Amibguity in emails

A simple example to illustrate how amibguity can creep into emails:

The "incident" involves two persons:
P1: sends an email with voting options to determine how many people would like to take part in a cricket match at a particular date and time.
P2: one of the voters, reviews the status...

9.30 a.m.: P1 sends a mail saying:
"I have received only 7 votes so far, others please vote"
P2 responds to the mail by voting his option.

4.30 p.m.: P1 sends another mail saying:
"Since I have received only 3 votes, we will not have the match tomorrow"
P2 is confused and replies:
"How can 7 votes become 3 votes?"

What P1 really meant with his second mail was that he only received 3 votes for the match, hence the match will be cancelled.

P1 was not wrong, but he left room for ambiguity. Two possible ways of correcting it:
1. "Since we do not have enough votes, the match will not be held tomorrow"
OR (more specifically)
2: "Since I have only 3 votes for the match, which is less than the minimum 10 votes, we will not have the match tomorrow"

Indispensability vs freedom

Some food for thought... I have been thinking about this for some time now!

Bonding with someone, family, friends and loved ones, brings with it a certain sense of dependency and connection. This gives me a sense of importance and purpose in life. But I find, it also curtails my freedom and prevents me from doing some things I would have otherwise done.

Independence and freedom on the other hand makes me feel on top of the world when I am able to make decisions and live life they way I want it. But it doesn't seem to last long enough to keep doing it every time and I end up craving for the bonding to get some intent and purpose to life.

I m always confused with having to make a choice, in every step of life, or is it really a choice? (To quote Merovengian from the Matrix, "Choice is an illusion, created by those with power to those without")

I guess, sustained happiness and satisfaction is in some way dependent on what makes you happy at that instant. But doesn't that mean you are looking at being free?? A paradox?

well.. i m still confused :)

The OSI model for effective communication

Communication (pertaining to communication among humans), is as important in the day-to-day world, as any other skill. Many people, with otherwise excellent skills, do not seem to succeed in their endeavors owing to their handicapped communication skills. Much of this can be attributed to a lack of proper understanding of the basic tenets of effective communication.

Humans have evolved complex communication capabilities compared to any other living being on the face of the earth, yet we find that communication is a growing challenge. What are the factors that make effective communication so difficult? Here are a few important ones:
1. Disparity of cultures
2. Multitude of languages and the need to communicate in a foreign language
3. Insufficient exposure during the formative years
4. Lack of understanding of the shortcomings and how to correct them.

A good place to start addressing these points is to look for examples around us.

Looking back, not so far in history, computers had very similar problems when they evolved as 'thinking machines'. Computers, even today, are from such varied origins that the only thing common among them is the fact that they are electronic machines. And yet they are able to communicate quite effectively. You could connect your linux-based Sony laptop onto your Broadband service provider's Solaris-based Sun microsystems server to access a webpage that probably resides on a Windows enabled Dell web-server (just to name a few). How is this possible?

The key work here is Standardization. And this has been made possible by the OSI (Open Systems Interconnect) model which many of you might already be aware of. If you are not, you can look up "OSI model" on wikipedia before continuing.

Lets now take a look at how this model can be applied to communication amongst humans.
The simplified OSI model provides five layers for a network protocol.

Physical layer - The vocals, tone, pitch, octave, tempo etc...
The channel (telephone, in-person discussion etc...)
- As in the OSI model, the emphasis here is on the physical transmission of signals (your voice) through an error-free channel with minimal loss of signal and no loss of information. It is very important to develop a good voice and maintain the right pitch and tempo in any discussion. If you cant be heard clearly, then you will never be understood correctly.

Datalink layer - Words: your vocabulary, semantics, grammar
- In the OSI model, this layer enables two nodes to address each other correctly and understand each other's 'commands. This, for humans, comes from language (English, Hindi, Tamil etc...). Language presents the biggest challenge to most people. When entering into a dialogue, it is very important to understand what languages the other person can speak and find a common language which both of you are comfortable with. The semantics and grammer are very important in ensuring that you avoid miscommunication.

Network layer - Group Discussion skills
- This layer in the OSI model takes care of setting up communication between a group of nodes. Which node transmits to which other node and how to reach to another node in the same group or even outside the group. When in a group discussion, it is very important to understand your role in the group and be able to communicate by following the group's unsaid rules of communication. One erratic communicator can easily hijack the entire discussion spoiling the agenda of all the people present, including his own.

Transport layer - Leadership/moderator skills
- The transport layer of the OSI takes up responsibility in setting up routes/ channels for effective information flow in a large network of nodes. Similarly, the moderator of a group, shall be capable of channelizing the flow of information. In most discussions, there is no clear moderator defined. In such cases, it is imperative that all the members in the discussion have a common understanding of the channels for information flow during the course of the discussion.

Application layer - A good IQ and good analytical skills!
- The Application layer in the OSI model provides the right interface to the end-user (YOU) so the layers below can interpret the information correctly during any communication. A good IQ level can provide a person with the right set of information that can guide a person's thoughts and good analytical skills can provide him with the ability to interpret the information effectively.


