Unleashing Stoichiometry: Principles and Lessons for Organizational Success !

 

I was always intrigued by my chemical engineering friends, who seemed perpetually besieged by the complexities of stoichiometry (pronounced "stoy-kee-om-e-tree”) and stoichiometric equations. Perhaps it was the name itself—distinctive, captivating and somewhat intimidating - that piqued my curiosity. After all, I don’t think civil or electronics engineering students, ever encountered a subject with such a complicated title. The very term “stoichiometry” evoked a desire to gather a basic understanding of this subject.

Stoichiometry deals with the relationships between reactants and products in chemical reactions. The term was first introduced by the German chemist Jeremias Richter, derived from the Greek words stoikheion (meaning "element") and metron (meaning "measure"). 

Beyond the laboratory, stoichiometry has real-world applications in areas like pharmaceuticals, cooking, environmental science, and industrial production. Stoichiometry is grounded in key principles: the Law of Conservation of Mass, the Law of Definite Proportions, the Law of Multiple Proportions, and the Law of Reciprocal Proportions. These laws state that matter cannot be created or destroyed, and that reactions occur in fixed ratios. Understanding these concepts enhances our grasp of chemistry and it even offers valuable insights for business, where stoichiometry can provide essential lessons for achieving organizational success.

The Laws of Stoichiometry and Their Organizational Parallels

 1. Law of Conservation of Mass: Balancing Resources:

The Law of Conservation of Mass states that the mass of reactants equals the mass of products, illustrating the need for balanced resources in organizations. For example, when water freezes into ice, its mass remains constant despite its increased volume. In business, if a company allocates too much funding to marketing while under-resourcing production, the product may fail to meet demand, leading to wasted resources. Similarly, in cooking, using the right proportions of flour, sugar, and eggs is crucial; too much sugar and not enough flour will prevent a cake from rising properly. Just as a balanced chemical equation leads to success, a balanced recipe yields a delicious result, and a well-balanced organization achieves its goals effectively.

 2. Law of Definite Proportions: Consistent Quality:

 The Law of Definite Proportions states that a chemical compound always contains the same ratio of elements by mass, regardless of its source. This principle highlights the importance of consistent quality in products or services. For example, whatever the source of water, its composition always contains two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. In investing, sticking to a 60/40 ratio of stocks to bonds helps avoid unpredictable outcomes. Similarly, a coffee shop sourcing beans from different suppliers must ensure that each batch retains the same flavour profile. If the flavours vary too much, customers may lose loyalty. Organizations should establish standardized processes to ensure every product meets expectations, just as chemical compounds maintain a consistent composition.

 3. Law of Multiple Proportions: Flexibility in Offerings:

The Law of Multiple Proportions states that when two elements combine to form multiple compounds, the weights of one element combining with a fixed weight of the other are in simple whole number ratios. This principle emphasizes the need for flexibility in offering various products or services.

For example, consider carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2):

CO: 12 grams of carbon + 16 grams of oxygen

CO2: 12 grams of carbon + 32 grams of oxygen

The ratio of oxygen in these compounds is 16:32 or 1:2. In cricket, a team may adjust its line-up based on the opponent, opting for more defensive batsmen against spin-heavy bowling. Similarly, a smartphone manufacturer can create different models using the same basic components—like screens, batteries, and processors—in varying proportions to cater to different market segments, allowing for adaptability without sacrificing efficiency.

4. Law of Reciprocal Proportions: Collaborative Strategies:

The Law of Reciprocal Proportions states that when two elements react with a third element, the ratios in which they combine reveal relationships between them, emphasizing the value of collaboration.

For example:

• Consider 3 grams of Carbon ( C) reacting with 1 g of Hydrogen ( H) to form Methane ( CH4).
• And 8 g of Oxygen ( O) reacting with 1 g of Hydrogen (H) to form Water ( H2O).
• Here, the mass ratio of carbon and oxygen is 3:8.
• Similarly, 12 g of Carbon (C) reacts with 32 g of Oxygen (O) to form Carbon Dioxide (CO2).
• The mass ratio of carbon and oxygen is 12:32 = 3:8

The mass ratio in which Carbon and Oxygen combine with each other is the same as the mass ratio in which they separately combine with a fixed mass of Hydrogen.

In cooking, collaboration among chefs enhances the final dish; one chef focuses on the main course while another prepares sides for a harmonious meal. Similarly, in business, a marketing team can optimize performance by building brand awareness while the sales team closes deals, illustrating how effective organizations thrive on collaborative strategies.

Practical Applications of Stoichiometric Principles

5. Feedback Loops: Adaptability and Continuous Improvement :

Stoichiometry emphasizes the importance of adaptability through feedback loops for ongoing evaluation and improvement. For instance, in cricket, a coach may adjust strategy mid-match if the batting order struggles against a specific bowler, much like tweaking a recipe based on taste tests. In business, a software company launching a new feature based on customer feedback must be ready to iterate if users find it difficult to navigate. This responsiveness mirrors the adaptability seen in chemical reactions, where adjustments optimize results.

