With this New Year we have taken the next step of consolidating all our blog publishing into one place. Now we would be publishing our thoughts at Raj’s lab (http://rajshankar.wordpress.com)

Apart from writings on current events, entrepreneurship and small business, this blog roll contains a weekly post on Vedantic learnings in the context of strategy and business (Vedantic Wednesday). Soon we would be adding a weekly post on concepts and frameworks in strategy

We invite you all to join us there!!

Happy Reading

 Last week, I was deputed as soon as I entered office with the supposedly simple task of procuring the diaries that had been earlier selected by my seniors from a reputed diary manufacturer in Paris. Off I went out with another colleague feeling all important to be doing a task which we know meant a lot to our company – getting personalized new year diaries out for our clients and well wishers!

We were told we just had to pick up the diaries, make payment and come back to office, and all this would take an hour and half’s time.  The firs impression that this may be far from truth came when we entered the specified company owned retail outlet:

• The shop was empty with a few samples kept here and there.
• No stock was available on the selected item (despite being reserved)
• Price quoted to us was higher than the price informed to us earlier
• In order to print the diary of our choice(the one already selected from sample) it would take at least take 30-40 days –making it middle of December.

After an hour of talking on the various options available to procure diaries the same day, the shop keeper ultimately  suggested (we do not know whether it was intended well or it was to get rid of two persistent ladies) that we go to the factory outlet at Royapuram, where we will have ample stock and samples. We can also get the delivery immediately.  He went one step ahead and gave us the GM’s number.. Further he alerted us that 1-2 p.m. was lunch time, and we would have to rush to the place before the start of the lunch time.

Though we rushed to reach by quarter to 1, the security informed us, as expected, that it was lunch time and we could meet the respective staff only after an hour.  When we spoke to the GM over the phone, he simply told us that we had no choice but to wait for 45 days as the factory was also out of stock. However a chance running into a representative on our way out gave us hope when he said he will do an actual inventory check for us.  We could see a light glow at the end of the tunnel as he told us that there was a stock of particular set of diaries but we need to wait for an hour for the staff to return from lunch. We resigned to the one hour wait and sat in the reception with no one bothering to offer us even a glass of water.

At 2:15 we were shown a catalogue and after a lengthy process of selection and negotiation as we gave in our cheque we were told the diaries we had selected were actually reserved for someone else and we have to change our choice.

At this point it seemed that we were trying very hard to be their customers while the representative seemed too preoccupied to spend any effort in retaining us on his customer list. Was it because our orders were in hundreds? Was it because they were anyway making enough money from the pipeline of orders that one customer requirement not being met was ok? Or were all staff at the organization so disgruntled that they were keen on the company to lose customers?

As we were mulling these questions in silence, our resolve to complete the purchase of the diaries of our liking on that same day kept increasing. On our way out we glanced accidently at a diary that appealed to us. One look at it we knew this is what we wanted this year – and it so happened there was enough stock of the diary in the factory. We did not bother to ask them why they had not volunteered this information to us earlier.

We were told that in 30 mins the packing would be done and the 30 minutes extended into two and half hours as the factory outlet system was busy making orders for larger orders that needed to be despatched. It did not matter to anyone that they had two customers in their next to nowhere factory outlet waiting for the 125 diaries to be packed.  We were too tired, hungry and upset to pursue our case with them.

After spending nearly six hours we did return to our office to our worried seniors who were constantly urging us to come back and leave the matter to them. We did feel a sense of task accomplishment at the end of the day and felt the wait was worth it as now the diaries will get processed and reach our people on time as always.  We had no qualms about having waited without food at an unfriendly place – when we saw everyone at office applaud the selection and our efforts. That was enough for us to even be willing once again to repeat this all over again.

However this experience also left behind certain question unanswered in my mind:

• Will the actual owner of the company be OK with the way we were treated as customers?
• Why is the last mile personnel apathetic to the customer while the vision and value of the company hails customer satisfaction
• Are we still in a supply oriented society that customer loyalty and retention does not matter?
• Just because the company has enough “customers” in its kitty, should they ignore a prospective customer?
• Is there a way of telling the customer he cannot be serviced – instead of dishing out ‘nightmarish’ experience
• Can companies put in a process by which confusing and contradictory instructions/statements are not given to the clients?
• Can a company ever stop being bothered about its image?
• Isn’t a large client of today – a smaller client of yesterday? Can a company then afford to ‘mis-manage’ its smaller clients?

