s e s h m i c s

2009-02-25T08:12:00.001-08:00

Very good marketing tips: Outrageously Creative Tips for Saving Money & Growing Your Business http://ping.fm/as2CS

2009-02-23T08:15:00.001-08:00

Guy Kawasaki's How to Get Retweeted http://ping.fm/KkjA5

2009-02-19T00:49:00.001-08:00

Top 5 Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail http://www.p2w2.com/blog/index.php/top-5-reasons-why-small-businesses-fail/

2009-02-19T00:33:00.001-08:00

How Microsoft created 2.5 million evangelists. http://ping.fm/miq7i

2009-02-19T00:29:00.001-08:00

Good article! 10 Steps to Effective Copywriting http://ping.fm/PcYmT

2009-02-19T00:17:00.001-08:00

Your 2008 loss can be a possible source of cash! http://ping.fm/pg8lc

2009-02-17T21:45:00.001-08:00

Bill Clinton: Stimulus Package Should Do More for Small Business http://ping.fm/y6JpD

2009-02-16T23:19:00.001-08:00

Can Coaching Help Your Business? http://ping.fm/dxXgp

2009-02-16T23:16:00.001-08:00

An Overview of Deducting Business Expenses http://ping.fm/UA3tf

2009-02-12T02:43:00.003-08:00

Social Networking or Social Notworking http://ping.fm/LmdcI

2009-02-12T02:43:00.001-08:00

The Art of Generating Buzz http://ping.fm/9N3SU

2009-02-12T02:24:00.001-08:00

Video: Paul Krugman on the Economy http://ping.fm/kkBH0

2009-02-12T02:14:00.001-08:00

Business Opportunities Abound, Even in Bad Times http://ping.fm/e1Cxo

2009-02-10T05:45:00.001-08:00

The Economics of Giving It Away http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123335678420235003.html

2009-02-09T06:45:00.001-08:00

Small Business Owners, Only YOU Can Save the Economy http://ping.fm/rabDE

2009-02-09T05:25:00.001-08:00

I am looking to hire a graphic designer to design an e-book for me. Any recommendations. Here's the project: http://ping.fm/K7TG5

2009-02-08T21:40:00.001-08:00

Back to Fundamentals Webinar by John Jantsch (of Duct Tape Marketing) http://ping.fm/s8Ug1

2009-02-08T21:31:00.001-08:00

Search Engine Door Slowly Closing on Small Business http://ping.fm/EjkZS (related: http://ping.fm/cbqpL)

2009-02-08T20:56:00.001-08:00

@garyvee My info has been that FB allows you to put in highly targeted ads. check out this link: http://ping.fm/Xu1qI

2009-02-05T20:59:00.001-08:00

Write Your Own Twitter Client using Microsoft Excel http://ping.fm/fjIUo (via @tsurch)

2009-02-04T09:32:00.001-08:00

Women over 55 group are fastest growing group on Facebook http://ping.fm/umYiv

2009-02-04T08:54:00.001-08:00

SpyFu: Useful But Can Be Better http://ping.fm/UwtCo #www.p2w2.com

2009-02-04T08:51:00.001-08:00

Why India's $10 Laptop is a Load of Hype http://ping.fm/ZuaGE

2009-02-04T00:33:00.001-08:00

Satyam Fraud: SEBI finally grills Ramalinga Raju http://ping.fm/VhJiF

2009-02-03T23:44:00.001-08:00

Don't use technology to do dumb things http://ping.fm/70twP

2009-02-03T23:13:00.001-08:00

Super-talented people become entrepreneurs so they can put their process expertise to work http://ping.fm/L6qM2

2009-02-03T23:10:00.001-08:00

R.I.P.: The Death of the Small Community Bank http://ping.fm/Bx810

2009-02-03T22:17:00.001-08:00

How Twitter Can Help at Work http://ping.fm/o52RQ

2009-02-03T07:48:00.001-08:00

Top 30 Most Profitable Small Businesses During 2008 http://ping.fm/8jRNQ

2009-02-03T07:42:00.001-08:00

10 traits of successful entrepreneurs http://ping.fm/RmO0y

2009-02-03T07:07:00.001-08:00

Super Bowl ads have been kidnapped by the frustrated advertising creative departments http://ping.fm/HKNqK

2009-02-02T10:01:00.001-08:00

Global Internet Passes 1 Billion Users http://ping.fm/BXkeV

2009-02-02T03:07:00.001-08:00

Working on a blog post!