 6. Resource Allocation: Strategic Decision-Making:

Understanding stoichiometry helps organizations in effectively allocating resources. Just as precise calculations determine the quantities of reactants needed, businesses must assess their resource requirements for various initiatives. In business, a project manager in construction firm must allocate team members across project phases; understaffing one phase can lead to delays. Financial advisors, too, should distribute investments across asset classes based on risk and expected returns, akin to achieving a balanced chemical reaction.

 7. Career Management: Personal Growth and Goal Setting:

Stoichiometric principles can guide individuals in their career development by setting clear, measurable goals, similar to precise measurements in a recipe. Identifying necessary "ingredients"—skills, experiences, and networking opportunities—enables professionals to create actionable plans for growth. In a business context, a mid-level manager aspiring to a senior role may focus on developing specific skills like leadership training or project management certification, balancing professional growth with work responsibilities.

 8. Monitoring and Evaluation: Performance Metrics:

In stoichiometry, theoretical yield refers to the maximum amount of product obtainable from given reactants, while actual yield is the real output. Organizations should compare these metrics to assess performance against benchmarks. For example, in T20 cricket, if a player aims for a strike rate of 140 but only achieves 80, analyzing this gap can help identify strategies to improve their strike rate. In a business setting, a manufacturing firm targeting 1,000 units may only produce 800 due to inefficiencies. By examining this shortfall, the company can identify improvement areas, fostering a culture of accountability and continuous enhancement.

Final Thoughts:

Stoichiometry goes beyond chemistry; it provides a powerful framework for enhancing organizational effectiveness and personal growth. By applying its principles—balancing resources, ensuring quality, and fostering collaboration—organizations can create high-performing environments. Embracing adaptability and strategic resource allocation drives innovation and continuous improvement. Just as the right combination of elements leads to successful chemical reactions, achieving balance is essential for business success. Integrating stoichiometric thinking into practices enhances decision-making and nurtures a culture of improvement. So, the next time you hear "stoichiometry," remember its broader implications: it’s a recipe for success in business. Whether managing projects or advancing your career, the key lies in achieving balance and alignment.

 

Book Review - Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King

Book Review 

Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King

When it was first published in 2000, ‘Brunelleschi’s Dome’ became New York Times best seller and has received several literary awards. This is an interesting book for engineers, architects and any layman who enjoys reading narratives about history, design, innovators, and innovation.

For more than 100 years, the biggest cathedral of Florence had a huge hole in its roof, hurting the honour of the Florentines. Until he appeared, Filippo Brunelleschi. Brunelleschi was able to build the most colossal dome in Europe, which still dominates the landscape of Florence from any point of view in the city.

In this short and beautifully researched book, the author Ross King presents the genius of Filippo Brunelleschi in a lucid, engaging, and lively manner replete with history, drawings, and images. The book is essentially a work of non-fiction and describes the construction of the largest brick dome of Santa Maria Del Fiore (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), in Florence , Italy. The cathedral's dome is about 115 meters (372 ft) in height and 45 meters (147 ft) in width.

The first chapter in the book starts with this beguiling announcement:

“ ON AUGUST 19, 1418, a competition was announced in Florence, where the city’s magnificent new cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, had been under construction for more than a century:

 Whoever desires to make any model or design for the vaulting of the main Dome of the Cathedral under construction by the Opera del Duomo — for armature, scaffold or other thing, or any lifting device pertaining to the construction and perfection of said cupola or vault — shall do so before the end of the month of September. If the model be used, he shall be entitled to a payment of 200 gold Florins.”

The author explains “ Two hundred florins was a good deal of money — more than a skilled craftsman could earn in two years of work — and so the competition attracted the attention of carpenters, masons, and cabinetmakers from all across Tuscany. They had six weeks to build their models, draw their designs, or simply make suggestions how the dome of the cathedral might be built. Their proposals were intended to solve a variety of problems, including how a temporary wooden support network could be constructed to hold the dome’s masonry in place, and how sandstone and marble blocks each weighing several tons might be raised to its top.”

These starting paragraphs certainly heightens curiosity and excitement to read this delightful book. The author describes the history of Florence, the various famous architecture, culture, politics, brinkmanship, drama, and life during the end of the Middle Ages and beginning of Renaissance period. He introduces us to Filippo Brunelleschi, a goldsmith and clock maker and how over sixteen years, Brunelleschi would dedicate himself to designing and constructing the marvelous dome. The author reveals various facets of Brunelleschi personality - intelligent, problem solver, innovator, adventurous, researcher, knowledgeable, confident, ambitious, competitive, authoritative , conceited, master of illusions, generous and yet being poor at his own personal finance management.

Brunelleschi died in 1446, kept the secrets of its construction until death and hence for over 500 years the construction of this engineering marvel has been an intriguing mystery and subject of many architectural and engineering research. The book compels readers to imagine the various challenges of 15th century and succinctly presents Brunelleschi’s designs and innovations of construction, clocks, hoists and lifting machines which were very far ahead of time.

