Do you think like I do?

What I want to do – spend time in the country side learning farming, set up a shack by the beach and watch the sunset, drive a powerful 4X4 to the topmost terrain, open up a restaurant chain and venture into expanding pass time options for the crowds, train to be a professional golfer, or just continue doing what I do best, procrastinate and STAY CONFUSED!!

Whether I believe in HIS existence and HIS strange ways of dealing with us!

Why do we live in the past? I think it’s we who determine for how long it should live.

When shall I get that next opportunity to play one of my most favorite sports since childhood – cricket! Feel the willow in my hand and the exhilaration in my being.

Should we believe what we desire to believe or what is the fact in front of us?

Does the universe really conspire to make you achieve what you strongly aspire for or does it keep you yearning for more happiness and more happiness till it seems there is nothing left but to drown in that feeling?

How to reach a situation when the opposite person understands the point without having to say it every time?

Is this is it?

When this entire muddle shall end?
I am sure it will dawn into a new day; very soon..!

Do you often think like I do?

Life..

As it unfolds, one discovers lot of answers and further more questions.. It goes on as the show continues.. Countless complications..!

Is it the same with all? Have you ever felt the need of being present at two places at the same time? I am sure all of us would have felt that if we can go back in time and change/ repair a few things. But have you felt you are better off if you are surrounded by the crowd or have you felt the chaos is transient? Or do you remember last time you took a minute off your busy calendar to observe the setting sun? (Even I doubt even if you had time on hands, you would be thinking of other petty issues which could have been resolved with lesser resources. Pardon me for my technical language; I am getting involved more and more in the business of Change Management and Resource Optimization.) This is just a reflection of my roving thoughts, as it was on Sunday evening. (Remember, Post 1: Sunday eves are most chaotic.)

Anyways, these questions and thousand more would never end. Last weekend, it so happened, that I squeezed out some time in Baroda. Tried to visit few of the old places, or rather places which rang a bell of good ol’ times. Although, I couldn’t pay tribute to all the places, excuses being lack of time or in fact companion. I strongly feel, people who are familiar with the places would appreciate my point in quoting them here. The moment I mention, Mahakali sev usal, I am sure your taste buds will turn on and trigger the urge to have it. To add to it, I had the famous ‘chutney bun samosa’ at BHS as my breakfast. Reminds me of our school days and much awaited break (recess) times. However, I missed out on the ‘pearl vada pavs, kachoris from pyarelal’, etc. May be next time! Hann, but, I relished omlette at Raju Omlette centre (I think our fauji ka outlet doesn’t exist anymore) and also had the famous mix plate (bhel puri – sev puri). The mix plates have a special place ‘cos it has reminisce of the tough grade 10 & 12 times, where we used to sneak out and relax at the sides of Sursagar. I will not continue as the list is limitless. I will end this string with feel of dairy den – the chaos is immaculate.. (I can’t understand why am I fascinated by chaos. That is another point to ponder!)

Okay, so the purpose of this post was to capture my random thoughts. However futile it may be, trying is the key. Its like one has to keep trying without much worrying about the results. Results will come if the efforts are put it the correct direction. That very much defines the difference between effective and efficient!

I know it is very confusing and apologize for the perplexing post. I will post more, later. (When I am sane!)

Is the grass really green?

No no, I am not talking about African savanna grass! Neither am I comparing Indus valley pastures with those of Nile.

This note is on all the aspirants with towering dreams as regards to their careers and life. (Refer: Bechara Youngistan). As discussed with my able friend, Mr. Pandya, I am putting down my thoughts below.

Let me put it this way. Broadly, one can categorize people into two varieties. Ones who are less ambitious and are content with low profile roles with lesser responsibilities. Per my knowledge, this scene is very much common in European countries. However, for country like ours which is still in growth phase, the population is more ambitious. The young go-getters are available in dozens in almost all nook and corners of the country. These people make up the discontented crowd, can be one of us, which I am referring to. However, one can’t call it greed. I would go to the extent that most of the youngistan, (I am taking liberty of all such aspirants as youngistan, as they are still into active phase of growing and still feel there is lot to achieve), will struggle with the so called organizations to create a mutual symbiotic growth relationship. Further to it, as the legendary Mr. Narayan Murthy shares his secret of success, is that he created lot of millionaires to reach into list of billionaires. Its like ‘you grow, I grow’.

