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Tendulkar - What does it take to become a Legend?

Last few days have been just about Tendulkar, all avenues like Facebook, twitter, television, newspapers just lead to different stories about the Great Man. And why not, it was well earned and well deserved.

While people are busy talking about all the great things he has done in the past 24 years, I would like to take a moment and appreciate all (or most) of the factors that probably went into the making of a Great Sportsperson and a Legend.

- Parents, Brother and family members who believed and visioned that talent should be nurtured and sports could be a serious career option against the 9 to 5 rut.
- Support from Spouse and kids for the entire duration of his long career.
- Coach who provided all the guidance, support and learning to a young boy.
- Senior cricketers who provided the necessary guidance in those early days.
- Support Staff who made sure he was fit for most part of his career.
- Analysts who helped him decide the tactics.
- Billions of fans who believed in him, motivated him and prayed for him.
- Sponsors
- Immense Talent
- Humble Attitude
- Calm Mind
- Great cricketing brain
- Hard Work
- Ability to handle pressure
- Continuous training
......
......
whhooooooooooo this list is endless, it really really takes a lot to get on the top and stay there for 24 years!
Thank You Everyone and Thank You Sachin.

Dear Readers : Would Appreciate your comments to add to this list.

Contributed by Hemant in comments:
dedication, patience, zeal to excel n come back, fighter

I don't have time to write blogs

I was talking to one of my close friend. He said, when do you get time to write these blogs? You always say you are so busy working 8-10 hours a day, sometimes even more then when do you get the time to write all this?

My Honest response...I write 50 percent of my blogs when I am in meetings :)
To which his reaction was : So true, project manager don't have any work :)

Well, jokes apart, in reality you don't need time to write blogs. You just need to have a blog registered and your fingers ready to draft your random thoughts. Just ready to document everything and anything. Without worrying about the grammar. Yes, that is the first step to blogging. Start documenting in draft mode.
Second Step : Don't be in a hurry to publish. Wait, gather all your random thoughts on the topic.
Third Step : Organize it.
Fourth : Review it.
Fifth : Publish it.

Step 1 is they key, you need to make sure you document your thoughts on paper. Unless you do that you will never be able to start a blog post, forget about publishing it. And last and the most important thing, don't worry whether your readers or followers are going to like it. Just write. That is your Karma.

Santa Clara DMV - Behind The Wheel Test Tips

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Tips for Santa Clara DMV Behind The Wheel Test

24 | Twenty Four : TV Series

20th Century Fox TV Series 24 staring Kiefer Sutherland. This has 8 seasons with each season comprising of 24 episodes. These days in India it is being made and telecast in Hindi. Indian version stars Anil Kapoor. Apparently it has become popular in India as well. Based on the American version, here is the framework that each season in Indian version of 24 is expected to follow:

1. In each season there will be a terrorist attack (nuclear, bio chemical, assassination attempts etc).
2. In each season the main lead(Kiefer/ Anil Kapoor) will have a personal problem along with the national problem(for example, his wife, daughter or girlfriend will be in some problem).
3. In each season there will be a threat or attempt on the presidency. Someone within the administration will try to challenge the president.
4. In each season there will be mole or traitor inside the CTU ( department where the main lead works)
5. In almost every season the head of CTU will have to suffer in some form or other.
6. In almost every season the main lead (Kiefer/ Anil Kapoor) will go against the authority/ order of the govt. and take things in his own hands to resolve both the personal and the national problem.

While the show has immense thrill and novelty in the first season, it becomes a bit repetitive in the following seasons based on the above framework. Lets see how long the Indian version survives. All the best. Happy Entertainment...

Assessment Phase of a IT Project

Assessment phase of a IT project is a very critical phase where all the business requirements are captured and scope is finalized. Generally this phase is fast track and we need to make sure we plan diligently so that there are no last minute surprises in the assessment phase. So if you are in IT and you are going to start the assessment phase of a IT Project then you need to consider following key points:

- Clearly articulate the purpose of assessment in terms of objective of the assessment and the final deliverable of the assessment.
- Scope : Clearly articulate what is in scope and what is out of scope.
- Timelines : Start and End time of the assessment phase.
- Resources : Make sure all resources are identified and allocated prior to the start date. This includes resources from the client perspective as well.
- Manage Expectations : Make sure all the stakeholders and resources are aware of their roles and responsibilities. They should know what is expected out of them and the key dates on which they have any action item. This includes stakeholders from your team and from the client team as well.
- Templates : Make sure you agree with the client on the templates which will be used during the assessment phase.
- Reporting : Make sure get agreement from the client on the reporting needs. This includes daily or weekly reports.
- Documentation Sharing : Make sure you identify the platform to share documents with all stakeholders. It may be SharePoint, local network drive or any other medium.
- Time slots from key stakeholders : Make sure you block the time slots for each stakeholder ahead of time so that all critical stakeholders are available for the meetings.
- Final Presentation : Make sure you agree with the customer on the contents of the final presentation which will be a result/ final outcome of the assessment phase. Also, block time from all key stakeholders for the final presentation.

Your Employer v/s Your Customer

This blog is result of an interesting conversation with my colleagues today.
Topic : Why doesn't my manager give me proper rating in appraisals? Even though I work hard and get client/ customer appreciation.

Probable Reasons:
- You do not have a healthy working relationship with your reporting manager. Make sure you build that from day one. If you have not done it till now then start now. It is never too late.

- One often feels that his/her manager always asks for information. We feel that the manager doesn't understand anything about the work being done but still he/she always wants to know everything just coz he/she wants to pass it to senior management. Well, yes that is part of their job. They need to report the status to the senior management. Nothing wrong with it. In fact, we should always have a weekly status report shared with our reporting manager,  it will help to avoid untimely follow-ups and ad-hoc questions. Providing weekly status to your manager will you a lot of visibility as well.

- Clearly understand the difference b/w your employer and your customer. It often happens that we tend to maintain very good relationship with our client/ customer and in the process tend to forget that we work for a certain employer. We get paid by our employer and it is just a matter of time that our employer will move us from one customer project to another and/ or one client location to another. So while maintaining good customer relation is a must, we should not forget that maintaining a good relationship with the employer is even far more important for our career growth.