I bought this book (The Numerati by Stephen Baker) after it received a lot of attention in the media – And I must confess the topic of human modeling really appeals to me – So, I got hold of this book and read it the first chance I got.

The author has performed a good research on the subject that deals with how the corporations today are in the process of modeling us (the form of workers, consumers, marriage-partner-seekers or others) more and more refinement than in the past. In the past, the advertisers used to look at the sales figures to find out if their advertising strategies are working or not working (this took time – days or months may be). Now, they want to know in almost real-time how their advertisement campaign working or not working and how the campaign can be tweaked to optimize. The folks want to know instantly – What was the impact of what Barack Obama or McCain said on TV; on their popularity index. Also, in the past, these models were broad brush – regional for example – the people in Boston will almost always vote democrat or the folks in the heartland will always vote republican. The numerati’s are now working towards making this model more and more refined may down to street level were we live and in the future to the individual house basis – That way they can target us better. Imagine if the McCain campaign could find out that I’m life long democrat – they could target me to change my mind better – Or Obama could have saved a few bucks not sending me all those flyers and not calling me everyday – He had my vote already.

There is something new that I figured out after reading the book – the loyalty cards that we get from our grocery stores – Why do you think they give us the discount on items with that card? Because they are trying to pay us back for the data that we are sharing with them – OUR SHOPPING HABITS. Not in too far distant a future, as soon as I walk into my grocery store, the digital screen in my shopping cart will be able to give me the right coupons and lead me in the right direction for things that I need ...

The author takes this further - Imagine if your company started micromanaging your time in the chunks of minutes rather than hours and measured it based on what you did on computers rather than the broad task that you accomplished in a day. Gone will be days of idol chatter near the water cooler, no more half hour Starbucks breaks and no more playing games or watching youtube on your computer. As you know, some part of this monitoring is in place already – in some form or the other. With the companies monitoring what we do on computers and where we go on web-sites – A crude version of the serfdom is getting in place already.

The author argues that during the industrial revolution, the assigned industrial factory worker’s performance was measured, quantified, and then optimized. This gave rise to tremendous productivity gain – Now if we can apply similar model to the office workers, where the productivity is gauged by the accomplished tasks rather than optimization of the time of the office worker, that would dramatically increase the productivity. If they have it their way, we’ll soon be quantifiable financial instrument. They can then use us as plug-and-play for any project or tasks when required. This is equivalent of “industrial Revolution” in the coming for the white collar workers. This may be a start of the “white collar” data serfdom. This is exactly what IBM research scientists have started doing already.There is aninteresting graphic that I found online that depicts the evolution in management (See the image).

You may think “HOLY GANGES!!!!!” but this is what the world has come down to.... And this is what the book is all about!! Telling us lot of instances where the companies (or corporations or the polling agencies) have already or are trying to model and optimize our responses. Example also includes the new medical ‘around the clock monitoring’ techniques and new match making techniques on the dating web sites. A must read.

Having said all that –my problem with these human behavior modeling techniques is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to model a human being. The nature of a human is never a constant, it changes based on things that we experience, learn, or buy. For example, I buy so many items on impulse – how do you model that – some days I go on a buying spree without caring for the money – and the other day I’ll be haggling with the lady behind the counter at Macy’s for a $2 refund. How do you model such a temporal change in behavior? What of I’m haggling just for the fun of it – I have done this in the past. Same thing at work – I have bright days when I’m highly productive and some days my mind just does not cooperate with me .. How the heck do I model this?

All I’m trying to say is – modeling humanity is an IMPOSSIBLE task.

What pollsters and Numerati’s say that the more data we have, the better we understand humans – I personally think this is big pile of “you know what?” – By the time you’ll have enough data – trends will change and you’ll have to collect enormous data all over again.

And another thing – How do we model knowledge? How do we model experience? How do we model ideas? How do we model innovation?

Thoughts on India's 9/11

As I was headed for home from work (at bout 4.00 PM eastern time) on Wednesday November 24, 2008 – One of my close friends called to inquire if my family and relatives in Mumbai are doing OK. I had not heard of the terrible attacks in Mumbai by fundamentalist Islamic group. It horrified me to no end when he mentioned that terrorists have opened fire on innocent civilians and have blown up part of the monuments in Mumbai. What the hell, I wondered? I hung up the phone with him and woke up family members in India (It was about 2 AM, Indian Local time) to find that they were all safe. I reached home and tracked this news for a long time on CNN. I grew up in this city and it holds a very special place in my heart.

