Inflation ; Cause and Control from a rank Amateur

I am not a statistician. Nor am I an economist or even an Industry top honcho. Nor am I anyone backed by reams of data on economic growth, consumer purchasing pattern etc. I am an ordinary upper middle class person staying in India’s most expensive city: Gurgaon.

To me Gurgaon used to represent the shining beacon of New India’s global ambition. Its cosmopolitan culture inspired me for most of the seven years which I have spent here. So much so was I blinded by Gurgaon that when my company decided to relocate to Mumbai , I chose to resign from my high paying job to set up my own consultancy practice here.

I do not regret the decision of not moving to Mumbai. Yet in the last one and a half years the rose colour of my glasses seems to have faded somewhat. Off late I am noticing the cracks behind the spectacular growth story of this millennium city. This disturbs me as I see this impacting India’s future in the long run.

In the new India’s coming of age which I see through Gurgaon, I draw a parallel to America’s evolution. America, the erstwhile land of opportunity where hardy pioneers braved unknown dangers and an extremely hostile environment to give birth to a new nation. America also has a tumultuous history , the Civil War ,  the great depression , World War 2  , the Vietnam war , the political assassinations to name a few. Yet it was this pioneer stock which set the foundation for America’s leadership in innovations. Be it the car, telephones, railroad, heavy engineering, space exploration, office machines, Entertainment, Computers it was America which set the trend. I think all this innovation was fuelled by need. Need of a country, need of an individual. A nation had to be built from scratch and somewhere the building process brought out the best in its citizens.  Today when we think of America, these images may not come to our mind. Today when we think of US we may think of the recession; a fall out of the subprime crisis. It brought to light the extent of the rot which had seeped into corporate America. A nation which a few decades back had led the world in manufacturing innovations today manufactures the highest number of Lawyers and MBAs.

There may be many reasons for this erosion. I think this simply happened because Need was substituted by Greed.

Greed is dangerous. It is a cancer which kills its own host. Greed is fuelled by instant gratification. And it is this evidence of moving towards instant gratification which I see happening in front of my eyes.  I see it invading our society and eroding our robust value systems inherited from our parents.

We blame inflation and corruption as some of the biggest banes in our lives.  Both are driven by greed. ”Corruption, Yes…but inflation? No, not possible. That is the Government’s fault. I am a victim of inflation” ,we exclaim.

Let me explain. I understand inflation as a mismatch between supply and demand.  Too much money chasing too few things.

Let us look at demand factors with 4 examples which I have observed in Gurgaon.

1^st example : Over the last 1 year I have noticed that the number of cars in my block seem to have doubled. Yet more than 50% of the cars remain in their parking bays every working day. It seems we are purchasing more cars but not using them.

2^nd example:At a hypermarket in my locality I see shoppers piling the shopping carts with big bottles of soft drinks , chips , snacks amongst other things and then queuing up to pay with a credit card and that too on the last days of the month.

3^rd example: While taking a morning walk at 7 .00 a.m.   I routinely see some parents sitting with their children waiting for their school buses with the car engine idling and the ACs running.  I was of the opinion that the petrol prices affected everyone.

4^th example: I see young couples purchasing 3-4 bedroom flats in Gurgaon for Rs.1 Crore and above without batting an eyelid on a combined annual income of Rs.20-30 L.

In all the 4 examples I see Greed as more of a driving force than Need. This has me worried. We are consuming more to fulfil our greed. Some of you might say so what? The disposable incomes have gone up so why should an individual not have the right to enjoy life in his or her way?

My question is that are we capable of handling this high income? I think the answer is no.

I recall in the 1980s when the Maruti 800 hit the Indian Roads, there was a steep increase in the number of road accidents in Delhi. Indians brought up on a diet of the leisurely moving Fiats and Ambassadors, found the rapid acceleration power under their feet exhilarating and they just could not control it.  It was then; speed limits were imposed on the Delhi Roads. An external measure to impose control on human behaviour.

