What Managers Should Do – A Few Thoughts About Practical Wisdom
February 22, 2009 by eladsherf
Filed under B-School Experiences, Business
I have to admit that after seeing so many recommendations about it around the web I was really eager to see the above video of Barry Schwartz’s talk at TED. They say that high expectations begets disappointment. Well, this maybe a good example of an expectation. This is one of the most inspiring and appealing speeches I have seen.
The speech contains so many themes that are worthy of a discussion that I can develop a whole blog around them. However, I will only elaborate on one of them and let you think of the rest. Listening to Barry talk about the fact that some janitors describe their jobs differently than the formal job description that entails a only a list of what he must clean, by talking about the way they interact with people, reminded me what Markus Buckingham talks about in “First, breaking all the rules” about how great managers treat their employees. If I try to summarise both of their ideas and incorporate my own it will sound something like this:
- Find the right people – People have different talents. Many times, in order to be great at a job – yes, even that of a janitor – you need more than the basic skills for actually doing the job. In this case, a janitor in a hospital needs empathy. How many hiring for janitors include that in their list of demands? But it is true in many other jobs. There is always the extra passion or talent that transforms good employees to great ones. Find a candidate with such a passion or talent and your chances of hiring a great employee increases.
- Let them to the job – People work differently. They produce the same outcomes differently. Don’t interfere. Don’t make up rules. Maybe, as Barry says, don’t even create incentives (I am not sure I totally agree with that one). Don’t try to make them do the job the way you would have done it. Give them the intellectual and mental space to work it on their own. Provide support and training but don’t create rules about the specific job. If phase one was done correctly, they will find the way to produce the outcomes you required.
- Actively look for results – this seems like an obvious stage, but it is not. And when I talk about results, I don’t mean only if the job is done, but how is it done; what is the joy the employee derives from doing it; what are the ripple effects of his work. You can’t do that by looking only on the products. You have to talk to the employee. You have to walk around in his area. You have to assess his work from different perspectives.
- Replace or retain – if someone is not fit for the job, if the only results you see at level three are the “formal” ones, than it is wiser to let go. Off course, this should not be done lightly and not before you are absolutely sure that there is no match. But it is better to lead an employee to directions where he can produce those results. Where he can put his “practical wisdom” that Barry talks about in his speech for good use. Because as I said in point one, each of us has different “practical wisdom” or talent. On the other hand, those who do create result should be recognized. Or as Barry calls it: “celebrate moral exemplars“. This is the guy you want to spend most of your time with. This is the guy, you want to learn and frame step one according to. This is the one you should try to do everything to retain, because these are the people who truly excel and drive your organization forward.
Note: This article has been reproduced with explicit permission from the author. Check the original post here.
Delhi 6 a.k.a The Black Monkey
Delhi 6
Year: 2009
Writer: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Prasoon Joshi, Kamlesh Pandey
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Length: 138 minutes
Category: Drama/Documentary
Media: Film
Rating: out of 5Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, the man who gave us a movie like Rang De Basanti, which was set in Delhi, returns this time with a movie in which he tries to trace his routes. Aptly titled Delhi – 6 (The pin code of old Delhi, Chandani Chowk etc is 110006) although originally titled Dilli -6, the movie tries to encapsulate the salient aspects of Old Delhi, as one of the main themes.
For a Delhi’ite and me personally, the movie did evoke some emotional connect as it did for my parents who were residents of Delhi -6 in the post independence era. Quite like Roshan (played by Abhishek Bachchan) who returns to Delhi from the USA, me and my brother as kids used to come home for summer vacations. Home was Delhi and I am talking about early 1980′s. As kids we would also be quite amazed at the site of a cow on the streets, or a vegetable seller going around shouting and selling vegetables or the best of them all, the news paper fellow, who used to roll the paper, put a rubber band on it and fling it one floor, aiming directly at our balcony. For my parents, it evoked nostalgia since they could relate to the streets, the religious fervor witnessed around Ramlila and the camaraderie between Hindus and Muslims. For instance my Dad was reminiscing that post independence, the area they stayed in had 90% muslims and 10% Hindus. The bonhomie between them was excellent. The houses were connected and the people celebrated all festivals together. So why such an abysmally low rating for the movie.
