Hope, Happiness and some random ideas

Success - Confidence loop

2012-02-17T14:57:00.000+05:30

Success build confidence. But, confidence is needed for success. It is like a vicious loop that feed each other and need each other. The problem is getting the loop started.

How do we get the success to get confidence to start the loop?

How did Sachin Tendulkar get it? How did Lance Armstrong get it?

Was it practice?

2G Scam and Moral Scarcity

2012-02-03T09:16:00.000+05:30

The marquee of Indian growth has been the Telecom sector. While it has been the necklace of the growth of India, the 2G scam has unfortunately shown the decadence of Indian value system. Social scientists often debate on the influence of the western culture on the Indian value system, what we see today is nothing close to it. The huge flow of money has eaten the Indian political leadership with ministers such as A. Raja and Kanimozi suffering from what can easily be called moral leprosy. Surprisingly it is being catalyzed with outbursts against seemingly harmless comments made by celebrities such as the one made by Jay Leno which showed golden temple as a vacation home. Is it the religion and commitment to the religion? If it is, then where does it disappear when the soul is traded with devil for money damning the soul for eternity?
Can god help this country? Can God help my country?

While God safeguards the morals of this country, it's security has acted like a veil covering a world of moral scarcity that has engulfed the rulers of this state. The veil has provided a free pass for the devil to come in. The present is a portrait of this scarcity.

Importance of smiling

2012-01-28T04:19:00.000+05:30

Ron Gutman in a beautiful talk at TED a conference highlights the importance of smiling citing research. In a few bullet points he studies the importance of smiling and it's impact on our well being

It has been shown that those who smile more live longer
Smiling induces hormones in the brain that reduces the amount of stress enhancing hormones
Smile + Frown = Smile. If you are smiling, it is difficult for people to frown at you. Smiling is actually contagious
Smile makes you look more competent in the eyes of people
Smile induces activity in your body that correlates with healthier amount of blood pressure.

I'd recommend you to watch this 7 minute talk on YouTube.

SOPA, PIPA and impact on Emerging countries

2012-01-18T03:30:00.000+05:30

The debate about SOPA & PIPA has oscillated between a pro-piracy/anti-piracy debate and a pro-censorship/anti-censorship debate, with the media companies choosing the former battle ground and the tech companies opting for the latter. Although it is not merely a propaganda war there is much at stake including the impact of emerging online activism in countries where internet is beginning to spread. The present Indian government has been in the habit of censoring public voice especially since the voice of public did not go down too well with it's governance mechanisms that included high a degree of corruption. These are a few thoughts I had about SOPA & PIPA with respect to emerging economies.

1. Correlation with Speech Censorship tools
SOPA,PIPA use the same tools for censorship used by countries like China, known for violating human rights to suppress speech

2. Impact on Internet Transparency in Emerging Economies
India, which seems to be a successful democracy ranks very low on internet transparency as indicated by Google. A Google spokesperson has gone on to state that

"We received requests from state and local law enforcement agencies to remove YouTube videos that displayed protests against social leaders or used offensive language in reference to religious leaders. We declined the majority of these requests and only locally restricted videos that appeared to violate local laws prohibiting speech that could incite enmity between communities. In addition, we received a request from a local law enforcement agency to remove 236 communities and profiles from orkut that were critical of a local politician. We did not comply with this request, since the content did not violate our Community Standards or local law."

Already struggling with governance issues, corruption, and debate over the Jan Lokpal bill, passing of SOPA in high probability can act as a precedent to emerging economies such as India.
3. No Real Change in Piracy
India is notorious for piracy with Nehru Place in New Delhi featuring among the top 30 notorious IT markets of the world, dealing in goods and services infringing intellectual property rights (IPR). SOPA, PIPA will impact government's high handedness in dealing with public voice against government on the internet, it may not cause any real change in managing "pirate-hubs" such as Nehru Place.

Ethics: A trivial concept or the hidden dragon?

