BLT Diaries - My management credo (part 3)

Pardon me, but even after having long shed the role of a BLT, i’ll continue to call this series of posts “BLT Diaries”.

the decrees so far..
Part 1 - http://ohnewoerter.blogspot.com/2009/07/blt-diaries-my-management-credo-in.html

“Anything can be, and everything that can be, will, very likely be, uncertain”
“Ye all shall learn the most sacred art - Follow Up”
“Earth calling moon rocket” - if you can’t figure this one out, read the full post :P

Part 2 - http://ohnewoerter.blogspot.com/2009/10/blt-diaries-my-management-credo-part-2.html

“Thou shall beware the wrath of the P-R Vortex”
“Thou shall ‘be the ball’”
“Ye shall always be the puppeteer short of strings”

and now...  My management credo (part 3)

“Confluence - lest thy predicament persist” 
Remember “12 Angry Men”?? When in conflict, it does work!! Decisions can be arrived at simply by getting every person involved around one table to talk on the subject matter!! (ok travel budget cut, i hear ya… over a conf-call will still do :P). Easier said than done... expect about 5 of the 12 to be involved, 3 to be disinterested, 2 simply questioning every line that comes outta your mouth (valid or not :| ), 1 texting (or these days playing angry birds on their smart phone) and 1 (you) moderating!!!  But get this done, and rest assured, the issue will be at a better place than where it started from...


“‘TO-DO’ or not ‘TO-DO’”
While I curse microsoft’s powerpoint, I adore its Excel. Don’t get me wrong here, i am not a numb3rs person - am not commending the over abused ‘macros’, multiple sheets of valuations (will all formulae plugged in already :/) i am talking about a simple “ToDo: What-When-Status” sheet. I believe vehemently that the human brain (mine for starters) is not meant to multitask. There are times my thoughts run like traffic in Bangalore - changing lanes every few minutes at the end of which i am left wondering where i am headed... This, when one’s worrying only about what they are supposed to do... Now add on to this all the stuff the same person has to “Follow Up” on lest it gets... well, you know what.  
Another version of this when “confluenc’ing” is the “Go where no one has ever gone, But be sure to make a tracker”

“Ye shall know your Freak-hold”
When to start freaking out?? This stands out as one of the two major learnings i take back from B-school. No problem is as big as it seems at the time… not passing a paper, not having made it thro one interview... it doesn’t seem so grave in retrospect does it?  Having said that, I admit - this is one of those decrees I know, but when needed, find really impossible to remember!! Also, that said, if you have a job  where you can ruin the world economy, work with viruses that could destroy the world, please freak out more. Else, take a breath n a walk before crossing over to freak-out zone.


i realize my decrees are becoming less funny and more morose... hazards of being buried under work i guess, but will try and flex those humour chords and hit those notes soon enough.. till then adios.

BLT Diaries: My management credo (part 2)

Continued...
Part 1 at: BLT Diaries: My management credo in the making http://ohnewoerter.blogspot.com/2009/07/blt-diaries-my-management-credo-in.html

“Thou shall beware the wrath of the P-R Vortex”
Its depressing, its frustrating and damn near impossible to bear… its not often I’ve heard someone complain of the power-responsibility (P-R) dilemma… then again, I am limited by the sample of managers I’ve heard from regarding. What’s the vortex you ask? Well, I’m talking about the situations where one finds themselves stuck in a role where we have loads of responsibility, all accountability and zero power on who/what/how/when of the actual execution.
The ride on this wave is as choppy and mutinous as it can get, but hell, we’re going to have to and are expected to survive and emerge (with as little damage as possible) on the other side. Not to fret, we have of course, a big smug smile and a great story of how we braved the storm… (Alas, only until the next one comes along!)

