Friday, November 28, 2008

Calling Bala and Raj - There are some outsiders in our City

Hey Raj... Bala... you know what there are some outsiders in our city.... and they are not north Indians or south Indians or east Indians or any sort of Indians... they carry guns kill people and they just floated into India, our BOMBAY ... make you feel unsafe in your own home and suddenly all your brave shiv sainiks and your Manasay guys are no where to be seen... the real heroes are the NSGs, the army, the police and you know what they are not fighting for the north, east or the south indians infact the guys who are fighting didnt even matter who they were fighting for... all that mattered to them some unscruplous elemensts form aross the border came into India, our motherland and dared them to touch use again...

You guys should have worried on how in the first place they came in and all you are worried about, how do you win the next elections... shame on you....

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

BIO Mimicry

In the African plains a large group of buffalo's are running hard so that the lions don't catch upon them. The interesting part is the average speed of the group is equal to the slowest and the weakest buffalo.. It is only when the weakest buffalo's die that the average speed increases and the so does the chances of the survival of group.

Apply this to the corporate world....

Inefficient employees need to be weeded out else the entire team can only be as slow as the weakest link...

This is bio-mimicry..

The Story of insecure employees

Have you ever entered a world of insecure employees, where people work to keep their job, they feel threatened that someone will come and take away their cheese and there wont be any cheese any more. they fear the unknown and in the process want to protect only what they know and in the bargain never get to explore what they never know.... hard to believe... yes I have entered this strange world....

for some strange reason this seems to stem from the plan of the wicked employers who induce this strange fear of the unknown with intent and eventually when the person gets trapped into it, instead of fighting free he actually gets more and more into it without realizing that the more you get deeper into this system, the more you erode your skill sets and the more chances of surviving in your next job....

reminds me deeply about the picture plant strategy... attract the fly with your sweet liquid, in this case lots of them.... and then as you get more involved in climbing over other dead bodies without realizing as the other body goes down you go down too... and as it happens the plants only intent is to rob your body of all its proteins for its own reason for survival....

strange... isn't it....

Monday, July 7, 2008

The incorrigible indian american boss

For some bosses it is so difficult to accept that they are dumb and they are a misfit.... take my boss for example... we had a marathon session of over 5 hours of meeting on the pretext of "guidance"... eventually it turned out to be a one of those meetings when he needs overview of what is happening in the system, when you have no clue of what is happening...

it turns bad at the end of the meeting when he wants to hold another meeting the next day just to give more guidance on an issue that we have sent him over mail and seek "advice" over mail only....

Monday, June 30, 2008

Art of making new mistakes

I got a call from an old team member, who just called up to confirm something new he wanted to try out. Its good to try out something new, particularly if you are not sure, and you don't know in whose favor the results might go....

He had the same apprehensions... he had tried a few things in the past. Some worked... some didn't... He was even more unsure now because he didn't have the support he earlier had, to make new mistakes... I always used to encourage my team to learn to make new mistakes and do it intelligently so that the risks get minimized...

I try and minimize these mistakes by keeping these few things in mind...

A) whether we have tried this earlier and what was the result...
B) what are the advantages that would work in your favor if you succeed
C) what are the issues or problems that this might land yourself into if it does not work...
D) Does it benefit the business as a whole or only part of it...

If I have answers to them, then yes, i weigh my pros and cons and decide which way to go... If i am convinced this will work and is in line with our overall objective.. its better to give it a try.... the end result, what ever it maybe, ends up giving you rich experience which has not substitute.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Acquired Corporate Personalities

An interesting thing happened...

A Sr. VP who heads our commercial function came heavily down on me with abuses and threats and an utter distaste to the way I was asking him questions on how I could get my work done better. It was a work to me by my boss, another Sr. VP for marketing...

I was unable to understand the way I was been treated and could not remember a single such incidence in my last 14 years of professional life...

I had a colleague accompanying me who reported to a different boss, and he was treated very differently, actually in a very respectful fashion... where did I go wrong...

I was doing my job....

the guy hardly knew me and the contributions I had done to my earlier companies and job role....

the way my team gave me such a heart felt farewell for just 3 years of my association with them....

Well actually the answer lies in something I call Acquired Corporate Personalities (ACP). Its funny like your family, your race, your religion and your nationality, you also acquire certain traits for the boss your work and that stamps you with the kind of person you are expected to be.

I work for a boss who is not regarded well in his circles, because of some basic flaws in his Core, managerial and leadership skill sets. While my colleague used to work for a person who was well regarded for his work, albeit he worked with him for only a few weeks.

It also brings out the senior managers ability to handle pressures and also lead a team, but above all his ability to respect individuals and not assign stamps

The person just lost an opportunity to gain a sound disciple and i just gained an opportunity to look for new masters.