Back to Basics: Keep asking "Why?" "Why?"

Yesterday, I was in the UI developer workshop where the Process expert, Brian was giving us tid bits on how to be better developers, how to troubleshoot issues, how to drill down to the core of the issues. And this is what he underscored ...........................

KEEP ASKING "WHY" ATLEAST FOR 5 TIMES.

This is not a technique something he invented. But we(homosapiens) maneuver this skill right from childhood. Only that as we get old...we forget the basics. Don't you remember those days when we kept asking our parents "mama, why?"..............."but why, dada?".......

For example, the following can be a conversation between a 4 year old and her parent............

"WHY is the sky blue?" - "Because apparently, God is Yahoo's fan and hence he painted it in blue"

"WHY is God yahoo's fan?" - "Because Yahoo is a humble, somber portal"

"WHY is yahoo humble?" - "Because David Filo and Jerry Yang are from Stanford"

"WHY are they from Stanford?" - "Because they have been very good kids and good students"

"WHY are they good kids?" - "Because they never bugged their parents with WHY questions like you do."

Well, for kids - You can beguile, deceive, cozen them with imbecile answers like the above, since you have the clout. But hell no, it doesn't work in work environment. Nevertheless, the skill is the same - Keep asking "WHY" until you can ask no more and asking more doesn't make sense to you. And that will help you get to the bottom of the problem and understand what the root cause to the problem might have been.

Something like -
"WHY did my code fail?" - "Because the UI designer made wrong assumptions"

"WHY did he make wrong assumptions?" - "Because the BSA put in wrong requirements."

"WHY did he squeeze in wrong requirements?" - "Because he was drowsy in the lengthy requirement sessions"

"WHY was he drowsy?" - "Because the temperature in the room is so comfortable"

The plausible solutions can be - ratchet the temperature to keep everyone awake in meetings
(Well, you know I am desperately trying to make something up, but hey - you can apply to real time work issues)

So, don't forget - Keep asking "WHY?"

Some things I ponder about

oh Gosh! When I think of the following, I just lose my mind why some things work the way they do

• Why does the traffic in the right lane move faster than in left lane only when I switch from right to left lane. For that matter, why does traffic slow down in the same lane in which I swerve to?
• Why do those cute sweaters go on sale just the day after I buy them? Why can't the sale happen atleast a day earlier?
• Why do people just gawk when a police car passes by and hold up all the traffic? This drives me soooo crazy. ppl....curious ppl. The other day there was a long pile up of cars on 476 for about a mile and ask me why? People were slowing down to read the "Roadwork tonight" sign. This according to Kerry is called "Gaper Delay". come on ppl...multi task!

Well, there are n number of things I keep pondering about to which there doesn't seem an answer...the mystery of life, I guess.

Recommended Readings to Ascending the Corporate Ladder

NETSHARE Inc.'s CEO, Kathy Simmons, (NETSHARE is a networking and career-services membership organization for senior executives based in Novato, Calif., with more than 2,000 members. It is a partner of CareerJournal.com too), tells us the books she'd recommend to those seeking to position themselves for a top-management.

And they are -

"Now, Discover Your Strengths"By Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton
"Understanding what your strengths are and what you bring to the table is a really important part of being able to position yourself for a CEO job. This book helps you look at what areas you're strong in. It's great for understanding yourself and other people. One of things I tell people when I talk about hiring it that people hire for one of two reasons -- either because you can make them money or you can save them money. "

"Rites of Passage at $100,000 to $1 Million+: Your Insider's Lifetime Guide to Executive Job-Changing and Faster Career Progress in the 21st Century"By John Lucht
"[The author] offers a lot of very practical advice. He's been a retained recruiter for many years and knows the recruiting process inside and out. He focuses strictly on the high-level job seeker. He gives very practical advice on job hunting all the way down to how to write letters."

"Don't Send a Resume: And Other Contrarian Rules to Help Land a Great Job"By Jeffrey J. Fox
"Coming from a sales and marketing perspective, the author teaches executive candidates to view themselves as a product and how to find a market for their product."

