I PUBLISH, THEREFORE I AM

I see hoardings on the streets, and on construction sites, that reads, WORK IN PROGRESS. Does that mean actual work is getting done; of course, it means people are working but, the point they have broadcasted with their hoarding is that they are working, they never say anything about when is it going to complete . Let’s say, a hoarding says, WORK IN PROGRESS – EXPECTED TO FINISH ON 20-10-2011, that would make total sense . I know, I’m being unrealistic and stupid, fine!...but I am still to make my point. What I am really getting at is why do we have so much of work in progress , it’s time we understood that work in progress in not real progress . If you were expected to finish 10 tasks by tomorrow , and you are done with 90% in all the 10 tasks but have not finished even one, then you have all the 10 tasks under WORK IN PROGRESS, in a way, you have not done anything so far. On the other hand, if you did 5 tasks fully and didn't even start with the other 5, then you have...

I am a hard-core practitioner of Agile, nah! I am just kidding ;-). I am a rookie who started working on an AGILE project . But mind it! I am great at hindsight, I thought AGILE process is exactly what it sounded like, flexible and quick. Guess what! I was bang on, it is exactly that. Let’s talk a little geek for some time, we implement AGILE because our customers want substantial and visible results incrementally, in waterfall model , we take up a project and then deliver a product by the end of an year. With Agile, we keep delivering functionalities in increments. Our customers know what the product is like, what is the kind of development that’s happening, and what estimates are erroneous and what needs to changed or tweaked. Apply this to your day to day work, what if your boss comes and tells you that ’ you didn't perform well last year and that’s exactly why you are getting a low increment ’ - wouldn't is psyche you (to me, it would). Likewise, your cus...

I am sure even you are trying to be up-to-date with something or the other. This urge to be up to date all the time is just killing me. I have around 500 articles to read every day in my RSS reader, I’ve subscribed to over 10 Google alerts that needs a lot of reading, and I am really trying to be active on LinkedIn, Facebook, Quora groups to not miss out on important information. There is this never ending list of things I do every day to just catch up, or maybe there is this fear of getting out of touch with a few things I like . Just a few minutes back I finished reading the book FOCUS . I think this was especially for guys like me who have an urge to be up to date all the time. The fact is , I cannot consume all the updates in the Internet, and a lot of things I consume end up being spam , which is really not good for my health. Once and for all, I have decided not to try to be up to date all the time, instead, get a life and focus on the all the updates I am able to consume i...

If you are a reader who came here after looking at the title of this post, then lemme tell you this – Pamela Anderson is not my trainer, nor am I gonna talk about her Assets ;-), although, it’s a pleasure discussing it. But, hey! You can still read it, it’s just a few lines about why you should not show your assets completely . I had written about the same thing before, you've got to read this article . There was this incident in the gym today, it’s been happening for a while and now it’s just too frustrating. What is it? My trainer has a very nice built, he’s got muscles coming out of him from all different directions, hats off to him…But, he keeps on flexing his muscles and looking at himself all the time – which is nowhere in his job description. My point : If you are good at something, make sure you don’t explicitly show it off to the rest of the world . Certain things are best semi-hidden and it’s good to give tidbits of your talent every once in a while, not every ti...

I posted something a few years back, I was probably drunk and stupid when I blogged this (I don't even remember what was I doing researching matrimonial sites, don't I have better things to do in college, like wasting time ;-)). I don't remember the post content but, I do remember posting a case study on matrimonial sites. Just a few days back, there was a Facebook update and it just stuck me that I can share my blog post with that update, it wasn't forced advertising, I was not trying to prove anything with my update...it was just a Facebook Share for god's sake.  I got a really really bad comment (which I must say, was very correct to their part, actually, I shouldn't have posted this link in that thread), and supposedly, their comment would have been worse if I were not friends with the guy who started the thread. That comment forced me to read my post once again, I dint know I can provoke people to such an extent, so, I went and read the pos...

I belong to an office that has just identified Agile framework for it's projects, we had a superb Agile discussion along with people from different offices . Mind it! it is not a new concept, people have been using Agile framework for over 10 years now. Whoever invented it, thanks a lot, and really sorry on behalf of those who got burned out because of the agile way of working . Scrums and sprints are the two most fabulous terms I get to hear in the meetings. Scrums are quick weekly or bi-weekly meetings where the Scrum master decides who is going to do what before the next scrum. Though, estimation is set by individuals, the scrum master delegates all the work. I feel it is a really an aggressive model to get things done, the measure is really good, you know what you got done in every one-two weeks. Sprints is what happens from one scrum to the other scrum. Scrums are about work completion, result measurement, quick response management. I wonder if this framework does...

