Bal's Lean Thinking

It's my 12 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

All about having kids learn in a fun way...

So today, i was at the IoT Expo in London. It wasn't the biggest Expo. It didn't have alot of people. It was, slightly disappointing and there's a few reasons why.. 1. Size - it was relatively small. I've been to various Expo's before and spend a few hours. Today, i was done in an hour! 2. Offerings - Now, whilst some big players like Microsoft and others were there, there wasn't anything that really stood out to me and went 'wow'. 3. People - Now, most of the people on the stands were 'Tech' people. Unfortunately, they had zero people skills. No way of engaging potential customers. An example is, there was a jelly bean. IoT Bean it was called. Something small, measures gases, temperature, etc... Now, i've seen similar things before, but not one that measures CO2. When in conversation with the person at the stand, a) he was hesitant in giving a price (even an indication of a price) and then b) he was insistent on quantities. Numerous times saying, we'd want a big order or lots of these being purchased. Now whilst i understand that, no-one is going to come in and buy 1000 of something that's un-proven to them. Start small, then scale up. That's what most organizations will do. Now, with all that in mind, i've attached a photo... of a stand that was sharing some predictive maintenance IoT related stuff. Wish i could tell you more. Unfortunately, the folk at the stand saw me stood there, reading, even taking a photo... but never came to me to share anything in addition.

For those following my on Instagram (@mrbalbansal) i've recently, well actually, for a while, been posting alot of photo's of food. But I've decided to call them 'Bal's Kitchen'. Some of the photo's on my Insta Story, are of food that i'm preparing, food that's being cooked or food that's ready to be eaten. Bal's Kitchen, well... why, not? I've always had a passion for food, and thought, why not turn this passion into something that could be a business. So... watch out... Bal's Kitchen could be a reality very very soon...

Everyone has a story. Every app needs a headline. Every person should share their story. So this is what Instagram have been sharing recently. And personally, i think it's great. I think it's something that everyone should do. It makes me think and it enables me to talk to business owners about what they want their customers to do.

3rd day of the year. How's it going? Started anything new? How's those New Year Resolutions going? On my Insta this morning, i shared a photo. The photo was of my Camera Lens Cup... with Tea (find me on Insta, my username is @mrbalbansal) That's right. When you have your break, when you have a moment to yourself, and you have a cup of tea - it's usually a good time to focus on your priorities. Focus on what's right for you. For me - I joined the gym today. It's been a long time coming. I've always believed in, Healthy Body, Healthy Mind. and i've put on a little weight over Christmas. For me, it's not necessarily a new year resolution or anything, it's just the new gym opened yesterday and they had some good offers on. So i joined it. Next Friday i'll be doing my first class. Ever. It's a Yoga class. I'll let you know how i get on. But in the mean time, i'll do a bit of running and cycling. So you might be wondering, Bal... that's great.. but what's with the camera lens cup? Well... one used to be a keen photographer. From my days working at Kodak (you can't be that young you don't remember Kodak!) And as a keen photographer, i've been asked to take photo's at Weddings, Parties, etc.. Recently, being the official photographer for my niece's engagement. Have i ever thought about doing it professionally? Absolutely. But then, i always feel there's people who have more knowledge on how to 'glam up' the photo's on their computer. I was taught using the old 35mm film, how to get the angles right, the lighting correct, etc.. even with the digital cameras, one amazing photographer told me, get as much right on the camera you can, and spend the least time editing it on your computer. More natural, the better. And being totally honest, i'm content with being the part-time photographer I am. Mind you, those who know me well... know i like to take photos, whenever the opportunity arises. And it's usually of food. My other hobby.

Well firstly, Happy New Year! Hope you all had a great time seeing in the new year. I had a relatively quiet one. At home, with family and having a little drink. 2016, i shared in a previous post, was fabulous. I learnt a lot. 2017, i'm more focused and ready. Ready not only to grow my startups and the ones i'm involved in. But to grow and help the local communities. Grow others. This is very close and important to me - and it's something i think we should all do. The more we help others, the better the world will be. Grow ourselves. I'm always learning. And in 2017, i'm hoping to learn a number of new things. Even if it is my long term ambition of being able to play the guitar! 2017 - I'm ready.

