Chadda after the facelift

The TRY Index When Things Aren't Going Your Way

2005-09-21T17:16:00.000+08:00

Being the victim of a series of unfortunate events, mostly exasperating, some troubling and some downright regretful, it was only a matter of time before I vented my frustration. My Dad, never short of a wise comment, had this to say:

"When I was in IIT we had recognized such happenings (as also the fact that good things also seem to happen all at once) by inventing a TRY index. The TRY index had a scale of 0 to 10. When everything was falling apart for a person, we would say wryly that his TRY index had hit 0! Regardless of what the person did, things just seemed to keep going wrong. I guess your TRY index is also pretty low at the moment. The thing to recognize is that there are sometimes mysterious, inexplicable forces and happenings in life. The outcome varies from ecstasy to agony. Their essence was sought to be captured by the TRY index."

Two things, then. The first is that the Try Index measures bad times *as well as* good, so it might put bad times in perspective if we keep in mind that there were times when we were on a roll. Second, there are 'mysterious, inexplicable forces' at play. It doesn't matter if one is religious, or atheistic, or agnostic (as I am), but what is important is to remember that a lot of the bad times are due to forces out of our control, so there's scant basis to bash ourselves up about it excessively.

The Music in Our Lives

2005-09-21T16:53:00.000+08:00

"Music, such music, is a sufficient gift. Why ask for happiness; why hope not to grieve? It is enough, it is enough to be blessed enough, to live from day to day and to hear such music - not too much, or the soul could not sustain it - from time to time."

- 'An Equal Music', Vikram Seth

What is the music in your life? Has it been taken for granted? Have you listened to it lately?

India: A Note of Caution

2005-09-12T17:57:00.000+08:00

"Until every citizen of India has economic and personal freedom, we should focus on building the road ahead, and not on celebrating the footpath behind."

Thus goes an rather relevant post by Amit on India Uncut. I largely agree, and these are my thoughts on what I've been seeing in, and hearing about, India :

Amidst all the hype and euphoria that surrounds India's progress in the post-dot com economy, we tend to overlook some pretty sobering facts. Some of these facts are obvious, as is the huge strain on infrastucture that is apparent in any of India's metros (more so Bangalore, I would venture to guess). Some of these we are not affected by by virtue of us being born lucky, such as the endemic problems that confront the country vis-a-vis basic healthcare, education and women's rights in rural India. All of this is overlooked in the hype that India is the world's next superpower by virtue of being the backoffice of the world at this point of time.

I am not, in any way, opposed to whats happening in India with respect to market reforms. I do believe that the way forward for us (in the long run) is for us to empower the huge Indian middle class by opening up the market to its own devices and allowing Indians to be masters of their own destiny in creating the best future for themselves. I agree that we are not distributing the rewards of such a venture equally amongst all Indians, but at the same time, we are definitely increasing the size of the economic pie. If the poor only has x% of an economic pie, we can atleast hope that their x% remains relatively stable in the context of a larger economic pie, however small x may be. From that point onwards, it is basic mathematics, with x% (or close to x%) of a larger economic pie being better than the (x+1)% that the Left can optimistically hope for with a stagnant pie. X+1 is optimistic indeed, as is evidenced by their tragic failure to redistribute wealth by creating more 'social' (aka anti-free market) policies. The problem has as much to do with the definition of 'social' within the policy as it is with the implementation of the 'social' in a bureaucracy riddled with corruption (but that is ripe material for another debate).

But, that does not mean that we take India's progress for granted, and assume that we have reached the destination when the journey's just begun. India is on its way to becoming a superpower, yes, but we have to realize that even in terms of areas where we are supposedly on par with the rest of the world, there are some disconcerting facts to face. People say that India is the next IT and healthcare innovation powerhouse, but people forget that it is the *next*, and not the current, powerhouse, as is witnessed by the appalling state of cutting-edge research and innovation in India as compared to much smaller countries such as Sweden. We are on the right path, but the path ahead is strewn with obstacles, and we need to put our current position in proper context, lest we are misled into thinking that we're at a position that is still not attainable in the near future. How can we know where we want to go, if we dont accurately judge where we are now?

My better half and I spoke about a concept over the weekend called confirmation bias, in a different context. The essence of confirmation bias is that people look at the evidence in the world world with tinted lenses. Their view of facts is colored by their view of what they want the facts to mean. Thus, if we think that India has already reached a place that we want it to be at, we will only look at that aspect of the evidence (aka, MNC's research centers in India, increased offshoring, strong manufacturing) that supports our biased view of India's position. And that, in my humble opinion, tends to distract from that fact that our progress is still in its nascent stages, and we need a lot more willpower and long periods of stable, progressive governance to ensure that every step forward isnt too steps backward.

Kidnapped!

2005-07-18T16:42:00.000+08:00

Not Robert Louis Stevenson's book. This is my boss's version, which, apart from being funnier, is arguably more grievous too:

Me: Boss, this (customer of ours) sucks!

Boss: Yes, absolutely....it's &*%#*$& lose-lose. We can't bend over and take their *&^% endlessly. We can try to appease them once, twice, but after a while we are just locked in a downward spiral. We take their rubbish, accomodate their endless requests, and, in addition, we're made to bear the cost for doing so too!

Me: I agree...

Boss: It's like being kidnapped, but with a twist. The person who's been kidnapped also has to pay the ransom while in custody.

Boss: What's more, his support system (family, friends, etc etc) looks on. No, worse, it asks the person being held for a cut of the funds too.

Me (imagining a situation in my mind): Person gets kidnapped, miraculously finds a phone with which to call out for help. Dials 911.

911 Operator: Hello, 911.

Kidnappee: Help, I've been kidnapped!

911 Operator: Oh, kidnapping. Please hold the line.

Automated Voice Response: This is no longer a free service. The following instructions will cost you $5000. Press 1 to pay by VISA, 2 by MASTERCARD, 3 for additional options. Thank you for your business.

Kidnappee (aghast), presses 1 and gives his credit card details

Automated Voice Response: Thank you for your contribution. Please do not agitate your captors by not being a slave to their every whim and fancy, as it does not bode well with future kidnappers. If your kidnappers demand a ransom, please proceed to pay the same by cash yourself. If unable to do so, please press 1 to make a payment to your kidnappers via us using your credit card with a 10% service charge. For additional options, press 2. To speak to an operator, press 0.

Kidnappee (cant believe his ears, and wants a refund), presses 0.

911 Operator: Hello, 911...

Business as usual. Customer is king, they say. I better go be a customer for a while now. Retailers, beware!

Video Killed the Radio Star?

2005-07-18T15:45:00.000+08:00

One of the unusual things about radio in Australia (in Melbourne, at least) is the aggressiveness with which radio advertises the benefits of, well, advertising on radio. Driving the 10-odd km stretch from Williamstown to Port Melbourne (and not having an inclination to listen to endless coverage of footie), I preferred the endless commercials on other radio channels, which gave me ample opporunity to get to hear the benefits of radio advertisements touted by Harvey Norman's Aussie boss.

It was refreshing to hear radio taking the battle to the telly, so maybe we can find hope for radio in a world where the Buggles sang:

"They took the credit for your second symphony.
Rewritten by machine and new technology,
and now I understand the problems you can see...

I met your children

What did you tell them?
Video killed the radio star.

Pictures came and broke your heart..."

- 'Video Killed the Radio Star', The Buggles

P.S. Thinking about this, I just realized how nascent FM radio advertising in India really is. Of course, this has not stopped the number of advertisements that appear during peak hours from blossoming (rather, exploding). But don't you think it interesting that most of us were exposed to cable TV's ads before FM radio, if chiefly for the reason that FM radio made its debut in India a few years *after* cable TV? Travelling abroad, I see how much FM stations are a part and parcel of everyday life. But in India, where 22 FM channels square off against 5000+ print publications and 180 TV channels, is it a small wonder then that FM radio is considered a novelty?

Maybe we should be singing, "Radio killed the video star" instead?

History Was Made When We Weren’t Looking

2005-07-08T07:01:00.000+08:00

This question is directed at all tennis aficionados. Who is the greatest doubles tennis player of all time, who also announced his retirement from the professional game after a mixed doubles final during this Wimbledon?

