Picking a fight!

NO. I dont mean physical fight! I am referring to constructive arguments with people. Acc. to me , one of the best way to innovate and improve ones knowledge level is to engage in healthy fights between co-workers,college mates and friends. I can tell you numerous instances from my own life where I had fighted with friends over things which looked ‘silly’ for some others. But those are the moments which created sparks of ideas in my mind. My fights with one of my best friend Tarun which usually lasts for hours over phone and it mostly ends up in some new idea which we both never thought of before. Our paper presentation topic which fetched us plenty of cash prizes & certificates was the result of one such fight!
The urge to prove one’s idea superior to others will motivate you to analyze the situation much better than before, and even If at the end you lose, dont worry: you learned a lot more than you would have learned had you not fighted !
From my experience the following must be noted while ‘picking a fight’.
1) Be careful not to take the fights personal. One of my senior manager commented about his experience in Infosys “ this is the place where I can fight and argue with even my boss without the fear of red ink in my employement records and without affecting the personal relationship with my boss”. Never be afraid to ask questions with colleagues even to your boss. Only thing is, be careful not to take things personally. Like Michale Corleone says ’its not personal Sunny, Its strictly business’
2) Make sure you supply justification to your arguments. After all, we are not politicians. You should also help your opponent in finding out justification for their ideas. In this process you will not only understand you opponents stand much better, but also you will be able to provide better justification to you own arguments! Paraphrase your friends’ view just to make sure you understand their stand thoroughly.
3) Make sure you are going in right direction. Sometime in the spirit of fighting, we may deviate from our topic which results in unproductive fights. At frequent intervals, ask yourself the question “are we going in right path?”
4) Never be afraid to involve a third person if you think your fight is not finding an end in a reasonable amount of time.
5) And finally, never forget to appreciate you opponent for their efforts.

(I once had a beautiful experience in one of my project, where me and other 2 team mates had long productive fights over detailed designs. Each of us came up with our own ideas, but we fought over it for a good amount of time, until we found out new ways of doing things which none of us never thought about before!! Its really a good thing to work with team members with such fighting spirit.)
What are you waiting folks? Go and pick a fight!

Cloud Computing for you!

Anyone who frequently uses internet would have come across the term ‘cloud computing’ at some point or other. And most likely, majority will think it is some ‘hi-tech’ thing or something which doesnt fall in my area of interest. Yes, you are right- its hi-tech funda, but its aint something which doesnt affect you!

I dont intend to give a tutorial on ‘cloud computing’ here, but I will try to explain how you can benefit from this revoultionary technology. By definition Cloud computing is a way of computing, via the Internet, that broadly shares computer resources instead of using software or storage on a local PC.

Let whatever be its definition,here goes the simplest example of cloud computing which is applicable to all of us!.
Simple: go to www.docs.google.com and sign in with you gmail id. Thats it, you will now see options to create documents,excels,power points etc right in you browser (similar to creating docs using ms-word)! Your files can be organised in folders like you do in your normal desktop. You dont want to install any software and the best thing is you dont have to pay a penny to use this. You get all the features you get in microsoft office and you will never lose your files when you format your system or buy a new system! Your files are safely stored in google servers and you can access it from anywhere in world (of course u need a internet connection). You can even invite your friends to view/edit the files stored online.
Yes, this is google docs, and its cloud computing for you!

(Note: Techies dont read this!!)

Most exciting things @ IT Companies!!

• Being trained in 4 different technologies back to back and then getting a project which uses a 5^th technology! (flexiblityyyyy!)
• Changing client and project 5 times in 1 month! (wow..! wow..!!)
• Working 15-18hours a day including weekends and finally getting the comment “You should work more” from managers!
• Topping in .net/java trainings and end up working in infrastructure management, handling ‘Desktop Shift Requests’ and ‘Software Installation Requests’ for people from same batch!!
• Getting calls from offshore folks @ midnight when @onsite. (Great na! Ur 3 year old kids get to grow up learning business issues!)
• Working in production support for applications developed by someone else and without any documentation!
• Being loyal to the company by sticking on for 5 years and later realize that the guy who jumped to another firm and now joined back the original company is getting double the salary!!
• You get to tell “WHAT THE *******” after seeing payslips of your junior people!
• Reading in news that your company has come on top in some ‘best companies to work for’ list when you have never seen any happy employee!.
• Your manager getting the credit for all the good ideas you suggested and when any of them fails, you alone taking the blame!

