My first attemp in writing a book

Friends,
It was a great feeling writing a book; Only about 50 pages, it gave me such a great feeling.


After my maiden experience, I can tell all that everyone can write and enjoy and share his/ her enjoyment with friends.


I am giving below links to each section of the book. The idea is utopian but am sure if implemented well, it will have far reaching positive impact.

Section 1: Introduction to a new concept - http://tenmg.blogspot.com/2007/11/pn-ceo-creating-atlantis.html Section 2: Encouraging high performers to teach - http://tenmg.blogspot.com/2007/06/docendo-discimus.html Section 3: Giving employees whacky ideas to work on - http://tenmg.blogspot.com/2007/11/bodhi-shopping.html Section 4: Employees start their own restaurant - http://tenmg.blogspot.com/2007/11/diy-restaurant.html Section 5: Employee earn accolades for their organisation using their passion in painting - http://tenmg.blogspot.com/2007/11/reproduction-material.html Section 6: Employess and their new type of garden - http://tenmg.blogspot.com/2007/12/do-pluck-leaves-and-flowers.html Section 7: Employees teach Yoga to clients - http://tenmg.blogspot.com/2007/12/valuefacture.html Section 8: Employees create a global tourist centre out of an obscure neglected place - http://tenmg.blogspot.com/2007/12/221b-baker-street-vs-mastani.html Section 9: Working on a new kind of org structure - http://tenmg.blogspot.com/2007/12/vibgyor-ministry.html

Would love to have your view on:
1. Do you think the time has come to implement this in the corporate world?
2. What best implementation approach/ steps would you suggest for a successful implementation?
3. Do you have any stories to share which are in line with what I have proposed?
4. Which discussion groups do you think will take up this topic for further discussion?

Thanks. Will wait for your comments.

Click this link to start: http://tenmg.blogspot.com/2007/11/pn-ceo-creating-atlantis.html

Regards,
Prabodh Sirur

221B Baker Street vs. Mastani

April 28, 2010: PN was traveling to a place called Pabal to attend a unique event, the inauguration of a tourist center created by his employees.

What had been a small hamlet three years ago, was now going to be a great tourist destination, the place where Mastani, the goddess of beauty and romance, was buried on that same day 270 years ago.

Around three hundred employees had worked on the project for the past three years creating awareness, weaving stories around the romance of Mastani and Baji Rao and setting up a center for global tourists. Today, the world was going to see the fruits of their efforts.

PN took a trip down memory lane and recalled how it all started. It was September 12, 2006. PN was traveling to Pune. He had taken a day out from his schedule to visit a village called Pabal, where there was a technical school run by his schoolmate’s parents.

The school was called Vigyan Ashram; it was an educational institution for technologies suitable to village economy. To be eligible for admission, a student had to be a school dropout.

PN had also heard that the school had a partnership with Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States and the Indian Institute of Technology for creating some technology breakthroughs for rural India. It was interesting, but far away from the city.

The school was on a small piece of land, yet holding a whole world of progressive technology. Young rural students in a remote drought-prone village managed it all. There were many success stories from supposedly unsuccessful students. PN thought it was just amazing!

After having lunch at the hostel mess, PN took a tour of the village. It was like any other village in India. But what caught PN’s eye was the grave of Mastani.

Mastani, PN was told, was a dancer and singer and mistress of Baji Rao, prime minister of the Maratha Kingdom. Mastani, the villagers said, was a skilled horse-rider, skilled in spear throwing and swordsmanship. She accompanied Baji Rao on his military campaigns, inspiring him to extend the Maratha Empire in North India.

She was a renowned beauty. The local folklore said that she had such fair and translucent skin that when she swallowed the juice of her paan beeda (betel leaf with nuts and spices), the red color of the juice could be seen through the fair skin of her throat. It was a great, romantic story of the eighteenth century.

Her death too was equally fascinating. When Baji Rao died and was being cremated, Mastani walked into the flames of the pyre and ended her life alongside her lover.

Today, the grave of the beauty lay in a solitary and deserted place, which PN could not believe. PN could not believe that so few people knew about this story. He returned to his office promising himself to do something about it.

In a meeting with his management team, he told them about the Pabal school and asked how employees interested in public service could spend some time there to help students in their pursuit of technology.

Ganesh showed interest in the project. He was an MIT alumnus, so he could get access to MIT’s work in Vigyan Ashram. He knew that many of his techno-savvy team members also wouldn’t mind spending time there and contributing.

Then PN spoke about reviving the Mastani tomb. There was a general disapproval of this. Team members thought no one would visit such a place, and they felt there were better places for which they should provide sponsorship and seek publicity. Mastani’s tomb was not worth the effort.

PN let the matter lie. Some time later, he had a chance to meet some of his UK employees, an enthusiastic group interested in tourism. They had recently completed a European tour and were inspired by the great tourist attractions they saw.

They were impressed by the skills of those countries that were creating tourist interests and the innovative ways they promoted tourism.

An example they gave was Sherlock Holmes’ home, at 221B Baker Street in London. A tourist could visit the house, wear Holmes’ bowler hat, smoke his famous pipe, have a photograph taken as a souvenir, buy replicas of Holmes’ possessions, even read the same newspaper Holmes read. The tourist department had done a great job in creating this make-believe world.

“If other young people can take it as seriously as you have,” PN said to the group, “we could do similar wonders.” Then he told them the story of his visit to the Mastani grave. He explained that if they could get together and plan things, it would be possible to create a tourist center in Pabal. They knew PN well. Everything looked so simple to him. They also knew that they could trust PN to support them when they got stuck.

They put out feelers around the company and sought the support of a large number of people who were ready to be part of the project.

They had much to do. Some started doing research on Mastani’s life. Others began working out what it takes to set up a tourist center, and others started working out the costs. Some went to stay in Pune and in Pabal. They spoke to the local government body, called the Panchayat, to the tourist department, and to the villagers to fill them with the enthusiasm to create a venture from which everyone would benefit.

Some enthusiasts planned to create videos to recreate the history; others planned for the sound and light programs. Some groups created a sustainability plan so that the center could go on functioning even after they had handed over control to the locals.

The work created lot of curiosity and interest in PN’s company.

The plans were ready. Volunteers started coaching the villagers, creating local guides, helping them set up the essentials of a tourist center, including hygienic water, a clean environment, good food, clean toilets, and so on.

In the small village, all this built hope and enthusiasm to do something good. The news of what was happening in Pabal soon spread. Support for PN’s volunteers came from many quarters.

And he came back to the present. PN’s car neared the new tourist site. A huge crowd attended the launch. PN opened the tourist counter and handed over the key to the village head. The dream he had sold to his team three years ago had actually become a reality.

It was one more victory for John Galt!

Valufacture

December 12, 2007: PN received mail from Gyan, one of his project managers. Gyan’s mail said, “PN, I am coming back from the project after two years in Delaware. I have something interesting to share.”

An excited Gyan met PN and spoke about his experience on the project.

“PN, when I went there, I wondered how on earth I would spend my time after office hours. But as it turned out, I did meet some very interesting client employees. We would talk all about India—the snake charmers, and the elephants, and so on. They had all the usual questions. Many had the perception that snakes roam around everywhere in India, and that the place is full of elephants.