I’ll give you some statistics about the player:
Professional since: 1988
Number of Career Doubles Titles: 83
Number of Grand Slam Doubles Titles: 22
Number of Wimbledon Doubles Titles: 9

Who is this guy? And why are we, as tennis watchers (myself included), besotted with Agassi, Sampras, Federer, Kuerten (as we rightly should be), not filled with the sense of awe at what Todd Woodbridge has done in a truly outstanding career?

Part of it has to do with the fact that doubles are nowhere close to as high profile as the singles game. But I do not accept that in the case of people who are close to Indian tennis. We’ve followed, supported and cheered Paes and Bhupathi to the top, and the top then consisted of Woodbridge and Woodforde, so I can’t see how we failed to notice. And yet we did. I mean, we all know that Woodforde and Woodbridge were an awesome doubles pair, but did we know just how awesome? Looking at that record up there, I suspect not.

Woodbridge deserves to be considered as an all-time great. As great as the men I mentioned above. In fact, going by pure record, greater that all of those men mentioned above except Agassi, because of his fantastic tournament record (he’s won all four grand slams, just like Agassi) and his sheer longevity (he’s lasted as long as Agassi). And, to add some spice, Woodbridge has also been in twice-victorious Australian Davis Cup Teams and a gold medalist at the Atlanta Olympics as well.

And when I look at the news, he gets less mention than Roger Federer, who played the perfect game to win Wimbledon again. Media persons are obsessed with the moment, and the moment has been harsh to Todd Woodbridge. He deserves more recognition than he’s got, more plaudits and, most of all, remembrance as the greatest men’s doubles player of all time.

Here’s to a great, in the hope that he does not get forgotten in all the record-breaking activity that Federer promises to be involved in over the coming years!

Given to Fly

2005-07-08T06:59:00.000+08:00

Picture Perfect? Roger that.

The most perfect tennis game from a singles player that I've ever seen. Roddick captured the essence of what he was up again by saying something akin to 'I attacked the net and he passed me on the forehand. Then he passed me on the backhand. And then I was getting passed at the baseline.' He went on to add that Roger Federer is the measuring stick for today's men's players, which puts what Safin and Nadal did in perspective.

"And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky
A human being that was given to fly
High.. flying
Oh, oh
High.. flying
Oh, oh
He’s flyingOh, oh"

- 'Given to Fly', Pearl Jam

It takes a Wedding...

2005-06-20T16:45:00.000+08:00

...to have a reunion. Should one then be happy, for one has gotten a chance to be an attendee at such an event and meet past acquantainces whom it would otherwise be impossible to draw to one place all at once, or should one be sad, for such is the day that it takes a marital affair for people to make a commitment to meet those they grew up with?

Being largely affected by the optimism bug, I'd rather look forward to the numerous weddings in store over the next few years, with abundant opportunities to meet long-lost (and I really mean it!) friends, rather than mull over the fall of the pure reunion in the social calendar.

Knock Knock.
Who's there?
Cupid.
Hey, how about upping the pace, as I haven't met some friends in a while?

Comedy Central

2005-05-30T13:28:00.000+08:00

'Tis been a good year for the funny bone (apart from a horrible first job, where, I did, in the end, have the last laugh, so that counts as tickling my bone as well). My well-read aunt introduced me to Tom Sharpe's writings last year, and I was hooked on his stuff.

After Sharpe, it seems, there's been no turning back. In rapid succession, friends, acquaintances and miscellaneous readings have led me into the hilarious worlds of Nick Hornby, Carl Hiaasen and David Lodge. I highly recommend each of these writers. Sometimes laughter really is the best medicine.

Games in the Theories of Life

2005-05-29T13:16:00.000+08:00

What interests me more in my chosen field (for the moment) is not so much the intricacies of the algorithms and constructs that go into making good software, as observing (and trying to influence) the effects of organization-wide software on the people who actually use it. This is hardly a new interest, as I can testify after having spent a significant chunk of my last year as an undergraduate in dissecting the nuances of Structuration Theory, and the applicability of such a theory in social situations involving interactions with information technology (specifically, enterprise systems, my pet subject).

Structuration Theory (and the occasional excursions into other social theories like Actor Network Theory) went a long way in (temporarily) sating my appetite for the social consequences of situated action. Thesis done, I took a leave of absence from theory and, by way of my current job, had the immense pleasure (and an equal amount of frustration) in the rather pragmatic concerns of real-life situated action.

But these are qualitative theories, and I've always felt that there was a chunk of understanding missing somewhere. Like a piece of a jigzaw puzzle that needed completing. (Roshan and I have repeatedly talked about (and slammed) people who deal purely in quantitative worlds, relying on fancy spreadsheets, time series, data mining and forecasting models to inform their decision making). Going by the same logic, there must be something equally wrong if I ignored quantitative contributions to the theory of human interaction situtations altogether. With that nagging thought, I decided to take the leap into the world of elementary Game Theory.

And, it seems, there are few better ways to foray into Game Theory than through a gem of a book entitled 'The Compleat Strategyst' by one J.D. Williams. Apart from a very lucid (and eminently understandable) treatment of the theory of games, Mr Williams makes no bones about the limitations of Game Theory as he understood it (at the time of writing), at the same time arguing for more research in and acceptance of the field, as the excerpt below shows (which I've taken the liberty of copying from an aptly named section titled 'Sectarian Remarks on Method'):

"It is sometimes felt that when phenomena include men, it is tremendously more difficult to theorize successfully; and our relative backwardness in these matters seems to confirm this. .. These (amateurs who lead the impetus towards simple theory) are often viewed by professional students of man as precocious children who, not appreciating the true complexity of man and his works, wander in wide-eyed innocence, expecting that their toy weapons will slay live dragons as well as they did inanimate ones..."

"The motive force that propels the game theorist isn't necessarily his ignorance of the true complexity of man-involved conflict situations; for he would almost surely try to theorize if he were not so ignorant. We believe, rather, that his confidence - better, his temerity - stems from the knowledge that he and his methods were completely outclassed by the problems of the inanimate world...since he has had some success in that field, he suspects that sheer quantity and complexity cannot completely vitiate his theories..."

"He (the game theorist) is also aware that his successes occur spottily so that his knowledge is much less complete that the uninitiated suspect - the uninitiated including of course those who believe that the animate field must be vastly harder than the inanimate because the latter has done so well(!) For example, modern physicists have only the foggiest notions about some atomic constituents - though they designed successful A-bombs. Their favourite particle, the electron, is shrouded in ignorance...they have decided that this information is in a strict sense forever unknowable. The mathematicians are likewise a puny breed. Item: after centuries of effort, they still don't know the minimum number of colours needed to paint a map (so that adjacent countries will not have the same color); it's fair to add that they suspect that number is four, but they haven't proved it."

He goes on to ask, "So what are the reasonable expectations for us to hold regarding Game Theory? It is certainly much too simple a theory to blanket all aspects of interest in any military, economic, or social situation. On the other hand, it is sufficiently general to justify the expectation that it will illumine certain aspects of many interesting conflict situations."

So there it is, then. Game Theory as a theory to illumine, to inform. That seems about right. This world needs more integrative thinking. And there has been some progress in this direction. Psychosociologists, biochemists, biotechnologists, international political economists and technopreneurs form but a small chunk of individuals who've looked beyond the boundaries of one field to illuminate their understanding of a facet of life.

Geopolitical-socio-cognitive-engineering, anyone?

Caveat: Integrative thinking should, of course, have its limits, and not result in the kind of rubbish described so aptly in this article entitled Postmodernism Disrobed.

The Upside of Higher Gas Prices

2005-05-28T23:03:00.000+08:00

Higher gas prices are typically considered bad news. Economists know that higher crude oil prices can not only cause inflation, but also stagflation, which is decidedly bad for the economy, leaving policy makers in a Catch-22 situation. With the steady oil price increases over the past year, there is thus plenty of reason to be wary of this trend and its potentially significant negative effects.

But a few people I know will be happier. For all the bad publicity that higher oil prices are associated with, there seems to be a silver lining to this issue. Higher gas prices are proving to be a significant deterrent for people looking to buy SUV's, as those gas guzzlers take no time to cut gaping holes in one's pocket (ask me, driving a pickup from South Carolina to New England and back on a student budget wasnt one of my brighter ideas). The New York Times has an interesting piece on it here (available to those with a subscription, which is free).

