Greatest lesson in learning - by Sandeep Manudhane sir

Greatest lesson in learning

Being a teacher, I am wonderfully blessed to be surrounded by the future always. Young women and men, bubbling with ideas, hopes, dreams, ambitions, aspirations, frustrations, sadness.. it's all there for me to study.

Let me share something I feel strongly about. Something about the fine art of being a great learner. While we all know that learning continuously is important for us to lead a fulfilled and continuously satisfied life in this human society (that is itself continuously and in many complex ways - changing), very few of us actually know the secret of fast, deep, long-lasting learning.

It is a secret I am going to let out today. The luckiest few of us may be knowing it already. Some of us may have experienced it sometime in our lives, but unluckily would have missed out on analysing it adequately. Most of us will not have even experienced it.

I learnt it when my father taught me this little, profound secret while studying in the 5th standard at the St.Paul's School Indore. My having done miserably in the 6-monthly exams made Daddy really furious at me. He took it upon himself to coach me for several weeks, one-to-one. Imagine, a fully qualified, respected Otorhinolaryngologist (ENT surgeon) teaching his 10 year old son History, Civics, and Basic Science!

So he kept teaching me all those mornings, sacrificing at times his surgery calls. I kept learning. He kept on gently pushing some values in my about-to-get-adolescent head, that was already buzzing with hormones preparing to go on the teenage rampage.

And today, after all these decades, I remember clearly the one most important lesson he taught me.

He said : "अच्छा सीखने की सबसे बड़ी शर्त है अपने शिक्षक के प्रति पूर्ण समर्पण। कोई शक नहीं, कोई सवाल नहीं। केवल पूर्ण समर्पण।"

Translated, it means, the biggest pre-condition of being a great learner (and having a great learning experience) is total surrender to the process of learning, and complete agreement with your teacher, on everything. No questions, no disagreements, no doubts. Just agreement.

The human mind learns best when it follows this simple rule.

For years together, I could never bring myself to believe this. I always found it kind of sinister, or communist. I thought that the Western model of thinking - doubt everything around you and the truth will shine forth, must be correct as they (the Westerners) are the ones who gave us the Theory of Evolution, The Microprocessor, and The Paleontological proofs of man's historic journey. (Yes, I know I was being simplistic)

How wrong I was! What wrong threads of logic I was trying to connect. Every single man or woman who has contributed to modern science has been a complete believer in something. Every single great scientist - Einstein included - so deeply believed in something that it kept propelling them forward. They completely surrendered to their beliefs, and kept plodding on and on. This "something" was their teacher.

In the broadest sense of the word, today I realise what my Dad must have meant then. The "teacher" he was speaking about was definitely not just a human being. It could be God herself. It could be mother nature. It could be your friend, your lover, your books, your wife, your child, your professor, your boss, your associate ... anyone!

Dear reader, I strongly recommend : surrender completely to the one you think can teach you how to learn. That's the surest, fastest, strongest way to grow!

And yes, this "something" can change from time to time, situation to situation.

Looking at the streams, the grasses, the raindrops

The rays of Sun shining through the dusty glasspanes

The frogs croaking, the crickets dancing, the ants marching

The man's search was on - who could have made it all?

Without realising, for once

That the creator is there, in each of His creations

The creations are He, the creator is the creation

But he kept disbelieving, and kept looking, and kept looking
For he could not surrender, he could not rejoice.

Source : http://smblog.proton.in

Mondays are 'bad' days - by Sandeep Manudhane sir

Mondays are 'bad' days

Mondays truly are 'bad' days. Don't get me wrong. BAD is an acronym I use for Beautiful And Demanding. Actually, Mondays set the tone for the entire week, and I take extra care to ensure they go smooth.

So was today. Let me share my day's learnings!

• When a company head takes a report, especially marketing reports, he/she wants material facts that shape his opinions and future decisions. So observant individuals win hands down here!
• 'Never make assumptions while working'. Good revision of basic wisdom.
• A detailed counselling of a manager responsible for several work-groups highlighted some key issues -

• Efficiency versus Effectiveness - the perennial debate - we spent some time assessing what percentage of the manager's time was being spent on what.
• Final conclusion after an hour long brainstorming - the staff reporting to him were not clear about the extent to which they were supposed to take ownership of their own work (till the last deliverables)
• We concluded that at least 25% of his time was to be spent on "effectivenss" rather than being obsessed with "efficiency" alone.