“During one of these discussions, I told them about yoga and that I am a certified yoga teacher. They asked me whether I could teach them yoga, and I was happy to do it. They did not have any yoga teachers around, and this was an opportunity for me to serve them.

“They took me to their HR people, and I gave them a presentation on yoga and its benefits to physical and mental health, showing how it helps improve relationships and productivity, and so on. I also told them that it had nothing to do with any religion; it was just a spiritual journey for a sound mind.

“They were happy with what they heard and asked me if I could teach yoga to any interested employees. They asked me how much I wanted to be paid for my time teaching. I told them this was my gift to our esteemed clients. Anyway, there was great enthusiasm and participation in the yoga sessions.”

He showed PN the testimonials from the company and individuals.

“The best part was that the employees and the head of HR fought for my extension so that I could be around longer. This was the best experience of my life. Not only did I get more business for the company, but I also have the personal satisfaction of knowing that I can use my passion to help someone else. I wouldn’t be surprised if the clients give us more projects, only because what we gave them was over and above their expectations of the contract.”

PN thanked Gyan for sharing this with him. He arranged Gyan’s meeting with Shoma, the company’s PR person, and asked Gyan to repeat the story to Shoma so she could include it in the house magazine.

PN remembered Edward De Bono, the champion of lateral thinking, who spoke about “valufacture.” He felt that what Gyan had created was an extra value to the project. What he had done had not been a contractual obligation but an unexpected offering to clients.

PN shared the Gyan story with his team members. They were proud. But they felt that this story was a success because Gyan had managed it in a mature manner. To make this a proposition that could be repeated, they wanted something formal to be drawn up.

Someone said, “PN, as you are aware, many of our people would give their right arms to stay on-site if they had to. If we tell them that one way to achieve this is to teach our clients what they themselves are good at, we could risk landing ourselves in all sorts of trouble.”

There was consensus that there must be a proper mechanism to handle this. PN agreed and asked them to come up with some solutions.

Some time later, the team members met to discuss this. The conversation was dynamic and spirited.

“Do we know how many people know yoga in our organization? And how many are certified?”

“There are many branches of yoga; which one do you want to teach?”

“Guys, I think we should leave how to deal with the client to the individual project manager.”

“Why do you want to stick to yoga alone? There are many things our people can teach.”

“Like what? Riding elephants? Snake charming?”

“Oh, come on. You know Indian cooking is all the rage. They could teach them cooking.”

“Forget it. I’ve seen westerners cooking better Indian food than any one of us in this room. Everything is available on the Internet, and everyone sells ready-to-cook Indian meals.”

“We don’t have information on our people’s capabilities; we don’t know whether our offering is going to be of value to clients, and we don’t know what kind of legal hassles we could land ourselves in. On top of all that, we are saying that this is a free service. I have never seen a better business proposition!”

“Great, you know, you actually stated all the pain statements. If we work on each of them, we’ll find a solution.”

“Fantastic! I agree with you that valufacture does not mean we should give it for free. But when we want to exchange something for money, it should be contractual.”

“So the question is, how do we contract? Are we going to say in the contract, ‘along with the software, we will also provide 250 man hours of yoga to the client organization?’ That looks a little silly. I hope the clients don’t cancel the whole contract because of it.”

“I think, at this moment the best we can do is to get together the senior people, the project managers, and tell them about the Gyan story and leave it at that.”

“Better still, we’ll ask Gyan to tell the story. He’ll feel happy sharing his experience. People can ask questions and get answers from the horse’s mouth.”

When the team next met PN, they told him what they thought—that the organization was not yet ready to institutionalize the Gyan experience. PN respected the team’s view. Everyone agreed that after a formal recognition of Gyan’s contribution at a meeting of senior managers the chapter would remain closed.

It was a very good meeting, and the managers asked Gyan useful questions. The meeting ended with everyone going away with different thoughts about Gyan’s experience. Some of them repeated the story to their juniors; some of the juniors repeated the Gyan story to their juniors. But nothing happened on the matter of valufacture.

After some days, there was repeat business from the Delaware clients, who requested Gyan for the project. Gyan joined the project, and he knew many of his old friends were waiting for him and for their yoga meetings.
John Galt shrugged! He was patient. He was prepared to wait.

Pluck the leaves and flowers

June 2, 2009: PN was looking at a letter from his key client. It was a request for help to create an Indian herbal garden in their office.

PN recalled the client’s visit when their team was taken for a tour of the Indian herbal garden created by his employees. They were impressed by the concept and even more so by the signs around the garden: “Please pluck the flowers and leaves.” It was not the usual, “Do Not Touch” sign one always saw in parks.

The garden consisted of a large number of Indian herbs and medicinal plants. Under each plant there was information on its medicinal properties, the names of the diseases that could be cured, the “leafage” (dosage) for each disease, and so on. The “gardeners” encouraged people to pluck the leaves and eat them.

This garden was the work of enthusiastic employees from the world environment group. They were passionate about the medicinal plants. They had done extensive research on each of the plants and collected useful information for the visitors.

The client wanted a similar garden on their campus. The request was just unbelievable, especially because the client was from the Netherlands, a country famous for flowers and gardens. The renowned Michael van Gessel had done their existing thematic landscaping. PN only hoped it was not a joke!

He recalled how it had all started. The company’s world environment group had wanted something more to do. A few of its members were already working on some secret tissue culture project, but the remaining members were looking for a new project.

Someone from the group found out about the herbal garden in Rashtrapati Bhavan, the residence of the President of India and discovered that the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) had designed it. They wanted to build a similar garden enlisting NBRI’s help. They discussed the merits of the case among themselves.

The concept had a great unique selling proposition (USP) for their country. There was a growing awareness about Ayurveda (which is thought to have originated around 5000 B.C.). Many such herbal gardens were springing up all around the country. PN’s team wanted something that would distinguish their garden, something really unusual.

There was a brainstorm within the group. “Look, whichever park you go, you see signs forbidding people from touching leaves or flowers. Our garden will implore people to touch the flowers, beg them to pluck the leaves and eat them, because what they are eating is medicinal.”

People agreed that anyone who visited this garden would agree that it was certainly unusual to see such signs. “We should also have walking tracks around the plants so that people can eat these medicines as part of their morning walks.”

“How will they know what to eat and how much?”

“Well, needless to say, we’ll need to create small placards about each plant.”

The group could not wait any longer. They met PN and explained the idea. PN agreed to allocate a piece of the company campus garden to them.

The time went by swiftly for them. There were frustrations and moments of ecstasy. An acceptable landscape design was the subject of hot debate. Some wanted the landscaping on the basis of major ailments; some wanted the plants arranged according to the six Indian seasons; and still others wanted the plants to be based on the needs of people in different zodiac signs.

Other employees appreciated the garden. Many actually took morning walks just to read about the plants and which ailments they cured. The achievement was a hot topic. The India herbal landscaping was a success.

PN called a meeting to discuss the Dutch client’s request. But some members of the group were already in other projects, so only two members could join the Dutch project after a couple of weeks. The group was happy to take up the landscaping work as an additional responsibility, and those who were not in a position to travel pledged remote support.

