Future Thrive

I was in the boat with other tourists. I was enjoying the view where boat was passing through a passage between two high lands. Suddenly my friend called, "Hey, come to the other side". The moment I reached other side of boat, I looked at the scene in front of me and I froze.  All I could see was large blue sky, water falling from fifty feet height covering my eye site, making so much noise that I could not hear any other sound. Misty fog was created right in the middle of the fall as if there are clouds forming in front of my eyes. Water was so violent, I felt like I was in the middle of a storm.   I had never seen anything like that in my life and the whole experience gave me goose bumps. That was my first experience visiting Nayagara falls.   I was never much of a traveler . All the travel I did was visiting relatives or traveling for study or job purposes. That moment at nayagara changed my perspective about travel. I made a decision, that I will visit a...

Software Dairies Mahesh is my colleague working in IT industry for past 15 years. He usually spends 15 hours a day at work. He is professionally successful, Got promoted fast and he gets a hefty pay check. However, Recently he was diagnosed with diabetes. He is only in his mid-30s.  Today I want to talk about a problem that is more frequent in IT world.  Work induced health issues for IT professionals. Software industry boomed during 90's. Many people got benefitted economically. Most of us earn more than what our parents used to get and we Live a comfortable life. However, we are paying a price for the life we live now. We are doing stressful mental work sitting in front of the computer day after day. Demanding work and work schedules are putting health of software professionals in danger. According to a research conducted on IT professionals in major cities, some of the top reasons are Long working hours, Prolonged sitting, Interacting with visual di...

Ice Breaker Recently i started my journey in toastmasters. It has been a wonderful experience so far. I would like to share my journey as part of this blog. I still remember the day i woke up on the first day of hostel, my parents were not by my side. I was 10 years old, alone and terrified. I was 2nd born of 3 children in a middle class family from a small village in Andhrapradesh. My parents sent me to a residential school in hope of getting quality education for me. I struggled initially. However,  slowly i learnt to be on my own. Apart from providing quality education, my residencial school also provided good sporting facilities. It was a good distraction away from home. I enjoyed playing games a lot such as kho-kho, kabaddi, vollyball, cricket, athletics etc. My interest in sports has only increased over time. I had carried out this habit of playing for the large part of my working life as well. Sports taught me the importance of team work, leadership, taking respons...

Disrupting Marketing Landscape using Social Media Traditional media such as news publications, television have been ruling the roost for over a century on how content is delivered to the audience. Print media, Television, weekly, monthly magazines collecting and sharing regular news as well as quality content such as interviews from famous personalities. We heard about digitization for a while now and how it is changing the marketing landscape for various industries. First it has changed telecom industry, moving away from analog to digital telephony. In the process came internet that has changed the face of many industries, especially media industry. One of the changes I observed is the way NEWS is delivered to people. In late 80s in India, a newspaper was delivered home, one Black and white television with a big antenna on top of the house that needed to be adjusted so that people can view decent quality picture from TV channels sponsored by government. During late 90s the...

Recently i read an article from Harvard Business review. Posting my thoughts on the issue. I often wonder why many big companies, with lot of muscle power (money), fail to innovate. Even though companies come up with many good ideas, only few see light of the day and fewer meet with success. Whatever innovation happens is in processes or operational efficiencies. Even though there are exceptions such as Apple, we will have to wait and see how long Apple will be able to sustain their innovation quotient. In the initial years of a company, the focus is more on solving a customer's problem and not on profit or quarterly margins. However, when companies become mature, focus shifts towards profitability and margins. In this process, organizational hierarchy, standards and  processes are formed. Utilization of existing resources and operational efficiency will become primary objectives as compared to a culture of innovation. Applying a matured standards or proc...