Reading List for Nov-09

Aha! What a relief. The last 4-6 weeks were extremely hectic. Couple of major releases, ISO certification, Global management team meeting and BoD meetings (both in Bangalore) generated enough amount of work, even on weekends, that I just could not read anything last month. I'm reading the "branding" as a part of my PMBA journey. Here are the books for this month:

The 22 Immutable laws of Branding
This book by Al Ries and Laura Ries is considered bible for any student of branding. They start out with the importance of marketing and branding and drives home the point that "The power of a brand is inversely proportional to its scope". The writing is crisp, provocative and utterly delectable.







One Land, One Billion Minds: Insights on Branding in India
I was particularly interested in a book that covers these topics w.r.t the Indian context as India will soon be among the top 5 global economies. Am I glad I found this book by Sridhar Ramanujam. Sridhar is a visiting professor in several IIMs and is the CEO of brand-comm. This book appear to provide key insights on branding in a multi-layered and a multi-faceted land, apart from delving deep into the minds and behaviour of the Indian Consumer. Sridhar's blog Third Umpire on Branding too, makes a very interesting read on the same subject.




Brand You 50: Fifty ways to transform yourself
This is a re-read and happens to be one of my favourite. This book is about personal-branding. This is a manifesto for today's knowledge workers and the title says everything "50 ways to transform yourself from an Employee to a brand that shouts distinction, commitment and passion!". I came to believe, as a resulting of reading this book, I learnt that surviving means not blending-in, but standing-out, and Tom offers 50 strategies for the same. Each chapter has things to do section, that makes it easier to put theory into practice. This book too is written in trademark Tom Peters style - high energy, optimistic, utterly brilliant and in-your-face. He relentlessly lifts your hopes and revives your dreams, big dreams that is.


Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship At a Time
Building long term relationships is one of my "ongoing" goal. This book goes beyond the common "networking" and helps one to actually build true relationships. The premise of the book is that our relationships must be built on generosity, trust and integrity. There are several practical approaches that are discussed in this book that can be of help to anybody. This book offers a fresh look at networking so that we are successful in business and our personal life.

ISO certification

Closely on the heels of our first anniversary, we had planned for our ISO certification audit. We had this audit last Thu and Fri and the auditors have recommended us for the ISO certification. We didn't had any "areas of concern" or "non-conformance", though we got some very good suggestions also known as "opportunities for improvement". The goal was set in early March. We hired a highly experienced TQM consultant to guide us through the process and as usual had our task force. All these people ensured that no stone was left unturned, which resulted in the recommendation for certification. We are quality conscious and that certification is just the beginning of a never ending journey of excellence.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of certifications - ISO, CMM etc., I would rather spend my time try to influence folks to give the best they can and excel, rather than worry about audits. I have no problem with following processes, but the documentation in specific templates, book keeping, doing something just to keep auditors happy etc., are something that repels me. Before you get me wrong, let me quickly add that I've been an internal auditor for 7yrs and have taken very active role in ISO and CMM certification efforts in a few of my previous companies. Further, I also went thru PMI certification as a certified Project Management Professional. The grouse comes mostly when the people forget the "spirit" part and focus solely on the "letter" part and you get penalized and/or called to explain on things that were done so well, but auditors are not happy that some record is not in the specified template. Good number of folks, miss out on the big picture of "why certification?" and focus on conformity. Not for nothing Ralph Emerson said "Foolish consistency in the hobgoblin of small minds".

Hence, I do have mixed feelings. Glad that we were able to achieve the goal. But, now that we would be certified, just worried that conformity may take precedence over excellence. Worse, it might become an annual affair to "fix" records, just before the audits. However, we would move to metrics based management and hope to get some good metrics on all aspects of the operation.



Thank you very much,


RamP!
ramp.ramp@gmail.com

1st anniversary

Our India subsidiary was formally started this day (6-Oct) one year ago when I along with my long time colleague joined on 6-Oct-2008 and the first task was to find an office space. One year has passed so quickly thanks to the pace at which we are running. We had our fair share of joy and frustration, pride and despair, excitement and anger, that are typical of any start-up. Though there would be always scope for improvement, I'm quite proud of things we as a team have achieved in the last one year and about the fact that we are moving as per the vision we have set for ourselves.

In this one year we now are completely responsible for the entire Software part, PMO, Customer Support, QA and Build & Release. We also have several finance and administrative functions (accounting, IT etc.,) now operating out of Bangalore.

Coming year looks even more exciting as we plan to add ASIC and H/w engg, expand the team and directly serve some of the biggest names in the Consumer Electronics space. Most importantly, the stuff that we have been working on this year would be out in the market - the biggest satisfaction for anyone into product development.

