Economic Independence of India: Need for Multiple Regulators, Three Missions and Three Objectives

As India celebrates the season of sixty seventh anniversary of Indian Independence, there is a new hope and aspiration, which is reflected by the President Shri Pranab Mukherjee who said in his customary pre-Independence Day speech, that the twenty first century belongs to India. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, reinforced the message while unfurling the national flag at the Red Fort on the Independence Day with a call to make India strong with economic growth and social equity. A cornerstone of the new aspirations will need to be economic independence for the country. This has a connotation greater than non-independence on economies of other nations. True economic independence means the emergence of a policy structure that rests on the logic of economic growth and social equity than on dogmas like self-reliance or maximizing foreign direct investment (FDI).

True economic independence happens when every adult in every family has a productive and earning job, whether through agriculture, manufacturing or services. The Prime Minister has given a number of inspirational slogans ever since he took office; these could verily serve as credos of development for a New India. Some of these are; ‘Skills, Scale and Speed’, ‘Per Drop, More Crop’, ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’, ‘Come, Make in India’, ‘Zero Defects, Made in India’, ‘Reduce Imports, Maximize Exports’, ‘Zero Defect (of Product), Zero Effect (on Environment), and other exhortations are reflective of Modiji’s passion to develop India as an economic power. To these, if ‘Zero Unemployment, Productive Deployment’ gets added as the exhortation that is translated gainful realization through tangible action it could lead to micro level wealth creation. The issue with economic development is that there tend to be no easy solutions. A holistic approach is needed to make things work for true economic independence.

From licensor to regulator

One of the first tenets of economic liberalization of the 1990s was that licensing stymies industrial and economic development. The two decades of liberalization has demonstrated how unshackling of industries and businesses can lead to unleashing of growth. Two caveats are, however, necessary.  Firstly, growth cannot be fuelled only by continuous removal of licenses or liberalization of investment caps. All said and done, there would continue to exist sectors of strategic importance where licensing or investment controls would be in play. Barring a few such strategic sectors (defence, multi brand retail, railways, insurance and banking, oil and gas, mining, for example), all the rest are probably free of licensing and investment controls but are still anemic in growth for various reasons. Secondly, free market economy does not by itself guarantee non-cartelization nor does it by itself prevent exploitative economics (real estate, for example). There must be an oversight role for the governments, particularly in a huge democracy like India where the disparities in wealth, education and health are three of the most galling pain points.     

At a conceptual level, the governments must move from being licensors to regulators. Regulation commonly is seen as taking care of customer interests through good business practices including pricing. Truly effective regulation goes deeper, with an approach and guidance that ensures quality, innovation and competitiveness. Each of this is an important parameter that must be defining in its essence. National regulatory bodies should have expertise to monitor how various industrial and business sectors are performing in terms of the three parameters and periodically issue guidelines, rules and regulations to course-correct the erring or sub-optimized industries. Regulators, who will be industry specific need to matrix with three pan-industry commissions on each of the three parameters mentioned above; quality, innovation and competitiveness. Three national expert commissions can be conceptualized as discussed below.

Three national missions

Quality, of the product and process, is the key to make India global manufacturing hub. From a situation where the quality standards are derived from the developed world, India must be able to set global quality standards. Looks unbelievable? In the 1950s, setting global quality standards appeared infeasible for Japan and in the 1970s for Korea. Yet, today Japan and Korea lead in quality. Why not, therefore, India? If the Indian industry and talent pool is seen to deliver quality, India would automatically become a global manufacturing hub. For that, the existing base must be developed to reach and set higher standards of quality. A National Quality Mission would be well in order.

Innovation, of the product and process, is the engine of growth. Innovation leads to new products and processes as well as continuous improvement in existing ones. Innovation is commonly seen as a result of research. However, innovation, as with quality, is a matter of mindset. An inventive mindset is required to foster innovation as much as laboratories are required to convert ideation into innovation. For a resource scarce country like India, innovation lies in doing more with less; for example, more crop per drop. The ability to identify sources, uses and forms of innovation is a characteristic of successful nations such as Japan and Korea. India requires a continuous scan of product and process landscape to drive innovation; a National Innovation Mission would help.   

Many times, competition is misconstrued as competitiveness. Competition is simply presence of more players in the industry, which it is hoped will lead to each firm excelling over one another offering improved products or services to customers (it is a hope, not a given!) . Competitiveness, on the other hand, is the ability of a company to excel over the others in the industry in terms of products or services to the customers (it is a demonstrated competency, not a hope!). Mere competition, however high it is, does not guarantee competitiveness; in fact, excessive fragmentation affects viability. Indian airline industry and domestic pharmaceutical industry are examples. Competitiveness builds on quality and innovation with management and leadership processes that assure business growth and sustainability. A National Competitiveness Mission would identify appropriate technical and managerial perspectives.

Three national objectives

There are three beliefs that inhibit the genuine embedding of the three principles of quality, innovation and competitiveness in emerging economies, and these need to be countered by the three expert missions. The first is a sense of false correlation between the product level and quality level. It may be presumed, for example, that a Mercedes Benz E series car is one of higher quality than a lower end popular car. Such thinking leads manufacturers and consumers equate specifications with quality, which is not necessarily right. Each product needs to be designed, manufactured and delivered with a purpose in mind, and quality represents fitness for the purpose as expressed through specifications. The functionality, design principles and quality levels form a total ecosystem, which must be continuously elevated. Whatever be the level of product, the level of quality cannot be compromised. A smart phone and a feature phone are both bound by respective quality parameters as would a blacktopped road and concrete road would need to be. The National Quality Mission would need to embed Quality as a national mindset.    

The second is a belief in generational lag, in products and processes, and in social and industrial infrastructure, almost as if it is a matter of destiny for emerging economies. Domestic governments and consumers as well as foreign investors and corporations believe that the latest technologies must first get embedded in the advanced countries before they can be offered, developed or manufactured in an emerging nation. As a result of this belief, which is driven by technological protectionism of innovating countries and the economic weakness of follower countries, emerging nations tend to be in a perpetual catch-up game in respect of innovation. The National Innovation Mission must continuously explore where, why and how India should leapfrog in innovation rather than be just content with followership.

The third is a belief that competitiveness is a firm level concept, and government has only fiscal policies to improve or reduce competitiveness. As Porter’s study on comparative advantage of nations showed (Michael E Porter, The Competitive Advantage of Nations), certain nations tend to become good, and internationally competitive, in certain industries or businesses relative to others. Governments in India, Centre and States, can integrate infrastructure developmental initiatives with industrial development initiatives as well as social development initiatives to generate competitive advantage at firm level and comparative advantage at national level. The freight corridors that are being developed with Japanese investment could be combined with Indo-Japanese industrial clusters and social communities that provide free flow of technologies and goods and services between India and Japan. The same could be accomplished in multiple manners with multiple nations, in diverse product lines. The National Competitiveness Mission must analyze and integrate the several public, private initiatives to generate national comparative advantage.

