mysticMundane (Software Engineering, Project & General Management and everything else)

Project Manager Early Warning System

2012-01-25T03:08:00.000+05:30

This incident happened in 2002. We, a team of 7 people, were at client's place to get sign-off on the Requirement Specification for a major program.This included our Program Director (PD). Customer was one of the leading leasing companies in Europe. The project involved migrating and re-engineering systems from Mainframe to Java. We were also to train the current employees of our customer in

Two Recessions...

2012-01-11T03:02:00.000+05:30

I like Seth Godin's blog because his posts are small (most of them), to the point and the best posts distill complex ideas into simple words. This makes it easier for us to understand and relate it to our professional and personal lives.The message in Seth Godin's blog post on 29 September 2011 was so refreshing that i took a print out and read it a number of times. I think it is important as it

Understanding Michael Porter: Notes to Self

2011-12-25T15:12:00.000+05:30

Many concepts become victims to being 'buzz-word-ized'. What this essentially means is that the core idea behind the concept is lost some where along the line and the word or words alone remain, as an empty container. Or the concept takes an entirely different meaning. More successful the concept is, higher the probability of it becoming buzz-word-ized. I came across an introduction to a

Lessons Learned

2011-12-22T23:28:00.001+05:30

Lesson: When you have to choose between two projects that weigh same on the PPM parameters, the project that contributes to the company's expense reduction gets priority over the project that adds to the company's top line. There is an exception to this, but that is easily understood, once the lesson is properly imbibed. For more clarity, refer to this gantthead link.

Following Fish - A Review

2011-12-15T17:40:00.000+05:30

People, their Culture, and food, come together to make a complex mosaic and weave an intricate tapestry. It is this combination that gives a place it's unique identity. If you like to explore a place, you can start with any one, but will invariably end up touching upon others as these are closely knit. I personally believe it is all that more interesting to know a place through it's food,

Brain Rules : Notes to Self

2011-11-25T12:07:00.000+05:30

John Medina, the author of Brain Rules is a Molecular Biologist. For him, this book is a call for real world research because he says that we don't know enough about brain to be prescriptive. Medina calls this book as an attempt to vaccinate against myths such as "Mozart Effect", left brain/right brain personalities, and getting your babies into Harvard by making

Boomerang by Michael Lewis - My take on the book

2011-11-15T23:24:00.000+05:30

Michael Lewis is an interesting writer and i have read his books Liar's Poker and The Big Short. These were easy to read and informative too. In Boomerang, he travels to five countries and writes about the present state of economic crisis and how those countries got into it. He does all this, to his credit, in his easy and readable style. Michael Lewis does try to give a certain perspective

Framed

2011-11-14T19:00:00.000+05:30

This photo was composed in Thikse Monastery during my Road trip to Leh in June 2011. The color combination and the straight lines made this locked door an interesting subject. what you see as black coat of paint in this photo is actually hundreds of sticks put together. I assume that this is some load bearing structure as these buildings always give importance to function over form. The art work

Thikse Monastery

2011-11-05T22:58:00.000+05:30

This was shot during my Delhi-Manali-Leh-Srinagar trip in June 2011. The photo is that of Thikse Monastery. Shot using a Nikon D80. Ladakh is simply out of the world. you have to see the raw beauty of the place to appreciate it. cameras and photos can only do so much justice to the place. If you love photography, the palette that nature offers in Ladakh is worth atleast a visit during one's

Seven Rules of Management

2011-10-24T22:22:00.010+05:30

I read the following Rules in the book "Brain Rules". For a change, these seven rules of management are from a toddler's perspective. If I want it, it is mine. If I give it to you and change my mind later, it is mine. If I can take it from you, it is mine. If we are building something together, all of the pieces are mine. If it looks just like mine, it is mine. If it is mine, it will never

The Knowing Doing Gap: Notes to Self

2011-10-04T01:32:00.001+05:30

I read this in Fast Company and found it to be very good. I have provided below an condensed version. In case you want to read the complete article, you will find it here. Please note that this book may be more than 10 years old, but the message is timeless. These days, people know a lot. But all of that state-of-the-art knowledge leaves us with a nagging question: Why can't we get anything done

Strategic and Utility Projects

2011-09-27T17:43:00.000+05:30

There are two kinds of systems/projects and the differentiating factor is competitive advantage. One is called Strategic and the other is called Utility. Utility • An example of utility project is a ‘payroll application system’. • In utility projects/systems, the focus is to keep the cost low and avoid disaster. • Risk: is a risk of commission –doing it wrong. • Use utility packages and reduce

Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini: Notes to Self

2011-09-15T01:12:00.000+05:30

I first came across a mention of this book Influence by Robert Cialdini while reading Taleb's Black Swan. In Taleb's book, i read that Human beings don't consider all the factors available to them in making a decision, but use a single, highly representative piece of the total. We don't every time consider all the factors due to lack of time and also all the decisions that we need to take

An article and a couple of thoughts on project management.