"$100,000+ Career: The New Approach to Networking for Executive Job Change" By John Davies
"Executives are changing jobs faster than ever. The one constant in your life is going to be your network, and this book reminds us that networking can enrich your life in more ways than simply helping you get your next job or ahead in your current job."

"The Complete Guide to Executive Compensation"By Bruce R. Ellig
"It's one of the few books that looks at executive compensation as part of the whole strategic business plan of the company. That's becoming even more important today because of corporate governance issues, changes in regulatory environment and the demands for transparency by shareholders."

"How to Become CEO: The Rules for Rising to the Top of Any Organization"By Jeffrey J. Fox
"It's almost a cookbook of how to become a CEO. The author has some great insights and offers a very pragmatic view."

"Leadership Secrets of the World's Most Successful CEOs: 100 Top Executives Reveal the Management Strategies That Made Their Companies Great"By Eric Yaverbaum
"It's a book of several CEO biographies. Each biography focuses on a specific leadership trait and offers what are essentially fortune cookie-type tips that are easy to read. If you don't want to read one long biography, it's a great way to get individual tips from successful CEOs."

"Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't" By Jim Collins
"It's easy to fall into the trap of believing that being visionary means constantly coming up with a new vision. [The author] reminds us that what made companies go from good to great was one idea."

"Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking"By Malcolm Gladwell
"The takeaway I got from this book was how much we know without realizing it and how quickly our brains move and take in information without our conscious mind being involved. This book can help you trust your gut because oftentimes gut impressions are based on real information that we're not consciously aware of."

"The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century"By Thomas L. Friedman
"It really shows the future and I think that's important for understanding your worth, how the playing field is leveled, how things are going to be changing and what we need to think about to prepare for that. One of the trends we're going to see more of in the future is multi-national corporations and boards. Truly understanding that the world is flat and what that means and having a global perspective is even more important than ever and will in many cases make the difference between being hired and not being hired."

"Good Night, and Good Luck"Directed by George Clooney
"It's a positive example of the triumph of principles over pressure to compromise. It also demonstrated the leadership of the CBS News organization, which elects to stay true to its mission and its brand."

WOMEN IN COMPUTING: A SHRINKING SHARE

Wanted: Female Computer-Science Students

Why Up-or-Out Doesn't Work

As you review your organization's bench strength, the bottom of the bell curve is bugging you. A small percentage of employees just aren't cutting it. Once upon a time, most of them were highly rated and, as a result, they're sitting in big jobs. But you're losing confidence in them, and they're losing confidence in themselves. They're becoming defensive or going underground.
It's natural to blame them. After all, their performance is affecting yours, and their previous contributions are fading in light of current challenges.

Many organizations practice an extreme form of the "blame the employee" game by using an up-or-out approach to management development. In the up-or-out process (typically done once a year as part of organizational planning), managers are asked to chart out their organizational needs for the future, assess their staff's current capabilities, and identify the top and bottom 10 percent that should move "up" or move "out." As a result of this process, people get promoted, reassigned, hired and "managed out"

In so-called high-performance organizations, executives follow this process dutifully, with the understanding that their ability to manage out that bottom 10 percent is part of their job, albeit an unpleasant one. This ongoing "Survivor: The Organization" game results in a corporate "kill or be killed" mentality. The up-or-out process provides an easy road for managers who would rather focus on the low-hanging fruit of structure and talent assessment and defer more difficult decisions regarding strategy and career development. In many organizations, organizational planning has been reduced to endless hours spent tinkering with org charts (in the vain hope that some sort of a Suduko-type answer will emerge) and gossiping about others' capabilities and potential (albeit in an organizationally sanctioned manner).

