Auf Wiederluege Zurich

They say parting is such sweet sorrow however ever since I left Zurich last Friday the sun has followed me (and the rest of Europe) around. A nice warm weekend at home in Biarritz (where I saw the delights of the Netherlands and Belgium from the comfort of my garage) and an easy start to the week, before two days in Paris where the temperature was up around 30C! I’m back home now, and I will work from here for the rest of the week. What a difference to Accenture – I don’t think I ever had a week where I worked from home for 3 days in any given week!

I was up in Paris to talk to a bank about data. We had also flown another expert from the US to France for this meeting as well. One of the things I said I wanted when I changed jobs was to learn new things and I can honestly say it was interesting listening to her during the client meeting – I genuinely learnt a lot from her and it was nice to feel that I was picking up new information (about BPO and ITO).

I also took the opportunity to see an old friend at La Défense who I hadn’t seen since I left Accenture. I managed to have a quick chat with Jean-Christophe, and hopefully we’ll get the chance to see each other again soon to continue our discussions. He’s a good man.

One final idea related to change and people leaving is the fact that one of my favourite columnists in the Economist, Charlemagne, is leaving his post in Brussels. I’ll be sad to see him go. Whilst we are clearly both fans of Continental Europe, and I personally am happy at the thought of being based here in the South of France, we both fear for its future.... “my scepticism is not really towards the EU, but towards Europe as a continent, which feels too old, tired and anxious to compete”. Maybe I am a bit more relaxed than Charlemagne, but that is probably because I’ve hedged my bets by opting to work for an Indian company.

Zurich Safari tinged with sadness

It's not everyday that you stumble across an Indian Elephant before 7AM in the morning in Zurich but that is precisely what happened to me today. I went out for my regular morning run in a beautiful forest just next to my snazzy hotel. It turns out there is a zoo in the middle of the forest and I was somewhat taken aback to see a rather large creature with particularly small ears and rather handy looking tusks. Remarkable.

Last night was also really good fun although I woke up this morning with a pang of sadness. I finally managed to catch up with Shane and we had a super evening together. I am a big fan of Zurich - it's a beautiful place filled with beautiful people who are very polite and orderly. It was nice to walk round it with a "local". It's just a shame that he leaves Zurich today to move to Singapore - I would have been really happy to see him every couple of weeks here.

Slummin' It

You must be joking! Before I arrived they told me all the hotels were sold out in Zurich and they only had one left out in the sticks at some knock down price. That plus the fact Wipro is a VERY cost conscious company meant I wasn't too excited about seeing where I am sleeping for the next 3 nights. The taxi ride through some sort of deserted forest only filled me with yet more fear. So imagine my surprise when we turned round a bend and I saw that we were at the top of a hill with a panoramic view of the city of Zurich, lake and all. The sunset was absolutely splendid and the club sandwich went down a treat. I think this might become my home from home if I'm going to be here regularly! That plus the fact I've only got a 10AM start tomorrow put a big smile on my face.

The Hare and the Tortoise

Before I left Accenture I spoke to Royce. Whilst I reflected on what he said to me quite extensively, I only got round to writing it down electronically today. The key things he said were be clear on where you want to go, understand what your personal brand is, and be clear on what you need to do to get to the next level. On writing it down, what I realised is that none of these things can be completed / achieved / done overnight. Whilst it is great to crack on, do 100 things at once, and get them all done quickly, there are certain other things in life which just take time e.g. getting to the next level, establishing a personal brand or reputation, or just working your way through your career more generally. Maybe the Tortoise really is as wily as the Fox, but what is certain is that neither of them is as rich as Royce - what a fortune he and all the other old school partners made out of Accenture's IPO all those years ago!

It's tough at the top for the frogs, although at least they aren't North Korean

This week is a big week for both France and England in the World Cup.

It's funny to be an almost impartial bystander in France - they are putting in an awful performance at the minute after having "stolen" their place in the competition in a game against Ireland. The French have even sent home Nicolas Anelka and the captain, Patrice Evra, says that he's not the bad guy despite publicly insulting the manager. They play the host nation, South Africa tomorrow at 3PM. It's a shame I need to get a plane to Zurich at 4PM but I'll definitely be interested in the outcome when I land. It just goes to show that you need to be careful for what you wish for, because your wish must just come true.

England plays on Wednesday and with a bit of luck they'll perform better than the games against the US and Algeria. I’ll be trying to arrange my client meetings such that I can catch a glimpse of it somewhere in Switzerland.

