Thursday, August 18, 2016
Messaging Patterns, Endpoint and echo system
With the advent of connected echo system, API is the key. Application and products will be made to communicate with each other and tooling / product around this will grow – that a opportunity in product engineering. I was wondering about integration patterns this morning and was thinking how would it evolve in future. It seems this one area should be known well to design / work on system / products / applications building. Out of my curiosity I bumped into following and just by reading I could realise many of these we used in writing software but never knew those would be so elaborate and organised … interesting …. So thought of sharing with you too …
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Puja - Social Impact (Part 2)
http://debasisr.blogspot.in/2012/09/puja-social-impact-part-1.html
Part 2 of last write up.
I have observed such sudden burst of money spending
across the world be in Christmas, Halloween or Thanksgiving. All includes light
work, food, new cloths / attire, travel, creation, meeting people / family etc.
and one point it generates a boost to the economy by transferring money from
one hand to another in form of producing / selling. Our festivals are no
different. It also helps one segment of economy by transferring money from
another set in a focused effort. This is economic side of festival. In
Maharashtra it has been wide spread – a sign of progressive state. Ganapati
puja is very simple in all form but almost every house, irrespective religion
is bringing the god home and in turn transferring money from one hand to
another in mass scale. A simple economic rules state inclusion and involvement
of mass to distribute wealth and the more it is the better it is. In that term
Durgapuja is much behind due to its elaborative process. I really don’t know
the scale of Durgapuja overrides the spread of Ganapati or not -probably a good
case to survey.
Can festival be an organized sector – my original
question to Rajaramda. With my limited knowledge I feel organized sectors are
supported by backward and forward integration. People, process, production,
product, practice and technology are integrated and optimized to create a
sustainable economic sense by creating wealth in form of producing, earning or
job creation. Let’s think how we can engage more to retain heritage, encourage
skill and make this sustainable income for those who are involved in this form
of art or religious activity.
My realization became stronger when I got involved in
Jayantada’s puja. Bichakhana puja has become a part of us and we all
collaborate making this happen. It is our social binding and in turn we help
people who are involved with this – a dhaki or purohit or the decorator who
makes the pandal. Come join us and be part of this enjoyment!!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Puja - Social Impact (Part 1)
This is my simple way of looking at economic impact of
festival. A festival has many different angles like religious, entertainment,
social etc. Durgapuja is an elaborate festival satisfying all such angles over
many years. Now how does that happen?
Let’s look at the basic needs of Durgapuja which starts
with a deity made of wood, hay and soil – a pure green image making process had
been followed last several years might be centuries in West Bengal and other
part of world. However, it is very funny to observe not a single line was
written about Durgapuja being green one for ages but several pages on green
Ganpati, the cute auspicious son of ma Durga famous in Western part of India. I
don’t know how it started to make green image but could be due to larger than
life image of ma Durga was not possible to make out of PoP. In any case this
stands out as an environmental contribution and by following that devotees are
also contributing to environment for last many years.
It is a distinguished art creating the pratima and her family.
This is a profession by a clan of artist from Kumarrtuli, a place in West
Bengal. Many people are earning their whole year’s income in 3 months making
Durga idol. Is this enough and sustainable in an economy growing at 6%+ with
similar inflation? So a festival always has socio economic value.
The festival generates incomes for group of people who
are involved in the process. The terrific pandals in Kolkata used to astonish
me. What an art it has been? In my child hood I used look at that in awe and think
who all created this beauties – an architect? I don’t have a verified answer even
today but I am sure thousands of people are earning their living doing this
year after year but again this is very seasonal in nature for big bucks. The
beautiful pandals are to be illuminated by night and it has been done by a
group of electricians who are artists too – fabulous display of illumination
indeed!! ...
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Self Managed - Part 2
It was easy stating to be self-managed. After spending couple of decades everyone can lecture about that but have anyone thought about it while starting work. Any change or new environment brings fear of unknown and dealing with that had never been easy. New job, new team, new work culture, new tools, new policy and new etc. endless count of new except the programming environment which creates New Object using "New" :) but actually old which was practiced in the schools (schools means where we did our grad, under-grad and / or post-grad programs). So million dollar question is how to deal with so many New and be self managed.
I think every work follows a process / framework and series of steps to complete the work. Most of the time we are scared not knowing the framework to complete work. Every work will have unknowns and when unknowns are lot, risk is high - be it a task or project or program or engagement. Dealing with unknowns will eventually lead to be self managed. So, dealing with unknown should start with very first question - what all are expected out of new assignment or new task. This concept can surely scale up to any size of assignment.
Two simple points come to my mind while writing this. One is the fundamental lesson of Input-Process-Output (I/O/P) and the second one 5W and 1H applied in simple form. We have been taught a basic lesson in first few class of computer learning that computer takes input, processes input and results output but the question was what would the input be to process for resultant output - many times clarity around input is completely missing in our world. Most of the time we start from the end where everyone is expected to produce error free result but not very keen to explain input.