Why Up-or-Out Doesn't Work

Up-or-out is a ruthless, Darwinian approach that, very often, simply doesn't work because it ignores two key realities. First, it assumes that if there is a performance issue it's due to the shortcomings of the individual. In my experience, most individual performance issues are really management performance issues in disguise. Second, up-or-out assumes that the devil you don't know is better than the devil you do. In reality, hiring someone from the outside is difficult, expensive and typically results in trading one set of problems for another.
Try, instead, to entertain the idea that you have most of the right people right now, and spend your time assigning them to roles that they 1. want to do, 2. know how to do, and 3. in which they know what to do. You can do this by:

• Defining the strategy collaboratively. People will know what to do if they're involved in the development of objectives, strategies and tactics. Only within a shared strategic context can individuals apply their experience, knowledge and social skills in a productive, collaborative fashion. Good talent can go bad when it's assigned to an initiative that is ill-conceived and unsupported by others.
• Understanding your people. People are born with inherent talents and the drive to do the best they can in order to feel good and significant. Many times, performance issues crop up when an individual's values, motivators and talents don't jibe with the job they are assigned. People will perform best if their role connects with what makes them tick and leverages and enhances their strengths.
• Providing support. No one has a complete package of talents, skills and knowledge, and most are unaware of their relative strengths and deficiencies—especially when it comes to taking on a new challenge. Managers can help people learn how to do their jobs by providing them with the resources and support (oversight, coaching, education, colleagues, tools) that supplement and complement their abilities.
• Clarifying processes and roles. Managers can also help ensure that their people know how to do their jobs by designing processes that clearly define their accountabilities and how their work relates to others. In organizational design, it's important to design processes and roles before addressing staffing questions.

Wise leaders understand that many a prince has been made to look like a pig when faced with challenges that are outside of their control due to strategic misalignment, organizational chaos and role misfits. Before you decide that a person just can't cut it, take a hard look in the mirror and make sure you have set them up for success, not failure.

My movie personality

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

That was my movie personality.(Well, Don't ask me if I really am so!!!! I leave that for you to ponder about! :-) )

Are Women Happy Under The Glass Ceiling?

Even before The Wall Street Journal coined the term "glass ceiling" 20 years ago, researchers debated why women seldom reach the highest ranks in business. Do women choose less stressful jobs so they can enjoy life more? Are they shut out of golf games and other informal networks that help men make crucial professional contacts?

Few tips for women to learn to break the glass ceiling and creep up the corporate ladder -

Hobnob With The Bigwigs
According to stereotype, women are better at developing relationships than men. But that's not true in the corporate world, says Carol Gallagher, author of Going to the Top. Women tend to put their heads down and finish their work, assuming they'll get noticed, she says. "They guys are out playing golf and networking," she says. The men gain valuable connections. They also learn about big-picture strategic issues, knowledge that helps them climb to the top.

Don't Nitpick
Women tend to obsess about details, says Gallagher. She's seen women in board meetings contradict a presenter when one fact was wrong in a document. That offends the presenter, she says, without accomplishing much. Men are more likely to let small errors fly in order to preserve their relationships.

Sell Yourself
Make sure your bosses know your ambitions and your capabilities. "Women tend to expect that meritocracy will take place," says Gill Rider, chief leadership officer at Accenture. But meritocracy won't work on its own. Women, like men, need to promote themselves and their achievements.

Ask For More Money
Women are more likely than men to take whatever salary is offered to them, because they don't want to rock the boat. A client of Gallagher's discovered that a junior male colleague was making $100,000 more than she was. She talked to her boss, who saw the error--and perhaps the threat of a lawsuit--and promptly upped her salary by $100,000.

Have Fun
Women burn out, Gallagher says. It's well-known that women do more housework than men. But women also tend to stay in the office, while men are more likely to be out networking and building connections. "Women are fried, exhausted, at the end of the day, the week, the year," Gallagher says. "The men are having more fun."

Take Risks
A client of Gallagher's wanted a new challenge. So she told her boss she was interested in moving to a more senior position. The boss came through with an offer, but it was in a different division that the client knew little about. She turned the offer down. "She didn't want to take the risk because she wasn't sure if she could be perfect at it," Gallagher says. Her husband convinced her to take the job.