There’s a spirit in the air …

Being well
Is so swell
While working on my dell

In my mind rings a bell
That if I want to prevent hell
I have to tell
YES to being well

The joke is on us!

A master and his crew
Are cooking up a gingerly brew

They are just an elite few
Who know what they do

Looking at problems with a different view
Leaving innocent bystanders without a clue

Searching for someone to woo
Without realizing the world is a zoo

A ray of thought, A spark inside ..

A storm is brewing far away,
Even the strongest have to sway,
Silence is the rule of the day,

Oh ye, sweet lass don’t go astray,
She knows not the dangers of the way,

The shepherd is fearful of dirty clay,
And all the debts he has to pay,
If she chose that way,

He does fervently pray,
Wishes she may stay,

A matter of black and white and not gray,
Is what the rules say,

A weak brother wishes that he may,
Dispel skies that are gray,
Devils within he cannot keep at bay,
A mute spectator in a drama with bloody frays,
Hoping to make peace with his weakness that will forever stay
As he Trudges along life’s mysterious way

Tears for my brothers and sisters

I am extremely saddened by the events that are currently happening in Mumbai. The only question that keeps coming up in my mind is: Why? Why would somebody commit such a reprehensible act? Why are we hell-bent on killing each other? Why cannot we find the commonality that binds all of humanity together?

I have no answers. I have only questions.

It pains me to think about all the innocent people that got killed. Their lifes, dreams, and aspirations were cut short for no fault of theirs. I decided to dedicate a poem to my brothers and sisters who were killed. I pray to God to give strength to their families to cope with this terrible tragedy.

The scent of flowers is in the air,
The day begins without worries or care,

My brothers wake up with dreams galore,
They do not know what is in store,

A blast rips the silence,
We are engulfed by violence,

The air is filled with fear,
Are our ends very near?

Watching blood, chaos and death makes me sad,
How could things turn out so bad?

There are questions on my mind
Answers I may never find

My brothers and sisters,
I have nothing but tears,

I cry for you with all my heart,
You may be gone but we will never be apart,

When will these senseless killings end?
When will there be peace, my friend?

In silence and sadness, I pray
To guide those who have gone astray

Love and harmony are the only way
To keep our planet from blowing away.

Running

Lights pass by
The air is chill
Running with no end in sight
Alone with your thoughts
Struggles of someone far away
Sway me a bit
I still keep running
And ask Why?
There is turmoil within
No answers in sight
An image is formed
You doubt if it’s you
You have to keep running
Maybe, that is life

Barry Oshry

I learned about Barry Oshry’s stellar work while reading Becoming A Technical Leader by Jerry Weinberg. Jerry used a really powerful quote by Oshry while taking about Organizing/Organization. The quote literally stopped me in my tracks and I had to find out who Barry Oshry was. My journey led me to the Power + Systems website. I read some articles published on the site and also purchased the book by Oshry, Possibilities of Organization. I read a great review of the book by Steven Sinofsky while trying to decide what Oshry book to purchase!.

Possibilities of Organization was an awesome read. It is a “different type” of book. Oshry’s writing style is simple and yet powerful. The points he makes are very profound. I think the simplicity in Barry’s writing style stems from his deep understanding of organizations and systems. I was surprised by Barry’s accurate portrayal of what happens in organizations. He clearly describes what different people in the organization feel and why the feel that way. I like the terminology Barry uses to describe the roles we play in an organization – TOP, BOTTOM, MIDDLE and CUSTOMER. To understand what Barry means by these terms, read the article: Total System Power (PDF).

I was so impressed by the book that I asked my sister to read the book and asked what she thought (I value my sister’s thoughts very highly. She is way smarter than me and is very insightful). She felt that Barry’s ideas are applicable to families, our interaction with friends etc. I agree. We discussed Barry’s ideas at length and especially the point that when we talk with somebody, “our  interaction is not PERSON-to-PERSON, we are talking into a particular WORLD”. It’s amazing to see how we fall into such dangerous patterns of habit and the serious effects it has. This is something that Jerry also touches in Quality Software Management.

I thought I would reproduce Barry Oshry’s entire quote that made such an impression on me. The quote is found at the beginning of Chapter 19 – Learning to Be an Organizer (Page 207).

This is the first prize of power for all of us who work in systems: To be able to act in ways to enhance the capacity of systems to survive and develop in their environment. When we’re able to do that, we know we’re powerful. If we cannot influence systems in this way, then all the other trappings of power – control, dominance, perquisites, intimidation, revenge, hard-lining, bottom-lining – all of these are nonsense; they are power’s second prizes (or booby prizes); they are attempts to feel powerful or look powerful; they are consequences of not being powerful. But the true bottom line of system power is this: Are you able to influence the system? Are you able to act in ways which help the system cope and prosper more effectively in its environment? You may be the Chief Executive of your organization, you may enjoy an astronomical salary and luxurious perquisites, you may be King or Queen of the Hill intimidating and dominating all comers, but if you cannot influence the system so that it is better able to cope and prosper, you are working on second prize.

Quality Thinking

I am currently re-reading Jerry Weinberg’s Quality Software Management: Volume 1 (Systems Thinking). This time around my reading is slow and deliberate. I am trying to absorb as much knowledge and wisdom as I can from the book. A lot of times I feel the book is not about Software or Management. It is about life. Every chapter in Jerry’s book forces me to think deeply. It forces me to re-think and question my personal mental models. I could go on and on about how great Jerry and his books are. However, that will detract from the point I am trying to convey in this post! :->

In Chapter 3 on What is needed to change patterns? , Jerry makes a very interesting and insightful point (in my opinion!) about Thinking I wanted to share:

“You can tell where your organization is by studying the quality of the thinking, and you can imagine where you want to go by imagining what thinking will be like. Remember: When the thinking changes, the organization changes, and vice-versa.“

Jerry’s point about Quality thinking is not restricted to organizations. It is applicable to everybody (software managers, developers, testers etc). Even though I find it easy to understand what Jerry is trying to convey, I find it very hard to change my own personal mental models and thinking style (as Scott Adams mentions, it is really easy to fall into cognitive dissoance).