Okay. Lets go back to the basics and try to explore few unanswerable questions. What as per you is dream job? For some it is as simple as what you like doing, for others it is doing what they are passionate about, which inspires them. Many sum it up as there is nothing like dream job. Its an illusion. I partly agree. It is a fantasy. This has strong connection with how one lives his/ her life. How prolific and abundant ones’ life is!

The next big related question is to explore life. (It may sound bit philosophical, but I feel it is connected somehow) It is the most fascinating and illusive journey. Buddhism says it is to create value every day. Value is a subjective term and can be discussed at stretch. Even Rhonda Byrne’s Secret unveils the same thoughts. For some its strategically estimate and plan the future phases, rest believe in the moment, enjoying the current. One friend of mine strongly advocates that it is the daily questions we answer, problems we solve; which is what is called life.

The motive behind this side note is that whatever of the above you believe/ practice, wherever you might be – may it be the best employer or a small closely knit organization, may it be a cosmopolitan like Mumbai or some rural country side. One will continue to stay miserable and unhappy with the work he does, till he keeps on complaining/ whining. I am not going to get into preaching and all. Neither I am going to give motivational capsule. For I am as perplexed as you are! I am also unable to figure out, that is the grass really green on the other side?

Even I am unable to demystify the question as off now. Hope to resolve it at the earliest.The name of the post reads: ‘When I Speak to Myself’. Its pure reflection of my thoughts and readers may have different opinions. Will appreciate your inputs.

PS: I understand it looks complicated, but it really is!

What Makes a City Lively?

Today, in midst of confusion, we were having a chuski of chai at Amdavadi ‘kitlee’. And suddenly both of us were startled by a loud honk by a rowdy young biker. The normal human tendency is to curse the biker and complaint about the traffic sense in India. And this made, my friend Pandya Saheb, that’s what people call him, spark this discussion on traffic sense and he very rightly pointed out the huge rift in the traffic sense of Nairobi & Ahmedabad. (It is an apt illustration for us as we frequently visit this African city.)

Although, being a third world city, Nairobi traffic is very silent and more disciplined which follows sensible lane driving. (No doubt things are changing and even, Nairobi is joining the Indian ishtyle bandwagon.)

As opposed to calm & serene traffic in Nairobi, where people honk to abuse or alarm a sleepy driver, our Indian city of Ahmedabad, is very much lively and bustling with various kinds of sounds – some shrill and others sharper than the shrillest.

It echoes countless hidden messages behind it. In true democratic sense, people utilize the right to express.. Just imagine a man, who is a slave to boss at work & slave to wife at home, after a long hectic day is riding back on his lovely two wheeler, humming his favorite track from his college days with his whistle & his horn to accompany his lonely song on a clear four lane track. Anyone would feel happy and enjoy the nostalgic mood. Why should one bother about the decibels as if it’s going to end the world..!!

I call it freedom to express self. Different kinds of horns; college students to grey haired uncles - all very correctly utilizing the expressive technology. Also, needless to say, it avoids so many accidents!!

The next point that would be raised is Lane Driving. I am very sure you will appreciate the urge of our Ahmedabadi driver to reach his/ her destination at the earliest convenience. Humans are very responsible and should care about own convenience first. The Ahmedabadi driving culture truly respects this fact and all people mutually understand the opposite driver’s feeling. Why to worry about lanes if we have enough room to find different ways. Where there is a wheel, we will find out the way.

This reminds me of a new ad campaign of Airtel which says – ‘Impatient Ones’. It truly captures the spirit of real India. The guy honking behind you at a traffic light which has regrettably turned red (before you cross the signal) is very politely reminding you that orange light means to speed up & not to slow down. He is true citizen of Incredible India who wants to save on fuel & asks you to move on..

