After the wonderful start of the trip, it was business time. We started our work on a Sunday (it was an upgrade support visit) and we had to work through the week, going to the office daily. I thought this was it – regular work followed by relaxation at the hotel in the evening. We also went out for lunch with our colleagues to some Indian restaurants in Redwood City and San Carlos and had some amazing Indian food. I had no idea about the next surprise waiting for me.
As it turns out, we have the facility to rent a car in the US for our daily commute from hotel to office and we did rent the car before reaching US. But due to some confusion around the pick-up times, we missed our rental reservation and ended up not having a car. When we informed our VP about this, he asked to go ahead with a new reservation; and reserve we did. This is where it gets interesting – on the day of the pick-up, my colleague who had told me to help with picking up and driving it, couldn’t show up due to some issue. But he gave some words of caution – on the basic driving rules. Now, it was up to me to step up to the occasion and pick-up the car. As an Indian driver with no driving experience in US, I was pretty tensed while going to the car rental agency for the pickup. Call it a co-incidence, the Uber cab driver was an Indian! That was my small window of getting a crash course on ‘Driving in the USA 101’ from him. Armed with that very little knowledge and my faith in the God, I went and picked up the car. It was just a 3 mile journey to my hotel, but that accounted for one of my biggest personal achievements in recent times. The car that was allotted to us was a Nissan Altima sedan – the longest car I ever drove in my life. Luckily, it was a modern car with support navigation which helped me a lot during the drives.
That evening, I took up my first serious drive – a trip to the Google offices in Sunnyvale from San Carlos. It was a 20 minute drive including a few miles on the US freeway 101. This is when I had the first experience of driving on a US freeway, with suer fast vehicles zipping beside me and me struggling to keep up the pace with them. The visit to the Google office itself is an amazing experience. It started with the reception area – a huge wall adorned with real computer mother boards! This is a testament to the engineering values that Google is built upon. Past that, I witnessed some of the crazy, interesting, and fun work spaces ever. After the traditional looking Sunnyvale offices, we visited the Bay View campus – a new gem in the Google offices crown. This is an entirely different architecture with open views and airy work spaces, all nestled under a huge tent like structure. What’s interesting is that the panels on the roof open up to allow sun light, thus reducing the need for artificial light in the office buildings. It would be interesting to see such eco-friendly architectures replicated in other places too. We finished that evening with a visit to Costco to buy stuff for our colleagues in India.
After that came my next big drive in the US – a road trip to the Santa Cruz beach. It was a journey of almost 55 miles one way driving along freeway 101 and highway 1. Although I had an idea of how the drive on freeway 101, I had no idea how the drive on highway 1 feels like. As it turns out, it was a winding road cutting through mountains and changing altitudes all through the way. It was also one of the very scenic drives with mountains in the far and tall trees to the sides. There were sharp turns and narrow roads where I had to maintain a constant speed of 40 Mph. Though it was stressful, I can now say that that was my most adventurous drive so far. After a journey of 1.5 hours, we reached the Santa Cruz beach.
Now, the beach itself was very beautiful. Pair that with the perfect sunny atmosphere, this was a perfect weekend getaway. I walked on the beach, got into the water, toyed with the waves and had a lot of fun. The clear blue skies and dark blue ocean with layers of pale cyan waters made the entire scenery very relaxed and even more beautiful. We walked up to the pier and walked along it, watching seals along the way and the beautiful mansions by the beach. After spending a good 2 hours and an ice cream for lunch, we headed back to our hotel. The way back was even more interesting, since the 101 North was closed for some road work. So we had to take the freeway 280. This being a new route and me being a rookie driver in US, I made some obvious mistakes – missing some exits, drive lanes, driving through some wrong lanes and making some detours. I even had a close call with another car – it was a perfect Hollywood moment where he came too close to my car and suddenly applied the brakes – making that screeching rubber sound on the road, followed by a long honk. That was real shock to me and I was taken by a jolt. The next 45 minutes seemed like an eternity, all the while me regretting my choice to drive the car so long. But, after a brave show on the road, we finally reached the hotel and relaxed for a while before heading out to San Carlos downtown for an evening walk.
