The power of technology and the human spirit

May 5th, 2010 No comments »

This has been a stressful week with many unpredictable issues cropping and unexpected surprises (obviously not all pleasant!!) springing up. And I have been up since 5 AM to do my bit as a judge on a panel with exceptional individuals across 5 geographical locations and 2 continents. We had the onerous task of identifying one business plan submitted by the contestants of the Acara Challenge, who are engineering students aiming to create a viable commercial business solution to a particular social issue that they think is crucial to address over a looong 4 hour web meeting. The topic was Water and I have to admit the grogginess I experienced when I woke up to log in to the call was gone in a matter of minutes!!

The marvel of technology connecting this motley group of individuals each of who in their own right is trying to initiate change, and the human enterprise made me realise that at the end, this is what really makes things happen; makes the world go around- This will to bring about change and the technology that will power it. And I am glad I got an opportunity to witness the optimism of youth combined with the maturity that can only come from experience this morning. The results will be out soon and I would love to see the project we chose, to see the light beyond the secure environs of the University it was created and make a difference to the lives of many with clean water and fresher air. In a manner that’s sustainable and scalable.

Life is good.

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Instinctive decision making

March 15th, 2010 3 comments »

I have been speaking on this subject a lot lately, with many stories from my life and career as examples. A recent talk and a blog on this subject thereafter (http://pr-discussions.blogspot.com/2010/03/prpoint-women-and-leadership.html) drew some very interesting comments and feedback. A couple of comments warranted a clarification. One was wondering if there was a distinction between male “reason” and female “instinct” and if it really applies universally. The person also reasoned that that there are a lot of men who have this sort of an “instinct” and let it rule over “reason” many times.
The other comment was that the crux of the thought implied that if one follows one’s instinct, one tends to not stick to any one good place, however satisfying it might be.

It is true that “instincts” could be strong in both men and women, and more importantly, both sexes are capable of relying on their gut. My premise was that as a woman, having string instincts come naturally, but many women don’t rely on this natural ability they have, mostly owing to peer pressure and societal norms that sometimes equate instinctive decision making with being emotional. Listening to one’s heart and doing what makes one “feel good” is woefully under-recognised in our societies and I wanted to share some insights from my own experiences to highlight how it could be used to one’s advantage.

Following your heart doesn’t mean you change your mind every now and then. Sure, there are all kinds of people in this world. Some find their happiness in stability and some others want to explore multiple dimensions of their personas. Instead of being judgemental on what could be a better path, I would say the focus should be in creating a path that works for you. The objective of my talk wasn’t at all to say that one needs to follow the path I have charted for myself. Its worked for me but it may leave some others who have different wants in life totally dissatisfied. That is really the underpinning of instinctive decision making.

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Its makes sense to be “good” in business

November 27th, 2009 2 comments »

When an oil company transforms its marketing to focus on health and improves its market share, and when a leading bank becomes carbon neutral and insists that the people it lends to also be taking measurable steps to reduce their carbon footprint, you know the world of business is changing. Marico and HSBC are not exceptions. They are becoming a part of an increasing brigade of businesses who are changing their business model to become more sustainable. Their focus on creating a social impact while meeting and improving bottom-line is not restricted to a few CSR projects that they might initiate. It’s about changing business process and weaving in the social impact within the fabric of the business itself. At the NHRD annual conference that’s happening in Mumbai even as I write this piece, there are only two key thoughts being discussed at the conference. To be more Inclusive and to be more Sustainable. It’s what the keynote speakers spoke on and it has been the underpinning of every concurrent session.
The big question to ask is…are today’s organizations prepared for this big shift that’s sweeping across, or are they still struggling to understand the gravity of these words and not entirely sure how they can adapt their business models to this New Normal. In my view the biggest challenge is bringing about a change of mindset among today’s leaders, for it’s their will and clarity of thought that will bring the rest of their organization up to speed. And this change of mindset needs to come from experiential learning and mentorship from those who are ahead in the maturity curve. Perhaps its time our B-schools and organizational design programmes in corporations take a relook at their programmes and address this with the urgency it deserves.
The fact that BMW Foundation managed to get a buy-in from 200 of their top global leaders to assemble in India for 3 days to talk about this subject should be a good indicator of the behaviour organizations are demonstrating to not just survive but have a competitive edge in the future.