PN was happy about this. But the group put forward a condition that the client’s employees had to be involved in the garden. They said, “When the garden is ready, they will have the satisfaction of creating something of value for their own colleagues. We know the kind of happiness we experienced when we created our garden. We want them to feel the same about their garden.”

The client agreed. They appreciated the viewpoint of PN’s people and the opportunity being given to their employees.

The two members joined the client project after a few weeks. In the meantime, they had studied which plants would survive in the Netherlands. Their landscape design was ready.

The client’s employees joined the gang. It was an enjoyable time for everyone involved. Soon a beautiful herbal landscape decorated the client’s building.

The client was happy and gave encouraging testimonials to PN’s people and to his company. The client used PN’s pet word, valufacture, in their testimonials. They found great value in what the two young members of PN’s company did for them, over and above the normal work of the project.

It was one of PN’s happiest moments. His employees loved being part of the revolution, and they were greatly excited about the stamp they were putting on the map of a foreign city.

The media splashed rave stories about PN and his organization’s contribution to society. They praised the employees’ pride and sense of satisfaction. Management experts praised the various ways the employees could be engaged for better employee satisfaction.

PN felt a deep satisfaction that he had been able to provide a platform for his people to express themselves and be happy. It was yet another victory for John Galt!

Did his people stop after this achievement? Not at all. Encouraged by what they had achieved in the Netherlands, many more joined the group of herbal landscapers. They approached their own city guardians and asked to convert some gardens into herbal landscapes. The local bodies agreed if someone would maintain the gardens for free.

The city had unusual gardens where children could pluck the leaves and flowers. The team taught farmers in the neighboring villages how to grow medicinal herbs and how to set up nurseries. Many other clients wanted to replicate the Netherlands’ experience. The list is endless.

A large number of employees of PN’s company now had a forum to embark on the kind of journey that would previously only have been a dream!

DIY Restaurant

16 Oct 2010; PN, CEO of a large IT company, was looking at an advertisement in the newspaper, with a sense of satisfaction.

The advertisement was about opening of a new kind of restaurant, called Do-IT-Yourself Restaurant. It was a special restaurant for PN because it was owned and run by his employees.

It was a state-of-the-art restaurant; its speciality was, that one could go there with mates and cook their own food under the guidance of the restaurant staff. Each cooking table was fitted with video screens and each and every step of cooking was instructed by the celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, the most celebrated face of Indian cuisine.

PN’s mind went back three years. That was when this new revolution started in his organization.

It was 23 Oct 2007; PN was traveling from Mumbai to Bangalore, back to his office. He vaguely remembered that the person sitting on his left was some celebrity; Ah yes, he was Sanjeev Kapoor, the celebrity chef who had become an icon. PN congratulated Sanjeev on his achievements and wished him well. They had a good chat on what PN should eat at his age and got a few tips.

PN suddenly remembered that his organisation was hosting the biggest corporate potluck-lunch the next day. It was a great opportunity to invite Sanjeev Kapoor for the event.

Sanjeev readily agreed to be there the next day. The potluck-lunch event was a great success; everyone had brought something for his/ her team. Some people had decorated their lunch tables using vegetables and fruits. It was a fun filled atmosphere. And Sanjeev’s presence added to the excitement.

Sanjeev appreciated the efforts by people. He said, “It is no surprise that you engineers cook so well because I always consider cooking as a science and the kitchen as a laboratory. No wonder you engineers are such good cooks.”

PN thanked the celebrity chef for giving his time to attend the event. Sanjeev, looking at the excited faces, said, “I too enjoyed it and had I known about this event earlier, I would have participated too!”

PN could not resist this opportunity; He responded, “Well Sanjeev; I will create some opportunity so our people can see you more closely.”

Soon after Sanjeev left, PN had a meeting with the team leaders of the Potluck Lunch event. He congratulated them for the excitement the event created, the togetherness he could sense in the teams. He told them what he had promised Sanjeev Kapoor and asked them to come out with ideas on how to make this happen.

A large number of PN’s young engineers worked onsite; a large number of his young engineers had relocated from far away places, away from their families. Learning to cook their food, therefore, was a basic survival skill for them. PN wanted to focus on this need taking help of Sanjeev Kapoor.

Some days later, the team met PN; people came up with something very novel. “We don’t think Sanjeev Kapoor is needed here to teach us cooking because every recipe is available on the internet. But what we want to do is set up a restaurant jointly with him; A do-it-yourself restaurant.”

PN was amused yet curious.

The team had a full plan with them including the funding side of it.

They were quite excited to talk about it.

“We will run regular classes ourselves on weekends for our people to learn cooking. For many of us, cooking is a passion and therefore we do not mind spending time to teach our colleagues.

What we really want to do is set up a restaurant.”

PN asked them, “But what do you know about running a restaurant?”

“That’s where we will need Sanjeev Kapoor’s help. His association will bring about lot of publicity and credibility and professional help.”

PN liked what they were saying.

“We will do our own funding; there are so many thousands of us in the company. People will definitely like to invest in this novel venture.”

PN did not want to dampen their spirits; he knew this excitement will pass once they got busy in their work. The only help they demanded from PN was the support from some of the company’s department so that all the legalities were taken care of.

PN said, “Well, ask them; if you “sell” well, they will help you in their personal time, I am sure. I do not want this venture to be part of our main business. But count me in as far as personal investment is concerned.”

The team went back full of anticipation.

They met with Sanjeev Kapoor and told him the idea; Sanjeev was happy to be part of this venture. This was one-of-a-kind restaurant and he knew it made lot of business sense in a city like Bangalore where the young crowd would love to experiment with cooking.

The teams started their internal publicity and gathered lot of people to learn cooking. In parallel, they started speaking about the DIY restaurant; there was a good response to an idea that all employees together could invest in this venture.

Also, they started producing the instructions videos for several types of combinations of meals, one for a set of two people and the other for a threesome. The instructions ensured that each person’s tasks, when cooking, were complementing the other/s. They included music and jokes in the videos to make cooking interesting. It was a huge task but then there were so many people involved in it and everyone loved what they were doing.

To cut the story short, there was a huge response when the ‘cooks’ invited all staff to invest in the venture. Sanjeev Kapoor invested his own stake in it; The ‘cooking stations’ looked sleek, each with a video screen and also equipped with a video camera, if the guests wanted their cooking to be captured in a video.

The site of the restaurant was finalized, the look and feel and the publicity campaign were finalized, the staff was recruited.

The stage was set for a grand opening.

It was one of the happiest moments for PN when the restaurant opened.

PN met the excited members at their restaurant.

The dream he sold to his team three years ago, actually became a reality.

His staff members loved being part of the revolution. There was great excitement about the stamp they were going to put on the map of their city.

The media splashed rave stories about the employees’ initiative of PN’s organization.

Management experts sang about the various ways the employees could be engaged for better employee satisfaction.

PN felt a deep sense of satisfaction that he could provide a platform for his people to express themselves and be happy. It was a small victory for John Galt[1]!