In inflation too, the government is trying to impose external speed limits in terms of hiking interest rates, but the main control for inflation is in our hands.  We can choose to live our lives with things to fulfil our needs. Spend on what fulfils our need and not what fans our greed.  Conservative living does not mean Spartan living. It just means living happily well within our means. It means buying 1 television set which the family can share. It means showering our families with love and time instead  of gadgets and gizmos. It means being a parent and passing the same core values which were passed us on to us by our parents.  I think if each of us takes even 1 small step in this we will see the impact if not in terms of increased savings then definitely in terms of increased happiness.

I think conservative living will also impact the supply to some extent. At least voracious real estate companies will think twice before acquiring agricultural land at dirt cheap prices to build high end residential complexes which we rush to buy and pay with our souls to keep the EMIs from piling up.

Let us not become another America.

It is up to us actually.

The 8 Fold Path on Emailing which no Corporate Fresher should Ignore

‘Finally made it’ is the exultation every fresher feels on Day 1 of entering the corporate world. All the slogging, the applications, the group discussions seem worth the effort as you walk in to the office which has placed its faith in your capabilities and offered you a coveted place in their team. It is at this moment, you feel omnipotent and infused with a sense of mission to make your impact in the corporate world. At the starting point of the corporate marathon, you want to put your best foot forward.  As you crouch at the racing point staring at the race track ahead you feel confident about your capabilities.

At this point you may not be able to see some potential hurdles which can slow down your speed and progress and must  be avoided in the beginning of the corporate life.

Today I want to inform you about one of them; Emailing.

While a lot of new comers make the transition from college to corporate in areas like dress code, punctuality etc., many slip in making the transition in emailing.

 Emails are the life blood of a corporate. They flow through every corner of the corporate transferring information, decisions, and opinions in a continuous flow. It won’t be uncommon for your boss to get 100 plus emails a day. And hence in this deluge of emails it is important that your emails stand out and add to your personal brand rather than weaken it.

Let us talk about the 8 things you need to know about corporate emailing etiquettes. It might be better if you repeat this as an oath after me

1.       I will not use my ‘cool’ sounding email id for sending corporate emails.  Cooldude@gmail.com might have made me a hit in college but here all it can do is hit my perception of being a mature professional. During a recruiting process, I happened to interview a candidate whose email id cannot be printed here for obvious reasons. However let us say that the email id mentioned in his CV, there was more appropriate on a anonymous dating site. Needless to say , this weakened his candidature and final was not selected. Hence let us repeat ;  I will only use my official email id for official purposes.

2.       I will always remember to put the subject in the subject space of every single email I send. An ex Regional Manager of my team would always send 6 out of 10 mails without a subject. Whether it was an customer request, a special rate for an Institution , information on the resignation on a team member , they all had one thing in common ; No Subject. While I enjoy the surprise of a lucky dip , I disliked playing lucky dip in opening emails and wondering what would be the surprise in it. Hence let us repeat;  I will remember that it is the most irritating thing for my boss to get an email without a subject mentioned.

3.       I will always remember that corporate email is not the same as sms. This happened when I had taken a new assignment with a team. I had mailed a data requirement to one of my enthusiastic team members. Was just logging off for the day when in pops this mail. Hi Boss, I wanna mail u data 2nite. Plz go thru’. And what was worse , it was marked to other senior people in the organisation. Believe me, this is a habit if not nipped can spell career suicide. Hence let us repeat; I will refrain from using sms language in emails.

4.       I will always remember my boss does not like to play detective where he/she has to search with all his/her skills to find the nuggets of meaning which I have carefully hidden in my long verbose email.  Friends, I have received mails where the mail matter was almost 24 lines long written in a rambling tone wanting to convey to the field managers that they should send the number of prescribers for the new product within a deadline. Needless to say the response rate to this mail was not even 1%. I am sure that almost everybody must have opened the mail but just did not read the same. Hence, let us repeat ; I will always remember that in emailing Less is more.

5.       I will always remember not to pass forwards / chain mails to my boss for him / her to forward to his / her unsuspecting bosses and peers as he / she will hate me for not only adding to his /her email overload but also for giving him the fear of the consequences of breaking the chain.  I am sure all of you would have experienced this. The cryptic subject matter saying ‘PLS DO NOT DELETE’ and when you open it you see a photograph , message which tells you what to do to get luck and the risk of incurring the wrath of the universe if you do not forward the same to at least 7 unsuspecting people. Frankly , like any God fearing person I used to act on the request but cursing the person who sent me the mail. One day ,
with a small apology to God , I deleted the mail.  I think God understood and did not mind my deleting the same. Hence, let us repeat; I will not forward chain mails to my peers and bosses, rather I will with courage delete the mail and have faith in God.

