The “Yes, but” explanation

Communicating the current status correctly to the stakeholders is one of the primary responsibilities while managing projects. Striking the right balance is key in ensuring the audience has accurate information and apprised of how the tasks with deliverables in the near future are shaping up. Getting timely updates from people working on the projects is critical in getting it right. Due to the dependency involved it can get tricky at times. For example if a task is complete and there is confirmation awaited about the completion of associated documentation it could mean that the task+documentation are complete and just confirmation is pending or task is complete but the documentation is being worked on. With work potentially being done by a team member in a different part of the world makes it difficult to confirm in real time. That’s when the “Yes, but” explanation comes into picture when presenting the current status. I guess this explanation sometimes creeps into personal life too. Wife must have heard my “Yes, but” line a few times. So, when she asks something like “Raj, can you take some days off when our son is home for his holidays” and I offer “Yes, but it depends on a Production Go Live implementation date/s staying as currently planned OR Yes, but only if there are no project deliverables due” her immediate reaction is “Now you are speaking like a PM” 😀 Which is true 🙂

I see Dr Fauci and other doctors in a similar situation when asked about novel coronavirus, in a much larger context of course. “Dr X, is the curve flattening as expected and can people return to life as normal?” and they have to tread a fine line with explanation like “Yes (for the curve flattening), but the trend has to continue for a bit longer for people to be able to go out and do what they would during normal times”. The need to be positive and truthful and at the same time balancing it with words of caution.

Living on borrowed time?

Starting with a story about a fictional company, We Are The Best (WATB) Inc. WATB is a construction company that has been doing roaring business past few years. Employees were gainfully employed and eyeing more work to follow steadily as demand was at a high level. It appeared that the good times would last for the foreseeable future at least. Few months ago couple of employees fell sick in what appeared to be seasonal flu. After taking a few days off they returned to work hoping to ride it out. In the meanwhile some more employees fell sick. The # of employees with illness increased higher in a short period of time. When the HQ folks in a different city heard about this their initial reaction was “This season the flu is more severe and appears to be lasting longer than usual”. As days and weeks passed a handful of employees passed away first and the # turned into tens of them in the days that followed rattling the top management of WATB enough for the CEO, who also held the position of President, and the VP of Operations and Finance to fly in and assess the situation for themselves. To improve the morale of the employees the CEO and VP first visited the company location and assure the employees they would be taken care of and there was nothing to be alarmed about. Next they visited the hospital where many sick employees were admitted. Among the patients was one of the earliest employees who had been battling the mystery illness for many weeks and showing signs of recovering. He still had quite a few tubes attached to his body and was breathing with assistance. To help the recovering employee communicate with the CEO and VP more freely the breathing apparatus was disconnected briefly. As the execs were leaving the room after few minutes of encouraging talk the employee experienced acute difficulty in breathing and passed away. Seeing this the CEO remarked to the VP “Too bad he couldn’t fight anymore. It’s a pity after all the money the company has spent on his hospitalization, medications and expensive equipment to assist with many bodily functions including breathing”. To which the VP solmenly responded “Yes Sir, you did all you could. We are WATB for a reason and we are the best in everything we do”. After visiting a few more employee patients the CEO expressed concern to the VP on the return flight about increasing cost of treatment amid plunging revenues due to so many employees not showing up for work. With extension to their positions in the hands of board members just a few months away and the overall health of the company a primary factor in that decision the CEO wondered aloud if it might be better to let go of some of the sick employees.

The above story was to lay the groundwork for describing the current situation. In times of crisis citizens of all nations are prepared to make personal sacrifices for the greater good and support the leader. Political affiliations and leanings take a back seat and we want our leaders to succeed. As their success means a more more secure and prosperous future for all. Honest Abe, Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi and FDR come to mind when considering leaders that are viewed favorably by history. Whatever their personal strengths or weaknesses when they were confronted with the biggest crisis they rose to the occasion with words and deeds that inspired their fellow citizens to trust them enough to willingly do what was asked of them. In short crisis appeared to bring their best qualities to the fore.

That raises the question: Why are our current leaders not able to unite everyone to fight a common unknown enemy at this time of crisis. The answer is simple: trust and integrity issues. The leaders of the fictional WATB come across as petty, too money minded, eager to claim credit, very concerned about being viewed as being successful and lacking in empathy. Consider all the citizens to be employees of WATB, many needing help as they are going through physical, mental, psychological stress along with financial difficulty at this time with a very shaky current and a very uncertain future. Words and deeds from leaders matter lot in such situations. Words of calm and actions that convey assurance make a difference. Leaders can’t be repeatedly complaining about the money being spent in recovery. Empathy is key along with humble recognition of the enormity of the task. This is a war of multiple battles. Shouting “Victory!” after winning one battle is premature ejaculation. To the families and friends of those who have lost a loved one or have someone fighting for their life boasting losing ten of thousands of lives is so much better than hundreds of thousands or millions is like adding insult to injury. Their pain is real. Likewise for those who have lost jobs or had to shut their business. Any positives from steps taken will be erased if the leaders come across like the top execs of WATB Inc.

