This survey says 'word of mouth' is the #1 marketing tool:
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=104538
Eventhough the research is done for electronic purchases. I believe this is true for any kind of business or service. Think of how many of your puchases (ranging anywhere from getting a mortgage to buying a USB storage device) has been influenced by opinions of your friends and family. Remember how many times you wanted to get opinions from others for things that you were in the verge of buying and cancelled because someone told you that may not be a good idea.
More on this at:
http://customerevangelists.typepad.com/blog/
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Better Families
Wondering how your level of intelligence affects you in forming and keeping a family. It appears to me that people who have very high IQ levels kinda gets shaky when it comes to family with very very few exceptions.
I'm consciously observing that whenever i've won an argument rationally with my wife, I got to sleep alone! So next day I go to her, tell her that I did not pay much attention to her side of the argument and I feel bad about it (you don't even have to say that you were wrong)... that's it! We get more closer.. may be by a bit, but it is really going to help the family to be more jelled in the longer term.All the juice in the left side of my brain would not have helped me acheive this.
So my conclusion, as of now(rationality kicks in!), is that your IQ level is inversely propotional to the happiness and jelling you have in your family.
I'm consciously observing that whenever i've won an argument rationally with my wife, I got to sleep alone! So next day I go to her, tell her that I did not pay much attention to her side of the argument and I feel bad about it (you don't even have to say that you were wrong)... that's it! We get more closer.. may be by a bit, but it is really going to help the family to be more jelled in the longer term.All the juice in the left side of my brain would not have helped me acheive this.
So my conclusion, as of now(rationality kicks in!), is that your IQ level is inversely propotional to the happiness and jelling you have in your family.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Your code is not you.
Imagine the following scenarios:
Team Member1: "Hey Team Member2, your code is not working.. I could not integrate my code now"
Team Member2: "No, buddy. It was working alright. Why don't you double check yours?"
Team Member1: "I did. Looks like you are assuming that the object I passed will not be null. That's not the case."
Team Member2: "I ran my tests. It's working fine."
Team Member1: "But it's not working now. I did not change your code! Come on."
....
....
....
Team Member2: "No Man! I can't change anything. It works fine for me."
Now it's no more a technical issue. It's status quo. Solving this is going to take time and energy of more than just Members 1 & 2. What could have been different if:
1) Team Member2 knew that his code is not him and also when to lose the ego. It's an application he/she wrote which nothing but a set of instructions for the computer to perform.
2) TeamMember1 just knew when to replace 'your code is not working' with something like 'Looks like WE have got an issue to solve'.
Team Member1: "Hey Team Member2, your code is not working.. I could not integrate my code now"
Team Member2: "No, buddy. It was working alright. Why don't you double check yours?"
Team Member1: "I did. Looks like you are assuming that the object I passed will not be null. That's not the case."
Team Member2: "I ran my tests. It's working fine."
Team Member1: "But it's not working now. I did not change your code! Come on."
....
....
....
Team Member2: "No Man! I can't change anything. It works fine for me."
Now it's no more a technical issue. It's status quo. Solving this is going to take time and energy of more than just Members 1 & 2. What could have been different if:
1) Team Member2 knew that his code is not him and also when to lose the ego. It's an application he/she wrote which nothing but a set of instructions for the computer to perform.
2) TeamMember1 just knew when to replace 'your code is not working' with something like 'Looks like WE have got an issue to solve'.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Leading&Following
Problem 1: Fear of saying 'No' OR Reluctance to share bad news
Description: When an engineer is assigned a new task on top of what he's already doing, the engineer will accept it irrespective of his ability to finish it because of the fear of saying 'no'. And after accepting the new task, if it is really something he can't chew, he might not go ahead and tell the lead that he will not be able to finish it within the given time/resources etc - because of the reluctance to deliver bad news.
Suggested Solutions:
To the leader:
Before assigning a task to an engineer, the lead should really do his homework about the workload, skills and attitude of the engineer. After that's done, when the task is assigned to the engineer the lead should encourage her to ask more questions about the task itself. The lead can also request the engineer to go through the assigned task once and meet with her again after, say, an hour and see if she has understood what needs to be done and ask more questions like 'what do you think as the most difficult thing in implementing this task' or 'can you think of a similar thing somebody else has implemented so that we start with that?' etc.
To the follower:
Never ever hide a bad news. You are doing injustice for you, the person who trusted you and handed over the job and the company overall. By giving timely information you not only save your trust but help the lead to figure out alternatives. When a task is given to you, and if you don't understand the complexity, always ask for extra time before accepting the task. Normally if think alone for half an hour before accepting a task, most of the delays and bad news can be avoided. You can even go back and tell that the specific problem in hand can be divided and you will be able to finish part of that. There's nothing wrong in it. Remember, you will be evaluated by how much you have completed rather than how much you have agreed to.