Did his people stop after this achievement? Of course not – they taught Indian cuisine to their clients’ employees, they taught hygiene and cooking to a lot of women folk from villages and created careers for them (the dial-a-cook project). Their three course meal videos became famous. Well, the list is endless. Suffice to say that a large number of employees of PN’s company got a forum to express themselves, to start a new journey which they only dreamt about.

Next: http://tenmg.blogspot.com/2007/11/reproduction-material.html

[1] John Galt is a key character in the magnum opus “Atlas Shrugged” (1957) by Ayn Rand. “Atlas Shrugged” is about how John Galt creates an Atlantis, a place where the only moral purpose of life for people was to achieve their own happiness.

Reproduction Material

June 2, 2012: PN was looking at an invitation letter to be sent to M. F. Husain, the renowned painter. The invitation was for the inauguration of an art gallery owned by PN’s employees.

The gallery had a large number of paintings, mainly reproductions of paintings by the great masters. What was unique was that PN’s employees had created all the paintings. Each was accompanied by a write up explaining why the original was famous. It was a great collection and a great effort by his people to create an awareness of art appreciation.

PN’s thought back to five years ago, when this new revolution had started in his organization. It was November 2006. PN had been invited to the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a conference entitled The Emerging India. After the conference, someone mentioned M. F. Husain’s art exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum. PN had not seen Husain before and did not want to miss this opportunity.

PN did not know much about art, but he was definitely fascinated by the artist. He was happy that he could actually meet the master himself, the great Husain, and spend some time with him.

Husain was curious to know what PN did for a living. PN told him about his organization and how it had become a matter of pride to the country, a feather in the cap of the emerging India.

Suddenly, Husain asked, “Could I visit your company?” PN could never say no to such requests.

Some weeks later, Husain visited PN’s company at its fascinating campus. He saw the pride in everyone’s eyes and was excited by what he saw. When he came back to PN’s office after the visit, he told him, “PN, I want to create a painting for your company—an emergent India.” It was one of PN’s the happiest moments.

After some pleasantries, PN went down with Husain to see him off. As soon as he returned, he called a meeting with his team members. Once they gathered, PN told them the whole story and asked how they could use this event for the benefit of the organization.

Shoma, the PR person, spoke first. “PN, Husain is a well-known name. And it is great news that such a celebrity regards us as the representative of the new India. We can capitalize on this to create a good PR campaign.”

“PN, a silly question.” said Sam, head of Business Process Outsourcing. “Will he teach painting to some of our people?”

“This looks to be a good idea,” said Suchitra, head of resourcing. “Some of our people would give their life to have Husain as their teacher.”

Pawan, head of compensation and benefits, was excited at what Suchitra said. “I don’t know if this will happen,” he said, “but if it does, it will be a greatest incentive to people. But only top performers should be included in this.”

There was a consensus that this was a very unusual reward and people would definitely love it. PN was aware that Sam was an amateur painter. So Sam was more than happy when PN asked him to manage the overall project.

He met Husain and got an amused Husain to agree to train about twenty people for a week. The grand day came when Husain’s painting, “The Emergent India” was unveiled with great publicity. The painting was a depiction of the emerging spirit of India, an empowering canvas, a poetry that captured the country’s new hope and confidence.

The names of the “trainees” to be taught by Husain were announced during the unveiling ceremony. The nominees were ecstatic about this new “reward.”

It was an experience for Husain to teach painting to PN’s people. Some of them knew little about painting. But at the end of the week, each of them had created a painting with a distinct Husain stamp of wild colors and heroic figures. The paintings were proudly displayed in a prominent place on the company premises.

This event created a new revolution within the company. Many people who were good at painting met Sam and coaxed him to start regular classes. They were ready to spend their weekends learning if the company would provide them with the space to work together. They were ready to pay tuition fees. And a new enterprise started with a lot of participation. Teachers from a local art school, Chitrakala Parishad, were happy to come and teach.

People came together on weekends, learned painting, learned about the great masters, and spent time together to share their happiness. They had never thought that it possible to complete their unfinished symphonies, their dreams of painting. For many, it was probably the best time of their lives.

During one such discussion, Sanjib, who loved to paint in an impressionist style, broached a topic. “Why don’t we paint the famous paintings of the masters and display them in our offices?” Many were happy to do this. Someone said, “Sanjib, we are happy to do this, but who will understand your impressionist paintings?”

“Well, I can create a detailed write-up on each of the paintings,” Sanjib said. “You all can create write-ups for your paintings. You can get help from many others in our organization.”

People liked the idea. Many came forward to do the research and wrote up their findings about the paintings. The theme agreed for the paintings was the Impressionist painters. Each group was assigned a master whose painting they could reproduce.

They planned to create a hundred reproductions in twelve months.

One by one, the paintings started adorning the walls of the company premises. Below each painting, there was a small booklet describing the work, discussing its nuances and meaning. Each was highly educational. The artists were proud that their photographs and names appeared in those booklets, and superiors were proud too when they showed visitors what their employees had created.

The initiative became the talk of the town. People absolutely loved it. Many sent thank-you notes to PN, and others sent requests asking, “Why do you favor the painters? There are many of us who have other skills, and you must do something to fulfill our dreams too!”

PN was pleased with what was happening. Many people came up with ideas on initiatives in other arts or sciences. They were happy that their organization could start something around each one’s unfinished dream.

PN visited the artists’ hall on a weekend. He could see the many happy faces engrossed in recreating the masters’ paintings. Each one of the paintings was a high quality job by the teachers and their students, PN thought. He was proud of his people.

Seeing PN walk around, many stopped their work and gathered around him. PN looked at his team with pride and said, “Great work, guys. I can clearly see the result of what you have created. Five hundred paintings are on display in an art gallery at the end of three years. Half of Bangalore’s population has visited your gallery, which has become a must-visit destination for the tourists.

“Congratulations. Your contributions are of great value, both to the organization and to the city. You should be very proud of yourselves.”

The dream he sold to his team three years earlier had actually became a reality.

His employees loved being part of this revolution. They raised funds internally to set up an art gallery and came up with an unusual name for it: Reproduction Material, because all the paintings on display were going to be the reproductions of the world’s greatest paintings. Some people objected to the name, but the artists went ahead with it. They wanted their venture to be bold, confident, and befitting the spirit of “the emergent India.”

PN returned to the present. His eyes rested on the invitation letter on the table. The result of the hard work of his people was in front of him—an art gallery they owned with the paintings they created.

The great Husain inaugurated the gallery on September 17, 2012, his ninety-seventh birthday. The opening was a major milestone on a journey that had started when M. F. Husain visited PN’s company and captured his people’s pride on canvas.

What followed the inauguration was exciting. The media covered the opening and visitors soon flocked to see great masters’ paintings. They brought guests to see and learn and enjoy.

It was one more victory for John Galt!

Bodhi Shopping

2 June 2011: PN, CEO of a large IT company, had a smile on his face when he looked at the news headline – “One millionth Bodhi tree exported”.

No one would have believed that a small beginning in his organization four years ago could have developed into such a strange business proposition for his country.

It was some time in April 2007 when his team met to discuss the itinerary of the Japanese prime minister’s visit to his organization.

