The Theory of Procrastination: Ten Principles to Overcome Procrastination

Procrastination is the act of putting off or delaying action on something which requires immediate attention and action. Procrastination is often confused with postponement. Both have in their meanings the words ‘putting off’ or ‘delaying’. Postponement is the act of putting off or delaying an originally planned one to a later date. Postponement is relative to a plan, and indicates de-prioritisation, merited or not. Procrastination, on the other hand, is relative to the need for immediate attention. Postponement is often linked to a reluctance to bestow effort, either due to laziness or otherwise. Postponement on certain occasions tends to be benign, and on certain occasions, life threatening. Postponement has many times a financial motive; individuals would like to postpone expenses and advance incomes. Procrastination and postponement are interrelated.

Procrastination is postponing something needlessly and mostly indefinitely, without regard to time, effort, resources or results. Postponement, on the other hand, tends to be tactical opportunism to conserve effort and resources. Both make one lose time, in essence, and delay or totally avoid outcomes or lose results. Procrastination is said to be the thief of time by Benjamin Franklin. Mahatma Gandhi said, “The future depends on what you do today”. Procrastination, it is said, is often due to fear of failure. Here again, what Mahatma Gandhi said is relevant: “To do what we fear is the first step to success”. Dick Cheney, former Vice President of USA is reported to have said, “I think I was able to survive five heart attacks because I never postponed going to hospital when something didn’t feel right”. On certain occasions, postponement provides unanticipated results, like landing on a better job relative to the one in hand.

Procrastination is universal

It is imagined that procrastination strikes only certain people who are wired to be procrastinating. The truth is that even apparently productive people tend to procrastinate. People who seem to multi-task effortlessly or seem to be putting every idle minute to productive use (for example, working on laptop while waiting in the airport lounge) could also be procrastinating on a few vital things. In fact, such visible fury of productive working could be a subtle cover for the ongoing procrastination. Procrastination would well have been left to an individual’s choice but for the adverse impact it has on one’s own and others’ lives. While occasional procrastination may be inevitable, regular procrastination as a personality trait could have underlying behavioural implications.

There are three principal causes why people succumb to procrastination. At one end of the spectrum, an individual could be so opinionated that he or she is unable to judge the importance of the action he or she must take as well as the rewards of taking the action and the pitfalls of not taking the action. Some of the critical lifestyle issues, like doing proper exercise or taking proper diet, fall into this category. At the other end of the spectrum, an individual could be so obsessed with perfectionism that he or she would never embark on anything for fear of outcomes being not to expectations or receiving criticisms. Most people fall between the two ends of the spectrum, weighed down by a whole range of issues relating to time management, emotional burdening and mood swings.

Loop of procrastination

Procrastination is a continuous loop which takes hold of an individual the moment he or she enters the loop once. The usual entry point into the loop is delay in acting on something due to a lack of awareness of its importance, and the essence of timeliness. As one avoids taking action on the matter, the negative consequences of inaction start becoming apparent, both by comparison and by self-evaluation. A student putting off studies or a software engineer putting off the testing of his code fall into the same category. As the hopelessness caused by the delay becomes evident, the individual slips into a negative mood which could lead to one of the three outcomes; he could entirely give up with total nonchalance or helplessness, he could try to complete it by leaving everything else with total burnout or do what he can with a low level of self-worth. In any of the routes, the emotional consequences are negative.

Procrastination typically leads to more procrastination. A student who burns midnight oil to cram everything prior to the examination deadline would be leaving out all other extracurricular activities, and even may be skipping the day classes. The software engineer who defers testing to the penultimate day may fumble to remediate even small errors.  As the negative emotions start taking charge, one would start distancing oneself from peers and others, and avoiding carrying out even daily chores, be it reading a newspaper or checking an email. The feeling of guilt associated with not being oneself only worsens the mood. Depending on the emotional personality of the individual, the feeling of guilt could be manageable or unmanageable. When procrastination starts weighing down on one’s life, one must start taking external help for structured approaches to break the loop of procrastination.

Ten helpful principles

This blog post proposes ten principles which are fairly simple in logic but complex in terms of behaviour for an individual to control, overcome and eliminate procrastination.

Openness

The first step in beating procrastination is being open; open about the required actions and the likely consequences. Openness also includes taking a broader view of life than a myopic view of just one event. For example, starting an exercise regimen should not be seen allocation of 30 minutes a day but rather as a component of total lifestyle. We tend to receive inputs all the while. One should be open to receiving them, analysing them and absorbing them, including those that seem to be critical. 

Reflection

The second step in overcoming procrastination is being reflective; understanding one’s own reluctance to apply oneself to the task even though the requirements and consequences are known.  One must figure out whether it is a question of time and effort or of mood and ambience. Figuring out the reasons for procrastination is the most important step towards conquering procrastination.