• I was reminded of the axiom - if you wish to chop a tree, spend half the day sharpening your axe. Today was the "sharpening the axe" day for my colleague.
• Three other incidents in the day reminded me (and my senior colleagues) of one of the strongest management principles ever "What gets measured gets done". This is so important a truth, that I will treat it separately in another post also.
• I took a personal tuition in the evening for almost 2 hours (from an external IT professional I respect a lot due to his practical expertise) on basic Internet related issues.
• Actually, for quite some time, I was feeling hamstrung while taking some IT decisions (costly ones!) due to lack of authoritative insights into internet issues. So decided to get myself coached today. It really helped. The guy was kind enought to come over and coach me, as I sat with my diary, noting all crucial points. (If you are a student reading this - remember - there is nothing as powerful as properly prepared, neat & clean handwritten notes)
• I now can ask sensible questions while deciding issues related to : Webservers, Dataservers, ISPs, Domain Hosting, Streaming servers, Mailservers, Spam, etc.
• For anyone who understands what capitalism is (creating a business model that removes some inefficiency from the system), here is a big opportunity. Develop some kind of technology for the neon-signages that takes care of their going "phut" in bits and pieces every time Lord Indra smiles. You have a multi-crore idea ready buddy.

Signing off, here is a powerful thought for tomorrow. I found it quite moving in the film "The Untouchables". The veteran policeman Malone (Sean Connery) judges the newcomer to Chicago Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) who has been sent to get the dreaded Al Capone. Here goes the conversation -
Malone: You said you wanted to get Capone. Do you really wanna get him? You see what I'm saying is, what are you prepared to do?
Ness: Anything and everything in my power.
Malone: And *then* what are you prepared to do?

The great turning point! - by Sandeep Manudhane Sir

The great turning point!

Turns out 2009 was a great turning point. A culmination of several mega trends worldwide, this year saw a decisive shifting on many fronts. As news of various events, big and small, made their way to eager ears, the sensitive ones could pick rumblings of bigger trends to follow. Decisive trends.

Let me summarise my learnings from the year that’s folding up, and my understanding of what the next year, and decade hold in store for us.

1) Unipolarity is dead. Long live G-2

The singular superpower of this world – the US – finally acknowledged that it is no longer capable of running the world single-handedly. This capitulation was prompted by its economic collapse and consequent shaming (in front of the whole world), and its loss of confidence on its ability to innovate enough to pull itself (and the world) out of a recession, which threatened to turn into a depression. The US openly touted the idea of a G-2 that suddenly (and maybe unhappily for China) uplifted China from a “developing” to a “superpower” status! The mandarins in Beijing must have been shocked to see such a rapid surrender of this singular status by the US, irrespective of a conciliatory President in the Oval office. Anyway, they accepted it gladly, and are now discovering that there is a big price one needs to pay for superpower status – humility, decency and willingness to help those in need. These aren’t exactly traits Beijing is reputed for. So expect lots of incongruous and asymmetric statements and actions in the coming year, as the new world order settles and finds an equilibrium. I do not expect it to be smooth, neither do I expect it to be hassle-free. It’s not guaranteed either!

2) Business on the back-foot

The amazing liberty taken by the investment bankers in finest of US firms led to the sub-prime collapse. That in turn led to a wholesale bashing of the ideology of capitalism itself. Although that is a bit too much, but a world where 1 billion go to bed hungry each day, it was only expected. All the more, as the spillover from Wall Street to Main Street this time was much quicker, and more deleterious. So we are truly globalised now! What happens in the US banks affects us locally, almost everywhere in the world. Due to this sudden (12 months is surely sudden!) credibility crisis for capitalism’s founding principles, there is an environment of chaos and disbelief all around. Businesses and Business-leaders are stunned. Unable to believe that they could be so easily within the reach of something so pernicious, they are now slowly struggling to get their act together. Helped in a great measure by the relentless and unimaginable size bailouts offered by various governments, business has managed to save the façade from completely crumbling. A smiling face has been retained, while the back office got taken over by the governments. None of them (business and government) is eager to let it continue this way, and it is a matter of time before most bailouts result in either total collapse of the organization, or repayment of the bailout funds. The second is more likely. So we learnt some really good lessons here – a) you swing the needle too much towards the liberty side of the scale, and you degenerate capitalism into debauchery, b) governments are no longer willing to sit and watch industries die, even if that means pumping in unheard of amounts of monies into corporations, and c) business has to now work all over from scratch to regain its glory days.

I distinctly remember that through the early years of 2000s, companies like Lehman, GE and AIG used to be taught in B-schools are paragons of virtue and positive aggression. Their leaders seem to have forgotten that there is a limit to risk-taking, and healthy business demands reining in the testosterone at the right moment. Tut tut.

The coming decade will be a struggle for business to gain its social legitimacy all over again. I am confident that they will do it ultimately. While most companies anyway remain low-profile and generally good for society, the really big ones will have to go out of the way (can’t remain low profile that way!) and ensure that the broken edifices are rebuilt beautifully, ethically and convincingly.

3) It’s my life no more!

