Perception is not Reality!

Well, that's the impression I was left with after I read Steven Lewitt's Freakanomics!
Life is defined and played with Perceptions. Everybody, especially people in Marketing use it get people hooked! We pat ourselves when we realise that our perceptions are right. We take pride in it! But, is reality as seen by us always the truth? Some things stare you in the eye and maybe that's the reason they blur the truth..
Steven Lewitt delves into this theory and illustrates this with some hard numbers. Perceptions may lie, but facts and figures cannot! Atleast, that is an Economists perception :D

There were quite a few examples in Freakanomics where Steve shows this! There were a couple of examples that I really liked though, things that happened counter-intuitively!
Well, I am sure you are quite curious to know what they are, even otherwise I will say what I want to :)..Take a look at this.."Effect of Increasing a fine.. what does this bring to your mind".. more compliance? Generally yes probably, but not in all cases..For example, a daycare center in Israel increased the fine levied onto parents for picking their children late and it actually resulted in more violations! Totally against our perception and the reason was that parents actually felt "less guilty" about picking their kids late and actually did it more :) :)..
Decreasing crime rate in New York was one issue that was broached..common perception is that this is because of Giuliani's great leadership and reforms, but facts and figures show that it was on a rapid decline even before Giuliani took up office. Infact, the real reason behind the whole decline was "legalised abortion", which came in very handy for downtrodden, poor families! It was observed that children from such families were more prone to take up crime..less children of this kind, less crime! simple formula :)...

There's a lot more Steven talks about and I think it is better read than said..my hands are already aching :(..His book is surely worth a read!!

Dubya's other side

I am sure most of you have seen this already :|. I am the unfortunate one :(. I got to see it just about recently when a friend of mine casually mentioned this when I was talking about my poetic instincts :P. I laughed, laughed and laughed and am sure you did too. For all of you who can afford a few pounds of laughter, read the rest of this blog...This comes from one of the biggest poetic geniuses of this century, probably even the last one :).

In her prefatory remarks at the October 3, 2003 National Book Festival Gala, Mrs. Bush told attendees:

"President Bush is a great leader and husband—but I bet you didn't know, he is also quite the poet. Upon returning home last night from my long trip, I found a lovely poem waiting for me. Normally, I wouldn't share something so personal, but since we're celebrating great writers, I can't resist.

AND HERE IS THE FUN PART :P (btw, this line was by me ;))


Dear Laura,

Roses are red, violets are blue, oh my lump in the bed, how I've missed you.

Roses are redder, bluer am I, seeing you kissed by that charming French guy.

The dogs and the cat they miss you too, Barney's still mad you dropped him, he ate your shoe.

The distance my dear has been such a barrier, next time you want an adventure, just land on a carrier.



"I'm happy to be the inspiration behind this poem!", said Laura Bush...



Well, well, well! I don't know if I would really be proud of such a thing! And being an inspiration for such ridiculous things, I would curse myself. I don't know if this was really a George Bush poem, but that is what Laura had to say and even if she was joking, it surely gives us an insight into what she thinks about Bush Jr.."SUCH A JOKER!!"

But knowing this new side of Mr.Bush put me in a big dilemma ... Now, I don't know which side of Mr. BUSH I like better...His 4 Ps stink (Presidential, Personal, Poetic, Public). I am sure most of you are in the same boat !!!!!!!

V-lead!

My mind wandered today thinking about managers, leadership and how it applies to our world and particularly the world of software I am associated with.
I read about the Hitler's, Mussolini's, Stalins, Lenins, Gandhis and learnt that some time in total isolation could do wonders for a person. (Many of these leaders were incarcerated..I want to be a good leader, but well can avoid being jailed :)). All these leaders had different ideologies, but what tied them together was their conviction and their unadulterated dedication towards the goal they set out for themselves and the people following them. They had the goal and the vision to take them there (The path leading to the goal)!

But, leadership although it emanates from an individual is a collective effort. Leaders cannot follow through with their committments if the followers do not show diligence and diligence can only built by collective ownership. You do it when you own it! Responsibility is something that can motivate people think about great things and responsibility with power makes them do it. When leaders share their burden with the others on their team, the journey is effortless..

Leaders always learn from things big and small and nature I feel is one of our biggest teachers! Ever looked at flocks of birds flying in the sky? I am sure that is a common sight every evening. There is something else that always happens. They always fly in a "V-pattern"! And this is because of a reason.


Scientists discovered that the heart rates of the birds were lower when flying in a V than when flying solo. Migrating birds use the "squadron" formation because it allows them to glide more often, conserving energy. The aerodynamic V shape reduces the air resistance, allowing the geese to cover longer distances. In fact, a flock of geese can fly 70 percent farther by adopting the V shape rather than flying in isolation.

The V formation may offer other benefits as well. Each bird has an unobstructed field of vision, allowing flock members to see each other and communicate while in flight.
The goose at the head of the V is not necessarily the leader of the flock. Apparently, geese take turns leading. As one bird tires, it drops to the back of the formation and another takes its place. Now that's what we call teamwork with a vision in sight and collective ownership!

