Observation Book

Category: Uncategorized

  • Six Out of Ten

    Six Out of Ten

    Most feedback is noise dressed up as forms and ratings. But every once in a while someone, who isn’t even paid to care, says or does something that rewires you. This is my collection of those six-out-of-ten moments

  • The Bug That Could Have Retired Me

    The Bug That Could Have Retired Me

    The content of this piece does not represent the views of my employer. The character names are fictional — though the absurdity is, regrettably, real. Retirement, I always thought, would come from mutual funds, launching AI startups and owning real estate. But over the years in software, I realized there are other avenues like stumbling…

  • Behavior Bible: The RTO Edition

    Behavior Bible: The RTO Edition

    Some time during COVID-19 when the whole world was working from home and had lost complete touch with civilization, I made a list I called the Behavior Bible. With my commute reduced from bed to table, I would read it like a prayer reminding myself of ways to get the most done when in-person influence…

  • Four Experiments in Being Human

    Four Experiments in Being Human

    Hey everyone — it’s been almost four years since I last wrote a blog post. Once in four years feels like the Olympics, except with fewer medals. Over these years, I’ve run several “A/B tests” on myself. Except, if we’re being precise, they weren’t A/B tests at all. They were pre-post dramas where you change…

  • B2B versus B2C Product Management

    B2B versus B2C Product Management

    Analyzing B2B and B2C product management based on Users and Buyers, Business Model, Market Landscape, PM Knowledge and Skills, Product Usability, Data and Analytics, Product Management Culture, Business Metrics, Release Cadence, Work Life Balance and Customer Relationships

  • Some Personal News

    Some Personal News

    My experience of moving from the Miami of India to Silicon Valley.

  • Evolving Microsoft’s Supply Chain Management

    Evolving Microsoft’s Supply Chain Management

    Kavita Krishan opens about the evolution of supply chain management at Microsoft, D&I efforts under Satya Nadella’s leadership and her passion for hiking.

  • Charting Her Own Course in Software with a Knack for Extreme Empathy

    Charting Her Own Course in Software with a Knack for Extreme Empathy

    I caught up with Sushma Padmanabhan — a Senior Product Manager at Intuit — for profiling her trail-blazing career. A native of Mumbai, she explored the nine yards of finance for a decade — from stockbroking, banking, insurance to taxes, before moving to Bengaluru for opportunities in FinTech. In 2008, Sushma joined Intuit as a…

  • Your career is a team sport — you won’t get there alone.

    Your career is a team sport — you won’t get there alone.

    Got the chance to have a tete-a-tete with product management leader Jill Solley. Read what she has to say about her early experiences in tech and her advice for young women.

  • 5 Seats of Power

    5 Seats of Power

    Sometimes, we all tend to feel like we don’t have permission to tell our colleagues what’s not working well. But three Saturdays ago, Apoorva and Partha from Quinnergy changed all that for me and a room full of people.