Transition Blues #6: Random Observations - 2

There are some interesting changes in India. I am attempting to document few of the observations here.

The government is pushing (compulsory!) for Auto rickshaws running on Liquid Petroleum Gas, but there are only 2 pumps in entire Pune. You can see 1 KM queue for LPG filling around Pune. It is really interesting to see the lower-most ranks are paying for environmental betterment. The rich are being proud to use SUV's on the same roads.

Laptop Supermarkets - I did see 2 supermarkets focused on selling laptops. These are professional shops, running a proper supermarket. The shop 'House of Laptop" is selling, service and support, one stop shop. The shop does offer 'Pirated' software though :-). I was really surprised to see a professional shop, not suggesting, but willing to give you pirated software.

In addition, I am seeing all high end boutiques in Pune. The interesting point is that people are buying the expensive goods, $50 shirts, $80 pants, $30 tank-tops etc. I have realized that routine clothes are cheaper and better in Target or in Kohls. There are many American but a lots of European brands. The European brands are benefits more from Indian Boom than American brands.

The roadside posters are all about new housing schemes or Whiskey, Rum, Brandy. Drinking used to be a taboo when I left India, now, it is very common. My elder brother offered me Indian made, white wine. I believe it is good. There are different red wines available in India, made in India, all the way through. I am not sure if one should consider this as sign of prosperity, but if yes, then India has become very prosperous for those who can afford.

I will write about mobiles some days. It is a topic of a separate post.

Transition Blues #4: A Privileged Life

An interesting realization - The IT industry salary unknowingly pushes you to a special life, not available to most of the normal Indian citizens. The willingness to spend money results in life's comforts like a car with a driver to go to office, 2 or 3 servents in house, one for each task - dusting, cleaning dishes, clothes, special TV's, big apartment, different style clothes and most of all, special schools for children (A/C buses for some kids to go to school!).

The normal people, the ones who do all the work, still travel by bus, bicycle, may be a two wheeler, live in shanti houses, may not have food on table once in a week.

The gap in these life styles is distrubing at best, It has made me think.
Do I deserve what I am getting? If yes, should I have a guilt about having the money I am earning? I am not sure, but the poverty, the 4 strata class system, Rich, Higher Middle Class, Lower Middle Class and Poor, it not sustainanble in long term.

I do not have answer, but just an observation ....

Transition Blues #5: Random Observations

Some of these are random, but interesting observations. May be America has made me notice things that I took for granted before.

1. There is a lot of inefficiency, everywhere. I see 5-8 people seating around chatting, the moment I land in Mumbai Airport. On the other hand, private corporations want efficiency, so they will just not have employees, but keep the customers waiting. The longer lines, everwhere,
including lunch halls is common.

Another observation is that in my compay there are 3-4 distinct lunch halls. There is no work-flow, time & motion study. People use same route to go in to Wash Basin, exact same route to come out. The result is longer lines to wash hands after a spicy, aromatic Indian food. Nobody has thought that one should have entrance and exit separate.

2. Obsession with Security. The current security level in my company is weird. You can not get work done. I am not only unable to access the net sites needed for my work, but simple Yahoo mail, google email can not be accessed. I understand, many indian working kids abuse the office computers, but having senior management not being able to copy using USB drive is unaccetable.

3. Bus Routes. I have been using Bus. The company expects that most of the people will come to office at 9.00 and get out at 6.15. I am not sure, how a dual-shore company, where working in us timezones is expected, I am not sure how can one expect leads, manager not on call.

4. Fruits - I grew with notion that one gets Apples only when you are sick. Now I found lot of fruits, everywhere, seasonal and non-seasonal. The road-side sellers as well as big markets in focused areas. Also, like indigeneous ideas, the roadside shops sell assorted fruits (A banana, an apple, a Chicku). It was impressive to see the easy and cheap access of fruits to everybody.

5. Laptop Supermarkets - I went to 2 Laptop Supermarkets - a good, posh, upscale markets, where knowledgeable sales people (Kids!) were selling 8-10 brands of laptops to parents, college going kids and business people alike. The markets are focused, much bigger than the ones I have seen (Fry's Electronics Laptop section, Best Buy), one market is as big as a regular best buy shop. It was pleasant surprise.

