Please, let the kids be kids

We had been to the annual day celebrations at Akshara’s pre-school. It was a neatly organized event with everything from the venue to the timings planned with the kids in mind. The program started with a small speech by the school principal followed by a quick felicitation ceremony. From then on, the kids ruled the stage. It was a treat to watch the toddlers and the preschoolers perform. They danced with equal flair for the patriotic, devotional as well as film songs. They even conducted a small skit. All this was done under the watchful eyes of the teachers who stood at the stage corners acting and dancing for the kids to follow.

As we sat enjoying the events, I couldn’t help overhear the conversation of a family who sat in the row behind us. I think their daughter was of the same age as Akshara or maybe a year younger.  When the event where their daughter was to dance was announced, the father and mother became anxious. They prayed loud that their daughter performs well without forgetting any step. As with all events, all kids in that event too danced well. I didn’t get to know who their daughter was, but once the event ended, the parents spoke with a kind of relief explaining how their daughter was shy of dancing on the stage and how relieved they were, now that she had done well.

I don’t understand what’s with some of these parents. Will the earth end if a 3 year old forgets a dance step? For God’s sake, these are 3 year old or 4 year old kids. It might be the first time on stage for many of them. At that tender age, if a kid wants to pick his/her nose or just sit on the stage, he/she will do it and will not care how many thousand people are watching. So appreciate the kid for the effort rather than judging their performance on stage. And to those parents who stood in the audience gallery and danced for their kid on the stage to follow, I suggest they go on the stage and dance, and allow their kid be the audience. But No, parents want their kids to dance like film stars.

 It not just with this. Many parents often expect great things, almost miracles, from their kids. They want their kid to be almost born with expert knowledge of mathematics or science or grammar. And if not by birth, then they want the kids to become experts by the time the kid is ready for first year preschool. This is just the beginning. Once the kid goes to school, there will be a comparison of the kid with other kids in his/her class.

I decided to give the parents behind me, a piece of my mind.  Don’t steal the kids’ childhood. Every kid has a unique talent. So don’t compare or put them through a performance bell curve. Let them enjoy and learn as they grow. Show them the right way and guide them where required, but don’t force your wishes on them. If every kid grows into an astronomer, then who will enjoy the beautiful earth?

In the meanwhile, they announced the next dance event. Akshara was a part of that event. I turned to tell my wife that Akshara will be coming on the stage, when I noticed the folded hands and anxious face of my wife and my mother. That’s when I realized what I should actually do - Before I advise the parents who sat in the row behind me, I should first share a word with my own family.

~Narendra V Joshi

The result of an honest feedback

I sometimes stop at this road side tea stall for a cup of tea. He carries different flavors of tea and I prefer his elachi tea. In addition to tea he also sells coffee, kashaya (or khada - a preparation of different herbs, used as a medicine), light snacks, bananas etc. I prefer this stall as the tea is decently priced and given its location, if need be, I can grab a cup and quickly be on road without spending much time.

Today, as usual I reached the stall and ordered a cup of tea. Upon drinking I felt the tea was a bit different. It felt watery, or maybe the tea powder was not sufficient. I did not say anything but when I was paying, I felt that I should tell him about the problem so that he can fix it before others complain.

Me - The tea was not good today. It lacked flavor and felt watery.

(I handed him the money and waited for him to return the change)

Stall owner – What? No. It’s the same. I have not changed anything today (looking at me in complete disbelief)

Me - Ok. Maybe you need to add more milk or something. It’s not good.

(He returned the change)

Stall owner - do you see this flask? (Showing me the flask which held the tea; just as I was about to leave) (I could sense a change in his tone)

Me - Yes

Stall owner - We have been making tea in this same flask for years now. We use the same amount of milk, same quantity of sugar, same quantity and brand of tea powder.

I was really not interested to hear all that. Actually I did not care what went into his tea or how was he preparing it. More importantly I was not asking for an exchange or a refund for the bad tea. So there was no reason for him to explain all that.

Me - Ok (showing total lack of interest)

Stall owner - Do you know what is the problem today?

