Losing the battle to win the war

When I was in Boston recently I got talking to a New York banker who had responsibility for running a large team, a number of which were based in India. He was every bit the stereotype of a New York Banker. He told me that his solution to the high rates of attrition that one can often see in that part of the world was not to try and create an interesting career experience which would encourage them to stay, but to set up a permanent recruitment function and regularly fire people, even those who were performing, before they got too comfortable and starting looking for other jobs. An interesting theory indeed and one which he obviously told me was working fantastically well for him... However the older I get, the more I believe that in the pursuit of a given goal, so long as you never lose sight of the ultimate end point of where you want to get to, the more you can get agreement with others (which obviously takes a bit more time and absolutely includes accepting to lose some battles along the way), the greater the chance of winning the overall war and making the final solution stick (which are of course two very different things). At the end of our conversation we shook hands and agreed to disagree. I wished him well on his hamster wheel journey of Indian recruitment.

Friend in a sandstorm

Life with a family, job and horse is generally quite busy at the minute. Given that four point five sixths of that ensemble are highly dependent, it means that a lot of time is spent fixing flaming hoovers, transporting dirty nappies from the bathroom to the kitchen bin, and putting the same toys in the same toy box at roughly the same time every day. This has the unfortunate consequence of eating up a lot of time that could be spent doing much more useful and enjoyable things such as talking to friends. Despite our managing to see a lot of our friends in Biarritz this week, it was a phone call with an old work friend in Paris that really put a spring in my step. We used to spend hours talking each day, (or rather he was generous enough to listen to me ramble on for hours on end each day). It was only as a result of talking to him for 30 minutes the other day did I realize how much I missed his company on a daily basis. It was great to catch up with him and gave me new resolve to pick up the phone to catch up with those other friends who are strung out across Europe and further afield.

You aren’t what you do

Something that has struck me recently is the difference between what someone is or has done (their CV if you will), and who someone is (their personality). I think too often we can confuse the two or assume that if the first is impressive, then the second will also be good by default (and vice versa). This is probably a real issue if you take key decisions e.g. hiring or marrying someone, based on the first set of facts, whereas it is only over time that you realize that you should really be trying to understand a mix of both elements before making those key decisions.

False Economy

One of my pet hates is crumbs in the bed – something which can happen because Sandie can be prone to a slice of toast in front of the TV in our room. It has recently become apparent that I much prefer to share a bed with Maxime…. Part of his bed time routine involves reading one of his books in our bed for five minutes before he trundles off to his own room. Last night when I went to bed I was very happy to discover that various cold patches at the foot of the bed were actually one and two euro coins that Maxime had picked up from somewhere in the house but had placed under our quilt. I found a total of 7 euros. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to bed and made money (although on reflection, that in itself is probably a good thing).

In actual fact if I were really cynical, I would say that it was just Maxime trying to redeem himself after having cleaned the inside of the toilet (yes the wet bit), with a vacuum cleaner (yes powered by electricity), earlier in the day. He claimed to have seen “fire” coming out of the hoover, but in any case I think we can rest assured that the 7 euros, (which probably belonged to me in any case), is insufficient to mend this most essential of household appliances. I really think I need to start making a list of all the things that have broken in the house since his arrival almost three years ago (carefully phrased because according to his mother, he obviously he doesn’t break anything himself).

Mid Life Abs Crisis

The phenomenon of a mid life identity crisis is well documented, but I think that this is proceeded by a mid-life abs crisis for those people who have been vaguely sporty during their early life. This represents the fact that after the age of 30 it is increasingly difficult to keep in shape largely because of (1) a change in the human body, (2) an increase in disposable income meaning restaurants are a more regular feature of life and (3) the arrival of children. Whereas I have previously suggested that the move into middle age can be linked to one’s relationship with the weather, I now contend that, a week after my 34th birthday, another clear indicator of the onset of middle age is the arrival of some form of home gym equipment, (the “Ab Storm” in my case), despite the clear understanding that it will be heavily underutilized, and end up in a car boot sale in about 5 years time, (assuming it ever makes it out of the box it came in – if it stays in the box it has more chance of being sold on eBay apparently). Trying to squeeze in 15 minutes of exercise sitting in my garage at 6.45AM, listening to the Economist on my iPod whilst straining to hear which child has woken first, is a far cry from previous sorties to the gym whilst still playing football as a youngster…

Back from Boston

I’m back on French soil for my birthday today after an overnight flight from Boston. The trip was fine. It was useful to spend some time with a few European colleagues and to meet some new American ones. It was also enjoyable because for the first time since I arrived I managed to spend some time with a few key clients. So far it’s been a lot of internal reorganization and 2012 planning so it was nice to get back to what I actually like doing.

Boston seemed a nice enough place…I went out for a 5 mile run each day to try and see a bit of the city. However because of the jet lag I ended up going running at around 5AM and because it was pitch black, it meant it was difficult to judge just how nice a place it really was. Away from this rather underwhelming sight seeing, it was also useful to listen to some of the presenters – EMC had wheeled out all the big wigs, so at least I now know the corporate line I am meant to be towing. It was definitely good to get that overview as I think about how to structure my own group in Europe and place demands on our Indian colleagues in Bangalore.