The reason for the low rating is that it seems Rakeysh Mehra ended up making a documentary on Delhi -6, rather than a commercial flick. He has focussed so hard on the setting for the movie, that he forgets that the audience for the movie wants a particular story. There is a very strong reference to the “Monkey Man” , a strange Monkey like creature who made headlines in 2001 in Delhi. In fact at several places in the movie one feels like the movie is dragging, it’s repetitive and just does not hold your attention. The characterization leaves you all confused and wondering as to who is doing what and who is what. In all of this, the one message which Rakeysh Mehra wants to set is that there is a Monkey Man in all of us, which breeds hatred and destruction. Sure, but look at the elements which are trying to be connected here: Roshan a NRI born in the US returning to India and discovering a new world, Roshan and Bittu’s (Sonam Kapoor) love story, Roshan’s grand-moms wish to return to India and die in her ancestral property, Hindu-Muslim feuds, Bittu’s search for the Indian Idol, the Charm of Delhi-6 (Chandni Chowk, Red Fort, Jama Masjid etc). Mr. Mehra I think you over-did it this time with the number of stories you wanted to tell. If you had just told one story, you would have done well. In all this I feel sad for Sonam Kapoor. Her second movie release will have to see a pathetic review.
So for all those who are going to watch the movie, be prepared for a documentary with some interesting tit-bits on Delhi -6.
Obama in Class – Dissecting The Qualities Of A Leader
February 16, 2009 by theagsmblogger
Filed under B-School Experiences, Business
21st January, 2009(Sydney Time) was a historic day for the United States of America and for world in general. It was the day when Barack Hussein Obama stepped in to become the country’s first ever Black President. His road to victory in itself was quite remarkable and very few people in the world could have ever predicted that such a man would ever become POTUS.
Over here at the Australian Graduate School Of Management a bunch of 65 odd global citizens and future global leaders were busy dissecting the Obama speech to discover the qualities of a good Manager/Leader. Obama without a doubt is an excellent orator and speaker and packs such a force when he speaks that it’s hard not to feel emotional at the end. We watched the 15 minutes + of his acceptance speech and came up with the following qualities that must be present in a global leader,
- The ability to communicate effectively.
- The ability to set goals and make decisions.
- To be able to stay calm and still be fair.
- To be culturally sensitive.
- To be charismatic and pragmatic.
- To have a positive attitude.
- The ability to motivate and work under pressure.
- To be able to listen and ask good questions. Many a times asking the right questions is all it takes to solve even the most complicated problems.
The above are just a small subset of the numerous qualities that the class came up with and it’s amazing to see that while Obama does not have a lot of political experience, people still expect him to have most of the qualities mentioned above, just because he is able to portray some of them effectively. What do you think are some of the essential qualities that a global leader must have ? Share them with us.
Framing,Marketing, Spaghetti Sauce and Iphones
February 10, 2009 by eladsherf
Filed under B-School Experiences, BusinessYesterday I got the chance to see the above lecture by Malcolm Gladwell (here is a link to it, in case the embedded video does not work). I really recommend it. It is well worth the ~20 minutes.
A few after thoughts:
- Today in class(the Full Time MBA at AGSM) we talked about Decision Making, Bounded Rationality and Framing. I think the story in the lecture is a great illustration of Framing and the inertia of our current thoughts. Instead of thinking about the best product that will satisfy everybody we should be looking for the best product that will satisfy groups of everybody (the last sentence is not a mistake. You need to see the lecture to understand it).
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People don’t always know what they want. So much of marketing thinking is built on the premises that if we only ask our customers what they want, they will tell us. What the story behind the lecture teaches us is that although asking the customers what they want might be a good idea, sometimes we just need to create something that they will want. I don’t know about you, but if a few years ago somebody would have asked me what do I want my cell phone to do, there is no way I would have said: “”Oh, you know what, I want it to react to movements when I move it around so I can play games with it”“. I don’t know it for a fact, but I think the people at apple just put that quality into the iphone without people telling them that is what they want. And that is a one great quality for a product. That is a way to make it a purple cow.
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We should always remember – people are unique. They want different things. They have different thoughts. It is true for marketing and it is true for management. If we treat people the same by giving them the average we get average results. The future is in the extremes. Going for the average is not safe. It is the riskiest business there could be.
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People talk a lot about the fact that globalization leads to standardization. I don’t think so. What we discover is that there are no universal answers. We discover that standardization does not always work. Because people are different. They can be clustered into groups, but they cannot be standardized.
Think about the music industry. Has the global network created more or less music? It is true that globalization does help some of the big players, but the internet makes diversity flourish (just check myspace if you don’t believe me).
Note: This article has been reproduced with explicit permission from the author. Check the original post here.
Nokia N97 – Has The Ultimate iPhone Killer Arrived
February 3, 2009 by krisdhingra
Filed under TechOn December 2, 2008 Nokia announced the release of its flagship device in the N9X range – the N97 mobile computer. Its feature list is nothing short of impressive. QWERTY keyboard, a 3.5” touch screen interface, A-GPS with an electronic compass, TV Out, 5 MP Camera and (32+16) GB of storage ensure that there is not even a single feature that you could possibly want that is not provided. Just looking at the spec sheet fuzzes out the competition.
