India - Hot Bed of Innovation?

Oracle's Chairman, Mr Jeff Henley has expressed his views on India as next Silicon valley. Read his comments at http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/apr192006/business1945492006418.asp

The following few lines drove me to write this blog.

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Silicon Valley is in danger of losing its crown as home of the technology start-up as India is on course to become the new hotbed of innovation, according to the Chairman of Oracle, the world’s second largest software group.
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Though my views are pessimistic, yet worth contemplating.

Look at the level of innovation done at universities in India. You can't compare IISC with MIT. Neither can you compare IIMs with Harvard or Stanford. The differentiation lies with the quality of teaching, infrastructure, research activities, etc etc. Nevertheless there is some level of innovation done in IISC. But IIMs, forget it!!! It's all a salary machine. If US has reached top, it's because of the level of education and innovation done at these universities. Bill Gates might be a drop out, but not Steve Ballmer. To become a niche market in Technology innovation, India either import people from these universities or start its own universities which are competitive. Mere outsourcing/offshoring(as done by Oracle) may not improve the level of Technology Innovation to that extent.

India's revenue has grown because of burgeoning services sector. The contribution of products market is very less (though I don't have the figures right away to support my views). Here is a very crucial thought! How much innovation really happens or required in Services sphere? Talk to biggies in Services companies, you will get to realize it. Though there may be some level of process innovation, but definitely very less Technology innovation.

So then where is the question of India becoming the "HOT BED" of Technology Innovation?

Thanks
Bijaya

My idea of a good Leader!!!!

Not all leaders are made in heaven. Some of them are "born-leaders" and others are "carved-leaders". A good leader always brings the best in a person no matter how bad the other person be.

I am trying to jot down some of the important traits(that I think) of a good leader.

"A good driver doesn't complain about the bumpy road":
A leader must play well under pressure. Dravid and Ponting have set good examples in recent times. They lead from front whenever situation demands.

"I would love to play Back-hand like Federer, I would love to Bat like Sachin ":
A leader must set an example in the team. Followers learn from the leaders. Every act of him must reflect his personality.

"Bill Gates called me up to ask how am I doing. I feel so great":
A leader must possess the ability to motivate people under any circumstances.Motivations do wonder for many people.

"My wife complains about my working hours"
A leader must provoke productivity in people.He must make people understand that working long hours, working on week ends don't necessarily mean that they are great workers.

"I think Out-Of-The-Box....":
A leader must bring creativity in a team. You don't deserve to go up unless you bring innovative solutions to problems.

"I work for fun...":
A leader must encourage professionalism. Professionalism may be a very hyped word across the industries. But that's what matters the most. It's all about having a good attitude towards work. When you love something/somebody you do things proactively. You tend to think beyond your immediate responsibilities and do other things which you think may be a value add. That's what called professionalism. People need to understand that they themselves are responsible for their future. Unless they show prfessionalism, they will be left behind.

"I am a studd guy..I do everything..."
A leader must promote dynamism in the team.He must encourage peole to do different things in life(not necessarily related to work). That helps people to become more creative.

"We found a solution during lunch time..."
A leader must build a team which believe in problem solving through discussion. Ask yourself a question: How many times your problems are solved over a cup of coffee or in a board meeing. Discussions are very crucial in a corporate life. The more you discuss, the better. It actually brings different prospectives to a problem. You tend to get multiple views on the same problem. That's why you end up taking a "wise" decision. More importantly it makes the participants think more on a topic and that's we need at end of a day,"thinking workers" .

By no means this list is comprehensive. Please add your valuable points.

-Bijay

Evening with Underprivileged Kids

"Excuse me", “I am sorry”!!! Of course I would never expect to hear these words from under-privileged children. I was under the impression that these people need to be helped in anything and everything they do. But that stupid thought of mine changed when I visited one of the schools for blind children. They showed high degree of discipline, be it prayer or dinner or anything you can think of. I saw one guy coming in, keeping his chappals outside and then entering into the dining hall. Everything was perfected to the extent one can think of. Another guy was punished for "eating during prayer". This is what we all were very used to when we were children. They are treated as normal human beings, they are taught to lead a normal life without complaining about their physical deficiencies. We need to learn this mental mastery from these small kids. We come across so many difficulties in life and simply accept defeat sometime. We must learn to "fight-enjoy-win" the challenges under any circumsatnces.

Though God has not provided them the opportunity to see the world around, yet they are determined to fight the obvious difficulties in life. They do work on computers, workshops, etc. I heard one of their senior guys' is now a Program Director in one of the companies earning 20k per month. They were so proud to say that. As human beings, we need to derive pride and happiness in whatever we do. Simultaneously we must derive satisfaction from other's achievements. This definitely reduces lot of our day-to-day worries and help us leading a happy life.

-Bijay

Bangladesh beating Australia???

In the current test match, if Bangladesh wins/looses, then what does it mean?

As I said in one of my blogs, you need to aim for the impossible. If BAN thinks that beating AUS is impossible and that's what their target is; then they may achieve that or they may fall short as well. To win, then need to aim for something which is more impossible than beating AUS, eg, thinking and internalising the determination to win the series by 3-0. This way, even if they win 1 match, they will still remain focussed and hungry for more. But from the Cricket fan's point of view, it will become a great victory.

-Bijay

Goal ~ Learnings from Cricket

There is a saying in the corporate world: "Set a goal which you feel is difficult to achieve". How correct is this? Does this mean that I should set a goal which I think I can never achieve? Shall I set a goal like: "I will be the President of this country someday" or "I will be a CEO 20 years down the line" or "I will be a world champion Tennis player in next 5 years". Well all of these sound so good and great, yet how many of us actually think of setting such bigger goals?

All achievements start with a dream and finally you realise it. You set your goal such that everytime you go one step ahead, you feel there is more pain and therefore more gain ahead! Is it good or bad? Well my point of view : You must be happy wherever you are, but there should always be a thirst for "more" ("ye dil mange more"). And always keep in mind! You must enjoy the journey, no matter what the end result is!!! The longer the journey, the higher the satisfaction!!!

Now let us try to analyse some of the cases in Cricket! Richard Hardley set a record of 431 wickets in history of cricket and that remained untouched for quite sometime. It became a milestone for somany players like Kapil Dev. Kapil finally ended up achieving that. Now had Richard Hardley not set such a goal, Kapil might have ended up taking less wickets, probably 350+. The learning to drive home: When you feel the goal is impossible and away from you, you drag yourself with belief that you will reach there someday.Finally you reach there due to sheer will power, self-belief and sincerity. The harder n tougher the goal, the better it is!!!

Now let us analyse from a different angle. What happened when people saw that Kapil achieved that target too? They thought it is "easy". Kumble, Warne, Walsh and Murli thought, they can surpass that record easily and they did it. It is a fact that they turned that record looks very ordinary. What does it mean? It says: No matter how big your goal is, there always remains a goal higher and bigger than that. So never get complacent when you reach there. Keep going!!! That's what Murli and Warne doing.

Now come to Sachin! My best ever player! Now he looks satisfied with his achievements. He probably thinks that he has done enough, broke all records. But my dear!!! it's not yet over. It looks like he had set a record to reach 34 Test hundreds and there he is! satisfied, contended and proud. Well! If I were to teach him, I would say: Reaching the expectation and target is always challenging, but maintaining them is much more challenging. That's what expected from Greeat Guns!

Thanks
Bijaya