Procrastination is a sin,
the reason for grief and sorrow,
I know I will stop,
I think I will start tomorrow.
Mahesh
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Great Expectations or Expectation Ping Pong
I worked in consulting for 8 years at Oracle and consulting is more of an expectation management game than anything else. If you are a consultant, odds are you play this game every day. Here are some basic pointers.
1.) Understand the expectation
2.) Define the expectation (state your understanding)
3.) Confirm the expectation (confirm with the person your understanding and definition of the expectation) including time and cost.
4.) Deliver to that expectation
Remember, the easiest way to get setup for failure is
1.) Don’t define an expectation.
2.) Have it change on you all the time
If you work for somebody who is changing the expectation on you all the time, it is time to look for a new job.
Mahesh
1.) Understand the expectation
2.) Define the expectation (state your understanding)
3.) Confirm the expectation (confirm with the person your understanding and definition of the expectation) including time and cost.
4.) Deliver to that expectation
Remember, the easiest way to get setup for failure is
1.) Don’t define an expectation.
2.) Have it change on you all the time
If you work for somebody who is changing the expectation on you all the time, it is time to look for a new job.
Mahesh
Garland of Eternal Victory www.maalaflowergarlands.com
In Hindu mythology, when the gods and the demons churned the ocean of milk, Lakshmi came out of it holding a garland aptly named Vyjayanthi(meaning a garland of eternal victory). It was her intent to give it to the most eligible being present and Vishnu was right there. Lakshmi garlands him. Hindu mythology and garlands have a lot of synergy. Devotion is usually expressed by presenting the deity with a garland of flowers.
My friend Jaya has started a web site and a service where she can deliver garlands of high quality for expressing your devotion or if you are getting married just as Lakshmi married Vishnu by presenting him with a garland.
Check out http://www.maalaflowergarlands.com/ for garlands and express your devotion or love.
Mahesh
My friend Jaya has started a web site and a service where she can deliver garlands of high quality for expressing your devotion or if you are getting married just as Lakshmi married Vishnu by presenting him with a garland.
Check out http://www.maalaflowergarlands.com/ for garlands and express your devotion or love.
Mahesh
Monday, December 29, 2008
4 C's of Life
The choices that we make on where we live etc. led me to formulate these 4 C's.
Career - Clearly one of the primary reason where we decide to live.
Cost of Living - This is a secondary influence
Community - This has two pieces depending on what point in your life you are in. If you are young, you want to party and have fun. You will probably prefer a city or a downtown kind of life. As you age and have kids, a suburb becomes a preferable choice due to obvious reasons.
Commute - Once these are figured out, then commute comes to play.
In this 4 dimensional space of the C's, we have to make the fifth C. The fifth C is choice.
Have fun C'ing in this 4 dimensional C space.
Thanks
Mahesh
Career - Clearly one of the primary reason where we decide to live.
Cost of Living - This is a secondary influence
Community - This has two pieces depending on what point in your life you are in. If you are young, you want to party and have fun. You will probably prefer a city or a downtown kind of life. As you age and have kids, a suburb becomes a preferable choice due to obvious reasons.
Commute - Once these are figured out, then commute comes to play.
In this 4 dimensional space of the C's, we have to make the fifth C. The fifth C is choice.
Have fun C'ing in this 4 dimensional C space.
Thanks
Mahesh
Saturday, December 20, 2008
SCRUM
A few weeks ago, I came across this term called SCRUM. You can find a definition of course at Wikipedia. SCRUM
SCRUM is a rugby term where the players move the ball back and forth and across to the other side. It is now used in Agile Programming where a product is built incrementally by a team with small pieces of functionality and improved over and over again into a usable product.
SCRUM projects have two kinds of members.
They are the "Pigs" whose bacon/ham is on the line i.e. they stand to lose the most if the product does not work which is to say they are fully committed.
Then there are the "Chickens" whose egg is on the line i.e. they don't stand to lose much if things go wrong.
The point is that when you are in a project kick off meeting and you see that you are the only pig in the room and the rest are all chicken, you should have a higher sense of awareness in the project. The chicken will forget things or tell that they were not told to do certain things etc. And then you are toast err..bacon.
In any case, the next time you are in a room and you are the only pig, it is time to get serious...
Happy Oinking....
SCRUM is a rugby term where the players move the ball back and forth and across to the other side. It is now used in Agile Programming where a product is built incrementally by a team with small pieces of functionality and improved over and over again into a usable product.
SCRUM projects have two kinds of members.
They are the "Pigs" whose bacon/ham is on the line i.e. they stand to lose the most if the product does not work which is to say they are fully committed.
Then there are the "Chickens" whose egg is on the line i.e. they don't stand to lose much if things go wrong.
The point is that when you are in a project kick off meeting and you see that you are the only pig in the room and the rest are all chicken, you should have a higher sense of awareness in the project. The chicken will forget things or tell that they were not told to do certain things etc. And then you are toast err..bacon.
In any case, the next time you are in a room and you are the only pig, it is time to get serious...
Happy Oinking....
The Right Thing
An year year ago I was talking to a mentor of mine (Gary Goodman) and he said this which really impressed me.
Business and Life are about two basic questions.
1.) Are we doing things right?
2.) More importantly, are we doing the right thing?
The simplicity hit me. While we trod through life, career, relationships and projects it helps to keep these two questions in mind.
The story behind it is funny too. My mentor and his friend were at an airport to go to a business meeting. The friend's shirt lost some threads and buttons. This friend then goes to a room in the airport and tries to mend it with a needle and thread. This took about an hour. My mentor asked his friend why he did not take out a new shirt from the suitcase and wear it.
When in the middle of something difficult, keep these things in mind..
Dedicated to one of my Mentors, Gary Goodman who taught me this lesson over lunch. Gary, you will be missed!!
Business and Life are about two basic questions.
1.) Are we doing things right?
2.) More importantly, are we doing the right thing?
The simplicity hit me. While we trod through life, career, relationships and projects it helps to keep these two questions in mind.
The story behind it is funny too. My mentor and his friend were at an airport to go to a business meeting. The friend's shirt lost some threads and buttons. This friend then goes to a room in the airport and tries to mend it with a needle and thread. This took about an hour. My mentor asked his friend why he did not take out a new shirt from the suitcase and wear it.
When in the middle of something difficult, keep these things in mind..
Dedicated to one of my Mentors, Gary Goodman who taught me this lesson over lunch. Gary, you will be missed!!
Alcohol Effect
This is probably not a true story but is funny nevertheless. The 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Chandrasekar Venkatraman for his discovery named after him called the Raman Effect. The Raman Effect explains the phenomenon behind the scattering of light in general and more specifically in liquids.
At the Nobel ceremony, it is customary to drink a toast to the Prize Winner. As the toast was made, everybody including Raman lifted their glasses and Raman put his glass down and did not drink while everyone else did. Raman was teetotaller.
When the people asked him why he did not drink, he apparently quipped. "Ladies and Gentlemen, yesterday I explained to you the Raman Effect on alcohol, I don't want you to witness the alcohol effect on Raman".
At the Nobel ceremony, it is customary to drink a toast to the Prize Winner. As the toast was made, everybody including Raman lifted their glasses and Raman put his glass down and did not drink while everyone else did. Raman was teetotaller.
When the people asked him why he did not drink, he apparently quipped. "Ladies and Gentlemen, yesterday I explained to you the Raman Effect on alcohol, I don't want you to witness the alcohol effect on Raman".
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