Non-Goals

Some time back, I read an informative book titled “One Strategy”, written by Steven Sinofsky of Microsoft and Marco Iansiti of Harvard Business School. Apart from some fascinating insights into how the Windows Team came together to pull off a mega-project like Windows 7, the book also taught me some thought-provoking concepts. 

One of such concepts was “Non-Goals”. A non-goal is a scope-limiting attribute that explicitly states some objectives which will not be fulfilled.

Wikipedia has an entry for Non-Goal.

non-goal (plural non-goals)

1. A potential goal or requirement which is explicitly excluded from the scope of a project.

That's a hard problem, but it's a non-goal for us here.

We always talk about having definite goals, things that we will or should do. It seems counterintuitive to have a list of things we won’t do, but it makes a lot of sense when you think about the complex nature of most of the projects and communication issues between geographically-distributed teams.

In a scope-definition exercise at the start of any project, we usually focus on the things we are required to do. Having a section for non-goals helps to set the expectations of project team (and also of the client)!

For example, consider a scenario: Your project team is working on product planning.  After some consideration, you decide to develop the UI only in English language in the first release, and to localize the product in the subsequent releases. So, in this case, for the first release:

• Goal is delivery of English UI
•  Non-goal is localization support

This clears the scope of work, and avoids doubts in minds of the project team.

Non- Goals are directly related to strategy. It is easy to get carried away and vigorously nod “Yes, Yes, of course!” to everything that’s being asked of us, but it takes a certain amount to courage to say “No”!

Furthermore, defining the things you are not going to do enables you to focus on the ones that you are, and to ensure that you deliver these features with the best possible quality.

Steve Jobs, one of the best entrepreneurs of our times, famously remarked that “Secret to innovation comes from saying no to 1000 things.”

At the beginning of a new year, when many of us are usually excited about planning for the year ahead,  this concept brings a clarity to our thoughts, and reminds us that while we may have almost infinite things to do,  distinctiveness  (and hence success) often comes from doing less, and doing it better.

SkyDriving!

I have been exploring SkyDrive from Microsoft since last couple of days. SkyDrive (skydrive.live.com) is a online file hosting service, that lets you upload documents, photos and any kind of file and access it. You get 25GB free storage space, and individual file size can be up to 50 MB. 


I will be using this site to upload scanned copies of some documents that are required often; for example, copies of passport, PAN card, marriage certificate and stuff. Earlier, I used Gmail account for the same. But , web-based email is blocked at many organisations. 

Using SkyDrive has been a pleasant experience so far. There are options to restrict the access rights to various levels, such as public, for friends, and only for personal use. The file organisation is good, and upload/download is hassle-free.


One of the features I really liked was, you can download entire directories as ZIP files, thus saving you the effort of downloading individual files. 


The only catch (there always is one!) is that you need a Windows Live (such as MSN Messenger or Hotmail) ID to create a SkyDrive account. I didn't have it, but it took less than a minute to create one. 

Productivity Meme - 1: Buffer

When one talks of productivity, there are a few basic concepts that recur frequently. The implementation of the idea might change; but the fundamentals remain the same. In this series, we will take a look at some of these concepts, which I refer to as memes.

In the first part of the series, we will take a look at Buffer.

What is a buffer? 

A buffer is a quantity over and above the required quantity. Buffers act as shock-absorbers against unforeseen issues. We often refer to keeping a buffer time; however, as we will see, there are a number of buffers.

Space buffer: 

While taking driving lessons, my instructor gave me a rule of thumb: When driving or when waiting in line at a traffic signal, you should keep your car in such a way that you can see the tyres of the car in front of you. 

This simple tip has helped me avoid crashing into another car more than a few times.

Moving into a new flat? Think twice before you fill up all the rooms with furniture that is currently available in the market. Apart from the things you will really need, it usually helps to wait a while and explore for options. You are likely to find better deals, better products in future; and personally speaking, a little bit of empty space isn’t a bad thing.

