Uniqueness

Recently I happened to read some part of a talk given by Mr.Narayana Murthy, and linked it with something told to me by a top manager in my organization. Put together, it gave me some thoughts to ponder on, early today morning…

Here’s the gist of Mr.Murthy’s talk:

A team put together to execute any good idea should have members whose skills are mutually exclusive and at the same time is collectively exhaustive.

This is what the manager (in my organization) had to say:

If you are managing a team, and you have in your team a person who can do exactly the same work as you, then either of you is redundant.

Both are quite thought-provoking. In fact, the second one applies not just to managers, but to every team member. I believe that within a team, each team member should ideally contribute in his/her unique way, to his/her fullest capability. And no team member is an ideal and complete substitute for another; If he/she is, then that obviously means that at a time, only one of them is needed, and the other is a redundant resource.

Sometimes, I think the need for creativity and uniqueness in work, gets lost, as we scamper behind business, money and marketing. The need for each individual in a team to be a “unique contributor” is often undermined (Of course, needless to say that the unique contribution should be valuable and something that could make a difference), and people work mindlessly on tasks assigned to them, without putting their stamp of individuality on it.

Very often during our technical meetings in office, I have always been amazed at how each problem/solution evokes different responses from different people. While I have a very methodical approach to problems, and can chart out available aspects like jigsaw pieces and sew them together in my mind, another colleague of mine has an “attack” approach. He doesn’t try to spread out the existing information on the problem, but instead sees angles about it that the rest of us might not even have thought about, and attacks the problem by asking questions on those angles. And although some questions of his may not be relevant/may have an answer that a person like me can provide, there are always some questions of his which open up new dimensions that may not have been apparent till then. The approach he possesses is something which I can never gain completely, because it comes naturally to him, and is part of his own uniqueness. Similarly, I’ve often found that most people cannot chart out problems, and be able to visualize pieces of the puzzle falling together to form a solution as I can. And that is probably part of my uniqueness. Individually, my colleague and I contribute effectively to a team and are mutually exclusive, since neither can cultivate the other’s expertise.

It is important to know your area of expertise, know what your strengths are, and learn to polish and utilize them, to the best of one’s ability. It is equally important to recognize someone else’s strengths, and encourage them to polish it for effective utilization within a team. I believe the first is for any team member, and the second for any manager.

When, within a team, each member contributes in the way he/she knows best as an individual, works well with peer strategies and learns to interpret/bring out creative ideas, and when the manager of the team knows how to moderate within the team, utilize each individual according to their uniqueness while contributing with his/her experience and ideas, we have the ideal team environment.

I’ve stressed this out as the “ideal” team environment because in the real-world, concepts of “ideal” and “perfect” are relative, and never completely achievable. However, I do believe they are not impossible and can be achieved to some extent of perfection.

Strategies implemented at the individual level, extend to a team, which then extends to groups of teams and finally extends out to the entire organization - this directly implies that implementing strategies on an individual level can be finally extended to become a process for an organization, and with established processes, you get repeated success. And with the right kind of management models, correct and repetitive efforts and the right influences, successful teams coming out with creative,innovative ideas, and effective solutions to most problems, is no longer a dream.

The bottomline however is the individual. We must remember to be identify and utilize our uniqueness to the best of our ability. This also means putting in the right amount of hard work and being dedicated enough to ensure that everything you do has your individual stamp on it. Shun mediocrity, and start evaluating your own contribution to each moment you live in this world - it vindicates our run for the known parameters of success (money, fame) and makes every reward well-deserved. And more than applause or materialistic rewards, I think creativity/uniqueness comes with its own kind of reward - self satisfaction. There’s never a bigger reward than the satisfaction in a job well done.

Krrish

This was supposed to be one of the first reviews to come out for Krrish; Unfortunately, I didn't get enough time on Friday to complete it, so I'm posting it today. On Thursday, I was at one of the premier shows of Krrish in Bangalore (cost me 250/- for a ticket), with a couple of my friends - we'd booked the ticket on Monday itself, so that we'd be one of the first to watch what had been one of the most awaited movies of 2006, and for which we'd been waiting with bated breath. In the plush multiplex theatre, as I waited for the movie to start rolling, there were many questions running through my mind.