Saving a chicken!

An unforgettable childhood incidence!

My 1^st attempt on recollecting an old incident for blogging!

This is the story of a boy saving the life of a chicken! The boy is about 12 years old and the chicken is just few days old.

One night, as usual I was sniffing around our kitchen looking for some eatables. My mother was there and she looked upset ,so I asked what happened. She didn’t tell anything, but I was sure that something is wrong. When I walked to work area just outside kitchen, where she was preparing something, I heard a small cry of a chicken. I looked around and I saw around 6-7 chickens walking around back side of the house, but I was convinced that the crying which I heard was not from there. It was from somewhere closer...I kept on asking my mum what’s going on there!

Finally she opened up. One of the chickens had fallen into the waste water outlet just outside our work area through a small hole. She was upset about this but was keeping silent, because she knew it was impossible to save the little chicken. She was also worried that if my dad comes to know about he is surely gonna scold! I again heard the weak cry of this chicken.

I took a close look at this waste water outlet. It was totally dirty and a real mess thanks to the waste from kitchen. I shared the same feeling as my mum for some time, but something woke up the ‘animal lover’ inside me! I told mum we can try and save it. She said it’s hopeless. I looked through the hole to locate the chicken. YES! I cud see something, which I convinced my mind that, is the chicken. Didn’t think about anything, I put my hands through stinking hole with the intention of reaching out for the endangered chicken. My hands felt something like the lip of the chicken! Hurray! I came out like a winner to tell my mum that the chicken is still there and we can save it. (the pipe was ‘T’ shaped and it got stuck in the joint I guess!)

By this time, dad also joined the ‘rescue mission’. He brought torches to help us. I almost lied down in the ground near the waste outlet and tried harder and harder to get the chicken. I think I touched the chicken many times, but failed in all attempts to pull it up. We started losing hope and decided to abort the mission and go for dinner. I again heard the faint cry of chicken, and I was totally upset. I thought a while and an idea struck me! Get VACCUM CLEANER! I shouteddddd! My parents didn’t approve my idea of bringing the vacuum cleaner but I somehow convinced them! I managed to find out our never-used-but-not-new vacuum cleaner and Dad found out the necessary extension plugs .

Mum, who was not so confident about this idea initially was the one who put vacuum cleaner pipe to the sewage hole. Dad switched it on and I was anxiously waiting nearby, praying for a living being which I have never ever seen! And within seconds, mum felt something at the end of vacuum cleaner pipe, and SHE SHOUTED!! “STOPPPPpppp”. She took out the pump and God’s grace, the chicken was in it! She took it out carefully but it was neither moving nor making any sound. L (dead! L L )

Dad told it might have dead due the pressure. I cried inside my heart. But mum knew more about chickens than anyone else there. Mum said it was frozen, and needs heat. So she took out some warm clothes and covered the chicken in it. She rubbed it gently then for some time. And finally it started making some moves. She kept on rubbing it gently like we do for a small baby! After being in ‘Intensive care unit ’ for around 10 minutes, it started moving . Mum placed it in the ground and it made failed attempts to walk. 1 leg was dislocated I guess, but in few minutes it walked some distance though with great difficulty!

OH! A sign of relief for all of us. Mum later told me that, its legs became perfectly fine after few days. After a month or so, when I see the bunch of chickens in our home, I try to figure out which among this is the one I saved. I couldn’t find out, but does that really matter?

This day, I always remember as a day when I really did something good.

To all young engineering graduates.....

Just thought of giving some idea to young engineering graduates about IT organizations in India, as a lot of them, irrespective of their branch , end up with offers from IT firms.

When I say Indian IT firms I am referring to Indian players like TCS,,Infosys,Wipro,HCL,Mahindra Satyam, services division of IBM India (GBS) , Accenture, CTS ... etc

1) 99% people are absorbed into Software Services businesses. The key difference between a software product company and a software service company is that, service companies serve their clients using tools and technologies developed by product companies.

All technologies/products are made by US giants like Microsoft,Oracle, Apple, Google,...etc

And services firms use these technologies to develop custom applications to their clients.

For eg: Infy,TCS etc works in windows OS developed by MS, to develop a payroll processing application using java/,net (both technologies from USA) , with Oracle as database and deploy the same in servers made by Dell/HP. And in this very process, they make extensive use of VOIP phones made by CISCO and Internet powered by Google and Yahoo!..

