Confusions-galore

Yesterday I was asked a couple of questions by 2 "mutually exclusive" people - what do I want to do? How long do I intend to stay in the US? I suddenly realised that an immediate answer was not possible since it involved work, personal life and all the fundings towards the balance sheet of my life's finances (actually at this point in time - 2 of us) and I have to decide. Something I want to balance out are opportunities that exist at a time and the opportunities that I can create. I would ideally like a good stay but for the fact that money and ambitions are not exactly doing a tango. I guess this blog update is confusion enough.

Stay Hungry Stay Foolish

Four words, but of enormous depth. That's what the graduating students from Stanford got to hear from Steve Jobs. In effect, leading to my principle of - "everything that happens in life, is for a reason and sincerity always pays".
I am seriously planning to take on the PMP certification heads on. Infact, the latest feeling I've been brooding over the weekend is that I'm bored of sleep and I can invest some of the time I sleep into learning new things. After all like JF Kennedy said -

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other"

So lets see if I still have the zest in me for learning!!

Diamond or carbon - subtle choice

It’s not exactly been a bright day at work, especially the fact that the weekend is looming. I've been unable to sleep the whole night with strange thoughts in my dreams. All I've been doing is finishing up things that I needed to have completed at least 2 days ago. There is a lot of research that’s been waiting for my attention and also need to solve a lot of implementation issues. I hate doing this. Not that I cannot do this, but then solving these easily does not impress on higher-ups the fact that I'm capable. Not that I ever think capability is a factor considered for getting to a higher responsibility level. I'm slowly realizing the fact that there is a lot of ability in me that’s being unused. I know for a fact that my financial ability and number playing is extremely good but then after 2 years of latency on this skill, it’s something I feel I'm loosing out on.
I also have a good feeling on project management but I need a little more dabble with the marketing to be sure that I can handle it. According to me, project management is the true outlook of management that utilizes the all-round ability of the manager. The manager has to make the numbers look good, do proper allocation, needs to have knowledge of operations of the field he/she is in, run it successfully and before that plan/strategize it accordingly and sell his plans to superiors and client. A total all-round ability and the icing on the cake - politics involved in every stage. Operations and finance I am confident of handling, resource allocation and planning/strategizing I can improvise with time but marketing is something I've never messed with till now. So guys in project management, you actually are not relishing the pressure you are into. It’s the same as driving a beautiful vehicle at top speeds without ever waiting to enjoy the sounds and mechanics behind it. Till you relish pressure, you are still a piece of carbon resisting to be converted to a diamond.

Debate - new topic yet again!!

Yes folks - another new topic to debate on though for this one I'll try not take sides. The topic is -
"Should a person's appraisal/promotion depend on the performance/capabilities or the experience?"
We newer B-school pass outs would vouch for the former while the old school of thought would go along with the latter. The reasons are simple - path of progress for individual holds the key and experience is a wiser teacher than books. But the first thing I was taught at the B-school was "increasing share holders wealth" which by my simple brain calculation means organization comes first. And stupid being me, have always believed in this. But like my dad always told me, charity is not something to be indulged in when one is a beggar. And the sad part is I never have thought of myself as a beggar. I've always gone along with the decisions, whether right or wrong for my individual perspective, but then as everyone can still see I still get the lowest salaries among batch mates, struggle for almost everything in life and like most losers have lost hope in dreaming for something for myself since meeting my other dear ones need is the higher priority.
On the other hand, bookish knowledge is no great tutor. The vast experience of doing things right and wrong accounts for some amount of points compared to a few people's judgment on ability. And moreover, a leader who has not tasted or understood failure is a risky proposition for the organization. Its equivalent to the fact that riding a bicycle slower is harder than doing the same faster.
But the end result is the fact that given the open market for jobs, the facts for judgment are governed by performance in past, capability, employee morale, retention and organizational value. The major fact I notice missing in my current organization as in many is the last one - organizational value. Higher ups are very evident of the threats posed by bright sub-ordinates and it generally ends in company loosing a valuable person or employee losing faith in the system leading to poorer performances. In either case, organizational goals take a hit and hence decreasing shareholder wealth. But in any case, I'm no Peter Drucker!!

Splendid San Francisco

Finally a place in the US (after San Diego) that I found to my liking - San Francisco or SFO in common terms. A beautiful and green city, with a decent amount of fellow countrymen and locality and a interesting yet down-to-earth downtown. I visited Fremont (places where my friends lived, Indian temple with more authenticity, Indian restaurant) and downtown - Golden Gate Bridge (it was truly a long and high suspension bridge that looks strikingly beautiful in reality than the cold purpose for which it was built), Lombard Street/Crooked Street (nothing can describe the drive up the steep incline of Lombard to stop totally at the stop sign an the very top while coming from the Golden Gate bridge and then through the curves of crooked street and finally down the incline of Lombard again), Pier 39/Fisherman's Warf (a section we can see a lot of street musicians, robot men, hilarious scenes, sea elephants/lions (I actually don't remember what they were) and of course 'machli bazaar' where you can see a lot more than 'machlis') and Union Square (gives one more of the feeling of NY downtown which I am not a fan of). I was also pleasantly surprised to see the greenery and have to acknowledge the fact that it is colder at night, perfect to my liking. The only reason why I would rate San Diego above SFO is for the simple fact that the place has more open space and things here are simple compared to the big cities. And not to mention that I loved the drive from SD to SFO and reverse route. Wonder how it would be if I had taken the scenic route instead of the 7.5 hrs short drive (for the simple fact that I wanted to drive all the way)?
Definitely would love to spend more time in this city than the 1.5 days I spent on the last weekend. Looking forward to being in more such cities too!!