Bad News Travels Fast!

I admit that I have committed errors, mistakes and some serious blunders in my professional life. I am not ashamed of my mistakes because I have learnt from each one of them.

I used to wonder how my boss gets to know about my mistakes before I highlight the error to him myself?

Yes, I agree that some colleagues like to highlight my error, just to show that they are better than I am. It's fine, I am not competing with them anyway, so I don't care.

I don't care because I know what I know, I know what I don't know and I am proud of my achievements so far and am willing to work hard to achieve more in the future...

Coming back to the point --- my boss gets information about my mistakes before I take it to him as I delay taking the bad news to him as soon as it happened or discovered. When I delay my communication, I give others the chance to carry the information for me, hence Bad News Travels Fast.

Why do I delay informing my boss of my errors? There are 2 reasons....

1. I do not want to highlight my errors to my boss, because it will make me look bad.
2. When I highlight the error to my boss, he will call me dumb, he will be angry and yell at me.

Reason # 1 is being UNPROFESSIONAL.
Reason # 2 is PROCRASTINATION. I just need a reason to postpone taking the issue up with my boss because I am afraid of his reactions.

The best approach is ....

• Be fearless and let the boss know of the error as soon as it is discovered.
• Apologize for the error. 
• Give assurance that this will never happen again.
• Figure out the Root Cause of the error and define preventive actions. 
• Go back to boss and explain why the error happened and how you plan to prevent such errors in the future.

Don't hide your mistakes, because someone else will discover it eventually and highlight the error. If this happens, it will be humiliating.

Don't be scared of reactions - if you have made the mistake, be fearless and admit it, be graceful and accept the punishment. Worst case you'll get sacked, no one can take your life from you, you can always start over!

Be the one to communicate your own bad news first....

Customer is King!

This post is dedicated to Mr.Vineet Nayar, CEO, HCL Technologies and his "Employee First Initiative".

I have heard this statement a million times, every company believes in this, every customer centric training emphasizes this, seasoned professionals "live this".

Software Quality Models emphasize that customer requirements are top priority for any project. The implementation of these models have proved that the only way to transform Customer Satisfaction to Customer Delight is by meeting the Customer's Requirements.

Customer's Requirement is a Statement of their Problem ---- Problem may be a Business Problem or a Problem related to personal life. Customers approach you for a solution to their "problem".

Example: my mobile phone stops working, so I need a new phone, I go to an electronics store and buy one. I don't feel like cooking, so I go to a restaurant to eat. If my phone was working, would I have gone to the electronics store? If I was in a mood to cook, would I have gone to the restaurant to eat?

So, a "Customer" is driven by his "problem" and seeks a solution.


The Customer approaches that Organization or Individual for a solution...

• who has delivered solutions to the customer's problem most consistently in the past OR 
• who has a reputation to deliver OR 
• who has the potential to deliver

.... in that order.

Mature Software Quality Systems ensure that customer requirements are fulfilled and also ensure that they are fulfilled consistently. This ensures the upkeep of service levels of an organization thereby ensuring a fair degree of Customer Satisfaction.

Most young employees I speak with, think that a Customer is a Client who pays the Organization which in turn help pay their salaries.

I tell them, they are 50% correct!. I add "all Customers, don't pay....".

Customers are of two types

• External Customers
• Internal Customers

External Customers pay the company for services rendered. Internal Customers are colleagues who we deal with everyday.

For the trainee, one of the internal customers is his Team Leader, who allocates work to this person with an expectation that work will be delivered without defects and on time.

When the trainee is undergoing training, he/she becomes the Internal Customer of the Trainer. It is the Trainer's responsibility to meet expectations of all the trainees in the classroom.

So, all employees are internal customers of each other....

At work we meet many Internal Customers who approach us with an expectation that their "problem" will be solved. When we have a design problem, we approach the most experienced and reputed design engineer. When we need clarification on our leave eligibility, we approach the designated HR Executive. When we need to apply for leave from work, we approach our Manager. When we need clarification in the project requirements, we approach the Business Analyst.

