MSJots

Ginger

2012-01-22T21:28:00.000+05:30

I feel encouraged to post today, after reading Meghna Sinha's blog (Rakesh Sinha, my colleague's daughter). She is a lover of dog too. She has a son and I have a daughter.

My Ginger is everything to me today (in addiiton to my family that is). I am soooo glad I have her. It was my daughter who 'forced' me to adopt her and both my husband and I were extremely irritated at the thought of keeping an animal inside a flat. Not a very tambram culture, unless you have a large farm house. Today, I dont fail to thank my daughter everyday that she did the wisest thing at her age of 13.

I think all those humans, not having an animal at home, are missing a HUGE portion of their life's happiness. My Ginger is a stress buster and absolutely devine - my neighbours dont agree, though. Well, I cant blame Ginger if she barks at them - her breed is such.

When I have money and if time permits, I would like to shoot an entire movie on her. Her every act is so priceless. I forget all my stress once I step inside my home. Thank you, darling Ginger.

Non-Veg Non-Sense

2011-08-20T10:42:00.000+05:30

Yesterday my daughter described in gory details how Master Chef Asia or Australia showed how to cook a rabbit. Of all the animals.
Since we own a chihuahua - the size of a rabbit, her description left me disgusted. I really wonder what goes on in the minds of the people who wish to consume a rabbit or any animal for that matter.
How is their value system wired? I dont know. How do they justify it to their conscience.

I also see these hens hoarded in pitiable manner at various butcheries, if I may call them. They are casually held up in a bunch by their legs with their wings flattering helplessly.

My daughter also mentioned that Prawns are killed at hotels by placing them alive in boiling water. Well, I really dont know if its true, but whatever is the manner of killing, how does it matter. The mechanims being soft doesnt justify the killing anyway.

In olden days, cold places didnt have a means of survival and there was no transport to fetch them green veggies from other nations. But today.....

If excessive population is the issue, as to why these animals are used as delicacies or killed and shot for populatoin control, then should they not be eating up humans or shooting down humans also where they are disproportionately more in numbers and a strain on the nation.

I really wish I could boycot all dinners and lunches to which I get invited where non vegetarian is served. I have to figure out a way.

Just look thru this link. http://gourmet.lovetoknow.com/Cooking_Lobster_Tail_on_Grill
"If you start with live whole lobsters, you must kill them first by boiling them in hot water for at least seven minutes."
"With a little planning you can dine on a gourmet lobster meal loaded with mouthwatering flavors "
"Lobsters prepared on the grill impart a wonderful aroma and feature an even more divine smoky flavor"
This one is worse. http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/forums/recipes-cooking/threads/80402/how-to-prepare-live-prawns-shrimps-humanely?/

Will there be a day when we can be totally devoid of cruelty to other creatures, atleast for reasons of pleasure.

Disappointing Robert Kiyosaki

2011-04-10T17:16:00.000+05:30

On my way to the flight - i picked up this book by Jaico publications - Be Rich and Happy by Rober Kiyosaki and Hal Zina Bennett. No, i was not looking for shortcut to richness, but the initial chapters on our current education system interested me. With my daughter in 12th and being overly upset about our current curricula, i picked up the rather thick book, eager to get the blueprint of the to-be education system or atleast insights on them, from this book.
Very disappointing, - page after page, chapter after chapter, its a collection of general ramble and rattle about the education system and how its useless and so on. Imagine a full 269 pages of rattle...with streaks of enlightenment. But who will go thru 269 pages for 10% worth meticulously intersparsed in the book.

Wonder if this book was 'written' or 'rattled' for a quick holiday money for Mr.Kiyosaki.

And funnily, there is no correlation between the topic covered and the title of the book..

Hmmmphhh.....lost my Rs.295/-

Band Baaja Bharat

2011-03-22T23:29:00.000+05:30

So, wedding planner is a profession worth pursuing in India atleast. While an opty exists for an enterpreneurial venture, it also means that wedding expenses are not going down - so save I must. Another observation is that bollywood seems to be increasingly opening up to pre-marital hook ups by the good guy hero and his girlfriend. I think the directors and producers want to feel good about themselves and would rather justify everything on screen.They are like the erstwhile tailors who bring about new fashion updates; the movie producers are redesigning the value system. I think its time that both politics and films start getting flooded by normal people with an above average value system.

2011-02-06T13:52:00.000+05:30

There are large organizations today who cannot maintain a heirarchial model and end up in a matricised structure. This is a more matured model by all means, however, not without challenges. The sooner we understand them, the more successful we will be in making a success out of this structure. On the contrary, smaller organisations are able to afford a heirarchial model - much easier to manage and empowerment is at the top. A crude thought process on this is below.

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Two kinds in an Organisation

2011-02-02T17:41:00.000+05:30

There are two kinds of people - I have observed - in any Organization. Both are good. However their behaviour and characteristics are quite different per their innate nature.

Those who believe that Organisation is the End..

Stabilisers - tend to maintain what is

Loyalists

Die hard executors

Long term employment

Provide feedback only if asked

Don’t create much impression beyond the organisation

Ambition typically of vertical growth within organisation

Vulnerable to mis-treatments in the organisation

And, those who believe that Organisation is the Means

Innovators - front enders of change

Apparent rebels

Thinkers before execution

Short term employment

Volunteers for feedback

Maintain a personality beyond the organisation

Ambition typicaly of enterpreneurial nature

Indifferent to mis-treatments in the organisation

NFG: Nothing Free is Good

2011-01-02T21:26:00.000+05:30

I have a conceptual problem with anything free. I feel irresponsible, as a person, to expect anything for free, however justifiable I may be or however much I may be in difficulty. It’s a value issue for me. I don’t care, if, in the process, someone is making money. and rightfully so, because he has spent his effort and so, why should he not expect money?

When I am starting a company I would rather go for software with long term tangible existence potential of the seller and reliability where I can pin clear responsibility (read: liability) on the owner if any of my critical systems were to come under any scanner for litigation. Also, I don’t want to end up with the need to be laden with some additional tasks of maintaining and improvising these ‘free’ softwares when I should be focusing on my core business.

I might be sounding like a bullet point straight out of the software marketing material. But it’s true. These days regulatory issues are only tightening, customer lawsuits are only increasingly getting tough, competition focus to find you on the wrong foot is only getting worse by the day with unimaginable liability values. Given this, I would never ever base my company assets on anything which is 'free' just because I will save a few pennies today.

Also, my other asset, i.e. my focus, I would never like to divert to anything which is not core to my business. If I am suffering for margins or seed funds, I would rather wear my thinking cap and see what better business model I can evolve to do my tasks cost effectively and with certainty. I would never compromise on my building blocks such as IT. I would want robust systems and I would want robust provider to be responsible for it. I understand it is tough to maintain this principle when you are surrounded by believers in free stuff and increasing user base as well as ability to save costs. But yes, if it’s tough today, I am sure it’s for a secure tomorrow.

If I do succumb to free stuff, I dread the day they will use my tamed self to impose fee when the current revenue model is hit. For free stuff, you may not be paying in currency today, but you are paying through your increasing dependency or risk and that's also a cost trap, except that it will hit you tomorrow with interest. It’s actually no different from a debt trap or a credit trap. I would rather be trapped by known devils like costs that I can estimate and plan for.

If I were an accountant, I would levy additional provisions on any free software since there is no risk management. With proprietary softwares, this piece is taken care of in terms of the initial contracts T&C signed. In my opinion the cost of free software + its Present Value of the future risks > cost of
proprietary software today. So no gain, only pain.

For any model to be sustainable, someone has to be improvising it and he is not going to do it for charity. There has to be a win-win model to achieve this. I can’t have my business growth determined by availability or unavailability of these 'free' markets. I have to be in command and won't base my business on other’s mercy or charity. Open standards is okay, to ensure interoperability and it
speaks about cooperation among industry. Free systems is a no no.

I think no responsible enterprise in their right mind would have a policy to use anything which has no ownership and commitment. I belong to the NFG community. Nothing Free is Good. Free is okay
for days of poverty or nothingness and when I am okay to take on charity for an initial stop gap. Not for serious businesses that want to walk with its heads held high.

There is nothing free on earth today. Every inch of land and even water has ownership. Even space is
under ownership attack. That’s human behaviour. Except the air we breath, (well, that’s because we havent figured out a way to own it yet), anything free is dangerous. Only charity when willingly given (and not for business) will work.

Long time

2010-09-12T14:22:00.003+05:30

Long time and I had forgotten that I even had this blog still alive. Like a pet patiently awaiting the master to turn her attention, this blog has survived the time and so, i am going to simply post something.

Right now, a lazy sunday afternoon, I am watching ETNow interviewing Nandan Nilekani in its At Home series. Its clear that Andy Mukherjee is unable to match up to Nandan's standards in coming up with good questions, so that the viewers benefit the most from Nandan's insights. It seems like a struggle by Andy to sound ' normally intelligent' to Nandan who looks clearly puzzled at and patient in a dignified way with Andy. Its as if Andy is reading out question from his preparation notes. (yes, thats how it is done anyways, but you dont make it so obvious!). I think the interviewee also should find some enjoyment in giving interviews. It cant be a one way interest. The person talking should also bring up something that the interviewee enjoys answering and has some learning as take away. This session is an absolute pain and I feel more pained watching the boredom on Nandan's face. I am sure Andy's exit will be a great relief. And its just happened now - the smile on Nandan's face was quite natural and the one on Andy's face was polite.

When will the First ray of Sun dawn on noida police and the media?

2008-05-30T21:22:00.003+05:30

Well, the one talked about story is that of the unfortunate murder of noida school girl. Media is playing double standards by, on one hand accusing the police of maligning the girl's character and on the other hand, talking about it in national television actually rendering this malignment! Whose side is Media playing, god only konws.

Incidentally the girl's online chat messages were shown on television and how her relationship with her Dad is 'troubled'. I bet if you asked all the teenage girls in mega cities, 95% of them will quote the so called troubled relations with Dad. Dads always find it more difficult to accept teenage challenges of today's generation compared to mother. If dads do chide the girls and if the girls do write about it or sms about it, there is nothing unbelievable. Why my own daughter keeps a diary and i am sure everytime she is 'disturbed' by a reprimand or two, she must be pouring her heart out in the diary. That is no reason to think that we have troubled relations.

Looks like the noida police is filled with Dads who have no clue of today's girls among younger generation. Its also quite normal for girls to mingle with boys. I am not saying whether its bad or good, but its definitely widespread and it will be silly for us to ignore this reality.

and to present such findings as evidence against the Dad who is supposedly the killer of his child, seems utterly ridiculous. God save the country from the police force. Ofcourse we have come across abominable dads such as the dungeon dad who imprisoned and exploited his own daughther for 24 years. Even if the noida police are right in their assumption, the reasons they have projected seem immature and amateurish. Grow up, India.

What will ‘surface’ next?

2008-02-28T20:14:00.012+05:30

Why have computers on our table if the table itself can behave like one?

Why have a kiosk or pc mounted on the wall if the wall itself can be a computer.

Very interesting proposition it may seem…if everything goes as well as we can imagine, you would be careful not to touch any innocent looking surface lest it triggers a surprise action. Who knows - every stair you climb might actually be a digital surface giving you information along the way. Maybe roads and streets will have digitized surfaces – nothing but a massive computer screen on which you ride and it makes possible a million more possibilities.

