Thursday, October 21, 2010

Parikrma: Breaking the cycle of poverty...

I haven't written a post in a long while...not because nothing was happening but because too many things were happening. Moreover, my topic of passion, Collaborative Learning in the Workplace, has plenty of thought-leaders writing about it, and I haven't felt that I had anything new to add. I have been reading, synthesizing, creating my own little PKM and left it at that...



However, something happened today that propelled me to write again. We from ThoughtWorks paid a visit to Parikrama. Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have seen my tweet. Parikrma is described on the site thus:
Parikrma Humanity Foundation is a non-profit organization that is transforming education for under-served children in urban India, so that they can have equal access to the best opportunities. Parikrma manages the entire education cycle from kindergarten to college for each child.

We know that there are many such organizations enabling children to access education, infusing some hope into their otherwise bleak lives. My intent in this post is not to hold up Parikrama as an organization with a difference but just to share my experience. Try to describe the few hours we spent there...

About 10 of us arrived at Parikrama around 8:15 a.m. The children were just entering school. Ranging from 5 to 15 years in age, they all arrived fresh-faced, enthusiastic, bubbling with life. You can see some of the pictures below bearing testimony to their joy.
 





The children begin their day with breakfast. Most of them come from homes where dinner is a dream, often unavailable. Parikrma believes in first feeding the hungry children before imparting any gyaan. Breakfast was a simple fare of chapatis and sabji. This is carefully distributed to avoid any wastage. And the children, even the youngest ones, know that food is precious, not to be wasted.

Today, we were given the chance to help the Parikrma team serve breakfast. That was perhaps the most moving experience for me. I am not certain I have words to express what I felt. On the surface, it was just serving food. But once you know the background of the children, the impoverished conditions they come from, the dirth of love and security in their lives, this simple act takes on a poignancy that is hard to define. I will stop trying to describe it because I can't.


The assembly was another memorable moment with the children reciting Rabindranath Tagore's Where the Mind is Without Fear... What could have been more apt! The little ones singing Mother of mine was heart-stopping. It took me back to my school days when I had first heard the song...They sang the song with an earnestness that brought tears to my eyes.

Let me clarify this though...if at any point I have given the impression that the children were sad, pitied themselves and their fate, then I am wrong. A brighter, bubblier bunch would be hard to find.

I had decided to sit with the youngest ones during assembly. I love being with children--their unadulterated simplicity and directness, total lack of hypocrisy rejuvenates me. These were no different. Seeing the camera around my neck, they were eager to have their pictures taken...some of them were keen to click some photos too. While the assembly was going on, I had a tough time trying to maintain order in my little corner. Here are some of the pictures taken at that point:





The art and craft work on display were amazing too. The classrooms are named after each planet. And you can see Jupiter below...




The youngest ones are in a class called the Sun. An apt name for the sunny smiling faces.








They have dreams in their eyes...and their minds are as yet without fear.Parikrma is trying its best to nurture those dreams. They need help. They need us. If you live in Bangalore, you can perhaps go and pay them a visit. Can we help make a difference? I think we can if we put our mind, heart and soul into it...

If you want to see the pictures, you can go here. To know more about Parikrma, watch the TEDtalk by Shukla Bose called Teaching one child at a time.
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Sunday, October 10, 2010

Just an excuse to use my iPod touch...

My first attempt at writing a post using my iPod. While not as optimal as the bigger laptop screen, there's a lot that can be said in favor of the mobility. I can see the advantages of this when 1. Waiting at an airport, 2. Caught in traffic (a frequent phenomenon), 3. When doing a quick, short update...

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Failing to communicate...

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
How important do you think continuous communication is for a team working on a project? 
A bit...
Somewhat...
Hugely important...


Let's see what happens when a team of smart individuals eager to get going forget to communicate at crucial points during a project...


Mr. Perfecto is our client. And he, as indicated by his name, is a stickler for perfection. He loves to have things just so...No wonder Sheila (name changed), the CEO chose him to talk to the BAs about a software they needed for their sales team. Mr. Perfecto explains the requirements at length, clarifying exceptions, the work flow followed by the pre-sales and the sales team, the dependencies, the decision points, and everything he could think...