- This piece was contributed by Ms.Shabana an associate with ichiban Business Consultants Pvt Ltd

He  came back from school and supposedly there was a discussion in his class. And his teacher had asked the class as to who all have Moms who work.  She was surprised when my ward did not put his hands up.  And when quizzed he said – ‘My mom doesn’t work! She has her company”.. when my son came and told me this – I chided him saying – “It is not easy to run a business. It is so much of hard work and responsibility.  You see me so busy, don’t you.. so on and so forth”

He just stared at me – and said after what seemed a long time  ”Yes Mom – but that’s not work. That’s something else. ichiban is not work…you…. ACTUALLY FEEL it!!”

The way in which he said it with the mix of innocence and conviction made me realise what it is to “Not Work” ..

What it means to carry a part of your dream everyday…leave a part of it in every work you do – in every interaction you have…and feel exhausted, tired but happy and satisfied all the time (almost all the time).. There is not a day that goes without a bit of emotional high or low – every act of teamwork – be it cleaning office – having your team take independent baby steps – running UDAN – a happy client is a moment of intense celebration – the same way that red-tapism, laziness, lack of focus, casual attitude are major irritants. Every day the stage opens up for an action packed drama..

It dawned on me the best joy of entrepreneurship is the connect that we can have with what we do for our living.

And this blog today we all at ichiban dedicate it to all those entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs who FEEL it!!

He said “Indians are very bright and intelligent but, i have some fundamental qualms too.”

He went on to list:

1. Indians don’t stick to commitments.
2. Indians have no respect for the other man’s time.
3. Indians really don’t have any value for their own words.
4. Indians find it very difficult to say sorry even when they have made a mistake.
5. Indians give excuses all the time.

Apart from all the complaints above and some others there was one thing which struck me very hard – Indian businesses expect customers to adjust to the company’s offerings, not the other way around! Surprised at this? Initially i thought i should have been – but why?

Look at the way we get treated as customers – I am sure we all have stories to tell about our service providers that are not even remotely funny. There are very few companies that even think they need to listen / acknowledge / service customers. Most of them are happy to live with dissatisfied customers. Be it telecom, education, banks or anything. Because for every service they have not one or two but a billion people queued up.

Though i will agree that we are transitioning towards a more customer sensitive economy, we are far away from true customer satisfaction – when many business leaders talk ardently about customer delight. But if we want to become more global as a nation, it is time we become empathetic to the professional requirements at the receiving end too. Especially if one is vying for customers in more developed economy – we need to change and redefine our parameters and principles around customer service. ‘Jugad’ that we are so proud of here – is not appreciated elsewhere! What worked for your domestic customers here is NOT going to work there! It is time we accept and action this out!

Thought it was important to share this with aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, because prevention is better than cure – isn’t it?

Happy Thinking!

There are many times when you read a book and you stop in between and share what you read and struck you hard with someone special, your partner, your core team member, etc.,. It happened to me many times when I was reading this wonderful book written by Todd Henry – “The Accidental Creative”. This is a wonderful book. In recent times I have picked a number of books in the category of self-help, time management, productivity – but have not completed even one of them in full. Somewhere along the way I lost the connect – but this book kept me hooked on till the end. I completed the book and am immediately writing this.

Though the book may sound rhetorical about many things that most productivity or self-help masters preach – it is in reality nothing of that! It has one basic premise around which the book has been constructed, which is “With order comes greater / productive creativity” and I think (just as Seth Godin has said) it applies to anyone who thinks for a living. The beauty is that even though most creative people may not agree that bringing order will increase their output, I think I can’t agree more!

