Where's "My Life"?

One evening, I sat down thinking how long I have come, what "I was" and what "I am" and stopped at the question --- "Am I doing what -- I -- want to do?", the answer was "not everything I do is what I want to do", which led me to another question, "Where's -- My -- Life?". To seek the answer, I started out evaluating my life 5 years at a time, starting from the day I was born. Here's the train of my thoughts...

Age 0 to 5 -  For the first 5 years of my life I slept when I wanted to, ate when I wanted, played when I wanted. My home was my world. Everyone I knew, my parents, my grand parents were all special, the person I was with, was the most important at that moment in time. I tore up news papers, broke my toys, learned to stand and walk, learned to talk, learned that I can attract attention by throwing a tantrum, realized that I can melt mom, but dad was tougher. I learned to use my mother's lap as my bed, learned to make a mess, I learned that I can pinch my younger brother to make him cry and I could quickly run to the other room and run back in looking all concerned as my little darling brother was crying . There was nothing I cared about, and I was not expected to, I did what my heart said, I guess, my brain was only helping me with instant non sense.

Age 5 to 10 - I went to school, don't know what was happening, teacher said "A for Apple" and "Two Times Three is Six", and I believed it. Learnt to make friends, learned to complain, learnt that there is a variety of food beyond what my mother cooked. I learnt to use a fork to eat noodles. My teacher helped me discover the world, various continents, cities and it's peoples. When I came home to tell my dad that we live in a continent called Asia, he said he already knew about it!.

Age 10 to 15 - Learnt that I had stage fear, realized the friends can be enemies too, dad said "work hard and be competitive, you got to top the exams", I liked literature, I liked art, dad said "no way, there is no money in it, how are you going to feed your family", teachers told my parents that I was a good student, but I must work harder, dad said, "10th standard is the most important milestone and you get only one chance at it, so don't waste time". I wanted to learn to play the guitar, my dad wanted me to get trained on vocals, issue is unresolved to this date!. This was my initiation into Peer Pressure and the Rat Race.

Age 15 to 20 - "What are you going to do now? Engineering? Medicine? you must take up Science and prepare for the Entrance Tests", I told dad, I want to be a mechanic as I love automobiles, dad completed my admission formalities to study Electrical & Electronics Engineering in an Engineering College. New life, new friends, new freedom, professors are not bothered if I am present or absent in their class, they were there to do their job, i.e., deliver their lecture and get going. It is here I learnt that "teachers were working for money too", the picture of a teacher, a Guru who was preparing us to change the world was shattered. Staying in a college hostel, I realized, I have to live on a budget, bills had to be paid in time. I learned how to make five hundred rupees last for a month.

Age 20 to 25 - "Hey, you know this great IT company, they pay a big salary, they depute you around the world to work, you get to earn in Dollars, we should get IT jobs", another line of thought, "who cares for a job anyway, let's get done with Engineering first and then think what next", get a CV ready, do a software course and be ready when Companies come to the Campus, got a job, realized that it takes 10 days of work to earn Rs.1,000 and I have pay 10% of my earnings to the Government as Tax, but in college, all it would take is a phone call to dad, a cheque would arrive in 3 days. Learned that there is something called "Job Satisfaction" and I also learned that I was not satisfied!, learned to switch jobs, learned that interviews are just meetings where my interviewer is telling me that I am unfit for the job and I am trying to convince him otherwise!.

Age 25 to 30 - Have to earn more money, have to buy that cool red bike, just like my friend's, need a bigger room to stay, need a computer so I can browse the net when I get home. Have to try out swanky restaurants, watch movies, "Friday Dressing" sounds cool, I need a new wardrobe, hey you checked the new mobile phone? need that as well. How do I fund all this, it's easy, switch jobs. I wanted to make a statement that I had arrived and I needed a lifestyle to prove it. "Dad, I earn more than you!", I said, dad smiled.

