When do the organizations realise their strengths & weaknesses

When we study the History (of any country of the world) we realise that most wars were lost due to the undermining activities of the traitors. The traitors put their life to risk and eventually either destroyed their own bosses and the countries or get caught and killed. The worldover the treatment for traitors had been the same. Kill them.

How in the first place the traitors are created? When we refer to most of the cases we see that Traitors are normally created from the close circles. They have access to the detailed information, they are trusted by their leaders, they have normally proved themselves but lack certain qualifications to be elevated to the position they aspire for. Or there may be another contender for the post who is in a much better position. Or they were dissatisfied with the fortune they have. They wanted more, but could not do anything about it. Ultimately it is dissatisfaction which is creating traitors. That is what the leaders missed to notice, or if noticed not cared enough to solve the matter for positive contribution.

Leaders have always paid heavily for this mistake of not solving the issues right at the time when the issues were small. They allowed them to become grievances. Then the grievances become headaches resulting in heavier losses.

There are incidents where the leaders have recognised such issues and have been dealt in time. In Such cases they have won greater wars and become stronger day by day. This has been in practice over centuries but has become an issue of concern for business houses recently.

Business organisations have coined different phrases and practised to handle the discontentment in time so that problems do not become grievances and ultimately major issues to be handled. Customer Relationship Management, Human Relationship Management, Public Relations Management, Corporate Image Management and such other issues handling different kinds of techniques handling the issues even before they create a problem.

A major problem of today's organizations is the ever dynamic work force. It is not strange to see that people move after 2-3 years from one organization to the other in search of new growth opportunities. When people move they carry their experiences, knowledge, and Intelligence. As the old saying goes " Knowledge is wealth", when the organization looses a person it is not loosing just another employee, but a lot more. His knowledge, his potential to bring profits to the organization, his experience, his Intellectual assets. If the organizations make profits by bringing together various Resources like Materials, Machines, Money and Men they must understand that it is the Men who make things happen. Better if they realise it early. This is called Intellectual Capital Accounting. How do we account the value of various individuals?

Watch my future blogs for the answers.

Courage vs. Fear

"Courage is not the absense of fear" quoted by Mark Twain. Later brilliantly rewritten by a writer in a Hollywood movie Princess Diaries- "Courage is not the Absense of Fear, rather the judgement that something else is more improtant than fear. The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all". This is an advise given by a father to her daughter when she was confused to make a decision.

When Arjun was confused to take the right decision when he was on the warfield, Krishna had to take control and give him advise " Hatova Prapsyasi Swargam, Jitwa bhokshyasi mahim". If you win the war you will be the King of the Land, if you die fighting you will get upgraded to the Heavens. So, why there is confusion?

I have seen many people never having to face this confusion. Because they have opted for comfort zone. For a middle class boy the choice is clear--Good marks, A respectable degree, a good paying job in a big company, a family and so on. Many have opted for this and living happily(?) Our bollywood films end on the note that the Hero and his love finally married and lived happily. Even I did this.
But I keep questioning my self whether it is alright to stop in the middle of this journey. When I go back and rewind,an interesting phenomena came into view. When I had little, I was least afraid of any thing. The only thing I was bothered was to get a good income so that I could manage my life. But slowly, somewhere down the line, I forgot to even look at the dreams that I planned. I am sure majority are suffering from this crisis.

But, somewhere something needed to be done. Better late than never. As Dr.Abdul Kalam quoted in his book "To make a mark on the sands of history you must stand firmly on your feet". People who have opted to live the life without any disturbances have their own arguments to make. They take the shelter of Religion. Why shall you run in this rat race? What is the goal of life? How much money we need to make?

Why people want to work for large companies? Is it really safe as they think? Sacrificing the dreams for a comfortable living. Giving up the freedom for Subordination. If you observe deeply it is only the people with higher academic qualifications who are running after all these MNCs and large firms. It seems a person less educated is not worth an employment in the large MNCs. Who is courageous? Who is afraid? I have seen it is people who are less educated who are always looking to do something on their own. Putting up a small workshop, car garage, shop, and such small business. Not many highly educated people could venture it out. But whoever did, gained freedom.

