A new blog for a new purpose
November 25th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
I began blogging in 2008, the year I passed out of college, at sashanktalks.wordpress.com
The motivation for blogging was to build a ‘personal brand’. I realized that the only way I could do that is through sharing what I was already learning, something I was quite proud of. As a young management consultant, an entrepreneur aspiring to be part of a bigger league and a privileged friend/student of some amazing people I learnt almost as if I was grabbing every bit I could hold on to. The blog was a platform to share many such important insights. But my motivation to write on the blog had been consistently declining.
In the midst of communication professionals and managing a web presence firm, blogging is always a relevant idea. In that context I read a 31 day guide to blogging and one of the first questions asked in the guide was about purpose. I realized I had totally disconnected with the purpose of the blog which was called ‘Sashank’s Learning’. My needs in life have changed from when I started the blog, and this became starkly clear to me.
As I inquired into where my life was headed and what I wanted to achieve from a blog, it lead me to the question: What am I totally passionate about when I interact with the world? The answer was fairly resounding. I deeply enjoy “making the world a better place by enabling latent potential to unleash”
This lead me to asking myself the “How” question. The one thing I believe that’s a sure shot way to discovering the potential within is to experiment with life. And when I looked back, that’s the only consistent activity I’ve done. Experiment in small and big ways with people and process. So I decided to take this message out to the world. Inspire people to experiment with life, even if its just a little.
This new blog is therefore called Life XP. XP stands for experiment and also the experience of the experiment which teaches us to the more intelligent way to continue our journey called life. I will write about the small and big experiments I’m doing in life. Those wanting to share about the experiments they are doing with their life are welcome to do so. The hope is that many will be inspired to do some small experiments in their own world through sharing of authentic stories.
May the highest purpose to be channeled through this effort be served.
Please click here to visit the new blog. Your encouragement in all forms is most welcome!
My relationship with Steve Jobs
October 6th, 2011 § 4 Comments
Steve Jobs has been famous for a long time, but how does that matter? I heard about him as a child, it didnt matter. When I got my first PC, apple was an expensive useless alternate. Steve Jobs was too popular to be important to me. He was just another american entrepreneur who made a lot of money whom many people followed. The iPod was a glorified MP3 player, packaged well and sold to dumb people. When the iPhone was released I was reading blogs making fun saying “it missed a ‘tactile response’ technology called ‘buttons’”
He was obviously even more popular in the Entrepreneurship circles. One of my friend from these circles persuaded me real hard to read a Steve Jobs article. I succumbed. It was the text of the famous Stanford Commencement Address. after reading that piece, I couldnt stop myself from watching the video (which I since watched more than a dozen times). Those words could not have been spoken by a mere mortal. The penny had dropped and Steve Jobs became superstar.
I’ve followed Steve Jobs, since, like an admirer. I tried to deconstruct this personality and what makes him who he is. Read blogs, articles, watched interviews, movies etc. Everyone has a theory of what he is made up of and why he is one of the most admired people in the world. None fit my understanding of this man.
Ancient Indian philosophy with origin in the Vedas and explained in several schools of thought such as Advaita, Samkhya etc propound that the world a man perceives has 2 purposes. One to experience ii and the other to understand ones own self through it. I understood Steve Jobs as doing just that.
Living life was about discovering yourself. Building Apple was about discovering your own self. I truly believe that when he says “have the courage to follow your heart and intuition” it actually means “discover who you really are”. And indeed, discovering who you really are is a very courageous exercise.
I’ve quoted Jobs so many times. I used the commencement speech in a workshop i recently conducted. I own an iPad. I’m partners with 3 hardcore apple addicts. I’m researching the iStore to wrap a business model around it. But my connection with Steve Jobs is more spiritual than that.
As I understood the man through the lens of my own life experience, it has been a sense of affirmation. The connection is of sharing a belief system. A belief system of confidence in self, a belief in possibility of greatness, a belief in creation, a belief in challenging status quo. In a world where these beliefs are akin to insane, Steve Jobs words instill faith.
I think Steve Jobs is a great entrepreneur not only because the company he built is soon to be the most valuable in USA. He is so because he relentlessly followed his heart (or so I believe). I think following your heart is the only path to greatness and Steve Jobs lived that and showed the world rather publicly.
As a tribute to the man who passed away today below are some of my favorite quotes from Steve Jobs”
“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”
“My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.”
