"Manage well”.. I am sure
there is no on here who have not received this wish/advice. Mange well in
exams, games, play, projects, ‘spouse’ etc.. did we manage well ?? or why could
we manage well.. was there any secrete sauce to ‘Manage well’ ?
So what is managing well
means for you??
Here are my take on this
generous wish / desire ‘Manage well’..
More than a wish for us it
is a desire to manage well.., because we equate this to Success, some successful
satisfaction ( I will write something about Successful satisfaction later)
So, coming back to ‘Manage
well’, we need this when we are in a situation, like exam, project, job,
marriage, games etc… and in every situation what are we going to ‘Manage’,
nothing but ‘Variables’
So when we are in a situation,
1. Certain variability we know
2. Certain we do not know
3. Certain variable we know that we don’t know
about it
4. There are many variable we don’t know that we
don’t know
Now let us reflect
situations we really managed well and we were successful, the reason is we are
in complete cognizant about 1 & 2. Why in some situation we are less
successful, because it is more of 3 & 4..
Let us take a situation,
Indian cricket team visiting Australia, they are going for their first test
match-- every one wishes Indian team to ‘Manage well’ ( this is just an
hypothetical example )
What variability Indian
cricket team know – bouncy pitches, super-fast bowlers, huge ground , less
ground support
What variability they do
not know - which players are in great form, how much grass they leave, how many
pace bowlers they pick, winning a toss what Clark is going to do..
What variable they know
that they do not know - how much runs Australia will score in first innings,
how lenient Umpire is about LBW etc.
What variable they don’t
know that don’t know - how to run between wicket L, how to apply and spend time in crease ..
So, how Indian team can be
victorious in the first test? I leave it your imagination !!!
So from a personal front,
when you are in a situation try do a mapping of the critical variables.. the
more you are in 1 & 2 zone.. you are in Control ( again I will write
more about Control later). We are at best when we feel, we are in
control of the variables.. so what you do when you are in not in control ??
So IT business perspective,
In the first phase of IT
revolution, we were trying to automate certain business process using
computer programs / packages. Where IT folks were clear about what business
problem ( variable) they are trying to automate and what is its solution
(variable). Only very few programming language and package existed. No focus on
efficiency and effectiveness of automation. Automation itself was great USP..
In the second phase of
IT revolution, business problem remain known, solutions were challenging,
more focus on performance, usability, security. Many solution alternates, cost
implications and maintains issues ( all of these are variable ). IT group
started losing control, started implementing ‘process’ frameworks / standards
etc… , got a feeling they are back in control, do they ??
According to me we are in third
phase of IT revolution, where there is no distinction between IT &
business process. Disruptive technologies like Mobility , cloud, social
engineering, Internet of things drives business and its consumer behavior. So
we are behind unknown problems and unknown solutions, highest of 3 & 4. We
are in total loss of control J, so how do we ‘manage well’?
The situation we are in
third phase, lot of variables makes us un comfortable , create fear failure… .
So here is ‘Mantra’ to
regain control
· Short feedback loops, frequent learning
cycles and early feedback [ this helps to un cover many 2, 3 & 4)
· Let us fail early and effectively – let us be
empirical
· Better interaction on Business users and IT
folks – are we building right things
This ‘Mantra’ is nothing
but Agile / lean philosophy.. so, Agile gives us insight about variability’s
and very cycle / sprint will uncover many 3 & 4. Thus help us to gain back
the feel of control and hence ‘MANAGE WELL’ in turn to SUCCESS..
So Agile is not the end it
is a means via we do manage well…
Will connect with you folks
on my random & crazy thoughts
So, manage well…