Presentation Blues - Some Insights

Recently we have been working on "Performance Testing Guide", we did a presentation today on that topic. The presentation turned out to be less interactive then what we had expected. That got me thinking, what might have been the reason? and what could we have done different, to make it as successful as some of our other presentations?

There might have been number of reasons, but the primary reasons are that, either the audience was overwhelmed with the information we presented, which I like to think was the case, or may be we did not had the right agenda and audience thought they were betrayed.

The more I thought the more I realized that a successful presentation was cooperative function, everyone has to pitch-in to make it successful. A presenter needs to have all the skills and tools, but that alone does not guarantee the success. So here is my breakdown of cooperative function.

• As a presenter, understand the target audience - set up an agreed agenda for what exactly they are looking for.
• As a presenter, if you don't fit the bill, deny the opportunity.
• As a organizer of presentation, open a dialog at appropriate juncture, because audience might take time to open up, this will encourage audience to participate, and also comfort and encourage the presenter.
• As audience, if a presentation is not addressing your expectation, ask the right questions to get what you are looking for, after all you have invested your precious time here.

If we follow this simple mantra, I am sure everybody's time will be well invested.

~Later

Who wants to be an effective leader?

Every individual dreams to be a leader in their own fields, but not all of them end up being a leader. Its not the opportunities but rather the effectiveness that make individual fail as a leader. There are very few people who are natural leaders, most of them have to learn how to be an effective leader. So what's the mantra for being an effective leader.

No points for learning the hard way if you can leverage other's experience. My colleague Jason Taylor has spent the last 10 years leading teams of software developers, testers, and ethical hackers on a wide variety of projects. He has posted his techniques of being an effective leader. He believes following are the traits of an effective leader.

• Self Awareness. You are aware of your impact on others. You are aware of your own weaknesses and work toward mitigating them.
• Self Regulation. You think before you act. You consistently act out of your value system. The people around you know what to expect from you.
• Empathy. You are willing to trust and eager to empower. You are interested in listening and understanding other’s experiences.
• Social Skills. You are able to connect with others and communicate well.
• Motivation. You have a passion to lead, you desire to excel, and you actively want the best for your team and yourself.

You can see his post here: How To Be an Effective Leader

~ Later

Are you lucky?

Almost all my friends complain / compliment that I am lucky!! This got me thinking, is there anything called luck? Why would someone be lucky or unlucky? How do you decide to become lucky? How can you avoid being unlucky?

The more I analyzed the more I believed, you being lucky is decided by the collective decisions you have taken over time. If you can learn to make timely and well-considered decisions, then you can often lead to well-deserved success or simply put just get lucky. However, if you make poor decisions, you risks failure.

So it all boils down to good decision making. Here are some steps to help you making good decision.

Identify the Problem Area - You need to first clearly identify the problem at hand, it could be incorporating change request in the project or which cell phone you should buy.

Collect Information - Collect as much information as possible for given problem, the information gathered should give you insights about possible causes and possible solutions.

Validate the Information - Ensure that the information gathered come from trustworthy sources and is as accurate as possible.

Brain Storm for Solutions - Come up with all the possible valid solutions, while doing so don't merit the solutions, just list them.

Evaluate Solutions - Write down the solutions with pros and cons for each of them. Narrow down to the option which best addresses the problem, the deciding factors should be the cost, benefits and consequences.

Bounce Off Others - Once you have reached a decision, no harm in bouncing off others, learning from others experience is quickest. There is always a chance that they might throw a light on some of the consequences which you might have missed.

Important tips

• Avoid snap decisions.
• Move fast on the reversible ones and slowly on the non-reversible.
• Do your decision making on paper.
• Make notes and keep your ideas visible so you can consider all the relevant information in making this decision.

This might seem simple steps and should be integral part of any decision making, but believe me I have seen people not doing it for lots of important decisions and end up believing they were a little unlucky.

So hope now you know how I get lucky!!

~Later

Knowledge Vs Techniques

I always argue with Rohit Sharma, one of my best friends, at times just for the heck of it and at times just to make him see the other side of the story. The topic of argument is anything from United Nations role or lack of it in world politics, India's awful performance in Cricket World Cup 2007, to, where we are going to lunch on weekends.

Few days back I had an interesting discussion with him, please note a DISCUSSION and NOT an argument, guess a good change. The topic of discussion was why some people are successful and others not so much. Even though they might be equally smart, believe me knowing smart people is not easy, even if you are from India or working for technology company!!

The discussion took lots of twist and turns and some tangents (as usual). The conclusion of the discussion was, the differentiating factor between successful people and not so much was the techniques people use rather than the knowledge they possess.

The main problem is we are keen on accumulating knowledge, which has possibility of being obsolete over time, but we rarely work on improving our techniques. This is applicable in whatever domain you might be working. The techniques are acquired over years unconsciously, through your schooling, college or your first job when dealing with different issues. We never consciously try and improve our techniques on the other hand we are totally focused on accumulating knowledge.

Sure you need knowledge but to be really successful you need to refine your techniques along the way. In today's competitive world improving your techniques in addition to good knowledge can take you places. I am analyzing how I can improve my techniques, what about you?

~Later

Lunch at Piecora's Pizza

Since the time I started working with JD, we have made a point to lunch at Piecora's Pizza on Fridays. Well of course we don't make it all the time, but whenever we do, we are not only chewing on our garlic bread and mouth watering pizza, but grinding our gray cells as well. We not only reflect on what we achieved through the week, but also do some soul searching on improving ourselves, do some technical discussions etc. It's one thing I always look forward to, now I know the real meaning of TGIF!

Today was one of those days, as happened, between my chicken + jalapeno pizza bites, I was complaining about not being able to improve on my soft skills especially my networking skills. In response JD gave me insights about his "30 days sprint" which he has applied for his 30 days of living foods


I liked the concept, 30 days of commitment for improving an area, be it your soft skills, day job skills or for that matter even blogging!! Things you have been postponing or starting and stopping in fits, qualifies for the "30 days sprint". The basic idea is choose a area / focus you really want to improve and commit to work on it for 30 days. Sounds simple, isn't it!!

The reasons why it works, you are not committing to longer time duration and hence its easy to accept (the hard part) and implement. At the same time its long enough time, to use different techniques and methods to work on the focus / area to really make the difference. You may not be 100% satisfied with what you achieve in those 30 days nonetheless you ought to walk away wiser and confident with your achievements.

Inspired by the discussion, I have already started my "30 days sprint", you will know the focus area when you see "Prashant V2.0" after 30 days.

~Later