Todd has done a wonderful job of sitting on the shoulder of giants and helped us see beyond. Through the book, he credits people who have contributed to his thinking and how he has extended their thoughts to the work of a creative. His framework F.R.E.S.H. which stands for Focus, Relationships, Energy, Stimuli, Hours seemed quite robust. Though honestly at times I thought it was overwhelming. Why should something that is going to get you to the other end of productivity come easy – he also has never promised this in his introduction! He has been candid that results are going to come with only effort and patience. I’m sure with practice, some of the recommendations in the book will lift the productivity, even if you try hard to disallow it!

My favorite take away from the book includes: -

- Building a circle or small group for focused and engaging intellectual advancement

- Strengthening the core team

- The concept of energy and its management (though I think I have to read more of this)

 – I must agree I have started thinking!

 - STIMULI: God, I needed this most at this time in life! It was something I have done in the past and thought about unconsciously, but it’s so true: What goes in decides what will come out!

- The story about the music around page 200 and the South African speaker’s story at the end were my favorite anecdotes!

- And coming back to what I’m working hard to achieve everyday: FOCUS. I had a lot of fresh thoughts as I read this chapter too.

Before I reached the end, I felt a little drag (some pages could have been reduced), but the end was awesome! How would you like to be laid in the grave – as a completely full, unused, untapped valuable resource OR ‘fully empty’? The South African story inspiring one to ‘Die Empty’ was a wonderful way to end the book. Apart from that the number of anecdotes across the book make understanding the application of a concept / advice easy.

A simple book, which does not tell you to control time or diet or sleep, but asks you focus on the essentials, was helpful to me. I am sure it will be a useful read for anyone who thinks he or she is involved in even the shallowest of creative work.

Overall I loved the book.

I will recommend this when you walk to a book store the next time around!!

Happy Reading!

It is rather surprising that I spent an evening watching the ‘Grand Finale’ of this popular reality show on Vijay TV called “Airtel Super Singer”. After waiting for almost three hours and listening to soulful singing from emerging stars – the prize distribution ceremony was not enjoyable! Surprised! Please read on…

This program has been on for over a year. Young adults have been fighting for this title and awards through this period. And if any of what these people tell during interviews is to be believed, each of them have spent much of the year or two just aiming for this. A competition in the true spirit!

With many stalwarts of music as judges and number of celebrated artists evaluating the contestants at every stage – only the very best make it to the next level at every stage. So when we reached the pre-final stage only two contestants were short-listed for the finals. Both truly deserving and a class apart from the rest!

Then something strange was introduced – public choice of finalists. Yes, even I was intrigued by what was happening. The public could vote on the performances of the contestants and two people would be allowed to move into the finals as a ‘wild card entry’. They would be allowed to compete for the title again (after being eliminated by the judges). Yes! Luck sometimes showers itself on some people, but it must have stopped with that.

In the final as the contestants were rendering their performances, it was constantly being announced that the winner would be decided based on votes polled by the public. With a number of stalwarts and experts sitting in front of the podium – no one was asked for evaluation, choice, comments, etc All that would decide the winner was “number of votes” – by the viewers!

So it was natural that the winner need not be the person who put in the effort and remained consistent over the entire period. It could be the person who can garner the maximum votes, rather than render the absolutely right ragas, talas, or the technicalities of the music.

After having had an entire season of near stiff evaluation by top class judges and strong elimination criteria, people are allowed to come back into the game after having lost and then again been awarded a prize for receiving the largest votes – rather than been selected or evaluated by judges.

It was sad to see the two contestants who sang (rather fought) their way to the finals rank three and four and the two wild card entrants be decided as first and second.

It seemed a little unfair to me. I have never heard of a competition where a person who loses in the quaterfinal / semifinal game be given a chance to come directly to the final and then be honored as winner by polling the audience.

It was definitely a let down to an event which provided such a fantastic platform to showcase talent spread across India and the world, a program that consistently ensured only the best and consistent singers progressed to the next level, with judges who were truly objective in their evaluation – suddenly change into a gambling ring. I definitely think we need to re-think the way we create standards for competitions in India and especially in these reality shows.

