Material World Group is Eastern India's emerging knowledge group. Material World through its knowledge aims at resolving man (human) and materials resource issues of those availing its services.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Reflections on a Strategic Conversation
Reflecting on a Strategic Learning Experience
Backdrop
The following is a brief reflection on two hours of an intellectually challenging engagement in a “Strategic Conversation” on “Building a Talent and Leadership Pipeline” steered by the renowned Prof Hayagreeva “Huggy” Rao, Atholl McBean Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human, Resources, Stanford Graduate School of Business. The conversation was held late last month and participants included the likes of Ambuja supremo Harsha Vardhan Neotia, Tractors India CEO, Sumit Mazumder; Satish Pradhan, Executive Vice President, Group HR, Tata Sons, National HRD Network National President, N S Rajan, Sourav Daspatnaik, Director-HRD & Strategy, Apeejay Surrendra Group, Sujoy Banerjee, VP-Human Resources, Eveready Industries Ltd. to name a few.
Challenges of Building Talent and Leadership Pipeline
Negative information being often viewed as diagnostic was one of the greatest challenges of building talent and building leadership pipeline. Negative information welds better than the positive. As an example, the otherwise “clean” politician’s one off corruption charges enjoy better recall value in the mind of the public.
There is a “fundamental attribution error” in how we view people in life and work. As an example, teachers often facilitate the success of high performers and reinforce low performance of others.
Examples:
1. “Only Rajesh seems to be interested in this class.”
2. “Obviously this was expected from you, Anil.”
While the above is a case of stereotyping by others, interestingly, “self stereotyping” also happens:
The very term “Athletic Test” is expected to be in the comfort zone on the mind of the black applicant in the United States just like “Intelligence Test” is expected to be one for the White. Conventional notions go on to shape self-stereotyping.
Stereotyping is also fuelled by Power. “Powerful” people are seen to have less of empathy and modesty. Ironically, in order to sustain power one needs to have exactly those two traits but that then is another story.
Way Out:
Talent Builders should look for talent that’s smart and conscientious. It is important to have the relevant intelligence to perform in the position as well as the dedication and sincerity to comply.
The fourth in the "big five" or the "five factor" theory is conscientiousness. This parallels closely with Jung's judging-perceiving. People who score high on conscientiousness are orderly, get their work done, arrive on time, and care about doing things right. Score low on conscientiousness and that probably means you tend to slack off on your work, rarely worry about deadlines or neatness, and are more interested in taking it easy.
Much of the problem could be avoided if we look for point blank for entrepreneurial talent. Those enterprising are always expected to fit the bill either way.
Interesting Case Studies:
Cisco: A game of poker helps to find out how you deal with emotions- based on how players respond to losses.
“Once a year, all TESCO directors and a thousand of its managers spend a week working back in one of its stores, stacking shelves, working on the tills, serving customers, reminding themselves of what they all do for a living.” (http://www.the-chiefexecutive.com/features/feature255/)
Companies like TESCO are using “Reverse Mentoring”- getting younger persons to mentor.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s book “Evolve” is an interesting read on this.
Crime and Business:
We took up the case of “Pirate Ships” wherein two sets of talent pipeline were required to sustain the model. One, those who would ensure compliance and discipline to laid down norms and then there would be the more “coveted” talent- risk takers. An uncanny resemblance with how business works as well.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Indian Pong League…
Brazenness is the order of the day…that its flavor is Gall and Wormwood to the mouth hardly matters to its practitioners.
pong [pɒŋ] Brit informal
n
a disagreeable or offensive smell; stink
vb
(intr) to give off an unpleasant smell; stink
[perhaps from Romany pan to stink]
pongy adj
Noun | 1. |  pong - an unpleasant smell |
(Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pong)
Brand Repositioning
I hope I am not being a spoiler in the party that celebrates shining India
Bye… Bye… Miss American Pie…
As you breeze past in your swanky car to be stopped at the crossroads at a traffic signal post and enjoy the view outside of the changing land( and sky)scape, you are rudely woken up by a child knocking on the closed glass pane -asking for some help. Your driver takes care of him, though not before your little wish of realizing an American dream right here in India
My Child, Their Child
I usually do not miss out the “Hinger Kachori” whenever I visit Dakhineswar. The quality has no doubt dwindled over the years but so what? There is another reason though why I don’t enjoy it anymore. As my child enjoys the kachori another cleans up the table at the other end. The Kachori tastes gall and wormwood now. Thanks to Braithwaite for allowing me to discover the essence of those words-yet again.
