Today was a great day . I talked to Mark B. Mitskovski. He is an expert in the field of Renewable and Wind power energy. I heard that he is a visionary.
I always wanted to know how visionaries are?
what do they sound like?
what are their thoughts?
How they explain and convince their vision to their audience?
How they connect their vision to a greater purpose ?
I got most of these answers when I talked to him for over 40 minutes. I realized that he is not only a visionary but an individual with a coaching style who believes in sharing knowledge.He works mostly with renewable energy sector, and understands the problem that 60% of this country is facing in terms of old infrastructure, cables, towers, transformers.
Computer industry has been revolutionized and everyday so many people work on improving the efficiency of a chip which is 1/6th size of our cell phones, wireless industry has seen great development in last decade, better food products (or should I say unhealthy?) are out and at least they are easy to cook and mostly ready to eat and yes Infrastructure - We have so much of it that 30% of it lies vacant in cities like Buffalo( It is the 2nd largest city in New York !!!!). Note that I am talking about the commodities without which we can not think of living another day.What is missing????
Yeah you got it right..electricity!!! U.S still has the infrastructure that was raised 50 years back, cable lines are becoming more and more inefficient, renewable sources like windmills are evolving and growing but still account for only 11.4% of the U.S electricity consumption.This is where Mark sees loss and equal opportunity. As per him a snow storm in 2007 led to power shut down in Western New york for couple of days. It was because of the leached old power lines and the towers that can not withstand wind of moderate magnitude.Ummmm yeah it sounds like a problem ....and that is where Mark's vision lies. Another snow storm or a climatic disaster of higher magnitude can completely ruin the power infrastructure , and do harm beyond repair. In these poor economic times no one is sure when government will allocate budget for the up gradation of electricity and power resources but yes if left unattended it can prove to be disastrous.
Note: Above article reflects my understanding of Mark's thought.
Oct 19, 2010
Fall in Buffalo....
I am writing this one after a long time. I am not sure if blogs are becoming less popular because of face book and twitter effect.We get to know " What's on your mind" every other second.
I have seen people updating their status message on Face book as many as 6-7 times in a day. There should be a survey that tells if popularity of blogs have gone down!! But I still believe blogs tell you much more than "what is on your mind", it tell about individuals perspective and about their views.
Finally I have joined my MBA School ( It started 2 months back and it's been busy 2 months). Till now buffalo has treated me nicely, fall is indeed beautiful and you fall in love with the UB campus when you take a walk under the red sky , with cold breeze touching your face and you see maple leaves colorfully decorated on your pavement. As i move toward my house in South Campus I realize we have so much to accomplish in a matter of two years. It makes me doubtful about my self-efficacy,if I will be available to absorb all the knowledge that school is throwing at me, but than I realize that this is what I always wanted and I have no option but to fight and prove that I am not going down without a fight.
I have seen people updating their status message on Face book as many as 6-7 times in a day. There should be a survey that tells if popularity of blogs have gone down!! But I still believe blogs tell you much more than "what is on your mind", it tell about individuals perspective and about their views.
Finally I have joined my MBA School ( It started 2 months back and it's been busy 2 months). Till now buffalo has treated me nicely, fall is indeed beautiful and you fall in love with the UB campus when you take a walk under the red sky , with cold breeze touching your face and you see maple leaves colorfully decorated on your pavement. As i move toward my house in South Campus I realize we have so much to accomplish in a matter of two years. It makes me doubtful about my self-efficacy,if I will be available to absorb all the knowledge that school is throwing at me, but than I realize that this is what I always wanted and I have no option but to fight and prove that I am not going down without a fight.