Interestingly domes were built during Mauryan Empire and became more popular as Stupas in 3rd century as part of Buddhist architecture built by Emperor Ashoka. Domes are also commonly seen in Islamic Structures. Apparently, there are structural ( technical) and architectural differences between Stupas and Domes. While stupas are solid and semi-spherical , Domes are hollow and must withstand lateral forces and thrust all around.

Brunelleschi's major innovation was to build the Dome without centering ( wooden formwork) a supporting structure. The Dome consists of two distinct domes: one internal, more than two meters thick, with a deeper angle than the other and consisting of large arches held together by ribs and made of bricks arranged in a "herringbone" pattern. In building this dome, Brunelleschi reinvented the field of architecture. Brunelleschi is also the inventor of Perspective Drawing widely used in Architecture and Civil Engineering. 

While reading the book I found the long Italian names little taxing but after few pages you get used to it. Although the book is not technical, I suspect readers without engineering background might find few of the technical stuff little irritating but eventually will get the drift and enjoy the authors delightful narration. It will certainly benefit if you read the book and watch the various YouTube videos featuring the construction of dome, just to visualize and fathom the enormity of challenge in the Dome’s design and construction.

 If you are further curious and wish to learn the secret behind Brunelleschi’s dome, you can refer to the link below:

https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/05/21/double-helix-masonry-researchers-uncover-secret-italian-renaissance-domes

The book is comprehensive and not to be missed. There is no doubt that towards the end readers will learn about architecture, engineering, innovation and agree with the author that “ Architectural marvels like Filippo’s dome often become sites of scientific inquiry because their unique structures and dimensions can serve as testing grounds for new theories and technologies.”

Having read the book, I yearn to visit Florence and climb up to the top of this magnificent Dome.

 

 

Book Review - 'Harsh Realities: The Making of Marico’

 

Book Review - 'Harsh Realities: The Making of Marico’

 

 

 

I enjoyed reading 'Harsh Realities: The Making of Marico’ - co-authored by Harsh Mariwala, the founder of Marico and Prof Ram Charan, the legendary management Guru.

In less than 300 pages, the book presents a fascinating tale of how Harsh Mariwala built MARICO. The author presents the various challenges of transforming a joint family- owned traditional business in commodities into an inspiring world-class FMCG organisation having multiple brands - products and services.

The book starts with the history of Mariwala joint family and provides information about their traditional oil and spice business. It narrates the family separation and how the third generation of entrepreneurs decided to come out on their own. The book predominantly focusses on the challenges of building Marico across the pre and post liberalization era along with various learnings shared by the authors.

There are excellent lessons in leadership including ideas on how to create and build an organization with Purpose - one that would not just cater to profits but more importantly care for society and all stakeholders. The importance of Leadership, Culture, Values, Transparency, Trust , Strategy, HR, Talent Management, Financial Management, Marketing, Branding, Communication, Technology, and the role of leader/ entrepreneur is succinctly emphasized.

Often strategy is about deciding where to compete and where not to compete. The author says, “Looking back, basing my business ideas on my strengths and interests, and staying away from areas where I could have been somewhat challenged, was probably what led me to success.” 

The book teaches lessons in competitive intelligence and strategy pertaining to consumer marketing , branding, packaging and price wars. Various examples of experimenting, risk taking, failing, and scaling to increase product range and capture market share are insightful.

The chapter titled ‘ Angels and Predators’ present the corporate battle between David V/s Goliath and clearly highlights the leadership conviction and some unconventional strategies to face the mighty Hindustan Lever ( now Unilever) and other competitors. The various anecdotes and real-life situation present an engrossing tale and are truly educative coupled with some incisive advice from Prof Ram Charan. Relentlessly focusing on enhancing the core business of hair and cooking oil, gradually capturing various other brands, and increasing market share in that category and later diversifying into beauty and skin care business makes for an interesting reading.

The author reiterates the role of a Leader to sustain and constantly enhance the organisation culture. Harsh tells us about Marico Leadership Competency Framework which has a strong linkage to its core values and shares about the organization’s continuous improvement through the 5E Model: Educate, Engage, Enable, Evaluate and Evolve.

I was very impressed with the chapter, ‘ Governance: Building the Board”. This chapter is not to be missed as it perspicaciously provides information about the role of Board and Corporate Governance. It provides insights on selecting professional board members, their duties, responsibilities, and active involvement in the growth of organisation and not just attending quarterly meetings and merely finding faults. What is interesting is the clear demarcation of the responsibilities between board members and management and why boards must not get involved in strategic planning.

It is always difficult and daunting for any entrepreneur to hand over the control of their business to any professional especially who is not from the entrepreneur family. However, it is very inspiring to learn how Mr. Harsh Mariwala seamlessly passed on the baton to a professional leader.

Overall, the book is enjoyable, educative, encouraging and a must read for all entrepreneurs and professionals.

Reflections from SAMVIDH KESEC Alumni Reunion 2023

 “What is the Burning Temperature of a Cigarette?”