Lone Voices
At an Indian Chambers of Commerce Interactive Session at the Bengal Club, my childhood icon, the revered journalist M J Akbar laments to the gathering- it is difficult to bring change in this country. “At every level there is a vested interest that doesn’t want the change to happen because his interest shall get affected,” he says. Wow…how true and obvious yet I never thought of it earlier. Akbar gets emotive referring to the state’s advertorial in the morning’s newspapers: declaring that the gun has not be able to achieve a job or a meal (and therefore should be abandoned) but shamelessly remains silent on how it can be.
30 Minutes Pizza, No Ambulance
As a popular mail forward does the round wondering why if Pizza can be delivered in 30 minutes why an ambulance can’t reach in similar time…and staying on food the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme meet on working out modalities for jobs for the poor has a food bill of just under 2 lacs for 130 participants to care of, apart from jobs! As brazen as it gets;
Power Corrupts, Absolute Power Corrupts, so…
Let there be no power- seems to the easiest route available for those who run the system and what’s more, it comes with such freebies as bytes on methods of self management of power (by turning off ACs etc after dusk etc.)
Indian Pong League
My very own coinage as the vicious circle of con currency convertibility modalities surface for the sake of the sports’ good; In a country where the percentage of those who achieve a square meal is anybody’s guess, there is also a mad scramble for the prized seat beside Shah Rukh Khan for a fortune for many others. This brazen display of opulence is again…gall and wormwood. After all, Gayle bared by choice at that Pong League party; the boy who was begging bare at my car hadn’t a choice.
(Offline, Special Impacts, April 2010)
Sunday, January 10, 2010
CROSSROADS
Story of a Braveheart
Rajib Kumar follows Aamir Khan’s heart
There are a handful of us and even fewer with some authority who actually care to stand up and question the system.
And may I quickly add: many of those who do; do a whole lot of good for society. The “good” is more like a Management Development exercise, whose results we don’t get to see immediately; yet once we do the learning is long lasting.
In the field of education, take the case of my very good friend Prof Varun Arya, director of Aravali Institute of Management, Jodhpur. Dual Alumni of IIT and IIM, Arya shunned lucrative jobs and followed his heart over head in setting up a management institute.
In the process, he ended up battling a long war with some vested interests in the country’s key accrediting body in the area of technical education. His battle was won few months back which involved lots of patience and sacrifice among other things for years together.
Arya’s battle (his story was first carried in this part of the country by Offline and was subsequently picked up by the major
Dailies) was perhaps instrumental in clipping of AICTE’s wings some days back in the area of inspection of existing institutes.
Aamir Khan, ofcourse, is a better known face. Initially dubbed as the “chocolate boy” hero Aamir today has matured into a serious filmmaker and actor. Each theme he has tried has been a box office hit and he uncannily admitted to Prabu Chawla in Aaj Tak’s “Siddhi Bath” programme that when he made these movies he never really thought of them as money spinners. He followed his heart. No wonder, thus, that his latest experiment is on following the tweet of one’s heart.
In recent times, wherein impact uniformity is hard to come by, no single movie has caught the nation’s imagination (especially the so called “Youngistan” segment) as much as 3 IDIOTS. Whether Chetan Bhagat’s book was adhered to or whether it motivated some depressed fella in some town undermine Aamir, the artist’s creativity and his daring to stand up and get counted. In his unique style Khan questions the system but never antagonizes the powers that be. In the process he manages to churn up a chemistry of a cocktail in each one of us-that of nostalgia and “feel good”.
Aamir Khan has handled a complex theme with maximum lucidity; I guess this has been his greatest achievement. His questions are serious; to say his treatment is down to earth is an understatement. He questions the great Indian rote trick but he never churns up a revenge feeling or bitterness. That would be the work of a run of the mill moviemaker –not Mr. Aamir Khan. Even the most hated character in the movie “Virus” is rendered lovable; at times we tend to admire him for his innovative wickedness!
