Invaluable Feedback

I want to share a story that will possibly change the job search game for me:-

Hitesh works at HP. Around April 2010, he showed me career story of someone from HP. Let's call this person - Photographer (well, because I checked out some of his photos, and they are amazing). His career story was fascinating!
He talked about a lot of things that I value - design-thinking, collaboration, diverse backgrounds, relentless curiosity, networking, leadership, cultures and opportunities to work in different parts of the worlds.

I asked Hitesh to introduce us. Believe me, you rarely get to encounter all these words in one career story; it was refreshing and I was intrigued by the story.

We got introduced, and agreed to speak on the phone. The first phone conversation fell through, and did not happen. We were finally able to speak over the phone for about 25 minutes. Usually, in my phone conversations, I thank the person for their time, and after a brief chit-chat, I dive into the purpose of the conversation.

During the conversation, Photographer informed me that he had a position within his group. Although, he did not give me any details about the position, experience etc, we ended on a note that required me to send my resume across, in order to provide him with a better context about my background.

I followed up after a few weeks, and Photographer wrote back,"It appears there is not a fit at this time".

I was disappointed. I re-read the email after 2 days, and thought to myself,"Appears, is a good word. He did not say 'NO', there is not a good fit". I sent another email inquiring whether he would be interested in my portfolio.
He welcomed that.

In June 2010, I volunteered at the DMI conference, and found out that Photographer was attending the conference as well. We exchanged emails, and agreed to meet at the conference.

We met, and had a pleasant conversation.

Last week, I made a day trip to San Diego. Most insightful discovery of that trip was my lunch meeting with Photographer. This is how he remembers me from our first phone conversation, and told his wife about the experience as well :-

"Shalu, when we first spoke, you jumped straight to the point. You did not thank me for my time, and directly said,"This is what I want to talk about". I had written you off there and then! Also, your voice on the phone is high pitched. Your phone persona is very different from your real persona. You are very charismatic and confident in real life. When I met you at the conference, I saw you in a different light, and thought to myself that I could work with her. She seems like a pleasant person."

I have to admit; I was quite shocked that THIS is what he remembers about me! It must be true, because he still remember it after 5 months. And, he had written me off! (Boy! and, I had no clue all this time). I actually pride myself on being able to engage people at every level, and be polite. I can not believe that I was horribly rude to Photographer in our first phone conversation.

This story summarizes the reason I never do well in any phone interview. Till date, I have been able to convert 1 out of 5 into an offer, which is extremely frustrating.

No one...and I mean NO ONE has ever given me the invaluable feedback that I received last week!

I always thought that the reason that I do not do well in phone interviews is, because I like to put faces behind people's names, and am not able to connect with people over the phone. I did not realize that my phone interviewing skills / phone pitch skills need a lot of work.

Thank you, Photographer; much appreciated.

Can you imagine working with Photographer, and getting your annual (or semi-annual) feedback? I am certain that his team members know so much more about themselves, and constantly innovate their personalities.

I wish more people were like Photographer i.e. not afraid of providing feedback in a constructive way.

The big question is: "What will I do different that will help me succeed in phone interviews, and convey my real persona across"?

The funny thing is that now that I try to talk softer, my husband can barely hear me! :)

A Few of my Favorite Captures

Sunset on Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, July 2010

Mirror Lake, Yosemite National Park, April 2010

Lake Tahoe, May 2010

Golden Gate Bridge, July 2010

DMI's Re-Thinking...The Future of Design Conference in San Francisco - June 16-17, 2010

Recently, I attended DMI’s Re-Thinking… The Future of Design conference in San Francisco. This was my second DMI conference, and I love the network and conferences. The event was a call to action for industry leaders and academics to foster design thinking.

There is a great deal of curiosity within the business community about merging business with design. However, only a few corporations have been able to instil and foster the design DNA into their culture. And, those who have been able to do so (P&G, for instance) have discovered that design is indeed the next competitive advantage.

The conference was an opportunity to create awareness about successful businesses that have remained profitable by approaching problem-solving through a design thinking lens. The conference had an impressive lineup of speakers, but the two that stood out for me were Katie Taylor and David Butler. Both leaders are creating value for their customers and business by applying design methodologies but without explicitly talking about design.