6. Airconditioned Bus - There is Mercedes Benz School, it has a Airconditioned bus for all kids to reach to school. This was even unheard of in US. But I guess, money can buy you any privileges in India.

One common theme though, there is hope everywhere, every place, I have yet to meet somebody who is complaining. People may be lazy, not working, but they are not hopeless, scared but very optimistic.

TRansition Blues #3: Uncertain Life

US life is very predictable, you can plan up-to minutes and still manage to maintain the schedule. INDIA is totally reverse and I am surprisingly adjusting to unpredictability very nicely.

Today, just a rumor initially that there are riots and curfew in Pimpari (near Pune), then by afternoon a full blown topic of discussion, by 4.00 - a managers meeting resulting in decision that we should let people go home. The bus schedule was decided to be preponed.

Now, here I am, running a global project, supposed to deliver something, lost more 1/2 part of my productive day, just because somebody defaced a statue in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, few thousand miles away from Pune. I just agreed with the fact and hurried home.

Two observations:

1. I now understand, why many times my Indian counter parts could not meet commitments.
It is just not in your control how your day will be. The above example is an extreme, but I can
find more than 10 situations where life is controlled by everybody else other than you.

2. I am still Indian - at core :-). Today, I was calm, cool, found ways to reach home safely.
I am comfortable with the ambiguity in my life - at work, at home, in banks, every where.
You need to be brought up, grown up in India to develop the necessary patience.

I hope to continue writing more on my transition in coming days

Transition Blues #2, Good things

Transition Blues continues ....

I found some changes with respect my work and people around me, thought you might find these observations interesting.

1. People start late. The commute distance, public transport and overall traffic makes people reach office at 9.00 or after that. It is not possible for them to start early. They do go home late, at least after 8.30 in evening.

2. Companies provide good food. Last 1 week, I found high quality food, with multiple choices, in company cafeteria. I have been eating diet mean - Fruits, Small Sandwitch, a glass of buttermilk. It is pretty acceptable that people will ask for such food.

3. Cell Phone variety - The Cell Phone types available in India are at least 10 fold more than anything I had seen in US over last 10 years. Cell Phone are available, everywhere. The coverage is spotty, but wherever it is, it is better than land lines. I am extremely happy to see the usage and cost. It is cheaper than US or land lines in India.

4. Professional Behavior - Contarary to belief, I found a good Interior decorator & architect, who provides project consultancy, only. I also found few financial planners, willing to work on hourly basis. Moreover, I found a consultant who did my Salary fitment, by charging me fixed fees. So, overall, there is a need and acceptance to service jobs. It is interesting to see it improving. I agree that percentage may not be large, but it is there.

Overall, it has been a really good week, more as I observe and understand,

Ankush

Transition Blues #1

Today is end of first week after moving back to India. Thought, I should take stock of my 'transition blues'. What am I missing? What have I learned?

Here are my transition on blues:

1. I miss the ability to work from home. I have to be stuck to office to get anything done. The phone connectivity or Internet connectivity is not as good as it is in US.

2. I am really appreciating the limited resources companies provide in India. The team I am working with is working with serious limitations compared to US. The access, the transportation, the desktop machines (very poor configuration), overall limitations, the team is still delivering very high quality work. I am unhappy about the constraints.

3. I am already hating the commute time. Currently, I spend 1 1/2 hour, one way to commute to my office. I used to commute more time, more distance in US, but I could complete calls, at least focus on driving. Currently, I am unable to use Cell Phones in BUS (yes, I am using Bus to go to office), or, in Car (Occasionally, driver drops me in office)

4. Sugar, Sugar, Sugar - The Indian Diet, Tea, Coke/Pepsi, Coffee anything else, is full of Sugar. You can not live without Sugar. I am realizing that I need to watch-out, if I do not, the tri-glycerides and cholesterol will take its toll.

5. Last but not least, I am poor. I have realized, after a trip to Nashik, with my Architect. People have developed taste for new, better life style and are throwing money in buying the most expensive items in house. People are not only misusing the available facilities, but are building houses, just to show off. But, business people have lot more money than any salaried employee.

Overall, it has been a fun week, enjoyed every bit of it. The Transition Blues, I guess will be there, can not avoid it :-)

God Says !

I asked god, what surprises you most about humans?
God said,

Man spends all health while earning money and then spends all money in getting the health back.

