Blog update

As I will be updating most of the thoughts thro Twitter, My posting in BLOG will be sporadic with deviation from regular Sunday evening posting till further notice.

Please follow me on Twitter.

Karthik.

MLA,EE; Management,

Today the Renaissance PARK III (Our #APT)Adhoc committee team of which I am member met the Malleswaram(Bangalore Nortwest) Member of state Legislative Assembly(Congressmen in US term) to thank him for helping us to get the Landline Telephone (It took 7 months as there was no last mile connectivity) as well as to request for some better amenities in the area. Dr Aswath Narayan is a medical doctor. This is my first close interaction with elected rep as I usually stay away and great believer that we progress in spite of the Government. The 20 min we spent, I found him to be accessible to people, very practical, down to earth as well as reeling of statistics on welfare measures. Yes, there was a bit of language barrier as I am yet to be well versed in Kannada the local language to fully understand the nuance of the conversation.

I came across an interesting article on Employee engagement, a kind of buzz word some time back but fizzled out in recession times, but still a good concept to work around.The acronym"RAPS" works well. Retention, Advocacy,Satisfaction, Pride. Good basic concept to work and take forward.
On the management side, MT /CT has come out a 2part gem on Admitting mistakes; Admit early and don't beat around bush. The MT podcast on Developing Subordinates (!! most may blink!!) is an eye opener for those not thought of it as necessary.(Org will take care Hmmmm)... On CMM, Wayne has come out 2 podcast (CMM/ Working week). CMM one with Timothy Clark on leadership with volunteering touching the strategic aspects of why/ what you want to be as leader is very thought provoking. On Working week with Dr John Kennedy, the Heart care is a must listen. On the satire/ time pass as we call in India, Listen to Lucy on the awards / Management guff is a must listen.

Here are the list of 15 Most hated companies in USA. No major surprises. Walmart, United,YES DELL.(MY son calls Hell), Yes they do well, the numbers are good but an aversion.

I was fascinated by GOOGLE Squared. Never knew it existed until I stumbled on the site. A good way to tabulate results and compare.

On the books side, Marshall Goldsmith's MOJO is out for release in Feb, cant wait to get a copy when it hit book stores here. Also on the lookout is Sidin Vadukut's DORK. I read the excepts in live mint.

As an avid Non Indian cricket follower, Test Match special BBC was a great site to follow cricket on Audio web for me. Pleasure listening to CMJ, Peter Baxter; Now Testmatch sofa looks equally good.

Pongal came and gone; so Summer (Uttrayan) is not far behind looking forward to move from cold,(20C!) and fog to Sunshine.

Ok, Till next week; take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Newyear, Twitter, Technology, Converters

It is good to be back to blogging in 2010. We had celebrations in Renaissance Park III for welcoming the new year. It was all Women arrangement and they did an excellent job for entertainment, food, logistics as well as for the memento too. Well done. Photo above of the team who did a great job.

I am posting the photos of the Brigade North star which was in news for the first IT Corridor office complex in Northern Bangalore. This place is 50 Feet from my home and is part of complex of office, hotel, Apts, Mall, school. See Photos.

It was also time in the new year to catch up with my EX-Boss from Monsanto, Jolanta was here in Bangalore and took time in her schedule to catch up with us. It is close to 4 years since I left Monsanto and we are in touch. It was a great relation. On the news of Monsanto, I was not surprised to see HUGH GRANT Monsanto CEO, has been chosen by HBR as the top 10 Best performing CEO. I had met him couple of times, Hugh is all about accessibility, Care, compassion and commitment -the hallmark of leadership. He was instrumental as a Sponsor for bringing in World class vehicle safety program in 2002 to turn around driving concept. Congratulations.

On the tech front came across the 69 coolest web applications that changed the world in 2009 and 5 Tech apps that is dictating us. Very practical and we have reached a stage where we are nothing without these apps as they say.

Mr Murali of Netspeak comes with very useful links, He is one of the Tech geeks I follow on Twitter. His latest links on PDF to word Converter and Scribblar a useful web sharing application. My wife used the Scribblar and says it is very useful but not happy with audio for her web coaching sessions.

As indicated, HBR Print in it's new avatar looks different. Time Hangover!!, but good any way. The website too looks rejuvenated.

I leave with a bit of humor on English. Very funny no doubt.

Till next week, take it easy and take care; Follow me on Twitter at Karaikudy.

Karthik