Reflections on the indian cricket team's losses!

Why is it that no one wants to see a match where your team is loosing and are super keen when your team is winning. I am happier watching re-runs of matches we won than those that we lost.

Why is it that most movies have a positive end.? May be we like to keep the hope on and losses simply switch off some genetic button.

Why is it that in an organisation ver few are interested in bad news and good news is over broadcast/ spoken/ emphasized atleast in official channels. One can really see this in sales presentations where wins become folklore!

What about project failures, how much do we really learn from them? Are we even keen on doing so? I believe that we would any day gloat on a heroic effort where we managed to cross the line against all odds.

Just me reflecting on my emotions and thoughts as India lost its 202/20 matches to West indies and England on successive days!

A great Question for every product team member --Why are we doing what we are doing?

As a member of a product development team, one encounters the challenge of there being no single customer and instead a "Product owner" becomes the Proxy" customer. 

A really useful technique many project managers could use - Do you know baselining?

...SO you are a project manager taking over a failing project right in the middle-- what would be your first step?---Baselining

Far too many good project managers end up becoming martyrs simply because they do not use this technique. This used to be a question I often asked project manager candidates!

One technique to help you work well in a matrix organisation

A lot of us work in complex organisation structures that are organised across geographies, product lines and nature of work itself (In technology companies this could be Engineering, Professional services and Support). we then are subject ot directions and expectations of multiple "bosses" who typically operate at higher hierarchy levels. At a more nuanced level personalities and style of management of these "bosses" further complicate matters.

Who is an exceptional professional?

What is the main purpose of one’s life? It is constantly realizing your full potential”. “Even Grass grows”

An exceptional professional is one who is constantly operating close to at his/ her potential at that point in time.

the 4 dimensions to consider when building a product and Do you do that?

Enterprise software is often built without looking at all dimensions involved. The selling approach unfortunately reinforces this approach and as a result a lot of buyers do not consider all the dimensions involved in making a complete well thought out decision.

Quick Lessons from 26/11 for project managers

26/11 has been a sober experience for all of us and is certainly evokes strong emotions. I for one would not explore this from all perspectives but try to quickly distill it from a project manager’s perspective. Analogies can be dangerous and sometimes the extensions may be distorting and comparisons weak. If I do hit those notes, do excuse me for the same.

Is lesser more? - Lessons for product companies

The one significant difference I notice between Microsoft & Google as a product philosophy is while Microsoft tries to add more features, Google is minimalistic. Both happen to be at 2 ends of a spectrum. I acknoweldge that the comparison may be not entirely holistic and the product segment/ application / etc... all do play a role. However the merit of my observations hopefully is not diluted.

On helping others...

One of things that gives me a high is being able to make a difference to another human being. Over the years I would like to believe that while I have been able to help a few folks along the way and I have been fortunate enough to meet people who have made a difference in my own evolution.