For several years, NPR has been airing an independently-produced series called This I Believe. It’s a remaking of a 1950s-era series by Edward R. Murrow.
I found this one about belief in God by scientist Bill Nunan quite thought-provoking. I often have trouble reconciling my spirituality, which manifests itself as a non-traditional belief in a higher being, with my dedication to science and logic.
I like stuff that makes me question my beliefs.
Why? Because it’s the weekend of Holi. During this celebratory occassion one tradition is for kids to spray people with squirt guns and pelt people with water balloons.So as I innocently walk the streets taking my last sips of the Bandra vibe, my stomach is a flutter in anticipation of being ambushed by giggling kids. For I am certainly an obvious target in this neck of the woods.I’ve been hit once. A sniper caught me with a heater to the shoulder en route to lunch. I’ve been nearly hit four times. One well-planned tho’ poorly executed attack launched from a nearby apartment had one balloon nearly missing me to the front and two others grazing me to the back. “Suckers!”
When I agreed to do this thing in India, I had reservations about how much I’d actually be able to get done in a short three months. I like to TCB and creating a product management team is a lot of B to TC in a short time.
First, introduce the totally unfamiliar concept of product management to the entire organization and teach a team of people what it is in theory and show them how it works in practice.
Next, start changing the culture at the organization from running lots of little businesses, each with their own customers to running one big business with one set of customers (intellingently segmented, of course) and many different products.
Then, turn the focus from the internal “what we think is right for the business” to the external “what the market and our customers demand.” Putting the customer at the center of a disjointed business ain’t easy.
Finally, define a product strategy, define a flexible organizational structure and staffit with 30 talented folks to execute on that strategy.
Whew. We did it. I’m at the end of my three months and feel good about the team I’m leaving behind. They’re smart, capable, dedicated, have the support of the leadership team and have a well-defined product roadmap in place.
It was–and will continue to be bumpy, as transition always is but these guys will make it happen. I think they’re all excited about the challenge and I’m stoked to have been a part of it. It was a wonderful, memorable, educational professional and personal adventure.