“Voting” is enough of an issue with politics – let it not spoil the healthy competition that encourages young minds to develop and hone their talents and turn it into a vote-buying game. Let a game of singing be judged by experts and let fair play decide who the winner should be – not number of votes from the audience who in all probability as actor Dhanush rightly pointed out at the function – may not know the intricacies involved in making soulful music.

I hope this opinion of mine will be taken in the right spirits! I believe that competition is good, but the competition should be healthy in the best interests of society. I hope such programs continue and create platforms for the immense talent that is across our lovely country and our beautiful world to be identified, showcased and create livelihoods for number of young artists to come, and not turn into mere game of chance and luck!

There were many who shared – some inspirational, some experiential, some thought provoking but all of them earnest in the context of continual learning and mentoring. However when the chief of staff got up to give the key delivery he snapped all our attention by something that was so simple:

He said “English Alphabets teach us a lot. If you add the order number (a=1; b=2) in words you will understand this.

The  word HARDWORK adds upto 98. This says 98% of our success resides in relentless hardwork

The word ATTITUDE adds upto 100. This says 100% can be achieved with right attitude.

The term ‘GOOD TEACHER’ add upto 101 !!! 

The context of teacher – teaching and learning was conveyed to the crowd of over 100 professional in one swift and deft move!

We are posting this from team ichiban as a tribute to all those who have taught us and continue to teach us every day!! Thank You!!

Customer bets on product or service

Product or service is a bet of the entrepreneur

Entrepreneur bets on the idea

Idea is a bet on choices

VC bets on the Entrepreneur

HNI/Funds bet on VC

In a world of bets – Winning is only a chance – And it is exceptional!

Winners are people who don’t bet but believe!

They ar truly rare!

But that is not the case with expectation, because expectation is almost always from someone outside of us – we are impacted more by disappointment of a failed expectation. When it is someone else we most often do not reason out, acknowledge, understand or forgive so easily. So expectations, by their very nature lead to greater amount of dissatisfaction – primarily because of its source being external to self. If we have to have a relationship without expectations it requires a great amount of philosophical intelligence and wisdom – maturity may not suffice!

This blog is far from being an essay on human psyche. If we all understand and accept this – we should be easily able to relate to the how and why of a customer reaction, when we fail to meet his expectations. Very often we are quick to shrug away a customer as being unreasonable or unappreciative of the efforts we put in for servicing him. If we would just stop for a minute to orient the efforts to meet the customer’s expectation rather than trying to impress him with elaborate gold-plating and desirable value-adds, with much less we may be able to have a set of loyal and fiercely attached client!

As all independent ingredients were ready, we got ready to stuff the dumpling. Under the watchful eyes of my mom the process of stuffing started. I realised what they don’t teach you at chemistry labs in your college – the art of artful cooking. Either the stuffing was more or the skin was more leaving my dumplings splitting at sides or a grotesque white blob. My mom in all her wisdom piqued after my hand-work threatened to spoil her puja offering “ You are concentrating either on stuffing or on covering the skin. You need to do both simultaneously. Pushing the stuffing and covering with the flour. Doing just one will not give you result. ” Concentrating on the two actions simultaneously was quite difficult but that seemed to be the only way out as the dumplings started improving in their shape and consistency.

As I kept the dumplings for steaming, some thoughts began cooking in my mind. How often in our urgency to solve issues we focus on a singular aspect – throwing all our efforts into that one activity.

When we want to diet: We rush to stop eating – without simultaneously starting on a balanced diet.

When we want to enhance profitability: We rush to cut down on expense – without simultaneously looking at ways to enhance pricing

When we want to delight customers: We rush on increasing the value adds – without simultaneously working on increasing impact

When we want to grow our team: We focus on adding people – without simultaneously working on retention measures to stem attrition

When we want to change ourselves: We focus on attacking our weakness – without simultaneously polishing our strengths

When we want to increase productivity: We look at increasing throughput (efficiency) – without simultaneously working on resource utilization (effectiveness).

It is tough to balance the two aspects of the solution as at times they seem to be at logger heads. But when one achieves a solution that includes a good mix of these two, you find most often a winning formula.

And the dumplings turned out to be sweetest ones I have ever tasted – as it was the right shape, consistency and every one of them reminded me of a valuable learning!