2012-01-13T20:30:00.000+05:30

The issue of ethics never came to mind before I heard a batch-mate of my management class opine about the new course on ethics floated in our B-school. The incident happened over a cup of tea near the tea-stall, an uncontested hangout place in our campus. His opinion belittled the course, terming it trivial and unnecessary although useful in easily fulfillment of credit requirements for the MBA. This opinion was shared by others who had enrolled for the course. I really don’t know whether this sentiment was shared by most MBA grads or was it an isolated case. The quality of faculty taking the course is unquestionably brilliant. This opinion may be due to two following disjoint reasons.
1. Either the moral values imparted by the family system was so great that ethical issues were ingrained into the DNA
2. Or, Unethical behavior was acceptable, an undeniable aspect of doing business.

I may not be able to understand both but recent events such as the case of Rajat Gupta, A Harvard Alum, who was the head of McKinsey Global for a good nine years and co-founded ISB Hyderabad (A top Indian B-school) was jailed in an insider trading scam involving the now tainted Galleon (world’s largest hedge fund management firm). Looking at the nature of Indian culture, Ethics no doubt is an uncomplicated issue bordering on triviality. But as the returns to un-ethical behavior increase with respect to the costs such as a poor regulatory environment, an issue that does not seem big becomes a major question in the mind of an actor struggling between high returns coming from unethical behavior and a lower return from an ethical behavior. A B-school student may not give importance to ethics because his or her priority is to climb up the corporate ladder and grab the most important job such as that of a CEO in a company or start a successful money making venture. It is when they reach this stage; the true nature of ethics comes in play. While unethical behavior might have the potential to give returns beyond imagination, resisting it is an art that needs to be taught. By nature, a B-school student is ambitious competing among a herd of a zillion aspirants. The link between ambition and greed is controlled by resistance to unethical behavior. With top corporates, ambition is very high. Only the resistance to unethical can control it from reaching greed.

Anna Hazare - Why did round 2 fail

2011-12-28T17:52:00.003+05:30

Round 2 of Anna Hazare was flawed in many respects. It's failure is an example of poor leadership on the part of camp Anna. Here are a couple of reasons

1. No clear Agenda, Objective or Goal (From an apolitical agenda to overtly political overtures)

2. Lack of united voice

3. Discrepancies in Anna's version and government's version of Jan LokPal

4. Dilution of Brand Anna by constant political bantering

5. Fatigue in people (It's been too much of Anna now)

Ultimately, the attention given to Jan LokPal by the parliament, and an excessively emotional and too little rational appeal of Anna's Jan LokPal has lead to perception of irrationality in this fast by Anna Hazare. Galvanizing people even for freedom struggle against the British Raj during the latter part of 1920s was not an easy task. It still is not an easy task. Despite the novelty of the cause Anna Hazare is standing for, public sentiment has to gauged effectively and their intention to galvanize also needs to be calculated. It is no easy task. It needs careful planning, coherent voice and a clear agenda. All three were missing this time, and to add to it was the fatigue due to excessive and prolonged media coverage.

You can also read Chaitanya's insights in his comprehensive coverage of Anna Hazare.
Also try reading:

Anna Hazare: India's Social Media Revolution

Anna Hazare, Marketing and Jan Lokpal Bill

Anna Hazare, Social Media, and the Indian Revolution of 2011

Baba Ramdev, Anna Hazare & Social Media - Difference of opinion

Anna Hazare: India's Social Media Revolution

Politics as a career option in India

2011-12-23T08:29:00.000+05:30

Hang on folks! Not all is lost (in Indian politics).

With the Jan Lokpal and a hope that CBI might get some tooth, increased focus on transparency through RTI, people from all walks of life might just have a chance to look at politics as a realistic career option.

Politicians (mostly) generated a lot of money, inevitably creating entry barriers for new entrants (remember porter's five force model). With a new wave centered around education, increased internet penetration, there is a high probability that voters might be quite aware of their options and will make educated decisions. On your top-right is an approximation of relative internet usage in India

Considering increasing penetration of India presently at 5.3% of net population, and it's exponential growth in the last decade, this increase in next decade can give the aam admi a realistic chance to propagate his or her ideas for gaining votes through lower cost.