Just like 9-11, 7-7 – this day 11-24 will forever make place in memory of all those who wish to eradicate the terrorism from this world.

The pundits are blaming everyone but the genitors for the root cause of this problem. India’s preparedness is questioned and suggestions offered – They seem to forget that India is a country of over 1 billion people – 200 million odd of which are Muslims. Now take this fact in mind that all of those Muslims in India are peaceful and rational. India does not have Madarsas to brain wash the poor and uneducated kids from rural villages. I’m certain that this level of hatred for India, Jews, ad Westerners can only be imported-in; to terrorize the people of the biggest democracy in this world. The question remains – Why? What did these guys want in return for this mindless carnage?

It may turn out that this is just an act of mindless terror to avenge something that had occurred 50 odd years over Kashmir Valley or in a City state Hyderabad or over the demolition of the Babri Mosque by Hindu Extremists. Or is it the anger over Iraq that has spilled over the Jews and the westerners in India. But wait, a lot of blood has already shed over these issues. Why this? Why now? It sure appears that no matter much blood flows, the gods of these morbid pasts could never be appeased – and especially when one side is doing so well in the world economically while the other is waiting for an imminent implosion.

Mahatma Gandhi has taught the Indians – “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind” – But I guess, in this case, I would have to side with the policies of the US and Israel – Where an eye for an eye is the only way to tackle the problem. US and Israel are much safer after counter bombing of Afghanistan and Palestine. Surgical strikes here and there has always yielded good results. We can make our borders highly secured but if the countries such as US are not safe from these demons, India definitely is not.

Here is my thought process in what we (individual citizens and consumers in the US) can do to fix this problem –

1.  A total annihilation of Pakistan. A lot of folks have offered this as a viable option; now that the Pakistani nukes are under US control. But what crime has the innocent Pakistani’s committed – This will only take care of the symptom and not the cause. So let’s find the cause(s).

2.  The problem has always been the radical wing of ISI (Pakistan). These radical guys must be picked and executed. Dismantle ISI – choke the US funding and arms to this group.

3.  Demand Pakistan to become more democratic and progressive. Demand closing or reforming of all madrasas within the territory that it controls – Bomb the areas (to stone-age) that are not in their control (Northwest Waziristan, for example).

4.  Demand China and Saudi Arabia not to supply the arms and money to Pakistan. Saudi money to the madrasas and Chinese arms to the radicalized graduates from these madrasas is the main problem.

5.  Demand the western democracy for more accountability of Saudi power and Chinese arm dealings.

6.  Leaving Iraq for Iran and US take over of Saudi Arabia is a great option. Remember that all of the perpetrators for 9-11 attack were Saudis.

7.  Ask the American and western consumers to stop buying Chinese products and be less dependent on foreign oil.

8.  Ask Federal Reserve chairman to tighten the interest rate to choke up the growth in these countries. US to add further tariffs to the imports from China.

9.  UN to demand opening of the Chinese markets to the westerners can buy and modernize the country and free from its shackles of Communism.

10.  Us writing to our respective senators and congressman (woman) and pressurizing them into taking actions along these lines. Organize peaceful marches and rallies against terrorism, if necessary.

11.  Honor the heroes of our military and the Treasury that have the power to make this dream a reality.

By Rajeev Roy, Mumbai, India (Rajeev is a good friend of ours and you can read this and other thoughts by Rajeev at - http://personal.rajeevroy.com/)

The ordeal is finally over - our brave soldiers have overcome the latest attack on India and the strongest feeling right now is ANGER. This is not the first time though that we are feeling angry after an attack on our country. We, however, tend to then slip back into our regular routine just waiting for the next tragedy to happen. I hope it’s different this time.

It’s fortunate that this feeling finally seems to have united this nation. We need to use this unity and anger to do four important things for this country - overhaul the political system, shore up our intelligence, support the soldiers, and declare our own war on terror. It might appear impossible for a country like India to actually achieve all this but if we remember our past achievements, I am sure its possible. What more, I think we have a huge responsibility to make it happen. As mahatma Gandhi said - “Be the change you want to see in this world”. This post summarises my thoughts on how we can get there.