Aligning with the mind of the citizen of Youngistan, Aamir’s film reinforces - laughing at ourselves, laughing through our failures or even the state of our personal economics. This is where 3 IDIOTS reaches out to the IDIOT in each of us.
Whether Aamir’s film shall ultimately make some headway in the mind of those who matter- policy makers -only time will say but it is needless to say that he has already managed to reach out to the hearts of the nation’s young by his message of following one’s heart.
(Offline, Volume-5, No-9, January 2010)
Rajib Kumar follows Aamir Khan’s heart
There are a handful of us and even fewer with some authority who actually care to stand up and question the system.
And may I quickly add: many of those who do; do a whole lot of good for society. The “good” is more like a Management Development exercise, whose results we don’t get to see immediately; yet once we do the learning is long lasting.
In the field of education, take the case of my very good friend Prof Varun Arya, director of Aravali Institute of Management, Jodhpur. Dual Alumni of IIT and IIM, Arya shunned lucrative jobs and followed his heart over head in setting up a management institute.
In the process, he ended up battling a long war with some vested interests in the country’s key accrediting body in the area of technical education. His battle was won few months back which involved lots of patience and sacrifice among other things for years together.
Arya’s battle (his story was first carried in this part of the country by Offline and was subsequently picked up by the major
Dailies) was perhaps instrumental in clipping of AICTE’s wings some days back in the area of inspection of existing institutes.
Aamir Khan, ofcourse, is a better known face. Initially dubbed as the “chocolate boy” hero Aamir today has matured into a serious filmmaker and actor. Each theme he has tried has been a box office hit and he uncannily admitted to Prabu Chawla in Aaj Tak’s “Siddhi Bath” programme that when he made these movies he never really thought of them as money spinners. He followed his heart. No wonder, thus, that his latest experiment is on following the tweet of one’s heart.
In recent times, wherein impact uniformity is hard to come by, no single movie has caught the nation’s imagination (especially the so called “Youngistan” segment) as much as 3 IDIOTS. Whether Chetan Bhagat’s book was adhered to or whether it motivated some depressed fella in some town undermine Aamir, the artist’s creativity and his daring to stand up and get counted. In his unique style Khan questions the system but never antagonizes the powers that be. In the process he manages to churn up a chemistry of a cocktail in each one of us-that of nostalgia and “feel good”.
Aamir Khan has handled a complex theme with maximum lucidity; I guess this has been his greatest achievement. His questions are serious; to say his treatment is down to earth is an understatement. He questions the great Indian rote trick but he never churns up a revenge feeling or bitterness. That would be the work of a run of the mill moviemaker –not Mr. Aamir Khan. Even the most hated character in the movie “Virus” is rendered lovable; at times we tend to admire him for his innovative wickedness!
Aligning with the mind of the citizen of Youngistan, Aamir’s film reinforces - laughing at ourselves, laughing through our failures or even the state of our personal economics. This is where 3 IDIOTS reaches out to the IDIOT in each of us.
Whether Aamir’s film shall ultimately make some headway in the mind of those who matter- policy makers -only time will say but it is needless to say that he has already managed to reach out to the hearts of the nation’s young by his message of following one’s heart.
(Offline, Volume-5, No-9, January 2010)
Self-Confidence as a Tool to Conquer the World
SIDDHARTHA GHOSH
The middle name of self confidence is belief. One cannot go to the top without self-belief; to build it, one has to believe in himself. Being perfect is not the idea— but one has to put a brave front and do the best he or she can. That's it in a nutshell. Here's a little more background on this.
Last term, I taught a 4-credit course to Post Graduate Management students at the Asian School of Business Management (ranked among top-10 B-Schools of India for 2008 by Deccan Herald). A second-year student approached and told me that he had read a self development book on leadership and personal effectiveness which spoke about the challenges faced by the top industry executives of US. He also requested that since self confidence is such an important parameter in an individual’s career, can they have extra sessions on the subject in their break periods.