2016 - wow, what a year. Lots to think about and lots to write about. Key highlights for me, well, winning the British Indian Award for Science (Incl. Innovation) was one of the top moments. In addition to that, there were a few more personal ones, such as my niece getting engaged - i still remember going to her 1st Birthday party in Leeds, we had to drive in the snow from Nottingham. There's been plenty of ups, and some downs. Such as my manager and the CIO leaving the company. Friends who have become distant memories, and those whom I needed in a time of need... just weren't there. The good thing is, there were people who helped me. Helped me with getting things done. And they're the ones i will always be grateful to, and always say Thank You to. 2017 will be amazing. How do I know that? - well, i don't. You just got to make it happen.

Yesterday, i had an emotional End of Year review with my manager. She's leaving at the end of this month. Our CIO (her boss), is also leaving, at the end of this month. So, yep - you guessed it, there's a lot of changes taking place. The past 3 and a bit years, have been an amazing learning journey for me. I've learnt so much from her... that i do owe her alot of credit. And people know that. To the point, another colleague said, he wishes he had the opportunity to report directly into her, so he could learn aswell. So what did i learn from her? A few things, 1. Aim high. No... higher... more higher.. keep going.. Sky is not the limit. There's something above the sky. 2. We are the Best. Now go and show it... No point talking about how good we are. Get others to talk about how good we are 3. Drive it, like you stole it. Go 100mph, and do what you can - leave everyone behind. Now, she didn't say any of those above, but they are the key things i've picked up from her over the years - which have helped me, i would say... in winning awards, being recognized in and out of the Coca-Cola system... and progressing myself.

I started this blog, many months (in fact, I think it's been a few years) ago... to express my frustration with the simple things in life. Here I am... at the Eurostar station in Brussels. Waiting for a cup of tea, and look at the screen. So, they've got some technical issues - to say the least. But they've just left it as is... why not turn the tv screen off? Why not put another input in? What frustrates me the most is the laziness of people - this ranges from the people working there to the management. In fact, it should be the management taking more ownership!

I was reading a few tweets earlier.. one of which was, folk should talk less and do more. Could. Not. Agree. More. So true... quit talking and let your actions do the talking. Recently, i've probably mentioned this before, i've started a couple of startups. Of which one, is starting to really take off... it's hard work, but i feel the benefits and gains are there. Its not going to make me millions, but it will make me enough for a nice summer holiday. With that in mind, don't think, what you do or start, has to make you millions. It might. If not, have some goals and aims. For me, it's a) can it pay for a nice summer holiday. Then b) could it pay for a nice car, then c) could it.... well you get the idea. The more i build the business, the more items it'll be able to pay for. On top of that, i don't just have the one startup. I have 2. I know.. where do i find the time. You have to make time. So the second one, i've got a good friend who's working with me. The service we offer, already exists. It's out there and people offer it, by the bucket loads - so why are we doing it? Well, we're coming in from a different angle. We can do it quicker, easier and cheaper. It's the easyjet equivalent. Over the next blogs, i'll share with you what the startups are...

I love to share my thoughts and ideas with people. Those who know me, know this. We can achieve more through collaboration and commitment. There's many times, where we loose focus, or something else grabs our attention. There's many times, when we don't have all the answers and just by talking and involving others, can we take it up a gear and really start getting some serious results. It's all about results.

Recently, i've been traveling a lot. I've been using the local train service to take me down into London. Last week, there was some disruption to the rail lines. And it had a knock on effect where trains were cancelled and some were running late. Usually, i'd be asking the local folk at the train station for an update, trying to find a notice board or queuing up at the ticket window to get some more information. But no... not on this occasion. One went to twitter. Very politely, tweeted the train company and hey presto, within a few mins, i had a reply and I could find more information looking through their tweets. Is this the new era of communication? Must say, very effective - and maybe this is how you can reach many of your customers at once or very quickly. Not forgetting the word count limits your conversation, but surely that's making it more effective?