Jun 13, 2010
Bye Accenture
Finally it seems that I am ready for the journey I have long awaited.......I am lucky and thankful to divine for he made my plans work, it started when I was in 3rd year of my B.tech when like most of the Indian parents my parents too started getting worried about my future. Yeah of course they told me that B.tech would be the last place where I will need to dig my head in to the books , but of-course I am used to this now, after placement offers from 3 reputed IT firms, I knew I have more work to do. I decided that I would do an MBA as I very well knew my limits as an engineer. Now with MBA came two options CAT and GMAT. Somehow what I have seen on various research articles and heard from people around I too felt that getting an MBA from U.S is worth the pains and expenses and more over i always knew that in U.S I can bang on some new innovation or something that might give a push to my entrepreneurial motives.It was not an easy journey from preparing for GMAT to getting my VISA. Yeah Visa guarantees you of a ticket to the land of opportunities . Although I did not find the Visa part difficult but I had heard all those monstrous stories of Visa Rejections, and so it was only after I got Visa last Friday I was sure of doing my MBA From UB.
I have noticed that Indians have a different perception about GMAT. I can not compare the CAT of late years to the GMAT exam but as we have all seen CAT is remoulding itself in to the patterns of GMAT. When we discuss about GMAT among CAT takers they normally dismiss GMAT as an easier cousin of CAT but I do not agree with it.I can say so because I committed this mistake and resulted in taking GMAT twice. I feel GMAT is a more result oriented exam and definitely needs guided and streamlined efforts. Moreover preparing for an exam while you are working in a competitive software industry is never easy.
As I was in Accenture I really never enjoyed my time as my heart was never in there but I knew that brand name is always important and so I chose to join Accenture(Of-course I never knew Tiger Woods had such an testosterone driven emotions!!!!!) rather than going for Infosys or Torry harris. Although latter never even sent any joining letter.
Finally here I am preparing to leave for my MBA. Everything looks to be smooth and sweet and God wants me to celebrate somehow in last 2 weeks of my stay in Accenture we had record number of parties and of-course I didn't miss even one of them even if it was on a night before my Visa interview. Journey was never easy but I had promised myself not to go down without a fight.
Two years I did something that never interested me but I am happy that I utilized those two years in something that I always wanted and here I am a happy soul and I really thank all the people who have been with me though out this journey.
Excerpts from my Adieu mail....
The road I have traveled here has been challenging and enriching. During my tenure I met wonderful people be it from my team , or groups that accompanied me to Belum caves or Dandeli or individuals I met while organizing various GPTW or CSR activities. It was wonderful to be the part of Accenture Volleyball and Football team and playing along with very best talents. There are so many things that I have learnt here at Accenture , being advised and motivated by experienced individuals and given opportunities by my superiors has made me a more confident individual.
Life is a journey to explore the unexplored with convenient halts. With this zeal and having explored what Accenture had in store for me, I move ahead chasing the bigger and taller dreams. Seeds were already sown in my Undergrad years and I could watch them sprouting during my stay at Accenture. I have decided to pursue MBA at SUNY Buffalo in New York ,US. I am excited about the impending student life but will always be reminded of how it is at Work Place.
I am grateful to all of you who bumped into me and accepted me as your friend. Friends once made are always missed in their absence and so shall I. Thanks a ton for all your love, care, consolations and encouragements!
Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.
Life is a journey to explore the unexplored with convenient halts. With this zeal and having explored what Accenture had in store for me, I move ahead chasing the bigger and taller dreams. Seeds were already sown in my Undergrad years and I could watch them sprouting during my stay at Accenture. I have decided to pursue MBA at SUNY Buffalo in New York ,US. I am excited about the impending student life but will always be reminded of how it is at Work Place.
I am grateful to all of you who bumped into me and accepted me as your friend. Friends once made are always missed in their absence and so shall I. Thanks a ton for all your love, care, consolations and encouragements!
Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.
Apr 25, 2010
Good Boss! Bad Boss!
As a wannabe manger this was always a topic of curiosity to me. Initially I thought that every boss is one and the same and believed that bosses have to be strict, unfriendly and have to carry that extra attitude in office. May be because they want the team members to take him seriously and deliver more during working hours. But I always wondered does that mean that you have to be uncaring towards your employees, speak to them only when you need to boost the productivity or promoting favoritism in the team. At one point I had actually started believing that in corporate may be it is not the human touch that is promoted and more than an employees emotions and feelings it is the productivity and deliverable that count. One part of my sleepy brain accepts it because if we think it in the terms of give and take philosophy then may be it is all right - companies pays us well for the work we do, and work is the only thing they expect from us and vice versa. I always wondered that one day if I would take on my bosses's shoes would I take on the same strategy - productivity is all that matters. No no no….. , I still and will always believe that human are not machines there output is directly related to their thought process and how good they feel about a certain things so there has to be a right mix of professionalism with human touch. How far can we push our body mechanics without reinventing it and with out giving life a new meaning?
