A Problem Well Stated is a Problem Half-Solved: Are We Teaching Our Students Early and Enough about Problem Identification Methods in Our Education?

Dear Friends,

Today, I read a post by Nitin Aggarwal, a senior director at Microsoft who specializes in generative AI. He emphasized that some of the most successful engineers and project managers he has encountered were not necessarily the most technically advanced. Instead, they excelled because of their proactive nature and ability to identify problems and develop effective solutions quickly.

These individuals understood that merely focusing on technical details like algorithms, results, and training methods is insufficient. They realized the importance of asking, "Why is this problem important to solve?" This crucial question highlights the significance of understanding the business implications of technology, which, in turn, helps identify bottlenecks and generate valuable ideas for future innovation. Aggarwal's anecdote underscores that technology is a tool to enhance business operations, and its true value lies in solving real problems.

Thank you, Nitin, for bringing out the most critical element of education. Human Performance vs. AI Performance—The gap is narrowing and raising eyebrows. It is a big question for educators in this world. How do we trigger our students? How do we motivate our students to be proactive in problem identification, coupled with curiosity and critical thinking? Can we provide a competitive edge? Everybody understands these skills are vital for short-term success and crucial for long-term growth and innovation.

Many campus interviews still test an individual’s IQ level and problem-solving abilities. I think this process has to be tweaked a little bit. We should provide them with broad problem statements and ask them to cull out opportunities and corresponding ideas. Many hackathons attempt this approach, but recruitment through hackathon models is less than 5%. Companies are worried about the genuineness of the solutions developed by hackathon teams. The other issue is related to the weights of contributions.

Nitin says, “With many resumes now AI-generated and well-curated, I began exploring candidates who were pushing themselves to learn about AI and could connect business with technology. I started glancing at candidates’ LinkedIn posts and comments to understand their thought process and passion for learning, rather than just relying on their profiles.” Students should be extra careful about what they write and post on social media. Many companies filter these posts and use AI to scan and decide on the candidate's profile.

In my view:

·        3 years of Instagram posts determine the candidate's personality.

·        3 years of LinkedIn activity determine the candidate’s professionalism.

·        3 years of blog writing determine the candidate’s analytical ability.

·        3 years of TikTok posts determine the candidate’s creativity and linguistic skills.

·        3 years of Twitter posts determine the candidate’s social inclination.

·         

A couple of years ago, Dr. Abhinav Dayal and I developed a concept called GULid—Global Unique Learner ID, like an Aadhar for education (any online activity is stored as a learning record in a central server and adds some score to our overall lifetime learning records). Please go through the April 2022 blog post: https://lnkd.in/gyb4Tyg4. Unless such tracking happens, it is not practical to scout the right candidate.

Ravi Saripalle

The Cost of Moral and Social Insurance of the Past vs. Contemporary Insurance of Present! Read these Viewpoints

Dear Friends,

Recently, one of my friend’s relatives came to the city for a medical checkup. They live in a village. Upon completing the checkup and inquiry, the doctor suggested an immediate heart operation. She holds insurance to some extent. However, attendants (neighbours from their village) had to take up rooms nearby and buy food from outside. Her children, who work in another state, visited this place. They have their own insurance, but most company insurance products do not cover parents. There is a coverage issue in the parents' insurance. The intertwined complexity continues.

Let us compare this situation with 20-30 years ago. The concept of insurance meant Life Insurance of India (LIC)! We were not even aware that Life Insurance is just one of the products of LIC! When there were any such health issues, people from the village used to depend on relatives in the city. They were provided with room, food, moral support, sometimes financial assistance, and more! The help used to be a wholesome package from the relatives! Do you remember this? Every day, someone from the village would visit them in the hospital, bringing fruits, healthy food, coconuts, and more! They would stay for a few hours and leave! This process continued until the last day of the hospital stay.

Moral and social insurance was predominantly based on community support systems. These informal networks relied heavily on the bonds of kinship, friendship, and neighbourliness. Be it illness, death, or crop failure—the community would collectively bear the burden. This system was deeply rooted in social cohesion and mutual trust. Even enemies in the village would visit during such events! The visitor’s strength depended on the strength of social ties and equations. It was predominantly understood as a moral obligation.

In contrast, today we are all dependent on multiple insurance products. Today, fear, anxiety, and distress, are driving us to buy so many insurance products. Parametric insurance represents a modern, technologically advanced approach to risk management. The payouts are based on predefined parameters like weather conditions, natural disasters, or specific economic indicators. People are buying indemnity insurance, life insurance, health insurance, auto insurance, property insurance, accidental insurance, travel insurance, disability insurance, liability insurance, business interruption insurance, cyber insurance, credit insurance, marine insurance, pet insurance, workers' compensation insurance, renters' insurance, and this list grows every year!