2009-02-01T05:47:00.001-08:00

Cut Customer Service? You'll Lose Customers http://ping.fm/jmVui (related: dealing with upset customers http://ping.fm/OS3XW)

2009-02-01T05:41:00.001-08:00

Cut Customer Service? You'll Lose Customers http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/anthony/2009/01/what_not_to_cut_when_times_get.html

2009-01-31T10:54:00.001-08:00

How 37 signals reduced their charge backs by 30% - simple but illustrates a point. http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1545-how-we-reduced-chargebacks-by-30-as-a-percentage-of-sales

2009-01-31T09:46:00.001-08:00

I just love this: Get Smart Twitter Tools http://ping.fm/vQ1UB (Related: how twitter can help small businesses http://ping.fm/SaWtu)

2009-01-30T06:32:00.001-08:00

Get People to Share Your Content http://ping.fm/vj8O1 (Related Link Building to create massive traffic www.p2w2.com/blog/index.php/p2w2-sbl-link-building-to-create-massive-traffic-to-your-website/)

2009-01-28T23:12:00.001-08:00

Managing Customer Frustration http://ping.fm/xpPRs (related: http://ping.fm/OS3XW)

2009-01-28T09:09:00.001-08:00

Report on Obama's Use of Social Media http://ping.fm/dbudh

2009-01-27T10:54:00.001-08:00

The downturn’s new marketing rules http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Marketing/Sectors_Regions/the_downturn_new_rules_for_marketers_2262

2009-01-27T10:33:00.001-08:00

Free SEO Tool Ranks Your Website Against Competitors http://ping.fm/zvv6f

2009-01-27T10:26:00.001-08:00

How to file 1099s http://ping.fm/0SgMf

2009-01-27T09:41:00.001-08:00

7 Template Resources to Save You Time http://www.p2w2.com/blog/index.php/7-template-resources-to-save-you-time/

2009-01-24T12:32:00.001-08:00

How to Advertise Locally Without a Budget http://ping.fm/BypaO

2009-01-24T12:22:00.001-08:00

4 Ways This Recession Will Change Our World http://ping.fm/Tiyer

2009-01-24T04:13:00.001-08:00

Smaller IT Budget? Pursue Value-Driven Development http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/cramm/2008/11/valuedriven-development.html

2009-01-24T03:49:00.001-08:00

How to Communicate Like Barack Obama http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/baldoni/2009/01/the_many_communication_styles.html

2009-01-23T08:08:00.001-08:00

Why paid search and organic at the same time. http://ping.fm/OPOQE

2009-01-23T07:27:00.001-08:00

Getting great testimonials http://ping.fm/TsvPn

2009-01-23T07:23:00.001-08:00

Six Ways to Get People to Say “Yes” http://ping.fm/SQVTo

2009-01-23T04:18:00.001-08:00

Planning a Start-Up? Help and Advice Abound http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123224434933893663.html

2009-01-23T03:28:00.001-08:00

You Can Do Anything You Want - Pierre Omidyar (founder of eBay) http://ping.fm/bNuXW

2009-01-22T21:30:00.001-08:00

Avoid the pitfalls of social networking. http://ping.fm/HsVy2

2009-01-22T21:28:00.001-08:00

Start up eco system rapidly shaping in India. http://ping.fm/EiCiA

2009-01-22T06:02:00.001-08:00

Ann Handley: Why Do People Use Twitter? http://ping.fm/eYD2s

2009-01-22T05:36:00.001-08:00

Share (small) business jokes! I will publish the best ones on http://www.p2w2.com/blog with a link back to your website.

2009-01-22T05:35:00.001-08:00

Share (small) business jokes! I will publish the best ones on http://ping.fm/OjLUy with a link back to your website.

2009-01-22T05:34:00.001-08:00

I really like this google ad words tutorial. Has great info. http://ping.fm/Ph4hz

2009-01-22T00:00:00.001-08:00

Share (small) business jokes! I will publish the best ones on *www.p2w2.com/blog with a link back to your website.

2009-01-21T21:56:00.001-08:00

Satyam's Rahu may have siphoned cash. http://ping.fm/yjINX

2009-01-21T21:50:00.001-08:00

Looking for great t-shirt messages. What's the msg you love?

2009-01-21T20:52:00.001-08:00

Steven Levy on the Burden of Twitter http://ping.fm/YCIq2

2009-01-21T06:44:00.001-08:00

Networking – The Key to Unlock Small Business Growth http://www.p2w2.com/blog/index.php/networking-–-the-key-to-unlock-small-business-growth/

2009-01-19T00:39:00.001-08:00

From Books, New President Found Voice http://ping.fm/pz8Da

2009-01-19T00:38:00.001-08:00

From Books, New President Found Voice http://tinyurl.com

2009-01-18T07:57:00.001-08:00

The Slow Down Reaches Small Businesses http://www.p2w2.com/blog/index.php/the-slow-down-reaches-small-businesses/

2009-01-18T07:41:00.001-08:00

Top Small Business Marketing Trends for 2009 http://ping.fm/rYn3w

chaitanyasagar.com, my new blog

2007-08-03T05:02:00.001-07:00

This blog moved to www.chaitanyasagar.com . The blog you are reading is my OLD blog. But why a new blog? Specially when Google linked my name with this blog?

It is because of the name. Not many could remember the ‘cool’ name I spent so much time choosing. I realized, keeping a name simple is more important than the cool quotient because people remember simple names.

But that only explains one part - that I wanted to change the name. Why should the name be my name? It can be a theme-based name based on what I want to write. Or, I could use my name. If you look at blogs which have theme based names, though have a stated purpose, they often write on topics other than the theme. The second option gives you flexibility to write on topics that interest you without the theme restricting you. Guy Kawasaki’s blog is a case in point. His blog name is simple and easy to remember. And you have the flexibility to write what you want. The reason is simple. We blog because we want to write about topics we are passionate about. And it is hard to articulate all the stuff you want to talk about in a small tag line where bloggers generally state what their blog is about. Why tell (or promise?) something and not stick to it? Keep it flexible.

