By Rajesh Setty on Tue 13 Dec 2005, 8:50 AM - 1 Comment
“Do you think?”
can easily be treated as a rhetorical question. “Who does not?”
The real question is “Do you really think you think?”
The reason I am asking this is because, honestly, we as a society have started to reward “doers” more than we reward “thinkers” almost by a wide margin. Want proof? Here is an exercise you can do tomorrow at your workplace.
Sit straight in front of your computer and put both your hands on your
chin and start thinking about your project or your career or your life.
Whatever is most important for you at that point in time. Wait until a
couple of your colleagues pass by. I can guarantee you that at least
one of them will stop by and ask you if everything was OK. Other
typical questions may be “What happened to you this morning?” or “Is
something wrong?” We just can’t see someone thinking. We want them to
be typing, clicking, writing or just reading something but
please..don’t just think is what we say.
Since thinking is so much of a mental activity and there is nothing
that really manifests physically by thinking, it’s hard for us to sort
of watch someone think. For the same reason, we are not comfortable
thinking in front of someone. We know that there is an expectation of
something physical to manifest over a reasonable time period. We don’t
want to look dumb, do we?
So, what could we do? Here are some things to try:
1. Take a long walk (alone) and think about something that matters to you – life, career, project, relationships – anything
2. Read something that makes you think. There are so many good books that are out there that can stretch your mind.
3. Remember some old stories and see if they are logical (without getting carried away by the stories) Here are a couple:
a. The Harvard MBA and the fisherman
b. The tortoise and the hare
4. Set aside about 30 minutes a week to reflect on the past week and think (and plan) for the next week.
5. Please… allow others to think. It’s OK, really!
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 12 Dec 2005, 11:23 PM - Leave Comment
Being in the Silicon Valley has many advantages – you get to listen to
so many startup ideas and pitches. There is so much of energy and
enthusiasm in those budding entrepreneurs. One of the simple questions
I have when I hear a new pitch is “Who is your competition, now and in the future?” and a small percentage of them will say “There is virtually no competition for us.” and then I start to wonder “Should I even listen to their story any more?”
One of the key reasons there might be no competition is because really, there may be no market for that product or service.
Competition is good. Good competition is VERY good. Take Google, Yahoo and MSN.
One reason, all three of them are fighting and raising the standards is
plainly because all three of them are willing to do go the extra mile
to win. Great competitors can bring out that extra energy in you to
lift yourself up. They will set higher standards for themselves and the
whole industry.
The same applies to people. You need competition and in fact, they are doing you a service by being there.
If this is the case, why should we not have respect for the
competition? Putting your competition down won’t raise you up. Market
sets standards for companies and people. If you keep exceeding those
standards consistently, you automatically win!
Treat your competition with respect. Together you can grow the pie. We know that a small piece of a bigger pie is better than a big piece of nothing.
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 12 Dec 2005, 8:26 PM - Leave Comment
Many of you have sent me emails regarding my manifesto “25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself” and also my series on Ways to Distinguish Yourself. Thank you so much for that. It means a lot to me. I have also received some emails where people have said the series is good but they want something that they can use in the next one or two hours or so and still make a difference.
I have put together a list of tips that I have received from my friends in the past. I have picked the ones that have served me well. Here is the list.
1. Don’t fill the recipient email addresses before you complete your email
You might have seen this happen. A broken email arrives quickly followed by another email asking you to ignore the earlier email as the “send” button was pressed accidentally. It’s a waste of time for both people. Stuff happens – so the best way to prevent it is not to fill in the recipient details until you complete the email message.
2. Always include contact numbers in your emails
Yes, we expect that people will be organized and they will store our phone numbers in the address book and when they want to call us – voila! it’s all there in the address book. Unfortunately, I have seen so many busy people using email also as an address book. We can’t change everyone but at least we can be sure that they will find us when they need us by putting in our contact details in our emails.
3. Set your name display to “Firstname Lastname” in your email settings
There are so many variations out there “Lastname, Firstname”, “name@server” etc. The best is to set your name to be displayed in the “Firstname Lastname” format. This is because if someone is searching for your email by name, everyone may not know your lastname or your email address which may be a combination of first initial of first name and the last name or something of that sort.
