As a manager, I have learnt so much from Steve Jobs, almost like Ekalavya did from a guru who didn't know the student existed. Three things stand out.

Business strategy is as much about what you don't do as it is about all the stuff you do, even if it means going against conventional wisdom. Think of the missing floppy drives on Macs or the lack of USB ports on the iPad or the lean SKU structure of all iThings - Apple made tough choices even if popular "demand" suggested otherwise.

Second, passion and persistence pay off. Steve Jobs' story is that of rising above adversities; he won against the odds, in business and in life. If you love what you are doing and believe in your capability to achieve your goal, nobody can hold you back.

Third, Steve Jobs built an institution at Apple. Yes, he was the visionary and creative leader but undoubtedly a large part of Apple's success is due to the extremely talented people that he was able to motivate and the entrepreneurial agility that he created at a large organization. A leader without great followers / team is at best a maverick.

And one more thing. Steve Jobs realised the power of presentation, the visual impact and drama that brought chips, glass and software alive. I shamelessly ape Steve's style (if you haven't already noticed) and hope I can make even a fraction of the impact he made to technology, business and life.

Sent from my iPad

Update: This tribute to Steve Jobs was published in The Hindu Business Line on October 7, 2011.

Last night, I almost faced an Internet blackout at home, minutes before the iPhone announcement was to commence. The broadband connection which was down for a day had not yet been restored and both my cellular data connections were wavering, refusing to open most sites. Having announced earlier in the day that I was expecting something dramatic at the keynote and that my resolution to skip an iPhone generation was wavering, I wondered if I'd miss the excitement of the live coverage of Apple's event.

addepalli: 
16mos after IP4 and with a new CEO in the spotlight, today's iPhone announcement's got be dramatic, I expect. My resolve is weakening….
10/4/11 11:12 AM

However, persistence paid off… I was able to get the Twitter feed on my iPhone 4 (running on a weak 3G signal) and also accessed the Engadget live-blog on my iMac connected to the Tata CDMA EVDO network (through my Blackberry). I was all set as Tim Cook took the stage for his first product launch at Apple. 

90 minutes later, I was a bit disappointed. Obviously, expectations were quite high, particularly because the iPhone 4 was an amazing upgrade to the 3GS. There were several rumors predicting a minor update only (4S), but I was hoping for a surprise. This was, after all, Tim's first public appearance as CEO. Unfortunately, he didn't say much - his colleagues did most of the talking. And, more than half the time was spent repeating stuff (iOS5 and iCloud) that had been announced earlier.

The new iPhone 4S (the most amazing iPhone ever) made no changes to the exterior of the iPhone 4… well, not that there was any real reason to. Maybe they could have adopted the iPad 2 form factor, but not really required. The 4S had three major "internal" changes:

1. Faster proceessor, with the A5 dual-core. Apple showed off how it creates amazing gaming performance. Well, my iPad 2 does that too, and I don't spend too much time on my iPhone with games (except the occasional Angry Birds while I am waiting for a meeting). Anyway, this processor was a pre-requisite for the next two changes, I guess.

2. Superior camera. With my limited knowledge of cameras, it appears that the 4S camera is a massive improvement (over the IP4 and other smartphone cameras) for still and video photography. Having just invested massively in my first DSLR (and assorted lenses & accessories), I am kind of content with the mobility of the IP4 camera and the quality of the DSLR. The camera in the 4S is not sufficient to induce purchase.

3. Voice Assistant. The real WOW moment of the keynote was the demo of Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant that is built into the 4S. Voice recognition stuff has been around for many years, but what Apple showcased yesterday was amongst the best ever implementation of natural language conversations with a machine. It appeared so good that it was kind of scary… Rohan Joshi (@mojorojo) tweeted something very apt:

mojorojo:
When Skynet kills us all na, we'll all stop being so amazed by this Siri shit. "NO SIRI! STOP! STOP NO! AARRRGGGHHH" 
10/4/11 11:57 PM

Siri is the only compelling reason to upgrade from the iPhone 4 to 4S.

