The Transit of Venus

Something to look forward to this week:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/the-transit-of-venus/263090-60-119.html

It will happen next in 2117.

Internet side effects

A friend came over today. We were talking until I got the internet set up at my new home. And then there was silence. Makes we wonder:

• How has the internet changed attention span?
• Are social networking and the internet sufficient to replace "offline social experiences"?
• Do power users of the internet burn out quicker at jobs that require extensive use of computers i.e. most jobs?
• Can digital ever match or supersede the serendipitous discovery process that happens offline?
• Are power users of the internet asocial in face to face settings?
• Do power users of the internet have withdrawal symptoms when they are away from their devices? (Compulsively checking email, facebook, twitter what have you)

Politics = weekend entertainment

Sometimes politicians also get what they deserve:
Sorry Ma’am, but I am not a Maoist

Excerpt of the condign punishment :)

"You have spoken of the brain drain from Bengal so many times. I hold offers from the University College London and the School of Oriental and African Studies to study development and administration. I too will probably leave, and now you know the reason why."

Contentment

So the return from the US of A to India is finally complete. Now that I have graduated from business school (and likely to stay away from full time school) and am a month old at work in Bangalore, I feel content about where I am at this point.

I freaked out most about the thought of wearing formals and business casuals and all that jazz - doesn't work for me, gets in the way, I can't think right with all of that on me!

Bangalore is an awesome place but for the traffic. Cliched I know, but true. To set things in perspective, I ate at approx. 25 restaurants over the last 30 days, mostly within a 5 km radius from where I live. Did I mention that this is without counting breakfast & lunch at the office?

Book Review: Games Indians Play

The book is written by V. Raghunathan, ex-chairman of the PGP programme at IIM-A (http://www.vraghunathan.com/home.html) and impressed on me. Business school made me cognizant of systematic cognitive biases and heuristics in decision making (read shortcuts). This book takes it one step further and qualifies the generalization in the Indian context and attempts to explain "why we are the way we are".

I like the book because it works its way up from first principles to identify the root of all inefficiencies, bureaucracy and red tape in India. The author uses an economics 101 Prisoner's Dilemma (PD) setting and game theoretic framework to make his point.

Read more on PD here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's_dilemma

Below is an example of the payoff matrix in a PD setting:

The equilibrium in a PD setting, is defect-defect. While A & B's actions are individually optimal, the collective result (defect-defect) is socially sub-optimal or inferior. The author claims that real life scenarios are akin to an iterative PD problem where a defect-defect loop will spiral into systemic chaos due to negative reinforcement.

The 'intelligent Indian' interpretes real life scenarios as a one-shot PD. Say A & B refer to people waiting on either side of a traffic light. On both sides, people stray to the wrong side of the road to rush past the rest. In other words, they defect. And so do the others on the opposite side. When the light turns green, the only possible result is a traffic jam.

When results or consequences depend upon actions of the past and the present, a defect strategy will not work. We see this today in the parliament and in most day to day situations in the country.

The book is a good way to educate oneself to do the right thing because it tells you the consequences of not doing so. So it answers the why question. It's an easy read and is only 150 pages.

The 'intelligent Indian' will continue to exhibit defect-defect behavior and won't bother with this book and will question the generalization that it makes sense to do the right thing without worrying about others' actions. I hope he doesn't.

Marketing tidbits

Just returned after a quick trip to Chennai. The idly shop at the Shamshabad airport (Rajiv Gandhi Intl) did something that surprised me. The price of what I ordered was listed as x and when the cashier rung up my order, I saw a y on my receipt (y = x + Rs.10) against the item. This was before VAT. I asked him why and he pointed me to a footnote on the menu board which read "* All price excluding state taxes". The second instance on the Jet Airways flight was less of a surprise, but was interesting nevertheless. Water, which is provided for free, was served by a male while food and other items one had to pay for were served by an attractive air hostess. Wonder whether in flight sales would take a tumble if a guy tried selling food and other trinkets.

Consumer surveys in India

Just got back from a two day trip to Bangalore where a friend and I conducted consumer surveys in colleges, malls and IT parks. Interesting lessons learned. Some of the below are specific to India and have cultural underpinnings.

- There are a zillion biases in surveys. There's no perfect survey. If you think a survey is perfect, you just haven't thought hard enough.

- Smokers are easy fish. They are your best friends. Be prepared for a lot of passive smoking if you are on the road asking people questions. I think this one has to do with a person's mindset when he is smoking. Simply put, he is much more relaxed compared to a person who isn't smoking.

- If you want to get hold of working professionals who don't smoke, an option is to find them while they are on their way to work. They'll come to work at noon but won't have a couple of minutes to spare for your earth shattering survey. And yes, you are to blame for them reporting late to work so save those arguments even remotely hinting on logic for later. There's a simple solution. Walk 100 yards away from the entrance and get their inputs by walking with them to their workplace. Works well.

- At malls, we made a conscious effort to survey a healthy proportion of women. Pretty challenging if you are a guy and are there by yourself. The first thought when you approach the fairer sex is "Here comes another one. Dream on...sucker!" or a toned down equivalent. It's difficult to get them to think otherwise and they aren't to blame entirely for this behavioral paradigm. The ISB branded notebook that I carried helped rid this bias to a certain extent. Also, get a girl to accompany you or try interviewing couples.

- At the least, appear to be comfortable and in control. A smile goes a long way. You're poking yourself in the eye if you appear disconcerted or uneasy. Key word is "appear".