Clearance

The third step relates to carefully identifying the obstacles in the path that are related to one’s own body, mind and personal ecosystem. Releasing greater time out of the limited time available could be the most effective way to overcome the barriers. Uncluttering of one’s assets, be it home, desk or inbox could be one way; in some cases, becoming an early morning person could be the solution, and in some cases being a night owl could be the answer. In all cases, being ahead of the curve in terms of time and effort is the key.

Dive-in

In most cases, the unknown does give trepidation, even to the otherwise accomplished individuals. Learning to ride a bike or drive a car is a simple example. Until one faces the challenge of balancing on two wheels or driving through a crowded street, the first move is necessary to address the concerns squarely. The moment the first step is successful, trepidation leads to exhilaration, and exhilaration leads to further execution.

Perseverance

Not in all cases, dive-ins help; in a few cases there could be failures leading to deepening of negative emotions and moods. Perseverance backed by an evaluation of what went wrong and execution of a remediation plan is the answer. However, it is easier said than implemented. This is one area where help from the immediate environment would be very helpful. Openness to seek help would be important, though.

Right-sizing

Failure is often related to aspirations being far more than what resources can support. Having more on the plate than what can one chew is one of the primary triggers for procrastination. One would be better off doing a few things right rather than staring blankly at a long laundry list of things to do. Unmanageable projects intimidate any person. Researchers eventually discover that a simple pilot experiment or a synopsis of the research project provides greater confidence than trying to execute a mega experiment or script a thesis right away.    

Celebration

While activity is never an achievement, celebrating key activities reinforces one’s ability to overcome procrastination. As one sets about constructing a huge website, developing a homepage itself deserves a celebration. Celebrations linked to successes trigger the androgen, serotonin and norepinephrine receptors in one’s brain to elevate one’s mood. Positive mood is the most important aid to overcome procrastination. Celebrating results is, of course, the ultimate success in overcoming procrastination.

Optimization

Perfection has a place but not everywhere, every time. Perfection is also contextual. In the early phases of conquering procrastination, perfectionists would need to reappraise their penchant for perfection. There is an insightful quotation in journalism: “You can edit a bad page, but you can’t edit a blank page”. An optimized result that can be celebrated is worth more than a perfect aspiration which may never see the light day.

Self-motivation

Self-motivation is the last of the final two steps in decisively overcoming procrastination. Ability to forgive oneself for one’s failures and motivate oneself for next success is important in the fight against procrastination. As Mahatma Gandhi said thoughts become words, words become behaviours, behaviours become habits, habits become values and values become destiny.

Ecosystem

The ultimate support and insurance for eliminating, and even avoiding procrastination, is an ecosystem that supports all the above principles. Having right friends and right colleagues who operate in an environment of decisiveness, timeliness and goal orientation is an extremely important determinant. At times, one would need to move to a better environment as a systemic antidote to procrastination.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on May 08, 2016   

The Fine Art of Building and Leading an Organization: CPOs, CEOs (and CXOs) as Mindful and Thoughtful Gurus

The Human Resources (HR) Professional, whether he or she is an executive or a leader, is a critical person in organization building. If the competitive advantage of an organization is derived from its people, the Human Resources department, and its constituent professionals are a critical enabler of the competitive advantage of the firm. This is not to paper over the direct contributions of various line and staff functions such as Research & Development, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Sales & Marketing, Quality & Regulatory, Safety, Health & Environment, Business Planning & Development, Information Technology, Finance and Secretarial & Compliance (and several other functions and sub-functions) to the competitive advantage. While each of the functions tends to be domain-specific with reference to the people function, only HR plays an all-encompassing role in organization development, across all domains.

HR domain itself has evolved, substantially over the years, from being a mere Personnel and Administration department to becoming today’s Human Resources department that is considered more a business partner. In keeping with this evolution, heads of HR are now a part of the C Suite, with impressive titling, for example Chief people Officer (CPO) or Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). At the same time, there has also been a realization within the line and staff functional leaders that people management is one of their key responsibilities too. Of the commonly held HR responsibilities such as Recruitment, Training & Development, Performance Management, Compensation Administration, and Organization Design & Development, line and staff functions are taking an increasingly shared responsibility with the HR function. This trend is accentuated with scale as well as decentralization, whether at business or site level. This has led to lack of clarity on decision rights and responsibilities, with conflicts as well. 

Paradoxes abound

A major facet of a true HR professional is one of managing paradoxes skilfully. Like the CEO of a firm who has such paradoxical imperatives (for example, building businesses and closing businesses simultaneously), the CPO too faces some challenging paradoxes. First and foremost, one of the key aspects of HR is organizational culture, which can only be felt and experienced, and not metricised and measured. Second, HR is required to touch the heart but most of the financial decisions of business are made by the head. Third, organization is expected to precede other infrastructure which, in turn, must precede business but HR is usually brought into play late in new businesses, mergers and acquisitions. Fourth, HR is required to promote transparency but is often faced with situations where it cannot disclose or receive information on developments freely. Fifth, while factors such as workplace ambience, title weight, job security etc., are supposed to be hygiene factors, they tend to demand disproportionate attention and time too.

