3 years of Management Consulting – Awesome Journey
May 14, 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 17, 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!
Joy of Facilitation
October 22, 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 11, 2010 § 11 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.
10 Key Learnings of 2009
January 8, 2010 § 8 Comments
The difference between knowledge and wisdom is doing. So the learning I’m going to share are not pieces of read text, but the wisdom I gained in the year 2009. Hope many can relate, few can contradict and many more can quicken their journey’s to wisdom through this post.
1. Starting-up is good fun: I myself started two enterprises (NxT Bizness Solutions & Dot Now Social), and worked with few others in 2009. From taking the decision to start-up from understanding of market need, potential customers to actually finalizing the name, registration its all good fun. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the freebies of starting up too; the learning, the hiccups, the obstacles, the glamor etc. I explored my inherent affection for startups in 2009.
2. SMEs are a HUGE market: Studying SMEs for the entire year, taking off from my stint at Milagrow, I realized the potent market of SMEs in India. Realized how much of market need exists, how little is getting met. It was very nice to see many entrepreneurs across the country dealing with this opportunity in their unique way. I also touched base with how little is known about SMEs on the whole. There is a huge gap to fill about understanding SMEs in India.
3. Power of Social Media and Social Technologies: Though I was an early adopter of social media while in college, then graduated into a laggard after I started working. Once on my own, I explored social media encouraged by a study by McKinsey. It is a revolution that is catching up, and what we have experienced is the tip of the iceberg. Social Media and social technologies can greatly aid business. This is beyond marketing and can prove extremely useful through all Conversations of Business.
4. Ecology is the new Business Ethic: Ecologies have existed in business ever since. I got introduced to linkages and ecologies in 2008 during my stint at Milagrow in an all new way. 2009 was the year to grasp the big picture. Co-Creation, Co-evolution, core competence taken to a new level, leverage of strengths (processes, customers, relations etc) and many more forms. I came in touch with very many and truly experienced the power that lay hidden. I’m more than ordinarily convinced that Ecology is the next Business ethic.
5. Culture is the secret of great organizations: Culture is very powerful. It has defined the progress of civilizations of the world. The combination of value system and belief system manifested into practices holds the key to not only civilizations but also organizations. During 2009, I came in touch with several organizations, some had weak cultures, some had strong cultures, some cultures were elevating and some destroying. It was the year of experiencing how culture defines the organization. I also learnt, culture is not for a wall poster, it cannot be “driven in”, it must be identified and not cultivated, in the context of an organization.
6: Relationships of Business: Healthy relationships are the key even in business. But understanding the relations of business goes beyond. Business is done between one who needs and one who provides. As long as the context is business, there is no more, no less. This is the most important lesson of 2009 for me. When there is an existing relation with a person beyond the purview of give and take, it is advisable to think twice about bringing objectivity that is required for business into such a relation. It was extremely difficult for me to build the objectivity (disclosure: I failed at it) into a relation that had business as the newest dimension.
7. USA is a nation built by Entrepreneurs: I read that USA had high business quotient, it was a nation pursuing personal liberty etc. When I visited USA, it was truly an experience (much to my surprise). It was an experience of how the power of individuals has been harnessed to build a nation. I had only come in touch with the fallacies and the ills of this excessive personal liberty leading to unprecedented greed, but experiencing USA was about realizing the collective potential individual endeavor.
8. Control is an Illusion: Like most of us I was one of them who congratulated myself for each achievement and blamed circumstances for all the failures (though I truly deep within knew neither was I totally responsible for success nor failure). 2009 is when I began to accept that events happen and I only did what I could do, I did not control or create any outcome. I began to practice letting go, practice not pursuing the end, but pursuing the means. I began to respect the Hindu philosophy of Karma one more notch higher for it gave the entire civilization the strength to let go and let come without attaching too much value to it. I’m slowly beginning to travel for the purpose of travelling in this journey called Life (be it professionally or personally)
9. Money is not that unimportant: Money to me was always a secondary virtue. Of a lower class of sorts. The year that went by taught me things about money I never properly understood before. 2009 was the year I began to give a lot more respect for money in a manner that I understand its value. I realized “Money can Buy”. Hence never discount it to second grade.
10. I’m not that much of a rookie after all: I began 2009 by moving on from Milagrow to start my own consulting enterprise. For a 21 year old it was quite an important decision, but I made the leap. Many times I thought to myself if at all I’m capable enough to take on the challenges presented by my clients and my startup. But I thoroughly enjoyed many of the solutions I gave to my clients all year through. My clients were much more experienced than me, few of them had done Graduation in Business, one of them in an top 25 B school in the world. But I too added value, enough value that they could acknowledge and appreciate. While I will always be thankful to all of them for having put faith in me and given me an opportunity, I’m also a lot more confident and don’t feel like a rookie anymore.
