A Diwali in Train!!!

Travel through train has always been enriching experience for me it gives me opportunity to meet different minded people and I love to share my ideas at the same time accepting what comes along. This year I have been travelling lot back and forth to home also no hike made me think twice to travel through flight and I decided in favor of train.

IRCTC (Service Unavailable… Almost Always in the Morning)
No I wasn’t trying to book TATKAL ticket instead I logged in 90 days earlier in the morning around 7:45 AM and guess what “website wasn’t responding”. But I was lucky that day and after multiple attempts at last around 8:15 AM I got ticket confirmation but Oops it was RAC 6. No issues I thought as there are still 90 days and it should get confirmed by day of my travel. Considering amount of revenue IRCTC generate they might have done better job with their server management and reservation algorithm…

Female23 = Male24??
Chart revealed that status for my ticket is still RAC 4 and I have to share birth with a F23 (name not mentioned but its female 23) little bit shy and happy I marched towards my seat. Once settled with luggage arrangement I sat peacefully and was greeted by a gentleman who was wondering and praising how railways have managed to have birth sharing for male but have given confirmed (no sharing) for female. I wasn’t convinced but when he informed that I will be sharing seat with him I jumped with wonder how can a Male 24 is equivalent to Female 23 but soon realized he was lying and F23 was his friend and he doesn’t wanted her to share seat with me… No issues I said as I wasn’t interested too… Really??

Honest TT (But why Rude?)
I feel honest people tend to think that they are doing a favor on society where honesty level is degrading day by day and they tend to be ruder in their conversation. Hope day will come soon when honesty will be minimum level of expectation from all of us. I have met this TT multiple times and I really appreciate his honesty and he never asks for any bribe for birth allotment.

INFOSYS Train:
At last everything got settled in and its time to get acquainted with the fellow passengers after all its matter of 24 hours journey. To my surprise 7 out of 10 passengers were either employed with Infosys or their spouse. Infosys isn’t known to be paymaster but yes its known for better employee satisfaction and facilities in terms of various benefits its provide. I just uttered why cant Infosys has a train of its own with concession for their employees or may even sponsor some of the trains as other business are doing and have special concession for their employees…

State Effect:
One of the couple who was travelling with us was unlucky to get only one ticket confirmed and other was in waiting list so TT forced the gentlemen to get transferred to Sleeper coach. He had heated argument but everything gone in vain and TT won and rightly so. During night TTs were changed and we tried to convince gentleman to get back to the coach but he was so scared that he spent all his night in sleeper coach. When I got up in the morning I saw this gentleman back to our coach. I asked him if he is going back to sleeper coach again and he boasted up “Ab main yahin rahoonga ab koi kuchh nahi bigad sakata” (I will be here only now no one can do anything). I started wondering about sudden change in behavior but couldn’t discover enhanced confidence. Oops state effect came to my mind as I discovered train has entered in the state of his residence. Alas!!! When there will be a day when we will say I am just Indian, no boundaries within India, no hatred speeches, no politics based on caste/location/religion. I just can pray and hope you feel the same…

Leader vs Manager

One of the most subjective and contentious topic I deem that exist is difference between a Leader and Manager or more specifically who is superior. I have been brainstorming on this for almost an year and half now. It started when favorite director of my previous organization asked me once what I wanted to be a Leader or a Manager. I jumped with joy and said Leader because that Leader seems to a charismatic character who can lead to perform everything that exists bigger and better than just managing it. On contrary most of the organizations offer Project Lead first and then you can be promoted to Project Manager which makes Manager bigger than Leader.
Leader and Manager are not the title but they are approach with which an individual behaves in his day to day activities.

Definition:

Let’s interrogate if meaning of both the words can give us good idea:
Manager: One who handles, controls, or directs
Leader: One that leads or guides. The one who goes first.

It’s pretty evident that the Manager is one who is responsible for delivering and meeting predefined goal whereas Leader focus on vision/ideas and bringing innovation in the process of achieving goals (above and beyond the defined limit for success measures).