Challenges as opportunities

Modiji has exhorted to minimize imports and maximize exports. India imports 80 percent of its crude requirements. India also imports gold, and most of the sophisticated plant and machinery for a wide range of industries. It may therefore look impossible to minimize imports. However, if value added export platform is adopted as the basis, all imports can be exported as value added products; for example, gold as ornaments, and even crude as diesel and petrol, at least to the neighboring nations. Sophisticated plant and machinery may be assembled at site with local content rather than imported as complete built units. This, in turn, requires confidence that the Indian industry is at its pinnacle on quality, innovation and competitiveness.

Skill, Scale and Speed have helped China achieve exactly this, as Shri Narendra Modi aptly observed. China’s acquired expertise in telecom gear, smart phones, fermentation and bullet trains are striking examples. For India to be up to speed on this platform, governments and industries should backward integrate to the fullest extent, in a complete sense. There is certainly utility in indigenously producing new generation products even if in imported equipment, compared to import of the products. However, the full utility accrues when the equipment is also indigenously produced. India, a nation of 1.3 billion people, has now global scale demand levels for a range of products and, therefore, for plant & machinery for such products. It requires holistic planning and execution to recalibrate India on a global scale. The paradigm of industry specific national regulators, and quality, innovation and competitiveness specific national missions have the potential to help translate all of the Prime Minister’s powerful principles into national wealth with social equity.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on August 17, 2014

KBC/MEK Paradigm: A Knowledge Game Show for Prizewinning or a Digital Platform for Social Reengineering?

Most Indians know “Kaun Banega Crorepati?” (“Who Will Become Crorepati?”), or KBC, as the pioneering and highly popular knowledge based reality game show, in Hindi and English, that inspired millions to compete for the hot seat and to aspire to win the Rs 1 crore prize money (initial stake, now getting increased to an astounding Rs 7 crore in the seventh season, and in the forthcoming eighth season)  to fulfill their life dreams. The show got completely identified with Big B, Amitabh Bachchan, despite Shahrukh Khan hosting a midterm series, and despite a four year holiday. Whether KBC transformed the lives of the prizewinners, it sure did transform the image of Amitabh as the master showman as a person of elegant intellect and touching emotion. While the excitement of climbing up the ladder of questions with the three lifelines in tow was exciting, the connectivity and rapport which Amitabh established with the participants and the audience alike was a delight to watch.

The Telugu version titled “Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu?” (“Who Will Become Crorepati Among You?”) started to be aired from June 9, 2014 as a forty-episode version with Akkineni Nagarjuna donning the role of host that  Amitabh played in KBC. Pre-telecast, there was skepticism about the show’s nativity for the Telugu population and Nagarjuna’s ability to measure up to the historic benchmark set by the mighty Amitabh. However, as the MEK show closed its first season with its fortieth episode on August 7, 2014 it became evident that MEK was no less popular than KBC, and Nagarjuna became no less transformed and transformative than Amitabh was. In addition, its translation into Telugu nativity was perfect and the connectivity with the Telugu audience was instantaneous.  For students of social engineering, however, MEK offers several interesting insights and corresponding hypotheses.  Five of these are discussed below, with some suggestions for making this knowledge based game show an instrument of micro level social entrepreneurship.

Human touch

MEK demonstrated that if the basic DNA of any show is emotional as well as intellectual the show can transcend all barriers of geography. After all, KBC itself was an adaptation, with a significant Indian emotive touch, of the popular UK game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”. The objective of any product or service is to fulfill the human needs. Human needs have two integral parts; one of rational need (influenced by knowledge and logic), and the other of emotional need (influenced by belongingness and empathy). MEK went one step ahead of KBC in unraveling the rational and emotional experiences and goals of the hot seat participants. The MEK show could succeed in bringing out emotional aspects of the show by focusing on humanism without unduly leveraging the materialism of the prize money. This sensitivity brought the show close to an initially skeptical audience. Social engineering through a product, service or a host is possible only when the human touch is understood and embedded in them, and is manifest in features.

Hope and determination  

It is more than a coincidence, in fact a clear pattern, that the story of each participant in the MEK show has been one of hope and determination. Irrespective of the contemporary status of each participant, it was clear that all of them faced some very serious odds in life, and most continued to face more challenges for future; yet, all demonstrated remarkable grit, courage and hope to overcome the difficulties. Some of them had their near and dear in financially, physically or medically challenged state but each was determined to work for their benefit as much as for their own. There were participants who moved up the ladder from humble beginnings to reasonably settled jobs but none lost sight of the difficult past. The common thread is that a combination of hope and determination makes life. Hope without determination is facile while determination without hope is purposeless.

Social entrepreneurship

It is well understood that entrepreneurship holds the key to rapid and sustainable economic growth with social equity in India. It is, however, not so well understood that many Indians, contrary to the perception that they are risk-averse job seekers, have an entrepreneurial spirit, and that a socially inclined one, in them. Some participants in the MEK show were already self-employed while almost everyone desired to set up a socially relevant entrepreneurial venture if they were to win a substantial prize money. It also transpired that those who underwent troubles experienced firsthand an aspiration to create their own little ecosystems that could educate and train people or establish businesses and services. The spirit of social entrepreneurship was palpable here even though the prize money stakes were less than the KBC stakes. This emphasis on social aspiration contrasts with a somewhat excessive emphasis in the KBC show on the size of the prize money.  It was interesting to perceive that a combination of life’s challenges and personal skills provides the right motivation to set up socially responsible entrepreneurial ventures.

Professional rebirth

The adage that nothing succeeds like success is typically validated by great corporate or leadership achievements. This adage is true at a micro level as well. In fact, many participants found a distinctive confidence and a unique motivation as a result of participating in the MEK show successfully. Umakant was a participant who knew all the answers, together with the entire background, even before a question was read, so much so he earned the sobriquet of Acharya Umakant from Nagarjuna. He said that despite his hard work he never got a chance to prove his worth, and finally the MEK show helped him establish his competence; he gratefully said that he was reborn because of the show. Similar has been the experience of another intelligent and sharp participant who lost his confidence due to a head injury; the very fact of his being in the hot seat demonstrated his alertness and acumen, and to boot Nagarjuna could extract a promise to rediscover his confidence. Clearly, certain landmark competitive or successful events can reinforce one’s confidence and propel one to greater heights.

Leadership transformation

Prior to KBC, Amitabh was a national hero within the shade of the past ‘angry young man’ image. The failure of business ventures and an inability to manage the generational transition in the 1990s took some sheen of his image. It is to the credit of Amitabh that he could utilize the KBC game show vehicle that started in 2000 to bring out his histrionics, knowledge, emotions, humility and empathy as a unique personality of intellect and emotion that connected with not only the participants but also millions of households. Like Amitabh, Nagarjuna had a distinct screen presence, relative to the Telugu film industry. Nagarjuna, a generation younger than Amitabh, started as an ‘angry young student’ in movies and consolidated as a boisterous mass hero with evergreen characteristics but also blossomed with unexpected histrionics in religious movies. As seamlessly as Amitabh, Nagarjuna could acquire the shades of an emotionally intellectual showman, with a homely television presence that is distinct from his screen image, playful or devout. Leadership, it would seem, is contextual, and adaptive leaders can build on their latent competencies to transform themselves contextually; leadership rebirth seems to be entirely possible and feasible.

