Sujavna 2015 (15)

Sunday 18, April 2015 1730 hrs

Triple Bottomline is a concept that many businesses are aware of; it is also true that most businesses are not aware of this concept and, even amongst those that are aware of, very few actually incorporate these objectives.

So how can economic, social an environmental goals become the normal corporate objectives of businesses? Where have the efforts of the proponents of TBL – whether they belong to multilateral bodies such as UN, World Bank or NGOs and academic think-tanks – failed and why have they failed in making this as a mainstream corporate concept across both developed and developing nations? What innovative approaches may help them fast-track the adoption of TBL as a normal corporate objective?

Honestly I do not have answers, but I am convinced that the answers will probably require us to go back to our drawing boards and re-define the concept of a business-entity itself. Any ideas on how and what will be the outcomes of such re-definitions? Please share your views and ideas.

Have a great week ahead.

Sujavna 2015 (14)

Sunday 12, April 2015 1800 hrs

What are the innovation-imperatives for human resource managers? Much has been said and written on what fresh theoretical perspectives and empirical evidences are shaping the practice of human resource management, but I strongly believe that there is a fundamental issue that still needs to be resolved. And this will be the theme for today.

Top managements and HR professionals advising them in most organizations still start with the basic premise that “human-beings” are resources and in knowledge-industries they are sometimes thought of as “assets”; and by corollary, that this resource  needs to be managed (in the most gentle f contexts) and exploited (in the most mundane of contexts). If considered as assets, then they need to realize best-returns from their estimated value. Very little empirical evidence exists that human beings are simply partners with stakes in the growth of the organization.

And at a functional level, it is indeed surprising that there is almost no collaboration (between functional leaders who desire to recruit team-members with their HR colleagues) to actually define needs, scope out the human capabilities for the particular need as well as how this will help the broader organizational needs for current and future environments, research internal capabilities for meeting such needs and developing a program of recruitment and induction that not only helps the candidate and the team but also helps other teams that may lose out by such a recruitment. The moot question is why role-specs for recruitment should be the unquestionable rights of the departmental head and why HR should only play a referee role?

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Sujavna 2015 (13)

Sunday 05, April 2015 1630 hrs

Firstly apologies for missing out on my last Sunday’s post.

Today, I would like to share some thoughts on smart cities. I am very conscious of the fact that this is a politico-economic idea that if hotly debated in India. Many conferences are being organized; many more blogs and thought pieces are being churned out by the hour and the arguments for getting the smart city of India implemented are getting shrill. So why am I joining this bandwagon and what is my purpose?

Honestly I am confused and anxious with all that I hear and read on the subject. So perhaps this blog is a desperate attempt to set on record my own aspirations for what I think any smart city should attempt to be.

Smart cities, in a most elementary manner, need to facilitate I a smart manner, an effective (read that as easy and efficient) way for all of its citizens and floaters as well as its governance institutions to communicate, transact and evolve.

Now that does not necessarily have to mean digital technologies will be the only backbone, though such technologies can help. It also does not mean that smart cities will need to be “freshly-minted” – they could be existing cities that can “re-purpose” themselves to become smarter.

So what are the unambiguous “gold-standards” for effective communications, transactions and evolution between citizens, floaters and governance institutions? Has there been any such smart city frameworks tried in any other part of the world? How much can technology help? Where and when will technology fail in implementation? What should the role of citizens of the smart city be to decide on how much smartness they are willing to absorb? How does a smart city become “un-smart” if its future citizens decide so?  What are the limits of smartness for smart cities – is the theory of diminishing returns equally applicable for smart cities? And one last question – can smart cities become gender-neutral? can they become caste-neutral? and will they support pluralism or will they end up fostering only homogenic technocracy?

What are your views?

Wishing you  great week ahead.

Sujavna 2015 (12)

Sunday 22, March 2015 1630 hrs

Shared Economics, is perhaps not a new idea. In fact many traditional economies prior to the industrial economies, were some sort of shared ones. Even today, many urban initiatives that are propelled by ecological concerns (such as carpooling, share-a-cab) are all offshoots of this concept. But the concept of Shared Economics, needs a more robust theoretical framework (and a definition, indeed!) and a concerted initiative to make it into a mainstream practice.