If gas prices continue to rise indiscriminately, Americans (especially) will assume driving positions that are closer to the road surface. Soccer moms may have to revert to driving station wagons again. Which means that car drivers wont have their scenery (ahead) obscured by vehicles that are 8 feet high. Now that can't be all that bad, can it?

There's usually an upside for every downside.

Missing the Bus, and the Boat not Taken

2005-05-27T14:26:00.000+08:00

Thinking back over my high school days, I fondly remember one of the most oft-repeated and well-worn statements of our (in)famous math teacher, who used to bellow with some feeling, "Boy! You've missed the bus to ICSE!" - in reference to a student who was, well, not living up to his expectations (or more accurately, and often, someone who was playing the fool). Over the course of my two years of being taught by him, no less than three quarters of our class was the recipient of this legendary decree, delivered whilst pointing a 1 meter stick at the snickering transgressor. It was the stuff of legend, a statement that was passed on religiously from one graduating batch to another. A student's missing the bus, in this teacher's view, quickly degenerated into his 'driving the cab', a not-so-thinly disguised prophecy of a life to be spent in a lower strata of society.

Well, forget about missing buses, or driving cabs, if you can't find the boat! At least that is what a colleague of mine at work says, in an equally undisguised attempt to enlighten me on what I'm missing out by not being a Christian. In a rather heated debate about what Christianity promises the believer, my colleague used this rather interesting example to illustrate his point:

He said, "Shreyan, imagine there is a tsunami coming your way. You're stuck on an island which is right in the path of a tsunami, and your only hope of escape lies in escape from the island. There is a boat ready to take you away, but to even see the boat, one has to be a Christian. If you don't believe in Christianity, you won't be able to see the boat, and hence, you will die." Continuing on this rather implausible line of reasoning/belief, he continued, "Shreyan, let me help you see the boat!", at which point alarm bells started going off in my head and i politely declined to continue discussing the topic further.

I have no fundamental opposition to any religion per say. Growing up, I had close friends who were Christian, Hindu, Muslim, agnostic and atheist (and I can hardly call myself religious). But, I do have rather strong objections about the conversion mania that drives religious evangelists. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that such evangelists denounce other religions in favour of their adopted one (which undermines their own credibility, but no one's listening, it seems), or maybe it just makes me sick to see people espousing that their particular choice of religion is the pathway to the 'best' (or only) God.

Religion is a social construct, and evangelists know that better than anyone else. Chosing a religion is about choosing a set of beliefs, customs and a way of thinking about a God. It is not about being privileged or not on account of religious choice. Choosing a religion to abide by is not about the boat not taken. It is about taking a different boat.

Walk On...

2005-05-24T15:35:00.000+08:00

Last Friday I saw Anakin Skywalker transform into Darth Vader, closing the loop after almost 3 decades of the Star Wars experience. While I was impressed with the quality of the movie (it was good, no doubt, atleast compared to the previous two), I was more moved than anything else. Moved by the knowledge that Obi Wan and Yoda, Luke and Leia, Darths Vader and Sidious had had their swan song, their last hurrah. Some substandard movie making aside, Star Wars Episode 3 signified the end of a whole cultural experience. The circle is complete, and now it's time to walk on. But will anything light up entire generations the way Star Wars did?

For a while beginning in the mid-90s, the TV serial Friends could stake a claim on holding one generation (mine) in rapt attention. Though nowhere close to the Star Wars in reach or glamour, the six actors in Friends managed to build cult followings for themselves (my favourite being Matthew Perry). For 10 years, a lot of us looked to an apartment in the Big Apple for nourishment; humour and a healthy scepticism were truly the need of the hour as many of us sought respites from demanding work/study schedules (being in University when we saw most of Friends, repeatedly).

And then it ended. (The quality of the show had been dipping for a while, and there was talk during the last few seasons of closure) Watching the last ever episode of Friends, we felt the same sense of sadness, emptiness rather, as the curtain came down, accompanied by Bono's evergreen voice:

"You're packing a suitcase
For a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed
To be seen
You could have flown away
A singing bird in an open cage
Who will only fly
Only fly for freedom

Walk on, walk on
What you've got they can't deny it
Can't sell it, or buy it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight..."

I saw tears in people's eyes that night, not so much because of the series, but because of the glut of associated memories that the ending of the show evoked. For many of us, leaving high school, entering college, finding and losing significant others, getting our first jobs (losing our first jobs, even) were all accompanied by the friendly "I'll be there for you...". That night the curtain came down on 10 years of our lives.

And last Friday? I couldnt quite comprehend 20 years of memories. Overwhelmed would be an understatement...

Dan Brown, Frankin W. Dixon, and the Recipe

2005-04-19T15:35:00.000+08:00

Last night I finished my second (and what will possibly be my last*) Dan Brown book. It's not like the book was bad, on the contrary, it was a real page-turner, keeping me awake late into the night twice in a row, hooked. It's just that I have had my fill of that thread of repetitiveness, not just in the nature or writing, but also in the overall theme. You could quite literally take a few chapters out of one of his books and put them in the other one that I've read. Location aside (one is primarily set in France, the other in Italy), chunks of the book could be interchangeable. They even share the same protagonist.

Of course there should be a degree of repetitiveness, they're both written by the same guy after all. Don't bestselling authors like Stephen King, Tom Clancy, John Grisham and Wilbur Smith write with some amount of repetitiveness? They do. But, it’s the degree of consistency in overall characterization, plot and drama in 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels and Demons' that had me reminiscing about my fifth grade reading.

Franklin W. Dixon does not exist. It is a pen name for a group of ghost writers called the Stratemeyer Syndicate. In fact, Edward Stratemeyer (the founder of the syndicate) is a name that very few have heard of. His Syndicate was responsible for the bestselling series, 'The Hardy Bodys' and 'Nancy Drew'. Franklin W. Dixon was the chosen pen name for the Hardy Boys’ authors.

What Franklin W. Dixon managed was a recipe for pre-teen/early-teen literary success. By the time I was 12, I think I had read the first 100 (yes, 100!) Mysteries and was reading the then-newly launched Case Files as they were being launched (more than 50 by the time I outgrew Dixon, I recall).
Apart from having characters who appealed to a teenage boy's macho sense, the Mysteries also contained a surefire plot, assured in the sense that everything would be fine in the end, for *all* the good guys. It’s a well known fact that the Hardy Boys Mysteries have done way better than the Case Files. The Case Files were more adenturous in intent, getting rid of, as in killing, Joe Hardy's girfriend early on, often showcasing murder and not-so-naive 'bad' things happening to our favourite characters. They flopped, I think, largely because they tried to bridge that gap between 11 and 13 year olds, boys and girls who were too old to read Mysteries and too young to be into Forsyth, Smith, King, Grisham, Sheldon et al. Apparently that gap was not bridged with the Case Files. I have a feeling that it is a chasm that will be extremely hard to cross as boys and girls hitting their teens grope and feel their way into (and shortly after, out of) larger, more substantiative works.

Dan Brown has managed pretty much the same thing as Dixon did with the Hardy Boys Mysteries, in *method*, not content (obviously). And this is hardly an understatement, if you consider the wide readership that the Hardy Boys have enjoyed. What Mr. Brown has in his two bestsellers is another formula. A recipe that is based on conspiracy theories, a degree of raciness not seen since Forsyth's glory days, plenty of controversy, and, above all, readability. And what's more, the cornerstone of this recipe is something that can't be copied easily, as his works are immersed in a deep scholarship/reading (note: I am not saying 'understanding' here) of the Catholic past and traditions. To people who know nothing about the historical traditions of the Catholic Church, it provides information. Contentious information with a healthy dose of spice and speculation. Combine that with a handsome Harvard hero, pretty European scientists/mathematicians, action scenes and twists to rival the world’s best rollercoaster ride, and it’s got you hooked.

And the results are astonishing. One of Brown’s books is the best selling adult fiction novel of all time. Even people I know, who would normally favor either (1) Dumb and Dumberer, or (2) Doing anything but reading, have been enticed. This augurs well for an age in which my aunt and I have long conversations about how few of the younger generation read these days.
____________________________

*Just like the excessive clichés and smart-ass replies (which are really quite smart, actually) that have become a part and parcel of ‘The West Wing’, Brown’s recipe has fallen out of favor with me by always delivering on its promises. In Brown’s case, you almost know what to expect, even if it is the unexpected, *all* of the time; in the West Wing, you’ll be hard-pressed to take a toilet break and not miss out of some of the quips.

