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Words. Wisdom. Winners.
What next?
What next is an extremely easy question to answer when you are starting up. There are problems to solve, growth to be achieved, paths to be discovered and segments to be scaled.
It’s the hardest question when you are big.
Replace starting up and big with something new and something old – and you have a situation spanning everything in life. Relationships, money, career – whatever you can think.
I am guessing the ones that succeed are the ones who never ask what next. They just keep starting up. Even if it’s the same thing.
“I Understand” doesnt work
Its the most fucked up statement in the world. Doesnt mean anything and clearly doesnt show any intent.
Whosoever says “I understand” most likely doesnt. Else he wont be saying this in the first place!
What drives cynicism in customers?
On any given day, I receive 30-50 emails from customers. I would bucket them in 3 categories – positive feedback (about things that are right or wrong with crazeal – these emails basically help us improve), enquiries (please tell me how to) and complaints (I had a bad experience on crazeal)
The complaints category is the most fascinating. What stands out is the inherent cynicism. More often than not, a complaint to me is the first instance of the customer reaching out to us. But even in this first touch point, their starting assumption is that no one will hear them. So the emails almost always end up with a – you better solve this else I will report this to the customer court and splash it all over social media.
Why would they react this way? Why would the very first email end up with a threat? When you don’t even know if the company is serious towards solving your problem or not. I can completely understand the threat in the 2nd contact, if the issue remains unresolved or worse still not responded.
My only explanation is the fact that this complaint email is not the first instance, but the second. The first one was the experience itself. And we failed there. It makes our job harder because we rest a lot on the merchant to deliver the right quality. And if the merchant fucks up, we fuck up (and rightfully so).
Here is my humble request – drop the cynicism on the first instance. Give the company a chance. Just one. Maybe the bad experience wasn’t planned. Maybe the company wasn’t there out to dupe you. Maybe, just maybe, they didn’t mean harm at all. It was an honest mistake.
Experience doesn’t make you ask different questions
I met a good friend after ages yesterday. Clearly one of the smartest, sharpest and passionate guys I know. He runs a fascinating company called Akosha and we caught up for the same.
He had questions on how to grow, how to manage people, how to balance growth and expenses, how to free up his time for the most important stuff, what will be the next big thing for the company.
The exact same questions I ask myself everyday.
The exact same questions Zuckerberg asks himself everyday, I reckon.
We always think that successful people think of far more “strategic” things than us normal beings – who are busy with tactical stuff. I don’t think so.
Everyone is ALWAYS thinking of the same thing. Experience doesn’t make you ask different questions. It just allows you to answer them differently.
Experience gives you the confidence to back your answer. At times even false, but confidence nonetheless.
And most importantly experience gives you the ability to connect the dots. Doing this will impact that.
But here is the fascinating thing. Both confidence and perspective are not contingent on the time you have spent in the trade. One can easily replace it with gut/intuition and an attitude of “only one way to find out”.
Everyone has the same problems. And experience is over-rated.
Follow your gut and just do it. You might fail, but that’s ironically what people call experience!
What mark did you leave?
You leave your mark on every life you touch.
Mostly unconsciously.
Would you leave a different mark, if you knew what you were leaving?
10,000 hours!
Just realized that this month I will be completing 10,000 hours as a full-time entrepreneur. Ofcourse, I don’t have an excel that records the number of hours clocked per day, split into the nature of time spent, covering all days that I have worked and (rightfully) removing days when I wasn’t productive or not working. Jeez! Why would I maintain such a sheet
Am I supposed to experience some magic this month then? Is it Malcolm?
Let me manage you through your style!
Managing people has got to the toughest thing in the world. As you grow professionally, the demand to work well with your colleagues grows exponentially. At some point, I believe that people are paid to manage people rather their technical skills.
But it still amazes me how many manage through their managerial style. While its always easier to manage through the other person’s style. How many times has a manager asked his colleagues – “Tell me about your working style. I will manage you accordingly”
Every manager starts with the assumption that his colleagues know nothing and have to be told, micromanaged. A simple conversation will eliminate this pan-team requirement by half. Sadly it doesn’t happen.