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
“Recruiting is hard. It’s just finding the needles in the haystack. You can’t know enough in a one-hour interview.
So, in the end, it’s ultimately based on your gut. How do I feel about this person? What are they like when they’re challenged? I ask everybody that: ‘Why are you here?’ The answers themselves are not what you’re looking for. It’s the meta-data.”
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.”
“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life.
“In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.”
“I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year…. It’s very character-building.”
(quotes courtesy Macstories)
If death is truly a beginning, may this be the opportunity for the world to wake up, Stay Hungry & Stay Foolish!
Entrepreneurial Mindset
September 5th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
I had made this presentation in May 2011 for a group of young people aspiring to become Transformational Leaders. It was part of a workshop on “Creative Entrepreneurship” where we helped each participant discover the Entrepreneur within!
Thanks to Bhumi, Kadambini & Sravanthi for the support and opportunity!
An Entrepreneur’s Life
September 5th, 2011 § 1 Comment
1. A Sense of Possibility
For an entrepreneur, optimism abounds. Ideas dance like Wordsworth’s daffodils. It is an Open World. It is a world brimming with opportunities. There is a feeling that so much needs to be changed, and he is the person destined to bring about that revolution. Nothing seems impossible. Entrepreneurs have that unique ability to make the incredible so believable and achievable.
No mountain is too high to climb – because it is not a mountain the first place. It becomes a series of small peaks. Where others may seem daunted by the height of the mountain, the entrepreneur keeps the top in sight, and, setting a continuing series of incrementally challenging goals, works to conquer small peaks.
This sense of possibility – that there’s so much to do and change about what exists today, that a different world needs to be created – makes entrepreneurs come alive even in the toughest of times. It may be a Mission Impossible for others, but for the entrepreneur it is an Escape To Victory.
2. Tryst with Destiny
Entrepreneurs want their destiny under their control. They believe that they are solely responsible for how the future unfolds, and that their actions can indeed make a difference. They refuse to believe that things are pre-ordained, and yet, feel that the world can be made to conspire to help them.
When I read “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho a few months ago, what struck me about his fable of a shepherd is how closely it mirrored the journey of an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur views the world through his (somewhat blinkered) lens and sees things that others don’t – and at times, misses the obvious things that others point out. The driving factor, like in Coelho’s book, is about listening to the heart and living one’s dream. It is about challenging and conquering destiny. It is about authoring the story of the future.
3. Certain Uncertainty
It is perhaps hard to imagine who would like unpredictability, but entrepreneurs seem to thrive on it. For them, each day is unique, with its own joys and delights. Yes, each day has its ups and downs, and entrepreneurs as a rule tend to have more “down days” than “up days”. But they somehow revel in this environment – it tends to bring out the best in them. Surprises – pleasant or otherwise – are to them an integral part of the landscape.
It is this ability to adapt to the changing situations which helps entrepreneurs tackle even the toughest of challenges. They take Today’s Unknowns in their stride. Progress happens only when problems are solved.
An entrepreneur accepts that while the vision and dream is definitely there, the script for the day needs to be crafted out dynamically and innovatively, based on what the situations demand. It is this desire for uncertainty that stifles entrepreneurs when they work in some of the larger enterprises, where each segment of the day is not only defined but needs to be adhered to.
4. Freedom To Be
Like a bird navigating the open skies or the fish floating through the infinite oceans, the entrepreneur seeks the freedom to set his own course. He does not like to be told what to do. This is not to say that entrepreneurs don’t listen – in fact, they are perhaps the best synthesizers of opinions. But they like to drive out on their own. Theirs is a mindset which seeks independence.
Part of the reason for this freedom comes because entrepreneurs find themselves at odds with much of the world. This orthogonalilty comes because they are out to change the status quo. This pits them against most of the world which doesn’t like its cheese to be moved. Entrepreneurs, therefore, want freedom – not just from the world of today, but also from the thinking that inhibits innovation and encourages conformance.
5. Life = Work, Work = Life
I was reading the introduction to a new book by Warren Bennis and Robert Thomas entitled “Geeks and Geezers: How Era, Values and Defining Moments Shape Leaders”. Says Thomas about the men and women who practised leading every moment of the day: “They recognized no distinction between work and life. They were the same people on the job and off. They used every situation they encountered as a practice field and they mined every experience for insight about themselves and the people and the world around them. Leading is not only what they did, it was who they were.”