The flight back was ok although at times it felt like the whole of the cabin were taking turns to nudge me to wake me up as they walked past my aisle seat. I dread to think how tortured inmates cope with sleep deprivation although I suspect they don’t get woken up to eat a nice chicken risotto and chocolate brownie.

Jargon Chain

On the plane to Boston this week I was reading a research paper released by Visa Europe on the future of the payments industry. It talked about how Visa Europe wants to “move up the value chain” and become a trusted partner of the retailers not just a transaction processing platform. Throughout the course of the week I kept hearing the phrase “moving up the value chain”. It seems that it is the Holy Grail for everyone from the cleaner to the CEO; it was definitely one of Wipro’s aspirations in Europe, at least before the recent CEO change; and practitioners in the world of Business Intelligence (BI) have often talked about the need to move up the value chain and start talking to the business if they want to be successful.

This got me thinking – what the hell is at the top of the value chain?! What’s the actual end point of this journey up a chain and what does the phrase actually mean….Is the buyer the end point i.e. you’re just trying to get closer to the final consumer who actually does the purchasing? Or is this view a bit simplistic – is not the top of the value chain the person who actually spends his time creating demand in the market place? Or might it even be government agencies that set the rules of the game meaning that lobbying becomes probably the most important corporate activity if you want to move up the value chain? I think the only conclusion I reached is that the phrase is fairly non-descript and that those people who utter it are probably not thinking beyond the end of their noses.

Good Trip

Nothing to do with LSD or any other dubious drugs, more to do simply with the fact that the week in India was a good, er, trip. I managed to see the state of our offshore activities with my own eyes, and I managed to spend a lot of time with my US counterparts and supervisors. Thankfully everyone seems to be pretty much in agreement with my latest view of the world, so all we have to hope for now is that my European boss agrees, and then they release the required funds so we can get started.

On top of the professional side of things, I also had a marvelous last day on Friday. Two Indian colleagues drove me 70 kms outside of Bangalore to visit a poor rural 600 pupil school that serves 33 local villages. The school had been inspired by a great Indian figure from the state of Karnataka called Dr. H. Narasimhaiah whose remains are now kept in a sanctuary inside the school (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Narasimhaiah). It was a most wonderful experience – the welcome I got from the head teacher, staff members and children was overwhelming. I also felt quite the celebrity when they walked me round their special science laboratory before sitting fifty or so children down in front of me and asking me to say a few words as if I was some sort of state dignitary. Naturally I made sure I had my best Geordie accent on to aid comprehension. It was an especially fascinating experience because I have the memories of Maxime starting school fresh in my mind. After a visit of the school I was invited to lunch with the head teacher and he explained that one of the big pulling points of the school was the fact that each day they supplied a vegetarian lunch to all the children via a government sponsored programme at a cost of 10 rupees per child per day…80 euros to feed a school for a day; now that does put a lot of things into perspective not least client dinners and also the six euros ninety I have just spent on a chocolatine and apple juice for breakfast here in CDG airport this morning... A very memorable outing and a privilege to see the real India.

Delhi’s Midnight Runners

I like a run every now and again, often in the morning before work. I don’t like running between Delhi’s domestic and international terminals at 1AM in the morning to catch my flight back to Europe after my domestic Air India flight left Bangalore late. Thankfully I’m now sitting on the plane so feeling much happier albeit a little breathless. That said, I will categorically state that I would be happy to travel back to Paris barefooted if I was allowed to stuff both of my socks into the small screaming girl’s mouth. Roll on Saturday morning and Sandie and Maxime at the airport.

Bollywood Romance

As I was waiting to go through security at the airport in Bangalore tonight I sent Sandie a SMS message to tell her that I loved her. It had been a while since I’d done so I thought it a good idea (you can see that I’m good at spontaneity). When I spoke to her later on the phone she confirmed that the text had been gratefully received. She was somewhat dismayed however when I explained to her that what had prompted the text was that a young couple had appeared before me in the security queue highly flustered and claiming that their flight was boarding. They then discovered that they hadn’t printed off their boarding passes properly so off they ran back to the check in desk…….leaving their luggage poised on the security machine just in front of me. In one of my more balanced and sensible moments, I naturally fretted that this was some sort of terrorist plot, so decided to send a text just in case. Personally I thought that was a lovely reaction. Sandie didn’t quite see it that way however. I should have kept my mouth shut – men Venus women Mars anyone?

53 Years Young

The EMC office in Bangalore is a very nice office and markedly better than some of their buildings back in Europe. This particular office has walls covered in random quotes that are no doubt designed to keep you on your toes. The one that grabbed my attention was Mark Twain’s, “twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Hmmmm. Quite possible I am sure. I think I need to think a bit more about this one – what will I be saying when I’m 53 years and 51 weeks old? But before I do that, I think I also need to find some really old people to double check this theory…(I also suspect it will also be a good opportunity for my Dad (who is admittedly not really old), to remind me that I should read more of the classics and fewer business books).