If you are with the 3GS or any other "smartphone", I'd say go buy the 4S. Also, if your carrier is subsidizing 70% of the cost of the phone, then again, you could upgrade. But if you have to spend another US $650 for the 4S (having spent a similar amount a year ago), I would advise restraint. Wait till 2012; your iPhone 4 with iOS 5 and iCloud will continue to amaze you for some more time. Hopefully Apple will get back to its summer schedule of launching iPhones and you will have a new iPhone 6 (the most amazing iPhone ever) in less than a year.

Update: See this video of Siri in action (from the Apple site) - amazing stuff! Also, this Dan Curtis post about the difference between "good enough" (Android voice actions) and "better" (Siri)

Update 2: Sorry Tim. http://t.co/1pmW5MwN

(Adapted from a Facebook note that I posted on August 19, 2011)

With millions of Indians supporting Anna Hazare (as per media or FB, at least), is it so difficult for IAC to find one MP who will introduce their version of the Lokpal bill in Parliament and then get a majority of the MPs to vote in favour?

If they can, they should pursue that path. If they cannot, they should continue to protest / debate till they can convince enough MPs. Threatening the Government with deadlines & fasts unto death is excessive and arbitrary. This Government may be discredited, but the institutions of Parliament & Executive needn't be. Also, if the Government / politicians are as bad as we imagine they are, do we think that getting them to agree to the JLP bill will end corruption? If they have delayed the Lokpal for so many years, they can delay effective implementation for a long time to come.

There is no denying that most Indians are fed up of corruption; they are also fed up with lethargy in decision making and reforms. India, in the 21st century, has failed to keep pace with our aspirations and expectations. The middle class that has tasted the benefits of superior economic growth and competitive choice has no patience for poor infrastructure or galloping inflation. This angst requires solutions; it requires leadership. Unfortunately, not one amongst the political class has stood up to be counted. The opposition, in particular, failed miserably to capitalize on a wonderful opportunity to grab the initiative. 

What you have is a motley crowd of activists, NGOs, godmen and others that have captured popular imagination. Ok, so they'll probably win this round. What happens next? We are back to the same old choices. You know what I'd love to see: Anna Hazare and his team should convert IAC into a political party, demand mid-term elections and seek to come to power, if not now, perhaps by 2014. Then, I might vote for IAC - if I agree with their politics and economics. 

A democracy requires politicians; whether they are good ones or bad ones is our choice.

(Disclosure: I disagree that Jan Lokpal Bill is the solution to the corruption problem that we are facing. I strongly believe that reducing government and related controls is the 'cure' to big ticket corruption that has characterized the last decade. For the daily corruption that all of us face, I think that this suggestion from Kaushik Basu is seriously worth evaluating.)

PS. I had an interesting discussion with my friend Mohan Kannegal in the comments of my FB note; offered without any further comment.

(download)

Click here to download:

Why_I_am_Reluctant_to_Support_.zip (159 KB)

Later, I realised that this was also the sub-title of Ram Charan's new book, Talent Masters (co-authored with Bill Conaty, former Sr. VP at General Electric). The central premise of the book (and consequently, of the program) is that "word-class companies achieve their stellar performance... by finding and nurturing leadership talent." With increasing globalisation and competition and reducing opportunities to create product differentiation, the bet is that companies that can attract and develop talent better than others would create sustainable competitive advantage.

Most leaders and senior managers know it; yet they fail to do much about it because talent management has been (in the words of a participant) "mystified into a dark-art" with lots of jargon and mumbo-jumbo thrown at it. What is needed is to demystify it: recognise that a systematic approach can be put in place to manage talent and that with practice, leaders can get better at it.

One interesting idea (amongst many) that I picked up was that of segmenting managers. Prof. Ram Charan suggested that managers (or roles) should be categorised into different segments, e.g. P&L managers, Functional managers, Experts, Innovation managers, Country managers, etc. The methodology of segmentation ought to be customised to the context, however, such segments (not too few, not too many) should be identified. Every manager cannot perform each of these roles; each also requires different development and reward mechanisms. Future people requirements of a business would vary by segment, and therefore planning the pipeline of talent has to be done at a segment level. For instance, if your future strategy is driven by expansion into new markets, you may need a pipeline of country managers whereas a product innovation driven strategy would require availability of appropriate experts and subsequently, P&L managers.

