UnManaged Services: IT Services and Telecom

2009-01-11T11:37:00.000-08:00

Rory Stewart: Insprirational Leader of Tomorrow

2008-12-17T17:34:00.000-08:00

Satyam Decides to Diversify, Then Changes Mind

Now this is a crazy story and almost a bit unbelievable. Per the PC World story Satyam Computers proceeded to buy assets in a construction company in an attempt to diversify and sail through the current economic crisis.

Diversification - I get. But in Construction?! A core IT services company getting into construction is like NASA diversifying into knitting....did not make sense to me.

But then, the WSJ in an article called "The truth about Satyam"came up with a much better explanation - and more details:

The construction company that was the target was called Maytas - get it? Satyam spelt backwards
The owners were already shareholders in this firm
The diversification is power play by the owners who wanted to use company capital (of up to $1.6B USD) to but this up
Investors are unforgiving to family owned businesses that have eventually gone public albeit that the company carries the name of the founder

This is a wake up call for all firms that believe that different rules apply simply because they carry their last name - after being traded in global markets. You serve a new master now - the shareholders. They may be a minority, but ignore them at your own risk... and implement your world domination plans on your own dime.

SAY chart.

2008-12-04T09:38:00.000-08:00

Surviving the Taj Mumbai Horror - (personal account of national editor of Forbes - Bob Lenzner)

Courtesy: Vikram Bhardwaj, Redileon.com

Mine is a story so improbable that if it were made into a movie, no one would believe it. It begins innocuously enough with a dinner reservation with another couple (Shiv and Reshma) at a leading restaurant in a world class hotel, and ends 12 hours later in a brazen commando assault by the Indian army that allowed us to be freed. My point in relaying this story is not to tell a sensational true story, but express my eternal gratitude and to pay tribute to the staff of The Taj Mahal Hotel, who literally sacrificed their lives in disproportionate numbers so that we could ultimately survive. They, along with the bravery of the Indian army, are the true heroes and are deserving of due respect.

Let me also preface this by saying that my wife and I were married in the Taj at the Crystal Ballroom, her parents were married there and the couple we were with were married there as well. My wife and Reshma, both Bombay girls, grew up hanging out at the Taj and the Oberoi. Many of my wife’s fondest memories are at this place where she spent so many happy hours and often partied the night away at her favorite nightclub the legendary 1900’s.

My wife Anjali and I arrived at the Taj with Shiv & Reshma at around 9:30 for dinner at The Golden Dragon, one of the better Chinese Restaurants in Mumbai. We were running a little early for dinner, (our friends had just welcomed their 1 month old into the world). We walked through the lobby and made a left to go to the restaurant. Our wives decided that they would go to a book shop on the other side of the lobby and meet us at the restaurant.

Fortunately our table wasn’t ready. Though we were a little early and had reservations, the staff told us we would have to wait 10 minutes for another table to be freed. Hearing this we then walked next door to the Harbor Bar for a drink. A minute later our wives crossed back across the lobby and joined us at the bar. We had barely sat down and begun to enjoy our beers, when the host of The Golden Dragon came to our table at the Harbour Bar and told us our table was ready. For reasons unknown, we decided to stay and finish our drinks.

Literally 30 seconds later we heard what sounded like a heavy tray smashing to the ground. This was followed by 20 to 30 more similar sounds and absolute silence. We knew something was terribly off. Our initial reaction was to crouch behind a table in the bar feet away from what we now knew were gunshots. At this time terrorists had stormed the lobby and were firing indiscriminately. The Harbor Bar is situated right next to the lobby, and while they couldn’t see us the terrorists were within 30 feet of us.

My friend, Shiv, and I knew we had to act fast. We took a chair and tried repeatedly to break the glass window in front of us, but it wouldn’t budge. We then looked and saw a stairway that was inside the bar, but across open space that could be seen from the hotel lobby. Fearlessly, the Hostess of the Harbour Bar stood at her post as all this was going on and ushered for us to go up the stairs and escape this initial wave. She literally was looking straight out into the hallway and lobby and motioned to us that it was safe to make a run for the stairwell. She also mentioned that there was a dead body right outside in the corridor. We believe this courageous woman was later murdered.

