Leadership & Management Tips

MBA = Master of Business Arts? Understanding the fundamentals

2010-06-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

I've often wondered why we prefer to call it 'Management' over 'Administration'. I didn't get sufficiently acceptable answers from those who I've discussed till date. 'That's how most people like it and hence it sells well' came closest. :)

While one doesn't have the luxury to pontificate often through our humdrum work lives, given that everyone always wants everything done yesterday. [I also wonder why everyone continues to always want everything done yesterday, especially considering that nobody has ever delivered it yet - but that's a subject of different post I suppose.] Things or events strong enough to trigger these thoughts come once in a while, even less frequently than the occurrence of the twitter whale. One such, is this tweet from HBR : "The MBA debate isn't over yet. Professor Richard Barker says no, management is not a profession. Free article: http://s.hbr.org/aKibVK".

He makes some very good points (that I consider pearls of wisdom) and I will quote and/or rephrase:

“True professions have codes of conduct, and the meaning and consequences of those codes are taught as part of the formal education of their members.”

We seek advice and services from people in professions because they have knowledge and skills that we do not. Often we cannot judge the quality of the advice we receive. There is an asymmetry of knowledge.

No professional body is granted control, no formal entry or certification is required, no ethical standards are enforced, and no mechanism can exclude someone from practice. In short, management is not a profession.

The real issue is whether what the schools do teach qualifies students to manage, in the way that an MD qualifies someone to practice medicine.

" ... online delivery is a teaching mechanism, not a learning environment."

" ... we should not be surprised that an academic grading system cannot reliably predict managerial ability."

Business schools do not uniquely certify managers, enabling them to practice. Nor do they regulate the conduct of those managers according to a professional code of practice. Business schools are not professional schools. They are incubators for business leadership.

" the manager is a jack-of-all-trades and master of none—the antithesis of the professional. ... The role of the manager is inherently general, variable, and indefinable."

"business education is typically post-experience ... no given candidate can be effectively evaluated independent of all the other candidates."

" ...business education is not about mastering a body of knowledge. ... the environment within which people learn can be more powerful than the specific material taught."

"The skill of integration distinguishes managers and is at the heart of why business education should differ from professional education. The key here is to recognize that integration is not taught but learned."

Overall, for me, an excellently articulated read on the fundamentals of management in a long time.

Please read the article in its entirety - you may conclude differently. There are also many interesting perspectives in the comments. If you or someone you know, have taken or are planning to undertake education in management, you will have insight into what kind of learning environment you should opt for. If you or someone you know, runs a B-school, or are planning to open one, you will have insight into what kind of learning environment you should aim to create.

Perhaps we will live in a better world if we figure out a way to increase the degree of accountability generally associated with managers and 'management'. And to help ourselves remember that we need to do this, may we perceive an MBA as Master of Business Arts till then ?

Rethinking Presentations

2009-10-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

I recently read lot of good information on presentations in general on Don Clark's pages. Here is a presentation that captures it in a nutshell. There is also a comprehensive list of suggestions by Mihai Budiu here.

Heres another good article on CIO which had good advice on making presentations. Here is the gist:

1. The shorter the better
2. Rehearsing is mandatory
3. Engaging visuals make better slides - include audio/video snippets and animations
4. Do better than reading out your slides
5. Utilize the communication spectrum

However do consider these apparently radical approaches to reaching out your message:

1. Skip the software: use the whiteboard and the marker. Write/Draw as you speak and you can still be very effective
2. Make an audio-visual. Yes a film. And play that. That might work better than presenting over the phone !

Do you have some nifty different idea about getting your message across ? Do comment.

Employee Recognition

2009-06-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

Employee Recognition is a topic that excites different emotions for different reasons. Its simultaneously a cost (for the finance team), more work (for shared services team), a reward, an opportunity to appreciate - to show that the organization cares, a morale elevator (all for the employee) and if not implemented well, an attrition alert in the works (for the organization).

Given that its not easy, whats commendable is that organizations are not shy of recognition programs, recognize their importance. Plus, counter-intuitive that it may seem to add to expenses during tough economic times, they are likely to be most effective at such time.

The highly referenced Maslow's Theory of Motivation - Hierarchy of Needs gives specific areas to focus as part of this initiative. Even if you don't like the hierarchy as is, you would probably agree that the coverage of different areas of needs would be useful to address. I see that Social and Esteem needs are generally where a positive impact can be affected by the workplace, Safety needs are better addressed by government, while Physiological and Self-Actualization needs would be best left to the individual.

