VF (Veri Fast) Vijay Fernandes & Neil decided to meet up impromptu some weeks ago, to open a nice bottle of Havana Club that Judith, Neil’s wife had got for us.

Location was Neil’s house for obvious reasons. An extremely smooth rum, would not mind having it again:)

After (M)onday and (T)uesday even the calendar says W T F

This is something which keeps cropping up amongst peers, friends, acquaintances with everyone having their own view.

Keeping in mind the economic scenario globally, there seems to be some factors that seem to have changed during the year.

Proven cross functional skills seem to have gained importance this year, which overall seems warranted.

The ability to manage & more importantly inspire teams, holding them together is another factor which has seen being specified more often.

AND the need of being able to communicate effectively & constantly; whilst being extremely results driven is a critical factor that is being evaluated.

Some of the Better candidates would also need to keep the following in mind also:

• Don’t hesitate to take complex decisions with available data, which at times may be insufficient; remaining calm under pressure
• Need to exhibit strong process orientation, whilst being personally flexible in terms of mobility & willingness to learn.

AND

• Remember to be big picture thinkers, capable of broad strategic implementable vision for themselves & the organization that they shall lead.
• International Exposure & high personal integrity are two more elements that have moved across from being ‘Desirable’ to being ‘Imperative’

I would love some more thoughts on this.

Measure a man’s success by how high he bounces when he hits the bottom; not how high he climbs!

I had written Why Independent Directors are ineffective here sometime in May 2009.

Some time ago I read about Relics in Board rooms, where the types were categorized by a Prime Database study that classified in 4 broad types

75% Home directors - known personally to promoters - relatives, friends. Several loopholes exist in the Companies Act allowing their induction.

15% Value directors - people that either bring knowledge and expertise to the company - lawyers, technocrats etc. or provide it with a strong network.

5% Celebrity directors - inducted to add an aura of respectability & news value to the company including film stars, sportsmen etc.

5% PSU directors - typically appointed by political high command or ministers concerned, most are either politicians or bureaucrats.

So finally except 10-15% do Independent Directors really add value? And why does the Companies Act not get modified? Everyone I spoke to really had no answer.

It is rightly said that “There’s no such thing as a Free Lunch” & ATM usage is a classic example.

A couple of months ago, there was a huge hue & cry about how now you could access through any Bank; in fact I had tweeted saying this is going to be a service problem & could not last. In fact whilst the going was good also, there were many service issues.

There were substantial increase, nearly 25%  in the number of ATM transactions since 1st April 2009.

Banks ideally should have upgraded their systems, but that means money which they were unwilling to invest, besides in India, consumers are last priority, so there!!!

For the uninitiated the following process, with minor variations is followed by two different banks for the ATM usage:-

An Kotak Bank ATM card holder swipes his card at an HDFC bank ATM, where the ATM links to its own network to verify card. On confirmation, transfers requisite data to the Bank switch, which then connects to its banking network, thereby processing the transaction. Then there is the handshake between the two banking networks before the cash is spat out.

And all this is in 30-45 seconds. A lot of it does not work, due to hardware, software, connectivity incompitability, whereby you are left without cash & searching for another ATM.

So instead of making life simpler for the consumer, the Banks now have come up with another offer - More than 5 transactions & you would be charged 20/- per transaction - brilliant, nobody will notice, life will continue as it is.

But I fail to understand, why does the premier bank not do anything about this? Do they not understand or wish to ignore the consumer plight?

Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself!!

Relying always on Data is incorrect. Analysis can then turn into paralysis.

Don’t fear mistakes, There are none!

I love photos! ..Because the best thing about them is, that they never change.. Even when the people in them do.