San Carlos downtown was a typical US city marketplace – streets lined with road side restaurants, shops, bakeries, banks, parks and a vibrant population lacing them. The walk in the evening was very relaxing one, especially after the tiring drive in the day. We checked out a bakery called ‘Paris Baguette’ – specializing in French bakery food. Surprisingly, this is a popular bakery chain in the US that is owned and run by Korean management. That evening, my dinner was a platter with some delicious food – a chocolate croissant, a pineapple cream brulee, a cheese apple tart and some warm chai. What a sweet way to end a day!
Today is my last day in USA as part of my business trip to Informatica HQ. The past two and a half weeks have been some of my best days in this year. Although I had many business trips in the past, this particular one has been the most memorable and this is something that I will cherish for a long time. And as this trip comes to an end, it makes sense for me to pen down my reflections – in the hope of cementing my memories for a long time to come.
This year started off a little rough – with my health and my family health taking a toll. Once we recovered, we suffered a personal loss that made an even bigger impact. What’s more, we had to go through a lot of hardship due to some issues in our apartment. On the work front, I was handed the ownership of a very critical component in our product about which I had very little awareness. An interesting twist here is the opportunity I got to attend our company’s annual conference in Las Vegas and present our work to customers and partners. This experience itself deserves a separate post, which I plan to write sometime soon.
Soon after the Vegas conference, we had to gear up for our next major release work, which was due in October. I, along with my maverick team of 3 – had no clue on what we were signing up for. This assignment provided me a great opportunity to build a team from scratch, all the while juggling between project prep and skill development. What started as a few simple requirements quickly grew into 4 major features. The math here is simple – 4 engineers, 4 features; right? No. The fourth one on the team was me – and I had to play the role of architect, developer and coach. So it was design, reviews, coaching and coordinating with other teams during the day while writing the code for my feature in the evenings and weekends. This went on for 4 months – from June to September. I was totally worked up and stressed and then the US trip came along my way.
A month ago, when my manager asked me if I was willing to travel to the US for support activities, I signed up – this time again not knowing what to expect. Maybe this is a pattern with me, but I digress. The only relief that I got about the trip was knowing that I was accompanied by 2 other engineers – who were veterans in the upgrade support. So, gathering my strength from these other 2 brave souls, I marched on. The next month went on in a snap and before I realized, I was at the swanky new T2 airport at 6:15 AM, waiting to board my flight to the USA.
I have a few friends living in California and I had informed one of them about my travel plans. Little did I know that he would later play an important role in creating amazing memories during my stay in the US. So, the day after we landed in US, I informed my friend and he offered to drop by my hotel and take me out. And that was the beginning of my journey of memories. We went out to have some good Indian/Pakistani food for brunch and then headed out to visit some places around. We visited Pulgas Water Temple, Point Bonita light house in San Fransisco then headed to the Stanford University (yes, THE Stanford University). This was also my first time driving a car in the USA. And guess which one I drove? A swanky new Tesla Model Y! Being a geek, you can only imagine the excitement I had when I drove one of the most advanced artifacts of technology in the automotive industry. Also, for the first time in my life, I experienced fully autonomous self-driving system in a passenger car. I was totally blown away by the driving chops of the Tesla’s autonomous driving system. The precision and accuracy with which it navigated the paths – be it hilly roads or freeways or the busy streets of San Francisco, this was beyond my imagination. I just could not help but appreciate how far humanity has come in terms of technological advancement.
After the wonderful experience of driving a Tesla, we reached our colleague’s home. There we were treated to a delicious Indian dinner - rajma curry with roti. Could I have asked for a better start to the trip?
‘There are 2 billion children in the world today, aged 0 to 15 years old. How many children will there be in the year 2100, according to the United Nations?’
A: 4 billion
B: 3 billion
C: 2 billion
Don’t try to search for an answer on the internet, take your best guess.
The correct answer is C. Did that surprise you? You were probably thinking along the lines of 4 billion or more, given what we currently know about the population growth in the world today. Well, you are not alone. It turns out that some of the best minds in the Governments, media, public health also are in the same boat. We are no better than chimpanzees selecting the answers(it sounds harsh, but it’s a statistical fact).