Yes, the economy grinding to a halt is a valid concern and can’t go on for long. The domino effect on many industries is almost unimaginable and the ripple effect very dangerous. Yes, the Chinese Government and the authorities at the local level in Wuhan all the way up the chain owe answer to the rest of the world for simple questions like “Who knew what and when?”, “When did they realize the enormity of the situation?”, “When and to who did they raise alarm?”, “What did they do to contain the spread inside?”, “What actions did they take to prevent the spread outside?”. The actions/non-actions of those responsible doesn’t make everyone of Chinese descent suspect or justify abuse. As it’s said when one finger is pointed at someone there are more fingers pointing back at oneself. Which means the same questions that are valid for the Chinese Government and health authorities are valid for the other countries too. The next few months are going to be very tough as everyone navigates through the difficult times. Yes, some have lived on borrowed money to add to their misery. The words and actions of those responsible for citizens’ safety and security may very well determine if we are living on borrowed time

Word of the day: metrics

Today’s word is metrics. Below are dictionary meanings of the word metrics.

  1. the use or study of poetic meters
  2. a method of measuring something, or the results obtained from this.

The word is used in the context of poetry (to study patterns of rhythm and word) and in a more widely used context to describe standard/parameters used for measurement.

Now for some context on why metrics is the word of the day. A gent, known for his sharpie mind, was asked about metrics in his presentation. He pointed to his head to indicate that’s where it all lay. I had a kind of Eureka moment as I thought I discovered “Metrics = Me + tricks” as in mind tricks. Thinking I had hit the jackpot began searching for the origin of the word in support of my discovery. Haven’t found it yet 😦 Can someone help please?

Proof wife is smarter

During these tough times all of us need a reason to smile 🙂 or laugh 😀 Was watching a news show today anchored by a lady. Her hairstyle looked a little different. Remarked to my wife “Does that lady’s hairstyle look a little odd?” Pat came wife’s response “Yes, her hairdresser/hairstylist must be off now due to social distancing”. As if on cue a lady guest appeared on the show in a remote location and she appeared to be having a bad hair day herself proving wifey right 😀 And I was left wondering “Duh, I should have reasoned it myself considering that hairdresser/hairstylists’ business has been hard hit by the lockdown/social distancing guidelines issued across most parts of the country”! I now truly believe not only is wife is always right, she is also smarter 😀

Novel exercise

The past week has seen, in the wake of coronavirus scare, spate of announcements from companies asking employees to work from home and colleges moving courses online in an effort to reduce the risk of infection and contain the spread of virus from human interactions. First, shoutout to all those in the frontline fighting the battle to help people already infected and risking infecting themselves in the process. Second, prayers for people infected and trying to recover. Third, prayers for welfare of workers who cannot do their job from a remote location and are at higher risk of exposure to infection.

While working from home is not new in professions where the job can be done electronically the concept of large volume of employees and most of college education moving online is novel indeed. The announcement of national emergency with recommendation of social distancing has in effect forced everyone to find ways to go about their business in a different way. It’s going to be interesting to see how this new Business As Usual (BAU) under unusual circumstances works out, especially considering there is uncertainty on how long this will be the norm for doing things. Willy-nilly all of us are going to be affected whether we are active or passive participants. Which throws up some interesting questions

1) Will multiple people working/studying under one roof called home result in individuals feeling invasion of their space in some way?
2) Will it result in increased quality family time due to much higher interaction between family members and bring families closer?
3) Will there be more frequent trips to the pantry/kitchen snack counter due to more easy availability and lesser distance to walk?
4) Will network bandwidth be a bottleneck as members of families compete for a slice of it for their work or study?
5) Will grocery stores witness a continuing surge in buying or see a drop as people work through the extra foodstuff they have bought in recent times?
6) Will snacking companies need to work overtime due to increased demand as people seek comfort in snacks/chocolates/ice creams?
7) Will oil prices at gas station depress more due to supply exceeding reduced demand?
8) Will businesses like restaurants, movie theaters, sporting events that need people coming in go belly up?
9) Will students’ grades improve helped by parent/s being around to help?
10) Will employee productivity increase thanks to potential help from their children? 🙂 I know of one co-worker who took credit for all the hard work done by his dog jumping on the keyboard when he was away 😉 https://therajblog.com/2019/03/02/did-the-dog/
11) Will all the forced changes ensure policymakers do a better job of preparing for situations like this or shift blame by pointing fingers at others?
12) Will this become the new normal way of doing business?

Questions, questions and more questions. No immediate answers but there should be more than enough data in a few weeks to analyze how all this works out. As for myself, I cannot get away in the near future claiming I had a bath or ate my lunch on time 😦 Life is getting tough but I will hang on 😀