I’ll spend the rest of the week in Switzerland where three of my key clients are based, coming back to Pau on Friday night. It’s nice to have worked all over Continental Europe over the last 10 years because I’ve got a few friends in most places – I’ll be seeing my old pal Shane this week. It’s his last week in Zurich before he relocates to Singapore so it will be nice to see him before he goes.

Anyway, back to Spain versus Honduras…although spare a thought for the North Koreans who were hammered 7-0 by Portugal this afternoon. I dread to think what Kim Jong Il has in store for them on their return…..

Two Trick Pony

I've completed my second week of the new job. Some of the key things that have struck me are as follows....

I am still really impressed by the can-do attitude. At one stage this week I even met one of the admin staff at 7.30AM at Liverpool Street Station just so she could pick up some passport photographs so she could go through the 24 hour process for sorting out my Indian visa before she went on holiday on Friday.

I also had my first clients meetings as a Wipro employee. After lots of inductions courses and teething problems with technology, it was nice to be back doing what I really like; i.e. listening to people (clients) and trying to understand their business and suggest sensible solutions. I received some very positive feedback from the client via the account team so that was nice as well. That said it has meant they now want me to go back and work there full time for a month which isn’t going to work given all the other clients I need to see over the next few weeks!

The other major thing which struck me is that my role and responsibilities are very different from Accenture. I am no longer running large teams delivering projects. I am most definitely in the sales force with clearly defined sales targets. Time will tell whether or not this change suits me – although I already fear that I am going to miss running a team. We’ll see. On the other hand what is certain is that I am enjoying learning a whole new set of skills…..it’s definitely different, and over time I think I’ll definitely become a two trick pony.

As for next week, I’ll work from home tomorrow and then I could well be off to Zurich for a few days. Hopefully that should be confirmed tomorrow. If I can avoid being inconvenienced by the general strike in France on Thursday then I’ll be happy.

One step forwards, two steps back

Just when I thought that I had worked out my relationship with my wife, a brand new Blackberry from Wipro arrived at my home address. Marital bliss has a 24 hour stay of execution however because they haven't supplied the PIN code so I can't configure my email account.....Let me know if you want the number - I'll also put it in my email signature.

Mars, Venus and Belgium

On balance I had a good weekend. Sandie was feeling better for the first time in a couple of months so we even went to the theatre on Saturday evening to see “Men are from Mars and Woman are from Venus”. At first I was a bit apprehensive but in the end I really enjoyed it. We learnt that we are polar opposites on each of 6 key factors in a relationship; competence/relationships, rational/emotional, appreciation/comprehension, sequential/multi-tasking, confidence/express concerns, solve problems individually/solve problems by sharing. I was less concerned about the fact we are different and just happy that we have identified the differences; it reminds me of a quote from an old friend of mine who used to say, “a man’s greatest strength is to know his own limitations”.

Another highpoint of the weekend was the arrival of a couple of cycling DVDs. Now I am no longer restricted to going to Soulan Saint Lary when I want to ride my bike in my garage. Accordingly I had a quick trip around Cape Town on Saturday and I did the Tour of Flanders in Belgium on Sunday. Lovely.

This week it is Paris on Monday Tuesday and a client lunch in the UK on Thursday. It’s definitely very enjoyable to have Biarritz as my base. Yesterday I gave Maxime his bottle of chocolate milk before I left for the airport and I’ll put him to bed tonight. In between I managed to do some work and have dinner with an old friend in Paris. I’m very happy with that mix.

Le Port De France

That's the name of the bar in Orly West from which I am watching SA versus Mexico on a TV that looks like it has been shipped from Africa especially for the game. It’s the end of my first week at Wipro and I’ve already been to Reading, London, Paris and Amsterdam…on the flight back to Paris I tried to gather my thoughts. A summary (admittedly based on very limited information)…..

It is definitely more dynamic and faster moving but one definitely doesn’t see the same rigueur – you don’t always get the feeling that efforts to push things forward are as efficient as they might be. That said, there is a can-do attitude around the whole place that is palpable.

There is a very clear split between the sales and the delivery organizations for 75% of my activities. That said it is clear that it is not a very hierarchical at all – everything is based on ideas and results. Therefore somewhat unsurprisingly, peoples’ focus really is on numbers, numbers, numbers, relationships and then numbers some more (more about this in future posts no doubt).

I like my boss, that the offices are dingy compared to Accenture’s glorious premises, and that I am going to earn lots of air miles and hotel points.

Looking forward – I am definitely keen to see how offshore works – the initial glimpses I got from a conversation this morning are very exciting, from a sales perspective at least.

And a prediction for the football? SA 1 Mexico 3, and Uruguay 2 France 0.