On the same night, before retiring for the day, when I was pondering about the whole day’s activities, this issue really made me think that whenever I have dealt or communicated with CEOs, industry stalwarts or any top ranking personalities during my 10 years industry stint (of which majority was in Jet Airways - ranked world’s 7th best airline for 2008), I had rarely found self-confidence problems in them. It is almost impossible to make it to the top level in a multibillion-dollar corporation if you do not believe in yourself. On the other hand, when I speak to my students in the business school, I have noticed that students in my courses often want to talk about it.
This is such a crucial and interesting topic that I normally share these few suggestions about how an individual can build self-confidence. I also hope that the readers may have their own suggestions, which might be more important and valuable than this.
1. Human beings are never perfect. There are never right or wrong answers to complex business decisions. The best that you can do as a leader is to gather all of the information that you can (in a timely manner), do a cost-benefit analysis of potential options, use your best judgment — and then go for it.
2. Failures are stepping stones to success. Great salespeople are the ones who get rejected the most often. They just ask for the order more than the other salespeople. You are going to make mistakes. You are human. Learn from these mistakes and move on.
3. Planning and deciding without implementing is a waste! World is full of master-planners & strategists but still there are failures. Why ? Because the so-called leaders are so busy charting out plans and strategies, that they have no time or energy left in them to implement it. Don't continually second-guess yourself. Great leaders communicate with a sense of belief in what they are doing and with positive expectations toward the achievement of their vision.
4. Confidence Actor as Confidence booster – In some of your life situations, really the confidence may lack. But if you act and behave as if you are confident, the research has proved that it will really enhance your actual confidence-level.
5. Be “Courageous” to the world — If your team member see you as a weak and shaky leader, the whole team will crumble in its mission as it will have an adverse effect on their confidence quotient. Again a lack of courage on the part of the leader, would be a damaging black-spot for the whole entity as a whole.
6. Live in “Present” and eradicate procrastination from your life-diary. Life has a limited span. I believe that since we are all going to expire after a point, lets do our best to realize our goals by listening to our heart but acting or deciding only on the basis of our brain. Also, thinking about past or future too much, would result in unhappiness and frustration and please note that the world’s happiest people are not always those, who are rich and wealthy; but people who live their life in “PRESENT”. And also the presentists are the group of people who possesses maximum self confidence.
(Offline, Volume-5, No-9, January 2010; Siddhartha Ghosh is Fellow, Center for Research in Materials Management. He is Assistant Professor, Asian School of Business, Bhubaneshwar. He may be reached at drsiddhartha@yahoo.com)
The middle name of self confidence is belief. One cannot go to the top without self-belief; to build it, one has to believe in himself. Being perfect is not the idea— but one has to put a brave front and do the best he or she can. That's it in a nutshell. Here's a little more background on this.
Last term, I taught a 4-credit course to Post Graduate Management students at the Asian School of Business Management (ranked among top-10 B-Schools of India for 2008 by Deccan Herald). A second-year student approached and told me that he had read a self development book on leadership and personal effectiveness which spoke about the challenges faced by the top industry executives of US. He also requested that since self confidence is such an important parameter in an individual’s career, can they have extra sessions on the subject in their break periods.
On the same night, before retiring for the day, when I was pondering about the whole day’s activities, this issue really made me think that whenever I have dealt or communicated with CEOs, industry stalwarts or any top ranking personalities during my 10 years industry stint (of which majority was in Jet Airways - ranked world’s 7th best airline for 2008), I had rarely found self-confidence problems in them. It is almost impossible to make it to the top level in a multibillion-dollar corporation if you do not believe in yourself. On the other hand, when I speak to my students in the business school, I have noticed that students in my courses often want to talk about it.
This is such a crucial and interesting topic that I normally share these few suggestions about how an individual can build self-confidence. I also hope that the readers may have their own suggestions, which might be more important and valuable than this.
1. Human beings are never perfect. There are never right or wrong answers to complex business decisions. The best that you can do as a leader is to gather all of the information that you can (in a timely manner), do a cost-benefit analysis of potential options, use your best judgment — and then go for it.