 Reflections from SAMVIDH KESEC Alumni Reunion 2023

Outside the hallowed college gates, there were many cars and SUV’s representing various brands- all safely parked in a never-ending queue. Inside the college premises, there were several cars parked adjacent to the old chemical plant. Once upon a time a small cycle-stand proudly graced that area. Back then, besides the cycle stand, Principal Ganpule Sir’s light green coloured Bajaj Scooter and few 100 cc bikes would be parked. The only car if ever was parked would be a govt vehicle - a shining white ambassador with red beacon on its roof, assigned to the humble and visionary leader, Late Shri Datta Patil.

Entering the hallowed gates of K.E.S. Engineering College, to the resounding welcome of drums and dhol was exciting and euphoric. Decades ago, students entered the same gates with excitement and lot of anxiety. At that time there were no drums or dhol to welcome them. The clanking sound of metal, produced by a hammer vigorously hit on a hanging iron plate would welcome them and even wake students from their slumber in classes. Apparently, the sound of school and college bell will always remain musical, and immortal isn’t it.

Walking on that famous tar road connecting the main gate and buildings, looking around those majestic old buildings, the temporary shamiana built on the other side, and finding several alumni roaming around the premises brought back memories of a bygone era. Sadly, the beautiful Karnala thumb point was no longer visible from the college premises. A big flyover stood as a barricade between the college gates and the famous monuments - Railway Quarters, Tapree, Pen Friend and Petrol Pump.

I was steadily observing the changes around and suddenly heard few alumni’s calling my name, including Prof Mahajan Sir. My classmates from Construction engg, were standing alongside Prof Mahajan Sir. I was surprised that those lads still remembered my name. Even from a distant, I could recognize their faces but was struggling to remember few names.

Prof Mahajan Sir looked dapper in his pristine white Nehru Jacket. I started walking briskly and immediately Prof Mahajan stepped forward and called, “Nishant” and extended his arms to hug me. I quickly rushed and touched his feet. He tried to catch my arms, and we hugged each other. He said, “Nishant, Congratulations, we have done it.” I said, “The entire organising team did it.” “Thanks for your immense support and guidance Sir.” He wiped his eyes and smiled.

This was the first time any professor from KESEC had ever hugged me. I was feeling blessed. Life was turning full circle. It was the quintessential, unassuming, witty, and helpful Prof Mahajan Sir, with whom I had my first conversation after joining college. I distinctly remember that intriguing question which he had specifically asked me during my first semester. He had asked me, “What is the burning temperature of a cigarette?”  

That question failed to dissuade me from smoking and instead triggered curiosity in my mind. Prof Mahajan gave me the correct answer and followed it with his prolific advice, “Beta, learn to be curious if you wish to be a good engineer.” That question and his advice became my mantra in life. We chatted for few more minutes and then I took his permission and rushed across to embrace all my batchmates.

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

I was struggling with names and quickly decided to endearingly call them, “Arrey, Beeann Stoakess - Kasa Aahes?”, “B.S.D.K., “Kaisa Hai tu “, “Kaa Bey, B.S.D.Wale, Banaras se kab aaya.….” They all started laughing and didn’t mind at all. One of them even retorted back “Nishant, Beannn Stokesss, you haven’t changed.”

It's about showing up AS yourself.

Suddenly we all had turned 19-year-old. The idea of using profanities gave me ample time to rake my grey cells and recall their names. Perhaps it also helped established my identity amongst my batchmates. Maybe that is what reunions are really for. It's not about showing up to show off how far you've come or how great you look — it's about showing up AS yourself. It was exciting & humbling to meet everyone and pose with them for few photos. By now I was able to recall their names and the wonderful identity card made by Jitu Gupta came to my rescue throughout the day. 

Reminder of a privilege

Meeting my classmates and all other batchmates from different disciplines served as a terrific reminder of privilege: of having had the chance to attend engineering college in the first place and sit in the same class and canteen with all of them. Back then and as the reunion programme commenced, it allowed us to explore and be foolish together. It had reunited us to forgive and forget any ill feelings that we carried. We were friends and had gone silent for decades and again picked up in mid-sentence, being ourselves and simultaneously rediscovering our younger selves.

Reconnecting with a place, food or with others

I rushed and picked my i.d. card at the registration counter. Sripad stopped me for sound bites. I said hold on, “let me first grab my breakfast and will come back with ‘The Gayatri Gang’.”  The breakfast counter was properly arranged with all food items. I eagerly picked up the Missal and it tasted different. Sadly, it was bereft of Appa’s love, care, his booming voice, and inimitable laughter that often accompanied the missal and made it even tastier. Eating missal in a plastic bowl, instead of the customary steel dish and not sitting on the bench in Appa’s hotel further diminished the taste. Anyway, I was glad that there was a semblance of Misal, as it brought back memories of Chavadi. Finally, a reunion is as much about oneself as it is about reconnecting with a place, food or with others.

A surreal environment

The area inside where the main function was being organized was massive, the stage was big and entire set up was exquisite. The place was already buzzing with alumni. I saw many seniors, and junior alumni, professors and non-teaching staff and started calling people as ‘Sir’ and ‘Madam’. Around the tent, there were lovely posters with names of popular locations and accommodation, where students stayed during college days. The place was full of excitement, noises, laughter, people talking, screaming, embracing each other, all of it - highly infectious.

