Daring Greatly in 2017 ..

In this New Year, my resolution is to write more consistently. I recently read a book called Daring Greatly, by Brene Brown. I was impressed with Teddy Roosevelt’s 1910 speech about undertaking endeavors without the guarantee of success, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena…” These words inspired me to step into the arena and overlook the scorn of the critics that would never dare to imagine the way that we do. To write is not to create a perfect final product every time; it is a process of developing thoughts that we can be made into reality. Ultimately, by writing, we develop ourselves.
As a product manager, I find inspiration in everything around me. Each problem that we solve for our customers is an opportunity to learn. Looking at how we engage with people and empathize with their issues is a chance to examine the way that we find solutions that fit them with products or services.
So my resolution this year is to pen down my thoughts and musings more frequently. This year I will better record my insights on the books that I read, the movies I see, and the people I meet because inspiration can come from anywhere at any time. Overall, this will help me express my passion for creating products that help people do what they do. 

Why Save !!

As Product Mangers, our tribe keeps looking at the world with the curious lens to see how people use the products they use. Clay Christensen in his new book Competing Against Luck renews the concept of Jobs to be done or simply Jobs Theory which I am a huge proponent of. Though its slightly difficult to apply this concept in an Enterprise than the consumer, it’s definitely an important maxim that customers don’t buy our products, they simply hire the products which we make to do a job. 

Recently I visited India and was discussing an important issue with my mother (a senior citizen who uses latest technology to keep in touch with her children) . She had an issue with her mobile phone mainly around contacts in her phone. Whenever she wanted to call my dad the call use to go to her driver or when she wanted to talk to a friend the call use to go to one of my siblings. It was a complicated problem and as a Product manager in technology she wanted me to solve it for her. I with my technical prowess quickly figured out that she had incorrectly saved her contacts. She explained it to me how she saved the contacts in her phone and they still were not updated. Finally, I went through a user acceptance test with her to save a contact. She did everything any one would do with the first name, last name, phone type etc and when done she went back to home screen. I was all excited to point out her biggest mistake that she did not save the contact. She looked at me and asked me Why should I save? For a moment I was about to tell her that it’s the norm, anyone who does any type of editing needs to save but then I then I thought in this age of Word auto saving, Google docs auto saving why do we need to hit a save button when we update a contact?

-->

She finally got what was going wrong and was not very happy with the resolution. The words Why Save still lingered in my mind. Product Managers look at what their products are hired to do, what job are the products really used for and how can we make them better so customers who use them don’t ask Why Save?

Rumination of 99%

The law of supply and demand which is a part of any economics basic course suggest that if a demand is in excess and the supply does not fulfill the demand then there is a imbalance which the free markets will try and come up to the state of equilibrium and the invisible hand will try to make it better.
The issue I am grappling with at this juncture is that of a ordinary middle class American who is out of job and to top it off has his house under water . These are the only 2 foremost things they are struggling with on a day to day basis and nothing else because those were two of the major things an middle class American or for that matter any one is concerned about. These are the major things which bother us on an existential level . let me state theoretically that someone is out of job and he is searching for one , he goes out daily and searches for one but when at the end of day he does not get a chance to prove himself again in job market he comes back to his home and family which he is built over years and finds out his home is under water and is about to be foreclosed , just imagine for a couple of minutes what this person feels. We have all the major news channels pondering over the intricacies of numbers and how to make it right but do we know what goes on in that mind of the one who is trying hard and does not get the second chance .
On the other hand lets hypothesize a situation with a person whose house is under water but is still holding a reasonable job and gets food on the table , do you think how much of his waking hours he is devoting to the fact that his house is under water but has that confidence that he will be able to pull off this bad time with the feeling that he is wanted in the market and the skills he have will get him through this bad time sand some where he sees the light at the end of the tunnel.
All I am suggesting is that we will have to address one of the two imminent concerns , getting an employment to pay my bills and put food on the table or with my existing occupation making me feel cheerful about my life savings which has transcended in this small dwelling which we call home
Now thinking about these 2 different conditions and how to mend them is the colossal debate which is going on in this nation in recent times and has become a sadly fashionable small talk in every social gathering where everyone has his or her 2 cents to suggest.
My theory and the premise which I am suggesting can be construed as trite and commonplace but the idea to pen down my thoughts came from the urge of a common man who desires to propose something which will throw a new light on the complex economic issues which are conferred endlessly and still remain vague and intricate for a ordinary mortals like us.
And some still wonder what the silent revolutions going on around us is all about …