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S. Ramachander

Today's managers must keep themselves abreast with the wider issues that could affect their business, instead of being concerned only about micro issues.

For the wider perspective!

I PLEAD guilty to committing the conceit of columnists that there are some loyalist readers out there following the column as if it were a TV serial for whom the story so far can be taken as read. I therefore assume that you are still interested in finding and reading the weak or indistinct signals referred to in the previous instalment, that might help you mentally prepare yourself for an uncertain future as a manager. We talked then about packaged, clean drinking water as a good example of an emerging industry. What might be some other examples we could think off is a natural follow on to that. More importantly, perhaps, is how we approach this question. Where and how do we practise the aimless looking or a discourse sans agenda that might lead us to serendipitous discoveries? These are some issues, which have been addressed in this article.

Curiosity about people and life itself is, of course, an essential first step to any discovery. As the famous physicist and prankster Richard Feynman humorously wrote of his student: "I wonder why. I wonder why I wonder. I wonder why I wonder why I wonder!" Childish? Maybe, but this has a grain of truth about what sets apart the real discoverers. Clearly there are two prevalent orientations or habits of the mind that we can see among us, if we look a bit closely. There are the problem solvers, who love to track down an issue to its source and come up with ideas that might tackle it (say, the burgeoning problem of urban waste or precipitous fall in the respect for law and order on the roads) to take just two more everyday examples in our lives. Then there are the opportunity finders who see a whole host of business ideas in the growing incidence of, for instance, nuclear families and high density, high-rise living in cities.

Of course, one might conclude that the first approach is often a necessary first step for the second, yet what matters in the difference between them is the mental attitude. The latter is more likely to generate a greater variety of ideas as yet not thought of, and is less likely to be judgemental. The point of this article is that an attitude of accepting the larger environment with an intelligent understanding is far better than a philosophical resignation or helplessness. Therefore, sensing opportunity has more than a functional purpose. It benefits the individual as a whole.

As the well-known principle of brainstorming has it, the only way to get good ideas is to get a lot of ideas. Just for a few moments take my word for it, and look around yourself to see if you can identify both types (problem-solver or opportunity-seeker) among people you know well, and then ask yourself which one you are as well. However, regardless of the stance adopted, the object of the exercise is the same, namely considering deeply and dispassionately, the way we live now. The present carries within it the seeds of the future trends. So we might agree quite quickly on a few dominant bases for developing scenarios. The amazing thing is the way we seldom seriously talk about or reflect in depth over some global issues. Yet these are rapidly touching all our lives no matter where we live or what our professional affiliation is — the population explosion, the widening gap between the rich and the poor both among countries and within countries, the mindless depletion of non-renewable or scarce natural resources, new sources of health risks, far greater integration of the world's economies, global travel, declining order and discipline in general, high degree of congestion, fewer open spaces, accelerating speed of activity, blooming ambitions, careers and the competitive spirit that drives them all. I have not put these in any particular order and assumed we all know that trends are interconnected too. Governments everywhere, affluent or poor, are struggling with similar problems. Only emphasis, capabilities and scale vary. The one thing that has happened since September 2001 is the inclusion of the US as an ordinary member of this club. Anything that could happen elsewhere in the world can happen there too, perhaps earlier and on a larger scale - and thus serve as a warning to others if they but care to look. Thus the answer to the question as to where to look is obvious - everywhere!

This demands an awakened mind, one that operates on a 360-degree sweep, alive to and willing to accept a mere possibility while withholding judgement as to its feasibility. David Ogilvy, the great advertising genius, considered abundant curiosity and a `well-furnished mind' as eminent qualifications to being a successful marketing or advertising thinker. To my mind this brings up a crucial lacunae in the training and living habits of the average Indian manager to the extent one can generalise about them.

Our training generally prepares us rather poorly for a wider appreciation of social, political and human issues. The majority of senior managers would see themselves as `basically an engineer, technical specialist or an accountant' plus or minus a management degree. And their academic background has typically little weight given to economics, psychology, social studies and humanities. This has two side effects: a lopsided development of the mind and personality obviously, but also an inability to read widely or in depth. At the risk of having bricks thrown at me I would say few managers read beyond the newspapers and magazines and fewer still consider the habit seriously. This is a dangerous portent for the future.

Business schools are trying to some extent to redress the imbalance in the curriculum and are also incorporating field study of social issues and observation of the generally neglected elements of the community as project assignments. I understand that the SP Jain institute in Mumbai as a matter of policy sends its management students only to social and non-commercial ventures or NGO projects for their summer internships. These are indeed welcome portents, and we must hope that they would be sustained. The working manager must somehow make the time and the effort, as he is not in a formal school any longer. Companies that are enlightened enough to organise other socially sensitising and bonding group activities like outdoor programmes must set apart at least the time for (if not actively support) reading and discussion of the wider issues that affect us. This would greatly help build an intelligent understanding of what is going on in the world — beyond politics and movies and the stock market, in other words beyond the TV sound-bites.

What can we say about the scenario for economic activity in general, and one's own industry or organisation in particular in view of the set of possible issues of the future outlined earlier?

In order to be able to answer this question, senior managers in particular must first consider it part of their professional responsibility to keep abreast of what is happening around them. It is not enough to exhort others to do this but they should set an example. Difficult though it will appear at first to find the time, they must show a capability to go beyond the usual reading and discussion of the gossip technical or otherwise of their own industry. It would be also be helpful for top management to insist that in all serious efforts at business planning, some time is set apart for a full and open discussion of such global and macro level issues at the very outset of a planning cycle. A reading club format would be ideal with tea meetings called say once a month and more frequently when needed.

Someone from the HR or any other function could facilitate this process and also call on outsiders including academicians to open the discussion on a topic that everyone has shared some information about in advance, and follow this with a lively debate and discussion. It is important to ensure that each participant brings something to the table as otherwise this can too easily degenerate into yet another passive listening exercise, with the lights dimmed right at the start for a slide presentation. A reading list or a list of videos for the chronically "reading-challenged" could be prescribed as a preparation for the session, to ensure real participation, which of course must be encouraged officially but remain voluntary — as some others might well have other ways of their own by taking part in some community activity or hobby to achieve the same purpose. This also has an element of bringing a semblance of work-life balance, which is a theme that has become critically important for employees and social observers alike elsewhere in the world.

There are several important reasons for harping on this theme at some length. Firstly, all businesses regardless of size and of how much they are involved in international trade, are becoming increasingly vulnerable and exposed to global market trends. This is a new reality for most Indian managers.

Secondly, markets, industries and technologies are in a continuing state of flux with boundaries being redrawn all the time. Thirdly, we need hardly refer to the phenomenon of competition or geo politics, which hits us in the eye through headlines at breakfast everyday! And finally, in a world of shorter career spans, greater job insecurity and yet steadily increasing human longevity, the model of a workaholic manager wedded to one company for 35 years is rapidly becoming obsolete. The onus for tackling this issue is on every individual. Self-initiated, continuing self-education and acquiring a wider perspective on life is an ideal way of preparing oneself for the inevitable years of uncertainty ahead.

(The author is Director, Institute for Financial Management & Research, Chennai. Feedback can be sent to bleditor@thehindu.co.in)

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