Job-less Apple

Steve Jobs has reportedly taken medical leave, and Tim Cook, the COO, would be taking over the control of day-to-day operations. Jobs, being a pancreatic cancer survivor, had a liver transplant last year. It is so surprising that media is filled with news of "Apple without Jobs", more than Job’s health.

The news reports speculate about the successor for Jobs, and indicate that the formation of a succession plan is in the top of mind agenda for the Apple’s stakeholders (primarily BOD).  I have been a huge fan of Steve Jobs, from almost the time I have known about his dramatic come-back to Apple and its subsequent transformation process into a 300 billion $ worth majestic empire.

Here comes the bigger question. What’s the role to a leader? Is it to generate more leaders? If one generates more leaders, how can one substantiate his own existence, after sometime?

I would consider Jobs, as a leader par excellence, because of the following -

• Apple didn’t stop when Jobs wasn’t around. In-fact, most of 2009, Jobs wasn’t on work. But Apple still did come out with upgrades, version revisions of its products.
• Last time, Cook and his colleagues did a commendable job of managing the company. This has put Cook in the good books of Apple and specifically Jobs.

The culture of creating blockbusters is imbibed into the nerves of Apple. With the few readings that I have  done on Jobs, and as some of the anecdotes about Jobs indicate - the most salient feature of Jobs is his negotiation skills. Steve Jobs is said to have formidable negotiation skills. This can also been seen in the way he changed the whole music industry and the print media. When Apple came out with iPhones, AT&T had to pay for every iPhone sold, unlike previously, where the equations were reversed.

Talking of shares of Apple, time is evidence that it fell 4% as soon as the news of Jobs taking leave was announced, but bounced back 2% after the quarterly results were announced. The next year seems more glorious than the past, starting with the Verizon subscribed iPhone sales.

Though Jobs absence would be felt, it should not shake Apple fundamentally. So lets stop speculating about Apple, and rather pray for Jobs.

Past 3 weeks…

The last 3 weeks, I must say has been pretty exciting - Exciting because it was a period of confusion, of serious thought indulgence, lots of human insights, emotions crossing all paths.  Not that all these are seldom for me, but this time - there was clarity after all the chaos that had happened.

2 major incidences, which literally took me by a shock -

• Diagnosis of cancer for my very close associate. There has been much noise about cancer cure, but ideally there isn't any till now (atleast for those in the later stage).  Though my association with this friend of mine is around 7 yrs old, we had developed a lot of closeness, and mutual respect for each other. Infact, it is this association which showed a novice engineering student, the real business world for the first-time.   Today, when I look back, those memories are still so alive - the moments when we fought for all the silly reasons, the time when she took me to a paani-puri shop, and made me understand that I had just lost a few thousands, and the days when she guided me about the various people - how politics play around, and how being selfish is not a crime, but necessity. I did later realize that I wasn’t made for such an environment, and kept myself away. But we never lost touch.  When I first got to hear this news, I mocked at her (just preparing myself to face the unwarranted truth), until she uttered a shrill cry. For the first time, she told - "Shravan, please pray for me".

• 2 weeks back, when I was in Chennai, I got a call from one of my school friends, that her marriage is fixed. I casually congratulated her. First few questions in my mind - So what…?? Why is she telling me..?? Should I dance in her marriage…?? After 2-3 min of senseless chit-chatting, she asked me - "Are you happy with this marriage?" and this would be the last question which I would expect from her.

These 2 incidences brings out one main thing about females - They are damn bold, I must say. Its just amazing they face situations, the way they get things out of everything. I actually didn’t know how to react in both the situations. In the first-one, she knew very clearly, where she was heading, and what best can be done at that stage. In the second one, she was sassy. I could never imagine myself, asking such a question, in such situation. It was sheer silence, for the first 10 seconds after she asked that question. Later, I skirted the question, by asking more about the groom n stuff. She got the answer.

These are the trying times for me. I only hope I don’t lose much in coming weeks. 

Of tears n travel..

2 days back, my friend from my previous company, called me up and told that he had finally received the UK visa, and he would be travelling next week. He asked to me to accompany me for shopping, as he was not familiar with the stuff to carry and other overseas travel  nuances. I met him on the next evening and took him for some shoes, and casuals shopping (though I, myself hardly shop).

During dinner, he shared how his parents almost instantly had tears in their eyes, when they heard that he was going abroad. Apparently, he was the first person to go abroad in this whole family. His father being a police head-constable, and mother being a house-wife, I could realize the hardship they would have gone though. With the death of other two children, there couldn’t have been better news  for those parents. Isn't it amazing that there is so much happiness in every thing, it is just relative to what you have and what you aspire to have?