Management Education and Practice Revisited

2005-04-06T18:51:00.000+08:00

I’ve just read one half of Henry Mintzberg’s ‘Managers, not MBAs: A Hard Look at the Soft Practice of Managing and Management Development’. As the name suggests, it provides quite a damning (and mostly relevant) account of the current MBA education process, and criticizes the wrong notion (and rightly so!) that anyone with an MBA degree is fit to be a manager.

One of the essential theses of Mintzberg’s book is that there is a fundamental misunderstanding in what the MBA program currently teaches (in the Unites States especially) and what is expected by, and out of, an MBA student/graduate. He argues quite convincingly that the MBA is essentially a degree that teaches about various business functions, but does not ground anyone to be a manager at all. However, when MBAs graduate, they are automatically enrolled into the ranks of management (when they are not becoming consultants or investment bankers), often in industries where they have no prior experience. It is quite interesting that they are expected to manage, let alone lead, entirely out of context.

I haven’t read the other half of Mintzberg’s book (the part where he recommends an ideal educational alternative to develop ‘practicing managers’ in context), partly because the book is long, and also because Mintzberg cannot escape from his inherent academic bent of mind, which reflects in his writing. Not that his writing lacks succinctness; rather, he falls prey to his precise nature, often elaborating and substantiating arguments long after his point has been made and accepted. But, I guess he has a lot of convincing to do, considering the popularity of the degree, so he’s erred on the side of covering his bases. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

But, for the first part of the book alone, I would highly recommend it. Those who’ve read and appreciated Mintzberg before wouldn’t be disappointed with this one either.

Cradle to the Grave

2005-04-06T14:48:00.000+08:00

I'm going to reveal (I think for the first time in these pages) the nature of my job, or, at any rate, at least the nature of the industry that I find myself in. While my understanding of a lot of what goes on in this world is more or less superficial, I have a better than average understanding of the underlying dynamics in my industry. And not just from the industry’s point of view, but also, critically (I feel), from the perspective of the entire lifecycle of the industry's products, from development to usage effects to obsolescence, in short, from the cradle to the grave.

Out with it then. My adopted industry is enterprise software (yes I know, I'm Indian, and an Indian software guy today is the poster boy of India's savvy middle class), the kind epitomized by companies like SAP, Oracle, the erstwhile PeopleSoft, and increasingly, Microsoft. Having devoted the dawn of my career in the development of software, nowadays I focus much of my energies in the marketing of it.

For me, one of the distinguishing aspects of the software industry is its tolerance for risk. This propensity for risk manifests itself in the attitudes of almost all the industry participants, be it large organizational buyers who seem to think that a $10 million CAPEX for software is going to make their companies agile, streamlined, knowledge-based and seamless (despite the glut of research and survey results that suggest that this scenario is extremely unlikely without first incurring tremendous amount of organizational pain) or the enterprise software houses, who promote products that are often a vision of the future, system integrators and VARs (the perennial middlemen of my industry) who profess expertise in integrating any software into any organization, or 'consultants' who come on board in large enterprise software implementations to offer their expertise at rates that can at best be described as highway robbery. No one seems to think that any software implementation is beyond them. No one seems to be deterred by the fact that they have no visibility into the underlying building blocks of the products they claim to be experts in.

And really, who, apart from the originating company (or rather the engineer who wrote the code) really knows *what* went into the software? Most software code is proprietary, which means that you and I know almost nothing about what went into the software. Now this is not new; surely, the layman does not know what chemicals go into the strengthening of rubber in our car tires, what composites go into the manufacture of aircraft bodies or the precise treatment that goes into the manufacture of semiconductors. (One notable exception to this is food processing, which is under mandate to publish the ingredients of each of its products. Another counter-example, for obvious reasons, is big Pharma).

However, I can posit with some credence that the sheer consequence of failure forces the other industries above to go to great lengths to prevent such failures. Really, how often does an aircraft blow up, or computers crash because of faulty memory hardware, or tires explode on freeways (Firestone aside, and see what happened to them in the wake of the Explorer scandal). Enterprise software failure* is not only far more prevalent, but also fairly costly in terms of organizational resources. Why is such failure the case, and are organizations willing to risk it?

One could argue that this is due to the fact that the enterprise software industry is in its infancy, at least as compared to the food processing, if not automotive and aviation industries. Hence, quality assurance and standardization processes are nascent, despite the ISO 9001 software quality standards and the industry-defining SDLC (software development life cycle). The problem with these standards is that they address the processes and context of development and not the software development itself, caused largely by the fact that software is inherently malleable, more open to creative, alternative solutions to the same problem. No two software codes that achieve the same results with the same user interfaces need be similar. Thus, attempts at standardizing software development tend to address everything else except the underlying building blocks (the code), often manifesting themselves in terms of voluminous documentation requirements instead of establishing the robustness of software code.

Another reason for this lack of robustness in software is what I call the ‘functionality trap’, which is also related to the dynamics of the software market. As established software makers consolidate (often by acquisition of competitors), they are only too keen to augment their software’s functionality with that of their latest acquisition to command a higher price premium for this new, expanded set of functions. This sets the trend in an industry that is seduced by ‘comprehensive’ functionality, with smaller software houses left with no choice but to ‘claim’ to have similar functionality to remain competitive. The problems with this are either that the glut of functionality does not mesh well together because it is a case of combining fundamentally different products that were never intended to be part of the same offering (2+2 = 1.5), or, more worryingly, this comprehensive functionality is a marketing vision, not reality. With enterprise software vendors biting off more than they can chew, reality lags behind promise by a fair stretch. What’s worse, this results in a vicious cycle, with customers demanding more ‘hypothetical’ functionality that what is currently being offered in spirit. And software vendors, as we know them, never say no.

A third reason is related to the twisted path that enterprise software has taken since its inception. The origin of enterprise software was in materials resource planning (MRP), a software package that debuted in the manufacturing plant. MRP did reasonably well because it was rooted in the needs of a specific industry (manufacturing) and was focused on a specific set of problems (forecasting and planning resources). MRP led to MRP II and subsequently enterprise resource planning (ERP). ERP systems deviated from the original spirit of MRP in being focused on a specific industry, and instead, looked to take on the whole world by offering finance, supply chain, manufacturing and human resource modules that could supposedly be ‘bolted on’ to any organization irrespective of the nature of the industry.

(In other words, we’re giving you an ocean liner, it’s got everything, even a swimming pool onboard. What? You don’t have oceans? You are in a desert? You need to navigate rivers? You’re in

Iceland

? Whoops, sorry! Why don’t you hire our certified consultant or VAR to help you strip this ocean liner down to what you need?). You get the drift. Not surprisingly, the success rate of ERP implementations is appalling, arguably the worst among all classes of enterprise systems.

The fourth reason is organizational context, or the blatant disregard of it. In offering the gamut of software functionality that they do, enterprise system vendors can lead one to assume that the inbuilt processes that the software supports are ‘best-of-breed’, one size fits all. Nothing could be further from the truth. Each organization has idiosyncrasies, nuanced workflows, structures and modus operandi. Draws one’s attention back to the days of Henry Ford’s “You can have any color, as long as it’s black”. Another case to bring those certified consultants in, whose certification is, by the way, only one-dimensional, since they don’t know jack about your organization…but we’ll leave that for another day.

So why take such risk? I think it is caused by a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of software in a firm. Software is an enabler of organizational initiatives, and yet it has repeatedly been cast in the past as either *the* initiative that serves as panacea for organizational inefficiencies or the magic bullet for enhanced performance. Enterprise software does not fit on an organization like a skin, independent of organizational context, people and structure. Software is as much a social phenomenon as it is a technological one, not a quick-fix Viagra pill for enhanced organizational performance. The herd mentality does not help either, with organizations proudly claiming that they run on SAP. This statement is unwittingly also a testament to what it took to be able to run on SAP!

Nowadays, it is heartening to see that organizations are far more measured in their approach towards enterprise software acquisitions, even though they still remain bullish about software’s ability to live up to its lofty claims. Today's software also works much better than that of the past, but often in a limited way, and does not accomplish all that it is supposed to in the manner it is supposed to. Organizations still need to be sure that their 7 figure investment in the latest application that allows any kind of data to be hot-synched with nifty wireless gadgets does not end up being the cradle to their grave.

