The Guru Factor

It's a warm summer afternoon in Los Angeles as I pen this post. I happened to come across this post: How did you learn so much about Oracle? by Cary Millsap whom I met at the beginning of my career at Oracle. Cary, a Regional VP at Oracle in 1998, ed a week long consulting skills workshop which I attended

In his post, he explores the steps necessary to become an expert with the Oracle database. We can certainly extrapolate the same steps and apply them to almost any domain. Beyond Cary's post I echo my own thoughts as well:

To become a guru:

1. Persistence - There's absolutely no substitute for persistence in solving an issue and coming up with a solution. Too many people give up but those who stick on at some point enjoy the fruits of the labor.

2. Share what you learn -  One of the best ways in building a network of resources you can rely on is to share with them what you've learnt and what they may find useful.

3. Immerse yourself - Whatever the subject matter is, immerse yourself in it. Books, blogs, you tube videos to get the fundamental knowledge of the subject you're focused on. Look for divergent points of view. Beyond the theoretical understanding, look for opportunities in experiential learning. Employers and companies, for example in the technology sector, no longer value academic credentials. What they seek are candidates with strong experiences, people who have encountered and solved problems that these organizations are trying to solve. Individuals who have come across challenges but have taken every possible step to finding solutions.

Mobile Computing - The rise and fall

Several years ago just as the mobile revolution was beginning to take off, I invested in my very first smartphone. This was the time before the domination of iPhones and Android devices. This "smartphone" at it's very least was difficult to navigate, limited in it's functionality, and lacked any aesthetic sensibility whatsover.

Certainly not impressive. With the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, it rapidly came to dominate the market. Here's why:

1. Design Differentiation

Unlike other form factors, there was no keyboard. Just a single button and touch sensitive UI. Revolutionary. Probably. Ease of use, simple, and intuitive are critical factors for the rapid adoption.

2. Platform

Another critical reason for it's widespread adoption is that the iPhone, just like an Android phone, is an extensible platform. The functionality is limited only to apps that are stored on it. In fact, there are close to 800000 apps available for the iPhone. 

 
It's pretty evident that Apple's built a robust ecosystem around the iPhone and encouraging development for the iOS platform. Similarly, the number of apps available to android phones exceed more than a 1,000,000. In contrast, Blackberry had a 100,000 apps available, 47000 peddled by a single developer, S4BB.
Google evolved the concept of a platform to a whole new level, taking a page from Microsoft's playbook. The Android platform that Google invests in, is completely free. Since it's free, it lowers the barriers to entry such that device manufacturers are more likely to leverage the platform. As more devices leverage an open OS, more developers are likely to build apps for it. By no means does it make Google a charity. Rather, the company charges for the services, searches and apps that are downloaded from it's app store.

 Nokia and Blackberry
The question then arises as to why companies like Nokia and Blackberry which once dominated the mobile landscape, fail. Both companies were victims of their past successes, focused on past products and failing to recognize and  adapt to the tidal wave of consumer tastes in smartphones.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! I created this as a platform to express ideas, concepts, thoughts around technology and the intersection with business and human factors. You'll have a sense of who I am through my linkedin profile. I'm a deeply passionate technologist with strong business acumen, excellent customer orientation, and strong presentation skills. In this blog I explore technology trends in the context of business value. Why is this important? Technology can certainly create the 'wow' factor but it unless fulfills a business need or niche, it's certainly doesn't go far.

I also write about leadership, success, failure, from an individual level to the corporate business environment. My passion has evolved from years of study, observation, and my MBA journey. You'll see these posts here in this blog.

Feel free to to get in touch with me through my linked profile.

Thanks for visiting!

Sudi