It’s possible that every solid surface you touch – of every dimension, will be a digital surface. I wonder how geeky and unnatural it might seem or will it be so useful that we don’t mind them.

The next level technology might be how to retain the natural look of object surfaces despite them being digital surfaces actually. This will happen when people begin reminiscing about good old days when things were more natural and dumb. Artists and poets would definitely paint more from the past to add a natural feel to digitized homes. I wonder what the contemporaries of that age will get to do arty enough.

Imagine an entire home constructed with digitized walls, including all the objects in it.
Maybe our cookware would all be digital concaves and convexes. When I pour oil in a frying pan, maybe it will tell me to stop when it reaches the right level, or when the frying is done or when it has to be washed.

As long as the potatoes and radishes don’t start talking to me, I think I would be able to maintain my sanity. Thank god plants can’t get into this race inherently. Or am I wrong?

What if our apparel and accessories also have digitized surfaces.

They perhaps would be monitoring my body dynamics and advise me on when to stop eating, what not to eat, when to destess, when to take walk, when to be out in the cold, how much to reduce the volume of my ipod Version 2025 AD, when to change the size of my shoes etc. Oooooh! Again, I am very glad that my skin will not get digitized!

But insurance companies surely don’t have to waste effort on underwriting and can actually provide a policy on-demand. But then, will they have so much risk to cover? Point. Also, what will all the doctors do? I wonder. And Police, and Spies, and Detectives. Maybe they will all become Data Monitoring Managers. There could be a total upheaval of professions. Doctors, I guess will have lots of complaints about mal-functional finger tips, tired of excessive digi-use.

There may be suggestions on how often and how much one can use one’s phalanges or palms or feet on ditigal surfaces. There may be special ointments and finger caps to protect them from damage. For once, the fault may actually lie with you than the technology behind the surface, if the desired results are not achieved. The call center may actually ask you to check your fingers and palms first! There is no scope for reboot in this case or kickstarting it i.e. kicking and starting. Today’s exposed phalanges may actually find themselves well guarded and clothed to prevent any damage since you can’t have a change of these.

People may suffer from psychological disorders like the Constantly Communicative Environment Syndrome or we may have ReBITI or Repressed Behavior due to Excessive Tracking And Interaction. There may be special de-digitisation camps to cure such people in natural environs. Offices (if there are any) may have digit free zones for their employees to relax and hide from the roving eyes and possibly gossip without fear. Digitization of beaches and shady coffee shops or restaurants will be a no- no for the romantic twosomes. I am sure that digital access and security will be THE most important industry with the biggest responsibility to ensure the Right access to the Right people at all the Right times. Rrrrrright….

There could be speech related disorders due to lack of use. There may be classes to tell people to make noise like the Laughter clubs of today. Talking about speech, I wonder what will happen to music. Surely Music will have to survive. It cannot be overcome by any technology, only aided by technology. The hearing and singing, hopefully will keep our sense organs in total use.

You would ask, why, why at all the world would get as crazy. After all, isn’t adoption dictated by need? But, haven’t we begun using so many objects out of pure fancy or peer pressure until it became a ‘need’. ‘Need’ does get built around ‘use’ as well. And ‘crazy’ is a word that is contextual. Crazy today is normal tomorrow. So, what is crazy tomorrow, I wonder.

Coming back to the discussion, the power of touch could become all encompassing. For once the physically challenged will feel very much in control and independent. Like the super-gods in legends we hear, we have to only touch here and there to trigger various actions. There would be special services like ‘how to digitize an otherwise ordinary table’ if it can’t find a place in the Museum of Erstwhile Natural Objects (MENO). Maybe we will save woods and reduce plastics and somehow fill up that ozone hole. From the Moon, our earth will look like one helluva digitized ball – except the Great Wall of China unless they plan to digitize that. Maybe our Paint companies will switch over to digital painting or digi-enabling of walls. Astronauts and Cosmonauts and Sinonauts and Indonauts will no longer see the earth the way Yuri Gagarin to Sunita Williams did. Their quotations will become a treasure all the more in a world using tools of everyday use, all of them made of wirelessly digitized surfaces. How wonderfully horrid! Or, terrifyingly beautiful. People may actually tour to other planets just to be in natural environs like how we go to hill stations to escape the concrete and the crowd!

As for kids, even simple implements they use such as Pencils and pens may be digitized. They will hear from the pencil itself whether it is being held in the right manner! This is assuming they still learn to ‘write’ and not ‘touch’. Just one of the many exercises to prevent their fingers’ from getting their mobility impaired. Their answer papers will of course tell them when to start and stop and when not to cheat. Their sitting chairs or shared benches would tell them to sit properly. I wonder what the teacher will do, stripped off her complete monitoring and teaching capability - to maintain human-to-human interaction, maybe.

People may actually be found talking in the air, because there are so many surfaces listening to them and transmitting their intentions to the right destination. Maybe each human has a yet to discover unique frequency which can be used to identify and target what he/she wishes to do.

The next level will potentially be when we can achieve all the above effects without actually touching them, just pointing will do or maybe just a look will do. So, as we have seen in the fairy tales, we would just point a finger like a magician and get what we want. Who said fairy tales were unrealistic, it now seems like highly advanced technology that was available those days. Maybe the story of Atlantis was right after all; we are just getting back to where we were - A full circle.

The penultimate next will be when all states of matter get digitized for wide use. So airplanes will never fall, ships will never sink. We will have mineral water talking to us from the bottle, just when our attire informed us of our lowered hydrated level.

The ultimate next will be when the animals’ and plants’ DNA get digital, so much so that all living and non living can all ‘talk’ to each other in an apparently empty medium. Oh, this is getting really too much for me too, who I thought had great penchant for change. My brain cells refuse to comprehend any further and ask me to get down to earth, before the place where I stand gets digitized in a few decades.

Okay, I must stop it here for now. I was actually analyzing from a ‘normal’ angle and took off on a different note. Thanks for bearing with this onslaught.

Large org

2008-02-26T21:54:00.003+05:30

Plants are a good lesson of organisational growth, especially the large ones. The buds, stem, leaves, roots, all grow and perform to their fullest capacity. There is no central 'control', each part supports the other. As long as the external environment is right, there is nothing to stop the plant from doing its best.

Angel

2008-02-10T23:23:00.001+05:30

I just chanced to spot a discourse in Channel Aastha a while ago. One Swamiji was explaining that one's Angel can come in many forms including even situations. In another channel I heard about the fire at Camden (London). These two brought me back memories of 7th July 2005.

That morning 6 am I was at York Station to catch the 6.30 train to London. I had a meeting starting at Norwich Union Office at 9. My colleague Biju was to join me, but there was no sight of him yet. Since I had a few more minutes I called my family in India and informed them of my trip. Normally I dont inform them of every trip, but today I did out of impulse.

Soon I was off to London and I got off at Kings Cross. Biju spotted me and we tried to go to the underground station to catch the local. It was 8.50. Somehow we saw a huge crowd and could not enter from the main station. We decided to get to the underground from outside and by the time we reached there, it was 8.55 and it was so crowded there as well. Within another few minutes we found the entrance getting blocked by cops who didnt allow us entry. We decided to walk to the next station and found the same fate there as well. We were getting worried that we might be late for the meeting, which had taken atleast a few days of planning. A walk to stations further and further down the road turned out futile and we started seeing many fire engines and police vans speeding past. We could sense something was wrong but not what. Somehow we managed to walk to our Client's office to reach almost an hour and a half late.

There we learnt of the bomb blast at 8.56 am at Kings Cross and a series of others including the one where we were to alight (I cant remember the names now). The kings cross blast, we sensed, we had missed by a couple of minutes! Before we could begin our meeting, we were informed that the meeting would have to be cancelled as all offices have been advised to be shut. Our clients were nice and caring and handed me a map of london.

Biju and I left the Norwich Union office to try and figure what to do next. We found all cabs and buses off the road and the few that were there, refused to take us in. Being asians, we had an additional concern.

I thought of calling my family to just inform them I was safe which is when it was good realisation that the phone lines were all jammed. To top this, my nokia showed poor battery charge in all the calls that we made to figure out a way to travel through the city to the station.

It was clear that trains also would not ply to York or anywhere for that matter. We had planned to return the same evening after the evening and so, had not made any arrangement for accomodation.

Biju came in as the Angel that day.

Biju knows London like the back of his hand, its his second home. While I had visited London briefly earlier, I had never had a chance to roam around the city to know all the routes well. Biju led me through safe routes and we reached ISKCON temple at Soho by afternoon. The vegetarian restaurant (Govinda) was fortunately open and we both managed to have some lunch. Biju led me upstairs to the sanctum sanctoram and it was really a heavenly abode to be there, on that day. Biju went to the office of the temple to make calls to figure out a way for us to stay the night somewhere as returning to York was impossible.

It became clear that no acco would be possible easily as all international travellers stranded in London as well as other domestic travellers had already booked most of the available accomodations. After a few hours of effort, we managed to get our office to agree for a higher rent than what we would be ordinarily allowed. We managed to get some acco in the Holiday Inn a few kilometers from Kings Cross.

By the time Biju did the bookings, one of my many tries to reach my family finally succeeded - I was just able to convey I was ok. My colleagues from York who were trying to reach us also were glad that Biju and I were both alive. I think the concern was because at around the time of the blast we were most likely to have been at the spot.

By evening, Biju and I walked to the Holiday Inn and for the nth time I was thankful that I was so safe in such an unsafe situation. Our credit cards came in handy to book the rooms and being non residents, we are always in the habit of carrying our passport. So there were no issues with regard to verification and checking in.

I wondered how I was to stay the night in formal clothes, but that was small worry compared to the worst that could have happened.

Next morning our many enquiries with the station and hotel reception got us the news that maybe one train would be plied towards Northern England at noon and so, Biju and I took the chance and checked out and walked to the Station, after a quick breakfast. There were still no buses or cabs. There was a long serpentine queue at Kings Cross, ready to break for a mad rush into the train on arrival. It happened so exactly and we too ran and somehow managed to get into a coach. That day, I did not mind standing the 2 hours or more to reach York.

We reached York that evening by one of the first trains that set out from London after the blast To this day, I keep wondering what I would have done in a city not known to me, if Biju was not there to guide me through. I sincerely believe he was sent as an Angel to help me through.

Perspective

2008-02-10T23:16:00.000+05:30

Only when one remains uni-directional - looking at everything in certain perspectives of one's own creation - it becomes important to understand everyone else's perspective also, so that the right strategy or approach can be planned.

Instead, if its possible to give up uni directionness becoming free of perspectives, where is the need to understand or manipulate others' perceptions..

Profile of Head of Innovation

2008-01-03T11:03:00.001+05:30

Henry Ford : If I'd asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for a better horse...

Some interesting answers from the question posted in LI on how today's HOI should be..

