Why Our Graduates Are Not Production Ready?

In almost every time I go for campus recruitment to various engineering colleges across the country, I ask a simple question to all students. What did you learn in last 4 years? Invariably the answer is stereotyped one - "C", or Java or Data Structure etc. etc. (because I'm from an IT company). No one tells that I learned how to solve problem. This is reality. Our engineering colleges across the country don't teach students how to solve problems. Colleges are focused on teaching tools & techniques. Leaving aside few privately run colleges observe the communication skills of our students. Our academia is not focused on this also. And, as a result one can't recruit a graduate and deploy him/ her in production work. They are not production ready - even after 4 years of training in higher institution of learning. They need to go through finishing school. This New Your Times blog post has few other areas where our graduates and academia needs to focus.

Is there a way to make our graduates production ready when they are out of the colleges? Here is my recommendation to all our future engineering graduates -

1. Learn problem solving techniques
2. Focus on communication - verbal and written
3. Understand that career is your - you can't outsource that to your supervisor & company. So understand what it takes to build a successful career. A positive attitude right from the begining
4. Train yourself so you can do hard work. General advice is work smart but today it is "Work Hard & Work Smart".

A password that you don't need to remember!

Remembering password is a pain. So many passwords for so many different systems that we used - email, bank account, computer, online store, online magazine etc. etc. Forget about  the lot of similar size for office related works. And, each password system has its own system to make it complex.

 Cryptography is an interesting & important subject. Most of us have used some form of ciphering techniques even in our school days - passing secret messages amongst friends or playing with cipher texts.

However, it is a pain to remember password! And, since you need to remember the password that means someone can force you to reproduce it and that happens. Obviously, biometric system helps tremendously but from a pure security stand point biometric systems are also not 100% secure.


Now, researchers from Stanford, Northwestern and SRI laying out a new solution that relies on implicit learning, a process by which you absorb new information — but you’re completely unaware that you’ve actually learn anything - something like learning to ride a bike or learning to swim. In short, the system teaches the password to a part of your brain that you cannot physically access — but it is still there in your subconscious, just waiting to be tapped. So, if you don't know your password, you can't tell it to anyone.

Question is how can you use a password that you don't know. Read on ... 

Weekend Read - The World as We Knew it is Over. Now What?

Views from the CEO of Victors & Spoils - John Winsor

 

We are in the midst of a radical revolution. While, some call it the digital revolution it’s much bigger than that. For sure, digital technology is at the foundation of this revolution but it is only the catalyst to the change. Fundamentally, economic value is created from economic inefficiencies. If you were a farmer and owned fertile land it was more economically efficient for you to grow crops than for someone else that lives on a rocky hill. Hence, people buy vegetables from you rather than grow vegetables themselves.  Read on ...

Maa Passed Away on May 31, 2012

After fighting with Chronic Leaver Disease for last one & half year she left us on Thursday May 31, 2012. I want to thank all of you for reaching out to us in this difficult time and apology to those of you whom I couldn't pass the message on time.

Short Weekend Read

Organizations or business are not battlefield  it is an ecosystem where one organ can’t function properly without other.

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/corporate-culture-business-is-not-a-battlefield.html

Value Creation, Innovation, You, Me, Organization ...

Value creation is an interesting topic. So as innovation, rather micro innovation. Equally interesting is new breed of business enterprise (a.k.a Enterprise 2.0). And the ecosystems around it. Observe, how these three (value creation, micro innovation & new business enterprises)  are connected and how a new definition of value system is emerging.

Hiya2

Traditionally we understand the value creation by any business entities lies around three thing - value (rather wealth) for promoter/ share holder, customer & employees. Successful organization has created values for these three entities - definitely for the first two. Closer looks into some of the new generation business entities highlight another dimension, 4th dimension, of value creation - Societal value. There are whole of new generation business organization from whom you really don't buy anything. And without being a real customer in traditional sense these organizations adds tremendous value to our lives. What do you buy from Google, Facebook or Twitter? Look at the valuation of facebook, linkedin, groupon ... simply amazing! 

Let’s look at innovation now. Innovation is essentially creating values out of an idea or implementation of an idea to create wealth. Without tangible value a new idea can be invention but not innovation. Even thought Humphry Davy invented light bulb early 1800 but it was not useful. Later, in 1880 Edison made commercially viable light bulbs - this is innovation. Even though Edison didn't invent the bulb but due to unparallel impact on human civilization we call Edison the inventor. Today successful organizations, commercial or non-commercial, are fostering innovations. These innovations are like making colored bulb - each new colored bulb creates value. This is micro innovation!

Successful organizations have built in these two paradigm (creating value for society & investing in micro innovation) in their culture. Engaging employees & customers in innovation, and creating services for people in general without attaching a $ string is the way to go to build a lasting organization. Money is the byproduct of these new generation organizations.

Earlier this month Facebook  acquired  Instagram for $1B. What was insgram's revenue?

Zerg Rush in Google

Type Zerg rush in google or click here  and see what happens!