Wednesday, February 29, 2012

You compromise only once


There are times when we are running into deadlines and we have to deliver with some compromise on quality.
There are times when your client is a very demanding person, but with no additional budget.
There are times when your software developer will feel (or he may shout aloud) that you are becoming too finicky about small quality control details.
There are times when your friends will feel that you are being too rigid. 
There are times when you feel that this is wrong and I should stop it. But then your Lizard brain asks you to just avoid it.
There are times when you feel you will start exercising; from tomorrow.
That is the time when you stand up and act.
Because you compromise only once, thereafter it will be a habit.


Be a yardstick of quality. Don’t be flexible in your expectations.
Tell that client that any new changes will be billed afresh. She might feel offended but if you deliver great quality she will understand.
Tell your friends that I can’t be flexible on this. This might feel anti majority but this is what I feel
Tell your developer one more time that god lies in details and quality is the most important.
Compromise is Sin.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

If it’s difficult, you still didn’t get it.


Everything is simple. Yes, Everything.
If something is complex, it means you didn’t spend the right amount of time on it, with requisite Focus.
There must be times when you solved something and felt, “ohh that was Simple”. It was not simple. You worked on it to make it simple. 
If something still perplex you. You still didn’t get the right angle or right context.


Steve Jobs said “That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”


What about legal document, terms and conditions, insurance docs, red herring etc? They are not simple. That’s why Nobody reads them. I am sure you don’t want your service/product to be of that class. How can you incorporate this in your company culture? Include “Make it Simpler” in your company philosophy. Whenever you are about to deliver something, Ask yourself “How can I make it simpler”.


Whatsoever is your field, things should be simple to you. Simplify. And then Simplify some more.


It’s elementary Mr. Watson.


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Plans, Will Fail.


Your plans are your faith in yourself. You plan something and you believe that it will succeed. Belief is never totally rational. There is always a pinch (sometimes tons) of emotions in a Plan. Plans always succeed in Mind. Plans are always million dollar idea. Plan always brings you fame, in plans.When you plan a startup, you believe in that idea. You do try to be logical and rational but faith is always there. You might have junked tens of plans before starting ‘the one’.
But,
Plans are based on your past experiences and your learning from various sources. Tell you, past experiences don’t exactly repeat in future and learning is way different from ground, dirty, reality. Infrastructure, Hiring, Budget, client payments and processes, they are all plans. And they will all go haywire.
You planned to hire; you planned to create, you planned to deliver. That's ideal plan stuff, but things are totally different on ground zero. 
But,
That’s the thrill. Entrepreneurs dare. Plans will fail. And only then some plan will click. They are not failing, they are teaching you. Your faith in yourself will finally work. Your plan # xyz will surely work. 


This is the time to plan and today is the time to execute.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Your carrot is not my carrot



You might be encouraging your team to work harder by promising them higher salary, provided they show results. Some managers promise better growth while others promise lesser work pressure in future. But when a manager offers something, he is showing the carrot which is a carrot to the manager.


You promise promotion, your team might be looking for frequent appreciations.
You are offering better hike but team members might be seeking better work culture.
You are offering stability however a team member might be seeking new challenges outside current domain.
You might be offering daily challenges but team might want to specialize in one particular focus area.


People promise for things that they like. This carrot approach is botched up in nearly all the appraisals system in nearly all the companies. Companies define a framework for its people and decide what the carrot is. Appraisal frameworks generalize the things but carrot is highly specific to an individual.


Same applies to products and services you are offering.
Your product is class apart functionally but your customers might be more inclined towards its exterior looks. Your product is good for showoff but your customers might love a more economical product. You give some service economically but you customers might be more interested in easy availability.


Find carrot of the person you are talking to and then talk in terms of that carrot.



Sunday, February 19, 2012

Boredom is good


If you are not content with the status quo you feel bored. Playing-meeting-after-meeting job is status quo; am-looking-for-a-good-idea inertia is status quo; am-waiting-for-my-chance excuse is status quo. Status quo doesn't help anything. Status quo is just inertia.


By boredom, your lizard brain has signaled you that it’s time to create something; it’s time to try something new. Boredom doesn’t depict lethargy; it depicts your discontent with status quo. Boredom tells that you want to change the current situation. Your mind somehow knows that you can ignite a revolution and that’s why it’s signaling you to start something. Doing mundane job without even realizing that you’ve become mechanical is bad, not boredom. 


Boredom is good.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Startup block

Good talkers never get talker block and intelligent writers never get writer’s block. Gist is that when you talk, talk, and talk more, you produce golden words during that journey. Same applies to writing.  It might seem that few people produce excellent speech or excellent writing every single  time they deliver. That’s an illusion. Because behind that great quality published work there lie tons of unpublished work. It’s rightly said that it takes 20 year to become overnight success.
There is no startup block. If you keep looking for that perfect idea, perfect execution plan, perfect team or perfect infrastructure, it will never work. Sorry if that seems offhand but that’s truth. Ideate, execute and repeat this till you hit the bull’s eye. There is no right team, no right plan or no right time. You have to get your hands dirty and try several things because it’s only in that journey that you’ll bump into the right thing. Get out of that starter block of yours and start playing the game. It will work. For sure.