Details of the agenda were finalized, details of the prime minister’s tour of the facility were drawn, and the guest list was finalized.

The agenda was to include a gift for the visitor. Various suggestions included a gem-studded statue of Buddha.

Gagan, the head of business development and also an environmental champion in the organization, made an unusual suggestion. “Why don’t we present him with a Bodhi tree?”

The team members looked at him as if they did not understand the simple question. It was indeed a strange suggestion.

Every Indian knew what the Bodhi tree was. It was the tree under which Buddha, the originator of Buddhism, received enlightenment two-thousand five-hundred years ago. The tree was a place of pilgrimage and was visited by tens of thousands of people annually from all over the world.

How could someone suggest such a strange gift?

Gagan sat up straight to explain. “Well, it was just a thought. It just flashed in my mind when you mentioned the gem-studded Buddha. You are aware that today we can create clones. I am sure it will not be difficult to create a clone from the Bodhi tree.”

There was silence in the room. People just did not know what to say.

PN broke the silence. “Well, Gagan, this seems a very wild thought, but I guess if we can make this happen, the Japanese prime minister will feel honored. It will be a pleasant surprise for him and also for his countrymen. One thing I am sure of, they will never forget our name. Can you look into this and let us know?”

“But what about the costs?” asked Suvarna, the CFO. “How much is it going to be and which cost center are we attributing this to?”

Anand, the delivery strategist, who had seen the world, said, “PN, I must remind you that this is not our business. We are a systems integration company and have nothing to do with this area.”

“Anand, Suvarna, I agree with you on this,” PN said. “Gagan, can you get some more information on the costs? Maybe the management team can afford this and give it as a personal gift from all of us, rather than from the organization. I do not want to let go of this thought, though it looks too good to be true.”

AVL, the qquality assurance head, said, “I agree that it is possible to create clones, but who will allow us to touch the tree?”

The team did not speak about the topic much after this because they thought this was just a fantasy idea that would be forgotten as the days passed. They discussed other aspects of the prime minister’s visit and then the meeting broke off.

After the meeting, Gagan caught hold of Abid, the administration head, who was a well-connected person and could be of help. They met the head of the botanical department.

They got to know more about something called somatic embryogenesis and about micro propagation. They sought contacts of the Micropropagation Technology Park, Pune, where a lot of work in the area of tissue culture was happening.

They also learned that they were not the first ones to clone the Bodhi tree. It had first been done by Sanghamitra, daughter of King Ashoka, way back in 288 B.C., when she carried a sapling of the original tree to Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, and that this was the oldest living human-planted tree.

They also learned that Dr. Narlikar, a scientist and head of Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, had done a similar experiment. Dr. Narlikar’s team successfully grew the clone of the famous apple tree under which Isaac Newton had sat and is said to have thought of the theory of gravity. Gagan was elated to know that what he proposed was actually possible.

Gagan asked for PN’s help to meet with the Ministry of Science and Technology. Gagan prepared a proposal in which PN’s organization would fund the initial efforts. They also negotiated for their organization’s name to be tagged to the project.

They told the minister about the great potential of selling millions of plants from the Bodhi tree to Far East countries that hold the tree in the high esteem.

The minister agreed to look into it. Later, they were informed that the work could to be undertaken under the aegis of Dr. Tendurkar of Micropropagation Technology Park in Pune.

This was great news. Gagan assembled his team of environmental enthusiasts and went to meet Dr. Tendurkar. The group gained great insight into the science of tissue culture. Some of Gagan’s team members stayed back to work with Dr. Tendurkar.

The pilot project, of which many were dying to be part, gave the team a great sense of satisfaction. Each day was a one to be remembered forever. The news about this gift was kept within the team.

The grand day of the prime minister’s visit arrived. There were the regular agenda items, during which the business groups presented him with the details of the contributions they had made to the Japanese economy, how their people had built smart systems that helped better governance, and so forth.

Then they took him on the facilities tour to show the environment they had created for their employees. The prime minister was happy. In the evening, they had a session with key employees at which the prime minister spoke highly of their organization and thanked the people for their contribution to his country.

At the end of the session, PN rose to give a word of thanks. He spoke of their long-term commitment to Japan, and he spoke about what his people had learned from the Japanese during their projects there. He concluded his speech by saying, “Your Excellency, Mr. Prime Minister, we would like to give you a small token of our respect. We are sure you will value our gesture.” And he presented the small Bodhi sapling.

PN continued. “Your Excellency, this is a gift from us to your countrymen who are devotees of Gautam Buddha. It is a clone of the Bodhi tree, the tree under which Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment.”

The prime minister was extremely touched by the gift. He took the small plant in his hands and bowed with reverence.

And this was the beginning of Project Bodhi, kicked off by the Micropropagation Technology Park. More and more plantlets were created in the nursery, and countries in the Far East lapped more of them up. Everyone wanted to have a Bodhi in his or her home.

The period the team spent in developing the Bodhi saplings in Micropropagation Technology Park was the greatest reward for them. They were passionate about the flora and fauna, and they were passionate about learning something new in this area. What better reward could they have received from their organization!

PN was deeply satisfied that he could provide a platform for his people to express themselves and be happy. It was a small victory for John Galt!
Did his people stop after this achievement? Of course not. They created Indian herbal gardens in the city, they generated interest in all employees to invest in a huge farm to start organic farming, and they created resorts on the farm for their parents to visit. They created small patches of land where their children could experiment and see nature’s wonders, they helped the surrounding villagers set up self-help groups to work on their farms, and to learn and implement new technologies. The list is endless. But suffice it to say that a large number of employees of PN’s company now had a forum within which to express themselves and that allowed them to embark on the kind of journey that previously might have only been a dream!

PN, CEO - Creating an Atlantis

This is the story of PN, CEO of a large information technology company, who believed that his real role was to create a new world for his people.

It all began on Sept 8 2006. PN was going through the monthly management report. He suddenly stopped reading when he came across the employee turnover part of the report.

He was concerned that his employees were going away to work for someone else.

Some of those who had been part of the team that created a brand worth a billion dollars for his company were no longer with him. The employee turnover costs for the past twelve months were a staggering three hundred million US dollars.

PN thought the people working for him were proud to be part of their organization. Then why was this happening?

PN went through the statistics once more. Most of his employees were between the ages of twenty and thirty; they were bright young minds with great enthusiasm. Maybe his organization did not give them a field in which to blossom fully.

In the beginning, PN felt that his job was to help people find meaning in their work, create a culture where more and more people would want to join him, create a dreamland for everyone, a place where one could realize one’s dream, a place where one could dream larger than life.

But what were people doing in his company now? Weren’t they more like robots, churning out productivity figures, input-process-output, input-process-output?

When they had joined his organization, they had been full of aspirations about their lives. What had happened to their passions? What had happened to the dreams they buried for the needs of the organization?

He was not happy with the supposedly innovative solutions given by his advisors for “managing attrition.” Their suggestions included:

-give productivity bonuses;
-give spot awards;
-plan job rotation;
-give them flexible work hours or allow them to work from home;
-initiate team building, or sports activities;
-invite family members for company functions;
-pay for a day of golf;
-introduce work-life balance, build child care centers, start counseling services, or concierge services.