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Two sides of Entrepreneurial success

November 5th, 2009 No comments »

I gave a talk recently to a group of senior managers of a large multi-national bank on how social impact needs to become a part of the fabric of any for-profit organization. I used my own personal journey on the road to being a social entrepreneur to articulate my thoughts. Social responsibility cannot be construed as opposing the principles of competition and profitability, in fact far from it. Not only can in resurrect the brand image of any organization and reinforce its standing as a trustworthy entity in the eyes of its stakeholders, it can actually add directly or indirectly to the profitability of the business. It was heartening to see that seasoned business leader crowd nod in agreement. Signs of changing times?
American Apparel differentiates itself from low-cost competition with socially acceptable and sustainable production (e.g., domestic production, higher average wages, and compliance with environmental interests). So does Fab India with its backward integration of artisans and keeping age-old dyeing traditions alive while they show their marketing savvy in getting those weavers their due. Allianz Global Investors have invested in a Dialogue Training Centre at their headquarters in Munich, not as a philanthropic CSR measure, but as an inherent operation to bring in mindset change in their leadership that is bound to impact their ways of conducting business.
I believe that the days of “aligning brand” to CSR are over. The brand and therefore the business have to demonstrate profitability through social impact. A study done by Deloitte L.L.P. in 2008 suggests that many companies may be missing the opportunity to leverage volunteerism to develop business and leadership skills. Deloitte surveyed 250 human resource managers from Fortune 500 companies across the U.S. as part of its 2008 Impact Survey. About 91 percent of those surveyed agreed that skill-based volunteerism — applying one’s expertise in areas like technology, business strategy, human resources or finance to a nonprofit’s operations on a pro bono basis — can actually sharpen that employee’s professional and leadership skills.
But a miniscule of them actually think about this as an area to demonstrate profitability. Its high time Triple Bottomline, a phrase was coined by John Elkington in 1994, to describe the concept that a company’s responsibility be to stakeholders rather than shareholders, is adopted as a norm than as an aberration. In this case, “stakeholders” refers to anyone who is influenced, either directly or indirectly, by the actions of the firm.
Corporate social responsibility as it is seen today by organization is no different than an ISO standard, a seal of ensuring quality in the world of global “citizendom”. It is worn as a badge to demonstrate credibility and communicating the “intent of ethical behavior”. Its important no doubt, but I firmly believe that if corporate social responsibility is understood to be a core competency, which strengthen intangible and temporarily inimitable assets such as integrity, credibility, reputation, and human or social capital, it enables companies to create innovation, develop new markets, clearly differentiate themselves from competitors, or influence the competitive environment to their benefit. Merely showing off charitable gestures, sponsoring, or taking on pro-bono projects, without having such activities anchored in the business philosophy, cannot generate sustainability. Profits and Ethics are not contradictions, they are two sides of the same coin of entrepreneurial success.

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Matter of perception

September 2nd, 2009 No comments »

In my work, I have the privilege of interacting not only with people across cultures but also with people with “disabilities”. A recent experience showed how its all a matter of perspective as to what you consider “disability”.

My friend who is visually impaired decided she is going to post a picture of hers on this social networking site (yes, she is incredibly IT savvy and totally “with it”!!!), even though she wont be able to see it. I saw the picture, in which she looked incredibly sexy and complimented her on her gorgeous looks. She called me soon after and said she was confused. She had got mixed reactions from people on the picture, with some saying that maybe it was “too sexy” and made her seem er… frivolous, which she is not. I disagreed (since she looked fantastic) but told her she could review it once more and put up something that was “more acceptable”, but she should do what makes her comfortable. I asked her how she would choose the right picture. She smiled and responded…she will have to choose the right person to make that judgement!!
That statement said so much. We assume that if one has a certain disability, one would also lose one’s sense of making the right judgement. I learnt on this call yesterday that our ways of making choices are different, but that’s the only difference.