So if you are hoping to work in developing high end technology applying engineering skills - aim for companies like Microsoft,Oracle,SAP... etc.. and not on firms which are purely 'service' players.

(An analogy with Automobile industry : The job done is IT service industry is comparable to the work done by a mechanic in a auto garage! Only difference is, your job is white collar and you can work in A/C cubicles with 10 times the salary! )

2) A major portion of the work done by Indian IT firms are maintenance work. The required applications are already developed and deployed by Accenture /IBM/US firms or developed in house, and the maintenance jobs are outsourced to Indian IT firms. Maintenance jobs are not bad at all , and you learn a lot if you work in maintenance projects, but it can be boring for smart engineers! So if you hate working in maintenance projects , consider offer from India IT firms as a last option only!!

3) A good amount of people will be working in support jobs in all these firms. And If you think that you are a high-performer and you wont be put into support jobs - you are damn wrong about it!!

4) Don't expect that you will be put into an area of you interest! Its not uncommon to see Sun certified Java people working in mainframes, embedded systems certified people working in web technology, and people from Computer Science branch with 'n' certifications working as software tester!

5) Don't expect that you will get an onsite opportunity just because you topped in training or your are excellent in technology- onsite is purely business demand based. So you need a lot of luck to get an onsite these days. People doing the job of Database/network administration/monitoring etc have more chances for an onsite.

Although I mentioned that most end in services industry, few get products firm as well. Not only in MS, Google.. but also in Indian firms. Oracle Financial Services (previously called I-Flex Solutions) is a product company, Infosys has a product - Finacle, Sasken - a technology player and not pure services, Subex- telecom products .... Some end up in software division of companies like Siemens, Bosch,Alcatel etc where a lot of high-tech projects await you.

Also all these IT service firms can act as a good place to begin with. There are lot of people who started off their careers with services firms and later got into high tech companies and of course, high salaries!

For people who considers themselves as average, and want to get into some job, Indian IT services is the best choice! You get good respect in society, an 'IT lifestyle' in cities like Bangalore,Hyderabad with plenty of money to hand around with friends.! (gf/bf's as well)

For people who dream bigger, aim for the top shots, like MS,Oracle.. etc.. :)

(

when people come and tell me that "hey I got placed in so and so IT company in India."...

What should my reply be?

If he/she is average type, then obviously , "Congrats! "

For high performers, the reply have to be "Congrats! and Condolences!"

)

2009- Best Ever Year For Malayalam Film Industry.

2009- Best Ever Year For Malayalam Film Industry.

I am not a film industry expert, still I can confidently say 2009 is the best year mallu movie industry has ever had. Not only in terms of gross collectionbut in terms of quality and variety of movies as well!

Pazhassi Raja – Hariharan’s magnum opus starring Mammoty, Sarath Kumar, Manoj K Jayan...etc. No need of telling it here, all knows its the biggest grosser ever in malluwood and it is also the most expensive movie ever made in Malayalam. The movie very well lived upto expectations. I wudn’t give much credit to mammotty ,i guess this is very much a team effort. SarathKumar and Manoj K Jayan leads the list of people who must be given credits for the success. Hariharan and MT did a good work. Oscar winner’s sound mixing was another noteworthy point. Kaalapani may be the only movie comparable to this one J

Rithu- Dont think it rocked in box office, but Shyama Prasad’s brave attempt with new comers deserves a lot of appreciation. A treat to watch, with excellent cinematography,songs and a nice theme. The movie very well addressed day-to-day issues of modern tecn-population!

Palery Manikyam – A midnight murder story – Renjith deserves a lot of applause for this brave attempt and Mammotty really really rocked in his role as Ahmed Haji. I can’t find any really memorable shots/scenes but overall the movie was quite different and it was a hit too.. J The new comer Mythili looks promosing.

Passenger – Another variety movie. A plot which we usually see in Hollywood, and a variety view on heroism, its truly a remarkable movie. Sreenivasan plays the protagonist in this movie, and he has done an excellent role. Dileep and Mamta also did well. Malayalam really need these kind of movies and must encourage debutants like Renjith shankar.

Puthiya Mukham- Not because it gave PrithviRaj a super star status in malluwood, but the stunts in the movie was taken differently – arguably the best stunt choreography after BIG B. The movie had nothing else to offer to impress me, but Prithviraj really impressed his female fan associations! ;)

Loud Speaker – Low budjet movie directed by Jayaraj. Not much of a variety movie, but i really liked it.