There are millions of companies who recruit mediocre candidates because these guys are expected to stay put and get the job done as instructed . Your mediocrity helps them run the company and bring in stability to their profits, that's exactly why I say, mediocrity is worth it.You gotta do what you gotta do, but for god's sake,  don't crib about your work . There are a lot of companies that take up work that is low on learning and really high on manual-repetitive-work. The companies that recruit not-so-mediocre employee makes sure that it outsources non-core work to someone else i.e. some other company. People outsource for two reasons: Certain type of work isn't meant for the knowledge worker, it is something really unimpressive for the employees to take up . So, the company outsources it to some other company.  Sometimes people don't have the kind of expertise that is required to get the job done. So, it's very imperative that they get it done by those w...

So, if you have done a blunder, be bold and face the consequences…Yes! That’s exactly what you should do, and unfortunately, that's the only thing you can do. There is no harm in making blunders, but the thing which sucks about blunders is the fact that you did all the wrong things knowingly and you realized it when it was too late. No issues, some blunders like losing money, leaving someone somewhere, forgetting someone’s birthday, screwing up the interview you had been desperately waiting for, breaking up with someone just because you had a bad day, and missing an exam because you started late ;-)...have all become really really common these days. I suggest you to do one thing before you face the shitty consequences – take a coffee break and laugh at yourself for screwing it up ;-). It feels great ;-D. Guys who screw up a lot are not at all afraid of blunders, it becomes their way of life . But, those who screw up once in a while get shit scared and fear the conseque...

You've been trying to tell someone the same thing again and again, because as a third person you get a better picture of whats wrong and how to correct it , and sometimes it's just a  been-there-done-that situation and you know exactly what to do to sail smooth in that situation. But unfortunately, your help is of no use because they still end up doing the same mistake. H ow much ever you try, you won't be able to make people realize something unless your a celebrity who people follow blindly - which is very unlikely. So, if you see your friend always making the same mistake, always doing the same things and expecting different results, always getting annoyed for the same reason , always unconsciously doing something unrealistic ...then what you need to do is just let it be , don't try to correct anything or add your expert comments/views, how much ever you try, you won't be able to help her , you know why? coz those who want to do the right thing would do it...

Work is not something you go to, it is something you do. No...it's not a smart-ass line, it is for real. You make sense only when you get something done. I feel that we stress a lot on going-to-work, instead of stressing on doing-actual-work. I have fairly worked in different work environments, the rookie in me used to think, why is everyone talking about results all the time, what matters is the effort and work that goes into a process, right!...absolutely not , what ultimately matters is results, a result oriented work environment ensures clear progress. Not just the end results, even the intermediary results matters a lot. Now I know, why everyone told me to solve question papers before exams, instead of just reading through the chapters and answering chapter-wise questions. It's because solving question papers is very result oriented a.k.a doing-actual-work , whereas, reading chapters is merely like going-to-work . Unfortunately, I just kept reading chapters till the end a...

How else do you think our body is gonna order us to  take a pause in our doings and relax for a while ... I used to find this inactivity during sickness really frustrating. Almost always, I wanted to start doing something big and I fall sick, or may be, it's sickness which makes me realize how to capitalize on the healthy days. Now at this moment I feel, sickness leads to relaxation, and there is no way out but to relax and get well soon. Take a chill pill. From now on,  I am gonna enjoy being sick  (as long as sickness is just once in a while), respect sickness, it's totally worth it.  PS :  No pain, No gain. No sickness, No relaxation.  I am really sick to have said all that ;-D.

I know! why the hell am I talking about unlearning when learning is what matter, isn't it?  I don't think so ;-|. Learning is really important, we do it or don't do it on the basis of our liking, our ability and whatnot. But, when it comes to unlearning stuff, we are not really bothered because unlearning is much more painful, that means truck loads of shitty hard work. I wish there was some twitter-like  unfollow button or a MS-Office-like undo button in our heads, but unfortunately, the only way to unlearn is to learn it from scratch (one more time) . For instance, there is some problem with my English writing skills (I guess! you would have noticed by now ;-), I don't follow any writing convention), that's because I am from a place where people don't speak/write much English, so, I spoke/wrote English like I knew it, I used to make my own rules and spread it to the uninformed...by the way, confidently bull-shiting people is an art and I am good at it ;-P...

Why should we polish everything and try to make it look good. Everything happens for the good – yes it does, for those who make sense out of things that are absolutely nonsense. For instance, in the name of helping  people  out, some guys in the internet make you believe in things that are absolutely useless, not just that, they justify the horrifying results and make you feel good about whatever bullshit that happened to you. Say what? It’s all for the good – I don’t think so, may be good for who is saying it, but not the one who is reading or listening to it. Beware of guys in the internet who try to make you believe in random things , don’t just listen to the fancy words people put on their website to get your attention – ahem , I too liked to grab attention – but I realized that the attention I grabbed was really short-lived ( I went from 300 subscribers to 150 subscribers in 3 days – shit happens ). Pretty remarks, psyched analogies, self-analysis, and trying-to-tak...