I'm in!

Just to let you know that I've not been slung in a cell in some dis-used immigration centre in the outskirts of Bangalore. I sailed through the passport checks and was delighted to see a smiling face as I came out of the airport - I had requested that the taxi driver who looked after me when I was in Wipro, Sathya, was also there to look after me this week. Sathya's toothy white smile stood out a mile as I walked out into the 20C heat at 1AM this morning. For some reason I felt positive about being back in India this time round...and that was even before I arrived at my hotel... http://www.theleela.com/ - there will be absolutely no hunger strikes or dirty protests from me about staying here!

Bangalore Bound

This week is back to India…. After leaving Wipro earlier this year I hadn’t expected to be back so soon. This particular visit is a lot about meeting with some key Indians who run our Centre of excellence there, and spending some time with a handful of key Americans who are also travelling to Bangalore this week. We are essentially setting the strategy for 2012 and seeking to understand where, when and how we can work together. We’ll see how that goes because I am still relatively new to everything.

I won’t actually be in Electronic City (the place where Wipro are based) and apparently it will be difficult to see old friends because although both sites are in Bangalore, its sheer size (60km by 60km) and treacherous traffic mean that there is at least a 2 hour journey between the two places. Apart from meeting a number of new colleagues this week, I am pretty sure that one of the highlights will be a trip to see a school in rural India on Friday. One of my colleagues had kindly proposed to take me to see some random palace, but I asked him if we could do something where I can get more of a feel for rural India. I’m looking forward to it already.

This is now my third trip to India. Hopefully they will let me in – last time I arrived in Mumbai and they stamped my passport twice (in Mumbai and Bangalore after a domestic flight) so it may appear that I have never left India (if you can believe that!). The double stamping caused something of a ruckus as I was leaving India the last time so we’ll see what happens when I arrive in 30 minutes or so…

The best thing about this flight so far, apart from the fact that you leave Europe at 11AM and arrive around midnight so it is pretty much like a normal day (except for the fact you’re in a plane), is the fact that they had the movie Cars 2. Maxime loves the original Cars movie and I have been desperate to see the sequel to try and judge how much of a success it will be with him (it’s all about parental research, honestly). The plot of Cars 2 is completely different, much more focused on Tow Mater, and generally more complicated, but you still have a nice life lesson or two in there (e.g. the importance of friendship, the importance of having wings and machine guns fitted to all cars etc.). I personally was disappointed we didn’t see more of Ms. Sally because I have something of a soft spot for female purple Porsches, and although I doubt whether Maxime will sit through all 1 hour 50 minutes of it, I am pretty sure that we’ll be investing in the DVD when it comes out.

Right time to sign out because I don’t have much battery left because I have actually done some work on this flight…so now it’s time to start reading Craig Storti’s, “Speaking of India, bridging the communication gap when working with Indians” – a present from an old (European) Wipro colleague…

Top and Tail

Overall the weekend was good. Events with Maxime topped and tailed the weekend nicely….

On Saturday morning I was taking inordinate amounts of time to wash my hair during a nice long hot shower back in our house in Biarritz where we hadn’t been for a few weeks. After a couple of minutes I opened my eyes and I was somewhat taken aback when I saw the blonde hair of a little naked boy who had decided to sneak into the shower as well. His cheeky little grin as he looked up made it impossible to do anything other than accept that the weekend was well and truly en route.

On Sunday night I put Maxime to bed. I tend to lie next to him to say his prayers and sing a couple of lullabies which he takes great delight in finishing off. He typically asks me to stay for a few minutes afterwards by saying, “a cote de moi papa, cote de moi”. Once you’re in situ, he then applies some form of reverse head lock which tightens as soon as you think about sneaking out of his bedroom. After lying next to him for a couple of minutes all I remember was when his arm suddenly fell down alongside my back releasing the head lock and signaling the fact that he was now asleep. When I went downstairs I was somewhat annoyed that Sandie hadn’t waited for me for dinner….but then she told me I had been upstairs with Maxime for over 40 minutes – his flailing arm seemed to have woken me!

In between these two Maxime episodes we had the first birthday of the twins. We celebrated in true French fashion which basically means that we spent all of Saturday afternoon sitting and eating extremely good food…I say we but worth noting that the twins still had to make do with their normal unappetizing baby stuff, although Gaston did seem to quite like the French patisseries that were on offer. Sunday and a trip to see Pich at the stables gave me the opportunity to burn off a few of the Saturday’s newly acquired calories, and I am sure the incoming week in India will also help because I’ve yet to find any good purveyor of fine chocolate in Bangalore. All in all a good weekend and it was nice to be back in Biarritz with the whole family. I’m already looking forward to going back for another couple of weeks at the end of October.