About Communication

Every project is a new experience. Something interesting, something new to learn, something to realize a different perspective awaits in every project. The irony is we don't much get opportunity to make use of that "something" learnt - the experience gained - in a similar project. Let us discount it as a very specific case to the IT [Information Technology] world and the Indian SI [System Integrators] companies.

For a recent project, I am working with an American - a program manager. We had an internal audit and he gave us the below tip!

The following statistics is about communication. A good communication is

1. 70% body language
2. 20% context
3. 10% language

By using emails as the medium, the maximum we could communicate is 30%. That creates a big hole / gap in the project communication that is large enough to swallow the project itself! Communicate in person - socialize with the customer, that is what will make the difference of a project success or failure.

Image Source: Internet

How much of it is true? At least, I thought it to be true in most cases ... and, you?

regards,

bright

World, Take care of my son

My son, Nitin, is 2.5 years old and started going to play school. On the very first day, I dropped him at the school and stayed with him the entire 2 hours. Some kind of feeling it was that I don’t have any word to explain. When i read the below letter, it was as if a mirror reflection of my thoughts ..! did not want to miss this opportunity to share it with my blog friends. It was a letter from Abraham Lincoln – one of the many great leaders that i admire.

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World, take my child by the hand--he starts school today!
It is all going to be strange and new to him for a while, and I wish you would sort of treat him gently. You see, up to now, he has been king of the roost. He has been the boss of the backyard. I have always been around to repair his wounds, and I have always been handy to soothe his feelings. But now things are going to be different. This morning he is going to walk down the front steps, wave his hand, and start on a great adventure that probably will include wars and tragedy and sorrow. To live in this world will require faith and love and courage. So, World, I wish you would sort of take him by his young hand and teach him the things he will have to know. Teach him-but gently, if you can. He will have to learn, I know, that all people are not just that all men and women are not true. Teach him that for every scoundrel, there is a hero; that for every enemy, there is a friend. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest people to lick. Teach him the wonder of books. Give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on a green hill. Teach him that it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong. Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone else is getting on the bandwagon. Teach him to listen to others, but to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and to take only the good that comes through. Teach him never to put a price tag on his heart and soul. Teach him to close his ears on the howling mob-and to stand and fight if he thinks he is right. Teach him gently, World, but do not coddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel.
This is a big order, World, but see what you can do. He is such a nice son.

- signed by Abraham Lincoln

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with love,

bright

Only GOD can save this country

The seven sins of mankind:

• wealth without work
• pleasure without conscience
• knowledge without character
• commerce without morality
• science without humanity
• religion without sacrifice
• politics without principle

the above “deadly” sins were listed by none other than the Father of this Great Nation – Mahatma Gandhi.

Looking at the recent happenings and my understanding from the media projections, there is no place will be left for us “Indians” even in HELL. Our survival in such an awkward condition is probably yet another proof that GOD does exist.

I am forced to start thinking that Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi should not have born in this part of the world. We might have, at the least, continued to develop into a better nation ..!

Am i too pessimistic? May be because of the age factor – what to do?

with regrets,

bright

Sinking Ship

I heard about this phrase [not sure if it really was a phrase]

"Where do the rats go when they jump out of the sinking ship"

The answer will be NOWHERE.

Under emergency, the first rule is not to panic, right? Based on my minuscule knowledge based on the film Titanic, Rose had the slightest chance of survival because, she was firmly holding the sinking ship and did not jump out of it.

My perception is this:
First of all, you should not be there in a sinking ship. But, in such a forced situation, it is better to hold it firmly and hang on than to jump out of it. If you hang on, you will at least have an opportunity to survive..!

PS: I am working out of Pune temporarily for a project support.
PPS: My project has nothing in common with a sinking ship.

After a long time,
bright

The world is not enough …

Recently, i happened to have a “discussion” with someone. This someone is someone i cannot bear any time, but, cannot get rid of my life as well. The discussion is not a two way conversation, but, lots of histories and geographies pushed from one direction. We two share the similarities between a “capitalist” and a “socialist” – the commonality of both being human-beings :-)

The topic was mostly on living / maintaining a luxurious life. I did not follow a word of what he said but it “did” trigger some sort of thought process. How do we refer or define the terms “luxury” and “sufficient”? How much of anything is everything?

During my childhood, I have read a story. The story goes like this. A man was going to his work by walk and he thought “if only i had a bi-cycle” i will be the happiest person. An angel granted him his wish and he got a bi-cycle. He was happy for few days. Then he started thinking “if only i had a motor-cycle” i will be the happiest person. The angel granted him his wish. He was happy for few weeks. Then he thought “if only i had a car” i will be the happiest person. The angel again granted his wish. He got a car and was happy for few months.

