Serendipity and Learning

The brilliant jerk is of many types. Sometimes it is someone who is insanely brilliant. Sometimes, it is someone who is very good at relationship building. Sometimes it is someone who just delivers.  But the effect the brilliant jerk has is always the same.  They seem to leave a trail of destruction - sometimes attrition, discontent many a time. They seem to always be insecure about "something". If could be a customer, an important project or their own skill or their prized relationship.  The area that they own gets significantly good results (often way ahead of the pack) that the leader is forced to accommodate all their shenanigans. (This is not entirely true, the leader makes a choice to accommodate.) Word spreads very quickly about the "bad" culture in the team. People do not want to work with this brilliant jerk.  Certain decisions are taken which end up being regretted.  Everyone has to watch their back.  But what intrigues me, how much companies, tea...

 Recently, I have faced this phenomenon of top rated cab aggregator drivers requesting a switch to cash after getting to the point of pick up. Ostensibly, because of high commissions and because of delayed payments.  And it left me thinking - imagine a situation where your best employees dont like you. And as an org, you seem to be either unwilling or callous to do anything about it.  Now, isnt that a market gap waiting to be filled?

 I chanced upon this fascinating write up on Google Maps via Twitter (@angsuman). I wont write more about the post, because you have to read the post, but in that, this caught my eye.  That is a post attributed to this post by Steve Yegg - Why I left Google to join Grab .  The main reason I left Google is that they can no longer innovate. They’ve pretty much lost that ability. I believe there are several contributing factors, of which I’ll list four here.  First, they’re conservative: They are so focused on protecting what they’ve got, that they fear risk-taking and real innovation. Gatekeeping and risk aversion at Google are the norm rather than the exception. As someone who loves and follows stories of innovation, this is both surprising and not surprising. Surprising because it is google. Not surprising, because companies, businesses, individuals - once they reach a point of success often begin to repeat the actions that led to success which ultimately leads to t...

 As a trainer, one of the ways I build the audience connect with metaphors and examples. For instance, in India if you used Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli as an analogy - everybody who was more than 5 years old in the 90s gets it.  Similary, there were cult movies and dialogues and statements and events people are familiar with. Sometimes when you want to drive home a point, these analogies come in handy.  According to me, this is one of the toughest leaps in training people who are from a different culture.  But now, over the last few years, with the fragmentation of content and the things people watch and relate to and recollect, this corpus is shrinking. There are audiences who swear by GoT while there are others that GoT even exists. Ditto for comics, bollywood, hollywood, classical music, sports, fitness and hobbies. There is almost no "mainstream culture".  Of course there is,  it is just tough to define it in a way that everybody in the room relat...

The added benefit of reading this book was a bunch of good movies to watch out for - Bird box, Icarus, Roma and Mighty Little Bheem. The last one is pertinent since Netflix has really invested in bringing up the quality of animation of Chotta Bheem.  That apart, the book is a fantastic read. Though everything that Netflix has managed to implement - not every company can - like no company can really become another Amazon.  But some parts stood out and can be done for the most part. Candor and honest feedback for instance. Leading by context, not control as a next step. And the innovation part.  But what comes in the way is 1, the existing culture and 2, the investment of time and effort required in moving these existing cultural icebergs. And most companies fail at 2, because the day to day hustle always comes in the way.  All in all a fantastic read for anyone interested in corporate culture and a lot of things we take for granted as "culture". 

Every company wants to be an Amazon or a Netflix (regency effect because of the two books which I read recently), but few are willing to actually walk the talk in making it happen. Sort of in personal life I suppose - we all want a six pack (or some other goal), but are not very willing to go through the trouble to make it happen. Or even a BHAG - like creating something unique and going to market with it.  A few months back, I had a short coaching conversation with someone. At some point, I said, “Well, I want to do this and I want to do that” and pat came the response “What are you willing to do in order to get that?”

I have always been uncomfortable with the descriptor of a "family" when it comes to work. A few years ago, we were at an offsite and the guest speaker, who shall go unnamed said, "It feels so good to be here. Feels like a family." Really?  "Feels like a family" is the most vacuous word you can use, especially when you are meeting 400 people for the first (and likely last) time in your life.  Ever since then I have heard this being said by many people in many organizations. And guess doesnt actually say it, yes, The family.  A family is a collection of individuals related by blood or genetics or legal association (to begin with) and a strong emotional bonding or attachment. Yes, there are people who may not be related by blood or genetics or legal association and you may yet share a deep emotional bonding. And there will be people in that family you absolutely hate - and they are family as well.  What is the difference between a family and an organization? ...

