Introducing: The Circle of Integrity

We all know the comfort zone - that area where we feel, well, comfortable. We are all encouraged to get out of the said comfort zone to experience and learn new things. 

Today, I want to write about another zone - the integrity zone. I will call it the circle of integrity. 

The comfort zone is what you are good at, what you enjoy. The Circle of Integrity is WHO YOU ARE.

Our comfort zone is more or less understood and visible. But the Circle of Integrity is a larger, largely invisible circle. 

 Stepping outside the comfort zone leads to some form of growth. Stepping outside the circle of integrity gnaws at our core. It is what leads to an emptiness inside even when, on the surface, everything looks good. 

The reason that some new things lead to happiness and some others lead to a growing sense of isolation and discontent is this. The things that are outside the comfort zone but inside the circle of integrity - these are the things that lead to personal growth. The things that lie outside our circle of integrity are the ones that might look like growth, but are, in fact, the things that will make us unhappy, because they do not align with who we are. Because the circle of integrity is invisible, only the person knows when they are doing something that goes against their grain. No one outside can tell or even know. 

The trouble is, we are often asked to step outside our comfort zone, but because we don't know about the existence of the larger circle, we don't even know when we are stepping out of that. The concept of comfort zone is ubiquitous, but no one teaches us about the circle of integrity - the importance of knowing, and remaining true to oneself. 

There are many reasons that one might have to step out of the circle of integrity - fitting in with a new group of "friends", doing things that the job requires us to do, joining an activity or other club where certain kinds of behaviour are 'normal'. 

How to tell if it is outside the comfort zone or the circle of integrity? Both changes feel like discomfort. 

Only at the very start. If something feels like it goes against your grain, don't give it too long. I left a toxic workplace because I knew that irrespective of growth, this place will not make me happy. 

It is good to get out of one's comfort zone and broaden one's horizons. But it is equally important to understand what you are NOT and remaining true to yourself. 

What the Panch Bhoot really means

The Elements of life: 

The first element of life is mass - a body. That comes from Earth - Prithvi.  

75% of the Earth is water. 60% of the human body is water - Jal. 

The next thing that makes a living being is Breathing - Praan - Vayu. 

After that, we need the digestive energy and homeostatis - Agni 

And finally, the difference between a body on ventilator - breathing, producing urine, and heart beating, and one living, is the concept of soul. A soul is also the connection with the infinite. It comes from the infinite, and merges back into the infinite. It literally descends into the body and goes up from the body. It is our connection with the universe - Antariksh / Akash

And therefore, the Panchabhoota - the five elements, are not elements of chemistry. They are elements of life - elements that must exist for each living being to be "alive". 

Presenting: The Un-Ikigai Diagram - Things to Not Keep in Life

My realisation of this week was that the Venn Diagram of Ikigai is Japanese in the same way that French Fries are French. 

Thanks to the shift in mindset, the brain now operates from a place of humour very often. So, as the entrepreneurs' group was discussing entitled customers, the mind was making memes. Somewhere, that and the Ikigai idea got merged. I picked up a pen and paper and started drawing the Ikigai' (Like A' in Set Theory - A' is everything that A is not). 

When some of the places could not be filled, the family was called in. For instance, "What is it that I am really bad at and no one wants to pay for?" 

"You taking care of your health" came the pat answer. 

When done, I thought it was hilarious. So, from my personal Un-Ikigai, I created an Un-Ikigai template, for others to have fun. 

Here it is: 

Then, for 2 days, I laughed at my Un-Ikigai diagram. "Yes, I am terrible at this" "Gosh that one is totally true" 

The third day, the penny dropped. 

The Un-ikigai was not just a funny meme. It was a collection of things that need to be put out of life. I imagined my life without the things in that diagram. I was never going to enjoy A, I am not likely to be great at it. So, why is it still in my life? If "Playing to our strengths" had a corollary diagram, this was it. These are the things that I should not invest time on. 

So, in 2023, I am going to act on that joke of the Un-ikigai diagram - By removing the items that truly add little value and are better accomplished through another medium. 

Thankfully, The Children's Post Calendar has monthly targets instead of annual resolutions. So, it looks like one might be able to do something. 

On setting up an organisation

Let's say you are a leader looking to start a new firm. You have resources, the mandate, and the authority. You also have that manana from heaven - a clean slate. 

Here is one recommended approach to putting your organisation together, if you have the resources.

Organisation Structure

Obviously, one of the first things you will think about is Organisation Structure. 

This part outlines the steps to create an organisation structure that will actually work. 

But first, lets talk about the things that DON'T work. 

• The Structure is led by the leader, not the consultant 

A therapist knows the right behavioural elements, but they don't tell you what to do. Instead, they do the frustrating job of pestering you with questions until you realise what you want to do. There are two kinds of consultants you can bring on board - the first, will do what a therapist does, bring the org structure from within you, because you have to live with that structure, not them. 

