Am I an Engineer?

I am tempted to say yes because:

• I have an engineering degree
• I have been working in the Hi-tech industry for over a decade. In this industry the ability to be hands-on is extremely beneficial. In short, I can be a techie when required.

However, I am cautious because:

• When a person from (or familiar with) Hi-tech industry asks this question, then I answer yes and hoping that they'd undestand, follow it up by explaining some of the different hats I wear occasionally.
• When people from outside hi-tech industry ask this question, what they really mean to ask is whether I manage people/project or not. What is hard to explain to this group is that even engineers can be managers or directors or even CEOs. Also hard to explain is the fact that not every engineer is the same. There are so many different fields within engineering. To save everyone time and misery, I just answer "Yes, I am an engieer".
• When people with limited education ask this question, what they really want to know is whether I can fix their smartphone, TV, fridge or car. I answer "I write software programs which run on computers". That's a smart answer or so I think. Moments later, I realize only thing they hear is "computers". So they ask me with a triumphant expression -- "Ah! My computer's monitor is broken, can you fix it?". When I explain that I just write software and can't fix monitors etc -- their expression is you should have gone to a better school/college and pursued real engineering. I can never win this one.

So, my answer is never the same. It depends on who asks it.

Importance of Brand Ambassadors

I remember a story from my middle school. The story was about a native Japanese who chances upon an English couple, visiting Japan, on streets. The native is headed to work. The couples main goal is to experience the real Japan, but are feeling miserable as they are unable to. The couple's problem is that they don't know any Japanese. This native, who knows English well, offers to help and calls his office to take a day off. He then takes the couple around the most wonderful and authentic places. The couple left the country extremely happy. When asked why this native helped the couple he says that he is acting as a brand ambassador for Japan and doesn't want the couple to leave Japan feeling miserable. Now that's how important the brand ambassador is.

I visited the AdTech tradeshow in San Francisco two weeks back. All the company reps in the exhibit hall were acting (atleast trying to) like brand ambassadors. I ran into one particular rep who was sort of arrogant and was trying to brush me off. I am not sure why he was acting that way. He may have had an appointment, but it's not that hard to say "Excuse me. I have a scheduled appointment. I'll be happy to answer your questions. Here's my card". Obviously, the guy wasn't the best brand ambassador.

Hi-Tech companies are often tempted to send their best engineers to represent them because they feel that smart engineers can answer all the technical questions. That, in my opinion, is not at all a smart strategy. Companies need to carefully select people who can best represent their companies at such events. The most important objective of a brand ambassador is to make a positive impact on the potential customers or partners. Questions can be answered later.

Do you think I'll ever do business with that company or even recommend it to anyone?

April fool's day pranks

I ran into a few hoaxes yesterday - the April fool's day. A good one was from the economist Greg Mankiw about the an auction at Harvard for slots in classes . I was curious on what kind of pranks or hoaxes get more attention. Google search gave a few interesting results. The best site is here which lists the top 100 hoaxes of all time. I really like the instant color tv hoax. Have fun.

Effects of Luxury Goods

An interesting article talks about the effects. Be careful when I have all my luxury brand goodies around :-)

Haas EWMBA decision is ....

Thumbs up!!! Hurray!

I have been offered an admission in the Haas EWMBA program in the Weekend (Saturday) cohort. I am in touch with the other future classmates and have to say that the group is definitely special.

BTW, I found out the news when I was on a vacation in India and celebrated with my near and dear ones.

Cheers!

Productive feedback for star performers

I read an interesting article emphasizing the importance of providing constructive feedback to the star performers. The main takeaways are:

1. Don't underestimate the importance of providing regular feedback to stars
2. Identify specific areas of improvement
3. Prepare the star to take the feedback positively
4. Tie your feedback to the stars career growth
5. Provide regular feedback

EWMBA 2010 interview

My new year began with an interview at the Haas EWMBA program for fall 2010. What a way to spend the first working day of 2010!

I applied in the R1 and received an interview invitation by mid Dec. I interviewed with the Admission committee on the 4th of Jan. Berkeley is just over an hour drive from my place, so I took the day off to relax and enjoy the interview experience. The 30-min interview was conversational and focussed around my professional work experience. The conversational interviews seem simple but they are infact more difficult because the burden is on the applicants to market himself/herself. You need to take every possible opportunity to tie all your experiences back to one of the basic questions "Why an MBA?", "What after MBA?", "Why this school?", "Why am I a good candidate?" etc

I feel I did pretty well in the interview but that's what the conversational interviews make everyone feel. I'll get to know whether I am offered an admission or not in early Feb.

Video calling from new TVs

Skype will offer video calling from new TVs. Now this is very interesting. Read the complete article here