Someone who can internalize the books of Seth Godin ( Purple Cow, small is the new big, etc) - CP Madhusudan
Five critical skills for an HOI are: 1. Thinking outside the box 2. Viewing things with a beginners eye 3. "Nothing is impossible" mindset 4. Communication Skills 5. Ability to translate vision into action - Karpagam Sankaranarayanan
1. An inspirational individual who can significantly shape the future direction and culture of a company, business, project, etc 2. A techno-commercial person who can think through a business chain from conception to launch or someone who has some knowledge of the chain 3. Someone who can think ahead of time, say what will be the future of this business say 10 years from now 4. Effective team player who is ready for failures and also ready for change with respect to business, technology, market, and other factors 5. Finally a strong communicator - All mediums - Diwakar Muthu
A practical thinker - Lubna Kably
Person who understand and practices TQA, TQM, Kai Zen. Someone like Deming, Juran or Crossby - Milind Limaye
Someone who can understand what the customer wants and what the customer would be willing to pay for. A complete lack of understanding of technology and ignorance process improvement models would also be major bonuses - Matt Gibbons. Matt goes on to clarify his last statement...."The main thing is to have a very business oriented person in charge of your innovation teams...The main thing is to have a very business oriented person in charge of your innovation teams....innovation is not about taking risks ...It's about doing the market research, seeing which ideas customers will actually pay for...a lot of the people involved with technology do not have this understanding or vision....HOI does not need to have technical understanding, and I propose that the further away from technology they are and the closer to the customer they are - the better they will be for the role.
..add in a healthy chunk of pragmatism - taking ideas to market is about making them a reality.. - Hamish Taylor
'Head of Innovation' has to be someone who approaches things in 'unusual' ways (i.e: thinking out of the box) coupled with his realistic reasoning - Barcin Alpcigay
The only way to create an innovation is to be able to spot unmet needs. This doesn't necessarily come from traditional market research...An ability to facilitate communication between people of different backgrounds ....An innate ability to identify approaches used in other areas that can be applied to a problem...Somebody who lacks an interest in "being first." (the invention vs. innovation thing)... Michael Arnold. Michael suggests reading Harold Evans's great book about innovators called "They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators" (Back Bay Publishing).
He of she should mainly be able to connect differente frames of reference of the inside world and the outside world - Wim Gorissen
He/she should be a single mother because she does have to be creative enough to know how to spend the money and keep her kids and herself happy - Tim Tymchyshyn
A person who asks WHY before they deal with what or how - Phil Lawson
Someone who basically... 1) dreams up stuff on the fly (very important - ideas should come to him on the fly - no sabattical needed) 2) loves standing up and talking about his ideas 3) does not fear rejection (so NO, a marketing type would definitely not cut it as they find it hard to take rejection) 4) a guy who readily accepts a new suggestion on merit without feeling hurt that its not his own 5) a guy who can get his team to understand and fly with his idea while they are free to add and subtracty from the idea. - Sri Prakash
HOI should not be an administrator or manager. HOI should be like a venture capitalist and a facilitator, with an entrepruenial streak - Vilas Prabhu

How long did the Giraffe stretch its neck before it finally got the long neck

2008-01-01T17:18:00.000+05:30

I watched the XMen Trilogy on Star Movies the last 3 days. I think they have touched upon the right evolutionary aspect, though it may not be so sudden and divisive as shown in the movie. The evolution of human body may not be in 'streaks' as shown and be all round the world. Our damaging lifestyle is a definite cause for some evolutionary triggers.

Today's lifestyle is a definite threat to causing heart attacks, and other fatal conditions, if physical fitness is not maintained.
But who caused today's lifestyle...has it not been a result of this world's natural process of evolution?

If we believe all that has happened to us or has brought us to this lifestyle is nothing but parts of this world's natural evolution,
If we believe we (mankind) are not to blame ourselves for today's lifestyle - we just responded to our mental/physical/cosmic/etc. evolutionary thinking process to reach where we have reached,
If we agree that today's lifestyle does not cater well to our body and causes physical conditions that can be fatal,
If we agree that need for survival requires us to do a specific regime called 'Exercise' to offset the impact on our bodies, brought about by today's lifestyle, which in turn has been brought about by the natural evolution,
If natural evolution is True, the body too should have got evolved to fit the changing lifestyle,

Then,

Why is it that the body has not adapted itself to this changed lifestyle..
Why do we have to engage in an unnatural physical activity to keep ourselves fit
Why doesnt today's lifestyle automatically enable us to be active enough so that we are physically fit

Remember the Giraffe story.
In its earliest form, with short necks, the evolutionary process did not automatically provide food to the animal when it had short height, nor did it automatically give it long necks.
The Giraffe reached a stage in evolution whereby it had to 'fight against the destructive influence of evolution i.e. fight for survival'. The Giraffe fought and lengthened its neck to survive. Its brethren that did not fight - died.

Maybe this is where mankind is, due to its health-damaging lifestyle. We are at a stage to fight obesity against the destructive influence of poor lifestyle, through a focussed exercise regime. Those who fight it will surive and evolve to acquire changed physical bodies in the centuries to come and others will die naturally. How long did the Giraffe stretch its neck before it finally got the long neck we dont know. So, how will the new human form be....and when....is an interesting '?'

Getting radical ideas accepted

2007-12-08T19:36:00.000+05:30

Are you one of those who comes up with radical ideas and struggle to get them through.

As a creative solution seeker, how do you deal with people who are not very receptive to radical ideas?

There are so many examples of where organizations and entire industries failed to accept and implement even incremental changes, let alone radical ones. The U.S. auto industry, the airlines, health care all serve as examples of where even incremental changes were ignored until the cost of not doing them becomes too great and by then, incrementalism will fail to create a sustainable advantage.

Strategy / Tips from Linked In members

1. Compare solution with something existing in daily life, but focus on the reasons for the deviation from that standard and try to visualize your thinking process.

2. Seek other people directly related to them and if others join, it suddenly looks less radical than it did before ;-)

3. Apply the powerful communication philosophy and technique developed by the author of "Non Violent Communication", Marshall B. Rosenberg. The general concept is focusing on each person's needs and identifying what is motivating them to think, feel and act as they do. As we discover what people (including ourselves) are really needing, they feel they have permission to ask for what they need without judgment, blame or fear. And, if they feel they are being treated this way, then they are more receptive to listening to what others need as well.

4. Five point strategy:
#1 problem: strait-jacketed approachappeal to a rational perspective using case studies where radical thinking has resulted in positive results. in this approach it is very necessary to evaluate both the pros and cons.
#2 problem: stubbornness use a decision tree. someone somewhere needs to be won over to newer thinking. it is best to lead the entire audience into linear thinking and then involve them in lateral processes to generate answers. the risks of this approach are in its open-ness. you may or may not reach the conclusion you want but will definitely inspire the audience to move in different directions and reach your desired results later. some times, very much later.
#3 problem: inability this is easy. be educative without being condescending. use cases to create interactions and then lead interactions to desired results (that you may have put in earlier).
#4 problem: lack of vision a lot of us suffer from an inability to envision. so, use multiple case studies and get people to enjoy collective wisdom. this way, you will develop an understanding of vision if not create an ability to envision.
#5 problem: this one's with the presenter usually we tend to present radical solutions just to show how good we are. this is one that i try to avoid the most. especially since in advertising creative, radical has a mass impact, if negative, wipes out an entire business.

5. Stay at least two degrees away from closed minded people. Spreading a contagion requires like minds to cooperate. Once the idea spreads to one person, it is much easier to spread to the next and the next. Preferably, the person that catches the vision of your idea should be a mutual friend with the person or person's who are not so receptive.

6. A creative solution seeker would be creative enough to get his/her ideas pass thro the tough people/panel

7. You need to SELL your Idea by showing them what is there for them. Secondly, anybody can have idea, because anybody can think, you need to analyze the commercial aspect of your idea. How your idea can be beneficial to the other person, in terms of money saved, time saved and wealth creation.

8. a) Communicate in the medium that best suits them: I e powerpoint, bulleted quick e-mail, face to face etc. ; b) Find a related topic in a well respected journal such as Harvard Business Review, McKinsey, or the Economist, Windhover, MxMagazine pointing to market or industry factors requiring the "new idea" or new solution;c) Gain support of another credible source or person this resistant person respects.d) At the same time, some people with the gift of task orientation, operational etc will just resist new ideas and you accept that as well.

9. As a creative solution seeker, the answer lies in presenting the solution in a very creative way. More often than not stories provide a wonderful way for people to breach their conditional barriers. So as a creative solution seeker, my presentation will have a capability to create a clear picture in the minds of people as to what will happen after the implementation of the Idea. It's all how you paint the picture and not what you paint.

10. An idea is deemed radical because you cannot deconstruct it logically as per current state of the art. Somewhere in your deconstruction there is a leap of faith. You as solution seeker can take that leap of faith based on your conviction. Question is how do you make others take that leap. There are three categories of people with respect to these radical ideas.

First are pioneering risk takers. These guys are ever ready to embrace any new idea and will take that leap of faith as eagerly as you would. But these guys are rarely in position of authority to implement ideas. If you are lucky they might be in influencing position and can ease your efforts of getting the idea accepted. You must look for these kind of people and take them on your side. Convincing them is not very difficult provided you can pinpoint where the leap of faith is, and what risks are involved. You need to be very honest with these people.

The second category is of totally risk averse, conservatives. These guys wont budge and take that leap of faith no matter what. Your best bet is to avoid them. If you must deal with them then you should be prepared to provide a plan 'B' should your idea not work, and provide the confidence that switching from plan 'A' to 'B' does not entail any consequences for them. Then they might go with your idea.

The last category is of people who will take risk provided they are convinced of returns (VC type of people). You need to make sure you relate your idea to their situation and convince them of possible returns, then they can take that leap of faith with you. Typically a proof of concept or some kind of pilot goes long way in convincing these folks. You should also convince them that you are not merely 'selling' the idea but are going to partner through out the journey towards implementation. These people dont want to be left holding the baby.If your idea is proven sufficient number of times then the leap of faith becomes an acceptable norm. And your radical idea starts becoming a mainstream idea. So it gets easier to be accepted next time around.If it doesn't then may be its time to change / scrap the idea

11. Break it down into little chunks and lead them in the right direction. As little steps it tends to be less confronting

12. When you are proposing radical ideas to "conventional" people, you must expect a degree of resistance, if not outright rejection and even anger because your departure from their baseline is seen as direct criticism of themselves and that is not well tolerated for many, many reasons. Ultimately your ideas may have to change location because what is radical in one organization is conventional in another. And from a business perspective, if you had to spend five years working against the tide to get an idea implemented in one company and one year in another, the time value of money tells us it is more valuable to take your idea to the company that is more receptive to the idea (all things being equal...) It is also less taxing on the psyche! You are an insufferable rebel at company A and a visionary at company B. Which is more pleasing to you?