I had of course read that Krrish is Rohit Mehra (Hrithik in Koi Mil Gaya)'s son, but what I really wanted to see is what sort of superhero would he be in this movie. Would he have the immense likeability of Rohit in Koi Mil Gaya? Would we cheer to see him bash up the villians, and cry when he'd be disadvantaged? Would Krrish really herald the new-age Indian superhero, and would we have Indian kids jostling to get their Krrish Masks, Krrish dolls and Krrish comic books, instead of Superman, Spiderman and all the other foreign men out there? And then, as the movie started, I put the questions out of my mind and settled back comfortably on my chair, hoping that I'd get my 250/-'s worth and maybe much more.At the outset, let me say, Krrish does not really match upto Koi Mil Gaya. The movie is definitely a step in a new direction, and Rakesh Roshan needs to be lauded for trying to achieve something not many directors/producers will even dream of. Superhero stuff is not your everyday bowl of cereal, you know. The locales are terrific (Singapore looks squeaky-clean), the camera work is distinct, the stunts/action are classy - in fact the places where the superhero gets to do his act are really amazing (I never knew Singapore has such mind-boggling structures; and also, it must have been tough work to actually shoot on those structures, and the roads).  And of course, there's the super-hero. Hrithik's looking uber-cool in some of the shots, and he's made a real earnest attempt to portray the unwilling Superhero, who can hop, skip and jump amidst skyscrapers and busy traffic on the road, swim seas, swat enemies as if they were mosquitoes, perform kung-fu style action and yet be child-like, innocent, loving and caring. The positive aspects of the movie stop there though. Hrithik tries hard with his histrionics and with the action, but the script lets him down considerably. I also wasn't impressed by his packaging vis-à-vis his clothes and super-hero look. The dirty vest/salwar he wears in the first half makes me wonder what got into the designer. I mean who wears such stuff in a village anyway? The vest is obviously intended to show off his muscles, but the salwar desperately needs a wash, and is out-of-place, considering his granny (Rekha) is dressed in immaculate designer sarees teamed with expensive shawls of the same color (in fact looking like she's got a makeover, esp. from the Koi Mil Gaya period, where she was in subdued muted tones with minimal makeup). In Hrithik's Singapore tryst, one particularly ugly t-shirt looked like a ladies top - orange with yellow borders - *yuck*. However, the man is good looking, so he forces you to ignore his unfortunate wardrobe. His mask is cool (I'm a little unsure about how he fixes it to his face), but I didn't like the black overcoat. His muscles will put any regular gym-man to shame, and may have women drooling, but I for one, don't care much for rippling muscles, so that didn't add value to my money.  Krrish as a whole let me down. The comparisons to Koi Mil Gaya are inevitable; as I watched the movie, I tried to remember why it didn't keep me engrossed the way Koi Mil Gaya did, and I failed. However, over the weekend, I watched Koi Mil Gaya on Sony Max, and I understood why. Both the movies have different story lines, but Koi Mil Gaya was very fluid and integrated as a movie - had a single purpose, and had some very loveable characters, all of whom were relevant to the storyline. Krrish unfortunately has a lot of unnecessary side-plots and characters that I just wished would get out of the screen. The editing is patchy, and there are evident flaws in the story, which could have been avoided (for eg. the school principal never seemed to have aged). Koi Mil Gaya had a hero we could sympathize and empathize with. His infectious laughter brought a smile to every face, and his tears would have us reaching for the hankerchief. We understood and felt emotionally tied to the guy who was the typical underdog, and unfortunate victim. And when he rose to heroism, we were there, cheering for him, and egging him on. Krrish has none of those advantages. Here we have the hero, a genius at birth, who has more powers than we can count. But instead of him being the archetype of the hero of the masses, he ends up being a whimpering, confused and at times stupid boy with too many emotional hangups, and whose genius IQ levels never grew up with him. Many times during the movie I felt that Krrishna(esp. when he went into the angst mode)'s voice started to sound like Rohit, and he was walking a thin line between the portrayals of Rohit and Krrish. I wouldn't blame Hrithik for it though - it was most likely that Rakesh Roshan got confused which movie he was directing. Or probably he was suffering a hangover from Koi Mil Gaya.  