Let me start with the overhaul of the political system. We always talk about how our politicians are a bunch of corrupt goons and only the intelligentsia realise this. However, the intelligentsia comprise less that 5% of the population and hence cannot really control the outcome of elections which is won based on caste lines and violence. I fully agree. We cannot change things if play the game in this manner. We can, however, change the game. If the intelligentsia is what it’s supposed to be - a social class of people engaged in complex mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them (ref: wikipedia), we can do it. Instead to trying to change the outcome of the elections, let us actually fight the elections. Let us figure out how we can change the reasons for people to vote and offer such a powerful alternative to people that they can’t say No to. Think about the likes of Rata Tata, N R Narayan Murthy, K V Kamath, Kumarmangalam Birla running some of the ministries. If New York can elect Michael Bloomberg as it’s mayor, why can’t we. The answer, hence, is to launch a political party which is run by the intelligentsia and ensure that this party goes on to rule the country.

The world order has changed. Terrorism is now a fact of life and every country will have to learn to live with. USA is an example where there has been no terrorist incidents after 9/11 due to the fundamental changes in the security and intelligence infrastructure. It’s time now for India to rebuild it’s infrastructure to combat terrorism. Once again, the intelligentsia has a major role to play as this rebuilding will require the best brains in the country to work on it. So, our brightest will have to rethink their career options. Investment Banking, Consulting, Financial Services sound lucrative but does not help this country move ahead in themost crucial area - security and intelligence infrastructure.

We deeply greive the soldiers who die in these encounters every time. We understand they do this selfless sacrifice without thinking about their families and are the only people in the country who put India’s interests ahead of themselves. However, we do not bother to even find out what we pay them. We do not bother whether the families of the martyrs are taken care of. Somewhere, we believe that these people are in such a ‘dangerous’ job only because they do not have any other option. Hence, we do not want to serve the armed forces ourselves at any time. We are the intelligentsia, we can make a living in air-conditioned corporate offices, why should we stoop to the level of joining the armed forces. This has to change. We must enforce conscription for the educated in India and it should include people of all ages if we can find jobs for them (yes, I will volunteer). In addition, we have to ensure that the salary grades for soldiers are the best amongst all government jobs and we create a big enough trust for the dependants of our martyrs. Once again, we can make these changes happen.

Finally, every soveriegn nation has a right to takes it’s own decisions. India has been staring at evidence of terrorism emanating from Pakistan and maybe even state sponsored terrorism for a very long time now. If USA can take the battle to the enemy in Afganistan and Iraq, why can’t we? We are a superpower, whether the world agrees or not. India is pivotal to the world economy in more than one way and we should assert our soveriegnity. If the Pakistan link is established in the Mumbai attacks, we should inform the international community and attack Pakistan to eliminate this nonsense once and for all. I understand that war may not be the solution to every problem but I think it is to this one. Once again, the intelligentsia has to support this stand and not take stupid moral stances.

I hope the events in Mumbai start a movement that changes this country and I hope we remain angry till then.

In the time to come, a lot of experts will analyze amazing rise of President elect Barack Obama from a community organizer in Chicago to the most powerful position in the whole world. A lot of pundits, including Jack and Suzy Welch (The Welchway – Last page of the Business Week) have looked at various traits of Obama and his campaign and squeezed out pertinent lessons for the business leaders. Following are my two cents on the subject – the lessons that we can all learn from the Obama’s campaign and victory –

1. Humility -  Listening to Obama’s victory speech made me certain of one thing – Obama will reestablish the respect of white house, the American people and the American government. The humility with which he crossed this historical moment is just awesome.
2. Clarity of vision/goal/purpose - The key here again is to know who you are! What your capabilities are! And then setting up realistic goals. Obama knew this all too well and has demonstrated this with his spectacular success.
3. Immaculate Planning - The planning of the Obama campaign was so good that even republicans were impressed. Every obstacle in the execution was anticipated and planned for ... No surprises ... Beautiful .. I bet you he has already planned contents for his speech for the Noble piece prize.
4. Clear Communications (Expressing yourself) -  The oratory skills of Obama is seen only once in a generation ... Not everyone can be as inspiring or as clear in their communications, but Obama sets the bar and least we can do is try ....
5. Outstanding Knowledge -  Knowledge is power and Obama has shown it. Never have I seen him stumble on a question due to lack of information. Bush and Palin on the other hand (Is Africa a country or a continent?) ... Even during the intense debates, while McCain was scribbling and filling up his note pad, Obama was all Cool and Calm and strategizing in his head.
6. Fight till the end - When things don’t go your way – fight harder. An all out brawl from the ‘Clinton machine’ would make anyone nervous – but not Obama – He not only outdid them but also the whole Republican establishment. Never forget that “Its not over till the fat lady sings” – Keep at it till the end. I must give McCain credit for running a great campaign against all odds.
7. Exploit your strengths - Obama knew that his strengths were not big businesses and conventional democratic establishments – He knew from the get-go that the younger generation and middle class were his majority supporters – He really worked to get his message to them and generating vast sums of money through small doners on the internet ...
8. Keep your cool -  If you loose your temper (reference McCain during the third debate) you loose. Losing temper is the last resort for the human beings who are helpless. Keep cool even when things are going tough. Decisions made with a cool head are way more productive.