More than the above five, HR has to grapple with the challenge of developing talent to the maximum extent possible from within (without sub-optimised performance that inbreeding could cause) while also bringing in the leading-edge industry talent (without causing disharmony and disaffection). There is a clear need for HR to be the ‘best of the best’ domains in an organization, and emerge as a role model. This has to be accomplished in the face of a rather truncated view that could exist, within HR and outside, that HR’s role is to find and recruit people, fix and review salaries, identify and solve relational problems, train and develop people (usually on shoestring budgets). This has also to be accomplished without a large HR team, as often HR, like any other corporate team, is seen to be a cost to be catered to than as a value to be welcomed. The final challenge is that being a part of the C Suite, and close to the CEO, but still not a part of the direct business delivery value chain, HR gets to be drawn into top level organizational dynamics, including succession planning at the senior levels, with their own political and emotional challenges.   

Managing paradoxes

There are no set methods to manage paradoxes but by doing a few things right, the CPO and the HR function can achieve and maintain a stature of authentic leadership for themselves that would make paradox management easy and harmonious. These are as follows.

Employee as customer

As discussed initially, a fundamental task of HR is to recruit and induct people. Usually, HR is the first interface that a prospective candidate has with the organization; likewise HR is the lens through which the organization can see and feel the outside world. Mahatma Gandhi held customer as being the very reason for a company’s existence. Likewise, an employee is as valuable to the organization as a customer is to business. HR leaders and executives should treat every prospective candidate with utmost care, respect and objectivity. Not only would this be a dutiful activity but would lay the foundation for an extremely positive of view of the company by the candidates, and eventually by the employees. This approach must be a part of the DNA of HR, continuing with individual employees and the teams.

Business as process

Typically, HR processes are considered unique to HR domain just as quality processes are to the Quality department and production processes to Manufacturing, and so on. The relevant fact is that unless HR is well educated on the business value chain it would not be able to understand the real talent requirements and select the right talent. Effective recruitment is more than creation of slick job specifications; it requires a feel for the value chain. All HR executives must make it a point to spend time in R&D laboratories, plants and marketplace to understand the products, processes of manufacture and delivery, and the customer needs. While line executives take primary responsibility in the respective domains, a business savvy HR executive can be an exceptionally effective business partner.

Learning as development

Most companies provide several training and development opportunities. Irrespective of the industry, the current expectation is for superior skill levels backed by compliance to standard operating procedures. This alone would ensure high quality and support global standards. Most programmes, however, look at learning as a standalone objective of the programmes with development taking place as a follow-on activity on the job. The paradigm needs to be reversed in that actual on-the-job experiences and expectations must lead to learning programmes which must be evaluated immediately for their delivery on development. Also, rather than deploy generic canned programmes, the internal trainers must learn about the business and business processes, and develop firm-specific and business-specific content.  

Performance as journey

In an earlier blog post, the author has brought out the deficiencies of performance management as is commonly practiced in organizations. Reference may be made to “Vaunted Bell Curve: Wanted Culture Verve?”, Strategy Musings, April 20, 2016 (http://cbrao2008.blogspot.in/2016/04/vaunted-bell-curve-instead-culture-verve.html). Performance of employees is not to be measured, as an event outcome; it should not also be straightjacketed as an annual review. Performance review needs to be a continuous journey wherein supervisors and employees collaboratively discuss how to maximize performance of teams and the firm. It should not be judgemental and condescending on individual employees, teams and managers, without an appreciation of the total business and operational context. This requires the HR professional to partner the business leaders in their operational performance as well as business development.

Recognitions as rewards

The outcome of a performance review process invariably tends to be universal merit increases, and selective promotions. These certainly play a very important role in the employees feeling rewarded for their work and to be hopeful of career growth. These, however, are not real recognitions in the complete sense; more so in organizations which seek to keep such matters confidential. In organizations, the process of dispensation of such rewards, whether generous or frugal, tends to be a major source of grape-wine gossip, fuelled by an embarrassed non-disclosure.  While these kinks cannot be avoided, an objective HR system should be so convinced of its objectivity that it does not point to extraneous triggers or constraints as the causes for missed expectations. A paradigm in which open recognition of achievements in team meetings (without monetary rewards in such events) could nurture a more authentic, recognition climate. At the same time, HR must have the power to design an explicit linkage between business performance and team rewards.

Organization as ecosystem

A true HR professional helps in making an organization a lively and vibrant ecosystem. This is a concept greater than teamwork or team rewards, although team interactions are superior to individual relationships. An ecosystem is a habitat in which life thrives naturally. Organizations are synthetic creations to meet business ends but involving people competencies and emotions. Being a team, department, business etc., goes only half-way in creating a nurturing environment. The other half is made up by people feeling wanted, aligned, and achieving, with a fair balance between professional work and personal life. There must be enough adrenalin in people to achieve competitiveness but there must also be enough mindfulness amongst them not to be overly cluttered and stressed. Creation of an organizational ecosystem that nurtures creativity, innovation, competence and accomplishment in a mindful manner is the ultimate art for the HR leader.