In another discussion, this time with a sighted man, I was discussing the process of recruiting blind high potentials who would conduct workshops for senior business leaders. Firstly, he was intrigued that someone with disabilities could actually teach a thing or two to the best brains in business. When I explained to him that it wasnt about IQ, but about EQ, his first question was…”are there enough educated blind people for us to go on this recruitment drive?”. His question was baffling to me. Since I work closely with forums and platforms related to disabilities, I probably have a better idea of the ground realities, but his perception of the fact that if one has disabilities, one is also bound to be kept away from a decent form of education told me many things. Perceptions and practices that prevail in our society, and achaic laws that refuse to take cognizance of about 10% of the population.

In yet another interaction, I was pleasantly surprised to see employement agencies working to place people with disabilities in mainstream jobs. And these are not charities or NGOs. They are for-profit organisations running a successful business- just that they have found a niche that very few have any understanding about. Its all about perception!

I am looking forward to speaking at the US Business Leadership Network later this month where senior HR leaders of corporate America will discuss and find real-time examples of how they can bring more diversity into the workforce, and actually enhance productivity and employee engagement.

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Dull or Dim?

August 1st, 2009 No comments »

I read this article by David Brooks in the New York Times with much amusement.

He claims success for today’s CEOs comes more from from a focus on hard skills. I wonder if Mr. Brooks has blinkers on to what’s happening around in the world. Just one look at CEOs who have demonstrated traits that he holds so high in esteem in companies would tell him that his theory as far from the truth as possible.

I have been following the Harvard Business debate closely and the writing on the wall is clear. Its time that not just leadership but also schools that are breeding grounds for future CEOs need to look inward and rethink their strategy so tomorrow’s leaderrs are more collaborative, transparent, empathetic and inclusive.

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What are we teaching our kids?

June 16th, 2009 No comments »

Example 1: I almost fell off my chair this morning reading the newspapers. Kanpur University thinks the sight of bare hands on their female teachers was distracting students enough to ban them entirely from their faculty’s wardrobes. Noble thought indeed. Wonder how the sight of bare arms is more distracting for a student than the ancient methods he or she is adopting to teach. Or even the fact that he or she might be in the class chewing paan or gutkha. Besides what’s education got to do in a learning organization. Why should the organization teach men about respecting a woman’s wishes and her desires? Isnt it more appropriate that they learn early that its OK to ban anything they fancy in the name of decorum and discipline? Don’t the educational institutions realize that outdated knowledge and methods of teaching that is disconnected with where the world is moving today is the biggest distraction that’s keeping kids from learning?

Example 2: I was channel surfing the other night and came across this ghastly serial called “Laado”. Supposedly, it is a serial made to bring to the limelight rising cases of female infanticide in Haryana. What I aw in the episode was anything but. There was this loud-mouth village ruffian (a woman no less!) who had dragged her daughter-in-law to the Panchayat on some flimsy case of adultery (not yet proven). The husband is conveniently missing, and to cut a long story short, the Panchayat, after some arguments back and forth with the “victimized girl” tell her to spend 6 months in the house of her mother-in-law as a maid….
I am sure this happens in reality in some boondocks in the Haryana hinterland. But there are all kinds of audiences for television, and I cant for the life of me understand how one can promote the cause of preventing female infanticide, if this is the general tenor and storyline the awful serial is taking. Am I glad I hate telly soaps!!!!!!!!

Example 3: Nothing gets my blood boiling more than seeing small kids travelling in fancy cars with their parents throwing trash out of the moving vehicle as if the whole neighbourhood was their personal trash can. The parents have lost their civic sense anyway, but cant they at least pretend to be socially aware and teach their kids a thing or two about basic etiquette? Wish they’d at least read their children’s environmental science book once when they are asking them to mug the answers. I get into an argument with one such callous parent at least once or twice a month on an average….but is that the answer? Cant we find a simpler way to instill a basic sense of civil behaviour in public?