Greatness demands sacrifice …. “Ask not what your country can do for you .. Ask what you can do for your country” – In these famous remark, President John F. Kennedy pretty much summed up the responsibility of each citizen of the United States. The United States of America is the greatest country in the face of the Earth – The most powerful and the richest – Rich, not only in money, but also ideas and innovation. Sustaining greatness, sustaining a country’s position on the top requires effort and sacrifice by the indigenous people – real effort, real sacrifice from real people.

We, the citizens of this great country have seen prosperity like no other country (at no other time in history) in this world. We drove the best cars, ate in the best restaurants, took the most exotic vacations, and lived in the biggest of the houses – all the while, not worrying about the future. You know why – because we know hat this great country will always provide for us – in some form or the other.

But when countries like Russia, Iran, and Venezuela start threatening our interest because of high oil prices – when countries like China and India take away most of our manufacturing and service related work – when cities like Dubai and Singapore starts to glitter brighter than our cities – when the list of richest in the world has only a few from the US – when the tallest buildings are not American – When the widest highways are not in the US but in China – You start to think – Its our money these guys are showing off with – Its our dollar … It’s the money that they earned because we bought their stuff …

Now, as if divinely planned – a miracle happened – The world markets collapsed – US markets took a hit as well but not as bad as the ones in the rest of the world – This is surreal – I tell you my friends, this is work of forces beyond human control – forces that are beyond our control are conspiring to keep the United States of America, the greatest of all countries in the world …

All of us are feeling a pinch because of our superfluity – But I tell you, this is a sacrifice we must collectively make to sustain our position on the top – every one of us who suffers through this crisis must consider themselves lucky to be a part of this phenomenon – We are avenging the recent developments in the world – we are collectively answering the call from above to keep this country the best and the most prosperous in the world – Those who challenge us (country, commodity, or currency) must be humbled – Those who suffer are equivalent of a the foot soldier in the US Army – fighting against those who wish to do us harm – who wish to see us defeated. We are fighting to keep the forces of the evil and the unworthy in their place – not by the force of our arms but by the force of out will and wallet.

I ask you a question “IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK?”– A little sacrifice on our part to let the world know who we are – how united we can become when it comes to defeating out enemies. How we can work with little pay or have no job what so ever but by doing so; serve our country. I think not – I think this is the least gratitude this country deserves for giving us such as great lifestyle that we are the envy of the world. We, who suffer, are making a statement to the world that the Armies that you see in Iraq and Afghanistan are not the only ones that would need to fight when it comes to the security and prosperity of the united states – They would have to deal with millions of us, the consumers in the US, who can force companies, countries, or the whole world to get down to their knees if we wish ….

God bless the US of America ….

The world as a whole has made precious progress with regard to helping bridge a little bit of the divide between the rich parts of the world and the poor. Measurable progress has been made in various aspects of governance, education, health care, communication, and food/hunger. This progress has occurred in large part due to the contributions and efforts of the different world governments and non-profit organizations. More than the progress, what we have achieved in giving our less privileged co-citizens of the world is hope for a better tomorrow. There is also the all important momentum that has been built by these tireless efforts. Now, due to the global economic crisis and recession, all that progress is being put at a huge risk of being set back by 3-5 years. There are fears and concerns that world governments and organizations will take the eye off the ball while they deal with the crisis inside their own homes.

In times like these, more than ever, I believe that the world economic agenda must include efforts to sustain the funding and growth of global humanitarian efforts. Now, it is going to be tough to make that argument for a lot of us when we see jobs being lost, homes being abandoned, savings being washed, and hopes being depressed. Times like these force us to go "short term" in our outlook and planning, rather keeping the longer term vision. But, we cannot and must not allow ourselves to forget that we still are the fortunate ones to be living in peaceful countries with access to the basic amenities and benefits that life has to offer. There are others who struggle to make ends meet, who can barely manage one meal a day, who have little to no access to basic education, and who are exploited on an every day basis. Keeping their welfare in mind, helping them meet some of their basic needs, and helping them become self-sustainable is as much in our long-term interest as is solving the current economic crisis.

