VOLUNTEERING FOR A DREAM I BELIEVE IN!!

After having shed all my inhibitions and getting enrolled as an "on-the-ground" volunteer for the Aam Aadmi Party I thought I'll share my experiences of the first couple of days.

Spreading the word

Image courtesy:
https://twitter.com/Parasmaniji/status/307896433892274178

As soon as I reach the office I am tasked to a team that will try and reach out to the people on the road by distributing "I want Swaraj" topis (caps), badges, and putting posters on auto-rickshaws. Its not the glorified job that one would imagine, but in my view its the best place to be since that's when you can truly gauge the support of the people and the "AAP Wave". Majority of the people on the road are extremely enthusiastic in their support and as passionate as we are, I say this because, auto drivers come around voluntarily to get the posters fixed on their rickshaws (without a penny being paid or being asked - a little hard to believe), people on the road stopping by and asking how can they volunteer and lend support. 
I am not sure about the "Intellectuals" but the common people on the roads connect with the party's message on honesty and clean governance and are extending their full support. This sort of response generates the energy that makes one forget natures elements of rain, heat, cold and work tirelessly towards spreading the message.

There are roughly 70000 auto-rickshaws in Delhi and my team working in the East Delhi constituency have covered over 300 of these vehicles and we would have distributed more than 3000 caps in the last 2 days. There are many other teams working round-the-clock in the region, trying to spread the word. 
With the campaigning efforts in Delhi coming to a close the next set of responsibilities include assuming the role of a polling agent and facilitating the spreading of the message on the D-Day. I am game.... and if you are too then sign up TODAY.

Is baar NoMo....di Sarkaar (This time we don't want Modi)

There is no doubt that there is a sprinkling of support for Modi and a couple of folks have come up to me and repeated "Is baar Modi Sarkaar" (We want Modi). My short but courteous reply to them is "No sir! you mean, Is baar phir Ambani Sarkaar!".

AAP ki "topi"

Image Courtesy: http://www.veooz.com/

Ok, so the "I want Swaraj" topi may not be the coolest accessory that you may have worn, but it was never meant to be. It represents a message that joins us all together across classes, across religions, and cuts across our personal biases (demons) and no amount of money can buy you that piece of clothing. 

In Conclusion

The idea of this piece is not to proclaim my achievements, the message is simple, if you truly believe in an idea then give it all you can, because "NO ONE CAN STOP AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME".

A visit to the Aam Aadmi Party's office

I have always been a passive and reluctant onlooker in most scenarios, seldom willing to inconvenience myself, especially if I didn't see any material benefit arising from taking any initiative or maybe in some cases I was afraid of he perception that others may develop of me. This thought process has evolved over the last few years thanks mostly to the principles I have learnt at ThoughtWorks, and in this particular case my influencer has been Navendu Shirali (my batchmate from Goa Institute of Management).
For the last 3 odd years I watched the Anna movement and Aam Aadmi Party from the sidelines hoping to be part of these movements but reluctant to get down to brass tacks. Most of my support or involvement was by the easiest way possible i.e. sharing statuses on social platforms and making some insignificant donations. However, after a lot of introspection I finally took the initiative and walked into their Pandav Nagar office to sign up and help them in any way I can.



What I experienced?

The office is in a nondescript location probably on rent or loan from a volunteer. As you walk to the first floor the first thing that you will notice is that the stairwell has clear signs requesting visitors/residents not to spit on the corners put up by the party.
The office itself is bustling with energy and volunteers were either getting logistics ready for a house to house visit, huddled in a cubicle to plan the next Jansabha or roadshow, or coordinating booth management activities for the D-day.
The walls were lined with chart papers and white boards consisting of information on work assignments, allocations and action items, the energy in the room was palpable and made me feel as if I was missing out on something and I need to be a part of this ....right now! The crowd was mixed (in terms of age) and consisted mostly of educated middle class folks like myself. The interactions among the group seemed very professional and cordial, very similar to the environment that you and me experience in our corporate lives.

What I signed up for?

I met Mr. Gyankumar Pandey (a mild mannered and cordial individual) who asked me some basic information about my work and constituency and then briefly explained the tasks where I could help with in the coming days. So I volunteered to help over the coming weekend and on the day of voting in Delhi. I also expressed my interest in helping AAP with putting in place practices which help in continuous learning and improvement and help building a strong and long lasting organizational culture. This brought Shalini into the picture, she drives the organizational development initiative at AAP and informed me that the party did hold a lessons learnt exercise across its offices in Delhi after the assembly polls, and would be looking to do the same post the Lok Sabha election. She looked forward to my involvement during that time and listed my contact details in a Google spreadsheet.