6.       I will always remember to think who needs to be marked a copy of the email before going berserk with the cc button and the address book. Email is free and unlike normal mail one does not incur a cost for sending to every additional recipient. The single most apparent reason some mail writers add cc it ‘to keep everyone in the loop’. It however speaks of lack of clarity in thinking and decision making. Putting so many loops can sometimes result in a noose for your interpersonal relationships. Hence, repeat; I will always ask myself , why am I sending this email and use my judgement to decide every single recipient of my email.

7.       I will always remember not to unnecessarily prolong a back and forth mail on a particular subject. This is most commonly seen in inter department mails which are  fuelled by the desire to prove the other department wrong on a thorny issue. I have seen mails being served back and forth 15 times till the original issue get lost in the muck of back and forth mails. Email is to surface and resolve issues and not to play a prolonged game of ‘who is right’ ping pong. Hence, Let us repeat; I will not allow more than 2 sets of back and forth emails before I pick up the phone and try to resolve the issue with a frank talk with the other person.

8.       I will always remember that it is more convenient for my boss to read a one page note pasted on the mail body rather than send  an attachment where he / she has to waste one click to open the same. Just a simple maths , for your boss who might receive close to 100 plus mails a day every click is an interruption. My experience says that one saves approximately 10 seconds from opening and closing an attachment. More importantly , a non attachment mail is faster to act on as relevant points can be highlighted and mailed for further action by the your boss.  Hence, let us repeat; I will try to save time for my boss by not sending him 1 pager attachments.

I am sure you can think of a couple of more think of more points. Remember, the written word is a record which leaves an indelible mark on your perception.  Its abundance, ease of use, cost and access makes us careless in using emails. Treat emails like you would any resource which is scarce and precious. Use it sparingly and effectively and you will truly understand the phrase that as far as emails are concerned, ‘LESS IS MORE’.

On the closing hours of Father's Day

The Bangalore Times supplement reminded me that today (19^th June) was Father’s Day. I still cannot recall that which thought came first to my mind. Was it a son thinking about his father? Or was it as a father thinking about his children spending their vacations 2000 km away in Kolkata.

However, whichever came first, my thoughts finally went to my father.

Maybe it was the airport setting which helped me go back to a time when my father and I were waiting for the flight at the new Platinum Lounge in Mumbai Airport in Feb 2008 end.  We had come to the airport after getting Papa discharged from Jaslok Hospital. Dr.Advani had given the grim report about the cancer which starting from the kidneys spread  to his lungs followed by his  liver, had finally invaded the brain. Papa’s 3 year old war with Cancer had entered the last stages and Dr.Advani’s prognosis (told to me only) indicated a last battle with Radiation was only an option to go down fighting in a war where the result was a foregone conclusion.

The battlefield for the last battle was fixed at Artemis Hospital in Gurgaon. My mind was preoccupied with the thought of the days ahead.  I was afraid to lose my father and yet I was afraid to see him suffer. Papa needed to go back to Bangalore to collect his stuff from my younger brother, Gautam’s place so I booked 2 flight tickets. One ,  Mumbai to Bangalore for Papa in the afternoon and the other , Mumbai to Delhi, for me.  I do not remember the exact time of the flights, but I recall that both were afternoon flights and that, my flight was scheduled to depart 10 minutes before Papa’s.  I had deliberately booked the afternoon flights to accommodate the discharge formalities at Jaslok Hospital.

Reaching Mumbai airport in plenty of time, we found that not one,  but both the flights were delayed by one and a half hours.

There were 3 things which were unusual.

One, these were afternoon flights which were not plagued by air traffic congestion delays unlike the morning and evening flights.

Two, both were Jet Airways flights which were known for their punctuality…Then.

Three, only these 2 flights were delayed and that too by the same time. One and a half hours each.

Using my then Platinum Membership, Papa and I went to the lounge. We filled a plate of the complimentary snacks, sat down in a comfortable table for two and settled down for a two and a half hour wait. The discussion started off with the opulence of the Platinum lounge. It was Papa’s first visit to such a lounge. During his days of frequent air travel as a senior tyre company executive, the monopoly of Indian Airlines ensured this service unimaginable.