HR leader as a Guru

The above has served to lay out the sterling qualities a HR leader must possess to nurture an ecosystem of positive culture rather than an organization of just material goals and transactional processes. To be able to lead the HR function, and also guide the CEO in such path, the HR leader has to be more of a mindful, thoughtful and reflective person than a leader of systems and processes. Whether a HR leader does that by himself/herself or seeks the help of gurus of business spirituality (for example, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev) is a matter of choice. Not every organization can afford a Jaggi Vasudev; nor can one Jaggi Vasudev serve the needs of the several thousands of organizations needing such guidance. The choice, therefore, is obvious! The CPOs and the CEOs (ideally, all the CXOs) themselves must embark on a personal journey of transformation to be mindful, introspective, thoughtful and reflective in whatever they say and do in order to be able to facilitate such positive practices in the broader organization development.

This is easier said than done. Human beings are genetically wired and behaviourally conditioned to be judgemental. As one attains higher positions in organizations, the tendency to be judgemental only increases. Many of the HR practices such as selection and recruitment, appraisal and compensation, training and development, and so on are prone to judgement. As leaders facing increasing clutter in their professional life but are expected to take quicker decisions, being judgemental (several times with beaming righteousness) becomes both fallacious and stressful. Mindfulness as a practice involving conscious slowing down and meditated self-introspection can declutter and destress one’s mind, reduce stressfulness, enhance cognitive abilities and improve judgemental capabilities. The CPO of an organization has a particularly challenging responsibility in initiating the mindfulness movement in an organization as he is expected to mediate and harmonize three important and complex behaviours: human emotional behaviour, organizational group behaviour and corporate business behaviour. The effort for embedding mindful leadership is certainly worth the competitive advantage and sustainable success it would bring to organizations.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on April 27, 2016

Author’s Note:

This blog post is inspired by the author’s observation of, and association with, Ken Meyers, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Hospira, Inc (now, a Pfizer Company) between 2010 and 2015. Ken is currently SVP and CHRO of Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. Ken has been a passionate advocate of mindfulness and reflection as critical enablers of effective leadership.    

  

Job Fulfilment: Highway Cruise or Oil Exploration?

Job fulfilment is the precursor for job satisfaction. Given that more than 50 percent of a 24 hour day and more than 80 percent of the wakeful part is spent on the job or job related activities, job satisfaction is a must for peace in life. Deriving fulfilment on the job is essential for pace in life, therefore. Job fulfilment cannot be defined in terms of either title or compensation. It is more in terms of doing what one enjoys and what one’s natural aptitudes and talents play for, and finally the impact one makes through one’s job on the people and organization. In some cases, job fulfilment occurs immediately while in some case, it takes years to happen. In most cases, what was fulfilment at the start gets overwhelmed by greater accomplishments later in life but in some cases, the later day’s greater successes trigger greater satisfaction from the initial fulfilments too.    

For a teacher, for example, job fulfilment occurs when he or she is able to coach his class to high scores in examinations. The real job fulfilment, however, comes when the teacher sees his students occupying high positions and becoming successful in life. The teacher, in the process, starts getting more fulfilled from the teaching process, the long term implications of students getting high scores, and their bringing credit to the teacher and the alma mater in the years to come. Today’s competitive landscape pressures executives for immediate performance, much like examination results, and ingrains a mind-set of seeking immediate fulfilment through rewards and recognitions. While there is nothing wrong in this (except for the accumulation of stress), the flip side is that executives, no longer, are able to await and relish the long term results from the seeds they sow.

Jobs make careers

Most advertisements for recruitment no longer emphasize the job; they speak of careers. Most recruiters emphasize how careers can be built up through the position in question. A company that lays attention on talent mapping and succession planning can, indeed, assure a fulfilling career through a series of fulfilling jobs. Such companies are characterized by their frontline executives growing to occupy CXO positions eventually. It is, therefore, unnecessary and even misplaced to distinguish between jobs and careers. If jobs make careers for individuals, and both mean fulfilment for them, it is important to realize that companies also have their own jobs and careers to fulfil for the society. In fact, it is only within the aegis of a company that individuals can find fulfilment.  While individuals can find jobs in any company, successful or not so successful, they can find careers only in successful companies or making not so successful companies successful with their jobs.

Like individuals, companies also have jobs to perform and careers to make. A company has a job to do in terms of delivering the products and services. However, the company also has a career to make (even if it is somewhat inappropriate to describe so) in terms of maintaining a continuity of products and services that are ever more beneficial to the customer. Just as an individual gets to change a job in search of fulfilment or career, companies also get to churn their products and services (and even employees) in their quest for a “career” in the business landscape. While these similarities are easy to appreciate, the interplay between jobs and careers as well as individuals and companies (in permutations and combinations thereof) is not understood by either the individuals or the companies. Perceptive business leaders and human resources leader not only appreciate this interplay but work in partnership to address this complex issue.

