There is a bit of learning, there is a bit of preparation and you are never too late for either of them. Enjoy the presentation, which has helped me a lot in my life.

(Wait, the ppt will take some time to load ……………………………………………………………..)

There are a lot of other books from the same league which I could recall “Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach” (Thanks NG for introducing me to that).

I am not recommending this book to make a change but just to let you know that one must be prepared for a change. According to me this book wasn’t asking me to change but preparing me for one. Don’t ever become prisoners to comfort zone, never be afraid to face the heat/change, always remember how you had done it and more importantly believing that you can do it better this time :).

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” — Albert Einstein. We can rephrase it is as “Anyone who has never failed has never tried anything new”. But then why are we afraid of failures?

Being an Indian, I am not stating this as a fact, rather as an observation with a 28 year old eye. Last seven years in the Indian corporate world, where I was hired for innovation, have forced me to conclude that “Yes, We (Indians) are taught to succeed and not to fail”. Most of the times, failure is seen as a result of inefficient, unfocused and UNWANTED attempts made by an inefficient, unfocused and not so smart individual.

It takes me back to the year 1995, my 10th grade science practical exam. We were asked to make projects based on scientific theories. The most popular choice was to go for a wind mill or a solar heater. Our seniors did it and their seniors too and probably their seniors too, everybody knew about these so called popular yet regular projects. However, my friend Rajkumar decided to break the so called success mantra by doing something new, a water clock. He made a water clock where one drop of water was hitting a second’s hand every second (He did all the calculations and I guess it worked). But he really had a tough time in convincing his teachers of its worth (and his hard work). He was discouraged at every stage and the weapon used to dissuade him was again the after effects of failure. It’s not a story with one Rajkumar but almost every Rajkumar.

Here are my viewpoints on why (most of) the Indians are not very comfortable with failures:

1. We hardly failed: From our childhood we hardly failed as we were not allowed to fail. We were given a tested formula before every experiment which minimized the chances of failure to almost zero. We were almost always taught the “how to” with “what to”. As we grow the word failure takes a different meaning altogether as we never saw that as a part of our normal day to day life.
2. Failure makes YOU a failure: It was always inculcated that failure makes you a failure. Things are changing but still the respect for the failure is missing. I really liked Sir Ken Robinson talk on “Do schools kill creativity?“. I wonder if our education system is creating the fear of failure inside.
3. Less freedom for innovation at higher education level: I had been a student of 2 great universities but we hardly had the freedom to try something new. Creating something new was an option that was left for not so important (out of course) subjects. I personally feel that at PG level or professional courses there should be classes on the necessity of attempts and failures. The more freedom you have for innovation the more you will try and least will you fear failures.
4. We never enjoyed the luxury offered by failures: Every failure comes with a cost - huge or low. Most of the time we can not enjoy the luxury offered by failure due to the cost and the time involved with every venture. Failure is a lot of fun when you are not putting your throat at risk. How many of us have modified our two wheelers for fun? We owned them for use (I am happy that things are changing very fast though)
5. At corporate world we are appreciated for success (only):
   
   
   
   However, in my present organization we take special care to ensure that real attempts are appreciated and awards are not limited to successful attempts only. In fact, I wrote a mail to all the employees asking them to fail more often.

Things are changing very fast. We (Indians) are trying our best to make failure less fearful both at personal and corporate levels. The term failure is being redefined by the latest high-end mergers and acquisitions by risk taking Indian companies. It may be considered as some indications of the new era.

Abraham Lincoln was a success man

• Failed in business at age 21.
• Was defeated in a legislative race at age 22.
• Failed again in business at age 24.
• Overcame the death of his sweetheart at age 26.
• Had a nervous breakdown at age 27.
• Lost a congressional race at age 34.
• Lost a congressional race at age 36.
• Lost a senatorial race at age 45.
• Failed in an effort to become vice-president at age 47.
• Lost a senatorial race at age 47.
• Was elected PRESIDENT of the US at age 52!