It is important to first meet the expectations of the Internal Customer which translates to meeting the expectations of the External Customers!. If we want to Transform External Customer Satisfaction to External Customer Delight, then we need to first transform Internal Customer Satisfaction to Internal Customer Delight..... after all, they say "Charity begins at home". So if all people in the project resolve to solve each other's "problems", there is no way the external customer's "problem" will remain unsolved....

It is time to focus on achieving Internal Customer Delight now.........

Commitment!

A few years ago, I was conducting an Induction program for a group of new Software Engineers in my company. I was explaining the characteristics that are required of them to grow in the organization. 2 hours into the session, I came to a point on my presentation --- "Commitment". I explained to the trainees, how important commitment is and that they should be committed to the tasks assigned unconditionally till it is done. I also mentioned that their performance appraisal will depend on the levels of commitment demonstrated.....

One of the trainees asked me, "Sir, could you please explain Commitment because I want to know what is expected of me?"

I explained, I see commitment as Devotion to a cause. Commitment is keeping at a task, however hard it may be, and not giving up till is done. Staying committed to the cause is perseverance!. The quality of perseverance is directly proportional to the levels of commitment in an individual.

Here's an example: A 100 meter sprint athlete sets a goal to participate in the next Olympics which is 4 years away. This athlete is training to better the current world record. He trains for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week for 4 years, with a single purpose --- To win a Gold Medal in the next Olympics. It is his only chance as he will be too old for the next Olympics. So, the athlete trains to achieve his goal......

Let us look at some data on the athlete's training time......

Number of hours per day

12 hours

Number of days per week

6 days

Number of weeks per year

52 weeks

Number of years to the Olympics

4 years

100 meters Olympic Record to beat

9.69 seconds

Total Time spent on training

12 hours x 6 days x 52 weeks x 4 years 

 equals 14,976 hours 

equals 898,560 minutes 

equals 53,913,600 seconds 

So the Athlete trains for 53,913,600 seconds for a 100 meter race, that ends in 9.69 seconds! Amazing isn't it?

What are the chances that this athlete will win? In fact, there is very very high chance that this athlete will fail to even qualify, but still, the athlete persists.... and never gives up.

A normal individual, with low levels of commitment will ask, isn't it too much to give for a race that ends in under 10 seconds? The committed athlete will go for it, because his goal is to win the Olympic Gold Medal....

This is what I call commitment!

Benefit of the Doubt!

I feel bad when people say things I don't like. I am hurt when people challenge my integrity and commitment. I feel miserable when someone questions my good intentions. I feel awful when someone asks me what I feel about a problem and then just sets my suggestions and ideas aside even though they originate from ground realities....

This feeling of hurt would sap my energies and would affect my relations with people at work and at home. It had even started affecting my work. Something was wrong... and I had to do something to overcome this problem....

One evening, my 8 year old daughter asked for my help to solve her Maths homework problem. She waited patiently till I solved it and then  I explained the solution to her. She was happy and hopped away, at least I thought she was happy!. About an hour later, I saw my wife solving the same problem with my daughter but her method was slightly different. I was furious, does this kid not trust my abilities?. I asked my wife, why our daughter came to her, even after I had explained the solution of the problem? was she trying to ascertain if the solution was correct? why couldn't she come and ask me to explain again if she had not understood, I would have gladly explained.....

My wife explained "your solution is correct, but your solution method is not the same as what was taught in the kid's school"....... she had a point how can I expect this kid to understand various ways of solving  problems... she is only 8 years old......

Lesson Learnt 1: 

Don't jump to conclusions from the superficial evidences... especially when it involves your Family, Friends or Colleagues

Another day, I was out on my evening walk in the neighborhood, a stranger came up to me and asked me the way to a certain place.... I patiently explained how to get there, he argued with me that someone else had told him a slightly different route to get there. I told him, "I stay close by and I know this is the best way to get where he wanted to go". He mumbled a "thank you" and walked on. Curiosity got the better of me and I turned around to see whether this stranger was going in the right direction. I was surprised to see that he was asking another person for directions and that person was pointing in the wrong direction.... and the stranger started following the wrong directions.... I thought, "serves him right, for not trusting me, let him go in the wrong direction!, he did not trust me in-spite of my efforts to show him the way."

