'What you cannot do'

Haven't blogged since July....Thats a very long time...I guess the last 2 quarters were like that...Never felt the urge to do so....So many things happening...and most of them were'nt good ones...As Bill Lawry would have said 'Its all happening out here'...Some other day, I would have come back to my room and penned down my thoughts. But somehow it never happened.

Now that the storms have eased, the dust is settling and it would be a good time to reflect back on the events of the past 6 months. I hope to utilize this semester to write more....Dont want to make it into a resolution...But ya, I would definitely try....

Starting off, on a positive note. I happened to watch a video which was a talk by Harsha Bhogle and believe me its probably the best Ive ever heard. It goes on for an hour and a half, but its so engrossing. The way he relates cricket to management is simply awsome.

One of the key takeaways from his speech was that 'talent can only take you thus far. Its the grit and the determination that actually are the defining factors'. The ability to stay in there, take on the challenge, fight it out and eventually win. In a nut shell its the attitude that matters. He gave several examples where great talent has failed since they didnt have the right attitude. Sometimes when you are very talented, things come very easily till a certain point in time and then suddenly one fine day you find that its not working. It happens to everyone. He mentioned how hard working cricketers have managed to be successful by following the recepie of 'great attitude'.

I thought about it. It did make sense. And as I always do, I looked for some examples from the field of sports. I always use sports as an example and especially test cricket as I feel that it is the closest to management. You need concentration, patience, need to handle different conditions etc etc...(There are so many similarities..I can keep writing).I guess thats one good thing I have learnt to do over the last year or so. Any new concept/idea, I try and relate to examples from the field I am interested in..Somehow it works....(Il write about it in a later article)

About what Harsha said, I did'nt have to look too far. The first name that came to mind was Shivnaraine Chanderpaul. Not many of us remember that when Brian Lara scored his magnificient 375 against England, at the other end stood a young 17 year old left hander called Chanderpaul. A very unorthodox style of batting, people say he doesnt have style etc etc. But over the last decade he has been mighty effective. He has managed to play over a 100 test matches and score more than 7000 runs. As I write he has equalled the record of Everton Weeks and Andy Flower of scoring 7 consecutive half centuries in test matches.He has played for 1000 minutes in test cricket without conceeding his wicket...Not once, but on three occasions....There are records galore...

The underlying point is that, he is a batsman of limited ability. The key is he knows what he can do and more importantly what he cannot do. And that I think is the key. To know your limitations, build your game around it and then add in the ingredients (of grit,determination and attitude) as Harsha had so nicely mentioned and you have success !!

Adding on the point of what you cannot do, I cannot avoid mentioning the former Australian opener, Justin Langer. Over 7000 runs, 23 international hundreds, averaging more than 45 as an opener....Would never have been possible after the debut he had in 1992 and then subsequently being dropped for years...I guess he used that time to go back to domestic cricket, understand what he cannot do and when he got a chance in in 1999, he came back with a bang ! Who can forget the memorable partnership with Gilchrist to help Australia chase a 300+ score against Pakistan at Hobart.

Chanderpaul and Langer are just two examples...The world has many more !!!!

The GRASS that I crave for

It was pouring outside and Vijay Amritraj and Alan Wilkings were taking questions from the viewers. One of the concerned voices asked "With so much of rain around, do you think the organizers would be able to complete the Championships on time? ". Vijay with a serious face said "Ya, they definitely would want to get it over by Christmas !! "..For a moment even Alan could'nt get the humor and then after a split second, they all burst out laughing...

During the finals when Rafa and Fedex were pounding winners Wilkings said " Must be strange for Nadal to see someone else on the other side of the court. He used to seeing Sodderling there regularly" !! (In reference to the Nadal Sodderling match that went on amazingly for 5 days )..

Its incidents like these that make the Championships so special.

The Championships finally come to an end..What a tradition..what history...Infact it brings back
childhood memories..Initially in the late 80's when cable television hadnt made inroads we were dependent on Doordarshan. They too realized the importance of the Championships and used to telecast all the matches starting from the quarter finals LIVE ! (For the other grand slams it was the semis)...I can still remember clearly, take a water break in one of the post lunch sessions at Bosco, then heading for the cooler and discussing who is gonna win..."Becker will trash Edberg".."said one...No chance, watch out for Stich this time"...said the other. We would return back to the class with the bets firmly placed...Just fantastic.