13. You have to invite people along for the ride. Some personalities need to know where the idea came from and why. What was your thought process? Try to be sensitive to varying personalities and learning styles. Pick your very best ideas to share so not to overwhelm people that do not deal with new ideas well with too many ideas

14. The first step is to get those people comfortable with even being near radical ideas (vs. accepting the radical ideas as viable options). In a brainstorming session, it helps to knock people out of their comfort zone by using toys or games to make idea generation not business-as-usual. It is essential for the team to have a ground rule about not rationalizing ideas during the idea generation process, and even more essential for a facilitator to uphold that rule

15. Assume that a radical idea is equivalent to transformational projects susceptible of being developed in a company. Being so, the reluctance of managers in accepting radical ideas has close relation with the open nature of corporate culture, employee’s personality traits, educational background and position in the organizational hierarchy. In this regard, the key to convince the reluctant professionals is by communicating by different ways, the advantages that such radical idea could bring to different levels: organizational, departmental and personal. Let see us:
- Convincing by example: In most of the conservative and structured minds from managers reluctant to accept innovative ideas a useful resource that you could apply is by showing with relevant benchmarks, Key Processes Indicators and financial performance similar ideas that have been develops successfully in other companies.
- Showing references from literature and journalism: This is a valid resource to convince step by step to pragmatic, methodic and conservative executives and managers about the positives possibilities and outcomes of such radical idea or innovation. The problem with this approach is that such kind of managers and executives do not have enough time to review these materials. Being so, an impacting and well developed presentation could be helpful and needed to achieve this purpose.
- Opportune coaching and consultancy: If you are in a very influential position in your organization, you could hire the services of seasoned coaches and specialized consultancy to break the resistance from managers and executive to assume the change as a positive opportunity to business success, instead of being considered just as a menace.
- Learning with pain when culture is an obstacle: In corporations where the culture is restrictive in nurturing creativity and innovation, you could face an almost insurmountable impediment to convince to such traditionalist and managers with a risk aversion attitude about the convenience of your idea.

Being so, the business reality will convince them in the long term about how appropriated and convenient your radical approach was indeed

16. The question is not necessarily is you are right or not. You will have to convince the other party that you have a business case and that your solution is superior to alternatives. try to get an idea in advance of what really matters to the people you are dealing with, and prepare your answers in advance

17. Receptiveness to new ideas is influenced by these aspects (atleast): 1- does the person have capacity/capabilities to understand the issue 2- does the person have maturity to understand the issue 3- does the person have interest on the issue 4- does the person have interest to act on the issue
So, the decision loop for you to recon what to do, might look like this:
...If "1,2,3,4 = true" then you are a lucky
...else if "1 = false" then just forget it
...else if "2" = false" then simplify and change the language
...else if "3 = false" then ask who might be the correct person to talk with
...else if "4 = false" then return later to the subject

Radical ideas are naturally difficult to deal with, since they a kind of breaking points, dividers. They signal either something which is very risky (unproven) or something being fundamentally wrong in the way organisation currently works/performs. Either way, you should not be suprised to meet level of scepticism, and avoidance to engage with the subject. And thus, it might be better to evolve the idea to something easier to digest; to smaller steps with less impacts

18. First of all, you have to understand the reason for rejection and start from there. "Seek first to understand then be understood" So if you understand them, and know exactly their point of view. trying not to have preset judgment or assumptions that they are going to reject, and honestly listening to understand, you will be able to turn things around. when explaining your point of view talk in their language and use tools and mediums that appeal to them

19. People are fundamentally 'rational', and usually oriented to making the 'right' or 'best' decision. Where someone appears to be acting irrationally, or is making the wrong/bad decision, it is usually because there is a piece of information missing - either in their understanding of the situation (i.e. problem and proposed solution) or *your* understanding of the situation (i.e. they may know something that you do not which, were you to know it, would help you see how thier position is 'rational'). So a key step is to continue drilling into their current knowledge/awareness of the issues surrounding their decision/position, until you become aware of what it is that they are missing in their thought process, or you are missing in your explanation process.

20. Its important to get the audience right. If the idea is presented to someone who has much to lose, and that too an influential person, its a problem.

21. People who are not receptive to radical ideas are someone who I refer to as strong Process Oriented people or someone who cannot think beyond the conventional means. Dealing with such people often requires Proof of Concept to be presented before we can present the idea. My idea is to build a good story around your idea that can sell. However you can only take the horse to the pond, but you cannot make it drink. In a collective team environment you do have people who would come with one objective of rejecting any idea you may put across. So finally, it boils down to the mindset of people. If you are going to present a new idea that is radically different, then you should first bring forward a case / story that will make them to think different or interpret differently.

22. When having to present an out of the box solution:a. Have the run of the mill ideas - Take the client through them and the limited results they will get with them. The advantage in doing this is that it gets people to mentally start rejecting those approaches. b. Present the radical idea with a lot of fanfare - even if people don't buy all of it, in most cases they will be willing to implement at least 50% of the recommendations which gives you a foot in to get the other 50% also implemented. However, the audience usually buys radical ideas from people who they either trust or are in awe of. The recipe is to know the audience’ interests / business inside-out. This makes them see you as an ally rather than an outsider with no "idea of how things work here".

23. How do you eat an elephant?" Answer: One bite at a time.

Its important to go about introducing change in an incremental way, so it's easier to "accept" and understand for the person evaluating a new idea. But a certain emotional sensitivity is also required. In other words, the seller of an idea or product or service should be aware of where the prospect or buyer is, on the "emotional scale." This scale or ladder has rungs like: pessimistic frustrated hopeful believer empowered etc. The key is to only offer new ideas to people who are on the "hopeful" or "believer" or "empowered" rungs. The other people are simply not ready, emotionally, to even consider a new idea. If a positive person mingles with such people, he will likely be "dragged down" to their level of pessimism, and nobody would come out winning! Emotionally sensitive and skillful salespeople can spot where other people are on the emotional scale, and can decide either to help them move up to "hopeful" or "belief" or "joyful" or "empowered" states, or wait for them to be in those states, before they begin the selling process.

Suggested fundas / references
1. Effectiveness of a solution = quality * acceptation.
2. http://www.si.umich.edu/~rfrost/courses/SI110/readings/In_Out_and_Beyond/Gr...
3. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=4037091
4. http://www.blairmiller.com

(Contributions: Marcel Van Der Stroom, Margalit Ward, Rajesh Natarajan, Joel Landoe, Krish Krishnamurthy, Sanjeev Himachali, Sherri Dohemann, GK Raghav, Vilas Prabhu, Ray Miller, Gary Clarke, Ashwini Yadav, Dr. Shaun Jamison, Octavio Ballesta, Robert De Loght, Sam Lund, Mohammad Dawood, Mark Neely, Diwakar Muthu, Peter Nguyen)

Policy Administration Systems - Considering Differentiators during evaluation

2007-12-05T14:47:00.000+05:30

Package Evaluation of Policy Administration Systems: How much should the choice get influenced by market differentiating features?

What is a Policy Administration System?
A policy administration system is an enterprise management system that handles all the direct functions pertaining to creation and management of policies sold to the customer. Typically a policy administration system would handle customer and policy data; enable all functions such as underwriting, policy issue, quotation issue, policy servicing, renewals, claims etc. It can also assume other functions such as accounting, reinsurance, intermediary management, billing and collections, reporting, etc. depending on the size and complexity of the business.

Who buys a PAS package and when?
An insurer goes for a new policy administration package, at the inception of the company or to replace any existing ones. This calls for detailed evaluation of packages available in the market today before the right one can be signed up for implementation.

When an appropriate package cannot be identified, the insurer either chooses the best fit package for further customization or builds the entire package ground up with the help of IT Vendors. We are not proceeding with this option in this note.

How is a PAS package chosen?
Most companies evaluate the packages with or without the support of external consultants.

Most consultants use a methodical process to evaluate the packages using a scoring model. All the desired features are collected from the potential users of the package before an evaluation is undertaken.

What are differentiators?
Differentiator’ is an aspect that differentiates one insurer from the others and which has the capacity to further the progress of the insurer towards its Vision. Very often companies differentiate based on price. These can also be drilled down to a set of functional parameters to be sought from a package.

Why is it unnecessary to consider differentiating features in a package?
The insurer is operating in the same market as other insurers and is most likely targeting a customer segment that is the focus of some of the other insurers as well. The functionality expected of a package at a transaction level is likely to be pretty much standard across the insurers and the real difference comes in 3 areas.

The design of the package must suit the end vision of the insurer – the package should provide the ability to evolve
The package must be compatible with the process management style of the insurer, assuming that this style is an optimized one and thirdly,
Market differentiators that the insurer has set for itself could be different and very different at that considering that these are ‘differentiators’.

The first point is of serious importance as we are talking about some huge investment. Again the end vision is not something which would be totally out of the ordinary, usually! This should be easy to disseminate into factors for evaluation.

The second one – the process management style – also should not be a problem. There would always be packages to accommodate the popular styles practiced in the industry. While this can be a key factor for evaluation, even if the most preferred package offers a different style to be pursued, the insurer could realize that the real focus is the end outcome of the process. Once the insurer is appraised of this and is able to get the business case for this change, the insurer may be ready to change their process to suit a particularly good package. Seldom is it that a totally out of the world process management style is followed. So, let’s assume that this is not a big point of reckoning.

The last one – the differentiators – is the subject in question. Some of the points influencing the use of differentiators as key parameters for selection of a package are below.
Even technology and the enablement by it can be a differentiator, provided this remains a long term differentiator.
If functional parameters deduced from differentiators are already available in the package, then these are not differentiators anymore! There are other insurers benefiting from these features as well.
If these functional parameters are not in the package, then these will need to be set / coded into the package. Once configured these could be open for use by other insurers in the newer versions of the package. Also, once this configuration straightjackets the package bought by the insurer in a particular direction, the insurer might actually lose the flexibility to evolve these differentiators further
If a differentiating factor cannot hold good for a longer period of time, it’s not a long term differentiator at all. Its merely offering a first mover advantage. For e.g. launching a web community for customers might offer an insurer the advantage over others and therefore a short term benefit. Soon others follow and this is no longer a differentiator, unless the method is patented and exclusivity earned, to launch such a service.

What proportion of the total expected features from a package, relate to differentiating features?
The standard expectations across the market, and specific expectations of the insurer for their set of processes, products etc. would comprise 90 to 95% of the evaluation parameters. Differentiating features would at best comprise 5 to 10% of the total expectation from a package. It is possible that during the short-listing of suitable packages, the evaluating team might unnecessarily get caught up in rating the package against features that actually relate to the ‘differentiators’ of the organization. A wrong decision here might lead to losing out on a good package or in going for an expensive ‘build’ option.

So, it may not advisable to consider market differentiating features as key evaluation parameters for selection of a PAS package.

What is the way out? How do we deal with the differentiating features?
So the way to go is to work around the package to accommodate these differentiators such that they remain in the insurer’s environment and not inside the package. By excluding these factors from package evaluation, it is possible to choose largely flexible packages for their longer term features and flexibility to evolve.

Vehicles Future cast: Skycles and Skycabs

2007-10-20T22:35:00.000+05:30

Today I spent most of my time travelling the length and breadth of western suburbs of Mumbai. Andheri to Kandivli to Andheri to Santacruz to Andheri. While the autorickshaws earned good revenue from me, I earned my quota of pollutants of both kinds - noise & air. The maddening pace of development around me set me thinking of the morrow. My take is:

In 7 to 10 years, we would find 2 simultaneous developments - the high rise getting higher and the shorter buildings being razed down to provide ground space; and the introduction of Skycles or Skycabs (sky vehicles). I think the skycles will not compete with aeroplanes and helicopters for saving time on longer distances, but the skycle proposition will be to provide alternate to the ground level roadways. So we will be able to get into our 22nd floor flat right from the window
In 20 years, skycles will be farely prevalent in developed countries and in 30 years, skycles will be a general means of transport.