After I wrote “Questions for your employer (Hiring Manager)“, many people have asked me various questions like what about salary, career and so on. I will cover some more important questions that you should ask your prospective employee.

NOTE: Don’t ask these questions during your first rounds. Wait till you impress the company. Remember that these questions will always be appreciated. It is your right to interview the company as the company interviews you. It’s a mutual relationship. I suspect people who don’t scrutinize a company prior to joining it. I remember a time when after few rounds in a company I had several meetings with their founders, management and staffs, then I decided not to join them for the time being.

(Does your company understands you?)

Try hard to join Good companies

There are only few good companies (where you enjoy work and create great things), try hard to join them. Good companies always want good people. Make a good relationship with them even before joining them. It’s not that tough to win competition with good teammates. “Hiring is the key” - Says Jack Welch of GE. Next section will help you answer, whether to join a company or not. It’s not a perfect formula but worked 80% of the time for me.

1. What is their mission statement? - This reflects a lot about how the company is organized. Ideally people from the top management to the peon should know the mission statement and work accordingly . Many companies work on different things but everything is done without a proper mission statement. I have seen some small companies with great mission statements, it was so clear that you could sense their direction with just one single sentence. For a bigger company, the name brand name covers up the mission statement. For a bigger company, ask your prospective team about its mission. and then Match it with your profile/choice.
2. Who manages the company? - Different departments should be managed by different people. If the company is a new startup, assume it to be a little messy but they should have a plan to delegate powers to departments. Ask this, “Who manages your HR policies?”, “How are the appraisals done?”, “Who decides the salary increment?”, “If someone is performing extremely well for the company, then ask the concerned person whether the company treats them same way as they treat other employees or do they have a special provision for them?”. You will be surprised to know that many big companies are struggling with these questions. A good company will always try to answer these questions as clearly as possible.
3. How do you earn money? Who invests in the company? See if they are open about it. If company is not making good money then don’t expect goodies for yourself. Not earning at present is not a big issue but the outline of business plan can be shared (to an impressive level).

Questions about the company?

1. Five day week: MY SUGGESTION is NOT TO JOIN any company that works 6 day a week. 6 days a week is almost impossible for hard working people. Sometimes people do work 7 days a week if needed but the company that wants its employees to work more than 5 days a week on a regular basis is certainly not a people focused company. One doesn’t need to work XXX hours to complete a task but they surely need to work YYY fresh hours to make it successful, where YYY < XXX for sure. One day off a week keeps employees fresh. The company that doesn't understand this doesn't deserve good heads, lend them your hands and legs, brains doesn't work for 6 days. I seriously mean it.
2. How many leaves? Compare it with the industry standards. This is also a big factor that you should consider.
3. Salary break up and Incentives Ask for a clear break up. Promises made is of no use, get it written in black and white. “You will get so and so when so and so happens”, better get it written.
4. Increments This needs a clear guidelines. I know many who say, “I will get an increment only if my boss feels so“. This needs to change, one should get one deserves. If companies don’t have such policies they certainly needs to come up with one. Also see if promotions are performance based.

Ideal companies rarely exists, so one needs to get some of the mix and keep working towards a company that respects its people. See some of the stories that speaks about its culture (basically some viewpoints )

• Former Google chef tells about Google.
• I don’t know whether the claims are true but it says “mail sent by Narayan Murthy to all Infosys staff”
  
  

  It’s half past 8 in the office but the lights are still on…
  PCs still running, coffee machines still buzzing…
  And who’s at work? Most of them ??? Take a closer look…

  All or most specimens are ??
  Something male species of the human race…

  Look closer… again all or most of them are bachelors…

  And why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!!!
  Any guesses???
  Let’s ask one of them…
  Here’s what he says… “What’s there 2 do after going home…Here we get to surf, AC, phone, food, coffee that is why I am working late…Importantly no bossssssss!!!!!!!!!!!”

  This is the scene in most research centers and software companies and other off-shore offices.

  Bachelors “Time-passing” during late hours in the office just bcoz they say they’ve nothing else to do…
  Now what r the consequences…

  “Working” (for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the institute or company culture.