Later that evening, I was thinking about this stranger, "did he finally get to where he wanted to go?", "he set off in the wrong direction, he must have walked an extra kilometer at least".

A thought crossed my mind -- This stranger did not trust me, but I was not feeling bad at all but when my daughter did not trust me, I was upset.... Why?

I  realized, that the people you live with or interact on a daily basis say something or do something you don't expect or like, you feel bad, but when the same action is performed by a stranger, it does not matter.

Lesson Learnt 2: 

Actions of people who matter to you, affect the most!...

So, how do you use these lessons to overcome the "hurt feeling", when someone near and dear says or does something unexpected? The "hurt feeling" is so costly that it affects your psyche resulting in ill health, it affects productivity initially and the job finally, it threatens the very basis of civilized societies... "Relationships".

The answer is.....

Giving the Benefit of the Doubt....

Let me explain!....

When I saw my wife solving the same problem for my daughter, instead of feeling enraged, if I thought -- "maybe she did not understand it after all... she did not want to disturb me again so she requested her mother for help!"..... now I don't feel bad.

Boss asks me what I think of a new idea, I make suggestions, he listens and then asks another person in my presence, I say to myself "maybe he saw a big flaw in my idea, he did not want to highlight it in front of others, so he decided to move on" ..... now I don't feel bad.

My close friend admonishes me for something I said, while, I'm sure I did not mean it..... I say to myself "maybe he is having a bad day and is just venting his frustrations" ..... now I don't feel bad.

Conclusion: 

You don't lose anything if you "give the benefit of the doubt" to someone who matters to you. In fact, you are doing a service to the relationship and feeling good in return...

My Goals and my Thankless Job!

The difference between being an employee and being an entrepreneur is that an entrepreneur chooses his own path to achieve his/her goals and an employee chooses to contribute to the goals set by an entrepreneur.

I have chosen to be an employee and have been one for the last 15 years and I hope to continue for a few more years....

At work, my boss sets goals for me on a periodic basis and measures my performance against these goals...

Many a times, I have wondered how does my goals relate to my company goals, what difference does it make to the company if I don't achieve the targets set out for me, of course it affects my promotions and my annual salary increases, but other than that, what difference does it make?

On one beautiful rainy evening, I watched raindrops falling, I remembered a saying that I learnt at school, "Little drops of water make the mighty ocean, Little grains of sand make the mighty desert".

I found the answer to my question...

Small contributions by all employees add up to the achievement of a big goal.

For example: if the sales goal for the company for a certain product for the day is $100,000, then 100 sales staff bringing in $1,000 sales each, adds up to a $100,000. See the difference!

Now if one salesman says, I will take a break as I have to paint my house or I need a vacation or he is just upset with something that his boss said and decides not to turn up for work, we lose $1,000 for the day, so the daily sales total is now on $99,000. Overall picture, the team did not achieve the target.

See the effect of the "Rogue Salesman" --- He has successfully prevented 99 others from achieving the target. This guy goes scott free, but the others feel bad for not having achieved.

Most times, in companies, we never get to know of these rogue salesmen, because, some people over achieve and somehow help make up for the deficiencies of the rogue salesman. These stars keep the company going and protecting from the rogue salesmen. It is sad, but true.

Being an employee, I am obliged to achieve the goals set for me by my Manager. Whether the value of my contribution to the Organizational objective is big or small, I must do my best to achieve my goals. Even if the target is "mission impossible", give it a shot. If I succeed, I have a sense of achievement, if I fail after an honest attempt, I have some satisfaction of having tried at least, hence the experience. Trying and failing is a better than not trying at all.

I have heard a lot of people saying "I am doing a thankless job, there is no incentive for achieving my goals". I wonder why someone should be thankful to me for doing my job. Should my company be thankful? no way, they paid me, so we are even. How often have I thanked my maid for doing house keeping? How many times have I thanked the taxi driver for dropping me off to my destination? How many times has the sales clerk thanked me for picking up grocery at the supermarket? Unfortunately, the answer is "never". So, why should my company be thankful to me for doing my job?

The relation ship between the employee and the company is a mutually beneficial relationship. Company earns some revenue by the work I do, and I earn a salary.