The Bold & Beautiful

There were many alumni whose faces were indistinguishable and instantly recognizable. Some of them looked completely different. Everybody appeared energetic, suave, sharp, and dressed for the occasion. The ladies look elegant and beautiful. Few men missed their mane and had turned bald, several had receding hairlines, many had coloured their hair but failed to hide their wrinkles, some of them had finally learnt to immaculately oil and comb their hair, and few decided to age gracefully and emulate George Clooney’s salt and pepper look.  

We were genuinely glad to see each other.

It was delightful to meet my batchmates from all three branches - Construction, Chemical and Electronics. There was a common bond amongst all of us. We travelled in the same ST Bus and train, watch the same late-night films, ate at the same canteen, restaurants, and mess, had fun and parties in each other’s rooms. It was amazing meeting them and learning about their success. It’s true that the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Affinity for Wada, Hostel, Building, Place and Group remains strong.

Ironically the village has lost its old charm and innocence. It has now transformed into a bigger town. Those old alleys do not look any familiar nor did people appear any friendly on the busy street and failed to arouse any sentiments. Fortunately, the wistful charm and sentimentality of those wadas, houses, buildings, hostel, and roads were abundantly visible in the college premises. There were people across batches representing various locations and these groups were easy to identify. There was Deo Ali Group, Dattar Ali Group, Chawdi Group, Prabhu Ali Group, Railway Quarter gang, North India, Kolhatkar wada, Chinchpada group, Lake View, Hostelites, Andheri, Parlekars, Borivali Gang, Goregaon Gang, Dombivalikars, Thanekars, Mulund, Penkars - Localities, Panvel, Alibaug group and people from Raigad district etc. Their bonding and loyalty remain fierce. It’s a pity that there were few alumni who continued to remain glued to their group and didn’t bother to network with alumni from other batches and groups.

Professors vividly remember mischievous students.

There was still some time for the programme to start and I decided to take a quick tour of our famous college building. A friend of mine met me in the corridor and decided to join me. I was happy to see him. He always excelled in studies. As we reached the registration counter, a thin man wearing orange Indian traditional attire stopped me. I immediately recognized and touched his feet. We hugged each other. Another Professor embraced me, and I was again feeling blessed.

Prof Pujara looked the same except for his grey hair and silver moustache. He was delighted to see me and happily introduced me to other faculty. We were engrossed in talking and my friend kept eagerly looking at the Professor, with the hope that Professor will recognize him. Finally, my friend introduced himself. I experienced another revelation. Professors remember mischievous students more than the obedient scholars. My friend quickly turned around and said he must make an important call. I realized that some individuals remain resentful, jealous, and envious.

 A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. - Henry Brooks Adams.

 Our Professors were both strict and lenient, took painstaking efforts to guide and educate all of us. Meeting all the Professors – Mrs. Mahajan Madam, Dinesh Joshi Sir, Sunil Joshi Sir, Khoopsad Sir and Dhoble Sir was terrific and nostalgic. It was splendid meeting all the non- teaching, and administrative staff. Looking at them brought back memories of our young age and the various interactions with them. The smile, delight and happiness on their faces were soothing and highly rejuvenating. It was wonderful, important and necessary to felicitate all the faculty, non-teaching and administrative staff and convey our humble gratitude for their guidance, support, cooperation, and contribution in making us what we are today.

The Indomitable Gayatri Gang

I rushed and gladly joined The Gayatri Gang and together we were ready for the sound bites. Sushant Naik, Alexander Fernandes, Ajit Nair, Ajay Jaywant, Chetan Shelke, Avinash Mishra, Ramesh Oruganti, Vidyadhar More, and me partially represented The Gayatri Gang. We were terribly missing our other roommates, based in different continents - Avinash Sawant, Bosco Vaz, Sobby Jose, Navin Khanna, Aniruddha Sane, Umesh Seshadri and Late Naresh Patil – the hostel canteen mess owner.

Viva - Voce

The group interview reminded of ‘viva- voce’, except that the interviews those days were akin to interrogations. The host Asavari was elegant, chirpy, and kept asking many questions. Guess (Chandu) Shripad must have informed her to rag people. We enjoyed the grilling and Sushant gave terrific replies. Alex sang well and we forgot to sing the popular song – “Goa Roads, take me home” composed by the talented, Murali Naik and Wimpy, our batchmates.

All Happy Families are Alike!

Asavari told me after the interview, that surprisingly every alumni, whether as individuals or even collectively in groups gave similar answers. They all stated that the college taught them hardship, adaptability, resilience, frugality, survival, innovation skills and blessed them with their best friends. The college also provided few alumni with their life partners. To me the replies weren’t surprising at all. I simply smiled at her and the immortal words of Leo Tolstoy crossed my mind, “All happy families are alike…”.  During those years, the college had converted all roomies and friends into a big happy family.  

By now the reunion had started teaching me few lessons. It was giving me an opportunity to reflect. I thought I’d share a handful of lessons I’ve learned, and I apologize for the length.

