Accidental Learning is the best

I was struggling with defining the challenges of the project.

It was not risk, it was not people, it was not technology. For the first time in several years, I was stumped for a solution.

I stumbled on a talk given by Daniel Goleman on his new book "Focus". In the middle of the talk, he mentions a certain class of problems as "wicked problems". And a series of linked wicked problems is a "mess".

That pointed me to the solution as well. I realized, after framing my project as a wicked problem, it's solution.

You have one of two options, authoritative or collaborative approach to such problems. I had been using the collaborative approach in a charged atmosphere under tight time constraints. 

It is the authoritative approach that finally worked.

Poverty of leadership- political vaccum

To anyone who followed the sad events of the last few weeks in Delhi, India- it would have been abundantly clear that there was a complete disconnect between the 'political class' and the mood of the people.

The subsequent statements and labeling of the victim of the ghastly crime, indicate a total inability to channelize the mood and opinions of the population they are supposed to rule.

The PM of India ended up being a political clown who could not give a channel and voice that would align and coalesce the discontent of the people on the streets.

I was aghast at the calling the victim of the heinous crime 'hero' and 'daughter of the country' or 'brave'.
If she was the hero, who was the villain. If she was the hero and she was brave, were the rest of the characters who rule the 'scene' absolute cowards?

The general tone of the people on the street (as mentioned in the press and media) was that the system should change. Well - they too are part of the system.

In a culture that treasures 'face' and 'izzat' there can be no more shame than the mothers/ sisters/ daughters/ fathers/ female relatives publicly spitting and disowning the perpetrators when they are convicted.

I am hoping that an astute 'social communicator' like the film and TV producer Aamir Khan can come up with a show on his Satyameva Jayate  that could instill this much needed change in behavior towards females in India.

As a person of Indian heritage, I am ashamed to read that this happened in India.

Business Process and Simplicity

While on vacation in India, I had to figure out the  right customer service to call for a service issue with my local bank. Interesting: I can operate my bank account from anywhere on the web. I cannot speak to "one number" that could fix my issue. The poor CSR on the call uses words like "sir - you can check using the IVR - blah blah". And this is supposed to be the one of the leading fastest growing banks here in India.

Did I tell you that the calls get disconnected immediately when I get transferred?

While growth pains are inevitable, the process needs to improve, and achieve simplicity - no matter what geo the customer calls you from, no matter what channel the customer contacts you, and prompt follow up emails are essential.

Wrong tools for the right change

Are you using the right tools for Change in your organization?

Recent headlines in India are all about two leaders (Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare) trying to bring about changes in the law to rule out corruption.
Both the leaders used moral virtue as a platform to highlight the social evil of corruption in government.
Both leaders adopted non-violent hunger strike - the same technique efffectively used by Mahatma Gandhi when fighting for Indian Independence- to force the government to pass laws banning corruption and bring senior leaders under that law. They are barely successful in their efforts.
You can pass laws, but you cannot make individuals change their behavior unless positive change is recognized, encouraged and celebrated.

How does the business world do this

Businesses try to bring about change in their organizations every day -to be more competitive, to increase customer service, to perform operations faster, to innovate and perform the same tasks at a lower cost.
In corporations, employees are provided incentives when they adopt the desired behavior. They are encouraged collectively and individual successes are celebrated when behavioral changes occur and desired results are demonstrated.

I have seen many change efforts in companies, which invested millions in systems, not investing enough thought and efforts in encouraging change in behavior in their teams.

So the two leaders might learn something from this. They may ultimately succeed in getting the law passed. They will celebrate a momentary triumph. Ultimate and lasting change in corrupt behavior will occur when they spread the culture of integrity, passion for people doing their jobs for salary without demanding a bribe.

Successful campaigns for change adopt a very personal story ( a specific individual or a specific event) that touches emotions of love, hunger and values  family, community etc.

None of the campaigns that I have read about these two leaders touch on these aspects of change.

What are your observations on change and how did you succeed in deploying a change in behavior in your organization?

What is Inner Peace

Last week I watched Kung Fu Panda 2 movie. My daughter asked me this question where do you get inner peace if you want to get it. I think I finally got it in a devious way.

You are very unhappy when you don't have inner peace.
You are always asking, searching and (worst) sad when you don't have inner peace.
Others know it when you have inner peace.

Forget Coupons - now Free eBooks to sell eBooks

If you are an avid reader like me on a budget for books and you have an eReader, you are left with reading from the limited eBooks selection offered by your library.

The evolution of this publishing segment is fascinating.
Amazon has finally decided to partner with Overdrive and allow public library books to be borrowed and read on Kindle. Once that happens, the number of devices that permit borrowing of books will grow exponentially.

Now RosettaBooks is giving away 5 eBooks to increase their (poor sales). What's in it for the publisher? They get the email addresses and contact information of potential customers by giving away royalty free books that were not selling well anyway!

Me - I am looking forward to eBooks being released without Digital Rights Management. This happened when Apple used its marketing muscle to dispense with Rights Management - allowing you to download music once and then allowing you to share/ use it with your friends or on multiple devices.

Parallels between commercial and illegal supply chains

I just finished reading the recent book by Fredrick Forsyth. Usually his books are well researched and gripping - well some were very gripping. This book was about a fictional war against the illegal substances. The protagonist accomplishes this by destroying the supply routes of the smugglers. That's when the distribution and logistics challenges and similarities with supply chains of global businesses became apparent.

Businesses strive to maintain deep visibility into their supply chains to guarantee availability and still have the lowest inventory levels possible. The smugglers never promise the exact date but demand sticking to exact procedures when the delivery is made.
They insist on product transfer with no delay under strict quality controls with dangerous consequences for quality mismatch. Quality sampling is conducted at every stage of transfer of materials.
Hmmm - businesses face no such dangers in delays of product transfers but incur costs and losses that ought to be avoided.

Payment terms are very tough by commercial standards - suppliers insist on COD for low volumes and 50% deposit for trusted distributors with the rest upon delivery.


Freight losses or lost-in-transit due to intervention by law enforcement agencies is apparently acceptable at 10-20%. It is unacceptable for regular commerce to have that kind of trans-shipment or distribution losses.

Supply chain managers of pharma and food products face far more regulatory oversight to prevent contamination or dilution of the product. All supply chain managers struggle to contain costs or keep them flat for increasing volumes.
They should make a study of the efficiencies of these smugglers - at least for the insight into what motivates each link in the supply chain to stick to their delivery schedules or provide updates on material movement.

None of these guys know of EDI but they seem to do a better job at moving their stuff. Their information networks are very tightly coupled, with no paper work to track the movement of product, yet very efficient.
Note: This is written in jest and random musings upon reading a new book of fiction.