The second kind will come in and tell you how you should operate, and put 15 analysts on the job. 

Get the first kind. With one key difference. When they see you doing something that is obviously not going to work, they tell you that upfront. If there is enough trust in the relationship, this leads to mutual learning and saves time. If not, the consultant will have to use the option of asking questions until you realise what is going to work for you. 

Here is why the leader is the key decision maker on culture. 

In Nov 2020, the new CEO, Thierry Delaporte, completely overhauled the org structure of the company. This is the email that he wrote to employees then: 

https://www.cnbctv18.com/information-technology/wipro-ceo-thierry-delaporte-writes-mail-to-employees-highlights-organisational-changes-full-text-7469451.htm

Less than a year later, Wipro had changed its story completely. 

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/a-frenchman-sitting-in-paris-turns-wipro-around/articleshow/87091176.cms

How was a behemoth like Wipro transformed in under a year? 

The leader created an org structure that allowed them to monitor the business in a way that worked for them, and then appointed people they trust in key roles. 

THAT is the power of leader led org structures. 

• There is no such thing as Industry Standard or Industry Best Practice 

The only thing that matters is common sense and alignment. Some industries have to do some things more than some other things. We take inputs on that, sure, we understand what others are doing and how its working for them. But we do not make those practices our goalposts. Not in anything, and certainly not in strategic things like Org Structure or Business Planning. 

In an emerging industry, we have the luxury of defining the industry standard. In legacy industries, that bandwidth may be a little lesser, but its there. 

In the early 2000s, all Indian IT companies moved to this grid structure - Verticals and Horizontals - Industry * Geography. It was this matrix structure that was dismantled by Thierry Delaporte. 

What Works aka How to define an Org Structure 

A. Define your first line. 

How do you want to view your business. If you had to get 5 key things about your business on your fingertips and have 6 people on a hotline, what would those numbers be and what would be those 6 roles? 

That's the first step - to define your first line. 

B. After that, do a culture workshop. 

A Culture Workshop is the most important thing that you will do in the Org Structure journey. Write out the 6 words that reflect the culture that you want. 

A CEO I worked with recently was insistent that the word he wanted was "family". Even in a competitive industry like IT, he did not want to create a culture focused on competition or personal excellence alone. When thinking of work, he wanted people to think of the office as a family they belong to. 

In the two years since then, we have done 3 employee dipsticks and family comes right on top when people talk about what their culture is. Trust comes a close second. :) 

C. Then, write the JDs and hire the right people 

JDs are important, esp for your direct line of reporting. Hire the right people. People who bring their own functional expertise, and more importantly, share the same keywords for culture. 

Trust has two components - Intention, and Action 

The first is about shared values. The second is about delivering results. Trust is a biped, it needs both to walk the talk. Ensure you bring people who share the values, but can also deliver business results in a foreseeable time frame. That is the only way that their teams and your stakeholders will trust you. 

C.1 The Compensation 

Do have numbers in mind, but be flexible. This is the only place where "industry standard" almost trumps "What we bring to the table." 

D. The Org Structure guidelines

The next step is to create guidelines for an org structure. You can decide lean and efficient, or gig workers preferred, or diversity first - anything works. But do have a small set of guidelines that you communicate clearly to your first line of command. 

E. Let them make their own organisations 

After this, let them make their own organisations. In fact, have this as a key interview question - as a department head, how would you like to structure your organisation. 

Making it Run

A. Involve your own HR team as early as possible. The longer you let consultants run the show, the harder the KT. 

B. Put HR processes in place. Follow an HR Portfolio management approach. Don't go piecemeal. 

C. Invest in human process excellence. Don't think of the function as paper pushers. Give them aggressive talent targets and give them the teeth to bite. For instance, if a manager loses more than x% of their team over a period, they should be able to highlight that as an organisational process. If they find it hard to fill a position for more than x weeks, either they complain or you complain "We are trying our best" or "Market is tough" is not acceptable response. 

D. Hold your HR accountable. Typically, HR tends to enter the room with reasons like "Business needs". But there will be no business without people. Their core job is to marry business needs with talent aspirations. That is literally their job description. If you bring a numbers based approach to HR, you will find that it is hard to hire the right HR talent, but once in, they will LOVE working with you. 

E. Do NOT compromise on values and culture. It never pays. Its very short term, and it guarantees failure. Even if the values route appears to be longer, more painful and far more expensive, remember that markets can stay volatile a lot longer than economies can stay solvent. So, responding to volatility with volatility-supporting behaviour does not guarantee success. 

Afternoon Thoughts

 

Infosec is to Fintech what HSE is to Oil and Gas.

