Life Lessons

There are more things in heaven and earth Horacio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy – Hamlet (1.5.167-8)

Life’s lessons are incomparable to anything you can find in books or what the algorithms can throw up. The earlier the situations are experienced, and lessons learned, the more equipped one is in handling the vagaries that life throws at us.

This is not a wish list. It doesn’t happen automatically. The more sheltered life one has, less are the chances of encountering the ‘aha!’ moment. So, go out and experience life as it is happening. Get to know people. Talk to them. Volunteer for tasks no one is willing to undertake. More difficult and complex the task, stronger is the learning experience. If you are still pursuing your academic career, volunteer for managing various student activities that happen in your institution. Join internship programs whenever & wherever possible.

Travel if you can. There is no activity that is more pleasurable to me than travel despite the unpleasantness that are sometimes inevitable. It is character building and at the same time gives an insight in people’s lives and thoughts. Different philosophies, varied perspectives and learning.

If we are open to such divergent views and do not reject them since they seem to contradict whatever we have been exposed to so far, it has the potential to make us much better human beings as well as a better adapted global manager.

Success at a young age without the benefits of life’s lessons can be very dangerous and at the same time detrimental for the individual.  

I remember, as a rookie manager heading one of the most profitable regions of the business, I mistook the relationships that I had with channel partners to be life long and true. Not realizing that the for many, their investment in the relationship was a convenient way of maximizing mileage only to relegate it to indifference moment the occupant of the ‘chair’ moved.

Before you make any hasty conclusion, let me assure you that in the course of business, I did form some very strong relationships that have lasted even today. They have moved from the business domain to that of personal. I am grateful to the various people and organizations that I keep coming across for helping me become a better human being; for being able to develop a better understanding of people and situations and for helping me become more empathetic.

I hope I was able to give as much I took from each of them.

Of Nationalism and being Nationalistic

The concept of nationalism is a haunting topic for both governments as well as citizens of every country on earth. For obvious reasons, the views are as diverse and extreme as they come – sometimes leading to xenophobia.  

Very often, nationalism is freely equated with the leading religion of the region or community involved. Many in power intentionally and surreptitiously encourage this merger for their group’s benefit. In the recent past we have witnessed political leaders across the world, either through commission or omission, indulge in such behavior that is leading to mass shootings, hate crimes and lynching mobs. Every accused group or instigator believes they are acting in the best interest of their community, society, religious belief and the country in general.  

The key word here is ‘belief’. Where does this belief come from. A cursory glance at history of anywhere indicates that such beliefs are a manifestation of an interested few who in order to preserve their power and position in the hierarchy of things, propagate their own narrative of how things should be. The masses of people who execute this version of nationalism is rarely well read, informed or with a higher perspective. They trust the powers to be and therefore believe every word said or unsaid. They are given to understand that their deliverance from all their problems in life lies in executing whatever has been said or unsaid by their leaders.  

The leadership amplify this as the ‘people’s will’ and continue their play with people’s mind.  

One example of achieving this mind bending exercise in the long term, is through the process of formal education. Successive governments of different political hues try to rewrite and insert their own version of history through NCERT. Life of most text books can now be measured by the tenure of the current government.  

I would like to believe that I am as nationalistic as they come. But I have a different opinion. Individuals can contribute by trying to be as law compliant as is possible - be it traffic rules or tax rules. I am not saying that I like all the rules, but as long as they are in place, I believe they need to be followed. I also believe that there are many facets of life for which there are no statues in existence but need to be practiced for the greater good of society. In my personal as well as professional life, I try to be as inclusive as possible and practice sustainability at every option. Be as much concerned about others’ needs as I am of my own needs.That, I believe, is one of the ways we build a strong country. 

Nationalism to me is not only about participating in protest marches and candle light vigils, though sometimes that is necessary. Thankfully such issues are few and far between. It is more about how we live our lives everyday. How we ‘behave’. How we act. What we do that should be done and don’t do what is not to be done. I believe every citizen can and should embrace the concept of nationalism. My only fear is that each one has their own view of what nationalism is. And that is where the danger lies. 

The Perfect Coffee Shop 

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

My love affair with coffee started in the ‘dosa’ joints of Calcutta during my college days. The hot sugary liquid, served in a steel cup placed in a matching steel tumbler, was the best coffee that a college allowance could buy. The ‘filter coffee’ that they served was way better than any instant coffee that was available then or even now.  

I had the real taste of coffee much later on my business trips to Europe and the US. The coffee shops attracted me more for their ambiance rather than the coffee. They were places where one could just sit and watch the world go by.  As the years passed, I realized that I savored the coffee aroma more that the coffee taste. The smell of freshly brewed coffee is stimulating as well as refreshing. I made it a point to visit a coffee shop at every opportunity. I would choose small family run coffee shops because I thought the coffee and the food was authentic and so was the conversation. 