How to attach more than 2 documents to a mail saved in draft folder of Lotus Notes

2007-10-07T12:45:00.000+05:30

How to attach more than 2 documents to a mail saved in draft folder of Lotus Notes..

Lotus Notes usually allows only 2 attachments to be saved to your mail.
Save the mail first with 2 attachments in the draft folder
Open the mail again and use Edit to attach 2 more and so on..

I found the Mast!

2007-10-06T09:45:00.000+05:30

In my quest to understand the Truth, I have been going through the various jigs around learning.

There was a phase when I totally believed the religious scriptures (my interpretation of them, I will never know whether they were correct or not); then there was a phase when I was totally confused or questioned bits of these learnings; then there was the phase that set my beliefs in other faiths also and then there is this phase when you feel there is no point in having only one faith when all of them have such wonderful things to teach you and then there is this phase when you think that there is no point in running around multiple faiths - because they all seem to point at the same thing anyway. So wonder why people identify differently at all...

It was easy to understand that the culprit was within. The mind monkey was/ is jumping all around. In trying to still my mind, I ended up stilling my body. The result was - obesity. Of course, it took me a while to understand this. So how does one stop this constant wander...I thought there must be some way to stop it. It was confusing to see what was the real ME. Is there a ME other than the one which I am trying to still. Are there so many MEs. So again confusion as to what is ego, what is intellect, what is mind and what is the real ME and so on...

There are various other bits - there is no such thing as right or wrong; All is one; Be present always; The future and past reside in the present. So, just be in the NOW and so on..
As it seems, confusion is the only constant...there is no point learning these words if they dont become part of the real YOU.

To keep the mind still, I took to reading many books, listening to friends of similar disposition and also discourses on Television, The speaking tree in Times of India, Mukul Sharma's column in economic times, the snippets in various magazines pointing to divinity; there were varieties of pointers and lessons, that, after each of these stints, there was a definitely sense of " Yes, now i know how to" followed by an effort to live the lessons with a determination that I would not let this go, only to realise much later that this stillness was achieved for a remarkably short while and I am back to square one!

This lead to the search of a Mast. I thought there must be a Mast that 'I' can hold to - I dont know which 'I' I am talking about, but this 'I' is the real 'I'..that I am supposed to be. All the other "I's" and 'MEs' - I am trying to falsify; still them and then kill them. I was firm that there must be a Mast that could be held on to, which will ensure that my real I doesnt wander any more and all other I's get killed. AFter all, this Universe and God and Divinity and Truth etc could not have simply packaged me and sent me to this world to just keep wandering all the time. There must be a way - a simple way- for me to realise this Truth. So I have to find this Mast and hold on to it and see the Truth, somehow. I think that practices of mantra chanting or prayers etc were meant to play the role of this Mast. But I was not comfortable with them, because I could not relate very well.

Its unfair that much of my lifetime will be spent searching and I dont know whether I will ever find the Truth. This is paradoxical to the fact that we actually try to find Truth inorder to lead a balanced life! I have not got around this. My small intellect cannot fathom this huge reality. This leads me to think that I should no longer look to exploiting the capacity of my limited intellect. I should borrow other intellects and think collectively and expand in strength so as to fathom this reality. I gather that this may the essence of really 'expanding' one's awareness and think collectively with others. This could be the seed to feeling 'a part of the whole', the seed to 'feeling one with others' etc. Maybe.

All negative barriers - fear, anger, greed, need for fame, need to lie, need for security, need for food for reasons other than hunger etc. I could identify these as standing in my way. Its nice to feel determined to overcome them. It would be nicer still, to actually overcome them.

Lessons from Yoga - Pranayama - tells you to breath fully. There are lessons from Eckarte Tolle that are so powerful. They tell you / teach you to become more aware of what you see /hear and so on. Putting all these together, I now feel that the MAST is nothing but the human body - my body. And how do I hold to this Mast - through my various sense organs - my eyes, ears, nose, skin / whole body.

If I heard 100% and saw 100% and breathed 100%, I am as aware of my surroundings as I could be - logically. This completely blocks out any false I's and Me's, because the real ME is fully switched on, it doesnt allow the others to take over and put me on a thinking mode. I think the logic is - when I see something I dont just see, I also start holding up the image and begin analysing it and thereby slowly drift away from the act of seeing 100%. This percentage drops further as my thinking process gets stronger and stronger. My thinking process is driven by my perceptions which inturn are the products of my false Is and MEs. So I end up falling from the aware ness. If my act of seeing was, say, a look at the begger boy at the traffic signal at Red, I come back to life only when the green signal comes on and I am prodded to attend to the road ahead. Of course I have not experienced these 100% yet, but you need 100% belief before you can even try. So that's where the effort is currently. But my realisation of the importance of sense organs was limited to nose, eyes and ears only. I had not managed to understand how do I be 100% aware in terms of my skin or the body as a whole.

The bothering thing about my body is that its overweight. How could I have abused this Mast which potentially is the gateway to Truth. Earlier I had made many attempts at reducing my excess weight. Even though I tried hard, a part of me kept saying that it was illogical to try to fight overweight. Why was I overweight - because I am at my laptop or desktop or television or reading which means sitting most of the time. But its the world which has brought me to this pass.

If I stop these activities, I will have to stop my job. So, am I doing the wrong job..no, what is wrong with my job. I am working for a firm which is making a difference to millions of people. My playing a part in it cannot be wrong. Coming to think of it, its become THE way of life and actually I have no choice. All information is available more on the internet; all transactions are happening on the internet; all news from television and all office work on the laptop...If the world's evolution has brought me to this pass, my body also should have got adapted to this lifestyle. So, where is the need to engage in a specific programme called Exercise to offset the effects of this evolutionary happening....Isnt it hypocritical...are you not accepting and rejecting a reality at the same time? But my body IS protesting the obesity and giving hints to change ASAP.

Now, in this knowledge that my body is the Mast, I find a new meaning as to why I must maintain my body. There is a new fresh outlook towards it. Thank God for that.
So, the last few days, I dont exercise in a standard programme, but seem to enjoy the feeling of body movement. Even simple acts are pleasurable, even just shaking the hand seems to give a tingling effect and a sense of calm. While experiencing this, I realise that this feeling of calm is perhaps because of the 100% sense of feeling. I have stumbled upon the 4th element of awareness - the 100% of feeling - the compliment to the sense organ - skin. This has happened so recently that I cant talk much about it. So my summary of holding to the Mast is to be 100% aware of what you hear, what you see, what you breath, and what you feel.
I am positive that if this can be achieved, one would have achieved total awareness.
Or, maybe there is more magic beyond that and this is just the bend on the road...

Beat the Return Delivery Notification by senders

2007-09-28T16:43:00.000+05:30

For some time now, I have been thinking how to beat the sender who has placed a return delivery notification on a mail to me (Lotus Notes). There is no standard option for me (as receiver) to block such notification to be sent back to sender. But you still dont like it going - sometimes. The solution is quite simple.

Receive the mail with return delivery notification
Do not open the mail
Quickly disconnect your LAN cable / disable your wireless broadband / disconnect internet cable
Now open the mail and read to heart's content.
Go to the Outbox and find that return delivery sitting there like a trapped prisoner
Delete the outbox item
Connect to internet again and carry on as usual. Notice that there is no return delivery tag against that mail
Presto! your sender is still wondering whether you read that very important mail or not...keep him guessing..

Password lock- once hit, twice shy

2007-08-02T15:09:00.000+05:30

I was faced with a peculiar problem with my office laptop since yesterday evening..
My password into the network would work fine the first time but not when I tried relogging after a lockout! And 3 continuous wrongs means more trouble!!

My technical helpdesk asked me to contact the local team, who I could not reach for a while. I was left shaking the touchpad lest I got locked out. I had rebooted some 7 times in a span of 18 hours.

Then, accidentally I typed my password in the username field and noticed that @ appeared as ". Now I knew where the problem was. My keyboard was recognising a different symbol whenever I typed my password containing the symbol @.

So I opened winword and typed the small and CAPS of all the keys and found atleast 4 to 5 keys which showed up differently on the doc as opposed to what it was on the keyboard!

I googled and found a similar post advising that the keyboard language properties must be set to 'British'.

I then remembered that while fiddling with the laptop the day before, i had clicked open the handwriting menu and some settings had got changed!

I went back to the handwriting settings and converted them all back to simple UK english and rebooted.

Lo and behold! problem solved!!

Organisations grow bigger and bigger, is there a critical point which takes it downward

2007-07-21T22:55:00.000+05:30

I had posted this question at LinkedIn and got some wonderful answers. This blog is an attempt to summarise my observation from these answers.

Phil Johnson has said is beautifully:
"when you put a seed in the ground the first direction it grows is inward and downward to develop a strong root system. A seed cannot sustain its life if it grows upward and forward first". "Growth .. comes from developing resources to their full potential".

Seshagiri Rao Vaidyula sets it as:
"organizations should identify the point at which the focus & efforts shift from growth to retain its position in market". Agreeable.

Les DeGroff and Scott Willard believe and it sounds extremely fitting that we take a "living system view of an organisation". "Every organism gets to a place where it either grows or dies. These bifurcation points come all of the time".

Robert Rust:
Suggests that growth could be envisaged in different ways. For e.g. strengthening the supply chain could be growth. Acc to him, "Growth is required for continued existance. That's simple. The harder question to answer is - How to grow in a direction that will make the organization thrive"

Lee Hanley believes that when the organisation could no longer act as a single entity and evidence of fragmentation occurs, such as conflicting goals between units within the organisation, growth can reach a tipping point.

Gerald Lo believes that resource constraints and competition automatically limits the growth of an organisation. Acc to him, the critical point is "the corporate grasp exceeds its collective reach" and that "there are no facile means of defining such a point for a given organization in advance". He believes that "such asset-rich organizations (would0 became targets for hostile acquisition and rapid liquidation for a profit".

Summary: Organisations cannot grow bigger and bigger due to various factors, unless it is in terms of strength of its internal mechanisms. Mere growth in resource/ assets could take an organisation towards a downward path. An example of such a critical point could be when the focus is retention rather than growth;

Life insurance claims

2007-04-24T15:35:00.000+05:30

We all have heard bad scoops on life offices rejecting claims and being the villain. It is also important to remember that proving a really fraudulent claim and repudiating it is a himalayan task for life insurers. This is compounded by lack of standards in our infrastructure and lower insurance literacy, due to which investigation of claims is not easy. Nevertheless it is possible that some of the customers must have paid a price in the past due to wrong judgements on their claims and must have felt helpless due to the fact that the ghosts of their dead kin cannot come back to clarify the situation to life office or court.

It was good to read that at last Indian regulators (this time the DEA) have started taking steps to ease the insurance claimants' uncertainty on claim payments . They are thinking of placing a 5 year cap for Insurers to find out all they can about their customers and avoid repudiation of claims on account of non-disclosure etc. This law, if passed on to the Insurance Acts can have far reaching consequences. The intersts of genuine customers would be protected and surely they can feel much more 'secure' with the life insurance cover bought by them. And the fraudulent ones would be identified and their policies cancelled, or voided within 5 years of inception. To this extent the change could bring in a huge degree of certainty and confidence in life insurance product and probably give a boost to the % of insured population in this country.

Is the 5 year period right?

