Signs of time ....

Akio Toyoda, from Japan, chairman of a Japanese car company is blasted by lawmakers in US for a quality issues. In a live congress session in US.

Is this a sign of time to come ? Do we fore-see Steve Balmer, John Chambers or Steve Jobs being tried in parliament house of India or in front of premier of Chine for software bugs in years to come ?

Car industry is older than IT industry. But the trend is un-deniable.

Just a few months ago, one of my customer was escalating an issue high up in my company. A small quality issue that could easily be worked around. And to express my displeasure I said - "For every small issue, you do not have to escalate to Obama". "Obama" was figurative to show the magnitude of escalation and attention seeking attitude.

But, looks like with Toyota in congress, its no more figurative.

Segmenting our "Psyche" - A good business !!

Drove off alone, an hour outside the urban area. In to a a slightly rough terrain. Not entirely sure of the location, map and how to get back. No idea of local language. Not enough to ask the way out too.

And most importantly - forgot to pick up mobile phone when I left home.

How do you feel in 2010, when you are in this situation ?

This incident can be very panicky just for the reason that you forgot your phone behind.

15 yrs ago, the exact same situation would not have been so dangerous.

The techniques of coming back to civilization would also be same. Stop by some small shop, use majorly body language to get some direction and trust the reciprocal body language.

And just get going. Even follow cars with KA03 plate :)  would do.

Our mind has become very dependent of mobile phone being with us. Even if we do not have an urgent need for this, if it is not with us we feel some level of loss of confidence.

Extending this story, in US now a days, the home surveillance using webcams is a service that is hot. One of my colleagues, who has had a dog for last 10 yrs, has this webcam installed at home and keeps monitoring the activities once through the work day. And he is availing that service for last 1 year. If that service is down, in 2010 he works from home, as he is not sure what the dog is doing at home.

In 2005, he was not so worried. He came to work and trusted that dog would be OK till he gets back.

Measurements ...

Measurements / metrics have been part of many corporate solutions for long.
Repeat - "Part" of the solution. Rarely the "whole" of it.

But it can be !

Here is a small experiment conducted internal to my team. There is an e-mail list where a lot of customer facing people post technical / marketing questions. A community of engineers keep looking at the list and respond.

This is a simple way of communication, however completely works based on someone looking in to it and responding. At a large team level, it somehow works out. And although its so free form (no ticket numbers, no tracking to closure), it has a lot of impact on customer sat if the responses are delayed.

The posters when do not get response in a day or two, post the same message back with "[2nd TRY]" in the subject line.

The experiment was to just count the accumulative [2nd TRY] in a month and publish the ticker count in internal websites and OPs slides. No other action was defined on what we need to do if it is 2 a month, 30 a month vs 70 a month.

Interesting thing is, this month it is running ZERO. The heightened awareness created by measurement is enough for the honor based community mechanism to do the due diligence.

Now, can we do the same with Global Warming ?? :)

(On a lighter note) Ignorance is *not* bliss !!!

The following material came from a very close friend abroad with a request to put this on "Betaal Gyan".
Betaal obliges :) 
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Really didn't want to send this to your work ID but this is must have material for Betaal Gyan.



The Facecloth

This has to be read, laughed at and passed on. There is not a woman alive today who won't crack up over this!

I was due for a cancer smear with the doctor later in the week.  Early one morning, I received a call from the doctor's office to tell me that I had been rescheduled for that morning at 9:30 am.  I had only just packed everyone off to work and school, and it was already around 8:45 am.  The trip to his office took about 35 minutes, so I didn't have any time to spare.

As most women do, I like to take a little extra effort over hygiene when making such visits, but this time I wasn't going to be able to make the full effort.  So, I rushed upstairs, threw off my pyjamas, wet the facecloth that was sitting next to the sink, and gave myself a quick wash in that area to make sure I was at least presentable.  I threw the facecloth in the clothes basket, donned some clothes, hopped in the car and raced to my appointment.

I was in the waiting room for only a few minutes when I was called in.  Knowing the procedure, as I'm sure you do, I hopped up on the table, looked over at the other side of the room and pretended that I was in Paris or some other place a million miles away.  I was a little surprised when the doctor said, 'My, we have made an extra effort this morning, haven't we?'

I didn't respond.

After the appointment, I heaved a sigh of relief and went home. The rest of the day was normal - some shopping, cleaning, & cooking.

After school when my 7 year old daughter was playing, she called out from the bathroom, 'Mummy, where's my facecloth?'

I told her to get another one from the cupboard.

She replied, 'No, I need the one that was here by the sink, it had all my glitter saved inside it.'

NEVER going back to that doctor ever!!

Think "Simple" ...

One thing that distinctly "Indian". And I am proud of it !

In other advanced countries, if they would have built a door like this that pinches your knuckles when you open the door, they would replace the door. They would sue the maker of the door.

The owner of the door can actually return this door within the 30 day "money back guarentee" period.

In India - the solution is simple :) See for yourself. Just cut a piece smoothly off, near the knob !!

When to "bite" ???

Went to attend a ceremony today. A "Upanayana" or a "Thread Ceremony" conducted by Bramhin families.

Being from a different place, my knowledge of the rituals and the kind of food that would be available was very limited. But 2 hrs of Bangalore drive has already made all of us hungry. We were waiting for the food.

The food turned out to be just superb ! Amazing food and uncountable items.

A very hearty, big meal ! Right when I was thinking, I am really full - came the most Yummy part (the south Indian deserts). And no matter how much I wanted them, I could not eat much. So are the people with me, who were unaware of the menu and sequence of what is coming.

While the locals, who have seen similar ceremonies and who liked this part, waited and kept enough space to enjoy the most delicious part of the meal

Now, let me switch all of you to a different story ! This is lil more contemporary corporate !

Its been a while, line and middle managers are very nervous and anxious about "Road Map". They know they can do more. At the same time, not sure if they sign up for stuff which may not be interesting.

But every passing day without clarity, the resolve drops and they do sign up bits and pieces. Not too happy about that unseen roadmap promise which is not materializing.

Sr. management has repeatedly said, keep a free pool of "substantial size" and have trust. It will help us take on bigger share of the road map, no matter what it is and when exactly it is coming.

But that "freeing up'" is not happening. And no big road map is showing up, up front to force a "free up".

Walking back from the "End State"

Currently, I ve an assignment that is much bigger than what I ve ever dealt with in my professional life. So, I am feeling much like how Nillekani might have felt being given the UIDB job. Just in a different scale may be ;)

Last few weeks I am completely lost about even where to start, as the problem definition is so vast.

Whatever I think of, has been thought of by someone already. Whatever I feel is a gap, has no money in it, for the business to be sustainable. But, just staying away from all the money, schedule, business viability, I do see 10-15 yrs away, entire country / region needing a solution that should start being in place from now.

The need is clear. The problem definition is crisp. There is only going to be increasing need for this. Then why does not it fit the standard business plan criteria to get funded and started ?

Trying out a complete new approach ! Dream the "End State". Scenario 2020 for emerging country like India. Then walk each block of that desired end state from 2010, without thinking Money / P&L for now !!

Will update how it goes :)