Sunday, June 15, 2008

Cynisms, Hate IT, Fathers day, Benefits

It has been a while I have expressed some sort of frustrations in this forum. So here I go on the soap Box.

1) I have always had the least of regards for most of the civil servants and the government Bureaucracy. They are known as Babus. I never wanted to go in to that line. Thankfully it never happened.(My father is a retired federal government paid scientist!!) Working in world class MNCs (over the past 18 years)who value the core of integrity with policies implementing FCPA ( I am a certified FCPA trainer) has further distanced me further from this people. Enhancing my core competence too has made me to more of strategic role in my job rather than chasing them for getting done the day to day jobs. Over the years, the feelings are further enhanced by the rarest of interactions one encouter. In short, I stay away from them. I have never seen such a class of people more unfriendly in the developed/ developing world in my travel of more than 20 countries. Ofcourse, here is the other side to the story!!.

Yes, they find a way to harass people by raising issues on aspects that were done many years ago and make them run from pillar to post.That you had no clue that such thing would ever come. Nor when one goes to the railway station to receive relatives. Wonder when things will change!! Not in my life time I guess.

2)Ok, enough of my cribbing. I was also astounded that schools have banned students from bringing cell phone in to the school/ college premises. I am all for not using cellphone during class hours or in the school timings and if found using at that time the school management can confiscate or even take punitive measures. Today an average child commutes 2 Hrs to School and another couple of hours to attend coaching classes etc. Were there an emergency or need to get in touch with the child, How the devil it can be done?, I wonder!!!. Some thinking gap I guess in the educators, who are also out of sync with the way the world is changing. Wonder when they will catch up?.

I cant blame the schools, why to blame them. Even IT (Information technology) folks are out in sync. Here is a great article by Susan Cramm on why every one hates IT. Yes, I have some good friends in IT from my previous Jobs. But mostly I agree with what is said here. One of my friend has an interesting experience, when IT folks advised not use firefox browser as it can have security issues. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. That are the signs of things for you. Yes, Susy has posted a latest blog on why every one should love IT.

Wayne Turmel has a great conversation with Ken Blanchard, the author of 1 minute manager. Wayne talks about the new book, 1 minute enterpreneur. Great listen. The act of 1 minute manager as 1minute goal, 1 Minute Praise and 1 minute correction and reprimand is common sense right.(But never adhered to). Also listen to Anna Farmery of the engaging brand on conversation on how to manage stress in the workplace with Cary Cooper

I have posted in the manager tool forum on the Indian employee compensation and benefits. Wonder if in any other part of the world employees are given so many allowances and perquisites as well as employer paying the Fringe benefit tax to the government.

I was dumbfounded literally by this article as Hillary Clinton as possible Running mate yes for John MCCain. Yes, personally I was disappointed that she didnt make it. In my conversation with many of my American friends that we felt that women is what America needs to bring in sweeping changes. Somewhere things didnt go the way. As Economist wrote last year,that it will be Hillary Clinton's loss should she has to loose the democratic nomiation. Lets see how things take shape in the form of running mates for both the candidates!!. I guess religious feelings will go some way.

Yes, I close my thoughts on being thankful to my Father on Father's day. I have great respect for my father and called him to wish father' day. But we always disagreed on issues and how we viewed things. The only thing that is common is our unrelenting support for WestIndian cricket and discuss when Indian cricket team does badly. Yes, We were one of the few who were very saddened won India won the cricket world cup in 1983. Mercifully, the agony never returned so far. HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the DADs in the world. Have a good time and enjoy the success of your children.

Till next week, Take it easy and take care; Live conciously.

Regards
Karthik.




Sunday, June 08, 2008

Narashima,Career change, NEW Y2K, Process audits, Irenea Sendler

This week it was all happening.

