The Wipro Express has arrived at the terminus. Today, Friday 29th July is my last day. I had a very interesting and useful chat with a friend of mine in London recently. She asked me what I had learnt, both professionally and personally from my time at Wipro, and what did I want to get out of my time at EMC.
My overall conclusion as regards Wipro is that whilst I am happy to be leaving, I am convinced that it was the right decision to leave Accenture to join them. I am of the opinion that what I have learnt in my 14 months in Wipro is greater than what I would have learnt if I had stayed another eleventh year in Accenture. Some of the specific highlights that stand out are a training course on how to read financial statements of companies allowing you to understand what services might be of benefit to them; a deep exposure to the Indian subcontinent and culture which was absolutely fascinating; and the opportunity to discover what I really like at work i.e. I now understand that the ideal role for me really is that of client partner. I learnt to be more realistic in terms of being able to establish company-wide best practices, and I was also particularly impressed with some of the Wipro guys in the Credit Suisse PB account team. So, with all of these wonderful things, the obvious question to ask is why on earth did I opt to leave?
I think the answer is fairly straight forward. In addition to an extremely attractive offer from EMC, I think I was frustrated by five key things....
1. Whilst I was genuinely impressed with certain individuals in each department I worked in or had contact with (both client facing and support), the company asks people to do too much. As a result there is a widespread acceptance of sloppy mistakes both in interactions with clients and in internal back office operations e.g. poorly thought through proposal documents, consistency incorrect bonus calculations, mobile phones being cut off without warning etc. It's definitely quantity over quality.
2. The combination of frequently poor quality communication (from the highest levels all the way down to interactions between team members), and the sense of lurching from one crisis to the next rather than actually having something of a plan that has a longer time horizon than the end of the current quarter.
3. The fact that all strings were pulled in Bangalore meaning that we in the local markets closest to the clients were merely executioners of orders from India. This point basically ensured that we non-Indians in Europe would always remain “outsiders” in one way or another.
4. The overriding impression that the company is highly transactional in nature – very few people were either prepared or allowed to take a step back, see the bigger picture and take the time to invest in the (internal and external) relationships required to be successful in a different way. I don’t leave with the impression that Wipro is a people focused company.
5. I think the final nail in the Wipro coffin for me was when I recently realised that if I looked at the senior management of the firm (the levels above my direct boss), then they were not the type of leaders that inspired me, nor were they the type of leader that I want to become.
My overall conclusion is that I think the journey up the value chain for Wipro will be a long one, although I genuinely wish them the very best of luck, especially my team who are now under new leadership.
Friday, 29 July 2011
Thursday, 28 July 2011
The Last Stand
For this particular computer. This is the last posting using this particular laptop before I hand it back to Wipro tomorrow in Paris (unless I wake up in the middle of the night tonight and can't contain myself). The blog will of course continue, but in the future it has more chance of being Apple Powered than Dell Driven...
It’s a Bum Job
My recent experience in a second global 100,000+ person company plus the unfolding Euro/financial crisis got me thinking. I look at some of the brilliant people across the world and I wonder how we got into such a mess – why do countries such as Germany not act more decisively, why can't the US push through a plan to raise their debt ceiling or a plan to sort out the medium term fiscal situation? One of the key conclusions that I have drawn is that at an atomic level, you can be as brilliant as you want, however in large organisations there are always multiple centres of power and decision makers. Unfortunately you can only move as quickly as the slowest one of these it seems. No doubt the most experienced people will factor this into the original decision making process (thus possibly serving to slow down the whole process even further).
This thought led me to the conclusion that being able to move a large group of people quickly really is a very rare skill. You could argue that we witnessed it during a few key weekends during the financial crisis e.g. decisions to bail out some or let other companies such as Lehman Brothers go to the wall, but I would contend that the industry was lucky enough to have a relatively small number of really key decision makers.
The other thing which struck me is that the larger the group of people you have to move, the simpler your vision and clearer your communication needs to be. Larger groups mean that you can’t have direct contact with every individual. As a result your message will inevitably be passed orally by other people on your behalf. The more complicated the message the greater the chance it will be distorted. It’s a shame then that for the Euro zone there are so many people who take it upon themselves to communicate in slightly different ways depending on their own agendas.