Leader vs. Manager:

One of the unsurpassed comparisons I like most is by Warren Bennis and Dan Goldsmith. They have defined twelve differences which I believe is the crux of the topic:
The Manager administers; the Leader innovates.The Manager is a copy; the Leader is an original.The Manager maintains; the Leader develops.The Manager accepts reality; the Leader investigates it.The Manager focuses on systems and structure; the Leader focuses on people.The Manager relies on control; the Leader inspires trust.The Manager has a short-range view; the Leader has a long-range perspective.The Manager asks how and when; the Leader asks what and why.The Manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the Leader has his or her eye on the horizon.The Manager imitates; the Leader originates.The Manager accepts the status quo; the Leader challenges it.The Manager is the classic good soldier; the Leader is his or her own person.The Manager does things right; the Leader does the right thing.
We can draw out a clear distinction from here that Manager’s focus is effectiveness, to get the maximum benefits out of the available resources benefiting the organization whereas Leader is innovative and together with achieving goals he thrives to look for efficiency, improvement, innovation, inspires energy in people.

In A Nutshell:

Both Leader and Manager have altogether different attitudes. Manager focus on completing the chore assigned and efforts are made on HOW to complete the activities whereas Leader will evaluate WHY the work is been performed and HOW to put inspiration, innovation and creativity that will help to achieve better results. Manager will focus on getting best out of the resources assigned whereas Leader will also look into overall maturity and advancement of associates. Managers tend to follow best practices used in the industry whereas Leaders are the ones who create those best practices. Manager’s most of the time goes into firefighting and problem solving whereas Leaders invest their time in proactively identifying issues and risks and their probable remediation.

Bol Bachan:
Maximizing benefits for organization and showing your worth is sheer professionalism and we all are striving hard to succeed in it but bringing personal touch to it move one from Manager to Leader. I believe the upcoming demand will for Leaders who can manage rather than the Managers who can lead for the reason that Leadership is an attitude which makes is hard to learn whereas Management is an art which can be taught and built…

Chakhana vs. Makhana: Ever wonder where snacks are gone??

Caution: Once again I am herewith light hearted read which bears no resemblance with anybody living or dead and it’s not based on true stories. But if you part of any community mentioned below please understand our pain :-)

If you are festivity lover or loved to be called as Party Animal then you must be aware of both these people Chakhana and Makhana. But I think they aren’t individuals they are a community which exists ever since the word party and celebrations.

You ever wonder while you are taking sip and you move your hand inside wrapper then instead of smoothly picking up chips and automatically moving towards your mouth your fingers starts searching something inside. Correct there is nothing inside, all the chips (or snacks) are gone. Just take a look around, there will be one who either typing SMS on his mobile or enjoying TV yes he is the one. He is the one who is part of Chakhana community they don’t drink but love to enjoy party specifically snacks. You may have an excuse for a party but Chakhana’s never, reason is straight forward they don’t have to invest money and we never ask them because amount of money we fritter on snacks is NIL comparable to what we endow in soft or hard drinks. So ethically Chakhana’s are not asked to contribute but they are invited as they are part of your esteemed friends group. Even though amount invested on snacks is comparably less but its Chakhana only who provide value to it. Remember rule of life, you value things only which you don’t have so when the snacks are over before the drink is they become invaluable.

Another community which is highly ignored but is crueler than Chakhana is Makhana they are non-vegetarians enjoying party but equally amount of love rests with vegetarian dishes. They are aware that you (vegetarian) are dare to touch non-vegetarian dishes so they bestow all their love first to vegetarian dishes but they will never order or never call waiter. You are the one at receiving end of waiter’s scaring eyes (Kitana Khayega?, Bhooka Paida Hua Thaa Kya?, Unlimited Ka Poora Anand Le Raha Hai Grrrr…) if you are enjoying at unlimited snacks table.