But during the last Two decades the trend has changed to some extent and some really courageous educated engieers and other professionals went on their own. I wish this becomes a normally accepted nature of the young generation. It is the need of the nation. In spite of being the 4 the largest economy we are ranked 128th in the per capita calculations. We have miles and miles to go to catch up with other Asian Giants like Japan and China who are ranked 24th and 97. It is the common responsibility of the educated youth to contribute to fasten the growth rate. Achieving the ranks in the class room is onething. And improving the country's ranking is "something". Every small and big addition from micro units will strengthen the economy.

Come let us contribute to improve the ranks. Come let us dream. Come on let us be courageous.

How to Wakeup someone sleeping?

This is a major dilemma I fall in most of the time. Sleeping is a blessing God has given to all living beings. Otherwise what life will be? Just Imagine.

I love to sleep. And I love the way people sleep. Mostly it appears that almost all people look so innocent while sleeping. Imagine an infant, a kid, a boy or girl, a lady or a man sleeping. How beautiful sight it is. I travel by Indian railways a lot. I get to see people sleeping without anybody asking me questions. How innocent they look? It appears to be the most ideal society. Every human sleeping and looking innocent. If we want no evils in the society pray to God to make everyone sleep.

But, the actual story seems different. In Saudi Arabia the life is very easy. I get almost 16 hours of free time. In 16 hours hardly an hour goes for cooking everyday, half an hour for daily routines, a few minutes for prayer. The remaining time is available for a killing. Either kill it by watching the TV or enjoy sleeping. Most of the time I used it for the obvious. The problem is after sleeping for 8 hours the marginal utility reduces and turns to negative. MY head starts aching as if I had a boozy night before. The back becomes stiff and the body becomes lazy. Then I do not feel like doing anything. So I try to sleep once again. I fell into a vicious cycle.

The Vedas, Bhagwadgita are proclaiming that excess of sleep is the nature of "Tamoguna". Tamoguna does not lead anyone to the God's kingdom. I am sure Bible, Khoran and other religious scriptures tell the same truth. Then what are you advised to do? All Scriptures have recommended that we must use this time for investing wisely. We must Read scriptures to understand the nature of God and his wishes to make this society a happy place to live and make way for our souls to move ahead towards the Kingdom of God. We must use this time to chant the names of god and sing.

In business situations also I have seen this sleeping as a biggest hindrance for growth. I have seen different situations where people opting to sleep are wisely giving their arguments-- like what is the need for too much money, we are happy with what we have, We are very small in front of our competitors, We are straight forward and "seedhe log" etc., In some organizations I had also seen sleeping of different nature. Which we call "Complacency". The management is just complacent about everything and they do not try to change with the times. In fact they do not want to change. And I have seen big companies who are proud of their history, and always talking about thier history. They are not talking of Present and not introspecting anything with an eye on future outlook. They keep doing just what they have been doing. They spend money on many things, hire good people. I have seen that after sometime they get into the old trap again and forget why they have brought these good people. There are many organizations of such kind who are opting to sleep dangerously. There are many examples of Large MNCs falling from grace. And there is no count of Small and Medium organizations. These companies include from different sectors--Engineering, Automobiles, Chemicals, Banking, Investment., Trading etc.,

As a Markeitng Professional, I always preferred to be part of a dynamic environment. I had been part of dynamic environment most of the times. But I also faced the situations sometimes where I was trapped by the environment where dynamism is a taboo. I always played a role of Coach and prefered to guide people towards the right goal. I tried telling different inspirational stories from the Great scriptures like Ramayana, Mahabharata, and from Bible and Khoran (I know very little from these two scriptures forgive me for that) and the life stories of various great people from different lives. People listen to these stories in awe and then go back to square one. I tried all the three types of techniques recommended "S~ama, D~ana And Bheda". Unfortunately I never got an oppotunity to use the "Danda". Sometimes in a very rare percentage of people these three techniques work (thankfully) but in most cases the percentage of failure is more. And by using the last mode that 'Danda" you can not make people contribute creatively. Only by inspiring one can achieve creative results.

Hence, it is very clear. You can not really wake up people who are sleeping by choice. However, You can wake up people from sleeping due to lack of knowledge. We have many such examples from Saints like Swami Vivekananda, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swamy who during their times awaken the people from sleep. We have great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jay Prakash Narain who have awaken the people to fight for justice. We have also great business leaders like Dhirubhai who have awaken the people from sleeping. (The names I have mentioned are few and some people may not agree with their philosophy. But that is not the main point here). But we need great leaders with great courage and character with highest degree of belief in their principles to do this job. A tiny Management Professional like me faces great hardships and very little success. But I will keep trying.

