In Pursuit Of Excellence

Pathetic state of 'Project Management' in silicon valley of India

2011-08-02T09:29:00.000-07:00

I had a heated exchange with my boss today leaving me very exhausted mentally and irritated to some extent. The worst part is, no matter how hard I try, I just cannot help but bring this to home - which results in a nasty snowballing effect of adding more stress as everybody else is stressed out at home when they see me grumpy.

I can make a blog and fill it up with 100 posts about how much office work contribute to stress for a working individual in India. Especially in the software industry. The main reason is the disagreement and the way its handled in our so called 'modern offices'. Have an issue with your manager, well the way to sort it out is to sit for hour long lectures on anything from 'Empowerment' to 'Turning around', 'innovation' and more management terms, which you never use in your daily life. Don't agree with your boss/co-worker, the official way is to schedule a skip level meeting, where invariably you are taught lessons on how to get along with your boss/colleagues by your skip level manager. You can run from pillar to post, but the end message is the same - "Just stick to the plan and get on with your work. Your opinions can be shoved up your behind for all we care !"

Sad really ! One of my colleagues was telling me today that "people don't leave companies, they leave managers". And its so true. One of the main reasons I attribute this pathetic state of project/resource management in India is to the vastly unskilled/undeserving pool of managers. These guys were the engineering graduates of the late 90s or the early 2000s, who entered the industry during the 'dot-com boom'. At that time, attrition was so high, a guy with 4 years of experience was the tech lead, a guy with 2 years of experience as tech lead became a manager and so on. Naturally when the tide is slowing down and getting into a state of normalization, we have all these vast pool of people who are stuck at mid-level/upper level management positions, who are so unskilled in technical areas, you've no option but to continue using them. And now we are beyond the previous "maintenance" projects, getting more and more of end to end development and guess who manages these ? The previously unskilled pool !

Most of these so called 'project or resource managers', still work by the age old method of bribe/blackmail/carrot & stick for employee retention / satisfaction. Some of the popular methods of making an employee "contribute" more to the company:

1. On-site opportunity: By far the most popular one. Find a grumpy employee not happy with his salary/work/environment or whatever, forget about spending time at counselling him to find the root cause, just throw in the assurance of sending him onsite and rest assured he'll fall in place. Any place from Singapore to Buenos Aires will do, as long as him/his wife and his kid's tickets are paid for and he is allowed to stay back long enough to change his location in facebook profile and paste pics about his onsite spoils. No matter how stupid his outing was or how bad his new fake accent is.

2. Contractual obligations: Worried about losing your fresh talent jumping onto other companies ? Worried that all you taught to the fresh minds are being stolen away by other companies at your expense ? Don't bother about improving your in house work culture or incentives to make them stay. Throw in a complicated contract which could result in the employee paying a hefty sum of money in case he leaves you. You can even throw in an advocate at the time of making the contract to really strike fear into their hearts. For best results visit the innermost parts of India where students are actually ready to sign their life off for an opportunity to work in a s/w company. Use their poor financial situation complete to your advantage! Now that's how geniuses in HR roll yo !

3. Ridiculous notice periods: I heard that the notice period in US is usually two weeks. Well, welcome to Bangalore ! Here it varies any time between 2 months to 6 months depending on which company you are in. Impossible to retain an employee thanks to your sucky company policies ? Well let us make it such that its not possible for them to find employment anywhere either. 'You can't lose if you don't play!'

4. Unbelievable lateral hikes: Finding trouble poaching talent with your sucky bureaucratic company policies ? Tired of being rejected by anyone who's able to write a program to print "hello world" without compiler warnings or errors ? Well, here's the instant solution - give them a ridiculously high package which is more than twice the amount another poor loyal guy with the exact same skill set and experience is making at your company. Add a signing bonus as an icing on the cake to seal the deal. Rest assured you'll land that guy for your next induction program. Now, to stick to your process of suckiness, ensure that his future hikes are dramatically reduced to fractions lesser than one, and depend on point 1,2 or 3 for his retention. Also, don't bother about normalizing the salary of that honest/loyal engineer stuck with your company. What kind of a loser sticks to a company beyond 2 years eh ?

If you think I'm trying to vent out my frustration or being sarcastic, you are free to walk in and join any software company in Bangalore and see if for yourself. Don't bother checking the logic or the reasoning behind any of these points, unless you are in mood for some real "coaching" on how "you should first ask yourself what you've done for the company before you ask what the company has done for you" !