  With bosses more than eager to provide support to those “working” late in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course good feedback, (oh, he’s a hard worker… goes home only to change..!!).
  They aren’t helping things too…

  To hell with bosses who don’t understand the difference between “sitting” late and “working” late!!!

  Very soon, the boss start expecting all employees to put in extra working hours.

  So, My dear Bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married and start having a family… office is no longer a priority, family is… and
  That’s when the problem starts… b’coz u start having commitments at home too.

  For your boss, the earlier “hardworking” guy suddenly seems to become a “early leaver” even if u leave an hour after regular time… after doing the same amount of work.

  People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labelled as work-shirkers…

  Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays… though) leave on time are labelled as “not up to it”. All the while, the bachelors pat their own backs and carry on “working” not realizing that they r spoiling the work culture at their own place and never realize that they would have to regret at one point of time.

  So what’s the moral of the story??
  * Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME!!!
  * Never put in extra time ” unless really needed ”
  * Don’t stay back unnecessarily and spoil your company work culture which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues.

  There are hundred other things to do in the evening..

  Learn music…

  Learn a foreign language…

  Try a sport… TT, cricket………

  Importantly,get a girl friend or boy friend, take him/her around town…

  * And for heaven’s sake, net cafe rates have dropped to an all-time low (plus, no fire-walls) and try cooking for a change.

  Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: *”Life’s calling, where are you??”*

  IT’S A TYPICAL INDIAN MENTALITY THAT WORKING FOR LONG HOURS MEANS VERY HARD WORKING & 100% COMMITMENT ETC.

  PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY SIT LATE IN THE OFFICE DON’T KNOW TO MANAGE THEIR TIME. SIMPLE !

  Regards,
  NARAYAN MURTHY.

These days I am spending a lot of time reading new books (Sitting on the floors of starmark, scanning different books, is fun). This Saturday I spent almost 2 hours scanning the business books. I am reading a lot about usability these days. Apart from sharing the ideas at almost9months.com, I am reading following books this month:

1. Don’t make me think:
   
   I am done with it. You can get a summary of it at http://www.amazon.com/review/R2RD7UWC4FFBUL.
2. The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom:
   
   It was little hard read for initial pages but later it is a smooth ride. Good for a tech person as it has examples from tech world. You can read some of the reviews to get more about it.
3. Why We Buy: The Science Of Shopping by Paco Underhill:
   
   Just read some pages. Good. I also say another book by the same author, call of the mall.
4. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
   Designing Large-scale Web Sites by By Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville:
   
   I am loving this book. It needs time but surely an authority book for all web developers.
5. Purple cow Vs How would you move mount Fuji
   
   This is good book. I liked many of his books. I read few more at starmarks this Saturday. I may not read this book this month as I am loving “How Would You Move Mount Fuji? Microsoft’s Cult of the Puzzle - How the World’s Smartest Company Selects the Most Creative Thinkers”.
   

So I may not be able to blog this month as well. I have some post under draft, “You feel frustrated when you are frustrated“, “a webby advice for airtel“, “Soon I will be meeting Anil Ambani” and some more. Have a great Monday!

As I mentioned in my previous comments “MBA - More supply OR less demand“, I am eager to answer this question, “Aji, should I go for MBA?“. In last few years I had opportunity to work with various team members with and without MBA and from good B-school to average ones. I was a part of 2 year fully residential MBA from NIMC/AIMK. I have seen and worked with over 6 MBA batches myself. MBA is a course that can really fine tune but you need to do it REALLY RIGHT.

2 reasons why MBAs are were preferred:

1. Brilliant minds were entering it. People’s first choice was top MBA institutes. Companies visits such institute to get the top brains not the MBA students. All the students were brilliant and MBA is just collecting them at one place. Some of the best minds I worked owned a MBA degree from good B-schools.
2. For their existing educational background: Every time a company visited us they preferred a combination like “BCom+MBA”, “Engg+MBA” or “BCA+MBA(HR)” etc. Same happened with MCA, “Maths+MCA” or “PHY+MCA” were preferred over all other combinations. The three or four years of your graduation/engg is where you build some strong and basic foundations (Your thinking process and analytical skills are developed during the graduation phase). I never preferred BCA+MCA or BBA+MBA combination for that reason.