Me - No

Stall owner - You (I suddenly became all ears. I was like “What??”)

Stall Owner – We didn't change anything and so there should be no problem with the tea; which means there is some problem with you as you did not like the tea.

Me - What do you mean?

Stall owner - If nothing has changed in how we make tea, and only you complain, it means you have a problem.

(I was staring at him almost wanting to ask if he has gone mad)

Stall owner - I suggest drink this Kashaya. It will help if you are not feeling well. (His tone went soft. Something like how doctors talk to patients)

I was really angry but didn’t say anything. The way he spoke would make me look like a culprit if I raised my voice. So I smiled at him and got back on the road.

It took me like a few minutes to digest all that. All I did was to give an honest feedback about the tea which I PAY to drink. And what was his response? That I had to drink his dark green concoction of herbs to rid my body of any ills and calm my mind. Wow. I decided never to have anything from him again, even if it means I have to spend extra time waiting at the nearby restaurant for tea.

~Narendra V Joshi

Happy New Year!

It has been a beautiful marathon walk

And to stay course requires steadiness of a rock;

As the time to turn the page draws near

A sense of happiness eagerly invites the New Year!

~Narendra V Joshi

A closer look at Processes, and Innovation

For ages, the local kirana stores have served main stream for most families, rich or poor, across India. The success of these kirana stores depended on their owners’ understanding of the customers and their needs, in that locality. For most parts the owners did this understanding part exceedingly well. Customers on their part were mostly loyal to the local kirana store as they had grown to specific product brands which they would always find in these stores. The strength for the stores came in the form of stable price and predictable product quality coupled with the short term ‘faith’ loans they provided to their loyal customers. These loans which were mostly interest free and purely on faith played a major role in retaining the customers. The drawbacks of these stores however were the extremely limited product range and the sluggish response time to stock a newly launched product.

The Indian economic reforms which were brought out in the early 90s set path a big change in terms of how the customer shopped. The free flow of money meant customers were asking for newer and better products, fast. Frequent product launch became a norm and the product variety grew exponentially. Customers wanted to see and compare the products before they would buy.

This meant -

          1)      Customers were interested in newer and broader range of products than a predictable small range.

          2)      Product innovation, product procurement and product distribution (time to customer) had to be continuously and radically improved.

          3)      Product availability increased and customer retention became more important.  

All these meant that the local Kirana stores no more had a place in the locality or at least their share was reduced. To overcome these new challenges, the Kirana stores had to set aside their standard operating procedure and get into a more agile and innovative model to reach the customer.  

          1)      They had to widen their supplier portfolio to ensure every new product reached their shelves, quick.

          2)      Remodel their stores

          3)      And more importantly, use Innovative ways to attract the customer.

Stores which did not change mostly were either closed or saw a revenue plateau. The interesting aspect is that some ‘legacy’ Kirana stores continue/d to exist without any change,

          1)      Owing to the locality they were located

          2)      Or by serving those customers who were in a hurry and did not have time to go around a bigger retail shop.

          3)      Or maybe the owner was satisfied with revenue generated.

Having worked for more than a decade in IT outsourcing and knowing the working of many IT services companies; each having varied degree of adherence to standard IT processes, I tried to correlate the working of Kirana stores with some IT services companies. I first separated the IT services companies into the ones which have their own R&D and the ones which do not have their own R&D. When I compared the IT services companies which do not have their own R&D with a Kirana store, I found many similarities.  

Note – I have only listed a few similarities. They do not essentially mean one is same as the other. Also these are generic observations and should not be taken in context to any particular IT organization or a Kirana store.

          1)      IT services companies have a limited range of services (mostly based on the technology).

          2)      They follow a standard process (software development process) which helps them achieve a       predictable model leading to a standard output.

          3)      They know their customers and most often suit their processes to their customers. (For ex - change their finance calendar based on customer recoverable dates).

          4)      If a customer demands a non-standard way to execute a project or a technology that the IT servicing company does not deal with, the IT companies most often have to make changes to their internal process before they can serve the customer.