Humans, like geese, were created to work together and to support one another. When we encourage each other and support our leaders we can accomplish amazing things — much more than trying to work alone. Learn from nature and contribute towards it!
I am off for my cup of tea :)

Horseshoe here !!!

Well, greedy you came in for a horseshoe and all you see is

" 13 13 13 Friday Friday Friday 13th 111 222 Friday 13 13 13 Friday "

Wellllllll...there is probably nothing wrong with Friday, the 13th or with the Nelsons or for that matter anything else and carrying a horseshoe in your pocket might not bring you any fortune or goodluck but might surely tear the seams of your pocket! But, superstitions surely bring in a zing to life. They can bring in variety to an otherwise mundane life :). I am quite superstitious myself, but only for the fun part..I surely shudder when a black cat crosses my path (especially when I am in my car) or when Tendulkar is on 111 ( Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be getting near 11 these days!). Infact, during some crucial world cup matches, I locked my sister in her bedroom because I had a feeling that if my sister commented on a cricketer (an Indian cricketer) while watching cricket, his time was due. He was out the next ball! Unfortunately, this happened quite a few times and my sister was restricted to solitary confinement quite a few times in our childhood. I am quite sure she is very glad that she is married :)...

Btw, I started thinking about all this when I read an article here in 'Star-Telegram'. The title said "Skyscraper curse strikes 3 companies". One of the three companies is the company I work for and I surely can vouch that the skyscrapper curse is true in our case. They have an interesting picture to illustrate it too! Skyscrapper came into being in 1999 when Deutsche Bank researcher Andrew Lawrence identified a link between the construction of the world's tallest buildings and the onset of an economic downturn :). The three companies I am talking about here are Sabre, Radioshack and Pier 1 Imports.

Sabre Holdings, RadioShack and Pier 1 Imports were hitting on all cylinders when they hatched plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build their corporate headquarters.
All hyped growth ambitions and the efficiency to be gained from new office configurations. They also said the right thing about not being distracted from their primary businesses.
That turned out to be wishful thinking. Each company's stock price and profits headed south not long after they moved into their new homes. Pier 1 and RadioShack are struggling so much today that they've become the subject of takeover talks.
BIG BUILDINGS CRASH BIG DREAMS!

There are quite a few other examples to the Skyscrapper curse -- EmpireState Building, Sears Tower, InterFirst Bank (the neon-lighted skyscrapper seen in the dallas skyline) are all standing tall with this curse...

Btw, I just heard there is one other curse. The curse of associating a company name to a sports facility spells doom for the company. AA, UA, WorldCom, US Airways are amongst many other companies that had to bear the brunt of this curse...Now, isn't life interesting :)

Hopefully, you guys are not cursing this post !!!!!! :D :D :D

Globalisation, losing party ?

Globalization has long been considered a silver bullet that could propell a country's economy to great heights, but is that always true ?
There have been arguments that it is a relatively new phenomenon, but that is not true too!

In reality, we are in the midst of the world's second era of globalization. The first great globalization occurred from the middle of the 19th century to the eve of World War I, fueled partly by liberalized trade and immigration policies and partly by steep declines in transportation costs. This earlier era has been studied extensively by economic historians. What these investigations have shown is that by 1913, globalization—whether measured in flows of goods and people or in the convergence of national economies' prices and wages—had been realized to an extent never before seen.

I can see Globalization invading our quarters right in the 19th century, actually even earlier when the British started tampering the minds of Indians and eventually conquered them. They surely gave us their language, institutions and communications networks..well, they took just too much in return. Globalization, that is normally talked about is more about trade crossing national boundaries bringing in economies of scale, improving quality wherever it permeates. It has been there for a long time but has received a lot of attention recently because of an explosion in communication technologies.

Globalization is not only about seeing a Walmart, McDonalds or a BurgerKing in your country. It is not just confined to the retail sector. It was widely seen in the Mfg sector (Remember those "Made in China" labels :)) and now there is explosive growth being witnessed in the Service sector, all because of one thing 'Communication'! A good communications network makes geographical distance a moot point for the service industry..

So, what does all this mean for us. We are surely shifting our focus from a more reginal, national mindset to an international mindset when we do anything (True for all entrepreneurs). We have let other countries invade our space in almost every sector and at the same time we can reach out and serve a bigger audience. But, serving a bigger audience, is that possible for a company with low finances? I surely understand that "bigger" corporates would surely have the financial muscle and the mettle to deal with this (in fact, like it), but will a poor farmer/poor equipment manufacturer be able to compete against the cost efficiencies that these huge multi-national companies have realised? Probably not! Will it kill entrepreneurship at that level, surely! But, will it make better entrepreneurs, SURELY. So, what do we do as a country? I surely see this as a evil necessity :), but we can sing a happier tune adopting it, if the government policies are conducive to do that. If it can grant loans more easily for these "small" players and arrange for programmes/bootcamps of how to compete against such influx, talk about the benefits of consolidation and then competition, it would make it a lot more easier for these players.

