Year(s) of the Comeback(s)- me included :)

Congratulations to our own Hyderabadi, Satya, bagging the top job at Microsoft. Please (Andhra/Telangana/Karnataka), dont take credit for his success, let him have him moment. Now getting to the point, Satya's recent interview, he mentioned Bill Gates return to drive the companies innovation and shape the strategy of Microsoft, wait.. something similar happened with Infosys recently, We saw the (past) big man of Infy, NR, return to lift one of Indias first software company on his mighty shoulders to greatness and beyond..again.

Question: WHY?

Although 'Why' is very vague, it is the most powerful question that exists for all things unexplained in this universe.

WHY are CEOS and chairmans that left their mammoth babies in the care of well chosen and experienced colleagues coming back from the blue to 'save' their organizations and who will be doing it next? Would ideally sum up "Why?'

This is not the first time we have seen these legendary visionaries run back to their companies to save them while their "Step-ins" just enjoyed the perks of the job,ruining the company down into the depths of hell.(IT meaning of 'depths of hell'- no salary hikes).

The most famous of them was Steve Jobs(APPLE), who left while he was on top(ego) and got back while the company was down('They' had no choice-read the book). Companies that usually call back ex-CEO's are signalling they are in dire straights and making a proven winner the best(of the lot) may well be their ace to handle crisis situations.

Companies usually bring in someone new with a track record to steer the ship towards new and profitable pastures, people with "visions"( not the Unnao kind), people who can bring new life into stale and almost deadbeat organizations to reignite innovation and make enough money for themselves and the shareholders (don't forget the Board).

Lately(not in all cases), this has resulted in the mighty board recalling their pals(on good terms or bad) to get back into the ring and really see what they are made of("Guys,This is when you call??").

Yeah, these things do take time and little is left if they fail to deliver, although as Blackberry has shown us recently, All hope is not lost(admit it..it is still the best damn qwerty phone you have ever used.)

Blame the board for "re-calling" CEOs, but it really comes down to this- People, who aspire for the top job, make sure you can deliver or else at least deliver.

Rehiring ex-CEos does well for the existing employees, who are mostly frustrated with the current leadership and are looking for a breath of fresh air( a decent salary hike) but its tough for re-hires to come in and work their magic, We have not yet seen a turnaround as good as Steve's in the last decade( maybe i missed a few.. If I did..no one cares).

Re-hires also need to make it easier for the next set of hires to get in and take over, if they stick on to their egos, they not only set really high standards for the next set of guys but also hurt the existing model and drive down the company without actually being there(might probably explain NR's case once he left/does leave (for good, wait..have you heard of Jr. NR? You will).

We are staring at quite a few comebacks, and will see more in the years to come, the fact is that the current and past leadership in big organizations have failed to instill the same values of vision, confidence and flair that they possessd, in the next gen of leaders who are eager to take over and do what they do best. When that happens, IT could finally move ahead.

If you don’t do politics, you shouldn’t be CEO !

Copyright-HBO

Everyone who works in any company will agree with me that they have experienced some sort of politics when it comes to promotions, getting the higher pay grade and even something stupid as "benefits".

So what is it about company politics that you should know about, how do you deal with it? How much is too much and how often should you get involved? To answer all these questions and more, please do not read this any further as I have no clue. What I do know is, Yes it exists and what anyone does will work only for them, so you could say what to do is tailor made and it’s up to you to get it to work for you.

It’s not always about politics when it comes to getting what you want, even though sometimes people who are in positions to give you stuff in your organization, say things like “ Yeah, you should work hard and everything else will follow” if you fall for that, you’re the biggest sucker there is in the world out there.

So what do you learn from this is you need to be smart, you need to know what you’re up against, and you need to learn to pick your fights. Sounds simple enough?  Now try doing it.

I have known many people, who don’t do squat, Yet get the most out of their jobs, probably because they play the game better than anyone else does and when you get that big one you were waiting for all your life, that’s when you know that getting there not only requires a lot of hard work and dedication, but being politically wise is the biggest asset you can have when it comes to running a company.

Any company in general, you have people who don’t like you and what you do, but its up to you, how you can gather support from your loyal troops, rally behind your enemies , form alliances with your competitors and ultimately survive this every single day of your life, as long as you can.

You may think "wow! that’s so much hard work. why should you even care about company politics? if you just do your job that’s good enough", well ignorance might always not be bliss, because the first sign of you slowing down  or you just knowingly or unknowingly signify that your slacking off, this wave of people who feel they can do your job much better than you can will hit you in the face and throw you off your chair, after which its murphy’s law every day until you give up and back down.

Just like any game, there always is a winner and a loser, just like everything else when you’re competing. You don’t choose what you want to be, but sometimes it just so happens that there’s someone else who is making this choice for you.

As any games conclusion goes, you win some, you lose some, but if you can’t play the game- don’t bother about who wins or loses.

Stump(y)ed ?

Never Ending, is probably a good word to describe the lines piled up in front of the stadium in Bangalore to purchase tickets for the world cup match played by India against England on Sunday.

I don’t know what to make of it, but out of the tens of thousands of tickets available, only 7000 tickets have been put up for sale here in Bangalore (apparently "ticket sales" are being "Mismanaged". We all know what that means.).

Disappointed? Well if you live in Bangalore and wanted to go to the stadium then YES you should be. 