Replace they by entrepreneurs, and read it again. That is what entrepreneurs are: there is no boundary between any of their lives, there is a single unified life. Work is a continuum. Learning never stops. Thinking is concomitant with breathing. Others may try and tell them how work needs to be left at the office when one comes home. Entrepreneurs may listen, but are incapable of acting upon it. What they do envelops their life and by consequence, those around them. This is the only life they know to live.
6. Passion for People
Entrepreneurs may think of themselves as God’s Gift to the World, but very soon they understand that if they want to realise their vision, then they better start loving people. Whether it is at work or in conferences, entrepreneurs tend to have a special way with people. It comes from inner infectious enthusiasm which is evident in all that they do. Not for them the cool confines of a closed cabin. They want to be with their troops, leading from the front, fighting from the trenches. Being with people – within the company or outside – brings out the best in them.
For entrepreneurs, people are also a natural sounding board for their ideas. Just the process of talking to others helps entrepreneurs fine-tune their thinking and ideas. By bringing their passion to bear in their talk and work, entrepreneurs elicit feedback and comments from others, which helps embellish their view of the world.
7. Idea to Epiphany
Contrary to the popular myth of ideas coming in the “Eureka” mould, for most entrepreneurs, it is actually a long process of incremental thinking followed by the occasional epiphany which takes thinking to the next level. It is the small steps which set up the platform the big leap; without these baby steps, there would be no “lightbulbs” going off.
It is this process which entrepreneurs thrive in. They have a unique knack of being able to take ideas and concepts from very different and unrelated processes or arenas, and apply them to the context of what they are doing. This ability to make connections and associations is a unique talent which stands them in good stead. Entrepreneurs live for these “Aha” moments. But behind that one big moment is a lot of “Hmmm” type of thinking.
8. Envisioning the Future
Entrepreneurs, by default, live in the future. The present and its problems are almost irrelevant to them. They work to craft a Future Fantastic, and then work towards building it out. Entrepreneurs want to compete in this future not with resources but with a blend of passion, vision and strategy. For them, business is an intellectual game of Chess, one where others need to be out-thought, because they cannot be out-spent.
It is also not that entrepreneurs become fixated on a single vision of tomorrow. In their mind’s eye, the future is not a static picture, but an evolving one. They use life’s experiences and their RTW (reading-thinking-writing) to continuously enhance and enrich their view of the world, using their intuitive gyroscopes for regular course correction.
9. Traveller’s Tales
Entrepreneurs are natural explorers. They like to travel, see different places, put themselves in different situations. What this does is that it takes them away from the daily buzz of work and makes them see a more holistic view of what they are doing. They come back from trips with a renewed sense of energy which very quickly percolates through their enterprise. Of course, they return with more ideas than are implementable but that’s part of the “occupational hazard”.
Travelling does a lot more. It forces entrepreneurs to start delegating – by default! In general, even though entrepreneurs recognize that they need others to get things done, they have a tendency to believe that they are indispensable. As a result, they become the decision-making hub for everything, and thus a potential bottleneck. By getting out of the office every once in a while, entrepreneurs foster the next level of organisational command (which in most cases happens without the entrepreneurs realising it). When they back, they figure that things actually worked quite well in their absence!
10. Friendship with Failure
Entrepreneurs are not afraid to fail. In fact, they believe that only out of failures will come success. Of course, they do not set out to fail. What they do is to set up controlled experiments to try out many of the ideas they have. It is like they are in the middle of a jungle without any maps or navigation instruments. They have a general idea of where they want to go. But to figure out the right sequence of steps, they will make multiple forays into different directions – to get a better perspective of the flora and fauna around. This helps them build a mental map of the landscape – one that is bottom-up and grounded in reality, and move forward.
In the real world, this translates to creating prototypes quickly which can be taken to customers for feedback so they can be iterated upon. It is like making a television soap opera wherein regular course correction can be easily done, rather than the big bang approach of a film which becomes an all-or-none affair and takes years to complete. Some of what they do will fail – because they are trying out multiple approaches. But entrepreneurs are normally quick to recognise what works and what doesn’t, and jettison the things that don’t. Entrepreneurs are not afraid of failure. It they are afraid of something, it is perhaps that they haven’t experimented enough.
11. Get It Done
Entrepreneurs are action-oriented. Making projections, org-charts, business plans are just not their cup of tea, even though these are needed as interfaces to the outside world. Entrepreneurs just want to work on getting things done.