Priyanka Chopra was a huge letdown. Although she's not one of my fav actresses, I however appreciated her spunk in Andaaz, liked her quite a bit in Aitraaz, and could bear her in Bluffmaster. But in Krrish, what irritated me most about her was her overtly done makeup. I don't know what it is with the Indian love-affair with fair skin. Priyanka Chopra and Sushmita Sen are dusky beauties, who've been accepted and felicitated even by international panels where you get the best in fair skin and clear complexion. Yet, in Indian filmdom, they're made to paint/cake their faces with so much makeup to match up to the Indian (and very dumb) perception of beauty. In Priyanka's case, I also think its because she would have looked quite contrast to Hrithik's very fair coloring. But then, so what? Was it better to make her look like she's dipped her face in whitewash, than to retain her dusky beautiful color? In the movie, her close-up shots are unbearable. Priyanka has as her friend, a very irritating Maninee (I know her from Nach Baliye) who lisps, shrieks and is very annoying. Again, I suspect that Maninee is a choice for a friend because Maninee is also dusky and the makers musn't have wanted Priyanka to look darker in contrast to any other fairer 'sakhi'. Priyanka also needs to have another look at her Krrish wardrobe - her clothes were horrific. While Preity Zinta looked so glamorous and beautiful in Koi Mil Gaya, Priyanka looks crass and out-of-place. Her role does nothing to improve her situation, and all she has to do is widen her eyes, scream, look confused or sing and dance - there's not a hint of sophistication in her character, and it would have been better to pass her off as a village belle. The poorly done makeup seems to have claimed other victims - Rekha is another case. In Koi Mil Gaya, she was superb as the harassed single mom, whose life revolved around her half-wit son. I had really appreciated her choice of toned down sarees and neat but distraught appearance in the movie. In Krrish, she's completely made-up (blush on her cheek, deep eyeliner, and lots of mascara and eyelash-curler/falsh eyelashes), and refuses to look like a grandmother, except for the white strands in her hair, and a slight stoop.  All the other characters are badly written and are not even worth remembering (unlike say, Jadoo, Johny Lever and the kids in Koi Mil Gaya). Naseeruddin Shah is wasted, and his villainous act is more comic than scary. There are lots of questionable scenes, and the plot is poorly contrived, and has no suspense at all. Another *very* irritating factor is the amount of product placement in the movie. Each scene seems like an ad for a particular product, and you have product labels flung at your face almost every moment, and prominently so. I just wish film-makers like Rakesh Roshan would have some restrain and atleast try to disguise/minimise the visibility of their sponsorship strategy. Marketing and money seems to be corrupting all creative instincts. Unfortunate. The music in the movie does nothing to salvage its entertainment capacity. Its boring, not very hummable, and doesn't have recall-value. Just barely makes the grade for melody, and is mostly distracting and not well integrated into the movie. So I don't think it is going to help the movie attract viewers. BTW, just for trivia, when I saw Koi Mil Gaya again, I also realized that Rajesh Roshan had used the tune "Aao Sunao Pyaar Ki Ek Kahaani" as the background score for when Rohit is thanking Jadoo for giving him his powers.  Speaking of Jadoo, I also just realized that Koi Mil Gaya not only relied on Hrithik's superb performance but also on Jadoo. Jadoo is the most huggable alien I've ever seen, and probably contributed equally to KMG's success as Hrithik did. Krrish unfortunately has no jadoo… either as a character in the script, or in the story itself. So its your typically over-rated but under-performing sequel. I don't know what will be the fate of the movie at the box-office, but it didn't really please me in any way. Except of course, for Hrithik's superhero antics, which is the only paisa-vasool factor. The stunts are worth a dekko (although they've been definitely seen before) and Hrithik (with his sleek,taut movements) make them believable, and even enjoyable.  I just wish that Rakesh Roshan had toned down on the typical Hindi film melodrama and given more time n situations for the super-heroic stuff, because those are all that are worth watching. Unfortunately Mr. Roshan believes in a super-hero, who has to be first proved as the ideal grandson, ideal son, ideal boyfriend (how clichéd can it get - he even has to bash up goons who 'ched-chaad' his girlfriend) etc. etc. So there are loads of emotional baggage scenes that we're pilloried with, and you sit and twiddle your thumbs through them (since your sympathies lie only with you, and not with any of the characters in the scene) and wish you could get to see your hero doing his flying, running, swimming, jumping acts. Let me also digress here a little bit - one of my friends had an issue with all the things the superhero could do - there seemed to be too many of them. He was a bit of Superman, a bit of Spidey, a bit of Batman and lord knows who else. Come on now. We want Krrish to be the first Superhero. Not the only one, for heavens sake. Anyway, a review full of complaints later, I can only say that it was obviously a good effort, and I still do appreciate Rakesh Roshan for having the tenacity to do a film like this. I only wish he'd put in some more efforts and tied up the loose ends, and gotten a better script (and possibly better makeup men and dress designers), because it would have really been worth the effort then. Now, as I exited out of the theatre screening Krrish, I only felt a little bad that Hrithik had put in so much effort into a movie that could have easily been one of the best, but turned out to be nothing but a children's film with some good stunts.