An amazing (and almost oxymoron like) social situation is evolving. The explosion of social media (blogs, twitter, orkut, facebook..) has created unlimited scope for micro-cultures to flourish. And at the same time, consumerist consumption driven by the large-scale (almost global) creation of such micro-cultures is driving climate change that is unacceptable to all. So you have a peculiar situation – Capitalism gave us the fantastic change to live life kingsize by enjoying almost every material thing we could imagine, and in the process, we ended up creating so much carbon (and greenhouse gases) that the world’s future is at stake. I heard someone say “It’s my life.” Good, but no more sir! Your actions (of consumption) are leaving carbon footprints on the environment, and hence it is totally unacceptable to everyone. But where does one begin to cut things down? Where does one rationally understand and take action? Where do nations come together and decide and act? All these are the grand questions that mankind is left to find answers to. If not solved properly, this century may well prove to be the last happy century for man as we have known him. It’s the tipping point, truly. And all of us, in our lifetimes, will see a large part of this story unfold before us.

So suddenly, post COP15, there is a worldwide sense of discomfort and disbelief that nations are unable to actually agree to specific goals that can be made to work. In our hearts, we surely believe things will work out (should work out), but the real decisions are still to be made. It is actually boiling down to the lifestyle issue, finally.

4) India undecided

 Amidst all this noise and clutter and uncertainty, India seems to stand tall. Call it wisdom or lethargy, our policymakers never allowed India to fully integrate into the world economy. The benefit of that is there for everyone to see. We escaped narrowly! Our banks had minimal exposure to the lusty and lascivious sub-prime market of the US, and hence the ripple effect never hit us hard. Our recession mood (if you can call it) was largely due to secondary reasons – IT companies losing out on big new contracts due to shrinking budgets, big hikes in food prices locally, poor recruitment scene at leading campuses, government’s failure to create large-scale assets through big projects – and so on. Grudgingly, even China understands the important role that the juggernaut called India – 17% of world’s population – has to play in the global economy now. India, however seems unsure of its standing. Though we are assertive enough (we did not sign the NPT) and decent enough (we did not attack Pakistan post 26/11), our exact position needs to be recalibrated now. The world needs more precise definitions.

Remember, China is dead scared of India. President Hu Jintao applies his lathi everytime someone dares question his or the Party’s judgement. Indian leaders wield no such lathi. They are under the democracy scanner always. Despite this apparent lack of strength, Indian democracy goes from strength to strength. This makes India inherently much stronger than the monolithic but brittle Chinese polity. In the next decade, expect something dramatic to happen along those lines in China. History bears witness to the fact that when the democracy tide turns, no force is able to hold its pressure.

I find these times amazing! Since we are an integrated world now (at least online), the ripples travel really fast. I hope that mankind’s cumulative wisdom is able to hold itself really well, and that by 2100 AD, we would be on the route to eternal prosperity having contained the Capitalistic libido at reasonable levels, stabilized the population (at 9 billion) and with a sure agreement that space exploration and colonizing other worlds is our ultimate destiny. (What a thing to say in the middle of a world recession!)

The 1000 days principles in Entrepreneurship - by Sandeep Manudhane Sir

The 1000 days principles in Entrepreneurship

People often seek advice from others on Entrepreneurship. While a lot of those who do advise on such matters are obviously experienced people (having been there and done that), there is a general lack of broad guiding principles for an aspiring young entrepreneur who wishes to have a long term view of things. Keeping this in mind, I list below my learnings on the topic. The advice here will suit most businesses generally.
Before I begin, I must warn that what follows is not for the faint-at-heart. Enterprise creation is an adventure that's all-consuming. It cannot be done part-time, and it surely won't be successful that way.

The 1000-days principles in Entrepreneurship

The process of enterprise creation is a long one. But a structure does seem to work well, if followed rigorously. I feel that the following steps will stand a young first generation entrepreneur in good stead, as she tries to build her enterprise from scratch. The least it will do is minimise waste and senseless effort. Here goes!

The phases mentioned below are from the entrepreneur's perspective. The organisation will evolve on its own also, in parallel. As you cruise through this, it will be a good idea to remember the poetic punch that "A man who follows his heart does not expect the world to follow his point!"

A. The first 1000 days - Customers and Cash phase

For the first one thousand days of the enterprise being built, the only focus should be getting customers, and generating cash to meet the survival needs of the system. There can be no other pressing objectives. Since the issue of survival of the enterprise to the next level is the only one that matters here, hence these two objectives should override all other considerations. During this phase, if you are unmarried, good for you. If you are married, try getting your spouse onboard as well. During the first 3 years (1000 days), an entrepreneur should

• Live with the simple driving dictum - Get customers, get customers, get customers
• Focus on day-to-day revenues and cash generation activities
• Personally interact with as many customers as he/she can to really understand their needs, offer on-the-spot solutions to problems, and build the first level of brand-confidence
• Realise that 24x7 availability for customers (at least through phone) is a boon not a bane
• Avoid thinking too much about profits - they usually won't happen now
• Not think about other softer and grander issues - they'll follow later if you'll survive
• Remind himself constantly that "if I don't survive through these 1000 days, it's all over. I'll be dead."
• Get up early, reach office much before anyone else will, and not leave for home in the late evening until all followups for the day and next day's preparation is made
• Make do with not more than 6 hours of sleep every day/night
• Realise that work-life balance is possible provided he treats work as life!
• Do not at all think about fancy software, fancy hardware, costly manpower, big a/c offices. The time is not ripe yet (even if you have enough money somehow)
• Give up almost all "luxuries" of life that cost too much - take a train if flight is too costly
• Realise that all that he/she does is creating a brand automatically - so branding, marketing and PR is actually happening without consciously being done under those 'verticals' and 'divisions'