Lets stop being emotional, for sometime.  Now what is so special in my friend, that he is travelling abroad? What is his achievement that he is going abroad? Is he really worth all these comforts and travel? These questions were continuously ringing in my head, all through the night.

Eventually, if we go few decades back to our parent's generation, foreign travel was primarily considered for esoteric people, and for a handful of wealthy guys. But today, foreign travel has been eased out so much, that almost anyone and every one in IT industry goes out.  That’s the magic which this industry has created. It made a common man, an extraordinary one.  This is probably, the biggest contribution, which IT industry has provided to our Indian community.

Today, I also found that only 3% of the world's outsourcing comes to Indian players. I cant imagine the impact, if outsourcing to Indian players increases by even 1 more percent. Not far away, that we would not be exporting HR, but importing them.. !!!

Of Thank you's and Sorry's

If there is one significant observation that I need to make in my MBA is this - The number of times I might have told Thank you and Sorry would exceed more than what I would have uttered those pre-MBA. I haven't been so comfortable in uttering these words as frequently as people usually do.

Recently, I had been to Davangere, a small but considerably developed town in the central part of Karnataka. There, I got an opportunity to meet this watchman who was taking care of our car for almost a fortnight . He might be around 70 yrs of age. I was so impressed by the way he had covered the car and the way he had cared for that vehicle ( I am sure, if it was Bangalore - people would even smell, unless u motivate them with money). After removing the car from the garage, I stopped so that I could pay him some money for taking care - he came running to me and I said Tumba Thanks (Thanks a lot). I pulled out my purse to give him some cash, instantly, he joined his hands together, and said - he took care of the car, not because he would get some money, but for the respect he had for my dad. I was literally taken aback by this incidence.  All through my journey from Davangere to Bangalore, I have been thinking, that something different happened here. I later realized that we both had mutually thanked each other.

Immediately I realized what MBA had done to me - I have been used to saying these works more often than not.  I am not sure, if I need to be happy for that. I have known people in MBA, who utter these words so casually, that they hardly end their conversations without one of these. I also realize that these  developments have been based on the strong influences by the western culture - Nothing wrong unless you are truthful to what you say.

When we say thank you, it means - that I am grateful for whatever you have done, and I would make a honest attempt to respect you for that. When we say sorry, it means - that it actually pains me that I have done this to you, and I promise I would make a sincere attempt not to repeat it.

How many of us have felt pain, when we stamp other's foot??

Good Night!!

Placement Beacons…

Note: This post is dedicated to all my friends of GMBA, who are still in quest for job.

One great man said - "History is written by the winning side".  I do believe that. 

The reason I am writing this primarily because of 2 things

• Just 2 days back, I was on the other side of battle
• One quote which my Prof said (I would be sharing it eventually)

I understand that things are just not happening, for whatever reasons it may be. Having said this, I would like to reiterate that this is not the end, rather the beginning.  The biggest takeaways of me having lost and finally made it (though I don’t consider it as any achievement) is this - LUCK matters, but you can't do much - So forget it!!! 

• Getting placed is no indication of your capacity to survive the job, it is just that your 15-45 min of interview went just as you wanted. So all those who got placed (including myself), don’t think you all are the best!!!
• Not getting a job is just an indication, that you messed up with words, or you didn’t say what he expected. For eg. When one person asked me what is your favorite IT subject, I told all subjects revolve around the same thing, and the interviewer was taken aback, may be felt offended also. I messed it up, even though I meant what I said.
• You make it or lose it in the first few minutes. Trust me, I knew I screwed up my interviews in the first few minutes. I also knew I had impressed the interviewer in another one, within the first few minutes.
• Be yourself - you might have read it many places, but again just be yourself. If you want to change, it      should be only for the better. Lot of people criticized me on being direct and open in interviews, but if a company cant receive openness, can that company even nurture my thought process. I was in such a big dilemma, for some time, if I am selling myself in the interview (as all gyan gurus mentions), then the person who buys me should know what I am. Period!!!
• It is not the company, but the interviewer that matters. You are not pitching for the company, but for the interviewer. So sell to the interviewer, not the company. 

Finally let me quote what, one of my fav professor advised me, after I was placed - "Time to take stock and plan life Shravan as this phase comes to an end ". Friends, just look back and think, for what fun did we all spend so much money, time, family life, and come here - lets not forget it, for whatever it may be.  One might have come for real gyan, another for real money, another for great position - lets make sure, we get what we have had come here for. 

This is the time to pause, look, and go forward. Though, this write-up is a bit impulsive, I am writing this with all the empathies towards my mates.

 Congratulations for all those, who are placed!!!

 But, all those who aren't, you have seen the worse, time to see the better one , you will definitely make it!!! Ours is one of the most versatile and robust batch, it is just a matter of time.. !!! I have loads and loads of confidence on everyone.. ( this is not gas; but from what I have seen working with various people)

 Smile Please Click Click !!!!!