The final thing that struck me during this particular mental ramble was that moving people quickly and providing clear communication is already difficult enough (especially when there is no formal hierarchy to guide people's behaviour). The whole process is completely undermined if you haven’t genuinely thought through all the key ramifications and implications of your plan – now that is difficult and takes a good deal of experience. The best example of that from my own personal experience is that of the recent CEO change at Wipro. The new guy is meant to be very gifted in terms of clearly communicating a vision, and also experienced in moving large groups of people quickly. Where he seems to be stumbling now is that he has left too much underlying detail to be worked out in an off the cuff manner.
All in all, whether you’re Christine Lagarde, TK Kurien or Angela Merkel, the job’s not an easy one. Thankfully the one I’ve got on my hands at EMC is a good few notches down from what those guys need to do!
This thought led me to the conclusion that being able to move a large group of people quickly really is a very rare skill. You could argue that we witnessed it during a few key weekends during the financial crisis e.g. decisions to bail out some or let other companies such as Lehman Brothers go to the wall, but I would contend that the industry was lucky enough to have a relatively small number of really key decision makers.
The other thing which struck me is that the larger the group of people you have to move, the simpler your vision and clearer your communication needs to be. Larger groups mean that you can’t have direct contact with every individual. As a result your message will inevitably be passed orally by other people on your behalf. The more complicated the message the greater the chance it will be distorted. It’s a shame then that for the Euro zone there are so many people who take it upon themselves to communicate in slightly different ways depending on their own agendas.
The final thing that struck me during this particular mental ramble was that moving people quickly and providing clear communication is already difficult enough (especially when there is no formal hierarchy to guide people's behaviour). The whole process is completely undermined if you haven’t genuinely thought through all the key ramifications and implications of your plan – now that is difficult and takes a good deal of experience. The best example of that from my own personal experience is that of the recent CEO change at Wipro. The new guy is meant to be very gifted in terms of clearly communicating a vision, and also experienced in moving large groups of people quickly. Where he seems to be stumbling now is that he has left too much underlying detail to be worked out in an off the cuff manner.
All in all, whether you’re Christine Lagarde, TK Kurien or Angela Merkel, the job’s not an easy one. Thankfully the one I’ve got on my hands at EMC is a good few notches down from what those guys need to do!
The Mysterious Slide and Puzzles, People & Stories
As I sat in Church at the weekend I recalled a recent Maxime event... The large plastic slide outside the house in Pau had been moved. Neither Sandie nor the au pair Marianne was responsible (and you can rest assured it wasn’t me!). The mystery of the moving slide was resolved when Maxime was put under some intensive questioning. He explained that the slide had been in the sun, so it had become hot, and as a result he had decided to take it upon himself to move it into the shade meaning that he could play without risk of burning his little botty. Logical really when you think about it.
When the tale was shared with (French) Anti Establishment Papy Francis he very quickly said that all children are born logical and it is the formal education system that beats the logic out of them (side note: maybe my failed attempt to understand Descartes as a troubled teenager wasn’t actually my fault then?). That got me thinking about the philosophy of school education and the intense curriculum that children are required to follow these days – a very important topic given that Maxime starts pre-school as a 2.5 year old in September.
What I remember from Oxford is that I only really genuinely started to understand things (rather than just being able to memorise a large number of facts for an exam), when I took the time to think things through from first principles. (You will no doubt note the recurring theme of slowing down to actually take the time to think, do and live). As a consequence I believe that one of the most valuable things I do at work is to think about things whilst not connected to my Blackberry (typically in aeroplanes), scribble things down on bits of yellow paper, and then let my sub conscious do the rest over the following two weeks before I create an appropriate PowerPoint slide for general consumption. It’s just a shame that the volume of work we needed to get through for A Levels just didn’t allow us that time to reflect and understand (especially if we wanted to combine that with chasing young girls and playing football four times a weekend).
What does it mean for Maxime (and his siblings) – I suppose it means that if there is any way I can get him to view mathematics and science subjects as a set of puzzles, and to view the humanities as a series of stories about individual people in different countries in different time periods when social norms were different to those today, then I’ll be happy. Either that or I’ll just start to bribe them with money to try and get as many A*’s as possible. I really hope it’s the former.