 B. The second 1000 days - Quality, and Systems and Processes phase

Congratulations! You have survived the first phase. Barely 10% entrepreneurs make it to the second phase, so obviously there's something special about you. I know what that is - total dedication you've shown to the cause of enterprise creation. So it is obvious that your customers have noticed it as well. Now you must realise that what you did on your own single-handedly through these first 1000 days needs to be institutionalised somehow, at least at a basic level. That's precisely where you need a quality culture to be created, and systems and processes to be built. This is what Raymond Kroc of McDonalds understood early in the evolution of the company, and hence went to extraordinary lengths to create the "Hamburger University" to train his people! Thus, in the second phase (the second 1000 days), an entrepreneur should

• Constantly repeat what made him/her a success in the first phase
• Start building a quality culture through his now-growing enterprise
• Articulate a formal quality policy that's simple to understand yet powerfully worded
• Tell everyone in the team what is simply not acceptable in terms of customer happiness and product quality - this is THE PHASE when your long-term culture will be created - mess with it now, and you have no culture left to bank upon and defend later
• Realise that as the scale and scope of your business grows now, you need formalised systems and processes that capture the essence of what you as an individual did wonderfully well in your first phase, and which others in your team now need to do
• Start communicating a lot, and aggressively (not impolitely) with his/her team members about the need for repetitive good experiences for customers (and that's possible only through processes and systems)
• Realise that he needs to sit down on a PC personally to start documenting the various processes and systems that were used to reach this place
• Create what we call the "Operations Manuals"
• Realise seriously that this is the time when the very long term foundation of the entire business is being laid - it's not a joke, and do not treat it like a joke
• Keep a parallel eye out for talented people, who will now start getting attracted to your enterprise (through market's word-of-mouth), and think of how you will recruit and retain them
• Do not at all think about fancy software, fancy hardware, costly manpower, big a/c offices. The time is not ripe yet (even if you have enough money). Go for basic essential stuff only.
• Avoid listening too much to costly "consultants" and fancy "management gurus" who can generally only talk big things, but can hardly deliver real value for money to struggling and upcoming entrepreneurs (like you are, at this stage) {remember what Dr Peter Drucker said - "I suspect the media calls me a guru because they find charlatan too much space to print!"}
• Resist the temptation to expand aggressively - lots of people will praise you and show you the golden path to prosperity through rapid expansion! But listen ONLY to your heart - does it sound intuitive and ok to expand? Can you handle it, resourcewise? If no, then it's no!

C. The third 1000 days - HR and Team-building phase

 Wonderful! You survived the second phase also. You have guts, and glory surely awaits you. For the six precious years of your life that you just invested in enterprise creation, now comes the time to build the next step for a bigger game ahead. In the third and very crucial phase of your enterprise creation adventure, you need to now religiously focus on building a core team of professionals, who are vertical specialists, and gel them together for a long play. Dhirubhai Ambani gave precisely this advice to both his sons, and also the liberty to create teams that they thought were best for their respective domains. In this third phase, you have to focus primarily on

• Building a team that will stay with you for a long time ahead (at least 10 years)
• Find vertical specialists who will create the "departments" or "divisions" or "verticals" that will define the key parts of your enterprise for all times to come (at least for next 10 to 15 years)
• Get these key team members involved in the documentation and systems-design process - and be ready to face resistance, it's not easy!
• Start focussing on HR processes that will sustain on their own without your personal intervention always
• Make sure you interact with each new joinee at least once before he/she is approved by the "HR dept" and reserve your veto on their joining (or not joining) - nobody knows the enterprise's DNA better than you do
• Start focussing on your personal wealth. This is the first time you will be doing so
• Get a very good wealth-manager (advisor). A regular CA alone won't do. You need someone who is monetarily and asset-wise rich - only he/she can advice you on wealth matters (if that person happens to be a CA, good!)
• Continue motivating the team for the things that made you reach the third phase
• Keep interacting closely with all key business partners. No one should say you have grown big enough to not interact with them!
• Do not indulge in vulgar displays of your wealth. It will adversely affect your image and make enemies out of friends. So if you can make do with a smaller car, no need to think of the Mercedes yet!
• Be on the watchout for frauds - people who are trusted by you, but are actually not worthy of that. You will have your fair share of experiences; learn quickly!