These are just 10 of the most important ones, and mostly only in the professional domain. 2009 was a bumpy year where I learnt many things both professionally and personally. Elaborating further is beyond the scope of this post, but I’m grateful for all the opportunities I got in 2009, I’m thankful I met the people I did, I’m glad it came, I’m happy it is over!
Management Consulting for Small Businesses – Justifies Existence?
October 23, 2009 § 1 Comment
Historically management consultants are among the most hated professional community in the business world. As a student, when I aspired to be a management consultant, I wondered why glamorous management consultants always frowned about being “hated”. Once I entered the profession as a management consultant is when I truly understood how hated management consultants are.
While there are ethical and unethical people in every industry, act of a few consultants (since the emergence of management consulting) who robbed clients without delivering value can’t be rub against the entire profession of diligent value worshippers. Management consultants, over the years, have emerged to be a very important part of the entire eco-system.
Though Indian businesses are not as consulting conscious as their western counterparts, the trends to employ management consultants has begun to improve. Management consultants still get brick bats while moving in industry circles… Especially when it comes to SMEs management consultants are look at like the famous quote “don’t employ a consultant to tell you time from your watch”. Whenever I come across these people, I so pity them for the lack of knowledge and understanding of the benefits of employing management consultants. (more...)
Power of Simple Networking
September 20, 2009 § 1 Comment
Simple Networking, I mean a meeting with a person irrespective of medium, location or context, is extremely powerful. A simple shake of hands and exchange of “outline bio-data” can prove to be life-changing (very slightly exaggerated). This is possibly true for life in general, but I’d focus only on professionals and about professional contexts.
In the business I’m in, management consulting, one of the most credible channel of business development is through network. Although we envisage the contribution to change in a big way in due course of time, the truth remains that networks generate business. Hence it is imperative that I meet many people, usually of the level of the Head of the Organization (in hope to meet decision-makers to extract quick business). This is amplified by our chosen area of work, Small & Medium Enterprises. “Simple” Networking is thereby a part of life.
I’m sure Simple Networking is the part of everyone’s life and the intensity with which we pursue can influence our progress in a tremendous way. For professionals who are involved in Simple Networking, what I say must be resonating. But it’s not just the intensity of networking, but also the approach to networking is as critical for networking to fetch return.
We are in a world of people and each of us pursues a path of personal incentive. So, when I interact with a person if the interaction is not adding any value to me I would definitely not be interested in continuing. When I say value, I mean bring to the table anything I value: it can be prospective opportunity, knowledge about a topic I’m interested in, delight, entertainment etc. Same applies to me as well. If I can add value to an interaction I strengthen it, and if it is mutual I Network with that person. By networking I establish a relationship that has the potential to generate potential perpetual value.
For example, recently I had the opportunity to meet a person who was involved in an initiative on entrepreneurship and I extended my humble support to that initiative. As part of the interaction I presented another potential opportunity of association and that person immediately agreed. Not only is the association now getting stronger, but also strengthening with this person obliging to connect me to his colleagues as well. The meeting with his person happened unintentionally and co-incidentally when I was visiting someone else over a cup of tea. A Perfect example of “Simple” Networking.
Another time I had the opportunity to meet a professional from an allied industry. We exchanged pleasantries and “outline bio-data”. In weeks we were sitting across the table for a potential opportunity I had found for him. Weeks later we were again sitting across the table with a potential opportunity he had brought for me. Neither of the opportunities actually materialized, but the power of Simple networking played again.
Simple networking can happen anywhere, not only physically. I was approached a couple of years ago by an event coordinator from a premier management institute, who had located me on LinkedIn, to help publicize their event on start-ups in Hyderabad. Even now we interact over Google Talk to share various things related to Innovation, start-ups, incubators etc. There is a potential association brewing, with this person I’ve never even met, for years now which I’m sure will materialize sooner than later.
So I can recollect many simple and shakes which turned out to be strong professional associations due to synergy. But there are some key things to remember. Never over-do. Never hard-sell. Add sufficient value. Be polite yet engaging. Let contribution be two-way. Always follow-up. Relations can be built by one person too. Never hesitate in appreciating. Identify synergy. There are many more, but these are on top of my mind.
