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When I stepped out of the Engineering School, I decided to have a full-stop to schools. I could not force myself into the pain of going through formal study anymore. I was okay to attend few days of training every now and then, but to spend a year or two in school was a big no, no.

Little did I know, when I decided the above, that I will get into IT! In a highly competitive, knowledge centric industry (like IT), it is the knowledge (and the subsequent application of that knowledge) that differentiates a super star from the mediocre.

So I have to build my knowledge.

Still I didn’t want to go to business school. I tried distance education. It didn’t work either.

That is when I heard of Personal MBA, the brain child of Josh Kaufman. Personal MBA is a collection of best of the books under various management fields like Personal Effectiveness, Applied Psychology, Strategy and so on.

Personal MBA is designed for people like me – lazy and don’t want to attend schools, yet want to understand all about business management. All that one needs to do is to get hold of these books and start reading. While reading will feed you with enough knowledge, your experience will grow only when you apply them (which is true for any education). I have gotten about 6-7 of the books recommended by Josh and have read about 3 books. I can tell you that the money spent is worth spending.

The factor that appealed to me the most was the fact that I didn’t have to go to school. Instead I can read to be a MBA (well not exactly as I won’t have a degree).

In these pages, you can follow my progress in reading for MBA and how I employ them in my life and career. Your thoughts will make this an interesting journey. Feel free to drop me a comment.

Did I hear you whisper ‘Good luck’? Oh! thanks, I need a good deal of them.

I believe that as businesses become virtual, it is not only necessary to ensure that customers have good experience during pre-buying (as they browse through product catalogue) and buying (shopping cart) but post-buying (customer service) as well.

A positive one

I was introduced to Zoom In by a colleague. He said that among the many online photo printing sites that he visited, he liked Zoom In. I decided to try it out because of his strong recommendation.

I had to agree with him because every thing was as easy as it could be – signing up, uploading photos and ordering photos. Uploading photos took sometime, but otherwise the site was quite fast; Utilizing their 25 free prints, I ordered few prints. The prints were neat and were delivered through courier. Neither the prints nor the delivery was expensive.

That was not the best part. I wanted to order few calendar prints that they advertised. When I tried to use one of the uploaded photos, it showed an red exclamation mark but didn’t throw up any message. I was bit confused and sent them an email. Promptly came the reply with proper explanation. I agree it could’ve been set in their page in the first place; but I was forgiving considering all the other pleasant experience that I had with Zoom In.

When I shared this with my colleague, he informed that, Zoom In claims that they read every e-mail and respond. There should be cost involved, but probably Zoom In considers that it is worth. Good for them!

A bad one

I’ve been looking to purchase, ‘Peopleware‘ by Tom. I searched in most of the ‘real’ bookshops and whatever online bookshops that I knew, but without any success. So when I saw ‘Available’ against ‘Peopleware‘ in NBC bookshop, I was glad and immediately ordered one. I ordered one more book along with it and the amount was immediately debited.

However, I got only one book and when I sent them a mail they said the shipping time is 3-4 weeks for ‘Peopleware‘ and it will be shipped in that duration. Since it was a normal time duration, I didn’t bother. But not so when that became 6 weeks. I sent them a reminder and I got a response:

Your book is dispatched from the international stores. We will inform you once it reaches us.

That seemed a reasonable response and I decided to wait for few more days. However after 8 weeks, I sent them a ‘strong’ message. Then they replied saying:

The book you ordered is out-of-stock. We will pay you back.

I’m not surprised that the book is out-of-stock or that they agreed to pay back, but the way they provided misleading information put me off. Had they told me in the first place that the book was out-of-stock, probably I would’ve continued to do business with them.  But not after providing wrong information. (By the way, I am still waiting to get their refund).

When I have to print some more photos, I’ll surely go to Zoom In; when I want to buy a book, I will definitely look at some other online shop.

Bangalore is associated with growth of Indian IT industry. Unable to cope with such a tremendous growth, its roads are known for maddening, chaotic traffic. Ask any Bangalorian and they will tell you (horror) stories of ‘getting stuck in traffic for hours’.

When I moved in two years back, I used to get irritated with such traffic jams. Now I sit in my car and listen to new CDs; or make that pending call; or if nothing to do, observe the mad crowd around.

I have spent such unbelievable amount of time in traffic jams that I draw parallels to the traffic around and the corporate world that I drive to, once such traffic jams clear. They might sound wacky; they should be since I thought over them stuck in traffic jams. Next time you are in a traffic jam, give a thought for this.

Risks, Risks, Risks

Regularly the main route becomes congested that every one has an alternate route. Whatever number of routes that you have, all ‘variables’ can come together to laugh at your high planning and cripple you!