To add to this is the non-bipartisan system followed in India, unlike the United States. The independent candidate does not need to win over the entire country, but just one constituency. The investment required is far less if you are an independent. Strategically the odds will turn in favor of independents.

Jan Lokpal Bill - Chaos Theory

2011-12-22T13:47:00.000+05:30

India is at the crossroads. Jan Lokpal bill, control on CBI, administrative power on CBI, appoint of CBI director, and investigative powers will determine where India goes in atleast the next five decades.

A small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state.

~ Chaos Theory

- While the UPA - II argues that opposition is using the Jan Lokpal bill to derive political mileage, hesitation of the government, and the deadlines set by Team Anna has set the stage for what can be a landmark moment in the Indian history.
There is sufficient consensus on misuse of CBI by every government. CBI needs to be accountable, but at the same time it needs to be out of the clutches of the government to prevent misuse. While it is being seen by many as a Utopian dream and an impractical reality, there are five primary actors in this absolutely brilliant political theatre.
Although many Indians are content with the present state of the bill, saying "atleast we've come this far", I am pushing the point for "Since we've come this far, let's go that extra mile".
Assuming giving tooth to the CBI translates into lower corruption, lower zeros in scams, it would mean a more productive use of the tax payers money. This would mean acts like NREGA or the Food security bill will actually be able to achieve their stated objectives. It will have profound effects on public healthcare, farmer protection, and educational setup. Each of these means greater domestic consumption. While today we are debating for FDI in retail and it's impact on the economy, it's true impact can be leveraged only if our domestic demand allows it to grow. Domestic demand will also fuel growth in employment opportunities driving the entire system. Socially, it means greater subjective well being, longer life-expectancy, and better infrastructure.

Now at this focal point, let's take tooth out of the CBI. It will result in lowering all these potential outcomes. A small change today in the Jan LokPal bill will result in a major change tomorrow in the Indian economy.

Winter's claim - Emerging India, Naked India

2011-12-22T00:31:00.000+05:30

As we call ourselves an emerging economy having one of the fastest growing mobile subscriber base and scams where counting the number of zeros is a no less herculean, this winter brings a shocking reality

Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people
~ Oscar Wilde

- The winter has claimed 65 lives in one of the most populous Indian state - Uttar Pradesh. As the government is more involved in not relinquishing control of CBI, or debating on the validity of accounting in calculating the loss due to 2G scam, it has simply forgotten it's primary job of providing shelter to the homeless in this country. While minister's are debating on whether they can or not afford the food security bill, these loss of lives should make the blood boil of every Indian. All I can see is apathy towards the value of human life in this country.

Who is accountable for these 65 lives?

Indian Health Care System - 2011

2011-12-21T00:15:00.000+05:30

Indian health care system is in a poor state of affairs. The comparison of birth's attended by skilled health staff as a percentage of total birth (see world bank development indicators below) shows the pathetic state of Indian health care. This data shows Births attended by skilled health staff are the percentage of deliveries attended by personnel trained to give the necessary supervision, care, and advice to women during pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period; to conduct deliveries on their own; and to care for newborns.

Health care needs to be prioritized by the government.

This comes after grave consequences that were seen recently in West Bengal (or Paschim Banga) after a hospital fire, and death of an infant due to negligence by hospital staff (allegedly drunk). I totally respect the intention of the government behind the Food Security Bill but these are more pressing and important issues that have been neglected. Food security bill cannot guarantee long term sustenance. The story of the laboratory death best illustrates this. In a biology lab, a female student was looking into the hatching of an egg. The student could see the chick struggling for its life breaking the hard egg shell. Out of emotion, she went ahead and broke the egg shell for a safe delivery. While the new born chicks of all other students survived, the chick of this student did not last even a few minutes. The reason: It did not go through the natural process of evolution. Rather it was assisted and as a result could not adapt to the new surroundings. Food is something every man or woman must know how to fetch for himself or herself. Government should provide opportunities for labor to skill itself and earn. Instead rationing and giving it away would make food loose its value. Medical facilities are something that ought to be catered by the government. The existence of private medical institutes is for profit motives and will not cater to preventive health care requirements.
Even compared to developing countries India fairs very poorly on this Index. A point of worry is skilled staff available during the time of birth. In due course of time, poor economic policies with regard to health care facilities will show up in the growth and development of this country. It is time our government starts focusing on it else the story of GDP growth may be a glorious thing of the past left for the poets and historians to write about.