This sounds intuitively correct to me and I do believe that each manager can perform one or two types of roles without a major overhaul of skills (usually difficult at middle to senior levels). However, business culture has glorified the role of the P&L manager, thus everyone aspires to become one. In fact, if somebody does not aspire to be CEO (or Business Head) in future, he/she is perceived to be not good enough, even for the current job. Therefore, a person who may be a great functional manager or an expert is almost forced into the path of a P&L manager, irrespective of the fit. Not only do we need to plan careers for each segment of people differently, we also need to change popular perceptions about what a successful career (path) is.

I have written in the past that the enterprise of the future is going be unlike what we know from past experiences. Leaders that can make the shift now have the opportunity to create (or remain as) world-class companies. Or be left behind.   

Two incidents prompted me to lament on Twitter today that India's becoming a jugaad nation, in a negative sense. The first one is my pet peeve of traffic in Mumbai.

Twice in three days, I experienced the same situation. We were driving on one of the 'highways' that connect various parts of Mumbai. For some unknown reason, we saw traffic jammed up ahead. Vehicles were turning around; some crossed over to the opposite side and were trying to move forward. Most others drove straight back towards the previous intersection - to find an alternative route. I told my driver to stay put and figure out what was happening but we were in a sea of vehicles wanting to go in the opposite direction. So, we joined them and after a lot of maneuvering and honking and scrapping, found a service road. This road was also jammed by now. Thirty minutes later we joined the highway, perhaps a hundred metres ahead of the original jam. The traffic appeared to be flowing smoothly. Whatever had caused the initial problem had sorted itself out. It was just impatience on the part of some drivers and the consequent jugaad of finding some short-cuts that created new traffic jams elsewhere. In a strange coincidence, almost the same incident played out twice this week.

The second 'incident' was really a few discussions that I've had recently, online and offline about the lack of capacity creation in India. Demand growth is dramatic; competitive intensity is increasing. The focus is on serving the demand but this is (often) not accompanied by investments in developing talent, creating systems and empowering people. Every time we hear a horror story of poor customer service - usually from the biggest brands, in telecom, banking, media or retail, we wonder what's causing this? And can this growth be sustained without investing for the long term (at the cost of short term profits / returns)?

Maybe I am low on confidence about the India story (not the opportunity, mind you) after all that's happening around. If I am unduly worried, let me know and boost my confidence. :-) If not, still, we must keep the faith as SamK reminded me and work at this problem resolutely.

You cannot treat a fracture with lots of Band-Aids, but you cannot become a doctor overnight either.

(This article first appeared in the Mint on 25 November, 2010 in the Business of Life section.)

So you finally decided to create a home office? A home office is not the same as occasionally working from home after work hours or during holidays. You can get by without much ado for the latter; the former requires more planning, technology and facilities. Whether it’s high-speed Internet or admin support on-call, there are many things that we take for granted in an office—a home office will require you to organize all these for yourself. Yes, you do not have your boss watching over your shoulder but neither will you get endless coffee on demand. If you want to be really productive, you need to get your set-up right. Over time, most enterprises will create plug and play “home office” packages to instantly enable their remote workers. Till then, you may need to invest some time and money to create an environment that makes you feel at office in the home.

BASICS FIRST

Find yourself a room or a corner of a room that you can convert into an office. Get yourself a comfortable chair and a work desk. A few filing cabinets and a waste-paper bin would also be nice. Make sure that you have enough electric points nearby, else get a couple of extension strips. A coffee maker, perhaps…

TIP: Check with your employer if they have a policy to support the creation of a home office. Some companies such as BT and P&G provide their remote workers with furniture or other amenities to replicate an office environment at home.

 TELEPHONY

You obviously already have a mobile phone; you should probably get a landline. Mobile phones are not always reliable or convenient when you have to get on to a 2-hour conference call. A landline will also be useful for Internet connectivity (see below). Don’t forget to activate international subscriber dialling (ISD) on your phone—you will need it to dial international toll-free numbers (000-800 numbers) that most conference bridges use.

TIP:If your company uses IP telephony from Cisco, Avaya, etc., ask for a soft-phone application on your computer; this will enable you to replicate your office phone and call your office extensions (using voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP).