To begin, it may be a good idea to just start listing what all can be examples of shared economies. And then to extract the underlying principles, practices, transactional and institutional structures that define them, the economic gains and the underlying risks. My illustrative list would include:

(a)  Joint ventures of all kinds including contract-farming and contract-manufacturing, PPP models for infrastructure and healthcare projects.

(b)  Off-shored business processes, SaaS models, E-Tutoring.

(c)  Citizen-Journalism, publishing-promotion-distribution-retailing of discrete entertainment products such as books, movies, travel and food products.

(d)  And now for some creative illustrations…

1.    Government clerks who can share their work and pay with an unemployed but empanelled and capable person for just weekends and holidays.

2.    Schools and Colleges offering their building and other infrastructure facilities during non-working hours, to private e-learning companies who can use the same to efficiently distribute education and training products to a wider population of needy students.

3.    Pharmacies who can capture vital input healthcare trends for policy makers and healthcare research institutions.

4.    Design Studios and Design professionals working with Business Chambers and Trade Associations to make products and services excellent in design and ecologically better.

5.    Airport operators and Metro Rail operators offering business meeting spaces and related services within their main hubs so as to minimise road travel and increase the productivity of travelling sales and marketing personnel.

(e)  And plentymore.

So what is your view on the subject of shared economies?

Have a great week ahead.

Sujavna 2015 (11)

Sunday 15, March 2015 1700 hrs

Is there a real need for mainstream media to return to the days of pure and simple reporting of happenings that need to be reported? If so, how does it reinvent itself to meet this primary requirement, in these days of advertorials, lobbying and opinion polls? Do newspapers and television news channels have the innovative spirit in them to face this challenge?

If you know of any instances where such innovations are happening in the mainstream media space, pleas share the same with me.

Wising you a great week ahead.

Sujavna 2015 (10)

Sunday 08, March 2015 1930 hrs

The week that went by was a week of bans for a citizen of Mumbai. First a ban by the local government against killing of bufalos and bulls, storing or transporting or consuming beef and beef products. Then there was the Indian government ban on a documentary film that attempted to report on the ideas and thoughts of a convicted criminal.

My reason for raising the topic on bans has very little to do about the bans themselves or on the rights of citizens. It has more to do with the need for society to follow a rule-based system and why it is becoming harder for the authorities in power to keep a sense of balance in framing new rules and implementing them. What I would like to explore is if societal well-being can be unambiguously defined and effectively achieved by pursuing “centuries-old” systems of criminal and civil legal and jurisprudence systems or if the time has come to innovate. I would like to believe the latter. What do you say?

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Sujavna 2015 (9)

Sunday 01, March 2015 2330 hrs

I came across an interesting plea that formed part of an article written by the Secretary General of Amnesty International and reproduced by an English newspaper. The plea as addressed to the governments of the world’s richest countries and those of the UN Security Council’s permanent members. It rued the fact that the veto powers of these members as well as the growing reluctance of rich nations to offer asylum to refugees from the world’s most conflict-ridden regions are very unbecoming of them and serves to undermine their expressed support for human rights.

To me this presents a unique and excellent opportunity for organizations such as the UNHCR and Amnesty International as well as the world’s rich nations to collaborate and innovate for solutions that will transcend the challenges. How about the UN having its own sovereign territories in each continent that is meant only for refugees seeking basic human rights and that is administered with funding support from all UN members and technological and managerial support from the CSR initiatives of the Fortune 500 companies of the world? Such territories can also be excellent schools to propagate universal brotherhood and other UN principles for global community living together. This way the problems of refugees need not be the moral responsibility of a few numbers of rich countries, which also have their own economic and socio-political problems to manage!

Hope your weekend was great and you are all fired up to meet the excitement that the week ahead may offer.

Sujavna 2015 (8)

Sunday 22, February 2015 1630 hrs

It is with great interest that I follow R Goplakrishnan’s (Tata Sons) column Innoculum. Last week the column discussed the etymological history of the word Innovation; especially, on the colloquial equivalents as well as the evolutionary struggles between invention and innovation. And, what struck me about the commentary was the singular absence of any reference to a body of objective research on social innovations amongst indigenous communities, as also within mixed-ethnic communities. Perhaps the author could be forgiven for his focus on innovations across economics, politics and science! But I do believe that social innovations can really teach as much for business and scientific innovators, as much as they have been influenced by the latter.