Elaborating the same fact with an example - in a typical software factory environment (read software service house) a resource is assigned with a task to complete and expected to get done by X hours. Mostly, it is expected the resource will know the subject matter, can read requirements, can understand design, can code using the required platform and can do testing well. If this is the expectation then the input should be offered to the resource as what is the requirement, where it fits in overall project / product, why this needs to be done, where it fits in the business, where is the requirements, where are the design documents, who will review and explain this, where is the code base, what has been written till now, what are the elements to compile and 100 more why, where, what, which I can think of before reaching to when and the last one how - very common sense nothing rocket science but really uncommon today. Unless all Ws are clear no one can think of set of input required to process what and how to produce the result expected. Many times we seniors do forget to explain these inputs to the juniors. So, I think it would be the first responsibility of juniors to get clarity on the matter pro-actively and politely :).
Being self-managed you need to know asking right question at right time and clear what is expected out of you. You need to know expected input parameters and you have right to ask that at the time of taking up responsibility but not later. A self managed resource will clarify all input by using W and will do research to understand how to process the input for quality output - does not matter small or big.
5Ws and 1H combined with I/P/O will be a great tool to be self managed. This can be the framework and can even conceptually scale up well when a company is working million dollar RFP. A quick note here about RFP - a RFP (request for proposal) is basically resultant product / service required by the end client - it would be participating companies’ duty to figure out Input and process for the required Output. RFP is a requirement / problem to automate as expressed by the client. It would be duty of the vendors to come out with right questions to understand the requirement to propose a solution with the given resource, time and cost budget. Basically, participating vendors are to clarify all why, where, when and what to work on how.
An exposure of working in an environment where questions are welcome will help an individual to nurture and develop skills of working with unknowns and prepare framework out of nothing to reduce the impact of unknowns. An individual with perfection of this skill will be a true self managed employee who can work as consultant - fulfill requirement of next generation professionals.
I have been working for last many years in such a company named Cybage where we welcome asking questions and get clarity of the matter to nurture self-managed individuals, teams. I have been observing juniors becoming highly self-managed with a lesson on how to catch a fish...
I think every work follows a process / framework and series of steps to complete the work. Most of the time we are scared not knowing the framework to complete work. Every work will have unknowns and when unknowns are lot, risk is high - be it a task or project or program or engagement. Dealing with unknowns will eventually lead to be self managed. So, dealing with unknown should start with very first question - what all are expected out of new assignment or new task. This concept can surely scale up to any size of assignment.
Two simple points come to my mind while writing this. One is the fundamental lesson of Input-Process-Output (I/O/P) and the second one 5W and 1H applied in simple form. We have been taught a basic lesson in first few class of computer learning that computer takes input, processes input and results output but the question was what would the input be to process for resultant output - many times clarity around input is completely missing in our world. Most of the time we start from the end where everyone is expected to produce error free result but not very keen to explain input.
Elaborating the same fact with an example - in a typical software factory environment (read software service house) a resource is assigned with a task to complete and expected to get done by X hours. Mostly, it is expected the resource will know the subject matter, can read requirements, can understand design, can code using the required platform and can do testing well. If this is the expectation then the input should be offered to the resource as what is the requirement, where it fits in overall project / product, why this needs to be done, where it fits in the business, where is the requirements, where are the design documents, who will review and explain this, where is the code base, what has been written till now, what are the elements to compile and 100 more why, where, what, which I can think of before reaching to when and the last one how - very common sense nothing rocket science but really uncommon today. Unless all Ws are clear no one can think of set of input required to process what and how to produce the result expected. Many times we seniors do forget to explain these inputs to the juniors. So, I think it would be the first responsibility of juniors to get clarity on the matter pro-actively and politely :).
Being self-managed you need to know asking right question at right time and clear what is expected out of you. You need to know expected input parameters and you have right to ask that at the time of taking up responsibility but not later. A self managed resource will clarify all input by using W and will do research to understand how to process the input for quality output - does not matter small or big.
5Ws and 1H combined with I/P/O will be a great tool to be self managed. This can be the framework and can even conceptually scale up well when a company is working million dollar RFP. A quick note here about RFP - a RFP (request for proposal) is basically resultant product / service required by the end client - it would be participating companies’ duty to figure out Input and process for the required Output. RFP is a requirement / problem to automate as expressed by the client. It would be duty of the vendors to come out with right questions to understand the requirement to propose a solution with the given resource, time and cost budget. Basically, participating vendors are to clarify all why, where, when and what to work on how.
An exposure of working in an environment where questions are welcome will help an individual to nurture and develop skills of working with unknowns and prepare framework out of nothing to reduce the impact of unknowns. An individual with perfection of this skill will be a true self managed employee who can work as consultant - fulfill requirement of next generation professionals.
I have been working for last many years in such a company named Cybage where we welcome asking questions and get clarity of the matter to nurture self-managed individuals, teams. I have been observing juniors becoming highly self-managed with a lesson on how to catch a fish...
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Conflict mismanaged
Typical question in project management interview either with a situation and role playing or direct - have you managed conflict? There are many definitions of conflict and well defined techniques to deal with it. Despite that this is well mismanaged :). I don't think we can avoid conflict in profession and personal life - no way, so it is better to learn how to deal with this in a simplified way.