What MBA is (in general)?

1. It is not about piling knowledge but about actions and approaches. (For MBA knowledge you can read some 20 to 30 books and get everything better than what is taught. You can try these books as well.)
2. It is not about efficiency but effectiveness. (It sharpens your mind to be quick and to focus. How to work and think in a systematic way. It increases the output with the same level of efficiency.)
3. It is not about syllabus but about out of syllabus activities (Read the interview with NITISH JAIN, President, S.P. Jain Centre of Management, where he talks about exposure and other activities) .
4. It is not about work (or Net work) but about network (You can do that outside/without the campus as well but the college network is vast and fast).
5. It is not about degree but about confidence and attitude (Be aware of the thin line between confidence and arrogance, almost everyone complains about it.).
6. It is not 2 years of daylight classes but about 2 years of sleepless but full of masti nights (It makes you really bold, you can’t achieve this outside.).
7. It is not about books and semesters but about people (wearing almost nothing at night) and team (well dressed in borrowed tie, stolen trousers and proudly owned jockey). (Different team tasks with varied team members teaches you more.)
8. It is not about the classes by management teachers/gurus but about classes by management student (who happens to own companies and still learning the latest). (I always liked entrepreneurs/industry people teaching us than qualified professors.)
9. It is not about CV but about first placement (Trust me, first placement sets the benchmark for many and a good institute can give you the best start but later its upt o you).
10. It is not about preparing a secure career but about preparing you for risky decisions. (Confidence in you helps you take bigger decisions)

When to do MBA?

I am running my hands really quick on the keyboard to summarize my thoughts.

1. For a better job: Indian Industry works on degrees for promotions/jobs (Sometimes it helps in getting shortlisted). I have some of my friends doing MBA just to fulfill their criteria for further promotions. Still there is no mantra for success so there is nothing to follow except “Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite“. MBA can put you in a well planned career stream with a better cash flow.
2. If you are not a self motivator: If you are a self motivator (with enough confidence) then you can read the books and understand most of it in less than an year. If you lack self motivation then it is good to read the needed subject forcefully (as the classes and exams will force you to learn atleast some part of it).
3. If you don’t know what MBAs actually study: What to study is 90% of the task. MBA curriculum are designed to give you (a quick) direction in a very systematic way.
4. Not enough exposure/platforms: I been very lucky. When I was 19 I got a regional team of young people to lead. Even from very early I had opportunity to lead different sports team, school houses (school as vice-captain). It is not about your ability but about the opportunity that is available for you (There is another thought that you can make opportunity for yourself). If you don’t have enough exposure to team work, public speaking, presentations, paper presentation, documentation etc then MBA can act as a great platform to start with. I got enough exposure at NIMC.
5. Continuation of your studies: If you are continuing your student life, MBA can do wonders (giving you an initial break and a network to float).

When not to do MBA

1. Everyone is doing it: Don’t follow the crowd as most of them might not know what they do.
2. When you want to learn something magical or at concrete/core level for success.
3. When you don’t want a monotonous job.
4. When you want to try something new.
5. When you want to start a company of your own. (MBA is not needed to start a company, all you need is an attitude to fail and fight, MBA can just help you connect to a network of people with like minds..)

Related Posts:

• Steve Jobs at Stanford
• Indra Nooyi at B-School Graduation
• Is MBA waste of money and time?
• MBA curriculum - Books for Techno-Managers.

Oh Aji! Why! Why do you break rules? You are not suppose to come to office late! You were suppose to join %$%% (designing compilers) not Grmtech (getting links and cheapo work) ! You are not suppose to put such a crappy title for your blog post “MBA is not about $%$%$% but about ^%^%^^“! (thats my next post) You are suppose to put the books in the library not in your cabin! You are suppose to sleep at 12 why you wake up till 4! and so on and on. I keep asking myself, “Why do I break rules so often?“.