It can so happen that on a Monday morning, you decide to leave early to beat the traffic (1st risk mitigation). On the way you find that the ‘state roadways dept’ dug the road in a way that you can’t take it. You tell yourself, “Don’t worry; I got time and an alternate route” and take an alternate route (2nd mitigation). As you drive along you find that the ‘telephone dept’ is busy laying cables and there is a diversion. Hmm…you start to get irritated. Yet not to loose your cool, you think of another alternate route (3rd mitigation) and there you are happily driving through. Not long buddy; there is an accident with a ‘Tata Sumo’ cab that is completely blocking the only route that is left. Now you are stranded. You are so close to office; yet you are so far!

This isn’t further from the truth. Okay, it may not happen on a Monday morning; but it can happen on any day.

Being in IT, I keep relating to risk registers that we maintain and the multiple mitigation plans that we come up with. Even if you’ve been a smart project manager (or a corporate leader) to have thought of multiple mitigation plans, all ‘variables’ can hit you (or your project or your firm) and slide you out of control. Only by keeping ‘cool’ at those times, you can come out of the disaster.

Be Lean

As I get stuck in the traffic, I switch of the engine and watch in despair the cyclist and bike riders wade through the traffic and keep moving. I sit there with a powerful engine in a luxurious car, but I make no progress! With all the luxury and power, I remain without any progress; but these guys make progress, however small it may be, and they reach their destination before me! Don’t get me wrong – I am not saying luxury is not needed; it is of no use in a crisis.

When the going is good, you can have hundreds reporting to you. But when you have to salvage a project in crisis, you need ‘two strong oxen; not hundred chickens’. Unfortunately you can find so many who just doesn’t want to leave their power and luxury even at crisis. It only serves their ego; the group makes no progress.

Effective Enforcement

You will notice the chaos unleashed in its fullest possibility on the Bangalore roads -Jumping signals, Violating one-way and many other lawlessness. What amazes me is that whenever this is discussed by politicians or police, they seem to favor ‘more-rules’; as if there are not enough laws.

As long as police think that every law is an opportunity for black money, any number of law will not achieve orderliness.

And as long as every politician want themselves to be an exception to the same rules that they devise, the common man continue to suffer.

Instead of devising ‘more laws’, enforce the existing ones firmly, effectively and without an exception. I’ve heard of one Kiren Bedi towing the illegally parked vehicle of a Prime Minister. She is retired and we have only that incident (and only one Crane Bedi) to celebrate!

I see a similar thought process in the corporate management. Despite their claims of employee-friendly and building family-like environment, the current corporates have so many restrictions – one can’t take a photo of the campus; one can’t bring their parents to show their workplace; one can’t browse to social network sites and so on and so forth.

Google earth (and similar other sites) could be your security threat; not the photos that I take inside the campus. If you want me to feel proud of the company that I work for, I want to bring my family members and show them where I work; and if I decide to be unproductive, there are many ways of doing so; not just by browsing to social networking sites.

I know I’m making it sound so simple and there is another side of the story. But my point is instead of having a simple and effective guideline, the corporate culture is driven (in a madly fashion) with all restrictions. No wonder there is no creative solutions coming from here!

In a smaller scale, it is true of the design of enterprise systems and applications. There are so many restrictions placed on these systems that they have become so complex to use for end users while the management get away with exceptions.

Active Participation – the other side of the coin

I’ve watched with contempt those ‘recently returned onsite’ guys violating the well known rules without missing a heart beat. These guys will not stop a second praising the fantastic American/Singaporean/European roads as they zoom past the red signal. I’ve come to believe that infrastructure is not the major cause of chaos but we, the road users are. There are times that I go highly irritated and loose my cool, but mostly I say to myself, ‘just because the other guy behaves as a son-of-a-bitch doesn’t mean I need to behave one myself’. I’m convinced that if at least 10% of the road users become responsible users, the chaos will reduce to a large extent.

Coming to the corporate side, do you enjoy your work? Do you love what you do? I do. However, this is not true of so many of the millions in IT.

I keep telling my guys, either find a job that you enjoy or you enjoy the job that you get. Instead of complaining, you either quit or initiate or participate in activities that make your work and other’s work enjoyable. Make yourself a better person to work with and make your workplace a better place to work for. I’m talking from experience and let me tell you it is possible.

This has been a long ramble. I’ve not attempted, either to solve Bangalore traffic woes or to bring a better corporate culture. I just drew parallel to each other.

As I go through the ups and downs of life, these words keep me going with sanity.

This too shall pass

I’ve come across many difficulties in life – disappointments, physical ailments, academic failures, broken relationships and financial difficulties. As I went through each of the tough phase in my life, I’d tell myself – ‘This too shall pass’ and so did each of them.

There was a time when I used to think that, "I don’t need to do anything; with time, this situation will go away or get better". I’ve realized that it is a lazy attitude.

Some situations may go away or get better as time goes. In other cases, you have to change your perspective or take a solid action before the situation get any better. However, most often, it is, ‘take-enough-action-and-then-wait-with-hope’.

It has guided me not only during my bad days. These words have guided me during my ‘feeling-damn-good-buddy’ days as well.