Thank you very much,


RamP!
ramp.ramp@gmail.com

There has to be first time for everything

Today was an interesting day as the following "firsts" happened:

1. Had my first ever meeting and presentation with a Venture Capital firm that plans to invest in our company - This meeting was the culmination of the hectic due diligence efforts we went through in all aspects of our operations.
2. For the first time I signed the "balance sheet" in my capacity as a Director on the board of our company's Indian subsidiary.
3. Gave pocket money for the first time to my 11.5yr old son. He and his friends would go to Coffee Day (atleast thats what is being told).

Thank you very much,


RamP!
ramp.ramp@gmail.com

Reading list for Sep-09

Was down with a bout of viral fever for the early part of the month. They are some holidays this month and hope to catch-up with the following this month:

1. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
I had read this about about 5 years ago. Thought of re-reading it after having read numerous other books which had a similar theme (economists exploring something). I remember the initial read to be enjoyable and quick.






2. Irrational Exuberance
This book is part of my PMBA economics studies. I hope to gain some insights into stock markets, their valuations and other related theories. Perhaps not the best book (in the sense of a "text book") on stock market, but I'm seeing it more as a primer. The book is hugely popular and there would be reasons for it.







3. Making it all Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life
I've benefited quite a lot by the simple yet effective process that David Allen has described in his previous best sellers - "Getting Things Done - The Art of Stress Free Productivity" and "Ready for Anything - 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life". The first one, popularly known as GTD has a powerful methodology just to deal with incoming mails and I dare say I've been using it to good effect in the last few years. In this new book, David revisits his basic premise that a complete and current inventory of commitments organized and reviewed in a systematic way can sharpen focus and allow for wiser decision making. Doesn't seem there is something new in this book, but its worth as a refresher course in GTD.


4. De Bono's thinking course
From the last two months, I have undertaken the task of reading some important works of Dr. Bono. This one is second in the series. The book presents practical methods and ideas to improve one's thinking skills. It would be fun doing the exercises.







5. What do you really want from your children
"Before marriage I had six theories on raising kids. Now I have six kids and no theories" - is a quote in the initial pages of this book that resonates well with most parents. Wayne Dyer is one of my favourite authors. While stressing the need for parents to be the role models and that kids learn most from observing their parents, Dr. Dyer covers topics like risk-taking, living in the present, self-reliance, and creativity. Each chapter includes strategies, negative child/parent behaviors, and the payoffs for maintaining desirable behaviors.

Creating Desired Future

Well, who doesn't want to Create a Desired Future? The answer is always yes, but preceded by another question, "but how?". SoL South Foundation (a not-for-profit society), is an affiliate member of Society for Organizational Learning (SoL - www.solonline.org) started by Dr. Peter Senge and head quartered in Boston, USA. Sol South has been founded (I'm one of the founder member) with a view to bring frontier learning opportunities to India, has just announced a 3-day workshop titled "Creating Desired Future". This workshop draws concepts from Peter Senge's Fifth Discipline, Otto Shramer's Theory U, Eastern meditations and many other behavioral concepts.

The expected outcomes include:

• Clarity of one's desired future in many facets of life
• Clarity of the meaning one is seeking and personal preferences
• Clarity about internal blocks and leverages in relation to the desired future
• A short-term prototype of the roadmap towards the desired future.

The workshop is led by Halasyam Sundaram (a sociologist and a OD consultant), Raja Chidambaram (Consultant in the areas of Change and Leadership) and Dr. Vinay Dabholkar (an Innovation consultant).

I recommend the workshop to anyone that wants to create a personal vision for themselves. I want to share my story on how I got benefited from a similar workshop twice (led by Raja Chidamabaram).

It was in early 2003, I had started feeling a little restless. I had completed 10yrs in the very first company in my professional life. Though there was no problem per se with the organization that I was working, I was feeling stuck, my own learning had gone down considerably low, was sitting pretty in a comfort zone, I was plain reacting to events every day as there were no goals to aspire and therefore no growth. Above all there was absolutely no work-life balance. It was under such circumstances my first personal vision workshop was held. The outcome changed my life for ever. First, I came-up with a tag line for myself - Contribute, Learn, Enjoy. These 3 seemingly simple words have had a major influence in my life and continues to inspire me in all facets of life. I set out with a 5-year goal to increase my capacity to contribute (at office, at home and to society). I drew up a financial management plan till 2020 (as I wanted to retire in 2020), set out goals to have vacations at regular intervals (both within India and abroad). My personal and professional lives were integrated and I can proudly say that I've been enjoying a near perfect work-life balance (though one suspects, my wife won't entirely agree).