We also organized our mini tennis tournaments that used to run in parallel with Wimbledon. The only difference is that we used to play with our TT Rackets and the 'ping-pong' ball, but with the rules of Lawn Tennis. Each of us would assume to be one of the players (There was a lot of competition for boom boom becker). We had bottles filled with water and a small towel for the break between games !.......

And yes, how can i not mention the way tennis was played in school...It was with a soft tennis ball, but the serve was with the hand. It all started of as 'SQUASH' against the traditional walls @Bosco. (Playing against the Chruch wall till we were driven away). Suddenly someone got this fascinating idea that we could actually play singles/doubles matches as well. I cant describe how it was...all i can say is that it was amazing and it was tense...(Ive played some amazing 5 setters and the best part is that they are so fresh in my mind)

I guess I can keep writing about Wimbledon...
Its the only 'GRASS' that I crave for... Cant wait for Wimbledon 08 .......

The Wheel Does Turn....A Full Circle

Not blogged for ages now….On quite a few occasions I did like…God ! I need to document this..There would be a stream of thoughts flowing through my mind…But somehow..somehow..the last minute laziness…..See, that’s what examinations break can do…You take a break saying that ‘ Abhi exams ke baad blog karunga’..Exams get over in a week but ……….

Ok..This incident happened while I was returning to Mumbai after completing my Q4 exams. I boarded an Indian Airlines flight (Yes, it took off on time, there was plenty of leg room, I got excellent food as well all for 1700 bucks from Chennai to Mumbai..who needs low cost airlines)..Here I was, seated comfortably reading some magazine when I noticed a couple of elderly people entering in wheel chairs. There was another old lady (easily in her early 70’s) walking with support, but on her own. Just one look at her, the way she struggled to move and yet did not depend on others..I thought to myself..Wow ! that is the feeling of confidence, the strong feeling to be independent, to struggle but to make it own her own. An excellent example of ‘pushing your limits’

Seated next to me was a gujju grandma. She was so weak and fragile, struggling to even breathe properly. I thought to myself. Why ? At this age, she needs to travel. I noticed that there were tears rolling down her eyes. She couldn’t express herself using words. Just an occasional grunt. I told myself, maybe she does need to fly, to consult a super specialist doctor somewhere in Mumbai.

During the rest of the journey I as thinking about old age and how in life we move from a cycle of Total dependence (child stage), to partial independence (school kids), to a stage of complete independence bordering on the extreme (college and working days) and finally back to total dependence (old age)

The wheel does turn a FULL CIRCLE…..

IDEAS...........

After 3 quarters of MBA, 16 final exams, countless quizzes and mid-terms I just thought about reflecting on the quality of some of the exam papers. Well, some of them have been absolutely amazing...The Operations Research Paper in Q2 stands out as being the best so far....There are quite a few close that rank second..One among them is my Q3 marketing paper....

Just thought of writing about it...
I recollect the joy on my face after completing the exams. Not because I had cracked it..Infact I hadnt....But because of the quality of questions....Simply amazing...Made me think, think and think again...And the question paper started with the following words ' Take a deep breadth, think, think again, collect your thoughts and then write'.....




Ok now to cut the long story short..There was a question which said

Explain 2 retail formats and then try marrying them and see what you get of it and if its a faesable option ?

I thought about it ( ya..for a change took 5 minutes to think !) and finally took a call that factory outlets and malls are the best options. The malls have a lot of footfalls but it doesnt translate into sales, what if all the leading brands open their factory outlets in a mall.....I also mentioned about having such malls near the IT parks , would definitely translate into higher sales.....

I put a lot of fundae justifying this.....
And now the best part...

Check out this article from Business Line..This came a couple of days back...

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2007/03/22/stories/2007032200210100.htm

Wow..exciting isnt it ?...Some idea which I felt was viable is actually being implemented...And I didnt know about it earlier....!!!

Encourages me to keep reading and keep thinking

The Number Game

Being a hardcore cricket enthusiast you would be expecting me
to be working overnight to get India's Net run rate calculations right... An exact value that would enable us to reach the Super 8 stages of the World Cup. How much do we need to score if we bat first, by what margin do we need to win our remaining matches, how many wickets can we afford to lose in the bargain and so on...

Well, I am certainly dabbling with a lot of numbers, but of a slightly different nature...