I feel '5 years' for insurers to communicate the suitability and authenticity of the case, is a long period. It does not make sense to provide 5 years where claims normally qualify for increased suspicon by insurers within a 2 or 3 year period from inception, which is when there is maximum investigation and quicker repudiation. Ideally the time period set should be based on the type of life insurance product varying from 30 days to 1 year.

Also this change means a customer has to technically wait for 5 years before feeling fully 'secure'. An unfortunate customer whose policy is cancelled would have lost 5 years worth of cover as also the opportunity to take insurance at a lower premium 5 years before.

Where does that leave the insurer?

On the insurers front, this change can increase their tasks greatly. They may be forced to carry out verification of every case, rather than spend the effort and money on a select few cases that resulted in early death claims or claims which qualify to be investigated.

This change would mean a regular process in every life office to undertake routine investigation of most cases and communicate the voided/ cancelled ones and be prepared for litigation. Ombudsman's office will see more volume of work as well as consumer forums and courts.

With increased costs of investigation, life insurers may have to spend atleast 2 to 5 times more than what they do today.

Where does that leave the customer/ claimant?

Higher investigation costs obviously will have to be recouped back which means potential increase in premiums.

The change might also mean quicker claim settlements for cases if all other conditions are satisfied. No non-disclosure related checks will be made at the time of claim unless it was within the 5 year period.

Cycle time for Policy issue may not take the hit if the insurer choses to subject them under a disclaimer for the ensuring investigation and communication.

Challenges peculiar to life and pensions industry

2007-03-11T13:29:00.000+05:30

The other day I met someone who asked what might be some of the challenges peculiar to L&P sector. I give below what I shared, though its not exhaustive.

Straight through processing is still a challenge, even though other sectors are way ahead in this. The reason - the main flow of underwriting task has not changed in the last few decades, though a good deal of automation and outsourcing has happened to address this challenge.
The key inputs into an application are not fully determinable leaving a permanent gap for entry of fraud. If I said I smoke only 2 cigarettes a day, there is no way the insurance office will be able to check on that. This challenge might get mitigated to a large extent, with increasing possibility of tracking and tracing of individual behaviour - at home, in the workplace and in public places - online or offline.
The other greatest challenge for the sector (though its not talked about much) is doing complete justice to its claimants, because the dead don’t come back to fight their case. This could be mitigated by tuning all the processes and methods from a customer perspective than a life office manageability perspective. This change might have major impacts on the pricing and processing time. I am planning to write a separate paper on this.
The life office acquires long term liability (which also means it has the ability to acquire assets to a great extent) and cannot easily close down its shop. There is no strict concept of profit and loss. The life office has to be valuated frequently to establish its ability to honour its promises. It has to remain a highly regulated sector and suffers a lot of expense and change continually with regulation as a key driver.
The fact that the life office has long term contracts with its customers has far reaching impacts on numerous aspects of administration and IT. The management of legacy is far more difficult to address in a life office as opposed to other sectors including Property & Casuality.
Omnipresent illiteracy on the 'need for insurance'. There are many many people out there who question the need for life insurance and there are many more who are suffering to understand the complexity in the products.
Last, but not the least, the sector is precariously running on an assumption that death is a certainty. Any change to this assumption might totally topple this industry. The experiments that try to defy aging and death have successfully grown human ear in the intestinal tissue of a mouse; has cultured a baby tooth; is attempting to grow a heart in a beaker; is making babies in the test tubes anyway; is successfully growing highly premature babies outside the womb.

So what are the challenges that are common with other sectors?

Cost containment and improved efficiency leading to the need for an ever optimising Operating model
Channel diversification for products (where two different sectors come together to sell a common pool of products). E.g. A retail store selling insurance and other investment products)
General Regulatory impacts
Demographic impacts (People following the Pension reforms would know it better!)
Changing needs of the consumer in terms of products and services. Thanks to newer technologies, they have ever changing demands from their providers. (Recommended read: PC World’s ‘50 most important people on the web’)
Impacts of the global economy
Heavy control of the Distribution channel in some markets
Competiton from allied sectors (E.g. Banks and Fund Houses)

Heard Today

2007-02-16T12:56:00.000+05:30

In total Freedom, there is no escape.

Human evolution - further steps

2007-02-08T13:50:00.000+05:30

For the bulk of our waking time, if we keep sitting at the desk instead of moving about, take only 1000 steps a day opposed to 10 times the number; stop using fingers except on keyboards; eat canned foods mostly; continue to eat 3 times a day as before; use our eyes more on the screen (TV, mobile, laptop); see less and less of other natural substances, how do you think we will evolve into future generations, going by the natural selection theory?

protruding eyes that shine only when in front of screens
loud vocal performance to get ourselves heard
Bent back and neck
longer hands with thick blobs for finger ends
shorter, thicker abdomen with folded layers
Bulky tummy
Large flat bottoms housed in wide pelvics
Shorter, curved and thick legs with weak feet

Geeky Body! Geeky Soul!

2007-02-04T16:20:00.000+05:30

A Body is like the PC hardware and the soul is like an operating system. The soul acts as the interface between the body and the environment surrounding the body.

Animal Procreation is equivalent to recycling parts of an existing body to form new ones, into which new operating systems are loaded.

Just like how operating systems by themselves are useless, souls would always need bodies to 'become active and useful in worldly tasks'. Just like how a total hardware damage to the computer cannot 'kill' the operating system itself, which is reusable, total damage to body cannot alter the soul.

Is it possible to have a working computer hardware for ever? Can the operating system exist for ever? If not infinitely, its life can definitely be extended to a large extent. However, the hardware can exist forever through constant refurbishment and replacement. Similarly the operating system can exist forever, provided it is replenished constantly with additional patches. Else, it can be replaced with a totally newer version. The human body can also potentially be maintained well for a long time through refurbishment, Else, it can be replaced through procreation which grows the body through recycling some parts from parents.

The total rejuvenation of soul can happen by letting go the past totally by starting a new birth. Part rejuvenation of the soul can happen through keeping the mind healthy and young and stressfree.

I think it should be possible to avoid death for a long time as well delay the aging process. Possibly it should be possible for 'soul' or 'life' to move from body to body, as the next step of flexibility.

This analogy is not surprising. Humans could never 'invent' anything really. All our inventions would have had to conform to permissible natural processes only, and so they must all be mere discoveries or copies of the natural processes only. So, if we can learn from nature and replicate them into inventions, we could also understand about natural processes from some of our accidental inventions.

Just Do It!

2007-01-21T05:11:00.000+05:30

What is not innovation?

Imagine a single apple on a plate laid on a table. I could easily point to the apple and say that it is one. I could also point to the objects around the apple and say that none of those is an apple.
However, innovation is not tangible at all. You could only say what is not innovation and that too is a limited knowledge. But for the sake of discussion, let us see what is not innovation.

Being structured could not be Innovation. Innovation flourishes where there is no structure. Innovation is boundaryless, so boundaries cannot imply innovation. Why? Because the very essence of innovation is to think beyond the obvious or obviously structured thought patterns, so obviously, innovators dont like to be governed or guided by what might be obvious to those around them!

Innovation could not be a new buzz word. Innovation has always been there as an urge among humanity. It has been a passion, a quest, a behaviour, an attitude, etc. Its just that some were lucky or strong enough to work through their natural lines of thoughts whereas others got tamed by others' dictats. Innovation as a pursuit is an omnipresent phenomenon. Buzz words come and go like cycles of fashion, whereas, innovativeness is a human behavioural urge that has always existed.

Innovation is not a new learning module, where we can 'teach' people how to become innovative. The world has enough people to innovate and enough of others who can play the part of encouraging them, spotting them, helping them work on their passion and benefiting from their work. It is just important to recognise which category we fall into and play that part well. Both being innovative and supportive to innovation are equally important.

Innovation is not exhaustible. Innovation will exist as a behavioural urge as long as humanity hasn't found answers to every question. Just as innovation cannot be defined, characteristics of innovators also cannot be defined.

What can corporates do about practising innovation?

Being naturally innovative and practising it, is essential to ultimate survival is common knowledge and one doesn't need competition and balance sheets to tell this.

Corporates would do well to actually Think, Innovate and Share rather than discuss innovation as a subject internally and externally. They just need to allow their people to naturally innovate. The key is to remove the boundary walls around thought patterns, which exist in various forms (E.g. policies, procedures, supervisory role-barriers, poor information access).

A non-product focussed firm will have innovation taking birth in its people’s minds, who might practically be at any level. The frequency and occurrence could be totally unpredictable. Innovation wouldn’t always climb up to catch attention via the heirarchial structure. Ears will need to be built everywhere across the organisation, to ‘listen’ to innovators, to really capitalise on this inherent potential.

Decision making through collaboration

2007-01-14T03:52:00.000+05:30

Decision making through a collaborative approach is a sign of maturity in the leadership, no doubt, even though its more timeconsuming than the practice seen in heirarchial managements. Collaborative approach takes its people along with every decision and minimises the post-decision fallouts of any dissatisfaction, not to speak of the benefits derived from the application of many brains to the issue.

A common mistake seen in firms copying this approach in their heirarchial management set up is : not all participants are aware why they are a part of this decision making process or sometimes they are not clearly aware of their empowerment or their stake in this issue.

The thinking ambit of an individual is driven by the empowerment or ownership of the issue. Where this is not established in a team, each member ends up performing less than one's individual capability. This could be for fear of trespassing onto another's area or due to a shrivelled thinking to suit whatever is the percieved personal stake to the issue.

Result: The exercise would have delivered less than the summation of individual capability of the team members.

So, what are the steps?

Have the session

Identify the members

TELL them their areas of empowerment and get them to feel the ownership of issue

THEN collaborate

In the pic. A,B, and C are the members.

Itching-for-Improvement Syndrome

2007-01-05T22:06:00.000+05:30

Why do I always feel like improving something or the other (this is not meant to be self-glorification but a real time horror at workplace)

Is it because I am on a fault-finding mode always, which is why I feel the need to improve/change

Maybe I mistakenly think that I am improving something, whereas it may not be a beneficial change. after all, but to my eyes alone, all the benefits seem shining out and I find it hard to see the devils hidden in the whole scheme, out to topple my dream!

Is my imagination really an improvement or is it just a change of perspective with a different set of benefits?

Is it a sign of 'inadequacy' and therefore the need to try to fill up the need.

Is it a sign of ageing or insanity?

Is it a negative emotion where you are always quesitoning and seeking change?

Quite a few people around you could be irritated having to 'respond' to each such new perspective, if you really had it your way, Ms. Improver! God alone knows how many improvement plans I have drawn up but selectively shared. Now, examing this syndrome logically and selflessly, this is what I have:

Improvement is always with reference to a certain state of the environment. One can look at it as an adequate state or an inadequate state with reference to a base state. Accordingly one would improve or stay put. So, if someone is always on an improvement spree, (we use the term 'Improver' here) it should mean that the Improver is using a frame of reference, different from the rest of the populace. This improvement could be
(a) for some added or more suitable benefits or,
(b) for the pure thrill of action or,
(c) for accelerating an otherwise gradual change.

The above would imply that the Improver
(a) is able to foresee better benefits or,
(b) only thrives on multiple perspectives or,
(c) is able to 'envision' the future trends.