I found a good summary of the importance of employee recognition here, various good practices and DO's here and here and some DONT's here.

Having participated in such initiatives in different organization in both awarding as well as recieving capacity, here are some of my learnings on this front :

- Have employees recommend their co-workers, this lends maximum credibility to the process
- Make the initiative inclusive, recognize many people for different reasons.
- Have different components to the rewards like cash, memento and felicitation and of course the most important 'human touch', instead of just one like cash or a memento.
- The overall tone of the initiative should be celebration of talent in the organization rather than that of a competetion. This will give on-going positive vibes to the organization.
- Frequent small events (say quarterly) are preferred over one big one (yearly), although if both can be done every year, would be really great.

Do you have such an initiative at your workplace ? Talk to your HR folks to find out.

Factors that drive Excellence of Project Delivery and Quality

2009-03-27T05:28:00.000-07:00

The top 3 factors driving delivery excellence are :

1. Capacity : The Capabilities and Competency of Human Resources, i.e. their talent and experience with the organization as well as their attitude. So choose the right team.
2. Timeliness : Balancing Requirements and Schedule constraints to set the right customer expectation and deliver according to plan, on time.
3. Communication: Channelizing the right information at the right time to all stakeholders and enabling team work towards end goal - delivery.

The top 3 factors driving quality excellence are :

1. Material Resources : Availability of the right tools in the right amount for optimizing the time and improving on the quality of output
2. The Quality Management System : Process readiness and 'aware' implementation that doesn't take away from productivity but resonates with organizational rhythm.
3. Learning Culture: A culture of becoming better everyday actively promoted and rewarded by the organization.

Notice that these 6 factors are interlinked for example a Learning Culture will positively impact the Competency of the team. And Communication is the one key factor that will impact how all others combine to become more than the sum of parts.

Success and the Jigsaw Puzzle

2008-12-29T23:42:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia defines thus : A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces. Each piece has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture.

I think Success too is a jigsaw puzzle and if one wants to be blessed by it, one needs to become one or more of the tesselating pieces. Its important to note that the pieces are typically numerous, small, often oddly shaped, and interlocking. Most significantly, each has small part of the final picture on it, and every single one contributes equally.

Project Success is no different. The subject of the project is dispersed amongst the many pieces that, when put together, lead to its completion. Functions such as Planning, Requirements, Finance and Marketing are the pieces towards the outside edge and those such as Engineering, Intellectual Property, Quality, and Delivery are the pieces towards the inside edge of the big picture.

And, the most important Pieces are actually People. One or more persons on the project has one or more pieces as his baby. That's his agenda to drive. And only when everyone does his bit well, emerges the big picture - Project Success.

Wishing readers a Happy and Successful 2009 :)

The hidden rules that help Project Management

2008-10-05T02:52:00.001-07:00

In his book Why Does Software Cost So Much?, Tom DeMarco states that software organizations have clearly articulated and widely known rules to help manage projects better, such as :

Keep quality high
Leave time for unanticipated problems
Respond to user needs
Work hard
Keep promises

He says though, that organizations 'think' these rules are primary guides to their decision making. However he says there are Hidden Rules too :

False Precision Of Estimates : There are tolerances and buffers built into estimates at all levels but what is most ironic is that no one, and especially not 'management', will take a range of numbers for an answer ! Ever tried your boss with 'About 17 to 71 days' ? :)

Power Shifting : A reference to power play during corporate consolidation and its effects on the project and its success.

Anger: Ideally there should be no emotions as far as work is concerned but a large part of work is centered around interactions with other humans. And 'fear' is the most seen on display, mostly disguised as anger.

Fat: Another irony - 'managing people is not by itself enough to justify managers' salaries' ! Makes you wonder why the word 'management' entered the English dictionary. This unpleasant truth makes most managers go out of the way to 'add value' and leave people unmanaged. A fit case of 'Yeh Dil Maange More', no ?

Denial : What is expected is 'can-do management' and any expressed 'realism' is shouted down with a chorus of 'loser' and 'defeatist', as well orchestrated as the 'two legs good, four legs bad' refrain ! That leaves little room for 'risk management' says he. Cheerleaders are not restricted to football and cricket it seems.