BROADBAND

Trust me, get two Broadband connections. Ideally, one of them would be a DSL connection on your landline or a fixed wireless connection (for example, WiMax), with an assured speed of about 1 Mbps and unlimited data usage. In addition, you should get a wireless Internet connection (data-card) that can act as a backup as well as provide you with mobility. Wait for the 3G networks to go live to get more options and possibly better price plans. In any case, Broadband access could cost Rs2,000-3,000 per month—the biggest expense for working from home. However, you cannot work from home if you do not have reliable Internet connectivity.

TIP: Create a local wireless network using a Wi-Fi router; this will provide you some flexibility to move your workplace around and also connect multiple devices to the same Broadband connection.

COMPUTING

You would most likely be using your company-provided laptop as your primary computing device. An external LCD monitor (20 inch or more) would be a useful addition to ease pressure on your eyes; it can also work as a projection screen if you ever have to have a team meeting at home. Similarly, an external mouse and keyboard (preferably wireless/Bluetooth) would make your desk experience more flexible.

You will find that a printer is useful; you may need to print the occasional e-ticket or your monthly expense vouchers or something of that sort. An all-in-one deskjet device (less than Rs5,000) or even a laserjet printer (around Rs10,000) from Hewlett-Packard (HP) or Samsung that prints, copies and scans would meet most typical requirements; most of them can be connected to your Wi-Fi router and operated wirelessly.

TIP: For most document scans, it will work if you just click a picture with a phone-camera and email the photo. If you have an iPhone, there are free apps such as Genius Scan that give you several edit features. You should also keep digital (scan) versions of your photo, passport, ID card, signature, etc., handy—these are very often required at short notice for visas or other official purposes.

SECURITY AND BACKUP

Access to your corporate network, information and resources would mostly be through a virtual private network (VPN) for which you may need an additional password or a token. Make sure that your computer is configured for full remote access and you have IT helpdesk details handy.

You ought to also have your email configured on a mobile device (BlackBerry or any other smartphone) in case your laptop fails to connect for some reason. Many companies create periodic backups of all computers on their network; if not, or in addition, you may want to create a local backup using an external hard drive—do check your company’s IT and data policies before you copy data on to a personal disc.

TIP: Unless your office is nearby or you have an official IT support resource handy, consider investing in a personal desktop or a netbook. This will let you remain connected to your work, even if your office laptop is non-functional for some reason. It would be good to identify an IT troubleshooter in your neighbourhood—usually an IT hardware reseller, a computer engineering student or a geek.

SUPER SAVERS

Without these nifty tips, working from home may just become an expensive proposition

• Consider asking your employer to fund purchase of furniture or allow you to use spare stuff from the office. You should also seek reimbursement for your telecom and Internet expenses; remember, you are saving your employer a lot of cost by working from home.

• If you need to make a lot of calls to the US or Europe, sign up for a VoIP service such as Skype, Vonage or Line2, which will give you a local US number on your computer or smartphone to make and receive unlimited calls for a small fee.

• Microsoft and other software providers have special enterprise deals that enable employees to use expensive Office software in their home computers for almost free. Check with your IT department for such offers.

• Don’t let anybody in your neighbourhood know that you have a printer at home. Printers attract urgent printing jobs such as children’s school projects and ‘puja’ manuals that you will be unable to refuse. Remember, printer cartridges, over the lifetime of a printer, can cost three-four times the cost of the printer itself.

(This article first appeared in the Mint on 23rd November, 2010 in the Business of Life section)

"Some day, I will become senior enough to work when I want, where I want.” Or perhaps, “I will retire from the 10-8 routine and work flexible hours.” Telecommuting or working from home is every manager’s dream; achieving work-life balance the ultimate goal. In a survey (Flexible Work Models) conducted in October in Europe, the US, Asia and India by strategy consulting firm, Bain & Co., nearly 86% of next-generation employees said they expect flexibility from their employer. Changes in work practices and technology have made this a reality now. However, working from home is not as easy or attractive as it is made out to be. Through his week-long tweets, we take a peek into the life of a senior executive, who works from home and grapples with multiple “tiny issues”. From what to wear when working from home to can “balance” really be achieved, work-from-home raises several questions. Perhaps there are some lessons to be learnt.