The discussion then veered to the profusion of technology used by the executives.  The corporate executive working on the next table on his PowerPoint presentation prompted me to ask Papa as to whether he had made presentations and if so then what tools had he used. Papa informed me that before the advent on computers all graphs was made manually on flip charts. My father being a Civil Engineer had a natural flair in making neat charts which were much appreciated by his bosses.

From this the talk turned to his career where, Papa reflected on the different stages of his career. The good phases and the bad ones.  His triumphs and his failures.  Though I had heard him speak about his career in the past, the reflective tone used now was something I never heard before. It was as if he knew his end was approaching. I was quiet and I just let him speak.  He spoke about my mother and their marriage.  He spoke about the contribution my mother made into making the marriage work and raising 2 fine sons. His love for my mother was evident in his voice. Suddenly there was a silence. Guess each of us were thinking about what  life would throw next…when he suddenly looked at me and said that he remembered the day I was born. He was posted in Bombay and I was born in MP.It was only after a week he could get leave and then he travelled by buses and trains to see his new born son.  “You were this small when I saw you and held you.” He said.

I remember my eyes becoming misty. I had never heard him speak like this.  We spoke more after that till our respective flights were announced. With an uncharacteristic reluctance we got up. I helped Papa down the stairs as I was afraid that he might stumble.  I had to board first, so I made him sit down in a chair near the boarding gate and touched his feet.  He hugged me.   I told him that I would expect him in Delhi within 3-4 days and fix an appointment with the Chief Radiologist of Artemis Hospital.   I informed a Jet Airways official to personally help my father to board the flight. He promised to do so. I moved towards the boarding gate turned back to look at Papa, He was looking so alone and yet so brave, fighting a lonely losing battle. He caught me looking at him and he smiled and waved good bye… I waved back and boarded the bus.

That was the last time I saw him alive. 4 days later a weakened blood vessel burst in his brain and he lapsed into a coma for 60 days before he passed away in Bangalore without regaining consciousness.

It’s been 3 years since he passed away. I would like to think he passed away without feeling the pain of the last stages of cancer. I know he passed away satisfied that he had fulfilled all his duties as a son, husband, brother, uncle, boss, subordinate and …a father.

And though Papa, used to call my brother and I, Mummy’s pets, we were his pets too. His influence in our upbringing was realized by us as we grew older. 

I know my brother and I are fortunate that we had our father till we were grown men with families of our own.   At the same time there can be many regrets of what all, my father has missed after he passed away.  But life is like an endless highway , we all have to take the exit one day or another  ; marveling at what we have seen so far and wondering what we could be missing ahead.

But there is one regret which I will always have. In my 37 years of being with my father, I had never told him that I loved him. He knew, of course. But I wish I had told him. Once would have been enough.

So today as Father’s day draws to a close; I just want to say ‘Thank you for everything, Papa. I love you’

3 Things You Must Remember while Appreciating

Sincere appreciation sometimes gets overshadowed in this era driven by results and hefty performance bonuses. While performance bonus, incentives, elaborate felicitation ceremonies function as ‘ATL’ strategy, sincere appreciation can be a vital ‘BTL’ strategy to improve morale and drive performance by inducing the individual to excel.  Though lot  can be said on appreciation, I will tell you  3 things you must remember while appreciating anyone

1.       Appreciate the progress:  Imagine your team member who is normally late in submitting reports 75% of the time. After you counsel her, you may see that her on time submissions have gone up to 60%, a significant improvement. What should you do? Should you come down heavily on the 40% gap still remaining? No, the right way would be perhaps to say “Good to see the effort you are putting in, Reema. If you can improve like this, I have no doubt you will achieve 100% timely submissions, which both of us agreed upon.” This way you are ensuring Reema stays on the path to progress. Progress appreciation is important on any task which has an agreed upon end objective.

