Disorder in the Questions: asking the ‘How?’ sooner

When we go for marketing calls to sell the service of DNA development for the businesses, I make a single statement to make our point i.e. ‘we help the companies to grow from one level to next level’.  As a response to this, often we get back a question ‘How do you do that? ‘.  Also we get other questions that are closely related to the disorderly question “how do you do that? “. Some of them are ‘How do you get from here to there?’, ‘Where has this worked?’, ‘What would this program cost and what is the return on investment?’. ’ How do we measure it?’ etc. We prefer to call this question disorderly, because it beats all the creative and productive purposes. The question creates a subtle aura of cynicism or contempt. It indicates something such as “ We have been doing it all these years, how can you be better than us” ,  “We know it all , let us see if you can tell us more than we know, which is impossible”,  etc.. It is also a defense against taking action, as it implies that let us know clearly that it will yield what we want then we shall act.

Thus the How? question is a defense for the stubbornness to act for change or even to think differently. It is an indirect expression of doubt, more on to them than on us.  The How? question also seem to be a habit.   Business owners who have strong habits of pursuing what is practical and doable, tend to ignore larger purpose and impacts. We are astonished to watch frequently that when some business owner’s initiatives do not work, they simply try harder. When they are trying to control a business and it is failing, then they doggedly do more of what is not working.

The How? question also promotes an illusion of speed such as the world is moving fast now a days  and there is no time for thinking and emotions; At any cost we must do all things fast. Of course, we need to do things fast what needs to be done. What need to be done: ‘the business’ is often forgotten.  Instead the organization mindlessly pursues to meet the mechanical objectives. This mindset, of going only behind what works, is the biggest hurdle to sustainable business growth. We attempt to break this mindset very early in our interactions and that puts us in the risk of being expelled from the premises. But that is the hazard of business facilitation job. We need to put up with it.

Each time business owners / managers try to get answers to the question How?, they get answers such as .. do Lean management, do six sigma, do 5S, do 360 degree feedback, do balance score card, do leadership training etc etc. All seem to have not yielded what was expected if not failed. Still organizations resort to such programs every now and then with a hope to solve their fundamental issues.  Often How?  question fails because it is not the right question and secondly the answer comes out of someone else’s experience. It is difficult for any business to live on the experiences of others regardless of the meticulousness with which the answer is accepted.

It is not that we propose a blanket ban on the How?, it is only that we persuade the business owners/ managers to save this question for a  latter period and that there are more important questions to be asked before the How?. Getting the questions right at first is the best step. We facilitate to make them ask right questions.

Contributed by Sasikanth Prabhu

Strategy during stressful times.

Recently we had to stall our Business strategy workshops (DNA Development) in one of the reputed company which serves as vendor to an Automotive OEM. The strategy development process is stopped because the company is undergoing distress in terms of increased costs of production, cut in orders from the customers, lower productivity etc. The company was also preoccupied with negotiations with labor for a renewed contract.  All these put together may take toll on the long term strategy. ‘We need to survive first, to think for future’ that is the principle chosen by our client for the moment.  Logically this mantra seems right but has very limited value.

Impulsive reactions to problems, across the enterprise cost-cutting, failures of leadership, lack of clarity, misunderstanding of risk and ignorance of consequences, are all common strategic failings during stressful times.  Typical actions during such period as we have seen is that, all activities centre around cutting costs and raising cash (by loans, by brisk debt collection or delaying payments to creditors). Other ways are – reducing salaries, renegotiating contracts, selling assets, closing a plant, or even reorganizing the entire plant. Business owners or managers who make these decisions seem to be making a critical error. A majority of companies’ cost-cutting measures fail to deliver the savings expected. In fact, half of all cost-cutting schemes are aimed at delivering incremental savings of less than 10% of costs.

Most ‘reduce - cost’ decisions have limited effectiveness. There is genuine concern that more invasive cost-cutting decisions designed to deliver short-term benefits often harm the long-term competitiveness of the company. The key to effective cost cutting is to know the business and its outcome.  That outcome should be in line with the organizational actions we take. Even if a cost reduction attempt is considered essential to survival, simply looking for percentage cuts across the business is likely to lead to a reduction in a business’ competitiveness.   The Business owners / managers should have strategic outlook on cost savings and it should be available for dialogue.

Applying a cost-cutting mentality within existing strategies (if there is one) can deliver not only sustainable savings but also help advance strategic goals. For example, it’s often assumed that cost-cutting and customer satisfaction – a common strategic objective – are mutually exclusive. But if there is an existing supply chain strategy in place, it makes sense to identify which processes are not directly related to improved customer relationships – then look to cut costs or refocus those activities.