The question posed above is just one of the many such questions that are answered in this amazing book - Factfulness. Now, it’s not a book on just some world facts presented as quiz preparatory material. The real intention of Hans Rosling is to change the perception of the world that we carry with us all the time using real statistics from trusted sourcs such as UNO, UNICEF, The World Bank, etc. But why does he care? Or rather, why should we care about these facts?
Because, without the factual data, we have a very distorted view of the world around us. We often think in terms of ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ nations, ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ and many such dichotomies. In reality, it’s a very different scenario out there. Why does this matter? It matters to the leaders of the world to make better decisions in terms of spending public money. It matters to the business heads to invest their resources in better markets - where they can impact peoples lives and make money. It matters to us, as the citizens of the world to understand our own world better. So, how does Hans do it?
At the beginnning of this book, Hans Rosling presents us with 13 such questions with answers. He then takes each one of these questions and provides the rationale behind why we end up choosing the wrong answer using 10 human insincts that we all have. Instincts such as ‘The Gap Instinct’, ‘The Negativity Instinct’, ‘The Fear Instinct’, ‘The Generalization Instinct’ and so on. I have never come across a more delightful amalgamation of psychology, economics, statistics and inferences so far. As you read through each chapter, you will be surprised to realize how deeply ingrained those insincts are in our minds that lead us to such wrong perceptions.
With deeply personal stories about public healthcare in the poorest of the nations of the world, Hans Rosling takes us through the lives of extremely under privileged and needy people that are heart touching and are bound to move us to the core. If you are reading this review, you are already in Level 4(read this book to understand the levels) and there are billions of people still on Levels 2 and 3. And it takes books like these to atleast change the way we think about our people, systems and ideologies. I’m sure after reading this book, your perception of the world will change forever.
Fun fact - you will find a lot of unfinished houses in the city of Tunisia and people still live in them. Can you guess why? The answer will baffle you! But wait, you will have to read this book to find out!
When you hear the word “creativity”, what do you think of next?
This is the first line in the book ‘Creative Confidence’ by Tom Kelly and David Kelly. Take a moment and think about that question. If the words that come to your mind are along the lines of ‘drawing’, ‘art’ and ‘music’, you’re not alone. Nine out of ten times, we often conjure up the images of an artist or a painter toiling away at his/her desk ‘creating’ the next masterpiece. We rarely think of creativity in terms of it’s real dictionary meaning - the use of imagination or original ideas to create something - on in other words, ‘inventiveness’. ‘Create something’ is the key here, and it’s not limited to just the discipline of art. This is the first fundamental concept that the authors clarify in this book.
Now, why this book? David Kelly is the founder of the IDEO company which is excels at designing products and solutions to companies worldwide. Fun fact - IDEO designed the first manufacturable computer mouse for Apple, and one of its founders pioneered interaction design. So when I came across this book, it was surely tempting enough. And with all the drive around innovation and creativity everywhere, this book fits perfectly as the 101 book.
We often hear about how competetive the world is becoming and how everyone - companies and individuals alike - need to be more creative or innovative to stay ahead of the curve. While this urgency to get creative is good, what is not articulated is how we reach there. It’s not rare to hear someone in the management asking its employees to be more creative at some all-hands meet. Or organize an yearly ‘hackathon’ event, full of freebies. But this book shows us that it doesn’t need to happen once in a year or in a quarter. Through the chapters, the authors provide very clear and practical steps to get creative, in a tone that sounds more like a friend than an instructor.
A central idea in the book is the emphasis on ‘doing something’. It sounds very simple, but as the authors explain, this is the fundamental hindrance to start getting creative. We often have ideas, but simply lack the effort or courage to take the first step. A best example is my desire to get better at ‘writing’ - I have read multiple books on writing and grammar including ‘On Writing Well’, ‘Elements of Style’ - but it’s only when I actually started writing what you’re reading now that I started noticing changes in my writing. And I am not writing fiction or giving my perspective on a subject after deep research; it’s just writing about something I’ve read. Just this simple activity helped me explore my creative side in writing - how do I start? how does the flow go? where do I stop? how do I spark interest in the readers? Trust me, all we need is the first step! With the ideas presented in this book, I’m sure everyone can start taking that first step.
Here’re some interesting lines from the book:
Doubts in one’s creative ability can be cured by guiding people through a series of small successes.