Man looses present while worrying about future, as a result he does not live in present or future.

Man lives like that he will never die, but dies as if he neved lived.

--An attempt to translate a good Marthi Poem

No Fool is More Foolish

To be shameless, uninquisitive, loveless and uncaring are the fool's four failings.

No fool is more follish than one who eagerly expounds his learnings to others while failing to follow it himself.

.... From my archives

I have been a fool, but improving :-)

Learnings on Verbal Communication

Recent Verbal Communications training at Carnegie Mellon was very useful.
I learned few interesting things.

• Smile makes the difference- Always , during introduction, start and end of a presentation. I tend to be serious, need to learn to keep smiling.
• Self Introduction - Start with an end in mind. What do you wish the person to remember you as. I did give a good introduction, but I was not happy about it.
• What to do with your Hands?- The instructor introduced an interesting concept, 'Strike Zone'. One should keep their hands within Strike Zone. The hands should not in pockets, or hand clasp or sudden movements. The quick actions, quick hand movements distract audience.
• Relaxed Attentiveness - One should be attentive, relaxed, but not too eager or too relaxed. In my case, when I am prepared, I am in relaxed attentive state otherwise I am eagar to please the audience.
• Avoid Daddy Rock or Shuffle - This is an interesting concept. I tend to do 'Daddy rock' i.e. movement like rocking a baby. I also tend to move around a lot, a side effect of teaching experience on blackboard (Indian Style). I am not sure how am I going to avoid this moving forward.
• Voice Modulation - This was a great feedback, I tend to taper-off end of a sentence while speaking, unknowingly. I am not sure why, but I am conscious now, I hope I will manage the voice modulation better.
• Tell a Story - This is a big jargon, I have been hearning for last 10 years. I do not know how can one tell a story in a technical subject without diluting the subject matter. There are subjects those require minimum intelligence level and my opinion is that you can not tell a story everytime. I understand the concept and agree that we need to have a captive audience and things should be simple. More than ever, I have seen people making things simpler to tell a story than simple.

Overall, good experience. I was expecting that Carnegie Mellon means I will come back with light and circle around my head, but alas!, nothing like that happened. It was hectic and tiring course.

An Interesting Quote from Jack Welch - Great Sales People

I have always faced challenge with hiring good sales team members. I have been following a simple rule of thumb, if a sales team member uses "Strategy", "Corporate Strategy" more than 15 times in internview. I do not hire the guy. I believe that sales all about focus and execution. There is executive management who is paid and measured on corporate strategy.

This week's business week, Jack Welch also asserted the same philosophy, thought you might find it interesting.

Revenue growth is at the top of my to-do list. What should I look for in hiring great sales professionals? -- John Cioffi, Westfield, N.J.

Good news. You're halfway there, because you realize that great salespeople are different from you, us, and most everyone. Which is not to say that salespeople shouldn't have the qualities you look for in every hire: integrity, intelligence, positive energy, decisiveness, and the ability to execute. It's just that they need other qualities, too.

Four to be exact.

The first is enormous empathy. Great salespeople feel for their customers. They understand their needs and pressures; they get the challenges of their business. They see every deal through the customer's eyes. Yes, they represent the company, and yes, they want to make it profitable. But they are geniuses at balancing the interests of the company and the interests of the customer so that, even at the end of difficult negotiations, both sides would describe the process as more than fair.

Not surprisingly, then, the second quality of great salespeople is trustworthiness. Their handshake means something. They see every sale as part of a long-term relationship, and customers usually respond in kind.

Third, great salespeople have a powerful mixture of drive, courage, and self-confidence. No one likes cold calls. But the best salespeople are so eager for business that they make them relentlessly and have the inner strength not to take inevitable rejections personally.

Finally, the best salespeople hate the "postman model." No offense to letter carriers, but the best salespeople love to get off their set route in search of product and customer opportunities. In that way, then, they are just like you. Revenue growth is at the top of their to-do list. But unlike you, or any other boss for that matter, it's also at the middle and bottom. That's what makes great salespeople so special.

Hope you can use this for your next great sales hire,

Enjoy !

Trust - In Client Management

We all hear that "Trust" necessary in successful client management. I have been always intrigued by how customers percieve trust?