Food Security Bill India - Concerns

2011-12-19T19:39:00.001+05:30

The Food security bill passed by the government will give legal entitlement of cheaper food grains to about 63.5% of Indian population. This ideally should manifest in growth of Indian human capital, productive work force and skilled labor and long term growth of the economy. These people will work more efficiently, spend more and thus will domestically drive the Indian economy. But let me take you back six years. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was precisely meant to do so. NREGA was introduced with an aim to improve the purchasing power of the rural people, primarily semi or un-skilled workers. But did it do so? It was instead marred by corruption and middlemen taking advantage of office to deny legally entitled minimum wage. A business standard report mentioned the issuance of fake job cards, fake entries and threatening of workers to keep their mouth shut. Without addressing the learning from the mistakes done in the implementation of NREGA, the UPA II government primarily controlled by the congress party has passed the Food security bill. What is the guarantee that the legal entitlement to the poor will be adhered to?

Another serious concern is the huge amounts of money associated with the project. Food minister K V Thomas had said that the total financial liability to implement the law would be Rs 3.5 lakh crore, as funds would be required to raise agriculture production, create storage space and publicity among others. Each stage presents an opportunity for making easy money and there are no checks and provisions to prevent it. As a tax payer I would want my money to be utilized in an efficient manner and not for filling the pockets of babus. Although the need for food security in India is very high, next to health care, the manner in which it has been dealt shows lack of concern and callousness.

Indian political leadership - The problem

2011-12-19T04:32:00.000+05:30

In the last few months, activities such as the Jan Lokpal movement, food security bill or the retail FDI, all have one thing in common - The government has tried to bulldoze its way. In this article (What makes a leader) at Harvard Working Knowledge, Deborah Blagg and Susan Young write,

"Communication is the real work of leadership," says HBS professor Nitin Nohria, who documented the importance of persuasion in his 1992 book Beyond the Hype: Rediscovering the Essence of Management. Nohria believes effective leaders are masters of the classical elements of rhetoric, as outlined by Aristotle centuries ago. "You can reach people through logos or logic, by appealing to their sense of what is rational," he explains. "You can use pathos, appealing to their emotions, or you can make an argument based on their sense of values or ethos." Great leaders, he notes, "spend the bulk of their time communicating, and they know how to employ all three of Aristotle's rhetorical elements."

Here is our government that is spending bulk of its time bulldozing. We have no debates, no clarifications to the citizens and bills are simply passed. As we had with the 2G spectrum auction, I suspect a major scam cooking. Despite the power of RTI, there are little pro-active disclosures by the government making it as opaque as steel glass. To add to my doubt is the history of scams and political curry cooking spoken in a very comprehensive manner by Subramanian Swamy.

Ajit Singh as Civil Aviation Minister

2011-12-18T13:42:00.001+05:30

I did not expect Mr. Ajit Singh to get a warm reception as he got the not so coveted crown of red hot cinder - The Civil Aviation ministry. Ramesh Srivats gave a particularly warm welcome for Mr. Ajit Singh. In his tweet Ramesh said,

"Ajit Singh to become Civil Aviation minister? Dear MMS (Manmohan Singh), we'd like you to administer, not add minister."

I just hope that Ajit Singh's reputation as being a fair weather friend also puts our airline industry out of rough weather.