P.S. One could claim that this tolerance for risk is what spurs innovation. Yes, to the extent that innovators need believers to invest in them. But even innovation has its bounds of irresponsibility, something that does not cost almost $60 billion a year in the United States alone.

* Defining failure of software implementations is tricky. For the purpose of this discussion, a software implementation is said to have failed if it did not deliver its promised functionality within the previously agreed-upon timeframe and budget. Has enterprise software even had a 1% success rate?

Another Busted Script

2005-03-31T15:06:00.000+08:00

Indo-pak cricket is becoming quite repetitive, when it comes to *not* adhering to the script (except in Sharjah, I'm guessing). As another test series throws up its share of surprises, here are some thoughts to chew on:

Chokers or Heart Patients? (Part 2)
In what has probably been the best illustration of playing to the strengths of an opponent, India succumbed meekly to Pakistan in the final test in Bangalore. It's been 4 losses and 1 draw in the last 5 tests in my hometown, and one begins to wonder if the Indians are the victims of a Chinnaswamy curse, or is this just a repeat of ineptitude under pressure?

Some would argue, and vehemently at that, that the Indian test side has become much more adept at dealing with pressure situations over the past couple of years. I don't doubt the improvement. But the scenes on the final day at Bangalore seemed to destroy all the hard work done in one fell swoop.

Why, why, why? I suspect I know where I can find some answers, in this little jewel called the 'Inner Game of Tennis'. Watch this space.

Goliath Loses Again
With player after distinguished player batting with a level of defensiveness that suggested a cracking Sabina Park track, rather than an intrinsically playable Bangalore wicket, Anil Kumble, that under-rated over-achiever, showed the light and almost forced a draw single-handedly. Once again, he has been faulted for the shortfall in his bowling, instead of gaining plaudits for his valiant efforts with the bat in both innings. He seems destined to remain India's forgotten great, till he underperforms, that is.

The Southbound Southpaw
People in the know repeatedly say that a game is played as much in the mind as it is on the field. Old as it this cliche is, nowhere is this more true than over 5 days of test cricket. As Roshan pointed out, Ganguly's captaincy has been banal, almost what you expect from the local sides playing on the maidans and in gully cricket. He has followed convention to the letter, and what is troubling is that the convention that been pursued here has been entirely his, rather than a precedent set by any of history's better captains. A classic example of this was his doggedness in having 2 slips at all times, despite the abundance of catches that flew just wide of the 2nd slip in a test match that was India's for the taking at Mohali. I don't want to take a crack at Ganguly's rapidly fading batting skills, not only because enough has been said elsewhere, but also because I can't quite comprehend such a dramatic decline.

Clairvoyance or Decree?
I remember Imran's comment like it was yesterday. Not so much the delivery, but rather the content. Imran practically decreed that Inzamam should give way to Younis Khan as captain of Pakistan during the annihilation of the Pakistani team down under. A close Pakistani friend of mine said that his country seldom goes against Imran's cricketing decrees, so it was little surprise then, that Yousef Youhana gave way to Younis as vice-captain (I suspect that Woolmer would have stuck his head out for Inzamam).

For a while, it seemed like a baseless decree, with Younis struggling to get anything right at the start of the India series. Now, looking back over the next couple of tests, I begin to see the immense clairvoyance that Imran is blessed with, notwithstanding the fact that this is not the first time such insight has been exhibited in no uncertain terms. Not only did he contribute with 500 runs in the next 4 innings, stunning catches and inspired captaincy in short stints, Younis also epitomized the ultimate team man, a refreshing change in a traditionally individualistic Pakistani side.

Reap what you Sow
Indian cricket has more problems that what might be immediately visible at the surface. The one day team is yet to establish any measure of consistency. The test side finds itself in a spot of bother, carrying, it seems, one non-performing middle-order batsman (even India, with Dravid and Sehwag and Tendulkar and Laxman, cannot afford this) and an increasingly insecure leader. The side needs a burst of energy, a fresh face in that middle order, and our bench strength of Yuvraj and Kaif needs to be given an extended run in tests sometime soon. While Kaif and Yuvraj are studies in contrast in batting styles, their approaches are essentially the same. Not only are they busy middle order batsmen, but they also raise the fielding by a couple of notches, as was apparent with the amount of pressure the introduction of Kaif as a substitute created on Pakistan in the 2nd test. Will the captain who championed young blood to revitalize Indian test cricket have to bear the fruits of his extraordinary vision by giving way to the budding talent that he nurtured?

Born to be Wild

2005-03-08T14:27:00.000+08:00

"Get your motor running
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way"

- Born to be Wild, Steppenwolf

Well, what came America's way was the new Mustang, and not a minute too late. Ford might have just given itself a new lease of life (and saved it's investors a few worries) with the new Mustang, but one really has to see the car for the most powerful reaction of them all: a smile, broad, even wicked perhaps. Because the car connoisseur knows that Ford has got it right the minute he or she sets eyes on the new Mustang.

For once, what Malcolm Gladwell wrote in Blink about rapid cognition resonated with me. In that split second, I could 'thin-slice' sufficiently to establish that this car would be a hit. I just knew it, and when people asked me to explain myself, I could'nt (not on the spot, atleast. Another good illustration of what Gladwell's being saying in Blink about not being able to really explain how one arrives at those split-second judgements).

Anyway, before I go further, I wanted to say that the only reason why I have'nt written about my feelings on a topic so dear to me (i.e. cars in general) earlier is because I wanted to see if my initial feelings about the Mustang's success were justified. Several months later, I think they are:

FORD MUSTANG NAMED 2005 CANADIAN CAR OF THE YEAR

"Ford Mustang continues torrid sales pace; convertible production underway"

I think I now understand my initial feelings better (kudos to Gladwell, his is a book that one can find rather superficial, till one tries to relate to the crux of his argument through personal experience). How did I feel, almost know, that the Mustang was going to be a resounding success?

A close friend recently asked me: "How does one attribute beauty or ugliness to a car? I mean, it's a thing, after all, isn't it?" At first, it was quite hard to explain, and I grappled with a verbal explanation of the concept (even though, in my mind's eye, I know *exactly* what a beautiful car is all about). Providence decided to pay us a visit at the next traffic light, as one of the ugliest cars of all time (in my opinion) pulled up next to us (the new Honda City). Now, with a real-life manifestation of ugliess, it was easier to characterize beauty (proportional rear and front overhang, consistent body design theme, low-slung body, to mention a few). But it was still hard for my friend to get it (I dont blame him) while it was crystal clear to me why the Honda City was uglier than, say, the Skoda Octavia.

I have a confession to make. My first word as a baby was not 'mum', 'dad' or any variants of these. It was 'auto'. My parents could'nt believe my audacity! Who did this kid think he was? Anyway, the bottom line was that even after I learnt how to say mum and dad (and their variants), I still knew more variants of autos. And this growing up in a country which had all of 4 different car makers then. I absolutely adored cars, and through TV, my dad's frequent model car gifts from travels to other places and an insatiable desire to see the rear badge of any new car that I encountered, I slowly became (very unconsciously) a pretty good judge of what constitutes good car design. For instance, I knew that there was beauty in the Jaguar E-type, the Mercedes Benz 300SL, the Ferrari GTOs, the Lamborghini Countach (this was before the days of the inimitable Diablo), the Aston Martin Vantage, the Maseratis, the Careera, the Bugatti Type 57 and the AC Cobra.

In short, through experience, passion and a lot, lot, lot of exposure to a variety of cars over the last 20-odd years, I've developed what Gladwell has termed the database in the subconscious mind. I've spent so much time looking at, criticising, admiring, acknoledging, accepting and rejecting car designs that it's now (for me) a process that happens so quickly that it cannot be readily explained. I know with my first glimpse of seeing any car if there is something intrinsically wrong in the design, but find it much harder to put my finger on it and put my doubt in words. It's rapid cognition all right. However, my criticism of cars like the Honda City ends at their overall design. Honda's engineers have done a marvellous job with the engine, and in putting so much value in 15 feet of car length. Maybe they would say that their design is forcibly unconventional (in order to provide so much interior space, for instance), but I don't think I will ever outgrow my initial repulsion to the design.