This is just a summary and one must read the the book for more details - it has more such great insights and is a very useful read for the Project Manager. The work may be dated, but the content is relevant and your learning can be as fresh.

Managing Contractual Risks on Projects

2008-07-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

As a Manager, one is involved in projects right from the stage where contracts are being signed. While a Project Manager cannot be a lawyer himself, and is expected to have organizational support from the legal angle, here is an excerpt that serves as a good high level checklist to Managers :

Every contract has risks that must be reviewed from the perspective of protecting the state's assets and interests. This document provides you with guidelines and tools to help you manage those risks when you contract on behalf of the state. An inherent part of contract management is to:

1. Evaluate the risks involved;
2. Decide whether to avoid, transfer, or accept the risks; and
3. Implement appropriate risk transfer and/or risk financing mechanisms.

Read the contract thoroughly and anticipate events or situations that could happen within the scope of work outlined. Ask yourself:

1. Who are all the parties involved?
2. What kind of work is being done?
3. What type of accidents or losses could occur?
4. What is the worst-case scenario in terms of financial loss and/or injury to persons or property?
5. Are the responsibilities for the risks appropriately placed with those in the best position to control them?
6. What is each party's ability to manage the risks and absorb the losses?
7. Is the contract legal and enforceable?

Within the contract, risk transfer is accomplished through a combination of indemnification, hold harmless, and waivers of subrogation clauses. Insurance is commonly required as a means of providing the financial support to back the indemnitor's obligation to hold the indemnitee harmless.

These are generic of course, and appropriate customizations will be applicable for respective kinds of projects. Here is another nice article on the various aspects of contractual risks.

Making the Most of Meetings

2008-05-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

Almost everyone has heard satirical references to meetings as events at which the minutes are kept while the hours are lost ! If you are a manager of any kind and if you feel the same about some of the meetings you attend, and you do not subscribe to the advice given here, which is evidently in lighter vein, then you would also not wish others, who may or may not be present at your meetings, to describe them with satirical references.

To make the most of your meetings, follow these simple rules:

1. Do not hold the meeting if an important stakeholder will not be present, a prerequisite to the meeting is not done or if you have prior information that will make the meeting ineffective. Reschedule.
2. Give advance notice to the Attendees by preparing an Agenda and sending out the Meeting Invitation - give sufficient time for Attendees to do their homework based on the Agenda.
3. Ensure that all Required Attendees have accepted the Invitation - if not, follow up using different means of communication and secure the acceptance. Else reschedule.
4. Ensure all resources required for the meeting, like the conference room and the projector, are available.
5. Start the meeting on time.
6. Stick to the Agenda and if all Agenda Items are done discussing before time, use the remaining time to discuss any other relevant topic. If there are no relevant topics, close the meeting before time.
7. During the meeting, keep a strict watch on elapsed time and use your authority as the organizer of the meeting to declare time-outs on discussions, in the interest of finishing on time. If a time-out occurs, either use your prerogative to conclude that particular discussion by making a decision by choosing the best alternative available at that time, or ask concerned members to do more study offline and schedule the discussion at a follow up meeting.
8. Take notes during the meeting - these include Issues discussed and Decisions reached.
9. To make any meeting effective, it is vital to note all the Action Items along with the Owner and Expected Closure Date of each.
10. Circulate the notes from the meeting - called Minutes of Meeting - to all Attendees as well as any other relevant persons, for their reference and action.
11. After the meeting, follow up with the owners of Action Items about their completion and closure. If the meeting reccurs at regular intervals, it is a good practice to begin every meeting with a review of past Action Items.
12. It is good practice to make all the documented 'Minutes' of a single project archived and available online at a central location (like the project wiki) for future reference.
13. Use a good tool to make this whole process as efficient as possible. One such tool is Yet Another Meeting Assistant (YaMA), an open source and free tool that I have written and use regularly. There are many others, take your pick.

Making good Career decisons by Measuring Job Satisfaction

2008-03-05T05:42:00.000-08:00

With the onset of the annual appraisal cycle, in most organizations, around this time of the year, the harried Engineer starts thinking of Job Satisfaction. It becomes fashionable to consider a 'switch'. More often than not, decisions are made in a baised, often emotional frame of mind that overlooks a comprehensive approach to measure and evaluate.

