Go with the flow

Got into a discussion with a colleague who was talking about a book he's reading - Flow. From what he summarized, the book talks about why one should be living in the moment and not worry about anything else.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Author) is honest about the fact that this concept has been much written about.
I agree.
So the challenge is not understanding why one should be in the moment and not worry about anything - it's the how ? which is hard to find an answer for.
I believe that we apply Newton's third law of motion in everything we do - we expect a reaction (a positive one at that).
Now if we stop doing that and this is not new - Lord Krishna said this
in 1000 / 1400 B.C.s
Everything seems simple.
Like Nike has been saying for years .. "Just do it" ! :-)

Presenting a new idea (ideas)

You get up in the morning , get a brain wave, reckon it's a stupendous idea and spit it out in a quick email to your seniors and peers.

Sometimes people jump and say wow ! but most of the time, I bet people throw back questions which shred every fiber of possibility in the idea.

I propose a slight variation in the approach of bouncing new ideas - huddle everyone you want to share the idea with and present this deck of 7 simple slides :

Presenting new / lateral ideas in your company

View more documents from Vibhore Sharma.

Royal Enfield Bullet classic 500 disappoints

I had sadly sold my bullet a few years back but the rides and sounds of it have been haunting me since. So, I wanted to buy one again, but then I got to know aout the possible launch of the classic 500 in November and thought why not wait for it !
I have been waiting for it for months and finally, it was launched yesterday, I called the dealer and asked him to give me a test-ride asap.
Well, I did get lucky but not happy, as I was to find out.

First the good points about the classic reborn :

- awesome design
- good ergonomics
- well done chrome
- beautiful and look-enhancing rear tyre
- unbelievable pick-up - i almost made the front tyre jump 2 feet
- lower height and spring seat makes the seating position better

Now, the bad points that make me still vote for the 350 standard

- the thump is dead (although the dealer said that with the off-roading silencer it is there - will go again when those silencers come)
- the ride does not feel like a bullet - it was more like a sports bike (maybe some people like that)
- it feels lighter
- the push-button start makes it sound like a kinetic honda !
- there is no pressure release lever

All in all, i was quite disappointed by the lack of feel in the bike. The bike looks amazing, truly a classic and full credit to the Royal Enfield team for that.
But they have failed to retain the authentic thump and "feel" of the bullet, despite their efforts. I would still like to give the bike another chance, once the off-road silencer comes in.. if it still does not make the sound of the magical 4 strokes like the way a bullet does (a reverberating rhythm that the rider's heartbeat resonates with). I am going back for the standard 350.

Nasscom Product Conclave 09

Attended the event first time with very little expectations. Surprised to see the turnout in Bangalore.
I guess the timing also was very apt - with the economic situation sort of committing to bounce back, most companies are upbeat. One clear thing that emerged was that the positioning of India is changing (made to ?) in the minds of the west.India is ceasing to be a hub for getting cheap, quick and good back-end development done and transitioning into a focal point for product development of most multi-nationals.
How quickly and smoothly (read fruitfully) this metamorphosis takes place, nobody knows.

Are you being served

It does not matter what restaurant I like, but if the service quality of even my favorite one is bad - they loose repeat business from me.
This holds true for any product, not only dine-in places. Unfortunately, client servicing is the most "taken for granted" aspect of several businesses. Now that's more cultural than by design. Taking stock of what customers want, listening to them and acting on their inputs is the most crucial bit.

This is what separates the men from the boys, if you will :

1. Product
2. Sales
3. Service

Weakness on any of these dimensions makes a business vulnerable to loosing share of wallet or even market to competition.

More jobless = more entrepreneurs ?

Not in any other part of the world, but when it's the valley - that's quite a possibility..



Courtesy : businessinsider.com

Bing ! goes Yahoo! Search

I guess the news of the newly forged live-in relationship between Yahoo and Microsoft would be discussed and beaten to death by the end of this week.I don't blame the people who (including me) would do that - simply because it's the end of an era. It's also because a legendary company like Yahoo is throwing in the towel to call it quits from the race to be the better (best ?) search engine.

It's sad. I first used Yahoo in the late 90's and have loved it since then as a company. But enter Google and Yahoo started to lose it's religion.. they used Google for their own search for a brief period, bought Inktomi , tried for several years to get it right and in the process lost focus on how they wanted to be positioned as.
From a search engine to a multimedia site and to now being a bookmarks commissure - Yahoo seemed to have completely lost the compass.

The company refused to be bought out by MS earlier despite moving like a wrecked ship - made me think that the spirit is still alive but Alas ! Yahoo has finally given up - on search at least. Let's see how MS fares as it's newly found role as a Guardian Angel !