The challenge for them lies in how to sequence their activities to get the maximum result from the perennially limited resources that they have. Their business is the Ultimate Reality Show – one in which there is no “Rewind” or “Pause” button, only “Play”.
12. Enjoy the Journey
For entrepreneurs, the goal and joy lies not just in reaching the destination. While it is very important to be successful, entrepreneurs recognise that their chance of success is quite small in the big, wide world, and more importantly, the odds are always stacked against them. But what matters to them is the journey, the daily battles, the mindgames, the rock-jumping. This is where entrepreneurs are a different breed of people. If they succeed, they will go on to the Next New Thing. If they fail, they will go on to the Next New Thing. The Game of Enterprise goes on.
Last Word
As we live through today’s challenging times, it may be a good idea to look inside and discover the Entrepreneur in each one of us. If we close one door, many others open. Too often, we are snugly ensconced in our own private worlds and cocoons that we build – not wanting to think differently, not wanting to take any risk, not wanting to make the jump. As an entrepreneur would put it, Think: What would you do if you were not afraid?
~ By an Anonymous Entrepreneur.
(Special Thanks to Utsow Pradhan from Learn Next for sharing this piece with me. I’m sharing it because it really appealed to me and seemed to be spoken directly from an Entrepreneur’s Heart. Hope it helps you understand a fellow entrepreneur and the one hidden within you!)
3 years of Management Consulting – Awesome Journey
May 14th, 2011 § 4 Comments
Today marks 3yrs of “professional” working life and 3yrs of Management Consulting. It had been just 5 days since my last working day at college and I was in a dream job at Milagrow. More interestingly I happened to be at my first client meeting right on the first day. So started consulting and sending out my first report on how the client’s website could be improved.
Looking back seems like I learnt much. From writing official e-mails, to planning meetings, to hospitality (being nice), to meaning of value addition, to magic (read scamming), to handling client relationships, to failing. I also recognize that the most predominant form of learning was from “getting kicked around”. Seems a totally worth it journey this far!
Quite pleasantly surprised that I got the opportunity to work with 18 clients from 12 different industries/sectors:
| Fitness | Home & bar accessories | Gems & jewellery |
| Education | Health Care | Non-Profit |
| Recruitment & Training | Real Estate | Infrastructure |
| Automobile Accessories | Travel & Hospitality | Media & Advertising |
This is time for gratitude. Feel extremely fortunate to have got the opportunities I have got in the various consulting interventions. Connecting the dots backward today, I can see one assignment lead to another allowing me to apply what I had learnt and learn much more to contribute to whichever extent I could.
Time for expressing gratitude also to the awesome people who were part of this amazing journey: my colleagues, bosses, partners, counterparts from client side, friends & family. All of them have supported me in ways I cant even comprehend and contributed in ways perhaps they are unaware of. This journey wouldn’t have been as enjoyable without all these people teaching, pushing, caring and celebrating with me.
As the day ends, I realize its time to move ahead. Realize that the expectations from me for me and others have increased. Realize that bar has been raised higher. Realize that the scope for repeating mistakes is diminishing. Realize that ‘what I need to learn’ is the only metric that is on a continuous incline. Realize that I’ve not been bad, but there is “large opportunity for improvement” (consulting jargon for “not performing to optimum”). Realize that things are and will be the way they are supposed to be.
This is an open invitation to all to join into the party of “getting kicked around”. Looking forward to the journey ahead.
Design Thinking – The way of Leaders
April 17th, 2011 § 4 Comments
Design thinking has quickly become a norm in the world. Much is being said and talked about. I came across the term “Design Thinking” about 6 months ago when Santhan spoke about how the Patanjali Yoga Sutras are structured. Been exploring the term and its meaning since then.
As I understand it, Design Thinking is a process of problem solving that enables efficient and effective solutioning. I cannot but agree with different thought leaders that a Design Thinking approach to problem solving is perhaps the most efficient method. I also totally agree that design thinking is an attitude, the attitude that produces the leaders who are capable of transforming the world.
Design thinking is not just for designers. Its for all leaders, managers and people who are faced with complex challenges and want to solve them. Its unfortunately not taught at school though I wish it was, but its perhaps the most important tool in the arsenal of a transformational leader.
