Jack Welch - Straight from the Gut.
One of the amazingly well written corporate turn around books. Ofcourse, there was enough spice in GE/Welch's story to keep it cool till the end...
Strongly recommended 41/2 out of 5
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Snow Nightmare......
When one sees the words Snow & Nightmare together, it is typically linked to some accident coz of snow or car cleaning or trekking upto your station.
Mine, especially this week, has been different.
On Sunday, it was predicted that upto 12 inches of snow is expected in the DC metro area and would paralyse the entire region - as would us in our childhood - was expecting closure of offices - which is not at all uncommon when such massive snow storm is predicted.
Every one hour kept on checking the weather reports. We have 'weather alert' line at office which has pre-recorded messages to indicate the 'closings'. Called that number so many times - finally went to bed - with no hopes of getting up early for a monday morning commute. Think of it - you get up on a monday morning - and you are told, dont worry take the day off :-) so cute.....
impossibly, woke up at around 4 am - tried calling the 'weather alert' - no luck - no updates yet....snore snore...
then my roommate got up - looked through the blinds - sighed in disbelief and ran off as typical of a work-day, disappointment was writ large all over me :-P. Still could not understand what it is that caused such a reaction from my room mate.
Finally when i got up and opened the blinds - wow - not a *single* flake of snow on the ground....
How cruel, weathermen are sometimes....
Once i dragged myself to office, realised that i was not alone in calling 'weather alert' so many times....
BTB, a cheap, Night Shyamalan, kinda surprise ending to the story ( if it can be called that) - it finally ended up snowing 4 inches and all of them melted away on tuesday - yippe - dont have to clean my car -laaa la la laaa la
Mine, especially this week, has been different.
On Sunday, it was predicted that upto 12 inches of snow is expected in the DC metro area and would paralyse the entire region - as would us in our childhood - was expecting closure of offices - which is not at all uncommon when such massive snow storm is predicted.
Every one hour kept on checking the weather reports. We have 'weather alert' line at office which has pre-recorded messages to indicate the 'closings'. Called that number so many times - finally went to bed - with no hopes of getting up early for a monday morning commute. Think of it - you get up on a monday morning - and you are told, dont worry take the day off :-) so cute.....
impossibly, woke up at around 4 am - tried calling the 'weather alert' - no luck - no updates yet....snore snore...
then my roommate got up - looked through the blinds - sighed in disbelief and ran off as typical of a work-day, disappointment was writ large all over me :-P. Still could not understand what it is that caused such a reaction from my room mate.
Finally when i got up and opened the blinds - wow - not a *single* flake of snow on the ground....
How cruel, weathermen are sometimes....
Once i dragged myself to office, realised that i was not alone in calling 'weather alert' so many times....
BTB, a cheap, Night Shyamalan, kinda surprise ending to the story ( if it can be called that) - it finally ended up snowing 4 inches and all of them melted away on tuesday - yippe - dont have to clean my car -laaa la la laaa la
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Shock Shock Everywhere
Well, am shocked, flabbergasted, breathless and also pinching myself.. It is about couple of articles in 'The Hindu' Sunday edition (2-27-05). One talks about whether all the 'Sania Mania' is 'High or a hype'
The other one (well, this is the shocker) 'Fair game' is about why celebrities from minorities are being celebrated along with their religion?
Is it a one-off event ? with the editors shouting - 'oops we made a blunder' or is 'The Hindu' back to its sensible ways shedding their pseudo-secular veil?
The other one (well, this is the shocker) 'Fair game' is about why celebrities from minorities are being celebrated along with their religion?
Is it a one-off event ? with the editors shouting - 'oops we made a blunder' or is 'The Hindu' back to its sensible ways shedding their pseudo-secular veil?
Sania Mania
Never in history, did we have the oppurtunity to celebrate an Indian woman winning a ATP tournament. Well, Sania took the honors and in what a way ! - it has been a stunning year so far for the lass from hyderabad (No, am not mocking hindu.com by calling her lass in every line ;) ).
Staying so far away from the country, have'nt yet had a chance to watch her play. Ofcourse, one can&should NEVER trust tabloids like timesofindia's write up on anyone. They are what they are...tabloid - any sleazy sensation would do.
