...

New Apps: iMovie (to create and edit movies) and GarageBand (to create and edit music/instruments) on the iPad for 5bucks each (iMovie will not work on the iPad).

4. Accessories
* The new Smart Cover is a piece of brilliant product design. You have to watch the demo video on this page. I loved it.
* Digital AV Adaptor for HDMI (described above)

What was missing?
* There were some expectations of improved display (Retina Display)... but this was unlikely till Apple could double the screen resolution (to keep the Apps backward compatible). This should happen with iPad 3.
* There were many rumours of USB or SD Card support... I think this was wishful thinking.
* Wild rumours of Flash support

Verdict
The iPad 2 is not an incremental feature upgrade. It is indeed a complete overhaul of the iPad design and specs. Makes the iPad highly competitive (features/price equation) with all the other tablets out there... In my opinion, Xoom is overpriced and Playbook is too small to be of use.

If you don't have an iPad -- you should get one on March 11. iPad 2 is the 'best' tablet out there for 2011 (even taking into account all the others that are promised for this year). Unless of course, you are highly committed to Android or Blackberry. Even then.

If you already have an iPad -- it is a tough decision, particularly if you've got one in the last 6-9 months... I would suggest you wait for iPad 3 (which is probably a year away, despite the rumours of a Fall release)... with iOS 4.3, you will have many of the features that the iPad 2 will get you (except the cameras). 

But there are five situations in which you could consider upgrading to iPad 2:
1. You use the iPad to make presentations, sharing with teams, etc. The Video Mirroring feature is unique to iPad 2... and it is a compelling feature.
2. You use a lot of video chat *and* you don't have an iPhone 4. 
3. You want to treat yourself to special gift this new financial year.
4. Your spouse/kids use the iPad more than you, so you may as well give the old one to them.
5. You are like me. :-)

Ah, and by the way, Steve Jobs did the keynote yesterday. It was a wonderful surprise. He appeared reasonably healthy, and here's wishing him better health and many more magical surprises for years to come.

Note: Updated to make a correction that GarageBand will work on iPad, but iMovie won't.

The Jugaad problem

Innovation in India has always been about overcoming constraints. And it has led to several success stories and accolades. Some have called this 'jugaad' - a word that is apt for the situation but has slightly negative connotations. Jugaad, generally, gives an impression of side-stepping the problem or finding additional resources - in a clever manner - to achieve one's goals. The problem with jugaad is that, often, it does not address the underlying issue (or constraint) that led to the problem in the first place. So, there's no guarantee that the problem will not recur. Or create new problems in its wake. But, in the short term, there's action and it appears all's well.

Two incidents prompted me to lament on Twitter today that India's becoming a jugaad nation, in a negative sense. The first one is my pet peeve of traffic in Mumbai.

Twice in three days, I experienced the same situation. We were driving on one of the 'highways' that connect various parts of Mumbai. For some unknown reason, we saw traffic jammed up ahead. Vehicles were turning around; some crossed over to the opposite side and were trying to move forward. Most others drove straight back towards the previous intersection - to find an alternative route. I told my driver to stay put and figure out what was happening but we were in a sea of vehicles wanting to go in the opposite direction. So, we joined them and after a lot of maneuvering and honking and scrapping, found a service road. This road was also jammed by now. Thirty minutes later we joined the highway, perhaps a hundred metres ahead of the original jam. The traffic appeared to be flowing smoothly. Whatever had caused the initial problem had sorted itself out. It was just impatience on the part of some drivers and the consequent jugaad of finding some short-cuts that created new traffic jams elsewhere. In a strange coincidence, almost the same incident played out twice this week.

The second 'incident' was really a few discussions that I've had recently, online and offline about the lack of capacity creation in India. Demand growth is dramatic; competitive intensity is increasing. The focus is on serving the demand but this is (often) not accompanied by investments in developing talent, creating systems and empowering people. Every time we hear a horror story of poor customer service - usually from the biggest brands, in telecom, banking, media or retail, we wonder what's causing this? And can this growth be sustained without investing for the long term (at the cost of short term profits / returns)?

Maybe I am low on confidence about the India story (not the opportunity, mind you) after all that's happening around. If I am unduly worried, let me know and boost my confidence. :-) If not, still, we must keep the faith as SamK reminded me and work at this problem resolutely.