Defining fulfilment

Many people see and seek fulfilment in terms of how their talents impact the jobs that they carry out. One is apt to make statements such as “I completed my assigned project which was appreciated by my boss” or “I made a presentation that the audience liked”. Fulfilment through such feelings and perceptions is misplaced. True fulfilment occurs when the job impacts positively and meaningfully others in the organization and one feels invested in the company’s future through the job one is performing. Again, it is not a matter how many people one leads but it does matter how much interaction one is able to have with other relevant internal and external stakeholders. True fulfilment also occurs when one is able to experience, on a first hand basis, the results of one’s work.

Typically jobs (especially in mature established organizations) tend to stay static while talents (as defined by a combination of education and experience) may improve. Fulfilment becomes elusive when jobs trail competencies. There would also be cases when jobs (especially in turnaround situations or sunrise industries) require new skills while talents (as required by new requirements) remain static. In this case also, where skills trail job challenges, fulfilment becomes elusive. Fulfilment, on the whole, is a dynamic concept which can work only when jobs, as they are designed, manned and performed, lead to growth of businesses. This is not merely a human resources responsibility but the responsibility of the entire leadership team of a company at one level. It is also, more importantly, the responsibility of the individuals themselves at another level.  

Economic view

It is impossible to discuss job fulfilment without considering an economic viewpoint. Typically, companies extract consumer surplus when they market their products or services at prices higher than costs. Consumer surplus obviously varies based on the product-market segments. In a similar fashion, companies seek to derive (‘extract’ could be a negative word, here!) employee surplus by deriving higher value from their services than the salaries paid to them. The laws of growth and competition not only legitimize the relevance of consumer surplus and employee surplus but also seek to reduce consumer surplus per product or service. Companies try to counter this by maximizing employee surplus but this may not always be feasible in a skill-scarce and talent-constrained economy. The only way this riddle of economic fulfilment is solved is through sustainable and profitable growth.

The economics of fulfilment for individuals, in their twin roles as customers and employees, and for companies, in their multiple roles as producers and sellers, and as employers and optimizers are important. Growth economics, in fact, is a bubble. Population demographics is a reality. The bubble has to be sustained to meet the reality. Unless economic growth stays continuous and consistent, social fulfilment becomes elusive. When viewed in this perspective, job fulfilment can never be a matter of individual joy or disappointment, and not even of job design and talent deployment. It is a matter of finding business and economic solutions for challenges of growth. Job fulfilment occurs when the role of an individual is appreciated by the role designers and the individual is able to appreciate the role as part of a larger socio-economic paradigm.

Cruise or exploration?

When this socio-economic perspective is understood, frontline executives as well as their employers start assessing objectively whether job fulfilment is a matter of immediacy and surety as a highway cruise is, or is a matter of uncertainty with sporadic abundance as oil exploration is. The answer is rather simple. The concept of a career highway, however desirable it is, is rather a desire than reality in organizations. There are far too many variables in the process of interactions of individual-business-environment that there can never be a pre-set path. It is unclear, for example, if the conventional synthetic medicines will be dominant a decade hence or biologic medicines or genetic engineering would be dominant. Taking the example of automobile industry, the future automobile could be a digital machine. Career highways based on current business models and current skill-sets could be misleading.

On the other hand, job fulfilment is more like oil exploration. Not every field, whether on-shore or offshore, offers potential for oil, and not every field with potential for oil ends up providing an unending gush of oil. Job fulfilment for aspirant executives arises from a process of identifying the right companies and persevering with their job roles and career paths with grit. As with exploration, the operating circumstances tend to be challenging but when the right role is struck, the rewards could be plenty. Like oil exploration, exploration of job fulfilment tends to be a combination of hardware, soft skills and the entire organization working together. While the simile may seem extended, the underlying concept that job fulfilment is a larger enterprise-wide challenge is a reality. Does the individual have an easy path then?

Aligned fulfilment

The solution for job fulfilment lies in aligned fulfilment between the company and the employees. The company must have a larger purpose and mission which must have the buy-in of the employees. The company and the employee must have a clear view of how the dynamics of industrial competition would impact the economics of consumer surplus and economic surplus. Just as the company feels justified in deriving a consumer surplus based on the perceived value of its products and services to the company, the employee must feel a broader purpose in providing the employee surplus to the company. A good job for a competent person pays well. A great job which is derived from a sense of purpose for the company and covers its employees inclusively leads to fulfilment for them as well as the company.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on November 8, 2015  

Educated and Experienced versus Instinctive and Intuitive: From Conflict to Synthesis of the Four Leadership Essentials

The author of this blog, in an earlier blog post titled “Thought, Expression and Action (TEA) Positive: Triggers and Filters in One’s Mind”, discussed the thought-expression-action linkage in human or organizational behaviour and brought out the importance of staying positive in the three essential aspects by understanding the triggers and filters - Reference: Strategy Musings, March 15, 2015 (http://cbrao2008.blogspot.in/2015/03/thought-expression-and-action-tea.html). The emphasis of the blog post was on reaching and positioning oneself in a positive state in terms of one’s thoughts, expressions and actions. Every head of institution, be it the head of a family, the teacher of a class or the chief of an organization has a responsibility to be TEA Positive and make others TEA Positive.

