What do you do?

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When I meet professionals at Conferences, Exhibitions, Meetings etc and ask them "What do you do?" Most of them give me identical responses. "I am a Program Manager at IBM", "I am IIM graduate working as Senior Consultant at J P Morgan", "I am a Software Design Expert at Microsoft".

None of them tell me about the nature of job they do at these Big Brands. Instead they seemed quite proud that they are working with Big Brands. Also while responding with a distinct tone, they will seek some attention and expect me to get impressed by hearing Big Brands.

The problem is not with them responding to the question "What do you do?” it is with the society where they respond. Guy asking the question would like to make a quick opinion about the other person, and so this person responds mentioning Brands. Soon the guy hears "Program Manager" or "Software Design Expert" the respondent is boxed on "Level of Designation", and on hearing "J P Morgan" or "Microsoft" respondent is further boxed on "Level of Brand".

On the other hand, I certainly agree that people should be proud of graduating from IITs & IIMs and working at Big Brands, but having this mindset for a longer period of time can turn these people influenced by the domination of Big Brands. When you attach a Brand to your name, you attach number of years that Brand strived to be successful. Question to be asked here is - "How much you contributed to that success?"

"Are you proud of working at your Company?" is what 95% people will go behind. "Is your company proud that you are working for them?" is the question need to be asked. The day you'll answer to the second question is when you have a value of substance within, and don't need to mention Brands to the question "What do you do?"

People Networking

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You would have observed people will usually go to the conferences & seminars to do "Networking", and the only way some of them know to spread themselves is by exchanging cards. I have observed these guys, approaching exchanging cards and telling about themselves quickly whether or not my interests are aligned to it, and then pushing off to find somebody else to give their card. Their whole objective remains, to Be Short, Cover More in Less Time & Be Fast. Moreover the combination of Short & Fast gives them the sense of "Being Smart!" but truly speaking "Being Fast doesn't mean Being Smart".

If they call this as "Networking", they are failing in their objective! Because you don't get to figure out on what the profile of guy is as he left pretty quickly, secondly you'll stare more at the card after he is gone to look at his designation and company to figure out in your thoughts where he can be actually a fit in your connections. Lastly, after few months if you happen to see the card again, you would have forgotten him or you'll put that in your trash!

Just because of being short & fast the guy was not taken seriously. And in turn guy measured his "Networking" by no. of exchanges he did, instead of making the true connections.

Networking is not just about broadcasting, but building the trust to have the greater possibility of come back in the future!

Share not just the "Knowledge" but the "Obvious" things too

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I work on one of the US Accounts, and it requires me to host meetings over phone. My company has provided me a passcode to dial out on a toll free no. to attend US calls such that bill is generated directly to the company and not to me by phone service provider. Thing is, passcode helps you to just host a call, and if you wish to dial out, there is a feature set of combination to be punched in to join a meeting hosted on US bridge.

Truly speaking, it takes couple of weeks to get the passcode from the company. Last week, one of my colleague asked "Mayank, how much are you billed on phone every month?". I said "Below Rs.800/month". She gave me a surprised look and further asked "Don't you attend calls from home?". I said , "Yes, I do, but I use combination set to dial out to US nos." & she was happy to have discovered the solution to the problem which was worrying her since three months.

I explained on how can you minimize your phone bill and send it directly to company, & still make calls to US without worries. Further she asked me a question "What was your phone bill when you were not having passcode?" I said "Zero!” And guess, she was more happy to have the solution of another bigger problem. She was dialing personal calls to US, and paying much higher than me, because I subscribed for Yahoo Voice for $10/year to make unlimited calls to US toll free nos(most of the meeting bridges are toll free) & other US numbers on 1cent/min. And I am using it since 4 years now to make PC to Phone calls from anywhere in the world!

Same glow I see on faces of people when they see me searching for places and finding route on my GPS phone using Google Maps. But it is nothing special to me as I am doing the same since one year now in India.

Giving the thought further, I analysed that something which is "obvious" to me is "knowledge" to somebody else. And all "obvious" things in our life don't hold "something special" within, where as new "knowledge" is all "special". Getting down to one more level, things like Alphabets on our Keyboard or doing calculations while giving money in the market goes further to "backside processing" of our mind. We truly don't notice it, or acknowledge it, because we had been doing the same since decades.

It is recommended to "share" not just the "knowledge" you hold, but "share the obvious" things too. You never know your "obvious" can be somebody's "knowledge" today!

Three things I learnt from Traffic

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These last 3 days, as I was driving an average of 100 Kms daily across NCR, I noticed quite a few things.

Roads in Delhi are quite wide in comparison to Hyderabad and Bangalore, cities I had been living in earlier. However, despite the roads being wider, the amount of traffic in Delhi is higher.

The Delhi Government has done quite a number of good things for traffic management, among them is the construction of flyovers & the removal of maximum possible red lights (and hence stoppages).

I have observed that when the light turns red, people stuff their cars and 2 wheelers as near as possible to the next vehicle. The vehicles are so 'tight' together that is appears ever air cannot find a way between them. What makes it a point to ponder is that because of this tight space (which is done to get moving as soon as the light turns green) the intended agenda of fast movement DOES NOT get achieved.

So, something which is just temporary and known to be un-mounted or unassembled should not be given effort more than the requisite level. Else it will require same amount of effort while un-mounting or un-assembling. In a relationship also, if you give more love, care, affection to people in life, it hurts, harms & makes you upset with same degree when those people move away from you!