From reading and my own experience I think that Design Thinking can be divided in to a 3 step process. The three steps are not linear but an iterative cycle.
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Articulating the challenge
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Understanding the constraints
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Creating a solution
This is obviously not as simplistic as it sounds. There is much texture to each stage of the process and as I apply it more, I’m able to understand the process that better. Also like I said earlier, its an attitude to apply the process/principle to all situations, including understanding design thinking.
Each step of the process is paramount. Without definitive clarity on the challenge, it is very difficult to conceive a good solution. There are several ways to go about articulating the problem. One of the methods to arrive at a good problem statement is empathy. Its my personal favourite. The more we can listen deeply to those connected with the problem, the better we are able to articulate the problem statement.
When I talk of understanding constraints, it refers to those parameters related to the problem that cannot be overlooked during design. Brainstorming is a very effective tool in being able to populate the constraints involved. More often than not there are several unstated constraints in the problem statement. The more exhaustive the understanding of constraints, the more effective the solution. I’ve seen that it also helps in prioritizing the constraints.
The final stage is to create the solution. This is the answer to the problem statement, based on the constraints pertaining to the problem. Prototyping is often discussed as a very effective tool. A friend once said “Fail.Fast.Forward” Creating quick and dirty prototypes ready for deployment is a good approach in creating the solution. I’ve personally not been able to make much progress in prototyping, but try to make it one of the constraints of my design process. It has worked particularly well when the solution is only for private consumption.
Each stage thus is important, there is no by-passing, and each stage is complex yet simple. Over the years I’ve come to believe much in experiential learning. The best way to learn and cultivate design thinking is to consciously apply it. It will soon become a way of life.
I’ve collected some good resources to understand Design Thinking http://bit.ly/hLd9qQ These resources have helped me shape my understanding of design thinking and have given me the vocabulary to get deeper into my practice. It gets me to believe, one doesn’t necessarily need to go to design school to learn design thinking!
Miracle called Deep Red Ink
November 4th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Deep Red Ink, as I think about the name it reminds me of the explanation behind the name which ran into number of pages. Well today I will consider it as an accomplishment as CEO of Dot Now Social. But when I accepted the invitation of Santhan and Deepti to be part of the ecology it was an easy, obvious and humbling choice.
DRI is an ecology formed to support great ideas. DRI is not any other business, not one that can be defined by the boundaries of capacity and limitation of bandwidth. DRI is a “concept business” which is all about supporting great ideas driven by passionate entrepreneurs.
DRI is a concept business, in many ways but this is my favorite, because of the way it is structured. DRI is an ecology of 6 partners.Santhan, Deepti, Anil, Netrix, Quick Silver & Dot Now Social. The structure of the partnership is that all revenues are divided between the 6 partners equally irrespective of who participates in a particular project in what capacity. I’ve been enamored by entrepreneurship and enterprises for over 4 years, and have studied business models with the vigor of a geek, but DRI beats them all. To common sense it does not appeal, nor does it sound totally logical, even remotely viable. But it is perhaps the most interesting journey of my entrepreneurial journey to see DRI evolve as a sustainable, profitable and growing business.
I’m very glad to be part of the DRI experience. Please read the original post to get the whole picture. Thanks All.
Joy of Facilitation
October 22nd, 2010 § 1 Comment
In August 2009 I attended a workshop organized by Bhumi called Leading to Light. It was a workshop on Personal Mastery and Transformational Communication. I had the amazing opportunity to meet a host of trainers who delivered the wonderful program. I liked the job they were doing and casually inquired what it takes to be a trainer.
At Leading to Light I had the life changing opportunity to meet Kiran Gulrajani. He told me that I’m meant to be a facilitator (from my birth date). He also mentioned to me about a unique program he conducts for facilitators called Tao of Facilitation. Prior to meeting Kiran also I had done some training and facilitation.
I continued to wonder how the facilitation journey (actually revenue stream) will take shape. Kiran kept in touch. When Kiran was conducting Tao of Facilitation (ToF) in Hyderabad in Dec 2009, he cushed (loving push) me into the program. ToF was perhaps the single most important element in my journey of facilitation, I can say this in hindsight. We learnt much about ourselves during the program and I came out of the sessions thinking deeply about myself. I also wondered how this was remotely connected to facilitation.
