Nautanki - Management Practicals

It's more than a year since our encounter with Ravan. The encounter left some of us shaken, some of us inspired but all of us had something to take away. All managers in the organization (without any exceptions) were nominated to a 2 day leadership training program. Most of us expected to listen to some gyan and maybe catch some shut-eye in the process! There was an expectation setting session with the faculty a few days before the event. There was no agenda. There was this suspense that only heightened each time we tried to probe the faculty for more information. Anu was a tough nut to crack. Make that impossible. Some people thought she was really nuts. She had .. ahem ... some unconventional methods. And 'unconventional' is putting it mildly. There were some folks whose sensitivities were hurt so badly that they even shot a few emails to the leadership team after what they thought was an insult! Being from a theater background of the Ranga Shankara fame, some of us expected some dramatics. And did she indulge us! Those who were not offended, well, let's just say - have a higher humor quotient ;)

A lesson in punctuality
On day one, Anu and most of us were on time. But she refused to start the program till everyone was accounted for. There was one person who was really late. She didn't start till he came in. We sat there for a good two hours, doing nothing. And you can imagine how embarrassed the latecomer was. It's unlikely that he will ever be late for another event in his life! A little extreme, but damn effective.

The Ice Breaker
We got around in a circle and were given some time to think of an adjective that we'd have to say along with our name while introducing ourselves. The adjective had to start with the same letter as our name and it had to be acted out. So when I said Naughty Nibu, I had to do so with a naughty expression. The next person had to remember and act out the previous person's name and adjective before introducing himself/herself. It was a challenge to remember all the adjectives and actions, leave alone the names, after a while. This was real fun. Especially since some people chose to introduce themselves with adjectives like 'adamant' and even fell to the ground kicking their hands and legs to act the word! Made life really difficult for those who had to do the introductions later.

The Plot
Once the team had assembled, she breaks the news. We were to be split into smaller teams. The teams were split based on the inputs we provided in the trailer session about our skills and interests. One team would be the actors, another would be the HR team, then a marketing and sales team, a script writing team, a stage management team, a finance team and a facilities team. The task was to come out with a skit and manage the whole event like professionals. Each team had to come up with its goals and road-map to achieve those goals. Work was clearly cut out for each team with little to no help from the faculty. We were given a budget to work with, had to actually sell tickets and also come up with a profit. Some of us were shocked! "Are you sure it is real money?" someone asked!
How could we? Most of us who had no experience whatsoever in this area, except for the drama during appraisals. We didn't even have experience as an audience! And they are expecting us to put on a performance worthy enough to sell tickets. But nevertheless, we decided to roll up our sleeves and take things one step at a time.

The Twist
We had a day and a half for the project. Almost half a day almost was spent waiting for the latecomer, remember? The script writers got down to writing the script. There were some strange ideas that were thrown across. It had to be mythology. And of course it had to have a twist. One of the twists was to have the Ram character run off with Ravan. But that was dumped since it would surely hurt sentiments. Besides, there was article 370 to worry about!
Finally, it was decided. Sita would run off with the tech support guy. Yeah there was one.

Full House and More
Imagine marketing and selling something you aren't confident about. You don't know what the end product will turn out to be! No one knows. But you still need to convince the customer (your colleagues who will see you again and again much after the show!) of what an awesome show it would be. We would than have to close our eyes, bow our heads, and pray! But this is probably one of the biggest lessons we learned. To simply do your part as best as you can. Assume everyone else is thinking along the same lines. If everyone ensures that it's nothing but the best, the overall effort would have to be great. The show was sold out in a short span of time. In fact, there was so much of interest that we had to create a new category of tickets for those willing to stand throughout the show. We sold those tickets till the last minute before the show. And as if this was not enough, we had to negotiate with the local politician (our real HR) who was insisting on free seats (planned earlier to check our negotiation skills)! Enough hype was created to get our colleagues curious about what their managers were up to. Pictures like this one worked!

All the rehearsals happened adjacent to the cafeteria. There was lots of music and noise and makeup. Posters were created. And teasers were sent out. Like this one about Good news and Bad news. 

We have some Good news and some Bad news.

The Good News: Since a picture speaks more than a thousand words, here’s a picture of what you could be part of :)

 

The Bad News: Rs 40 tickets and half of Rs 20 tickets are all sold out, even before we could get the poster ready! So hurry and grab the last few tickets!

We even went floor to floor to 'drum' up support. And yeah we really used a drum! 