Let us hope she becomes a top-30 player which in itself would be a great honor and pride for all Indians.
Wishing her all the best....
Staying so far away from the country, have'nt yet had a chance to watch her play. Ofcourse, one can&should NEVER trust tabloids like timesofindia's write up on anyone. They are what they are...tabloid - any sleazy sensation would do.
Let us hope she becomes a top-30 player which in itself would be a great honor and pride for all Indians.
Wishing her all the best....
[Entertainment] Maha Nadigan....
Recently, I watched a movie by this title. Satyaraj was the only cast and he alone was good enough for the movie.
The theme was typical of any Satyaraj movie i.e. mock/satire politics. This time he has unleashed it on the combo of 'politics+cinema'. Wow ! unbelievable was the only word to describe his takes. He has not spared a *single prominent politician or cine star*
I strongly recommend this movie to all fun/humor-loving folks and dont have any attachment to political parties.
The theme was typical of any Satyaraj movie i.e. mock/satire politics. This time he has unleashed it on the combo of 'politics+cinema'. Wow ! unbelievable was the only word to describe his takes. He has not spared a *single prominent politician or cine star*
I strongly recommend this movie to all fun/humor-loving folks and dont have any attachment to political parties.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Its funny...
TBS Super station has been running ads these days promoting why their channel carries the prime-time comedy tag. Well, they have Sienfeld, Friends, Everybody loves Raymond - both of them IMHO all time great shows....
To promote these, they run ads which are like ...."Real life - it is not funny" and show real life incident - and "TV it is funny" and show some clips from one of these comedy serials which is really funny.
To get to get to understand why it is so funny on the TV is because one is able to relate to such incidents and when one makes fun of fools on the TV you dont get beaten up.
How often, have you come across people in meetings - who suddenly raise their voices and say the obviously wrong thing loud and finally proclaim it is wrong.... e.g. "Wait wait, are you going to jump out of a running bus, you must NOT do it - it will possibly kill you" :-))
Talking of funny - i think most people can relate to having 'experiences' with room mates - try this blog is real nice Things I Hate about my flatmate
To promote these, they run ads which are like ...."Real life - it is not funny" and show real life incident - and "TV it is funny" and show some clips from one of these comedy serials which is really funny.
To get to get to understand why it is so funny on the TV is because one is able to relate to such incidents and when one makes fun of fools on the TV you dont get beaten up.
How often, have you come across people in meetings - who suddenly raise their voices and say the obviously wrong thing loud and finally proclaim it is wrong.... e.g. "Wait wait, are you going to jump out of a running bus, you must NOT do it - it will possibly kill you" :-))
Talking of funny - i think most people can relate to having 'experiences' with room mates - try this blog is real nice Things I Hate about my flatmate
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Dabbawalahs
These are the indian businessmen that are talked about most. Well, they deserve to be called businessmen, they run it efficiently, better than six zigma error tolerance - timely and effectively :-)
If uneducated but dedicated, committed people can exhibit such a discipline in the daily work and produce superb world quality service - why can't the thousands of educated produce atleast half of the quality ?
Look at all of hundreds of thousands of companies,institutions, shops of various sizes, various areas of specialisation etc - every single place has scope of improvement in the quality of service.
In the book called "What is management ? Why it is everyone's business" - the author nails it on the head (actually borrowed from Peter F. Drucker's Practise of Management) - that value creation for the customer, is the only & primary index of any business's success.
While in India - every single shop acts as if, they are our customers ! :-) and they decide what should be thrown at us !
Will things change ?
If uneducated but dedicated, committed people can exhibit such a discipline in the daily work and produce superb world quality service - why can't the thousands of educated produce atleast half of the quality ?
Look at all of hundreds of thousands of companies,institutions, shops of various sizes, various areas of specialisation etc - every single place has scope of improvement in the quality of service.
In the book called "What is management ? Why it is everyone's business" - the author nails it on the head (actually borrowed from Peter F. Drucker's Practise of Management) - that value creation for the customer, is the only & primary index of any business's success.