2009 was the year for Mammotty with PazhassiRaja, Palery Manikyam,LoudSpeaker,Daddy Cool, Chattampinad and the 10minute role in Keralacafe. Mohanlal needs to improve a lot (just compare lalettan of 80’s and now!). Save Bhramaram – lalettan has nothing to brag about!

I have read a lot of good reviews about Kerala Cafe the 10-director -10 story movie, but i haven’t yet seen it ! I read in some blogs that it deserves an Oscar!

My disappointments!

Sagar Alias Jacky director by BIG B fame Amal Neerad was an utter failure. It lacked good script and action,camera were just avge ,compared to the mind blowing shots in BIG B.

Bhramaram : Yes. Lalettan was good(still far from his best) in this, the movie as a whole disappointed me. I expected much more quality from Blessy. Kazcha,Thanmathra and Palunku were far better from Blessy.

2 Harihar Nagar – It really did very well in box office, but except for 3-4 comedy scenes, this was no way comparable to the original In Harihar Nagar. Jagadish and Mukesh were just shadows on their original performance in the prequel! Hope the 3^rd part will be better than 2^nd one!

I really hope 2010 will be another great year for malluwood. Drona (Mammotty), Alexander (Mohanlal).... All the best!

Three Idiots Review

3-Idiots Review.

Yea...Blogs are already full with 3-Idiots review and Aamir-Chetan Bhagat fights, still, I thought I will give my own version

As all says, Its really nice movie , worth watching twice J I am not that comfortable with Hindi, so missed some of the scenes! Still enjoyed a lot! J

1^st of all, a special token of Appreciation to Aamir Khan for picking only the right movies unlike most actors. Just looking back..All of his movies were special in a way or other..Lagaan,Dil Chahta Hai, Mangal Pandey, Fanaa, Tare Zameen Par,Ghajini,..its a long list! If all actors become more selective in doing movies, then industry wouldn’t suffer this much loss.

Now, coming back to 3 Idiots, following are certain points which I noted.

1) I 1) I haven’t read FivePointSomeone and have no idea how much this movie is based on the book! But still, they could have given credits to C.Bhagat at the beginning titles.

2) 2) The movie has several scenes/scripts which I have seen in many forward mails/websites. Some of there are ... A shot where a guy is taking photo of some girls with their face fully covered...Aamir’s doubt ‘why didn’t they use pencil’.... ‘how induction motor starts scene...drrrr..drrr..’...

3) 3) Aamir’s view of education system – I totally agree with that and we all know he is right!!

4) 4) Cinematography : especially towards end of the move. Ladakh or some place? Nice scenic beauty and it was captured very well..

5) 5) Songs were average only..Behti Hawa.. is an exception.

6) 6)My fav scenes: Giving electric shock, Aamir and Boman Irani, both taking out and giving the office key...Aamirs lecture on education system...”My 3000$ watch!!!” ..etc...

VVOverall a nice experience. It’s already biggest grosser ever for bollywood with over 200cr grossed beating Ghajini! (Word is that, in its 10 day run, 3 Idiots crossed entire worldwide gross for Ghajini!)

Aamir is the most bankable actor now in bollywood! J

2009 An analysis!

Just few more minutes for the year 2009 to end...Thought I will do a quick recap of what happened in 2009 which remain in my memory and which will decide my 2010.

I remember Jan 1st very well. Bought lot of shares (esp. Reliance companies) with the money got as loan from the company. People say new year day is bad for investing, but things proved to be very good for me.. Stocks doubles in few months :)

Till march 23 rd was busy days with Infosys training. The extended training was a relaxed one and I really got to enjoy most facilities of mysore campus during this period. From may 20th onwards,

we all were anxiously waiting for posting locations. And it came by 26th or so.. Me and my best friend Tarun got separate locations :( (mangalore and trivandum 16hour journey!).. We had lot of plans to be executed in our mind of which none really worked out, and this 16hour distance proved to be the major reason!

May 29th, I joined Mangalore office. There was not much job in the initial few weeks, tried to learn some stuffs , but nothing much was learned !! Everyday we were eagerly waiting for a project call, and I have tried all sort of ways to get myself into a billable project.

Lot of things happened in these period, and I even lost faith in my favorite company Infosys. Is it because Infy is doing things which I don't understand or because I see things differently.. I don't know, but the kind of love and passion which I had for this IT giant was no more there by September.

