Bosses are humans too hence come with variety of minds, brains & hearts. They can be placed in 3 categories:

• Bad.
• Good but…
• Excellent but…

Bad. is read as “bad period”! Simply incapable. You are plain unlucky. 0% brain, 50% mind, heart is immaterial.

Good but… are capable humans, good at heart. However, lack the might, strength to hold up. Expect being letdown. 100% brain, 50% mind, 100% heart.

Excellent but… are a gift. Thank your gods. The “but” factor is when “At times (not always) in complex situations, you present a logical case with every angle dealt with to conclude Option 2 is appropriate. Boss decides it is Option 1 without much explanation other than a long pause and gaze at you“. What happened? He is generally very good but at times, why does he do this? Understand the “but” factor- Boss received a signal from the mind bank of wisdom and judgment. Recognise this as the power of intuition and the ability to work with emotional intelligence. Learn the art. 100% brain, 100% mind, 100% heart.
(Keep a tab on such instances and note the times boss’ intuition proved incorrect. You may not be able to do much to change your boss but it will help improve your self-confidence & intuition)

Cartoon by John de Pillis

What comes to your mind at the thought of rapidly built infrastructure story? Undoubtedly, China. All of us have had a relative or friend (and for some a personal experience) who travelled to China more than once, talk about how quickly China built its infrastucture. Isn’t it easy to draw a conclusion that infrastructure built faster is better? Isn’t is a no-brainer? May be not if you understand Vitaliy Katsenelson’s “China - The Mother of all black swans“

The author states an excellent example in slide 13 (displayed below) which is the basis for this post.

China - The Mother of All Black Swans by Vitaliy Katsenelson - April 2010

It has been interesting few hours thinking of the repercussions since I read this example.

1 year of high demand for manpower, electricity, iron ore and other resources to run 100 steel mills will lead to rise in commodity prices, increase in lending rates due to high demand for credit, create void in others sectors since high demand for manpower will lead to higher salaries. If all this is not bad, what after a year? Commodity prices crash, unemployment raises & idle capacity in steel mills can create havoc. This leads to a downtrend in people and goods travelling less leading to under-utilisation of the very same bridges!

On the other hand, a gradual & steady growth avoids creation of excesses and offers the benefit of time to adjust the course of actions.

Meanwhile, if you went through the above presentation and came across the city of Ordos here is video on the empty city.

Jet Airways was a full service carrier. Then came Capt Gopinath’s low-cost Air Deccan that redefined air travel in India and created a non-existent category. Jet responded with a acquisition of Air Sahara (that struggled to fructify for at least an year), renamed it to Jet Lite and converted it to a low cost carrier. Later, for whatever reason, it created another low cost airline called Jet Airways Konnect. While many full service carriers across the world are running a low cost arm, Jet Airways has 2.

If all this was not enough, what would you say to this latest news - “We are pleased to introduce Jet Airways Konnect Select, the new Premium cabin on Jet Airways Konnect flight“.

Crazy! After ripping out premium (read business) class from Jet Airways they made the low cost Konnect spinoff. Now, adding a premium class to the Konnect offering! They want to create new segment in between full service and low cost called Semi-Service  carrier (the marketing guys will find a fancier name)!?! (For all the SRK fans, Shahrukh Khan was on the board of Jet until recently).

Kingfisher airlines owes a booty to fuel suppliers, Paramount airlines loses license to operate, Air India continues to scramble for survival… It will be fun as always @watchingthesky.

There is a reason to be happy this new fiscal year, 2010-11. All of us (with a savings account) will earn more. Although the savings account deposit interest rate remains unchanged at 3.5%, your bank will pay you more than what it did for so many years. (In other words, banks did not pay what they should have so many years)

Until today, banks paid us 3.5% interest on the “lowest account balance between 10th and 31st of every month”. Lets say, one had Rs 1,00,000 on the 10th of the month & withdrew Rs 90,000 on 29th. In this case, bank would calculate interest for the month only on Rs 10,000, though you had Rs 1,00,000 almost throughout the month.

From tomorrow - 1st April, 2010, banks will calculate interest on the daily balance. Banks will continue to credit the interest amount quarterly or half yearly but the calculation will be based on the daily balance. Thanks to RBI

Another interesting aspect - In the example above, if you transferred Rs 90,000 to a friend on 29th, the bank did not have to pay interest on the Rs 90,000 to either you or your friend since the “lowest account balance” in both your accounts will not account for the 90k. In the new state of affairs, banks will be mandated to pay the interest in one of the accounts.

