A Critical Transformation Agenda - Change the flow of Corporate Information from Esoteric to Exoteric Flow of Critical information in the enterprise is critical to its success. Generally, as OD professionals, we see 3 reasons for Information Clogging : 1. Design Deficiencies : Natural design tends to unintentionally block free & easy flow of info at different points 2 Inadequacies in Leadership Competency : Here the leader's style discourages unnecessary sharing of informatio

Employee Connection & Involvement matters most... One of the greatest follies in HR is the mindless use of tools in measuring real time 'Engagement' of people. On-going measurement of Engagement is about experiencing the palpability, energy, vibrancy and happiness in the Enterprise - something which surveys can never accurately measure and your heart will never miss experiencing ! Surveys are only limited purpose popular consulting tools to measure Engagement ... popularised

Everybody is enamoured with this idea of Conducting a year-on-year 'Employee Engagement Survey'...then compare the survey results with all kinds of intelligent slicing of data feedback, make intelligent analysis and continue thereafter to do more of the same activities seeking a 5% higher cost approval from the Board !!!. Year on year, ritualistically, the Board will cut the budget, make some intelligent sounding recommendations and there we go. Year on year, we find out the

After morning post on Work Place Harassment, my private e-mailbox has been hit by at least 80 messages of friends narrating tales of their WPH experiences. Sad, indeed sad. Even I had not gauged the extent of this problem. But there is confusion..sexual harassment...work place harassment...bullying...mobbing &hostile work environment are all different. Let me explain. Please see Steps I to VII in the doodle. In Step I Victim's conflict begins at workplace with the Corporate B

Unfortunate. Work Place Harassment is a dark and painful organisation reality. Accidentally, met a professional who I had Coached several years ago. Had become a pale shadow of the high energy bubbling professional that he was in those days. Over coffee at Starbucks we met. I realised...he had unfortunately become a silent victim of bullying & work place harassment (WPH). Without as much as realising, successful professionals become silent victims of WPH. Interpersonal dynami

Had many interesting chats with my battle-scarred father-in-law who was a celebrated 'infantry' man. We had diametrically opposite perspectives on man-management and leadership. Sometimes, ofcourse we agreed. This once we had and thus I write... Having a strategy provides an edge...but by itself, it can provide an edge but thats not end all. Effecient logistics supports the Army but by itself cannot add critcal extention of time to the forces in the field. A strong communic

Unless you are humble, you cannot learn. Whether in a classroom or at work-place with a coach or in the sports-field... YOU first have to acknowledge that there are a few strengths the the coach/teacher really has in the relationship and thus brings on the table, which you have clearly deficiency of. Unless that pre-condition is fulfilled, the teaching activity will be undertaken but real learning will not happen. The real source point of all effective learning is in the mind

It is not how lucrative or bountiful your scheme is that motivates people to go for it. It is how realistic it is for them to achieve it with a full realistic stretch that makes it attractive. If people begin to believe in their first few 'moments of truth' with the scheme that the targets are just impossible to reach ... they will not put in even a bit of their discretionary effort to stretch and reach the goals. When you design your motivational programs, make them realisti

For a professional to succeed in a 'dog-eat-dog' competitive market, he needs to be a master of positioning his 'Presence'. Effectively it means that a person should be able to align and manage the balance between the two types of Power that simultaneously work on him - 'Personal Power' and - 'Social Power' Rightly points Howard Thurman that ..." there is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide

Every professional is a potential Querist. Deep down, everybody has unanswered Questions for which he is searching the answers. Sometimes for fear of evaluation,sometimes procrastination, sometimes pre-occupied,such Queries remain unanswered. Partly also because of our belief in magic. We were taught as children to write our doubts & tuck it under the pillow for the 'Angel of All Answers' to visit whilst we were sleeping &leave answers magically in our minds. Little did we re

In our hidden desire to taste succeess at any cost, we become too anxious to please..bend much beyond what we would have otherwised liked to and yet, surprisingly, we did ! To differentiate between behaviours of service & behaviours of servitude, one needs a mirror. Behaviours of positive service are desirable & they take you a long way. Behaviours of servitude unfortunately, take you nowhere. Momentarily, they may please the narcissist Manager who enjoys sychopancy in a domi

Business Performance & the Quality of Talent need to be in a quid pro quo relationship contributing to success of the Firm. Performance of the Firm is a direct outcome of how yr people maximise & capture potential opportunities to create value in the market. Remember Step 1 : Revenues are success avenues !! Yr Firms P&L a/c to that extent directly reflects the current quality of yr Human Capital that interacts with potential customers & clients in the market. The FiRM that in

A Camel they rightly say, is a Horse designed by a Committee. To align the thinking of a group is not as easy as it is generally made out to be. Virtues of diatribe & debate that emerge from Diverse composition of a team, indeed makes the outcome of a group activity very rich. It includes the entire range of options & alternatives benefit of which it would otherwise not have gained from. However, there is always a challenge in decision making when it comes to groups. It comes

Not every race is about speed. Some races are about stamina, pacing and long distance sustenance. If before starting the race you are not clear about the nature of the race and the conditions that could make you win, you could actually end up doing things that you ought to have been avoiding. For winning in the Market, the norm is clear. To gain an edge you either got to 'be first and impressive or you got to be better' ! Speed is of essence to winning but limited. First-move

This is about 'Killer' and 'Fighter'..making them both - 'Winners'. Being born solo with deep survival instincts, given a situation of conflict where Q of survival is evoked,the instinctive pattern is to 'Confront'. Collaboration is a subsequently learnt behavior, evaluated only next by the mind, when Confrontation is not found to be a wise or a winning reaction. It takes a lot of serious 'life-script' Coaching for mind- models of leaders to be influenced...what is 'Winning',

Children brought up in an environment of total caution & security sometimes end up becoming a victim of the same.They tend to value protection so much that they hesitate to step out of their safe zones & take chance where even basic risk is involved. This blocks gaining premium on risk. Caution is a derivative of prudence but over indulgence in caution, takes away from an individual his self confidence to opt for things where outcomes are unknown,uncertain or ambiguous. VUCA

When culture is defined in an Enterprise based on values, traditions, artifacts &practices which sound laudable but are not in sync with the real character of the enterprise, neurotic behaviour in such a scitzsophrenic climate is but a natural outcome. Realistically, redefine culture & it's values periodically if you seek to revitalise the organisation. Identify iconic sponsors & champions within the system for each of its valued elements. Symbolically develop a tradition to

Winning in markets is a different game. You have to collaborate with competition &bake a bigger cake ..so all can have a larger slice of it. Net-working, Negotiating & Collaboration skills are at premium in this domain.'Win-Win' is the direction with Influencing skills Unfortunately in B-Schools, students are exposed to war strategies &analogies . Wars are in a 'Win-Lose' confrontative domain.This model is totally martial by temperament. Students need to develop different com

Silence . Only the wise have their way with silence. Often times people not only speak but at times even endlessly argue when they should ideally be remaining silent at those moments. Unfortunately, in contrast, they also remain silent when they ought to actually have been speaking. We need to learn the appropriate use of silence. That is an art. Strategic silence to avoid idiotic confrontations is wisdom. Master it. Silence to provide space to another is Tactical. Learn it.

Happiness is an insider game. External environment provides stimuli but yr reaction emerges from within. The 'Remote Control' over all channels of peace shld always be within yr control. A colleagues promotion, unfair increment..such are realities that will keep recurring at workplace. If you allow such irritants to stress, you will never achieve happiness for yourself. John Lenon grew up with his mother telling him..happiness was the only purpose of life. He wrote that in hi