One great thing about the discipline of setting goals is that lot of such things become a habit and gets routinized and freeing your mind to focus on bigger and better things. For example: I had a goal of taking 3 local vacations every year and having a vacation abroad once every 3 years. Now, we regularly take local vacations during kid's winter, christmas and summer holidays. We have visited Mauritius and Singapore/Malaysia by now. We have finalized a 18-day Europe travel in 2010 and thinking about a self-drive vacation in Newzealand (2013). My investments are categorized for my retirement, towards children's education, contribution to society and for major household expenses. The plan is stable and continues for the sixth year running. These two have become so mechanical - my investment plan for the entire takes about one sunday in an entire year and I have long and growing list of places to visit and just keep ticking them off.

Having stabilized basic facets of life, in 2007, I felt the need to do this exercise again. This time, I was trying to see how I can grow professionally. In this exercise, I came up with "Facilitating Impact through Innovation. Contribute. Learn. Enjoy". I really don't say this is my life purpose, but it is something very close to that. One immediate decision of this exercise was that I left my cushy job at an MNC (as I was not doing much over there) and joined a little known start-up of sorts which I thought would help me to "change the world" in some way. I also decided to advance my goal of "retire from salaried job" by 2016 and become an independent consultant. My career goals are now fairly well articulated and are in line with the theme Facilitating Impact, which incidentally is the name of this blog. When I go for my half yearly retreats, I evaluate myself on the personal vision that I have set for myself and set goals which are inline with my personal vision.

I'm a big believer in the concept of personal vision. It can be so inspiring. It can be so fulfilling. It cuts out all the crap, all the noise around as you know where you are headed. It also makes you own up your mistakes and take responsibility for your own future. All lame excuses on your manager, spouse, dog, city you live-in and other things like "you don't know how my situation is different" goes away. It liberates you from the constraints imposed by the organization and helps you chart your own course, within the boundaries, as you are always focused on what you want. It gives a great amount of clarity and you won't be influenced by the external rewards (or lack of it) as you are driven by a vision. Your own one. Created by you.

I strongly recommend this workshop to everyone wanting to lead fulfilling lives. Even for those who are doing well. I'm promoting it not because its a SoL South event, but because of the impact it has made in my life and because I know all the three trainers personally for over 10years now. I can guarantee that this could be one of the best investment that you could ever make for yourself. Vinay Dabholkar, one of the trainers, shares his experience from one of the earlier workshops here.

The event is planned on 8th, 9th and 10th of October. Its a residential program to enable participants to focus, share ideas with trainers and fellow students, and to have space for quiet reflection. The fees are Rs.15,000, 12,000 and 9,000 for corporate sponsored, self-sponsored and for folks from not-for-profit respectively. 10.3% service charges are extra. The fee covers accommodation on double occupancy basis and include vegetarian food. It would be held at Search Training Center, Koppa Village on Bannerghatta Road.

Feel free to contact me (ramp.ramp@gmail.com, mobile +91 990 190 1717) or the trainer Halasyam (halasyam.sundaram@gmail.com, mobile +91 94433 45130) directly for more details.

Thank you very much,


RamP!
ramp.ramp@gmail.com

Jul - 09: Best of Blog Posts

Can't believe I skipped this section for the last 3 months. Travel to Europe and Japan and high pressure at work has thrown my blogging out of the gear and I'm crawling back to keep the habit intact. Here are some posts that I found remarkable, in the last 3 months.

Tom Peters continues to urge to keep Excellence Always (If not Excellence, what else? If not NOW, when? - he keeps asking). In this post Excellence? Always? Yes!, he remembers the following from Martin Luther King:
"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."

Beautiful isn't it? He also thinks the most important job of the boss is to develop his people. Read The ONE Thing ....

Seth Godin reminds us that You Matter. In another interesting post he talks about The Risk/Reward Confusion.

Guy Kawasaki hardly blogs these days and his blog posts are typically some promo stuff on his company alltop.com (not that I have a problem with that) or his review of some cool car that he got a chance to drive for a week or so (I do envy him on this). He does interview (I love this) some cool folks though in OpenForum.com. Here are some interviews you might like:

• The Inside Scoop on Design - Interview with Harmut Esslinger (Macintosh Designer)
• How to Escape Mundanity - In this interview Pamela Slim explains how to escape the mundanity of corporate cubicle life
• In Pursuit of Elegance - Interview with Mathew E May where he offers 12 indispensable tips for embracing Elegance.

Rajesh Setty cautions on chasing wrong milestones. He talks about The Only Milestone that Matters. Review your milestones. NOW. Check how many of them is helping you to increase your capacity to contribute.

Vinay Dabholkar is studying the roles and influence of CTOs these days. He shares Two Excellent Articles on the Role of CTO (first one talks about the roles and responsibilities of the CTO and the second one talks about 5 dominant patterns amongst CTOs in the US).

Thank you very much,


RamP!
ramp.ramp@gmail.com