Monday

8.00 AM Wow, the apt complex gym has really changed a lot since I last visited it. via Twitter for BlackBerry

9.20 AM L’s gone to school and the missus to work. Aha, feels great when it takes you 10seconds to reach office. #FTW

10.00 AM Done with overnight email. Disconnecting myself for the next 2 hours. #tata

12.00 PM Finished the Board presentation draft! No tension for the rest of the day.

5.00 PM Gartner publishes latest APAC IT market forecasts; no surprises. http://bit.ly/Grtnr #yam #in

5.15 PM (Yammer) @marketingguru Do you really think so? Aren’t our latest numbers more or less in line with the Gartner sizing estimates? Anyone from Singapore have a point of view?

Plan your day’s schedule, just as you would if you were working from office. Take opportunities to shut yourself from the world for a thinking session or an urgent task.

Tuesday

4.22 PM #NoteToSelfWear a shirt even if it is very hot, particularly when you join a web-conference.

9.00 PM Rather embarrassing to be told by Sridhar that he could see me in my vest during Webex meeting. #fail

9.01 PM Don’t know how the webcam turned itself on!! Should stick a post-it on the cam when not in use.

Try to replicate elements of work environment; that includes dressing to work. You never know when you’ll need to jump on to a video chat.

Wednesday

9.30 AM At work! Busy day ahead.

1.00 PM Lunch time!! Nothing like ghar ka khana. But I miss the mango milk-shake in the canteen. Trade-offs.

1.45 PM Staying awake post-lunch is always a challenge. Particularly when your bed is a few feet away. Attention!

9.30 PM What a #uberfail evening. How to fire somebody for writing a poor report when ”Pappu Can’t Dance” is blaring in the other room?!

9.31 PM Can’t really blame L; I should have gone to the local office for the team review call. Or get my room sound-proofed.

9.35 PM (Yammer TeamGroup) Guys, sorry for the background sound during today’s meeting. Hope you could hear me clearly.

Create an office space for yourself that is audibly separated from your regular living area. If you cannot spare a room, consider going to the office or using a nearby business centre for important calls or meetings.

Thursday

7.00 AM Day trip to Delhi. Waiting for the flight to take off. How I love these early morning flights /sarcasmvia Twitter for BlackBerry

9.20 AM Delhi is hot! Make that very hot. #YetIWearATie via Twitter for BlackBerry

5.00 PM Headed back to the airport. Delhi’s roads seem to be improving but the traffic’s still the same mess. via Twitter for BlackBerry

11.00 PM Just landed; flight late. 21-hour day for a 2 hour meeting — what a waste! I am done with traveling. via Twitter for BlackBerry

Videoconferencing and telepresence are now real substitutes to business travel. Consider creating home infrastructure to support video, or identify a shared facility that you can use.

Friday

11.30 AM Sporadic start today; some home repairs underway. Anyway, not much work this AM.

5.00 PM Headed to TP room for monthly leadership meeting. Looking fwd to meeting colleagues from all over the world. Virtually, of course. via Twitter for BlackBerry

9.30 PM Exhausted. TelePresence much more engaging than audio calls. TP at home would be great. Hmm..maybe not. via Twitter for BlackBerry

Working from home offers you the flexibility to take time off for any urgent chores, as long as you are disciplined enough to get your deliverables out on time.

Saturday

10.00 AM Saturday is just another day but with fewer e-mails.

1.00 PM STOP. WORKING. NOW.

10.00 PM Ok, so I sneaked in. But I do need to get the Key Imperatives sorted out; it was due on Friday.

A home office can easily become a 24X7 office and defeat its very purpose, if you are not consciously managing your time. A home office does not automatically mean more time with the family.

Sunday

11.00 AM Nothing much happening on e-mail, Yammer and Twitter. Is this a long weekend, guys? #yam

11.10 AM (Yammer) D marketingguru Aha! I knew you’d be around :-) Any update on that Gartner report analysis?

11.12 AM (Yammer) D marketingguruThat sounds plausible. Hey, got to go: some birthday party and I am getting those dirty stares! I’ll be in office next week – let’s catch up.

2.15 PM Seriously, where’s everybody this weekend? #yam via Twitter for BlackBerry

It’s not wise to work from home 100% of the time; a 60-40 mix between remote and on-site is advisable. Use enterprise social media tools to stay in touch with what’s happening in the office even when you’re home.