We later learned that within minutes of our decision to climb up the stairwell the terrorists came into the Harbour Bar, shot everyone who was there dead, as well as also executing everyone who was still at the Golden Dragon next door. It has also come to light that the staff of the Golden Dragon, who were equally valiant, attempted to usher their patrons into a basement wine cellar which they thought would be protected. They locked the doors in an attempt to keep the terrorists out. The terrorists unfortunately managed to break through the doors and lobbed in grenades that wound up killing everyone in the basement.

Back to the previous - The stairwell connected the Harbour Bar on the bottom to a restaurant called Wasabi on the second floor. After fleeing up the stairwell and having the “fortune” of having the terrorist choose to hunt down people in the Golden Dragon first, we ran into the annals of the kitchen on the 2^nd Floor. Our friend Shiv was familiar with these back ways as he had used them at times when his wife was pregnant and could not walk up the stairs. There we took refuge in a small office. The chef and staff were very accommodating; they served the four of us food and drink, and believe it or not were apologizing for the inconvenience we were suffering.

At this point we were hoping against hope that this was an isolated incident and police/military would arrive soon. In the office was a TV, and we and the staff were able to watch the reporting by local media. We were also able to text and e-mail with others to try to get a sense of what was happening. It became apparent that this was a full fledged terrorist assault on Mumbai. We were hopeful that our obscure location would buy us enough time to make it out safely. For about an hour or so we sat as quietly as possible in the office trying to make sense of the situation unfolding around us.

At that point 10 different locations in Mumbai were under assault, including the police station. There were reports that terrorists had even stolen a police car and were impersonating police - killing people randomly on the street. We thought that while not safe, we were in the safest place possible at that moment. There were also no points of exit from our location and the terrorists seemed to have blocked off many of the entry/exit points so we decided to stay put and hope for the best.

Fortunately in the office was a massive wooden conference table. We had positioned the table 3 feet from the door so that if anything felt amiss we could move it quickly to barricade the door. Suddenly at around 11/11:30 the kitchen went silent, we knew something was wrong. We took the table and slammed it against the door, then turned off all the lights and hid where we thought we would be the most protected from gunshots. There were 5 of us in the room, all of the kitchen staff remained in the kitchen, not one staff member had run, not one.

Suddenly “Slam”, “Slam” the door was trying to be broken down, but the door and our table wouldn’t give. Again, “Slam” “Slam”. Then again, “Slam” “Slam”. We then heard the terrorists asked the chef in Hindi if anyone was inside the office and he responded very calmly “no one is in there it’s empty”. This is the second time the staff saved our lives.

After about 20 minutes passed we heard a slight knock on the door, and a staff member whom, we had been with earlier identified himself in English. Many of the staff then stood in a line and provided safe escort down a corridor to an area called “The Chambers”. The Chambers is an exclusive members only area of the hotel. We were told that The Chambers was the safest place we could be, had been secured off that there as the only two entrances were now guarded by the army.

The mood in The Chambers was relatively calm. There were perhaps 200-300 people in the 6 rooms that comprised The Chambers. Inside, staff was serving sandwiches, alcohol and drinks. People were nervous, but cautiously optimistic. We were told that this was one of the safest places to be in all of South Mumbai. The streets were still unsecure, there had been firing at CST- a major railway station, The Oberoi Hotel and even the Cama Hospital for women and children. The army was at the time was being mobilized more fully.

Then at around 1/1:30 the mood began to get more tense. Some member of parliament had phoned into a live newscast and let the world know that 200+ people were “secure and safe in The Chambers together”. What’s better, he made sure to let it out that there were several CEOs, foreigners, and Members of Parliament in the group. The news station of course made sure to broadcast this fact as well.

Adding to the tension and chaos was the fact that via SMS and cell phones we knew that in the heritage wing of the Taj the dome was on fire and potentially moving downwards.

The staff was becoming increasingly concerned for our safety. At around 2am they decided to attempt an evacuation. We all lined up to head down a dark fire escape exit. Things were going smoothly for about 5 minutes, then grenade blasts and automatic weapon fire pierced the air. A mad stampede ensued to get out of the stairwell and take cover back inside The Chambers.

