Think BIG: How Open Communication Makes a Successful IT Professional

Recently, our team had the pleasure of interviewing Santosh, the Service Line Leader of the Hybrid Cloud Transformation division of our IBM Consulting India Delivery Center in Kolkata.

Santosh believes in the power of having open lines of communication and describes himself as an avid conversationalist. He lives in India, reads lots of books, loves to play squash and badminton, and has been working at the IBM Consulting Client Innovation Center (also known as one of our ‘Global Delivery Centers’) as a Senior Consultant for the last 16 years. And with seven different Cloud certifications, Santosh is highly experienced in everything IT!

Wondering what our Delivery Centers are all about? Here are some quick facts to know:

• They’re part of the IBM Consulting Globally Integrated Capabilities network.
• They exist across 170 countries globally, with more than 20% of new hires coming from Universities.
• IBMers from our India delivery centers support 800+ clients globally, across 51 different countries.
• Our India delivery center (where Santosh works) is our newest and most state-of-the-art Industry Lab and Design Studio, employing 14 Industry Academy members, multiple distinguished engineers, and an IBM fellow.

These new ways of working are at the heart of our delivery centers. They allow IBMers who work within them to understand our clients’ greatest opportunities and pain points, iterate quickly to execute, and scale transformative technologies.

Already curious about our career opportunities with IBM Consulting? Take a look at our open positions. And if you’re not sure you’re ready to apply, consider joining our Consulting Talent Network to receive updates on career opportunities that match your interests and skills.

Here are some highlights from our recent conversation with Santosh:

On your LinkedIn profile, you describe yourself as a conversationalist. Why?

So many people on LinkedIn say that they’re a public speaker or a thought leadership speaker. It’s great that so many people are passionate about speaking, but we also need to remember that listening is just as important to ensure we’re constantly learning from each other’s experiences and areas of expertise. Everyone has a point of view and valuable experiences to share, so more than one person should be speaking in meetings. That’s why I describe myself a conversationalist.

I don’t want to be a monologue speaker. I want to have open discussions with my team and clients about the unique challenges that businesses and people face and how we can use technology to overcome them. This type of open discussion can lead to better ideas and more innovative products because we’re bringing in more diverse points of view and experiences that we can all learn from.

How do you empower your team to bring forward their ideas?

I encourage everyone I work with to think 10x. In today’s world, incremental changes are important, but it’s much more critical to challenge the status quo and aim for 10x thinking. I want our teams to be fearless and think in terms of BIG ideas. Not all these ideas may work, but we need to learn from the ones that don’t work and scale the ones that succeed. For people to think big enough to do that, their minds need to be open, which we can do by empowering and encouraging them to be curious and experiment.

Why are these open lines of communication so important?

Our teams should include people who bring unique skills and perspectives. If everyone on a team has the same skills or background, our product will be 1x in terms of productivity, cost, and innovation, and be limited in its creative input. If we bring together a multi-disciplined and diverse team, there’s a force multiplier effect. Having people with different backgrounds, knowledge and experience part of the team makes the impact of that solution 10x. It’s not just about thinking in terms of 10x – it’s also about building teams strong enough to have that larger impact.

What do you enjoy most about working at IBM’s Kolkata’s Delivery Center?

I always look forward to the satisfaction I feel when we create a solution, see it move into production, and achieve a business outcome. At our Kolkata Delivery Center, we create a product or solution for the client, and seeing it work for them really gives us a sense of achievement. That’s what I enjoy most about working at our IBM Delivery Center in India.

If you’re interested in the work Santosh does or want to learn more about our Client Innovation Center and Consulting jobs at IBM, please visit our careers website.