Why India is 'Startup starved' ? A theory !

2011-07-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

More often that not we hear grandiose stories from silicon valley of how a acne covered geek working in his grandmother's basement found the solution to that 'obvious' problem which everyone overlooked and eventually made millions. And stories like facebook time and again prove that the 'American dream' very much exists even today in US. But while in our own silicon valley - Bangalore, the story is almost the converse. We have very few tech heroes like mark zukerberg, the last known public figure of rags to tech riches is the now retired ex chairman of India's 3rd largest 'services' company - 'NR Narayana Murthy'. Even after NRN founded infosys some 25 years ago, hardly are there 25 such companies to boast of in the 'silicon valley of India'. I wonder why. A little bit of idle browsing and talking to peers and colleagues in the industry, I feel partly, India's age old social structure and cultural principles have a significant contribution.

Let me explain.

1. In India, social obligations are way too high compared to the west. For ex: An average American has to play the role of a husband, a father perhaps and then a good worker. Its quite manageable. Compare that to an average Indian. He has to be a good father, husband, brother, newphew, grandson and whatnot while balancing his work life. There are some families I know of where one person feeds everyone from grandfather to his kid brother. One single guy. I can only imagine how stressful would it be for that poor soul to just juggle so many relationships, while balancing his career. Where is the time to think beyond the box ?

2. In the west, a techie studying in college, has little or no obligations to his family, other than to perhaps pass the course if his father paid for his tuitions. In India, not only has the son / daughter need to pass with "flying colors", he needs to provide support for his family, clear his father's debts, secure money for his sis' marriage, ensure enough bank balance is present to fund is little bro's college fees etc etc. And believe me, I'm not talking about a very far fetched scenario. Many of my friends who passed out of college, have done all these. So the risk taking attitude in Indian students is way too less compared to their counterparts in the west. I mean, how am I supposed to think of "denying" that high paying job from an "IT services" company, when my dad is neck deep in loans because of me ? The guilt of "wasting" their parents hard earned money is way too high among Indian students if they don't end up getting into a proper company after their course ends. Starting a company is something that's only in the movies or for some rich kids is the general perception among the middle class.

3. In the west, a working techie has little responsibilities. If, overnight he gets an idea which he finds worth 'entrepreneuring' on, he just can pool his savings so far and start right away. In India, we are expected to save for ourselves, our kid's marriages, college education, buying a house, a car so on and so forth. We need to ensure that not only our future is "safe", but also that our kids get into good colleges, get married and have their own kids. The responsibility just doesn't end till they are 18, you need to ensure your kids have a spouse and job too. Basically it means, we just don't have the right to spend what we earn. And to think of investing all that in a 'startup' ? The person should be nuts.

4. Its ok not to get married in the west. Nobody raises eyebrows, or make you a social outcast. Complete opposite in India, and this plays a significant role in shaping your career. In India, its pretty tough to be belonging to middle class and not be married if you are beyond 30. Almost everyone will be breathing down your neck forcing you to tie the knot. And two years down the line, you "should" have a kid and buy a house. You are left with very little time for experimenting with your life, making mistakes or failing which is more often than not what happens with most start ups. The room for error is very less, so most people just tend to take the easy risk free path of 'employment'. Like the quote from 'The Wire' - "you can't lose if you don't play".

Having said all the above, I don't mean to say that India cannot produce entrepreneurs. Its just that the social and cultural aspects of our society has quite an impact on our youth in shaping their thinking. Very few have the courage the break these social barriers and emerge successful. These are the guys about whom we read in books and newspapers. Unfortunately such numbers are far and few in between. Here's to hoping more such success stories happen in 'India's silicon valley'. Signing off for now....catch you later !

A cookie for the happy man !

2011-05-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

As the day goes by, sometimes I wonder.... I wonder when or what makes a man truly happy ? Is he happy when he gets what he wants? Is he happy when he gets the recognition he thinks he deserves? Is he happy when he is the leader of all ? When all subjects bow to his command ? Does wealth and prosperity really bring the kind of happiness that we assume it would ? Truth to be told, after more than a quarter of a century of my existence, I have come to believe that none of them can bring true happiness. Happiness is a state of mind and doesn't need any trigger. We as individuals determine if we are happy or not. Chasing down a dream and for that matter even achieving it wont make us happy, it just makes us empty. Makes us crave for more. True happiness is the one which we can experience without any trigger, without any precondition, without any strings attached. And for those of you who think you a are happy this way, heres a cookie from me, wishing I would one day become that happy man !