There are different simple and complex models out there, like the Likert Scale, but I suggest this simple technique of identifying the criteria, assigning weights to them, and evaluating current job as well as new opportunities in terms of a weighted average. Done sincerely, it is bound to help a person make a better decision.

	Criterion 1	…	Criterion 'n'
Weightage	Weight 1		Weight 'n'	SUM(Weight 1 ..'n')
Current Job	Rating	…	Rating	Weighted Average
New Job 1	Rating	…	Rating	Weighted Average
…	…	…	…	…
New Job n	Rating		Rating	Weighted Average

where,

The Criteria are the different tests or considerations on which evaluation should be done.
The Weightage denotes the relative importance assigned to a Criterion, relative to the other Criteria.
The Rating can be (say) on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 denotes least satisfactory and 5 denotes most satisfactory.
The Weighted Average is obtained by adding the product (multiplication) of respective Ratings and their Weights and dividing this SUM by Total Weight.

An example:

	Technology	Money	Geography	People	Infrastructure	Work Culture
Weightage	20	15	5	30	15	15	100
Current Job	3	4	3	5	4	3	3.9
New Job	5	3	3	3	3	2	3.25

The weights in the example reflect the importance I give to different criteria. For example I give maximum importance to the people I am working with - their competence, their attitude, and moral values, in no particular order.

The analysis, like the one in the example gives best advice - data driven and unbiased. One should also keep in mind the adage about the bird in hand being more than two in the bush, in the sense that whatever has been promised at the New Job is likely to undergo certain correction once the New Job is actually undertaken. This knowledge should reflect in the ratings for that job.

Managing Change

2007-12-27T00:14:00.000-08:00

This is a topic for many words but here are a few that that resonate well with me at this point in time. This article by Dave Cheong on embracing change is great advice, do check it out. I liked the Satir Change Model too, heres another article on it by Steven Smith, this one talks additionally about a 'Transforming Idea'.

The key takeaway is to be a conscious and willing part of the change.

Data Driven Decisions

2007-12-24T06:12:00.000-08:00

I am currently learning about intuitive management vs professional management driven by numbers obtained from measurement. I'm learning about it at work and it does come across as an effective methodology to manage projects and organizations to make unbiased data driven decisions.

Its a challenge to come up with metrics that will help you achieve the same, but it is possible. Once you innovate and design appropriate metrics, and administer them across the organization, the data repository gets built over time and you can really achieve high productivity in managing the projects and the organization. Its an enabler for accurate decision making.

Post-Acquisition Strategies

2007-10-31T10:13:00.000-07:00

There seem to be two post-acquisition strategies employed :
1. Nurture and Integrate
2. Annihilate and Assimilate

The former would be applied in cases where the products are based on a different technological platform, or are strong in different geographies. There would be a mature plan to let the acquired organization adjust to the new environment while it continues to execute on its former plans and continues to succeed as a business unit. The essential ingredient of this plan would be avoidance in changing anything that will cause disruptions or delays towards achieving success. After all the acquisition was done with the aim of generating value and losing that focus would be seen as detrimental.

The latter would be applied in cases where the products are in direct competition with the acquiring organization and technologies are similar. The integration plan would include both process and product integration. [I would suggest however that the focus be more on interoperability rather than integration.]Such a strategy would also be applied in cases where the acquisition itself is not seen as synergistic on day one, and speedy and active intervention is deemed necessary towards reaping positive results.

Both the strategies include integration but are differentiated by its speed.

Irrespective of which is employed, it is imperative to understand that 'people are important'. Checkout a slightly old list of EMC's acquisitions and a stunning report that says that 15 of the 17 chief executives of the EMC acquisitions have remained with the company.

Lots to learn

2007-10-09T00:55:00.000-07:00

1. Will this project complete on time and with targeted profit margins ?
2. What are the dependencies on the customer for this project that will affect the above ?
3. If you discover that the project will incur loss, and you've run out of alternative ways of avoiding that, what is the right approach to take ?
4. When is the right time to raise the alarm and stop the project ?
5. What are the different business compulsions that need to be juggled when taking this decision ?
6. What is the manner in which this action should be communicated to all internal and external stakeholders ?
7. And finally, who's to take the blame ?

