2G , 3G and Me

This week on Monday I saw a text message on my cell.. said "3G now available in your city on Vodafone", knowing from my team mates on how beneficial 3G was and knowing that Vodafone is giving me a free trial until 10th April, I decided to go with it...I got it enabled as you can see from my tweet... Out of curiosity I also tried to check the costs, just so I am sure I am not paying a fortune believe me an insider friend with Vodafone tells me that its not costing me a fortune.. of course the other providers of 3G are anyways not charging a fortune... So based on this fact that today I use 2G and dont really pay much and now that I will use 3G and not going to pay much, Is making me really Happy... I am sure not paying much is going to make you guys happy too...

But then if we are not paying much money as consumer charges for these services, why is there so much of speculation, hype , charges , allegations on some of the license and permit issues that the government has given for these providers?

Well for those who just like to make allegations on governments and managements, I decided to write a few posts on "2G Spectrum scandal" and my analysis of it from a management perspective...

P.S I am on 3G and kind of not sure how it is performing... At places I get an amazing speed and at places I have no network :(.. I will wait till I give any feedback

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Pray for Japan

Dear God,

Please help our friends in Japan and neighboring islands who are now facing very very difficult situations with the earth quake that just hit them badly and tsunami that followed. We from here in India can only pray and would need you to assist our friends there.

Regards

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Do you need Policing?

Today over a one on one session with Ani (One of our lead engineers), we(Me and him) ended up brainstorming an idea of code policing... In other words having policing efforts from someone on our code repository.... Of course the reason for such a thought and idea is to improvise the quality of the code that goes into our system... with all due respect to our hard working engineers, the quality of code is one thing that can tremendously increase your Technical debt...and something has to be in place that ensures that neither the quality dips nor the Technical debt increases...

So this idea of code policing... is it really a right thing to do? Do you think you need people who will go and check every line of written code to ensure that it is good quality? will this empower your engineers? Will this help improvising the knowledge of your developer community? Will this have a positive effect or will it create a process burden and forced quality on your teams?

Oh well these are not the questions I am just asking you.. these are the questions I am trying to find answers of for the last 1 hour 30 minutes... and the more I think over it the more I am convinced that POLICING SUCKS!!!!!

The moment you have to make hard efforts to keep a process running, believe me you are at the end of it... then be it a development process or a programming process... You definitely need to make efforts to ensure you have good quality [for product , for code, for team, for tests , for documentation for everything that links to you ] but then those efforts need to come from within... if they have to be forced you will have the need to police it to ensure they happen.. and when you feel the need to police it... that is the day you would want to go back and retrospect hard....

You need policing when

• You think that the quality is not coming from within
• You think that the efforts are not towards making things better, they are just towards finishing it
• You think you are trying to make it work this time and next time you would do it nicely
• You think it can be easily fixed LATER

And when these thoughts trigger you.... you dont need to initiate policing... instead

• Step back, March slow , Get your act together
• Read , Review , Read
• Stop everything for a moment, let people take time off from routine and get them to realize the maintainability havoc

So what do you think of policing? Do you need one?

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The Power of WHY

Ever asked a question to yourself "Why I did this?" ever been into a situation that made you think Why you did something? Well the problem is we dont ask this question "Why?" atleast not very often to one self or others.. Last week we had 2 of our potential Trainees give a presentation of their understanding of our product.. something that they have learnt with us for the last 2 weeks, we have made this as a practice for the last few months where the interns are given a chance to work closely with us for 2-3 weeks after which they present themselves on what they have learnt over these days before we decide if they fit with us or not...

While the presentation was on, both the trainees gave a overview of the product, what are certain features and how they work etc.. during the presentation some of our Team mates asked a few questions to them, I am certain some these questions gave the brains a kick start... well they could not answer a few but in the end it was good... One important thing I learnt of this presentation is that if you dont know the WHY behind something you will always be standing blank in front of others..

Why this product?

Why this way?

Why this technology?

Why this framework?

Why am I here?

Why Why Why... a certain why's can help each one of us understand product development, management, product and our lives easier.. If you know the answer to a certain set of Why's you surely then can find a way to How and what.. I believe Why should be a core value, should be a part of the culture... and not just asking why, but mentioning why we are doing something should be a integral part of the work too... If you can tell your development team on why you are building something, I am sure they will be able to contribute in a better and effective way... it doesnt need to be documented, it needs to be explained, discussed, brainsotmed and debated...

Those certain why's can help you change the way you see yourself in the team, help you change the way others see at you and your team, help you do better for your team, product, company and self... Just that 1 why at the right time....

So my dear friend, next time you do something or want your team to do something.... just begin with a WHY...

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The King's Speech - Know your shortcomings and fearlessly work on it

What do you do when you cannot communicate something that you want to? What do you do when the issue is not just about your ability? What do you do when the inner self stops you from doing things that can help you achieve great things? What do you do when you loose a war to your fears when you are fighting battles of life? And what if all of this is happening to you when you drive lives of others? Well King's speech is a fascinating tale of a leader who is affected by a vocal disability and his fight to be effective out of it.. while it is just not about how to overcome a problem, its about the temperament and values in times of distress...

So what makes me write about King's speech on this blog... Well I think the same reason that makes us loose every day, the defining thought their in your mind that keeps on telling you... "You cant do it" is the only thing that actually stops you from doing it... The inspiring tale of King's speech through a marvelous story and screen play, some great acting and a very subtle way of emotions says "You can". As leaders we are always possessed or surrounded by our inner instincts and thoughts [either of oneself or influenced by others] that do not let us move further and achieve great things... be it Fear of loosing or be just the "I am not a Risk baby feeling"

As human beings and more precisely as leaders we are too embarrassed or afraid of accepting our short comings. When someone ask you in an interview about your weakness.. you say you dont have one.. or a diplomatic answer like "I am too work-alcoholic" or "I keep work too much on my mind" blah blah... when asked what is your team's weakness.. as a manager you minimize the turbulence your words can cause and shower praises so you dont loose a customer...Leadership is about knowing and accepting your short comings first and then working towards them. In process there will be tyrants who would demotivate you, take you back and would want to block your way.. Leaders flourish when they know what they lack and make attempt to work towards it.

Another important thing this movie teach the leaders is that with constant support and patience you can make impossible possible and people can always be worked out with.. instead of blaming or showering sympathy.. they need to be handled with support and patience. Geoffrey Rush in his role as the speech therapist marvelously reveals these qualities...

Over and over though not a full-on drama, melo-dramatic events.. The King's speech is a treat to watch...

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Life of a Product - Where is the Quality

From the books of a Product...

I asked my developer to give me quality,

He wrote me a piece of code that raised my anxiety,

when I said this is not working as desired,

He said its just how the requirement was defined.. badly

I asked my QA to give me quality

He gave me a document that describes the resource scarcity

I asked on whether things work as desired,

He said it is in state of humility

I asked my Project Manager to give me quality

He gave me a list in the name of formality

I asked if that is how it was desired to work

He said it lacks a bit of stability

I asked my Product owner to give me Quality

He gave me a SRS that talks customer suitability

I asked if this is what the customer wants

He said We can change it later and totally....

A humble me, now walks the roads of feedback

Some people disown me, under the name of ability

A rejected I bounce back with features

The Sales claim its a product infidelity.....

Now I know what I am all together...

For some I am passion for others I am mortality

Where I work I am loaded with Money...

else I just come addon to other products as Charity...

--- A Poor Product

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