Where in world will you get pleasure of violating the signals & traffic rules without worrying about the tickets? People have to travel across the globe to have the privilege of driving without any traffic rules & regulations. This is very peculiar habit of our own NRGs (Non Resident Gujaratis) to follow any & every damn rule abroad but same NRG goes bananas in his own motherland.

How few of those creatures called ‘tholas’ can manage thousands of berserk guys like us. They are busy reminding you of missing helmet, various documents and finally remind your moral duty to pay him for his chai-pani. Why should we pay fines when we have so many taxes to care for.. Chai-pani helps improve economic stability of the country by maintaining continual money circulation.

Just to gently share with you that cops are same every where (From Nairobi to Ahmedabad). However, some like those in Nairobi at least apply their genius brains and try to supersede the logic of traffic lights and generously contribute to add more traffic jams through out the city. Making it a dull city..!!

Cutting it short, I would say - When in Rome, Do As the Romans Do....!!

Off the records,
Despite, above remarks, I do sincerely follow traffic rules & don't believe in honking. I strongly feel its people like you & me who are responsible and
'We have to BE THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE.'


Would like to quote one of our TV anchors,

"इसी उम्मीद पर के हमारा आने वाला कल, हमारे आज से बाहेतर होगा.. आप से इजाज़त चाहेंगे!!"

Jai Ho..!!

You Better Be Running..

Every morning a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive.

Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve.

It doesn't matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be running.

- Roger Bannister

Velocity

Supply Chain Velocity for Competitive Advantage

In physics, velocity is defined as the rate of change of position. It is a vector which requires both speed and direction to define it. Similarly, the flow of material from supplier to consumer in supply chain can be termed as supply chain velocity. Speed & direction applies here too.

We were working with a client company in an island country of Africa, which is into manufacturing of garments for European countries. Kaizen/ Lean methodology assisted the company in setting up manufacturing cells to improve the flow/ velocity thus reducing the throughput time by more than 65%. The benefits included reduced time to dispatch, reduced WIP, lesser rework and space utilization, etc. After the implementation, the client met us over dinner and said, “I am very happy about the improvements done at the Gemba (shop-floor). It has drastically crashed our lead times and reduced our time to market.” But he continued to add that the reduced manufacturing time is not really impacting his final customer! This was a shocker, as we were celebrating the gains on shop-floor! When quizzed he explained that the shipment did leave the factory much faster after all the Kaizen/ LEAN improvements, but then the goods had to wait for days on end at the port (both at the point of origin & destination) before reaching the actual consumer! This came as a revelation. It reinforced our understanding that the entire value chain needs to be improved, and not just the bits. Thus the importance of the entire, end to end supply chain velocity improvement becomes important. These piecemeal improvements will have no or minimal effect throughout the supply chain. Here, traditional measures like productivity and efficiency fail to capture the overall system efficacy. It is debatable how well our current policies at various stages of supply chain comprehend the importance of the overall supply chain velocity.

The supply chain from upstream to downstream should be capable enough to take care of the material flow wherein the material velocity is in alignment with consumer demand rate, at every point. Unfortunately in today's hyper-competitive environment, very few companies have a true working knowledge of the velocity of their supply pipelines on one hand and have little control on velocity of goods once it leaves their warehouses. Not to mention ports, roads, statuary procedures are totally out of bound when it comes to control! Thus one tends to dig away with Kaizen / LEAN tools on one’s own shop-floor, constantly wondering why there is no major impact to the their bottom line or why their final customer are not thrilled!
Thus, the need to partner with key suppliers (upstream) and customers (downstream) in improving supply chain velocity is critical. While the larger, more evolved (maybe top 10%?) of the global giants understand it and are working towards end to end supply chain velocity improvements, the bulk of the businesses can’t see or do not wish to see the opportunities beyond their shop-floor. As the supply channel spreads out, correspondingly grows in the importance of managing the material velocity.