Having barely survived two chances with death already, my wife and I had discussed and decided that in the event The Chambers got broken into and became a real hostage situation we would hide in different rooms. Whilst wanting to be together if this was to be our end, our primary obligations lay with giving our children the best possible chance of having one parent alive. Given that I am American and my wife Indian, and with news reports stating that the terrorists were targeting US/UK nationals, I believed I was further endangering her life by being with her if we were to get into a hostage situation.

Thus, when we ran back to The Chambers amidst gun volley I fled for a toilet stall and my wife stayed with our friends who fled to a large room across from the toilet stalls. For the next 7 hours I lay in the fetal position on the floor of the stall while my wife huddled silently with close to 100 others, including our friends. We were able to stay in contact via email on our Blackberries. I had one and Anjali was with another friend, Vishal, who was holed up with her who had one as well and he kept in contact with me. We were all dead silent and had all silenced our phones.

Outside The Chambers the slaughter continued. Most of the people in the stairwell got shot and killed and many staff valiantly stayed outside the doors in another attempt to protect the guests. I believe many of the staff that stayed outside the door to lock it perished. At this point there were multiple grenades and volleys of gunfire. It sounded as though the terrorists were engaged in a firefight after having murdered the first evacuees and staff.

The layout of The Chambers has six rooms along two corridors which forms an “L” shape. The corridor that runs east/west had five rooms attached to it and was accessible by the obscure door connected to the escape path referenced earlier. The north/south corridor had one big room on one side and the men’s restroom on the other. I fled to the toilets, Anjali and our friends to the large room connected to the north/south corridor.

Back in The Chambers, the staff had again acted quickly and turned off all the lights as soon as we ran back in. The place was pitch black. Unfortunately, the terrorists once again managed to break into The Chambers via the exit where we were previously trying to evacuate. The next 10 minutes, around 2:30, were extremely frightening. Rather than hearing the volley of fire/counter fire, we could just hear single shots. We would later learn that the terrorists went room by room on the east/west corridor and systematically executed everyone they could: women, elderly, Muslims, Hindus, foreigners, anyone. How they did not manage to enter the other corridor is a miracle – it was the commandos at the other side that kept firing back and saved our lives.

The Indian commandos were on the Southern end of the corridor, Terrorists on the North (remember the east/west corridor connected to the north/south, so after they had butchered all the rooms in the east/west corridor, all they had to do was make a turn around the corner to come after our two rooms). The next 5 hours was comprised of an intense grenade/gun battle between the Indian commandos and the terrorists that was fought in pitch black darkness in which each side was trying to outflank the other. Our lives hung in the balance. Anjali could literally see commandos advancing and retreating feet from her, gunshots and grenade blasts were within feet from her and the others in the big room.

We heard a grenade explosion that seriously injured one commando, but amazingly for the hours that hundreds upon hundreds of rounds were expended no one was seriously injured in this battle.

During this time I was huddled in the fetal position on the floor of one of two toilet stalls in the bathroom. I had picked the toilet stall as the preferred hiding location because if we were in an overt hostage situation the floor to ceiling door could conceal my identity. I was joined in the stall by Joe, a Nigerian national with a US Greencard whose wife had recently divorced him. He had moved to Lagos and was in Mumbai on business. For the next seven hours he sat on the pot (full seat down), me on the floor, and we tried to make sense of the situation.

I had, through a friend, gotten in touch with the FBI via Blackberry, where several agents were helpful in giving me a status update throughout the night. I cannot even begin to explain the level of adrenaline running through my system at this point. It was this hyper aware state where every sound, every smell, every piece of information was ultra acute, analyzed, and processed so we could make the best decision to try to maximize the odds of survival.

Was the fire above us life threatening? What floor was it on? Were the commandos near us, or were they terrorists? Why is it so quiet? Did the commandos survive? If the terrorists come into the bathroom and to the door, when they fire in, how can I make my body as small as possible? If Joe gets killed before me in this situation, how can I throw his body on mine to barricade the door? If the Indian commandos liberate the rest in the other room, how will they know where I am? Do the terrorists have suicide vests? Will the roof stand? How can I make sure the FBI knows where Anjali and I are? When is it safe to stand up and attempt to urinate?

