Dearth of Product Companies in India - repeat call!?

One of my articles published on the NSRCEL Blog

We were lucky as well as unlucky to have missed the industrial revolution during its birth pangs - we got the stuff once it was already in a shape in the west. If it was the first car that was made or the first record player that played music, the entirety of products came up in some form in the west. This had a dual effect of having some form of product on the one hand (acceleration of technology use in the society) and forgetting to develop newer products in the country. We always had a thought that the product gets developed in the west and then it is migrated in an appropriate form to countries like India. (In fact, if a Indian product really comes up, it is not looked at with the same respect as the one born outside the country!) And now with folks like Friedmann singing about the services industry, the media and the public in general are in a euphoria of being the services capital of the globe, forgetting and unfortunately, ignoring the importance of product development in India. The number of original products developed in India has been very less, in comparison to the other aspects of industry. Well, we need to look at the long term effects of this assumed 'high'!

Whether it be post-independence economic policies, or a rush to get richer quicker by providing services (rather than wait for the full development cycle of a product), there are numerous reasons to look at. But the time has come when indegenous products from India have to be honored, with services being looked as the cream on the milk.

How do you think most developed countries have been able to remain competitive? According to NSF (National Science Foundation, USA), “High-technology industries are driving economic growth around the world”.

Although a lot has started happening in encouraging products as the main motive for development, we have to push the pedal harder. “Even during the recent, slow-growth, ‘post-bubble’ period (2000–03), high-technology industry continued to lead global growth at about four times the rate of all other manufacturing industries.”

Is this article dated by a few years - because it seems, that with people like Mahindra, Tata and Bharat Forge, we do have a product oriented approach!? Well, this article, is not really dated - it is just a reminder for the intense focus that we need to have when we go ahead with products. The definition of product from being a physical entity has been shattered. We need to have the central idea that can materialize into a definite form, and that can by itself sustain the services industry that we are proud of.

To quote a random internet user (login Dharma - no link):

Its hard to build product companies when the markets for these products are elsewhere. Now, with India emerging as a major market for high-tech products/services, its only a matter of time before we have some product-based entrepreneurial success stories coming out of India. I personally know several different entrepreneurs in B’lore working on ambitious product ventures. What is needed now is a combination of (1) govt regulation, (2) infrastructure development, and (3) seed/early-stage support from “mentor” funds/VCs to nurture this budding ecosystem. The service companies have done a great job building up Brand India, and the folks who have made lots of money in the process have an unique opportunity to give back to Indian IT by helping with (3) above.

We do not want to undermine the software services companies - they have contributed brilliantly to the economy - we just should not over-enthusiastic with this and tend to lose a product oriented approach.

Again, quoting Sramana Mitra, in an address to IITians:

In the last decade, IT has sucked all other engineering disciplines dry of their best minds. Even the IIT Civil Engineers and Mechanical Engineers are writing low-level software for Oracle or IBM. If you continue at this rate, none of the other major disciplines will get their rightful share of leadership that is your responsibility to provide.

This may look like a repeat call for a product based economy - but in today's world, it does have its significance.

Any thoughts!?

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Time Up?

Time is an intriguing and abstract concept - and its management is more of a 'performing art' rather than anything else. You do get rewarded if you manage time well - but like the 'walk-on-the-rope' act, you got to keep on doing it if you want to continually benefit from it. Out of all the solutions available till date that promise you to make a super-productive person, you have to figure out what suits you best. I am going to review some of the things that worked for me and some that did not and all from the perspective of an individual. You will find what works for an lone non-jargon fellow rather than huge management concepts applicable to big projects.

The 80-20 rule applies to many situations in life and time management is one of the most crucial of them. 80% of the stuff can be done in 20% of the time and the rest 20% needs 80% of your time. This just boils down to - only one out of every five tasks that you do is the time taking one. If you can focus on that one (out of five) task, you will improve your efficiency and get more time in hand (which you may fill with newer tasks!). Here I have found that if I categorize a task as that of category 'A', I assume it is urgent as well as important. For category 'B', it is urgent, but not important, so I need to do it on a priority basis. The 'C' tasks are the one that are important but not urgent, so that I can do them before the week ends but cannot ignore them. The 'D' tasks are the one that should go to the trashbin. I don't use a notebook to categorize this way (though I do write down some of the tasks which I may forget - say getting Nail paint for wife!) but inside my mind, I just remember the A and B jobs to be dealt with faster.

I have never been successful with the ideas of using yellow post-its for two basic reasons - one that i wasted more time writing and pasting (my handwriting make the notes puzzles in disguise!) and the fact that they are visible to my cubicle mates (I am not comfortable). It never was successful for me and like most of my friends, even I believe that such post-its are just to impress your manager that you are good at work (maybe the work of pasting notes!?).

While dealing with people, I am friendly with everyone but I have a priority inside my brain about how much of my resources (time, attention, blah blah) are to be with the other person. Anyways, if you meet more people in the day, figure out a method to be nice to folks and still keep your priorities. It is importance to prioritize - you are not unfair to them this way, in fact you do more justice to them by being more efficient for the reason you are dealing with them.

Some people use POSEC (Prioritize by Organizing, Streamlining, Economizing and Contributing). Don't you really think this is too much to apply to personal time management? I feel so. It is more of a management jargon that will make you feel better about managing your time (whether or not you really end up saving time!). If you look at this principle with respect to simpler tasks of life, it all boils down to the simpler steps I mentioned earlier. (Don't bring too much management jargon while dealing with personal stuff, say for creating time for your kids! Leave that to office stunts! - try applying similar stuff dealt with traditional project management techniques - you are human, not a project!)

The last to be mentioned, but which is really very important, is that - its not that big a deal, just remain relaxed. You waste more time worrying about saving time than if you were a bit more relaxed and planned things well. Believe that it is a simple job, if you go one step at a time and give yourself a bit of time to really catch-up on what you plan for this. As the old saying goes, 'plan out your work and work out your plan'!

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NGO and money

Some people assume that managing teams where money is not the major motive, such as in NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), is simpler. Things are quite different, in the real world. In fact, where money is the major motive, goals and objectives become more measurable than in places where money is not the aim. There have been instances where a non-performing NGO has been transformed into a performing one, after its objectives were quantified by the amount of dollar savings it brings in into the common man's life. (To be edited further..)