One of the tricks I picked from Scott Adams is to defend both sides of an argument! This really forces me to take a broader view of a particular issue and truly understand the pros/cons. Jerry also provided a useful tip during the PSL workshop: The Rule of Three. If we cannot think of three things that can cause an idea to fail, we haven’t thought about the problem well enough. The Rule of Three can also be used during idea-generation. We shouldn’t go with the first idea/solution we think of. It is better to come up with at least three alternative ideas/solutions and choose the best idea based on the current context.

Effective Teaching

I recently attended a 2-day seminar on Effective Negotation conducted by Karrass. The class was excellent and I learned a lot (The challenge now is to apply what I have learned!)

I was impressed with the instructor, Andrew Martonyi and I learned a lot by observing his teaching style. The following points stood out:

1. Andrew was a very good story-teller. Every important concept and principle was explained with the help of a story. Stories are a great way of communicating ideas. Human beings retain stories way better than facts or data (Read A Whole New Mind for the reasons behind this).

2. Psychology studies have proven that when humans tend to believe what they write down (Read Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini for other interesting tidbits!). Andrew made all the students write down important principles related to negotiation, the strategy of making concessions etc. Making students write down these principles instead of providing us with printed handouts was a master-stroke! It helped me get engaged in the class.

3. I liked the exercises that were setup to help us practice our negotiation skills. The exercises were really good and helped me observe first-hand the mistakes I was making. I have seen the value of experiential learning when I attended the PSL Workshop. The Karrass Negotiation Seminar helped reinforce the usefulness of experiential training.

4. It looked like a lot of thought had gone into the materials and what seemed like trivial details to me. All the exercises conducted in our Seminar involved negotiations between a buyer and seller. The buyer (or the team of buyers) were given a blue sheet that explained their context (ie., the context in which the negotiations where going to take place). The Sellers got their own sheet of paper that explained their context. It was on a yellow sheet of paper. The buyers were not privy to the information on the Seller’s sheet and vice-versa.

Andrew made me realize that we usually go into a negotiation thinking only about our context (or our blue-sheet of paper, if we were a buyer). We rarely think about the problems on the other side (the yellow sheet of paper). This brilliant analogy involving sheets of paper in different colors helped reinforce the importance of understading the problems/pressures on the other side for me.

5. No PowerPoint! I personally believe that PowerPoint should never be used in the classroom. It may make the job easier for the teacher. However, it doesn’t promote “real learning”.

Change…

Here are some of my thoughts on change. They reflect my current understanding of this crucial topic. I reserve the rights to change my opinions and refine my thoughts!

Change is everywhere.
It is an integral part of our lives.
It is an integral part of our organizations.
We are all trying to make changes in our own personal life (losing weight etc).
We are all trying to implement changes in our own organization (better Project management processes etc).
A Tom Demarco quote: “what distinguishes good management is its ability to effect change”.

Change is not always successful (duh!).
Change doesn’t happen at the speed of sound (Just because you say something, doesn’t mean that the change you are trying to promote is being implemented or is even successful).
Change is perceived differently by different people.
The perception that people are resistant to change is dangerous and wrong. It is important to understand the other side’s views instead of blaming/judging them.
When change fails or tries to move us away from our comfort zones or we don’t understand the rationale behind the change, we tend to get into a blaming position. We get personal and start blaming others.

We do not realize that most problems are usually systemic* and are not personal.
It is very tough to understand problems that are systemic (The fish is always the last to see the water).

If you do not understand “systems”, it is hard to observe or see it.
If you do not observe systems, you cannot understand it. (As Weinberg says, we have created a lock-on effect).

You need a new pair of “eyes” to observe systems.
We need to start understanding systems. We need systems sight. One place to start will be the work done by Barry Oshry and Jerry Weinberg.

Of course, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
I need to start understanding and “seeing” systems better. I will try!
:->

* The simulation exercises I did as part of the Problem Solving Leadership workshophelped me see, experience, and understand systemic problems. The PSL workshop is probably the single best investment decision I have made.

Excellence

What better way to start my blog than a post on Excellence.

I read Tom Peters regularly and Excellence is probably one of the regular themes in Tom’s writing. I love one Tom Peters question: If not Excellence, what? This always make me stop and think about what I am doing.

Tom’s notion of Excellence is very similar to Gerald Weinberg’s notion of Quality. Weinberg’s Zeroth Law of Software Engineering succinctly explains the importance of Quality: If you don’t care about quality, you can meet any other objective.

I have been thinking about what Excellence means to me and I decided to put my thoughts to paper (or the computer in this case!). Please note that my thinking on Excellence is heavily influenced by Buddhism (are there any new ideas!?).

1. I see Excellence as a process. It is about the journey and not the destination. It is a process of continuous self-improvement.

2. Excellence is a relationship. We ususally tend to think in terms of “things” and not in terms of “relationships”. No “object” has any intrinsic value. We assign value to objects. For example: When I say the IPod is beautiful, what does it really mean? The IPod is just a device that is made up of atoms and molecules. It doesn’t have any intrinsic beauty. Beauty arises due to my relationship with the IPod. It’s the same way with Excellence, Quality too. We are Excellent (Clients, Friends, Colleagues etc) at the instant others perceive us as Excellent. Excellence then becomes a relationship between somebody’s work and another person.