Revelations
A professional light crew was called in to set up the stage. We were working on a budget. Costumes were hired and everyone worked like there was no tomorrow. In fact there wasn't a tomorrow! Anyone who saw the first rehearsal would have probably asked for their money back! But after each rehearsal, it started to fall in place. The actors also started to improvise on the script. Amir Khan would have been proud of the final show. The final show was a roaring success.

Complete with the right numbers belted out, dances, even things that were not meant to be funny, tickled the crowd! The whistles might have made a few people deaf. And it did end with shouts of "Once more!", "Once more"!

And of course we made a profit. Not just in monetary terms, but also in practical knowledge that some people call wisdom.

Curtains
Such an event is highly recommended for any organization that is trying to get it's managers to work together. That's probably all organizations, huh? The biggest challenge would probably be in freeing them all up at the same time. But you won't get a better opportunity to see how well your wing men (and women) can manage the show in their  absence. Though we are a relatively small company, not everyone knew each other well. This was a great opportunity to get to back-slapping terms. The whole thing was like being shoved into a pool to learn how to swim. Anyone who didn't know how to swim would not only learn to swim, but also learn how to search and rescue!

The Other Cheek

Don't you love cryptic titles? Especially like this one. I know a few heartbeats that might have just skipped a beat. But thankfully for some, we are not going to visit the cardiology department today. However, we might be seeing a certain 'cheeky' doctor.

In this post, let's look at the value of the STC membership and try and understand why it is still perceived to be so low in India. The first part has been beaten to death. Here's a nice place you can read about STC Membership Cost Benefits And Value. It's the second part (low perceived value) that's being discussed here. What are some of the things that we expect (or could try) to see better value (and thus numbers). Here are a few thoughts and ideas to set the ball rolling. 

If you have ideas, and I'm sure you do, please use the comment feature below.

What are you selling? Sell value instead of memberships

• But first you need to create value and show value before you can try to sell it. Because clearly, not everyone see's as much value as is being marketed. So if people don't see it, is it really there? You know... that saying... "If a tree falls in the jungle and no one hears it... "! People aren't buying what you are selling. At least most of them aren't. So find out what they would buy instead. If you ask me, the day you disconnect the membership and the annual conference, you'll see an exodus. Me included.
• A good start point is to conduct a survey with your target audience. Include everyone who has ever been an STC member. Design a survey with the 'right' questions. Find out why they joined and what made them leave? Would they join again? Why? Why not? People aren't going to sign up (especially after the conference) just because of the discount. As I first heard from Mak, It's all about the value. Value is the difference between the price of something and what we get in return. The difference. Not just what we get in return. Make sure that the difference is positive. Kumar Dhanagopalan, had very long ago beautifully equated the price of STC membership to being less than the price you'd pay for having a cup of coffee every day (for a year). It's probably time to find out why more and more people are preferring that coffee instead:)
  
• Conduct another survey for sponsors and organizations. Similar questions. While targeting individuals, simultaneously target the corporates. Needless to say, the stuff that makes organizations tick, is very different. But it's the same marketing/sponsorship dollar that is being fought for.
  I'd also go to the extent to say that it's because corporates sponsor their employees, that many don't become members. The only value they see is the conference. And that is sponsored for them by their companies. Stop selling them the conference. Sell them the value of membership.
  
• There's no use complaining that US STC doesn't do anything for us. Why do we see 500 plus writers attending a conference, yet we struggle to get even a quarter of them as members? Let's also remember that it's a democracy. If we want to be heard and considered as an entity that needs to be reckoned with, we have to get a voice on the board. We should get Mak or someone like him to be that voice. There's your big hairy goal. To do that, we need enough votes. The last time I checked, population and community was the least of our problems.
• Remember: If your goal is the sky, you must aim beyond, for the stars. Pun intended.

Learning Sessions:

• Assist city reps with contacts for good speakers. Rs 250 worth gift vouchers for a speaker doesn't make sense. Nada. That won't even cover fuel costs. There's money in the bank. Isn't the chapter a non profit org? Then that's probably one of the best ways to spend money. Not every paper submitted to the conference makes it. But that doesn't mean there was no merit in the proposal. In some cases, it might simply be the sign of a gamble gone wrong. Encourage those speakers by inviting them to present topics that were not selected for the annual conference. When you spend so much time in selecting papers for the annual conference, learning sessions also deserves the same effort and attention. Otherwise, membership becomes all about the conference. Nothing more.
• Charge a nominal amount as fee from the audience. Keep it free for members. You are creating recurring value right there.
• Conduct free sessions for students. Recruit faculty from the community and outside. Make sure they are well compensated and accountable. Yup, there's money in the bank.
• Can we gamify membership? Give credits to members. We have PDU in PMI. Look it up. Or something more interesting. Can we create such an experience? 

