Mistakes make life interesting

My rules for mistakes are very simple:
1/ You cannot repeat any.
2/ You have to make one everyday, at the least - intentionally.
3/ Never regret making mistakes. Regret repeating them or Miss them badly - everyday.

:)

Black Swan

The notion of a Black Swan is a low probability event with highly unfavorable impact. It is a common example of the "long tailed" probability distribution found in many domains.

Agile planning

The notion of "big planning up front," is of course a red herring in any credible Agile based project management plan. Rolling Waves, Planning Packages, incremental and iterative processes are all parts of the manual. Those who want full confidence on Day 1, should consider change their staff to those who can commit to it.
Can some give a 100% confidence (Agile) plan on Day 1? If the plan is more than a month long. Plan is supposed to evolve over a period of time, through regular revisions. Agile advocates the philosophy of forecasting deliverables on the basis of moving velocity, not using velocity to get commitments for deliverables. Agile suggests we revise/alter commitments around the deliverables as we progress on execution. It also does NOT expect upfront complete design (all details) – High Level design, if possible, is good enough. Play it by the ear.

Agile & Collective ownership

Agile as a methodology advocates collective ownership of tasks. It prefers team work over individual performance or heroism. The Manifest talks about individuals & interactions over processes and plans. It sounds so cool - people centric thinking ...

Then come questions to mind - A lot of them ...
If the ownership is collective, does it mean everyone is Accountable and everyone Responsible too?
Whom do we sacrifice as a scape-goat if something goes wrong with Agile. If everything is going
Well, who do you say is the best of them all. With Rewarding being a mandate how do we recognize contributions without discriminating on irrelevant aspects of the achievement?
Should leadership be rewarded or criticized as an individualistic behavior?
With the team having a common notion, are we leaving room for creative suggestions by new team members?
What are the possibilities of these suggestions, at least being considered, if not tried out.

With inter-changable skills and almost equal performance/ through-put are we heading towards mediocre teams?
Will the Hercules of the team be treated equal to others?
Would we be playing to the strength of each individual or trying to normalise capabilities across the group?
If it is a team effort, should only the Scrum Master have all the answers to these questions, or should the entire team be confused about it?

Let me know if you have answers to it ...

Scrum of Scrums

Scrum of Scrums –
Do we ask the same questions as in a Scrum Meeting? If not, why call it a Scrum.
Should we have the same format of stand-up meeting with brief summary of status & Blockers?
Also why do we end up making it like a project status meeting?

Think about it

Statistics suggest Probability of injury is more with a not-so sharp knife compared to a sharp knife ...
Statistics suggest Probability of slow moving cars getting hit is higher than fast moving cars ...

Change

God will keep on bringing the same issues again and again, until we pass the test - because God is more interested in changing us than changing circumstances.

Astrology

Astrology is a highly debatable topic, especially people's belief in it. Most people do not have a digital answer to the question about their belief in astrology. We all believe in it to varying degrees, given our upbringing, the faiths of our loved ones and most importantly our experiences.
I have studied a little bit of Hindu astrology (Jyotish). I may not be a fortune teller but have started understanding that there are different kinds of people, to a large extent each of us complying to the typecasts defined by our sun-signs, moon-signs and Nakshatras. Some years back, I had a friend, with whom I was in conflict. Just to change my approach in the relation, I thought of taking some guidance from astrology. Looking at the relation between our moon signs, I came to know that my friend would suffer a lot because of me. To help, I felt it wise to move away, from that friend.
Unfortunately instead of sharing this with my friend, I just silently moved away, assuming this was for everyone's good - the best solution for all.
Over a period of time, I came to know that this friend went through a very hard time & recently this learning dawned on to me.
1/ My friend's fate was not to change by my actions. Everyone owns their own destiny. The most appropriate word to describe the same, seemed like the Sanskrit word - 'Prarabdh'.
2/ Probably the suffering of my friend was because I moved away, rather than I being around.
3/ Always take astrological advice with a pinch of salt.
4/ Last, but not the least. We cannot do good to our loved ones by moving away from them. We need to stay around & help them succeed.

Back Home Sweet Home ...

Despite a short trip, it feels good to be back home ...
Getting over the jet lag and back to my life -

from Snow falls back to Scorching heat,
from Planning Meetings back to Execution,
from Wind gusts back to Caressing breezes,
from Fahrenheit back to Celsius,
from Suitcases back to Wardrobes,
from V8 & bread back to varan-bhaat,
from Cold Sandwiches back to Hot Vada-pav,
from 'Sparkling water, no ice' back to (normal plain) water,
from Chai Latte back to Amrutatulya,
from MA back to MH,
from GMT-5:00 back to GMT+5:30,
from +1-781 back to +91-20,
from I-95 back to S.B.Road,
from Weather Reports back to Breaking News,
& last but not the least,
from Paper back to Water ;)

- the same old me ...