4. No surprises by email (golden rule)
You are running late on a critical project or you won’t make it to a meeting that is scheduled later today – best is to not use an email to surprise people. Surprises are good as long as they are positive. If it is negative, try your best not to send it by email.
5. Always leave your call back number (slowly) when you leave a voicemail
Again, our assumption is that people will know our phone number or it gets registered in the cell phone caller id system. My point: Why take a chance? It will hardly take a few more seconds to slowly and clearly leave your call back number. I emphasize slowly as not everyone may understand your accent and if you speak fast, it will make matters worse.
6. Always take reverse directions from your meeting place
Yes, I know that many of us have the GPS devices in our cars. We can depend on them 100% and be surprised sometimes but I would rather be prepared. While you are printing directions from your location to the meeting place, you can click once more to print the reverse directions (from the meeting place back to your location)
This has helped me multiple times, especially when I am in a new city and I am meeting someone downtown.
While you are at it, also think of getting an alternate route at hand if the timing is critical. Sometimes a road is closed or under construction and
7. Keep all the contact numbers handy when you are driving
Especially contact numbers of the hotel or restaurant or meeting place, cell phone of the person you are meeting. You never know when you will need them.
8. Watch how you hold your coffee cup when you are moving
This tip saved my day. One of my old friends suggested to me (after he had a bad experience) that whenever we are walking with a coffee (or tea or whatever) we need to ensure that cup opening is not facing us. I have provided two pictures for your quick reference. Once I was holding a cup of coffee and bumped against something and (because I followed this advice) there was not a drop of coffee that spilled. Saved my dress and the meeting.
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By Rajesh Setty on Sun 11 Dec 2005, 11:39 AM - Leave Comment
Follow up has two flavors, one in the context of communication and the other in the context of persistence:
First, in the context of communication:
In their book
The Leaders Voice, Ron Crossland and late Boyd Clarke make an interesting observation
“The biggest problem with leadership communication is the illusion that is has occurred.” This is so true and I am sure there have been times where all of us have been surprised (negatively) when our words were mis-understood.
First, we need to realize that there is a gap between when something is communicated and when the action based on that communication happens. This gap can easily introduce variance or delta on the “common” understanding.
Early in my career, I had a boss who would always ask “So, what are you going to do about this” at the end of every meeting. I had to explain what actions I was going to take based on what we discussed in the meeting. I felt stupid explaining that but soon realized that it was a great practice – it was a great way of him ensuring that I had the same understanding that he had at the beginning of the meeting and the communication really happened.
Marshall Goldsmith takes an in-depth look at followup in a Fast Company column.
Now, in the context of persistence:
I have told before that we need to remember the
3T (Things Take Time) Rule. However, that should not prevent us from following up on things that matter to us.
Let’s take an example: When you make a compelling product or service offer to people, they may not be ready to sign up immediately. If you are confident that there will be a match in the future, it is your responsbility to follow up and be on the mind of the customer.
I had a recent experience. Two of my friends who have a telecom consulting business had pitched their services a few months ago. We did not have a need but one of them continued to follow up almost on a regular basis. When we needed a high end hosting solution last month, I didn’t have to blink before choosing them.
That’s the power of follow up.
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sat 10 Dec 2005, 9:52 PM - 2 Comments
Last month, I published a blogging starter checklist. Today, I created a lens on the same topic at Squidoo. Here is the link for the same:
Squidoo Lens: Blogging Starter Checklist.
Hope you will like it. I will continue to update it there.
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Fri 09 Dec 2005, 2:49 PM - Leave Comment
One of the biggest problems leaders have is that negatives on any project are not known until it’s very late – sometimes until the project is in crisis. There are several reasons why people don’t want to break the negative news early enough. A few come to mind:
* You know that there are problems but you can resolve them way before they become items of concerns
* You don’t have time to explain all the details now
* You would rather work on resolving the problems rather than explaining it to the boss
* For the problem at hand, you don’t think your manager could help in anyway. You got to solve it yourself. So, what’s the point?
* Your boss may doubt your capacity if he knows there are problems.
* Sharing this now may be too much of detail, you think. Your manager has so many things to worry about – you don’t want to add another one.