At one point we received an incorrect text saying that the terrorists were killed, Joe went out to check on the situation- he lives in Lagos and is much more fearless than me. He saw 5 commandos in the hallway, then another volley of fire broke out and he dove for cover, eventually retreating back to the bathroom stall with me. 10 minutes later we heard a pin drop and what sounded like an object tossed. We said to each other “grenade” and braced for impact. Fortunately we were wrong; no grenade had been tossed.

Meanwhile Anjali was on the other side of the corridor in the large room with our friends and about 100 others. She and others were in what basically was one continuous mass of people clinging to each other lying on the floor. People barely moved for 7 hours, the last 3 hours they felt it was too unsafe to even text. From her vantage point Anjali could clearly see the commandos advancing/retreating, advancing retreating. Whilst I was tucked behind a couple walls of marble and granite in a bathroom and toilet stall, she was feet from bullets flying back and forth. She was also in the middle of the corridor on one side and the terrace on the other. Gunfire and grenades going off on both ends at some points. Shiv and Reshma were up against the glass terrace doors that was all between us and the terrorists. Ironically, the group right next to Anjali were devout Bori Muslims whom would have been slaughtered just like everyone else. Everyone was in deep prayer and most, Anjali included, had accepted that their lives were likely over.

After several attacks and counter attacks, dawn broke and the commandos were able to successfully secure our corridor. In Anjali’s words “a young gorgeous looking commando” came in just like in a movie and told Anjali and the others in the room to put their hands up. He asked whether anyone had a weapon and was told that no one did and this was a peaceful crowd. He asked them to follow single file to safety. When one woman asked whether it was safe to leave, the commando replied: “Don’t worry, you have nothing to fear, the first bullets have to go through me”.

The scene was one literally out of a movie, like Die Hard. The corridor was laced with broken glass, bullet casings, and debris. Every table was turned over or destroyed. The ceilings and walls were littered with hundreds of bullet holes, blood stains were clear, though fortunately there were no dead bodies to be seen.

A few minutes after Anjali had left, I peeked out of my toilet stall with Joe to see multiple commandos and smiled widely. I had lost my right shoe while sprinting to the toilet so I grabbed a sheet from the floor wrapped it around my foot and proceeded to walk over the glass and debris to the hotel lobby.

On my way out next to me was an older Hindu man who had suffered an abdominal wound. The staff had placed him on a sheet and was holding the sheet to carry him out to safety. He said nothing, though I’m sure he was in agony. However, he was still, his hands were clenched tight in prayer, eyes focused above, and his expression was peaceful. It was as if he had accepted that there was a higher power that would determine his fate. I will never forget the look on his face. For myself, I was scared beyond belief of death. I had no peace, everything I attempted was to try and increase my likelihood of survival. Towards the end when it sounded like perhaps the Indian commandos had been flushed and we were in trouble, my heart was pounding so hard it felt like it could explode. As an aside, even though I hadn’t slept a wink that night, I couldn’t go to sleep until 1am that night- the adrenaline was just that strong.

Anjali and I were reunited in the entrance to the Taj on the ground floor. From there we embraced for the first time in 7 hours. At that point I didn’t know whether she was dead or injured because we hadn’t been able to text for the last 3 hours. By a sheer miracle she was untouched, Vishal was untouched and Shiv and Reshma were untouched. We also knew Amrita and Priya Jhaveri who were in there with us who came out along with us. Amrita’s husband Chris a foreigner as well.

I wanted to take a picture of us on my blackberry – Anjali did not want me to as she wanted us to get out of there before doing anything. She was right - our ordeal wasn’t completely over. A large bus pulled up in front of the Taj and, just about as it was fully loaded gunfire erupted again. The terrorists were still alive and firing automatic weapons at the bus. Anjali was the last to get on the bus as I pushed her up and Vishal pulled her inside – I crouched down separated from her once again. We were all told upon coming out of the hotel that we would be taken to a police station to identify ourselves. However, 30 metres away they were let off the bus as gunfire continued – they ran to the Regal Cinema and into Vishal’s waiting car and away to safety. I ducked under some concrete barriers for cover as the gunfire continued. (It later turned out that pictures of this moment were the ones that made the international news.) Shortly thereafter an ambulance came and drove a few others and me away to safety. An hour later Anjali and I were again reunited at her parents home. Our thanksgiving had just gained a lot more meaning.