It is true that, it is easier to start within one’s own manufacturing facility - one doesn’t need to be Einstein to understand that the material velocity in the manufacturing system depends on the basic material flow, which in turn is affected by the machine downtimes, change over and set up changes, rework, inconsistencies etc. The bumpy road full of diversions and obstacles traversed by the material is smoothened by tools like process flow analysis, SMED, cellular manufacturing, TPM and others. These days concepts like lean and just in time which can be supported by streamlined processes & robust systems have been cliché. The underlined theme behind it addresses supply chain velocity which is very well understood by today’s intellectuals. However, the actual implementation of the concept throughout the supplier-consumer chain calls for change management/ paradigm shift. The government has to understand that poor infrastructure for instance greatly reduces supply chain velocity! Each player in a supply chain has to take interest and be open to people taking interest in improving each other’s velocity! As the system velocity improves every part stands to gain!

Remarkable changes in the current way of functioning can be brought in only by change in the way of thinking where one considers the system in totality. The outcome of such cultural changes would be far reaching and beyond imagination. Another aspect to be considered while deciding material velocity is takt time. Earlier, we mentioned about the consumer demand rate which is synonymous to takt time. Upstream suppliers should manufacture the goods per the demand from the downstream counterparts where the demand rate should decide the production rate. This in turn will facilitate uniform material velocity eliminating issues like bull whip effect, missed deliveries, fill rates, etc.

Lastly, we would like the readers to appreciate the significance of flexibility – internal (systems) & external (supplier) flexibility. Flexible systems are essential to achieve reduced lead times and high material velocity, in turn. The basic philosophy to be understood is that industries should graduate to ‘made to order’ model from ‘made to stock’ environment (wherever possible). Competencies like delayed differentiation, process & product standardization can play a vital part in this transformational change which again can be supported by Kaizen/ Lean ideologies. External flexibility is function of channel management & transparent communication systems.

To summarize, to improve supply chain velocities;
1. improve systems in totality – by being open to change!
2. understand demand rates and make as per demand by using delayed differentiation
3. create highly responsive & flexible systems at all points (leverage IT?)

In closing, let us get back to the garment manufacturer from the island nation. When we sat down and calculated his throughput time it was over 150 days! This is the time the product took to traverse through the yarn supplier, passing through the fabric supplier, passing through his own garmenting line, and then passing through the customs, ports before finally reaching his customer! The manufacturing throughput time (his dock to dock time) was only 10 day out of these 150 days in total! We were proud to crash these 10 days to less than 4 days, while he was forcing a smile for he knew that the actual improvement was 6 days shaved off over 150 days! Is it time yet to celebrate?

Excerpt Change

(Continuing campaign: Change)

There is nothing permanent in this world. Every thing changes except the law of change.

History is witness to all survived setbacks & defeats; to all joys & victories. All have passed away. If there are problems in the present, they too will pass away. If there were solutions in the past, they too have passed away. Because nothing remains forever. Things will change with the time.

We are witness of all this. We are the perceiver. Life comes and goes. Happiness comes and goes. Sorrows come and go.

This reminds me of one of my close friends who mentioned the golden words casually –
“This too will pass.”
May it be oil crisis, IT crisis, political/ economic crisis or quote latest topic of crisis in financial sector..!! Even the business statistics concepts are based on existence of cyclical waves. Thousands or at least hundreds of theories to back it up.

Think of the moments of joy and victory in your life. Think of the moment of Sorrow and defeat. Are they permanent? They all come and pass away. Life just passes away.

There were friends in past. They all have gone.
There are friends today. They too will go.
There will be new friends tomorrow. They too will go.

There were enemies in past. They have gone.
There may be enemy in present. They too will go.
There will be new enemies tomorrow and......they too will go.

If this too is going to pass, it is not yours.
The defeat was not yours, the victory is not yours.
You are just a watcher. Everything passes by…

You are just a witness of change. Experience it, understand it..!!