India Internet Censorship: The moral watch dog

2011-12-15T19:14:00.000+05:30

The UPA II government under the leadership of party head Sonia Gandhi and prime-minster Manmohan Singh, in what I would call as the most un-democratic thing done till date are trying to block and pre-screen internet content that defames the government. It is an outright violation of the spirit of democracy and a pseudo communist activity. The rationale given by our communication minster Mr. Kapil Sibal is protecting sensibilities of Indians. He said in an interview to BBC

"We have to take care of the sensibilities of our people, we have to protect their sensibilities. Our cultural ethos is very important to us" ~ Kapil Sibal

In a plain simple blunt way, I would like to ask Mr. Sibal and the government, what right it has to tell us "What is sensible"? If the government is so hungry about data from internet companies, why doesn't the government show a similar spirit in handling the list of black-money accounts by making it public. Our sensibilities tell us we deserve to know who the corrupt people in this country are? Why are they double faceted when it comes opening that list first.

Facebook till now has seems to have danced to the tunes of the government but Google has taken a much sterner and an ethical stance. I guess that differences comes from the DNA of the two companies. Facebook isn't expected to do great stuff. Look at the way they handled the privacy issue. Google is a much more morally responsible company (Read Google Philosophy). My opinion may be biased, but the response to the issue by Google shows the high level of transparency and democracy it maintains. In it's transparency report, Google has stated

"We received requests from state and local law enforcement agencies to remove YouTube videos that displayed protests against social leaders or used offensive language in reference to religious leaders. We declined the majority of these requests and only locally restricted videos that appeared to violate local laws prohibiting speech that could incite enmity between communities. In addition, we received a request from a local law enforcement agency to remove 236 communities and profiles from orkut that were critical of a local politician. We did not comply with this request, since the content did not violate our Community Standards or local law."

They have also stated

"When content is legal and does not violate our policies, we will not remove it just because it is controversial, as we believe that people's differing views, so long as they are legal, should be respected and protected."

Removing objectionable pictures of Dr. Manmohan Singh, or Sonia Gandhi or some misplaced pigs does not change anything. In my opinion in the guise of "Protecting Sensibility", they are essentially protecting their own skin that has been bantered by social media recently on the Sharad Pawar slap issue or the Anna Hazare and Jan Lokpal movement. I also firmly believe, such attempts by any government should be nipped in the bud.

Internet Pre-screening in India - Why?

2011-12-15T02:06:00.000+05:30

It was reported by popular newspapers that the Indian Government has closed the doors on the democratic Indian web.

The surfacing of objectionable portrayals of the senior Congress leadership on Google and Facebook has riled the Congress-led UPA government so much that it wants pre-screening of content on these websites — a demand that has no legal backing

The Google India transparency report says that 70% of requests of removal of content by government institutions consist of government criticism. A more descriptive version is this interview of Kapil Sibal. In his interview Kapil Sibal states pornographic content as a major source of their requests for censorship. Going by what Google guys are saying he is very clearly lying. The same way a politician can't be expected to say the truth, Google can't be expected to lie. Google cited the following reasons for not removing those requests:

We received requests from state and local law enforcement agencies to remove YouTube videos that displayed protests against social leaders or used offensive language in reference to religious leaders. We declined the majority of these requests and only locally restricted videos that appeared to violate local laws prohibiting speech that could incite enmity between communities. In addition, we received a request from a local law enforcement agency to remove 236 communities and profiles from orkut that were critical of a local politician. ~ Google

Is this child porn as claimed by Mr. Kapil Sibal?
The culture in the last two decades has changed. In this age, which is also the age of parody, objectionable content (or outright humor) will be voted out or in by people whether it is Rebecca Black, Justin Bieber or the Sharad Pawar slap song (Why this Kolaveri di's parody of Sharad Pawar). The government's reluctance to free the web, or accept the Jan Lokpal says volumes about improvements in our system, and in particular the constitution. Jan Lokpal is being delayed since the government is not ready to amend the constitution. The constitution was made more than six decades ago according to the cultural norms prevailing then. We will have to stick to the times if we are looking to compete and survive.