This Friday,I was for a taking an autorixa (3 wheeler) to attend a meeting. My car was unavailable for the fact that my son has to be picked up from the school. While proceeding to the meeting with my builder in Malleswaram from Honeywell Office (A distance of 10 Miles), I saw (rather my autorixa driver, His name was Narashima) a wallet falling out of the hip pocket from the 2 wheeler (Scooter) in an intersection. He stopped and picked it up and handed over to me so that it can be handed over to the owner. The Indian social system is such that if an auto driver hands it over to the owner or the police, there will be more questions and things can go tangential if something is missing for various reasons. (Many taxi/ Auto drivers are held in low esteem in India). So I opened the wallet and found 4 credit cards, PAN card, and many business cards of other personnel, but no business cards or cell phone number of the owner of the wallet. I then started calling each of the business card personnel that was in the wallet to see if they know the owner of the wallet. Long story shot, I did find one person who managed to make contact with the wallet owner and he could come and meet me. I duly handed over the wallet to him. It was good that I could do that. One take away is to keep your contact numbers, (May be write in credit cards, keep 2 or 3 business cards in Wallet).

Over the last a year or so with the Indian economy getting vibrant more and more opportunities are coming for a better career for Indian professionals. In my discussions with many of my friends and colleagues and even for myself, we always get the call from recruiters as to if we are willing to look for a change. While many or most of the times, you just let the situation pass. Once in blue moon, we sense that happenings are of good platform for career change. So I just posted the question as to what we should do if everything is going well in Manager-tools forum. Lets see wait to the response.

I came across an interesting photo in Fortune magazine of the mechanical fuel filling pump which cant sell more than 3.99 $ gas and more than 99.99$ sale. Interesting, 17,000 such pumps needs change and will cost 12,000$ each. WOW!!!!. Who would have thought that this will be another Y2K.

Also I was moved by this story out there in the magazine for Citicorp trader Craig Gile who was sentenced to 1 year in prison for falsifying records. Wonder, where from you are caught.!!!. Some times law can take its course fast on some mundane events just to show the world and others to teach lesson.

Few articles I have found very practical, then this one by Michael Hammer on Process audits. It covers the whole gambit of shaping up the 5 process capability with Infrastructure, Performers, Owners, design, Metrics(IPODm) and 4 enterprise capabilities as Leadership, Culture,Expertise, Governance and his model to check maturity. Fabulous article. It won the Mckinsey award. It is must read for everyone to see a large scheme of things and big picture.

Finally, as weekly reader of economist on Sunday mornings, I happen to read Obituary every week. I was touched by passing away of Irena Sendler. It appears that she did as much as Oscar Schindler during Nazi atrocities made legend by the movie Schindler's list by Spielberg. Some times it doesnt get recognized.

Ok, Lalitha has to rush to the new Airport this evening for unscheduled visit. I will share her Nightmare or whatever experience to the Airport next week. (OF course today being Sunday, it could all be different).
Glad to see Steve Pavlina back in the podcast. Also came across a good Tamil podcast on random ramblings.

Till next week, Take it easy and take care; Live Consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Monsoon, College, DiSC, Monkey.


As I write this blog at 4pm Local time here in Bangalore, the rain is smashing out in the window, announcing the arrival of Monsoon on time( May be a day ahead as It rained heavily yesterday). I am glad the summer is over for this part of India. It was hot by any standards, with mercury touching 100F one day. (effect of global warming, I guess). Any way lets look for good wet season. Yes it would affect the time we spend walking for exercise, thus the time spent on Ipod. Any way self interest should be at the back end when large public interest are things that matter.

I am glad after lot of deliberations and chase, we managed to get the Pre university college admissions for my daughter for . The college will open next week and there are lot of regulations to go by. Wonder, how much of it will be practical to implement in this modern world. I am also puzzled at the orientation program arranged for parents this week. Wonder Why?. Never ever remember my parents coming any where near my school(even for complaining about me to the class teacher or for all the mischief I use to do at home). Looks like simple system / process of education is made more complex. Incidentally from this week schools have reopened after summer holidays of 8 weeks,(It just flew) so it is going to be hectic morning run for the next 10 months. See picture is great, I guess we all have done that.

I attended the DiSC training cum marketing session yesterday conducted by Iamontrac agency of Bangalore. The session was interesting. I basically attended to kind of have a chance to meeting people from HR area as thats where these kind of sessions are focussed.This is official DiSC trainer certification course, there is lot of potential for this from trainer perspective as DiSC, I feel is a good way to understand behavioral and Ego issues. The cost ca US$2000 looks reasonable to explore at some stage for taking this. This also gave me a chance to get my DiSC profile done. I was surprised a bit to see the profile as HIGH D. (Result oriented pattern with HIGH D, followed by I and equal S and C). The profile threw up some surprise, may be a bit skewed as it focuses more on work front. I could pick up lot of interesting conversations with the fellow participants so it was time well spent.
I was amazed when I read the HBR article, Who has got the monkey, the article is 35 years old, and nothing has changed in 35 years.It is all about delegation and close supervision. As, Mark Horstman insists, it is all about coaching, One on ones, delegation,Feedback and Performance review. Interestingly, Mark has come out with a fabulous 5 part video on giving feedback. Watch here.