Coupled with the new income tax slabs for this year, you save on tax and earn more from banks! Guaranteed prosperous new fiscal year.

Anil Kumble launched a book couple of days back. It is titled Wide Angle: Candid Moments From My Playing Days with a foreword written by none other than little master, Sachin Tendulkar. The book is a compilation of his photographs spanning his career of 2 decades. Nice. Interesting. I may not have bought it for myself but may have thought of gifting the book to a cricket + photo enthusiast friend or relative if a suitable occasion and mood arose. I happened to discover the book is priced a sixer minus 100, a whopping Rs 5900! (To take that beyond a six, add tax of Rs 244 & shipping of Rs 200 as per the official website. Rs 6344 is the final score!). For all the yet-to-be-rich men and women, you can check out the preview on the official site.

At this price, I can forgot ideas of gifting and can only dream of receiving a gift ;)

Schneider Electric acquired part of Zicom’s security business in India. The news received business media attention since Zicom is listed in Indian stock markets. So, came with it some publicity for Schneider Electric too. However-

1. Bloomberg UTV on TV referred to Schneider Electric as “Schneider Electronics”, at least once when I heard
2. Bloomberg UTV on its website referred to Schneider Electric as “Schneider Electric India is part of Luxembourg-based Schneider Group”! This seems to have been corrected later but google can find the error
3. Times of India newspaper referred to Schneider Electric as Germany based!

These are just 3 instances I came across. There could more. I wonder if these are errors by the media or Schneider’s insufficient public relations act. By the way, Schneider Electric is based in Paris.

(Disclosure: I work for Schneider Electric, Bangalore office.)

Most of us like to keep in touch with our friends, family, and relatives over social networks, email or phone. How many of us keep in touch with our managements?

Everyday, we respond to emails, finish day to day activities, participate in meetings and so on. Besides, we consciously or subconsciously:

• Assess or at the very least, observe the progress of project/program/organization.
• Build opinions on various things - process, tools, vendors, decisions, teams

Do we share them beyond the coffee table discussions? We do in meetings or discussions, when asked for or even proactively. It may be good idea to take a step further and share these opinions in a well thought, clear email on relevant areas addressed to the management.

Of course, it is important to pick the right time, appropriate subject, use subtle language, modest tone, and imbibe character & attitude in the communication and many such “get it right” factors.

What is your opinion? What does your experience say?

Did you know all budget presented by various finance ministers since independence is available in pdf format at Indian Government’s budget website - indiabudget.nic.in. (The webcast of this year’s budget to be presented tomorrow, 26th Feb will also be available on the same site.)

I happened to look at few of the budget archives and here are some interesting opening lines-

“I rise to present the first Budget of a free and independent India.”
- R.K. SHANMUKHAM CHETTY, 1947 - 1948

“….The massive mandate that the people of India gave the Janata Party in March this year was not just a vote against authoritarianism. It was also a manifestation of our people’s desire for a reorientation and a reshaping of our economic policies so as to bring about speedy elimination of poverty and destitution. In the last few weeks, our Government has taken several steps to dismantle the authoritarian and repressive structure erected during the dark days of Emergency.”
- H.M.PATEL MINISTER, 1977-78 - First budget after the controversial state of emergency by Indira Gandhi from June 1975 to March 1977.

“…The new Government, which assumed office in mid-November 1990, inherited an economic situation of crisis proportions. The budget deficit of the Central Government reached a level of Rs. 13,000 crores, on 30th November 1990, as a consequence of revenue shortfalls and expenditure overruns. The Wholesale Price Index registered an increase of 8.5 per cent, while the Consumer Price Index rose by 11.9 per cent, during the first eight months of the current financial year. The sharp deterioration in the balance of payments situation led to a rapid depletion of foreign exchange reserves, which dropped to Rs. 3142 crores at the end of November 1990 and this sum was not even sufficient to finance imports for one month.”
- Yashwant Sinha, 1991-92 (Interim)

“I rise to present the budget for 1991-92. As I rise, I am overpowered by a strange feeling of loneliness. I miss a handsome, smiling, face listening intently to the Budget Speech. Shri Rajiv Gandhi is no more. But his dream lives on; his dream of ushering India into the twenty-first century; his dream of a strong, united, technologically sophisticated but humane India.I dedicate this budget to his inspiring memory.”
- Manmohan Singh, 1991-92