In conclusion:

I came out of the office even more reassured and pumped then when I entered it. 
I generally hear a lot of people say that AAP should do this or Arvind Kejriwal should have (not) done that or that they believed in the movement at the start but no longer believe in it..... All I have to say is that history gives us a few opportunities to make things right and when that time comes, don't be like me, the person who sat in a corner reluctant and afraid just happy taking the easy way out. Stand up, get involved, take the initiative and work towards making that change as AAP has done and BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE.

AAM AADMI PARTY - THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY

With the Delhi Assembly Elections and the General Elections just around the corner its natural to get political and to evaluate the options at hand. Given that Aam Aadmi Party is planning to contest the Delhi elections in November and have negligible presence on the National scene, I'll try to keep this thread focussed on the latter.

I, like most people supported the cause that Anna highlighted through his push for the Jan Lokpal bill and firmly believed that given the rot that has set into the political space in this country the only way to clean it up would be to get into politics and show people that there is a clean and honest way to conduct business (oops... politics). Therefore my support to the AAP came about quite naturally.

As I have gone about to share and propagate AAP's agenda across various forums, a lot of people have debated the good, the bad and the ugly and given below are my interpretations of those conversations:

Why join politics? Why can't you make a difference from outside? - Kejriwal and the others could have continued to support Anna, why did they have to join politics, maybe they just wanted to join politics in the first place and used Anna as a stepping stone. My Thoughts - Ever since I saw the movie "Yuva" I was convinced that the only way to see change is to be the change, especially if we talk about the political space in the country. When Anna was protesting on the Ram Leela grounds to exert pressure on the parliamentarians for enacting the Jan Lokpal bill, almost every politician was asking them to join politics. Well I applaud the AAP for calling their bluff and putting the efforts that none of us can dare to.

What's stopping them from turning corrupt once they gain power? - This is the most common argument that one seems to hear and who can blame us, we have been cheated, ignored, and robbed by all politicians (the exceptions are few and almost negligible). We all consider 'politics' as a dirty word, no one in their sane mind wants to be associated with it, let alone take part in it. My thoughts - The AAP has set some clear guidelines and rules for its functioning including an internal Lokpal. They even set some very clear guidelines and a rigorous interview process to select its candidates from all the constituencies. This is the most logical thing to do for any political party that has an intention of being honest and still almost none of them have even thought of trying this.

They'll never be able to gain a majority, why have a hung assembly. - They are really new in the political space with no real roots, sure they might win a couple of seats but don't kid yourself to believe that they will have a majority. Actually they might do more harm than good by creating a hung assembly. My Thoughts - The AAP has been around for less than a year and in this short time they have been able to generate the kind of buzz that is hard to ignore and shows that they have a lot of support. However, even I agree that it would be extremely difficult for them to get a majority in Delhi. The reason I would still support them is that (hung assembly or not) there is tremendous value if they can win some seats because it will force the other political parties to think differently and hopefully improve their internal processes.

Anna seems clean but I am not sure about this Kejriwal fellow and his ilk. - Anna Hazare has a clean image but I don't like this Kejriwal. He has a very arrogant personality and always seems to be finding faults in others. Also, weren't there some investigations against him? My Thoughts - Whenever someone tries to challenge the political class, they put everything at their disposal (the police, tax officials, media, CBI, CID etc) to dig out dirt against you and if that fails then they cook up stuff that just isn't there. The point is that if you dig long and hard enough you can find dirt about anyone (and I mean ANYONE). In any case, even with all their resources they have not been able to prove anything against Kejriwal. Also, we don't really need to worry about Arvind Kejriwal and his personality, what we should look at instead is that he has taken a very difficult challenge which would benefit us in the long-term. He has set up a party with the right guiding principles which has involved people from the grass roots and if they continuously try to improve themselves by doing meaningful retrospectives then they will get better in the long term.

Politics is more about just corruption, what is their stand on some of the other issues? - AAP has built their entire campaign around eradicating corruption but running this country is more than just handling corruption, so what's their take on some of the other issues plaguing this country. My Thoughts - This is one of the points that concerns me as well since I think their stand on some of the other issues are not very clear. However, if AAP can do nothing else but bring us some relief from corruption then their involvement is worth its weight in gold (at current inflated prices). Also, I think we all will agree that there is no shortage of good policies in the country but the problem is with their implementation, which is lacking due to administrative lethargy and corruption.

Why I liked "Bhag Milkha Bhag"?

Don't worry, I don't intend to spoil any surprises from the movie.... So you can read on fearlessly. Just saw the movie and wanted to share the aspects that really moved me.