Digital social reengineering

A successful TV show is, at best, seen as a string of episodes that momentarily transports audience each specified time of the day to think differently. As the analysis on KBC and MEK in this blog post demonstrates, certain reality shows that combine intellectualism and compassion under a voluntary experiential canopy of social awareness are much more than just successful TV shows; they have the right ingredients for mass social transformation. There are five distinct lessons for social development which must be grasped. Firstly, from governance to business, human touch must prevail in all product, process or service delivery. Secondly, good times, and better times, will come only with hope and determination. Thirdly, most individuals, especially those who came up through troubled times, can evolve, and re-evolve, as natural leaders for social entrepreneurship and social reengineering at micro level. Fourthly, competitive successes are opportunities to rededicate oneself to professional rejuvenation. Fifthly, given the right challenges and opportunities, leaders adapt and transform themselves to be inspired themselves, and inspire others.

Digital communication through media impacts millions of minds on a 24X7 basis. If positive messages are conveyed through entertaining and engaging shows, anchored by inspiring icons, they become integral to life journeys.  If the digital power and imaging is constructively channeled, knowledge and achievement based reality shows can become truly mass movements which can convert a normal society into a knowledge society and create wealth and wellbeing with social entrepreneurship. Siddhartha Basu, the iconic quiz master of India and the force behind the KBC/MEK shows has demonstrated how intellect can lead to engagement and how knowledge with emotion can not only mean good business but also transform lives. A few incentives from the promoters of the shows as well as from the governments could take forward the concepts and unleash creative social energy. Siddhartha Basu, himself, can evolve from being an intellectual authority and a successful businessman to a knowledge developer and social transformer.  

The knowledge game shows can be social game changers with the following few tweaks. Fundamentally, the game shows should be seen as social entrepreneurship ventures which are inspired through individual aspiration for intellectual and material development. The games should have socially inclined sponsors so that the prize corpus is significantly enhanced. The prize money in lower bands of Rs 1000 to Rs 80,000 should be significantly enhanced, and that in the Rs 160,000 to Rs 1 crore band doubled so that more money is deployed in the hands of prizewinners. Rather than scale up the apex prize to astronomical levels, the corpus must be deployed to generate as many lakhpatis as possible. The prize money should be exempt from taxation if the money is invested in social entrepreneurship. The KBC/MEK organization must maintain a registry of the winners and their ventures so that more sponsors can support such ventures on an ongoing basis. The show formats can themselves be made in all the Indian languages and in each region anchors like Amitabh, Surya and Nagarjuna should take up this as a developmental mission. KBC/MEK paradigm with its intellectual and emotional engagement, and with social passion and entertainment quotient, can uniquely engage individuals, families and societies in India’s knowledge based social reengineering.   

Posted by Dr CB Rao on August 10, 2014     

Short Term Versus Long Term, and Other Distinctions: The ‘One Horizon - One Domain’ Concept

From the 1950s till now, long range planning, also called strategic planning, has been serving as a prescription for growth. The concept has become so ingrained in organizational psyche that potential managers and leaders are expected to acquire, develop and demonstrate skills for crafting and executing strategy over a long career span. Superimposed on this is the ability to visualize a future and channel the strategies towards realizing this future. This has percolated to individual domains too with the responsibilities and competencies for operational management and strategic management becoming differentiated. In terms of understanding managerial and leadership processes, the distinction has become, over the years, rather sharp. The long term is seen to require strategic and planning approach while the short term only tactical and execution approach. Extending the philosophy a bit, it is believed that if one has a good long term plan and executes as per that in the short term, the job is done.

This approach, good for most parts, has a few unanticipated consequences. Firstly, the separation of execution in the short term and planning for the long term weakens the feedback and course correction loop. Secondly, the differentiation of long range planning as an annual, fixed period exercise and short range execution as a daily routine actually disconnects the perspectives. Thirdly, the differential approach makes the young professionals, scientists, technicians, who constitute the young talent base with fresh thinking and new knowledge, mechanical and controlled in thinking. As a result of these deficiencies, the intellectual and leadership wealth of the organization tends to get sub-optimized. Merging the paradigm of planning, long range and strategic, with the paradigm of execution, short term and tactical, is a challenge; the differences of approaches and skill sets between the two paradigms would still need to be maintained for orderly planning and execution. This blog post tries to separate the fiction from facts between the two paradigms and explores ways to optimize the wealth of talent through three optimized organizational processes.

Definitional optimization

The differences between what constitutes the long term versus the short term or the strategic versus tactical, or even planning versus execution are relative. Even in a steady state industrial and economic environment, technology shrinks or extends these definitions significantly. With regulatory changes and environmental volatility superimposed, the irrelevance of the long term plan to the short term and the relevance of the short term to the long term become highly pronounced. Let us take the example of the Indian airlines industry. The top national carriers (except possibly IndiGo) have posted a combined loss of USD 1.7 billion (Rs 10,201 crore) in 2013-14 and are expected to post another huge loss of USD 1.4 billion (Rs 8,408 crore) in 2014-15. In fact, the cumulative losses of the industry over the last seven years have hit a staggering USD 10.6 billion (Rs 63,633 crore)! It is estimated that the ailing firms require an immediate capital infusion of USD 1.6 billion (Rs 9,610 crore) just to stabilize operations.  No wonder that the long range plans of all the ailing (and possibly non-ailing) firms are anchored under external capital infusion on one hand and cost reduction with operational efficiency on the other.

Even before the ink could dry on the plans, news is out that AirAsia has launched its operations and Tata-Singapore Airlines would launch its operations in October 2014. Tougher still, six new airlines have also been given approval to fly by the new Government. Stable oil prices become volatile with every geo-political crisis. Rupee value becomes unpredictable every equity cycle. On the positive side, a resurgent India could see the development of at least 25 new international airports and 75 new domestic airports, and a helpful Government may just provide a relief in terms of tax burden.  Clearly, the airlines industry cannot rest on long range planning of conventional mode; it would need to make a long range plan possibly once in a quarter or each time there is a material change. This is a perfect example of the short term being more relevant than the long term and the long term getting secured with the short term. Many other industries are witnessing the need to merge short term and long range approaches rather than separate them.

Talent optimization

Today’s talent is commonly judged on a variety of skills; technical skills and communication skills, hard skills and soft skills, conceptual skills and analytical skills, to name a few. More important than all of these, which will be present in one measure or the other, are two sets of skills or competencies which are hard to get. The first is the ability to see a firm’s value chain on an end to end basis, and appreciate the impact of the value chain on one’s role, and vice versa. The second is the ability to understand the relationship between short run performance and long run plans of a firm. Typically, it is felt that these two skills of critical thinking get developed with experience in an individual. If this were to be true, the tendency to separate short term delivery and long term planning under two sets of talent pools (for example, front level executives and senior level managers, respectively) would only deny further the opportunity for frontline executives to acquire the two critical skills. In addition, the separation of (only) doing as the (sole) responsibility of front line executives and (only) planning as the (sole) responsibility of senior managers serves to delay the development of such critical skill in young professionals.

