Annual Planning Exercise

The days get longer and the night get shorter as the plan work starts for the year 2012. The exercise used to be a period where we used or to look (at least tried to look) at our businesses from totally new perspective. It was not only the exercise to try and peep into the future but also to look and learn from our past. The targets were set and strategies and tactics were created to achieve them. Expenses are planned from zero level and every bit of it were challenged. On the personnel front it made me realize how business is done and a great learning exercise which made me the part of exercise to create organization's future. I felt extremely powerful and yet responsible as we created the pathway for the whole organization to follow.
Over the years as i grinned through this process I realized that at the end of the day the whole man-hours put in the exercise are wasted by whole lot of reviews which is not based on the facts and figures presented but only on the whims and fancies of the reviewer. The reviewee wants to hold back and reviewer wants to get to get maximum out of him. In the end nobody wins and most important organization looses big time. The whole exercise is also wasted into making sure that the reviewer can't catch you and not on making the company and businesses better...
As we get the same started again with an eye on 2013 goal I fear the same again. This time around the start has been from below to up that is the whole planning starts from sales manager and goes till the regional level. That addition also got stuck in the reviewee- reviewer stuff. The whole excitement of te exercise is all gone and its looks like its gonna be another life sucking exercise without any results. If I had a choice I would make it more meaningful by discussing business issues with pre-worked analysis and solutions to the same. Instead of targets, it should be taken it as on exercise where the whole organization steps back and re-looks at its business and takes account, make necessary changes and adds value to make it better and quicker. Now comes the problem if there are no targets how will you give incentive your people. Well the answer is on the same basis on which the shareholders or markets see it that is the growth over previous year. Its simple and straight forward.

Visit to Local Kiryana store

Visit to ur near kiryana shop is changing in a big way as I found out when I visited one today. The street was much more cleaner as was the shop. The hot baking oven is now air conditioned. All the stuff was stacked properly and there was baskets and space so that the customer can move around, see different varieties and choose what he wants. The arrogant "Nahi hai" has turned into polite " let me see". The dirty clothed employees are now better dressed and helpful.
All this is just due to the fact that there's a Big Bazaar, a big retail chain, is opening shortly in the market. The owner of the shop who has got this shop from fore fathers said the shop got the upliftment after decades but it was required otherwise he would have lost business to the big chain.
Though on one side the FDI in retail was stopped bcoz these kiryana shops will be closed, the other side of the coin is that the competition makes them improve things for consumer and also makes them stronger as they improve on services. It also benefits the customer as we get better services as well as prices.

When is my Turn?

As I saw the dreaded pictures of another blast rocking Mumbai, in spite of all my positivity about India, I couldn’t stop thinking “WHEN IN MY TURN??” The reviews, comments, action points, condolences poured in from around the political front not only from with in India but also from outside India. Problem is they are exactly same to what we got after 26/11.
Government got into defending himself and opposition parties on to blaming the Govt. and making sure they can get some brownie points on this. TV channels got busy in showing some of the most gruesome and sentimental stories and we had numerous shows showing the spirit of Mumbai etc. and some experts made money and got some more publicity out of the whole thing.
Everyone missed the most important part of the story that ultimately its common man who gets injured, killed or handicapped. He who just wants to live a simple life of working hard, earning daily and living with his family. He who pays taxes, abides by law, gives vote to elect a Government which can’t even provide security to him. Whatever anyone says, at the end of it he is the one who gets shaken by these incidents.
As the incident happened I think about the traffic jam in Delhi or Gurgaon and the impressive malls/ markets/ offices. Are they safe? I think about the trains/ airplanes? As a common man of this country where is it that I can feel safe and secure? Infact the question to be asked is whether we as a common man of this country have any sense of security left in ourselves or we just keep living, waiting for the day to be slaughtered by either one of these terrorist attack or killed by our own police wala gunda or to be sucked by the corrupt politician? Waiting “When is my turn?”

Religion has always been important part of my life. My mom always told me that God is on my side and that gave me immense confidence. She also used to say that God will power me to fight the devil. The best lesson she taught me was that though God is on my side it can help me only if I do my bit and work hard, if I take initiative and do my work perfectly. She also said that the day I start doing wrong things, start hurting people, cheat or bribe or not do my work properly God will leave my side. All these teachings were engraved in my head from my childhood and made me a god-fearing

If they say Kashmir is heaven than Leh-Ladakh is the corridor to it and the beauty of the place is still secondary. The best part about ladhak is its people, which for me are the symbol of how Indian's creativity, fighting zeal, find ways to live in difficulties and still be able to live a very happy and content life.