Will I Won't I

Up until 2.08PM yesterday I was going home last night. By 2.09PM they told me I needed to be in Amstserdam this morning. I am here now and it is grey and overcast and it now looks like I will have to watch South Africa Mexico in a bar in Paris Orly West airport this afternoon. I should be home to watch Les Bleus against Uruguay....and to think that could have been the Irish but for Thierry Henry....Hey ho.

50 Pence Chocolate

Things are starting to hot up. I had a really good meeting with my boss today and it confirmed the initial impression that I had of him during the interview process; he’s a very smart fella. I’m looking forward to working for him. He spent a lot of time with me and I am hopeful we’ll agree on most things, now it will just be up to me to make my targets.

The more time I spend there the more good things I see;

It’s abundantly clear that there is a huge amount of work to be done – I have always said that you need to go where the growth is, and I am pretty sure I’ve found that place – it’s a bit of a mad house at times.

That said people are however very friendly and they go out of their way to introduce themselves...I even managed to stumble across a couple of northerners today including one from Ponteland! If I was being cynical I would say that people are friendly because they are all on the lookout for others who might be able to help them with their own workload; in reality I suspect it is more because everyone is so new – I feel less and less like the new boy in the playground.

Something else that is nice is that the office is so small; if you have a problem then official laminated signs invite you to ring Aman, Shiva or Pavan (rather than ringing extension x44856 and then working your way through 37 different menu options). In reality you never ring Aman, Shiva or Pavan because they are sitting about 20 yards away, but it’s a nice cosy office where people do seem to know each other.

Other stuff which is really quite bizarre after 10 years of structure and procedure are no time reports, no WBS or job codes, expenses are only done once a month (or when you fancy really – it’s up to you), and it is clear that there is significantly less bureaucracy (even the process for getting Indian visas seems streamlined). At times it really does feel like a start up...e.g. my boss said to me at 2PM today that he would be keen for me to attend a meeting in Amsterdam on Friday at 9AM...that’s this Friday, in about 36 hours. I’ve also got a laptop that boots up and shuts down in under a minute. Bliss.

One of the best things however has to be the fact that there is a subsidised sweet machine...Snickers for 50 pence. Can’t say fairer than that!

A Mixed Bag

Day 2 has been ok. The end of my days seem to always be better, although this may be linked to the fact they end up in bars with a pint of the black stuff, this time with an old friend from Accenture who joined Wipro about 9 months ago.

Overall a quiet day in the office although it was punctuated with lots of highly frustrating teething problems such as wireless and printer connectivity (you see I'm not doing anything useful yet). I managed to get through my little list of self-imposed tasks for the day so feeling quite positive about life. I also found the time to have my "last supper" in an Accenture building - I dropped off my laptop around lunchtime so I could savour the delights of the Old Bailey canteen for old times' sake. The atmosphere in the Wipro office is quite bizarre - it's a real mix of Europeans and Indians - much more evenly balanced that I had imagined. There's also a real buzz about the place insofar as it's a small open space office and people are quite happy to talk at each others' desks....my iPod is going to become an essential part of my office life, although I fear that my big hefty noise reduction headphones are probably one step too far.

I'm looking forward to meeting my boss tomorrow for 3-4 hours...I suspect that is when the fun will begin. I'm also looking forward to travelling through to Paris tomorrow evening before a day in La Defense on Thursday.

My mate Paul...surely Labour weren't right, were they?

Me and my Dad are fans of Paul Krugman; our Economist is bigger than your Economist if you like. Mr. Krugman has got a fantastic blog....here are two rather interesting postings that suggest that all these austerity measures are a bit stupid.....http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/lost-decade-here-we-come/ and http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/madmen-in-authority/ In summary:

1. Countries have to cut now to show the markets that they are serious about managing debt over the long run.
2. However cutting spending now will mean less economic activity and therefore lower future tax revenues....
3. ...but surely less tax for the government mean it is harder for them to reduce their debt?
4. The folly of it all is that the markets aren't even asking for these cuts apparently.

I like Clegg and Cameron but surely Gordon Brown didn't get it right.....I think I need to leave the UK and move to France. Isn’t schadenfreude bliss; but it’s even better when it’s not accidental....

Day 1

Day 1 finished with my tie off, my cuff links in my pocket and a pint of Guinness so that must be a good sign. The day was centred on a number of standard induction presentations, but the most useful meeting was at the end of the day with the guy I am going to be replacing. Understanding exactly what he does has given me a super insight into what the future has in store for me.
We had presentations on the overall company structure, key HR policies, process and quality management (the third session of the day if you can believe that), IT management, Facility Operations and Finance. The Legal and Compliance guys didn’t turn up but I wasn’t too concerned about that.

