t-life: 1826 days

You are like one among us!

1826 days = 60 months = 5 years at Deutsche Telekom, that's exactly 1/4th of my work career spanning 20 years.

The biggest compliment I have received in the last five years - "You are like one among us !" It is a testimonial to the amazing people whom I have worked with so far at Telekom.

In my first job in 2003, our head of the department would usually walk around with a stern face, mostly a cold expression except the occasional smile, would rebuke folks publicly whom he thought were chatting instead of working. So, whenever we saw him we used to be afraid of him and move away as quickly as possible from that place. Now fast forward 19 years ??

I was in Pune last year meeting with our IHUB India teams. I received the feedback from the teams that they were pleasantly surprised with how approachable and open I was. I think this is the best compliment leaders can get from their teams - when they feel that you are one among them.

The Magenta Voice Innovation Journey

The path to innovation is rarely linear. There are steps forward and backward, twists and turns. However, each step provides information about the technology, customer needs, competitive offerings, product economics, and the attractiveness of various applications. 53 out of the last 60 months of my DT work life has been enriched by the learnings from the roller coaster innovation journey of Magenta Voice Assistant. I am glad that we published the challenges and the lessons learnt from this amazing journey that continues into the future with a voicebot.ai article and a podcast with Bret Kinsella (links below)

Books, books & books

I don't think I can write an article without mentioning books ?? I pampered myself with 8 books for my birthday and I have finished reading three of them so far ?? Below is my complete reading list for 2023.

1. Build by?Tony Fadell

2. Loved by?Martina Lauchengco

3. Continuous Discovery Habits by?Teresa Torres

4. Product led growth by?Wes Bush

5. Play Nice But Win by?Michael Dell

6. Atlas of the heart by?Brené Brown

7. Big Feelings by?Liz Fosslien ?and?Mollie West Duffy

8. Range by David Epstein

I also shared my all-time #5 favourite books on leaders. The articles on top #5 products and culture book recommendations will follow soon.

It's no surprise that time flies. Five years at Telekom went like a breeze and the only constant thing has been learning new things every day. Looking forward to many more ??

ps: If you have read the article until here and curious to read the one's from previous years, check out these stories - Becoming the T !,?The Magenta Metamorphosis 2021 ,?730 Days Later - Bleeding Magenta 2020, ?Transitions... 2019 ,?From Blue To Magenta 2018 .