Ipad2 is here finally !

2011-05-17T10:43:00.001-07:00

learning java

2011-02-20T10:17:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Been a long time since I updated. Life has been going on so far. BTW, just wanted to put in here that I've started to learn Java. Kinda self educating myself whenever I can spare time at home. But the hill to climb is pretty steep. Its not that I don't know anything about oo programming. Being a CS graduate, I'm quite well versed in them, but what I'm out of touch is with the lang itself. And Java has grown so vast in the past years, its hard to keep up. Anyway, I've no intention of taking up any SCJP, my intention is to only learn as much needed to code on android platform. Let us see how it goes....wish me luck, and wish that I don't give up along the way.

Old "might" turn out to be gold !

2010-10-08T10:13:00.001-07:00

Life has been really dragging lately. After playing Mafia II and The Witcher, I don't feel like playing anything else. Watched some movies though - Dabgangg, SALT and Aisha. Dabangg was pretty average, but nice time pass. SALT was totally awesome. Aisha was quite decent.

Now coming to the topic title, I wonder what made Dabangg click in the first place? For us southies, the movie is nothing new, its a rehash of any other regular movie with the hero fighting off more baddies in ways that would put iron man to shame. So whats new about this that made it click ? In my opinion, the simplicity of the movie worked in its favor greatly. The movie is never pretentious and doesn't take itself too seriously. Its like the director told the people, "hey, I'm gonna make a movie with a bare minimum story, over the top action, catchy songs and some humor thrown in to keep you from getting bored, I'm neither making it to get any awards, or put my name in the hall of fame. The only guarantee is that it'll be entertaining and not bore you".

I would take a movie like Dabangg anyday over the pretentious nonsense thats churned out by most of the high budget production houses. I would enjoy a movie with Indian characters, Indian cities, Indian setting dealing or showcasing Indian problems instead of showing us the false, bloated, stinky rich, ultra luxurious setting of the west. Don't take me wrong, I'm totally up for movies shot in the west, DDLJ did it, Kal ho na ho did it, and both managed to pull it off very well. But to make a movie in the western setting just for the sake of it is pretty annoying, more so, when every other movie tries to do the same stuff. An ultra rich swanky NRI hunk is sad because his marriage is in shambles or his love is lost. Booo and boring !

I'm sort of glad that Dabgangg was a hit. For one, it brought back the bollywood to its root - which is India. And two, it showed that you don't need a big banner or a controversial topic or in-your-face marketing to make a movie hit. All you need is to understand your audience and make movies for them.

Here's to wishing there comes a Dabgangg 2 , before I log off. Catch you later.