As can be seen from the above comparison, it is important that a person is able to match with the other people in all of the above layers so he can be recognized as an effective communicator.
It is therefore important to grow your skills in each of the above layers, not just by learning a language, so you can match with the group that you are in, and not be left out in a discussion. Just as your computer, if you cannot connect to the network, you are a stand-alone and of not much use to anybody in today's world. So don't just learn a new language, but grow your skills in all the layers.

**This thought occurred to me on a fine Sunday morning as i was lazily shaving my stubble off! Comments and discussions welcome :)

Welcome to Coffee-zzzz

The usual inquisitiveness about y the "Coffee" and the "zzzz" in the title would be easy to answer if there is anything there is to know about me from minimal interactions.
Coffee - is my official beverage for all seasons and all occasions
zzzz - is my official pass-time for all seasons and all occasions...

You can expect to be as stupefied about the content of my future posts as you would probably be at the contradictions above

Modes of transport - by road!

It all started as a simple, one-of-the-many travels to Nasik that I undertake atleast once a month on business. But the difference this time, I would be travelling alone on my return, atleast that was my first time. Little did i realize, that this would be, by far, my most memorable return journey.

I had a flight booked from Mumbai (abt 180 kms from Nasik) around 1.30 p.m. to get back to Bangalore (it was still called Bangalore back then!). As is the usual practice, I booked myself a seat on one of the KK Travels cabs, a shared cab service to Mumbai airport, leaving Nasik at 6.30 a.m.

I checked out of my hotel around 6.20 a.m. and was waiting for the cab, expecting him to be reaching in the next 10 minutes for an on-time pickup. The 10 minute became half an hour, and I realized the cab hadn't turned up yet. Frantic calls to the travels office didn't help as the office does not work 24 hours.

Deciding that waiting longer was not an option, I took an auto-rickshaw to drop me off at a place called Mumbai-Naka. Here, I knew, i can a catch a bus to Mumbai. The next bus, though, was scheduled for 7.20 a.m. Having no other choice, I waited and the bus turned up on-time.

I settled down in the bus quite comfortably and decided to get rid of my boredom by continuing the novel I started a couple of days earlier. Another one of those thrillers from the all-time best, Fredrick Forsyth. The plot was thickening and i was getting more excited running through the pages, only to be distracted by a phone call. The call, as i realized, was from the same KK Travels contacting me 1 hour late! The anxious looks of my fellow passengers made me realize i was loudly fuming at the other person on the line. I despised the cab service for having let me down and putting me through all this trouble! (The 'trouble' had only begun!).

Settling back again, I lost myself into the plot. I must have been around 30 pages through (while reading Fredrick Forsyth, time is counted by the number of pages read), I realized the bus had stopped dead on the road. It must have been stationary for a while, as the bus driver had killed the engine! Expecting it to be one of those small incidents that are commonplace on this highway, I let Fredrick Forsyth take me further into his plot. About 10 pages later, when Forsyth was taking a break from the real plot, I looked around and realized that we were still at the exact same spot. I look around and found that a few people had alighted from the bus. Whats more irritating, having to stop reading a Fredryck Forsyth or missing the flight, quite a dilemma.

I joined the people waiting outside the bus and found that we were in the middle of a traffic pile-up that was atleast about 20 kms long (or that's what the guys traveling in the opposite direction made us believe). Realizing that waiting there is not going to take me anywhere closer to Mumbai than i was for the next 2 hours, I asked around for suggestions. The bus driver, being the guy who knows the route best, was telling me about a place called 'Kasara' about 4-5 kms down the road. Kasara presented more options than the place i was at, as it had a Railway station with direct metro trains into Mumbai every one hour. If only i could get to Kasara on-time, but how!?!

Not sure how to proceed, I decided to pick my luggage and try my luck with one of the smaller vehicles which can weave through the gaps in the traffic jam. Fortunately, I found a motorcycle rider (the bike was the same model as my new possession, Bajaj Pulsar - 150cc DTSi, ES) who agreed to drop me at Kasara. There I was, having booked myself on a comfortable cab no longer that 2 hrs back, now traveling on a Bajaj Pulsar clutching on to my luggage (my laptop bag and a suitcase) wondering if it was worth all the effort. The thought of good food and good sleep back home kept me going.

While on the way, I had to learn from the biker that he was on his way to attend an interview. He had a girl-friend who he believes was from 'Bangalore' as she only knew Bengali (other than English). So much for Bangalore's Bengali connection and its reputation.

I finally got dropped off at the small village of Kasara. The railway station, i was told, was about 3 kms away and I had to strike a hard bargain with a not-so-easily-relenting auto rickshaw driver for a ride to the railway station. Once at the railway station, i got myself a ticket to Mumbai and just about managed to board a moving train. The next train was atleast an hour away and sure would have missed my flight if i had missed the train. The train was moving and thank God there are no traffic jams on tracks!
I was still a good 100 kms from the airport!!

Did i make it to Mumbai on-time to catch my flight?? What other modes did i have to take-up???
Watch this space for more...