One point that stands high, in my opinion, which is not necessarily derived in correlation to the Kirana store, is the innovation that can happen, rather the lack of it, in companies which adhere to processes.

Having processes is good as they help give a predictable output but they also hinder innovation, in my opinion. Generating new ideas or finding newer ways to achieve objectives become extremely limited in a well-developed process environment. The reason for this obstruction to creativity is most often the process itself, because any well-established process will be tuned to identify and highlight risks. The process senses any new idea as a deviation and treats it as a risk i.e. essentially no new ideas or drastic changes can occur. If there is an idea, most often it is limited in scope or is mostly developed as an output for a specific requirement.

This, in my opinion, to a great extent explains why we rarely see an innovative product from a pure IT services company. (Indian IT servicing companies are forefront in following the quality processes often maintaining the highest ratings).

If you ask me is it bad not to be innovative, then my answer will be ‘No, it is not’. If you can make money servicing products, it’s still a perfectly good business model. Haven’t many automobile repair centers thrived only on oil changes and tire rotations? So will these pure IT services companies.

If the question is how long can an IT services company look at only services, then it is until the company hits the bell curve plateau. It is important for companies to sense the plateau early and change gears to get back on the growth line. The companies need to arrive at newer ways to increase revenue. It might be by broadening service lines, tapping new markets or by launching products. 

Do we need processes at all?

The simple answer to this question is ‘Yes, processes are required’. Remember innovation is not the end game. Putting the product to production and bringing it to the market in time determines the success of the product, and this requires stringent processes. Not having a set process in the production stage leads to disastrous results. So it is extremely important to have a set and predictable process in place.

It’s important to understand when are processes important and when can they be detrimental. It is also important for companies to understand that innovation is not a process and it’s not predictable. A company without innovation plateaus soon, much like those Kirana stores which avoided change.

~Narendra V Joshi

Doomsday

I walked to the bus stop this morning at my usual time to catch the office bus. I prefer this bus as it’s the first bus of the day, the traffic is less and there are not more about 10 people who take it. Upon reaching the bus stop I saw that instead of the usual group there was only one person.

[Let me pause and explain something interesting about the folks who board the bus at my stop. I have never seen any of them talk to each other. Neither have I spoken to any; until today. The interesting part is that most greet each other only by a faint facial nod accompanied by a faint smile. And in the last 4 months that I have been taking this bus, all I have done is adopt this way of greeting making no attempt to change or greet better. Regarding the facial nod greeting we do, I have often wondered if my eye lids travel a longer distance in their usual blinking activity compared to my face when I greet others at the bus stop every morning.]

We greeted each other with our usual faintest facial nod possible and stood there to wait for the bus. The bus which is usually on time did not come even after 10 mins of its scheduled time today.  As we stood, I noticed that this colleague seemed anxious. He would glance at his watch every few seconds and would look in the direction of the bus. I thought he was late for a meeting or a client call. Wanting to start a conversation, I looked at him and said -

Me – The bus is late today

Colleague – Yes 

(I had not expected a Yes/No answer from him. I thought since we had been greeting each other for the last few months, he would give an extended answer which will lead to a good conversation. But his ‘Yes’ lead me no where. Having made up my mind to talk to him, I did not want to give up so easily).

Me – It’s usually on time. Haven’t seen it this late

Colleague – Yes…(after a brief phase) You can expect anything today right?

Me – today? (I was confused)

Colleague – Yes, today. You can expect anything to happen and you have to be prepared

(Now I was really lost)

Me – Okay (I gave a puzzled look at him)

Colleague – have you forgotten? Today is Friday the 13^th

Me – Okay (I wanted to ask “So?”)

Colleague – Moreover the year is 2013. So it’s Friday the 13^th in 13.

(Suddenly it occurred to me that there is some taboo associated with Friday the 13^th)

Me – Oh correct.. (Not wanting to show my ignorance, I nodded my head)

He did not say anything and I had no clue what to say. Actually what could I say? I don’t believe in these things and I had not expected the conversation to go this way. If Friday the 13^th was really a dooms day, the earth should have evaporated by now.