Root of conflict, I feel, is lack of clarity, mismatch of expectation, eagerness to win, jealousy, scarcity etc. There are many methods of managing / arresting these and those can be found in management books. My idea is not reiterating the same theory again as most of the time those are forgotten in our day to day activities and we mismanage more.
I rely of simple practice in professional management which rotates around planning of work, people, quality, time and other aspects of project management. I also consider the fact conflict bound to happen and my job is to minimize that toward everyone's benefit. Generally, there should be a goal on every project we work on - big or small. Needless to say, there will be some critical success factor(s) too in any project which is / are derived from voice of customer. One of the practical way to handle things ahead to integrating the team towards common goal and offer independent space for each individual to achieve a slice of the goal. Hummm... pretty simple in words but tough to implement. Anyhow, once individual achievement is planned out, alignment of that towards the goal to be verified on regular basis in the framework of management. I am dead sure this would stimulate any individual for contributing to larger achievement than his own small achievement but sense of pride and clarity in his own work would keep him focused than getting into conflicting situation - sort a lakshman rekha (a boundary). Everyone wants to be successful, aspires to grow and add value to the goal so let's stimulate that by identifying right place in the project organization / pyramid. Not that, everything will go smooth but at least it would help better handling by managing the sentiment of doing well. I will advice to focus on interest of the person than the person !!
With basic understanding of above, I go on creating clarity and set the expectation. It is iterative process which tightly coupled with strategic agenda of accomplishing goals. Participation from every member without colliding with each other, is possible when everyone is trying to fulfill the expected outcome set by the lead beginning of the project or work. Let's work on their interest so they are interested to work for common interest rather than someone else's interset to breed conflict - makes sense? However, there should be an infrastructure for handling mistakes which bound to happen. Mistakes are welcome but repeated mistakes are *not* which should be loud and clear and that in turn set the mood to learning. This framework of team management if used effectively, albeit tailored to the need of the work, we would observe less mismanagement of conflict with an integrated team.
So, it is clear that collaborative approach is one of the most effective technique of managing conflict and in fact this approach always improves team productivity by gluing the team to achieve common goal.
I have always been inspired by a famous quote of Colin Powell, I thought it would be good to share if you have not seen this yet. A great leader, negotiator, mentor who managed many conflicts. I think following statement is great to set expectation, bring collaboration and integrating team towards common goal.
“When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I'll like it or not. Disagreement, at this stage, stimulates me. But once a decision has been made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own.”
Colin Powell quotes (Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-93). At present, US Secretary of State, 1937)
Root of conflict, I feel, is lack of clarity, mismatch of expectation, eagerness to win, jealousy, scarcity etc. There are many methods of managing / arresting these and those can be found in management books. My idea is not reiterating the same theory again as most of the time those are forgotten in our day to day activities and we mismanage more.
I rely of simple practice in professional management which rotates around planning of work, people, quality, time and other aspects of project management. I also consider the fact conflict bound to happen and my job is to minimize that toward everyone's benefit. Generally, there should be a goal on every project we work on - big or small. Needless to say, there will be some critical success factor(s) too in any project which is / are derived from voice of customer. One of the practical way to handle things ahead to integrating the team towards common goal and offer independent space for each individual to achieve a slice of the goal. Hummm... pretty simple in words but tough to implement. Anyhow, once individual achievement is planned out, alignment of that towards the goal to be verified on regular basis in the framework of management. I am dead sure this would stimulate any individual for contributing to larger achievement than his own small achievement but sense of pride and clarity in his own work would keep him focused than getting into conflicting situation - sort a lakshman rekha (a boundary). Everyone wants to be successful, aspires to grow and add value to the goal so let's stimulate that by identifying right place in the project organization / pyramid. Not that, everything will go smooth but at least it would help better handling by managing the sentiment of doing well. I will advice to focus on interest of the person than the person !!
With basic understanding of above, I go on creating clarity and set the expectation. It is iterative process which tightly coupled with strategic agenda of accomplishing goals. Participation from every member without colliding with each other, is possible when everyone is trying to fulfill the expected outcome set by the lead beginning of the project or work. Let's work on their interest so they are interested to work for common interest rather than someone else's interset to breed conflict - makes sense? However, there should be an infrastructure for handling mistakes which bound to happen. Mistakes are welcome but repeated mistakes are *not* which should be loud and clear and that in turn set the mood to learning. This framework of team management if used effectively, albeit tailored to the need of the work, we would observe less mismanagement of conflict with an integrated team.
So, it is clear that collaborative approach is one of the most effective technique of managing conflict and in fact this approach always improves team productivity by gluing the team to achieve common goal.
I have always been inspired by a famous quote of Colin Powell, I thought it would be good to share if you have not seen this yet. A great leader, negotiator, mentor who managed many conflicts. I think following statement is great to set expectation, bring collaboration and integrating team towards common goal.
“When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I'll like it or not. Disagreement, at this stage, stimulates me. But once a decision has been made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own.”
Colin Powell quotes (Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-93). At present, US Secretary of State, 1937)
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