2.       Avoid Congratulations with a rider: During my sales days, I used to read the congratulatory notes fellow Area Managers would write to their colleagues on some specific out of the way, achievement. They would go something like this; “Congratulations Hemant on booking 500 units of XYZ at Getwell Hospital. Looking to you to get the next 1000 units order.” Remember this is an exceptional event. Therefore, at this moment when an exceptional task is done, 100% of that moment should be spent on the current appreciation. Let him enjoy the moment fully. Standards can and will be set later.

3.       Serve Appreciation fresh: Imagine your sales guy has handled an important customer objection exceedingly well in front of you on the first call of the day. Do not wait till the end of the day to appreciate his effort. Appreciate instantly and on the spot. Do not wait to get back, write a formal mail and then maybe send some token. You may do all that but not at the cost of compromising the freshness. Sometimes freshness of the appreciation is more valuable than the size of the appreciation.

I have said what I wanted to say. I want you to try this out for 1 week. Yes, 1 week. You be the judge of the results.

Happy Appreciating.

Rediscovering a lost love

My mother made me do it. 

It was she who gave me the money during Pujas with the usual entreaty to buy something which I wanted.  I spent part of that money on a shirt. Some of you who have visited the Shoppers Stop showroom  in Metropolitan Mall , Gurgaon might have missed the Reynolds Shop next to it.

That is where I went and purchased my Silver Grey Reynolds Fountain pen.  Having had innumerable one night stands with ball point pens, micro tips, roller balls etc; the Rs.250 price tag was intimidating. Clearly the price was steep for the average association time (< 24 hours) of my pens.

Could this be a start of a longer relationship?  , I wondered.  Within the first 24 hrs of being with my silver grey beauty, I realized that there were 3 things that I had missed for the last 2 decades.

1.       The weight: The slightly weighty voluptuous feel of the fountain pen definitely scores over the anorexic ball pens which flood the market today. The fountain pen felt perfectly balanced and the weight seemed to lend a definite emphasis to my writing.

2.       The right Friction with paper: In today’s quest for smoothness we sometimes forget the feel of what happens when the point meets paper. The closest analogy that I can think of is that of driving. I like to feel that I am driving. Too quiet engines, power windows, power steering, air conditioning, automatic transmission, super tech suspension sometimes insulate the driver from the driving experience. At times, we do long for some sounds, feel and to be more ‘involved ‘in the experience.

3.       The Uninterrupted Flow: My heavy nibbed silver beauty delivered a broad uninterrupted flow of writing. The words and therefore the thoughts behind seemed more assured, in your face and strong. Quite a change from the ultrathin tentative lines made by my earlier partners.

My relationship with my silver beauty lasted 432 days; 18 times longer than my previous relationships till I lost her due to my carelessness in Chennai.

The void left by her was so huge that I spent 3 hours in Chennai to look for an exact replacement for my Silver beauty. Though I found the same make, I had to compromise with the colour (a deep blue). The deep blue guy has been with me for more than 150 days, till my wife succumbed to his charms and now Deep blue is with her for the last 7 days.

As for me I have moved to a Silver Waterman gifted to me by my client. Ah! I love her and hope that we have a very long relationship.

As to my first silver beauty, I thank her for not only bringing joy to my life but also for the fact that I could learn to understand my own handwriting after 2 decades. I do hope she is bringing joy to some other lucky person like me.

God Bless her.

Maslow's Hierarchy Chained by Organizational Hierarchy

‘There is a time and place for everything’ does not hold true for lightning, inspiration and insights.

This insight hit me when I was conducting a leadership workshop for Sales Managers in Singapore recently.

I was taking a session on motivation. The slide containing the multi-coloured Maslow’s Hierarchy needs had been explained.

Suddenly a participant asked me “Does the pyramid of Maslow's hierarchy coincide with an organization’s hierarchy?”

For a moment I did not understand the question. Then it dawned. What was being asked was that does an individual's needs depend on the position occupied by him / her in the organizational hierarchy?

This hypothesis if true, would imply a junior manager's needs be more about food , shelter , clothing (Physiological Needs) and about providing security to family and self (Security Needs).

It would also imply that only the top management can enjoy the ‘perks’ of having the need for self actualization.

Ridiculous as it may sound, in most situations we design our motivational programs unconsciously following this hypothesis.

Entry level sales force motivational tools rely much more heavily on monetary gains and benefits. These are also focused on the end result. While  the end result (Targeted sales) is vital , the process leading to the targeted sales needs to be oiled with appreciation (fulfilling the love and belonging need) as well as address the self esteem need of the individual (Esteem Needs).

