Reflections 2016.....

Back after a very very long time....

Lot has happened in the intervening period. There was another spin of roulette and I found myself working in a new role at new location.

Such changes are always difficult as these challenge you to very limits of endurance. You have to work in a new environment with new team.

Once again God helped me by granting a team of excellent human beings and very competent professionals. Things have gone well so far. But it is only the beginning of a transformation I need to undertake. This also marks beginning of end of a long love story..

Change of year also provides you with an opportunity to reflect on what went well and what did not. 

Two things which went very well in this year are:

1. Stabilised PTA5/6 
2. Could survive another change of job profile

Two things which did not go very well:

1. My continued trust on thankless and back stabbing people
2. Not able to devote time to family

Over the years, I have sacrificed a lot for my profession, I love the work I do and am fully committed to it. Have I been justly rewarded for it? Not for sure. But, the commitment to continual excellence is never easy.

Frequent job profile changes have reinvigorated on one hand whereas taken toll  on the other. 

Selective application of rule books demotivates and demoralises, But then it is part and parcel of life, hazard of profession, so to say.

My family has supported me in everything I have done so far. Thanks to them for having endured my single minded focus.

What I need to change:

1. Evaluate and reject some people from my life
2. Break free and take up bigger and larger challenge (has to happen soon)
3. Don't fall for empty promises
4. Spend more time with family
5. Take out time for self

Has been a tough year. Bruises are all raw, pain is all round, but resolve is not broken. It is the part of night just before the dawn and hence a beautiful morning will follow soon.

Signing off with these thought, Will come back tomorrow on resolves for 2017.

Wishing a very happy new year to you and your family.

Bad Habits - which come in the way to being effective

We all have had our ups and downs in professional lives. Some of the downs, however, could have been lesser bumpy if and only if we could be more effective.

My own take on the factors which stop you from being effective are:

• Mediocrity : Never settle for less than what is required. I have tolerated many people who clearly not for purpose, and have paid heavy price for it. We will not have excellence if we settle for mediocrity. Never fear of resistance which you undoubtedly experience on path to excellence.
• Negativity. A huge part of the appeal of negativity is how easy it is. It's no more complicated than looking around and pointing out all the flaws you see. And criticism has its place, but when you focus on the negative, you're shutting out the positive forces that will keep you moving forward. Negativism focused inwardly is especially destructive, so banish it for good.
• Lack of focus. Fuzzy thinking and indecisiveness will always leave you right where you are. Until you can see what you want as well as what's surrounding you, it's hard to gain momentum. Visualize where you're headed with as much clarity as you can bring to bear on it. Drill down to the details, set goals, and stay on task.  
• Unhealthy relationships. It may feel like a hard truth, but not everyone and everything is meant to stay in your life. Relationships that have become unhealthy--those that don't serve you anymore--have to be repaired, and if repair isn't possible, then you have to move on. Unhealthy relationships can cause stress, health issues, and a broken spirit. If you're scared to leave, that's probably the strongest sign that you need to. 
• Passivity. Maybe in the past doing nothing has served you well. Up to a point, it's not a bad thing to leave your options open. But if you continually choose to do nothing, nothing will happen. Success and happiness come from the choices you make. Choose to turn on your desire and drop the doubt. Choose to do work that makes you proud. Choose relationships that bring out your best self and a way of life that gives you the time to enjoy the people and activities you love. 
• Shame. We can experience shame in any area of life, but we don't have to let it keep us company or define us in the future. Shame should be something we learn to walk through and come out on the other side of, remembering that mistakes and failure are often among our greatest teachers.
• Making excuses. Is making excuses actually getting you what you want? If the answer is no, you need to stop. Think about the kinds of excuses you make. Are they focused on a present that you need to change, or a past you need to let go of? Starting today, give it everything you've got, and if it turns out badly, you can try something different. But no more excuses. 
• Not setting priorities. Every day, something will get done first, when your energy is strongest. Something will get done with the time you have left over, and something may not get done at all. You can let these things happen randomly or strategically. But it's a fact that when you don't give attention to the important things, the important things don't get done. Great things will happen when you start setting your priorities straight
• Running from problems. If you've tried this approach even once or twice, you know it doesn't work but just makes things worse. Face the issue, confront the problem, fix it. Do what you have to do to make it right. It's easy to run, but facing problems and working through them is what makes you strong.

So beware of these pitfalls to remain effective and to have lesser bumpy rides through the journey called life....

Future of internet- beyond connecting people or customers

So much of time and efforts are being put on socially connecting people of the world. These are perhaps being overdone, to the extent that considerable amount of talent is spending time in putting a like button on a video or post. Similar efforts are being done on perennially losing eCom websites. Stress in that ecosystem is already showing and its only a matter of time that we hear demise of few names.

Time to check, is this the only thing internet can deliver? Exciting new possibilities exist for other applications which can truly improve the quality of life.

Yes, I am talking about Internet of things (IoT). Few of applications which come to minds are:

1. Early health event detection through wearable medical devices- data can be monitored by experts sitting across continents. This has potential to transform the health industry. Both, hardware and software areas need exploration. Cheap connectivity would make it easily affordable to millions of people in world.
2. Health monitoring for industrial equipment- Conventionally all organisations employ people who monitor health of machine. Alternatively, the sensors could be hooked to internet and could be monitored by original equipment manufacturers (OEM's), the best people to monitor and correct.
3. Improve travel: Reliability of aviation and railway could be improved multi fold. The sensors could be hooked up the net for monitoring by OEM suppliers.

List could go on.

The Internet of Things offers tremendous potential for the manufacturing industry. Machines, systems, products, ICT systems, and people can be progressively connected over the internet, creating a production network in which information carriers communicate with each other and exchange data and information in near real time. In terms of the value chain, this means value creation partners – from suppliers to customers – are more tightly connected and capable of entering into closer cooperation with each other. The exchange of up-to-date information offers an opportunity to improve the quality and timeliness of decision-making processes, optimize the coordination of activities, and boost efficiency throughout the entire value creation process. This, in turn, provides machine and component manufacturers with the chance to offer their customers new services.

We need mavericks like Steve Jobs to focus on these possibilities, which have potential to transform the way things are done now.

Few like GE and Bosch  have already started working on this, but much more needs to be done.

What more applications come to your mind? Please share.