Moving to WordPress…

Finally I’m here on WordPress. I thought that I should write the first post here, on the travails of an irregular blogger. Last week when I decided that I wanted to finally exit out of tblog and move into a blogging site that allows me a little more features, little did I know that deciding on what I wanted and getting it in a particular site was difficult.

Before you’re wondering what I’m talking about, let me say that I have already been in the blogosphere for sometime, and have my previous posts at http://shikha.tblog.com.

Why did I exit out of tblog and why have I finally decided to unload my baggage at wordpress? In between these two sites, there was also another choice: blogspot. When I decided to shift to a better blogging site, I first chose blogspot, mainly cos I was more familar with it (courtesy some people’s blogs I used to read ;)) and I thought it would have everything I wanted. After spending a week exploring the blog features and customizing it to suit my tastes (which was difficult since I had to go back to refreshing my brains on css and html, and use them to tweak the template to my satisfaction), I realized that blogspot didn’t have two features that I really wanted on my blog site. Yikes. So I moved out, bag and baggage into wordpress. Been exploring the features from today morning, and so far things are good. Let me put up a few points to contrast tblog, blogspot and wordpress so that its easier for people like me out there, who aren’t sure what to use:

Feature	HTML Editing in Posts	Categories	Tags	Bkmarks	HTML Links in comment	Images in Posts
Blog Site
Tblog.com	YES	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES
Blogspot	YES	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES
WordPress	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES

Feature	Site Feed	Custom  Template	Comment Moderation	Additional Pages	Site Statistics
Blog Site
Tblog.com	YES	MODERATELY FLEXIBLE (colors/images can be edited. Html can be added in predefined sections)	NO	NO	YES
Blogspot	YES	VERY FLEXIBLE (Html/Css editing permitted)	YES	NO	NO
WordPress	YES	NOT MUCH (have to pick from known templates)	YES	YES	YES

There were some more points I wanted to list out, but I realized that fitting the table into my template is a headache considering the limited editing capability wordpress provides for each template. For some of the templates, you can edit the image on the top, but some allow editing of only the sidebar contents. What I found irritating was that I couldn’t edit the size of the post/sidebar, and had to stick to downsizing my table, so that the side bar wouldn’t end up on the bottom of the page.

Other things that I noticed: Both blogspot and wordpress allow multiple members on the blog. Tblog and wordpress have a similar interface for editing the post. All allow images within the posts. Flickr is well integrated into wordpress, so you can automatically add it in the sidebar without creating a flickr badge and adding as html. WordPress has a lot of cool features in fact, so if you put aside the lack of flexibility in customizing the template, its a very good site for blogging.

I should also add a disclaimer on this post - This is by no means an exhaustive list, and have been compiled in a hurry, so in case I’ve put NO in places where it should be YES (because I may not have succeeded in finding the relevant feature) or vice-versa, do correct me. I’ve been at wordpress for about 2 and 1/2 hours now, and so far everything is fine (except my gripe about the template). So I guess this is home for now!!

Addendum: Courtesy Balaji, Akash, Umesh and UmeshUnni, I’ve discovered (or rather been told) something additional about WordPress: WordPress.com allows minimal template customization, however WordPress.org provides a free publishing platform for blogging that provides highly customizable templates for the blog, and another interesting add-ons. The only catch is that with the software, you need to have some place where you can host the blog (whereas WordPress.com provides hosting). So the gist is: if you want a simple yet powerful solution for blogging and cannot be worried about where it is hosted, then WordPress.com is ideal. Alternatively, if the blog customization is really one of your demands, then you’d better work out a place for hosting the blog, cos WordPress.org is the solution for you!

Yet another addendum: I have a couple of rants about WordPress.com. Although the experience with WordPress.com has been by far the best as compared to the other two blogging sites, it has a really crappy html-editing feature for posts and pages. Many times when I save the posts with tables, it automatically substitutes <br/> for <p>, or removes some of the line breaks within the columns, causing havoc with the formatting of my post.

Another irritating problem is with the comments. Sometimes, the comments don’t appear even after submitting them a couple of times, and sometimes, comments do appear, but the count of comments near the post doesn’t get updated. Its as if the comments were never added…

Update: WordPress.com does not allow embedding scripts/flash/videos/most of other media (except Youtube videos and Google videos which can be linked to) for security reasons. Javascript is also not allowed, so if you have code to add from some site (such as Twitter.com), or even the flickr badge (WordPress has an additional (not-so-customizable) widget available in its template customization, so that is the only option available), forget being able to add it to your blog. Plain vanilla HTML is all that is allowed in the Sidebar customization, in the form of Text Widgets. Again, this is all possible via WordPress.org.