In reality this often gets neglected. 

Under no circumstance am I suggesting that monetary needs can be substituted by the other needs, but a right mix of the relevant motivational programs would give a higher engagement between the employee and the organization. We also need to keep in mind that the junior high performers are the most prone to be poached by rival companies by being offered higher pay packages. A higher engagement creates a buffer against poaching.

Self actualization is all about finding one's potential; irrespective whether the person is a CEO or a Sales Representative.

Not everyone becomes a CEO. This does not mean that this person has not found his potential.  It is the mission of every single leader to help his team members to discover their own potential irrespective of the employee's position in the hierarchy.

After all isn’t this is also about finding a leader's potential?

Successful leaders will always strive unchain the Maslow’s Hierarchy from the clutches of the Organizational Hierarchy.

A common mis application of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Realizations sometimes hit at the most unlikely times. This one hit me when I was conducting a leadership workshop for Sales Managers in Singapore recently. I was taking a session on motivation when a participant asked me whether the pyramid of Maslow's hierarchy coincided with an organization’s hierarchy.
The question meant that does an individual's needs depend on the position occupied by him / her in the organizational hierarchy?
This hypothesis if true would imply a junior manager's needs be more about food , shelter , clothing (Physiological Needs) and about providing security to family and self (Security Needs). It would also imply that only the top management would have the need for self actualization. Ridiculous as it may sound, in most situations we design our motivational programs unconsciously following this hypothesis.
Entry level sales motivational tools rely much more heavily on monetary gains and benefits and are focused on the end result. While , the end result (Targeted sales) is vital , the process leading to the targeted sales needs to be oiled with appreciation (fulfilling the love and belonging need) as well as increasing the self esteem of the individual (Esteem Needs) , is also essential. This often gets neglected.
Under no circumstance am I suggesting that monetary needs can be substituted by the other needs but a right mix of the relevant motivational programs would give a higher engagement between the employee and the organization. We also need to keep in mind that the junior high performers are most prone to be poached by rival companies by offering higher pay packages. A higher engagement creates a buffer against poaching.
Self actualization is all about finding one's potential irrespective whether the person is a CEO or a Sales Representative. Not everyone becomes a CEO. This does not mean that the person has not found his potential.  It is the mission of every single leader to help his team members to discover their own potential irrespective of the employee's position in the hierarchy.
After all that is also about finding a leader's potential.

MyTrek: How Green was my Industry

MyTrek: How Green was my Industry: "Nearly all of us have seen the Pharma Industry in action. Either as a part of it or observing the customer interface while waiting in a doct..."

How Green was my Industry

Nearly all of us have seen the Pharma Industry in action. Either as a part of it or observing the customer interface while waiting in a doctor's chamber ; The Medical Representative or commonly known as the MR. The image of the MR you see is not very flattering to the Pharma Industry.
From being the cream job 2 decades back ,it is now the domain of missed (or misplaced ) aspirations and mediocrity.
While debates may go on as to why the Pharma Industry is not able to attract talent , one thing is clear. What is missing in today's MRs is the basic pride in the job. As someone has said that to get respect from others we must first respect ourselves. Majority of the MRs today do not respect themselves. It is evident in the way they carry themselves in public as well as in the clinic.
If you happen to hear a group of MRs talking amongst themselves in the waiting room , you will understand what I mean. Be it the content  ; gossip ,bad mouthing company , bosses , customers , policies or be it the language used.
The communication 'skills' displayed in the clinic makes one sympathise with the doctors who bear at least 20-25 MRs DAILY....
We look in the mirror and we see the same face staring at us for the last 3 decades. Realization hits us when we see the old graduation photograph.
Realization hit me when I happened to meet a 75 year old gentleman last month. A pharma industry veteran of more than 4 decades experience in Pharmsales. The erect posture , the clear spoken English , the firm handshake spoke of an era gone by. The era when Pharmaceutical Selling was a coveted profession. An era when a doctor would consider a Pharmaceutical MR as not only as an equal but as a prospective son in law.
That , my friends was what this  industry was about.
A far cry from what it is today...Don't you think?