Tag: Work

Uncertainty

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I had gone to a friend’s place today to see his new born baby. Babblo* has a cute little daughter – I hope she doesnt take her looks from her dad!

So we got talking as friends do when they meet after a long time. Our favorite “R” word did come up. and so did the job switch. I see so many people who do not love their jobs, that I wonder has anybody written a paper on this? (let’s figure that out later)

This guy works for one of the big 4 consultancies, has been working with that firm for the past 4 years now. A job that any Systems MBA would kill for … yes, present company included :-) But I know the hours are long and the gyaan is hot. It requires the sheer dedication that dissolves my resolve to get into a post like that. Again, this is not the point, moving on …

Babblo’s reason for wanting to switch is that he does not see himself becoming one of the head honchoes and top guys in the next 5-6 years. He see himself reach the middle echelons of the organization, but still sees miles to go before he sleeps. Hence, the idea of moving out and getting into a different vertical altogether. A new stint even a startup. Have you imagined a guy who eats, sleeps, breathes ITIL trying to get things done in a startup? A comic strip on these lines can rival Dilbert :-D. Moot point being that Babblo (of course its not the true name!!) is actually turned off by the certainty of the job.

I cant identify with this funda. I for one would love some certainty on knowing what I will be doing 5-6 years down the line. Its easy to bluff, but do I really KNOW what I will be doing … hmmmmm … web surely, technology definitely, startup – could be, big hulking monolithic organization – sure why not, just pay me well!! I don’t know which is better – the certainty or the uncertainty!

Legalizing Corruption

Prasad Ajinkya7 Comments

On my way home from work, I was having this conversation with a colleague. He made an interesting point, the change in our thinking if we were to legalize corruption. The concept is simple – Declare your black money, pay a nominal amount to the government and you get to keep it for yourself.

I am not thinking through this completely here, but would require your help as well. But here are some points which came to my mind –

  • The IT department has to be more thorough and catch all defaulters; that’s a tough task but that is the only way the corrupt people will be encouraged to come forward with their black money
  • People will be encouraged to be corrupt, since there is a legitimate way to declare that income!!
  • Government gets an inner cut on each bribe it’s official takes!! A kind of a plough back system!!

What do you think?

Addendum –

Seems this is a crazy hair brained idea as any. Read the comments to know more!!

Then and Now

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My first job was in IRIS, in the year 2002. I loved my job. I had joined with seven other software engineers. We bonded really well together. We used to work on different projects, but lunched together … discussed problems, solved them … and generally helped each other out. Life was good, life was beautiful. I loved my life of a programmer. Our batch was one of the best the organization had, in fact some of us were awarded as the most valuable programmer, et al. No, I am not being modest :-), but we loved helping each other out … contributing to the organization.

My last job was in I2I. It was a simple transaction for me. I went to work, I stayed there till 6.30pm everyday, I came back – the company paid me for it. The very transactional nature of this perspective made me shudder … I had to leave the organization in search of greener pastures.

My new job is with Illumine, where the culture of the organization is to actualize the paradigm shift from transactional thinking of a job to contribution thinking. Will post more on this later, but at the moment think about it. Is your job a transaction for you?

Start-ups and Upstarts

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A co-blogger and an expert in start-ups, Sushrut has written an excellent post on reasons why one should join a start-up and what are the pitfalls one should look out for before joining a start-up.

The reason why I am re-iterating this point is simply because many start-ups demand the kind of dedication from their employees that is not needed and certainly not justified … all in the name of it being a start-up. Tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhe ESOPs dunga seems to be their mantra. While this works out for people who know exactly what are they signing up for, it comes out as a shell shocker for those who join the band wagon expecting a different culture altogether.

It’s the culture that could be a defining moment for the start-up. I am not dishing out gyaan here. It is true … the culture of an organization can go a long way between success and failure.

Convergence

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I think I have already written a blog post by this title, this could be a continuation of the same. When I was working with TechMahindra as a part of their leadership cadre, some of us were asked to meet up with British Telecom’s (BT) Vice President, Warren Buckley. He launched into how telecom, ISPs, content providers, etc are soon converging into one maelstrom of user enabled content. That was the first time I heard of the term Web 2.0. Back then one of BT’s top concerns was that Google will eat up the entire market. That was 3 years ago. This is now.

I am currently working with I2itelesource Pvt Ltd as a Delivery Manager. The organization is into deploying cutting edge solutions for telecom service providers and mobile network operators. They do a lot of business in the Asian subcontinent, and a lot of business comes from Middle East. The kind of demands and promises our sales team does is stupendous, stupefying and sometimes plainly stupid.

Coming back to convergence, back then it was very difficult to plan and put together a service platform for content providers. Now, they can be built by taking ready-made blocks and clubbing them together. Service Oriented Architecture and Web Services in full flow. Makes my mouth water J. Imagine streaming content in real time off a media/streaming server, encoding it so that the user can watch it only once, creating the charge records and charging the customer’s account and delivering the content to an IP-based device (TV/Computer/Projector, et al) for a seamless on-demand service. Can this be done? Yes.

There would be a time when telecom, internet, television and other new age media would converge in one seamless integration. Imaging checking your email on your TV while you are watching a cricket match. This can be done. Playing hookey at work seems so much easier, yes?

The Unusual activity

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I clocked roughly 200 blog posts last year. That’s a post every alternate day. Impressive no? The feat was particularly possible because of my previous employment. I ruled the IT Infrastructure there (which was in addition to my actual role). The good things about being ‘God’ (read admin), are that the laws don’t apply to you. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Start of the new year, I got an opportunity with a Mumbai based tech startup. Hours are long, pay is decent, I am home sweet home. Rosy picture aint it? Well for now it sure is. The catch is, no net access, especially Gmail, so no blogging L and no chatting. Thank heavens for Twitter!! Hopefully the email api of blogger still works.

New leaf

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An extension of the last post, but I figured – that it deserves a separate mention. So, here we go!!

On the day I touched Mumbai, one of the first things I did was back-up my machine and format it. Formatting is like a cleansing mechanism for me … like turning over a new leaf. A new OS, a new folder structure, my choice and my will to decide how I want to proceed forward. The data of the past legacy long forgotten and the freedom to take decisions as I want them.

Erasing all the baggage and getting rejuvenated for a new life. As I write this, it gives me a secret thrill … to be on the verge of a new year, in the middle of an economic crisis, without getting shackled to a conventional “job”. Have decided to benefit from the past years, and the advises given by friends … and here is my resolution for the new year (I know it’s early, but I intend on keeping this one).

To be more critical – because chalta hain does not cut it.

Think about it.