At the firm level, opportunity to promote the ability to perceive end to end thinking and think of short term and long term simultaneously helps organizations develop the intellectual capital of a firm better and make the firm more competitive. A marketing executive who is trained to understand the design connectivity will be able to relate customer feedback to potential for product improvement. In fact, without end to end thinking approach, the executive may even fail to observe a whole sweep of market triggers. Similarly, the executive who understands how easy or difficult it is to remove costs of a component would understand if a particular product design has reached the end of life, or there is potential to extend the product life cycle with a next generation of product. In addition to the above tangible benefits, the nurturing of creativity that takes place results in an overall creative organization. This requires that senior managers and leaders make it a point to integrate the short run execution and long run planning processes, and to promote value chain thinking.

Technological optimization

Technological change is profound but essentially continues to be incremental. Optimizing rather than accelerating technology holds the key to ensuring that short run product plans stay on for a longer term in a company’s life horizon. When the progress of product design in an industry, be it automobile or computer, is reviewed over a long period, say over two decades, one would be puzzled that the changes that looked major improvements each time look merely incremental over a longer time span. As an example, minimization of bezels in a phone or tablet to  provide greater display size within the same form factor is not a rocket science discovery but it took close to ten years and an LG G3 to take it to perfection (and Apple is yet to get that)! With the rapidly growing popularity of ‘selfies’ it again is not breakthrough thinking to incorporate high performance front cameras (equal in capability to rear cameras) in smart phones, yet only one or two phone models go beyond 2 MP front cameras!

Like with the other two thought processes discussed earlier, technological optimization is a matter of mindset. It requires a mindset to think of all technological features in a totalistic manner and get the best of the technology package. This requires that every member of design school understands the limits to which each sub-technology can be pushed and how such frontier-testing technologies can synergize themselves in combination. A light weight gearbox and a fuel-efficient engine, cannot, for example, be effective on a chassis with high tare weight. A light weight suitcase need not skimp on multiple sub-folders just to drive down total carried weight. Managers and leaders must go all out to give out the best technology package each time rather than hold back available knowledge for future use. Delayed deployment of technologies could, in fact, be counter-productive. ‘Develop now - deploy later’ has never been, and will never be, a winning proposition in techno-commercial thinking; in fact, it has proved to be counterproductive as being ‘too little - too late’.

One horizon, one domain

A review of the above three thought processes which correspond to certain organizational processes reveals that the various differentiations we have, namely short term versus long term, strategic versus tactical, planning versus execution, firm-level versus unit-level, executive versus leader – are all certain convenient methodologies to manage division of responsibilities and accountabilities as well as hierarchical differences in an organization and not necessarily the most optimizing processes. Given the range of external and internal factors (“factors”), and their unpredictability, firms need to have one horizon for planning whose time span is limited by the first material change in any of the factors, and one domain whose relevance is defined by firm level competitiveness accruing through individualization and collectivization of all the organizational functions or units. Young executives and mature leaders must embrace the ‘one horizon - one domain’ concept so that intellectual capital in the firm is built up for competitiveness and growth.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on August 3, 2014

 

New Generation Technological Education at the IITs: Optimal Track, Rather Than Fast-Track?

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), India’s central government owned premier institutions of national importance for technological education have been the Indian icons of globally competitive technical education. The initiatives they take, and the reforms they usher in, have a ripple effect in the entire field of technical education in India. IITs’ latest proposal for fast track engineering (B Tech) degree based on accelerated credits (in three and half years instead of four years) has the potential to churn the technical education scenario in India if it is not appreciated and improved in a holistic perspective. This proposal has to be viewed in the perspective that not several years ago, engineering degree in India required five years of full time study. If this proposal of three and half years becomes real, India would probably the first major country, after the USA, to provide a bachelor’s degree in engineering in such a compressed time frame.   

IITs are known to be cradles of high pressure, high performance education. The entry into IITs is itself a resultant of highly competitive Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) system, for which school boys start preparing years ahead through high intensity coaching. Given this context, an emphasis on credits for a compressed time frame could be seen to be adding to the high pressure robotized study system in the IITs, making students vulnerable to the dangers of intense competitiveness. If other competitive institutions like National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and other key universities follow suit, it could be a larger phenomenon of ‘race to degree’. Another worry would be that other regional universities and colleges may try to follow suit, and given the reduced level of study and examination solidity in such universities and colleges there could be a dilution of study standards in such institutions. At the same time, there also seem to be certain higher order goals in the proposed change which are yet to catch the attention. This blog post discusses the latest proposal from the IITs in the totality, and options.

Flexibility

The IITs proposal, announced by Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, the Director of IIT Kharagpur at the 60^th convocation of the Institute on July 26, 2014, has an important concept of flexibility. The fast-track option is essentially for those students who can accrue the requisite credits. The proposal also allows a more languid pace, extending up to 8 years for the ‘slow learners’. The fast track option envisages that the ‘saved’ six months can be utilized for job or entrepreneurship. It also allows inter-IIT portability of credits to utilize the centers of excellence that exist in various IITs. With these features in tow, the fast track proposal would appear more holistic. This, does not, however take the focus away from the weighty nature of a true technological curriculum and whether adequate justice is being done to it under even a four year program. The pitfall in any credit based system is the equation of credit to learning and subjects to knowledge, all of which require certain minimum periods of time for attention, absorption and assimilation.

The undergraduate level engineering programs are both foundational and specialist in nature. Despite the proliferation of various engineering streams, each engineer irrespective of the specialization must be well versed in certain core engineering studies. These relate to mathematics, sciences, humanities, design and drawing principles, and a foundation of each of the core or basic engineering specializations like civil, mechanical, electrical, electronics and computers. And, each of these has to have a corresponding laboratory practice, which should expose the students to a wide range of machining, forming, casting, welding and bonding practices related to various kinds of materials. Given the heavy knowledge and practice load on one hand, and the extremes of extracurricular pulls and social media distractions on the other hand, the case seems to be more for extension, rather than compression, of degree granting period.

Flights away

One question to ask is to whose benefit the acceleration would be if the fast-track graduate were to choose a job or another degree instead of the well intended entrepreneurship. As we are aware, many of the IIT graduates end up taking up management diplomas in the equally reputed Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) or go abroad for higher education or research. In the IIT Kharagpur convocation, Bharat Ratna Professor C N R Rao exhorted the IITians to stay in the country and contribute to India’s scientific and technological capital, citing his own example of success. If the fast-track graduates see the credit based graduation as an opportunity to explore other options elsewhere, the basis of advancing gets called into question. A total credit score of 182 in 7 semesters, covering theory, laboratory, workshop and fieldwork seems to be an intensely packed study and learning schedule (a typical course take 190 credits over 10 semesters).  A dual degree program is also offered under this route, though details are not yet available.   

By the same token, allowing a highly relaxed period of 8 years for course completion may also be misplaced. Given that all entrants to the IITs are competent and competitive, allowing that level of extended flexibility would be a loss in the formation of intellectual capital in India. Considering that certain students do find the pressure a trifle too much, flexibility for completing the course up to 6 years could be more in order.  Also, extending inter-IIT portability to cover at least one year of residence could expose the students to not only other centers of excellence but even to other residential cultures as well. Given that the new program will be rolled out from the academic year 2016-17, and in a phased manner, there is an opportunity to reinforce the good points of the fast-track program (in fact, it should be called optimal track program!), overcome the weaknesses and develop a techno-entrepreneurial ecosystem that maximizes the benefits of the proposal. 