Though we supported our client who suspended the strategy discussions in passive way, our answer to this problem is to address strategy in simple, relevant ways that keep business owner / key players focused on the business of the company (strategy), while delivering clear courses of action to survive in turbulent times and grow at the same time.  This need for maintaining a strategic approach is critical, which means looking clearly at business in clear ways, then analyzing how long-term strategy can be maintained in a depressed situation. Business owners / key players who have a mindset to make reasoned decisions based on the solid strategy will do a better job of securing a winning future of their business, as well as their survival.

At times of economic upheaval and low availability of finance, there’s a real danger that

the strategy can take a back seat to survival. But organisations that abandon strategic thinking not only run the risk of undermining their chances of advancing their business when the economy improves, they also endanger their ability to weather the storm.

The key to ‘strategy under stresses is discipline – business discipline !

Contributed by Sasikanth prabhu

True Dialogue (Part 1 : a proposal)

In 2011 February we did a public program named “Mind your Business – Mend your Business” in Indore with support of Shri Yogesh Jain of Niche Quality Solutions. Around 15 participants from various business concerns were there and Mr. Akshayakumar Mankad , former head of operations of TATA Motors was there as an observer. The idea behind the program was to highlight that the leaders in the organizations need to be Business focused than organization / product focused and to show that Business acumen is an elusive issue. Fairly the point has been driven into the minds of the participants.



As a sequel to the program we had to visit one of the participants’ Shri Sameer Golwalekar, a multidimensional personality having interests in multitude of subjects. Our discussions wandered into many topics such as world history, Indian culture, Current business scenario, European psychology, J Krishnamurthi etc. At the end of the discussion he presented us with a book titled “On Dialogue” written by David Bohm, Professor of Theoretical physics. The specific choice of the gift was not random, it was after understanding the methodology, intention and service that we provide to the Business fraternity, that he suggested that we must go through this tome.

The book had about forty pages but each sentence was rich with meanings and insights that are unusual to find. I finished reading the book on the flight back to Kochi. The amazement was a Phycisist writing a book on tackling the social issues and an instigation of pride that we hold similar lines of thought. The book definitely enriched our Business Strategy workshops and (We both Yogeshji and me ) thank profusely Shri Sameer for this invaluable gift.

The summary and highlights of the book as I understand is provided in this series of blog. His own words are provided in most of the occasions and I have tried my best not to give my own interpretations. Wish you all an enjoyable read.

David Bohm, while researching the lives of Einstein, Heisenberg, Pauli and Bohr, made a remarkable observation. He noticed that their incredible breakthroughs took place through simple, open and honest conversations. He observed, for instance, that Einstein and his colleagues spent years freely meeting and conversing with each other. During these interactions, they exchanged and dialogued about ideas which later became the foundations of modern physics. They exchanged ideas without trying to change the other's mind and without bitter argument. They felt free to propose whatever was on their mind. They always paid attention to each other's views and established an extraordinary professional fellowship. This freedom to discuss without risk of interpersonal damage led to the breakthroughs that leaders of all sort today take for granted.

Dialogue - A proposal

For David Bohm the word "dialogue” gives an image of a river of meaning flowing around and through the participants. Any number of people can engage in Dialogue - one can even have a Dialogue with oneself - but the sort of Dialogue that Bohm is suggesting involves a group between twenty and forty people seated in a circle talking together.

According to Bohm , Dialogue is a way of exploring the roots of the many crises that face humanity today. It enables inquiry into, and understanding of, the sorts of processes that fragment and interfere with real communication between individuals, nations and even different parts of the same organization. In our modern culture people are not able to talk together about subjects that matter deeply to them. Solution to the fragmented communication, Dialogue is what Bohm proposes.

In Dialogue, a group of people can explore the individual and collective presuppositions, ideas, beliefs, and feelings that subtly control their interactions. It provides an opportunity to participate in a process that displays communication successes and failures. It can reveal the often puzzling patterns of incoherence that lead the group to avoid certain issues or, on the other hand, to insist, against all reason, on standing and defending opinions about particular issues.

Dialogue is also a way of observing, collectively, how hidden values and intentions can control our behavior, and how unnoticed cultural differences can clash without our realizing what is occurring. It can therefore be seen as an arena in which collective learning takes place and out of which a sense of increased harmony, fellowship and creativity can arise.

Because the nature of Dialogue is exploratory, its meaning and its methods continue to unfold. No firm rules can be laid down for conducting a Dialogue because its essence is learning - not as the result of consuming a body of information or doctrine imparted by an authority, nor as a means of examining or criticizing a particular theory or program, but rather as part of an unfolding process of creative participation between peers.