Too Long on a job

My boss says I need to improve the accounting knowledge which will help me when I will go to the next level. My question is when will I go to the next level. I have been hearing that I am special and that I will go places but all this has been talks and nothing else. The whole energy is draining and excitement is turning into frustration... Though I totally believe in always working for excellence but when you know that the I can do alot more... Anyways the question I have is from a company's perspective as well what's a good time a  person should be allowed to do? Lets see how much more time it takes them to realize that time for all the talk is over and I need to see some action now??

Q1 Review Learnings

Just back from our Q1 2010 review. Though we had loads of presentations but the great part was that we focussed on what can be done in coming qtrs and past was only referred for and as learning. Hope we will be great in coming quarters.
Learnings were :
1. Develop business what we can control. Build business which is sustainable and locked for more than a year so that we can concentrate on growing somewhere else.
2: Processes and controls are important. Whatever is measured, is actionable and gets improved.
3: Extremely important to know to whom we are selling and what he needs...
4: Also important to provide solution when he needs it...
5: Your work speaks for yourself, so no need to blow ur trumpet...
6: Most important Execution is the key...Karma is most important..
All in all these are simple lessons of life which we learn as we grow up and have forgotten as we get our business educations...

My Canvas

After a long time yesterday, I was just a passenger in my car (in simple language I was not driving) and for the whole distance of 24 kms kept looking out of the window and realized that the window of my car is a series of great canvas of life. I saw from high sky-scrapers of Gurgaon to the wide spread farmhouses of MG road to maddening traffic at ring road to children begging on the signals to GK’s huge and high end bungalows etc.

Starting from the mad city called Gurgaon who can be really proud of its sky scrapers and the glass buildings but must be really ashamed of the back up infrastructure it has possessed. Its like a body without spinal code, mouth and urinary organs. If you go to histories or around the globe I don’t think you will come across a city where there are no road infrastructure, no electricity, scant space for parking, inefficient and almost non-existing sewerage system and scathingly bad traffic management by traffic police. Witnessing all this from my car not only angry you but also you feel so help-less. Its as if Govt after letting these builders making these huge townships, plush offices forgot to create the most important thing that to support a population. Life here is compelled to work and live here and to my judgment running out of excuses to face the deprivation of the basic needs. 

Once you cross the borders of Gurgaon there comes to land of rich and famous though they choose to remain in clandestineness. The farm houses are green but hidden by huge walls which refrain the outsider’s eyes to peek in. The farms are the get-away and nature for these rich guys or its the place to party, weddings etc. They are great place to unwind but also these are the only places after Govt kothis where you find really open spaces in Delhi. These farms also are one of the major investment opportunities of black money for these rich yet non responsible citizens. Life here is cool, relaxed and certainly irresponsibly rich.

The next canvas is historical and spiritual five-storeyed, 72.5 m high Qutab Minar built in 1192 CE, by Ghazni to mark their victory over Delhi and Mahavir’s idol. The two co-existing with each other across the road is a scene that aptly epitomizes the secularism and to the Indian belief that diverse religion, diverse culture can peacefully co-exist and grow together. Life here is proud on being an Indian where all religion, culture and believes stay together.

Delhi with its wide and well-lit roads, architectural marvels –flyovers but its citizens who are doing their bit to pollute it (air, noise, roads, litter). Although I have always thought of Delhi as the most advanced, one of the greatest cities in the world to live and have been always ready to take on anybody on Delhi vs any other city of the world. The only point where I have not been able to amply defend Delhi is its citizen. We are no where near as evolved as our infrastructure in terms of mannerism, cleanliness, respect to other human beings and taking responsibility. It shows in the way we drive only. We don’t care about other people, we park anywhere, we drive in the wrong lane to save a km to U turn, red lights and traffic rules are respected only if there’s a policewala on sight and for some even then rules are for breaking. In case they are caught a 50 or 100 rupees are good enough to bribe the policewala and get away. Metro the new jewel of Delhi’s already swank infrastructure gets no where the kind of respect Kolkata one gets. Life in this metro is comfortable then anyother city in India but needs to be more responsible to its duties towards the city it lives in.

When Slumdog millionaire showed the world India’s poverty, we took it to our heart and made a big issue out of it. Similarly when a foreign tourist watches children begging on the crossings they start clicking pictures which we feel offended to. What we fail to understand there is that this is something totally alien to them to see that human lives are so salve and the living condition in which these children. So instead of blaming them for showcasing it we must do something and by “we” I don’t mean Govt, I mean all of us citizens who still give these guys money when they beg and let those guys let them make money out of it and making it a lucrative business. It just gives us a spiritual satisfaction that we are donating something but actually we are just partners in ruining their lives. If we really want to donate we need to give them education and books and not money. Life should be more thoughtful and not blindly follow.