Leadership, transformation, cricket and dogs with Vijay Vijayasankar
- Summary:
- Vijay Vijayasankarand I talk about many top of mind issues. It won't surprise to note that while Vijay operates in a world of very large enterprise, the basics of problem solving are universal.
Vijay Vijayasankar is one of those larger than life characters who you can't help but like and admire. He and I have known one another more than 12 years during which time he went from IBM to MongoDB to SAP and then back to IBM. In that sense he is a technology polymath. But what makes Vijay stand out to me is his constant appetite for learning and his passion for teaching. That's not hard to imagine when you know he has a love of dogs and a fierce loyalty to Indian Test Cricket. And it is in that context that we recorded a conversation last weekend.
I was very clear from the outset that I am not interested in his role at IBM, although I do know it's incredibly interesting (sic.) Instead I wanted to hear his thoughts on some of the issues we both encounter as top of mind media issues - namely digital transformation and 21st century leadership.
Unsurprisingly, Vijay dislikes the generic use of digital transformation as a way of discussing the problems that large enterprises face. Instead, he likes to talk about problem solving and, specifically, the ways in which you approach pain points. That naturally segway's into a discussion about what needs to happen to provide the next generation of leaders. This might surprise, but despite his affinity for coding, Vijay doesn't think the world needs more coders. Instead it needs programmers who are great at problem solving. In my terms that means people capable of critical thinking, a topic I see as largely missing from the discussion about the future of education at any level.
On leadership, Vijay has spent the last year building a new team and again, while we didn't discuss the specifics, I learned that he spends half his time with his team, coaching and learning i equal measure and the other half, learning from clients. He sees that as a virtuous circle where context is applied throughout.
As we moved through the conversation, I asked Vijay what the world of test cricket can teach new leaders. We both giggled at the near impossibility of explaining a game lasting up to five days and where there might be no result to our American colleagues but then there are important lessons which Vijay summarized admirably.
It might surprise but as I listened to Vijay's experience, it was clear to me that complexity aside, the problems he is helping to solve are very little different regardless of your business size. That is a reflection of other conversations I've had and should not surprise given that many of us are operating at global scale, even if it isn't always obvious. At its most basic, I am in Yorkshire, UK while Vijay is in Arizona, US.
As we ended our conversation, I took the opportunity to get a few minutes consultancy (for free) on projects I am either working on or thinking about. That came with an unexpected final word on the problem of delivering process solutions, often seen as adding value, while at the same time seeing the IT element as a cost. It creates a tension that makes on sense. Vijay thinks we need to upend certain budget, financial and procurement practices in order to make that work better. Whether you agree or not is up to you but I encourage listening and registering to Vijay by anyone who wants to understand what it takes to succeed.
Want more Vijay? Check out this conversation Jon Reed had with him last fall.