Mirza Yawar Baig – Self assessment
AI: Summary ©
The potential threat of a business world is discussed, including the failure of businesses to see a change in the market and the importance of knowing what to do if one business fails. The use of voice of customers and a 360 degree appraisal process are emphasized, emphasizing the need for clear communication and continuous assessment for oneself and to develop oneself. The importance of identifying one's professionalism and finding one's own success in the market is emphasized.AI: Transcript ©
Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa salatu salam ala
serie Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa taala, he was I was allowed to say.
Yesterday,
we spoke about anticipating
the greatest threat to your existence to your development
and preparing to counter it. So the question that I asked yesterday was, what is it that can kill me in the next three years?
It will kill me in a literal sense, kill me in a figurative sense with your sense. So if I have a business, for example, this is what can kill my business in the next three years.
Is it new technology? Is it the
business, the market will disappear? Is it something else, which we'll have
and prepare for that from now, because I'm three years from now, it will be gone.
And I gave you some several examples yesterday. So I won't repeat that. But there are many examples in if you look at in terms of business world, many examples
of businesses which fail to see
change coming.
One thing I didn't mention yesterday, which I will do today, one of the classic examples is Kodak film.
And the interesting thing is I all of us, I'm sure we remember we buy those reels, right? So 24 exposure 30 is 36 is the white take pictures, take it to the photography shop and the chapel, you develop it or whatever.
Interestingly, and very ironically, there was one of the employees of Kodak he invented digital photography.
So he created a built a digital camera.
But when he took it to Kodak, and He showed that he said, This is a you know, something I haven't released, I don't have this doesn't work. This won't work.
So they rejected it.
And that is what killed Kodak. Digital probably wants to digital photography, and then all the reels and when they become worthless, do they at any given time.
When I go out, I do wildlife photography. At any given time, if I shoot for a day's worth of shooting, I should at least 2000 2000 shots,
at least right
now, failure to anticipate what we'll get now. So today I want to talk about therefore what to do if I
want to
combat a potential threat in three years.
What must I do today and for that what is required is I must know what I'm doing. So like a personal snapshot, right?
So what is my situation today, I should notice if I noticed that I can do something about it.
And interestingly, in GE,
we have three separate things that we do.
One is we call this voice of customer voc.
So everyday business, periodically invites their customers to come in, they have a you know, a sort of
tiered service kind of thing. So
they ask them to come in and the customers talk to the GE people about the product or service that they're using.
So say GE medical systems is making color Dopplers it's making CT scan machines and so on. So you will have people from big hospitals or big diagnostic centers, who will come and talk to them about how does this you know, what's the performance of the machine like it don't like? What is their customer feedback which they are getting from it? The key thing is the G employees are given a very strict format and the format is listen to the customer take notes. And if they have any problems deal with the progress, but on no account, are you supposed to give them explanations or justifications
very important that you can't say to them. No, no, no, that's because
if the customer feels that something was not right with the machine, then we go with the customer. It's not a question of saying, Oh, you didn't know how to use the machine? No, no, it was my job to teach you how to use the machine user spent $100,000 Plus on a machine. It's my job to teach you. So if you don't know how to use the machine, it's my problem.
Right? So why some customers listen to the customer solve their problems, and that gives you some very, very, very valuable data.
First time data about your product and service. Second thing they used to do is
we call it
nma, new manager a simulation. So this is a different thing. Whenever a manager was assigned to a team,
they would give this manager maybe two to three weeks to settle down. And after that, you would have the HR guy or you would have a consultant, an outside consultant, who would go to that managers direct reports.
And say, please tell us how is your experience with this new person?
Right?
So for example, if I'm working for you, I'm trying to work right there, okay, this new person came,
what how was your experience? What is it was, so I was always very nice person, very warm, very
accommodative, and listened, and so on. So okay, so that's good, all the positive stuff, is there anything negative, so I might say, you know, there's nothing negative, but I think he is a very kind person. So maybe people will take advantage of him. So this is one feedback. Both are feedbacks positive, and it similarly many other things, this person is very harsh, this person is very abrupt, his person doesn't listen, whatever, right?
Then what they do is they take this feedback from the direct reports, they compile it, they consolidate it, and they feed it back to the manager, as if this is what your direct reports have to say about you, but they don't give the names. So to, to, you know, protect their identity and to, so that people will feel free about saying what they have.
So this data is fed back to the manager, then a very important thing, then there is a face to face meeting between the manager and the direct reports with the person who did this assignment, there's the HR person or the consultant as the facilitator.