D. The fourth 1000 days - Expansion, Branding and Finance phase

Now the game turns serious. You have an organisation that's beginning to stand on its own, you have revenues and profits (hopefully!), you have team-members whom you can trust, you have a decade of experience (how time flies!) and you have seen ups and downs to even out your animal spirits to a reasonable level (again, hopefully!). Having successfully done it at the national level, Sunil Bharti Mittal is now passing through this phase in terms of global expansion for the company. So what should you personally focus the most on, now? Three things basically.

• Start thinking of expansion, if your business model allows for it
• Expansion can take place in any manner - more offices, more locations, bigger teams, newer business venture(s), etc.
• Since the organisation is likely to have a lot of positive energy at this stage, you are most likely to get good results from expansion
• The biggest caution - keep a watchful eye against systems dilution. That can kill your brand in the long run otherwise
• Secondly, focus on concerted efforts regarding "Branding and PR"
• Become media savvy - start appearing for media interactions, press-meets, national PR and TV coverage
• Get a really good PR agency to work for you, and if possible, develop a long-term relation with them
• Get your branding language consistent and right. It's going to reap rich rewards for you soon!
• Thirdly, focus on big-ticket Finance. It may be the time to go for private equity (PE) or a public issue (IPO)
• At the same time, it may not be! All depends on your personal ambition regarding growth
• These three areas are all strategic - and must be handled personally by the entrepreneur as much as possible
• If done right, the fifth phase can be a totally different experience altogether for the organisation and the brand!
• By the way, this is also the time when some serious investments will need to be made into creating the I.T. backbone for the organisation. Again, the magnitude of investments depend on what you expect from I.T. for your organisation

If you navigate these four stages properly and successfully, you can then focus on your personal life and wealth, and enjoy it to the maximum. After all, you are the elite member of probably less than 1% of those who started this journey several years ago.

Company-specific exceptions to the above description will always exist - WalMart invested aggressively in creating an aggressive I.T. backbone much before it expanded globally.

These are the most crucial four stages for any enterprise. Most of the embroynic action happens here. Of course, the years ahead are also full of action, adventure, suspense and drama! But the start-up phases get over with these four I have described. Personally, I have travelled a long way on the path described above. I started from my family garage in July 1993; I was an Engineer (IIT Delhi) but without any formal education in business management. Building on the basics, slowly and steadily, was my only option, as there was no business capital readily available for me. I read a lot all these years, and kept an open mind. I married someone who truly understood what I wanted from life, and supported me all the way. So a lot of what's written here is from genuine personal experience.

Finally, let me say this - if you are not the adventurer-type, please don't go in for all this. Your hair will turn white in a decade, your personal life will be messed up and all happiness and cheer will be lost - you truly need to have the unending passion and insanity in your DNA to be able to do all this, and live life to the fullest while doing this. It is not easy at all - so the next time you see a successful entrepreneur, salute her!

Wishing all young, budding entreprneurs success in life! Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin, if you need any support or ideas-exchange with me.

Learning entrepreneurship lessons - by Sandeep Manudhane Sir

Learning entrepreneurship lessons

I recently delivered a talk as part of the get-together of students of FMB programme of SP Jain institute Mumbai. They wanted me to share nuggets of experience I have had as an entrepreneur! I hope I did a good job, and did not scare them too much.

My entrepreneurship experience spans 17 years now, across several enterprises I have tried to build. More information can be seen at http://www.ptuniverse.com/