2. Failures are stepping stones to success. Great salespeople are the ones who get rejected the most often. They just ask for the order more than the other salespeople. You are going to make mistakes. You are human. Learn from these mistakes and move on.
3. Planning and deciding without implementing is a waste! World is full of master-planners & strategists but still there are failures. Why ? Because the so-called leaders are so busy charting out plans and strategies, that they have no time or energy left in them to implement it. Don't continually second-guess yourself. Great leaders communicate with a sense of belief in what they are doing and with positive expectations toward the achievement of their vision.
4. Confidence Actor as Confidence booster – In some of your life situations, really the confidence may lack. But if you act and behave as if you are confident, the research has proved that it will really enhance your actual confidence-level.
5. Be “Courageous” to the world — If your team member see you as a weak and shaky leader, the whole team will crumble in its mission as it will have an adverse effect on their confidence quotient. Again a lack of courage on the part of the leader, would be a damaging black-spot for the whole entity as a whole.
6. Live in “Present” and eradicate procrastination from your life-diary. Life has a limited span. I believe that since we are all going to expire after a point, lets do our best to realize our goals by listening to our heart but acting or deciding only on the basis of our brain. Also, thinking about past or future too much, would result in unhappiness and frustration and please note that the world’s happiest people are not always those, who are rich and wealthy; but people who live their life in “PRESENT”. And also the presentists are the group of people who possesses maximum self confidence.
(Offline, Volume-5, No-9, January 2010; Siddhartha Ghosh is Fellow, Center for Research in Materials Management. He is Assistant Professor, Asian School of Business, Bhubaneshwar. He may be reached at drsiddhartha@yahoo.com)
IN LIGHTER VEIN - GOD & HR
A Catholic Priest and a Rabbi were chatting one day when the conversation turned to a discussion of job descriptions and promotion.
"What do you have to look forward to in way of a promotion in your job?" asked the Rabbi.
"Well, I'm next in line for the Monsignor's job." replied the Priest.
"Yes, and then what?" asked the Rabbi.
"Well, next I can become Arch-Bishop." said the Priest.
"Yes, and then?" asked the Rabbi.
"If I work real hard and do a good job as Arch-Bishop, it's possible for me to become a full Bishop." said the Priest.
"O.K., then what?" asked the Rabbi.
The Priest, begining to get a bit exasperated replied, "With some luck and real hard work, maybe I can become a Cardinal."
"And then?" asked the Rabbi.
The Priest is really starting to get mad now and replies, "With lots and lots of luck and some real difficult work and if I'm in the right places at the right times and play my political games just right, maybe, just maybe, I can get elected Pope."
"Yes, and then what?" asked the Rabbi.
"Good grief!" shouted the Priest. "What do you expect me to become, GOD?"
"Well," said the Rabbi, "One of our boys made it!"
(Offline, Volume-5, No-9, January 2010; Contributed by Debasish Bhattacharya, St. Joseph’s College. He may be reached at thisisdeba@gmail.com)
"What do you have to look forward to in way of a promotion in your job?" asked the Rabbi.
"Well, I'm next in line for the Monsignor's job." replied the Priest.
"Yes, and then what?" asked the Rabbi.
"Well, next I can become Arch-Bishop." said the Priest.
"Yes, and then?" asked the Rabbi.
"If I work real hard and do a good job as Arch-Bishop, it's possible for me to become a full Bishop." said the Priest.
"O.K., then what?" asked the Rabbi.
The Priest, begining to get a bit exasperated replied, "With some luck and real hard work, maybe I can become a Cardinal."
"And then?" asked the Rabbi.
The Priest is really starting to get mad now and replies, "With lots and lots of luck and some real difficult work and if I'm in the right places at the right times and play my political games just right, maybe, just maybe, I can get elected Pope."
"Yes, and then what?" asked the Rabbi.
"Good grief!" shouted the Priest. "What do you expect me to become, GOD?"
"Well," said the Rabbi, "One of our boys made it!"
(Offline, Volume-5, No-9, January 2010; Contributed by Debasish Bhattacharya, St. Joseph’s College. He may be reached at thisisdeba@gmail.com)
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