“… Honourable Members would recall that when the new Government assumed office eight months ago, we inherited an economy on the verge of collapse. Inflation was accelerating rapidly. The balance of payments was in serious trouble. The foreign exchange reserves were barely enough for two weeks of imports. Foreign commercial banks had stopped lending to India. Non-Resident Indians were withdrawing their deposits. Shortages of foreign exchange had forced a massive import squeeze, which had halted the rapid industrial growth of earlier years and had produced negative growth rates from May 1991 onwards.”
- Manmohan Singh, 1992-93

As we went through the months of Ashu’s pregnancy it seemed like the most sort after date, the date of delivery, was end of a long process. Only after the delivery, reality sets in that it is also beginning of a longer (never ending) process - the task or art (whichever way one looks) of bringing up a child. It is tough physically and mentally (post-natal depression come to hog too). Undoubtedly, it is a pleasure and an experience difficult to explain. Compare this to an adventurist rock climber. Although tough & strenuous, it is fun & thrilling. Use of appropriate & latest gears enhances the fun part and softens the hard part.

Same logic applies in the upbringing of a new born. Seek out for modern and latest products & services to tilt the balance towards the pleasure side of things.

Full credits to Ashu on this front to have explored many avenues and discovered some interesting & uncommon products in the market (My contribution is limited to toughest of all - opening the wallet!). These products serve one or more of the following -

• Ease out on energy-draining tasks
• Improve the comfort for the tiny tot
• Reduce the need for a helping hand (read “be independent”)

Here goes the list.

Food & Feed

• Feeding Pillow (also called Nursing Pillow)
• Feeding Cover
• Food Injector

Sleep

• Baby Monitor - A simple radio device to remotely listen to sounds made by the baby with a transmitter near the baby & receiver near you. Lets the baby have a good sleep as you can continue with your activities
• Hanging spring-powered cradle

Wellness

• Concoction of almond oil, olive oil, coconut oil & butter (homemade bath oil)
• Corn starch powder - Apply on baby’s bum to remove the dark patches caused by daipers
• Bathing Chair - You do not need a experienced aunt or relative to put the baby along the legs (tradition Indian way) for bath. Its foldable and easy to carry during travel.
• Baby Gym

Baby Clothes

• Thermal inners
• Full body length suits
• Full/overall bib - The normal bibs are fine at home. Overall bibs cover full and saves soiling the favourite outside wears of the baby

Leisure & Entertainment

• Portable DVD player
• Wireless headset for TV
• Bluetooth headset for mobile

Miscellaneous

• Ear Thermometer - Checking temperature cannot be easier than a simple touch of the device in the ears.
• Camera Tripod - Do not expect your baby to pose for the camera or perform a retake. Set up a tripod in the room to capture those moments with the press of a few buttons.
• Disposable breast pads
• Nipple cream, puller, shield

Not listed are some more common and popular products such as bathing tub, microwave sterlising box, anti-diaper rash cream.

Beyond products, a few services help too.

• Consult a lactation consultant - Besides gynecologist/obstetrician/neonatologist/pediatrician, pay one visit to a lactation consultant even if all is well. Just helps reduce the doubt bank! We consulted Dr Asha Benakkappa.

• Subscribe to dvd rental service - If you plan to be good father and husband, you can forget the laptop & newspapers (don’t you get it - they make sound when you turn pages!). Good time to catch up on all the movies one wanted to. Of course, in mute & reading subtitles! For mothers, this will go well with a portable dvd player.

• Subscribe to the weekly newsletter of babycenter.com - One thing that comes to mind in the early days of parenthood are plenty of questions! The newsletter helps discover these questions sooner. The fact that “we are not only people in the world with these questions” eases things out.

• Subscribe to few months of any baby magazine - In the initial months, mothers like to be exposed to ideas to a better life for oneself and the baby. It is immaterial if the ideas are implemented or useful but it just helps to have a magazine-relevant-for-the-new-state-of-affairs-at-home lying around.

• Subscribe to lifestyle/travel magazines - One can forget long hours shopping or planning getaways. These magazines are a desperate man’s poor replacements.

We hope some of these help you. Feel free to leave a public comment or drop a line to ashwini.s at gmail dotcom for a personal conversation.

“We lost a deal because we failed to bring out a differentiator in our approach strategy to the customer. A few days later, we discovered a working solution that could have made a significant difference to the outcome of the deal! The solution was developed within our organization by the different group but we were not aware of it at the appropriate time. It was frustrating!”

A friend shared this experience with me a few days back. He works for a large software & IT services organization.

