mind × the + gap ™

Gartner: 10 Changes in the Nature of Work in Next 10 Years

2010-08-29T21:50:00.004+05:30

"ORGANIZATIONS WILL NEED TO PLAN for increasingly chaotic environments that are out of their direct control, and adaptation must involve adjusting to all 10 of the trends (listed below)", observers Gartner fellow and VP, Tom Austin.In a report published earlier this year titled "Watchlist: Continuing Changes in the Nature of Work, 2010-2020", Gartner says that organizations will need to determine which of the 10 key changes in the nature of work will affect them the most, and consider whether...

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HBR: Paths to Power by Jeff Pfeffer

2010-07-31T22:00:00.013+05:30

"Power is the organization’s last dirty secret." ~ Rosabeth Moss KanterPOWER IS REQUIRED IF ONE WANTS TO GET ANYTHING DONE in any large organization. Unfortunately, Power doesn’t just fall into one’s lap: one will have to go after it and learn how to use it. Stanford University professor for Organizational Development, Prof. Jeffery Pfeffer, argues that being uncomfortable with Power Dynamics has cost career promotions (and sometimes, the job) to many talented people from premier organizations...

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Steve Jobs' Presentation Skills Reflects Why Apple is Apple

2010-07-24T00:25:00.169+05:30

"This changes everything. Again" AFTER THE WORLD'S LARGEST PRODUCT LAUNCH EVENT YET, on July 16 Steve Jobs did the press conference following the recent keynote for the world's largest IT organization that Jobs staged for the eleventh year running after his return in '99 to the (then struggling) company he originally co-founded in '76 as Apple Computers Inc. Over the last two and an half years since the launch of the first iPhone, the competition has grown (and perished) in the smartphone...

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Nassim Taleb on Euro

2010-06-20T12:05:00.010+05:30

"EURO IS DOOMED AS A CONCEPT", declares the author of "The Black Swan", Nassim Taleb, at a recent interview with CNBC. Adding that "We had less debt cumulatively [two years ago], and more people employed. Today, we have more risk in the system, and a smaller tax base. [...] Banks balance sheets are just as bad as they were" two years ago when the crisis began and "the quality of the risks hasn't improved." Part I: While discussing the outlook for the global economy with Bob Long (CEO,...

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Infographic: Labour Cost Disparities

2010-06-12T23:20:00.032+05:30

DISPARITIES OF LABOR COSTS: Interesting Infographic showing how long does it take other countries to make the equivalent of US minimum wage of USD 15,080. Click the image to enlarge Source: FixR With respect to India, the calculation considers the Government recommended minimum daily wage which is about USD 2.5. In practice, a common worker shall make double to three times of this amount, which is still very less compared to high cost regions but it would make the ratio less skewed....

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Cheers! to Life

2010-05-07T19:45:00.000+05:30

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Goldman Sachs Under Siege (For Doing Good?)

2010-04-30T23:25:00.027+05:30

FT point out: - clueless senators falling over one another to score cheap political points but the sense that outrage against bankers in general, and Goldman in particular, has reached unhealthy levels. - for millions of home owners and investors psychologically unable to admit at least partial fault for succumbing to the madness of crowds and lure of easy money. - [an older client on the respect for the firm] 1982 when Puerto Rican nationalists bombed Merrill Lynch’s Manhattan...

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Fitts’s Law and Usability of Gmail

2010-03-29T23:15:00.007+05:30

Fitt’s law (Simplified): "Put commonly accessed UI elements on the edges of the screen. Because the cursor automatically stops at the edges, they will be easier to click on. [And then] Make clickable areas as large as you can. Larger targets are easier to click on." The law is rather simple (or, one might argue, too simple to follow all the time). This is basic common sense. Human Interfaces of computer system typically are a subject matter of Fitts’s law. A FEW YEARS AGO I HAD THE...

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"The Right Thing To Do" - Harvard Lectures on Moral Philosophy

2010-03-14T16:15:00.000+05:30

PROF. MICHAEL SANDEL OPENED HIS MOST FAMOUS CLASS ON "JUSTICE" and Moral and Political Philosophy at Harvard University, MA, USA, with the following (cautionary) address: If you look at the syllabus, you would notice that we read a number of great and famous books. Books by Aristotle, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, and others. [...] We will read these books, and we will debate these [philosophical] issues, and we will see how each informs and illuminates the other [school of...