The only thing constant has been family, friends and colleagues ...

:D

Rail Budget 2011

Despite all the trains, how far will West Bengal reach?
What matters more about Progress - Infrastructure or Inclination?

The communist thought of having every thing free (for the people), comes at a cost (of the people) which should be realized (by the people).

Thought of the Day

"People convinced against their will, are of the of the same opinion still ..." - Some wise man.
This is what I have learnt/unlearnt over a period of time - Reality is the perception of the majority ...". Even if you perceive the facts, that is just the truth. Reality is different from the truth. It is a dimension of the truth at a given point in time.

Thought of the Day

A desperate man who runs out of patience and seeks help, on getting it
from the right person, ends up being 'Used' ...
from the wrong person, ends up being 'Exploited' ...

Ideal Titles/Designations

Some days back, an HR friend of mine and I were having a discussion about limited titles in a product company as against a Service Company. A specific line he said, caught my attention - "It is very difficult to come up with titles that are befitting the person. We should not have titles for the heck of it.". Although I wondered what stops a Product based company from adapting to the range of titles used by a Service company, I decide to think out of the box - I will not refine the question but accept its constraints. I started thinking if we all had titles describing what we did instead of what we were supposed to do, it could solve the problem. This is pretty much focused on the Value add by each, where some of them may

Development Managers could be titled - Manager Programming, Manager Software Development, Manager - Product Development.
QA Managers could be titled - Manager Test Execution, Manager Test Planning & Execution, Manager Quality Control & Manager Quality Assurance or Manager Code Testing, Manager Software Testing.
Program Managers could be titled - Manager Facilitation, Watch-Dog Manager, Status Reporter.
Architects could be titled - Requirements Enhancer, Ace Programmer, etc. Anyways they dont do very many things to be able to differentiate between them.

Developers could be titled - Bug-fixer, Fire-fighter, Programmer, Software Developer, Product Developer, Developer-OMG.
QA Engineers could be titled - Tester (Manual & Automation), Defect-freaker, Quality Controller, Product Quality & QA-OMG.

Let me know if you have some interesting titles in mind ...

I wonder what would be a more fitting title for me? ;-)

Aashayein - Nagesh Kukunoor's tells another story

It reminds me of 2 lines from a (g)old Hindi Song
"खुद के लिए, जिए तो क्या जिए
ऐ दिल तू जी ज़माने के लिए"

A Life lived well is one that fulfills the wishes, especially of others - Most importantly when no hope is left for itself ...

No matter how big a paradox, The Ultimate Truth of Life is Death.
If Truth prevails at the End, Death is the biggest Truth of life - Only Death prevails, no matter how long a Life is ...

Death is not a suffering, Life is - especially, in the waiting room of death. Death is merely an end to it.

Great job, Nagesh. Eternal story, simple telling ... Keep telling ... please.

Monday again ...

I came across this interesting FB comment at 10:30 pm on a Sunday night. Then I saw like 4 people "Like" it by 10:45pm, as they may not have anything better to do. The first thought that came to my mind was something I could not comment on FB. Firstly I do not know this person very well and Second, I did not wish to hurt someone that was a mere acquaintance, as it is not my business.

On reading that comment, I was like: "Why the F*** are you thinking about Monday on a Sunday night. Why worry right now, take life as it comes tomorrow ... Frankly, those who have reasons to enjoy, will realise only tomorrow morning that it is already Monday ..."

I was like even if God was to grant you 4 more hours today (or any Sunday for that matter), you would end up worrying about the Monday during those 4 additional hours. The best thing for such people is their Monday happens sooner. At least their cause of concern would have materialised by then ;-) God Bless Them.
Reminds me of my nephew, who is "(Unnecessary) Tension" personified ... To me there are two types of people - Warriors and Worriers. :-D Good night to the Worriers, as they will be awake all night and Good morning to the Warriors, as they will wake up tomorrow morning to fight their own battles.