It’s perhaps obvious. A blanket style (yours) is easier to work with. But then that’s not why you were chosen, why you are paid.
Manage people through their style. It’s immensely hard, but immensely impactful.
Culture is built floor by floor
Situation 1
A new (non-Delhi/Bangalore) joinee was part of the recently concluded Management Meet. On the 3rd day of the meet, I was in the conference room with my colleagues at 8am, working on a deal that was going live. He comes in and comments “Do you guys work this hard all the time, or is it only for these past days?”
Situation 2
Delhi is looking for a new office. The current one is just not enough anymore and spaces are being shared. One of the management guys commented that the new office should not be split into floors, rather be a large single unit.
2 different situations, but exhibit the same thing. In my limited exposure to building companies, my biggest learning has been that Culture gets built floor by floor. One floor will have a different culture from the other. And this keeps extending – as the company expands – cities, countries.
Nothing beats personal touch when it comes to building culture. But that isnt possible all the time. The challenge is always – how do I sitting in Delhi, get the same culture in any other city. And vice versa.
Which is why I always like movement of people. Its cross-pollination and works like magic. A personal interaction will always be more powerful than the Commandments hanging on the wall.
How do you garner respect?
Its easy for everyone to respect someone they don’t know personally. All the big names fall into this bracket. Millions will respect a Mark Zuckerberg, or a Shahrukh Khan, or a Obama or a Sunny Deol (sorry, went too far).
Question is, how many respect you after they know you personally! After they have observed you, after they have spent time with you.
As I see it, “known respect” is far superior, far more exclusive and far more aspirational to garner, than unknown respect.
Difference between ISB Mohali and ISB Hyderabad!
I think I was one of the first from the ISB community to visit the Mohali campus in Mar 2011, when it was being constructed. Someone thought my photography is worth something and invited a bunch of us to shoot the progress of the campus. You can check these shots here – (I expect to make a fortune of them once I am dead!)
I havent been there since, observing the happenings from a distance. However, I have been bombarded with this question to no end – from potential ISB aspirants and even alums – Whats the difference between ISB Mohali and ISB Hyderabad?
For me: A LOT
ISB Hyderabad was a gamble. It was as insane an idea as an entrepreneur waking up one fine day and saying – my aim is to IPO my company in the next 3 years! Pramath Sinha (ISB’s 1st Dean) has captured the trajectory beautifully in his book “An Idea Whose Time Has Come”, which I was privileged enough to be asked to review, and I found it fascinating.
ISB Mohali is the 2nd child of a proud parent. And for those who have 2 kids – you know the difference. You apply all your learning, all your experiences and all your effort, to make sure the 2nd is as precious as the 1st. You, at the time time, make sure the 1st isnt left ignored. Its a big balance.
For me, being part of Mohali as the 1st batch, would be fascinating. Because I go back to my time at ISB and realize how much we influenced the school in our small way, as the 5th batch of the school. SV1 got built during our batch, we had the last episode of Poseidon (ISB’s erstwhile Annual BSchool fest) during our time, we introduced the tiering process during the placement season, the Young Leaders/Torchbearers awards were introduced in our times etc etc. People dont get to play such roles at a BSchool, let alone experience such things. I think I became part-entrepreneur during ISB itself, because of the above.
And Mohali is going to experience the same. But in an even more organized fashion. The 1st batch will lay claim to have BUILT the school alongwith their own personalities.
Recognize the fact that ISB didnt have to do this. The 2nd campus wasnt mandatory. It wasnt part of the original plan. But it still went through the effort. It wasnt convenient, it wasnt the easy choice, but it happened. Seth Godin writes wonderfully on this.
Where does trust come from?
Hint: It never comes from the good times and from the easy projects!
Through ISB Mohali – it has made me trust it a lot more than previously! There will be hiccups, there will be challenges – but thats the fun!
PS:
To current students of ISB Mohali and to future ISB aspirants – its a wonderful opportunity for you to build a world-class institution. Dont be petty and transactional in your conduct. Dont think of ISB as a placement agency and demand 100% RoI on the fees! No investment in the world gives that, and if it does – please opt for that instead of an MBA from ISB.
Worse still, dont think of it as an inferior option to Hyderabad!
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