As one grows, one learns. :)

Integration Success : Declared vs. Acknowledged

2007-07-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

The recent acquisition that I have been part of was 'declared' successful by the Integration Task Force setup to smoothen post merger blues.

The initial motives behind the acquisition and the learning and growing that happens within the acquiring management team through the process of integration plays the key role in the decisions taken during integration.

This article mentions four central themes viz. control versus cooperation; how to handle the culture of the acquired firm; trust versus distrust; and speed versus carefulness, which play out towards the final outcome. Plus, "the most important factor when it comes to post-acquisition management seems to be the ability of managing people rather than systems and structures" says a related paper, and I concur.

I know of companies that take special efforts at keeping morale of the employees in the acquired organization high. For instance, to make them feel comfortable, their emotional links to their previous organization are retained by actions like honouring their joining-date and treating them as equally old employees of the new organization. As far as I know, this international best practice is deemed so important that it is done even if it does not go very well with the employees of the acquiring organization.

Another thing that I have experienced being done is about not only retaining but also expanding the cultural activities of the acquired organization to include the new larger organization.

Little things, done right, show the sensitive side of the new management and give re-assurance to the new set of employees which, IMO, is the defining factor for successful integration.

Integration is successful only if it is acknowledged as such by the employees who are the ultimate customers of any Human Resource exercise.

Project Management Made Easy

2007-05-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

"It’s not as hard or complicated as you think" writes D. Keith Robinson in this appropriately titled essay. I liked the essay for its expression of practical learning by the author. Recommended reading.

He also suggests a couple of tools that I am going to check out. Tools that are both powerful and easy to use, and then capture the essence, are hard to find. We'll see how these fare.

Managing Post M&A Integration

2007-05-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

IBM's stunning takeover of Lotus was what sensitised me to such transactions. Having been a participant of two acquisitions so far, I have a ground up perspective on the way these are handled by managements. I have seen some superlative communication effort from top management in the form of bi-monthly stand-in meetings with all employees for sharing of recent highlights, immediate plans and most importantly an open Q&A session. But then I have also seen, amused, some basic rules - mostly involving communication - being ignored. With some expected not-so-happy results.

Nowadays, M&A seems to be the in-thing and 'global consolidation' the theme. Tata-Corus, Mittal-Arcelor and Vodafone-Hutch-Essar are spectacular ones in the recent Indian context. And I've yet to find someone who will not find Googles acquisitions anything but mind boggling.

To conclude, inorganic growth is a great strategy for the top-line but only successful integration - through emphatic empathetic communication - will help realize a happy bottom-line. I'm in the midst of a third, lets see how it goes !

Your Back Room Is Somebody Else's Front Room

2007-03-30T00:44:00.000-07:00

"Back rooms, by definition, will never be able to attract your best. We converted ours into someone else's front room and insisted on getting their best."
- Jack Welch in Jack, Straight From The Gut

My Take:
1. This is the simplest and best in support of outsourcing, that I have come across so far.
2. The concept of outsourcing is not new, and certainly not limited to the technology sector. In fact, its the basis of all trade. It just started with things and then expanded to people.

Delegation Fundas

2007-02-15T20:20:00.000-08:00

http://www.balancetime.com/ has nice tips on time management. You may want to subscribe to their free email newsletter. One such tip is about delegation.

"Delegation helps us to multiply our time as we plug into someone else's time stream when we don't have the time or the expertise to do a task. Delegation, however, must be done with the right person; otherwise it's no longer delegation, but "dumping." That person needs the right skills and tools and the authority to make some decisions. And most important, there must be follow-up to insure the task was done and done correctly."

My Take:
Bad delegation will take you further away from your goal, in which case, its better to 'do it yourself'.

Strong Businesses are Vital to the Community

2007-01-10T00:52:00.000-08:00

"I believe social responsibility begins with a strong, competitive company. Healthy companies provide good and secure jobs that give their employees the time, the spirit, and the resources to give back to their communities a thousand-fold."
- Jack Welch in Jack, Straight From The Gut

My Take :
The litmus test for defining a healthy company is whether it shares a symbiotic relationship with the community over a long period of time.

India is a goldmine and Indians are jewels

2006-12-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

"Take India. I was optimistic about the country's brainpower but my use of it has far outpaced my wildest dreams. the scientific and technical talent in India to do software development, design work and basic research is incredible. ... India has a wealth of highly educated people who can do many different things very well."
- Jack Welch in Jack, Straight From The Gut

My take :
Thank you Mr. Welch. To the delight of the rest of the world, Indians sell the best of their best, like alphonso, basmati and brains, outside India. I dream of the day when fellow Indians will realise their value and utilize it within the country.