Few years ago, I was introduced to David Maister. David wrote a classic book - The Trusted Advisor. I thought this month, I should share few of his key ideas and my interpretations of those ideas.

THE COMPONENTS OF TRUST in a business relationship setting.

Credibility - Are you telling truth? Are you honest? Are you telling client when you don't know?

Reliability - Are you meeting your commitments? Are you managing Client Expectations? Are you meeting agreed goals not delivering as per specifications?

Intimacy - Do you understand customer situation? Do you know psychological and business aspects of the situation? Are you genunienly interested?

(A low level of) Self-orientation - Are you focused on yourself? Do you quickly jump to conclusion before listening/understanding client? Are you 'pompus'? Are you perceived to be arrogant?

TRUST = (C + R + I) /S

Once we understand the components of Trust. We can follow a structured process to gain and maintain trust in every situation.

The process goes as follows:

• Engage: Use language of interest and concern “I’ve been thinking about your competitors, and…” “Your people have been telling me about..”
• Listen: Uses language of understanding and empathy “Tell me more...” “What’s behind that?” “Gosh, that must feel...”
• Frame: Uses language of perspective and candor “I see three key themes emerging here...” “You know, what’s tough to do here is..”
• Jointly envision: Uses language of possibility “Wouldn’t it be great if...”
• Commit: Uses language of joint exploration “What would it take, for each of us, to……..”

I found the most difficult problem be a good listener. We are always trained to speak for ourselves. To make matters worse popular media programs like "The Apperntice" or the movie "The Wallstreet" create wrong perceptions and wrong concepts about what it takes to move forward. I will writing about Movies and Leaderships soon, but wait till then.

Another interesting challenge in Global Delivery world is ensure that your team follows the same process and has same value about gaining customer trust. Most of the young people I engage from India has misperceived notions about business development and it is very difficult to correct the damage when your team is focused on transation than relationship.

I have been attempting the skills David taught me through the books, I have been fairly successful (at a smaller scale), I hope, I am practice this even with my India team some day.

Enjoy !

BTW All material referred in this article is copywrighted as follows
Source: Maister, Green, Galford, The Trusted Advisor, Free Press, 2000.

My Ipod and Me!

My music enjoyment experience has changed dramatically since getting the Cognizant ipod 2 months ago.

It was easy to convert to ipod since all my music was on home server and laptop, but the accessability is tremendous. Last 2 days, I have been listening to Kishore Kumar - the great Indian singer, on random, with identified 5 Star songs. I would have never listened to all 480 Kishore kumar songs, in that order, ever. Other fun is the put it on random and listen to English, Hindi, Marathi, all kinds of music in random order. The real fun is that you jump from a devotional music straight to What a girl wants ;), it has been real fun. I feel like the experimenting teenager again.

All stressful, critical emails, documents, I write with ipod to my ear. Last week, one important email, I was stressed out. Started with Alanis Morrisette - Hand over feet, by that time, I finished a Jagged Little Pill, I had finished entire proposal, 15 pages, from zero to finish. It was an amazing experience, the concentration was phenomenol, plus, I was destressed very quickly.

The blues collection, it is great to listen in CAR, the Steve Ray Vaughn Guitar, loud, on freeway. Its fun. :-)

Moreover, I am looking forward to my random station in Car - iTrip fm transmission. I am enjoying it in every trip. I am sometimes in car, waiting for favorite songs to finish, in parking lot. LOL

The iPod has been the greatest thing happened to me after the first walkman, I bought in Singapore, in 1994. Thanks to Steve Jobs. Go Steve !

V for Vendetta - A political Statement?

Yesterday, I watched the 'V for Vendetta' movie, IMAX experience. I went to movie due to my respect for Natalie Portman, a fine, talented acttress. But the movie is good.

I resonated with the story, specifically the manipulation of media, oh man, a big thing in America today. I am as surprised to make me furious.

I remember, in Aurangabad, India, there were two news papers, Marthwada - BJP/Communist news paper and LokMat - Congress Newspaper and one would quickly realize that there is no truth in their news coverage. I remember a new party came to power when both these news papers were fighting with each other. But it was known that these newspapers are party newpapers.