Now it all looked cheap; he felt he was, by doing all this, actually insulting the real owners of the wealth, the owners of a magnificent organization created by the employees.

His role was much more than “managing attrition.” It was to create an environment in which people achieved something about which they cared passionately. And it was to generate possibilities for his people, to bring out the passions they had buried deep down, to rekindle their core interests.

He felt like John Galt—the same John Galt who created an Atlantis.

Read on, to know what PN did to reap a fortune from the untapped talents in his people. Read on, if you want to create an Atlantis in your organization.
2. Docendo Discimus
(pronounced as: dȯ-ˌken-dō-ˈdis-ki-ˌmu̇s)

June 15, 2010: PN was looking with a sense of satisfaction at the three envelopes spread on his table. He felt he had more than repaid his debt to the teachers from his village school. The three envelopes carried letters of a very unusual nature. No IT CEO would have received such letters in the past.

The letters were from the governors of three different states, inviting him to receive the Best Teacher Award, on behalf of his company, on Teachers’ Day. It was really a record of sorts; a company, rather than an individual, had been nominated as best teacher.

PN’s mind went back three years. That was when this new revolution had started in his organization. It was on June 2, 2007, when he invited all his team members for an off-site meeting with a single agenda—unusual corporate social responsibility (CSR).

When the team met, each member was excited and knew PN would come up with something very unusual. They also knew there was going to be an additional work put on them, but they were more than willing. The organization was respected as “thought leaders,” and they were all proud about it.

PN started with the customary words about where the organization was and where it was headed.

When the curiosity about the day’s agenda reached a peak, PN paused and then flashed the statement on the screen—Docendo Discimus.

The people in the room could have had huge question marks over their heads the way their faces looked. They all waited eagerly for PN’s explanation. He turned to them and started explaining.

“Friends, we are known for the quality of our delivery. We have maintained our employer-of-the-year status for the past three years. Our names appear in the agenda of our competitors as a threat. Our widening global presence is recognized all over, and we are on the top-five employer lists of most colleges.”

Everyone waited, still wondering what this docendo discimus meant. PN continued.

“Times are changing. We are finding it difficult to keep better-quality people working in the company. If we do not act now, it will be difficult for us to meet our target of becoming a company of one-hundred and twenty-thousand people by 2010.

“Our campus recruitment team is doing a great job. A fifth of our new entrants are new graduates. But there are murmurs about the quality of these people, the quality of teaching in their colleges, and the outdated curriculum, which doesn’t match the needs of today’s industry.

“Our board is not happy about the huge cost we have to invest in the additional training to the freshers who take six months to be ready to work on client projects. We need to reduce these timelines; we need to have better people on projects faster.”

Mohan, head of human resources, pricked up his ears. But these costs were well-justified. After all, every large company faced the same problems waiting for new recruits to achieve corporate standards. He was well aware of the quality of education and was already in discussion with colleges all over on how to improve the curriculum.

Suresh, the finance guy, was aware of the talks in the last board meeting about the rising cost on people and the impact it had on the margins. There was going to be no additional money, should PN come up with something new. Yet at the end of this meeting, he sensed that he was going to have to scoop out some money and build a solid justification for the board for whatever PN would propose.

PN continued, waving his hand towards the screen.

“Docendo discimus is a Latin term that means, ‘we learn when we teach.’ People add to themselves when they give knowledge to someone. This also means that we send our employees out to teach and, in turn, grow them into better people.”

Everyone gaped at PN. This made no sense to them.

“PN,” said Anand, the delivery strategist, “we are in the business of delivering software solutions, not teaching. The world around us is outsourcing its non-core business, and you are asking us to take on some business that has nothing to do with us.”

PN smiled and said, “Yes, I am asking the organization to do this. When I explain the full scenario, you will agree with me.” He continued.

“The solution I am proposing will have manifold benefits. It will have a better hit rate in our campus recruitment; it will reduce our fresher training duration. Not only that, this will improve our brand recall, it will improve our employee satisfaction and retention, and it will improve our margins.”

Everyone in the room became a little restless. They were clueless as to how on earth all this could improve the brand equity, the CSR, and above all, the margins.

PN went to the next slide on the screen: Prepare our key employees from all levels to go out and ask them to teach in colleges.

There were questions in some people’s minds. How would the education department allow this? The key employees were already burdened. How will they find time to prepare and teach?

But a few saw some meaning in what PN was saying. Suchitra, head of resourcing, said, “PN, you know what some of our old timers keep saying? They tell me that when they retire, they would like to go back to the universities and teach. Only then will they feel they have served the community.”

“Spot on, Suchitra. And look at what will happen when we give this opportunity to them now, well in advance of their retirement. They will be tremendously happy about this.

“Folks, people won’t mind doing all this, even giving their personal time. Especially if we recognize their efforts and reward them.

“What I propose is:
- we get our experienced employees together and agree on what we want to teach;
- we give them world-class training from a world-class institute on how to train and how to teach;
- we ask them to choose the colleges and the topics and to take a teaching session once a year.

“I am sure that many who come forward to take this up will actually choose their hometowns as places to teach and feel happy that they have.

“I am aware there are doubts in our minds on how to sell this to our people, the educational institutions, our shareholders, and the board. But I also know that you collectively will come up with solutions to address all this.

“Take the rest of the day to work on this. Together you have always come up with something really smart, and I know this time will be no exception.

“So, by the end of the day I would like to hear your ideas on first, how to sell this to our employees, meet their aspirations, and reward and recognize them; second, how to sell this to our shareholders, to the media, improve brand recall, sell CSR, and improve margins; and third, how to sell this to the educational institutions.”

The team members put their heads together for the rest of the afternoon and, as usual, came back with something stunning. The idea that had seemed so farfetched in the morning looked most convincing, once they had all debated, discussed and distilled their thoughts into actions.

Their key ideas were:
- enhance employees’ satisfaction by offering them an opportunity to grow outside their work, to address their social aspirations, and to receive world-class training to equip them to teach effectively;
- recognize their efforts by including this contribution in the employees’ database and embossing one star for each year of teaching onto their photo id cards;
- record input from students who had benefited from the teaching, from employees who went out and taught;
- create stories for all the PR campaigns and include a mention in the annual reports.

The best idea that came from the business group was what they called “cub sourcing” which meant that the organization should not stop after teaching the students. It should create a mechanism by which various pieces of work could be outsourced to students, the cubs.

This idea of cub sourcing was picked up for debate and improvement. Everyone felt the idea had fantastic potential. It provided an opportunity for students to do “real work.” It allowed for the organization to assess people’s caliber and identify future employees, and it provided the opportunity for the businesses to actually get work done at lower cost. The work could be as complex as writing software components, test cases, or simple documentation.

At the end of the deliberations, everyone looked very excited about what they had created. They could actually sense the excitement that docendo discimus was going to create in the market, a new topic being debated among the management gurus.

PN looked at his team with pride and told them, “Great work, as usual, guys. I can clearly envision the results of what you came up with today. I see about five thousand people, trained by our people, on board in the next three years, productive almost on day one. I see about one percent of our people, our future leaders, showing off their docendo discimus stars on their badges. I see a hundred colleges spread across the country covered under this program. And I see revenue coming from cub sourcing having a direct positive impact on our bottom line.