Some may say our survival was due to random luck, others due to divine intervention. Being 72 hours removed from these events, I can assure you of only one thing: Far fewer of us would have survived if it weren’t for the extreme selflessness shown by the Taj hotel staff, who organized us, catered to us, then in the end literally died for us. That is not to take away from the extreme bravery and courage of the Indian commandos, who in pitch-black darkness and in unfamiliar, close-quarter terrain valiantly held the terrorists at bay. It is also amazing that amongst our entire group not one person screamed or panicked through the entire ordeal and there was an eerie but quiet calm that pervaded – this is one more thing that got us all out alive. Even people in the adjacent rooms who were being executed kept silent.

This is to remark on the truism that only when faced with the worst of humanity can one witness the best. It is much easier to destroy than to build, yet somehow humanity has managed to build far more than it has ever destroyed. Likewise in a period of crisis it is much easier to find faults and failings, rather than celebrate heroes. It is now time to celebrate our heroes.

2008-08-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

Breaking news 22nd August 2008

"The iPhone played Gooseberry on my Wedding Anniversary"

A study by senior UK parliamentary officials concludes that iPhones are becoming a leading cause of minor marital frustrations. In a survey of female inhabitants of Clapham Junction, London, the snazzy new gadget was found to lie in third position, fast creeping up on its rivals, the X-box (1st place) and the PSP (2nd place).

Greasy Anthony, long term owner of Tony's cafe on Northcote Road, said that his wife had gone back to Turkey in a huff after he bought one. "But I no missing that fat cow, I just playing on the X-box and surfing the net on iPhone, innit" he revealed.

One concerned wife of 2 years suspected that her husband's anniversary greeting was sent automatically by the iPhone, which she labelled a "silicon-based gooseberry".

Respondents* also cited incidences of "Playing PSP under the table during Serious Conversations" and "taking Grand Theft Auto more Seriously than Real Life"

The zoom function on the iPhone was revealed to be the most irritating feature.

* total number of survey respondents=1

2008-08-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

China Telecom - Missing Dog

2008-07-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

Randy Pausch passes on

Rest in Peace, our prayers are with the family.

2008-05-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

2007-11-12T18:19:00.000-08:00

Turning the World Upside Down

Ever wondered what the world looks like if were living on the south pole? You'd probably have more respect for the folks down unda....

2007-11-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

How not to Die (Paul Graham)

Excerpts:

Another way of saying that is that half of you are going to die. Phrased that way, it doesn't sound good at all. In fact, it's kind of weird when you think about it, because our definition of success is that the founders get rich. If half the startups we fund succeed, then half of you are going to get rich and the other half are going to get nothing.

If you can just avoid dying, you get rich. That sounds like a joke, but it's actually a pretty good description of what happens in a typical startup. It certainly describes what happened in Viaweb. We avoided dying till we got rich.

When startups die, the official cause of death is always either running out of money or a critical founder bailing. Often the two occur simultaneously. But I think the underlying cause is usually that they've become demoralized. You rarely hear of a startup that's working around the clock doing deals and pumping out new features, and dies because they can't pay their bills and their ISP unplugs their server.

Startups rarely die in mid keystroke. So keep typing!

Another feeling that seems alarming but is in fact normal in a startup is the feeling that what you're doing isn't working. The reason you can expect to feel this is that what you do probably won't work. Startups almost never get it right the first time. Much more commonly you launch something, and no one cares. Don't assume when this happens that you've failed. That's normal for startups. But don't sit around doing nothing. Iterate.

2007-11-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

Larry Lessig's talk at the TED conference

2007-11-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

2007-09-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

I always wondered what Louis Armstrong's expression would be when he's singing this song...

2007-09-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

Spurring Value Creation in IT Services

Excellent article by McKinsey - an interview with Satyam's Chairman (reg. required).

Excerpts:

On Org Design:
...traditional hierarchical models will not be effective in a knowledge industry. Rather than focusing the whole business on delivering value in one way, as you might see in a textile mill, at Satyam value was being delivered in many different ways, depending on the services our clients needed. To cater to these differences, we created an organizational design that distributed leadership more uniformly. Ownership of results shifted to leaders who were closest to the relevant stakeholders, which could be their colleagues, investors, clients, or even society generally.