If you wanted to enjoy you party to fullest and have less surprises here are some tricks are tips:

* Make Chakhana’s part of the contribution group and have separate drinks and snacks bills.
* Have separate tables for vegetarians to save them from Makhana (remember Makhana never order’s vegetarian dishes)

Bol Bachan:

What ever may be the reason don’t argue with Chakhana’s as they are the one who aren’t drunk and drive you home. Enjoying party as Chakhana has more fun than otherwise so why don’t we quit drinking and start enjoying party as Chakhana. Note it down folks it’s real fun and ecstasy…

I can’t recommend being a Makhana to a vegetarian for greater fun but you need to be aware of this community and make sure you have secured your share of snacks before they are waiting for morning freedom in Makhana’s stomach…

Meeting at its best…

Caution: This is a light hearted read and bears no resemblance with any true person living or dead or any situation. Although some of my friend find it very near to their experience but still contains no reference to them. For best read all the individual contributors are advised to read as per their current role and all the managers are advised to read this as reportee as they too have managers. Dont forgot to read Bol Bachan section… Enjoy…

Let’s start with excerpts of communication between manager and employee where employee seems to have some issues which he wanted to report.

Emp: Hello Sir. I need to talk to you regarding some of the issues do you have sometime to discuss.

Mgr: (Almost always busy) Sure but I have an important meeting (which ones are not important) right now so need to rush we can talk later in the day.

Emp: Okay Sir. Thanks (Almost always humble do they behave the same with their spouse)

Okay after sometime and some negotiations they both agreed to meet in a meeting room. (Keep in mind market is still bad and there are very few opportunities outside)

Emp: Sir as communicated to you earlier this work is getting monotonous and I wanted to have some more opportunities and work which best suited my experience.

Mgr: Great but you know this is what you have agreed to and we already communicated for next couple of years you have to persist with this and as soon as there is opportunity arrives we will consider you for that.

Emp: But Sir its already been long for me to work on this project and there is no new development and activity happening on this project which encourages me to keep interested in day to day activities and work with zeal. (I believe after every 6 months everyone starts feeling the same can we have project change every 6 months. Can assure you this isn’t feasible)

Mgr: I can understand (really?) but I don’t have any thing right now which suites you. Let’s give sometime and think about it. Please try to find any improvement/initiatives in this project. I will definitely support you for those…

Emp: Okay Sir

Mgr: I have to rush for a important meeting (again?) will talk to you later. Let me know if you need any help… (What else?)

God help those who help themselves so even after the dreadful market condition this guy managed to get a superior opportunity and now with boost of confidence he wanted to have a meeting with his manager to formally inform about his decision to resign from his services…
Let’s see how it goes…

Emp: Hi Mgr (Name) I wanted to talk to you do you have sometime now to spare (look at the confidence man)

Mgr: Hey Emp (Name) Sure I too wanted to talk to you regarding some important decisions but couldn’t managed time. Lets grab some coffee and continue our conversation (Guess what I don’t know how but managers always get allusion of what’s happening next. Is it Sixth Sense?)
After grabbing coffee and in a meeting room…

Emp: Sir actually I wanted to inform you (interruption from manager)

Mgr: Hey Emp (Name) before you say anything let me tell you some good news remember our last conversation regarding your dissatisfaction for this project I talk to senior managers and they agreed to put you on two new projects. One is you can take team lead opportunity for XYZ project that we are just rolling out and other is you can go onsite on the same role for 2 years...

Emp: (No Speaking Only Thinking) Were they waiting for me to put papers umm…

Mgr: What are you thinking dude (change of guards) let me tell you whichever project you take them both have high visibility to senior management and have great level of appreciation if you do well…?