Well, either which way you see, it pays to listen to an Improver.

; )

My Theory of Confidence

2007-01-05T17:06:00.000+05:30

It goes like this...

Assumption 1: Confidence about any subject matter can be drawn in two ways - Logically and emotionally. Logically drawn confidence is driven by facts & details whereas emotionally drawn confidence is driven by feelings. It is possible to display a hybrid confidence that has both logic and emotion as drivers.

Assumption 2: For logically drawing confidence, a complete knowledge about the environment influencing the subject of confidence is required, in order to attain 100% confidence on the said subject. Any deficiency on the knowledge about the impacting environment will lead to a lesser confidence level or a miscalculated confidence. So, any logically drawn confidence on a subject is limited to what is known and true about the environment influencing the subject of confidence.

For e.g. I sit in a room and claim that the room is always cool, though the reason could be that it is airconditioned, which fact I may or may not know. The statement that it is always cool is only true for the environment bound by the room's walls and limited by my knowledge as to what all can keep the room cool. It is also possible that I may never know that there is an environment outside the room, which will impact the room's temperature if the airconditioner were to break down. Thus my 100% confident expression that the room is always cool could be highly deficient.

Assumption 3: Many mysteries of the universe are not yet understood. So, there could potentially be many more factors impacting the environments in and around the world. Many current day claims vouching 100% confidence may infact get impacted by the new understandings, yet to unfold in the future.

Conclusion: Any claims of 100% confidence is not possible until Everything is known about Everything. Until then, no one can Ever conclude confidently about Anything and All confidence is either deficient or emotion driven.

So, having said all this, how confident can one get about 'confidence'?

Science and all that is not

2007-01-02T00:11:00.000+05:30

Before we broke up for the weekend one friday evening, a few of us at work were chatting. The talk that ensued accidentally reached the debatable topic of 'what is science'. While I expressed that perhaps every knowledge is science, my friend Laks felt that only what is provable is science and yet another had a third opinion. Despite arguments put forth, I still think all that is not-science is so, only until someone proved it. So what is not science today is only waiting to be proven or understood, a measure of our ignorance - that is all. I think religion, art, philosophy, music, occult, ...everything is a part of one whole which we can call science or something else. The most common 'opposite to science' that is quoted is Art.

We can't forget that the artists of yesteryears were the scientists who studied corpses and advanced animal biology; they were inventors who designed weapons; they were journalists who drew reports of war and other political happenings by painting the scenes on canvas; they were architects who designed massive structures. Artists such as Michaelangelo studied muscular system to get his paintings and sculptures right. There are many scientists and mathematicians who are proficient in music, drawn from the same passion to 'know', 'experiment', 'demonstrate' and 'enjoy'.

Google for 'what is science' and it can overwhelm anyone and leave many of us confused. To reach a conclusive conclusion that Science is distinct from many other facets of the universal truth, Science will need to remain distinct from non-science whatever the advancement in our knowledge of non-science.

One particular link that makes a lot of effort to distinguish science from what isn't, is http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/railsback_1122science1.html But I am sure a lot of the content can be debated.

Why Cold weather causes common cold?

2007-01-01T15:33:00.001+05:30

One common Christmas gift to quite a few at York seems to be Cold, cough and fever. All of us at home and whoever I meet in York seems to be suffering from either of these. I have spent the christmas and new year holidays trying to ward off this infection from my family. My daughter seems to be the one with a stubborn variant, that keeps switching between cough, cold and fever at different times, confusing me as to what medication to give consistently. The NHS ofcourse only gave me a voice message to preferably approach in the new year.

My husband blamed it on my daughter's nth shopping spree with her friends 'out in the cold'. So, does walking in the cold automatically land us with infection? This question had occurred several times earlier, but I couldnt understand the connection (if only I had got those 4 marks by which I narrowly missed admission to a medical college 20 years back)...But its true that by the time I walk back from the bus stop to my home in the cold evenings, my normally dry and comfortable looking nose is transformed to a leaking and embarassed one and the first thing I do after I enter the house is rush to the washbasin! without even greeting my waiting family.

So, what is this truth about catching cold if you are out in the cold? Does the air contain more infectious virus when the temperature drops down? Or does the body attract more virus if not protected well with warm clothing?

I got enlightened with the explanation in this link...read it if you didnt know the answer earlier...

http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=21&action=detail&ref=55

Meanwhile, I am trying out a herbal concoction my mom dictated to me over phone from Mumbai. Now, that's another research as to why this concoction should ward off the infection!

Stock Trading Vs. Gambling

2006-12-31T15:34:00.000+05:30

The other day my kid asked about what her father's preoccupation is with the laptop these days for hours on end..and I explained that he has taken to stock trading and investments. This led to 'what is stock trading' and I gave a 4 line explanation as best as I thought she might be able to understand, more so to enable her to reply to anyone who asked her about her Dad's occupation.

Pat came her response...isn't stock trading same as gambling?

I must say it had never occurred to me and find a plethora of discussions in the world wide web on the subject, yet unresolved.
http://www.wilmott.com/messageview.cfm?catid=19&threadid=12885
http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/993669
http://www.parkparadigm.com/?p=83
http://www.helium.com/tpc/6841/exploring-difference-between-trading

Most opinions are on the operational differences between the two. One particular explanation I liked is from CJ Diedrich that gambling is more a mindset that can be applied in stock trading also, if you were trading with no strategy or experience. But the corrollary also could be that if a Gambler used strategy and experience to his advantage, does Gambling become a respectable occupation?

The target state

2006-12-30T23:52:00.000+05:30

From a certain standpoint it looks that the entire world's actions and aspirations revolve around a simple aim - making good the inadequacies.

Customers want services and products because they feel inadequate without them. And organisations providing the products and services owe their entire profits to this simple sense of inadequacy of their customers
Organisations want to grow and flourish because they feel inadequate without doing so
People learn from their younger days and go about life to fill the inadequacies of various experiences and pleasures
Beggers beg to fill inadequacies (albeit for survival perhaps, with no other option)
Countries go about their affairs to fill the various inadequacies of governance
Etc.

Obviously everyone is trying to reach a state of adequacy, but are never able to, due to fresh insights into newer inadequacies and so we move on and on..

Feeling inadequate leaves us with a state of always 'seeking happiness' rather than 'being happy', leaving us stressed up. Are we being foolish?

What if we did achieve the target state and stopped feeling inadequate - Is it possible? Will the world come to a halt?

Employee angst

2006-12-30T23:45:00.000+05:30

When children throw tantrums, we now know that its a symptom to the disorder of 'lack of sufficient attention', which we, as parents, have caused.
When employees' behaviour go over board, we need to do just that - instrospect and give attention. There is no other way out.

Worth of Knowledge

2006-12-28T12:26:00.000+05:30

A mail that floated my way had this to say:

Theory 1 -> Knowledge (K) = Power (P)
Theory 2 - > Power (P) = Work(W)/time (T)
Theory 3 - > Time (T) = Money (M)

Adding 1 and 2 above, you get K = W/T
Inserting 3 in this, we get, K = W/M

So, M = W/K

As your Knowledge (K) approaches zero, money (M) approaches infinity regardless of the amount of work (W) done. Now you know why your Boss is paid more

: )

Consensus ad idem

2006-12-08T14:07:00.000+05:30

While I was at my laptop typing out some feedback I had gathered from my customer the day before, my husband mentioned something to me, to which I replied something else. He immediately commented that what he meant is not what I had heard.

I am sure this happens quite often in our everyday lives. The millions of years of effort at building human languages has really not broken the barrier between people in the sense one still cant be sure if the listening party understood you well or not, from the mere words spoken. Which is why we see so many supplemental communication in the form of gestures, audio-visuals and what not, to ensure that the audience understands you exactly how you would want them to. There is a whole big industry thriving on this 'inability'. On a positive note, this inability (that we may not understand the speaker like how he/she might like us to) could also be stretched to a unique capability in us, in that, we all manage to get different insights about the same spoken words leading to new contexts, new ideas and new theories etc.

In any case, my conclusion is that we still have space for inventing or discovering a communication method which will be totally foolproof and where the speaker and listener will understand it exactly the same way.

(And btw, please google to know the meaning of the title, if you dont know already)

Technology in Leadership

2006-12-02T11:26:00.000+05:30

Building Taj Mahal or Pyramids would have had the leaders of those days use brute force, leading to loss of human lives, countless injuries and disabilities. I doubt if such individual calamities were welcomed by all the workers at the start of the project.

But what we see today is just the beautiful monument, and we leave the place in pure admiration. There is no imprint of poor leadership whatsoever.

A similar achievement in today's society, where rights of living beings are far better enforced, would have called for a much more superior form of leadership, but then we have been spared that, thanks to technology.

Reinventing wheel

2006-11-30T13:03:00.000+05:30

Yes, I need not reinvent the wheel wasting precious time and instead reuse the invention or knowledge, for a quicker start. Two thoughts from this

There is no concept of a 'reuse' in the journey of one's growth as an individual. I can't not learn to walk because my neighbour has already done so. I can't not feel the pain of my heart attack because countless have already gone through it. I can't not feel the anxiety of death because countless have died before me. Its still a unique experience for the individual, significant enough to be felt and learnt from.
Many service provider firms bag deals based on past experience, which, in some cases, would just reside in the form of skills within the individuals who had been a part of that experience. But these individuals might have since moved on. Such experiences (especially those individual level experiences) can be of use to another customer only if they were imbibed into the service provider's organisational system. Any sane minded customer should ask for a glimpse of these.

Path

2006-11-27T12:52:00.000+05:30

"Sometimes, the futility or utility of a path is known only on journeying through it for a while." An example towards this from my friend Gopa - One cannot debate the value of a particular set of alphabets, until one learns that language.

Bruises

2006-11-25T15:21:00.000+05:30

While others laughed, the bruises all over her also indicated that she had learnt to dare, which the onlookers had yet to.

Leadership notes

2006-11-18T22:52:00.000+05:30

An observation made yesterday

It is not that the leader of a team should voice his / her thoughts or suggestions to the team and get them to accept it. (A leader doesnt need to influence the team in a certain direction, I think). But it is for the leader to understand / capture the thinking of the team and voice it as well as faciliatate the team to think all angles to arrive at a consensus themselves. The leader is not necessarily superior or inferior to anyone in the team and can be as wrong or right as any other.

Mckinsey

2006-11-14T11:31:00.000+05:30

It was interesting to see the values that Mckinsey, as a consulting firm imbibed, way back in 1937, that are still a far cry for many firms of today.

After James O Mckinsey's death, the 2 partners split to form AT Kearney (headed by partner Kearney) and Mckinsey (headed by partner Bower). These were the principles that Bower established for Mckinsey:

(1) put the interests of the client ahead of revenues,
(2) tell the truth and don't be afraid to challenge a client's opinion and
(3) only agree to perform work that is necessary and something McKinsey can do well. (Use) professional business language where jobs are "engagements" and the firm has a "practice."

(source:http://www.careers-in-business.com/consulting/hist1920.htm)

Opposite feathers, close together?

2006-11-12T18:03:00.000+05:30

Something I always wanted to ask Microsoft and other User Interface developers - Why do they place 2 functions of opposite effects close together in their applications? My friend yesterday clicked the next function inadvertantly and lost a valuable file. A small misstep and what a large difference it makes to your original intent!