I can go on but none of these are valid enough excuses to NOT provide an early warning signal. There may be promises made based on the outcome of this project and a delay in the project may have impact more far reaching than the current project alone. The best would be to provide an early warning signal combined with a risk mitigation plan – that way you are thinking solutions.
This applies to people at all levels – even if you are in the top most position in an organization (CEO) you are still answerable to someone (board of directors) and they need to know if there is a looming threat somewhere in the future.
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 08 Dec 2005, 7:10 PM - Leave Comment
Rosie Lombardi from IT World Canada interviewed me recently and it was
published today. Here is the link (interview is on page 2)
Steady growth triggers optimism among IT pros
Please take a look when you have a moment.
Posted under Leadership, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 07 Dec 2005, 7:00 AM - 1 Comment
I had a beta account on Squidoo
for a few weeks and had done nothing with it. Last night, I started
working on my first lens and it took me less than 45 minutes to build
and publish one for Beyond Code.
Take a look when you have a moment and better yet, start planning and creating your own lens(es)
Have fun!
Posted under Innovation, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 06 Dec 2005, 10:42 PM - Leave Comment
Web was and is one of the best things to happen to all of us. However, there is a danger in getting carried away. If you are one of those who have already been carried away, here’s your chance to take back your life!
A couple of disclaimers to start with:
1. This is going to be a long post. It is the collection of many of my thoughts over a few months.
2. Not everyone will agree with everything that is written here. This is one perspective and I am sure there are others equally valid.
I was born and brought up in India. I remember my younger days clearly – playing cricket on the streets, breaking glass windows of neighbours (accidentally, of course) and generally having fun. Parents never used to bother much as they knew that if the kids were not in their home, they will be in one of the neighbours’ homes. It was taken for granted. From there to now, I have seen a lot of change. The world, of course, has changed and my feeling is the web has played a significant part in the way we conduct our lives in the future.
Let me explain.
* Today, we want to go somewhere, rarely do we have to talk to a travel agent, we can get everything done online.
* Today, we want to buy something, rarely do we have to ask our trusted friends, we can get that done online. We can read reviews, compare products and order online.
* Today, we want to be connected with someone, it’s easy – remember: “you have an always on connection” right. This gets even better – buy a blackberry and you can be connected even during your vacation. Want something more – we have connexion service in most of the flights now – so even when you are flying – you are always connected. (Bonus: you don’t even have to talk to the person in your next seat)
* Today, we want entertainment, you can have it in all kinds on the web. I won’t go into the details but you can choose the level and intensity of entertainment and depending on your budget – you have it on the web.
* Today, we want to get the latest news – you can have it in all flavors – from the press or from the bloggers and bystanders (citizen journalism.) You can also have it in multiple formats.
* Today, you want to learn something – you have a choice not to go to school – whatever they are teaching in those business schools, you can learn online (may be??)
All these conveniences seem great, so what is the problem then? Here are a few to start with:
1. Web is helping people to get (more) isolated:
You can have it all on the web and be disconnected from people. Earlier days, it was easy – if you don’t know something, you would ask someone. This would lead to a conversation with a friend. If that friend was not looking all that great, you would ask “What happened?” and then he or she would tell his story and you would see if you could do something to help him or her. The first reason for the meeting would become immaterial. Every such conversation would just get you both more connected. With the web, you get answers but there is no emotional connection with anyone. There is no side conversation. While you are looking for a DVD player, you can’t suddenly ask “By the way, how was the party last night?”
It is so unfortunate that we get what we want from the web but miss what we might have got!
That’s the price of convenience.
2. Web is accelerating the choice overload problem:
You have choice on the web. In fact, you have so much of choice in everything. You want to buy something or you want a date. You get to choose. You have more choice than you need and process. Here is the danger: you get someone that you should be so thankful for – you have a choice of going online and comparing and feeling bad that you could also have GOT someone EVEN better – same story with things, same story with people.
Web is crushing people with the choice overload.
3. Web is making us stretch beyond our means:
You want to buy something – web will show you more than what you want. A small upgrade here, a small upgrade there (they call it cross-sell and up-sell) and web will make you think that you NEED a lot more than you really want. Of course, there is always the option of looking at “people who bought this also bought” list. If you are normal like them, you would want to buy some more things from the list, right?