Often the media is very critical and tries to paint bleak pictures of the state of affairs and what the real deal is; now it has come to such a point where I really don’t care. India cannot host huge events and if people feel differently, you just need to wake up and read the news paper once in a while or watch a news channel for once in your life.

It often is a major setback when you have different countries participating in a world sporting events and you can’t take care of your own people first. A country reeling under scams and scam tainted people, in over billions of dollars, the one event that truly showcases India’s Sports talent may have just turned into a money spinner.

Last I checked the prices of the tickets its absurd, let me just say its cheaper to buy a 32 inch branded LCD than to go to the match with a friend.

Unless you have relatives in the BCCI or the stadium is owned by you or you got really deep pockets i doubt you can actually legitimately "buy" a ticket. 

I said 'buy' above but if your in any one of the categories up there, Hell you can get them for free.

So for all you cricketing fans out there, the best place to watch the match, is in your own house.

I hope “Stumpy” can change the world’s view of India and large sporting events or like “Shera” the tiger be on the brink of extinction.

Random Thought of the Week

1) Imran khan being replaced by an Owl in Break ke Baad. imagine that.

2) Is it possible to get out of a bus in Bangalore with your shoes still shiny?

3) Does driving in the wrong lane or against traffic anywhere in the world automatically make you a Hyderabadi?

4) Bangalore needs Trash Cans Immediately.

5) Why is it always YOU who never "tried" to stay in touch with your friends?

" As easy as Pie! "

One of the most challenging and sometimes frustrating aspects of expressing oneself though words is writing. There are a million things going on in one’s head. To channel every thought and to write something that actually makes sense to people is probably the toughest task a person can do.

Simply put writing anything in particular is difficult.

We live in a generation where communication is quite open. If you just log into the net you can see a million views posted for various articles, some diplomatic, subtle and some plain crazy and irrelevant.

People reading try to understand what is this person is trying to convey though his article? It’s not difficult to do that, what is difficult is to write stuff that you actually read.

I haven’t written many blogs, but I always do struggle with the occasional blank white page, just before I do write something that makes sense to me. I have a friend who used to work as a reporter for one of the most popular news papers in India. I used to discuss few issues with him that he used to write about and one thing that he mostly complained about was where do I begin with this subject?

I ask myself the same question. Where does one begin writing anything? I guess all it needs is one thought that you are pretty much clear with.

Human minds are quite puzzling. We may have conquered many aspects of understanding our world and the species that exist in it, but we still do not know much about our own “Noodle”.

It starts off with one thought and pretty much you make stuff up as you proceed. If you feel strongly about a particular subject or topic, am sure you will have a lot of stuff to say about it. Writing it is a whole different battle.

Sometimes, it can be so crazy that you have a thought and you have written some stuff, but it makes sense only to you. That’s when I just save my copy of whatever I have written and keep it there for a day that I have patience to look at it again.

It’s frustrating when people think writing is easy , or can actually justify what one has written , as each one of us reads in a different way and think differently , what might seem nice to one person might offend another. A good writer balances all the issues and I guess in the end tries to read his own article from a third persons point of view. That works pretty well for me.

So for people who feel writing is ‘easy as pie’, I never quite got it,

Do they mean making pie? Or eating it?

Comic Relief

Ro's kuk's- Le Bouchon

A Losing Battle

A lot is being written about the latest scams in India. It is really a matter of great concern
when a country cannot keep its own people in check against corruption but which country can?

The "Youngistan" generation has begun to accept it, a once behind the doors activity that got some people with money and power to achieve their own ideals.

I recently read a blog that posed an open question to Mr Ratan Tata, afer he made the dramatic and somewhat personal comment that he was once asked to pay a 15 cr bribe to setup his own airline
sometime back. The question was what has his organization done to stop corruption in India?

I would like to rephrase that question. What can any organization do to keep a socially existing through the ages and is now more open than before activity that engulfs life itself on a daily basis in check?

There is little that can be said or done, we all have experienced corruption at various levels. There are quite a few who have openly tried to deal with it, but as usual its too big a problem to get rid of .

like so many more.

It plagues our country that is counted as one of the most corrupt to get its act right.

But really on a common forum that discusses various other issues corruption has always been a hot topic. People make many speeches, hold many rallies, organize various groups,make movies mocking it, and showing us various slap on the wrist ways to fight corruption, but reality check can an organization really have that much power to change a billion people?

It sucks that we have generations of Indians growing up with the same ideas and principles that are socially unacceptable and quite frankly immoral.

Even though we have a few people brave enough to fight corruption even though they have the money and all the help possible, if a man like Ratan Tata cannot do anything about it I dont think a common person stands a chance.

There are only two things that can be done in such a scenario,

you either die a hero fighting or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

Guess that holds true to what we are witnessing today.

I have a solution which is very controversial but its worth a shot, make corruption legal, we cannot fight it, atleast we can stop complaining. have positions in the government that dont pay any salaries, there is a fixed rate to get stuff done , and that would pretty much be it.

its not operational is the slightest sense possible especially in a complex place like India.

But as oganizations grow and chrun out a lot of money , investments rise ,and the global standing of our country reaches new levels, the monster of corruption is growing too. we have very few people who are really true to their conscience and do their job, but as and when they see their own colleagues resorting to such practises they either get in to it or be thrown out. there is really no choice left to them.


It waits to be seen when, how and where the buck stops!!