Money buffer: 

Planning to buy a laptop? It would help to keep some extra cash over and above your actual budget handy. Because I can almost guarantee that you are likely to overspend. The only thing that may differ is the margin.

Whenever you step into any shop, what you see is not really what you get. The product on display is adorned with various accessories, most of which come at an extra price. There is not much point in buying a laptop without antivirus software, or a car sans a cover.

Material buffer: 

Going out for monthly grocery shopping? Buy a little bit of extra than you really need for the next week/month. You benefit from buying things in bulk from a superstore, and can avoid hassles at home if some relatives drop in unexpectedly. 

Even if they don’t; the buffer helps you stretch your next shopping until the next paycheck comes in!

Emotional buffer: 

This one is tricky… Every one of us has a threshold for each of negative emotions; be it anger or worry. When things go beyond the threshold; the mental tensions begun to build up. One way to prevent emotional outbursts is to vent off these feelings before they reach the tipping point. 

Thus you give the other party some buffer to address the things bothering you; and you give yourself an emotional buffer to help things resolve before they become critical.

Deliverable buffer:  

One of my favourite quotes is: “Do your work… and a little bit more. The work will let you stay in place; but it is the ‘little more’ that will get you ahead".

Deliver what you have promised to the customer, and toss in a little bit of extra good stuff. Customer may or may not be happy with the stuff you promised, but he is likely to be delighted to see some unexpected goodies.

There is another facet to this. Consider you are preparing a PowerPoint presentation, and you have 10 slides ready. You are confident they would be sufficient for a 30-minute session. However, it always helps to keep extra stuff handy; it may be in the form of notes or some slides. My experience is that people usually finish what they have to say more quickly than they estimate, and then are left clueless about what to do next!

Time buffer: 

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, we are most familiar with the time buffer. Going for a meeting? Give yourself a buffer in which you can reach on time and relax. Estimating time required for providing a deliverable? Add some buffer time to the estimate to account for unforeseen reasons that may cause delays. 

A good rule of thumb here is to add 20% as the buffer time to every time estimate. You are mostly likely to need it. In the case that you don’t, you can perhaps think about doing some deliverable buffers!

Manage your personal finances in Percentages

An office colleague of mine is a fresher, meaning that this is his first job. Naturally, he is quite enthusiastic and not jaded by preconceived ideas about work and processes. It is a pleasure talking with him and we often discuss about a lot of things, both professional and personal.


Sometime back, we got talking about managing personal finances. He shared the way he manages his salary. He said he sends Rs. 5000/- per month to his family, keeps Rs. 5000/- for his personal expenses, spends some amount on movies and hoteling and puts away the rest in savings.
(Please note that the amounts mentioned here are hypothetical).


I was curious to know how he arrived at these figures. He said he just put down these numbers based on his gut feelings.

"Well", I said, “There’s a better way to do this. Try managing your finances using percentages, rather than absolute numbers.”


What’s that, he asked. So I explained to him something that I realized only after a couple of years.


Using Percentages in place of absolute amounts
Consider that your monthly salary (or income) is Rs.100.
Now, note down all the expense heads that you regularly incur each month. This would include your rent, your monthly expenses on food, the electricity bill, water bill, mobile and internet bills, and so on.
Next, allocate a specific percentage of your salary (or income) to each of these heads.

For example, here's a suggested break-down:

• 25% of income to be sent to your family
• 25% for your monthly expenses, as discussed above
• 30% for savings and investments (tax savings, mutual funds, buying gold and so on)
• And, the rest 20% is towards a category which I call E-E-E (Tripple-E), which stands for Expense, Entertainment and Emergency.

Of course, the allocation mentioned here is just an example, and it will vary according to individual. Some may not need to send a regular amount to their family.

To summarize: Use percentages rather than actual amounts for each expense head.


What are the advantages?

This approach has a number of benefits.