So here it is.. a new blog and a new post. I have a better understanding of the challenges in writing a blog. There’s always a nagging feeling that you have got to write a new post because you want to write a new post every week. And sometimes, you run out of topics. But I am hopeful. Let’s see if I can do it. Because I now think that writing blog does take time but it is in sync with my goals.

Happy new year!

2006-12-28T08:45:00.000-08:00

Networking in a nutshell

2006-09-09T23:05:00.000-07:00

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
-Samuel Johnson

Problems with Google

2006-09-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

I am researching on issues with current search engines. Something that you wanted to get from Google or other search engines and could not get. Please drop me a mail or leave a comment.

Cheers,
Chaitanya

Guess What

2006-08-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

Guess what, originally uploaded by Chaitanya_Sagar.

Guess what this is.

Nature from ISB

2006-07-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

Nature from ISB, originally uploaded by Chaitanya_Sagar.

Nature time from ISB. June 30, 06.

Related:
Wild life on campus
Nature time from ISB

What a cricket match taught me

2006-07-23T04:46:00.000-07:00

Here's what a cricket match I played a few days back taught me:

A leader should perform and win respect: Before you can energize a team, you should first perform and show results. The team will then follow.
Take lead. But get out of the way where you are weak: You should know yourself and strive for excellence in areas of strenths. But in areas where you are weak, you should get out of the way and let others take the lead. Others should see that you are doing this in the cause of the team.

Give opportunities: People perform at different points. Even if a person performs poorly in one instance, they might do better some other time. Give them opportunities where they are likely to be successful and contribute to the team.

Value portable skills: Some skills are portable; others are not. If you happen to decide who to pick for a job, pick the person who has relevant portable skills. Even at the cost of those who are successful in other areas but do not have those portable skills.

Leadership goes to those who take the opportunity. Leadershipmay not be explicit. But subtlely, people accept your leadership if you show them that you are striving for the common goal.

I am India Video

2006-06-11T00:06:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed this video. Wonderful theme. Great background music. Awesome photography. Bharat Bala productions shot it and IBEF produced it.
Related:
Vande Mataram
Jan Gan Man

Brick-by-Brick

2006-06-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

Brick-by-Brick: The mood across the nation. May 06. Mumbai.

French Kiss and the Nature

2006-05-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

These topics seem connected but they are not. I wanted to buy French Kiss DVD for a long time. Music stores don’t have it. The Crossword at InOrbit Mall has gotten bigger. I thought may be they will have it now. I went there, looked for it in the romance section. Not there. Then looked for it in Humor. Not there either. Next to it was ‘action/adventure.’ I thought a little. May be it belongs there. But it’s not available there either. They have “What A Girl Wants” but not “French Kiss.” How come?

I invariably had to ask an attendant. If the attendant is a girl, it’s inconvenient to ask her. For two reasons. One, it’s not easy title to ask for. The attendant invariably smiles. I have to explain – “it’s a nice movie…”, “Pyar to hona hi tha is its remake” etc. But the damage is usually done. Or two… she might give it to me before fully understanding what I want! But today, it was a guy. I asked him. He said those were out of stock!

But I could get Sea Biscuit and The Terminal. The first one sounds funny. But the movie is not. The second one does not. But the movie is. Talking about serious and funny stuff, I restarted blogging (i.e. once a week) after figuring that serious and boring blogs have a readership of their own! But kabhi kabhi entertainment bhi hoyaye. To socha aaj Nature ke baareme kuch likhe. Among the rich treasure trove of pictures I have accumulated in the past two years, ‘nature’ has its share of pictures. I will call the rest of this post Nature Rocks.

I will start with the best. Sunrise at Kanyakumari. I saw sunrises at Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Mumbai and Kanyakumari. But the one at Kanyakumari beats them all. What makes it special? Is it that you visit the ‘Sunrise Spot’ through the Vivekanandapuram? Is it because of the extra vibrant reddish orange colors? Or is it because of the aura surrounding the place? I have no idea. You can see Vivekananda Rock and Thiruvallulvar statue in a distance and is a great place to be – every morning. Suchindram temple is just few kilometers away and adds to the experience.

Kanyakumari:

Madh Island

Next comes the sunrise at Madh island in Mumbai. Nothing much to talk about. Except that we saw smugglers there. At least that is what my friend thought they were. They turned out to be a bunch of college kids having fun! We couldn’t get into the in-ruins Madh Fort that we originally wanted to visit. It was an unplanned visit.

A trip to Vizag was an unplanned visit too; two friends of mine and I took off to Vizag on a weekend when I was at ISB. We booked an ‘in-forest’ cottage at Araku Valley. There was a power cut around mid-night. We could hear the deafening sound of silence.

This picture was shot in Araku valley. Rest of the trip was great.