While in India - every single shop acts as if, they are our customers ! :-) and they decide what should be thrown at us !
Will things change ?
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Diamond Diamond Everywhere
Astronomers suggest that there may be planets in our galaxy that are 'diamond' planets - hundreds of kilometers of 'thick diamond layers'.
It is history that americans bought land in moon at $21/acre, i think eBay should soon see some ads for diamond acres - guess lotsa marriage proposals will be now like 'will you marry me - and hand out a couple of acres of diamond planet' :-))
On a philosphical note - what value will be diamond be on a diamond planet ? will sand be mightily valuable on that planet ? what exactly is value ? - what people are willing to pay for something ? Hope some shrewd business minds dont get together to create artifically high value for some vague item and make all people go mad over it !
Diamond Planet
It is history that americans bought land in moon at $21/acre, i think eBay should soon see some ads for diamond acres - guess lotsa marriage proposals will be now like 'will you marry me - and hand out a couple of acres of diamond planet' :-))
On a philosphical note - what value will be diamond be on a diamond planet ? will sand be mightily valuable on that planet ? what exactly is value ? - what people are willing to pay for something ? Hope some shrewd business minds dont get together to create artifically high value for some vague item and make all people go mad over it !
Diamond Planet
Mulberry bush
No, this has nothing to do with any person ;-)
Every cricketing series/season the BCCI starts the process for awarding the telecast rights of the matches at home. There is a *big* tug-of-war every single time with one company coming out on top by a very single margin over the other. And invariably, it would not be Doordarshan (DD).
DD will keep quiet, till couple of days before the match starts and suddenly file a lawsuit in a state high court - immediately, the HC will grant a interim-stay and BCCI will move an emergency appeal in the SC to vacate the stay and ultimately, the SC will rule that DD will carry the 'signals' and God knows whether the telecast companies (with the exception of DD) really lived happily ever after.
The next season, the whole damning cycle starts.
I am the last person on the earth to be sympathetic to DD covering the series - the quality simply sucks high time. BUT they could atleast be granted the telecast rights ?
In a country where cricket is a religion, should not the state-run, free channel, be allowed to telecast ?
BTB, if you still are trying to figure out what this topic has to do with mulberry bush ? - hmmmm - think what the children do when the sing the rhyme ? - run around in circles ;)
Every cricketing series/season the BCCI starts the process for awarding the telecast rights of the matches at home. There is a *big* tug-of-war every single time with one company coming out on top by a very single margin over the other. And invariably, it would not be Doordarshan (DD).
DD will keep quiet, till couple of days before the match starts and suddenly file a lawsuit in a state high court - immediately, the HC will grant a interim-stay and BCCI will move an emergency appeal in the SC to vacate the stay and ultimately, the SC will rule that DD will carry the 'signals' and God knows whether the telecast companies (with the exception of DD) really lived happily ever after.
The next season, the whole damning cycle starts.
I am the last person on the earth to be sympathetic to DD covering the series - the quality simply sucks high time. BUT they could atleast be granted the telecast rights ?
In a country where cricket is a religion, should not the state-run, free channel, be allowed to telecast ?
BTB, if you still are trying to figure out what this topic has to do with mulberry bush ? - hmmmm - think what the children do when the sing the rhyme ? - run around in circles ;)
Noble cause
Many big companies in USA have community programs. Where these companies have manufacturing plants - employees from the local offices spend some time, on a regular but voluntary basis, to the perceived betterment of the local communities.
Their activities include Building parks, helping children read by spending quality time with them in libraries, mentoring, fixing small appliances for senior citizens, adult education and much more.
It is really laudable a gesture towards the noble cause of improving the life in the community.
Given that it takes a lot of time, commitment and support from your employer - but why not such initiatives back home in India ? - *Every* single community in India will benefit.
Who bells the cat ?
Their activities include Building parks, helping children read by spending quality time with them in libraries, mentoring, fixing small appliances for senior citizens, adult education and much more.
It is really laudable a gesture towards the noble cause of improving the life in the community.
Given that it takes a lot of time, commitment and support from your employer - but why not such initiatives back home in India ? - *Every* single community in India will benefit.
Who bells the cat ?
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