India has so many monuments that one spend a lifetime seeing them and still have a few left to see. Monuments, temples, sites, geographical wonders - there is a rich treasure trove for anyone willing to explore. This one is about Aurangabad - Ajanta and Ellora to be specific. We started with Ajanta - which is a spectacular sight whether you see it from the view point on the top or you go cave by cave and wonder at both the genius, artistry and rigor of the humans who did this for hundreds of years. Going over the caves, takes the good part of a day at a leisurely pace and it is a place one can spend weeks getting into nuances. And this - after a significant level of destruction. One can just about visualize what the original works might have looked like. And if Ajanta blows your mind away, Ellora takes you to another level. Specifically the Kailasnath temple. Imagine that someone decided to carve down (yes, down) a mountain - from the top and imagined a temple while carving it dow...

Overall, what am I seeing as the trend in this year from where I see it? The big thing which I see is the reduction of age. Let me explain. Earlier, why, even 10 years ago, an average manager was in his or her early 30s, the average director at about 40 and so on it went... What I see now, is a far younger corporate India. People in their early 30s are handling entire businesses, people in their 20s are handling functions and people in their 40s are consultants (heh - that last one is a joke). And I also see average CEO age come down - mostly due to the startup rage I suppose, but then again why not. The second trend which I see as more pronounced is that many of these new companies - the hires are top class. In terms of their skills, confidence and sheer technical (or business) ability - they are second to none. What does this mean? It means a few things. If you are on the older side, you have to shape up to match these whizkids. If you are a consultant, you better add value....

This is something that has always intrigued me. Newspaper websites, digital properties - almost always look the same - worldwide. TV sites and digital properties - ditto. Why? The earlier method of printing news was limited by the newsprint and the ads. Now with space no longer an issue (atleast on websites) how is it that it is still organized by print needs? What can a newspaper website potentially look like in future? Today it looks somewhat like a newspaper that is mounted on a website. What if news was organized in terms of current events, recent events and on events where a long form investigation is being done? Why not start with a map and people zoom into the location where they want news about? Why not a world map with users being to click at a country level to begin with? Why not share data and news separately (as in share long form data alongwith news as well). Why not allow users to scroll through a timeline? Or search about incidents - like terrorist incidents. Curren...

The way information is consumed has changed. When we were young, we sat in front of the TV and absorbed all it blared. Or read books. Since I was more of the latter, I had a storehouse of information - which I labelled - Department of Useless Information. This information was not useless - it did enable me to win quizzes and suchlike till I met bigger hoarders of information who I could not defeat. Today, the way information is consumed is over the internet and the Department of useless information gatherers have never had it so good. Except for the arrival of non-googleable quizzes. That means that the internet is a great place to build curiosity - almost like the library of yore - provided of course one uses it for the right things. So, the kid potters around on youtube - mostly on science sites like ASAP science and Ted-ed and suchlike. Soon comes with a question after a round of retail therapy by the parent. Are you happy with the purchase? Well, ya, kind of. Ok. It ...

I read this article today . And while the entire article is worth a read, read this snippet in the picture below. This is the Apple. The same company that set the pace (by and large) for the digital revolution that we now take for granted. Is this Apples xerox moment? Possibly not. But in this it was definitely blindsided by the IOT piece in this manner. And in the light of many people commenting that Apple is not the same post Steve Jobs - this is interesting. For one, nobody is immune from change and transformation. Not Apple. Not even Amazon. This is an interesting example for those who still quote Apple in their management stories :)

The matrix is all around you. From consumerism to groupthink...it is all around you. At work, it is there at the watercooler. In life, it is on Facebook and other social media. It is there in meetings. It is there in convention and ideas. It is there everywhere. It is the matrix. Take consumerism for example... They all say, be yourself. See the ads for any product. They are all the same - from insurance to Do this, do that. Buy me to be happy. Try this to be happy - while telling you that happiness is not in the buying - it is in the experience - and slyly selling you experiences on the side. In Home Sapiens, the author terms this as romantic consumerism - and it is funny that those who espouse exactly this are often at the pinnacle of it as well...There is romance in consumption (of goods, experience, products, services). There is a strong 'matrix' at work as well - from the organization culture to accepted behaviors and so on...In a good sense it is the cult...

The digital native in my family was reading an Agatha Christie book. "Whats a carriage? Does it mean a horse drawn carriage?" "Perhaps yes, that’s what it should mean in Agatha Christie times, though it is possible it is also a motor carriage." I was about to continue the story of how carriage became car and so on, before which he said "But how does this carriage have so many parts – second class carriage, smoking carriage and all that?" "Oh, then it should be a train" Yes, it is a train, I read a little further So many words that have a specific meaning for us have no meaning for digital natives. It is the same for every generation – many words lose meanings and many words acquire meanings. In my generation, a lot of our mother tongue words have gone – we no longer use them – which is sad – separate story for some other time. As this digital native generation comes into the workplace...