Somehow such trips are great experience. Away from the usual hum bug of the daily life, we can get closer to nature and to ourselves. Samrakshan (a Chennai based organization) once organized such trip for the kids it hosts to Tonakel, a camping location in the outskirts of Chennai. The kids played, ate, danced, saw movies and made merry. Two pictures from the camp. One the camp fire and two a dead tree [I want to call it The Needy Hand].

Though the urge is to go away from a city, if you can explore, there is nature within the city as well. Take a look at three pictures from “Kamala Talab” that is less than two kilometers from where I stay. It is unbelievable how such a pond exists within a city. I had the exact same feeling when I went to Madh Island. It seemed like I was hundreds of kilometers away from the maddening crowd of Mumbai.

The last one is from my Kerala trip of April 05. I took this picture when I was in an auto on my way to Kumarakom, a beautiful town near Kottayam. Beautiful snake boats adorn wonderful back waters of Kerala.

Having thought so much about sea, boats and given my natural disposition, I recollected a quote [that Sumantra Ghosal quoted in the first ISB brochure.] I will end the post with the quote. “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to go to the forest to gather wood, saw it, and nail the planks together. Instead, teach them the desire for the sea.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

Other posts on Nature:
The Bird
Heavenly Canvas
Nature time from ISB
Sunrise on Besant Nagar Beach

Entrepreneurship Ahoy!

2006-05-20T22:57:00.000-07:00

The past week was exciting. First, take a look at this post my friend wrote. It’s great to see such success and is worthy of emulation. All three (Kaps, Ashwin and I) interned in Citibank in Chennai at the same time.

Second, I read three fantastic articles. These are must-read for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Creating Indian entrepreneurs: Rajat Gupta
Emergic: India needs more entrepreneurs
Emergic: Let’s build a business

A cool way to remember my blogname

2006-05-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

My friends find it difficult to remember my blogname. "What is it again?" is the inevitable question when we discuss my blog.

So I thought I will tell you a cool way to remember it. But first, I will start with a not-so-cool way. [no pain; no gain!]. Seshmi is a leader in egyptian. (Why egyptian? no idea). CS are my initials. I stitched them together. The name is an aspirational statement.

Now, the cool way. It's not to remember. Go to google.com; type my name (Chaitanya Sagar) and hit 'I am feeling lucky.' You will reach my blog.

Cheers,
CS

The Learnability Quotient

2006-05-14T03:17:00.000-07:00

You will be familiar with the word ‘Learnability’ had you worked in Infy. It’s otherwise an unknown term. I googled Learnability. All I got were techie results including ‘Why Java Sucks: Notes on Learnability and Ease of Use.’ [A harassed software engineer would have written the article].

Learnability is the ability to learn¹. It’s the ability to adapt to new situations² and the ability to understand the rules of a changing game and excel at them. Learnability is important because it is the single most important factor that determines the pace at which an individual grows. Imagine a graph on which your growth and growth of your peers are plotted on y-axis and time on x. Over time, gap builds between those who grow fast and those who don’t. For those who grow slow, it becomes increasingly difficult to catch up with the those at the front and after a period, impossible. Learnability gives you that ability to grow fast and the ability to scale no matter whether you are trying to scale from being entrepreneur to a CEO of a large company or from being an entry level employee to being a valuable player for a company.

Take a look at Bill Gates’ response to a question from an interview with Prannoy Roy on NDTV:

Sushil Gupta: This question is for Mr. Gates. My question is what is the fundamental difference, if any, between managing a startup and a large corporation like Microsoft?

Bill Gates: I think there is quite a difference in the managerial style and leadership style you need as the company grows large. It is actually very rare, Infosys, Microsoft, and may be three or four other companies had had continuity of leadership even if you have gotten to a very large size. It requires the skill-set of being somebody who loves looking at code, you know sitting down with customers, doing that, and that rarely comes with being somebody who can step back and pick the right people, create a system to monitor those things and really be in much more of a leadership role, and so I had had to learn a lot as the company has gotten bigger.

Source

It’s less obvious that from running a start up to managing a large company, you will see a gradient of skill sets for a number of intermediate roles that Bill Gates had to play. To transition to the next role, you will need new skills. Learnability is this ability to figure out the new skill sets, acquire them and demonstrate the maturity to take up the next role.

The third quality I spoke above has the most impact and is the toughest to acquire. It’s like playing chess. You continuously analyze various players, understand changing rules and excel the new ones or create them. This trait comes to fore when things get into a flux. It could be an acquisition, reorganization, an induction of a new CEO, etc. are all events that give you the opportunity. People who have high learnability quotient are active understanding and turning the rules of the game in their favor.

Allied with this skill is the ability to drop your current toolset. Specially if you are good at it. How many tech geeks continue to invest a lot of time, energy and money to keep pace with technology though it may not add any incremental value? They do it just because it is cool or because it differentiates them. I am not against technology. Why go after it if it does not add additional value? Those with high learnability quotient will be happy to drop their tools³. Take a look at what Mark Shuttleworth has to say.

It’s the ability to learn tools, not the tools themselves

The most successful people learn how to spot the best tools and trends and to take advantage of them. They also learn to LET THEM GO when the time is right. Rather than being convinced your tools are the One True Way, recognize that they are rocking good tools right now and will also certainly be obsolete within five years.