So, the new Bangalore airport looks like passengers nightmare, All my friends are having lot of grouse. Thank god I have no travel planned this time. Some new services are on for transportation to the New airport through shared cab ride for US$7. (Airlift) which is good 2 to 3 Hr drive from east or south end of city.

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

Sunday, May 25, 2008

HAL; Interesting thoguhts.

A tribute to the HAL Airport, Bangalore which was closed after so many years(45 Years!!) of service yesterday (Saturday). I made all the business trips and Personal journeys from this Airport and got a chance to see the world from door step. We reside very near this airport and used to watch aircraft land and take off. (Yes the noise during midnight is sleep breaker, that is OK) The new Airport is situated 40 Kms from home and the road conditions are so bad that it would take 3 Hrs to reach and then take a 40 min flight to nearby cities like Mangalore, Madras. That is some planning for our politician. Yes, the newly launched bus service looks cute for the ride to the New airport. I will get a chance to see the new airport after 2 weeks.

This week was also kind of memorable as it brought me to a stage where parents run for children's school admissions. My daughter's ICSE 10th Standard(Grade) results were announced Tuesday. From that day, it is running pillar to post for every college in Bangalore for Pre university( 2 years). The fact that there are affirmative action programs in schools don't help you, if you are in General category. (My home state is worst off one, so any where else in better!!!) Lets keep our fingers crossed and see what comes out this week when the colleges will release the admissions list. Far cry from the old days when merit alone is enough to get admissions in to what you wanted.

On a political note, I am happy that the new government is formed in the state after all the chaos of the past 4 years. I am glad that people have given mandate for a stable government. It is another matter that I didn't vote, nor bothered to see if my name is in the voting list. It has become a joke. The election day was one of the day when our servant maids and house helps are treated as VIP, by political parties wooing with Cash, BOOZE, utensils etc as a pay off for their vote.

I was reading couple of HBR articles written in the 1980s, and nothing has changed over the last 28 years. Very practical aspects covered in Boss relations as well as Managing work life balance. I am giving link below.

Must success cost So much

Nobody trusts the boss completely- Now what?

Ok, Untill next week, take it easy and take care; Live consciously.

Karthik.





Sunday, May 18, 2008

Jobs, Plastics, UAE.XOBIN


I wonder at the recent Number of jobs that are being moved out of USA/ Europe. While this was thought as a IT Phenomenon, it is fast catching up in the Manufacturing/ supply chain. This is evident from calls I receive from Overseas placement companies requesting for help in locating candidates through my network in India. While the staff costs may be low on comparable terms (Of course less liability issues in this part of the world !!) I wonder the other costs like travel for business requirements, competency aspects would be an issue. More so the Operating budgets do not take in to considerations these aspects when these positions are created and causes lot of heartburn in job content and job satisfaction or value add from incumbents perspective. This also creates an uneasy time for the person who fits in the job. I guess it all evens out for people at every part of the world. Looks like a ZERO SUM GAME.

I am amazed at the resistance to the use of plastic bags etc by school children these days as well as their commitment to protect general environment. My Kids have made sure that the Sunday market we go to, we return with no plastic bags with fruits and vegetables. We now make sure that we carry enough cloth bags to fill in all the vegetables that we purchase at the market. The kids constantly monitor the house for leaky taps and promptly orders maintenance if required without even telling us(It costs a bit its OK). They also decided to look for eco friendly features in whatever they purchase.They have also made sure that 80% of the lighting in the house is the CFL

I listen to Wayne Turmel's Cranky middle manager show for the past 12 months. He brings in to conversations with a lot of diverse issues. Please listen to this episode in which he gets the middle east perspective with Ms. Sarah Shaw. It is very informative and gives a flavor of different perspective. I request all of you reading this blog to give a try at Wayne's podcasts as well as to sign for his free news letter.