Description: When an engineer is assigned a new task on top of what he's already doing, the engineer will accept it irrespective of his ability to finish it because of the fear of saying 'no'. And after accepting the new task, if it is really something he can't chew, he might not go ahead and tell the lead that he will not be able to finish it within the given time/resources etc - because of the reluctance to deliver bad news.
Suggested Solutions:
To the leader:
Before assigning a task to an engineer, the lead should really do his homework about the workload, skills and attitude of the engineer. After that's done, when the task is assigned to the engineer the lead should encourage her to ask more questions about the task itself. The lead can also request the engineer to go through the assigned task once and meet with her again after, say, an hour and see if she has understood what needs to be done and ask more questions like 'what do you think as the most difficult thing in implementing this task' or 'can you think of a similar thing somebody else has implemented so that we start with that?' etc.
To the follower:
Never ever hide a bad news. You are doing injustice for you, the person who trusted you and handed over the job and the company overall. By giving timely information you not only save your trust but help the lead to figure out alternatives. When a task is given to you, and if you don't understand the complexity, always ask for extra time before accepting the task. Normally if think alone for half an hour before accepting a task, most of the delays and bad news can be avoided. You can even go back and tell that the specific problem in hand can be divided and you will be able to finish part of that. There's nothing wrong in it. Remember, you will be evaluated by how much you have completed rather than how much you have agreed to.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Thoughts from Inbox
My comments on charity (in a mail exchange):
Because charity always (well, most of the time) 'makes' you feel superior to something or someone. Also, I think, many of the charity stuff are done as like bribing god or as a guilt reduction mechanism. So, my dream is for a time-space where there's no one who need to be GIVEN anything. And, I would appreciate a robber than a beggar because the former has consciously chosen a way to live (may sound weird but that's what I think).
My colleague (Steve) on Ego (in a mail exchange):
I have come to realize that my "Ego" or "Personality" is one part of myself that certainly will always exist. But I have also seen another side of myself that has always been there, but not allowed "out in public" too much - and that is something best called Essence. To succeed in this world, we need to have knowledge and experience of both. In modern man, and in particular in the US, personality is often the only knowledge - a plant that has beautiful leaves or flowers, but no long-lasting root structure. Essence must be given a chance to grow, but few recognize this difference and at the same time realize that personality or ego will always exist within a true human being so as to sustain life for self and other loved ones.
Because charity always (well, most of the time) 'makes' you feel superior to something or someone. Also, I think, many of the charity stuff are done as like bribing god or as a guilt reduction mechanism. So, my dream is for a time-space where there's no one who need to be GIVEN anything. And, I would appreciate a robber than a beggar because the former has consciously chosen a way to live (may sound weird but that's what I think).
My colleague (Steve) on Ego (in a mail exchange):
I have come to realize that my "Ego" or "Personality" is one part of myself that certainly will always exist. But I have also seen another side of myself that has always been there, but not allowed "out in public" too much - and that is something best called Essence. To succeed in this world, we need to have knowledge and experience of both. In modern man, and in particular in the US, personality is often the only knowledge - a plant that has beautiful leaves or flowers, but no long-lasting root structure. Essence must be given a chance to grow, but few recognize this difference and at the same time realize that personality or ego will always exist within a true human being so as to sustain life for self and other loved ones.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Questions
Question from http://www.chadfowler.com/index.cgi/Computing/Career/WhatIfYouWorkedForFree.rdoc,v :
What If You Worked for Free?
What if you didn’t get paid for what you do, and the only money you made was through donations from happy employers who were under no obligation to pay you? What if the only way to eat or to pay your mortgage was to delight your employers into tossing you a bone?
How different would your last work week have been?
What If You Worked for Free?
What if you didn’t get paid for what you do, and the only money you made was through donations from happy employers who were under no obligation to pay you? What if the only way to eat or to pay your mortgage was to delight your employers into tossing you a bone?
How different would your last work week have been?
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
PresentationZen
Today a friend (Rajesh) pointed me to PresentationZen site. The posts there are a must read. From the latest post :
“…To be different and effective, use a well-written, detailed document for your handout and well-designed, simple, intelligent graphics for your visuals. Now that would be atypical.”
I give technical presentations, where I use lots of colors and fonts to differentiate various systems, components etc. Most of the time they don’t come up very well in the grayscale handouts.
“…To be different and effective, use a well-written, detailed document for your handout and well-designed, simple, intelligent graphics for your visuals. Now that would be atypical.”
I give technical presentations, where I use lots of colors and fonts to differentiate various systems, components etc. Most of the time they don’t come up very well in the grayscale handouts.
Setting Up
I’m just trying a few setup basics like setting up the template, the blog editor for word etc.
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