When the tale was shared with (French) Anti Establishment Papy Francis he very quickly said that all children are born logical and it is the formal education system that beats the logic out of them (side note: maybe my failed attempt to understand Descartes as a troubled teenager wasn’t actually my fault then?). That got me thinking about the philosophy of school education and the intense curriculum that children are required to follow these days – a very important topic given that Maxime starts pre-school as a 2.5 year old in September.
What I remember from Oxford is that I only really genuinely started to understand things (rather than just being able to memorise a large number of facts for an exam), when I took the time to think things through from first principles. (You will no doubt note the recurring theme of slowing down to actually take the time to think, do and live). As a consequence I believe that one of the most valuable things I do at work is to think about things whilst not connected to my Blackberry (typically in aeroplanes), scribble things down on bits of yellow paper, and then let my sub conscious do the rest over the following two weeks before I create an appropriate PowerPoint slide for general consumption. It’s just a shame that the volume of work we needed to get through for A Levels just didn’t allow us that time to reflect and understand (especially if we wanted to combine that with chasing young girls and playing football four times a weekend).
What does it mean for Maxime (and his siblings) – I suppose it means that if there is any way I can get him to view mathematics and science subjects as a set of puzzles, and to view the humanities as a series of stories about individual people in different countries in different time periods when social norms were different to those today, then I’ll be happy. Either that or I’ll just start to bribe them with money to try and get as many A*’s as possible. I really hope it’s the former.
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Yesterday’s Man
This evening I hosted my second and final Town Hall event for the Wipro team I have been leading for the last few months. The first Town Hall had focused on sharing the summary of the current state of the relationship with the client as I had understood it following an initial 6 weeks of listening to all and sundry across the globe. At that inaugural event I had promised that I would come back to them in a second such meeting and share with them the vision that I would develop for the account and the corresponding 12-18 month action plan. I was determined to share that vision and plan with them even despite the fact that I had resigned. In addition to the fact that it had now been validated by both the client and my direct boss, it also just felt like it was the right way to bring things to closure. I also hoped that sharing it with a wider audience who were directly impacted would help lock in the proposed changes.
A number of things struck me during the course of the evening and even now as I, back in my hotel, digest my final helping of my customary chocolate mousse.
Essentially Wipro is transactional company however the team on the ground clearly long for and are definitely open to something that is more relationship based. What they really need is guidance on how to do this, and I am convinced that if senior management show a little interest in the team as individuals, then the team will happily walk over broken glass to get the account to where Bangalore wants it to be.
A second thing that struck me is that I am already yesterday’s man. The turnout for the event was low and much lower than the first Town Hall. One can always blame the rain and the holidays (sounds like Ireland), but, especially in such a hierarchical company, if you’ve told them you’re leaving, then there are a lot of people who don’t manage to take that tram to come and see you. I suppose this is a natural human reaction even thought I was convinced I did have something of interest to tell them despite my imminent departure. My initial disappointment quickly turned into something more positive as I found myself feeling closer to the hardy 25 or so people that did indeed come.
The final thing that struck me is that the kind words they shared with me reassured me that I probably was on the right track, and that I have made the right choice. From one experienced team member who said he had opted to join the account because of me, to the younger guy who told me that he had bought a brand new shirt to attend my first Town Hall meeting after we had had an initial meeting in one of the client offices. All of these nice tributes were very touching and will be happy memories I’ll keep with me. I hope that the team does go on to be successful and that I will have the opportunity to see some of these guys again.
A number of things struck me during the course of the evening and even now as I, back in my hotel, digest my final helping of my customary chocolate mousse.
Essentially Wipro is transactional company however the team on the ground clearly long for and are definitely open to something that is more relationship based. What they really need is guidance on how to do this, and I am convinced that if senior management show a little interest in the team as individuals, then the team will happily walk over broken glass to get the account to where Bangalore wants it to be.
