Chief Belief Officer at Future to employ ‘alternative' methods of doing biz

Mr Kishore Biyani, Chairman of the Future expects to create new rules in business management based on Indian beliefs and mythology.

His philosophy of staying away from the tried and tested management techniques is getting implemented slowly with the appointment of a Chief Belief officer for the Group. Today the Future group is looking at alternate management techniques by giving its employees a chance to delve into new options to run the business.

Speaking to Business Line , Dr Devdutt Pattnaik, Chief Belief Officer, The Future Group, said: “We are trying to tell employees of the Future group that there is an alternative way to do business and not just follow-the-standard-concepts taught at management schools. We are not about KRA (key result area) and KPA (key performance indicator). Today all management learnings are based on a linear mindset which is influenced by the western world.''

Think beyond beaten path

Thus Dr Pattnaik is expected to help in influencing a change in the way the Future Group employees think about doing business. “Nobody is willing to accept the fact that there is an alternative way of doing business than what is being taught in management schools in America and Europe. At the Future Group we are now asking employees to think of new options and not believe that there is just one way of doing business,” added Dr Pattnaik.

Elucidating on this ‘alternative' way of doing business, Mr Pattnaik adds, “Kishoreji has always believed that to do business in India we have to think like Indians and respect the Indian way. Unfortunately, there is tendency to copy and paste ideas from the West, without checking out their relevance and applicability in the Indian context.''

Karta concept

Drawing a parallel to the Indian family system, Dr Pattnaik would like an organisation to have a ‘Karta' just like the head of a household who worked to make everyone happy. This meant looking at the ‘customised' needs of every individual, rather than settling for the ‘standardised'.

So in the Future Group stores (Big Bazaar, Pantaloon, Central) value is given to the Karta who respects the subjective truths of the team member, and is not the conventional ‘leader' who only focuses on alignment and compliance.

“We do not begrudge the Indian habits of being ambiguous and we are comfortable with uncertainty. We respect systems but we do not see it as the panacea to all problems. We recognise that different contexts need different solutions and don't follow the rigidity imposed by ‘best practices' and standardised templatised solutions,'' he says.

Scope for Mythology

Besides Dr Pattnaik has also pursued mythology as a hobby while working in the pharma and healthcare industry and some of these learnings might also get implemented in the Future Group. This should suit Mr Biyani's philosophy of imbibing Indian values and systems in the group.

In fact Mr Biyani's ‘mythological' leanings were evident when the Future Group picked up stake in the publishing house, ACK (Amar Chitra Katha). “Kishoreji believes in Indianness and the power of storytelling. He felt by delving into mythology I could draw attention to hitherto unknown frameworks and levers which could then be applied to business,'' added Dr Pattnaik.