Strong Bonding and Foundation

The college building has become old but as David Allan Coe says, “It's not the beauty of a building you should look at; it's the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time.” Looking at the overwhelming attendance of over 700 people, it was evident that the college has created a solid legacy, built a strong foundation and an inseparable bonding amongst alumni, faculty, and staff.

 Never Miss a Reunion

This was the first time I was attending the K.E.S.E.C Alumni Reunion. I had skipped earlier reunions due to work exigencies and some trepidation. I suppose I wasn’t entirely comfortable measuring myself against batchmates. My room partners and I meet frequently and so never had any yearning to attend other reunion. After passing engineering, the next 15 -20 years are amid the peak juggling years of your career and you’ve got reason to skip the reunions altogether. Moreover, none of the earlier reunions were organized to celebrate any milestones like 25, 30, 40, 45, 50 years etc. Even for this grand reunion, despite being a member of organizing committee, I had solicited advise from Prof Mahajan Sir about attending it. Eventually the privilege of working on Samvidh Souvenir coupled with the joy of meeting many alumni and Prof Mahajan Sir’s advice had cinched my decision to attend the reunion.

The Grand Event

The SAMVIDH alumni mega reunion was organized to celebrate the 40^th year of the foundation of our college and promised to be a grand affair. We came together in great clumps of batches. It eventually turned out to be unprecedented, spectacular, memorable grand event. An event that wasn’t to be missed. Full marks to the entire organizing team, all faculty, non-teaching and administrative staff and a big compliment and thanks to all alumni for attending in large numbers and creating history.

Tushar Desai was fabulous as MC. Tushar with his zeal and excellent communication skills ensured that the session didn’t become too formal nor trivial and ensured the entire session was lively and engaging. The event started with a brilliant, evocative welcome speech from Dr. Ajit Marathe. It was very kind of Ajit to use few of my Life @ KESEC quotes in his introduction.

Stimulating alumni panel discussion

The welcome speech was followed by a stimulating alumni panel discussion, splendidly moderated by the soft-spoken Sunil Tanksale. Sunil started hesitantly but soon came into his elements. The panelist comprised of an eclectic mix of professionals - entrepreneurs, corporate CXO’s, senior government official and represented all the three branches of engineering. The panel members were KESEC alumni- Dr. Ajit Marathe, Ravindra Bhave, J K Patel, Atul Vaze, and Sunil Tanksale. The panelists were bright, unassuming, and unequivocally shared their ideas of giving back to the college and promised to create a common platform to support alumni.

There was a hubbub of excited conversation.

The panel discussion got over and people again started talking, so many stories to share, so little time. People spoke like they were on a deadline, talked in the shamiana, talked in college building, walked around and talked, muttered between speeches, skipped the programs to talk some more, and talked again over lunch and coffee breaks. In hindsight it was good that we came a day earlier and meet several alumni.

Life is Short.

The only time we were silent was when we heard the names of alumni’s who have passed away. Sadly, we learnt that 49 of our alumni’s have passed away. The silence fell sharply, but the faint susurration of their voices went on. People were shocked and in a state of disbelief while reading those names and wanted to know more. It still hurts to think of the ones I knew well, and even those I didn’t knew at all. It feels like we're way too young to go. We can’t take anything for granted.

Life is a great leveler. We’re not as different as we thought we were.

The college prepared us to experience failures and success, taught us to bravely face the trials and tribulations in life. Having a great business, job, career and all the luxuries does not make you immune to life. We all have our troubles. Most of the time, we only see our own, or what’s visible to the outside observer. But the reality is everyone has problems. It was shocking to learn about couple of alumni’s who went missing from college and still haven’t been found.

Who we are now, gets acquainted with who we were then!

It was delightful to meet my mentors - Arvind Nerurkar, Sandeep Sawardekar & Sandeep Mhatre. Bumping into Suhas Bagade and Pithya (Milind Jadhav) was equally exciting. We reminisce about the time spent together. It is true that Reunions are a form of time travel when who we are now, gets acquainted with who we were then.

You often don’t realize the effect you had on another person. 

Meeting two of my batchmates and discovering that the conversations I had forgotten long ago were unforgettable turning points in their careers astonished me and at the same time made me feel proud and elated.

There are several alumni to whom I should be grateful for creating positive impact in my life viz: Shilpa Nagle, Raju Dhaduti, Bino George, Sandeep Singh (Chacchu), Rajeev (Dadu) Salvi, Arvind Nerurkar, Navneet Singh, Sydney Lobo, Late R.B. Singh, Wimpy Arora, Ramesh Oruganti, Avinash Sawant, Avinash Mishra, Amarkant Jain and all my roomies. Navneet a voracious reader, had once snatched the P.G. Wodehouse novel from my hand and categorically advised me to change my authors and start reading Ramamrutham. Bino subtly encouraged me to play volleyball and pursue MBA. Often people who touched you most deeply have no memory of that chapter at all.  

There was no posturing or bragging, just sharing.

It was terrific interacting with several alumni entrepreneurs and other successful professionals from various companies. Many have created successful enterprises and business. Some of them have made successful career transition. Few have become independent consultants and subject matter experts. Many are working overseas, and I was happy to interact with few NRI’s who had specially flown for this reunion. There was no posturing or bragging, just sharing. After a certain age, you stop comparing or measuring yourself with others. I was experiencing joy and pride at the accomplishments of all alumni.