A feedback on the blog post has been that all humans are conditioned, over time, to think, express and act in a particular manner and that being naturally TEA Positive, as proposed in the said blog post is next to impossible. The feedback also referred to specific personality types (for example, assertive and stressed), leadership styles (for example, task oriented or authoritarian) and competitive growth pressures (for example, earnings and profit growth) that make the TEA Positive a difficult state of equanimity to accomplish. While granting the difficulties, the author would propose that the solution would eventually lie in understanding oneself and what drives one’s competitive behaviour. This blog post proposes yet another supplemental framework for understanding one’s TEA profile, with more particular reference to leadership.  

Four essentials

There can be no two opinions that education and experience shape a leader. There are, however, no set principles of the levels that are required of each in the leadership journey. While education and experience are not tradable, there are instances of college dropouts making it big in the leadership arena. On the other hand, high levels of education make for stature in certain entities like universities and domains such as research. As a guidance, higher education helps individuals gain more from experience. While formal university education ends at one point (early twenties or late twenties) and experience commences thereafter, experience also teaches an individual a lot. Education provides theoretical knowledge and experimental perspectives, and instils logic and rationality in a leader. Experience adapts and reinforces knowledge and overwrites experimental perspectives with experiential learnings. An educated and experienced personality, without doubt, constitutes a twinned leadership essential.

Leadership, however, is not simply following pre-set procedures, although certain aspects of leadership such as safety, quality, ethics and values require evangelical advocacy and unremitting compliance. Leadership is largely made up of aspiration and anticipation as well as shaping a future with inadequate resources and uncertain execution. Leadership is also one of agility and timeliness in choices and decisions, all the time. Textbook knowledge of what it takes for an individual to lead needs to be supplemented by two very fundamental factors that vary from individual to individual – instinct and intuition. Instinct is a natural tendency for people to behave in a particular way using the knowledge and abilities they were borne with rather than thought or training. Intuition is the ability to know something by one’s feelings rather than on facts or evidence. An instinctive or intuitive way of thinking, expressing and acting is one based on one’s instinct or intuition, respectively. As contrasted with education and experience, instinct and intuition tend to be fundamentally personal attributes.

Instinct

Individuals are governed by multiple instincts, of which the need for survival, security and growth are paramount from a leadership point of view. These are inborn instincts but are conditioned as one develops in life, especially through the early years with the family. This does not mean that the instincts of the parents are automatically imbibed by the children. In many cases, the contrarian instinct gets rooted. A child, who sees his parents fighting for survival may develop an instinct for growth rather than security. Similarly, a child who is witness to unbridled drive of the parents for growth may develop an instinct for security. Siblings in the same family may develop and display different instincts. The instinct for security, for several individuals, is a golden mean of the basic instincts of survival and growth. At a basic level, fear triggers the instinct for survival while greed triggers the instinct for growth.

The human mind constantly weighs the options, instinctively so to say (!), by trading off the perceived (or experienced) result of one instinctive behaviour over the other. An individual who is driven by survival instinct may not fear jumping across a chasm of two metres if that is the only way he or she can survive from another imminent danger.  An individual who is passionate for growth may not wager his riches on a new project if extraordinary volatility emerges in the external environment. The instinctive response is often moderated or amplified by the conflict and collaboration of instincts in one’s self. The conditioning influence on the intrinsic instincts of an individual comes through the bars one sets on each of the instincts. As one pursues a leadership journey, the instinct for survival tends to get overshadowed or overridden by the instinct for growth. The challenge between the two instincts probably goes on a roller-coaster until one attains the age and maturity to settle for the golden mean of security.

Intuition

In contrast to instinct which is a natural human characteristic, intuition is a blessing one receives in a differentiated manner from the Creator. The processes of instinctive behaviour have been rather thoroughly researched in recent years, including through brain mapping using sophisticated imaging techniques. The processes of intuition have so far remained beyond clinical analysis. It is hypothesized also that despite some empirical or scientific basis of disciplines like astrology and numerology, the relatively successful leaders in these domains make successful predictions, powered by their intuition. While all individuals may possess intuition only a few are blessed to have an intuition that helps them see the future. Ordinary individuals may, often, mistake their bias as their intuition. In case of several individuals intuition is weak enough to be overridden by data and logic. In some leaders, however, intuition is powerful enough to override data and logic. When data, logic and intuition are aligned, a winning combination emerges.