Strengthen your Schedule

2006-11-06T00:35:00.001-08:00

A few best practices to make a strong schedule - the foundation to a well managed project

1. Identify all critical paths, so as to track them very closely.
2. Get buy-ins wrt all timespans from stakeholders
3. Leaf tasks that are too long (many weeks/months) or too short (few minutes/hours) are combined or split and grouped appropriately.
4. Have an effort driven pass (man months) and also a time driven pass (calendar months) on the schedule to check whether any more task parallelisation needs to be done

Project Schedule Checklist

2006-10-19T03:04:00.000-07:00

This checklist helps ensuring that the project schedule covers most things that impact it, apart from the tasks themselves.
1. Tasks and subtasks, of course, with start and end dates and dependencies amongst themselves, and resources assigned to them.
2. Team Meetings
3. Document Reviews
4. Per Milestone Buffer
5. Internal and External milestones noted separately
6. All approvals from customer noted individually, especially the one for Acceptance Test Plan
7. All Vendor deliverables noted separately.

Some of these are included depending on the target audience of the schedule, e.g. internal milestones may not be part of the schedule that is exposed to the customer.

You 'Can' and 'Should'

2006-09-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

"
1. Any project is as interesting as you make it, with your involvement and passion.
2. Every problem is an opportunity in disguise, make the most of it. Do not hesitate to put that first step to address the inherent ambuiguities.
3. Don't wait for something perfect to come your way. Have a vision and strive to take what you have, to perfection.
"
- Raghu Iyer, Director, Nevis Networks

My Take:
I concur. One can and should contribute to every situation. The outcome of an event is shaped by how one reacts to it.

Address the "No, But" Syndrome for Productive Discussions

2006-08-25T03:30:00.000-07:00

"When contributing to a discussion, if participants make a effort to let go of their natural historical perspective on an issue, and receive the other persons statements without resistance, then the resultant productivity of that discussion shoots up by an order of magnitude. So, if you observe yourself uttering 'No, But ...' when in discussions, then you can make conscious efforts to make that positive change."
- Ajay Phatak, CEO, Jopasana Software

My take:
This simple process of self-aware listening is difficult to practice (I was not even aware of it before I heard this), but I can feel that if I can achieve that state, it would take away all the pain that the internal resistance causes. Thank you sir !

Make Pardonable Mistakes. Now go figure.

2006-08-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

"Make deliberate mistakes, you've learned to minimize the number of mistakes you make as you rise up the ranks, so also you minimize the challenges to your assumptions, and thereby reducing your learning."
- Harvard Business Review senior editor Gardiner Morse.
See this for the complete podcast.

My Take:
1. One tends to avoid mistakes because they can be costly, a particularly severe one and you could be out of the game.
2. Advising to make more mistakes translates into advising to depend more on luck.
3. There has to be a better way to learning more :) Like making only 'pardonable' mistakes. Now go figure.

Globo-localization

2006-07-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

"I always believed there was no such thing as a global company: Companies aren't global - businesses are."
- Jack Welch in Jack, Straight From The Gut

My take :
Think global, act local.

Making initiatives successful ...

2006-06-12T06:01:00.000-07:00

"Making initiatives successful is all about focus and passionate commitment. The drumbeat must be relentless. Every leadership action must demonstrate total commitment to the initiative."
- Jack Welch in Jack, Straight From The Gut

My take :
1. Initiatives must be well thought out in the first place.
2. Initiatives can fizzle out due to non-acceptance by all stakeholders.

Integrity takes the top slot

2006-05-25T05:44:00.000-07:00

"Nothing is more important than a company's integrity. It is the first and the most important value in any organization. It not only means that people must abide by the letter and spirit of the law, it also means doing the right thing and fighting for what you think is right."
- Jack Welch in Jack, Straight From The Gut

My take :
Ditto Mr. Welch. On the surface, integrity is a deep mindset not easily learnt. Seems one needs to be born with it. But people can and should be made aware of it, and with the right efforts, it can become an organizational value.