#AfternoonThoughts 

 

Just like OIl and Gas depends on security to keep its engines running, Fintech depends on Info security. One incident, and everything comes tumbling down and grinds to a halt. Coverup is a short term solution and perhaps the instinctive reaction, but as the oil and gas industry will tell you, its a poor strategy, and what's worse, doesn't work. 

The only good thing to do is to approach infosec like the Oil and Gas Industry approaches HSE - have transparent standards, invest in a clear security policy and ensure that every member of team is educated and compliant. Report transparently and periodically. Most importantly, learn from EVERY mistake. Each one of those recovered mistakes is going to save you from a larger disaster, and make no mistake, there will be larger incidents. Oh, and don't forget the Incident Management System. 

 

How to Manage Client Scope Creep

This post is the result of a good conversation with Abhishek at a recent event. 

He asked how we managed to ensure that there was no scope creep. My projects have usually been on track and within budget, and as Abhishek mentioned, client scope creep is one of the major reasons why large IT projects go out of budget or schedule. 

So, if you are a budding project manager responsible for client management, here is the secret to building great client solution and even better client relationships. 

Most client scope creep comes from 2 areas: 

A. Complex Workflows, where more approval levels are added. 

B. Reports 

The first thing you have to remember when dealing with client scope creep is that they are not trying to trouble you. Their intention is not the squeeze the juice out of you. Their intention is to do the best that they can for their company at the least possible price. 

Surprise! That is your intention too! 

Most vendor PMs do not understand this intention and objective synergy. But when you do, you realise that you and the client PM are on the same side, trying to do the same thing. 

The only thing is, we are using two different approaches to do it. 

So, Step One:

Establish Commonality of Purpose 

Sit down with your client and establish commonality of purpose. Both of you are working towards the same thing: 

A. Create the best possible solution

B. In the least possible time 

C. At the least possible cost

Once it has been stated, it appears intuitive. Yet, until we say it out and put it on the table, it is not so apparent to the other party. In fact, if you wait at the water cooler long enough, you will definitely hear the Project Managers from both sides cribbing. The Client PM usually says one or more of the following: 

• The vendor does not want to do any work or wants to do shoddy work and get away with it. 
• They are not doing enough KT 
• Even for small change they give such a huge estimate, and change request for everything! 
• They just don't understand our business and requirements. I don't know how to explain. 

The Vendor PM will usually say one or more of the following: 

• The Client is really miserly. 
• They always underestimate the time it will take to do something. 
• They are paying us for a cow and want us to make an elephant. 
• They don't understand how the system works. 
• They have such weird requirements! Who works like this? 

So, the step of establishing commonality of purpose is the most important one. It establishes trust and ensures that you row on the same direction, not in opposite directions. 

Once commonality of purpose is established, the next thing is to understand where scope creep is coming from. 

Step Two: 

Diagnose and Guide 

Most scope creep comes from the two areas I have mentioned above. You do your own diagnosis on your projects and understand WHERE the scope creep is coming. And then ask yourself WHY. 

What problem is the client trying to solve by doing this extra work? 

Let's get straight to taming the beast. 

Step Three 

Managing Scope Creep and Making Great Friends 

Here is the most important tip anyone will ever share with you on managing scope creep. It is so important that I am going to write it in caps. 

START WITH YES. 

Whenever the client asks you whether something can be done, NEVER start the conversation with No. if you know that it can be done, start with, "Yes". If you are not sure, start with "We will try to find a way to do this." 

Managing Workflow Complications

Most clients who try to add additional approval and exception workflows are basically trying to tame one beast - Compliance. 

That is the core objective. 

Start the conversation by saying - My work ends with doing the coding. Your work starts after that and goes on forever. So, my work is the shorter one. Let's talk about how this will work after go live in your business. Let's discuss a few scenarios and understand how much additional work it will add for your users, and what you are doing about it now. 

After that, listen. Let them explain all their use cases and exceptions. Understand their compliance needs thoroughly and most importantly, understand how users manage exceptions now. A system that can be excepted by the user in an emergency will eventually be excepted as a matter of course. The user's onboarding learning curve is slow, but their bypassing learning curve for any system is amazingly steep. So, if you make it necessary for users to bypass the system for one thing, they will be bypassing it for most things sooner than you realise. 

After the client has finished putting their requirements on the table, don your product specialist hat (or get your product specialists on board) and design a solution that meets their needs without being overly complicated. I can assure you that most workflows can be simplified. 

Pro Tip: For each workflow step, ask your client: 

• How will this step increase the transaction load of the user? 

Let's understand this with a real life example: 

Let's say that the client wants all travel to go to the department head. The questions we ask then are: 

A. How many travel requests will the DH have to approve in a day? Week? Month? How much time will it take them to approve each (assume reading time). If we go with 5 a week and 5 minutes per TR, that's 25 minutes of extra work per week. For an already stretched executive. 