So, back to the Mustang. The Mustang has endured a lot of pain as a brand after it's initial runaway success, with the positively sissy mustang designs of the early 80s right through the more muscular, yet uninspiring Mustangs of the 90s. And then came the 2005 Mustang. It reverted to the intial design of the late 60s, with more muscle, proportional curves, compact sizing, a competent engine, in short, the common man's sports car again. One look at the Mustang, and the aficionado knows that this is a serious contender, purely because at first glance, it just feels right. And, for those like my friend earlier, who find it hard to see beauty in car design, the Mustang evokes images of the American hey-day, a time when people aspired to explore the 'wild side'. If this isn't enough, during times like these, when American carmakers are struggling with a severe crisis of confidence, the new Mustang brings back the distinctiveness in the American craftsmanship. Sure, the Mustang is likely to lose to the Japanese cars in quality and to the European machines in pure performance, but it has one thing that the others dont. It is the essence of the American dream, at a very competitive price.

The Mustang will be Ford's saviour, again. But Ford needs to focus on getting it right with the Mustang in terms of quality and service. Most of all, they need to follow their hunches about why the Mustang was so popular in the first place. Stay true to the Mustang spirit, and you can't lose in America.

BIG is In

2005-03-08T14:20:00.000+08:00

From BIG malls to BIG superstores, BIG Mac to BIG cars, even BIG portholes to BIG idiots on the road, Bangalore is under MASSIVE attack. While this is what many purport to be the inevitable outcome of the increased prosperity of the middle class, the democratization of information, the Americanization of the east, etc etc (none of which I disagree with), I was, nevertheless, taken aback by the scale of the attack. And apparently, you can't really escape this resizing exercise, as Roshan found out, aghast at seeing this huge SUV parked in his driveway. "Not here also now, please!", kind of sums up his reaction (it was his precise reaction, I think).

I dont necessarily have a problem with big things. But I do have an issue with what these things are doing to a city not made to accomodate them. Yes sir, Bangalore is cracking at the seams, struggling to contain it's own growth. Pensioners' paradise has now become BIG's backyard, rather faster than any of us would have imagined. A lot of us from Bangalore have strong emotional links with the city, and we've kinda been optimistic about the fact that Bangalore has been India's shining light, a modern, green city. Modern it is, but it's green is being very swiftly obliterated to make way for more development. Couple that with a new government that was formed as a backlash against urban development at the expense of rural upliftment, and what we get is a city growing organically, multidirectionally like an amoeba, without any overall direction or systematic planning for this growth.

As the infrastructure buckles under the weight of BIG mania, Bangalore has become one BIG paradox. For Bangaloreans to attain the comfort of the Forum mall or the convenience of shopping at Metro, they need to endure hours of endless traffic and the discomfort of pollution and noise on bone-jarring road surfaces. And somehow, so many people want more: The Bigger, the Better! Is it only us, the old-timers, who pine for the city, seeing as we have, what it once used to be like? Look no further than the meaning of Bangalore for the inherent paradox that signifies the city's current state: Bangalore (benda kaalu ooru) = 'village of boiled beans'?!

What does the future hold? Either the city continues on it's random ways similar to an amoeba, which may not be so bad, because, eventually, like an amoeba that reproduces by splitting into smaller amoebae, Bangalore may split up into smaller, satellite towns, each with their own governance responsibilities. But even the amoeba scenario seems rather optimistic, as the reverse phenomenon has been characterizing Bangalore's growth for a while now. Bangalore subsumes its satellite towns, forming one big, gory mess. For those who prefer visual analogies, think of a cracked raw egg, the insides of which spill out, covering everything in it's proximity to form a gooey, sticky mass. Thats India's garden city for you.

"The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin’.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’"

- The times they are a-changin, Bob Dylan

Welcome to the jungle

2005-01-31T16:16:00.000+08:00

Here's announcing the arrival of an initially skeptical blogger to the online world. He's found that the blogging world does have the space for his kind of thoughts to take flight, so let's welcome the unknown aviator.

Learn more about the ways of the skies at: http://theunknownaviator.blogspot.com

The Affable Bully

2005-01-31T16:07:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, one of Australia's favourite sons was bullied at the Rod Laver Arena. He did'nt play badly. Lleyton Hewitt was simply muscled out of the Australian Open by that Russian giant, Marat Safin. Safin deserved to win (as do all players who beat Roger Federer on a non-clay surface), and though there was the initial starting problem in the final, his sheer strength and mercurial game overpowered Hewitt. Hewitt needed to make Safin go the distance if he wanted to win, but a 5-setter demands a certain parity of play between the two opponents, something that was clearly absent once Safin found his radar and started rocketing tennis balls with pinpoint accuracy.

I've been fortunate to see a lot of tennis in my lifetime. I've seen impossible volleys from Becker and Edberg, impossible running backhand passes from Pete Sampras, impossible serves from Goran Ivanisevic, impossibly acute angles from John McEnroe, impossible stamina from Hewitt and Chang, impossible career comebacks from Agassi, and near impossible-to-achieve class from Roger Federer.

But I have not seen impossible force like I've seen from Safin this tournament. It's been a privilege to watch him play, and even more pleasing to see the amiable Marat Safin. For, apart from his powerplay, what really stood out was his good nature. (I figure it's hard to be bad natured when you're playing like he is...)

A tournament to remember, for many reasons. Safin was a part of a lot of those reasons, and the Australian Open 2005 should go down in the history books as his tournament.

Men's tennis just got interesting again. I suspect a certain Mr Federer would have something to say about that.

The Windmills of my Mind

2004-10-14T23:44:00.000+08:00

Powerful associations are made of this:

"like a circle in a spiral
like a wheel within a wheel
never ending or beginning
on an ever spinning reel
like a snowball down a mountain
or a carnival balloon
like a carousel that’s turning
running rings around the moon
like a clock whose hands are sweeping
past the minutes of its face
and the world is like an apple
whirling silently in space
like the circles that you find
in the windmills of your mind" - Windmills of your Mind, Springfield/Feliciano

"Nobody on the road
Nobody on the beach
I feel it in the air
The summer's out of reach
Empty lake, empty streets
The sun goes down alone
I'm drivin' by your house
Though I know you're not at home" - Boys of Summer, Don Henley

"Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence" - Sounds of Silence, Simon and Garfunkel

"So I just did me some talkin' to the sun
And I said I didn't like the way he got things done
Sleepin' on the job
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'" - Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head, Burt Bacharach

"Baby, I'd love you to want me
The way that I want you
The way that it should be
Baby, you'd love me to want you
The way that I want to
If you'd only let it be" - I'd Love you to Want Me, Lobo

"I shoulda learned to play the guitar
I shoulda learned to play them drums
Look at that mama, she got it stickin' in the camera
Man we could have some fun
And he's up there, what's that? Hawaiian noises?
Bangin' on the bongoes like a chimpanzee
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Get your money for nothin' get your chicks for free" - Money for Nothing, Dire Straits

"I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have
Been any clearer
If you wanna make the world
A better place
Take a look at yourself, and
Then make a change" - Man in the Mirror, Michael Jackson

"Well, I hear the music,
Close my eyes, feel the rhythm,
Wrap around, take a hold
Of my heart
What a feeling
Bein's believin'
I can have it all, now I'm dancing for my life
Take your passion
And make it happen.
Pictures come alive, you can dance right through your life." - What a Feelin', Irene Cara

"Tropical the island breeze
All of nature wild and free
This is where I long to be
La isla bonita
And when the samba played
The sun would set so high
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes
Your Spanish lullaby" - La Isla Bonita, Madonna

Dad, Aneeta Masi, Geeta, this one's for you:

"And you read your Emily Dickinson,
And I my Robert Frost,
And we note our place with bookmarkers
That measure what we've lost.
Like a poem poorly written
We are verses out of rhythm,
Couplets out of rhyme,
In syncopated time
Lost in the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
Are the borders of our lives." - The Dangling Conversation, Simon and Garfunkel

Mom:

"Such a feeling's comin over me
There is wonder in most everything I see
Not a cloud in the sky
Got the sun in my eyes
And I won't be surprised if it's a dream" - Top of the World, Carpenters

Revant, for rejuvinating my interest in contemporary rock:

"Never made it as a wise man
I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing
Tired of living like a blind man
I'm sick of sight without a sense of feeling
And this is how you remind me
This is how you remind me
This is how you remind me
Of what I really am
This is how you remind me
Of what I really am" - How You Remind Me, Nickleback

Roshan, this one's for you:

"You win again
So little time
We do nothing but compete
There's no life on earth
No other could see me through
You win again
Some never try
But if anybody can, we can
And I'll be, I'll be
Following you" - You Win Again, The Bee Gees

Nids:

"Turn out the light
Just say goodnight to yourself
May I remind you
When you find you
Are all alone is when you
You’ve got to be strong" - Save Yourself, Sense Field

Taha:

"She's got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything
Was as fresh as the bright blue sky
Now and then when I see her face
She takes me away to that
special place" - Sweet Child of Mine, Guns 'n Roses

Rash:

"He could’ve tuned in tuned in
But he tuned out
A bad time nothing could save him
Alone in a corridor waiting locked out
He got up outta there ran for hundreds of miles
He made it to the ocean had a smoke in a tree
The wind rose up set him down on his knee

A wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw
Delivered him wings "Hey look at me now"
Arms wide open with the sea as his floor
Oh power oh" - Given to Fly, Pearl Jam

Susmita:

"Sunday all the lights of London
Shining , Sky is fading red to blue
I'm kicking through the Autumn leaves
And wondering where it is you might be going to
Turning back for home
You know I'm feeling so alone
I can't believe
Climbing on the stair
I turn around to see you smiling there
In front of me" - Babylon, David Gray

Zubs:

"lightning crashes, a new mother cries
this moment she's been waiting for
the angel opens her eyes
pale blue colored iris,
presents the circle
and puts the glory out to hide, hide" - Lightning Crashes. Live

and, Matthew Uncle, this one's in your memory:

"Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door" - Knocking on Heaven's Door, Bob Dylan

Last time, first time, no time, this time, anytime

2004-10-13T16:22:00.001+08:00

"What was the last time you did something for the first time?", thus goes the nickname of my housemate who decides last weekend to return to the world of online chat after a 3 month hiatus. It's an interesting question actually, a wonderfully simple way to measure whether one is just living from day to day, or living for the day. It captures the essence of that niggling thought that hits you in those contemplative moments, when you are only accountable to yourself for what has transpired. Or, sometimes more accurately, for what could have, but did'nt transpire.

Thinking back over the past couple of months, there is some cause for jubilation if one thinks that doing the 'new new thing' is seductive. I can confirm that it's been action packed, but I am more reserved on the issue of seduction. At last count, these are the first-times that have taken place since September 2004:

1. Paying someone close to $100K for one's freedom (as close to bail as it gets without committing a crime, I figured)
2. Reading a 700 page book in a day
3. Getting a cell phone stolen by the security guard
4. Sending the security guard to prison
5. Getting the bird (the finger kind) from someone you've just met as a friendly way of introduction. (Talk about cultural differences!)

There's more to come, of course :) I cant reveal all at this stage, but what I can say is that I've hit on this novel idea to help people out. So much of the seductiveness is in the unknown, no?

On the issue of time, 'no time' has to be one of the oft-repeated phrases of the day. It's the plague of the 'information age', our 'knowledge economy', this 'connected world'...it's cool to be perceived as a person who has no time. We are not necessarily guilty of falling prey to our ambitions; a lot of the time, 'no time' is what it takes to stay afloat in this landscape.

Nidhi provides useful insight into resolving this when she says that she's resorted to scheduling meetings with close friends who live down her hall in her calender, lest she forget to meet them! Lets not kid ourselves, its emblematic of a wider phenomenon. When will the day come when future generations get a smartphone or PDA on their third birthdays, because they cant keep track of the people they have to meet between TV, crying, eating, sleeping, extra-curricular activities (in Singapore only), or IIT preparation (in India only)?

No time's distant cousin, 'this time', reflects another tussle within ourselves. How many times do we think, 'this time' I am going to wake up and go for a run, 'this time' I am not going to get shortchanged in the bargain, 'this time' i will work harder, this time I will *not* sleep at 3 am in preparation for waking up early for work the next day, 'this time' around, i will stay in touch, and not say that i have 'no time'. Outside of the 'no time' quandary, this time must be right up there in occupying our thoughts these days.

Which leaves us with precious little time for the best kind of time, 'anytime' (Saumya, are you reading?) Initially conceived in jest as a way of acknowledging thanks for a favour rendered (ironically, the favour entailed a time commitment, more often than not), 'anytime' symbolizes the hope that remains in our world. A hope that when you need it most, there will be someone who will put their hand up and be counted. It's the hope best captured in Cyndi Lauper's words:

"If you're lost you can look and you will find me
time after time
If you fall I will catch you I'll be waiting
time after time"

Maybe need-based time is the only kind of time that can be reliably counted upon, but hey, that's way better than 'no time'!

P.S. Susmi, this one's for you.

The Wisdom of our Friends

2004-09-27T10:50:00.000+08:00

Thinking about a title for this particular posting, I was initially inspired to label it something along the lines of 'Boardroom Mania'. But, with time (and procrastination), a broader theme hit me, and with it the title as it stands.

But first, some details. I spent Thursday and Friday last week closeted in various boardrooms with the CEO and Chairman of our company preparing for an investor presentation. The atmosphere was fairly charged, much akin to similar situations described in the 'Nudist on the Late Shift', 'The Monk and the Riddle' and 'The New New Thing'. All I remember of those two days now was the incredible fuss about all of ten powerpoint slides; lest the insignificance of this number compel you to think that this is much ado about nothing, think of these ten slides as being the difference between a company with the means to grow and another that is doomed to struggle in 'survival mode'.

Now, for some context. Flashback to nearly two years ago, driving down from San Francisco to Palo Alto with a close friend who remarked that she could imagine me being completely at ease in a pressure-cooker enironment not far from the top of an organization. I distinctly remember my reaction as being one of incrediluity, after all, wasnt it a huge leap of faith to picture the $500/month intern as being a manager caught in intense situations? It seems that she couldnt have been more correct, for two years down the road, I find myself in exactly the situation she envisaged.

And the more I think, the more I can pick up snippets of my friends' wisdom. From the unfeasability of the solely-for-profit organizational raison d'etre (roshan and hari will attest to this 'debate'), to the rather accurate judgements of people's character that have withstood the test of time (taha, put your hand up here please), to a fantastic insight into motivations behind people's actions (sohrab, dont be shy here), to a startlingly accurate guage of my own nuances (nids, rash and geeta take a bow)...these are just a few amongst many such priceless jewels.

When was the last time you realized that your friends were right after all?

The Animal Instinct

2004-08-25T01:33:00.000+08:00

I just did the unfathomable. Going two and a half days without meat, and whats more, by choice. It actually felt good to rationalize all that meat that had been consumed during the steak buffet at Breeks on Saturday night. 'Tis was too good to last, however, and it was only a matter of time before some pan-fried variety of thai noodles made me give up my noble quest. Sigh!

When you live in South East Asia, it is hard to get your hands on a purely vegetarian dish. The concept of 'no meat' here suspiciously excludes fish. Even, for that matter, does an instruction of 'no seafood' to these enlightened chefs, who seem to think that fish are distant cousins of algae, or some other form of aquatic vegetable. It didnt take long for me to empathize with my 'purely veg' friends, who order food with options that would shame the most discerning car buyer. "One fried rice, no prawn, no seafood, no meat, no fish, egg can, veggies can, no, no fish, really, no prawn either..", you get the drift. Denny's would have been proud to have customers with such exacting requirements, who could *finally* appreciate the nuances of ordering custom-made dishes.

The icing on the cake is quite a laugh, actually. Despite the care that goes into ordering the 'plain vanilla' version of hokkien mee or kway teow, the chagrin on our vegetarian friend's face is there for all to see when, after all that, the food is made with prawn paste! The only way of getting around the animal instinct here, it seems, is to go to good ol' Komalas or Raj's, and order some hot idlis or masala dosas.

These boots are made for walkin'

2004-08-17T12:39:00.000+08:00

Walking back from lunch yesterday, a queer aspect of Singapore struck me (again!). Despite the miniature size of this island, and the remarkable efficiency/connectivity of its public transport system, it's amazing to see how much walking one actually gets done in a typical day.