This device should change the way people connect to the internet and to each other. Tagged as the ‘Facebook phone’, this device is the weapon of choice for social networking freaks. It offers status updates from social networking sites right on their home page in an always on mode. This makes keeping tab of your friends kids play. Choc a bloc with sensors and interfaces this device is any gadget lover’s dream come true. It’s a mobile computer on steroids.
From the point of view of a N-series loyalist and the prospective buyers of this phone, which are basically smart phone users, there are a number of features that make the phone an experience in itself. As a customer of this phone, you get to ride on a blazing fast processor with 128 MB RAM and an extended battery life that makes you wonder whether you really need a PC anymore! Symbian 5th Edition ensures user enjoyment, smart simplicity and expandable experiences at the center of your mobile computing experience. Add to this a TV out port and you are all set to show off your escapades to friends and family.
Tired of typing on the keypad? Losing the human ‘touch’? The large 3,5″, bright nHD (640 x 360 pixels and 16:9 aspect ratio) TFT color display with resistive touch screen and tactile feedback changes the way you interact with your phone. Also, the increased spread of your screen brings in a new world of applications that allows you to do more in a smarter way. Web browsing on this screen coupled with a fully functional QWERTY keyboard is a breeze. The on board web browser works like a charm and for the very first time, users would find the experience of mobile browsing similar to a full sized desktop. Couple this with high speed 3G network capabilities and you remain connected.
With the Carl Zeiss ® 5 Megapixel camera the world is yours to capture. Immortalize life in DVD quality 16:9 video with dual LED flash. Another extremely interesting feature of the phone is the ability to Geo-tag all images through the on-board GPS. Coupled with this is a powerhouse of multimedia capability starting with a 32GB internal storage memory to archive all the latest music and videos in your collection. A 3.5 mm audio jack and a next generation interface supporting album art, its your very own DJ console station. See your So-Lo (Social Location) change as friends keep track of you. Update social networks with your status and real time info.
The N97 probably is going to be one of the biggest contenders to replace the iPhone. The past year saw the release of a bunch a of phones that were touted as iPhone killers(Samsung Omnia, HTC Diamond etc) but none of them managed to create the desired impact on the consumers.
Checkout the video below to get an insight into this cool device.
For more information on the power and features of the N97, click here.
The Right Side Of The Graph
February 2, 2009 by eladsherf
Filed under B-School Experiences, BusinessIn the last few days in class(at the Australian Graduate School Of Management in Sydney), we have been going through a phase of self reflection. This phase included surveys, inventories and questioners, as well as group discussions and self reflection, both written and mental.
The last day, our facilitator presented us with the following graph:
The basic idea is to think about our parts in teams and later about our jobs and pinpoint actions we employ daily to their respective places on the graph. I think this is a very simple but usable tool in order to self reflect.
But looking at it, made me think about how managers can use this. Because of this simplicity, managers can use this simple tool to know a lot more about their employees.
I believe good managers should focus almost all their efforts on helping people find their strengths and concentrate on them, because this is the way to help people truly excel. Thus, great managers should focus their time on their employees’ strengths instead of focusing it on their weaknesses and areas of improvement. That said it is important to understand that there are different kinds of weakness and different kinds of strengths.
If the weakness is a result of insufficient knowledge or skill, then the manager role is to supply the knowledge, teach the skill or get the employee to learn the skill from an outside source. This is true in a limited number of cases. Sometime people feel incompetent and dislike certain actions, because they don’t know enough about them and never had proper training although they truly have a talent for it. In addition, most skills can be learned to a certain degree.
But in order to excel in certain skills you need talent. And different people have different talents. And with talent I mean not only to quality of being good at something, but actually having the right mental state and the natural inclination for certain skills. And most of time, this talent, if used correctly, can help overcome any weakness much more efficiently then dealing directly with the weakness. Therefore, when a manager recognizes a weakness he should explore which kind of weakness it is and if training or knowledge will help the employee overcome it.
On the other hand, many times as managers, we perceive strengths of people but forget to ask them an important question: do you enjoy doing that role/action? Because some people are really good at something, but they hate doing it. if they don’t feel good when they are doing it, when they don’t reach a state of flow, than they would not be able to that for a long time and they would not be able to truly excel. And what great managers do is find ways to make their employees excel.
The MBA so far has been a really enriching experience and there is still such a long way to go. As leaders in the making it is important for us to have the right vision of the future and this was explained by an excellent quote by John Scharr,
The future is not some place we are going to but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination.
Note: This article has been reproduced with explicit permission from the author. Check the original post here.