Fear of failure is the single biggest obstacle people face to creative success.
If you want more success, you have to be prepared to shrug off more failure.
Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. To learn from failure, however, you have to ‘own’ it.
“Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain” - R.W.Emerson.
“Courage is only the accumulation of small steps” - Gyorgy Konrad.
“If you want a good idea, start with a lot of ideas” - Linus Pauling.
“It’s not what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you know for sure that ain’t so” - Mark Twain.
Focusing our energy on the right question can make the difference between incremental improvement and breakthrough innovation.
“Do or do not. There is no try.” - Yoda in Star Wars.
The desire to be best can get in the way of getting better.
The front end of innovation is supposed to be messy.
Never go to a meeting without a prototype.
Passion doesn’t preclude effort.
Leaders can’t dictate culture, but they can nurture it.
I distinctly remember that day. It was 2005 and my friend had got a shiny new gadget from the USA. It was…different. Unlike anything I saw earlier. It had a shiny stainless steel case, a polished white front and a large wheel in the center. Up until then, I had seen physical buttons being arranged in a circular shape, but this wheel was different. It was a touch panel! As I operated it with curiosity, I realized one thing - I was blown away by the experience of using a ‘click-wheel’. You could make circular gestures on that wheel and it would translate them into navigation actions in the software. It’s taking a 2-D motion and mapping onto 1-D actions. Pretty cool! By this time, I’m sure you would’ve guessed the device I have been talking about - the iPod. It was heavy, little big for the pocket at that time, but it was magic!
When I read somewhere about a new book written by Tony Fadell, the creator of iPod, I knew I had to read it. And that’s how this review was born. Tony Fadell needs no introduction if you follow the trends in the tech industry. Even if you missed on his latest creation - Nest Learning Thermostat - you couldn’t have missed iPod or iPhone. Now, when a guy with that kind of background writes a book about advice, you’d expect it to be good. Well, this book is great! In fact, if there’s one book that you should have on your work desk, this can be the one. Why? Let me explain.
Build is a book on advice at work. But it’s not one of those business books that explain some theory followed by some case studies and then followed by an action plan. Build falls somewhere between a memoir and a business book, providing raw and honest advice drawn from the experiences of Tony Fadell over his career span of almost 30 years in Silicon Valley. This is the advice you get when you talk to someone who you are really close with and who has seen a lot of action in his/her career. But not all of us are lucky enough to get to interact with such people. Luckily, for us, Build is one such book. It’s got all the advice you can ever get, at whatever stage of your career you are.
As you read through this book, you will realize that it takes you on a journey of someone starting right out of college, finding the first job, working hard at that job with your heroes, quitting that job, starting your own company, get acquired by a large company, and then creating the best products, quit again, start another company, getting acquired by another large company, and then quit again to help others starting new ventures. Yes, this is one heck of a lifetime journey, and that’s exactly what makes this book the go-to reference in your career. There’s advice about picking the right company to work for, starting a team and building a team culture, delivering a world-class product, talking to customers, hiring your first employees, dealing with law suits and lawyers and much, much more.
After you finish reading this book, I’m sure you’ll come out a bit different than before - one who realizes the importance of every little detail of the work, why work really matters, why do people matter. And that’s a good thing.
Here are some interesting lines from the book:
A good mentor won’t hand you the answers, but they will try to help you see your problem from a new perspective.
Adulthood is your opportuinty to screw up continually until you learn how to screw up a little bit less.
Ask for forgiveness, not permission.
Making a mistake is the best way to not make that mistake again.
Do, fail, learn.
If you’re not solving a real problem, you can’t start a revolution.
Follow your curiosity.
Any job working with your heroes is a good job.
If someone under you does something spectacular, that just shows the company that you’ve built a great team.
The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude higher than to produce it.
People won’t remember how you started. They’ll remember how you left.
You can’t just hit customers on the head with the ‘what’ before you tell them the ‘why’.
A good story is an act of empathy.
The only way to move forward is to do an honest accounting of the past.
The best ideas are painkillers, not vitamins.
What you’re building never matters as much as who you’re building it with.
The best marketing is just telling the truth.
These are just some of the lines from the book. There are entire paragraphs worth printing and distributing as flash cards.