Category: General

By Randy Pausch, for the Building Virtual Worlds course at Carnegie Mellon, Spring 1998

1. Meet people properly. It all starts with the introduction. Then, exchange contact information, and make sure you know how to pronounce everyone’s names. Exchange phone #s, and find out what hours are acceptable to call during.

2. Find things you have in common. You can almost always find something in common with another person, and starting from that baseline, it’s much easier to then address issues where you have differences. This is why cities like professional sports teams, which are socially galvanizing forces that cut across boundaries of race and wealth. If nothing else, you probably have in common things like the weather.

3. Make meeting conditions good. Have a large surface to write on, make sure the room is quiet and warm enough, and that there aren’t lots of distractions. Make sure no one is hungry, cold, or tired. Meet over a meal if you can; food softens a meeting. That’s why they “do lunch” in Hollywood.

Let everyone talk. Even if you think what they’re saying is stupid. Cutting someone off is rude, and not worth whatever small time gain you might make. Don’t finish someone’s sentences for him or her; they can do it for themselves. And remember: talking louder or faster doesn’t make your idea any better.

Check your egos at the door. When you discuss ideas, immediately label them and write them down. The labels should be descriptive of the idea, not the originator: “the troll bridge story,” not “Jane’s story.”

Praise each other. Find something nice to say, even if it’s a stretch. Even the worst of ideas has a silver lining inside it, if you just look hard enough. Focus on the good, praise it, and then raise any objections or concerns you have about the rest of it.

Put it in writing. Always write down who is responsible for what, by when. Be concrete. Arrange meetings by email, and establish accountability. Never assume that someone’s roommate will deliver a phone message. Also, remember that “politics is when you have more than 2 people” – with that in mind, always CC (carbon copy) any piece of email within the group, or to me, to all members of the group. This rule should never be violated; don’t try to guess what your group mates might or might not want to hear about.

Be open and honest. Talk with your group members if there’s a problem, and talk with me if you think you need help. The whole point of this course is that it’s tough to work across cultures. If we all go into it knowing that’s an issue, we should be comfortable discussing problems when they arise — after all, that’s what this course is really about. Be forgiving when people make mistakes, but don’t be afraid to raise the issues when they come up,

Avoid conflict at all costs. When stress occurs and tempers flare, take a short break. Clear your heads, apologize, and take another stab at it. Apologize for upsetting your peers, even if you think someone else was primarily at fault; the goal is to work together, not start a legal battle over whose transgressions were worse. It takes two to have an argument, so be the peacemaker.

Phrase alternatives as questions. Instead of “I think we should do A, not B,” try “What if we did A, instead of B?” That allows people to offer comments, rather than defend one choice.

An example of wonderful follow-up to your comments.

Everyone of us are familiar with the feedback form given to us at restaurants, airlines etc. Most of us avoid it. Some of us are cynical and are confident that the feedback is just a smart way of collecting more information about us. Then they will attack with more precise and planned marketing missiles.

I recently had been to Dhuan Restaurant at The Grand Bhagwati, Ahmedabad. We provided our feedback. I always give honest feedback and still believe that marketers are good human beings. As usual, I forgot about it until few days back when I received this in courier.

Delighted I was! (Customer delight is one of the top ten abused words in marketing.)

Kudos of the The Grand Bhagwati Team and the person responsible for it. You are one of those FEW GOOD MEN! Now of course, I am going to become little biased towards this restaurant and reward them more by my visits.

Check this out…

“Inside Intel, we have an expression:

If you have something tough, give it to the Americans.

If you have something difficult, give it to the Indians.

If you have something impossible, give it to the Russians.”
Steve Chase, President, Intel Russia in Fortune

After a few more phone calls, the Airtel service has been restored. Though one day lost in between was not a nice feeling. Hiccups do arise. It may happen. But how and how quickly they have been resolved differentiates a great company from another company.

Anyway, All is well that ends well.

Airtel is selected as ‘The Company Of The Year’ by The Economic Times Awards for Excellence.

Congrats!

Today’s Experience with Airtel

I had gone to Airtel Gallery to convert my prepaid number to postpaid number on Monday. I was asked to bring certain documents. I went with the said documents on Wednesday and submitted the same to Ms Mrinalini at Airtel Customer Care Office at Ashram Road Income Tax Ahmedabad Office of Airtel.

I had submitted the following documents:
1. PAN Card Copy
2. Lease Deed for Residence Proof
3. Company Proof for Receiving Monthly Bills
4. Photo
5. Airtel Forms
6. Rs 300 Deposit

I was told that my number would be converted from prepaid to postpaid within 48 hours.

Suddenly today my prepaid number stopped working in the morning. I was busy and hence called up Airtel customer care in evening at 6:30 pm. The following happened :

1. I called 98980 98980 for 6 times and nobody answered the phone in English option. It was disconnected after being picked up.
2. I called 98980 98980 and selected Gujarati Option. Voila – Human being greeted me at the end. They told me that my number is no longer prepaid and I need to call on postpaid number.
3. I called 98980 12345. They told me that my number is still not postpaid and I need to call on 98980 98980. I told him about the whole story. They said sorry. They suggested excellent solution – visit Airtel office.

So today I am experiencing no phone call day. But also surprised at this level of functioning and customer service. And I was wondering that Magnet alone needs to improve its efficiencies to next level.

Airtel is now Top 10 Telecom Company and had a wonderful ad which I also liked. See the ad here.

But it is a challenge to fulfill brand promise. Marketing guys have done excellent job but guys at ground kill the brand promise or enhance the customer satisfaction. Or is it unique to Airtel as it has outsourced operations of customer service?