Expertise as a limiting agent - The Paradox

2011-12-01T07:45:00.001+05:30

Expertise [ˌɛkspɜːˈtiːz] n
Special skill, knowledge, or judgment; expertness
We have often experienced the rigidity that comes with experience and knowledge. When it comes to people with "work experience", an important question to ask is it's effectiveness ( or ineffectiveness ) in influencing the future of an organization. Bill Taylor has highlighted this in a very well articulated blog post. He quotes the work (The innovation killer) of Cynthia Barton Rabe to explain the paradox of expertise and Vuja De' (The flip side of déjà vu).

Paradox of Expertise

Many organizations, she argues, struggle with a "paradox of expertise" in which deep knowledge of what exists in a marketplace or a product category makes it harder to consider what-if strategies that challenge long-held assumptions. "When it comes to innovation," she writes, "the same hard-won experience, best practice, and processes that are the cornerstones of an organization's success may be more like millstones that threaten to sink it."

Vuja De'

Or, to put it differently, the most effective leaders demonstrate a capacity for vuja dé. We've all experienced déjà vu — looking at an unfamiliar situation and feeling like you've seen it before. Vuja dé is the flip side of that — looking at a familiar situation (a field you've worked in for decades, products you've worked on for years) as if you've never seen it before, and, with that fresh line of sight, developing a distinctive point of view on the future. If you believe, as I do, that what you see shapes how you change, then the question for change-minded leaders becomes: How do you look at your organization and your field as if you are seeing them for the first time?

The bottom-line is...

You can't let what you know limit what you can imagine. As you try to do something special, exciting, important in your work, as you work hard to devise creative solutions to stubborn problems, don't just look to other organizations in your field (or to your past successes) for ideas and practices

Venture capital and PhDs in India - The problems

2011-11-30T03:31:00.001+05:30

An amazing interview published in the strategist section of Business Standard revealed two basic problems hindering innovation and the start-up eco system in India. Nirmalya Kumar and Phanish puram (Aditya Birla India Centre) highlight very important points.

If we want to become a true innovation hub, we need to have more science and engineering graduates and PhDs. We need to increase education from the primary sector all the way till the PhDs. All this is needed if you want to develop products that can be seen by the rest of the world.
Right now VCs are funding models that work, which they know will work and they need money to scale up. They are not funding ideas that may never work and that is our issue. It is more like a guaranteed loan to someone. It gives you good return but that is not the purpose of VC. That will come with more competition. There is change in the last couple of years and it will happen.

Two solve these problems we need a radical change in mindset. MBAs need to think of getting something more out of their degree than a high paying job and engineers need to look at technology and not an MBA. This change can be fostered by public policy measures that encourage students to take up research. It also involves a risk taking mindset within people pursuing PhDs.

Suck-ups and Ass-Kissers

2011-11-29T08:22:00.000+05:30

Ass-Kisser (def.): A person who sucks up to people in a position of authority in order to get some kind of reward or perks.

~urban dictionary

Frustrated over your kiss-ass colleague?

The hard part of life is that you can't tell others what to do or what not to do. We have to work as a team and working in teams means that you encounter people who have pretty messed up value systems. Ethics go for a toss and morals are completely unwanted. Their actions are completely unwarranted and are aimed at destructive growth.

In such situations you have to listen to two things

1. Reaction of your boss

2. Opinion of other team-mates.

Is both are against the kiss-ass team mate, you don't need to worry. But I guess you are reading this because you do worry.

It's time you show your vulnerability. Make it open. Make your hatred of kiss-ass behavior open, visible. It is time to show some aggression. Let the battle be open. Vulnerability has a lot of power. Let the emotions come out rather than be hidden in you. (Watch this talk by Brene Brown to learn about unleashing your vulnerability)

Aggression is the most common behavior used by many organizations, a nearly invisible medium that influences all decisions and actions.