Our office bus arrived in the meanwhile and we both headed towards it. As we reached the bus, he looked at me and said –

Colleague – Be careful, today is not a good day. Don’t think its superstition; the whole world believes it.

Me – Okay (I smiled at him)

Once inside the bus, I tried to recall what had just happened. He was right in way. All I wanted to do was to talk to a colleague whom I see every day. But of all the days in the year, I had initiated the conversation on Friday the 13^th which ensured I never initiate a conversation with him again. Friday the 13^th is truly a dooms day.

~Narendra V Joshi

Life’s lucky things

I was returning home from office the other day when I met this old friend. It had been some years the last time I had seen him and we got into talking. We spoke of our work and how we have been doing. More than the work or the technologies we were working on, what actually caught my attention was the shirt he was wearing. It was a neatly pressed white full sleeve shirt, but, very clearly one size less. Maybe he had put on a lot of weight after he had bought that shirt. Having known him since my engineering days, I took liberty and asked him why he was wearing that snugly fitting shirt. He put a faint smile looking at his shirt and said “this is my lucky shirt. Everything I do wearing this shirt has been a success”. Seems he was looking for a different job and had been for an interview earlier that day.

Having known him from my engineering days, I do not think he has to depend on his “lucky” shirt to get through the interview; still, fair enough. Many of us treat some things as lucky and treasure them. It can be a watch, pen, an earring, a currency note, shirt, trouser, belt; pretty much anything that we had, or worn when something worked fine the first time. From then on it becomes a habit and slowly turns into a “religious” belief. I do not clearly remember but I think even I had a lucky pen or shirt or something during my high school and college days. I do not have any now, or at least for the moment I do not believe in any lucky things.  

I wished my friend luck and started back home still thinking about these “lucky” things. Though these things start with an individual, it can slowly influence and draw more people into it. Take the example of gifting green colored sarees to ladies in one of the south Indian state some years back. They say it started as a word of mouth that every brother should gift a green colored saree to his sister and the sister should wear it on a particular day of the week, to ward off evil. Slowly it turned into a huge saree gifting event across the region with men gifting sarees to every lady they knew. Shops carried different shades of green colored sarees and made a killing sale during that time.

Once home, I told my wife and my parents about my friend and his lucky shirt. I know my father doesn't believe in these things and he did not say anything. But both my wife and my mother told about things which they believed brought them luck while they were in school. I asked them if they still believed in these things and both said though they don’t have any lucky things they will still not write off if they found something brought them luck. Now my mother has a major in Science and Mathematics and my wife has done her Master’s in Business administration. Yet, both still feel there can be things which actually can be lucky even though there is no rational explanation to this.

My wife gave a very beautiful answer to this question. She said, if carrying a particular pen has always helped her clear her exams in college, why should she risk not carrying the pen? Even if she doesn't believe that a pen brought her luck, she will still take the pen to the exam rather than not take it, fail in the exam and lose a year.

Now that is an excellent point. Why take risk? What are you trying to prove? That a nonsense is a nonsense?

~Narendra V Joshi

Building new hopes

The floods and the earth quake have devastated the region around the revered Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand, but as per the new reports the temple sanctorum and the shrine bell are safe. This news strengthens faith and has raised new hope for the survivors and the devotees alike. 

The need of the hour is to build on this new hope, and support and contribute to rejuvenate the lives of the affected people. Hope the entire nation comes forward to help the distressed hearts by supporting them in all ways possible. 

The first glimpses showed death and destruction was all that stood,      
In the place revered righteous heavenly and good.
The flooding water had ravaged everything in its wake;
Flattening buildings and trees, putting lives at stake.

The receding water showed the still intact temple in full view;
Strengthening faith and raising new hope to those surviving few.
This new picture affirmed not all was lost,
With the Lord in front, a different battle has to be fought.

It’s upon us to rekindle the hopes and lives and dreams;
Of those distressed hearts, supporting them by all means.
Our contribution and support is the need of the hour,
And only this can heal and forge the bonds forever.

~Narendra V Joshi