I was impressed by a number of things including how structured some of the information was; how Wipro tries to keep all employees on the same page via quarterly “in sync” sessions; an international SOS blue card in case of emergency (somehow I just know I’ll be using that at some stage); how client focused the IT department was (they were able to say which key clients were supported in which countries and they even have a group that is focused on responding to client RFPs); how all of the key applications are online; how easy it seems to be to submit expenses; and even an internal website where eligible Indian bachelors can look for a wife (fantastic!).

In general I was struck by how similar things were to Accenture e.g. a portal, a thorough performance management process, a look up tool, the different types of projects that are performed, the focus on training, Office Communicator, key methodologies, a Knowledge Management tool and the supposed flexibility in choosing where your career goes. I was also struck by the fact that 70% of the 100,000 employees are Indian and that there is a concerted drive in Europe to create a localised workforce – moving from a 20/80 split to a 60/40 split in terms of locals compared to Indians; but the most striking thing was when the guy said that they were in the middle of a brand makeover and that they wanted to be considered in the same way as, yes you guessed it, Accenture. The grass is always greener it seems....

Certain things were however a touch disappointing e.g. a rather shabby office in a dingy London suburb; some of the other people in the induction session who seemed desperate to tell everybody they were Dr. This or Dr. That; awful soggy sandwiches and possibly the worst quote of the day from the Operations manager, “there are two fire marshals, one is me and the other is myself” (worse still was the fact that it was only me who picked up on that faux pas).

The next big meeting is with my direct boss on Wednesday so hopefully things will become even clearer after that. Thanks also to those of you who sent text messages or emails today – I really appreciate it.

D-Day - A marriage made in heaven?

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue....my shoes, my tie, a pencil from the hotel and my suit. We'll see how today goes and if I think it's a match made in heaven by 5PM tonight.

In general I am feeling quite positive. I slept well and my back seems a bit better so all positive signs. When the alarm clock went off at 6AM it was a funny mix of the old routines (up at 6, shave, run, shower, breakfast), with the new - for the first time in 10 years I'm not going to work at Accenture.

More anon, watch this space, Wipro here I come.

It never rains but it pours

Today is my last day before starting at Wipro. I will be flying into the UK later on today ahead of an induction session in Reading tomorrow. The rain is falling in Biarritz this morning; I wouldn't mind if that is what the title of this blog posting referred to, in actual fact it refers to the muscle I've pulled in my back this weekend which is making sleeping, lifting Maxime and even breathing difficult. I'm pig sick of this "holiday" and quite looking forward to getting back to work. If I try to remain optimistic, the high points of my break were spending so much time with Maxime and also being able to read quite a lot. The down points are too numerous to mention so I'll skip over them. It's a funny feeling to be packing a suitcase again - old routines die hard it seems. Maxime is stirring...time to go, a bottle of chocolate milk to prepare.

Right Brain Left Brain

I just finished a very enjoyable book called "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink. Very thought provoking. It talks about how our brain is split in two - a left brain that focuses on logic, sequence, rational stuff, and a right brain that focuses more on the softer skills such as empathy and discerning patterns and relationships. It contends that we moved from an agricultural age to an industrial age to an information age and that we are now moving to what he calls a conceptual age. He suggests that whereas success in the first two ages was dependent on physical strength, success in the information age has been tied to the successful development of the left brain. He goes on to say that if you want to be successful in the conceptual age then you need to supplement the left brain with a more developed right brain. How do you develop your right brain? By focusing on what he calls senses - there are 6 of them including design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning. One of the things I have taken from the book is from the meaning chapter. It outlined the view that the meaning of life has as much to do with the journey, as the overall end point. I'm happy to be going to Wipro and to have the opportunity to discover India. I think that's going to make my journey more interesting if nothing else.

Impressions before First Impressions

I only start at Wipro next Monday and I still have many unanswered questions that I will only be able to resolve once I've walked in the door. That said, I have had two experiences with Wipro since the interview process that have been positive....my boss told me to contact the travel centre to get my hotels arranged for next week - I sent the mail on the Friday evening. I was astounded to get a response on the Saturday morning. The other event was a phone call with the person who I am taking over from - what a nice guy and a very warm welcome - I couldn't get him off the phone at the end (maybe he's just so excited about getting to do something different!). Overall I'm feeling increasingly positive about the new job. With yesterday's news and events of today, maybe I'm turning a corner....