“Congratulations. You’ve done a great service to the organization, to our people, to the student community, and to our customers.”

The dream he sold to his lieutenants three years ago had actually became a reality. His employees loved being part of this revolution. The students loved it. The media splashed rave stories about the organization’s contributions to society. Colleges were proud to display a sign that read: “Our students are taught by the stars from the best employer of the year.” The management gurus loved the term cub sourcing and started building case studies around it.

PN came back to the present. His eyes rested on the three invitation letters on the table. The result of the hard work of all his people was in front of him: public recognition of his organization—the Best Teacher Award for 2010 from three states.

Pilgrimage to Pabal

My wish for pilgrimage was fulfilled after 10 years when the ST bus dropped me at the board displaying “Vigyan Ashram, Pabal” on a bright day in September 2004.

I walked past the ‘open’ gates of the Ashram to meet Meerapachi to ask if I could spend a day with the inmates. Meerapachi, Amma to the Ashramites, was happy to allow me to stay. She proceeded to tell the mess in-charge that I would have lunch/ dinner with them. Preliminaries complete, she introduced me to Anil, the rector who was happy to show me around.

It was a joyous time to meet all the students, from different sections of the Ashram. They showed me their possessions/ creations with pride. Mind you, they were all supposed to be school dropouts; their sense of purpose, their pride, their commercial sense of costing their products/ services conveyed in clear and confident communication was music to the ear.

They showed me the MechBull (mechanical Bull, a tractor built from parts stripped off from a Jeep) and their electrical and fabrication work; they showed me their poultry farmlet, the Saanen goats and Holstein cows; they took me around their food processing centre and soil/ blood testing centre; they displayed water diviners, built in-house; took me to their computer centre where everyone spends a small part of their day and to their internet service centre; I saw some water drips, a bio gas tank and geodesic domes that house the workshops and their homes; the Ashram provides internet service to the surrounding area using wireless internet connectivity (WLL) developed by IITians. One of the four fablabs initiated globally by the great MIT happens to be in Vigyan Ashram for the Diesel Engine Meter project.

A small piece of land holding the whole world of progressive technology!

All this, managed by young rural students (22 boys and 4 girls), that too in a remote drought prone village! It was just amazing!

Anil, the rector and my guide, shared with me his personal story. A young man of 20, he was working in some factory as a security guard before he came to the Ashram. He got to know about Vigyan Ashram and applied for their one-year training course. Though selected, he did not have the course fee of Rs. 8,000 (relatively a small amount considering that it covers all the hands-on training for a year including stay and food; in fact you get back Rs. 1,400/- which you are supposed earn by selling your skills/ wares as part of the training programme). He agreed to pay whatever he can and repay the balance in instalments from his salary. He continued in the Ashram, as rector and a trainer after completing the course. Anil looks after the well being of the students; he also conducts the daily aerobic exercises for the students. He has a dream to create a low cost electric popcorn machine (I actually saw the prototype). My heart swelled with pride, when I saw the confidence and hope in his eyes, when he showed me the different models he had created; He is on his way to patent them. This, my friends, is going to be my future India; these are the minds that are going to take us all to great heights.

The Vigyan Ashram has sent many such bright minds out in the world in the last 22 years, creating wealth in rural India in diverse fields. Around half a dozen of them have set up poultry farms (one of the girls has a farm with around 16,000 birds and a monthly turnover of Rs.1.5 lakhs); a couple of them have become building contractors; at least a dozen are proud owners of workshops/ electrical services/ fabrication works; a couple of them have started building MechBulls; a few have Argo service centres and some run computer training centres. There are around 25 Internet kiosks and 50 telephone booths managed by students. Amazing results!

Srinathmam and Meerapachi’s “entrepreneur children” have really paid back in full measure to the society.

I spent the evening with all the students during their weekly programme where each one gives his/ her comment on a word given to them a week ago to think about. And then Meerapachi gave me her time till late hours of the night to share with me her memories about the difficult times and the great moments and about her resolve to fulfil her God’s (her husband, late Dr. Srinath Kalbag’s) unfinished symphony.

I returned from my pilgrimage the next day, with a quiver in my throat and a great hope in mind.

How I wish India had many such techno-rishis building such upright young minds.
visit them at: http://www.vigyanashram.com/

My palette, catharsis

I put down my last dot of paint on my first ever oil painting on 24th Sept 2006.

My teacher, Ravi mam, brought in his wife and his daughter to see what his new student had created.

There was appreciation and encouragement in their eyes.

I was aware that there were many young students in his class who might have done a better job; but I was special, a ‘challenged’ child doing his first creation at the age of 53.

It all started when I joined the painting class a couple of months ago. My teacher welcomed me to be part of his batch of young students (the youngest was around 4 and the eldest around 15).

The students looked at me with curious eyes and wondered what prompted such an old man to come to learn painting. They did not know my inspiration lay in people much senior to me

It was a couple of years back when I met my aunt’s mother-in-law in Newport, UK; she was around 85 then. I was amazed to see the walls full of paintings she had drawn. She told me she had worked all her life to bring up her sons. It was only after retirement that she found this new passion. I took a photograph of her standing beside her ‘Haywain’ painting. I now use this picture in motivational trainings at my workplace.

Another aunt of mine is an inspiration to many. She is in her 70s now, but her actions belie her age. She is the reigning champion in table tennis for a decade now. She is also an avid follower of Indian classical music. She is no dilettante when it comes to painting too.

I do not know what happiness my inspirers derive out of their painting hobby but I know what this activity gave me.

When I sit down with my canvas and my easel, I have a strange feeling of losing myself. It is a sort of weightless feeling that I imagine astronauts experience. There is no gravity from worldly worries. This was the first activity during which I did not think of my work-related pressures and would just get lost.

I would become part of the picture; I would get inside the canvas, and be one of the brushstrokes.
I can exactly feel the intensity of Howard Pyle’s words - “Throw your heart into the picture and then jump in after it”.

It is as if I am in a mysterious lab, converting the fourth dimension (the time I am spending) into the two dimensions of the frame and releasing an invigorating energy, purifying my whole being.

Folks, I guess this is Nirvana. Try it out.

Reproduction of Van Gogh – Wheatfield and Cypress, 1889

Docendo Discimus

15 June 2010; PN, CEO of a large IT company, was looking at the three envelopes spread on his table, with a sense of satisfaction.

He felt he had more than repaid his debt to his teachers from his village school.

The three envelopes carried letters of a very unusual nature. No IT CEO would have received such letters in the past.

These letters were from the Governors of three different states; inviting him to receive the Best Teacher Award, on behalf of his company, on the Teachers’ day on 5 September.

It was really a record of sorts; a company, rather than an individual, was nominated as the best teacher; unheard of; three different states inviting one single person to receive the awards on the same day! Very unusual.

PN’s mind went back three years. That was when this new revolution had started in his organization.

It was on 2 June 2007 when he invited all his team members for an offsite meeting with a single point agenda – “Unusual CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)”.