Consensus is doing what is most responsible in a situation

2006-04-28T01:36:00.000-07:00

"When groups set out to work, they depend on building consensus. But many view consensus as the majority opinion. Teams resort to voting or other methods to determine the majority opinion. Consensus is not all agreeing on something nor is it the most popular proposal. Consensus is doing what is most responsible in a situation. It is choosing an action for the larger good."

-- Cyprian D'Souza, MD, Kanbay India
as read in The Economic Times, Corporate Dossier, 28-Apr-2006

My take:
I havent seen more original thoughts on consensus before. Only with this perspective can we have meaningful democracy in India. Hail !

There is no such thing as 'managing people'

2006-04-28T01:25:00.000-07:00

"Most of us live with the illusion that we need to manage our people. We express our value by the size of the teams we 'manage', number of people we recruit and the size of our workforce.

I learned over the years, we cannot manage people. People have their own agendas, their own aspirations. Most have their own plans as to where they want to be and what they would like to do. All we can do is manage the processes that give people what they are looking for. The best managing task we can undertake is to create an environment that provides people with the freedom and the resources to risk, learn, innovate and grow. People manage themselves. In trying to 'manage people' often managers come in the way of successful individuals."

-- Cyprian D'Souza, MD, Kanbay India
as read in The Economic Times, Corporate Dossier, 28-Apr-2006

My take:
1. I agree
2. A workplace that has clear-headed self motivated achievers is a delightful workplace
3. There arent as many of these around as there should be :)

Presentation skills matter

2006-04-24T03:39:00.002-07:00

"After a bit of banter and passionate pitch from Mark, we bought it. Talk about changing your mind about something because of a good presentation and a lot of passion. ... I walked into the meeting thinking - this guy's outta here - and walked out thinking - isn't this neat ?"
- Jack Welch in Jack, Straight From The Gut

My take :
Presentation skills make a big difference to the outcomes. Passion and level of preparedness should make themselves apparent in the presentation.

Culture and values count too much

2006-03-29T03:52:00.000-08:00

"For the same reason - a big culture gap - I've passed up opportunities to acquire high-tech companies in Silicon valley that appeared to be a good strategic fit. I didn't want to pollute GE with the cultures that were developing there in the late 1990s. Culture and values count too much."
- Jack Welch in Jack, Straight From The Gut

My take :
1. I have experienced the way acquisitions confuse the culture of an organization, and confusion is seldom a good thing.
2. Acquisitions are demonstrated stepping stones of too many successful organizations for me to trash them.

The role of Goodwill in Business

2006-02-07T03:50:00.000-08:00

"I always tried to leave some goodwill on the table when the seller's ongoing involvement was important to the companies success."
- Jack Welch in Jack, Straight From The Gut

My Take :
1. Talk about being hard-nosed in business !
2. Goodwill and being hard-nosed don't go together for me.

Wallowing - of a Different kind

2006-02-07T03:41:00.000-08:00

"For me, 'wallowing' has always been a key part of how we ran GE. Get a group of people around a table, regardless of their rank, to wrestle with a particularly tough issue. Stew on it from every angle - flush out everyone's thinking - but don't come to an immediate conclusion."
- Jack Welch in Jack, Straight From The Gut

My Take :
1. The word brainstorming was coined later than this was written, I suppose.
2. The last part - not coming to an immediate conclusion - is where I sometimes vary in this theme.

To Fire or Not to Fire

2006-01-23T05:21:00.000-08:00

"Removing people will always be the hardest decision a leader faces. Anyone who 'enjoys doing it' shouldn't be on the payroll, and neither should anyone who 'can't do it'.
- Jack Welch in Jack, Straight From The Gut

My Take :
Achieve balance between the two.

Job Security

2006-01-23T05:17:00.000-08:00

"Any organization that thinks it can guarantee job security is going down a dead end. Only satisfied customers can give people job security. Not companies."
- Jack Welch in Jack, Straight From The Gut

My Take :
Stay competitive at all levels. Thats your job security.

Be a good Boss

2006-01-19T01:42:00.000-08:00

"There is probably nothing worse in business than to work for a boss who doesn't want you to win. This can happen anywhere, and at any level - and probably occurs more often than we think."
- Jack Welch in Jack, Straight From The Gut

My Take :
1. Work for a boss who wants you to win.
2. Be a good boss yourself. Want your colleagues to win. Root for your team.