This was the one side of the corporate culture that I had noticed. Of course I never liked it and it was a little demoralizing but then my 15 years of "out of home" experience had taught me the ways of picking myself up. I joined swimming and started playing volleyball for my corporate team.
It was here that I met new mangers from the same corporate house and got to see the other side of the story. They were at the same or at a higher level as my current boss but in different teams, but It was a completely different experience with them. They were actually interested in what I was saying. Although they were not my supervisors or had any liability of discussing things other than volleyball with me but they discussed with me my aspirations, about the working culture and even the way individuals irrespective of their positions are suppose to behave in the corporate culture. Indeed they felt the same way like I did - Value human touch. One of them was even the winner of “best boss" category and told me that every boss is unique and handles things differently. On my so many questions he blinked and with a canny smile told me that sometimes it is the matter of finding a "right boss". We both smiled at each other and topic died down but those thoughts have a deeper meaning, you see we can never ignore the luck completely.
It is a simple thing that I learned as a kid in my school. When I joined the boarding school at an age of 12 years we all were ragged and bullied by our seniors. It was all fun and masti but yes at times knowingly or unknowingly we were pushed to extremes. We all felt bad and were angry about the way certain things went and each time we were ragged and taken to extremes we made some perceptions in our young minds about the outside un-protective world and since then knew how we would treat our juniors. Will we defend them from such extremes or will we show them the new extremes????? And indeed three classes of seniors emerged:
One who pushed the juniors to new extremes.
Second who went up against their own friends to stop this.
Third who either enjoyed or were confused which way to go.
Obviously this is how nature maintains the perfect balance. So now when I am grown up and working among the most learned individuals, I still see these 3 classes existing. Wow that is my discovery of the day!
Now I know why the work experience was so important before going for an MBA. My corporate has been one of the great learning experiences because with a bad experience you know what you do not want to do next time you take on the same job.
This was the one side of the corporate culture that I had noticed. Of course I never liked it and it was a little demoralizing but then my 15 years of "out of home" experience had taught me the ways of picking myself up. I joined swimming and started playing volleyball for my corporate team.
It was here that I met new mangers from the same corporate house and got to see the other side of the story. They were at the same or at a higher level as my current boss but in different teams, but It was a completely different experience with them. They were actually interested in what I was saying. Although they were not my supervisors or had any liability of discussing things other than volleyball with me but they discussed with me my aspirations, about the working culture and even the way individuals irrespective of their positions are suppose to behave in the corporate culture. Indeed they felt the same way like I did - Value human touch. One of them was even the winner of “best boss" category and told me that every boss is unique and handles things differently. On my so many questions he blinked and with a canny smile told me that sometimes it is the matter of finding a "right boss". We both smiled at each other and topic died down but those thoughts have a deeper meaning, you see we can never ignore the luck completely.
It is a simple thing that I learned as a kid in my school. When I joined the boarding school at an age of 12 years we all were ragged and bullied by our seniors. It was all fun and masti but yes at times knowingly or unknowingly we were pushed to extremes. We all felt bad and were angry about the way certain things went and each time we were ragged and taken to extremes we made some perceptions in our young minds about the outside un-protective world and since then knew how we would treat our juniors. Will we defend them from such extremes or will we show them the new extremes????? And indeed three classes of seniors emerged:
One who pushed the juniors to new extremes.
Second who went up against their own friends to stop this.
Third who either enjoyed or were confused which way to go.
Obviously this is how nature maintains the perfect balance. So now when I am grown up and working among the most learned individuals, I still see these 3 classes existing. Wow that is my discovery of the day!
Now I know why the work experience was so important before going for an MBA. My corporate has been one of the great learning experiences because with a bad experience you know what you do not want to do next time you take on the same job.
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