Fear is the root cause of this world! The missing compassion drives us to resort to more such products. It is not just an individual or family issue; this is a reflection of society today. In those days, we used to depend much on Karma Philosophy. God Consciousness drives away the fear factor! The missing links in the modern approach making us to depend on these props.

Despite all the coverage from these products, they still lack the personal touch, social bonding, and emotions inherent in traditional systems.

The cost of moral and social insurance of the past is priceless!

Regards, Ravi Saripalle

Note: Views are personal.

Cautionary Tale: “Thumbs-Up” Emoji Costs Farmer $82,000; Read this Interesting story before you use emojis next time!

 Dear Friends and Students,

Nowadays, most of us use emojis instead of text as they symbolize the conversation, lower the serious tone, and help to connect with the recipient better psychologically. While emojis are great for adding a personal touch to our messages, we should always consider the context and potential implications of using them.

For example, a farmer from Canada was recently ordered to pay $82,000 by a court because a "thumbs-up" emoji was interpreted as agreement to a contract. This incident highlights that emojis can sometimes lead to misunderstandings and serious consequences.

“In March 2021, grain purchasers with South West Terminal, Ltd., sent a text message to grain suppliers wanting to buy flax for $17 per bushel for delivery in October, November, or December of that year. After phone calls with farmers Bob and Chris Achter, SWT drafted a contract for Chris Achter to sell SWT 86 metric tons of flax for $17 a bushel and deliver the flax in November. The SWT rep signed the contract in ink and then sent a photo of the contract via cell phone to Chris Achter along with the message 'Please confirm flax contract.' Achter responded with a 'thumbs-up' emoji, according to the documents. According to Achter in the court documents, he confirmed that 'the thumbs-up emoji confirmed that I received the flax contract. It was not a confirmation that I agreed with the terms of the flax contract.' The judge said it appears the deal was 'at least verbally struck,' according to the documents. The judge ruled Achter owed SWT $82,000 plus interest and costs for failing to deliver the flax.” (CNN, July 7, 2023).

This issue opens a new set of court cases now. People use , , , etc., in different contexts. How do they impact different meanings and interpretations in business and legal terms? In fact, I remember one of my past teammates messaged “KK” instead of “OK,” which the customer did not take well. We had to explain this short communication.

"KK" is an informal exclamation used in text messages to mean "OK." It's a reduplication of the word "k" and is shortened from "OK." It originated in the 1990s and was first used in online communities, not texting. The double K means the message has been acknowledged. Similarly, BRB: Be Right Back, IDK: I Don't Know, LOL: Laugh Out Loud, SMH: Shaking My Head, ROFL: Rolling On the Floor Laughing, TMI: Too Much Information, etc.

What is the problem with using these in the future? If I understand from the judge’s point of view, it is good. There is a reason, I believe. As you know, large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4 (Artificial Intelligence) understand informal shortcuts and abbreviations by being trained on vast amounts of text data. When generating text, the AI uses its understanding of context to decide when to use formal or informal language. If the conversation is casual, the AI might use abbreviations and shortcuts to match the tone. These types of conversations might lead companies into trouble in the future as many companies are relying on virtual assistants.

Emojis enhance communication by adding emotional nuance but should be used carefully to avoid misinterpretations, especially in professional settings.

Note: If you wish to read my stories in the future, you may connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, or my blog.

Best Wishes,

Ravi Saripalle

From Employee to Billionaire: Steve Ballmer Surpasses Bill Gates in Wealth; 6th Richest on the Earth! My Conversation with Ballmer in 2009! Read this story on the important question raised!

Dear Friends and Students,

On Monday, July 2, 2024, for the first time, the former chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp. became wealthier than the company’s co-founder. Steve Ballmer surpassed Bill Gates to become the sixth-richest person in the world. Ballmer's net worth reached $157.2 billion. He is now richer than many well-known tech entrepreneurs, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell. Steve Ballmer didn’t get a single company share when he joined Microsoft.

I was fortunate to meet Steve Ballmer in 2009 at a Microsoft meeting. I thank Wipro for nominating me for this prestigious event. More than that, I am extremely fortunate and thank Microsoft for giving me the chance to ask a question to Steve Ballmer, which was aired on YouTube. Please watch this before reading this story (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUoGKtZwxsI).

My question to Ballmer was, “Being a successful leader and also running a successful company, in your view, do organizations with socially meaningful missions build leaders or do leaders build successful missions?” Ballmer gave an excellent response and quoted examples of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Please watch this video to understand the true meaning. He says both but with caution. Even a great leader can take up a bad mission and still succeed in business. However, that is not the kind of business we need. Great leaders should have great ideas and build successful missions. Every leader and every business should check their overall missions and apply Pareto principles to reinstate them in case they are off track.