Emp: (Still Thinking) Was the project I was doing was having no visibility…

Mgr: So what’s your take on this…

Emp: (At last speaks up) But Sir I have accepted opportunity with another company and I came to inform you about the decision regarding the same…

Mgr: Forget about resignation dude we don’t want to loose indispensible resource like you. I will talk to senior management to give you confirmation as soon as possible you just have to let me know you choice (suddenly Emp became indispensible and decision is getting quick instead of waiting for next few years)

Emp: But Sir I have decided to perceive this opportunity and its best suit my interest…

Mgr: Okay why don’t you take some time to think about this and let me know your decision later on (Now this is called smoothing or withdrawal technique and used to confuse you)
Both depart. So at end Emp is back to ground zero with lot of confusion and indecisive about his career.

Till I end this post I too was not able to decide what the best course of action for the employee is but I still have my thinking hat on and will continue conversation in next post if I get there…

But if you have identified what it is then please let me know through your comments…

Bol Bachan:

Career cannot be decided in meeting like this you have to plan it and act accordingly. Before you even start any conversation make your decision and be firm on it but leave some space to accept new ideas and opportunities that come your way.

None of the projects in the world can keep you busy and interested forever it’s your responsibility to look for continuous improvements and initiatives that not only recognize you as individual but also benefit the project and organization. Heard about KAIZEN it’s “small improvements”. Kaizen strategy calls for boundless efforts for improvement. It comes from the Japanese words “kai” which means “change” or “to correct” and “zen” which means “good”.

So guys and girls let KAIZEN.

Journey to PMP Certification

Lets me start with taking this opportunity to share excellent news that I have completed my PMP certification and now join the elite group of certified PMP Professionals all over the world. PMP is one of the most treasured certification across the world in the area of Project Management.

Journey to PMP Certification:
My journey for PMP Certification started almost an year back when I thought of appearing for the training and it was scheduled but due to some unavoidable circumstances I wasn’t able to attend training at eleventh hour (it was really eleventh hour as training was supposed to start at 9 AM and I got confirmation that I wont be able attend at 8 AM). Then after there were so many high priority activities at job and personnel level that didn’t allow me to concentrate for this activity. But everything happens for good as there were almost 10 days which I spent before the training scheduled to hunt through web regarding PMP, its allusion materials and experience shared by different professional which help me later on…

Anon it all started with information that PMBOK 4th edition is due to release and from 1st of July 2009 exam will be based on latest PMBOK. It worked as a catalyst and more like a timeline (deadline) kind of project for me to get certified before 30th June 2009. Luckily I got contacted by an institute which provides PMP training on weekends and I happily joined them and got great experience of education as the trainer was one of the most experienced in Project Management and Education and I really like his participative style of training together with using real life scenarios to explain you to understand not memorization.

After training completion very next day I opted for PMI membership and subsequently applied to Exam eligibility. I was blissful everything was going my way to complete this time bound project just then I got a mail that my application has been selected for auditing. I understand that PMI randomly select some percentages of applications for auditing and I was the chosen one (lucky or unlucky not sure). As per the instructions received from PMI I couriered relevant documents to the address provided. I am really thankful to my previous manager who has taken extra efforts and pain to courier the documents to me in no time. Within 5 days I receive information from PMI for successfully clearing auditing process and information to schedule examination. My wish was to schedule exam as late as possible to give myself extra amount of time but latest date available was 26th June and I scheduled it one the day…

I reached Mumbai a day earlier to avoid any last time traffic surprises and thought my decision was best considering heavy rainfall on 25th evening and 26th morning and there was a time my cab travelled just 1 KM in 1 hour but at last I reached the venue 1.15 hours earlier and rush to reception. Security was comparable to Airport Security check and I was allowed with just my Passport, PAN Card and locker key.

After some formalities at last I was in front of the magic computer which was going to test my knowledge and at end provide me the result. I have first 3 hours to answer all questions and then I started reviewing them in next iteration while I was on 80th question a popup appeared followed by Blank White screen and the result with CONGRATULATIONS for clearing certification. Hurray!!! I just thanked God, Parents and all my well-wishers for all their continued support and praise which made me achieve this significant milestone of my career…

Experience Sharing - For Preparation
My personnel advice is to focus on PMBOK and read it at least 3 times to understand the entire concept. We do project management and participate in projects too but they might not be as large as PMBOK covers so there might be differences of opinions but exam focus on what is mentioned in PMBOK so align your experience with PMBOK. Don’t try to memorize concept but understand them as questions will be based on scenarios where memorization will be of little help.