“Thou shall, ‘be the ball’”
Of all the funny situations (not funny to the protagonist at the time mind you!) we’ll find ourselves in, the best is the one of the being the ball… you know, those really awkward situations when you find yourself trying to get two teams, who seemingly support each other, to well, actually support each other!
The feeling of being bounced around from one court to the other (visualize a completely harassed trainee as the ping pong ball in a game of TT that never ends…), a sense of nirvana coz we know that the only role the ball has in the whole scheme of things is indeed to get smashed, thrashed and bounced around, and at last (if one is lucky to survive to see the end of the game) feel the elation of being held high by the victor!!! I rest my case – thou shall, indeed, be the ball!

“Ye shall always be the puppeteer short of strings”
I am not kidding. Honestly!!! There are moments when I yearn for those days when I could code-compile-and see it work!
Getting people to work is so much more difficult than doing it yourself…
U’ve got them working? Great! Now lets get them to work without getting on their nerves…
Done? Good! How about making them enjoy their job… however mundane it is??
I rest my case! =)







Will continue...

BLT Diaries: My management credo in the making

As DMB put it succinctly, So much to Say!!!

Been 4 months since I left the secure walls of B-School and even lesser time since I’ve been working as a manager… well, management trainee to be precise... Too early to be giving gyaan you say... I’d agree. But never too early to pen down observations... not surprisingly, its stuff that is mostly just common sense and nothing that calls for an MBA to understand. Yet, I realize now that its not so much the knowledge but the actual implementation that brings into picture the multitude of complexities that I hadn’t given much thought to.

Most of my management credo, I derive from my past two bosses (two really great managers in my opinion) and their style of working. But recently, as a management trainee, I have been able to observe a lot many managers from the perspective of a manager-in-the-making. As an observer, I could not help but analyze the situation and dig into the why’s and how’s. (An occupational hazard you could say :P ).

And the result, well, adding a few more decrees to my own evolving management credo!!!

“Anything can be, and everything that can be, will, very likely be, uncertain”
What’s the big deal in being a manager u ask? Well, after having happily spent my time as a s/w developer, the biggest trouble I had was getting used to working with an enormous level of uncertainty. Before my current role as a management trainee I told myself, “Hell, I’ve worked with clients who change their requirement more often than they breathe… I can handle uncertainty.” What did I know!! It has been mind boggling, the number of factors that are variable when you assume the role of a manager… things which are difficult to foresee. Anything ranging from hunting down a vendor who has absconded, handling emergency procedures when a sudden storm hits your tiny town and forces you to shut down and what not!

“Ye all shall learn the most sacred art – Follow Up”
As for the next big challenge I have realized I will continuously face as a manager, it’s a glaring complexity one has to learn to work with and is something that is not always taught in a B-School. I’m talking about the fact that as a manager your performance depends not only on how you work and instead relies on the performance of so many others who directly or indirectly contribute/affect your work. The last couple of months, my major learning has revolved around a seemingly very silly yet vital concept –“Follow Up”. Those of you who have some corporate experience probably know what I’m talking about here.
It’s the art of getting things done, pushing people to work for you and doing all that without getting on their nerves. That said, it is not a very easy thing to do when you are a trainee – you know, when one is neither a boss nor a subordinate.

“Earth calling moon rocket!” (Doesn’t exactly kling like a decree, but bear with me :) )
The calling!! One of the “Tintin” comic book bubbles that says “Earth calling moon rocket… come in moon rocket” is the source of this odd title for this decree. It is not a lesson in humility or any such thing… its just that the elation and excitement of the first job as a manager (more so when its the first assignment as a management trainee) which makes it very easy to lose sight of ground reality. You know, the “wave the wand, and change the world” kinda attitude.
Don’t get me wrong here. I believe in thinking BIG and making it happen. Neither am I a compulsive “look before you leap” person. Rather, what I’m trying to say is “Make sure you know where the ground is, how hard you may land if you fall, and leap only if you think you can handle a fall & the broken bones just as gracefully as you would handle a successful leap”. Non-comic book version of this decree,
“Thou shall respect and revere reality whilst thinking big”

To be continued…