If you don’t drop tools, you might diagnose the problem incorrectly or prescribe incorrect measures. I read in an entrepreneurship related article that entrepreneurs tend to respond from their area of strength. E.g. In response to falling revenues, a marketing manager turned entrepreneur will respond by advertising more, an ex-accountant by cutting costs and an ex-operations manager by making operations more efficient. “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” So true. You have to figure out if you have the right hammer for the nail you have at hand.

Learnability at an organization level

Organizations also have a learnability quotient. It reflects in the pace at which it takes decisions. E.g. Ten years back, there were several technology services companies in India. Very few managed to scale up and excel at new rules. Accenture is a good example. It realized the disruptive nature of Offshore IT services and set up its Indian arm. Hearsay is that they got a few things right. Their Global Delivery Network headcount outside US reached 44,000 in Feb 06 (from 19,000 in May 05) with more than 17,500 in India alone. EDS on the other hand, though it founded the IT services industry, managed to pull together 3,000 people by May 06. The Mphasis acquisition was more desperate than proactive. Its net margin in 1Q FY06 was 24 million on the base of $5 B revenue or net margin of 0.5%. Accenture makes 5% --ten times that of EDS (Wipro makes 24% but the comparison is not apples-to-apples). Recently, EDS divested AT Kearney. So it has two missing pieces in its strategy – a consulting organization and the offshore capability. Accenture which learnt the game ahead has all the pieces – Consulting, IT services, BPO and Offshore capability.

Improving learnability

Getting back to learnability at an individual level, how do you improve leanability? I don’t know. But I reflect on certain traits that people with high level of learnability have. First, these people make the most out of ambiguity. They involve themselves when the rules are still being made and tune them to suit themselves. Second, they are calculative. They think two steps ahead and calculate how changing rules will affect themselves. But it must be possible to learn learnability. :) I read somewhere that JRD Tata learnt music at the age of 80!—a great testimony to his hunger for learning. My father is currently (at the age of retiring) learning music. His teacher is my age! I think I am fortunate to be in that environment. There is no bad age to learn anything. It’s about ‘living in the moment’ and figuring out how things fit in our lives and careers.

Notes:
1. Ability to learn continuously. Because if you do not, by mere passage of time, you will be obsolete. I read somewhere that you tend to forget >80% of what you have learnt in 24 hours. [Revision or repetition is the key to memory… so memory books say]. “What can be learnt can be unlearnt,” said an actor friend of mine. I agree with him, there is little news here.

2. Ability to adapt to new situations. Infy’s version: “We define learnability as the ability to extract generic inferences from specific instances and using them in new, unstructured situations.” This captures the crux of what I want to say.

3. I have some experience in dropping tools. I am good at MS Excel. So much so that I was famous for solving people’s excel problems. Some time, people from a different city called me saying they had an excel problem and needed my assistance. I made some presentations [(a), (b)] too. After a point I realized, excel skills alone gave me little competitive advantage.

Interesting links: Symantec said the rules of security software changed

itheabsolute says Enthropy is manager’s enemy

Mumbai trains

2006-05-07T11:43:00.000-07:00

‘Complex’ is what comes to my mind when I think about Mumbai trains. Complex because they touch lives of most in Mumbai. Because it rakes socio-economic-political issues. Because there are no easy solutions to reform it. Discussion on Mumbai trains is more than just about commuting.

The travail of commuting in a Mumbai train is well known. Just a couple of glimpses if you never heard of it.

Just try to imagine all these people piling in like sardines (we mean literally sardines) until there is no more physical space with the rest hanging off the edge of cabins. And then getting off the train is a completely different feat...you have to be mentally prepared prior to your stop and then since there is no space, you literally are shoved through to the other side of the train...it's kind of like floating amidst a sea of Indian people. And of course, there are those lovely occasions where you have to jump off the moving train otherwise you will be stuck for a few more stops to come.

When the train was about to stop (but still moving though) one could hear screams of tens of people. The screams grew louder as the trains speed dropped slowly like a omen foretelling what is to come. And all of a sudden the entire crowd started moving out of the train like water exiting fire-man's hose.

The Sport of Rush Hour Train Boarding in Mumbai

Everyone cribs about Mumbai trains. Some have got used to it. Some others were creative and took advantage of it.

Is anyone doing anything to improve the plight? Apparently “phase II” of the project is currently on with a spending of Rs. 3,125 crore (or $700 M). It apparently started around 2001 and the first phase, supposedly resulting in ‘reduction in overcrowding,’ should have ended by now. But the benefits are not to be seen. Whose responsibility is it to provide good commuting facility to the masses? How can they go home and sleep without addressing the problem millions face?

Some conjectures about the plight of the organization responsible for Mumbai trains

- It will be a loss making public sector unit

- Most probably a unit of Indian Railways without clear demarcation of responsibility or P&L

- Inefficient organization that can’t manage its costs well

- Cash strapped; debt ridden and so on.

