Questions

Perhaps a man's lifespan is insignificant in the life of the universe. Perhaps he is puny and conveniently forgotten by Gods and Devils alike in one small corner of the galaxy. Perhaps he deliriously dreams of worlds beyond and lives in an inconsequential bubble of his own making, an illusion severely limited by his senses and knowledge. Perhaps.

In this random jungle unmistakeably governed by the rules of power and cause-effect, I live with what I have and strive to grow and learn. Beyond that I don't really see anything. I know that answers come to the one who is not in a hurry to either get them or drop them. So I wait and work with infinite patience, hoping someday I will completely understand the matrix of this world. I don't know if I will find the answers, but I know that I will never give up. My unshakable faith, spiritual Master and unyielding strength of mind are my only true allies. Hubristic Complacency, meaningless laziness and all-consuming despair are my only true enemies. In this game of uncertainty only change is certain.

I cannot live a meaningless existence, so I strive to create meaning from what I know. A meaning that can rationalize my efforts in face of imminent death and give me satisfaction right this moment. This moment is all I have, even though I am told I am forever. I just try to hold to what I can understand and use it to augment happiness and purpose in equal measure.

I also think if it is possible to be bound and yet free; like free-range cows left to roam the pastures but to be ultimately slaughtered to satiate somebody's hunger? Its fate is better than the cow confined to dirty pens for most of its miserable life and slaughtered anyway. The end, however, remains as grisly and unforgiving. A creature dependent on small mercies of its masters. Are we cattle too? Creatures enslaved for their limited productivity, creatures ready to live a second-hand existence out of fear, ignorance, helplessness or peer-pressure? I hope not..

Even if I have nothing, I still have the will, the hope and the spirit. With them I move and with them, I believe, one day I will find all the answers.

The Nomura Game

Reading an article on Nomura's efforts to radically change its culture and absorb people from Lehman got me thinking. From whatever I have read/experienced about either management or leadership, the effort looks doomed to fail miserably. Nomura is clearly thinking "the best of both the worlds", but all I can see is a "fall between two stools".

On one hand Nomura is trying to change the culture of its own employees from top up. As far as I know, the Japanese society is very hierarchical and people respect "elders", every member is expected to respect his role in the chain. By removing seniority as a defining factor and bringing in performance related pay Nomura seems to be moving in the right direction from corporate point of view. However, that does not mean that it will not create any resentment. I am not sure to what extent these decisions were debated company-wide to cushion their impact. The current facts indicate that they were not.

On the other hand it is trying to absorb the talent it bought from the remains of Lehman. Most of Lehman people may find the culture almost as alien as the Nomura employees may find the Lehman culture disagreeable. At the end who can leave will leave, which means Nomura risks loosing the best of its current AND Lehman employees.

From pure management and leadership point of view, I feel it violates three key principles.

First, it is trying to fix something that may not be necessarily broken. It is worth noting that Nomura was able to buy Lehman only because it had been conservative. If it wants to change to "Lehman" culture, the current employees are well within their right to question the sensibility of the decision.

Second, instead of building two distinct, decentralized units Nomura is trying to have one quick merger of two entities that are poles apart. It is like General Motors deciding one fine day that Chevrolet and Cadillac would be made by one unit to achieve economies of scale and share best practices. At best it is going to be problematic, at worst catastrophic. There are better ways to achieve the same result.

Third, it is not making enough effort to overcome the pretty evident communication gap between the two units, accentuated by the language and cultural differences. Without that the decisions, however well thought, will look like enlightened despotism and further alienate people.

Overall, Nomura has got itself in a tight spot. Although the basic thought process has been correct, it looks like that the implementation will run into problem due to lack of communication and lack of consideration for the cultural differences. Nevertheless, I feel that the situation is still not beyond redemption and if addressed right away can help Nomura immensely.

Master of My Destiny

A man's life may be a dream, and his dreams a dream within a dream. The existence may be a futile, never ending conviction. The world moves on with a promise of balance and fairness that manifest in equal opportunity for good and bad. In the short term life seems to be rigidly ruled by rules of power, uncertainty and change. The change that consumes everything and anything. Yet in the long term it is non-changing and boringly cyclical. Such is the nature of the balance it promises.

Through this evanescent life of mine I try to extract a meaning that can appeal to my short-term selfish self and the long-term divine whole. Something that gives meaning to me as I am. The futile play and display of consciousness? Whatever. If I am played with, I play in return. At least I try to. So, I move with the prayer of St. Assisi in my heart and a stubborn determination to make the best of it. To strive to be the master of my mind and my destiny.

Numerology

Whats with numbers? Subjects like astrology, numerology, palmistry etc. tend to evoke wonder and disdain in equal measure. For most part, people ignore them as something that may be useful but is essentially inaccurate. Far worse, some see it as means to exploit and fleece the mentally weak. All these views have some degree of truth to them.

As a science student, I do not rule out anything without trying it myself objectively. With this view, I started exploring various occult sciences from the age of 15. This was inspired by a chance meeting with an astrologer who described many things about me pretty precisely by just looking at my birth chart. I found the whole thing interesting as I saw it an excellent tool to understand myself and the people around me.