Random Tidbits

2010-09-04T05:52:00.001-07:00

Hello random reader, there's no power in my house, so having nothing better to do than ramble on random topics.
Games:
I've almost completed 'The Witcher'. I'm in the epilogue fight with this creature called 'Zogyl' and stuck there. The game has turned out to be a lot more tougher than I had anticipated, especially after chapter V. Taking down the human enemies is pretty easy, but there're hardly any, and most of the enemies from Chapter V are mutants or monsters. And they sting and hit fast, and geralt stands like a mute spectator. Ah, so much for levelling up and being a badass witcher ! Anyway, the story is pretty average, but the gameplay is what's keeping me from leaving this game. Also, the lore is pretty awesome. You actually feel like you are living in those times, the towns are designed beautifully and the NPC walking on the streets make some interesting remarks. Anyway, more in the upcoming review once I complete the game.
Movies:
I hardly watched anything new these days. Last I watched was 'Shutter Island'. Its quite good, but nothing fantastic. A bit over-rated I would say. I wanted to watch 'Peepli Live' so much, but I just can't get time. There's still a whole big hollywood backlog - 'The Losers', 'The expendables', 'A-Team', 'Prince of Persia' , thats just from the top of the list. If I start adding the inconspicous and criticially acclaimed but not mass marketed movies, it'll continue to grow.
Other stuff:
I've started driving by Car to my office, which means, no more soaking in Bangalore rain. It adds the additional burden of having to sit through traffic jams for hours, compared to a two-wheeler. In a two wheeler, you could just zip/zap/zoom and cut across most 4 wheelers, mocking them, sniggering as you squeeze to the front. In a car, you sit and curse at the two wheeler who just whizzed past you ! But overall, I would prefer a Car on a rainy day over a two wheeler. It has also helped me keep up with some of the latest bollywood/kannada songs.
Inception Review:
I've been waiting for Inception 6-8 months before the movie released in India. Christopher Nolan is one of the most talented directors out there (watch memento) and a new sci-fi big budget , DiCaprio starring movie , what could go wrong ? And indeed its true. There's nothing wrong with the movie. Its as perfect a sci fi movie can get.
The premise of the movie is a bit 'above the head'. DiCaprio specializes in a rare skill, which has him enter people's mind, hacking their dreams and stealing their secrets for his employers. One of his vicitims offers him a new job - 'inception', which is basically the opposite of the what DiCaprio does - planting an idea into someone's mind. And what follows is a maze of brilliant CGI imagery, psychological games, some amazing stunts, car chases and what not. You can think of the wildest possible idea, and the movie gets wierder than that. Insipte of its complicated plot , the movie holds your attention, mainly because of the excellent narration. You sit on the edge of your seat, waiting to see how the movie unfolds as you are transported into the surreal world of dreams. I literally shouted 'shit' when the cinemas halted the movie for an interval.
DiCaprio walks away with the acting honors in the role of a 'psychological spy' with a troubled past. Overall the hero of the movie is the script and of course - 'Christopher Nolan' for daring to attempt such a movie and walking away with applause. Its pretty difficult to make a movie like this, more than the CGI stunts, its hard to get the concepts across to an audience. And Nolan succeeds very well in this regard.
I would rate the movie - 9.5/10. The 0.5 deducted for not providing a proper closure confusing the audience. Go and watch the movie if you like immersing yourself in a surreal world for a couple of hours. Good chances are you are gonna ask yourself at the end of it - 'Is this a dream?'

Oh, the power is back....so see you later. Let me go slay that big monster in 'The Witcher', and you go back to whatever you are doing. See ya....

Change of plans !

2010-08-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

OK, my plans of finishing up my backlog isn't exactly going as per the plans. There were quite some distractions in between. First, I stumbled across this game called 'Alpha Protocol', which took quite a lot of my time. And then, my wife's incessant watching of her daily soaps kept me away from my TV, leaving me with very little time to play on my xbox 360. So I could only complete the first act of Red Dead Redemption. But no worries, I've stumbled across another super duper awesome game - 'The Witcher' on PC. Although I had heard quite a lot about this game, never got around to really playing it. And now, I just don't feel like playing any other game. Its a damn addictive RPG. More on that in another post, on another day.

Cheers !

Hello Penguin !

2010-07-30T10:42:00.001-07:00

Booyah ! Just installed ubuntu 10.04 LTS on my system. It feels so nice to be back to "root" - pun intended ;) But I'm still struggling to turn on the advance visual effects and java 5 sdk. More later....

2010 Reboot

2010-07-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

Alright folks, time to get this blog out of hibernation :)
Let me begin this reboot by what I plan to do with my free time in the upcoming second half of this year:
1. Try to complete my video game backlog.
2. Start a mini-project of my own.
3. Learn a new software.
4. Update this blog regularly and give it some sort of personality !
Let me talk about point 1 today, more on the other topics, in the coming days :)

Video game backlog
My video game backlog is at an all time high, thanks to my personal/professional life. Work at office is way too demanding and deadlines are tighter than ever! Combine that with the day-day tasks of running a family, well, I've very little time for video games. But this is my passion, and my hobby, and I hate to see it die. So I'm planning to spend at least an hour on weekdays and two on weekends.

So here's a quick rundown of the games I plan to complete in the coming days:

1. Red Dead Redemption
2. Alan Wake
3. Dragon Age: origins
4. Final Fantasy XIII

I give the above games 2 months of completion date. The main problem with the above list is the inclusion of 2 mega behemoth RPGs (that's "role playing games" for you non-gaming freaks). And there's also the release of Mafia II looming ahead. But somehow I plan to squeeze this in my daily schedule and complete the above games. I've started with RDR currently, let us see how well the plan works out. The biggest spoilsport and the spanner in the works seems to be the power cut. Today there was no power for like 4 hours. But then, whats the fun in achieving a target without any roadblock eh ?

Hello World

2007-11-18T05:25:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

First entry to this blog, just a test to see how it looks :)