Specializations

The key to success of a flexible credit based system is the availability of a number of specializations and micro-specializations on one hand and well coordinated academic planning. Providing total flexibility to the student in course choice could lead to diffused learning while too much control could lead to the defeat of the system itself. It is important that the academic deans of the IITs develop a course planner which explains why a cluster of related specializations would make a holistic sense compared to a random choice of courses. The course credits must be hierarchically defined based on complexity and relational synergy of the courses. It may be a good idea for the IITs to develop an App exclusively for course and credit planning under the fast-track system. The App must also link specializations offered by the various IITs to define a total universe of specializations. There could be certain thorny issues related to different IITs providing differential values to similar specializations based on the excellence they think they possess in the domain. This will be one challenge of flexibility.

The other challenge will be providing the specializations themselves. For a mechanical engineering stream, the range of main and specialization courses can range from thermodynamics to robotics. Whether a robotics specialization could be common for  mechanical and electronics mainstreams, or whether it would need to be customized to each mainstream would be one call. Given the fast paced developments, what would be the life of a course (say, 3 or 5 years) would be another call. Whether courses that belong to a graduate level (for example, prosthetics) would be a good fit for an undergraduate level mechanical engineering course could be another call. Whether specializations should be only subject matter or whether even laboratory or workshop practice could qualify as specializations is another call. Ideally, specializations should have a range that plays on one’s aptitude for further academic specialization or industrial practice. The challenges are likely to be more in domains where product life cycles are getting shorter. One way would be to link up academic expertise, research directions, consulting practice and industrial inputs in development of state-of-the-art specializations.

Entrepreneurship in IITs   

Given that an important aspect of the fast-track proposal is to release one semester for entrepreneurial activity, availability of an entrepreneurial ecosystem within the IIT system, or otherwise, would be a prerequisite.  A few IITs, notably IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur, and IIT (BHU) Varnasi have experimented with creating entrepreneurial ecosystems as adjuncts to their educational systems. IIT Madras has set up IIT Madras Incubation Cell. IIT Bombay has set up Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. IIT (BHU) has established Malaviya Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship. Each of them has incorporated specific initiatives funded by the IITs, Central Ministries or IIT alumni themselves. Even a newer IIT like IIT Hyderabad has set up E-Cell for entrepreneurs. Although some of these have been in operation since 1999, there is no evidence of any major entrepreneurial startups that emerged from these incubation initiatives. Even though IITM has provided physical infrastructure through IIT Madras Research Park adjacent to IITM campus, startups have been few to leverage the facilities.     

Undoubtedly, the strong technological foundations at IITs, and the personality strengths of the IITians make them look at entrepreneurship as a career option more confidently, the only inhibiting factor being the hugely attractive job opportunities they automatically command. That said, convergence of futuristic research with foundational technology, and combination of financial support with commercial insights would be necessary to create an ecosystem that would make entrepreneurship widespread across IITs. Special emphasis should be laid on socially relevant low cost, high technology products. Entrepreneurship, however, requires more than a feasible product idea. A recent research suggests that an entrepreneur with a product idea needs a core organization of likeminded passionate friends to make a success of entrepreneurship. Even some of the biggest globalized startups of today such as Apple, Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Salesforce.com as well as regional startups like Project A Ventures, Eyeota, Flipkart, RedBus validate this thesis.

Indigenous ecosystem

The other aspect is that successful entrepreneurship needs certain other skills in addition to wholly technical skills. This has prompted the Hyderabad based management school, the Indian School of Business (ISB) to launch, as a two-year programme at ISB, Technology Entreprenurship Programme to equip select engineering students with skills to become entrepreneurs. It is stated that Microsoft Ventures and Google are supporting the programme. The larger question still would be whether even a broader educational curriculum for entrepreneurship or cross-collaboration between IITs (and/or NITs) and IIMs (and/or ISB) would be completely sufficient. The philosophical question is also whether entrepreneurship can only from arise from premier institutes, or could emerge as a broader national phenomenon. Prima facie, creative technological ideas ought to emerge from any institute which has higher technological and research competencies. Idea incubation (example, IIT Madras Incubation Cell) and licensing of patentable ideas (yet to happen in a big way) from institutes of higher technology is one facet of creation of a broader national entrepreneurship ecosystem.

The real answer could lie in restoring and rejuvenating the traditional economic employment system of India which was rooted in skill and craft based self-employment system but has faced dilution due to the attraction of readymade and assured career options that could arise from formal educational qualifications. It is, therefore, gratifying that some of the IIT entrepreneurship schools are focusing on socially relevant product or service ideas (example, Center for Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation at IIT Madras). Real developments that can be commercialized would need to focus on market applications rather than technology roots. For example, could a variable speed micro-motor be developed that could make a potter’s work more productive, more consistent and of higher quality? Can a portable ultrasound linked with tablet computer be designed to take ultrasound diagnostics into the rural areas? Can there be a sanitizing solution for dry leaf plates (used extensively in certain southern states) to obviate the need for paper plates? Can solar panels, inverters and electricity power be integrated to reduce generated power consumptions? Can there be water purifying technology which does not waste any water? The optimal track for IITs could be in not fast-tracking credits per se, but in integrating latent market needs with creative technologies.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on July 29, 2014          

 

 

Emulation as ‘Sadhana’: A Paradigm of Intellectual Development

Life is full of challenges and opportunities; hence, also full of fulfillments and disappointments. Life has several templates to grow or atrophy, materialistically and philosophically, as one moves through various stages of life, from birth to death. All wise parents try to set up a life that is full of opportunities and fulfillments for their wards. Unfortunately, due to factors beyond one’s control, idyllic scenarios do not mostly happen, except for those borne with a silver spoon. As one gains the ability to independently analyze the life’s challenges and opportunities, emulation-execution emerges as a conundrum which most individuals flirt with, and more often than not, fail to get it right. This blog post discusses a paradigm of emulation. Emulation is the thought or act of trying to do something like someone whom one likes or admires (usually a role model). Emulation is an attempt to try. Execution is the act of actually carrying out the act in a manner that conforms to, or exceeds, the expectations set by, or perceived of, the role model. Emulation and execution are governed by an invisible but intrinsic factor called emotion. 

The process of emulation is a life-journey process that is invisible and unrecognized for most time but is real and perpetual. Emulation, in formative years, occurs through family upbringing and pedagogy. Emulation in later years occurs through experiences and aspirations. In the earlier formative stage, one is told explicitly to emulate a model behavior, be it from family, religion, history or contemporary public life. In the later stage one gets inspired or motivated by oneself to emulate a certain model behavior. In the formative stage, execution is compelled by the system, be it the family or the institution, while in the later stage execution flows from one’s own volition that execution gets results. Obviously, there exist no cut and dried boundaries, as all through one’s life the processes of emulation and execution keep taking place, most times with guidance (and sometimes with misguidance!) providing fulfillments and opportunities in this journey. If there could be a way to align opportunities, emulation, execution and fulfillment in one’s life, it would indeed be a great pathway to ‘materialistic nirvana’!

