Sharing from a family WhatsApp group where this video was posted. I am sharing my response after watching this video

Copy paste:

You know, I like this but …. I want to share a different perspective not with regard to these values but with regard to analysis

I started a new position at McAfee in Plano. The CEO who had moved McAfee HQ from California to Texas was visiting. I was part of a group he shared his thoughts and experience.

He was a senior IBM executive interviewing for a position at McAfee and he asked the executives interviewing him – do you have Bangalore operations? Banga a what was the response. He found the McAfee top brass was so America centered because the company grew out of the Bay Area and considered that as the only location to support a worldwide operations.

From one perspective you ask what is the standard of living and costs of where you operate from and who are the customers you want to serve and it could very fast become a race to the bottom which can destroy the company.

Then what was it about Bangalore that he was asking that the entire R&D be moved to. He moved HQ to Texas. From one aspect it was cost but the part you miss is where is the value add or value generation engine coming from?

Then he gave his background. IBM maintains proprietary methods of assessing software productivity measures by individuals, teams and centers. It has historical data that they constantly re-examine to ensure it is apples to apples comparisons as much as can be across time (past to current) and location independent.

Starting Bangalore operations for IBM was like seeing a tall skyscraper appear suddenly in their metrics. At first they said, ah, fluke, new enthusiasm, flaw in our reporting. They kept at it for a few years and gave up and accepted that. So he asked to be stationed in Bangalore to find out for himself how in the world can you explain this?

He then spoke about discovering the game of cricket. He gave some baseball comparisons and basically explained how engaging sports is for the fun and joy it is. You play the game for the sake of the game as it brings joy.

He then said, India is remarkable because the young hires enjoy logic just as intensely as they love cricket. So, this young hire takes care of his assigned task very quickly and begins reading the extensive proprietary documentation on design and starts asking questions beginning from his task to all the way up and starts offering design change suggestions.

Another point he made was it is very important to understand that not all of Indians are like this but because of a culture they have more of these kind of folks. If your HR knows how to tap them then alone you can build that skyscraper in metrics that he said held up right until the time he left IBM.

Secondly, you have to build a culture which allows such discussions of design so you grow the thought leaders.