Often times, I have heard employees saying, "I have brought in $1,000 sales today, but I get paid only $200 per work day, that is only 20% of the sales I have brought in". I asked myself is this a fair statement? I came to conclusion and an answer for this employee: "who pays for your transportation and food while you are on your sales call? who pays for your work desk? who pays your telephone bills? who pays for the air conditioning of your workplace? who pays for the cost of acquiring the product that you just sold? who pays for the marketing?" After paying all the bills, I doubt if the company makes even $200 from a $1,000 sales revenues. Even if it does, it helps buy new equipment, rent a new sales office, hire some new staff and everything that helps grow the company.

JFK had said, "Think not what the Country has done for you, Think what you have done for the Country", a very powerful statement indeed, now if I replace the word "Country" by "Company", does this statement still hold good? I think it does.

Being an employee, I try and achieve the targets that the company has set for me and that is the best I can do for the company and for myself. The company will still run with or without me, and I will still be going ahead with or without the company. Now that I am working here, I must contribute positively and go on.....

Rising to the Top!

In my opinion, most "Promotions" (not all! ) in organizations have been reduced to actions to fill the vacuum in the Organization Structure created by Attrition!.

There was a time when people were promoted for their skill, their capability, the value that they bring to the table, their past contributions, reliability on deliveries, commitment to the job and last but not the least loyalty to the company.

High demand for skills has resulted in a floating population of opportunists who are always on the lookout for "better opportunity", "growth prospects" and "learning", while they are actually looking for "more pay for less work". Who said, "Customer is the king"? Who said, "Customer Satisfaction" is the most important thing? What is more important is my next Car, or that Limited Edition Watch or that Villa project and how I am going to fund it.

Here's a story about Tom.....

The Villa costs X, and Tom is eligible for a loan of only 0.4X, so, he looks for a job that pays him more and his Bank Loan eligibility goes up. Tom wants more money so he can spend more!, not because he needs more to live or for attaining financial security by saving more!

So, while Tom is looking for higher pay, he might as well bargain for that higher position and some joining bonus, which will help him make that down payment, amazing strategy isn't it?

What happens to Tom's current customer who is expecting him to deliver this project? --- Tom says, "this project is so simple, that a fresher can run it, you don't need me".

What happens to Tom's company who trusted him and offered him a job when he was without one just 2 years ago? --- Tom says, "Well, that's not my problem, I worked for the company for 2 years isn't it?".

Here's Tom's list of achievements in this company....

1. Training in Software Development Life Cycle for 2 months
2. Training in C++ for 3 months
3. Coding for the Leave Management System for 4 months  (an internal project) 
4. On bench for 1 month - this is the company's problem, and not Tom's! well, he was ready to work, but they did not have any projects!.
5. Training on SAP for 6 months (Tom applied for a training in SAP because his friends said, an SAP consultant's job will pay 3 times his current salary!, the company obliged, but paid for later!).
6. SAP Maintenance Project for 8 months (Tom has been assigned to this SAP Maintenance project for the past 8 months and has received a couple of customer appreciation emails for his performance)

Tom is now looking for a job because --- "I have learnt everything there is to learn. There are no challenges and learning on my current job."

Let's analyze this list of achievements:

1. Training: 15 months: 62% of the time
2. Idle time: 1 month: 4% of the time
3. On Project: 8 months: 34% of the time

What is the impression this guy makes on the interview panel? --- he makes A VERY GOOD IMPRESSION!, the panel sees this person as a "ready made resource" who can be directly deployed on a project and a means to earn instantaneous revenues, no training period and no lead times. The panel says "There is a project on hand and we need people urgently. This guy fits the bill, let's hire him".

HR makes an offer, Tom is unhappy and refuses and says he wants more and wants the Position of a Project Leader.

HR comes back to the interview panel with this new problem. The panel has to come up with a new strategy, they say "let's give him what he wants, instead of hiring experienced people, let's hire some freshers. This guy wants more responsibility, so he has to train these new people and get them up to speed in 2 months". HR is happy, Tom is happy and resigns from his current position. He tells his colleagues and friends that this new company really knows the value of individuals, they know how to treat people.