Well, here are the facts:

- MRVC (Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd.)’s net margin in FY05 is 45%

- Its balance sheet has Rs. 130 crores ($30 M) in cash (I doubt most of it has come from borrowings)

- MRVC is a separate company

- It is a public sector unit

I will reserve my comments on the issues and my take on how to solve them to a post I will hopefully write later. But one thing is clear. When trains are a compelling way to travel in a city in which road travel is not really an option; when users have the power to pay; when it is profitable to carry on business; when any improvement you make will get wide recognition; history is waiting to happen—to be written in the names of those who can see the opportunity.

Trusting a Process

2006-04-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

How would you react if someone you barely know asks you to trust them to get an important work done? Do you trust them Or tell them ‘nah.. let me do it myself’? This happened multiple times with me. When someone asks you that, it is a statement of confidence – either on a process or him/herself – or the guy has no clue on what he is committing. Several years ago, in Infy, one guy asked a group of 20 ppl to trust the process of a streamlining an activity. We did. But the results were poor.

Every time I go to a new gym, the instructor is all enthu to teach you. Some force you to follow what they teach. I had this experience when a friend of mine and I asked the instructor to get out of our way because we saw little value in what he told us. And typically, this enthu will evaporate in a couple of days and we are an auto-pilot after that. Instructions come on pull-basis. Sometimes, you have to pull real hard. But not when I visited this new gym a couple of days back. It has far more instructors than usual. ISB gym had one instructor or at times two. But here, the member-instructor ratio seemed close to 1:1. When a trainer approached me, I told him that I am familiar with a gym and that I can manage. He was polite and understanding. He told me my ‘schedule’ will be ready in a day. What? Will the gym lay down a schedule for me? Before I left that day, I saw a member taking a signature from the instructor on a printed card which looked like a calendar. Man, far from being do-it-yourself gym, it is a ‘we-will-treat-you-like-a-kid-but-will-get-you-what-you-want’ one. I blinked it. There is the signature of a trust worty process. The instructor then asked me to exercise in a variety of ways including a sit-in-the-air (of course on my legs) (or Baithak) exercise and forty minutes on a thread mill (as opposed to the 25-minute-4-km run I prefer). No wonder all my body is aching. I think that is the flipside of trusting a process. ;) I feel like Monalisa. It’s aching but I am still smiling.

The gym episode has good lessons for me. I am involved in an activity that requires me to design processes in a research organization. The processes should be scalable, person-independent and ensure quality and timeliness of research. The process should enable the organization to reuse knowledge generated within the company to ensure consistent quality that users need. Such processes are a sine-qua-non to build good companies. I hope to learn a bit about designing good processes.

Life is a process for mitchdolittle

DetriotGirl, an English teacher, wants her students to trust the learning process

What trust a process means to a creative professional

A question of leadership

2006-04-23T06:17:00.000-07:00

Lack of leadership in our society is recognized. Has our society done anything to groom future leaders? Let’s say it wants do something. What can it do? Will setting up an institute to teach leadership help(1)? Will class room training make a leader? Can you teach leadership?

As an individual, if you feel the urge to become a good leader and contribute at work or to the society, how should you improve leadership skills(4)? Should you read about leaders? Get a leader-mentor? Get a business degree (2)?

What is leadership? Is it vision? Is it ability to persuade? Is it being a larger than life personality? Sacrifice? Empathy? Overwhelming urge to do something(5)? Humility and will (3)?

It seems like there are many necessary conditions and no one knows which conditions are sufficient.

(1) N R Narayana Murthy “A true leader is one who leads by example and sacrifices more than anyone else, in his or her pursuit of excellence. It is our vision at Infosys, to create world class leaders who will be at the forefront of business and technology in today's competitive marketplace. The Infosys' Leadership Institute has been conceptualized to instill in our employees creativity to bring new ideas to fruition, make transition to new paradigms and embrace change. We believe the Leadership Institute will play an instrumental role in equipping Infoscions to be leaders, contributing to the advancement of the IT industry.”

(2) ISB’s Vision

(3) Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve Jim Collins (HBR Jan 2001)

(4) Why should anyone be led by you? Rob Goffee, Gareth Jones (HBR Jan 2001)

(5) www.lokparitran.org (A new political party set up by young IITians)

A great long working weekend

2006-04-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

What will you do if you had a long weekend, but had to work most of it? On Sunday last, I was particular to salvage it. I picked my camera and got on my bike. I wanted to get to the Marve road and find some good spots to shoot. I found ‘Kamala Talab’-- a pond near by the Malad link road--a couple of weeks back. I was hunting for another fish. The problem was that I found many. The Marve road led to a beach by the same name which is home to a fishing community. Empty boats tell you the story. Evening is not a time for great fishing action but for a couple of fishermen sorting their produce.

Unlike a usual Mumbai get away, I could not find many people around. There were some. But not up to the Mumbai standards. It seemed like a perfect setting—not having to wait in a queue.