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The Purpose of Business

2010-03-07T11:30:00.000+05:30

"EVERYONE LIVES BY SELLING SOMETHING." Robert Louis Stevenson, the Scottish traveller and writer, once concluded. In the knowledge industry of the modern era, the selling could be of — an idea, a change, an example (PoC), an influence, a model. The logical outcome of which is value creation. Which further translates into profit or benefits of various kinds at different levels of its hierarchy. Peter Drucker had a different view. Creating profit didn't seem to him to be the main goal of an...

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Sach Is Life!

2010-02-24T22:50:00.003+05:30

SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR of India scores the first ever double-ton in an One-Day International Cricket match against South Africa on Feb 24, 2010. He remained unbeaten. "Sach Is Life" Here are the statistics of the legendary 20 year career of the Master Blaster; here is a short biography; rest of it is Supremacy.

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"Jugaad" - More Than A Fad?

2010-01-23T15:40:00.001+05:30

BusinessWeek RAN A STORY LAST MONTH that focused on "Jugadh" and termed it as the new mantra for innovation. Colleagues and clients not too familiar with the Indian culture tried seeking second opinions on the word. Observers commented on the topic from the world over. Some compared the term with Quality techniques such as Lean and Keizen - doing more, with less. Others saw it as the new Agile. Jugadh or Jugaad was considered by the Economist as the latest cost-cutting technique in Asia. WSJ...

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HBR: Managing Oneself - by Peter Drucker

2010-01-16T11:50:00.001+05:30

HISTORY'S GREAT ACHIEVERS - A NAPOLEON, A DA VINCI, A MOZART - have always managed themselves. That, in large measures, is what makes them great achievers. Addressing the knowledge workers in the new economy, Peter Drucker goes on to emphasize the needs for personal development, stating that they must, effectively, be their own chief executive officers in taking the responsibilities of developing their own careers; beginning by saying: We live in an age of unprecedented opportunity: If you've...

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Welcome 2k10

2010-01-01T22:00:00.013+05:30

Happy New Year! And Welcome 2k10 PS: And, by the way, 2010 = 1+2-(3-4-5)*6*7*8-9 Now that the hype is done and soberness returns, here is an interesting one on new year resolutions at The Economist. Here are some of the most anticipated Hollywood films in 2010. Here is a nice graphic at NYT capturing the past decade, and here is a text version of 200X’s at Foreign Policy blog (apparently, both with a pinch of 'merican vanity). Among technology predictions for 2010, here is one on...

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"What would Peter do?" – A Tribute at Drucker Century

2009-12-26T23:25:00.001+05:30

PETER F. DRUCKER WAS BORN IN AUSTRIA IN 1910, and would have completed a century this past Nov '09. It was celebrated all over by "Duckerites", among which one IIM professor said - if you have some time that you want to spend in a gainly manner then simply flip open any of Peter Drucker’s books and start reading. “Classic Drucker” was at an arm's length at that time and was worth giving a try. Apparently, the prof was right. What follows now is a brief intro before the main...

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Best Performing CEO's and Why MBA's Are Paid Higher

2009-12-20T20:30:00.001+05:30

A HARVARD TEAM OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT consultants did a sampling of nearly 14 years covering 2000 Chief Executives of global companies listed by S&P. The sampling and tests were fairly exhaustive and unique, and presented a vivid picture of the Executive boardrooms that saw many major global economic events including the Y2K IT burst, Oil-price surge and dive, and 2007 economic down-turn, among others. Though the headline making "attribute" of the published list came out highlighting...

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Leadership Speech of 'Guru' Greg Chappell

2009-11-29T21:15:00.028+05:30

BRIEF, ARTICULATE, NO-NONSENSE, ALL-BUSINESS 'Guru' Greg Chappell has a pleasantly lighter side of his dynamic personality and the young Indian crowd of Software professionals at Infosys campus got the rare pleasure of interacting up close and personal with the Australian Cricket great during his leadership speech last week. Greg Chappell is a thoroughbred sportsman and a master tactician from southern Australia – apart from being the captain of Australia Test squad like his grandfather and...