What happened in this case is sad and easy to visualize..... here's the list of the highlights:

• Tom got what he wanted even though he did not deserve it. 
• The new company went ahead and obliged Tom what he wanted because they were under pressure to deliver this new project. 
• Tom's colleagues and friends from his first company are thinking Tom is having a great time and they are disgruntled because they are not getting similar breaks, work suffers........
• In reality Tom is under tremendous pressure to deliver and is on the verge of cracking. 
• Tom has put a HOLD on the Villa, the Limited Edition Watch and the new car..... 
• Tom's team is also under great pressure to deliver and are looking up to Tom to teach them but Tom is not able to find sufficient time to train his team.
• Tom's team is showing signs of disgruntlement
• Management is after Tom to perform
• Tom fails!
• Tom is now complaining to his colleagues and friends about how this company is treating him and how unfair the management is. 

After 1 year, Tom is looking out for a new job which offers him higher pay!. He does not want to insist on a higher position as he wants more exposure now, he is willing to join as a Project Leader but does not mind if a higher position is offered!.

..... and the "Promotion" cycle goes on.....

Resistance and Negative Motivation

While I was studying Electrical Engineering for my Bachelor's Degree, I came across the concept called "Resistance". I learnt that Electricity flows through the path with the least resistance. The key word here is "Least Resistance".

When I apply this concept to human beings, it applies straight on!.

"People do not want to do difficult things".... "People don't want to do anything at all!".

Not only people want to be in the state of least resistance, meaning, they don't want to work hard, they even don't want to see others working hard, so, they prevent others from working.

These people also expect the best work conditions and the best pay for doing nothing. When they don't get what they want, they will complain that the "system is wrong !", "the management does not know what they are doing !", "if this continues, the company is sure to sink !", "the Manager gave you only 4 hours for a 16 hour task? do they think we are machines?", "the Manager does not have any experience in this subject!".

I am surprised when I come across individuals who say these words, it's ridiculous.


Buddy, do you even know what you are talking about? If you have seen something wrong in the system, have you ever tried to escalate the matter and suggested what can be possibly done to change the system? If  you know how to run a company, then why don't you start your own? Do you know what it takes to get to the Manager's position, leave alone commenting on what he/she knows or does not know? 


The above questions result in lame excuses and not answers: "my words will not have any impact!", "I am just a programmer here, why will they listen to me?", "no one will give me a loan to start my own company", "I have all skills to become a Manager, give me a chance and I will prove it!". The truth is that, this person does not even want to try, he/she wants a chance without having to work for it and earn it.


The principle of "Least Resistance" in people fuels the urge to "Negatively Motivate" others. More and more people get negatively motivated because it is very simple, very convincing and appeals to an individual's "heart" more than his "brain". All the education, all the learnings of knowing the "right" from the "wrong" goes out the window....

We now have a part of an organization that is "cancerous" and presents the risk spreading rapidly and killing an organization if not "treated" quickly and appropriately.

Who can treat this disease? .... Answer is: PEOPLE or EMPLOYEES.

People must differentiate the bad from the good. It's hard to identify a disgruntled employee or the reason of the disgruntlement, but the least an individual can do is UNDERSTAND the following points;

1. Your contribution is directly proportional to your growth in the company.
2. Trying and failing is better than not trying at all. Every trial, whether successful or failed, has a lesson to offer, it depends on you, whether you choose to learn or not.
3. If you find someone talking negative or complaining, compare this person's achievements and experience to yours. If that person has more experience then please ignore the negative comments. The company may be willing to tolerate this Negative Motivator for some time due to his/her past contributions and may be willing to give this person another chance to turn around. If you try to negatively motivate someone else and if you have not earned a good reputation as yet then you don't stand a chance. Use your maturity, if someone asks you to steal, hurt someone or jump traffic signals, what will you do? 
4. Not contributing to your organization, is BAD. Complaining why you cannot contribute or reasoning for your failure to contribute is WORSE. Preventing someone else from contributing is A DISASTROUS and will never be tolerated.

I am left with the thought "There are a hundred people who can tell why something cannot be done. A leader is one who says, it can be done and tries. It is he who will make difference to the world."