Thanks for the excellent question.

There have been multiple such instances in my long career when things did not go exactly as planned. Sometimes, it became a major disappointment for the stakeholders and a major embarrassment for us in the team. Some examples include new product or technology introduction, e.g. Softswitch launch and success, IN platforms stability and performance, Fixed Mobile convergence as a concept, minimal success of 3G, Monolithic architecture to distributed architecture evolution, Packet core performance gaps, monetizing data beyond serving as a bit-pipe, and more.

While initially any such situation created anxiety and made me defensive, I gradually realized that it may happen with any company, team, and technology. This made me more resilient and open. So, I started focusing on the necessary steps to reconcile and recover swiftly. This included maintaining calm, taking accountability and accepting the gaps, collecting feedback, learning from the event, sharing internally and collaborating to find a solution, rebuilding trust and managing customer expectations, working promptly to resolve the crisis, and keeping the stakeholders updated transparently.

I hope this was useful. I wish you the best.

07 January, 2026 04:14