You cannot treat a fracture with lots of Band-Aids, but you cannot become a doctor overnight either.

At home tech primer

(This article first appeared in the Mint on 25 November, 2010 in the Business of Life section.)

 

So you finally decided to create a home office? A home office is not the same as occasionally working from home after work hours or during holidays. You can get by without much ado for the latter; the former requires more planning, technology and facilities. Whether it’s high-speed Internet or admin support on-call, there are many things that we take for granted in an office—a home office will require you to organize all these for yourself. Yes, you do not have your boss watching over your shoulder but neither will you get endless coffee on demand. If you want to be really productive, you need to get your set-up right. Over time, most enterprises will create plug and play “home office” packages to instantly enable their remote workers. Till then, you may need to invest some time and money to create an environment that makes you feel at office in the home.

BASICS FIRST

Find yourself a room or a corner of a room that you can convert into an office. Get yourself a comfortable chair and a work desk. A few filing cabinets and a waste-paper bin would also be nice. Make sure that you have enough electric points nearby, else get a couple of extension strips. A coffee maker, perhaps…

TIP: Check with your employer if they have a policy to support the creation of a home office. Some companies such as BT and P&G provide their remote workers with furniture or other amenities to replicate an office environment at home.

 TELEPHONY

You obviously already have a mobile phone; you should probably get a landline. Mobile phones are not always reliable or convenient when you have to get on to a 2-hour conference call. A landline will also be useful for Internet connectivity (see below). Don’t forget to activate international subscriber dialling (ISD) on your phone—you will need it to dial international toll-free numbers (000-800 numbers) that most conference bridges use.

TIP:If your company uses IP telephony from Cisco, Avaya, etc., ask for a soft-phone application on your computer; this will enable you to replicate your office phone and call your office extensions (using voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP).

BROADBAND

Trust me, get two Broadband connections. Ideally, one of them would be a DSL connection on your landline or a fixed wireless connection (for example, WiMax), with an assured speed of about 1 Mbps and unlimited data usage. In addition, you should get a wireless Internet connection (data-card) that can act as a backup as well as provide you with mobility. Wait for the 3G networks to go live to get more options and possibly better price plans. In any case, Broadband access could cost Rs2,000-3,000 per month—the biggest expense for working from home. However, you cannot work from home if you do not have reliable Internet connectivity.

TIP: Create a local wireless network using a Wi-Fi router; this will provide you some flexibility to move your workplace around and also connect multiple devices to the same Broadband connection.

COMPUTING

You would most likely be using your company-provided laptop as your primary computing device. An external LCD monitor (20 inch or more) would be a useful addition to ease pressure on your eyes; it can also work as a projection screen if you ever have to have a team meeting at home. Similarly, an external mouse and keyboard (preferably wireless/Bluetooth) would make your desk experience more flexible.

You will find that a printer is useful; you may need to print the occasional e-ticket or your monthly expense vouchers or something of that sort. An all-in-one deskjet device (less than Rs5,000) or even a laserjet printer (around Rs10,000) from Hewlett-Packard (HP) or Samsung that prints, copies and scans would meet most typical requirements; most of them can be connected to your Wi-Fi router and operated wirelessly.

TIP: For most document scans, it will work if you just click a picture with a phone-camera and email the photo. If you have an iPhone, there are free apps such as Genius Scan that give you several edit features. You should also keep digital (scan) versions of your photo, passport, ID card, signature, etc., handy—these are very often required at short notice for visas or other official purposes.

SECURITY AND BACKUP

Access to your corporate network, information and resources would mostly be through a virtual private network (VPN) for which you may need an additional password or a token. Make sure that your computer is configured for full remote access and you have IT helpdesk details handy.

You ought to also have your email configured on a mobile device (BlackBerry or any other smartphone) in case your laptop fails to connect for some reason. Many companies create periodic backups of all computers on their network; if not, or in addition, you may want to create a local backup using an external hard drive—do check your company’s IT and data policies before you copy data on to a personal disc.

TIP: Unless your office is nearby or you have an official IT support resource handy, consider investing in a personal desktop or a netbook. This will let you remain connected to your work, even if your office laptop is non-functional for some reason. It would be good to identify an IT troubleshooter in your neighbourhood—usually an IT hardware reseller, a computer engineering student or a geek.

