Perpetuating a Truth

For the past few weeks, I have been frustrated by the constant bandhs, blockades, and petty destruction of property across Hyderabad and perhaps in other cities and towns across the State.  The final straw was when I read and heard the call of Prof. Kodandaraman asking for all schools and colleges to remain closed until Telangana State was granted.  I assume that Prof. Kodandaraman is an eminent professor, and no matter what his political views, for someone to become a professor, he would have obtained a doctorate, which means that he would have applied the basic principles of logic and reasoning to arrive at a conclusion.

If there are two reasons, why the Telangana region has remained backwards, it is the lack of a single minded pursuit of education, and desire to work against adversities.  It is a simple cycle, the way I see it: first you need to be educated - I do not mean getting degrees, but education in the real sense of the word (but that is a different story).  Once you are educated, you need to get jobs, competing in a free and competitive world, Once you get a good job, your economic condition improves, and once that is achieved, it is possible to hand down this prosperity to the next generation.

The very act of denying education for a prolonged period of time is going to put every child to a disadvantage, make it difficult for him to compete in a much larger world than Hyderabad, and eventually do well for oneself.  I was aghast to learn recently that a student wrote in her exam papers that she could not prepare for her exams; she was ready to offer her services to the examiner just so that he could pass her in the exam.  This is what disruption to an education process can cause!

I have always lived with adversities.  I was born a Brahmin.  In India, being a Brahmin means that you fight your way through; there are no reservations in schools or colleges, there are no concessions or scholarships, or reservations in jobs.  In order to make a living my father had to move out of Andhra Pradesh.  That means that I was living in a new place,  learning a new language, a new culture, and yet trying to succeed. I never recall complaining about that.  Since then, I have been moving from one state to another, always an outsider, always working hard.  If I am successful  today, it is because of the two basic ideas that I was brought up to recognize: a) you cannot achieve anything without education, b) in order to achieve anything you need to work against adversities, and not try to subvert the system.

In light of my own limited understanding of what it takes to achieve something, I find it rather ridiculous that Prof. Kodandaraman has called for depriving students of the very education that could be their emancipation.  I also find it painful to see that the most simplistic way of looking at the correct picture has become to believe that another person can deprive you of what is rightfully yours.  You need to earn it, not through bandhs, and blockades but by working hard and with diligence. 

Telangana region has remained backwards, but let us stop blaming others for it.  Let us work to make our next generations stronger through education and hard work. Otherwise, we will continue to perpetuate the truth that the people of Telengana are a deprived lot.  

Lessons in Entrepreneurship...2

Every moment teaches me something in my journey of entrepreneurship, and I feel compelled to keep sharing my thoughts with all you, in the hope that you readers could benefit from my ramblings.

1. Continue to Dream: This is one fear I constantly have; that I will stop dreaming.  So, I make it a point to sleep long and well. Start my day with a few minutes to myself, where I live all my dreams. I note all the things that I want to do, then keep repeating them to myself every once in a while so that I do not forget them.  I break down my dreams into those which I want to achieve within a short time span, and those which could remain in the realms of dreams much longer, and then assign a task force to achieve them. 
2. Expect to be let down:  Not everyone shares your dreams or your passion.  There are many who want your success, but not the path to success.  They are the ones who want the dream, but do not want to share in it.  Expect them to say the right things but not be with you when you are in trouble.  These are the ones who are likely to say "what is in it for me?"  And these are the one to be wary of, because their path is definitely divergent from yours.
3. Expect things not to work: It is important to believe in your dream.  Which means that no matter how distant it appears, and how dismal the results appear, one cannot give up.  Things do not work, and this is one time my belief in Murphy has been completely reinforced.  Some of your objects could get miscommunicated to your team, some of the directions could be conveniently forgotten, and some others could be misdirected.  In any event, we have to remember the travails of Robert Frost and keep trying.  Most importantly, have a plan b, c, d, e.....
4. Trust, but verify: The path of growth requires that you have to entrust some of the tasks that you would do as an entrepreneur, to others; expecting that others will do what they are expected to, is naive.  You learn the hard way when some of the work that you entrust to others does not get done.  So, keep asking whether something has been done as required.  After something has been done, verify again and again....until you are satisfied, because that is the only person that matters for the organisation.  
5. Finally, do not lose hope:  The endearment of a lucrative job is always there.  How much better with all support systems, a nice salary, and easier and more clearly focused objectives. But then, think of this only as the worst case scenario and that will give rise to more hope.  Once we look around ourselves and see all the other entrepreneurs equally striving, equally succeeding and equally failing, there is hope.  When you see of the courageous few who have achieved their dreams, made a name for themselves - there is hope. 
6. Press the Pedal: So, continue to press the pedal.  If someone says you are overworking, do not believe it, because there is no such term for a growing entrepreneurship.  Care for the small things, care for the big things, keep pushing because that is the only way your dreams could eventually be achieved.