~ Margaret J. Wheatley

Hard work or wasting away YOUTH?

2011-11-29T04:35:00.003+05:30

What happens when a guy who loves his work stops loving it?
Or What happens when the work you love does not bring you success?
You start to question. Here is one such question.

I have no life. I never see any of my non-work friends, and I’m wasting away my one and only youth. I ought to be out doing fun things and active things, the kind of things I won’t be able to do when my mind and body finally decay. But instead I’m stuck inside under fluorescent lights, pushing bits around inside a computer in ways that are only interesting to other nerds.

Startups are not about billionaires. Risks are not shortcuts to success. They are about survival. People who learn it young have a higher chance of making a fortune. So stop cribbing. Start working. If you are over-worked, start f#ck&ng. But get back to work so that you don't stop loving it.
PS: Uncrunched has taken an interesting topic.

Benetton kiss and UNHATE

2011-11-16T23:59:00.001+05:30

Benetton has captured (rather created) a series of intimate moments for e.g. the US President Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. They want the leaders and citizens of the world to combat the 'culture of hatred'. According to them these images are symbols of reconciliation - with a touch of ironic hope and constructive provocation - to stimulate reflection on how politics, faith and ideas, even when they are divergent and mutually opposed, must still lead to dialogue and mediation."
It is a very bold attempt. Admittedly they are playing with fire and have taken on the entire world leadership in one campaign. I certainly love the idea but I don't really understand any tangible cause behind it. The idea is certainly novel but I have my reservations about its acceptance by citizens of the world. I can also see this as an attempt to get attention in the guise of a novel idea.
Will people react to it positively ? Is the world open enough to understand ? Are they playing with too sensitive a subject (religion for instance) ? Is the risk worth taking ? Is it constructive provocation ?
I don't think so!

How to rise in your organization ?

2011-11-16T22:14:00.001+05:30

Rising in the organization is a tricky yet simple task. Your growth is directly proportional to the effort you put in to sell your company this idea - That you have ideas that can help the company earn more profits.
If they buy this, they'll promote you, give you more power and more money. But how to sell this idea ?
Taking cues from unleashing the idea virus, you need to find supporters who appreciate your thought. For that you need to network across verticals, with vendors, clients, everyone (even the peon should like you). All this gives you information, which gives you the power to unleash the idea within your organization. After-all research has proven that successful managers are good at networking. Networking means improving your social skills, being bold and being confident.
Your ideas matter but what matters is the idea that you have some great ideas. Sell it blindly, Sell it aggressively. Avoid one pitfall - Don't be perceived as a bag of gas.

Ra.One, Marketing and Madness

2011-10-31T20:35:00.000+05:30

Is Shahrukh Khan (SRK) the greatest marketer in the film industry?
The air you've taken in you lungs before the release of the movie contains particles of Ra.One. Ra.One is on news channels, game shows, TV serials, bus hoardings, newspapers, and on top of it you have all shows at major theatres simply screening Ra.One. With the power of money, a promotional budget of 50 Crores, collusion with others in the industry, Ra.One has managed to create a madness - a monopoly. I also have a feeling that even the critics have been bought to put good reviews.
People don't have a choice. Is this what artists are meant to do? Is Shahrukh Khan the greatest artist we would like to remember? Or the greatest dictator of art Or the greatest monopolist of art Or simply a money making machine ? Is he the one promoting art or is he the one monopolizing art?
Businesses would like to remember Ra.One as the greatest promotional campaign in the history of movies. It spend a lot of money to make more (made profit after 3 days of release). It exploited the festive season, colluded with others in the entertainment industry and made people sing the tune of Ra.One.
Ra.One has been promoted using what I'd like to call - Carpet Bombing. Carpet bombing is not effective. World War II was characterized by destruction of entire cities by the Allied and Axis forces by bombing them to ground. The problem is that it definitely killed the enemies (victory) but it also killed civilians who had nothing to do with the great war. Carpet Bombing promotional strategy used by team SRK in promoting Ra.One has also created a lot of anti-feeling against the movie. Subcultures of consumption are created by branding practices followed by companies. Intrusiveness is one aspect that simply puts off a lot of people. As a result there is a lot of anti-activity against the movie. By monopolizing the market Ra.One has taken away a lot of power i.e. power of choice from people. Powerless consumer will retaliate by boycotting. Ra.One's promotional strategy has created a hysteria about the movie - Simple Madness. Taking lines from Dark Knight - "madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push" . Dark Knight created a text book marketing campaign, which we study in our marketing courses. A completely integrated marketing campaign but it did not rely on carpet bombing. Even Amir Khan movies, which I personally consider closer to a work of art than pure commercial ventures indulge in decent (not insane) promotional practices. They are something we can digest.
On the contrary carpet bombing strategy used by SRK has resulted in the creation of a subculture that is boycotting the movie. Their word-of-mouth is expanding the number of people in this subculture and creating opposition brand loyalty against Brand SRK. In the long run this can be detrimental for the movie, brand SRK and propagation of art in particular.