Those were times when the electronic appendages that are a dominant part of our life today were still in their infancy. Coffee shops were a great place to catch up with my reading, a habit which I sorely miss today.  

The coffee chains like the CCD and Barista started proliferating the metros in India right about the time I decided to give up my full-time job and set up a consulting practice of my own. Coffee shops offered the anonymity to work uninterrupted as well as set up meetings with clients. The added bonus was the constant wafting coffee smell. 

The ambiance in the coffee shops in India ten years back were a lot different than today. There were distinct categories of people for each of these chains. Barista and Costa had a more Business clientele whereas CCD catered to a younger crowd.  

The coffee joints, at least in Delhi, have changed a lot in the past ten years. Highs real estate costs have forced many of them to shut shop. The clientele too has changed over the years. And the coffee has got more expensive. 

Unlike their European counterparts, the Indian coffee shops do not offer an opportunity to ‘observe’ life as you sip coffee and catch up with whatever it is that you want to do. Umair Haque in his article ‘The Bistro and the Promenade - What We Can Learn from the French Way of Life’, has some very interesting observations gleaned from his own life in Paris and Montreal. A point in case is his observations about the way the chairs in the bistros are usually placed not across each other but side by side allowing conversations, laughter even falling in love. People gossip, share grief or in silence watch the world go by.  

Watching the world go by is therapeutic! It is fascinating to observe people. With my keen interest in marketing and therefore consumer behavior, I game the process challenging myself to predict the next move of the young couple or the old matriarch, with equal fervor.  

For me the Perfect Coffee shop allows me to work on my device if I need to. Read. Plug in my device to recharge if I need to (yes, I have been refused at a few places in Delhi). Watch life go by when I want to.  

There were a few places that matched my expectations. But all of them are gone. Or their coffee has become too esoteric for my liking. My need to ‘smell the coffee’ urges me stay in the hunt for that elusive Perfect Coffee Shop. Every day I keep looking. 

Selling is not an end game:

Selling is not an end game:

The Indian consumer is witnessing a massive up gradation in her lifestyle courtesy the highly competitive marketplace and the seemingly unending access to cash that the e-commerce portals invest in the form of product discounts to buy a huge consumer community.

This augurs well for the consumer community since they are now able to lay their hands on a whole range of consumer goodies including white & brown goods. Their new acquisitions drive them up the socio-economic ladder and gives them bragging rights over their newfound status. The frenzy around flash sales is a point to ponder over. Behavioral scientists are having a field day studying the new Indian consumer and her buying journey. Marketers are scrambling to up their game to be a few yards ahead of their competitors and grab market shares.

The problem lies in the next level of the value chain – service delivery. To keep costs low, firms are outsourcing a large component of the value chain. This is a segment where there is a huge opportunity to create brand experience and therefor brand loyalty. However, this opportunity is often missed out The outsourced workforce works on a cost-based model. Typically hires in this segment are not from the rururban SEC. Their concepts of the softer skills required to build brand image (time schedules, communication, presentation) are often not at par. Their environment many a time prevents them from comprehending these issues and why they are big for the customer and therefor the brand. 

The yellow boxes represent missed opportunities for the brand to create a superior brand experience and organizations need to closely monitor service delivery parameters.

I have myself had some recent experiences with a well-known electronic retailer. I have connected with the store, the customer support, sent them a detailed and long email. I even connected with them on twitter. All I got was another bored call-center voice asking me how I would rate their service on a scale of 1 to 10!

Outsourcing non-core and sometimes even core components of the value delivery process for a brand is a reality and is not going anywhere. It is at once an opportunity as well as a threat. An opportunity for entrepreneurs to offer creative and high-quality options at low cost. And this opportunity will continue to grow. The biggest threat for the brand is its inability to live up to customer expectations or competitive benchmarks. 

The New World Order

FIFA World Cup Football is a spectacular event that captivates audiences from more countries than any other spectator does. Passion rides high and teams, supporters and the whole eco-system that makes this grand event a success prepares for months and years.

The 2018 event was no exception except for the fact that it kept throwing up more surprises as each game progressed. The high and mighty of the game as in individuals as well as teams were left behind, overshadowed by teams written off even before the games started. Eventually, all the favorites were filtered out by their performance and the crown was passed on to someone not exactly new to the game.

Like in football, the business world also keeps filtering out the old giants who looked invincible is humbled and newer, nimbler businesses that were born ‘just yesterday’. A case in point is the once almighty GE. An erstwhile bell weather co, GE has produced some of the finest managers of the western world. There was a time, if you polled the top CEOs of the western world, most of them would have had a stint in GE sometimes in their career.

GE in the past has been the center of attention for the leading market shares it had in the domains in which it chose to operate. Under Jack Welch, GE grew into a huge behemoth with its leading presence in power, healthcare, engineering and host of other industries. GE is also credited with inventing some of the management concepts like Six Sigma, that is even today, practiced by many companies across the world.