David Butler, Vice President of Global Design at The Coca-Cola Company, is responsible for instilling design into Coke’s DNA. I was stuck by the fact that he is an extremely humble person. Someone asked him, “Can you teach me how to deal with politics at work?" David’s answer was inspiring—he emphasized that once you stop taking credit for your work, you would be able to tackle the office politics. Using his own example, David pointed out that since he was featured in Fast Company recently, he could potentially shoot down everyone’s idea at Coke and pretend that he is the only think tank at Coke. However, the move would not make strategic business sense. He further argued that as long as everyone at Coke moves towards the common goal, i.e. increase product sales, it does not really matter who takes the credit for his work.

Wow! How many of us are tolerant of someone else taking the credit for our work?

David’s comment was thought-provoking. What drives political behavior at any organization? Current incentive systems could be driving such behavior since they are built to reward individual’s performance. A bigger question to re-think and re-design, in my opinion, is how we might change the current incentive system (and, therefore politics) within corporations.

Katie Taylor, President and Chief Operating Officer of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company’s global operations. Her talk was clear, compelling, and memorable. Katie gave several examples which clearly showed that design is at the core of Four Seasons and every decision at Four Seasons is approached with a human-centered approach.

Katie described something that most corporations most likely do not pay much attention to, that can be motivational for the employees. Four Seasons interviews 100-200 candidates for one position. After five rounds, the candidate meets with senior management. At this point, the decision has already been made to hire the candidate, but the candidate is probably unaware of this fact. The point of the meeting is to explain to the new hire that he or she is an important asset to the company, and that his or her job is really important for Four Seasons’ success. While the senior management does not need to meet with the new hire, Four Seasons has deliberately adopted this policy.

The policy speaks volumes about Four Seasons’ culture. In fact, there is a bigger lesson to be learned here about organizational behavior. This clearly shows that empowering the employees can lead to grass roots innovation in any industry.

This conference presented compelling examples that design can be used to initiate a movement within corporations to think more holistically, and still be able to generate profits. Bruce Nussbaum made a comment directed at CEOs which sums up the conference quite well: “Stop making excuses about not being able to merge business with design, just go do it!”

I Love Talking to MBAs...Well Not All, But Most of Them

I have had 100 conversations with random people in California in the last one year.

All these people hail from different professions: designers, executives, students etc. Most of them have pre-conceived notion about MBAs. Apparently, it is a crime to have an MBA degree. I am not certain how and when did MBAs develop this bad reputation, but people, instantly, get cautious while talking to us. They seem to be thinking in their heads," eewww...you are an MBA"

I have even been advised to stop telling people that I am an MBA! Am I going to do that...hell No! And, may I say what a stupid suggestion?

I am proud of the fact that I have an MBA from the Rotman School of Management and I am humble about it. There is a good reason that I chose to make such an investment in myself. You, a non-MBA do not need to discredit my credentials. Keep in mind, I am not following your suite, and discrediting your credentials....now, am I?

I think the caution stems from the fact, that people are ignorant. They do not know what MBAs do. They only categorize us as Type "A" personalities with pompous attitudes. Well, some of us do have those attributes, but then so do other people in other professions. MBA has got nothing to do it.

Why judge (or, rather bad mouth) someone based on their degree or profession?
Why judge anyone at all?

Instead, why don't you get to know the people better, engage them in conversations, and make an informed perception about them (if you must!)?

Back to the conversations: Out of 100 conversations, 2 conversations have really stood out. And, may I just point out that one conversation was with a Harvard graduate and the other with a Haas graduate. Don't get me wrong, other conversations was fantastic as well, but not as impressionable.

These 2 conversations were extremely structured. For example; "I want to discuss a); b); and c), "or, you should do blah, blah, and blah", "or, my suggestion would be to do this and that"," Or, tell me why do you want to do this" etc.

I was clearly impressed by the structure, clarity, and delivery in those conversations.

98 other conversations have not been as structured as these other 2.

Well, for all the "judgmental" people out there, please open your minds and learn to engage with people from all sorts of professions. Once, you have mastered that art, you will not need to be feel insecure around anyone, including MBAs.

I, thereby, am done venting out with the nonsense that I have put up with for a year!

So Many Constraints

I have been extremely discouraged with my job search.

It is May 5th, 2010 and I am still unemployed. Partly, it is economy in the United States, and partly, it is the location (California with an unemployment rate of 11%). At one point, I was so discouraged that I said to myself," Fine! no one wants to hire me, I will do my own thing". And, viola! I had a business idea...and a good one too. I found out all the information I could about different visas that are required to open your own company in United States.

Apparently, I need to raise a $1M in order to start my own business in the US (It costs $200 in Canada)
My question to the US government: Hello, If I had a $1M, would I want to start my business eh?
I would rather retire and travel the world?