Insightful and Nostalgic Speeches.

When Professor Ganpule Sir walked in, we all stood up with respect and admiration. I saw few eyes getting moist and could feel the lump in my throat. Prof Ganpule our beloved and revered principal was my project guide and neighbour in Gayatri building. I had a quick conversation with him and was feeling divine. Even at the age of 89, Prof Ganpule Sir was discussing about prestressed concrete and Ferrocement structures. Take a Bow Sir and prayers for his good health and long life. Amen!

The speeches from other dignitaries and HOD’s were concise, interesting, and nostalgic. Prof Dinesh Joshi, Prof Sunil Joshi & Dharyasheel Patil - all spoke magnificently.

It was a great honour to see the draft copy of Samvidh Souvenir being released by the Chief Guest, Dr. Snehlata Deshmukh, former Vice Chancellor of University of Mumbai and Prof Ganpule Sir. Their speeches were inspiring, insightful, and poetic. Life again turned full circle. The last time Prof Ganpule Sir had approved my project report. I don’t think the Vice Chancellor would have got time to see that perspicacious project report! I was feeling immensely proud and privileged to witness both of them holding the souvenir and sharing their incisive messages in the souvenir.

What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches —Karl Menninger. 

One of my batchmates from electronics engineering persistently kept reminding Prof Ganpule about his mechanics lecture and the example he shared on linear motion -Two trains coming from opposite direction. I was admiring my batchmate’s elephantine memory. That batchmate kept on repeating the example like a broken record. Prof Ganpule seemed thrilled to come across a sincere student. He got excited and was almost on the verge of giving the solution i.e., the distance travelled by train A and train B, by presuming some speed and time. Thankfully other alumni intervened, took Prof Ganpule Sir aside and made him comfortably sit on the sofa. Well, “What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches”, and indeed Prof Ganpule Sir has been a phenomenal teacher, Principal and administrator who helped shape the college and our future.

It was the age of foolishness, It was the age of wisdom!

Sydney Lobo joined the group and was patiently waiting for his turn to meet Prof Ganpule. Several alumni had accosted Prof Ganpule Sir. Everyone was hankering to take selfies with Prof Ganpule Sir. Interestingly among those alumni’s, there were many including me, who would scamper in different directions whenever we saw the Principal walking around the premises. Back then it was the age of foolishness. Today we were all, rushing with excitement and veneration to take a picture with him. This clearly showed the love, respect, and affection we have for Prof Ganpule Sir. It is also the age of wisdom!

I told Sydney, “Don’t wait, just barge in the crowd.” He was being polite and decent. Sydney has changed. He was no longer the same Sydney, who would make rough tackles on the football ground. Eventually Sydney got a chance to speak with Prof Ganpule Sir. Patience is virtue!

Lavish Lunch

The vegetarian lunch menu was lavish, delectable, and awesome. The Traditional steamed white Modak’s and the Valachi/ Birdyachi Usaal (Field Beans or Hyacinth Beans) were remarkably luscious and mouthwatering. Everyone gormandized on the Modaks and Usaal. Never did we eat such scrumptious and lip-smacking food in Pen. 

Ramp Walk

After lunch, Ajit Damle dazzled on the stage just the way he used to on the volleyball court. The idea to invite various batches on the stage was fantastic and precluded us from taking quick siesta. All the alumni were excited to be on the stage for the ramp walk. They came dancing with enthusiasm and willingly shared their interesting experiences. This created a competitive environment among batches.  

Bhooshan Rege in his speech stated that Richard Feynman’s wonderful technique of learning, teaching and thereby reinforcing the learning was popular in Pen. His narration of smoking Bidi’s brought back fond memories and reminded of our early lessons in frugality. It was touching to hear Ajit Sathe appreciating and acknowledging the role played by both KESEC college and the students hailing from different cities. Come to think of it was a symbiotic relationship between all constituents.

Generally, people feel more comfortable speaking in groups and have lesser stage fear. I reckon the ramp walk deserved more time to encourage many alumnis to share their experiences, anecdotes, hilarious stories etc. Maybe the individual performances could have been kept for the evening. It would have been nice to see the faculty, non-teaching, and administrative staff walking on the ramp and sharing their experiences. Having said that it is always challenging to organize one day reunion and next time it must be organized over 2-3 days.

Women of Substance

The ladies panel discussion was interesting. At a certain age, inner beauty is far more important and physical beauty eventually fades. However, the ladies defied age - looked graceful with their chic insouciance and boundless vitality. Vinita, Kashmira, and Monisha gave candid replies. Sacchi spoke assertively about her career and shared anecdotes of successfully breaking the glass ceiling. Elizabeth with her poise, confidence, and sonorous voice, showcased the generational shift while Pritam Korgaonkar’s replies showed gratitude and simplicity. Smita’s answers were short and crisp.