Ahmedabad has got several amazing restaurants and I am discovering them one by one. On Saturday evening, I visited Vishalla with Kunjal, Neha and Komal. I was excited about visiting one of the most famous restaurants of Ahmedabad.

Vishalla has the traditional village like look. Vishalla did not use few electric lights and relied more on Fanas Light and other traditional light sources. There were traditional CHARPAIS and other ethnic artefacts. There were village Julas, Machans etc.

As we entered, we were greeted and led to the Manoranjan area. We enjoyed wonderful songs including my favorite Gujarati Ghazal – Nayan Ne Band Rakhi Ne and Gujarati Garbo. We also saw Valambhai’s artistic skills as we drank Hajmahajam drink. We also enjoyed wonderful puppetry

Pictures here!

Then we were led to the dining area. We sat down on the floor. There was this huge wooden table. The following was the food that we relished:
1. Bajri No Rotla
2. Makai Na Rotla
3. Bhakri
4. Methi Na Thepla
5. Makhan
6. Khichdi
7. Kadhi
8. Batata Nu Saak
9. Kacha Kela Ane Karela Nu Shaak
10. Panner Mutter Shaak
11. Kabuli Chana
12. White Dhokla
13. Gulab Jamun
14. Sukhdi – Wonderful – The best ever Sukhdi
15. Supporting Items – Green Chutney, Garlic Chutney, Papads, Chaas, Salads, Pickles

We ate and ate. Kunjal, Neha, Komal and I had filled our stomachs but there was room in our hearts. Sukhdi was the best that we had tasted. After the food, we were served with fruits and then ice-cream. We ate paan and discussed books, friends, Ahmedabad etc. We lazily rested on the Charpai. We left at 11 after spending joyful moments for stomach and heart at Vishalla.

During my last visit, I had visited another famous ethnic joint Rajvadu near Nirma. The restaurant combined the love of books with wonderful traditional food. Food for soul and food for body – at the same place. There were lovely quotations and cut out of prominent Guajrati writers like Gunvant Shah, Chandrakant Bakshi etc. Books were also on sale. We enjoyed the evening there.

Ahmedabad has seen opening of more exciting restaurants and concepts especially on S G Highway. Agashiye, Aadhar, Grand Bhagwati, Flavor are next on my Radar. Now that I am here for a few days, I am doing my best to combine gastronomic adventures with commercial ventures.

So far, I have completed the following joints of Ahmedabad in last one year – Rajvadu, Vishala, Honest, Oshwal, Cinemasala, McDonalds, U S Pizza, Havmor, Tea Centre, Sankalp, Saffron, Saasuji, Swati Snacks, Guj Vidyapeeth Canteen, Sumangalam, Ahmedabad Railway Station Canteen, Kankaria Food Street, Law Garden Food Street, Vastrapur Lake Food Joint, TGB, Choice etc.

Ahmedabad has also seen opening of huge malls. Himalaya Mall, 10 Acres etc are the new additions. On Friday Evening, we visited the latest entrant – Iscon Mega Mall. It is Gujarat’s largest mall with 450,000 Sq Ft Area. Most of the shops are not yet open. The mall should be functional by Aug 15. Reliance Mart is setting up its herculean hypermarket operations here.

Quick wet notes on heavy rains in Mumbai on June 30…

It is raining dinosaurs in Mumbai…

I had to attend a seminar at Matunga East….I started at 8 reluctantly….The heavy rains and the dark environment did not encourage me to go out…but I had to go…work is important…also I had to go to Gujarat then….but the impact of rains hit me when I saw the empty streets…I could not get auto for 10-15 minutes…a few of did not agree to take me to my destination…i changed my plans and decided to go to office instead…one auto fellow agreed…but he said i will no go by Western Express highway…i will leave you only till Kandivali station…then you take another auto…I agree…we started our journey…I could see streets submerged in waters..children and young people were coming back from school and college as they had been closed and people asked to reach home..they were playing and enjoying the rains…the freedom to get wet and go home late was inviting….elsewhere labourers and daily wage workers were waiting for buses and walking down…they could not afford to lose their daily wage….suddenly my auto fellow stopped….he did not agree to go ahead any more….the water ahead was too deep and he did not have courage…i argued with him without success…then i told him that atleast you could take me to the nearest station i.e. Malad and we returned backwards towards Malad Station…there were many people on the station…..trains were running late by hours…the usual railway announcements continued in a tone and voice which no one ever understands….trains to churchgate were more frequent…i saw Ferozpur Express and Saurashtra Express which were late by hours….sadly trains to Borivali – the opposite direction – were very rare…after 25-30 minutes, a train arrived with people standing out and on top of it…that is normal in Mumbai trains but today there were more people….something like train from Pakistan to India during Partition days….full of people with different emotions – some were enjoying rain while some were fed up of it…i managed to get in and also caught with two of my colleagues in the train who had boarded from Andheri…I got down at Kandivali and luckily got an auto..reached office at 10…2 hours after I started from home….the only problem was that my entire bag was throughly drenched and my clothes for Ahmedabad were now wet and damp….they are now getting dried in my training room while i have reduced my six pocket to bermuda by remove its 1/4th part….

People today are afraid of July 26 now….not many people in offices…also it is a saturday so there is less attendance….so I can clear my backlog today…

Welcome Mumbai Rains….It means so many things for so many people…..for romantics it is the season of love….for school children and office goers – an excuse for extra holiday….for workholics like me – a time for clearing workload….for Govt / PSU / Public utitlies – more work and more alertness to ensure continuous service….for daily wage earner – an interruption for some and a new opportunity for some….for all of us – enjoying the new color and new season of mother nature..