Today, cricket is a great money spinner. The kind of money involved is mind boggling. It is speculated that advertisment slots worth around 12000 crores have already been sold. (Infact its so huge, that I really
dont know the exact number of zeros in it !! ). LG, Pepsi, Nike, Hutch, Nokia, ITC.. the list goes on and on..Why have all of them pumped in so much money ? For the simple reason that they expect Team India to reach atleast the semi-finals (If it does that, it would have played 10 matches) and this would guarantee a good TRP rating for the channel and probably a good ROI for the companies.

Just imagine what would happen to all this money if Team India is sent packing ! What happens to all the projected ROI's, sales estimation, month long promotional campaigns ?? Would a West Indies - Ireland 2nd round match generate the same viewership ??....Would the number of Indians watching the World Cup remain the same, or would half of them just switch off ?... Lots of questions......Much more difficult than calculating the Net Run Rate......

To add on...Even Mandira Bedi's clothes or the 'lack of it' wont be
able to do the trick.. Hence India has to qualify.....and something
tells me that they will... Not necessarily a cricketing reason !!!

Functional Expertise

A brilliant article..again talks about the importance of various
disciplines of management and why we should not compartmentalize....

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/manager/2007/03/19/stories/2007031900371000.htm

Mallu Nomenclatures


Found this extremely hilarious article on one of the blogs...
Its a must read............................

http://anilgeorge.blogspot.com/2007/03/naming-in-mallu-land-remake-6174.html

Compartmentalization V/S Generalization

Case 1
Almost a year back I read the news of the CFO if a major IT giant (am not taking names for security issues!!!) was shifted as the global head HR, with his main responsibility being to reduce attrition and attracting the best talent.

How on earth is it possible? Come on, he was the CFO, he must have taken only Fin Courses in colleges and laughed at people studying those ‘HR kinda jargons’…..Would he have ever imagined that one fine day he would be leading the global HR practice.. Definitely NOT……As usual, I read that piece of news and in a couple of days time had forgotten about it.

Case 2
When I joined IIT M, (this was around 9 months back) I had this strong opinion that ‘Marketing is all nonsense’, You cant teach it’, etc etc (I probably had harsher words for it…). And I remember when I saw the course structure, I was utterly disappointed…3 marketing papers…..! Kab khatam hoga ……


Today, after 3 ‘quarters’ of my MBA, I have a completely different opinion. I discovered..(note the word discovered…Nothing is given in a platter, atleast at PG level, it depends on the student initiative) that pure compartmentalization does not work. I have learnt to integrate what I learn in various courses.

If you are still not convinced here are a few examples how subjects are inter-related…

Stanton uses Economic Order Quantity funda in logistics, Kotler talks about ABC Analysis of costing; Operations Mgmt talks about aggregate planning being the backbone of ERP…The core of finance comes from theories in Mathematics and Economics…..etc etc……….

I guess integration is the key to success in the long term. That is the key why the person in Case 1 was successful in an entirely new role. He learnt, he applied, he integrated and he re-learnt…

Learning with a holistic perspective makes learning a lot more enjoyable………

Balaraman Chips in.............
Right from the first quarter i have been seeing many ppl linking assts with grades. I wud like to differ here. If u think finishing the asst is to help u score better grades then u can never improve ur knowledge base.
Consider every asst as an opportunity to explore the subject and try to learn something out of it. If u detach the assts from grades and try to look at it separately trust me not only ll it be enjoyable but also u will gain a whole lot of things
Observe youself...is there any use in submitting and finishing an assignment jus for the heck of it?? and it was really amazin to see how ppl manage to create a team project when individual assignments are given. i thiink they are all True , virgin team men!!!...why do ppl behave like this? Are they so busy or totally uninterested? Even if u r then waht rights do u have to claim something as yours when factually it is not so??
And then comes the ooos and aaas whenever there is an hint of assignment. Being an MBA we shud b given live projects.But here v r...burdened(?) by even the smallest of assignemnts. Be fortunate to get assts..the thing tht difeerentiates the premier schools frm others is the no of assts those students do in a week. More they are the better.
Then come the negotiations..is it possible to postpone because of this and tht..in real life is this possible.???..shudnt we equip ourselves with parallel processing. Mind u ...our brain is so powerful and capable ..v r not putting tht to gud use
So Frnds the next time v r given an asst..pls luk fwd for more... let us do justice to it as only then v ll do justice to our capacity..

From Passion to Aversion

You are extremely passionate about something. Really love doing it..and then all of a sudden ..you just starting hating it..want to avoid it any cost….How often in life does it happen?