You can see Mr. Perfecto in conversation with our BA.




Mr. Perfecto has this in mind...


Mr. BA, satisified that he has understood what the client needs, goes back to the team and lays down the specs. Eager to get started, the team grabs the specs and gets to work on their individual piece. 


Things are pretty hunky dory with no alarms or flags being raised...


Integration time and everyone is excited for that first look...!!!




Mr. BA and team thinks it's ummm...ok...and shows it to Mr. Perfecto...




Mr. Perfecto is less than pleased...






And our CEO....


Communication failure!!!
Quoting from Communication on Agile Software Projects


Why is communication an issue worth discussing?  Because the need to communicate effectively pervades software development, operations, and support.  Developers and users must communicate.  Developers and operations staff must communicate.  Developers and management must communicate.  Developers and …  well, you get the idea.
Given below is a diagram from the same site on different modes of communication...use them all and keep talking...
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ThoughtWorks: Day 1--Induction with a difference...

The ThoughtWorks University sessions started yesterday. An induction with a difference (many differences), it was a refreshing experience for a "veteran" like me. I have had first hand experience of induction programs in quite a few organizations--each org has been very different but displayed surprising uniformity in the way they conducted the induction sessions, the org values and norms, and so on...You get the point!
What happens in typical induction programs? A typical Values session experience goes like this...
  1. You walk into a semi-dark, fairly large conference room and sit on one of the plush chairs. (Experienced folks prefer to sit at the back and prepare for nap time.)
  2. The area around the podium is lit. A power point is projected on a large screen (the size can vary from org to org, the format usually doesn't). 
  3. The power point has slides with the dreaded bullet points (the color scheme varies between blue and grey; the org logo features on each corner; it's corporate, remember!)
  4. The slides transition from one set of bullet points to the next...
  5. Someone from the corporate function walks you through the Values of the orgs (basically reads out what is on the slide; and if you are quick reader like me, you are tapping your toes by the end of the second slide and wishing you could transition to the next). 
  6. The session ends...thankfully. You are informed that you are now "aware of the values of the org and need to follow it." Follow what!!! (Scratch head)...Then, you leave the room retaining blissfully little of the slides and desperately looking around for a cuppa and some intelligent conversation...
What happened at ThoughtWorks...I'll let some of the pics speak for me....but would like to highlight a few things.
The setting of the conference room:
No organized rows of chairs here but scattered around the room were round tables with 5~6 chairs grouped around each. This ensured that we were communicating, sharing at each point. You can get a feel of the ambiance from the pics below...Looks messy, disorganized...but that is what learning is like--messy, social, serendipitous...and TWU gives plenty of opportunity for all of this.
 
Back to my initial point on Values and how TW "teaches" them...(I have put "teahces" in quotes because there was no teaching, talking to, or lectuirng; it was a discursive, participatory experience).
There was a tiny snippet of a role play between two trainers that drove home the connection between Values and beliefs, emotions and convictions. You can see JK who was one of the trainers in the pic on top.
A very very short presentation with the Values of TW was displayed, and then it was up to the attendees to come up with their version of what they understand of each. This inclusive and interactive approach fostered the impression that the values were indeed an integral part of the org and not a set of bullet points.
The Diversity session actually simulated the diversity in the team that had gathered at Royal Orchids y'day, helping us to see beyond the color of the skin and the shape of one's nose. Without any bullet points!
It would take too long to explain so I will let the pics do the talking...
There were plenty of fun activities interspersed between the main sessions but the Wizards, Elves or Giants was my favorite...

Move back!!! Make room for the magic to work!! (My fav quote of the day from Julie).

I am ending the post a bit abruptly...I have to get ready for today. Watch this space for more in the coming week...
I have not yet spoken about the setting of the "training room" or about Open Spaces!
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Organizations as Communities — Part 2

Yesterday, in a Twitter conversation with Rachel Happe regarding the need for organizations to function as communities, I wrote the follow...