Certification

• There was an excellent point made by someone on the TWIN group. Start conducting exams for Tech Writers. Would help in hiring decisions. When you hire a writer, what is the minimum knowledge/skill that you'd expect? Create a program that you can build consensus around. When I service my car, I interact with various service advisers. I realize that some of them haven't even read the manual! What's the minimum knowledge they should know about the car? Why don't auto companies certify them? Can we think along those lines?
• Tie up with Training Institutes and get them to give STC members a discount. Nothing wrong in back rubbing. Especially when there's a severe itch.

Leadership

OK, probably getting into a touchy subject. Especially after recent 'events'. We all agree that there is no shortage of capable leaders. There would be more interest to be part of an organization with a strong and inspiring leadership. That's a no brainer.
The question to be answered is, How do you answer their WIIFM question? Of course STC is a not-for-profit-organization. But that doesn't mean you don't cover costs. And there will be some who get their kick from just the position itself. But how well that's worked is anyones guess. I'd make the experience more rewarding. We would then have responsible people who are accountable. Not those who hide behind the 'you-don't-pay-me-for-it' argument. 

These are just a few ideas. Do that survey. Let people surprise you with their thoughts. Let's play 'other' games. 

And I hope you still remember the match. Because the cheeky title has its roots there. The participant that didn't do so well is making commendable attempts at the title. And the way things are moving, the sequel round looks very promising. There will be blood. Script writers are already preparing for Rocky X!
But one of the players (you decide which one) is in a small mess and has probably chosen the 'show-them-the-other-cheek' route. But there's obviously some mistake. 

Because clearly, it's not the cheek on the face that is showing.

Design Thinking and Serendipity at BHive Workspaces

The word 'design' - it’s such a crowd puller. You attend a session titled 'design thinking' with the expectation of getting close to a breakthrough idea. Or simply for serendipity. And Mukesh Gupta didn’t disappoint, on both counts. And it turns out that I was not the only one who thought the session was really insightful. It's got a five star rating on the meetup.

Venue

The venue itself was a ‘beehive’, even at 7 in the evening. There was a lot of activity. BHive Workspaces is an incubator for entrepreneurs who need office space and everything else that comes with it (including coffee!), without actually having to make a capital investment. The idea of renting out cubicles/office space on a small scale isn’t new. But there is a certain excitement and energy about the place that you couldn't possibly miss. I came to know about the event when a friend shared information about the meetup on a social network.

A Plug 

Before the presentation started, there were a couple of 'part-time' entrepreneurs looking to test and solicit feedback for their app called ShareCard. The mobile app is designed to help you connect with people with similar interests during events/conferences. It’s got a simple interface and uses Linkedin credentials for authentication. What’s the idea behind the app? It’s to help you identify and connect with people without going through all that trial and error. And of course, for all those OCD folks out there, that’s that much less hand sanitizer to use in between! So the app uses bluetooth to connect to other folks who have also downloaded the app and are on the 'lookout' to connect.
Interesting stuff. Should be piloted in a larger event.

And finally - Design Thinking

Mukesh is Director - Customer Advocacy at SAP, and has conducted several workshops on design thinking (among other topics). I loved the way he answered questions - pretty convincingly and passionately. He came across as being very well read, and had the articulation necessary to be that really engaging story teller. He certainly makes the list of speakers I'd listen to even if I didn't know what they were going to talk about.
The session started with a round of introductions. Almost everyone attending seemed to have either been involved in a start-up or were seriously thinking about it. Or were somewhere in between. There was even one guy who was serving his notice period and another who had quit corporate life a couple of days back.

To help us understand the concept, he started with a problem. Bangalore’s problem -  garbage. He described the issue; there’s a pile of garbage outside his house and he asked the audience what to do. Some of the creative answers included taking pictures of offenders and posting large cut-outs to embarrass them! There was another one that introduced gamification into the equation. Make it a competition because sometimes the pain of loss is greater than the pleasure of gain! And then there was the idea of fighting the notion of garbage itself. Make people see the value of recycling, reusing and reducing. And that’s when Mukesh brought us back to the real problem. He asked us what we were trying to do. Everyone had jumped right into providing solutions even before first understanding the problem. It was like a smack on the back of the head!

So the first step to design thinking is not to solve but to understand the problem. You can understand it by at least two ways. Observation and interviews. He said we should ask questions like ' Why does it happen, how does it happen, when does it happen, who are the folks impacted by it… etc. to gather insight into the problem. Insight. An excellent definition for insight was when someone has an ‘ah ha’ moment when trying to understand the problem. So you watch the problem happening and you ask questions to everyone involved.