Marve beach, to me, was truly beautiful. The ball of orange slowly and silently dipping into the blue expanse and vanishing for the day swept us off our feet. Good for them yaar! Atleast people can, after a gruelling day's work, amble on the shore and the let the breeze recharge their frayed nerves. I miss it. (Gargi Chowdhury)

The beach is famous. Actually there are two beaches. The other one is usually crowded as it can house more and commercial interests ensure they use their capacity. When you go there the first time, you are likely to miss the Marve beach and go to‘theresort’ as the sign boards all point to the second one. May be that is good. Let the madding crowd to to the Resort. And the value hunters to the Marve beach.

The people there are friendly. They asked me to take their pictures. I was happy to oblige.

I spent an hour or so taking pictures, talking to people, and bathing in the evening sun light. And it was time to get back to work. I turned around and beauty of the sun set in my rear window struck me. I just then packed my camera. And I was lazy to reassemble it. But I knew, I wouldn’t let such an opportunity go.

The gradient [This rope connected a boat to the anchor in the sea]

[CS: A fisherman sleeping on road on his fishing net unaware of the world around him.]

16 April, 2006. Marve Beach. Mumbai.

A post on Versova beach: http://trivialmatters.blogspot.com/2006/04/versova-morning.html
Information on beaches in Mumbai: http://www.mumbaisuburbs.com/mumbai-tourist/m umbai-sights-beaches-other.html

Blink Positive

2006-04-09T04:17:00.000-07:00

Analysis paralysis. If you have this disease, Blink is a good book to read. In short it says, you can decide, and make the right decision, in the blink of an eye, without analyzing loads of data. It says great decision makers "perfect art of 'thin slicing' - knowing the very few things that matter."

"It's a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions. Well, "Blink" is a book about those two seconds."

Blink tells me, "dude, conclude the analysis... what comes to your mind first? Go with it!" I found this book useful in dealing with people... especially interviews. Just thin slice... get hold of a small and relevant piece of info and 'blink' the whole. The warmth in conversation, enthusiasm, a messy desk, an inappropriate comment, lack of response to your mail... all have their unique and unmistakable signatures. Consider much simpler example. If you ask an easy question like 'name the financial statments of a company.' Two guys may give the same answer . But you can develop 'signatures' of a guy who has reasonable knowledge of the topic and the guy who does not. I tried this multiple times. There is no need to ask further questions.

Turn this the other way around. What will others think of you when they see the 'signatures' you leave? It's scary because people draw conclusions about you left and right. That's why, Blink raises the bar. If you want to make a favorable impression, you have to be always at your best. Short-term averages are irrelavant. What matters is your long-term average. Did you eat well today? Don't be satisfied because your body reflects your long-term average. Not today's. Not this week's.

Can you change how people blink you? Each time you do better than what others expect, they blink.. sort of update the 'database' with an actual eye blink. Observe. You do better or you do different stuff than you used to, people blink. It could be positive or negative. The more positive blinks you get, the better it is for you because they are thinking higher and higher about you. This is connected with 'under promise and over deliver' thingie. If you would like to do something, don't tell every one that you will. If you do, it becomes a promise. And people are checking out whether you can live up to it. Don't promise, or promise low. But give your best shot. And exceed expectations. They blink positive. Many positive blinks put together will give you a relationship based on trust and confidence. "Exceed expectations" was one of the three things Rajat Gupta spoke about during our graduation ceremony.

Overall, it's a good book to read.

Amazon
How Blink relates to Poker
A review

Kanakambaram (Fire cracker)

2006-04-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

Feb 28, 2006. Kothagudem.

The name Kanakambaram is kanaka (gold) and ambaram (precious) stitched together. Is it surprising that women like this flower?

Our house in Kothagudem is home to many Kanakambaram plants. Just opposite the 'front door,' as we call it, and the slider for my dad's Vespa, there are a few of them. I have been seeing these flowers since my childhood. Frankly, I didn't see the beauty in this flower until I shot this picture. It turned out better than what I thought it will. I like the pop-out effect--it reminds me of the palm in Kalanjali's logo. And the contrasting colors.

The scientifically or religiously inclined can get more info in these two reads:
An article on Kanambaram (The Hindu)
South is famous for flowers

New camera; new possibilities

2006-04-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

I graduated to a Digital SLR recently. I used to find my Olympus zoom camera so limiting that I had to shoot many pictures before I get what I want. In the mean while, the 'subject' (like a bird) will usually hurry away or get impatient (like my nephew would).

Suddenly a lot more seems possible. But I am still coping with the complexity of shooting with a D-SLR.

This picture is a ceiling fan [when it is on ;-) ] as seen from right underneath it. Observe part of the circle on the bottom left.

Managing Oneself

2006-04-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

How should I shape my career? Will this job be a stepping stone to my goals? Did these questions bother you? Managing Oneself (Peter F Drucker, HBR Apr '99) turns the pointer inwards. “Successful careers are not planned. They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they know their strengths, their method of work, and their values.”

“Knowing where one belongs can transform an ordinary person – hardworking and competent but otherwise mediocre – into an outstanding performer” says Drucker. “Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves- their strengths, their values and how best they perform”

I have been working on developing specific skill sets and the article comes in handy as a framework. It asks you questions and for which there are no immediate answers. You have to evaluate yourself for a period of 2-3 years before you can answer them. It lets you ask the right questions so you can answer the more important ones. Reading this article is enlightening. At the least, it is time well spent.