Next, ask them how they plan to manage situations that are definitely going to arise - the executive on leave, too busy, traveling himself, etc. 

Usually, in such cases, a thing called Delegation of Authority is used. 

Let the client think about that. And then help them understand how to balance compliance with minimum transaction load on the users. 

• What value is this step adding to your process? 

The most frequent response to this is "It gives us better control" or "Compliance." 

Do not resist. After the client says this, sit back in silence and let them think. 

If they do not appear to be making headway, ask gently, "Are you creating a better process, or are you helping someone do CYA? Think about that. If the system can be hacked, it will neither lead to better compliance nor control. Every new control element you put in there is also a hacking opportunity. Think about the real business value of every step. And its real objective." 

Always be mindful of the client's imperatives. 99% of the times, clients see the difference between business value and CYA. But some cultures are necessarily CYA cultures. In those cultures, you can only help the client by perpetuating the CYA culture. Do that. 

And most importantly, NEVER disrespect the client - neither in public with your team, nor in private in your head. A Lot of delivery managers and PMs get together to laugh at clients in private. The client does not know tech as well as you do, and you don't know business as well as they do. Further, respect cannot be faked. Come from a place of real understanding, and you will create synergy. Come from a place of negotiation, and you will create a tug of war. I am still in touch with client PMs who worked with me 15 years ago, and more. 

Managing Reports 

Report requirements are the biggest headache for most PMs. The client wants to extract every element of data being put (or not put) into the system in about 15 reports on average (that's a joke, not a statistic). 

So, how does one tame the report monster? 

There are, once again, 2 simple questions that one asks the client. 

Since I have dealt with dashboard design and report management in another post, will just quickly state the 2 questions here: 

A. Who will enter this data? 

Request the client to go through their entire data flow process (you can use a proprietary methodology I have listed elsewhere on this blog - the Data River Diagram) and have them understand how the data will flow into the system in the first place. 

Is there enough reliability of that data for us to use it in reporting? 

B. What decision will it aid / How will you use it? 

Every pixel on an executive dashboard is important. Every second of executive time is important. If a data element is making it to reporting, it must help the user do one of the following: 

A. Monitor and control 

B. Diagnose and Correct 

C. Predict and Decide 

If the report is not fulfilling one of these 3 objectives, it should not be there. 

Your clients will truly appreciate your trying to create reports and dashboards that are relevant for the long term. 

In fact, invest some time in creating a report library that you know helps other organisations create effective dashboard and reporting interfaces, then proactively share it with clients. Will significantly shorten the cycle time and will also help the client see value in your work. 

So, are there any best practices that have helped you deliver better business value to your clients? Do share! 

The Currency of a Family

I have been thinking about currencies other than money that run the world. We make the mistake of thinking of money as the only currency of the world. In recent months, I have been studying the economy of love and its quite staggering. This led me to observe other human transactions and ask - what is being exchanged here? 

So, what is the currency of a family? What is exchanged between members?

I think that the currency of a family is mutual respect and unselfish love. What we make in money is only important up to a point. Which is why we find so little correlation between happy, close-knit families and their earning status.

Once we understand this, so many things begin to make sense. 

This is the reason why the breadwinner concept is limited. We have taught ourselves that the breadwinner is someone whose sole contribution to the family is earning money. This leads to people in their 40s being lonely within their own families, unable to have conversations or form connections. What you bring in terms of money, what you do in terms of household work, are all important contributions. But they are not the currency of the family. 

The currency of the family is not the good house. It is the memories built in that house. If you are never there to build those memories, no exchange is possible. 

The currency is not the work of dishwashing. It is the conversations that happen while doing dishwashing. Which is why a parent and child who share chores will have a deeper bond than those who do things for their children. The chore is not the currency. The feeling of loving and being loved back. That is what is being exchanged. 

When a parent brings home something bought from their hard earned money, the currency is not the thing or the money used to buy it. The currency is the feeling of being loved enough that someone remembers to bring something you like, and the ability to reciprocate that love, because that reciprocation will be welcomed. 

This is why rich people have children who do not value the parents for their wealth. And super efficient mothers are surprised when they hear from their adult children - "But you were never THERE!" 

Once we understand the currency of a system (in this case, family), we are able to make meaningful exchanges that enrich everyone in the ecosystem. Because, as everyone knows, the more currency changes hands, the richer every one gets. :) 

Why do working parents feel unappreciated? 

It is not enough to make the sacrifice. The members must know that this is a sacrifice for you. This is where many working moms falter. They are forever in a mommy guilt trip, but they never share it with the family. So, the family does not realise that the parent is going through an inner turmoil. Likewise for the father who does not want to be away, but is. 

Thoughts?