On Value Creation:

... recognition that value creation follows a similar structure irrespective of industry, type of function, or level within an organization. For that matter, philanthropic undertakings also reflect the same value-creating structure. In that sense it is analogous to fractals in science and mathematics. Not to get too esoteric; fractals are self-replicating constructs that become increasingly small, like the sections of a seashell or the buds in a stalk of broccoli. While they are similar, they are not necessarily identical. You can look at a business in the same way and try to find a pattern for value creation, an essential DNA that repeats itself in every area and at every level.

On Leadership:
We consider ourselves in the business of building leaders. The most effective way of realizing our goals and objectives is to grow leaders faster than the competition. Taking a non-India-centric view in attracting leaders from all over the globe and growing existing leaders through focused leadership-development programs is paramount to our success.

2007-08-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

Dilbert? You gotta be kidding me

Took a look at my site logs and found that I'm #1 on Google for "Dilbert Product Management". Woo-hoo... but wait... why are so many people searching for Dilbert-ian product management?

Is it because market realities are disconnected with the product management process? and all cries for clarity is impossible to determine such as defining contribution margin of a single product in a bundled sale? Or endless use case writing that the developers never use? Hmm.

2006-11-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

Data Security

Then one day end-users discovered that they couldn’t log in. We rushed to the server room and found the monitor riddled with error messages. We tried rebooting, but the server complained endlessly about this missing .DLL and that corrupt file. Even worse, it wouldn’t let us copy those files from the installation disks. After finding some files on the backup tapes and downloading others from the Net, we got it to boot into Windows and run the database server. But it was ugly. No support, remember?

Then it dawned on me. I looked at my boss and said, “Did you see a firewall?”

“Firewall?” he said, looking troubled.

We looked hard. No firewall. The server was connected directly to the Internet, public IP and all, with no firewall as protection.

Why blog?

Business blogs can be a good choice for both large and small companies - most companies already have a profile on the internet, but especially smaller companies are struggling to get visitors, and have serious problems reaching people interested in their field of business. Start a blog and use various ping services to reach out to millions of readers all over the world!

You know your field of business the best
To run a company you will have to know what you’re doing - you know your field of business, maybe even be a “guru” on the topic - why wouldn’t you share your knowledge? Why wouldn’t you also be known as the “guru”?
Reach more people
You might already have a news-section on your website, but who is reading it, besides your existing customers? With a blog it is easier to reach new readers!
Let your employees compete
Give each employee a user on the blog, and let them blog about your companies business field too. While they compete on getting most comments, they write better and better content, in your companies best interest.

What if MS designed the iPod?

2006-05-25T15:08:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pXL5_RvGrs

Its all in the packaging. Apparently this video was made by a consulting firm responsible for MS package designing. It's interesting to see why we are completely oversaturated with junk messages...

2006-04-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

Interesting MS Video

In People-Ready Overview the manager discovers that not having the necessary tools really caused his firm to suffer. The reality is that this is only a part of the problem... appreciation of the uses of technology is the other. Handing a loaded shot gun is not enough, you need to know how to use it!

2006-04-12T11:50:00.000-07:00

INSIGHT webinar series

Larry Weber has some fantastic insights into the evolution of Marketing, and the impact of new media.

Note: Registration Reqd.

2006-04-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

Leadership

by Rebecca Edgerton

Communicate. The paramount skill here is listening. Second is giving credit and admitting fault—hand-in-hand with honesty and tact. And I believe that laughter is the lubrication that keeps communication rolling along.

Guide. My management approach used to be to tell. My sentences started with “Do this,” “You better,” and “You must.” Today, I rarely tell. Instead, I coach through open questions. Most sentences now start with “What” and “Why” and “How.” I pity the people in the 1970s who suffered through my early management outbursts. Somehow, over the years, I learned the value of open hand instead of closed fist. Today it's clear: The best managers guide people to solutions through coaching and mentoring. A very quick primer about those topics:

Coaching is guiding through questioning, and it focuses on solving a defined problem. A coach helps someone shape a solution by harvesting ideas from that person. The questions are the stimulant that stirs the person's thought process. As everyone knows, the best solution to someone's problem is the one he or she designs and believes in.