Talk to any seasoned economist and that is exactly what they will tell you. The path to long term, sustainble world growth and progress goes through the Sub-Saharan African, South-East Asian, and Central American countries.

Think of your favorite politician, one you think who may have made an impact on your personal style of leadership. Now think of all the different characteristics that made this politician your favorite leader. Was he (or she) intelligent? Was he funny? Was he persuasive? Was he calm? Was he a good listener? Was he respectful? Did he have good family values? Was he inclusive? Was he thoughtful? Was he humble? Was he influential? Was he a uniter? Did he connect with the young and the old? Frankly, I cannot think of a single politician or leader, in the recent times, that has shown the depth and diversity of characteristics and traits that Obama has demonstrated leading up to the elections.

This new brand of leadership, the Obamanian style, is not just classy, but it is engaging, compelling, and thought-provoking. Everything from his body language to choice of words to thinking-before-speaking, Obama delivers like nobody else has done before. His style reaches across all kinds of demographic lines and segments. His style wants to leave nobody behind. It is one thing to inspire and move your own country men and women. It is a whole different thing to be able have an impact on a global level. The combination of his humble origins, diverse ethnicity, Harvard education, family values, and oratorial command are something that the world has never seen in a single human being. All of that and more, have come together to shape his personality and vision, and give him the rock-star like status no leader has been given before.

Obama has a long road ahead of him, many places to go, people to meet, and issues to solve. Over the next 8 years (that is correct, not 4 but 8 years) and beyond, a lot will be said and written about him and his style of leadership. But it will be a huge missed opportunity if every one of us does not learn and internalize the qualities that make Barack Obama, Barack Obama. We often look upto people who are not around any more but here we have someone from our own generation to inspire us. Lets make the most of it.

To present my case, let me assume the role of the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. The company I am leading is in the retail sector and does business on a global level. We are in the midst of conducting strategic planning for year 2009, along with my senior management team members. Here is the list of the top 5 strategic initiatives I would ask my team to focus on in order to build stronger business capabilities and sustain (if not increase) market share -

1. Improve Customer Experience - This item cannot be stressed enough and is paramount to meeting/beating our topline growth objectives. Today's customer is smart, savvy, has a FaceBook or MySpace page, owns at least one computer, has cable at home, and understands his finances reasonably well. Further, today's customer has CHOICES. Our single most important differentiator must be the overall experience the customer has at our store (brick as well as online). They need to walk out of the store with a feeling that the time they just spent wasproductive and pleasant. This single factor will pay long term dividends in terms of improving same-store and average customer sales numbers. As part of this initiative, we need to understand/improve aspects like store layout, navigation paths, product placements, promotions, etc.

2. Enhance Internet/Online Marketing - We need to go where our customers are going and spending most of their time. Internet usage and pervasiveness has been on the rise. Social networking is growing like a wildfire. People spend more and more time on their FaceBook and MySpace pages. They spend more time texting and twitter-ing than emailing, for example. We need to be there. We need to better understand these new environments and figure out ways of engaging/connecting with our customers.

3. Increase Brand Penetration - I do not think we are doing enough with enhancing the recognition, recall, and awareness of our branded products. This can be and must be an important differentiator fo us, and we need to finds ways of moving their visibility and value upwards. Since our brands are also sold via our channel partners, we need to work with them to understand how we can improve their (partner) capabilities to sell more of our brands. Along the same lines, we need to continue to work on improving our overall corporate brand visibility. When customers think of purchasing a bar of soap or detergent or diapers, they should think of our store.

4. Increase Supply-Chain Integration - I strongly believe that there are several untapped opportunities within our extended supply chain that we need to go find and capitalize on. Whether it is finding those hidden efficiencies, improving our product sourcing mechanisms, reducing our inventory levels, improving our shipping capabilities, giving more visibility to our suppliers - we need to get on top of all of these functions and see how we can better manage our costs.

5. Introduce Value-add Services - Finally, we need to start thinking of how else can we serve our customers. How can we make our customer's trip to the marketplace more productive and useful. What are some of the synergistic products and services we can provide, by leveraging our core competencies and without getting too far away from the core of our business. Healthcare services, groceries, salons, home improvement, day-care, book store, etc. There are a number of areas we need to start exploring and analyzing their fit, potential, value. Customers are trying to optimize their market trips and we need to finds ways of how best we can help them achieve their shopping/spending objectives.

If we can make smart and thoughtful investments in the above 5 areas, I think we can make significant progress towards increasing our company's business resilience and sustaining our competitive advantage.