Why Gandhi is called Mahatma?

MAHATMA GANDHI- A name that inspired millions, a name that is one of the most precious in the world history. Why Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi is called “Mahatma”. Most people just may not even bother to know. History may tell you how he was called “The Mahatma”. I am not any authority to talk about the Great Soul the world has witnessed. But I want to tell you my opinion .
In our day to day business environment we come across different types of leaders. Authoritative, Bureaucratic, Democratic and many other types. The Managers in their drive to achieve results and show to their bosses what they are worth, and what they are capable of are driven by a passion to prove themselves. And for decades they keep trying that. Some fortunate ones achieve and appear in the big news articles. Majority end up in oblivion. However, I had never ever seen any one as content as Gandhi or as successful as he was in his leadership role.
Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi, started his protest in South Africa not with an idea to prove his worth as a lawyer. He believed that personal freedom can not be intruded upon by any government. People saw the truthfulness in him and followed him. He came to India and continued the same spirit. The same belief system. The same agenda. Governments can not intrude into the citizen’s affairs. The people should decide which way they want to move, which way they want to grow. He did not intend to become a leader. He was just plain truthful . He had certain principles which he never compromised. He did not intend to harm anyone in his fight. His fight was against the system that was exploiting the common subjects.
People believed in him and they followed him. They questioned but they accepted his ideas. They agreed to his principles. Why? Because Gandhi never had a personal agenda. He just followed what was right. And people just followed him.
In our current day affairs, many Professional Managers with professional degrees in Managing businesses and Men (if required Please check the resumes of any person who boasts about his managing abilities) have never been able to gather the unanimous support from his department which consists of hardly 5-6 people, in some cases 25-30, may be up to 200-300. There are always differences and his team members keep complaining about his ways and ideas and if possible they desert the team.
But Gandhi’s followers have never left the team. They were not 200-300 members, they were not even 1000-2000 members. They were millions. Every body stayed with him till the last day. Even today we see people who still follow his guidelines. What is the reason? Was it the Art of Managing people that made him such a great leader? If he desired, he could have been the First President or First Prime Minister of Independent India. But he just retired from active politics leaving the cake to others. This proved what he was. He ruled the hearts of people. He was the real Emperor of Independent India.

Hire & Fire - a correct approach?

Once I happened to visit a friend of mine who was Head of Sales Department in his company. When I visited him he was planning to fire one of his boys. He was telling me why he wanted to fire him. His reasons appeared small when I really think about the issue. He promised a target to his management for that month which he failed by 60%. So, he thought that one of his sales persons must go.

In my 23 years of working in the corporate world I have seen many incidents where Managers have found an easy way out to excuse themselves from awkward situations by firing their poor subordinates.

What are the fundamentals of Management? This question comes to mind almost every day in various situations. A manager must be able to manager the resources. The materials, the machines, the Money and the Men. The three resources are lifeless and obey they way we programme them. But the fourth factor The Men is a very complex resource. A good manager must be able to identify the right men in the First stage, train them according to his ideas, and then let them loose. Supervising the men is a definite necessity. Humans tend to get bored with their routine, loose the morale, loose sight of where they are heading. Especially the people who are not trained in a disciplined curriculam.

Unfortunately the Education system in most of the countries is still lacking the fundamentals of training. We are teaching Scientific principles, Mathematics, Economics, Computers to our children but the Systematic Psychological approach is missing in our education. We have something called moral science in our schools, but only as a formality. There are no exams to make children seriously think about the subject. In Vedic Education system the major approach towards life was taught with the basic fundamentals such as "Dharma" in the spirit of Bhagwad Gita. It is a complete package. How to to do your duties, what are the guiding factors while performing your duties etc.,

However, the present day managers are mostly driven by the success rates, the bottom lines etc., They say it is in the interest of the organization they took the decisions such as firing people. In fact, it is their own interests they are serving. They are protecting their jobs forgetting the purpose of Effective Management practices. One disgruntled employee can cause a lot more damage to the company than a strong competitor. Each individual whether he is intelligent or otherwise has his own ideas. When he leaves an organization with dissatisfaction he is not going to sit at home silently. He will be out in the world looking for his own place to grow. He is definitely going to share his experiences about People, Places, Organizations. That is likely to damage the organization's image.