I too know that rules are for better manageability and scalability but still it is not what defines success and happiness (or the purpose). IF THERE WAS A MANTRA OF SUCCESS THROUGH CONVENTIONAL WISDOM THEN EVERYBODY WOULD HAVE FOLLOWED IT.

The latest to my crime is opening a library in my cabin

(Prabhat and Anirudh, early birds to the cabinet book stall)

(Zooooooooomm in)

Do I really break rules?
No, I don’t. I really don’t! I follow them more than others as I follow the purpose and sometimes follow the theme closer than others. People do break rules but I really don’t :), I redefine (fine tune) it. Let’s take the above example that why I didn’t break the rule here.

Rule: “All books should be bought through library process and kept in library”.
Broken: “Bought it myself, kept in cabin, did not make an entry in library and became librarian myself”.
Purpose of a library:

• People should read books, thats the only purpose. TRUST ME, thats the only purpose.

Purpose of a rule:

• When we lost some books, when there were too many books and when it became unmanageable we made the above said rules. It wasn’t needed initially but later it was introduced.

Purpose of redefining/breaking rule:

• People should read books, thats the only purpose. TRUST ME.

What about manageability?

• Let the problem arise but before that let’s focus on purpose :). Once the problem arises (a good problem to have) we will make a rule and later will break it again.

I think more purpose oriented than rule oriented and believe that rules are made for us not we for rules, break it (oops i mean redefine) more often so that the purpose is fulfilled. There are many examples where breaking the rules helped, just search around and you will get many many examples.

In recent times I have seen more companies developing a bad taste for MBAs. I have personally advised few of my friends not to enroll for MBA programs (correspondence mainly) as they could go with more inline courses. MBA is (or was) a buzz degree.

Here are some of the thoughts at Bnet about MBA programs:

• Five Hard Truths About the MBA:
  1. Hard Truth No. 1: The ROI isn’t what it used to be.
  2. Hard Truth No. 2: The training has become too theoretical.
  3. Hard Truth No. 3: Some of the people skills needed to be a manager today can’t be taught in the business school environment.
  4. Hard Truth No. 4: MBA programs propagate management fads.
  5. Hard Truth No. 5: The pressure to succeed inside MBA programs has weakened safeguards against cheating.
• The Secret Guide to the MBA Curriculum:
• What Executives Really Think of MBAs:
  1. Value the Program, Not the Degree
  2. Hard-Working, High-Maintenance
  3. Dropouts Make Better Entrepreneurs
  4. Practical Experience Is a Necessary Foundation for Theory
  5. Salespeople Don’t Need MBAs
  6. MBAs in IT

  “You Harvard guys don’t know crap about the way businesses really run.” - Howard Woolf, then a director of marketing at DEC, to a trio of consultants with Harvard MBAs as overheard by the author. Woolf is now president of the Converged Billing Solution Group at Comverse, a $1 billion-a-year provider of multimedia services.

• Three New Year’s Resolutions for MBA Students:
  1. Get (more) comfortable with public speaking.
  2. Dial back on the procrastination.
  3. Stop relying on school for the easy excuse.
• Three Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting Grad School:
  1. Don’t stress over not having a business background.
  2. Three hours of class time at the end of a workday isn’t as bad as it sounds.
  3. Earning an MBA means more than mastering the coursework.
• Finding the Value in Wasted Time:

I call it restart option. It is such a wonderful day where you get a feel of restart. From your messy last month, last year you can give your life a restart. You can buy a new book for your finances, a new work report, a new way to start your love life, a better plan for your spiritual activities. All happens on the very first day.

Happy New Year!

I wish you and your family members a very happy new year. Last year was full of challenges and a lot of important devisions made. I have a lot to that. I take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support and love. Also I thank God Almighty for His presence in my life.