Yesterday I downloaded the Tool XOBIN (Inbox spelled reverse), it is a great tool for indexing and statistics of outlook inbox. This also separates out attachments, time at which the mails were received as well as many other features.


Finally I want to bring in J Murali who contributes to the Weekly tech column Netspeak in Hindu( Every Monday). In my early days I used to try the softwares he mentions in the article and it was of great help. I only wish there are RSS feeds to such useful column to directly tap in to the browser.

Ok, till next week, take it easy and Take care; Live consciously.

Regards
Karthik
Karaikudy@gmail.com






Sunday, May 11, 2008

Empty House, Life is so uncertain, Great Advice.


It has been a different week, the house looks quiet, things are orderly. Time just stands still. No one to shout at or order, everything you got to do yourself. WHY?. Because the children are away for a week on vacation to Bombay on their own. The accrued miles helped to get flight tickets for them on redemption. (Thanks to Jet Airways) So myself and Lalitha are alone for the past 4 days (after exactly 16 years) at home. It kind of gave a different perspective as to how life has moved on. This will also prepare us for the time in future as to kids will go their own way. So you can say a dress rehearsal for the time ahead!!!. Also I remember the time when we used to go for Holidays it will be 2 to 3 days travel by train and ofcourse spend 15 to 20 days!!. Now a days that is a luxury as well as rude to your Host I guess!!!.

Life is so uncertain. I was listening to the Podcast on Anna Farmery's The engaging brand show on Emotional Intelligence by Galba Bright. It was great show (2 sessions) on the practical approach to EI. 2 weeks later as I was listening to other podcast on the show, I was shocked/ saddened to hear Anna paying tribute to the memory of Galba. Makes you wonder about the uncertainties of life. What saddens me is that with so much uncertainty, we take life for granted and show or own egos/ like/ dislike/ hatred etc...!!.

Came across 3 fantastic articles on Leadership recently. After reading that I concluded that Leadership is all about you having the ability to have

VISION
AUTHORITY
STRATEGIC DIRECTION
ENERGY

I also came across interesting aspects which cement the traits; these are

Expose your weakness
Have Intuition.
Show Empathy
Differentiation in style.

Fabulous summary of leadership.
Also, came across this article by Larry Bossidy (EX Honeywell CEO) on How selection plays a great part in talent management.

Ok, till next week, take it easy and take care; Live Consciously.

Regards
Karthik.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

BMTC; Lenovo; Foxmarks; Docking station.

Today, I had the chance to board the BMTC bus for a 2 mile shopping trip for our weekly visit to the vegetable market. This was my first encounter in city bus for travel. (8 years!!!!) I usually take a cab or Autorixa if the need arises. I was kind of pleasantly surprised with this air conditioned Volvo bus. The fare Rs. 10 (25US cents) was worth it. Bus service has come a long way I guess.

My Son was convinced me that he would need a laptop more than a desktop for his day to day use. (Kids have come a long way I guess). I had to bow in and the selection of a good value for money laptop was difficult. I could manage to get the Lenovo Notebook. Looks like value for money with the Office 2007 software (basic) bundled in. The Laptop world at Indira Nagar here is a good shop and offers value for money. Yes, With FIFA 08 being used for games, wonder How long before the plan starts with the functionality?. ( I am told games affect computer performance!!)

Thank god I had downloaded foxmarks, the web browser synchronizer for my web use. My Official laptop crashed last week and the hard disk was replaced. While I had all the back up for the work data, the web pages I browse and store as favorites couldn't have survived but for the tool which helps you store your favorites in the server and helps you synchronize or help you retrieve favorites from any computer.

I also moved away from ITUNES in my laptop. I got a Ipod docking station to listen to the podcast. This is cool gadget, this also helps charging the IPOD as we listen. I got rid of 31GB space from my Laptop.

Came across great article in HBR on level 5 leadership by Jim Collins. How level 5 leaders, put personal aspects aside and build a great company. Interesting.

I came across a word which struck me a lot. Employee Embededness in a HBR Management update on retaining talented employee. New Jargon!!. Would HR learn to think differently!!! I wonder??.

Till next week; Take it easy and Take Care; Live consciously.
Karthik
Karaikudy@gmail.com