So, Shall we stop firing people? No. We can do it if the situation demands it. We should practice the same decent ways and behaviours with them while we were hiring them. A little patience on the manager's side will create a lasting impression on the person who is leaving the organization. He is definitely going to talk about it when he is in the newer environment.

Profession vs.Passion

Somebody once asked me a question. A particular job assigned to me does not fall in his responsibilities. Then how can he be expected to complete the assigned job?

This is a common question that arises in many people's mind. This takes me back to my IIPM days when I was a student of Management. I still remember the lecture on Effective and Efficient management styles by Dr. Joy Mitra. Most Managers tend to become efficient managers with a clear target ahead of them. The Targets are in numbers. They speak numbers, dream numbers. Their life revolves around numbers.

I have invested One crore on so and so property one would say and another such amount in shares & debenture portfolio. People listen to him and look at him. Some respect him. Some are envious. Some come out with suggestions on how to wisely invest etc., This person totally enjoys the attention.

I remember having seen some Short story on TV long back on Doordarshan played by Benjamin (if I recall correctly) and Neelima Azim. The Hero of the story is proud of his achievements and always talks about it. He is in love with this woman who meets him at the Lobby of a fivestar hotel. Suddenly a friend of his appears in the hotel lobby and enquires about him and the woman. The hero introduces his girl friend as a Journalist who came to interview him. Taking the cue the heroine starts asking him certain questions like his childhood passions etc., For every question his answer is the same. I worked hard and reached the present position. His friend in fact recalls certain incidents of their childhood but this hero does not. When the lady persists on finding answers for such questions as childhood pastimes, and hobbies the hero is dumbstuck and feels awkward. In the process of becoming successful in his profession he forgot even such beautiful childhood memories. In the end the balloons were shown flying in the air. Most percentage of people fall in this trap of getting conditioned. They never ask questions and review. They have a fixed formula and follow it. They call it meticulous working. But, somewhere down the line chasing the targets, they fall in the trap of getting completely conditioned and flow with stream.

The stories of Great Heroes who later became statesmen, and legends convey similar message. Whether it is Jesus, Adi shankara, Ramanuja, Prophet Mohammed, Galileo, Meerabai, William Wallace, Maharana Pratap, Mahatma Gandhi and innumberable such saints, politicians, Scientists the basic fundamental characther is not deviating from the Principles they have set for themselves.

If we go back in to history, billions of people have born and gone. But how many have made a mark? As our Ex-President Dr.Abdul Kalam says how many have left "their mark on the sands of history"?

In our society, why people are always afraid of taking the risk to become just more than efficient? Why every family member, every friend, every well wisher always advises to go slow and steady, to ensure that you have the arrangements and then think many times before you jump? Imagine if Dhirubhai did the same thing, could it be possible that the world would have known the Ambani family today?

Then why our society does not allow us to develop "passions" . We are always directed towards making a profession? Humanity needs Heroes, not cowards. Businessess need a completely Effective solutions only and Effective management style can provide. Efficiency is definitely a need but it must be combined with Effective style of management.

Life in Saudi Arabia

After living for 13 months in Saudi Arabia and comparing the life in India there are some interesting points to note.

The life of an average middle class man in India involves putting all his efforts in making the day. That includes travelling from Home to the office and vice versa. The day naturally is for some accomplishment. The one who respects his work does his best and by the end of the day he feels pride in it. The hard work he puts into his work surely worth waiting for the 7th day of the week. And what I observed is he prefers to laze around than indulging in a picnic or some sort of outing. Evenings are for going out with the family.

A similar culture exists in Saudi as far as family is concerned even though there are some work culture differences exist. Arabs, as I found take pride in joining their immediate and close family on weekends. The non existing public entertainment places does not seem to be a problem with them. A typical working day starts at 8 and ends at 4.30. However, by the end he is not likely to get tired unlike his counterpart in India. The overall work loads are much lesser than in India. And there are no extra hours. Neither commuting back to home is a problem.

For an Indian who lives alone it does pose a problem. He is having ample free time to do anything he wants. May be pursuing a new diploma course etc., But rarely anybody seems to be working in that direction.

There are a number of shops catering to daily needs. However, I have hardly seen any shops selling magazines and books. In the name of books (English) i could only see some dictionaries.

Ultimately what is the difference? you may ask.

Life in Saudi is more laid back and less hardworking. Not only that it is better paying and better saving. But what is your need?