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Social media- the good, the bad and the Ugly

June 2nd, 2009 2 comments »

First- the good. Its heartening to see ground-up momentum for a call to action. A few weeks back I got a FB update from one of my friends on the social networking site, Onir (a filmmaker, who’s made sensitive films like My Brother Nikhil in the past), about this film he was making on the story of a child abuse survivor inspired by a true story. What excited me was that Onir was using FB and other social media effectively to not just promote the film, Abhimanyu, but also raise funds for the making of the same. He has got several volunteers to support the initiative in direction, promotions (me included!) and other aspects of film making, purely by word-of-mouth. Couldnt be a better case study to demonstrate the power of social media, if it needed one anymore anyway!
I am totally in agreement that topics like child abuse must come out in the open. In India, one out of every five girls and one out of ten boys face some form of physical or psychological abuse. Sadly, most of these incidents are never reported and innocent victims are forced to suffer in silence. The brave few that do come forward are woefully underserved by a society that prefers to look away and a legal system that doesn’t care.
I am enthused by the fact that this initiative will also be a slap on the face to the power-hungry producer/multiplex coterie. Bravo new cinema!! Anyone who wishes to be a part of this initiative, either in the form of monetary donation (which will get the donor suitable credits in the film) may contact me on this blog. Incidentlly, the script of Abhimanyu has been nominated in the new category of Best Educational Movie, Triangle Media Group (UK)Global Award Nominations for 2009 for its script. www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/2009/05/18/12881/index.html

The Bad (not so bad really!!)
An interesting trend I notice when I scan Twitter and Friendfeed for news and trends. Unlike TV that thrived on “sensationalizing” bad news, it was heartening to see all news- bad and ugly included getting evened out on social media sites. So my fellow communicators while breaking their heads over “exciting” headlines need to rethink their new media strategy if they have to garner attention of bloggers and master tweeters, for its not a sensational headline, but a news that is new and provocative in its content that will garner attention. Now, if only broadcast and print take the cue…

The Ugly
I learnt through a recent post on Oliver Marks’ blog on ZD Net that hundreds of teens who coordinated through MySpace and Twitter got together in South Philadelphia, hijacked a taxi and created mayhem and rioting on the streets http://blogs.zdnet.com/collaboration.
The reasons were not very clear in the posts, but what’s interesting to note is that the powerful collaboration that’s possible today through social media can also turn ugly. Is it time for a new set of rules?

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living a dream…

May 19th, 2009 2 comments »

I was hearing my dear friend Soumitra Dutta, who wrote the book “Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom” the other day, speak about his book where he opines that the future of work lies not in the hierarchy and position an organization provides an individual but if individuals can excel and unleash their potential. Besides, today’s “employee” collaborates not just within the organization but also as much outside and the fine line between work and pleasure has dulled considerably. I am living his theory in some way.

The last 6 months have been the most difficult but some of the most exciting months in my life. I struggled to find my course and take decisions that I knew would have big implications on my life and career. After all, I had a wonderful job, great boss, amazing colleagues, and a supporting family to boot. It seemed stupid to rock the boat on one side, but there was this nagging feeling that unsettled me. Instead of ignoring those feelings, I decided it was time for some introspection and determine how I wanted to live my life in the coming months and years.

In my 15 year career, I have had fantastic opportunities where I have led projects where there had been few precedents. Be it creating a roadmap for commercialization of India’s first biotech crop, overcoming what could be the worst business environment, or executing a brand transition in 19 days or taking a brand from being virtually unknown to be nominated as among the top 5 to watch out for, my career has been full of excitement and challenges that have not only been fulfilling for me as a professional, but have also shaped the person I am today. Now, other than having a strong will and perhaps a reasonable above-average intelligence, I don’t think I have any other remarkably different skills that an average professional possesses. I realized that what really helped me succeed all these years was the ability to look at a seemingly impossible situation and create a path to find a solution for it. It was the challenge that excited me and helped me get the successes I have had so far. One of things I had always struggled with was to translate my vision to others and delegate, but in the last few years, my biggest satisfaction has been the creation of the communications team from scratch at HCL and watching this vibrant and high-energy team grow from strength to strength and execute programmes with an expertise and panache that would put much experienced veterans to shame! Easily the best and the sharpest team in the world!!!!