Solve as many questions (typically more than 1000) as you can as they will help you to find gaps in your knowledge and will also help to identify BEST among the correct ones. If you just search GOOGLE with PMP QUESTIONS you will get more than 2,360,000 and with PMP EXAM QUESTIONS you will get 387,000 results the trick here is to use GOOGLE intelligence for most page accessed and choose top 10-20 of them. More number of questions is OKAY if you go beyond 10-20 top searches but if the answers are not authenticated they might confuse you in concepts…

Experience Sharing - For Enrollment and Application
I would prefer to go for PMI Membership as it not only saves you overall certification cost but it also enables you to access PMBOK Guide and other documents which will help you to grow you knowledge in the domain.
During filing application make sure all the information if correct and authenticated. Don’t panic if you application is selected for audit just follow the instructions as received over email from PMI.

Experience Sharing - For Exam
There are very few cities in India where PROMETRIC centers are available. If you are from the same city you are lucky and advised to reach exam centre at least 1 hour earlier but if you are from different city and planning to travel then my advice is you reach a day earlier in the city. This will help you to relax and to avoid any last minute surprises of weather and traffic.

Feel relax co-operate with the security and process and then when you are in front of computer make sure you understand the environment and inform to centre representative if anything make you feel uncomfortable as after the exam they will be reluctant to make any changes.
Plan to finish all the questions in 2.5 - 3 hours this will give you an opportunity to review MARKED questions again and also if possible review all the questions before you hit the End or Time is Over.

Make sure you understand the question first and what it is asking don’t try to relate the question if you have found similar earlier during preparation and jump to answer. Read all the options before choosing the BEST one. If unsure try other way round and eliminate all the other ones which you feel can never be the correct ones.

Bol Bachan
There is no shortcut to success and glory. You have to read hard and practice even harder if you want to clear any examination. Certification helps you in continuous progress and learning latest and best further helps you in proving your worth…

So guys and girls lets gear up help yourself in continued learning…

Enjoying Fatherhood!!!

God help those who help themselves I have heard and followed but never able to identify even if we help ourselves why he delays his blessings. Anyways even after the delayed justice I got my worth and I am blessed with a baby boy. I am happiest person on earth.Don't know its human nature but questions are being asked more often if you fail an exam rather than you pass and it was the same situation with me when I was asked for the same question and I find it hard to reply. How long you can give family planning as one of the probable reason.

As the situation was critical so doctor already confirmed that Shraddha needs to get operated instead of normal delivery and the date was fixed i.e. 13th April (auspicious day of Baisakhi celebrated all over India) it was hard for me the spend almost over a month to rush for home.

At last came the most important 90 minutes of my life exactly 8:00 AM Shraddha was shifted to Operation Theater and door was closed. I was looking at the bulbs above the door but they weren't glowing then I realized they aren't going to give me the truthful status/development (things are not the same in real world as they are in bollywood movies) and I just was looking with curiosity on everyone moving in-out of the operation theater. Exactly at 9:20 AM ward boy came out of Operation Theater protecting my kid in his arms and spreading news to everybody about arrival of baby boy. I can see tears of joy in all and one's eyes but I was more worried about my wife's health and ward boy just rushed to NICU without giving any information about her. I haven't had to wait for long and just after 10 minutes doctor came out of the Operation Theater just to inform that Shraddha is safe and doing good and now it was my turn to rush to NICU to welcome my son to this beautiful world.

"Saarthak" (name given to my son as he has provided meaning to me and my family's expectation) was enjoying the warmer in NICU and even if I was aware that infant cant see beyond 20 cms nevertheless I felt that he was looking at me (almost 5 meters away) and wanted to be in his dads arms may be it was more of my wish.