The journey moved on and I kept meeting people in different capacities. When I started paying attention to the different capacities I was involved in one day I suddenly realized I was a facilitator in many ways. I was facilitator as a management consultant, I was a facilitator on the negotiating table, I was a facilitator as a mentor to my team and obviously I was a facilitator while delivering training programs. This revelation that facilitation was part and parcel of my life began to show how few ToF learning I was able to apply in situations. As I became aware that I’m a facilitator the approach to the situations came from depths of the self which would invariably benefit scene of application.
Recently I facilitated a small session at a Bhumi Personal Mastery session. As I could quietly apply what I had learnt at ToF it was a truly joyful experience. While there is much to learn and a long way to go to be a good facilitator, what remains underlined is the Joy of Facilitation.
That’s the story from Tao of Facilitation to Joy of Facilitation.
Customer Feedback – SBI Best Practice
June 11th, 2010 § 10 Comments
Couple of months ago I was at a conference organized by Conscious Capitalism Institute in Mumbai. Easily the best session was by Mr. O.P.Bhatt the chairman of the State Bank of India. The man being credited with turning around the giant public sector enterprise. He spoke in depth about the “Parivartan” (meaning “change”) program which touched every single employee at the bank. The strategic initiatives of getting their basics right are obviously visible with the bank’s stock performing much better than the market.
There are a couple of things that he said I would like to highlight before talking about the SBI case. One was the initiative to sensitize the staff of the bank that the average customer who has a savings bank account with Rs.5000 balance or a Rs.50000 fixed deposit, its lakhs of these average customers who provide the bank with required cash to conduct its earning ways. The other was about Parivartan2, a program to help the employees of SBI find purpose in their job.
To see SBI and its functionality for myself, few weeks ago I stepped into a newly opened branch in Hyderabad. Quite expectedly I had to move from one counter to another to another in a small branch of 6-7 employees to open a savings bank account. Finally the assistant branch manager gave me a form and thats all he could do. He couldn’t tell me about the features of the account, detail forget selling it to me. Obviously disappointed with I began to walk out while i noticed a print-out stuck on the wall which read “If not satisfied with our service please SMS “UNHAPPY” to 8008202020 I immediately messaged UNHAPPY to that number, not expecting much from a Govt. run bank.
Much to my surprise I got a call from the local head office enquiring about my grievance. Once I explained to them what had happened, the assistant branch manager called me to ask me why I complained. I tried to reason that I was present in the capacity of a customer and was to be treated like one, not as a burden. Thoroughly disappointed by their rather rude behavior again I text messaged UNHAPPY.
Within half an hour I received a call from the branch manager politely enquiring about the incident. After giving me a patient hearing, he apologized and invited me to pay a visit again to the branch the next week with in which period he wanted to “counsel” his staff about behaving better with customers. Not convinced by his explanation (which I truly thought was very appropriate) I said I required to open an account immediately and couldn’t wait for his improvement of service and that I needed to choose my banker soon. He immediately as a gesture offered to personally come down to my office, take the required documents and open my account.
This was an excellent experience but it didn’t end there. Couple of days back I received another call from the Local head office enquiring about the status of my complaint, if it had been resolved, if I needed to escalate it etc. This follow up was again impressive.
The entire experience left me spell bound. A Govt. Run enterprise, with supposed red tape, with one of the strongest banking employee unions was able to deliver this kind of service. First round of applause for the bold initiative to take up asking customers to complain at will through a simple text message. Second round of applause to the branch manager, who would be a fairly senior officer, dealing with smallest of customers (just a savings bank account with a minimum balance of Rs.1000), carefully treading the path of managing his staff who would be protected by very strong labor laws & unions by not taking action but by “counseling” them. Third applause for following up and making sure the grievance is being attended to.
Since the experience my respect for the banking giant, SBI, has grown a notch higher. It makes me wonder what stops every business in the service industry from putting in place such a strong feedback system. It is more than worth investing in feedback from customers. If an elephant like SBI can do it, so can everyone else. Looking forward to my clients of the service industry implementing such robust feedback mechanisms and that this fever spreads across the world. Businesses which are not customer centric will have to fade away into oblivion.
UPDATE: SMS UNHAPPY has been nominated for eIndia mGovernance initiative of the Year Award. It is being implemented across 1100 SBI branches in AP serving over 14 million customers. In 6 months they have received 11000 complaints and have resolved 96% of them. ISB has taken up the project as a case study and is likely to implement it as part of course curriculum. Read more. Vote for SMS UNHAPPY.