• The most obvious benefit is that once you set up your allocation, it is flexible even when the salary changes. For example, suppose currently you earn Rs. 20k per month. Using the above allocation, it gives you Rs.5000/- for your monthly expenses. When your salary increases, all you need to recalculate the percentages. An Excel spreadsheet can do the job for you swiftly.
  
• Secondly, this approach brings out the relative importance of each expense head, thus (possibly) helping you make better finance decisions. For example, savings and investment are very important, so you need to allocate a bigger chunk of your income towards it, rather than, say, purchasing a funky new mobile when you already own a good one.
• The most important benefit of this approach is that it forces you to curb your unnecessary expenses. For example, if you have allotted 10% of your savings on entertainment; and if you earn Rs.20k per month, then the percentage-approach restricts you from spending any more than 2000/- on entertainment.

Of course, this is assuming that you take your plan seriously and are honest with yourself. If this is not the case, then there is not much in the world that can really help you!

My colleague has been trying this method for a while now, and says it has made his money matters significantly better. Hope it works for you too!

Sunday – The Sabbath Day!

On this blog, I keep harping about productivity, efficiency, optimization, et al. But today, I will go over to the other end and say:

 "Spend an entire day away from your machine!"

 Before getting down to the actual concept, here's some personal background.

As an unashamed workaholic (and a bachelor until last year), I was totally hooked up to my machine (a laptop) for 12 to 15 hours a day… often more, but never less. I used the machine to do office work, to read e-books, to listen to music, to watch movies, to play games, to surf the net, and so on. It was great fun.

However, after a couple of years of doing this, I began to feel pangs of a strange dissatisfaction. Life seemed dull and monochromatic.

One fine day, HP, a friend of mine, suggested a solution: Stay away from your laptop for a day. Just don’t touch it.

Fine, I said... I won't work on Sunday, but surely I can use the laptop to watch a movie or to read an e-book?

No, said HP... Total ban on the machine for an entire day (and night).

I was aghast. What was I supposed to do then?

The first time I tried this, I ended up getting frustrated and booting up the machine within a couple of hours.

So, the next Sunday, I left the laptop in my office locker.

With no access to it, mind slowly began to work out the alternatives. I went out and bought a couple of newspapers. Next, I called up a few friends. Even had a long lazy bath followed by a nap in the afternoon!

Over the next few weeks, I had not just adjusted myself to this new routine, but began to actually enjoy it!

So, what is this all about?

The idea is pretty simple: Let go of your machine for a day, and relax, chill out. Spend time with your family, friends, and relatives. Spend time on your hobbies and interests. Do everything and anything that is not related to your profession.

Some points to be considered:

• Note that I refer to machine. As a software professional, my machine is my laptop. Your "machine" or "tool" will differ as per your profession.
• I have chosen Sunday to implement idea; you can choose any day as per your convenience.
• When I say don't work on your off-day, you should exercise your own judgement. For example, during a software release phase, it is common for the project team to be occasionally slogging over a weekend in the office to meet the delivery deadlines. In this case, you can compensate yourself later  by taking an extra day off.
• Care should be taken that the relaxed mood of the off-day doesn't spill over to the next day. If you have been reading a book, force yourself to keep it down. Partying till late night on a Sunday night is no excuse to walk in late into office on Monday.

How does it help?

Taking a day off keeps you relaxed through the next week. You can take care of backlog activities to be done at home.
Your family will be most delighted and comforted with the assurance that you will really be taking them out to a dinner. Your friends and relatives will know for sure that they can always meet you or visit you on a Sunday.

But what about the productivity stuff?
Believe it, this idea actually makes you more productive throughout the week. If you’re a movie buff, the knowledge that you will only be watching the latest flick on Sunday takes the thought off your mind and helps you focus on the work in hand.

Also, taking an entire day off makes you look forward to getting back to office on Monday and hitting the work. At least, this happens to me!