 PS:  Humble request to everyone who are placed; stop putting FB updates, no big deal guys. Wake up!! Hope you all understand (or atleast wait for everyone, lets celebrate together)

A paradigm shift for Engineering...

This 15th September commemorates the 150th birth anniversary of Sir M.Visveswaraya, one of the most  revered engineer across the globe. I have a lot of respect for this individual, not because he was an engineer, but he was a professional who thought about public good, in each of his deeds. I strongly recommend reading about his life and achievements. You wouldn’t get a better day than 15th Sep, to celebrate Engineer's Day.

But somehow, I feel off-late engineering as a degree has been degraded a lot, thanks to easy availability of seats, and selling of seats to people who can afford it, not who deserves it.  But there is always a question of why engineer's degree is not in sync with the work he is doing. And once you have done engineering, why should you do MBA..? Trust me - these are valid questions…

Here is my analysis -

Engineering is not a subject, not a degree; it is paradigm of looking at things, it is the attitude which molds your thinking, and problem solving abilities. It is not about why a diode works in a particular manner, it about if a diode is working in a particular manner, how can you utilize this capability to form a half wave rectifier or full-wave rectifier circuit. It is about how creatively you look at getting the half-wave rectifier or full-wave rectifier with the least number of diodes. It is the way you look at issues as cause v/s effect phenomenon.

Engineering is also not about just finding solutions to problems, it is also about working backwards - have a required solution/ end product in mind and then decide the how things should evolve in order to obtain the solution, or to put it simply - reverse engineering. So what is this?? This is the way you look at things - Management books call it Top-Down (forward engineering) and Bottom-Up (reverse engineering) approach.

In a series resistance structure, if one resistance fails, the whole current flow collapses; this is similar to how a typical hierarchical structure in an organization works, if one level fails to execute, the flow of information may be skewed, leading to wrong decision making. In a parallel resistance structure, even if one resistance fails, the circuit still continues to run, as the current is still passing through the other branches of resistance. Similarly, in an silo mode of management, even if one the branches of the company is not working correctly, the company still continues to thrive, because there are other supporting branches. Now the challenge for management is how best can it use this parallel and series structure of management to enhance optimal performance.  The challenge for engineer is also the same, but with resistors. So engineering is not about resistors, but how best you arrange them - this is the paradigm shift that is required.

This is one of the several examples which I can quote to say that my engineering attitude has helped me develop a totally different outlook towards issues, and ways to solve them.

So if you are a mechanical engineer who worked for a software company, in banking domain, and now with a MBA degree, looking out for a consulting job - there is nothing wrong, as long as you can prove people that engineering is a paradigm and attitude, not (just)a degree.

Happy Engineers Day!!!

Innovation = creativity * implementation

"Innovation is not creativity" - A statement made by Vijay Govindarajan, in one of the recent HBR blog. He has tried to quantify things in terms of a simple formula, which says an organization's capacity to innovate is the product of creativity and execution.

Just as I read this article, I came across an update on Google wave.  This was an update saying that it is withdrawing the Google wave product, by this year-end. When Google wave was first introduced, it literally waved across the user community, but it failed to increase the user-adoption. Does that mean, it was not user friendly - Not at all, it was infact very impressive. Then what failed ..??

One reason which I can recognize, for this failure is lack of a great business model. It just re-instated the perspective, that innovation is not just creativity, but also a strong implementation strategy (or a sustainable business model). One cant expect a mediocre business model to propagate a great product. If you give say 9 points (out of 10) to Google wave product per se, and there exists no business model to sell the product, implementation gets 0 points, the multiplication (9 x 0) of which gives 0. So net innovative quotient of that product is zero, even though it was a creative one. If the business model even propagates by 1 point, the overall score increases by 9. This is the splendor of a great business model.

As I skimmed through the humble submission of Google, my fascination for that company actually increased. We say that people don’t learn from their mistakes, how about organizations like Google?  This is the not the first product failure which the company has faced (some of the previous failures being Dodgeball, Jaiku, etc..  apologies for my bad memory), but still it thrives, and continue to be creative and (sometimes) innovative.  Google chandelled with a innovative search engine concept, and has leveraged that growth in expanding into various products.  But Google has never repudiated any legitimate failures, rather has accepted  them graciously and got motivation from each of the them, to succeed. I remember people saying, learn from your failures - and not every person can do so, only great persons can do so. It takes a lot of courage to accept your mistake and get motivation from the same.

Isn't it amazing to find out how organization and humans are analogous? Any maxim applied on humans almost applies to organizations. One great man said - "If you never failed; you never lived" , I bet Google would be the present Google, had it not failed.