Resolutions
Everyone is suppose to take these and here I follow:

1. Will plan my finances better. Every morning I will add it to my budgeting section.
2. Will write 2 books: 1) Blogging - Anonymity to Identity 2) (name hidden) A book on Online marketing, covering almost all aspects of online marketing.
3. Will start a blog on spiritual experiences.

I want to make this year, year of Love, year of organizing and year of earning.

Afraid of making resolution?
As many, do you think resolutions are useless? Its a personal stuff then why do you say it in public? I can take these decisions anytime, why wait for the start of an year? What if I don’t make these resolutions happen?

Oh Man! Don’t worry! It’s the time to restart, you can do it anytime but its a mind game where you feel ITS REALLY A RESTART TIME (making it a little easier). When you make resolutions in public it helps you as a forced motivator. It helps you force yourself. You have personal commitments and the success of your decisions is completely personal but still a public resolution helps you put a little force on yourself. It also works as a reminder. So enjoy resolutions and have a very happy new year. May God bless you with all great things this year!

What is your resolution this year?

Recently I had an opportunity to talk to some of the great industry heads with great experiences and few patents. It was more fun than serious talk. Talked about web 2.0 stuffs, experiences in startup company, cluster for DBs, when technology can become bottleneck, social network technologies and many more things. It was great.

While talking, one of the technical head asked me, “Aji, where do you want to see yourself after 3 or 5 years“. This is quite a common question when you talk to a career oriented guy. It was a brainy session but some answers come out of your heart irrespective of your brain size, it was just another moment where it just came out of my heart. I almost answered it this way,

“Honey! I want to shrink my CV”

I was so happy that my heart answered so wonderfully (sometimes you should just allow your heart to flow). After the answer there was no further question about my career, goal or objective. Here is a small briefing for those who don’t understand what it actually means. In some years I want to shrink my CV to one line, “Aji Issac, Team/founder/Architect/blah, XYZ product, 200* - 20**“. Thats an advantage of working with product based companies.

This also answer few common questions thrown at me at various occasions by our Team members:

1. What will be my position after X years?.
2. I want to be senior programmer after 1 year, senior-senior programmer after 3 year, super-duper programmer after 5 years and many be programming guru after 10 years”, does your company allows that?
3. Why is my position the same for last 2 years?

In product based company your position keeps changing every moment:

• After one year - 2007: Aji Issac, ABC profile, XYZ product (Used by 2 people)
• After two years - 2008: Aji Issac, ABC profile, XYZ product (Used by 2000 people)
• After three years - 2009: Aji Issac, ABC profile, XYZ product (Used by 2 million people)
• After five years - 2011: Aji Issac, ABC profile, XYZ product (Used by almost every other people who uses web)

Thats the time when you can say, “Aji Issac, ABC profile, XYZ product, 2008 - 2011“. Take pride in working for products and product based companies. For selfish reasons make it work. If you are a company head/founder then make sure everyone working with you have have enough shares/stocks of your product (in black and white) else don’t expect the same commitment (This small move can create all the difference for your company). Enjoy the day!

Finding it really difficult to find time for blogging. Just spent two days in office to finish off the pending works. I got up a little late yesterday, around 9am as slept very late after work. This video is from the office bed (guest room). This video is my personal experience. I have seen people thinking too less of themselves just because of the knowledge limitation.

“So what if I am not from IITs or IIMs” was always been my attitude in life. Knowledge is certainly biased but Ideas are not. This concept is very difficult to conceive but once synced deep within blood you can discover a special person, a special confidence in you. I kept my attitude very high when I worked as librarian or a voluntary teacher (for 2 years, every Sunday, was great experience) or even when I was made secretary to Kolkata youth chapter. Its not how much you know, its about how much detailed you are, how much passionate you are and how much deep thinking you can do. So knowledge just adds on to your Ideas, fine tunes it but never a must for bringing a great Idea.

Enjoy the Video (I am not sure whether I was able to pen down my thought properly here, sorry was in real hurry, do ask/debate/agree comment). Happy Friday!