I decided to leave the company and ended up with an offer from another MNC, but later decided to stick on with Infy for some more time (Once a senior manager of mine gave me a advice.."cijo, you are very sharp and brilliant. The only thing you need to change is.. to have some more patience....etc etc") .. I still don't have that kind of patience, because I believe time is precious than anything else.

And finally on October 12th, I was assigned to a client project! Yup.. At last...After waiting for months..... A project! That too in .NET!! I was thrilled like anything , but i never knew this will change my life drastically.

The project life was hectic. 75% time was spent at office. As days passed, my health started deteriorating. Somehow the project was over and I was moved to another project. Nobody ever asked me whether I am interested in this new work , but simply assigned me to it. This is one thing I would like to change in corporates. (more on that in another blog entry).. Had to work even in night shifts for 3 weeks in the new project.

At the end of each day, I do a look back and asks myself. "What have you learned today which will help you in achieving your dreams." My mind answers "null" 99% of days.

I realized the painful truth. Infosys is not the right company for me or I am not the right kind of resource for Infosys. Either way , there is only one solution. Leave the company :) This time I was pretty serious. The only question to be answered was What after this ?.

Though out my life, I was never short of options. Only problem I ever faced was , choosing between options. This time also, plenty of options lie ahead of me. A job as lecturer in engineering college topped the list. Doing MBA was the next in the stack. and so on....

Life is all about making the right choices, considering all the trade-offs. I don't know whether I am the best in making right choice, but I made a choice in my mind.

I don't know if this is the best choice. or is this going to be another bad choice like choosing Infosys from among many offers I had. I will have no one to blame but myself, you take a stick from one end, the other end follows you automatically..

In the past 365 days, I have made a lot of new friends and this alone is enough for me never to forget 2009.

The only thing which I will miss will be the time spend together with my friends.

Anoop,Alex,Jason,Sagish- room mates and

Jerry,Praveen,Lijo,Megin,Arun,Paul, Nidhi,Rini,Dency,Divya......... and a lot other names......

I have made another great friend also, she is not a classmate, not a neighbor, not even someone related to IT field! But we became great friends! (more on that later)

As 2009 is about to be over, I am still working on ways to make my choice happen.

One of my fav teacher-Eldo P Alias

One of my fav teacher. Eldo P Alias

Yesterday was the marriage of Eldo P Alias, my teacher at engineering college. Was thinking about writing about one of my all-time favourite teachers, but this is the best time to do that!!

I forgot to give him a wedding gift , so here goes my wedding gift!

He taught us a wide range of topics, starting with 8085 microprocessors,then advanced microprocessors,operating systems, linux kernel.......

“A guy with sense” describes him the best! He may not be the best in technical knowledge, he may not be the most lavish in awarding marks, and he may not have a degree from IIT, but I respect him for his ability to understand the students. He put himself in the shoes of the students often and thats what makes him my favourite! We had several instances during our college life where he has helped us a lot. Our college tour , tops the list!! (I dont wanna detail it here!)

He mingled with the students as if we were his friends. Ain’t this the thing which makes a teacher the best???

Some of the things i remember about him!!

Just before an internal exam, we people ask him like “whether this Question is important? Will this come for tomorows exam?” etc... he smiles and replies “varaanum chance undu..varathirikkanum chance undu” (There is a chance that it might come, but at the same time it may not come also!!)

I think he gave us some hints about q-paper only when he thought we deserved it! (i am not sure about this point)

He never grew mustache till we reached final year! There were all sort of rumours when he started growing one!! (reltd to GirlFriend/Marriage etc!)

He was quite famous for his PJ’s (chalus!!)... Sorry i am not able to recollect any now!

He dresses smart, and looks handsome. And unlike any typical guy, he was very careful while driving (used to see him in his Yamaha Libero most days! ).

He is not a teacher who comes and gives you ‘n’ advices about career and all... but he regularly talked about the imp. Of having good communication skills etc in securing a good job. He regularly attended Infosys training programs (TTT-train the trainer!)

Never gets upset and has good self control. (When Mr.Brainy interferes him with hi-tech doubts while he is taking class, he calmly replies “Mr.Brainy.. “thokkiil kayari vedi veykkale!!””)

I still remember the days when u asked me not to sit with Mr.Brainy, when we were a nuissance in the class!

The list will go on....!

I invite my classmates to share you thoughts here!!

“Happy Married Life” Dear Sir!!

(M y poor rhetoric skills might have under-stated him! Sorry about that!)

Jack Welch- The Legendary CEO!