Worthiness, practicality

Emulation is a part and pathway of life whose existence cannot be denied. Emulation can occur in multiple ways, from a feature to a person, from a trait to a personality, and from an objective to a mission. There are five common cautionary characteristics of emulation that an individual needs to be aware of. The first relates to the inability to judge for oneself whether one is emulating (or should be emulating) a person or what he or she stands for. For example, it would be one thing to believe that one should emulate Dr Abdul Kalam (the past reputed Scientist-President of India) and an entirely different thing to believe that one should emulate Dr Kalam’s erudition, simplicity and passion. The second pitfall is the belief that emulation is around one role model. Here again, one tends to emulate, rather unknowingly, several people or several features for several reasons, and the ability to align or integrate multiple emulative processes is vital for comprehensive development. The third is a lack of understanding that emulation is an iterative process. While emulation cannot be opportunistic it cannot also be ossifying; it is a continuous learning experience in its own right. The fourth is that emulation, oftentimes, has an emotive trigger; de-cluttering the emotional aspects is necessary for meaningful emulation. The fifth is a perception that one needs to be independent, and never emulative; this, of course, is the greatest fallacy and pitfall for, even pioneers emulate a pioneering behavior or mindset!

In totality, Inability to introspect into one’s own emulative behavior often lands one in difficulties; more positively, understanding these aspects helps one achieve fulfillment from emulation. To be successful in emulation, one must consider two primary aspects of emulation; worthiness and practicality. Whatever or whoever one emulates must fundamentally be worthy of emulation, that is it must be positive and capable of providing fulfillment or actualization. Secondly, it must be practical to emulate and execute. While heroic sagas have been written of amazing achievements even under most challenging circumstances, they have been made possible because of certain accentuating features of the emulators. In other words, knowing what to emulate and how to emulate holds the key to successful emulation and fulfillment. It always pays to emulate a feature, trait or an objective than a person, personality or mission. Given that unknowingly, a person has multiple emulative triggers, it would be necessary to stay narrowly focused rather than broadly generic in emulation.

Competency, completion

While worthiness and practicality are the essential parameters of emulation, emulation itself cannot be successful without execution. Execution has two facets; competence and completion. The desire to emulate must be backed by passion to execute. Individuals who embark on risky programs of sportsmanship or creative arts leaving conventional means of livelihood finally become successful as they get to understand and grow their competence well and remain relentless in their passion till they succeed in their task. The first step to successfully execute is, therefore, to understand the competency needed to execute. The second step to successfully execute is to understand the final step that defines the completion. Individuals, unlike organizations, cannot outsource their competencies. Those who execute based on others’ competencies eventually fail in non-native circumstances. Again, individuals, unlike organizations, cannot redefine completion. Unsuccessful organizations may get taken over and eventually prosper with accrued synergy but unsuccessful individuals lapse into oblivion, relative to potential. 

At an individual level, therefore, every thought or act of emulation must be accompanied by an understanding of competency and completion. In this process, there is no better way than emulate what the role model stands (stood) for, and how he stands (stood) for.  Biographies of great leaders, or their own teachings constitute a great way to understand the ‘what and how’ of emulation. Working with legends and role models in real time is an even greater opportunity. Being part of a great philosophical organization may in itself lead to opening of one’s mind on what one should look for. The irony of the situation is that many times individuals begin building competencies (like becoming a certified professional) and assuming completion (like landing a good job) without understanding the larger purpose of emulation.  Whether one’s domain happens to be a matter of choice or circumstance, it is important for one to appreciate those aspects that are worthy of emulation and grasp what it takes to successfully emulate.

Transient versus committed

As mentioned earlier, emotion plays a major role in the process of emulation; more often than not, emotion is the first trigger for emulative thought. As one watches an exciting sport, one may feel that the sportsmanship displayed is worthy of emulation (“I wish I could play like Sachin!”). As one listens to a music program, one may feel that the musical talent evokes emulation (“I wish I could sing like SPB!”). As one gets swayed by a corporate leader, one may feel that the role model is all there to emulate (“I wish I could present like Steve Jobs”). The point to note that these tend to be transient thoughts of emulation, spurred on by emotional feel-good experiences and aspirations. Committed emulation, on the other hand, is a rational process; even when spurred by emotion, it delayers emotion from logic to develop a sustainable basis for emulation. It connects an individual to what the leaders stand for as much as for the leaders themselves. Mahatma Gandhi’s success was in connecting Indians to the values of  Swaraj and Ahimsa, and making them emulate those values for the larger national good.

Committed emulation has both material and philosophical aspects to it. It recognizes the importance of being (or becoming) someone well recognized in the professional or social system on the strengths of one’s capabilities. It has to be, therefore, a matter of considered choice, even if it is triggered by emotion. One may, after a successful career stint, be emotionally attracted to be a social servant. It is important to logically analyze whether that worthy goal of emulation fits into oneself (or what one is capable of becoming) by passing the idea through the four filters of worthiness, practicality, competency and completion. Of the several emotive options that one encounters in each phase of life, these four filters would help one crystallize one’s emulative thoughts effectively.  An emulative process has to mandatorily satisfy all the four criteria; drawing a blank on any of the four would lead to imperfect, if not negative, results.  

Emulation as ‘sadhana’

Sadhana is a Sanskrit word that means a quest to accomplish. Emulation is like sadhana. The goal has to be carefully chosen, and the ‘sadhaka’ (the one who is set on the path of sadhana) cannot, and will not, rest until the process of emulation is complete. Fortunately, in the classical systems of education, the concept of emulation as sadhana is ingrained. Most accomplished musicians gain their musical strengths through individualized apprenticeship under reputed musical legends. The concept of house surgeon in medical education is aimed at letting young doctors learn the skill of medical practice from the experienced physician or surgeon. Even in a corporate setting, the practice of youngsters working as executive assistants with leaders is a way of apprenticing the youngsters in the art and science of management and leadership. As the base of talent seekers keeps expanding at the base, and as career development keeps becoming a more fast-paced race, unfortunately, the apprentices as well as the leaders seem to be missing on the fulfillment of emulation.

And, for those who still appreciate the need for emulation, it is important to realize that sadhana or emulation is a great anti-gravity effort. Non-emulative talent, like water, flows as per gravity to opportunities available. Emulative talent, on the other hand, scales new peaks with each phase of sadhana, based on committed and diligent efforts. Literally and figuratively, enlightened emulation is akin to intrepid mountaineering. And the aim of emulation is not to create intellectual clones but to enhance the intellectual strength of the talent base in the country and the society.  Typically, every society or every organization produces only a few natural leaders or maestros. The more the larger population, whether of a society or an organization, seeks to emulate the leaders and maestros for what they have accomplished and the virtuous paths thereto, the greater would be the combined intellectual strength of that society or organization.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on July 26, 2014   

The Future of Computing and Communication: Theorems of Proportionality, Duality and Wearability

The desktop personal computer has seen its greatest challenge with the emergence of laptop personal computer. Laptop has seen its greatest threat with the emergence of tablets. Smart phones and phablets are yet another favored range of mobile devices for communication, becoming more powerful even in certain business applications progressively. The question people and experts alike have is whether the last word has been said, or is about to be said, on personal computers and laptops. Would they be soon extinct or irrelevant is the question. As of now, tablets have become ubiquitous because of their portability and simplicity; yet they seem more suited to media and milder documentation. Its inability to take a standard USB port for seamless data transfer across all devices is an impediment to tablets completely overshadowing personal computers and laptops.  Microsoft has made the first move towards making tablets more powerful, and hence more universal, with the launch of Surface Pro 3 which overcomes some of the shortcomings of typical tablets.