• Fine Portrayal of Sikhs - 99% of bollywood movies use Sikhs as fillers in comic sequences and hardly ever do we get to see the other more human (or normal) side of Sikhs. Although there is nothing wrong or inaccurate with the larger than life portrayal of Sikhs that we generally get to see but most people have not seen anything else and that in my view is not fair. The only other movie that seemed to touch a "different" vein was Gadar but that was too mainstream to bring out any refreshing aspect about Sikhs.  In Gadar, Sunny Deol did something unreal by pulling a hand pump out of the ground and in this story you have a very human Milkha Singh doing something unreal in real life.

  

  Image courtesy: http://www.indianexpress.com/

• Don't forget his achievements - We all probably read the reference of the "Flying Sikh" in our text books but if you were an average student like myself then you probably never understood what achievements got him that title. And even if you are well read and can repeat all the 77 races that he won, you'll find it really tough to imagine the inhuman effort that needs to be invested to break a world record. I did a bit of athletics in school (ran 800 & 1500 mtrs) and the effort it took just to better my own timing was so overwhelming that I believed only a divine intervention would help. Probably that's what explains Milkha Singh's extraordinary achievements. 

There are a lot of other good things about the movie like how Farhan Akhtar totally looked the part and probably motivated a lot of us to renew our gym memberships and not to forget the old
India Pakistan rivalry which always gets us Indians going.
However, I only wanted to elaborate on the things that really stood out for me. In essence, I suggest that you watch the movie as an honor to the legend and that in itself should be reason enough. 

The Lateral's guide to the ThoughtWorks Way

Since the time I started blogging I wanted to do a piece on my ThoughtWorks journey but had to put those thoughts to rest once I read Pat Kua's piece. (It's a tough act to follow). So I thought I'll try to put something with a slightly different twist.

I came to ThoughtWorks (TW) after spending 5 years with the likes of the Satyam's and Wipro's and with the strong belief that all IT companies are the same and there is absolutely no hope to find a satisfactory work environment.
I have been with TW for almost 3 years and it took the best part of that time to get acquainted and finally inducted into the culture and I am LOVING IT. 

The thoughts shared below are from my perspective and though these could apply to laterals or freshers my experiences may resound more with the former. 

1. Be ready to be challenged - If you come from one of the typical IT companies you might be used to sharing your thoughts with developers or testers and getting an acceptance with minimal or no questions asked. That's not what you'll get here and be prepared to be challenged about your suggestions and decisions whether you are an MD, Delivery Manager, Customer or any other role. 
2. Be ready to stand up for what you think is right - If you believe that you have the right opinion then don't be afraid to share it (even if it opposes your tech lead/manger) but be ready to back it up with some relevant points because I would hate to take you back to point no. 1.
3. Be ready to share your thoughts, expertise and experience - We believe that knowledge grows through effective sharing so be prepared to be urged and nudged to share your experiences on a project or in life within or outside the company. 
4. Be ready to be heard - The thing I love most about ThoughtWorks is the freedom I have to express my thoughts and opinions without fear of rebuke or reprimand. The only caveat to this would be to ensure that these thoughts/opinions don't offend any community or individual.
5. Get involved or get out - This may sound harsh but there comes a time when you will need to shed your baggage and take a really deep dive into the culture. If you don't, then eventually you'll get fed up and leave.
6. Be ready to own and drive - If you are passionate about something and are willing to back it up with hard work and commitment then you will get all the possible support from TWers including the management. There are many examples of this within TW, the STEP program definitely comes to mind.
7. Be ready to innovate - There is always a different and in many cases better way of carrying out tasks and you need to keep yourself abreast with the latest and continously think about questioning the status quo.
8. Be ready to Introspect and accept - Following the principles of continuous improvement at TW we try to look back at our performances and think about the things that went well and those that didn't so that we can identify the areas to work on and improve ourselves.
9. Be patient - You've probably spent many years learning the wrong way and it will take some time before you truly adapt to the 'ThoughtWorks Way', so be patient.
10. Be ready to think beyond the pay check - This is probably the hardest one to get around and many TWers find this a hard pill to swallow. However, the logic is simple, we want people who are really passionate about what they do or want to achieve and money is not the only thing that gets their motor running. In the end we all work for money but if that's the ONLY thing that motivates you then this may not be the place you'll hang around for too long. 
    
    
    
11. Be ready to start at the bottom - It would be really hard for a lateral hire to take a senior or management role and expect to get immersed in the TW way without getting an opportunity to work closely with one (or multiple) of the project teams and experience the madness first hand. Don't let go of this experience since its probably the only way to quicken the learning curve.
12. Fortune 500's are overrated - We work with the more known brands in the world, but are always more than willing to solve the real life problems for the lesser fortunate. The learnings (via innovative thinking) and experience that you would derive from building a solution that helps children from war ravaged territories reunite with their guardians is immense.
13. Be ready to put on weight - In between all the team outings, ice cream meter redemptions and an over stuffed pantry its literally impossible to avoid putting on a few (too many) pounds.
    The team outings (apart from the food and fun) are the best way to build lasting bonds with your team, so don't miss out. This also seems like the appropriate time for me to market my blog about weight management. :-P
14. We are not laid back - A couple of people looking to join TW have told me that they believe TW is a "laid back" company. Yes, we don't take life as seriously as a lot of people do and that's just because we're a happier bunch but by no means are we laid back. And if that's the impressions that you are going to carry then you are in for a big surprise.
15. We all did the best with the knowledge, expertise and time - We speak our minds and share our thoughts but we always keep the following principle in mind.
    