What am I talking about?...Its about Holi..The festival of colors. As I look back (not very long ago… just high school days)..Holi was an exceptional day. Planning used to start a week in advance. It used to coincide with my 2nd unit test, so I better plan how I am going to allocate time for my celebrations. I chalked out my study plan is such a way that I found time to celebrate this wonderful festival. In great spirit we used to assemble at our building terrace and invite people to join. Note the word invite..I don’t remember forcing people to come in..Can’t claim to be a saint tho… an odd balloon used to be thrown at people walking on the road a few days prior to Holi..but they were all uncles and aunties we knew and it was all in good spirit.

Then a series of events took place that has completely shaken my belief about this festival. My take on it now..It is more of (Hooli) ganism…The amount of noise, forcing people to come and play..Its not just about only friendly splashing of colors…It’s a lot lot more…And Im unable to comprehend…Either I’m right or maybe that Ive gone nuts. But there is a way to do things. Giving an individual the freedom to choose if he wants to play or not is a basic one…Is that happening? We keep talking about Indian tradition and values, but there are a lot of things we can learn from the West. Give every man his space, freedom to choose what he wants to and never try to impose yourself on him/her. This is something I find missing….

Either Im right..or maybe Ive gone nuts…..Trying to find an answer?????

Air Travel

A typical Gujju gang seated on the floor, playing Rummy (like the ones on the 9.14 CST local), families sitting on the floor, in front of the television screen and munching on the latest chivdaas and namkeens (like watching some soap opera), some guy, (or in other words, a dissatisfied customer) shouting at the top of his voice (I can shout louder than anyone !!), and a team trying to pacify him, young hip couples seated at several corners, some smooching away to glory while others in their own world not at all fazed by the happenings around them and of course a sea of onlookers, enjoying the tamashaa, a group of foreigners or should I say backpackers with a book (mostly Discovery India) in their hands wondering at whats going on !!!. Welcome to the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai. !!!!..........

Yes, that’s the scene that you are most likely to find if you choose to travel by air today. The so called ‘low cost airlines’ that are mushrooming so rapidly makes traveling by air a lot more pleasurable…Is it really so ? I don’t think so. The airports just don’t have the infrastructure to support the number of airlines and it invariably results in flight delays. Not to mention the time taken to get the baggage checked in. Last month I reached Chennai airport at around 5.15 in the morning to board a flight for Mumbai. There was a long queue. For a moment I felt that instead of coming to airport I have landed at the Tirupati temple for an early morning darshan!. (I think the darshan would take lesser time). After an hour and fifteen minutes I finally proceeded for my security check.

At the Mumbai airport I had to face a slight delay of around 8 hours !. Why? There were two reasons given. First due to the fog in the morning the flight got rescheduled and then the airport authorities had closed down one run way for maintenance purposes !...Whew……

I really don’t know how long it would take for things to fall in place. Or, if it would ever fall in place. One thing is for sure though. The next time I decide to travel to some place in India, I will definitely think long and hard…..

Product Differentiation through sheer Quality

After 2 quarters, 4 months, 12 subjects of intense study (I prefer study to hardwork!) it is but natural that I start looking at things from a ‘manger’s perspective. Even while buying wada - pav from the ‘wadapavwala’ across the street, I think about the ‘product’, ‘price’ and ‘place’. (For a 5 rupee wada-pav, I don’t think promotion can be used as a tool to increase his sales!)

Jokes apart, it really is amazing to see how Channel 9 continues to innovate and augment the product (which is broadcasting cricket matches). They have been in this business from the time Kerry Packer revolutionized cricket in Australia and for purists, watching cricket being played down under is the ultimate delight. Getting up at 5.30 in the morning..err 5.27 on a cool November morning and switching on the television set to watch the cricket season in Australia kick of at Brisbane is the ultimate feeling. I have been doing it for years. And I also know quite a few people who passionately follow this routine. From November to January every year, even the late risers get up at the wee hours of the morning to hear the great Bill Lawry say ‘Its all happening out here at the Gabba’. The Aussies have their rituals…the 1st test would always start at Brisbane (or GABBA as it is so lovingly called). The traditional Boxing Day test match at the MCG and the New-Year test match at the SCG played to packed audiences.