In essence, these words have kept me going with hope one one side and humility on the another.

Life is not a zero-sum game

I’ve not understood game theory well. All that I know is, "I don’t have to necessarily loose for others to win; and others don’t have to necessarily fail for me to win". Both can win. Or in corporate parlance, it is a ‘win-win’ situation.

In one of the mail forwards, I read the below and it challenged me to think with this ‘win-win’ perspective.

A shoe salesman is sent to an island. He returns back saying, "None wears shoes; No opportunity". The company sends another. He returns saying, "None wears shoes; great opportunity".

I’ve been in many disastrous situations – in personal and professional lives – sometimes when others have explicitly given up hope. I don’t mean to say I can solve the issue. Not always. But something better can come out of it, if someone takes the pain to think.

Life is a bitch and at the end you have to die

I bet you did not expect this after all this optimistic talk. Right? Well, let me say one thing: I’m somewhere in between being-optimistic and being-pessimistic, which I call ‘being-realistic’.

When I get attached to life (when the going is good) and try to be a good person myself, I start to expect that life will be fair to me. Let us get this straight: life can be beautiful; life can be fun; life can be anything but fair. Life is unfair: sometimes in favor of you; most often ruthlessly against you.

I accept the brutal fact that life is unfair (rather a bitch). That doesn’t depress me; rather it challenges me to be stronger to take action (life is not a zero-sum game; think differently to win) with a hope (this too shall pass).

I keep repeating this (AA) prayer quite often:

Grant me the strength
To change the things that I can
Grant me serenity
To accept the things that I can’t change
And wisdom
To know the difference

Life is a paradox. Beauty lies in knowing to sail through that.

Beyond the boundary of one’s family, it is teachers who impart values and a strong sense to live life in a worthy manner. When I pondered over those who impacted my life, my thoughts rolled back to Ms. Vijayalakshmi, my 3rd grade teacher. She was the right person for shaping the future of those little kids, never getting angry at the naughtiness, yet being strict. My memory of her is one of a gentle, compassionate and patient one. Almost every time, I visit my hometown, I make it a point to visit her.
I’ve been blessed with many such remarkable teachers. Yet another was Ms. Esther, our school headmistress, whom we fondly called ‘periya teacher’. I’m sure my classmates would recall her favorite advice, ‘Eat lots of onions, you’ll do better in Maths’. Probably that says how I scored around 90% in Maths every single time. As naughty as we were, we also found another use for onions – keeping it under the armpit increased the body temperature thereby we would say, ‘Ma, I’ve fever, no school today!’ (I can’t find medical reasons for both of these). Its pity that she died of cancer and I couldn’t meet her in her last days.

Going by the trend, my parents transferred me to an English medium at 6th grade. I studied hard and came first in mid-term. For reasons beyond my reasoning, then Tamil master planned to change it. It was then that Mr. Cecil Raj (and many class mates) stood by me to imbibe strongly, ‘Boy, bad things will happen, but you’ll also find people to stand by you and get you through’ and he saw to it that I retained the first rank. That has been a valuable lesson all along. Thank you sir.

Then there was Mr. Alexander, who took 8th & 9th grade science. He did pose a personality true to his name. But I remember him for a different reason. When few of us were struggling with spelling for ‘together’, he gave us an easy way to remember: ‘to get her’. As you can see, I never forgot the spelling (Though I haven’t got her). Later this kind of learning would come handy, to remember complex properties of salts & other chemicals in our Chemistry lessons.

Those days, we’d to memorize lots of Tamil poetry, especially religious, which we all loathed to do. But Mr. Murugan’s classes were always special. He taught us to question the status quo – the well-acknowledged beliefs, more so of religious ones. On such an influence, I grew up to be a maverick, more often gaining notoriety.

I strongly believe life is a journey and learning doesn’t stop at school and college. I learnt the value of hard work from Dr. M.R. Girinath, my boss at the second job and another valuable lesson, ‘be-early-to-work’, from Dr. Vijayashankar, who, despite his old age and position, would be the first at work. When I joined a ‘real’ software firm after three years of sojourn, I met Mr. Sastry, who still signs as –Sas3–. It is unfortunate that I didn’t work with him for a long time, but in the short duration he made a profound impact on me. He opened the world of management to me, mainly the challenge and importance of people management. He showed in practice, the measures a manager should take to keep his team motivated and also the results that those measures pay off. I attribute to him, any success I have with people.

When I stretch this concept of learning a bit further, I am highly indebted to Steven Covey, for his excellent book, ‘The 7 habits of highly effective people’. To be honest, I’ve not practiced all the 7 habits to the full measure; however, I’ve reaped greater results even with whatever I’ve practiced.

I’ve always been grateful for such individuals. But, until I sat down to write this article, I didn’t realize the amount of them in my life. My journey has been enriched with such teachers. I hope I’ll continue to learn from such mentors and I myself will be one to someone along the way.