The key points of the talk were

1. Understanding oneself : It is very important for an entrepreneur (and others too) to understand who they really are. What excites them.. what is it that will drive them for years on end.. what will bring a twinkle in their eyes.. what will create moments of happiness again and again.. Once this is clear in the mind, the efforts can be readily focussed towards creating one's career as an entrepreneur in that particular direction only. There is no point in trying to be everything to everybody - it is not possible. It is far better to be an expert at something, even if it is being a generalist, and then stick to that as long as it is rewarding for yourself. If you do not do this, then there is a lack of sense of purpose in life. You get up in the morning thinking of a long day ahead full of drudgery and tasks, rather than a set of interesting challenges ahead waiting to be tackled head on.
2. Creating a personal brand : Before you contemplate creating a brand of the various product(s) that your company might be making, consider creating your own brand. Your personal brand. What does the market think of YOU? What is YOUR image in the world? Amongst your relatives, friends, family? Chances are, what they think of you is going to deeply affect the prospects of every future material brand you may launch. It is rare that you enjoy a frivolous image, and your created brands enjoy a serious image. Your personal brand is likely to cast a shadow - positive or negative - on everything you do as an entrepreneur. So invest heavily in creating your personal brand. How to do that? Well, that's a long discussion reserved for some other occasion.
3. Getting priorities right : You have only 24 hours to the day, and there is no way you are going to be able to do beyond a certain number of things each day. So as an entrepreneur, you will be daily faced with the Hobson's choice - the need and desire to be involved in virtually everything in your organisation v/s the practical limits of time and energy available to do all that. These small small choices you make on a daily basis add up significantly over a period of time. So learn to say NO to the stupid and senseless tasks, and YES to every task that in some way will have a medium to long term impact.
4. Not taking anybody's nonsense : As the head of your business enterprise, it is your sacred duty towards your balance sheet that you learn to call people's bluff. You will come across many consultants, advisors and wise-men who will charge you for bluffing you. I do not mean any disrespect towards such people but the fact is - Any entrepreneur who is seen as an idiot will be treated like one. So you better learn the basics clearly. Step One : what is it that you want from an external consultant, be clear in your mind. Step Two : Make it clear to the consultant. Twice. In simple language. Step Three : Be demanding in delivery. Step Four : Reject bullshit totally. Even if it looks rude, do not accept bullshit.
5. Readiness to be un-popular : Well, this one is fairly simple. Love your people, but be clear regarding processes and systems. Our first priority is survival and growth of the brand, for if that is dead, everyone else is dead too. In trying to ensure this, you will be faced with several decision situations where really tough calls need to be made. Do not fail yourself on such strategic moments. Make those tough decisions. In the long run, that's the only way a robust brand / enterprise can be built. Remember General Motors' classic folly. They kept on bending backwards to accommodate the United Auto Workers (Union) for many decades. The payouts washed out the net worth of the company itself. So surely, that wasn't wise!
6. An eye on cost, and another on profit : Wherever synergy is possible, extract it from the system. Costs = Money drained out of the system forever. Hence, Costs = Basically a bad thing. Hence Costs = Evil. Hence costs need to be contained wherever possible. Of course, quality promised to the customer should never be compromised with, but intelligent optimisation is always welcome. As for profits, it is the final duty of the entrepreneur to ensure that the enterprise makes profits. Healthy profits. No one else can ensure that, or take charge of that responsibility. Only the entrepreneur is responsible for that.
7. Systems, processes, discipline : To grow beyond a certain stage, you will need to create your replicas. Since cloning is still not a feasible solutions, processes are the clones that will help you replicate yourself or at least your vision across more business units. So if you want to grow, and that is really not a choice (but a necessity), you will need to start developing a process mindset. Find out what all can be made to work without your personal presence. Force yourself to disengage from some parts of the enterprise sometimes. Slowly, a system traction will develop in the enterprise that will help you in the long run.

This was the gist of the talk I presented. I guess it helped them, because the Professor in-charge Madam Latha Nair decided to felicitate me with a really beautiful gift :-). Over dinner, as I interacted with students, parents and the Professor, I realised that the overall experience of this FMB programme was opening up a wide range of possibilities for the participants. Good work!

The perils of permanent connectivity - by Sandeep Manudhane Sir

The perils of permanent connectivity

Anytime, Anywhere fast internet connectivity.
Finest to use handhelds.
Fantastic widgets, tools, devices.

It's a disease that afflicts many. Without their knowing about it, they slowly sink into it, step-by-step, silently, intellectually, and without a hope of stepping back. Finally, it takes control of their lives.

Yes, I am referring to the perils of permanent connectivity. The situation (convenience!) where a person can choose to be connected to the online world (and its many distractions) on an almost 24-hours-a-day basis.

Based on my experience, the standard tools that one invariably uses, to accomplish the desirable act of staying online smartly are -

• emails - both professional and personal
• blogs - can be both personal and professional
• professional networking sites - linkedin / xing etc.
• social networking sites - twitter, orkut, facebook etc.
• video sharing sites - youtube etc.

Typically, a smart professional or a smart youngster will be doing these things online, on any regular day

1. Checking his professional emails (multiple email IDs) several times a day
2. Checking his personal emails (one or two mail IDs, depending on marital fidelity) once or twice a day at least
3. Checking the various online social media sites at least once during working hours (it can be more than once too)
4. Spending at least 1 to 2 hours every late evening "updating" the social media sites (after all, who wants to look inactive in happening places?)

Add all of this together, and bingo! You just invested close to 3 solid hours doing all this. Each day! But the story does not end here.

The result of this mindless, endless daily investment manifests itself in various ways.

• The quality of individual interactions (that one is part of on a daily basis) drops substantially. After all, one cannot do justice both to an email crying for attention, and a colleague making a serious point sitting face-to-face.
• The quality of time that one spends with family drops substantially. While wife is longing for a loving hug, the next scrap on Orkut steals your attention. When the child desperately wants a pat on the back and a kiss on the cheek after her shakily drawn sketch of nature is ready, you are busy clicking a photo (with brightness and contrast perfectly adjusted) rather than giving that kiss.
• The intensity with which one is able to think and contemplate seriously (on various matters) drops a lot. Various online avatars are vying for your precious time, and the cerebral hemisphere can simply run out of juice at times!
• The overall sense of fatigue increases a lot. It may be beyond many people's potential to do justice to so many avatars simultaneously.
• Every morning you wake up, you feel sapped. Drained. Empty.