Diwali - The significance

2011-10-26T07:18:00.000+05:30

If New Year is about parties and resolutions, Diwali is about Gifts, crackers, sweets and...
OK. Let's get above it. Diwali is about the victory over evil. But, who is evil? Gaddafi? Corrupt ministers?
The spiritual gurus will tell you that it is about our inner vices and the devils of ignorance that we breed. I don't deny it, but I'll talk about something practical, which can be readily applied.

Diwali is a social occasion. It is about meeting and greeting people you've lost touch with, and strengthening existing relationships. The most significant event in Hindu mythology that marks the celebration of this festival of lights is the return of Lord Ram after 14 years of Vanvas or banishment. It represents replenishing old relationships that could not be given justice due to the duties (or Dharma) one has to perform. For Lord Ram it was the Dharma of exile i.e. not disobeying his father's (King Dashratha) solemn promise.

Celebrating Diwali is an event much more than a reciprocal exchange of equally valued gifts. It is a day when you strengthen old relationships that have not been given enough time due to the Dharma of life.
Happy Diwali :-)

Gaddafi's last moment and the Truth

2011-10-23T19:12:00.000+05:30

The pictures of the blood laden motionless body of Muammar Gaddafi are doing rounds of internet with popular portals like MSN, Yahoo, Rediff, BBC, CNN, NYT carrying it on their front pages like a trophy they had just won. Like the messiahs of truth, they are trying to show to the world, "What were the last moments of Gaddafi?" - Don't Shoot, Don't Shoot.

People (including me) are watching this chapter in history with wide open eyes to see the naked dance of power - Power in its most vicious form. Is this the truth?
Did Gaddafi have to be killed if he cried - Don't Shoot, Don't Shoot. Wasn't that itself a victory for a civilized state?
The sad part is that the so called "saviors of the world" like United States that wish to democratize this world assisted the perpetrators in this barbaric act. The irony is that their present leader is a Nobel peace prize winner. Is it civilized to kill a powerless person? Is it civilized to take off his clothes and let the entire world take pictures of a cold motionless body? Isn't it as cold as the genocide of European Jews by Nazis?
But this is the truth and it hurts me. I find comfort in Tagore's words -

I shall not loose my faith: I shall wait. The passage from the narrow to the larger world is stormy. When She (power) is familiar with this freedom, then I shall know where my place is. If I discover that I do not fit in with the arrangement of the outer world, then I shall not quarrel with my fate, but silently take my leave... Use force? But for what? Can force prevail against truth?

- The Home and the World (1916)

Power of collective

2011-10-20T17:46:00.000+05:30

Collective power, unity is beautiful. University of Iowa's Kinnick Stadium Saturday put up a spectacular display (see video) during the national anthem as spectators at the Iowa-Northwestern game held up cards to create a giant flag around the crowd (see below).
Collective is beautiful and has the potential to enthrall the world. It can be a collective revolution in Egypt or a collective idea to create a new product.

(click to enlarge image)