Often, while people apply the 80/20 principle (Pareto Principle) to their businesses, productivity, or health, the best application of the 80/20 rule is in happiness. For those who do not know the Pareto Principle, roughly 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. This means that a small fraction of our efforts often yields the majority of our results.

Many students put in 14/15 hours to get a rank, sacrificing health, relationships with God, parents, and genuine friends and relatives, and understanding the true meaning of life. Once achieving the results, they again spend hours to earn a six-figure package, sacrificing many important learnings as bachelors. Upon reaching this, the routine continues. On the other hand, if we fail in the process, it leads to depression and devastation. Both extremes are not good in life.

One of my friends says, “20% of new habits will change your life the most, 20% of friends/relatives result in 80% of the toxicity in life, 20% of the food you eat causes the most damage to your health, 20% of your tasks will make 80% of your day productive—do them first, and 20% of new things that you do will create 80% of happiness!”

Having said that, if you ask me whether I practiced this in my life, the answer is “Yes and No.” While easy to preach, I am still struggling to practice it. However, I met and saw a few who implemented and succeeded in their lives. This is more of an art than a science!

Aligning leadership with meaningful missions and harnessing the Pareto Principle can transform success and happiness.

Best Wishes and Good Luck!

Ravi Saripalle

Life Journey is a Sum of People’s Contributions to Your Success! How can I say I made myself without---------Read this to Unfold the Riddle!

Dear Friends and Students,

There are famous quotes that boast about how you can do everything, how you are self-made, how you make your own luck, and how luck is a dividend of your sweat, etc. These statements may be partly true, but we need to understand the real essence: many people contribute to your success! This is absolutely true. When I started introspecting, it became much more evident.

When I was 1 month old, I was seriously sick and was taken to a government hospital 50 kilometers from my birthplace, where I was kept in an oxygen-filled container to help me breathe. In a filmy-style night, my mother and grandmother (father’s aunt) waited in the hospital for a specific injection, while my father, drenched in the rain, searched for it. Many shops were closed or said it was unavailable, but he finally succeeded! How can I say I made myself without thanking my parents, my grandmother who stayed with me for a month, the unknown doctor, and that one medical shop owner who procured the medicine?

Predominantly, I studied in government-owned or Maharaja-sponsored educational institutions. There were specific teachers during specific times who intervened and helped shape my education. How can I say I made myself without thanking those teachers who elevated my educational attainments without any expectations?

After my post-graduation, it was highly critical to complete an internship in a well-established IT company, which was not practical for students like me living in a super village environment. On top of that, my parents didn’t have such an established network. It was the intervention of a specific professor's reference to a senior IT professional and the special intervention by the entire family that made my day in the industry. How can I say I made myself without thanking them?

When I first landed at JP Morgan in New York way back in 1999, in a one-man project, I was asked to deploy the application in a Linux environment. It was Greek and Latin to me on that day. I don’t remember the name, but a customer-side employee from Gujarat deployed it on my behalf and helped me successfully present before the Vice President of JPM. How can I say I made myself without thanking those team members and customers?

During another trip to the US in 2001, while I was in critical deployment days (again a single-man army without any backup at the customer location), I heard my father was on his deathbed. How can I say I made myself without thanking my manager, who asked me to travel immediately, leaving the project half-deployed, without worrying about reputation and financials?

After I left my IT job, I was fascinated with experimenting to instill a design mindset and innovative traits among students. I visited multiple schools (tribal, urban, village), colleges, and universities for a platform. Many of them rejected me, but one institution founder agreed to offer a platform and allowed me to experiment for a long time. How can I say I made myself without thanking the founder of that institution?

I am turning 50 this year. From the age of 16 to the present, I have spent more time outside than at home. My family has been accommodating and allowed my free will (leaving my well-established job and lifestyle and dragging them to a super village again, leaving them in an uncomfortable financial zone). How can I say I made myself without thanking the true cooperation rendered by my spouse, children, and mother?

Many teachers, friends, and relatives have provided timely help, many incidents averted accident risks, many colleagues gave their best to uphold my reputation, and many strangers contributed without knowing anything about me. How can I say I made myself without thanking them?

How can I say I made myself without thanking God, who gave me this life and the memory to remember these events until tonight? Of course, tomorrow we may or may not remember this sequence or the circumstances to appreciate, live in this form or not, but thank God for today, at present, and now, as the next minute is not in our hands and the mind is not in our control.

How can I say I made myself without---------

Ravi Saripalle