2011-09-02T15:18:00.001+05:30

I came across an article titled 'The Knowledge creating company' by Ikujiro Nonaka in HBR November 1991. I could relate a lot to the article’s definition of types of knowledge and it's articulation of how some companies are able to do what is needed to take what is inside an individual employee and make it available for the company as a whole. This article’s focus is on Japanese companies like

Technical Debt - Lessons from Economic Crisis

2011-08-26T13:42:00.001+05:30

I was reading an article titled UBS' Andy Lees on Why the US Economy Is, All Else Equal, Doomed on Zerohedge.I would recommend the article to anyone who wants to make some sense of what is happening all around us on the economic front. While the whole article is interesting, the following captured my attention. We are in this mess because of excessive leverage and excessive consumption,

What's high school for? - Seth Godin

2011-06-14T14:23:00.002+05:30

I have subscribed to Seth Godin's blog and i like his posts. They are succinct and to the point. The below post titled ' What's high school for' talks about what high school's should teach. I have given some of the points from the post. How to focus intently on a problem until it's solved. How to read critically. The power of being able to lead groups of peers without receiving clear delegated

How To-do What To-do

2011-06-10T13:37:00.001+05:30

Came across this interesting post in HBR titled 'Better Time Management is not the answer'. I find it interesting because of the following points mentioned in the article. # Management in reality is fragmented and reactive by nature. # Great bosses dont compartmentalize between handling unexpected problems and doing what they need to do as managers. Instead they follow the strategy of dividing

Hygiene Processes

2011-05-31T12:47:00.000+05:30

There are certain actions that we do, like getting vaccinated or washing hands (preferably with soap) before touching food items or taking some precautions (apply insect repellant when you trek). Getting vaccinated against a disease is expected to prevent a person from not getting the disease. Applying insect repellant ensures that a person does not get any insect bites. In both the scenarios,

Time for some consolidation...

2011-04-28T00:53:00.001+05:30

I have managed to read a good number of books in the last two years. Most of these books are non fiction and i have this habit of reading slowly and taking notes - since i need the time to understand. These notes are in sheets of paper, writings along the margin or underlined paragraphs with comments. Yes i do underline with a pencil and it doesn't matter as i own these books :) Now since most

Notes to Self : The Intellectual Capital - By Thomas Stewart

2011-03-31T12:39:00.003+05:30

Notes from reading the book Intellecutal Capital by Thomas Stewart This book is a useful guide to the issues of identifyinf, capturing and using knowledge to improve competitive advantage. Intellectual Capital can be broken down into three areas Human Capital, Customer Capital and Structural Capital. Human Capital is the knowledge that resides within the head of employees and is relevant

Project Management and Chess

2011-03-21T16:52:00.001+05:30

"Fancy what a game of chess would be if all the chessmen had passions and intellects, more or less small and cunning; if you were not only uncertain about your adversary's men, but a little uncertain also about your own; if your knight could shuffle himself on to a new square by the sly; if your bishop, in disgust at your castling, could wheedle your pawns out of their places; and if your pawns,

Photos and write up - Thekkady and Munnar - May 2007

2011-02-08T22:44:00.007+05:30

I did this trip to Thekkady and Munnar, Kerala, India in May 2007 and what follows is a write up of the more interesting facets of the trip, along with some very interesting photos. All the time, this was just circulated as a mail to friends and people interested and is back in my blog because i am bored forwarding the mail and photos. - Warning big post ahead-- Sleeping in a tree house in

Technical Debt- Manager's perspective

2011-02-04T01:31:00.000+05:30

This is the second article on technical debt and looks at Technical Debt from a Manager’s perspective. Click here for the first one. It helps if you read the first article before you proceed with this. To start with, a few points on technical debt that are obvious. # Technical Debt is bad and should be treated like normal financial debt # Normal practice must be to do good design and

Understanding Technical Debt

2010-12-29T14:12:00.002+05:30

I have always thought of the concept of Technical Debt to be very useful and was surprised that many technical people werent aware of the term and hence its importance. While there is lot of material on the topic, this small post intends to be a brief introduction to the concept, it's importance and it's usefulness.Hopefully, this will motivate people to read more about this and use it

'How' to Ask the right question...

2010-11-18T02:31:00.000+05:30

Problems that we face are of two types. The simple problems, where we are provided the problem statement (remember maths at school?) and asked to find the solution, is at one end of the spectrum. Solving these problems involve knowing the relevant concepts and theories. However complex may the problem be, if we are aware of the concepts – we usually end up solving it – irrespective of the time