Happy Entrepreneurship!

P.S.: In our constant endeavor to improve, we have created a new website, and a new logo design.  Would love your comments. (www.mydatawise.com)  

The rise of India

As a new year begins, it is time to introspect on where we stand as a Nation, and whether we are headed in the right direction at all.

The last few months has witnessed an unprecedented euphoria over the fact that there has been a queue of visiting dignitaries of the world's largest economic powers, all of them wanting to do business with India.  Indian media has been gloating over the fact that these countries are talking about doing multi-billion dollar deals with India.

However, my this blog is not about what is so good about it, but what I perceive is not good with India today. I present a few serious issues that require answers:

1. Growth or growth with a purpose? The 8% growth has obfuscated the fact that mere growth cannot achieve anything unless there is a purpose to it.  Wealth accretion has become an end in itself.  This spectacular growth has been possible on the back of the IT industry which itself has grown based on rate arbitrages.  Unfortunately, while quite a bit of this wealth has percolated down to employees, a large proportion has remained with the owners of companies, who have hoarded it or used it to amass personal assets.  We have the Ambani brothers competing to spend splurge on needs which are way beyond what even a  wealthy person would need.  In this entire process, these neo-entrepreneurs have forgotten that money cannot be an end in itself and can at best be a means to something worthwhile.  The record of the West speaks for itself.  Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and a clutch of American Billionaires have decided to give away in excess of US$125 billion in wealth. This is nearly 10% of India's GDP! Surely they know what is the purpose of wealth.   
2. Widening disparities between the haves and have-nots: As a country, we have definitely not been able to stand for Socialism as provided in the Constitution (through the 42nd amendment in 1977).  The well known Gini Coefficient shows India at a disappointing 119 rank.   The income disparities between rural and urban India are particularly discouraging. 
3. Failure of governance: Companies have rarely given any importance to Governance.  The executive-shareholder of companies have failed to make a distinction between the two roles, and this causes a serious compromise of their position.  The Satyam Saga that rocked Indian corporate world is symptomatic of what happens through many Indian companies - it is just that they have not risen above the radar. It takes immense courage for a Narayana Murthy to decide to step down - I am not certain whether the remaining executive-shareholders of Infosys have the same courage. The choices are clear - either a governance code should be evolved by the powers that be, or we should, as a Nation, learn to live with continuing episodes such as Satyam.  At a larger level, the 2G scam which is now the flavor of town is a reflection of the same lack of distinction between the role a person plays and the possible influence that a decision that he or she takes can play on his or her own wealth or assets.  
4. Over-reliance on systems at the expense of people: The immense success of IT in being able to assert India's position in the Global order of merit has made us believe that creation of Systems is the panacea for all evils.  Every other 'intelligent' person that you talk to believes that he has a solution which is a cure for one of the big problems the country is beset with.  Unfortunately, most of this optimism in success of systems comes from arm-chair lotus-eating philosophers who have perhaps been bred in Western world, and see the solutions spawned in the west as the best for our ills.  Unless we realize that India is a completely
   
   
   different Nation, with a different set of problems, the systems approach is unlikely to succeed.  India's strength (and its weakness) is its people.  Unless we harness this strength, educate the people, convince them about what is good, no system will succeed.  Remember the stiff resistance from all public sector banks when the idea of bank computerization was first mooted.  Thanks to a steady influencing and education of the banking staff, the situation has completely reversed today.     
5. Measurement metrics: Learning from our western counterparts, we have established measurement metrics which are oriented towards measuring the end result, and not the process itself.  One of the major truths about Indians is that unlike the behavior of people (and therefore systems) in the western world, where a direct cause-effect relationship is expected, in India, the path is not so clear.  Therefore, the importance of measuring the process is more important.  Yet, if we look at all the statistics that are being put out (number of mid-day meals delivered, number of free text books delivered, grants or subsidies given, improvement in health parameters), we either concentrate on input measures or output measures and never the process measures.  What is time to impact, what are process losses, what are throughputs? Rarely do we find anyone measuring these, whereas in order to optimize resources this is perhaps the most important measure.  If indeed there are leakages in the system (in terms of wealth, or in terms of resources, assets) - Rajiv Gandhi once famously made the statement -"Of every rupee spent by the government, only 17 paise reached the intended beneficiary"; and yet we continue to be obsessed with the measurement of the end result rather than trying to measure the process itself.  Perhaps it is a matter of convenience for all concerned.  

While I have hope that things will correct (India is one country where there is a fantastic corrective mechanism), the frustration is that we are happy the way things are and do not try to change things.  Hoping for a better future in 2011.

