How do I learn "How to Fail?"

One drawback of my entire career has been that "NOBODY TAUGHT me to FAIL" Yes nobody taught me how to fail, like several others I learnt it on my own... some say it is great, you get your experience "hard way", some say "that's life".. I always felt and wanted to know if there was a way to learn how to fail... Its very important to know this as we keep on failing in our own way and that too in an untrained way...

So for those curious minds in there who are looking with a cross eye and for those of you who think that why in the age of "Learning Success" somebody wants to learn "How to Fail". Here is why I feel so:

Years ago when I founded TechShepherds, there was a vision "Success". Years later when I defounded TechShepherds ( around 2 years later) I realised that I was late to fail. Those days were the most painful days, because you stopped your company for whatsoever reason but there was a label of Failure, There was some money gone and there was a credibility that was at stake. Years later I worked for a company that spent millions and millions to work on a product, they spent years before they realised that it was time for them to scrap it as they were too late. In other words they were slow to fail?

Now you get the point!!!!! Yes it is important you know how to fail, if you know how you would decide when... I had a friend who co-founded a company 2 years ago, he went ahead with his partners and a investment of $20K to start working on a product... they built a Rocket in terms of the work they were doing.. a social network with enterprise base... They spent 3 months before they realised that the idea was too old and not fit for the market... they changed the product to move away from Enterprise Social network to a Local Social network. Result they saved the troubles to build and sell something that they saw was moving towards an end. In other words they saved a few hundreds of Bucks, They saved some partners and some money of Investors...

So how to find out that you will fail and then decide to fail fast?

1. You are working against a force that is well equipped financially, technically and in terms of value drive.

2. Things are no longer the way they used to be. You are in the 60's and the world has moved to 2010. Markets have changed, people too.

3. You can grow but your growth can never be of 200% for a period longer and consistent.

4. You are depending too much on your ideas without exploring debates , discussions and suggestions from outside world.

5. You dont like new Ideas anymore

6. Your Product is not improvising anymore...

Wait a while... Review yourself.. Identify the Failure that is coming to you... And Fail...

Yes Fail. So that you can take the lessons and improve, but at the same time you avoid making blunders...Earlier you know about the failure, earlier you learn and earlier you improve... In other words you learn how to fail... In a way that will help you and others with you...

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Teams, Collaboration and Yammer

One of the challenges we Project Managers face in our routines and project cycles is a lack of communication. X knows something that is missed out of communication to Y and so on. Everyone in the Software Teams need a way to communicate with the ton with ease... We all then start relying on our time killer Emails... Yes we send emails to aliases and then we rely on emails back.. responses that come from specific groups.

8 Months ago we switched to Yammer, The core idea was the remote teams that we were working with in the UK, France , Germany , US , Chennai and Pune needed a common way to communicate.. a way that doesn't restrict us to certain tools and software's, yet allow sending message to many at a time, yet allow getting responses from many at a time, yet have a thread and a link to replies, yet have a phone, Black berry , Desktop or web application that can work for anyone and everyone, yet allow sharing files and pics and above all be available from anywhere, everywhere all the time.

To our luck Yammer has turned out to be quite a relief as people can ask for quick answers / doubts to a bigger group and get answers and updates all the time. I would recommend Yammer for collaborative teams due to the flexibility and the app support that it provides with ease. Above all an unadministered domain in Yammer will cost you nothing, It can miraculously change the way your team interacts...

Ignore those chat sessions that will happen, but can be really a lifeline to the diminishing integration you are facing in your teams... So if you like Yammer don't hesitate to Thank me for it.. and get your colleagues to read more of this blog as I am more keen to share the Project Management tools that worked for us and in what way....

There are other similar collaborative tools that I gave some try but could never switch as Yammer did what we wanted... but in case you are interested go on and look for Socialcast , Shoutem

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Is Micro Management coool?

Ask this to a seasoned Manager and he will say NO. Ask this to a theory manager and he too will say NO.. In fact ask anyone and they will say NO. Nobody wants to be micro managed. However a big chunk of Managers are micro managing things. They dont want to be micromanaged but they want to micro manage.

In fact a lot of Managers think that the tasks are only done when micro managed. In the list of Micro Managers I am not the one less accused, Yes in the past I have been oftenly accused of micro managing. Though I disagreed to a certain level, I agree that that I do MICRO MANAGE. So the question... Is Micro Management cool?