Mentoring is longer term guidance that sets direction for a protégé, such as future career focus. It works through a process of discussion, negotiation, definition of actions, action by the protégé, and feedback that leads to new discussion.

Negotiate. This is the best route to win-win. Only through negotiation can the manager discover the real agenda behind project assignments, deadlines, budgets, and so on. The key here is openness and willingness to delve for clear definition of requirements. Negotiation is essential to managing expectations. It's also essential for handling conflict and delegating effectively.

Respond. My email inbox is both my bane and my bounty. On many days, it collects more than a hundred emails. My phone also demands attention, and people often stop by to ask for five or ten minutes. So prioritization is the key. A person in my office always takes precedence, then a phone call, and then an email—unless I have a scheduled commitment elsewhere. So when I talk to people, the phone should go on “make busy.” When I'm on one line, I rarely click over to the other line to see who's calling. And I've turned off the email beep because it was just a distraction. But it's also important to clean out my email inbox and clear my phone messages every day. Even a brief response is better than nothing. Every exchange is an opportunity.

Monitor. Compliance with production stats, quality benchmarks, budgets, and schedules is always necessary. These factors shape internal and external clients' opinions about services or products. As Ernest Bramah said, “A reputation for a thousand years may depend upon the conduct of a single moment.”

Nurture. People like face time with their managers. They also appreciate a bit of personal exchange about kids, hobbies, and more. If every communication is task-focused, little relationship is built. People often report that a good relationship with their manager is a huge incentive. This interaction also allows the manager to watch for creativity and ripeness for promotion; to identify the person's motivations and hot buttons; and to check for stress, confusion, or frustration.

Encourage. Everyone has down days, weeks, and even more. Everyone has projects that drag and goals that seem to fall by the wayside. By knowing an employee's motivations, the manager can provide person-focused encouragement or incentive.

Educate. A strong leader teaches and learns something at least once a day.

Brainstorm. Brainstorming with employees is one of the best ways to identify their development opportunities. It's ideal for seeing how someone's mind works. Brainstorming is an open environment in which anything goes. It is a nurturing and safe activity that gives people instant validation for their ideas through the momentum of enthusiasm. Good brainstorming continuously builds on ideas and is agile enough to turn sharp corners. Good brainstorming is learned by example. My, what a segue to the next point!

Model. I don't believe it's necessary for a manager to be able to do everything that the employees do (you might disagree, but that's another topic). However, it is essential for the manager to model every behavior that he or she expects from the group. Leadership isn't just words or actions—it's also facial expressions, appropriate use of humor, support for top-down decisions, and consistent and suitable optimism. In other words, a leader must manage the subtext beneath his or her words. The best way to do that is to believe in what you're doing. If you don't, then it's time for reflection and possibly time to find another venue.

2006-04-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

Anything for a sale...

Dilbert Comic Strip Archive

2006-04-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

Ex-Sun exec lambasts Sun's late layoffs | CNET News.com

John Shoemaker comments on Sun(the complete version here):

Sun's reduction-in-force actions were too little, too late

"This single failure to make a tough decision to reduce headcount at Sun was, I believe, the critical event that precipitated Sun's now infamous decline," Shoemaker said.

"Pivotal among (Sun's) missteps, in my opinion, was the board of directors election to allow Sun's COO, Ed Zander, to leave. Ed Zander is a strong executive leader with a brilliant strategic and marketing mind," Shoemaker said.

Shoemaker also criticized expensive choices at Sun, such as the Santa Clara, Calif., company's $4.1 billion acquisition of StorageTek, which came to $3 billion once cash is factored out.

Sun's Java software initiative was costly, too, he said, employing more than 4,000 developers to create a product adopted by IBM and other competitors.

At the same time, the market shifted to buying large numbers of low-end servers--often running Linux...

2006-04-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

Powerpoint - Do's and Dont's

Collection of some great atricles I've read so far:

10/20/30 rule: Guy K
Bona tempora volvantur--by Guy Kawasaki: The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint

Breaking the habit:Dharmesh Shah

Net-Net: we need an alternative to Powerpoint! Entrepreneurs of the world - help! And be sure to follow read the articles above when you pitch your biz case in PPT :)