Finished Reading the book. "Jack Welch and the GE "...

Jack Welch and the GE way is a book written on the management decisions made by Jack Welch as the CEO of the GE. Jack Welch is considered to be the most respected CEO and is often used as a yardstick to compare other CEO’s across the globe. When Jack took over as CEO in 1981, he saw a company in trouble, unlike most of his peers. His decisions, at first sounded crazy to many others, but time has proved them wrong. Let me share with you some points which attracted me greatly.

Jack always appreciated the difference between leading and managing. He wanted his ‘leaders’ to embrace change, not fear them. He urged them to face reality and act decisively. When people saw a company in its comfort zone, jack realized that the world is becoming more and more competitive and foreign powers like Japan is eating away America’s market share.

Jack wanted to build a market leading company. His principle was ‘be at no: 1 or no: 2... Or quit! ‘ . He shut down some traditional businesses of GE which create some rage among his own colleagues. (GE utensils, consumer electronics was sold off) But in fact what he did was following a simple principle of economics. What business a company should do is not based on the absolute advantage it has on it, but based on the comparative advantage it has! Manufacturing Jet Engines, Electric bulbs obviously had comparative advantage over utensils, etc. In making a market leading company, he was following the approach of fix-close or sell. Jack implemented the idea of restructuring the company, which included inevitable lay-offs. During Jacks tenure his company’s employee strength got reduced by 1/3^rd.! People often described jack as ‘neutron bomb’ which kills people leaving the buildings intact!

Another major culture jack successfully cultivated in GE was ‘learning from others’. Jack considered borrowing ideas from others as a legitimate act of plagiarism. Jack Welch successfully got rid of the bureaucracy that was prevailing in GE and other American business. He was always unhappy to see 6-7 signatures on business documents. He wanted GE to be lean and agile like a small company, tearing down the boundary between management and workers.

Jack always insisted on creating a work atmosphere where workers feel free to speak out. He took the ‘boss’ element out of the company. He believed that the person who is out there in the grounds, doing the actually work might know more than the person sitting in AC room issuing orders. Jack created something called ‘work-out’ in GE, which are sessions in which the boss was to answer suggestion/question from his employee face to face. He was so particular in making these work-out sessions as informal as possible. These sessions have become an integral part of GE then.

Jack’s thought on stretch.

“Stretch is a concept that would have produced smirks, if not laughter, in the GE of 3 or 4 years ago; because it essentially means using dreams to set business targets – with no real idea of how to get there. If you do know how to get there- it’s not a stretch target. We certainly didn’t have a clue how we were going to get to 10 inventory turns when we set that target. But we’re getting there, and as soon as we become sure we can do it, its time for another stretch”

On another occasion, Welch said “We have found that by reaching for what appears to be impossible, we often actually do the impossible, and even when we don’t quite make it, we inevitably win up doing much better than we would have done. “

It was during the reign of Jack, that GE acquired NBC, the leading media firm. People always doubted this bold decision of Jack, commenting ‘what business does the bulb maker has in a media company!’ But time has proved that Jack was not irrational. Jack Welch had a special favor to GE Capital, the financial services arm of GE. The rule’ no1 or no2 or quit’ didn’t quite apply to GE capital. The decision proved quite right, until recently. (Hope all knows why!!(Hint: US financial crisis))

Making quick decisions was another big quality we can see in Jack. I don’t remember the exact scenario, but it something like… when other media companies were still thinking; jack had already made a deal with international Olympic committee for exclusive rights for the next 2 Olympics…..(not sure about this)

Quality

When Jack Welch embraces any idea, he does so with his own brand of fiery commitment, and his customary all-consuming passion. Injecting Quality into GE was no exception. Though he welcomed ideas of Motorola, he had his own way of implementing it. “Make quality the job of everyone” was his idea.

On Ethics and Integrity

“I can’t guarantee anyone in this room that you’re not a thief. That you haven’t stolen something; or robbed somebody this morning. All I know is that if I knew that, you wouldn’t be on the payroll.”

“My whole job is people, I can’t design an engine. I have to bet on people. I’m not like Andy Grove at Intel. He know how to make a chip”

“Numbers aren’t the vision; numbers are the product. We always say that if you had 3 measurements to live by, they’d be employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and cash flow……If you’ve got high customer satisfaction; you’re going to get a share. If you’ve got employee satisfaction, you’ve got productivity. And if you’ve got cash, you know its all working.”