Remember that networks can be un-done too. Relationships never last forever. Relationships are forged by doing enough to last, never on their own. In a professional environment once value addition stops there is high likelihood for the association to fall apart. Sometimes it is good but, relationships that are not fruitful, that don’t evoke synergy, that don’t share the same value-system eventually breakdown. Many associations of the past are defunct today because of the same reasons. Some I severed intentionally, some were severed and some were just lost.
So be on the look out to network with the right people. Create mutually beneficial relationships which are strong and lasting. Happy Networking!
Business of Business Plans
September 16, 2009 § 2 Comments
It is getting increasingly interesting to do business plans for highly potent start-ups. To work with entrepreneurs who seek help on developing business models, fleshing out their strategy, understand actual financial projections, is such a beautiful experience. The experience is being enhanced by nice clients who are willing to listen to what we say, instead of using their “I already Know” filter which they are so good at.
The development of business plans for presentation to debt financers and equity investors is different. While both are interested in viability, the investors are people interested in the business as a whole. How the start-up is making the money is as important as how much money is being made. This becomes exciting for a management consultant interested in strategy. To design a business plan to depict operational models, strategy explanation about starting, sustaining and scaling, realistic presentation of market potential, potential impact, super-duper future potential; it’s a joy to do such exercises.
Not being from the finance background, financial projections were not my forte. But applying a amateur frame-work of developing the financial projections, I almost perfectly completed the job, for the first time (ofcourse with in-house expert help). Now doing financial projections and interpreting key ratios being part of my learning kitty, doing business plans is getting even more interesting.
I’m so packed with doing business plans for very interesting industry-agnostic start-ups. I think slowly the start-up practice is taking good shape. Some investor pitches lined-up would add great dimension to our developed expertise. We will become lesser reliant on the experts on board and being to develop our own expertise and frameworks to deal with start-ups.
This is just another testimonial to the power of passion for learning. How one averse to numbers, by simply being passionate about learning can make healthy beginnings and who knows may be succeed. It just shows that reading and keeping channels of learning helps immensely. From newsletters to blogs to expert opinions to interviews, even without formal management education entrepreneurship can be pursued. Learning is such a key element.
Business Plans look an amazing beginning. I hope the over load of business plan work continues and the momentum is sustained. The business of business plans looks exciting.
Business Models of Malls – Interesting new mall in Hyderabad
May 15, 2009 § 1 Comment
Only two weeks ago did a new mall open in Hyderabad. No promotions, a simple press release and on the second day 5 storied parking lot for 700 cars is full, not to mention about the overflow of cars in adjoining neighbourhood. Second weekend, this time the 6 screen multiplex is also open the scene, a replica.
Curiosity of so many people, displayed so vigourously right across the street from my home had to take over. No excuses to not see a the biggest mall in Hyderabad, with an entrance right opposite the entrance to me residence separated by one road 100m wide, branding itself as “brand new experience”. The first invitation from a friend and I was off to experience the “brand new experience”.
Not many stores open, but the few which opened and the rest which announced their opening shortly, tell the story of the mall in adequate detail. Shopper’s Stop, Calvin Klein, Pepe, Tommy Hilfiger, MAC, Inox, among others, have one thing common: their target group A, A+ segments. The multiplex with 6 screens goes to INOX, another brand with elite target segment.
One can clearly observe the mall has been designed to serve elite customers. Capacity of 700 car parking, as a majority of the customers can afford to own cars. Drop-off point in the portico, like in a 5-star hotel for the elite chauffer driven customers. The bigger brands in Hyderabad either wanting to migrate to A segment or already catering to A segment have set-up shop. For example Meena Jewellers, Neeru’s, etc.
This is an interesting feature because there is no such Mall in Hyderabad giving so much importance to economic character of the customers. If the plan I see is right and it goes off the way I see it, this mall will only be frequented by the A+ segment customers. After achieving such profiling of foot falls, the rentals will see a steep rise, comparative to prevailing market conditions. This will be attributed to all those entering A+ segment space will want to see themselves among those at this Mall. The premium that the mall management is trying to build is a good concept. It is indeed happy to see malls being viewed beyond traditional real-estate models with exquisite long-term strategy. Though the other malls have been doing quite a bit to keep the foot falls high, there-by justifying exorbitant rentals. But this mall is different, it seems to have a clear cut strategy to create value addition in a long term perspective and thereby command the premium.
It is good to see the entrepreneurial spirit in one of the leading Family-run business of Hyderabad/Andhra Pradesh. Hail the entrepreneurial spirit!
Sashank's Learning 