Amit Chatterjee's Blog

Economic growth for a nation has been the pronounced objective of all governments in the capitalist world we live in today. The reason is very simple and has nothing to do with the nation. It has to do with what economic growth places within reach of individuals and those who run the governments. Individuals get more money in their hands to fulfill all they yearned for and that is what motivates them to strive for economic growth. Whether money can buy everything or at least happiness (hic!) is a philosophical question; and everyone knows the answer! But, philosophy is never a part of the agenda for those who run governments or work the shiny wheels of capitalism.

Those running governments have no option but to periodically win elections and /or retain their power to rule others. If they are not able to put some money in the hands of their voters or who gets them the votes, they would be banished to the peripheries of political Siberia. Individuals in government with a penchant for ‘mere’ patriotism or statesmanship normally do not last long enough in politics to substantiate any other reason for governments working for economic growth. The best eventually prostrate to their narcissistic demons only to leave behind a burnt garden for another generation to resurrect from.

That is the simple and straightforward logic for all the cacophony over economic growth, the world over. Look at the guest list of any hotel in Davos and you should find the same guys owning something on the Riviera. It is all about Money, Honey! The cursed trajectory in economics is a tragic one way street. Either you grow or you perish. Hence, Mr. Money is the boss or the supernatural that rules the worker, the most educated, the best professional and the wily politician. Let us accept it; Abraham Maslow was bang on! We humans anywhere and everywhere are an incurable lot. We have always been ‘perpetually wanting animals’, never satiated with what we have and always drooling for more and more of what we do not have.

A mini Rewind to the 19th century and we know that the Industrial Revolution and later Medicine unleashed a tremendous lease of life to mankind. Fast Forward to the 21st, the pivot for economic growth shifted from trading monopolies supported by feudalism to knowledge arbitrage. And knowledge was not held in land, machines or in banks, but in an Individual. On the other hand, Capitalism is based upon the need or greed of an Individual. For the first time in the history of mankind, the Individual could wield power that even Democracy could not thwart for long. No wonder, politicians in agrarian societies leave no stone unturned to hold back Industrialisation. Industrialisation takes capitalism to a crescendo and heralds the Individual. No wonder again that crony capitalism becomes the serpent that entwines the spine of all government bureaucracies in the world. In the developed nations, they legalized corruption and called it lobbying.

But, paradox is the only reality of any progress. Industrialisation, Capitalism with the Knowledgeable Individual as its pivot has created the modern world we live in today; the world ruled by the Knowledgeable Capitalist (KC)!

Capital, in surplus the world over hovers above like a drone ready to swoop in on anything or anybody that gains any knowledge of differentiation. Capital cavorts everyday with Knowledge. The symbiosis promises an orgasmic ecstasy not many can reject. One could only watch them dancing away into the wee hours of our societal nights. No one wants the orgy to end, no one knows if there would be a new dawn.

But, questions pop up in our minds when we take a pause. This pause is probably more possible for some who have already gained some slices of surplus and hence rest a while.

What next?

Where are we headed?

What more to acquire?

Is more really required?

What to do with our knowledge and financial surplus?

Have we already sold out?

(an excerpt from Ascent: A Practising Manager's Growth Mantra)

Between Management & the Future, lies the grand canyon of Risks!

Leadership keeps throwing the rope across this canyon, till it hooks onto something and holds!

The shouts of caution drown in the shrieks of amazement only to crescendo into a roar of applause as the leader takes the first steps towards the yawning chasm. As cold sweat trickles down the spine, the leadership mind steels its resolve and shuts itself to the uproar it leaves in its wake....ramrod straight, taut as a string and alert as a cat on the prowl, the leader puts its feet on the stretched tightrope, unmindful of failure. The body and its each cell are tuned to all elements of nature (context around). It senses the tiniest of change around and adapts to the same. It hears no adulation, it expects no rewards; the achievement of the goal is its only obsession. No distraction can deter him, no aspiration is big enough than the objective driving her volition! Maslow’s prisoners hate him, hold him in awe and perspire while the leader carries on across the tightrope oblivious of all emotions; all six-keen senses focused on that point at the end of the rope where lies her reward, the actualisation of her dream; the objective!

Risk mitigation, risk management and risk alleviation are the buzzwords of the management creed. It naturally breeds risk aversion. It curbs recruitment of risk friendly personnel. It deters from developing a culture that develops risk appetite. The organisation becomes a haven of safety, rules, SOPs and deviation management. Today is great; we need to sustain the same and not taking any risks becomes the credo! Analysts, statistical averages and executives set up their tent right at the centre of Mr. Gauss’ bell curve. Anyone showing tendencies to drift towards the extremes is declared a pariah. The controlling head sits atop the bell curve and keeps a hawk’s eye on any flutter beyond the expected. Living within expectations and strolling around the known terrains makes life akin to living on the organisational Riviera. Under Gauss’ median tent, life is about routine, efficiency, productivity and stability. Everyone knows each other, everyone and everything is predictable. All will continue forever; we are sailing in a yacht on Lake Placid. Just Do it; yours is not to think, but to keep at It!

But, risk management need not mean risk aversion or avoidance. It could mean taking risks that does not kill the organisation but when successful, will put the company into a different realm, will raise the bar, create entry barriers and deliver competitive advantage.

All that is known to most! But who will take the risks?

Those who are living a life of ‘topping up their un-fulfilled needs’? Or those who have been passaged to immunise against risks?? Or those Busy in running Rome (executing assignments)???