 

SUPER SAVERS

Without these nifty tips, working from home may just become an expensive proposition

• Consider asking your employer to fund purchase of furniture or allow you to use spare stuff from the office. You should also seek reimbursement for your telecom and Internet expenses; remember, you are saving your employer a lot of cost by working from home.

• If you need to make a lot of calls to the US or Europe, sign up for a VoIP service such as Skype, Vonage or Line2, which will give you a local US number on your computer or smartphone to make and receive unlimited calls for a small fee.

• Microsoft and other software providers have special enterprise deals that enable employees to use expensive Office software in their home computers for almost free. Check with your IT department for such offers.

• Don’t let anybody in your neighbourhood know that you have a printer at home. Printers attract urgent printing jobs such as children’s school projects and ‘puja’ manuals that you will be unable to refuse. Remember, printer cartridges, over the lifetime of a printer, can cost three-four times the cost of the printer itself.

Home Alone

(This article first appeared in the Mint on 23rd November, 2010 in the Business of Life section)

"Some day, I will become senior enough to work when I want, where I want.” Or perhaps, “I will retire from the 10-8 routine and work flexible hours.” Telecommuting or working from home is every manager’s dream; achieving work-life balance the ultimate goal. In a survey (Flexible Work Models) conducted in October in Europe, the US, Asia and India by strategy consulting firm, Bain & Co., nearly 86% of next-generation employees said they expect flexibility from their employer. Changes in work practices and technology have made this a reality now. However, working from home is not as easy or attractive as it is made out to be. Through his week-long tweets, we take a peek into the life of a senior executive, who works from home and grapples with multiple “tiny issues”. From what to wear when working from home to can “balance” really be achieved, work-from-home raises several questions. Perhaps there are some lessons to be learnt.

Monday

8.00 AM Wow, the apt complex gym has really changed a lot since I last visited it. via Twitter for BlackBerry

9.20 AM L’s gone to school and the missus to work. Aha, feels great when it takes you 10seconds to reach office. #FTW

10.00 AM Done with overnight email. Disconnecting myself for the next 2 hours. #tata

12.00 PM Finished the Board presentation draft! No tension for the rest of the day.

5.00 PM Gartner publishes latest APAC IT market forecasts; no surprises. http://bit.ly/Grtnr #yam #in

5.15 PM (Yammer) @marketingguru Do you really think so? Aren’t our latest numbers more or less in line with the Gartner sizing estimates? Anyone from Singapore have a point of view?

Plan your day’s schedule, just as you would if you were working from office. Take opportunities to shut yourself from the world for a thinking session or an urgent task.

 

Tuesday

4.22 PM #NoteToSelfWear a shirt even if it is very hot, particularly when you join a web-conference.

9.00 PM Rather embarrassing to be told by Sridhar that he could see me in my vest during Webex meeting. #fail

9.01 PM Don’t know how the webcam turned itself on!! Should stick a post-it on the cam when not in use.

Try to replicate elements of work environment; that includes dressing to work. You never know when you’ll need to jump on to a video chat.

 

Wednesday

9.30 AM At work! Busy day ahead.

1.00 PM Lunch time!! Nothing like ghar ka khana. But I miss the mango milk-shake in the canteen. Trade-offs.

1.45 PM Staying awake post-lunch is always a challenge. Particularly when your bed is a few feet away. Attention!

9.30 PM What a #uberfail evening. How to fire somebody for writing a poor report when ”Pappu Can’t Dance” is blaring in the other room?!

9.31 PM Can’t really blame L; I should have gone to the local office for the team review call. Or get my room sound-proofed.

9.35 PM (Yammer TeamGroup) Guys, sorry for the background sound during today’s meeting. Hope you could hear me clearly.

Create an office space for yourself that is audibly separated from your regular living area. If you cannot spare a room, consider going to the office or using a nearby business centre for important calls or meetings.