If you can’t afford something, there is a quick link to apply for a new credit card or a loan or just simply – opt for the “pay later” plans.
4. Web makes it easy to multi-task even when that is not the right thing:
Look at the convenience factor – you can chat with your friend, eat your breakfast, watch your favorite TV program, help your kids with their homework and glance through the newspapers or magazines – all at the same time. Amazing effectiveness or so you think. You are connected with your friend but you also finished your pending tasks. When I talk about this, one of my friend said that he was just using more of his brain and there is nothing wrong with it. Imagine, doing this kind of multi-tasking when you are meeting with a friend “in-person.” I am sure it would look a bit odd. The web will allow you to multi-task when you shouldn’t. Especially when you are connecting with people.
How can you emotionally connect with a friend or a family member without giving them the full emotional attention that they need?
5. Web is taking you places (even when you don’t ahve time)
It’s the power of the hyperlink. You click, click, click and you keep going to places and it’s easy to get fascinated and lost. Even when you don’t have time, you can continue to click and continue to get fascinated and continue to get lost 
If the above arguments make sense, here are a few of things that you can do to take back your life:
1. Start connecting with people “in-person”
Yes, I know that you don’t have time. But long and deep relationships are HARD to build ONLY through the web. People NEED emotional support and you NEED it too.
2. Watch when you multi-task
There are a ton of things where multi-tasking is great but not when you are playing with your children or when you are having an important conversation with your friend. Blackberry and other cool devices are great but if you are not careful, the question will be “Who is the real master and who is the slave?”
When you are walking in the park with your young one and he or she is explaining something that happened in school and you are listening to the kid while checking your emails on your blackberry, your kid is paying for the convenience – not you.
3. Remember the 3T rule
Things take time (3T). You have to be fast but not at the cost of your life!
4. Keyword: Leverage
Because you can do it should not be the answer for you to DO it. Are you configuring all your resources (including money) to ensure that you have the highest leverage? If not, think long hard – sometimes it may be best to pay money and get things done.
Let me give an example. You need a list of all the universities in the United States that have 10,000 or more students. You know that you can get that information. You have the skills and knowledge and you know the tools through which you can get this information. It might take you about 8 hours to get all the information in order. Now, consider an alternate scenario Where you post a request in a service like Google Answers – offer about $50 to get this information. A researcher over there may know exactly where to find the information and it may probably take him 10 minutes to do so. He is happy to provide that service for $50. If you see, he got paid $300 per hour. You should be happy as you saved about 7 hours of your time. Everyone wins!
5. Remember that long-term relationships are everything
Ultimately however powerful the web is – we still need relationships and they are built online and offline with investment from both parties. Are you doing your part of the investment?
6. Discipline: Make the best of both worlds
Web has a lot of potential and I have no doubt that we should make the most out of it. But, we can all make a decision to do that and also be connected with people. Just requires more discipline, that’s all!
Congratulations and thank you for reading through the whole list. I told you – it was going to be long 
Posted under Compelling Offers, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 06 Dec 2005, 6:00 AM - Leave Comment
Let’s consider a few scenarios when you are playing a game against someone:
1. You win against someone way below your skill level. Typically, you won’t enjoy that win or worse, you may not even want to play with the person again.
2. You lose against someone way above your skill level. Typically, you won’t regret that loss. In fact, you may learn something from that game.
3. You win against someone slightly above your skill level. It’s a hard fought game and finally you DO win. It’s a great experience.
What do you think was the difference in the last scenario?
Do you remember a time when you lost a game but you still felt good about it? – This happens especially if you had given your 110% to the game or in other words if the Intensity with which you participated in the game was high. Richard Farson explains this concept beautifully in one of my “all time favorite” books “The Innovation Paradox
”
Take a look at one of my favorite quotes by Teddy Roosevelt
“Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory, nor defeat.”
The little quote provides one perspective on the importance of being a player and playing with intensity.
Just like in sports, Intensity makes a big difference in life and in work. If you turn your intensity a notch higher, you will probably see a jump in your productivity. We all know that flatlining won’t take us far in our careers. With the right intensity, flatlining won’t have a place in our work and in life.
Summary: Flatlining kills. Intensity fuels growth!
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Leadership, Main Page.
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