When the team met, each of the members was excited; they knew PN would come up with something very unusual; they also knew there was going to be an additional workload onto them; but they were more than willing; they knew the organization was respected as ‘thought leaders’ and they all felt proud about it.

PN started with the customary words around where their organization was and where they were heading.

When the curiosity about the day’s agenda came to a peak, PN paused for a pregnant silence and then flashed “the statement” on the screen – Docendo Discimus.

The people in the room had huge question marks over their heads. They waited for PN’s explanation.

PN turned to them and started explaining.

“Friends, we are known for quality of our delivery; we have been maintaining our ‘employer of the year’ status for the past three years, our names appear in the agenda of our competitors as a threat, our spreading global presence is being recognised all over, others in the industry respect us for the investment we make in the CSR, we are on the top-5 employer list of most colleges.”

People waited, still wondering, what this ‘docendo discimus’ was all about.

PN continued.

“Times are changing; we are finding it difficult, by the day, to have better quality people on our rolls. If we do not act NOW, it will be difficult for us to meet our target of becoming a 120,000 people company by 2010.”

“Our campus recruitment team is doing a great job. A fifth of our new entrants are freshers. But there are murmurs about the quality of these people, quality of tuition in their colleges, outdated curriculum …… ………”

“Our board is not too happy about the huge cost and efforts we have been investing in the supplementary additional training to the freshers who are industry ready only after six months. We need to reduce these timelines; we need to have better people on board faster/ on projects faster.”

Mohan, the HR Head, perked his ears; - but these costs are well justified because the training is proving good to our people; every large company has the same problem and everyone is ready to wait for the freshers to be ready. He was well aware of the quality of education and was already in discussion with colleges all over on how to improve the curriculum.

Suresh, the Finance guy, was aware of the talks in the last board meeting about the rising cost of recruitment and the impact it had on the already thinning margins. He also knew that at the end of this meeting, he was going to have to scoop out additional funds for whatever PN would propose. And to build a solid justification for the board.

PN continued, waving his hand towards the screen.

“Docendo Discimus; a Latin term; it means - we learn when we teach.
A person adds to his/ her maturity when he/ she teaches someone/ grows someone.”

“This means that we should go to the colleges and teach the students ourselves for them to be ready for us. And in turn we grow our people into better people.”

People gaped at PN. It made no sense to them. Anand, the Delivery Strategist, said, “PN, we are in the business of delivering software solutions and not in teaching. The world around us is sourcing its non-core business out and you are asking us to take on some business which has nothing to do with our core business.”

PN smiled and said, “Yes, I am asking the organization to do this; when I explain the full scenario, you will agree with me.”

“The solution I am proposing will have far reaching benefits, manifold benefits. It will have a better hit rate in our campus recruitment; it will reduce our fresher training duration.”

PN continued.

“Not only that, it will improve our brand recall, it will improve our staff satisfaction and staff retention and it will improve our margins.”

People in the room became a little restless. They were clueless as to how on earth could all this improve the brand equity, the CSR and above all the margins.

PN went to the next slide on the screen which flashed – Prepare our key staff from all levels to go out and ask them to teach in colleges.

There were questions in some people’s mind – how will the education department allow this, key staff are already burdened, how will they find time to prepare and teach?

But a few saw some meaning in what PN was saying. Suchitra, Head of Resourcing, said, “PN, you know something what some of our old timers keep saying? They tell me, when they retire, they would like to go back to the universities and teach. Then, they feel, they would have served the community.”

“Spot on, Suchitra; And look at what will happen when we give this opportunity to them NOW, much before their retirement. They will be tremendously happy about this.”

“Folks, people won’t mind doing all this even giving their personal time. Especially, if we recognize their efforts and reward them.”

“What I propose is:
We get our stars and future leaders together
We give them world class training from a world class institute on how to train and how to teach
And then we ask them to choose the colleges and the topics and take a week’s teaching session once a year.

I am sure many will come forward to take this up, would actually choose their hometowns to go and teach and feel happy about what they did.”

“I am aware there are doubts in our minds on how to sell this to our people, to the educational institutions, to our shareholders and to the board. But I also know that you, collectively, will come up with solutions to address all this.”

“You have, at your disposal, the entire day ahead; you know your offsite buddy team members; your teams have always come up with something really smart every time. This time will be no exception.”

“So, we shall close the day today with your directions on:
1. How to sell this to our staff, meet their aspirations, reward and recognize them
2. How to sell this to our shareholders and to the media, improve brand recall, sell CSR and improve margins
3. How to sell this to the educational institutions”

The teams put their heads together for the whole of the afternoon and came back with something stunning, as usual.

The idea, which looked far fetched in the morning, looked most convincing when they all debated and discussed and distilled their thoughts into actions.

Their key ideas were:
Enhance staff satisfaction by offering them opportunity to grow outside of their work/ to meet their social aspirations and to receive world class training to equip them to teach effectively

Assign weightage during salary review for the contribution in this area

Recognize efforts by including this contribution in the staff database and by embossing one star for every year of teaching on their photo id card

Take inputs from students/ from joiners who to benefited from the teaching, from staff members who went out and taught; create stories for all the PR campaigns, including a mention in the annual reports.

Cover those topics which are not part of the curriculum alone but are important to the business.

The best idea came from the business group; they called it ‘Cub-sourcing’. What they meant by this was that the organization should not stop after teaching the students. It should create a mechanism where various pieces of work can be outsourced to students (cubs). Maybe a secured web site.

This idea of cub-sourcing was picked by everyone for debate and improvement. Everyone felt that this idea had a fantastic potential.

It had an opportunity for students to do ‘real work’;

It had an opportunity for the organization to assess people’s caliber and identify future joiners;

It had an opportunity for the businesses to actually get work done at lower cost. The work could be as complex as writing software components or writing test cases or simple documentation.

At the end of all the deliberations, everyone looked very excited about what they created; they had lived up to their expectations of being ‘thought leaders’; they could actually sense the excitement ‘docendo discimus’ was going to create in the market, a new topic being debated among the management gurus.

PN looked at his team with pride and concluded, “Great work, as usual, guys.”

“I can clearly see the result of what you defined today –

Around 5000 people, trained by our people, coming on board in the next three years, productive almost on day one

Around 2% of our people, our future leaders, showing off their ‘docendo discimus’ stars on their badges

Around 100 colleges spread across the country covered under this program

Around 0.5% of revenue starts coming from ‘cub-sourcing’ with direct positive impact on the margins.

Congratulations; You have done a great service to the organization, to our people, to the student community and to our customers.”

The dream he sold to his lieutenants three years ago, actually became a reality.

His staff members loved being part of the revolution, the students loved it, the media splashed rave stories about PN’s organization’s contribution to the society, colleges were proud to display – “our students are taught by the stars from the best employer of the year”, the management gurus loved the word ‘cub-sourcing’ and started building case studies around this.

PN came back to the present. His eyes rested on the three invitation letters on the table. The result of the hard work of all his people was in front of him; a public recognition of his organization – the Best Teacher Award for 2010 from three states.

Next: http://tenmg.blogspot.com/2007/11/bodhi-shopping.html