Let there be light...

I am now fairly convinced that India will have to chart its own path of innovation.  The initial few decades since Independence saw the country struggling to manufacture basic products that it needed.  Since the economic liberation, companies started getting into technology agreements to bring in International Technology into the Country.  The third wave started in the beginning of this century, with International Companies starting to see the talent pool in the country, and begin setting business in the country, to export out.

This process has established one fact: Indians have the capability.  Every part of the world one goes to today, it  is recognized that Indian techies are good.  However, what this sudden enlightenment has done is ensure that students by the droves were getting into IT.  Initially, the best of the cream were sucked in, attracted by the much higher salaries and glamor of foreign travel.  Over time, the next layer, and then the next layer, and then the next layer of qualified persons started getting in, lured by the lucre.  Suddenly, you had all kinds of Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Civil Engineers, anyone with any Engineering degree was a software engineer.

Companies were so desperate for people that they would pick anyone and put him in front of clients, the operative word was "billability".  People who barely knew how to write code were routinely being 'billed', with technically stronger team members backing them up.  The Government saw the boom, and suddenly you had more engineering colleges blooming.

And one day, the roof fell through - America sneezed and the world caught a cold. Recession was in the air, jobs were being cut, and everyone started desperately to try and protect their jobs. Suddenly, a lot of people who could hide behind more productive colleagues started getting exposed, as companies decided to trim the fat.  Jobs were being lost, and people suddenly started seeing how bad the quality of the staff was.

In fact, the quality of the staff was always the same.  The profit objective of the companies employing them forced them to ignore this.  The blame lies with two groups: the colleges which churn out engineers and other 'qualified' students by the thousands, without adding to any knowledge pool, and the companies, which fail in their duty to ensure that their staff are continuously trained to get better at their jobs.

It is a matter of time before the next wave of opportunities will arise for companies, and the mad rush to select  students will start once again.  The investments need to be made in educating the students while they are in colleges.  These is where I expect the next round of changes to happen; and these are my predictions (I am sticking my neck out):

1. Companies will start recognizing the difference between education at one college from that of another. Colleges providing better education will be seen to be better.  I am not referring to the current practices of ranking colleges, which have long lost their meaning, what with the amount of lobbying that goes on, but a more informal and yet recognizable input-output measure of education effectiveness.
2. As a consequence, students will start demanding a better education system,where what they learn is more important than whether they get a job or not, and if so, the nature of the job that they get.  Again, if the right inputs are provided to them, the right education (and therefore benefits at job) will result.
3. Colleges which want to be better will need to invest in the right kind of teachers - those who are genuinely interested in the well-being of their students, and not those who are 'just doing their job'. This would automatically also create a system whereby better teachers start demanding and getting better pays as compared to worse teachers.  Also, the AICTE payscales become redundant.
4. And finally companies will stop the practice of paying based on fixed norms (such as years of experience, degree, marks) and look for qualitative norms which are assigned based on capability of the individual and not the qualifications alone.

More on this topic later...

Chess Games and Management

Let not the title of this post scare you! This is not about Management Games, but something more interesting.  Recently, we have decided to sponsor Chaitanya Krishna - a chess prodigy - who has shown immense promise. We hope that with able support from his mentor and guide K Narasimha Rao, he will be able to break int the ranks of national level chess players shortly.

While discussing with his mentor, I was made aware of a a few very interesting statistics, which I thought I should share in this post:

1. There are apparently a total of about 1.7 million games which have been documented over the last two decades, and these probably make up the sum total of the universe of chess games. 
2. All of these end up with only about popular 30 types of end games (a position from which a conclusion is reached - a win/loss or a draw). 
3. Of these, there are only 2 end games make a significant percent of all end games - Rook Vs. Rook (8.45%) and Rook + Minor piece  Vs. Rook + Minor piece (15.13%).

In fact there are very many invaluable lessons to be learnt from the observation of how chess players play.  Some of these, applicable to the management of business, are:

1. Do not get overwhelmed by the number of options available - if you are focused on the end result, you will realize that no matter how many options appear to be available, only a few are really worthy of pursuit.
2. In Chess, it is considered honorable to draw and not necessarily to secure a win.   So too in business - attempting to win at everything may not be feasible.  Be prepared to hold ground in some cases, be prepared to not win all the time.
3. The critical aspect of winning or drawing a game is based on how strong your position is: there are some squares that must be protected no matter what it takes, and there are others which can be compromised.   Be aware of those positions which are absolutely vital for your business, and be prepared to give away some of the ones which are not so important.
4. Sacrifices are common and strategic.  You could sometime sacrifice a bigger piece to gain a strategic advantage against an opponent, even when the opponent believes that he has gained the advantage.  Again, if the focus is correct, sacrifices will lead to achieving the correct result.
5. Finally, I understand now that ELO ratings are not a complete reflection of a players capabilities.  A player can consistently be playing at a higher level, but would get recognised at a certain ELO rating only after he has achieved some milestones, and sustains his position for a given time.  A company striving for excellence too must follow similar principles.