According to some, GE’s advantage lay in its system of professional management, epitomized by its investments in executive education and management development. Leading academics were part of the education process that managers at GE went through. Jeffry Immelt carried on the tradition of Jack Welch and had Eric Ries, author of the chart topper book ‘The Lean Start-up’, as a part of the advisory team that guided GE managers as they struggled to survive.

GE may not be a write off yet. It might make a comeback like IBM did under Lou Gerstner. Only time will tell us about GE’s future.

With a wealth of knowledge, experience and resources available with them, why is it that companies like GE, Nokia, Kodak, Motorola and many more leaders of the industry fall behind? Is it the ‘boiling frog’ syndrome, lack of vision, unwilling to acknowledge change, refusal to give-up power? Or is it a combination of all of these and more that ensures a rapid sinking to the bottom of the pile?

If you look at the list of richest people in the world today, you will find the top three – Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates & Mark Zuckerberg – all made their money in tech. But within the tech community itself you will find ample examples of companies that have followed the like of GE – Yahoo, My Space to name a couple.

It is therefore, not the changing industries and favorites of the moment, but the way we run our businesses that are responsible for the future fate of the organization. Finally, it is how we play the game!

Do You Have a Business Plan?

The argument for business plans goes both ways. Many an urban legend talks about entrepreneurs who have built billion-dollar businesses without having any idea about what a business plan is. On the other extreme there are those who have created equally successful businesses where every step of the way has been part of a structured plan. What therefore is the reality?

Let us start by assuming that you are of the belief that business plans are a whole bunch of crap created by suits from consulting organizations and eulogized in MBA programs. I am also assuming that you are one of those lucky ones who had a eureka moment and decided to act on it? Great! What next?

You start by developing the solution and think of ways to tell the whole world (your target audience) about the super-duper solution that you have for them that will make their life oh! So smooth. You need money which you may not have. So, you scrounge, beg or borrow till you have your business off the ground. And again, let’s assume that your product / solution flies off the shelves and you scramble to make more. You need more space more money and more arms and feet (and minds) to keep your new-found success from vanishing as quickly as it came. There you are – a successful entrepreneur.

Let’s look back and see what made you successful – an idea; your understanding that the idea could make money; your belief that some people would be willing to pay you for your solution; your decision to run with it; money; production; distribution; people and some balm to placate irate people when you goofed up. And congratulations, you have the mental ability and maybe some paper napkins to helped you on your journey. Tell you what - someday in the future, there will be too many zeros to take care off, too many people on either side to remember them by name, too many loose ends; too many products to be sent to too many destinations. And when you feel totally overwhelmed, you may reach out for that piece of paper, your laptop or the software that your friend spoke about to keep your head above the water.

Whethe you are the genius with a huge capability to churn all the wheels in your mind or the simple joe, we all plan if we are serious about making our ideas work. Sometimes a paper napkin gives us the head start that we need but other times, it may be a worthwhile to give a structure to your thoughts. For lack of a better name, you may call it your ‘Business Plan’.

The Customer Service Pitfall

I have always had this grouse that most companies and individuals in companies stumble and have a great fall when it comes to customer service. I also believe that most companies, specially the ones with multiple national lineage have the processes and intent in place but goof-up happens at the frontline level where either the executive is either incapable of having a perspective or is limited by the company’s policies of not empowering them to take on the spot decisions.

I am very happy to have encountered an extremely pleasant and satisfying experience the other day and I have hopes that the some of the organisations are stepping up their game.

I had done my weekly shopping at the Hypercity outlet in Noida, a suburb of Delhi. On returning home, I realised that the cashier had kept aside one of the items at the time of billing and had forgotten to put it my shopping bag. After speaking to customer service, I was given a complaint reference number and asked to visit the store and contact the store’s customer service for complaint redressal.

I had some extensive international travel right after this incidence and so was unable to visit the store. It was only after approximately two and a half months that I could actually visit the store to replies some groceries that were running low. I went up-to the Customer Service desk and gave them the reference number and the invoice of my previous purchase and complain. I was informed that the ownership of the store had changed, and that the database of the existing store was merged with that of the new owners and the executive therefore had no access to the referenced complaint.

This is when the story takes a turn for the better. The CSE very politely said and I quote: “sir, I am sure your complaint is genuine, and I apologise for the inconvenience you have been put to. I cant not resolve this problem of yours but I will give you a merchandise worth the value of the missing item against your current purchase. Please complete your check out and collect the merchandise from me”.

The entire episode took less than two minutes to resolve. The customer (me) was happy; the store brand got a few positive ticks and the CSE did his job. What was the level of difficulty – very low. Why is then that the larger lot of service providers are unable to retrieve the situation and create positive moments of truths for their brand and company? Why is it that these companies do not empower the front lines, the people interacting with real consumers, to take decisions that cost little but give huge returns in terms of customer goodwill, positive WOM and may be also some brand loyalty?

My only regret in this incident was that I forgot to ask the gentleman’s name. Next time for sure.