Certainly, you are. That side of you comes right when you are out in public. Girish (name changed ;-P) went to this party, and when he was walking out, he was asked for a short interview from some TV/media guys, to everyone's surprise, Girish started thanking the authority, the organizing board and some random big-shot in the committee . Few minutes back, he was heard saying "This party is such a waste of time and money, these guys are just fooling public". Why was he bull-shitting the interview? I know him, he is a nice guy but, as they say, sometimes shit happens . He did sound like a politician, dint he. I think it's because he was fooled, and he thought, why should he be the only one ;-P, so he started doing false advertising . Lesson for you is that the next time you see interviews or reviews on TV, don't believe it. Even the best source is capable of doing false advertising .

You can only get so much from what you are doing if you just glance it. Let's say, it's some article online...you can't just glance it and expect to have grasped all that the author is trying to say.  Pragmatically, you don’t care what a person is writing - do you?, you glance it because you wanna know what you wanna know, and not what the author wants to say ...so be it! Now, I’d say, you can’t expect to have done the best you can by just glancing it. Glancing an activity is like sidelining the activity, this in-turn means that you did not give importance to it and there were a lot of competitive guys who went ahead of you because they din't glance it, instead, they made it primal. The next time you multi-task , make sure you know that the task wasn’t done that well. Or maybe, the task did not get the attention it deserved.

Yes! I really think you should bring home the soaps, shampoos, fluffy slippers, and all the other freebies that a hotel provides to make your stay comfortable. Why should you take these small things which you can easily buy it yourself ? It's simple, because you are paying for it and it's not something you are stealing. It's like going to a restaurant, paying for a meal without having to eat it...everyone does it, people say Indians do it, if you think so, you gotta watch this episode from F.R.I.E.N.D.S . Hotels charge you keeping in mind the maximum you can utilize, they provide you comfort and wait for you to ask for more convenience...I say, what are you waiting for, go ahead and ask for what you are paying for, capitalize on what all you can avail in a restaurant/hotel. I think people need to rewire their heads about why is it absolutely normal to bring home all that you pay for. I don't travel much but, I know once I start going to these fancy five star hotel...

It's perfectly normal to be taken aback when a younger counterpart takes the cake which was meant for you, there is no way you are gonna get all that you want that easily. In a way, over the years, even you have done the same thing to your seniors i.e. took their piece of cake (for a reason or just by plain luck). So, be a sport and don't have any hard feelings when a younger counterpart takes the opportunity meant for you, just apply a little logic , it might be because there is something far better inline for you, or may be because he was the obvious choice, not you. I have seen this happen but, I have never experienced it, probably because I belong to the youngest of the working class . But, I have been in schools and colleges, I got threatened by a junior a lot of times and there was too much bad blood between us for months together. The point to be noted is that I never felt bad when I took on some seniors and scored better than him.  You see why? it is because w...

is what people say when they are given some work that is out of their job description. First of, your job description is not precise, you get an overall picture of what all will you be responsible for, mind it! its just an overall picture i.e. its not complete. There is no end to the kind of work that will come your way, some employees just cant take it, and they resists doing it, for a simple reason that its not something they do as a project manager/project developer/project engineer...but I say, it IS your job, its just that you don't like doing it, or its something really new to you and you gotta do a lot of ground work to take up that work i.e. extra work. Whatever it is, you gotta welcome all kinds of work that is even remotely associated with your interests, I am not saying learn everything - it's your right to ignore things you don't like and just stick to what you like - but what I am trying to say is, you can give it a shot, it doesn't have to be th...

When I think of search, I think of google. When I think of restriction, I think of twitter. Twitter restricts you with the kind of content you put up as your update, and thats what sells. People know for sure that it's a two line blog post a.k.a a tweet, and they also know that everyone gets just two lines to make a point, which is really tough coz we are not used to replying emails in one/two lines . Also, twitter updates are full of text which is really awesome coz people dont get distracted by other kinds of media, unlike facebook , where we have ads on the right, a wall full of photos, videos, quizes, invitations and what all. If you ask my opinion on twitter's 140 character restriciton then I'd say, people dont get to express, instead they get an opportunity to impress someone with 140 characters, thats really a good thing coz you dont want to listen to my long story , instead you want to know whats so impressive/special about my story, if ...

If you think teamwork is in being low profile, in making sure nobody feels bad , or in being appreciative of all that the team does, then you are damn wrong about this teamwork thingy. Also, if you think teamwork is giving everyone equal opportunities, and making sure everybody is heard and respected...you haven't improved, you are still wrong about what teamwork ACTUALLY is. In short, teamwork does not mean harmony (I know I've said this , but it's in a different context) , if you find a team that is always smiling and happy then dont mistake that for good teamwork, it's even possible that they are not doing any teamwork. Just so that you know, some of the best and most productive teams have conflicts on a hourly/daily basis , and sometimes they never agree with each other but still work together to get things done. We dont work in teams for the sake of  teamwork , it's because we wanna get things done. We don't...