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead, and hope that you will get lots of opportunities to practice lateral thinking and try out some innovations.

Sujavna 2015 (7)

Sunday 15, February 2015 1730 hrs

How does one innovate and change a government organization which has chronically suffered bad or dis-interested leadership to add real value to its core customer segments, and enthuse its very talented but smug staff to reinvent themselves continuously?

During the week that is celebrated by the Indian government as Productivity Week, I am struggling to find answers to these questions. Productivity is still being discussed within the cadre of specialists at National Productivity Council, as something that only needs training programs for awareness and capacity-building for managing quality, energy efficiency and environment by the manufacturing sector – this was also discussed thirty years ago, so does this mean that NPC’s efforts to improve the productivity of India’s economy (which certainly has vastly increased in the intervening years!) has remained inconsequential? Has NPC failed?

Fifteen years into the new millennium, the government’s cadre of productivity specialists seem to be clueless about how both manufacturing and services sector are already in the cusp of being impacted by technological and global value-chain opportunities, and any productivity advise to entrepreneurs, financiers and workforce will need to recognize and leverage these developments nimbly, else the recipient of such advise will be damaged more than will be facilitated.

On a different theme, last week saw the success of a fledgling party succeed with a brute majority in New Delhi’s elections. The party has made several promises related to statehood, anti-corruption, utilities supplies. It will need to be very innovative to meet all these promises and yet carry forward its ideologies to the rest of India. An interesting space to watch!

Have a great week ahead.

Sujavna 2015 (6)

Sunday 08, February 2015 1230 hrs

Can the tools that human resource development professionals employ to help team-members to overcome their differences and cohesively join up to understand and achieve “the bigger picture” be adapted to solving emotional challenges that siblings and other close family members may have in sustaining an building on the value-systems that defines the family in the first place?

If (and it looks like a big IF!) this adaptation is possible, what additional skillsets would be required for the mentoring entity to use this tool effectively?

I keep wondering if lateral thinking meets its ultimate test in situations that have a high emotional challenge environment as a core problem-definer.

Any thoughts or suggestions on this subject? Have a great week ahead.

Sujavna 2015 (5)

Sunday 01, February 2015 1330 hrs

I am a little perturbed when I think about the huge effort that is needed by Indian government’s economic planners to make that quantum leap of faith and innovate in the planning process. Check out the draft National Health Plan 2015 document that is now available for feedback, and you will realize why I am frustrated!

The stated goal of attainment of highest possible levels of health and well-being through preventive and promotive healthcare orientation in all development policies, and universal access to good quality healthcare services with minimal financial burden is compounded to a stated desire to ensure that the targeted investment of 2.5% of GDP I public health expenditure is facilitated. But then, what is the policy prescription offered? Sad but true that the government has not thought beyond taxation, a new health cess on the lines of education cess (the impact of which on efficiently delivering on education targets is highly debatable!) and increasing specific commodity taxes, such as those on cigarettes and alcohol. Perhaps as an afterthought, the document mentions that leveraging the CSR spends of corporates can be an additional source of investments. This despite the fact that there is already a huge debate about the whole taxation aspect of mandatory CSR spends and there are many other competing CSR areas for future spends.

Now consider this – the draft plan document mentions that 7 task forces will be constituted to map out a whole new framework for preventive and promotive healthcare, and yet the planners have arrived at a nominal expenditure outlay for the sector. A great example of putting the cart before the horse!

What innovations could have been attempted, then? For one, how about innovative financing models such as creation of a National Healthcare Investment Fund that has seed funding from the government, and is tasked with raising and deploying funds for specific objectives of the healthcare plan? Or, how about innovations in addressing the core skills availability challenges by incentivising school students to opt for a 1 year bridge term between their 10^th and 11^th grades, which will fetch them additional points if they were to opt for a medical, nursing or related program after their 12^th grades?

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Sujavna 2015 (4)

Sunday 25, January 2015 1700 hrs

Even as US president Barrack Obama and Indian Prime Minister meet in New Delhi today and in the next couple of days, and everyone eagerly waits for announcement of bilateral agreements on various fronts, I will be patient and will look out for indications that both leaders have indeed thought out of the box, for economic development and world peace (read counter-terrorism).