One day, he was stuck in a traffic and thought “if only i had a personal air craft” i will be the happiest person. The angel again granted him his wish. He got a personal air-craft and he was air-borne. The story took an unfortunate turn here that the air-craft crashed and his legs were amputated. When he was on a wheel chair, he thought “if only i had my legs i will be the happiest person – because i have everything now” –

A survey was conducted recently. Every one from the different walks of life was asked the question “what will he/she do if they get 10 times more than what they have right now” – the responses were analyzed and the conclusion was that they will “UPGRADE” to the next version/model of whatever they have now. Be it a house, car, furniture or even a pen.

The way i interpret the result is that “luxury” is all about “upgrade”. Nothing more than that. It need not always meet a different purpose or a necessity of life!

To own a Maruti 800 may be a necessity. Upgrading to BMW 7 series is luxury. But, to commute in the busy Chennai traffic, how does it matter if you have a Maruti 800  or a BMW 7 series? To carry a Reynolds ball point pen is a necessity, but carrying a Mont Blanc is luxury. As long as the purpose of signing a form to deposit a check in a local bank is dealt with, what big difference does a Mont Blanc have over a Reynolds?

Do this “someone” believe that the Ambani brothers will ever stop their corporate war and consider what they have got is sufficient?

I remembered an old saying…

One who is not satisfied with what he have is the poorest of all

IPL T20 Season III – Team Statistics

IPL T20 had finally come to an end – OooFfff … big relief, yeah ..?

A small recap on the performance of each team during this lo..ng cricket festival – at home and away -

Source: match results, cricinfo

Updated on 28 April 2010: Finally, CSK went on to win the IPL season III. For the first time, an Indian captain [M S Dhoni] lifted the trophy in three years :-)

Regards,

bright

Smarter Planet [or] Simpler ?

Today is an important day – Monday, the 7th of December 2009. The leaders of the world are meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark to discuss the future of the world… AND, THE NATURE IS WATCHING

Coincidently, i attended a workshop where they slightly touched upon the IBM’s Smarter Planet initiative. This initiative covers multiple facets of our day to day life starting from the “generation of energy” to the “loss of it in the not-so-disciplined traffic jams” all over the world.

Two points created some curiosity!

1. There was a statistics that a single carrot travel on an average of 1600 miles before it reaches a consumer in the United States. The number is pretty daunting, isn’t it? The leaders of the world are wearing their “Six Hats” to reduce this travel time by implementing a smarter Supply Chain Management process in the form of smart chips, cameras and “what not” on earth… is there a much more smarter solution than this? - a SIMPLE solution called “Localization”

In the perception of a “Chennaivasi” this gets translated like this: why should a Kentucky Fried Chicken or a McDonalds McChicken travel 1600 miles from the west to a small outlet in IT corridor, when there are large number of “Chettinadu Chickens” already available in every nook and corner of Chennai?

First, you bring the junk food, then you think about obesity that it causes, then you work on reducing the junk food habits from the youngsters and while in the process, increase the cost of the already junkies in the name of making it smarter!

2. There was another trivia that Mohenjodaro and Harappa were considered to be the “best planned cities” of ancient India. They had their social setup in a much better way than it can be now!

“BINGO” – well said! leaving the time of the history that we compare the cities, the irony is the planning that went in the design of water resources, sewage system, transport etc., – will it ever occur to our administrators? This will be too much of complaints, but that is the truth in the eyes of a stupid common man like me.

In the earlier days, Civilization flourished near the banks of rivers. In the present days, at least in Chennai, there are no good water source [btw, i did not refer to tasmac] and i doubt if what that is flourishing can be categorized under “civilization”.

We have to settle somewhere, isn’t it? There are two options left for us [atleast for the software engineers like me]. Either you pick a place near the work  or settle in a place where there is a good school. Have it assured that you will never find a common place where there is a good school near the work. Oh Boy..! you start traveling by cycle, motor-cycle, auto, bus, car and then the road traffic builds up … now, what to do next? Think about building a SMARTER PLANET by making a SMARTER TRAFFIC.

Simple Option - Stay close to work and develop each locality into a good school zone. When Government is providing all the facilities to build a office space for 20K employees, bring a mandate that a satellite city should also be formed in the same locality with all the basic necessities covered, including schools and hospitals, for the benefit of the people working in those offices.

Oh! Boy, Does this occur to everyone out there or just me?

Heal the world

Make it a better place

For you and me and our children…

Regards,

bright

Happy Children’s Day

November 14, 2009

Children are the most wonderful people on Earth. They are innocent, honest, open minded and most importantly very quick learners.

I take this opportunity to wish all the children of this world a very happy children’s day*.

கவிஞர் கண்ணதாசன் எழுதியது போல்

எல்லா குழந்தையும் நல்ல குழந்தைதான் மண்ணில் பிறக்கையிலே ...
அவர் நல்லவர் ஆவதும் தீயவர் ஆவதும் அன்னை வளர்ப்பிலே!

* children’s day – celebrated on 14 November in India, in the remembrance of Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of Indian democracy, as a tribute to his love for children.

You can find details about the children’s day celebration around the world here.

So long,

bright