Point of View: The next stage is to identify a point of view. From whose perspective are you trying to solve the problem? This is a very important phase to the problem. Actually the most important. Your insights and solutions will vary significantly depending on whose POV you take. This was explained very beautifully with the garbage example. If you look at it from the house owners point of view (outside whose house the garbage is dumped), the problem is very different from the person who is dumping the garbage. Similarly, the government agency who not only has to pick it up, but also needs to dispose it off safely. So you are basically creating a persona. Yeah, familiar territory :). Like explained above, the needs of each persona are also different.

So in short, POV = insight + persona + need.

Ideation: Once a POV has been established, it’s time to ideate. How have others solved the same problem? How does industry handle it? We simply make a brain dump or use any of the brainstorming methods to list out whatever we can. Get a list of things you can do. Don’t categorize or rate any idea just yet. Use triggers to find different routes. Some people even use a dictionary to randomly choose a word and then by association, try and thrash out a few ideas. Once you have a bunch of ideas, toss a coin to select the best one. Kidding :) It's going to be a tough task. How do you make sure you are selecting a great idea and not just a good idea? How do you select a breakthrough idea as opposed to an interesting one? One way is to go against your intuition and select an idea that seems to be difficult. The idea you select also depends on the problem you are trying to solve. Don't select the first idea that you get. Mukesh drew a graph that plotted ideas against time. The graph showed how ideas started slowly, then peaked and then after a time, starts to drop as ideas start to dry up and then after a little struggle, starts to build momentum again. It's the ideas in the second peak that usually lead to breakthroughs. Usually. Sometimes it just takes an apple :)

When you design anything, you either design it for yourself or for a very particular set of people. As you start to broaden your criteria, you end up trying to please everyone, and that's not had very pleasant endings. So how do you ensure success? Mukesh talked about a thumb rule. Try to build a product that satisfies 5 percent of your early adopters.

He also suggested that brainstorming should be done while on one's feet if you want better ideas. It's got something to do with the fact that for creative solutions, most people look up/throw their head back to 'look' for inspiration. One tries to reach the creative part of the brain. You use a divergent method for creative solutions where you create many options and choose and expand in an iterative manner. However, when you are seated, you tend to put your head down. The 'head down' or convergent approach is also useful sometimes, where you are reaching out to the other side of the brain. Which approach you use really depends on the problem. We continued with the garbage problem and we took up the idea of making garbage valuable. The audience was then told to build the idea. Any idea that took the value proposition forward was accepted and those that didn't, were ignored.

Prototype: The science behind why a prototype brings an idea to life is what it does to the five senses. The moment someone can touch, see, hear your idea, you've already done most of the selling, without the need to say a lot. You've brought something to life. It's alive! Your prototype doesn't have to be anywhere near perfect. In fact, it shouldn't. The primary purpose of your prototype should be to solicit feedback. And this prototype-feedback iteration is done at least a couple of times, till you are confident to make a Beta launch.

Feedback: The most important aspect of seeking feedback is that you should never use the opportunity to defend your design. It's extremely difficult. The ShareCard folks were seeking feedback for their app and one could see the difficulty in keeping quiet and listening without saying anything in defense of their baby. Listen carefully to everything your user is saying. And also remember to listen/hear what they don't say about your product. What they don't say usually tells you more. Videotaping the feedback is highly recommended so that you can revisit it again to garner your 'insight'.

Avoid using questionnaires, especially those that narrow down observations to what you think their answers should be. Your survey essentially should have 3 parts. What they like, what they wish for and then Questions/Comments.

The most innovative solutions lay at the intersection of desirability (appeals to the emotions), Viability (can it be done) and Feasibility.
Design thinking is about using a mindset (that involves people) and a toolset (that involves the process discussed above) in a suitable environment.

When to use design thinking

• Ambiguous situations
• Issues where there are multiple possibilities
• Complex problems

When not to use design thinking

• When the objective is clear.
• When you already know what needs to be done. You just do it.
• When the solution is simple and your need is to use the most obvious fix

 

Another Formula

Your problem statement could use the following structure

How might we __(state issue)__ for __(whom/POV)__.

The Deck

He probably took lots of help from a creative 4 year old to get these slides together:)

Introducing the concepts of Design Thinking from Mukesh Gupta

And that garbage problem? Here's a spark that seems to be turning into wild fire.

Must read books:

• Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
• Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Mukesh has also published a book called Business Prophet. It's a poem that provides simple, practical advice about starting running and exiting businesses.

Did you know? 

Steve Jobs had a fear of buttons. And looking at all the smart phones around, I think it's something that is bloody contagious!