Mumbai's worries

2006-03-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

Basab wrote a good post on Mumbai's problems and Navi Mumbai's attempt to solve them. I had no idea about the Navi Mumbai story. I now have an excuse to go to Navi Mumbai.

Back to Mumbai's worries--as much as Mumbai has problems, those very problems make it a land of opportunity. Traffic (or commuting) is a big problem. People with disposable incomes commute by hanging to rusty trains. People can pay. They want a solution. Those who can find it will create value and make money. Ditto with affordable housing. And so with other problems.

Renew Mumbai? Is it practical? Satellite city option is like setting up a special court to deal with a problem. It shows lack of confidence in the system. Time can tell us if it helps solve the problem. Navi Mumbai could, at best, postpone Mumbai's problems. It faces the 'old-truck' problem that a friend told me about. Current owners do not recycle their trucks. They sell it. Old-trucks continue to ply. Problems move - either physically or in time.

What's he doing? What's he thinking?

2006-03-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

Samrakshan, Chennai. October 2, 2005.

Renewal

2006-03-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

Kothagudem. Feb 28, 2006

The Bird

2006-01-21T09:43:00.000-08:00

Lokhandwala, Mumbai. Jan 21, 2006.

Who is monkeying around?

2005-10-17T06:42:00.000-07:00

Vijay does his best to mimic origins of mankind. Tonakel Camp, Chennai. Oct 8 2005.

Agni

2005-10-17T06:27:00.000-07:00

Tonakel Camp, Chennai Oct 8, 2005.

No Objection for a No Objection

2005-10-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

Rs.10 K net. That's decent money, even if you calculate in $. I decided to drag my feet to the RTO's office and discovered some startling facts.

I was planning to move to Mumbai. Trouble began. The most trying of the questions I faced was: Should I sell my bike and buy another one in Mumbai?

“Yeah, that is better. I can sell away troubles with the notorious RTO. And I will get an all new bike. Sounds like a good idea.”

I calculated the costs. It costs Rs.10 K net (cash for a new bike – cash received on sale). That is big. And what I learnt was a bonus.

The Ayanavaram RTO is nearby. It took just ten minutes. When I got there, an impersonal-old-white-washed edifice sang “you don't belong here.” I looked around to figure out what I to do to get an “NOC” (No Objection Certificate). No instructions that could ease the pain of an amatuer govermnet-office-goer. And fewer in English or Hindi. Frustrating.

“Dude! If you can't be friendly, you have to face it too” and I went straight ahead to wake-up the first RTO-employee-like homosapien I could find and ask “How do I get an NOC?” After a few “this way”s and “that way”s later, I find a gentleman who told me that the forms I should use are sold outside “near the koil.” There comes the first one. The first thing that you need in a government office is sold outside the office. And what I found seemed like an idea for a good B-plan.

I come outside and saw a thriving “RTO forms” industry. That chap has RTO forms, a public telephone and a kirana shop all in one. Revenue productivity (RP – whether you count in $/head or $/sq foot) will rival with that in Outsourcing industry. Not only is the margin comparable (a rough calculation shows he earns more than 35% gross margin), but he seems to understand his customers better. I get adhesive and a stapler free (on a use-and-return basis only) if I buy forms from him. He also gives you free advice. “What is the form for that?” or “Is this the right way to fill this?” No problem. He has all the answers. I later found the adhesive and stapler were loss leaders. The shopkeeper was an agent too. He first gives the adhesive and the stapler. He then offers to work for you. A good back loaded revenue model! RP estimates hit the roof.

After a marathon form filling exercise, I go and stand in a line. After 20 minutes, I reach the counter and the guy inside a jail like structure asked me to meet an inspector to get his 'initial'.

I ask him politely “Why the hell am I not told earlier?”
He knows the trick “I don't know. Go talk to him. Next..”

I 'go talk to him' and now comes the shock. If you want to get an NOC from RTO, you have to go the police station in Arumbakkam (that is 20 minutes away) and get an NOC from them. Gawd! Give me patience. It seemed like the circular reference error in Excel.

I did go the next day to the police station and got an NOC two days later. Now that I saw some progress, this is what I think of getting stuff done in a government office.

Along with all the documents, you need to carry patience to a government office.
All activity takes time. Not the night marish – months or years – but days. And they usually deliver in the promised time.
You don't have to grease any one. At least if all your documents are in place and your case is genuine. But the normal grease of a friendly smile will go a long way to ease the process. If you can't get stuff done, talk to higher authorities and ask for help. They are willing to help and explain.
Government works!

Heavenly Canvas

2005-09-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

From atop a boat - Backwaters near Alleppey, Kerala. April 2005.

Who Am I?

2005-09-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

At the entrance to the library, Vivekananda Puram, Kanya Kumari. April 2005.

Gandhiji's Statue, Sabarmati Ashram

2005-09-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

Sabarmati Ashram. Ahmedabad. October 2004.

Festive Sun Set

2005-09-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

Injambakkam. Chennai. Sept 18 2005. Behind me was Bay of Bengal.