Age 30 to 35 - Got married, disposable income got multiplied by 2. Need an apartment now, buy one, get a promotion, buy a car, daughter is born, watch her grow. Wife is busy taking pictures, making albums and shopping for the kid, while I tagged along figuring out what it would take to keep up with the expenses. As new parents we are trying to teach the kid to walk, to talk, to behave and what not, I now realize what my dad did for me. It's time to settle down, my outlook changed from a "Job" to a "Career", I am looking for stability, I am looking for work-life balance.

Age 35 to 40 - Which school is she going to go? Planning for my daughter's education, buy insurance polices, save for her education, plan for our retirement, "spread the risk", said the investment consultant, he said I should invest in stocks now, wife wants to buy jewelry because prices of Gold dropped by Rs.20 per gram, "what the hell? you want me to spend over Rs.100,000 to save Rs.800!, it's ridiculous", man will this ever end? Where's "my life"?

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

I don't know what life has in store for me. For once I have concluded that I won't have "my life" again, at least not in the next 3 decades or so, that is if I live that long!. The only time I did what I wanted to do was when I was less than 5 years old, I was living "My Life", but I didn't know it then!, after that it was predominantly doing what my parents wanted, what my teachers wanted, what my friends wanted, what my boss wanted. what my wife wanted, now it is what my daughter wants...

Now that I realize that "My Life" is my family, my friends and my work, then why complain? I should try to be happy to live for others in my life...

We have Qualifications, Are we Educated?

Education is the act of imparting knowledge to an individual, which results in better behavior and actions that contribute to improve society. 

Nowadays people spend a lot of money on Education of their children. I see kids going to tuition and classes to learn various skills outside of their curriculum - tremendous amount of learning and exposure. Truly, we have come a long way with our Education System.

Interestingly, In India, the Literacy rates have increased from around 5% in 1911 to 65% in 2001 and then to around 75% in 2011.

The question is, are we really Educated?

If Yes, then...

• Why can't we tolerate a slower vehicle ahead of us?
• Why do people waiting at the Traffic Signal honk when the signal turns Green?
• Why is it that, an error in the software program we just wrote is "just a bug", but a wrong calculation on the Bank Account Statement is something we would sue the bank for?
• Why is it that we expect our customers to understand why the project is delayed, but we yell at the Pizza Delivery Boy for being 10 mins late?
• Why is it that we get upset when the boss admonishes us for delay in the project, but we cannot tolerate a delay in the paycheck?
• Why is it that we expect appreciation for the "good" work we do, but expect the Management to "understand" we make mistakes and feel bad when management asks us to show cause?
• Why is it that the Policeman always stands at the end of the One Way Street to issue a Ticket to people who have broken the law and not stand the beginning of the street trying to prevent people from breaking the law?
• Why do children at school compare their father's cars and discuss religion?
• Why should a child try to get more marks just because the neighbor's child has obtained better marks in the test at school?
• Why do we need facebook to stay in touch?
• Why do friends compare their salaries, cars, work and designations when they get together?
• Why does a family of 3 want a 5 bedroom apartment?
• Why is grass greener on the other side? Why is my friend's company always better than the one I work for?

Think about it...

What I learnt from my Mother: Responsibility

When I was a kid, I used to feel important when my parents would assign some tasks to me, like watering the plants everyday or bringing the newspaper and milk bottles from our door-step every morning. I remember very clearly, that I would perform each of my tasks for a few days and then either lose interest or get lazy and then forgot all about it only to find out many weeks later, that my mother had "assumed the responsibilities" of my tasks....

There was not a single day, when my mother would forget to make breakfast on a Sunday or chose to skip doing the laundry because it was a National Holiday!

My mother would ask me, my brother and my dad, what we would like to eat the next day and carefully plan every night how she is going to fulfill our wishes for "tomorrow". There is not a single day that I remember of, when my mother did not fulfill a "reasonable" demand!

