Showing posts with label product management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label product management. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Team Leadership and Cricket

Ok I  admit it. I love cricket. I am a bit biased but I came across this article in cricinfo how an underdog team, the Rajasthan Royals,  with mostly B-grade players won the IPL (Kind of like the Super Bowl of Cricket). It is commonly known that that cricket teams from the sub-continent are fraught with in-fighting and unchecked individual egos. Playing as a team is a novelty. That a sub-continent team came together and played great team cricket is nothing short of a miracle. Here are some great lessons in people management and leadership. 

Here is the summary of how they managed to create a winning team:
  1. The team had a clear vision of the type of team it was going to be and had the role of each player clearly defined. This was then committed to paper. It was later shared with each player and their input eagerly sought. With the help of player input the vision paper and the individual roles were further refined.  By the end each player knew clearly knew what to before a single game was played.
  2. Egos were checked at the door and team play was emphasized. Of course it helped that one of greatest cricketer of all times was the captain of the team.
  3. Go on-one with each team member and understand what makes them tick. Listen and don't just giver orders.
  4. Make everyone feel they can contribute to the team.
  5. You can't quantify how important  passion and drive are to the cause. It is all about trust, honesty and respect. Treat people fairly and evenly and they will respond. This goes against the traditional sub-continent management style, which is that as soon as you get power treat your subordinates like dung.
  6. Look for something good. It is easy to criticize but harder to find something good to say. Build the players self-esteem.
  7. Put forth a united front to the team . Discuss your differences behind the curtain but once a decision is made it must be  supported by all the leaders. The players must see a united front from the leaders.
Great stuff from the real world. Thanks Shane Warne and Darren Berry for saving me $29 bucks that I would have spent at Amazon.com on some fancy business management book.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

What to Expect from this Blog

This is my first attempt at a blog -- so bear with me as I experiment and try.
The goal of this blog is to present and explore ideas on what it takes to create a great software product.  I welcome comments from fellow peers and friends. The process to create a great software product is very difficult. For every Googles and Facebooks there are thousands of companies that never went beyond the shareware stage. Working in this industry can be brutal and the burnout factor is high. But it can be also be hugely rewarding where success can mean your products are affecting the lives of millions.