A Dialogue is not concerned with deliberately trying neither to alter nor change behavior or to get the participants to move toward a predetermined goal. Any such attempt would distort and obscure the processes that the Dialogue has set out to explore. Nevertheless, changes do occur because observed thought behaves differently from unobserved thought. Dialogue can thus become an opportunity for thought and feeling to play freely in a continuously of deeper or more general meaning. Any subject can be included and no content is excluded. According to Bohm Such an activity is very rare in our society.

What is Chai Board?

Many people ask about Chai Board; how it came into existence, what is done in chai board, how it is conducted, how long it takes, what is its benefit etc. 

'Chai Board is a service developed by Marg Atreya Consulting, way back in 2007 to help the business organisations to make the 'business' meetings effective. It was designed after years of experience and research.

Before jotting the attributes of chai board, let us scan the  environment prevalent in many of the organisations. There is a subtle, intangible, but real pain in most of the organisations. One common overheard statement in most of the organisations is " how am I supposed to get my work done with all of these meetings?'  Meetins are hated and tolerated by many and most believe that it is a waste of time. Yes it is ... if not conducted , moderated or facilitated properly.

There is the frustration of calling a meeting to make a decision and watching the meeting spiral into a battle between rival departments, divisions, partners, product lines, business units etc or get lost in confusion over the meaning of a technical term, in proving ones point of view as more superior etc. These meetings first has the frustration of reaching a decision and then having to abandon the decision because there was'nt enough 'buy-in'. This is the pain of fragmented 'social capital'.

Part of the pain is a misunderstanding of the nature of the problems at hand.  The failed meetings are due to a special class of problems called 'wicked problems". Business organisations have them plenty, but they are niether recognised or are attempted to be solved in logical method , with tools / techniques meant to handle well defined problems. Wicked problems are ill-defined ones and a force of fragmentation. Most business organisations, small or big,  today have significant wicked elements. Most of the business owners and managers are not recognising the presence of such phenomenon instead they sub- consciously accept the situation and apply what they know best. In meetings they follow the traditional way of agenda making, following it with tick marks as the ponts are discussed and concluding the meeting as the agenda is completed.

Another source of pain is the social complexity, ie the number and diversity of players who are involved in the business. The more people involved in a business the more social complexity and the more diverse these people are , the more social complexity. Often people who come to the meetings see themmseves as more seperate than united. In many of the organisation the uniting force /system / theme is missing,

Thus presence of wicked problems and social complexity makes the meeting less effective. As a solution to overcome these problems Chai Boad was designed.

Chai Board is an opportunity to share business insights face-to-face


Chai Board is a small informal gathering (3 to 20 people) assembled to engage in 'fertile dialogues' to develop and share insights.

Time suited for Chai Board is mid morning or mid afternoon ar early evening when participants are relaxed and enjoying a cup of tea.

The duration of Chai board may be 90 minutes or more depending on the enthusiasm and energy of people. (usually it takes 120 minutes minimum)

The heart of Chai Board is dialogues.......

For want of honest, direct and open conversations, careers are derailed and

organizations lose money. For lack of truth telling, bad behavior is tolerated and,

 in fact, spreads, infecting others who become cynical or indifferent.

Fertile  dialogues are required to float the realities of business and to grow the business.

Indicators of fertile Dialogues are openness, informality and energy.

Chai Board facilitates fertile dialogues.

Dialogue is the core of business team work and the basic unit of work.

Conversations can be stilted, politicised, a personality biopsy, domineering, fragmented, clouting, masked, adversarial, vengeful etc

or

Conversations can be reality based, asking right questions, listening oriented, empathatic, solution oriented, authentic, debating the issue etc.

Chai board focusses on the latter kind of conversations.

The Chai Board value point : Spending time in dialogues in the prresence of a facilitator creates insights and enhances learning.

Chai Board captures moments of truth.
Chai Board engages people in spontaneous / fertile dialogues
Chai Board triggers alternate thinking routes
Chai Board facilitates insight learning
Chai Board creates genuine bonds

We are proud to overhear that our clients are using the term often ... such as .... 'Lets have a chai board tomorrow...." indicating this is distinct from their other routine meetings.

contributed by Sasikanth Prabhu

 

Profit and Profitability

Many incidences we have faced in our strategy workshops, where we have to explain the difference between profit and profitability. Yogesh Jain of Niche Quality Systems Pvt Ltd, who is partnering for the DNA development service in Indore region has witnessed most of the confrontations related to profitability.

The question, what is the aim of doing business? Elicits an immediate and instinctive answer… ‘to make profits’ from most of our workshop participants.  Anything other than profit seems to be unthinkable for both business owners and managers.  This is the point where we struggle most to make the key players of the business think beyond profit.  One aspect that we push them to go beyond profit is ‘profitability’.