Personally, I know all this as I am doing all this intensely. On a typical working day, I check tens of emails, make and upload at least one serious blogpost, update entries and scraps on Orkut, Facbook and Twitter, and check out Linkedin and Xing. I must make a distinction here - for a technical person (which many of us now will profess to be, in order to escape the inevitability of what's coming next) some of these perils of permanent connectivity may be unavoidable. But for most of us (professionals) and almost all youngsters (not working), we can avoid a lot of these fancy habits safely. Friends, it is a myth that by being online you are automatically more productive. Most users (and surprisingly even old-timers) at times do not understand the difference between nonsensical scrapping (on Orkut) and sensible professional messaging.

As I have done it for a long time now, wasted a lot of time and resources, I have learnt my lessons well! Let me share these with you.

How to be significantly online, and still be highly productive

1. Fix a time when you will check your social online media every day. If you are a working professional, it should ideally be in the night (at least an hour before you sleep). It is really a bad idea doing social media during working hours. If you are doing it, you are addicted. Seek help.
2. Bundle together your activities on online social media in this one slot - try twitting, orkutting, facebooking simultaneously. It will be a good idea as you can cut-paste a lot of stuff, saving precious time.
3. Fix a time interval between checking your emails every day - say 60 minutes at least. It will help you clearly focus on the task in the meantime.
4. Avoid Blackberries if possible. They are a disease. I do not speak lightly on this - having observed many people who use this, I can safely conclude that the tremendously advanced design (user-friendly) of this manufacturer is so sticky, so terribly sticky... one just cannot de-addict once stuck. Then the spectacle of heads bowed, both hands together, thumbing away, head nodding... ad infinitum. I have so far successfully restricted myself to the humble Nokia Communicator, which with its archaic keypad scares me when it comes to typing anything beyond a few hundred characters. So I am forced to limit my use, thereby increasing the quality of my human interactions.
5. When in a social setting, avoid using your gadgets. It is horribly irritating to others.
6. Try observing a no-internet day once a week. It may be very tough, but try it once.
7. Don't get into fancy technical stuff if you are not really good at it. It can suck precious energy out of your mind. It will, for no good reason, make you feel smaller and insignificant.
8. Don't buy gadgets just because you cannot allow being seen as outdated. You may be smarter in not using the latest gizmos that dehumanise.

Remember, when it comes to human impact - nothing is as powerful as a face-to-face warm human interaction. Simple voice calls come next. Then come text messages and social media.

Unfortunately in the race to be the fastest, brightest and trendiest, we are losing a sense of the finest of arts - warm human touch.

Power Tips for your first job

Power Tips for your first job

A huge change arrives the moment a student leaves college, and joins an organisation for a job. All templates that worked so wonderfully well till date, no longer exist. The comfort zone evaporates. Routines change.
I am not talking about internships, but full time jobs.

It takes conscious effort to settle in your new life. The corporate or business life. It won't happen automatically. And unless you are mentally prepared for it, the pain may be big.

To land yourself correctly in your first few weeks, months and years, here are my POWER TIPS.