Doubtless, computer engineers would continue on their quest to make tablet computer the only personal computer of the future. In so far as business applications are concerned, tablets have, as of now, become supplemental devices rather than substitute devices. The future direction would depend on six principal factors: the weight factor, form factor, power factor, system factor, memory factor and portability factor. Other factors such as aesthetics, display intensity, water and dust resistance, color combinations are likely to be relevant but only of secondary importance compared to the primary factors. If the technological power that is getting packed in a smart phone is an indication, it would be theoretically possible for a tablet to pack all the power of a current desktop or laptop in a not too distant future. This does not mean that that desktops and laptops would be extinct. As with every other product, from camera to movie, whereby the older products have staged decisive comebacks on the back of new technological developments so could be the desktops and laptops. This blog post discusses the potential direction and options, and choices of the communication and computing industry, and the possible impact of human race.

Proportionality

If technological development is secular, as usually it is, the principle of proportionality works to keep most products relevant, provided they are duly updated technologically from time to time. It was thought once that with the advent of televisions, home theater systems, and more recently, home cinema systems, the movie halls would become orphaned. On the other hand, leveraging the wide format, 70 mm and IMAX screens, hi-fidelity surround music systems and digital streaming of movies, movie halls continue to hold sway with films of more epic proportions getting made. Similarly, even though camera features have got ported into smart phones, the main line cameras remain the choice for everlasting perfect photos with the lens, aperture and zoom options and high pixel densities. By the same token, if the tablets of tomorrow would pack all the capabilities of a desktop or laptop, there is no reason why the desktop pr laptop would not pack all the capabilities of a mini-mainframe or the mainframe itself.

Today, a CPU clock speed of 2.8 GHz, a RAM of 3 GB and an extendable memory of 128 GB is standard for a top-of-the-line phablet; these specifications being the mainstay of a laptop until recently. The future laptops would surely have processing clock speeds in excess of 4GHz, SDDR 4 RAMS of 16 GB and memory capability of 2 terabytes. While portability of mobile computers together with laptop like features could make them anywhere-business choices, the proportionate increase in the power of the laptops and desktops would create a new pool of fixed computer-centric intellectual entrepreneurs. In not so distant future, the mainframe capability would sit in the home computers making it easy for individuals to carry out complex tasks such as mathematical modeling, business simulation and high speed algorithmic stock trading. This wave would be akin to Apple’s Mac bringing desktop publishing and animation within the reach of aspiring self-employed entrepreneurs. If the principle of proportionality with universal technological development is applied there would be paradigm shifts in how computing and communication could create intellectual and employment opportunities.

 Duality

The personal computing product design is at crossroads. The trend of packing more features and power and hoping to make devices completely universal has limitations. Some such limitations are hardware related aspects such as capacity and bandwidth which are in turn limited by energy generation and heat dissipation issues. Some others are operating system related issues such as one system being inadequate to meet the extremes of business (or professional)  and social (or personal) demands. Keeping business and personal needs in one device but distinct is more complex than either offering dual-SIM technologies or pan-device operating systems. A completely different way of looking at product design is probably called for.  Cloud offers an intermediate solution making weak devices strong by on-demand use of cloud power and storage. This would certainly help to the fullest extent when the entire globe is seamlessly wifi connected. That could be an elusive dream for a long time, making cloud a selective option.  Fortunately, the relentless progress of technology, in terms of materials, chips and machining or forming, offers new vistas of product development.

There was a time when a computer, even a laptop, was one inch in thickness and a tablet half an inch in thickness, with corresponding high weights. Today, both have halved in thicknesses with corresponding reductions in weight. It is not difficult to imagine a future when the mobile computers would be virtually  paper-thin, in a manner of speaking (probably, another halving of thicknesses is technically feasible!). this would open up the opportunity to have a common chassis, with business device on one side and social device on the other side, together the combination phone not exceeding a 6 mm thickness and a 200 gm weight! If this is coupled with other exciting options like extendable screens for laptop-like readability there would be a universal device that caters to diverse business and social needs through different devices but as one innovative chassis-integrated device. In a corresponding manner, laptops could also be conjoined dual devices with the top being a business device and the base being a social device. This also needs to be combined with customized operating systems for business and social applications while ensuring certain commonality in both systems for shared applications.

Wearability

Hitherto, the technological approach to merge electronics and human endeavor has been to create robots. The early approach has been to create robots that could mimic the human in mechanical movements and perform operations that are difficult, and even impossible, and unsafe for humans. The more recent approach has been to embed artificial intelligence in robots so that they can even think and act. This has, however, been an enormously challenging task with high cost and time lines. Even if it becomes progressively feasible, such robots or humanoids would be niche, customized products rather than mass, universal products. The concept of wearable computers offers a dramatically different approach to making humans more intelligent, nimble, flexible, efficient and effective. This dramatic development of wearable computers is being led for the moment by Google Glass and, in a more basic sense, by Smart Watches. The potential is far greater than that indicated by such smart glasses and watches.

At a very simple conceptual plane, let us imagine what dramatic transformation would occur if artificial intelligence is embedded in a human being instead of in a mechatronic device like robot. Granting that embedding may not be possible biologically, artificial intelligence can surely be used to supplement native intelligence of a human being. Textiles which adjust to different levels of warmth and chillness, chips that can monitor the functioning of vital organs on a real time, smart phones which analyze speech and agility patterns to warn of impending strokes, emotion moderating bands, gloves that enhance grip, memory banks to fight Alzheimer’s disease, headbands to migraine, brain defibrillators and emotional rejuvenators, ….. the list could be endless!  In fact, every organ of the human body, both external and internal, could be rendered more effective and less disease prone by wearable computers. And, as an ultimate transformation, Google itself may be bionically implanted and web search may be thought search of a bionic Google!

cDNA

The human race, as we know, is governed by genetics. Each human being has a unique genetic code, the DNA. With the computer assuming a ubiquitous and all-encompassing role in life, and if the future of communication and computing industry develops as discussed in this blog post, each human being would have a supplemental DNA, which would be the computer DNA (or the cDNA). The future of communication and computing industry, if it evolves as per the theorems of proportionality, duality and wearability as discussed herein, would certainly promote a genetic reinforcement which overcomes the weaknesses of, and adds to the strengths of, biological genetics. Each person, by the choice of his computers for his professional and social lives, would have the ability to choose his or her cDNA even if he or she is not destined to choose his or her biological DNA. Correspondingly, the biological human abilities in future may move from intrinsic innovation to extrinsic adaptation, and from native survival and competitive instincts to chosen life design strategies. For those who can foresee the future of communication and computing industry as discussed in this blog post, the future would be full of endless and exciting possibilities!