During our generation, our parents coped with the advent of the washing machine. Why washing machine and why not TV or refrigerator or Internet? Because the washing machine made them do a particular chore differently. Clothes which were hitherto washed by hand had to be washed by a machine. They were not sure if this was good or bad. There were rumours that clothes would be damaged by them. There were rumours that people died because of washing machines. There was of course proof that washing machines were not cleaning clothes as good their maids would. All in all it was a difficult transition. Washing machines saved time. And also saved water - by and large - if used in the right load and configuration. But the quality of the work was still suspect. Most people figured that it worked and in a generation, people adapted it. Now, this generation (as much as they consider themselves progressive as compared to the previous generation, like every other generation), is facing the same ...

I was listening to a podcast (more on this later) by Dr. Jason Fox - on The Great Work Podcast and something he said caught my attention. His overall topic was all about how people do a lot of work, but how progress is not the same as doing a lot of work/attending a lot of meetings. He referred to something as trait based language - where he said the leader says things like "We should be digital" or "We are a world class company" or "We should meet customer needs" - and he argues that these are just empty words - that nobody can disagree with and yet shoot off peacefully. Instead what if the team spoke about and argued real issues and made progress. The trait based language part of it resonated with me - since this is a staple in many meetings.

We are part of a Clash Royale clan. This clan is led by a 12 year old. This guy is the clan leader. He interacts with the 'clan', often pumps them up when a 'target' is to be met, 'promotes', doles out 'kicks'. And the clan has been in action for well over a year now - so he learns about keeping people together, getting them motivated - and this clan is a multi-national, diverse, intercultural clan. How cool is that? A mid sized manager in a company wont have this kind of diversity and team to deal with. You can argue that it is not the same, it is a game and whatnot - but the fact is that this kid is learning serious leadership skills from game... On the other hand, the boy at home is learning to negotiate with the leader and managed to get a promotion by persuading him a few weeks ago. As I read about Digital natives and how these guys will grow up into future leaders (even as we speak, they are entering the workforce) - it is interesting how th...

This has been in circulation for a while. The story of Project Oxygen at Google . As per this research, there were 8 things that managers do to a team. 1. Be a good coach 2. Empower the team and does not micro-manage 3. Expresses interest and concern for teams success and well being. 4. Is Productive and results oriented 5. Is a good communicator 6. Helps with career development 7. Has a clear vision and strategy 8 . Has technical skills that help him or her advise the team In the above blog , how does it apply to your company, two points stood out for me. One: A manager has to be a great coach. And this does not mean an executive coach certification though that is worth it. What one wants is a manager who makes every team member think for herself. How does that happen? By letting people be. By asking them the right questions. By encouraging them to think. Work on things they like to work. Enable their ideas. The second point ( mentioned on that link ) which in my view i...

When you think of a team or a company culture what comes to mind? One part of the culture is how the company treats hierarchy. Now, in these days of start ups - and this has been so since American tech culture came to India - on paper there is no hierarchy. Gone are the days, when people had to address their superiors as 'Sir' or 'Sahab'. Most companies operate on a first name basis. And by and large, companies also have an open door culture. Lets call this level 1. Most companies are well beyond this level. However, the breakdown of hierarchy does not stop there. In most places, people find it difficult to say no to their bosses. Which is why the jargon - HIPPO is so prevalent. HIPPO stands for HIghly Paid Persons Opinion. The HIPPO is the new elephant in the room. Lets call this Level 2. In my experience, in most companies, it is fairly ok to question the boss, though the hippo may win by default. The third aspect where hierarchy shows up, ever so often, is in ...

When I run a session on Feedback skills - I ask this question: Your manager has just called you. Its an unscheduled meeting. What goes on in your mind? The answer in most companies is fairly negative. Did something go wrong? What broke? What needs to be fixed? What did I do? What did my team do? A sense of anxiety A sense of unease Interesting isn't it? What amazes me (though not surprising at all) is that, very few if any, actually look forward to the sudden meeting with the manager! To me, it signifies an appreciation gap. A gap that as an employee, I do not get enough positive strokes vis-a-vis negative strokes. What does team think when you call them for an impromptu meeting? And what can you do on a daily basis to let them look forward to any meeting - planned or impromptu? And what if your team looked forward to every meeting with you as manager  - with their 'curiosity' lenses intact? What would the impact of that be? Believe me, this is achiev...