1. GET MENTALLY PREPARED - The time spent at college is usually memorable. We all tend to remember, recall and fondly share moments spent together at our college, all through our lives. As we move from college into the corporate world (or the world of business) it entails a huge shift in our lives. It's like taking birth all over again. Safely ensconced in our mother's womb, we could play brave, knowing well someone is there to protect us always. But once we are born, and the warmth of the cocoon no longer exists, we must first learn to cry. A similar experience awaits all who graduate from an institution/college and move into the corporate world. It's like moving out of the protected, warm and life-giving cocoon into the open world of uncertainties and turbulence. Surprisingly, a large percentage of graduating students (graduating from a UG college or a PG college or from any other institution) do not at all think about the life that's coming up. They assume it will be a linear extension of their present condition. It will not. It will be a step change. Everything that defined your comfort zone today, will evaporate overnight. So, start thinking about it. Prepare your mind to accept the new reality. Start imagining victories in the new life. Think of the happiness that will come to you as you move from "being a student" to "being a professional". And remember, if you behave like a joker, the world will treat you like a joker! So, start preapring mentally for a serious and successful stint ahead.
2. FIND OUT ABOUT YOUR BOSSES - The one person who will largely define your entire existence in your first job (and many jobs later as well) is your immediate Boss. The person who you will report to directly. He/she will control almost everything you do, the work quality, and your immediate happiness. So, start finding out who that person is. What does he/she like and dislike. And start moulding yourself according to those values. It will make your journey very pleasant, and comparatively easier. So, if your boss smokes a lot, develop a tolerance for smoke. You need not start smoking yourself, but stop frowning and making faces when the smell hits your nose. If your boss is a cleanliness freak, keep yourself clean (nails, hair, appearance, clothing, shoes etc.) If your boss works late hours, develop your stamina to match his. There is nothing unethical or manipulative about this approach. Human beings work in team, and the novices have to adjust to the veterans' style of work. The world cannot be changed overnight. Your suggestions will be considered, but first spend some time at least! Recall your early childhood - you did a lot of things that your parents liked, as that fetched you rewards. Also, recall the plight of a newly married lady. As she lands in the new family, her entire schedule is changed, and there is almost zero scope for complaints. This is how corporate life works too. You are the new bride. Your boss is the family. If your boss finds working with you congenial, he/she is likely to want more of it. And you have a winning formula. A caveat - quality of work has no alternative. Do not misconstrue this advice as a recommendation for poor quality of work!
3. LEAVE ADOLESCENCE BEHIND - Make a conscious effort to wean yourself away from the childish enthusiasm of your adolescence. That life is OVER. It's all gone, it's finished. It's a new life now. Your parents were funding you till now. You did not have to worry about the price of the next meal. You could show off in front of all your friends - treat them at a Barista or a CCD, all at your parents' expense. Funny! But now, it's all over. Your parents may still continue to fund you, but that's fairly stupid as a professional. You will not grow from within unless you feel the pressure of earning money for your lifestyle. It is only when we start realising this, that true efforts begin. So consciously drop the earlier skin off, and grow the new one. It will not be easy. But start soon.
4. GRADUATE TO THE NEXT LEVEL ON SOCIAL MEDIA - It's clear that Facebook is as much a part of young people's lives as their mobile handsets. So let's learn to be good at it. Agreed, social media (Facebook, Orkut..) are wonderful tools. But they are dangerous as well. The simple rule is - once you join an organisation, STOP BLABBERING LIKE IDIOTS on social media. Stop posting stuff that's childish, stupid, inane, vacuous, unprofessional or blasphemous. Your employer is watching you. It is not like your college - the Professor had no choice. He could not pull you up, as you could cry and make faces. Here, as a professional in a company, you will get the boot. There is no way you can justify stupid postings on your Facebook walls. So start writing clean English. Stop using funky abbreviations A classic example can be - Lyf wnts mre alwz, why?????????? comfy dyz ovr, lyf suckz. As a professional, my advice is - stop doing this nonsense. Post it like a mature person, not a kid. A better way of posting this sentiment can be - Life demands so much of me. And I am happy to deliver. Success is my destination! A strange thing that you may discover about yourself is that you may be unable to post clean posts! Many people just can't post clean stuff. They are actually UNABLE to do it. Then the price will be quite steep. Remember, your social media presence is your readily-checkable and readable proof of character. As a rule - Always remember that the first person to read your social media posting will be your Boss. I do not intend to sound paranoid on this topic, but I am scared at the mere prospect of how foolish young people can actually be, in indulging in acts that leave clear trails behind, to be picked up by someone, anyone, anytime. And who gets hurt? Definitely not the Boss.
5. STAY BACK MORE THAN OTHERS, VOLUNTEER MORE THAN OTHERS - How do you get noticed by your Boss? How do you ensure your presence is felt? Well, by doing so. Report early in the morning. If the official time is 9 am, be at your desk (if you are allotted one) by 8:50 am. Don't just sit there gawking like an idiot. Do something. Anything. Look busy. Get yourself some work. Ask for work. If you are free, and are unable to find any work, chances are your performance has not been liked by many. So ask for work. Volunteer for assignments, howsoever unpleasant. At the start of your career, an assignment that helps you learn is a favour that your boss does. So ask for more favours!
6. ORIENT YOUR FAMILY, CHANGE YOUR FRIENDS - For your parents, you will always be a child. They will alway see their chunnu, bebo, laddoo or pintoo in you, even when you are 40 years of age. But you need to tell them that you are growing up and a lot of things they expected from you may not remain so, any more. You have to tell them to stop worrying if you took your lunch in time or not. They have to stop worrying when you reached home last night. They have to let you run your life now. It's very important. If your company is posting you to a different city, it's you who has to decide, and not your parents. Professional decisions must be made with a certain degree of professional detachment. It's important, else you will miss out on opportunities! My appeal to parents will also be the same - let the kids grow as much as they can, on their own. Chances are, they will do a good job of it. Coming to the topic of friends - do not try to hang onto the same old set of friends as a matter of compulsion. You will meet new people on the workplace, and must develop new relationships of trust and companionship. Who knows, something much better may be in store. Also, practically speaking, as old friends tend to go their own ways, trying to hang onto them may prove to be too much of a burden for them as well! So Chunnu beta, let destiny take its own course. Let the core group of really close friends stay on forever, and let others make way for new ones. This is how a mature process will work.

These power tips should help you cruise smoothly through your first job. I hope your first job lasts really long, and you contribute meaningfully to everyone around you.

I wanted the best from life
And strangely, life was cruel to me
This was till I saw a mirror
And the reality dawned in an instant
As I sow, so shall I reap.

Best wishes!