But one does not expect that in USA, we are a free country, 1st amendment, independent journalism, private ownership. The situation is changing for worse, extremely polarized over last 2 years. Moreover, the newspapre dissent is totally absent on key issues. I believe newspapers are manipulated by govt, by corporations and there is understanding among journlist that they need to self-censor. They are partriots, if they are in agreement with government. The same theme in V for Vendetta.

V-for Vendetta brings up power of media and its effect on managing people's perception on the forefront. The V starts the fight with the help from media-TV and creates situation, events that forces government to get on-to spin control, further damaging credibility of government.

I do not necessarily agree with the violence shown, but I do agree that symbols play an important role and demolishing symbols can help in changing people's perception, like statues in Moscow or in Bagdad or burning flags.

I believe that V for vendetta is a political statement, construed in a way to make money for the studios, by attracting the crowd (ones who want to agree and the ones who want to disagree), so eventually we are getting manipulated by the business. :-(

More about studios and their appetite to make money off us soon,

My take on a original Leader - G.W. Carver

I have been writing many topics, but always liked Leadership as a topic.
Here is one essay from my archives, watch out, it is a big one.

George Washington Carver

Start where you are, with what you have, make something of it and never be satisfied –G.W. Carver

My first introduction to G.W. Carver was through a craze about G.W. Carver during my early undergraduate years. We read the biography book titled “Ek hota Carver” (There was a carver!) multiple times, at groups. Some of us had even written poems about him. We all, a group of 4 individuals, had a tremendous impact from the extraordinary story. I personally thank all the authors for introducing the bigger than life personality.

G.W. Carver was a Negro born in slavery. He was orphaned before he could walk. Prejudice, poverty, and ill health plagued him. He triumphed over bitter and frustrating obstacles to become a benefactor of all mankind. He was an extra ordinary soul who believed in god and believed in himself to lead the southern farmers to self-sufficiency.

I consider G.W. Carver as a leader because of the traits he has shown during his life. He had a vision for his life. During his search for his life goal, he chose a fork in the road, which took him to Tuskegee, to establish an Agriculture School. He had sacrificed a rare opportunity to become a scientist, a botanist for a greater good. The important point to note here is that he had already sacrificed his love for music and painting. All through his life, he had been fighting against odds to get an education. Now he wanted to help then free slave community. He wanted to help his community by performing agriculture research of use to the “man farthest down.”

G.W. Carver was an expert botanist by profession. He understood the problems of southern farmers in a greater context, as a social problem. He recognized early on that southern farmer must improve his net worth, not that of the state or industry. He developed ways to use farmer labor and retain its value on the farm and community, while also continuing to produce cash crops like cotton. He explored the ways farmers could grow more of their food and become self-sufficient. He taught them sustainable agriculture. He used his expert knowledge of botany and mycology to improve the situation of southern farmers.

He communicated his vision. He shared his knowledge. He realized that he needed to go to people. People will not come to him. He started church meetings. He prepared pamphlets and distributed them. He experimented on school land and invited everybody to see. He started a school on wheels. He changed people’s attitude towards soil and “cotton the king” through persuasion. He taught people one change at a time. He helped everybody who asked for help.
He even created a second layer of missionaries, “Carver Boys” to convey his message. He was aware of his strengths. He was aware what he could give his people best. He was creative and innovative. Later in his life, he became famous as a Peanut Man because of his efforts to save his farmers from extra peanuts. He invented 300 uses of Peanuts by using a simple laboratory at his school. He even fought for his people. The trade commission set to decide tax on peanut treated him racially; he continued his mission after forgiving all people around him.

The question comes to mind that what was the driving force behind this leader.
What helped in shaping this great personality?

G.W. Carver once told that “ … until he was 9 years old it was constant warfare between life and death to see who would gain mastery….” . I think this memory of struggle with life has made G.W. Carver a person who values importance of life on earth. He had inordinate desire for knowledge, particularly about flowers, painting, and music. His quest for knowledge made him travel through three states. This travelling and working on the way made him aware about situation of his people.

He was very independent and self-sufficient. Early years at Wild West frontier made him aware about importance of self-sufficiency. He once said “ I would never allow anyone to give me money no difference how badly I need it.” He always worked to earn money and then study. This difficulty to access knowledge kept his desire for knowledge alive.