They have an excellent product, amazing cricket grounds, great telecast, easily the best commentators ever. Richie Benaud whose words are like gospel, Bill Lawry, with his amazing energy and that great tone, Ian Chappel, with his no-nonsense approach to commentary and the others chipping in take cricket viewing to a completely different level. The amazing thing is the way they continue to innovate. This year we have three of them on air at a time, as opposed to the traditional system of two commentators being on air. After bowling out Australia for 244 on the first day of the third test at Perth when the English openers had 17 overs to survive that night, we had Ian Chappel, Bill Lawry and Michael Slater on air. Ian queried Slats and Bill about how they approached such situations. For a young cricketer there could be nothing better than listening to the ‘traditional’ approach from Bill and the ‘modern’ approach from Slats.

We have the super-super slow motion that lets us know if they batsman really nicked the ball, if the ball pitched on line and would be hitting the stumps and various minute details. And the score-board…It just keeps getting better and better. And finally, the cricket memorabilia which is an integral part of Aussie cricket! They keep coming out with innovative themes and ideas and just a view of one of them and you feel like you want to order it. But…for a student like me..its way too expensive…..(One day I will also buy a couple of them!).

A great product (test match cricket), played at a great place (Australia) available at a great price (paying 275 bucks to the cable operator for this high quality product is peanuts) and finally great promotions (like the trivia of the day, memorabilia items available) makes Channel Nine the best ever. Keep it up guys…..

MONSOON MADNESS

They say that a Brahmin has to follow his daily rituals. They are a set of tasks, to be performed on a daily basis without fail. I doubt if the “Tam Brams “in Mumbai, ever follow these. Mumbai is not a place where known for its consistency. It’s a place known for brilliance. A playing field, where individual brilliance is rewarded more than consistency. But over the last 25 years, there has been something that has occurred on a consistent basis. No prizes for guessing this one. It’s flooding during the monsoons.

Gandhi Market and King’s circle are 2 landmarks which I had to cross in order to reach my school in Matunga.I can still distinctly remember these areas getting flooded every monsoon. Apart from the standard holidays that we used to have in schools, we always got a couple of days more due to flooding. Today 10 years after I have completed my schooling things remain the same at that place. Infact a common joke is that “you don’t need rains, even four dogs are enough, and Gandhi market would be flooded”. The deluge last year (26th July), which got the city to a complete standstill and the events of the last few days, which has completely crippled the normal life in Mumbai are perhaps are sign of things to come. I finally decided to find out the actual reason why the “Shangai of India “caves in to the rain gods every year.

The current drainage system in Mumbai, which was put in place at the beginning of the 20th century, is only capable of handling rain intensity of 25 mm per hour.Now the average rainfall on a day where there is heavy showers is in the range of 150 -170mm in the space of 2 to 3 hours.And if it happens to be the early hours of the morning, you can well imagine what happens to roads and rails and basically the entire nerve system that connects the suburbs to the city.Moreover the current drainage system is also clogged at several places.
In 1990 the city had faced severe water logging after which UK based consultants were appointed.They proposed a Storm Water Drainage System . The project aims at enhancing the drainage system through larger diameter storm water drains and pipes, using pumps wherever necessary and removing encroachments. The estimated cost of implementing the project was Rs. 616 crore but the BMC committee had rejected it on the grounds that it was "too costly".Today the cost of the same project is 1200 crores.And once sanctioned it would be 2012 before it is complete.

With the help of of the media ,both the television channels which beam out images of people sufferning in the rains and newspapers which give a detailed account of the failures of the BMC and the MMRDA and the State Government, there has been an increased level of awareness among the people. Now, there can be 2 reactions to it. The typical Indian attitude to say that the Govt wont do anything and pass on the buck to the others or to take the initiative and proactively participate in improving the state of affairs. I feel the latter is possible.It just needs an effort,people need to come together and then its possible.

We are now armed with a very effective tool, an Act passed by the Govt of India,called the Right to Information Act.There is a huge awareness drive going on, in order to pass on the message to the common man. I think it’s a tool,if used effectively can bring about a very positive change in our society. (More info available on www.righttoinformation.org).

Taking up small initiatives and cleanliness drives in our locality would also be of great help.Its true that we spend most of our day and our lives in our workplaces and are stressed out by the time we come home. So,why not make it as part of a corporate social responsibility programme,wherein you could spend a Sunday each month and clean up a particular area.Im sure it would be work and a lot of fun.

This is just one of the ideas that stuck me.Ways by which we could contribute. Just take a deep breath, close your eyes and visualise a cleaner,greener and a flood-free Mumbai. Now if that doesn’t motivate a Mumbaikar to make a beginnning, to come up with innovative ways by which we could help…….I don’t think anything would…..