 

Thursday

7.00 AM Day trip to Delhi. Waiting for the flight to take off. How I love these early morning flights /sarcasmvia Twitter for BlackBerry

9.20 AM Delhi is hot! Make that very hot. #YetIWearATie via Twitter for BlackBerry

5.00 PM Headed back to the airport. Delhi’s roads seem to be improving but the traffic’s still the same mess. via Twitter for BlackBerry

11.00 PM Just landed; flight late. 21-hour day for a 2 hour meeting — what a waste! I am done with traveling. via Twitter for BlackBerry

Videoconferencing and telepresence are now real substitutes to business travel. Consider creating home infrastructure to support video, or identify a shared facility that you can use.

 

Friday

11.30 AM Sporadic start today; some home repairs underway. Anyway, not much work this AM.

5.00 PM Headed to TP room for monthly leadership meeting. Looking fwd to meeting colleagues from all over the world. Virtually, of course. via Twitter for BlackBerry

9.30 PM Exhausted. TelePresence much more engaging than audio calls. TP at home would be great. Hmm..maybe not. via Twitter for BlackBerry

Working from home offers you the flexibility to take time off for any urgent chores, as long as you are disciplined enough to get your deliverables out on time.

 

Saturday

10.00 AM Saturday is just another day but with fewer e-mails.

1.00 PM STOP. WORKING. NOW.

10.00 PM Ok, so I sneaked in. But I do need to get the Key Imperatives sorted out; it was due on Friday.

A home office can easily become a 24X7 office and defeat its very purpose, if you are not consciously managing your time. A home office does not automatically mean more time with the family.

 

Sunday

11.00 AM Nothing much happening on e-mail, Yammer and Twitter. Is this a long weekend, guys? #yam

11.10 AM (Yammer) D marketingguru Aha! I knew you’d be around :-) Any update on that Gartner report analysis?

11.12 AM (Yammer) D marketingguruThat sounds plausible. Hey, got to go: some birthday party and I am getting those dirty stares! I’ll be in office next week – let’s catch up.

2.15 PM Seriously, where’s everybody this weekend? #yam via Twitter for BlackBerry

It’s not wise to work from home 100% of the time; a 60-40 mix between remote and on-site is advisable. Use enterprise social media tools to stay in touch with what’s happening in the office even when you’re home.

iPad Case - Made in India!

The global success of the iPad could create new business opportunities for Indian small businesses. Here's a great example:

This iPad case has been custom designed and made in India... to be more specific, Dharavi, Mumbai.

This case has till now been produced on request for about two dozen iPad owners...

The cover, made in good quality leather, is available in multiple colours from the vendor.

I am trying to see if I can help this manufacturer reach out to the demand that must exist for the iPad case in India and elsewhere.

About Value Systems and Economic Power

Extract from Thomas Friedman's Op-Ed in New York Times: We're No. 1(1)!
Who will tell the people? China and India have been catching up to America not only via cheap labor and currencies. They are catching us because they now have free markets like we do, education like we do, access to capital and technology like we do, but, most importantly, values like our Greatest Generation had. That is, a willingness to postpone gratification, invest for the future, work harder than the next guy and hold their kids to the highest expectations.

 

In a flat world where everyone has access to everything, values matter more than ever. Right now the Hindus and Confucians have more Protestant ethics than we do, and as long as that is the case we’ll be No. 11!

 

via nytimes.com

I liked this article that seeks to distinguish the USA of the early 20th century and now, and how India and China, demonstrating the same great values that the earlier USA had, are emerging as major threats to US economic dominance. Thomas Friedman has always been brutally honest with his opinions. Some may disagree with his conclusions (or the approach with which he arrives at them), but there is no denying that Mr. Friedman has admirably managed to simplify and put in context complex macro-economic shifts that we are all part of.

 

The India that he briefly describes in the above op-ed is the India that I have generally known; the India in which most of us grew up in; the India that thankfully still exists in many small towns and villages.

A common scene in most towns of India - amidst the chaos, institutes of English and Computer education stand out. 

My fear is that India is changing fast. Instant wealth / success and gratification are now more sought after than the rigour of education and hard-work. What was earlier perhaps limited to the glitz capital, Mumbai is now spreading wide across the country, thanks to televised shows and new media.

Will a Times of India op-ed in 2050 lament the loss of Indian values? Maybe these are the cycles of life, the ups and downs in the fortunes of various nations. Or can a nation's leaders and thinkers steer a different course? Governance in India, in the current times, does not give such confidence. We have many strategists; we are missing the leaders.