The Devil is in the Detail

Venkatesh Bhardwaj, Senior Vice President - Technology Development

 

 

 

“It's not a silly question if you can't answer it.” ― Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's World

 

We were in the middle of two big projects –developing our IVR platform from scratch and a call centre agent tool called MyDesk. After numerous discussions that involved everyone from the coders to the product managers, the timelines had been set. Then one day, the leads walked up to me and took me by surprise when they informed me about a new technology stack they had created that would resolve all our problems. 

 

I bombarded them with questions. And it was like a long badminton rally between two greats. Just like the popular dialogue from the movie ‘Andaz Apna Apna’: unka ek sawaal, hamare do do jawaab! Except, I was the one asking the questions.

 

It was a supremely satisfying moment for me. These two guys had challenged the path that we had chalked out for them and came up with something completely different and innovative. Right from the outset, they had thorough answers to convince us that this was the best way forward. And as the saying goes, the devil is in the details—they not only did in-depth research but also personally took feedback from the people who were using the product and had plugged loops. Result? They had me convinced! 

 

I had a flashback of an interaction that I had with Deep in 2005, who was our Chief Executive Officer back then. We were setting up the India call centre and trying to freeze on the right telephone service to partner with. I was in charge of this project and was looking into multiple proposals from the vendors. It had come down to one and I had to discuss the case with Deep. The proposal mentioned some fifteen offerings, most of which looked average to me. At least ten of those were and that I was sure about.

 

When Deep asked me about the eleventh one, I was stumped. I didn’t have an answer. That day, I learnt two lessons. One, you have to seek every answer if you want to completely own something. Also, care and curiosity are two sides of the same coin. If you truly care about the company or the project you are working on, ask questions and be thorough in your knowledge. There is no substitute for knowledge!

 

In my 15 years of stint here, I think of this anecdote often and have even shared it several times. When I see the attitude of complete ownership and thoroughness in a manager, I feel like I have come full circle. Because if we can truly care about the job we have been trusted to do, excellence, thoroughness and commitment to results will follow on their own.