Chaitainya is currently ELO rated at 1631.  If you want chess tips, you could reach him at chaitanya.g@mydatawise.com.

New waves of entrepreneurship (or, why Mumbai is no longer the entrepreneurial capital of India)

Mumbai is dead...long live India!

Mumbai has long accounted for all the largest number of entrepreneurial ventures - the birthplace for all large corporates - the Tatas, the Ambanis, the Godrejs...and many more...all of them are credited with making Mumbai the commercial capital of India.

But I believe that the days of Mumbai as a entrepreneurial beehive are numbered.  And these are the reasons for my prediction:

1. Entrepreneurship requires lotus eaters.  People who are willing to set aside the daily hub-a-hub of life to dream of doing something different, even the ridiculous.
2. The single minded focus on commercial success does not drive entrepreneurs.  Entrepreneurs are more interested in the success of their dreams and not in the money that they can make, Mumbai has passed that stage.
3. The opportunity costs are too high.  In any other part of India, the opportunity costs of not working for immediate financial needs are still not high, and therefore one can afford to want to start something; not, I am afraid, in Mumbai.
4. Mumbai is overcrowded - not just literally.  Everyone is jostling to be the next millionaire.  The scope for aiming for a few hundreds (against the millions which every Mumbaikar dreams of) are very restrictive, and not attractive to the average intending entrepreneur.

So; is there hope?  Certainly, but only for the rich and the leisurely; this is the crowd to watch out for.  Until then, expect more GVKs and GMRs to capture the entrepreneurial space even in Mumbai.. And look out for the Lucknows, Hyderabads, Bhopals, Mysores, and Coimbatores to emerge.

Watch the results from the ET sponsored Power of Ideas campaign participants (you can check out www.powerofideas.co.in)  and you will know what I mean.

Lessons in Entrepreneurship

This is now the third year of running DATAWISE and tremendous learning for me.  While the first couple of years was spent on learning how to build a business, now, sustenance becomes more important.  I thought that other budding entrepreneurs, who must be going through similar travails would benefit from my own experience. This is my Saath Sutra (the seven principles)  from the last three years of running the company:

1. Building a philosophy: It is easy to build business: do prospecting, send proposals, sign contracts, and deliver.  However for sustained growth, everything must revolve around a philosophy. In my case, I took some of the elements which are closest to my heart and built these as a foundation to the company.  these have now become a part of the values of the company.  Invariably, every new staff member realizes that these are the essential qualifications required to belong.  You will be surprised as to how easily both internal and external alignment are achieved.
2. Delegation blues: While initially I would get involved in everything, slowly I started delegation to others.  While delegating, be prepared to step in anytime; in fact, breath down the necks of the persons you are delegating to (to pucca officewallahs this may sound sacrilege!) only to ensure that there is complete alignment. Nonetheless, be prepared for mishaps and changes in both execution quality and styles - condemn mistakes, but cover up for them.  
3. Overcommunication: I spend more time nowadays in informal communication than I have ever done in my entire life! I find an occasion to drive a point, either to one person, or to the entire staff.  I ask for feedback, but do not get swayed by it.  After all, it is my company and I need to drive it the way I want to.
4. Expect people to leave: This was one big learning.  I assumed that my team would remain with me forever! My investment in time in bringing all to the same level as I expected them to come to has been tremendous - and painstaking.  Yet, I suffered from instant heart-breaks the first time someone wanted to leave the company. I now realize that only a few of the staff will stay.  I now plan to have more people in the pipeline than business would normally call for.
5. Scouting for talent: The first few staff are the reluctant ones, those who do not know your reputation and are pay-day oriented.  As the company's reputation grows, I am now able to attract talent, and am in a position to pick and choose.  In the last few months, there have been more people that I have rejected than selected. However, I need to keep this as an on-going exercise. Instead of now looking for 'employees' I look for 'partners' - someone who is willing to invest time and effort to make the business grow.
6. Surprise Element: Over a period of time, my staff knows exactly how I would tend to behave or react, and this predictability makes it difficult to elicit behavior which is expected from them.  I now make it a point to do or say things which they would never expect from me. Creating moments of surprise, crisis, joy... all go towards making a livelier set up.
7. Focus on Customer: This is an old one.  However, when dealing with multiple customers, I realize that this is easier said than done.  Typically, I expect to have more than one customer calling up at the same time with an issue.  The only way I deal with it is continue to work the long hours.  

Happy Entrepreneurship!