And so as I wait, my mind is exercised on a more localised challenge – is there a way by which current initiatives to foster entrepreneurship across India make a quantum sustainable leap in the impact? How does one re-engineer the DNA of entrepreneurship in India? The more I think on this, I am intrigued by a typical mental picture of a Johari window of a hypothetical Indian entrepreneur Raju. What are Raju’s feelings about himself and his venture…What do others (family, friends, colleagues, partners) think of Raju and his venture…What does Raju believe about how other perceive him and his venture, and…How do others perceive about Raju’s belief in their “buy-in” to his venture.

The topography of Venn-answers, revealing the arena, facade, blind spot and unknowns for each substantive element of Raju’s entrepreneurial journey thus far, should give us a model of the current DNA of entrepreneurship and expose the fault-gap-lines that will need to be innovatively fixed, and the DNA re-engineered to ensure it replicates adequately and sustainably.

I intend to spend some additional time in exploring this line of thought during the coming week. Wishing you, as usual  a great week ahead.

Sujavna 2015 (3)

Sunday 18, January 2015 1700 hrs

In a commentary on the life of Indian industrialist Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani that I recently read, it was mentioned that he believed that if one does not act on ones’ dreams, then others will recruit one and make one work for their dreams. This set me thinking….

Can there be a situation where everyone dreams and recruits others to fulfil them? How will this work out? And honestly, isn’t this what normal societal structures tend to achieve, going by the law of averages? The difficulty in pursuing this line of thinking is when we assume that all dreams are similar in nature and are all materialistic. But when we realize that each of us dreams in different wavelengths and we realize our dream by smartly working towards them by leveraging the different dreams of others, then each of us is a Dhirubhai Ambani, (sort of…)!

Now you may be wondering how this relates to the theme of lateral thinking. It is my hypothesis that the process of lateral thinking is, in a sense, the same as the search for matching ones dreams to the wider environment of dreams of others and then working out a smart navigational tool to link all of them to achieve objectives.

Do you agree?

Wishing you a great week ahead.

Sujavna 2015 (2)

Sunday 11, 2015 1630 hrs

Will Indians take serious notice that there is a wide slip between the cup and the lip!

A lot of things are going good for India and many Indians, and therefore it is easy to miss the yawning gap that defines the wonderful intentions of the government and the ground realities of how these intentions will translate into a better India for Indians and for the world at large.

Think about it – the Prime Minister exhorts citizens and corporate India to participate and deliver success in campaigns such as Make In India, Swachh Bharat (Clean India), a Digital India, or even Adopt a Village by each Member of Parliament. It is true that a visionary government and its leader need time to show results, and I am most willing to wait, but I am afraid the wait will end up frustrating me and many Indians like me, because I see these campaigns are (a) still lacking “local champions” at many of the key implementation organizations (read ministries and government departments) and (b) are not based on a participative-risk-reward management framework for local stakeholders.

The need to include both the- above-mentioned approaches will require innovations that change these campaigns from being government schemes to projects that excite entrepreneurs, investors and local government departments to sign up for projects that can be appropriately  rewarded for objectively-certified successes.

And this brings us to the core theme of this blog – the need for lateral thinking! Any body listening?

Happy to hear your views. Wishing you all a great week ahead.

Sujavna 2015(1)

Sunday 04, 2015 12 noon

Welcome to the first post of Sujavna in 2015.

I hope that 2014 was a good year that provided ample opportunities for you to practice lateral thinking and innovate in ways that you, your family, friends, local communities, your employer, your colleagues and your customers, have benefited. I wish that 2015 sees even better performance from all of us in this front.

My thoughts for today and for the rest of this week will be focused on how to perfect the art of exercising the right balance between rational, logical thinking and intuitive thinking. I realize that much has been written on these approaches and the predominance of the former in todays’ societies. For me, the unresolved challenge is about identifying the inflexion points when either of the approaches will provide more sustainable solutions to the problems that we may encounter in our jobs, our personal lives, in the developmental and economic challenges that we may face in our small communities or cities or nations or even wider global conflicts such as terrorism and climate change. And how can one practice a balance in the use of both approaches? Can this be taught in our classrooms, practically rather than in a pedagogic manner?

Happy to hear your views. Wishing you all a great week ahead.