Posted by Dr CB Rao on July 20, 2014

Craft, Craftsmanship, Creativity and Co-creativity: The Perfect Four for Virtuous Competitiveness

Over time, either by education or experience, or a combination of both, everyone becomes good at something or the other. In a very broad generic sense, one becomes good at a craft. He or she becomes known by the craft he or she is good at. Again, at a very broad generic level, people get referred to as academicians, businessmen, scientists, engineers, accountants or moviemakers, for example. Needless to say, each generic craft is a combination of several specific crafts. Corporate leadership requires the craft of weaving together a tapestry of multiple crafts to create a business canvas one desires. There is an element of individuality as much as an element of collectivism in the craft. In some cases, it is sequential, like several baton passing individuals participating in a marathon. In most other cases, it is like a musical ensemble with a whole set of musicians working together, each excelling on his or her instrument. From a social activity, craft has moved to industrial enterprise, over time.     

The continuous optimization of value chain is the core of serving the customers continuously better. While an industrial value chain has several components, design (in the laboratory), manufacture (in the factory) and delivery (to the customer) of a product constitute the three essential components. These, as well as other components and sub-components of the value chain are typically carried out by people who are educated and trained to do so. The skill or the competency with which these activities are performed determines the overall capability of the value chain and, as a consequence, the competitive advantage of a firm. Two aspects are important from a generic point of view: the perfection with which the activity is performed and the creativity with which it is performed. This blog post proposes that the industrial value chain concept as above is just a part or reflection of how people can conduct their activities, individually or collectively, in day to day life.

Craft and creativity

Craft, by definition, is an activity involving a special skill at making things with one’s hands. Working with hands implies, without doubt, working with one’s mind also focused on the activity along with hands. Craft is never a singular skill; it covers all the skills needed for a particular activity. A potter, for example, is engaged in the craft of making pottery. His or her craft is not merely shaping the clay into the desired shape with his or her hands. His craft also includes conceptualizing the artifact he needs to shape, the type of clay that would be optimum, the selection of the right potter’s wheel, an understanding of the right oven and baking methodology and finally a capability to inspect and pass the final product (through sensory inspection!). This analogy is true of every domain or activity. An aircraft pilot needs to be adept not only at piloting and aircraft instrumentation but also appreciative of the overall integrity of an aircraft and its accessories and inputs; he needs to understand not only his route map but also several alternate routes. To summarize, every craft is verily a set of multiple skills, related and unrelated.

Craft is closely allied with creativity. A craft may seem to be ordinary and repetitive but each craft requires creativity perpetually. A potter may use the same clay, the same wheel and his own hands always. Whether the pottery is the same or different, the shaping of the artifact from the raw clay with his hands, mixed with requisite liquid content and rotated with appropriate speed and shaped with customized handling, requires perpetual creativity. The functional leader may face the same set of internal and external factors each day but the fact that there would always be surprise additions or deletions besides changes in amplitude of each factor requires him to create a customized solution each day. On a higher plane, however, most crafts are non-repetitive contextually, and require a different solution. Sports and arts, for example, represent the quentessial crafts that abound in creativity every moment. Industrial leaders and organizational professionals need to view their respective crafts as creative outcomes from trained hands and minds responding to unpredictable events.

Craftsmanship and co-creativity

A craftsman is a person who is not merely versed in his craft but is so well versed in his craft that he consistently creates a product that is invariably perfect and beautiful. An accomplished singer such as SP Balu or KJ Jesudas, a dexterous sand sculptor such as Sudarsan Pattnaik come to mind immediately when one thinks of craftsmanship. The craftsmanship of a craftsman is reflected by the quality of design and work of a product or service. The difference between a Japanese automobile and an indigenous automobile is, for example, one of the former displaying the highest levels of craftsmanship. Craftsmanship requires dedication and passion of the highest order to the craft, and perfect synchronization and synergy between the body and the mind. True craftsmanship, however, goes one step further, it fuses the body, mind, heart and soul in the work one does. Organizations must look at craftsmanship as opposed to craft as the essence of talent building.

We have considered earlier that every craft typically comprises several skills. More often than not, a broader craft like corporate management or moviemaking requires working together of many crafts and craftsmen. We have also considered that a craftsman needs to be creative. In an organizational setting, it would not be sufficient for individuals to be creative by themselves; they would need to be co-creative as a team. Let us take the example of a communications executive interviewing the chief executive for an interview for the company’s house magazine. The communications expert may come up with a creative questionnaire and the chief executive may come up with equally creative answers. If, however, both of them design and execute the entire activity with each other’s creative inputs working synergistically the impact would be profound. At a product level, automobile design and manufacture emerge as perfect examples of co-creativity. Also, called concurrent engineering, co-creativity helps the engineers develop vehicles that are lighter yet stronger, minimalist externally and maximal internally, more powered but higher in fuel efficiency, and so on.

The Perfect Four

Ideal organization design should be based on a clear delineation of all the requisite crafts. Just as a bill of material drills down the product through a hierarchy to the smallest individual components, organizational design requires a comprehensive and detailed bill of crafts. The next objective must be to develop each person to reach the highest levels of creativity and craftsmanship in the craft. Organizations which reflect craftsmanship stand differentiated from those which are mere assemblages of crafts. To be able to do that, organizations must abdicate the convenient paradigm of forced ranking and instead put in place the challenging paradigm of universal excellence. Allied with this is the need to facilitate and encourage creativity at individual level and co-creativity in team and at collective levels.

Co-creativity does not mean working together only within an organization or between organizations. Co-creativity also involves organizations working with markets, leaders working with governments, engineers working with customers, and so on. Co-creativity is boosted when each member of the team is able to perceive craftsmanship on the part of team members; it results in healthy respect for each other and a drive for collaborative competition. The beneficial results of the Perfect Four for the industry and society are self-evident. Quality in products or services would be synergistic with customer fulfillment and demand generation. Organizations would simultaneously be able to achieve mastery over time and cost as well. India has some examples of the Perfect Four of craft, craftsmanship, creativity and co-creativity producing some amazing results; such examples need to motivate a larger commitment to Perfect Four across the nation.

The cost of setting up an automobile facility in India, for example, is estimated to be one-third that of a comparable overseas automobile plant (even with certain imported equipment) and the time for setting it up (even on a ‘learn and execute’ basis) is estimated to be half that of an overseas plant build in advanced countries. This has been attributed to the Perfect Four working together in such cases.  India’s space program is an outstanding example of the Perfect Four. The latest launch of India’s Polar Launch Satellite Vehicle incorporating five satellites from different countries, including India, is an example of craftsmanship combining with co-creativity. The successful launch inspired Shri Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister tweet that the cost of India’s PLSV launch has been less than the cost of production of the Hollywood film Gravity! He has also held it to be a perfect example of his mantra of skill, scale and speed (source: PMO India on twitter). There is so much more to be achieved in India by Indian firms and Indian talent. It is time that organizations and individuals recall their historical capabilities in crafts, craftsmanship, creativity and co-creativity and lead on a new trajectory of global resurgence based on deployment of the Perfect Four.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on July 13, 2014