Beware of New scams in the investment market

I have had calls from two reputed "aggressive" investment companies. One of them offered more then Assured wealth Plan while other offered a guaranteed Double return Plan. 140% returns on first Investment/Premium, Almost double the amount in 3-5 years, etc are some of the features mentioned by these agents. A guy named Shivam from Mumbai spoke to me about it. Told me of very lucrative returns. I was surely interested. When I asked him to send across the details on mail - he was not ready. He told me name of the plan details being on internet. I did not find it on their website. I looked for it - all they have is a similar named plan whose returns do not match with what was told verbally to me. There are no details/brochures of "Assured Wealth Plus Plan". The idea of these agents is to tell all these things verbally and make a customer agree to it. Then send an executive. As they do not give you anything else at that point in time. Later on when you get the actual policy the fine print negates or imposes weird Terms & Conditions, restricting your returns significantly. When I asked him to write all these things on his company letterhead for me before I invest my money, he was mad and started yelling at me. He started saying that I should also give in writing that I will invest money, once he puts this thing in writing. His agent has not showed up yet, till date.
Today morning a lady from the other aggressive reputed company called, with the similar features. When I asked her for the website URL or email containing these details, she was reluctant. She said they have guaranteed 7.75% returns. It had medical and life-insurance included in the policy. I asked if the returns are tax-free and she said yes. Then I asked her if it is "Tax-free" or "Tax-exempted" which she could not answer. She did not know the difference. Later when she told me it was under section 10-10-D, I checked to see if she knew the limit of exemption, which again was a bouncer for her. Again when I switched to topic to website URL or email, she started blabbering at which I disconnected the phone.
Bottom-line: None of these people are ready to give anything in writing. Ask for it and you will know their worth.
On a little more inquiry with close friends working in the same field, I got to know that these agents of these 2 companies do this kind of overselling, to meet their targets. They do not care about any commitments to the customers. Once the customer signs up for a policy, the Bank/Insurance Agency and customer have to sort it out. They get their commission and are out of the picture. One of them agreed, off the record, that the banks are aware of these kind of marketing techniques but care more about the revenue, not the ethics.
Most of them claim it to be an Online policy, closing in a few days. Most of them do double your wealth but after a duration longer than a Fixed deposit giving you same returns. Interestingly the non-aggressive players like LIC, SBI & HDFC do not promise such returns. They maybe conservative in their projections but have lot more clarity.
All of them talk about return projections of 12-15% p.a., way above the IRDA approved limits.
Most customers never realize this till maturity dates of their investments i.e. Many years later. Some even realize this as soon as they get their policy & they read its fine print. Till then they are already bound by the contract. All those having policies from such players would have realized the same by now. With most of the administrative, allocation, insurance charges are deducted from the very first premium, you cannot get anything by canceling the policy in the first 3 years. After that till the 7th Year, you get upto 30% of the premium paid, which generally is the return on the investment. You never get the principal back. As most of the policies are market/unit linked - these institutions also control the NAV as well as allocation charges. All of them make merry at the customers cost.

Please be careful when investing in any such policies.

Free ki advice hai, leni hai to lo varnaa jaane do ... ;-)

Story of 3 fishes

Bhishma told king Yudhishthira about two types of people, who will always be happy: One that provides for the future, and one possessed of presence of mind. The man of procrastination, however, is lost. In this connection, listen attentively to the following excellent story of a procrastinating person in the matter of settling his course of action.

In a lake that was not very deep but abundant with fishes, there lived three fishes that were friends. Amongst those three - one had foresight and always liked to provision for future, another had great presence of mind and the third was procrastinating.

One day a fishermen came that lake . He started to bale out waters to a lower ground through diverse outlets. He intended to reduce the water level, making it easier for fishing. The foresighted fish was quick in realising this. He warned his two companions about the dangerleaving creatures in the lake. He suggested to speedily exit the lake with the outlets while there was time. He that resists future evil by the aid of good policy never incurs serious danger.

The procrastinating fish answered "All was Well". He felt no need for such haste, resisting the migration. The presence-of-mind fish clarified that When the time for anything comes, he provides for it accordingly.
Hearing these answers of his two companions, the foresighted immediately set out by a current, migrating to another deeper lake.

Once the water was baled out, the fisherman began to catch the fish. The procrastinating was caught with many others. When the fishermen began to tie to a long string to the fishes they had caught, the alert-minded thrust himself into the company of those that had been so tied and remained quietly among them, biting the string, giving the appearance of being caught.

The fishermen assumed that all the fishes attached to the string had been caught. They then removed them to a piece of deep water for washing them. Just at that time the presence of minded, leaving the string, quickly escaped. The procrastinating one unfortunately met with death, in captivity.

Thus everyone procrastinating meets with destruction. Only, one with foresight or presence of mind, succeed in obtaining happiness. He, however, that is procrastinating meets with destruction.

(via quote-book)

(via quote-book): "

(via quote-book)

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To Smell (by )

To Smell (by ): "

To Smell (by )

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_DSC0154 - Spinning Toddler (by Alan Ranger)

_DSC0154 - Spinning Toddler (by Alan Ranger): "

_DSC0154 - Spinning Toddler (by Alan Ranger)

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