The challenge lies in selection of people and the proportion of volitionals in the management team at different levels and groups. The Management needs to ensure a culture that recruits, nurtures and allows adequate number of volitionals to scour the horizon, to cast their ropes across the craters around. Even a column of ants have volitionals who make sorties that discover the ingredients for their long term survival. Non-volitionals or Maslow’s prisoners can act as speed breakers, provide safety kits, build alarm systems, press the brake lever and run the SOPs. But, if one does not have the volitionals in the team, there will be no risk taken, no entry barriers built, no competitive advantage generated and hence, no ‘sustained profitable growth’!

The good news is that most, if not all individuals have a mix of volitional & need fulfillment drivers. A Management that respects the above and consciously steers the drivers as an optimal mix, both at the individual and organisational levels, need not work so hard on their own. The unhappy marriage between Stress and Management or Leadership can then come to an end.

Since, each individual is the carrier of the need fulfillment or volitional drivers, the choice of being prisoners of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs or unleashing their volitional energies in pursuit of chosen purposes, remain with the individual. Hence, the individual can himself practice an optimal mix of their own drivers and that is where lies the development potential of each organisation man or woman.

For the Management of any team or organisation, the development potential lies in their choosing, nurturing and allowing the volitional energies of their team members to cast their leadership ropes across the canyon of risks. On the other side, the big risk lies in what is realistic as ‘un-fulfilled needs’ that the individual may expect to be met. Most of Maslow’s needs are real to the perceiver, but they cannot be fulfilled in the short term. Management needs to empathise with the self-perceived trajectory of individuals regarding their major motivators or un-fulfilled needs. They need to have the confidence of being transparent and helping the individuals to match their perceptions of expectations to realities and potentials in the short term. The long term is okay for the volitionals as they are not driven by their un-fulfilled needs, but the actualisation of their Objectives and therefore are there for the long haul (as long as they are hooked by the purpose). For the non-volitionals, the distance they have to go to fulfill their un-fulfilled needs is the short term and the long term is tiring for them.

The Biggest risk lies in whether the Management is driven by volitional energy or their own un-fulfilled needs!

Risk also lies in channelising the volitional energies, in building organisational traffic lights for the un-stoppables – the volitionals! Risk lies in recruiting the super narcissists (can be easily mistaken for volitionals), whose prime motivation comes from fulfilling their need for fame and power. Risk lies in non-conformance between values manifested through the decisions, actions and behaviour of the Management and the accepted (not declared alone) values of the organisation. Risk lies in curbing the volitional energies of many in different parts of the organisation when asked to conform, comply and be one of the six hundred in the Light Brigade (a la Tennyson).

An organisation where all the above is managed well, not only develops success and sustainability, but also offers a happy and vibrant life for all those organisation men and women. Management is like cooking a delicious meal, where Leadership, hooked by a purpose across the canyon of risks adds the fragrance and taste to make it beyond expectations!

December 2013: I had just finished the first draft of my first book. Over the last four months, it had been my most passionate engagement. Any-one around me could catch me drifting back to my book every spare mo-ment I came by. I was shameless in my pursuit of selfishness but honest. As honest as the sparrow hunting the first worm that surfaced with sunrise.

I was done with what I set out to do – to put to prose, nuggets of my learning and practice as a manager in the profession called Management.

Now what?

Yes, I knew that I had to go through the final stages of finding a publisher, refining the book as best as I could with the help of a professional editor and launching it for my readers. But, that is not the same as creating the book. I knew that the raw product I had on my hands was the beginning of another journey. It needs to be reared with utmost care, dressed up like a doll and then presented to the outside world. But, that is not creation; that is development. What a pity! Why do I enjoy more the journey of creating roughs?

Creation is easier than facing the emptiness that envelops you once you have finished what you set out to accomplish. It is like walking up a hill through its winding track to witness a glorious sunrise. You huff and puff through the never ending bends and inclines with your head bent down. Once in a while, you look up to see how far more to go and wonder, isn’t it as distant as the last time you peered upwards. You overcome one hurdle after another only to find another boulder looming in front of you, challenging your capabilities and capacities. But, the vision and the mental state that awaits the warmth of the sunrise makes you carry on until you reach the top. But, having reached the hilltop and soaked in the warmth one realises how temporary a milestone a task fulfilled can be.

An emptiness hangs in silence, no more pregnant with any uncertainty or opposition. One may call you successful but you feel engulfed by desolation, success having rendered you purposeless. As long as I live, I need to search for something new, something that rubs off its significance on me and make my life more meaningful. As of now, that is the only way of life I know. That is the only way I understand…to go beyond any expectations!

Expectations of yourself, of your family, friends, employers, employees, customers, and competitors are all Limitations. Living within these limitations could be normal and satisfactory for many but there are some people who are leaders as per this author who have preferred to lead their lives ‘beyond expectations’. Most people before being corrupted or reduced to the lowest common denominator by the constraints of perceived reality have ambitions, aspirations, dreams and even the will to achieve their goals. Even before fatalism catches on for some, the rigours of the short-term make most people settle for compromises or ‘satisfactory underperformance’. Habits formed through living under such limitations are then manifested in how an individual approaches or views the challenges or opportunities thrown up by life at large.

The majority is either oblivious of such individuals living beyond expectations or marvel at them while a minority try to play the catch up game without getting out of their habit forming experiential funnels. Psychologists have proven time and again that the environment in which an individual is imprisoned is responsible for the behaviour and cognizance level. Yet, most organizations, managers & leaders exhort others to ‘change’ without changing the environment or even their own culture or manifestations.

Yes, it is either hypocrisy or the short-term comfort of such entities that make them resort to such apparent stupidity.