Look at all applications - invariably 'cut' and 'paste' will be next to each other and so also with 'insert' and 'delete' and 'open' and 'close' . Until something is done, do we keep shut and instead work to improve the dexterity of our fingers on the mouse or keyboard or the screen!

Spherically organised

2006-11-12T03:20:00.000+05:30

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_n2_v106/ai_19360556
This article (On being round - why stars and planets are spherical) brought back the thoughts of what had been crossing my mind for a while ... that there is more to spherical / elliptical / circular forms. They seem to portray a stable shape after some influences of transformation.

A sphere is very often the result when a disfigured object is smoothened with pressure applied on its surfaces, depicting this to be a stable state of existance. I am reminded of how we make rolls of dough with both hands to reach a spherical shape, before using the rolling pins on them.

So, spherical is probably the shape to reach before the next level of transformation can be applied.

Secondly,

Older organisations are often found ('guilty' of being) heirarchial and there is this theme to flatten them, bring people closer in thoughts and deeds as much as possible. Of course this is a huge challenge for these usually large organisations and they tend to remain pyramidal, while trying to open more lines of communication across levels.

Applying this shape of stability to an Organisation presents an interesting scenario. Every element on its surface is at the same level as the others , that is, to say, that none is superior or inferior to the rest and at the same time, every element is in a unique viewing position and cannot be wrong. All are connected to the core and all are also faced outward. Here, the value is better understood if we presume the sphere to be not solid, because we don't want many blind spots between the surface and the center. This is more an inside-outward style, where the control is at the center though the visibility and leadership may lie on the periphery.

This entire universe's basic characteristic is the uniqueness of every iota of its element and maybe this is one of the reasons why they are often circular, spherical, or elliptical and not triangular. Some cue for new shapes for organisations of the future.

Another way of looking at a spherically organised entity is that, if necessary, pyramids can be carved out of a solid sphere, with the pyramid's top coinciding with the sphere's center and the base forming a portion of the sphere's surface.
In a lone pyramidal organisation, the style is top - down with both the control and leadership visibility lying at the top.

So, if we assume that 'spherical' is the way to go, would it not mean that each pyramidal organisation should either become spherical (one vision, total capability) or, look for other pyramids, all of whom together can make up a sphere (mutual / complementary vision towards a common goal).

What's cooking?

2006-11-10T13:46:00.000+05:30

Our journey towards realising our focus takes such turns that it is good to sit back and think where one is and what it means.

Let's say the objective of the organisation that you work for is - To Create A Good Meal.

Check if you are one of the Ingredients to the meal. The ingredient could be good, pure, and sometimes consumable by itself, but its best use will be by the Chef if he plans to prepare a big meal and you cant usually sell yourself to him as he has the larger objective. Ofcourse if you are one of the key ingredients the Chef cant do without you either. This is how you are placed here.
Working on the side of the Chef - you decide what ingredient, how much of it and when to use it. That's how you are placed here.

Where are you and are you happy where you are.

Customer Retention in Life Insurance - Best Practices

2006-11-06T03:22:00.000+05:30

A few sharable tips for Customer Retention in Life & Pensions:

The traditional method (or the oft spoken method) for customer retention is beginning with a classification of customers as high value, medium, budget etc, and then strategise based on their profitability. A long winding method indeed, considering that there are really few effective users of this strategy!
One way around is simply limiting the costs that these customers can actually influence. The costs for maximum value can be standardised and customers can be rewarded with discounts as shown below for minimising the insurer's servicing costs. This way the cost variables can be better controlled.

An ‘additional policy discount’ to every existing customer buying a new policy/ product from the same insurer. (This can be sourced from the savings on the added cost of acquisition had the same policy been sold to a new customer)
Provide ‘common servicing discount’ on premiums wherever customers agree for common services across policies (as permissible – change of address/name/premium date/nominee/etc.) This requires that the Insurer is ready with a process that provides for sweeping change across all policies for the cost of change on one policy. Some changes may be specific to a policy, which may not be covered under this).
Provide online servicing discount to customers who agree to limit their walk-in services/ paper based services.

Halloween...

2006-11-04T22:49:00.000+05:30

This is what my kid thinks of HALLOWEEN on its eve..in her own words

H is for hell that will ease out,
A is for the ancient skulls to rise
L is for lots and lots of ghouls
And they'll give you a huge surprise
L is for the Lumber door that will crack
O is for Odd witches, zombies and dark cats
W is for wizards who shall cast their spells
on vamps and turn them into bats
E is for the Easy going mummies
E is for the Even pumpkin's face
N is for the never leaving spirits to last
all competing against each other on halloween's race

They spread across the city, demanding freedoom
From their mouldy, mossy, worthless grave
Trick or treating from door to door
Threatening humans, from a merchant to a slave
They need you, you need them,
To make halloween a fun-filled time
So grab a costume or you'll regret it
This is the truth, not just a silly rhyme...

The 3 E's

2006-10-18T11:38:00.000+05:30

In my personal research, I find that Excellence, Ethics, and Efficiency are all dependent variables. An organisation claiming a High on Excellence (if its true) cannot be any lower in Ethics and / or Efficiency and vice-vice-versa.

Challenge me.

Excellence

2006-10-18T11:05:00.000+05:30

What is Excellence...

I have gone thru quite a few organisations' definitions and models that vocalise how well they are adapted to achieve excellence by virtue of their operating model. But coming to simple equations, what is excellence..

Possessing good qualities to a high degree (what is high degree)
Performance beyond imagination (what is the limit for imagination)
...
...
If I wish to achieve excellence in my area...what do I need to do. Is there a frame of reference against which I measure. Then cannot the frame of reference itself be changed any time...so does it mean, Excellence can change in its quantum and we can define excellence to suit us.

I would have been comfortable if Excellence, as a bar, existed as a certain independent omnipresent standard which IS.. something like TRUTH.. that cannot be debated, manipulated, changed etc. But what is it, where is it...Is there really some thing called 'excellence' which is just there. I dont have an answer.
One of my searches yielded the following link from Aziz Premji
http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/jan/17spec.htm

SOHO

2006-10-17T22:14:00.000+05:30

There were these disparate pieces of recent news items and observations that conjured up a Home Office dream in my mind, such as…

Broadband rates to be slashed / wifi is in , in a big way to provide cheaper and full time access of net at home..…
Working mumbaikars perennially caught up in traffic jams…with no respite.…
Low loan rates driving huge number of cars onto the road and the resultant jams..…
Poorer and poorer work-life balance.…
India’s infrastructure (mainly roads) not good enough to usher in the new growth boom…
Jazzy workstation costs in offices at record high……
Huge amounts spent transporting employees to and from home…
Fast replenishing and ever-expensive fuel calls for better use...…
Children at home denied quality time from working parents……
No time for senior citizens at home……
Flexi timing policy has found its way into HR policies of big companies, with strings attached and no practical takers……
High rental costs of offices in Mumbai……
High density of mobile among people..…
Video conferencing - still not many takers...
Skype popularity...
Higher sale of Home PCs……
Working mother at south mumbai takes her precious casual leave to attend a 20 mins’ open house at her kid’s school at Borivli scheduled at 12.45 pm.

Also isn’t it queer that for one person, we need to reserve space at two places, at home and in office. Don’t we need to think unique ways to optimize space utilization per citizen, given that we have a unique leadership in the world on population count and democratically would not accept any harsh measures to contain it? Why cant Mumbai be the pioneer in ushering in the Home Office era in a big way

Sure enough, it cannot be a solution to all employees, especially where team work and joint sessions or work with physical files are a must. But to a lot others, the cost of establishing a full connectivity (internet, video, phone, Pc) for an employee at his/her home should be far lower than the cost of workstation, precious time, fuel, not to talk of just the need to be around one’s home, though there may be a helper to do all the work. Most likely, there would be atleast 5% of the employees in every company who can be incentivised with a Home Office. Issues will be many – how to monitor performance (we will need to pioneer a newer system); data security issues will need to be addressed, etc. Just a matter of time and this should be round the corner

Some ideas from friends and like minded:
The State Government on its part could provide some incentives to the companies in Mumbai to encourage home office for its employees, considering that India’s and Mumbai’s population is not going to reduce, nor are the roads going to increase in big numbers, nor are we going to use jet planes to travel and we certainly hope that we don’t have to forever spend our precious resources. We have our old parents and children who are left at far away homes, with no guaranteed support of babysitters. Its always a relief to have work place closer to one’s home, better still, inside one’s home. The offices adopting this could provide the infrastructure and connectivity. They could also specify conditions such as a minimum area at home to be dedicated for office and pay a nominal rent allowance to the employee for the same. The employer could take the employee’s commitment to work during office hours for office, if the tasks are bound by specified timelines. The allotment of mobile phones and unlimited connectivity through email, should not require the office to really track the whereabouts of the employee and the emphasis could be on performance and work completion than a certain number of hours to be devoted to the office. We could also grow on our HR lessons.Home Office in cities like Mumbai has great benefits to offer, let’s not miss reading that we are perhaps in the right situation to explore and adopt this. This would be another pioneering effort from India in its march towards progress. Let’s all remember, India can chart its own dynamics and needn’t copy or assess suitability of this mechanism of engaging into a Home Office model, based on results of other countries. The dynamics we work on, in India, are different and the benefits can be massive.

Are all Corporates in Mumbai listening..Dear Mayor, Dear CEO of Mumbai and Dear CM, Are you all listening..Are all NGOs and well wishing citizens listening…Are all mothers, fathers, grandparents and teachers listening..Are the traffic policemen on our ever crowded junctions listening..Are our precious children listening…

Can we see some examples of pilots carried out on this and results?Can we expect a citizen’s movement to make this a reality…

Life Insurance Practice

2006-10-17T22:07:00.000+05:30

Its amazing how fast we consulting firms are required to keep pace with the evolution outside. I have been associated with the Insurance Practice of my employer now for 5 years..the change from industry operations to one of practice operations has been immense. A bigger challenge is how rapidly we need to keep evolving from one model to another, in response to the trend. This can get even more interesting when your own company is also into a big transformation programme !

Like everyone else involved in the industry practices, I had also been generally curious to know what other firms do and how they run their 'verticals' as we call it i.e.the industry focussed units that support the organisation to reach its target markets. I am yet to find one that matches my 'ideal' state needed for an industry vertical. While there is a lot more of thought leadership these days, it is not necessarily all-encompassing, not enough to win the trust of our target markets. I wonder if multiple players in the same field should join hands for a mass influence.

A few months back I happened to attend the UK life insurance conference. Here, there was some representation from consulting firms but none really came about to clarifying the real full impact of the trend on the operations & strategy of their target market. They harped more on their potential products and services. It was a backward tracking as in trace your 'brilliant' solution to some pieces of the trend and stop at that!

I personally think consulting firms have a loooong way to go to really gain the trust of their target industry. The intent at learning the trend is more to 'catch up and throw a certain solution' rather than to 'be a step ahead of your target market and be there to provide the right approach'. Any thoughts?

Look at any appointments of leaders of these insurance practices, it is a person with vast IT experience especially in outsourcing. We are not going to make any progress if we equate a vertical depth with outsourcing capability alone. There is a lot more to it. Agree?