When we say that ‘profitability is healthier measure of business than profit’ is not welcome by most of the business owners, partially because they do not understand the difference between these two and due to the sentimental attachment they have towards the term ‘profit’.  

Why this strong sentiment?  We feel …….because everyone in the company pays attention to profits. Most of the key business teams have a revenue / budget / profit plan, each department / functional head owns an important element of that plan and progress is watched closely by them in the review meetings.  All managers work strenuously to meet these targets. Yet, even if each manager meets the budget targets, the company seems to be a lot less profitable.   

I remember sitting in a review meeting of a distribution company several years ago. The business owner of the company sat at the head of the table and looked at the four to five managers sitting on both sides of the table. Each manager, in turns began..’ here are my numbers’……. After presentation, they had discussions on implications of the numbers presented and finally all adjusted their numbers and a consensus was reached. This was the half yearly plan.   

In the following quarter the Sales manager grew the top line and met his quota. An additional sale came from new customers who ordered frequently in small amounts. The gross margin on these orders did not cover the distribution cost. Other customer ordered products that were out of stock locally and had to be couriered from other regions.

Two things were noticed in this situation. First both the Sales manager and the Logistic manager were on target; the sales manager grew revenues and the Logistics manager met his target because his budget was based on an average cost that allowed these inefficiencies with a hope on future business. Even though these managers met their numbers they failed in managing the profitability.

Second, these uncommon sales and orders could have been made much more profitable through some very simple business oriented twists, which would have benefited the customers as well as the company. These twists require only a business acumen and execution - not extra financial capital. Our strategy workshop highlights this point to a large extent.

As a discipline, we need to see Profit and Money as two different things. It is certainly possible for a firm to make a huge profit and have no money. It is equally possible that company is flush with funds but is suffering from losses.  What happens when an organization shows a profit?  There will be a line of people standing in a queue waiting for a share of profit.  Some organizations get into trouble because they don’t make profit. And others get into trouble because they make profit.

But successful businesses stand on two pillars. One: the ability to generate profit. Two: the ability to manage cash flow. Managing cash flow is very much related profitability. But this is missing in most of the companies… profitability is unseen and unmanaged!

 Contributed by Sasikanth Prabhu

Outside support

Entrepeuners succeed with one set of skills and mindset. They are often tempted to think that success can be repeated in the future with the same set of game plan. What we have found is that many successful entrepreuners get stuck at some level of achievement and their business do not grow further. The reason could be when things slip, as it coud be, the temptation to do the same old things hardens aggressively and urgently.

But some companies, very rare ones, even though they are successful in their initial phases, they do differently in their second phase. One of the different things is that these long surviving companies infuse help from outside at an early stage itself by associating with resources such as external board of directors, advisory councils, industry experts, consultants, mentors, facilitators, learning forums etc.  

While the companies that are stuck and have a retarded growth appears to be more insular and are less eager to form partnerships with people outside the firm. Such company owners show so much confidence in themselves that they end up eulogising themselves about how they succeded in tackling challenging situations in the past and how they rely on their own internal abilities. At times, they also, redicule external sources of expertise.

"Help seeking" is a mindset, that need to be inculcated very early in an organisation. But the entrepreuners who start an enterprise tend to be great at figuring things out by themselves and are extremely confident in their ability to find the right answers. Initially this seems to be great , but as the business grows, the leaders must be willing to look for people (outside the four walls of the organisation) with relevant experience, connections and perspectives that are useful to the company.

The power of seeking outside wisdom is immence. The outsiders can play a number of relevant roles. Such as....

1. Usually leaders and managers who take extraordinary initiatives are alone at the top / edge. They can rely on or use outsiders as mentors / counsellors / sounding boards

2. Business is all about perspectives. Outsiders can bring in different perspectives. Many leaders, due to operational urgencies, get bankrupt on ideas. Facilitators can bring new ideas and help key people in the organisation to navigate to the growth path.

3. Sometimes the company may be trying out new ideas or innovation that were tried and perfected by others, elsewhere. If the organisation has a habit of looking for the best from the market, the chances are high that a useful resource be found.

4. Many business tools are developed and tested by varius institutions for the benefit of the business organisations. The outside network of people can get these new tools into the organisation quicker and with ease.

5. Closer contact with external people will enhance the competiveness of the people in the organisation including the top leaders of the organisation.

Getting connected with outside human resources is a channel to grow the company but Douglas Adams says " Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others are also remarkable for this apparent disinclination to do so"...... but do not hesitate to seek help!   

contributed by sasikanth prabhu