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Tathagat Varma

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Tathagat Varma

Sr. Director of Business Operations at Yahoo! Software Development India

NetScout Systems

Blogs (8)

Tathagat Varma is a member of:

Could you tell us briefly about your family background?

I come from a family of academicians. My grandfather was a Professor of Sanskrit, and my father was a Professor of Nuclear Physics, who later shifted to Computer Science. My father encouraged the spirit of scientific inquiry. I owe my passion for reading, learning and writing to him.

Working Life Management:

I believe in a balanced approach. While work is important, don't neglect life in blind pursuit of career or money. Enjoy life, family and health. Don't get me wrong - I believe in very high levels of personal and professional accountability, and work hard to achieve such work-life balance!

Other Thoughts:

I think everyone must continue to reinvest in their careers - acquire education, get varied experience, volunteer with professional organizations like PMI, IEEE, ACM, PDMA, Agile forums or whatever is interest area, write articles and papers, make presentations, write blog. Don't sit on status quo!

Degrees That Matter:

As you grow in your careers, you need to have a holistic perspective. Being single-axis person doesn't help anymore. Alongwith technical degree, I have benefited from education in project management, process improvement and finally in people management. Focus on learning rather than passing exam!

Advice For New Professionals:

As India gets more globally integrated, expect great opportunities. But you will have to earn them through sustained hard work! Get a global outlook, acquire and hone basic skills, and develop your USP. Make learning your lifelong passion, and take initiatives to solve problems. And, never give up!

Career Profile:

I manage strategic programs such as IP Program, Agile adoption, and Business Excellence, managing center-wide G&A operations, and finally Outsourced Product Development. These are completely different from what I doing three years back as GM of India Operations for NetScout.

Role Model:

Steve Jobs will continue to inspire many generations to come. His ability to reinvent Apple, his tenacity, and finally his wonderful ability to synthesize ideas from multiple sources into a world-beating product all make him easily the best in the league.

Prized Accomplishment(s):

My lifetime achievement would have to be my 16-month stay at Indian Antarctica station "Maitri" during 1993-95 as member of 13th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica. It taught me valuable things about teamwork, leadership, collaboration, tenacity and even the importance of fun!

The Journey So Far:

It's been great! I have learnt a lot working with different companies and cultures, and yet there is so much more to learn! My most important learning has been that best career experiences come from the toughest assignments - even if you happen to fail! So, choose jobs that stretch you.

Changes In The Professional Environment:

Decision-making and project planning is more democratic, there is higher acknowledgement for failure as a learning mechanism, and role of leader has changed completely. It is more servent leader, facilitator, enabler, mentor, coach and friend than the father-figure of yesteryears! And younger too!

The Decisions That Matter

My career mantra is to take meaningful and worthwhile risks. I hate 'more of same' mentality, and get bored of being in comfort zone. To that end, I consider safety as the biggest risk! Doing something new and different always excites and challenges me, and has driven every career decision of mine.

Growth Strategy:

I read a lot and stay current with evolving ideas. I practice them at work, and often blog about them. Blogging allows me to articulate them well. This helps me in constantly rejuvenating myself with newer ideas and keep challenging the status quo. You can follow my blog at http://managewell.net.

Plans For The Future:

My passion is learning new ideas from multiple disciplines, breaking new grounds by creating 'Medici Effect', and sharing them with the world. To that end, I see myself helping people solve real-world problems by way of blogging, teaching, coaching, mentoring and consulting.