I find myself again at the crossroads now, and I choose to take the path less travelled. The decision to move out of a role that gave me so much success and satisfaction hasn’t been easy but I need to this now. I am excited about the challenging projects I have determined for myself, that will bring significant business impact to the organizations I will associate myself with. Time will tell if this was an intelligent decision but it definitely feels good. I truly believe today I can be successful and get peer recognition purely for the value I bring to the work I do, and not be judged primarily on a high profile designation I might have.

I am also reminded at this time of this discussion I had with Prof Gary Hamel sometime back where he was telling me about this company he was very impressed with called WL Gore. He told me that employees in the company had no designations. I pretended that I wasn’t baffled, but I actually was. I mean, how does one know who’s the boss? Gary’s theory was very simple. He said if “someone calls for a meeting, and the invitees turn up, well, he sure is a leader”!!!!!!!!!! Which is true, isn’t it- people naturally gravitate towards people they think bring value to their work and their lives. Isn’t that really a better yardstick to determine who has “leadership” potential?

So there…flagging off my personal journey and experiencing the “future of work” where the fine line between personal and professional, between social and business, between work and pleasure is just that….a fine blurring line!

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The end of charity-The beginning of Social Change

April 14th, 2009 4 comments »

I just finished reading Nic Frances’ “The End of Charity”. And while I didnt find the writing gripping, the thought process of the author is far superior to anything I have read in recent times. Also, I found it very relevant considering I have become such a passionate champion of bringing about social change in the real world by working real-time with businesses who will endorse that change and become partners in the process.

 

The way individuals and entities define themselves today is primarily determined by the place where they have chosen to reside- be it in the “profit-making” space or in the “charity” space. It keeps the sphere of action distinct and therefore when people decide to decide to dole out grants or make philanthropic commitments, their choice becomes simpler. 

 

However, today’s market scenario and the demands of the changing business and societal environment have led to the emergence of a third kind of business model. That of the “social enterprise”. A social enterprise is not merely one that innovates while relying on philanthropic donations and government grants. It locates the interface between a social goal and building a customer base for a service that is based on market realities and driven by an ideology that there could be a sustainable way in which we can bring about social change in a global, market-driven economy.

 

The question here is- if charity in its traditional form has been able to make a difference to the soceity at large given the magnitude of money that gets circulated? The more I read and understand this route to social change, the more I am convinced that it doesnt impact the fundamental root of the issue. 

 

And the more I get involved with Dialogue Social Enterprise (DSE), the more I tend to believe that the space they have chosen to occupy is the one that will create a social change that is sustainable and a force multiplier. In the last few years, the results they have demonstrated with no obvious effort to market themselves by empowering and employing hundreds of people with disabilities and sensitizing millions of people, to the concept of otherness, while catering to a growing demand for effective learning, is a testimony to this fact. Another example is that of Grameen Bank, a concept that I first came to know when I was thick into rural marketing, almost a decade ago. The bank has been able to do more than any number of charities exisiting in Bangladesh.

 

Choosing the charity route would have been an easier choice, but I am inclined to think that by using market principles, one can provide a more practical and long-lasting business model that helps the “receipients of charity” merge with the mainstream.

 

The process is undoubtedly more complex than in a purely-for-profit or a charity organization with no imperative to operate profitably. The need of the hour is to find with like-minded partners, who will support this business model and  bring about a social change so significant that the world will sit up and take notice that driving change by operating in the real world- by engaging and operating within society, market and economy is not just possible, but far more impactful.

 

 

 

 

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