Isn't it idiotic that there is a price tag of $1M on what an individual can contribute to this insanely ridiculously economy?

Death Interview

After a long hiatus, I am back.

Twitter takes up most of my time. In between reading and absorbing all the information posted on Twitter, I am left with no time to write on the blog. Well, a lot has happened since I last wrote. Um..let's start with a very interesting interview I had in March. After pursuing my dream company (and dream job!) since 2008, I finally got an opportunity to interview with IDEO mid-March.

I absolutely hate phone interviews, because I never do well for some reason! It is a fact. I would rather drive for 2 hours and meet up with people for 15 minutes, rather than talk on the phone. And, I do like to put faces behind people's names. Till date, out of 5 phone interviews that I have had in my entire life, 1 has converted into an offer.

Around the 1st week of March, I was scheduled to speak with two very bright business design minds from IDEO. I wish I could have met up with them instead. But, alas! one of them lives in Boston and the other in New York City. I wouldn't have been able to speak with both of them at the same time. In retrospect, perhaps, I should have suggested that I'd rather fly over to to NYC and Boston :(

I prepared so much for the interview, because my career was hanging on this one interview. I was extremely nervous as well, which is strange since rarely get nervous in my interviews (I guess because they are in person!). I guess you can not be prepared for everything in life, because it did not work out for me. On a lighter note, and in retrospect, IDEO's interview sure gave me some laughs and future learnings. I realized that interviewers tricks to make the candidates nervous can actually work very well in some cases.

The interview started with one of the interviewers telling me," Shalu, this is called a death interview!"

He repeated that twice so I understood it correctly. As you can imagine, I was so god damn nervous, starting at that point!

When it was my turn to ask questions, they answered one of my questions about the culture at IDEO,"We throw you in the deep end of the pool, and you make your way from there".

Wow! What if someone does not know how to swim? Literally!

I think both the interviewers knew how to swim. You know it sounds as if you'd need to make your own way through the culture of the company and have an entrepreneurial spirit if you get hired, but let me give you a little context about what I heard:

I started to learn swimming in 2008 in Toronto. Yes! In 2008, I would be considered in my late twenties. I want to Surf in Costa Rica in 2010. And, therefore, all this planning. I digress...

Well, so here is what happened to me in late 2008. After level 2 lessons, on the very last day, our instructor asked the class to jump in the deep end of the pool. One by one, everyone jumped and came back up. I jumped, and I started to come up, but only to go down again! And, boy! those 3-4 seconds were the most scary seconds of my life. I tried to reach out with my hand, my breathing stopped, and then I closed my eyes (obviously, thinking that I was going to die)

People who know how to swim will definitely not understand this (I have been laughed at before by my friends who know how to swim), but people who do not, can probably imagine the trauma that I felt at that time. My life flashed before me in those 3-4 seconds.

Back to IDEO's analogy...when I heard that comment, I flipped out. Not because I could not have handled the culture of the company, but because I remembered those 3-4 seconds of my pool's deep end traumatic experience. It is amazing how I let my past experience flash before my eyes in a very important interview of my life :(
It just goes on to say that we should tackle what we are afraid of sooner than later, and not let those experiences haunt us.

Well, I did learn how to swim in 2010. I can swim and do all sorts of tricks in the deep end.

Regardless, I had a good conversation with some very bright folks. I hope our paths cross again. Also, I wonder, could they have meant "depth interview", instead of "death interview" eh?

How Can We Design A Space...

...where everyone feels comfortable interacting with autistic people?

I live in San Francisco city and often take the public transit. Lately, on three different occasions, I noticed strange interactions (or, rather lack of) with autistic people. The moment an autistic person boarded the Muni (San Francisco's public transit), passengers stared at him or her and then uncomfortably looked away.

About three weeks back, a 45 year old man boarded the Muni, along with his 20+ year old friend, who was clearly Autistic. Everyone stared at him for a minute and then ignored him. I usually smile at people when I make an eye contact. And, usually, when you smile at someone, you get a nod, or a smile. Sometimes, you can initiate a conversation. In this case, my usual approach was not optimal since my smile was not acknowledged.

Throughout the Muni journey, I wondered how to engage in a conversation with the 20+ year old. Also, the experience made me wonder whether there is an opportunity to design a space, or a space within our usual spaces (cars, buses, trains, etc), where socializing with autistic people can be made easier for everyone involved in the process?