“Never confuse motion with action.” —Ernest Hemingway “I am a creative person, I need the freedom to innovate.” A comment from a developer caught my attention. We were talking about working in a systematic way, and following certain development guidelines and processes. Sometimes there is a conflict between innovation and processes. Processes are considered to be bounded, whereas creativity is boundless. “I...
“Failure doesn’t exist. It’s only a change of direction.” ? Alejandro Jodorowsky “I am in the middle of the development of this one, give me a couple of days to finish, and then I will start with this new one.” We were discussing development plans in the weekly meeting. Sandy was highly engrossed in his thoughts about the work at...
“I have been asked to prepare a plan for the whole year, and I do not know where to stop. Some tasks have too many details. For some, I don’t know much. If I go ahead and just put down something, it will result in wasted efforts. Do we really need to plan for these? Or can we do...
“The difference between courage and stupidity is measured by success and survival.” -- Evan C. Currie, The Heart of Matter. “Every business has risk, how is this different from other risks?” As a senior member of the executive team, I thought it was my duty to warn someone if he is taking undue risks in the business. “As such, it is very difficult to differentiate between the...
“Thinking well is wise; planning well wiser; doing well wisest and best of all.” --Persian Proverb “We fixed more than a hundred issues during the last week.” Parth is a very energetic developer and has very sharp debugging skills. When he comes across a defect he can’t take a rest before it is fixed. More challenging, the better. “Wow! That is great....
“No matter how hard you work, someone else is working harder” – Elon Musk I was about to leave the office on a Friday evening. It’s a good time for a coffee break, before joining the Friday evening rush. Everyone around was relaxed and looking forward to the weekend. Ramesh was engrossed in some deep thoughts. His team was about to...
“The whole is greater than the sum of the parts” – Aristotle. “I have joined the gym this week, I am going to work on the weight training.” It was late afternoon, and I was enjoying the coffee break with a few developers. “I prefer stamina. My evening dance class is the best form of aerobic exercise. It feels so relaxed and...
“Good things come to people who wait, but better things come to those who go out and get them.” – Walt Disney “We have been running like a horse for the release, it is so close but still eluding.” Srini who was leading one of the customer projects was talking to me over lunch. “You said it Srini, when you are...
“What sets you apart can sometimes feel like a burden and it’s not. And a lot of the time, it’s what makes you great.” – Emma Stone. “Every person is unique and so are their expectations.” I was talking to Shekhar, founder of a start-up product company. “We need passionate employees who will work towards our vision. Have you thought about their needs?” It is hard to...
“The rest of this year (2021) will be full of uncertainties.” Was my response to the following conversation. I was discussing with a CEO of a tech start-up during the half-yearly review. We were looking at last year's numbers and comparing them with now. “Well, this year looks much better than the last one.” “No doubt last year was bad, but we...