Today we heard in the news, that for the first time in 15 years, Apple Inc. didn't have consecutive growth. Why? Well, all the analysts are out saying it's primarily down to the iPhone, and not many people are buying iPads... we all know computer sales have slowed down... and all in all... people just aren't buy at the rate they were before. What does this mean for Apple? Have the days of growth come to a stand still? Are people just not buying more items? - are folk more conscious with their money? - let's be honest, some of the Android devices out there are a lot lower cost but perform majority of the tasks an average person needs... well. For example, checking Facebook, Liking Instagram photos, Tweeting and Re-Tweeting, most of these tasks are easily done on any phone. Is it, that Apple haven't come out with anything really amazing, in recent years? - like when the iPad first came out, it had phenomenal success. I feel, Apple will continue to grow... but they need something to really propel them to the next level. There's rumours about the Apple Car (which i also heard, they've now ditched). iWatch 2 - waterproof, which is great and will appeal to a lot of people. What else is in the pipeline - the next iPhone is going to be amazing - but we keeping hearing this and not seeing anything really groundbreaking - or anything that's making people upgrade quicker and part with their money. The secretive world of Apple, will not give us any guidance on what to expect. It can go one of two ways...

I'm going to be talking at a conference, in November, in London, where I'll be sharing my thoughts on IoT (Internet of Things) and how we are fast becoming 'all connected' but are we aware of what this means... From your washing machine to your fridge - majority of appliances in your house will soon, if not already, be connected to the internet. You'll be able to control everything from your phone and long gone will be the days when you need to check if you are running out of milk. Because... your fridge will know, and automatically, add it to your grocery shop, which then automatically gets delivered in time, so you never run out. Similar to the ink in my HP printer. It's connected to the internet. I pay a minimum amount per month - for HP to check my ink levels, and when they are low, they post out some new ink for me. So what does all this connectivity actually mean? Will it make us more lazy? Will we be more dependent on technology than ever before? What happens if the internet goes down? How will these appliances operate if there's no connection? How will Tesco know i'm on holiday and i don't want any more milk? A lot of questions - many of which i'll talk through at my talk in November. I'll share some more details of when it is, and if you're in London, would be great to see you.

So my apologies folks. I appreciate i don't post much on here, especially with my regular updates on twitter - @balbansal and then there's my insta account aswell @mrbalbansal and on top of all of that, there's my linkedin blog posts, which take up a little time to write and then i post on a regular basis - i say regularly, last one was a few months late. With all that in mind, i will increase the frequency of these blog posts aswell. I know there's a few folk that read these, as i get contacted through social media for advice and information - which i'm always happy to provide. Be it either Lean, Six Sigma, Innovation, Digital, Technology, Manufacturing... there's a whole host of topics I've experienced and would like to say have some knowledge on. If you missed my last blog on Linkedin, i recommend you read it - the key takeaway there is - To Improve, you Must Remove.

Recently, I've had some trades folk working for me. Some have been expensive. Some have been average price. Some have been lower cost than what at first anticipated. What I have noticed, in their sales pitch - many of the expensive ones did say, you get what you pay for. They would go above and beyond and deliver what I (the customer) wants. The average price ones, had a look, gave a quote and broke the price down. The lower cost ones, have been either, not as professional in the terms of having to take card payments, a nice flashy van or someone to answer the phone 24/7. But what they do have is hard work and honesty. Why am I sharing all this. Well... I came to the conclusion, if you are paying more - make sure you get more. If you're paying an average price - be prepared for an average set up. If you're going to the bargain basement - make sure you know what it is and what you're paying for. Personally, I go for recommendations and skill set.