Another interesting fact that I remember about my mother is that, I don't recall my mother falling sick or being too sick to cook, there was always something to eat when I was hungry.

What I learnt from my mother was RESPONSIBILITY and that

• Responsibility is ABSOLUTE! - there are no ifs and buts, no National Holidays, no breaks and no vacations. 
• Responsibility is not a 9 to 6 job! - it is a 24x7 job. 
• When one takes up a Responsibility, it better get done, because someone is depending on you to do it. 
• Responsibility does not need "Comfortable Working Conditions" or "Encouraging and Supportive Customers", only an iron will to do a great job at all costs.
• Responsibility is a Thankless Job! - don't expect a pat in the back for each successful attempt, get on to the next task as soon as possible.
• There are no Shortcuts when one takes up a Responsibility! - the involvement and commitment required is 100% - no one likes a half cooked meal.
• Anything that prevents one from executing the Responsibility is just an Excuse! and not a Reason.
• Most important thing about Responsibility is that one feels for the task or the group of people. The "Brain" follows the "Heart" when a responsibility is involved.

An amazing lesson, valid at home and at work at all time. 

How I wish, we all implement these lessons at work, there will be no loss making companies and no dis-satisfied employees...

Opportunity - Are you Ready for Success?

A few months ago, I read this wonderful book from Malcolm Gladwell called Outliers. Malcolm Gladwell is, in my opinion, an exceptional author and each of his theories are well supported by data that is an outcome of thorough research. In a world of great thinkers, who have attempted to solve complex problems, Malcolm Gladwell, takes our attention to simple occurrences, conducts research, derives data and draws simple conclusions that change one's thought process.

In this blog, I draw the reader's attention to a section in the book Outliers, called the 10,000 hour rule.

This section articulates Malcolm Gladwell's research on successful musicians, entrepreneurs and sports persons. He says, each successful person he interviewed had put in at least 10,000 hours at honing and perfecting their skill.

In the book, Malcolm Gladwell also describes the criteria for being Rich or Successful - he says, you have to be born between certain years.

The key point is that --- Opportunity does not leave a Visiting Card at the door and leave a message that says it will return in a few days. Opportunity comes when you least expect it to come.

The Person who cashes in on the Opportunity is the person who was the most "Prepared" to do so, meaning the person has already put in the 10,000 hours in the skill.

When you don't know when the opportunity is going to come, you cannot predict when the opportunity is going to come, so why not get the 10,000 hours as soon as possible and be ready when the opportunity comes?

To get to the 10,000 hours mark, a person...

• working at 8 hours a day, requires 1,250 days which equals 5 years (@ 250 work days a year)
• working 10 hours a day, requires 1,000 days, which equals 4 years
• working 12 hours a day, requires 834 days, which equals 3.33 years
• working 16 hours a day, requires 625 days, which equals 2.5 years

So, working harder, gets you prepared sooner, enhancing your chances to cash in on the opportunity when it comes!

Now look at it in another way, working 12 hours a day, gets you 5 years worth of experience in just 3.33 years!

Everyone likes a hardworking team member. So, when the Boss is looking for a person who has the best chance of solving a very critical problem or to handle a very important project, I would recommend the most hardworking individual in my team. This is because the hard working individual has the highest chance of success!, and I don't want to look like a fool by betting on someone who is less hardworking. As time goes by, this hardworking individual, gets more opportunities than others in the team and eventually becomes more successful. 

Others become obsolete and complain, that the company does not care for them, they do not provide the right environment for people to succeed and blame everything in sight.... in reality, this individual has never tried and they are in this position because of their own actions....

When I say working hard, I mean, working hard in the right direction!, For example: I live in Bangalore, if I set a goal of climbing Mount Everest, I need to start my journey in the North of Bangalore. Well, I can even start traveling south and still reach Mount Everest, but, I would have circumvented the Earth and reached at the base of Mount Everest from the Tibet.

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!