The racial discrimination he faced at various places helped him to form his life’s mission.
He had to struggle for further studies because of his skin color. Highland college even refused him admission because of his race. However, the pivotal incidence was at Fort Black, Kansas; A crowd of 1000 whites burned a then free slave man alive. This incidence changed Carver’s outlook towards his life. He was never aware about his skin color so intensely before.

He was a Christian since he was nine. He believed in god. His belief in god and god given gifts made him focus on the greater good. His early introduction to Bible along with experiences at Diamond Grove, his birthplace in Missouri, made him believe that there is a reason that god kept him alive.

He got his creativity from Susan Carver, his owner and god given mother. She always loved him and cared for him because he was weak. He was always around her in the house. She taught him all the house skills like sewing, cooking, laundering, and needlework these skills helped George survive during his difficult years. Uncle Moses, his owner taught him independence and disgust about wastefulness. George was always self sufficient as any man on frontier. George always believed that nature does not create waste. Every thing created by nature has its own use.

Susan Carver and Moses Carver, both being on frontier and old enough to be George’s grand parents, gave George freedom to experiment. Both of them never treated him like a slave. These experiences of confidence by people whom George respected and their encouragement made George explore the new areas. Early study of Bible started his desire to understand everything on earth. In his childhood, George wanted to understand the secret of universe. His initial speaking trouble and age difference with his class fellows made him a quiet personality. He spent more time on thinking, adding to all his gifts.

Compared to the life of George Washington Carver, my leadership development has been in a very nice way. I have met people who have gone through exactly similar life as G.W. Carver but I am blessed enough.

I did struggle against odds until I reached this stage because I have grown up in a village. Early part of my life I have suffered enough to remember the caste discrimination. I am from a higher caste in Indian caste system and my family was a minority in the region where I grew up. Moreover, the education system and regulated job system favors less qualified people from lower castes. I am not advocating affirmative action but I just want to say that any kind of discrimination is bad. It follows you through out your life. The positive side of discrimination for me was that I worked hard to get the education, job. The discrimination forced me to be on my toes at all the times.

The early formative years really influence your development during your entire life. I could not make many friends because of weak physical ability. I have grown up reading books. Books have formed my value system, leading style. Books only introduced me G. W. Carver.

The story of G.W. Carver influenced my focus on what I want to do in my life. I had never thanked god about the life, the stability, the food, and the family before. I got a confidence about selflessness and changed my focus on helping people. I used to help people with certain expectations, now I do not.

I tend to lead by sharing what I know. I have found that if you help people without any expectation of return favor, you tend to earn respect. Your technical ability and tendency to struggle to acquire knowledge makes people respect you. They will come to you with problems and your help in solving their problems makes them follow you up. This is what I have seen in the life of G.W. Carver and I believe applicable universally.

I know that I am not gifted or talented. I also clearly understand limitations imposed on me because of English as second language. However, awareness about these weaknesses forces me to try harder than others do. Most of the times I am described as a resourceful person in a group because I tend to know more things than others are aware of. An awareness of one’s weaknesses and a positive effort to overcome those weaknesses makes impact on your life.

In summary, G.W. Carver was a leader who fought against all odds to lead the southern farmers to better life. His early formative years were pivotal in his development as leader as well as forming his life goal.

Ten Guidelines for Living Well - From my archives

This is out of Stanford Forgiveness training course. One of the instructor explained about Vipassana, accidently and the attached note about guidelines to live well. I picked up Vipassana and following it for long, but these guidelines are still with me.

1. You will not live forever ... Don't expect to.
2. You are not the center of the Universe... Don't act like it.
3. Your life will not always be easy... Don't whine about it!
4. Your body may hurt at times ... Accept this with care.
5. You will never understand enough about anything... Remain in awe of the mystery.
6. You will sometimes be discouraged ... Don't stop trying!
7. There is incredible beauty everywhere... Constantly look for it!
8. Friends will disappoint you... Forgive them.
9. You will age and grow older... Observe the changes with interest.
10. There is no certainty about tomorrow... Love well today!

I really enjoy the Guideline 5 and 9, they are the new ones than one reads in self-help magzines and books. I always enjoyed the process of getting older and observe the changes. I am so different now than before, it is amazing to see the changes.

Me !

Ankush at Haloween Party in Traditional Indian Dress

I recently found this nice photo of me dressed up as Indian Politician.
Politicians are really scary characters around :-)