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Indian Nodding and TED India

2009-11-07T13:00:00.005+05:30

THE FIRST EVER TECHNOLOGY, ENTERTAINMENT, DESIGN (TED) EVENT IN INDIA drew to a close this afternoon at the lavish and state-of-the-art technology campus of Infosys at the Indian city of Mysore - about 120km south of Bangalore. It was an adrenalin pumping experience, and it left so many feeling spent at the end of four days. Absorbing a torrent of ideas condensed in a time-capsule is a demanding event for the creativity centre - glucose consuming frontal cortex of the human brain. After all,...

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Consulting and Creative (un)commons

2009-11-01T13:25:00.028+05:30

Santa and Banta submitted the tender for digging the second underwater Euro Channel Tunnel connecting England with France and continental Europe. This was perhaps the first time that a bid for such an extreme engineering project was coming from India, and apparently so it raised a few eyebrows and steered interest. An outsourcing relationship with India was not a new thing, but bidding for second Euro tunnel - that had got to be special... Mr. Santa and Mr. Banta, the proprietors of Santa...

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Change, Catch Words of Consulting II

2009-10-31T11:50:00.003+05:30

Continuing from the previous post, following are a few more Catch Words of Consulting: Q x A = E : Quality of Solution x Acceptance = Effectiveness of Change. Q is good most of the time. The Key differentiator is Acceptance and Adaptability for a successful Change management. Passive Resistance: is nodding the head, but not actually going to participate in change; civil disobedience of a personal kind; dragging the feet with a smile. Planning vs Plans: D. Eisenhower once said, "In preparing...

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Shubh Deepavali

2009-10-18T13:21:00.004+05:30

Shubh Deepavali A warm wishes to you and your family for A Happy and Prosperous Diwali The Festival of Lights of India - illuminations, oil lamps, firecrackers, colourful lanterns, rangoli mandalas, bright clothing, sweets, feasts, and festivities with families and friends.

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Change, and Catch Words of Consulting I

2009-10-17T09:05:00.012+05:30

"CHANGE IS THAT BIG FAT PINK ELEPHANT that drunkenly roams around this large organization, stamping on people, without anyone having any idea what to do about it." This is how the elderly consultant illustrated in his concluding report to the senior management of [an organization] that was undergoing post-Outsourcing blues. (Do notice elephant as a hidden reference to India as the low-cost location.) It indeed was a significant experience to participate in a professional forum in Australia...

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Malthusian Matters(?)

2009-09-27T21:30:00.008+05:30

GOLDMAN SACHS PROJECTS THAT India’s middle class will outstrip China’s by 2045. This is some 15 years after half of China’s population becomes either too old or too young to be part of the workforce. Perhaps instant-ness of contemporary life induces a certain myopia. Social media - twitter, FB, and other "self trumpets" - may make one feel that 2045 is too far away to be bothered about. And perhaps that's true for some as well, those who would want to die out soon, but 35 years is a...

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Mind the Gap and Business Technology

2009-08-15T20:15:00.007+05:30

"MIND THE GAP AND THE ACCIDENTAL TECHNOLOGISTS" is the topic on which Andy Mulholland wrote an interesting note recently, and I so wish if this were a guest post on this blog, if only for the namesake. Highlighting 'the gap', as he puts it, Andy describes the misalignment of Technology focus with Business needs. The problem is rather recent, cropping up only from 90's, because before that, nobody actually bothered. The flexibility of IT introduced by leaps and bounce of advances of the...

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HBR: Short Overseas Assignments

2009-07-26T21:00:00.004+05:30

HOW SHOULD ONE REPLY TO THAT seemingly casual email detailing titillating offer of servicing the client from onsite or onshore location for a few weeks or months to take the project to the next big level? The short answer is, reply by sleeping over it a couple of days, especially while one is been-there-done-that category. The recent HBR research article however goes on to urge you to deny it flatly. It is apparently less costly for the company to push for short-termed, employee-only...

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