Google Plus

 We often concentrate on the positives, and successful products. But there are a few products that have failed, after having had a great pedigree, and a huge initial success, or interest from many users.

I am not talking of airlines, though there have been a few of those too. Maybe Yahoo, and others like Yahoo. In particular, this is about Google Plus. Seemingly, this product had everything going for it. A good pedigree, being from the Google stable, and a good interface for connection, easy access through a Google account, as another app.

Why did it fail? Was it just a poor conceptual imitation of facebook? Since facebook was already a platform of choice for most, was there a cool reaction to another similar product? But then, Instagram did succeed in taking people away from FB, so why not Google Plus?

I don't have a ready answer, but I personally was never enthusiastic about it. May have tried it, but unlike Google Photos, or Blogger which I continue to use, I found no motivation for using this one.

On Handling the Non-routine

It is very important to learn how to handle the unexpected, non-routine situations in life. Let me try and illustrate.

There are many things we expect, or even take for granted. Simple example- we expect parents to be around for a long time. Suppose one of them is absent, or passes away early, what are you supposed to do?

You fail in a class/course. What next?

Your spouse threatens to walk out of your love marriage...?

You are fired. From your job. Much more common in the U.S., now the fever is catching on in India.

Your aspirations to get into a program, a course, a sports team, are not fulfilled.

You are broke, because of over-using your credit cards/taking on too many loans.

Many of these situations can seem nerve-racking, or worse. More so because nobody told you this could happen to YOU. How you deal with these may be vital to your well-being. Of course, in all these situations, it helps to have someone like a mentor, or a friend to talk to. But I know of lots of people who have faced one of the situations described here, and come out looking good, in control, after the immediate trauma had passed. There are many different ways of coming back, including finding alternative avenues to engage onself, or starting off on a new hobby, or just taking a break to think things through.

My leadership stint also taught me that work-related situations can get sticky, and need careful handling. They can cause trauma to others, and therefore, being thoughtful rather than hastily "fixing" things is a useful way to approach things. 

Services Recovery

Assuming a service business wants long term customers, they should have a recovery plan to rely on for those days when the service does not perform well. Airlines facing a fog delay, or for a technical reason must know how to handle irate customers. The strategy could involve freebies like snacks, or stay in a hotel, or something else, including a refund for those who don't want the freebies.

A situation arose in the Pune theatre where we went to watch Barfi last weekend. The projector failed, leading to a delay and then a stoppage for 20 minutes in a previous show. Irate customers gheraoed (surrounded) the guy in charge, and he was unable to pacify them. Eventually, he was saved because the equipment started functioning, while the argument was on. What if it hadn't? Did they have a plan B? Apparently not. They could have mollified people by offering a free coffee in their foyer while they set the projector right. That might have helped cool things for a while. Another option would be to offer a substitute show/refund.

Some service providers handle this well, some don't. One can have role plays and training for these situations, to help employees cope up.