In another situation: During a presentation to a potential new customer, the sales person was baffled when the customer told him about the engagement the customer had with the company only a few months back. The sales person, in spite of his best efforts during preparation for the presentation, had failed to gather the information about the past engagement of his company with the customer. If only he had known, he could have approached the meeting differently with a much better understanding of the customer.

As companies grow in size, expand across geographies and serve multiple customers, they are structured for better focus, efficient management and enhanced organizational effectiveness. The basis for an organizational structure could be geography, domain, industry, customer, technology, partner or combination of these. Irrespective of the model a management adopts, a broad and deep structure by nature increases distances and draws boundaries. This leads to significant challenges and demands frameworks to maintain communication and coordination among the various units to leverage one another’s skills, information & knowledge. Companies adopt various tools & techniques to address these bottlenecks. The challenge of leveraging the intangible assets like knowledge and information is far more complex than that of tangible ones such as people and machinery. Knowledge management & information sharing applications such as portals, forums, documents and tool repositories are common in most organisations. They have helped address the knowledge and information “generation & storage” side of the equation. However, instances eluded above are common indicating ample room for further innovation in the “discovery and assimilation” side of the equation which is a true measure of the effectiveness of the intent.

Inspiration can be derived from the concept of “social activity streams”, popular with the online social networking revolution. An activity stream is merely a list of content items, typically in reverse chronological order. For best examples of activity streams in action, login to Orkut or Facebook. You will be presented with a list of updates from your network for friends. These updates represent “an act” in short and further lead to an appropriate photo album or profile for further information.

This concept of social activity streams, within an organization, could help towards bridging gaps in collaboration. This is “Enterprise Activity Stream”- an organization-level structured list of relevant activities performed by different groups, teams or people.

Below dwelling further, here is sample Enterprise Activity Stream of SmartWebWorks Inc, followed by use case.

This Enterprise Activity Stream is published in the intranet of SmartWebWorks Inc accessible to all mid-level professionals in delivery, pre-sales, sales, marketing & research teams. It helps in looking for leads to achieve a certain objective. For instance, Hiro Nakamura, a sales person preparing for a customer meeting in Japan, realises the need for localising applications in Japanese for his customer. The activity stream provides him a lead to a relevant proposal submitted by Jack. Hiro can refer the proposal document or get in touch with Jack. The activity stream has helped Hiro, without wasting time in telephone calls and emails to peers seeking out for information. The traditional approach is also accompanied with the risk of hitting a dead end with loss of time and no relevant information.

In a real-life scenario, even in mid-sized organization, the number of activities in the stream could potentially grow to thousands in a few weeks, if not days. Hence it is important to design and manage the stream to make it compelling and sustain the usability for information consumers to reap the benefits over the long term. As part of design, well-defined structure is fundamental aspect for every activity. The structure of each activity governs the overall discipline of the stream. Lack of discipline will result in an overload of miscellaneous activities and fail the cause. As a basic structure, every activity must consist of:

• Text: Concise description about the activity
• Poster: Contact person or team
• Date: Date of occurrence of the activity.
• Tags: Keywords to improve tracking and search
• Links: Supporting elaboration- case study, blog, proposal document, project report depending on the nature and need.

Besides the structure, the type of activities worthy of inclusion in the stream needs a thorough thought. In the case of SmartWebWorks quoted above, some the options would be: Proposal submissions, Proposal wins/losses, Project milestones, Research projects, Marketing events, New customer acquisitions. Based on feedback on the effectiveness and value of the information to its consumers, the nature of activities will deserve an evaluation periodically.

The next key design question is: How to source the most useful activities into the stream? The idea of manual entry of activities is impractical & error-prone and adds the additional burden of moderating the authenticity and integrity of data. The solution is to source activities from the business enabler applications such as project tracking system, opportunity management system, order management system, CRM system, KM systems and others. Pull or push methods could be used to fuel the activity stream at appropriate stages of workflow in these systems. Here are few scenarios: CRM system introduces activities when a new customer is added; project tracking system creates activities when a project milestone is met; opportunity management system posts activities when a proposal is submitted, won or lost. Such an approach will be trustworthy & consistent. The data integrity in the underlying system percolates to the stream without any additional effort.

On the usability front, the stream must be easily accessible. Features such as sort, filter & search will help consumers find relevant information faster. Subscription to the stream based on tags or activity text or poster would benefit frequent users of the streams.

Kahlil Gibran, a 20th century Lebanese-American poet & philosopher once said, “A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle“. Enterprise Activity Stream attempts to enhance the worth of knowledge and information by generating leads to the asset distributed across systems and people.