Astrology is pretty complicated, either by design or by accident. In essence, I could make out at least 144 distinct elements that can combine in different proportions to give different personality outcomes. I guess it simply reaffirms that every individual is unique. Nevertheless, there are some basic temperaments and approaches towards life, and some basic ways in which people of different temperament would react to others & the environment.

Interestingly, the occult science essentially means that you should be able to derive the same results no matter which route you take. It can be by reading the palm, numbers, vaastu or even the forehead. It all depends which omens you can read, but the omens will match. I don't think it is humanly possible for anybody to accurately predict the future due to so many uncontrolled variables involved. Perhaps a "Krish"(the movie) style super computer which can correlate each of the variables with supreme accuracy will one day show us the future. But for now, the various omens simply point towards a direction and can only help you to understand yourself and your environment in a better way. Beyond this, if anybody promises you anything, be skeptical.

In the same vein, I have studied Numerology and supplemented it with observation, intuition and correlating with other omens I can read. I do not claim to have all the answers, but I can give you some questions to think about and work with if you have an open mind.

Easy Answers

What do you want to know? What? Why is it that I want easy answers to difficult questions? Elementary my friend: they seem easier and worth a try. Moreover, adaptation is painful and virtue is an unaffordable luxury. So we live for today with least concern for tomorrow. If not this, there are always easier answers to find.

What? Change? Well, it is a good thing. I have been telling my neighbour to change and forgo his greedy nature. I tell you people, short-sighted pigs they are. What? Me? How dare you suggest that?! I deserve this privilege, I was born with it. My ancestors have made the sacrifices and it is only fair that I get the due. What is to be changed here? You must be my neighbour's agent. Tell him he cannot escape from his responsibilities! Better get going before I have you disposed off!

IT Management Practices: Involving the Team

I have an experience that I feel may be useful to share. Till date, I have worked on two excellent new product development projects and it has been a wonderful learning experience. However, each team had its challenges. Since I do not want to name the companies or the managers, let us say I am talking for company Alpha and company Beta.

Both companies are technically very strong. However, company Alpha had to put together a team to develop a rich Internet web application when RIA as a concept was pretty new. This initially led to ambiguity in terms of experience and possibilities, but the manager ran a tight ship and delegated responsibility. The whole team was encouraged to develop skills and participate very closely at every stage - including interviewing, requirement gathering and architecture. This ultimately led to technical skill development, team bonding, growth of all team members and decent execution of the project. The stress and responsibility were evenly divided, but there was no doubt on who was leading the pack. Leadership was inclusive and far-sighted.

Company Beta, on the other hand, had significant experience with web applications and RIA was relatively known by this time. So they could hire the people with right skills and there was less ambiguity to start with. But the structure was more hierarchical and the manager less keen on sharing "power" across the board, giving less influence to team members on requirement gathering, designing or interviewing. Of this, for me, the most difficult part was not being included in requirement gathering. Working with a requirement document may be the norm in big companies, but for entrepreneurial setups it is absolutely critical to be involve the team closely. This can save a lot of time down the line lost to bugs resulting from misunderstood requirements. Moreover, such involvement creates more urgency, creates an aura of responsibility and gives additional perspective to the whole process. This can be critical in long term.

Ultimately, both companies managed to launch a good product. Nevertheless, Alpha is playing for the long term - trying to nurture second rung of leadership - while Beta will increasingly get dependent on one row of leadership with a big vacuum below. In the long run, it may indeed make a difference between great and good, and would be another testimony to Jim Collins.

Iran's regime can learn from China and Libya

Iran is increasingly finding itself facing intense criticism and an unsupportive populace. The Revolutionary Guard have been firm and the Government's propaganda machine is in overdrive. Yet the tensions simmer.

In my opinion, if the current regime wishes to maintain its vice-like grip on power, it has two examples to copy.

The first is China. It survived Tianamese Square with decisive, brute force - the world opinion be damned. Nevertheless, the repression could not have been successful without a plan to either integrate or neutralize the aggrieved groups effectively. China's growing economic might and propaganda also helped.

Libya, on the other hand, made a U-turn on its policies and re-built its bridges with the western powers, including the "Great Satan". Its bargaining chips were, of course, oil and building the right public image for the leader. Colonel Gaddafi has carefully crafted a statesman like image using a mix of impossible sweet talks (like United States of Africa) and oil money. The logic is simple: nobody may cry for you if you are thought of to be Saddam Hussein-II. Nevertheless, behind the facade Libya remains as dictatorial as ever. In fact, riding on back of current economic crisis and oil money, they (along with Chinese and Middle Eastern funds) have gained a significant influence in the world market.

Iran's regime can do a bit of both if it really wants to achieve its ambition of retaining power and dominating the world stage. In fact, with its large oil reserves Iran can become an oil super-power displacing Saudi Arabia and Libya (in terms of influence). Iran should know that West doesn't give two hoots about democracy as long as it is profitable. After all, the West does deal with China, Libya and Saudi Arabia. And are Burma and North Korea less oppressed than Iraq? A pity they are not oil rich. Nuclear weapons et al will come if Iran can phase out its problems and take them one by one using diplomacy, money and stealth.