While driving on wide toll roads and straight stretches, I encountered few people who were fast drivers. Their only aim is to drive fast, and make the way through by jumping lanes, and reach destination at the earliest. They don't apply any other principle except for driving fast.

I respect Speed Limits, and adhere to them. Driving within speed limits gives me appropriate time to decide on accelerate and brake. Like while approaching the Toll Gate at 50Kmph I can judge the length of queues, and decide on which is the shortest one to drive my car thru. Where as fast drivers at 90Kmph don't get enough time to make the judgment and have to push their car in the queue straight ahead.

Moreover, fast drivers accelerate & brake too frequently in city driving. Especially when they brake, they forcibly stops on what they have given effort on (acceleration), reaching destination with consumption of more fuel. They consider themselves 'fast drivers' but certainly they are not 'smart drivers'.

Three things I learnt from Traffic in Delhi:

1. Give only required effort on Temporary things in life to stay efficient.
2. Go within limits to give optimum time to think & decide.
3. Don't just be 'Fast', but be 'Smart'.

Why do you want to do; what you plan to do?

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You would have encountered many people at work and among friends who just write plans & goals; without evaluating it through "capacity of execution". Moreover, their plans & goals are inherited after looking at the "positive" & "flashy" ends of their fellows or friends. Something like "Since Ram created his own house at the age of 35, I also need to do the same", "Since Shyam started Investing Rs. 10000 every month in Equities, I also need to start Investing Rs. 10000 every month", "Since Mehtas had been to Europe Tour this year, we also need to visit Europe", etc.

People while framing their plans don't evaluate the "capacity of execution". Most of them don't even answer themselves as to "Why do they want to do what they plan to do?" If you question "Why" to them, they will come with answers like "Ram & Shyam did that, so am I doing?" and they completely oversee the fact that the execution of a plan is directly affected by the environmental & capacity variables. And they believe & rely on their "Power of Assumption" to such an extent that it starts appearing "reality" to them.

I recommend you to plan & write goals on something you are passionate about, while evaluating your capacity to execute it. Like, if you have liquid funds & want to plan your financials, invest in better options instead of buying a SUV to "show-off". If you love mountains, and want to go on vacation, go to "Laddakh" instead of "Mount Titlis" after borrowing a sum of Rs. 1 Lac from the bank. Do something which can give you "sense of achievement" without pushing you into debts & not measuring yourself on scale of "relative competition". This is your life, why to mould it like anybody else's?

Assess Capacity! Plan Goals! Execute Happily!

Is your mind accepting the ONLY solution?

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Everyone is surrounded with one or more problems at any instance of time. However, magnitude of problems may differ. One might have a problem with his phone & other might have problems on his project. The most preferred way of Problem Solving is sharing out & Brainstorm! Everyone knows that! And so we share out some of our problems at home as well as at work.

One interesting observation is, after sharing out your problem, you'll look out for solutions from few set of guys (who are probably SMEs - Subject Matter Experts). At the same time, there is another set of guys who will give instant solution (and these guys can be in or out of the set of SMEs), who will answer to your problem something like:

1. This is the ONLY way to resolve the problem on...
2. This is the ONLY way to make money through...
3. This is the ONLY way to be in the business...
4. This is the ONLY way for you to be successful in...

Every time someone on phone call at work, or someone out of friends & relatives gives a solution after introducing the word 'ONLY', my mind generates a WARNING Signal! These category of people, on answering instantly with the word 'ONLY', pressurizes other's mind to not to 'Think any Further', and 'Accept' the solution. This further stops the 'creative thinking', and more usage of these patterns of solution answering will put 'creative thinking' to death over a period of time.

You need to observe yourself too. Do you often use the word 'ONLY' during solution answering? And now on, when someone uses the word 'ONLY' while giving solutions, look for the underlying assumptions they are making. Interestingly, you'll find the usage of the word 'ONLY' in events & conferences by various CEOs, VPs & Top Management.

Be Creative! Think more Further, when the word "ONLY" comes during the conversation.

What do you Want in Life & How much money is required?

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"I want chocolate ice-cream!" can be heard if you ask 5 years old kid, "What do you want?" 30 years old guy will answer "I want my own house!", and a 70 years old man will say "I want nothing!" Here 5 years old kid doesn't earn money, and so asks you a very small portion of money which can satisfy his want. Whereas 30 years old guy earns money and asks equivalent of what his money can satisfy his want. And 70 years old man simply says "nothing" because his wants cannot be bought with money.

Everyone knows that value of money in this world depreciates with time. 10 years back if you were able to buy 1 Kg of rice in 5 rupees, today you'll get 100gms for the same sum. The value of money doesn't even depreciate in this world, but also in our lives with time. Money is a scale of measuring the importance or value of 'entity' in your eyes. And this 'value' gradually increases with age, attains its peak between 40-50 and then drops steeply. If plotted on graph, it will be:



At the time of writing this article I am 31, however the plot of values on the graph above is being judged by the answers you get by questioning "What do you want?" to different age groups. This graph depicts the 'Amount of Money required to Satisfy Want'. The age-band where I am in today 25-40 years, people learn how to make money, and do what not to make it more. Next age-band, 40-60 years people make money out of what they earned in 25-40 and gradually in 40-60 the "want for money" fades and "want for respect/recognition" increases. Next age-band, 60-80 years people will go clueless as to what did they do with their life? Kept on running behind something which was just depreciable?, and will ask questions to self "Did I just kept on earning more of what was actually needed & missed the opportunity to see other key aspects of life?" and will eventually go to "world tour" or some "house of worship" & spend rest of the life understanding "spirituality" and "inner strengths of humans" or just "exploring this world".