    "Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand."

Ban IPL, it Sponsors Terrorism

This is not just an eye catching headline, I put it up there since I honestly believe it to be true.
Most of us have been angered, disgusted, felt cheated (and I can go on on the emotions) etc with the news of the latest betting racket. However, unless you (and me) stop watching the IPL (Indian Punters league) there is no scope for a positive impact on Indian cricket and possibly other sports in India.

Courtesy: www.liveindia.com

It may be a radical view but in my opinion people involved in betting and IPL are sponsoring terrorism and need to be dealt with in the strongest terms. After all where do you think Dawood and his gang (the main beneficiaries of betting) are investing their money? They finance the ISI and terrorist groups for assistance and protection.... (Obviously you've forgotten their role in the 1993 Mumbai blasts.)


Just remember the next time you watch an IPL match (or the India team play a cricket match) you are probably financing a plot to take out someone dear to you.... Unless obviously the world turns around and we are able to ensure transparency in Indian cricket. Don't dismiss this as a rant from a cricket hater, I'm a religious follower.... if you still don't believe me just ask my wife.

The Roy effect

I have been with ThoughtWorks for a little over 2 years and in the many conversations and introspections surrounding the "secret ingredient" of ThoughtWorks, we have concluded that it has been the people who work at ThoughtWorks that have been the driving force. This obviously is true (why would I disagree with this appreciation which also includes me) and the pain and sacrifices that we make in hiring the "right" folks and the efforts we put in to give our best to our customers has played a very important role in making ThoughtWorks what it is. However, there is another element in the mix that deserves a lot of credit for making ThoughtWorks a truly unique organization, an organization that we all are proud to be part of, and that is our founder and chairman Roy Singham. 

Roy Singham

It is again obvious that he in his role as founder and chairman has been instrumental in shaping this organization but I truly appreciated his contributions when I reflected back on what he shared during his recent visit to the Gurgaon office. Mind you, I am not a person who gets swayed very easily and the thoughts that follow have accumulated over the last couple of years hearing and observing Roy.

Roy's ability to articulate his thoughts and beliefs and his passion and energy are enough to stir the human inside you. It's quite difficult to walk out from one of his sessions and not question your own thoughts and beliefs (some of which you may have nurtured for many years).
Roy has always been very passionate and vocal about our contributions to the underprivileged across the globe and has been actively involved in helping out on issues ranging from women and children health in the African subcontinent to the systematic oppression from the power hungry politicians and capitalists across the globe. 

Most of us within ThoughtWorks have heard him on these issues, the interesting part for me is that I have recently realized the vision that he brings to the business and operations of ThoughtWorks. To share a few examples, during his talk where he also shared the roadmap for the coming year he talked about the following:

• Diversify - Diversifying the business (geographically) is by no means a radical thought but one that has been around for a long time and practiced by many organizations. However, in the context of ThoughtWorks and how we hire and engage with our customers (a separate subject on its own) it takes courage to diversify into new territories especially if the new locations are in underdeveloped/developing nations of Africa, Asia and South America.
• Write-offs are not bad - Majority of businesses would target zero write-offs, its natural to expect payment for your services and avoid any form of losses like the plague. As an organization we strive to deliver our best and fulfill our commitments to our customers but we also want to make sure that every once in a while we make a bet on a customer who has an ambitious idea and help it take shape. Its a bet that we need to take and till the time we are able to control our losses we would have gained a lesson that success can never impart.
• Tackle incompetence not the ability to generate numbers - Businesses are run and measured on the Monthly/quarterly/annual revenues and profits they are able to generate. We at ThoughtWorks also care about how we are performing and whether we are running a healthy and sustainable business, but do we only need numbers to measure that? If we hire the right people and are able to motivate and engage them then numbers tend to loose their significance.

Roy Singham

The examples that I shared above are just a few of many that underline Roy's role in making ThoughtWorks what it is. Also, I do realize that most of these points are debatable and we can't be sure of their long-term effectiveness, but what I do realize is that I feel privileged to have been a part of this journey, whatever the end result.

Now, considering that ThoughtWorks aims to be a 100 year organization the one part that does bother me a bit and was the original motivation about writing this piece, is the future. Do we have someone who can uphold the same principles and bring a similar vision, passion, energy and clarity of thought?