Intuition often acts as the overlay once the conditioned instinct comes to the fore. Intuition is willing to be subject to review against data and logic but unlike instinct would refuse to be conditioned by these. Highly intuitive individuals may be persuaded to consider various factors but their intuition would simply refuse to go away. While many may assume that the leaders’ assiduous work towards a challenging goal is driven by their willpower what actually drives such leaders is their intuition that the different future they see is what would actually materialize. Intuition, like instinct, would propel individuals to accelerate or delay their purposeful actions. Intuition needs to be viewed differently from premonition that individuals experience on a selective basis as to some bizarre or surprising event that could take place in their lives.  To sum up, individuals are differently blessed by the Creator in terms of their intuitive faculties, and intuition serves its purpose best when it is free of bias, premonition and works independent of data and logic.

Synthesis

The fundamental hypothesis on genuine and authentic leadership is that it is committed to enhancing the value of the organization. This requires that the leadership faculties are put to the most efficient and effective use. Clearly, education and experience teaches many leadership lessons and genuine leaders tend to be in a state of continuous learning. The challenge lies in understanding and leveraging the natural instinctive behaviours and the differential intuitive capabilities. Some of the most valuable companies, Apple included, have been built on positive leadership instincts and intuitive powers of their leaders. Instincts work under pressures of internal and external environmental systems while intuition works under the vacuum of the empty space of the future. When an automobile leader recalls millions of cars, the instinct is one of safeguarding the reputation. When the same automobile leader persists with a hybrid car in an apparently indifferent market, the decision is powered by intuition.

Instinctive faculties come into play each day, and the conditioning and collaborating mechanisms need to be ever present in a leader. Intuitive faculties are called upon to play only when certain critical decisions of a future state are made; it could be selection of a future leader (or leaders) as part of leadership succession (or expansion) or development and commercialization of a new innovative product ahead of anyone else, and sometimes even when unaware of the requisite details of the product or the market. The author, in his long experience, has not only experienced the powers of instinct and intuition but also seen highly educated and experienced leaders becoming more effective or less effective based on how their instincts are leveraged and conditioned and even more importantly by drawing on the power of intuition. For leadership that seeks to create a sustainable future, the four essentials are: (i) education that inculcates a learning approach, (ii) experience that enhances wisdom, (iii) instincts that are contextually collaborative, and most importantly (iv) intuition that inspires a unique feel for a creative niche in an uncertain (or simply unknown) future.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on May 10, 2015

ECOLOGI Model of Organizational Behaviour: Towards Sustainable Growth with Equity, of any Entity!

Organizational Behaviour is one of the most used and researched topic in the theory and practice of management. Organizational Behaviour (or, “OB” as it is popularly referred to) is the study of human behaviour in organizational settings including the interface of human beings among themselves, the interface of human beings with their and other external organizations, and the behaviour of organizations themselves. From the time of Barnard, C I (1938), experiments and theories of OB have spawned management literature. OB as has traditionally been understood includes all of the terms now treated as separate topics or subjects such as motivation, leadership, decision making, productivity, culture, competency building, team building and job satisfaction. OB has seen several management stalwarts such as Elton Mayo, Douglas McGregor, Frederick Herzberg, Rensis Likert, and Peter Drucker, to recall just a few names.

While segmented theories of organization such as business policy, strategic management, competitive strategy, core competence, lean and several others have served to focus on specific aspects of management and leadership, they are more focussed on business organizations, and also  do not offer a holistic solution for organizational vitality. It is important that OB is brought back to its prime position as a total solution for enhancing organizational vibrancy of any entity, not just business organizations. This must also be accompanied by a generic prescription that is enduring for all kinds of business contexts (from growth to turnaround, for example), administrative settings (urban or rural), and hierarchies (apex level or bottom of the pyramid). A healthy and positive OB will enable individuals and organizations achieve relentless growth with unquestionable equity. This blog post proposes a unique organizational behaviour model with the acronym of ECOLOGI.

ECOLOGI defined

Enterprise, Collaboration, Organizing, Learning, Objectivity, Galvanizing and Implementation are the seven components of the ECOLOGI model. If employees, including managers and leaders, are able to appreciate and absorb the full import of the ECOLOGI model and follow it in their day to day working, they would be institutionalizing a vibrant organizational behaviour.  These components are discussed below.

Enterprise

Enterprise is the ability to think of new projects or new ways of doing things and make them successful. It is the ability to demonstrate initiative to succeed. For a vibrant organizational behaviour, the culture of an entity should promote enterprising behaviour on the part of every employee. Certain companies such as DuPont and 3M have made enterprise an integral part of employee DNA. While all employees may not display the same level of enterprise at the time of recruitment, a culture of empowerment and enablement would help employees discover and develop the spark of enterprise in them. To foster enterprise, Japanese companies have made daily team meetings an integral part of their work routine and Kaizen (continuous improvement) an essential part of their thought culture. While the Japanese employees are known to be highly disciplined and logically conformist, they are not lacking in any way in demonstrating new ways of doing things. 