On the other hand, you've got industries like retail, airline, insurance, and credit card, that have made and continue to make huge investments in customer loyalty programs. The products they sell are relatively inexpensive and high in consumption. The exit-barriers are significantly lower and the price-sensitive customers switch all the time. Hence these businesses want their customers to repeat their purchase behavior, and repeat it over the customer's lifespan. This behavior is encouraged by rewarding the customer in a variety of different ways, there by sending the message to the customer that the company cares about them, their business, and would like the customer to keep including the company's products in their consideration sets.

Well, let's now revisit the mortgage banks and take a closer look at their motivations, specially in the current economic and market context. Banks want their current customers to keep making their monthly mortgage payments and to not switch to other banks who may be offering lower rates. Banks want their current customers to approach them when they are in a financial crisis and they see the risk in falling behind on their payments. Banks want their current customers to not trash the property if some day, the customer was to walk out on the loan/property for whatever reason. As for new/prospective customers, banks of course want to attract more and more of them. I am thinking that all of these scenerios, and possibly numerous others that I am unable to think of, can be quantified and a cost-benefit analysis be done to make a case for a "mortgage customer reward" program.

The way I see it is that if the customer is making an honest attempt to make their mortgage payments on time, the banks ought to reward this positive behavior. This gesture on the bank's part will go a long way in solidifying the relationship with their current customers, retaining them for a longer time, showing the prospects that they too can stand to gain by coming onboard, and helping lower the overall mortgage delinquency/default/foreclosure risks.

BTW, this was at the Duke University, Fuqua School of Business, campus. As some of you may know, I am currently pursuing my Exec MBA there. I had to wait, with others, for about 30 minutes, before they let us in the hall. The atmosphere almost reminded me that of a rock concert, given the size of crowds, promotions, security, etc. There was a certain buzz in the air, and I could hardly wait to get into the hall and grab a seat. Well, once we got in, all I could salvage was a seat on the steps leading to the peanut-gallery. But let me tell you, the wait and the crappy seat was well worth the hour I got to listen to Jamie Dimon.

Jamie entered the hall about 5:35 pm and without anybody yelling any intructions, the entire hall became silent. He took a seat in the front, shook some hands, and was quickly introduced by one of his company interns, a Duke/Fuqua full-time student. The intern's intro was pretty shaky and I wondered if he had practiced his delivery at all prior to the event. But then, he was introducing his "super" boss and the nervousness was understandable. Anyway, Jamie stepped to the podium and got a decent round of applause. He did not have any script but only a set of questions some students had emailed him prior to the session. After a quick hello, he quickly spoke about his views on the current financial crisis and the some of the recent M&A activity (Bear Stearns, WAMU).

More than anything, what really struck me was his confident attitude, his maturity, his ability to humor people and connect with them, his story-telling ability, and his presence of mind. Keep in mind, the audience comprised of 21 year old students to 75 year old faculty. That is quite a spread of ages to speak to at the same time. But what I quickly realized about him was that he was speaking from his heart, nothing to hide, nothing to fear about, acknowledging that times were tough and would only be getting tougher. He did not try to mix words or sugar coat any tough messages, but gave them straight to the audience. There were questions about the economy, the government, corporate governance, job market, regulations, leadership styles, and America's competetive advantage. The way he responded was one that was balanced, clear, and simple. At one point somebody asked him about what will it take for America to get back on the "sustainable growth track". His response was well thought and to the point when he mentioned that focus needed to be on solving 5 issues - healthcare, education, energy, litigation, and immigration.

Another interesting moment was when he asked the audience to raise hands if they were mad when gas prices went above $4. To everybody's surprise he said - "Each one of you are to blame for the energy crisis! What is wrong with high gas prices? A low price makes all of us insensitive to the energy issues and we do nothing about it. We do not take the time to look into alternative sources and ways of conserving. In fact, government should even increase the taxes on gas. Eventually, tax collected will come back to you in the form of incentives for thinking up innovative and alternative energy production/conservation ideas.". Now what he said was pretty audacious as it is not a very popular suggestion but the point he made was that the solution is amongst us only if we step out of our comfort zones. Someone once said - Necessity is the mother of invention. At $2 gas prices, nobody realizes the necessity to go spend time looking up new ways of generating energy. At $4, you are sending a strong message on the "necessity for inventing" something new and sustainable.

In conclusion, that one hour with Jamie gave me a number of valuable "leadership" take-aways and let me list 5 of them -