Globalization has also been alleged with increasing pollution and "encouraging" child labor in poorer countries. But again, there are flip sides to this too. It surely increases the per capita income of people in poorer countries making it easier for them to buy vehicles that increase pollution but at the same time "imported machinery" used in manufacturing is a lot less polluting! And coming to child labor, well since the per capita per household increases, there might not be any necessity to send children to work! But forces of need for more labor, greed for money might foster it. All this again can be averted with "good government policies".
I guess I can go and on and on about this thing, but to summarize my thoughts (as if you care about it !), I think Globalization is not something to jump in, it should be done with a plan..adapting to it while adopting it!!!

2 minute wonder

Life always seems very short. When I look back at mine, I am quite amused to see I spent more than 30 years, around half the average lifespan of an Indian male almost doing nothing. That is how it seems when I look at the "bigger" picture.
On the flip side, I was just pondering about how much one could do/ one could accomplish by spending 2 minutes wisely.
Let us try to illustrate this using a hypothetical task, actually let's take a real one :). I wake up every day at 7 30 am and try to be at work by 9 am. My daily routine between these 2 hours includes brushing my teeth, making/drinking tea, the DAILY RITUAL, taking my bath, dressing up and driving to work. It takes me 30 minutes to get to work, so I have to start driving my car at 8 30 am. You can obviously see that 1 hour is a very short timespan to accommodate all my other tasks considering the fact that I HAVE to browse/check my e-mail for atleast 10 minutes out of this hour! I really had to cut corners, cut some sleep to really squeeze this in. This went on and on for a few months till one fine day, I decided to spend 2 minutes to think about this and then my life underwent a metamorphosis......Before you start speculating what happened in those 2 minutes..

I analysed my situation and realised one thing. I was spending atleast half an hour making tea and drinking it and saw it as the "big" bottleneck to better sleep and devised a plan to execute this task in parallel. Everyday, after I get up from bed, even before I open my eyes I go to our stove and start boiling our tea leaves. Then, I brush my teeth and shave during which the water on the stove has enuf of the tea leaves. I add milk to the concoction and then go about doing my MORNING RITUAL. By the time I am done, the tea is done and I am ready with a big cup in my hand. I can now have tea, read my morning journal, browse, do whatever in peace and one hour now sounds just too much.


Just two minutes spent wisely seems to have changed my life! I am in time to work and never late to meetings and that morning stress is gone. Extrapolating this to other aspects of life, I feel planning for just about anything in life is crucial. A simple plan can make a complex task look simple and what more can it can make you fulfill it with happiness. I am a happy man now, do you want to be one ?

Not even a tear ?

Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter..drip drip drop drip...smell of drenched earth, pleasant music of flowing water and dripping rain, animals and birds scampering for shelter, some enjoying it, God using the sky as a canvas and painting a rainbow in the sky, taking pictures from the sky and playing loud thunder...and ofcourse me in the center of it all playing in the rain!!

"Vijay, wake up!!, wake up!!", shouted Sharmila and shook me up from my sleep. I was in my dream world enjoying every bit of it when i was forced to come back to reality. Weather reports this morning forecasted thunderstorms accompanied with "large hail" out here and I was really hoping for a good time. Well, whenever you anxiously wait for something it never happens (atleast with me :()...and so it didn't this time too..Leave alone thunderstorms, there has been just no rain here! I really doubt the weather reports here. They were much better back in India where the weather were not very precise but were surely accurate! I do not doubt the technology here but surely doubt the over zealous technologists who might be more than interpreting various cues from nature. You can tell that this is not the first time this happened :). I doubt if there are "many more" unknown parameters while predicting weather here....

Latest reports say that it is going to get wet later on in the night...how i wish i could prolong my dream and continue it till the night..For now, there is rain in sight anywhere except for the moistness of my eyes. How I wish God could shed a tear for me :|

COMPROMISED!!

I read so much about it and I had seen people talk too many precautions against it. I always wondered why the world was so skeptical about things, why it was no negative, doubtful and always suspecting. I thought some companies made a killing out of this fear from people by providing protective blankets and I always thought this was really unnecessary. I am not talking about bird-flu that apparently has fewer victims than people killed by lightning.....

My credit card has been compromised! Somebody used it fraudulently. I never knew why people were so skeptical about using it on the internet, but now realise that there is surely a reason behind the fear. I live in Irving, Texas and somebody used my card from Montreal, Canada. I am sure this was during our trip to California! There were two transactions on one day and nothing eversince! Don't know if it is the calm before the storm. I just realised these today and had my card cancelled! My card company, Chase said that they cancelled it, but now I don't believe anything. Atleast for the next few weeks after which my heart might catch a positive beat!
Be careful, everybody..exercise caution. There is always that somebody lurking around that corner looking out for that card of yours to do that dirty transaction! Agony, pain, despair all written over my face now.

A stitch in time surely saves nine