So where the manager gets to address the, the feedback that he or she got with the people who gave them that feedback.
So in that feedback session, the managers I've seen, for example, many sessions, the manager, for example, and we coach them to the what to say and how to say. So some things they might say, Well, no, thank you so much for saying this, I really appreciate that I will do this, or thank you so much for pointing this out, I will try and correct myself. Or they might even say hello, thank you for the feedback. But this is how I am.
So this is not going to change. Right? I'm telling you, I'm not trying to offend you or something, but this is how I am. I will speak like this. This is what I will say, if you don't like it, then
as long as I'm here, this is what I will do. Get me out of here, that's up to you. Right. So which is a very frank and straightforward way of dealing with things. But there are some things that that have to be done in a certain ways obviously can't be discouraged. And then a third very important thing that we're talking about how do I know where I stand today? Sir, very important thing again, which is done in G and I've done in many places, including for myself
is what is called a 360 degree appraisal. The usual appraisal is between the mother and subordinate. So I work for you at the end of the year you write my present. This is what is good about Mr. Baig this what is not good songs on we have this is a novel standard procedure of appraisals. The 360 is an appraisal it's called 360 because of the circle, so 360s and appraisal process where the individual is appraised by his or her person is reporting to reporting authorities, direct manager,
subordinates, colleagues, at the same level in the same department,
external people they may be dealing with, for example, contractors, for example, consultants and so on. So they will deal with
people from other departments that they may deal with. So if I'm working in manufacturing, I'm dealing also with r&d, I'm dealing also with finance. So people in those departments who I'm dealing with, I don't report to them, they don't report him but we have a relationship because we are dealing with them, they're doing them
as well as people I deal with personally. So it could be community members, it could be my neighborhood people and so on. So there is a
this is done by an external agency, the external agency sets up this questionnaire
which they mail to all these people and they say please answer these questions in the context of if it is me in the context of Mr. Big What do you see Mr. Big as a number 234 These are the questions answer.
This same process, which is they collect all of that they collect the data they consolidated and they present it to me so this is what your 360 are present looks like and what they do
which is very interesting is they benchmark it against people at your level, your competence, your professional.
Right. So it's, this is not just only me, but somebody like me, what do their 360s look like, so I'm compared to on that platform, or just just to give you an idea,
good or bad, if I may, for example, get a very positive 360. But compared to people, at my level, so and it may not be so positive, or vice versa, my mind might be better than that. So whichever, three ways,
so by submission is that this is something that we as individuals
must do, from time to time to ascertain where we stand in our environment, that I have a 360 of mine done every five years.
With a company called potential which does it so I get down to it,
I have the my last is me. So it's very important, it's huge. So you know, where you stand on a very objective platform otherwise, the big reason for this is our human tendency, we like to hang out with people who like us, who think like us, who would disagree with us, who are you know, the same mental framework, right.
And that keeps us in an echo chamber. So, whatever you say, somebody will say, he will agree and he will call or they will say a similar things. And we have similar political views, similar religious views, similar views about life and so on. And you never get anything with challenges. You never get anything which is critical, you never get anything which, because all growth happens in the, in the in the circle of discomfort, net circle of comfort is no growth, what exactly recovered is nice to have, you should have it also because that's, that's a place of rest is like the harbor. So the ship has to be the harbor at some point. But if the ship is only sitting in the harbor, then why ever
ship right, there's no point to the mega build out there as the of the beach is the purpose our CP ship is regarding the in the in the ocean. So in the ocean, there is broad, there are problems, there are waves and this and that rocks and whatnot, so but you don't want the ship to sink. So you bring it back into the harbor, to repair it as they run. So this is this is the thing with life. So we need to therefore do this assessment. individually. I always tell people, do your own assessment, get a 360 done, talk to people, and also your own assessment and benchmark yourself in the marketplace. And market around me exactly. Buying and selling might might have meaning in your
professional framework, benchmark yourself and see where do I stand?
Otherwise we get into this, you know, especially in the religious angle, we get into these moods.
You know, a lot of Marines and the ovaries are a sea of reserves like Ash.
You think you are God's gift to mankind, that that may be very far from the truth. So it's very important to do this kind of self assessment. We ask Allah subhanaw taala to help us to continuously assess ourselves and to develop ourselves and to improve ourselves. So where are we? Yeah, we become useful to society and pleasing to Allah Subhan Allah inshallah Allah Allah will carry while Allah He was
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