After few hours he was in my arms, closer to my chest and this feeling can't be expressed in words in any language for that matter.

Most of the things in this world we learn through teaching and coaching from others but there are equally important things that we learn when we experience them and go through that phase. Parenthood is one of the feelings that only can be experienced and can't be taught. Literature can give you an idea on amount of sacrifices your parents have done for you to bring you up but to what extent you can learn only through experience.

Bol Bachan:
Bhagwan Ke Ghar Der Hai Andher Nahi Hai!!!
Gods fulfills everybody's dream. There might be a delay but there is always a positive response to your wishes you just have to keep doing good and have faith on him. Never get tired of your efforts and never give up...

SATYAM or A-SATYAM!!!

Appalling reports from one of the Indian IT companies and from the Chairman Byrraju Ramalinga Raju himself who might have been seen from so many entrepreneurs as role model in setting up such a huge IT firm in committing one of the biggest corporate scam the earlier one that I remember was Enron. This unquestionably is going to have long enduring effect and will be seen as one of the black day in Indian IT and Business industry. Other companies in the analogous profession will also feel heat as this might diminish confidence level from India and abroad. There might also be probe for the auditors as how they were unaware of such a gigantic deception in the balance sheet.

Quick Facts about Satyam:
1987 – Year when Satyam was initiated as private limited company.
1991 - Announced its first Fortune 500 customer i.e. John Deere & Co.
1993 - Satyam was awarded ISO 9001 certification. Same year Satyam entered joint venture with Dun & Bradstreet for IT Services and also with GE.
1999 - Satyam signs joint venture with TRW Inc. and in the same year was assessed for SEI CMM Level 5.
2000 - Indian government awarded National HRD Award to Satyam and Ramalinga Rahu was named "IT Man of the Year" by Dataquest.
2001 - Satyam becomes world’s first ISO 9001:2000 company and was listed in NYSE.
2005 - Global development center outside India (in Melbourne) was launched.
2007 - Acquires Nitor Global Solutions Limited. Raju Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of Year
2008 - Revenue more than US $ 2-billion.

Current State:
Currently Satyam is one of the leading Indian IT firm operating in 66 countries, across 6 continents having 53,000 employees. Satyam is serving around 690 global clients which include 185 Fortune 500 companies.

Swindle Figures:
It’s nothing but the statistics that hurt market all over the world which were revealed by Mr. Raju in his resignation letter. Quick look at figures:

· Total available Cash 321 Crores INR whereas shown in balance sheet 5361 Crores INR.
· Accrued interest of 376 Crores INR which never existed.
· Total revenue in September quarter was reported 2700 Crores whereas it was just 2112 Crores.
· Operating margin declared was 649 (24%) Crores whereas it was just 61 Crores (3%).
· Total liability of 1230 Crores INR

Immediate Effect:
As soon as the news for resignation and figure in the letter was released Satyam shares fell down from 178.95 INR from Tuesday to 40.25 INR with a straight fall by 82%. Even SENSEX plunges down to 9586 from yesterday close 10335 considering depressing news. Its not only direct investors in the Satyam shares but Mutual funds buyers also have to face the music as there are around 172 Mutual Fund companies which have invested in Satyam.

Driving Factors:
Driving factors as being stated by Mr. Raju is to cope with latest slowdown in market and too keep faith of investors and customers at the same time to better engaged with new opportunities by spreading news for better position of the company in the market. Although Raju tried his level best to save company and faith of investors but situation just explode out of his hands and he has no option but to release the figures and quit.

Bol Bachan:
I am still not able to identify the real motivation factor behind such a personality and company to be in such a scoop but I am really worried about future of all my friends in IT fraternity who are in Satyam around 53,000. I hope that newly appointed board of Satyam and Indian government will take some quick steps to overcome the situation and they all will be able to survive well with their responsibility towards their job and family.

All well that ends well and hope there will be happy ending for this situation in relation to employees and Satyam…