By my reckoning, the average employed Singaporean who is not blessed with his/her own vehicle walks anywhere between 1-2.5 km a day, and here's the funny bit -> just to get to public transport, change modes of transport, get to a hawker center for lunch, etc. If Singapore is really as small as it is criticized to be, and the public transport as connected as it is vaunted to be, I figured we should be spending less time exercising our legs everyday.

I am not alone in thinking this way. I distinctly remember one of my friends tell me a couple of years ago that all else being equal, he could recognize Singapore from another similarly developed country just by the amount of walking involved in getting from one place to another.

But, I can't complain. I love to walk (though not necessarily in a desperate rush to make it to work on time), and Singapore's 'disconnected connectivity' does wonders for my otherwise unhealthy lifestyle. Atleast this way, I can truly say, "These boots are made for walkin', and thats just what they'll do!"

The ties that bind

2004-08-17T01:30:00.000+08:00

One of my favourite photographs, ever. Taken just outside our house in Singapore.

Remote as it may be, we live in a palace, and will be sad to leave soon. But the ties that bind the 5 of us shall outlast our periodic predicaments about shifting homes as successive leases expire. Of that I am sure.

All the leaves are brown...

2004-08-13T11:16:00.000+08:00

Well, not quite. Sitting on the equator, I dont think there's much hope of my being able to catch brown leaves, grey skies or a winter's day. But California Dreamin' is still very much possible, and I seem to periodically go through such bouts of remembrance.

One of my favourite memories of the year at Palo Alto is waking up to bright sunshine on a lazy saturday morning. There's really nothing more to it, and I sense that readers of this blog would find this a tad disappointing, considering California is home to so much else. But I contend that there is a unique charm to being woken up by the soft rays of peninisula california's sunlight on one's face...as opposed to the jarring sounds of an alarm clock that prematurely interrupt sleep for the first 5 days of each week.

As noon approaches, a typical neighbourhood scene unfolds...people washing cars, mowing the lawns, doing laundry, kids skating, cyclists (oh! so many of them) pushing themselves harder, moms unloading groceries from the boots of their huge minivans, the car park at the starbucks across the road gradually fill up, the odd Stanford professor walking around in a semi-trance (probably immersed in thoughts of his next innnovation), our next door hair stylists showing remarkable poise and good nature in the face of the increasing number of well-to-do women who decide to waste the day fussing about their hair, rich aromas emanating from the steakhouse in preparation for lunch time, in short, nothing that you wouldnt see in any other medium-sized American town.

Yet, Palo Alto seems to stand out, somehow. Maybe it's the grace with which all this happens (there is never any hint of pandemonium in this place). There is a quiet confidence and a hint of laziness with which this town goes about its business, and for me, there's no better time to watch Palo Alto's business than on a Saturday morning. Maybe it has to do with the fact that it is one of the most affluent towns in the U.S., not just in terms of money, but intellectual capacity too, and Saturday is the day this intellectual capacity takes a rest from the rigours of the working week. On Saturday morning, Palo Alto invites its intellectuals to join us mortals in living *normal* lives...

I can conjure up numerous memories of California when I hear the Beach Boys sing, but there's something special in the thoughts of those Saturday mornings. Simplicity is sometimes beautiful, no?

"All the leaves are brown
And the sky is grey
I've been for a walk
On a winter's day
If I didn't tell her
I could leave today
...
California dreamin'
On such a winter's day"

Lets talk about strategy...

2004-08-10T18:18:00.000+08:00

Last night I was shooting the breeze with Prashant, and we got talking about how people at his company have gotten the 'balanced scorecard' all wrong. He said that there was a presentation of a two dimensional table which was supposedly reflective of a balanced scorecard analysis of some company's strategy (for those who are not aware of the balanced scorecard, visit http://www.balancedscorecard.org/ to see what all the noise is about). Now, Prashant is no stranger to this tool, and neither am I, having tried to work my way through the complexity of this all-encompassing monster for a class assignment in my honours year. He was confused at the presentation, and made no bones about telling me later that his company royally screwed up with the concept.

This is not a critique of his company, nor of the balanced scorecard. I just want to use this as context for a discussion on the notion of strategy. Strategy is (you would all have to agree) one of the most used and often-abused words, especially in corporate circles. The debate on strategy rages on, and like most vague concepts, each new hypothesis on what strategy *really* is remains relatively ephemeral. Some say that this is caused by the pace of change in today's world; others claim that each new hypothesis can coexist with previous ones, as there is no 'one-size fits all' strategy that can be relied upon to be a panacea for problems that exist across the organizational spectrum.

I believe that the recent literature (especially some of the stuff that came out in the early 2000s) on strategy is, well, not worth the paper on which it is written (omigosh! this is strong language!). Each new set of writers who argues for a revolutionary way of a) looking at customers b) looking at the market c)not looking at customers or d) not looking at the market, is really saying nothing new. In the end, I find that the most succint explanations of the strategy concept are captured in the essence of Porter's generic cost and differentiation strategies, or arguably, in the essence of the word 'differentation'. After all, isnt low cost also, in the end, a means of differentiating oneself? When all is said and done, I contend that differentiating oneself to satisfy some customer's latent/expressed need is all that there is to strategy. Either a company does it or doesnt. Overly simplistic? Maybe, but I think it relieves our mind of much of the jargon associated with modern thinking on the subject.

There is an interesting caveat here. One of my professors once said (almost in exasperation, I think) that the distinguishing feature of Porter's logic and writings is the lack of empirical support for his theses, or near absence of it. Sure, he uses market anecdotes to support his material, but die-hard researchers would be hard pressed to find solid empirical methods in his books/papers. Yet, what he says seems to be intuitively correct. Perhaps strategy is about intuition after all, an intuition that is extremely context specific...and the absence of solid empirical data only reinforces the notion that strategy cant be taught from an instruction manual. There are some ground rules, sure, but beyond that, one can only point to prudence, experience and commonsense as being the cornerstones of sustainable strategies.

So when I hear people like Prashant say things along the lines of the balanced scorecard being an extremely powerful tool for strategizing, I am a bit skeptical. Each tool has its pros and cons, but
I fear that they are useful in as much as they help us to grasp the context within which to frame a forward looking strategy. These tools are useful, then, not in conceptualizing strategies for the future, but in gaining a measure of what has happened and where we stand today. Predicting the future, or better still, changing the course of the future, is still an art mastered by the precious few...a skill I am expected to possess in (hopefully!) less than a couple of weeks' time, at the ripe old age of 24, as I take on my new role of 'Strategic Planning Manager'. Expect to hear more on this, for I suspect that there will be mistakes aplenty. But an adventure is in store, so hop on for
the ride!

Ok, talk to me ppl. Rosh, you'll probably wonder where turban-bearing, conservative chadda took the left turn into life's adventures. Prem and Yusuf, stop banging your heads against the wall about my ranting about strategy (again!) and contribute your two cents' worth! Karthik, I realize I do not have my '+1 offering' any more, but join in the conversation anyway. Ppl like Prashant and Rahul, I realize that you're going to be working at reputable consulting firms, but that is no excuse for you guys to not patiently explain to me the potential use of frameworks such as the BCG matrix, 5 forces, balanced scorecard, performance management, CSFs or whatever mantra takes your employers' fancy. Show me that I'm wrong :P

2004-04-29T10:36:00.000+08:00

So this is funny. Shreyan Singh, in true surdi style, has gone to show why having a Computing degree does not qualify one to be a tech-geek, tech-savvy or tech-anything, for that matter. Roshan introduced me to this blogging concept more than a year ago, and the fact that I am starting off on my blogging experience *now* really paints Comp Sc. graduates in a bad light as far as tech 'early adopters' are concerned.

Strangely enough, that is *the point*. I guess I've hardly been reflective of what I've done, or where I'm from, or (as some friends take pains to tell me) what I am. For anyone to draw a generalization about a country, a community, or heck, even comp sc graduates of NUS from me would be, well, to put it lightly, off the mark.

With that introduction, my friends, I welcome you to this blog. I cannot guarantee quality, or quantity, but I can guarantee surprises, and the occasional emotional twitch. Join in on the dialogue, debate, argue, agree, disagree...'tis all a part of the grand design of this remarkable Internet. And, dont forget to browse the blogs that link to...they contain thoughts that are truly remarkable.

After the facelift, at convocation '04