   

Collaboration

Collaboration is the essence of human living. Even at just an individual level, collaboration between the body and mind is essential for healthy and positive living. Within the body itself, there must be collaboration between different limbs while within the brain, there must be collaboration between left brain and right brain! It is self-evident, therefore, that collaboration between different individuals is essential for an organization to progress successfully. The culture of challenge, competitiveness and even conflict advocated by certain theorists and practitioners is patently inferior to the positive energy and bonding that would be generated by a collaborative work culture. As with enterprise, collaboration must be fostered from the time an employee is on-boarded into an organization.

Organizing

Organizing, in the context of ECOLOGI model, does not refer to the creation of the physical structure of an entity (and most certainly, it does not refer even remotely refer to an organization chart). Organizing is the ability to plan for, and arrange for, something to happen. From organizing one’s thoughts to organizing the resources required and the activities to be performed is a critical capability of an individual. Organizing has to be the core competence of every employee, not merely that of a manager or a leader. The ability to organize matures and mellows for an individual with experience. The moment a task is thought of, the individual with due thought and experience can visualize the whole spectrum of activities to be performed. While skillsets such as program management are now promoted as a discrete discipline, every employee has the right and responsibility to be organized.

Learning

Learning is a lifelong activity. The fundamental requirement for learning is neither intelligence nor teaching; it is receptivity! Learning helps one develop knowledge and skills that are required to meet current business or administrative requirements. Organizational ecosystems must be particularly designed to promote learning as a continuous activity. While encouraging employees to learn, learning disabilities (beyond lack of receptivity) that could be acting as barriers to learning need to be identified. Every learning and development programme must have a learning effectiveness check at the end of the programme. It should be conducted by an independent, confidential on-the-spot survey at the time of conclusion of the programme and followed up with another similar survey three to six months after return to the regular work.

Objectivity

Objectivity is the ability to judge and decide on any issue or a person based on facts and without getting influenced by personal or others’ influences and biases. Basing on facts does not mean that emotional aspects are ignored. If consensual decision making is a part of a country culture, objectivity requires that such manifestation is integrated into the evaluation and decision processes. Objectivity is not simply lack of subjectivity; it requires a quest for factual data and information. These accrue through not special studies but simply through perceptive observation. For objectivity to be a hallmark of organizational behaviour, organizations must promote discerning and discriminating capabilities in individuals. This can be developed with simulation exercises and role play for employees under the guidance of experienced managers and leaders.

Galvanizing

Galvanizing is the ability of a person (usually a leader or manager) to excite others to take concerted and inspired action to achieve a goal. The most profound example of galvanization is that of Mahatma Gandhi galvanizing all of India into a relentless nonviolent movement for independence. While such examples are legendary rarities, it is required for every individual, not limited to managers and leaders, to galvanize co-employees into collaborative actions. It is also possible for employees of lower rank to galvanize employees of higher rank through demonstrable example-setting. Leadership has a strong component of galvanizing but the ability to galvanize and willingness to be galvanized for objective causes is an important aspect of positive organizational behaviour.

Implementation

Implementation is the end result of all of the six attributes talked about so far. To be execution-focused and delivery-focused is the critical attribute of winning organizations. Aggressive implementation has been one of the principal reasons for Korean manufacturers to steal a march over the intrinsically more innovative Japanese manufacturers. In good organizational behaviour, implementation is the responsibility not merely of frontline employees but that of all team members, including managers and leaders. Implementation at times requires innovative mind-sets. The global success of Indian information technology companies has been attributed to the development of a global delivery model. India’s new credo of “Make in India” clearly requires excellent implementation capability, backed by all the other six ECOLOGI facets.   

Holistic ECOLOGI

To be fully beneficial, the ECOLOGI model has to be absorbed and followed in its totality throughout the organization. Each component of the ECOLOGI model is mutually reinforcing with the others. In one important sense, ECOLOGI model of organizational behaviour ensures a positive ecological balance in the organizational ecosystem!  Enterprise, for example, is not necessarily a genetically acquired attribute; it is developed through collaboration that gives mutual reinforcement and also from learning which opens up one’s mind and hands to new knowledge and skills. Enterprising people are essential to galvanizing others, and also to be galvanized. Implementation is the logical endpoint of galvanizing. Enterprise also helps people overcome any obstacles that are encountered in organizing. Organizing and collaborating are essential factors for successful implementation.

Among the seven dimensions of ECOLOGI, objectivity is a key value-based objective. To be tactically influenced by one’s own biases or others’ opinions is a common human failing. It requires certain core values for a person to be completely objective in all aspects of functioning. Objectivity, however, is a behavioural value worth inculcating. The ability to galvanize others into action depends to a large extent on how objective the individual or leader is known to be. Objectivity is also a key driver of successful external stakeholder relationships. Objective leaders tend to evoke respect of even competing firms.  Given that ECOLOGI is a holistic experience, individuals must devise their means of scaling themselves on each of the dimensions to achieve high levels uniformly. Any entity which follows the ECOLOGI model would have a positive and virtuous organizational behaviour that ensures competitiveness in commercial business or administrative service. More importantly, as an aggregate impact it would ensure sustainable growth with equity for India as a vibrant nation.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on March 29, 2015