A second thing that struck me is that I am already yesterday’s man. The turnout for the event was low and much lower than the first Town Hall. One can always blame the rain and the holidays (sounds like Ireland), but, especially in such a hierarchical company, if you’ve told them you’re leaving, then there are a lot of people who don’t manage to take that tram to come and see you. I suppose this is a natural human reaction even thought I was convinced I did have something of interest to tell them despite my imminent departure. My initial disappointment quickly turned into something more positive as I found myself feeling closer to the hardy 25 or so people that did indeed come.
The final thing that struck me is that the kind words they shared with me reassured me that I probably was on the right track, and that I have made the right choice. From one experienced team member who said he had opted to join the account because of me, to the younger guy who told me that he had bought a brand new shirt to attend my first Town Hall meeting after we had had an initial meeting in one of the client offices. All of these nice tributes were very touching and will be happy memories I’ll keep with me. I hope that the team does go on to be successful and that I will have the opportunity to see some of these guys again.
Enjoy, Reward, Learn
You will all no doubt agree that my life is a hard one when I tell you that one of the last things I needed to do in Zurich before leaving Switzerland was to have an exquisite extended lunch in a private members club with some friends. It was hugely enjoyable and we obviously talked about the catalyst for and process of changing jobs. One of my lunch companions said that he had read that whether or not people changed jobs all depended on the three key pillars of enjoyment, rewards and learning. The litmus test was to give each pillar a mark out of 100. If the sum total of those three scores was less than 210, then it was the right time to start thinking about a move. My scores for Wipro? Answers on a postcard and I’ll announce the winner in August.
Make Mental Equine Note
Last weekend was dominated by a big show jumping competition in Blaye near Bordeaux in France. It was also the first weekend since the twins were born that Sandie and I managed to get away just the two of us. The jumping went OK – Friday was a write-off with a shameful five faults, but Saturday and Sunday were much better with only one bar down in what is always a very tricky competition. So whilst there was no silverware being brought home, at least pride was salvaged by the time we picked up the tribe from various sets of grandparents on Sunday afternoon.
The major equine learning from the weekend was that I need to focus on jumping the bars rather than trying to be beautiful; efficiency rather than elegance is the key. Both Sandie and Michel came to the same conclusion independently. However when Michel told me that as I was waiting to go into the arena on Friday, I was so convinced that Sandie had “planted” the idea in his head that I instinctively decided to ignore it. 20 points later I was ruing that particular decision especially when both Sandie and Michel later confirmed that they had indeed not plotted jointly in any way beforehand. Using the inside leg to keep the hindquarters in line with the shoulders when coming round corners, not closing my fingers over the bars, and really attacking the obstacles especially when there is an uphill slope to be contended with, are other more technical lessons also learned.
Apart from Friday’s round, the whole weekend was a big success. It was good to have some time together with Sandie and she certainly enjoyed having the time to speak to our equine friends without having to interrupt every conversation with, “Maxime get down from there, Maxime don’t hit your sister, Maxime stop poking the dog with that stick, Maxime don’t eat the horse dung, Maxime stop drinking out of Pich’s water bucket etc”. Now I think it’s time for a break for the grandparents.....
The major equine learning from the weekend was that I need to focus on jumping the bars rather than trying to be beautiful; efficiency rather than elegance is the key. Both Sandie and Michel came to the same conclusion independently. However when Michel told me that as I was waiting to go into the arena on Friday, I was so convinced that Sandie had “planted” the idea in his head that I instinctively decided to ignore it. 20 points later I was ruing that particular decision especially when both Sandie and Michel later confirmed that they had indeed not plotted jointly in any way beforehand. Using the inside leg to keep the hindquarters in line with the shoulders when coming round corners, not closing my fingers over the bars, and really attacking the obstacles especially when there is an uphill slope to be contended with, are other more technical lessons also learned.
Apart from Friday’s round, the whole weekend was a big success. It was good to have some time together with Sandie and she certainly enjoyed having the time to speak to our equine friends without having to interrupt every conversation with, “Maxime get down from there, Maxime don’t hit your sister, Maxime stop poking the dog with that stick, Maxime don’t eat the horse dung, Maxime stop drinking out of Pich’s water bucket etc”. Now I think it’s time for a break for the grandparents.....
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