Well the answer is not NO.. it is Yes and No... Yes more diplomatic. You need to micro manage not always though. I dont criticize micro management and I dont endorse it too. I believe in micro managing self when working on potentially high risk elements... so what do you think all the TADA lists are for? what was post it made for? and the answer goes on....


But yes.. think of that member of your team who gets out of focus the very moment when he sees something more exciting? Or think of the most dedicated member of the team who is just doing his task on and on and on... Well you need to micro manage for good and bad reasons... its you who has to decide who, when and how much.

So whats your take on Micro Management?

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What Problem are we solving here?

A few years ago when a developer was requested to build a feature or a module he would be worried about the content of the document that came in to him as Requirement Specification document. Things changed… with the running market he started worrying about the time, scope and quality of the feature. Are we moving so fast that now the developer’s have to worry about the eligibility of the feature? Yes indeed… I was asked a question 2 times once by my 6 year old when I was trying to fix his pedal scooter and next by a developer who was about to work on one of the important features in the Product that I am working on.

The question was simple “What are we trying to solve here?” Answer most complex…When @aranhas07 started working on his product for Social Intuition, He had a problem each one of us face in the social world in mind… but when I look back and forth I see tones of products made every day making news on @Scobleizer and @Techmeme or @mashable I don’t really understand if they really are there to Solve a problem or to create one?

Do we answer this question before we start working on something important or so called important thing? Well the answer is NO it is thought but perceptional.. Yes one entity’s perception make him think that this is a problem and then a solution is designed around it... In process others really miss what is much needed or required... We spend millions and millions solving a problem which actually is not a problem…

Talk about the Iraq war (No WMD’s were ever recovered) or talk about the appointment of a bowling coach that got Indian team in a big mess a while ago. As Managers we always plan a lot of work.. but in process we plan work that comes through perseverance or perception. You let your teams spent millions and years on something that probably is not a problem but you are trying to solve it.

Once a sales consultant for a leading product made a big comment on the salability of a product saying since this product doesn’t allow robustness in letting multiple users connect to the system at the same time this product needs a big change as all the customers are asking for the said feature… The team went on creating a plan and effort and finally spent millions before a new developer got in and who asked... why are we building all of this? Can we not make the login web driven and leave other things on the rich interface? A management review was done and solution brutualized…

Next time when you begin to spend your important time on something don’t hesitate to ask these questions to yourself, your stake holders, your Managers, your CEO’s... For one thing can come out of it that they may not know what problem they are trying to solve…

The next few questions can actually help you work towards a solution than an issue..
1. What is the Problem?
2. Who faces it?
3. What are the workarounds?
4. What are the options available?
5. What can we do to make the solution generic?
6. Is the cost worth building a solution?
7. What are various options in the solutions?

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The Big Day Live!!!

Yes.. the day is today... just another Saturday except that we bring to the world of internet a new Product. That works fast, and gives one hell of usability. A hard work for the last couple of months complimented by the most positive attitude from the stakeholders and of course the Team...

I salute the spirit and prepare myself to gearup for the next few weeks of challenge and next few years of more hard work.

We are here today to release FusionLive...

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What should I do?

Seth Godin's post on "Tell me what to do" is a nice fit to what we face in our day to day life as Project Managers...

"I committed to do this, but now I cant do it.. tell me what to do!!!"

I tried hard for last 1 hr , tell me what to do

Not only that souls want to push the responsibility, but "Tell me what to do" is also an excuse many of them find to get away from a task... as in I asked you what to do.. and I was waiting.. Based on tell me what to do.. I categorize these souls into 3 sections...

1. Bow Enthusiasts - They wait for you to tell them what to do always, Ask what to do always.. They are like the bow... everything should be done by the arrow, and be told by the archer
2. Show Enthusiasts - They show that they can do everything.. true or not is a different question and Do or not is another. This type exists in very small amount in smaller teams and Big amount in bigger teams.
3. Do Enthusiasts - They just do it... They are the YN's and YT's of the Team (The two members who need no instructions...)

The only reason I put them as Enthusiasts.. is at work every one is enthusiastic though some for "work" and some for "NO work", some for passion , some for pride, some for goals and some for Holes...

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