The discussion brought to fore the grit, determination, and sagacity of all the KESEC girls. It must have been daunting, and yet very courageous and resilient of all the girls to not just survive but thrive in a village and achieve significant personal and professional success. All the KESEC girls and their parents deserve a big applaud. Kudos to all!

Front benchers in every classroom create notes but backbenchers always create memories.

Watching the event from the last row was quite nostalgic, refreshing and memorable. It provided me ample freedom to move around and chat with people. It also offered me a spectacular view of things happening around. Sitting with the three musketeers - Shardul Deshpande, Sydney Lobo and Surendra Desai was redolent of our ST Bus journey. As always, these blokes were modest, witty, chatty, but surprisingly the usual pranks were missing.

There’s a strong bond from shared experience.

Some things never change. It was delightful meeting Kiran Bartake, Sanjay Pandey, Prathosh, Amarkant Jain, Ramesh Oruganti, Avi Mishra, Ravi Khandelwal, Jitu Gupta, Aditya Jayraman, Jaideep Minocha, Rajesh Khanna, Hemant Karekar, Bhavesh Kookani, Ashwini Khanna, Rajesh Hajela, Rishi and all other hostelites. It brought back memories. All of them are still the same – self-assertive, sensible, helpful, and humorous. We may have not remained in continuous touch but apparently there exists a bond of friendship and mutual respect. It was nice meeting Potey who used to sell tea and snacks outside the hostel. Interestingly I met someone who still enjoys a friendly banter and there’s nothing wrong so long as the quality of banter doesn’t become disparaging. But then there are individuals who enjoy condescending others and perhaps miss growing up! 

People change, but friendships endure.

People become more flexible, accommodative, less opinionated, and yet there are few who remain intransigent. Those who were aggressive and bully in college mellow down and those who were shy and silent become more social. Yet there are those who remain unchanged, friendly, and truly delighted to meet you. Meeting Vidyadhar More, Prasad Khopkar, Abraham Vargehese, Suman Khavale, Joji George, Amar Dighe, KP Kailash Pongde, Ajit Sathe, Gajendra Pawar, Uday Chauhan (Flux), Santosh Sawant, Rajesh Shringarpure, Damodar Rane, Ashutosh Kudalkar, Ravindra Shetty, Ajay Mokal, Santosh Tatkare, Kishore Koli, Ajit Paranjpe, Devendra Deshmukh, Jagdish Masand, Nilesh P, Vinay Survey, Kamlesh Nerurkar, Anand M, Sachin Patil, Abhay Patil, Raju Pichika and Prakash Zavare and the gang was quite nostalgic.

 People are less judgmental.

 Meeting few alumni, reminded me of two kinds of people: those who become more judgmental as they get older, and those who are less judgmental with age. The good news was that the large number of alumni attending this reunion belong to the latter category. It was a pleasure meeting TD, Kirti Patil, Vinit Gawand, Madhavv Prabhu, Rajeev Seth, Rahul Phansalkar, Rajesh Gupte, Sripad, Raju (Dadu) Salvi, MB, Vasu, Kiran Poojary, Milind Bawdhankar, Uday Sathe, Russel Corte Real, Harshall Gandhi, Viral Gandhi, Prabhakar Sharma, Subodh Paranjape, Sachin Malekar, Krishna Devanally (KKD), Vinita & Sacchi.

 Networking Opportunities & Bonds formed at college are unbreakable.

 There are the people you meet, strangers, throughout your life. Both older and younger. As soon as you find out he/she has some sort of connection to your alma mater, automatically you have a bond. Seniors like Manoj Mishra, Ravindra Singh, Nishigandh Patil, Samir Joshi, Sharad Diwadkar, Jaiprakash Vaishya (JP), Rajiv Prakash, Jayesh Shah, Suneel Khandekar, were being too kind and generously complimented me for the souvenir. Seniors like Vinit Gawand and Kirti Patil taught me lessons in networking and graciously introduced me to their batchmates. People were happy to meet and interested in each other. All the alumnis are highly accomplished professionals and yet so sincere, approachable, friendly, polite, and helpful.

The Reunion Organising Committee

We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love. – Mother Teresa

The reunion provided a glimpse of meticulous planning and remarkable event management. All tasks and activities whether simple or complex were carefully designed and executed. Right from online registration to accommodation, social media branding, Souvenir, selfie stands, photos, lunch and entire event execution. One of the things that the reunion organising committee did was to make sure that cost was not a barrier to people participating. Those who could afford to donate more did so, people also generously advertised in the souvenir and donated for repair fund of college building. The best thing the organizers did was getting everyone involved. Every member of organising committee had volunteered and did their tasks lovingly and selflessly. Finally, reunions are about who you include, not who you exclude. The idea to have a 40^th reunion and get all batches together was fabulous.

Tribute to KESEC

Now, 40 years later, let's just acknowledge that our time on the college campus was wonderful. We had fun. I know I did. I loved it. And, I hope, to one degree or another we learned to think confidently and critically about ourselves and the world, which is, after all, why we were here. For that we thank this special place- K.E.S.E.C. Pen. Hopefully the millennium batches representing the next generation of leaders would take the lead and organize the 45th or 50^th reunion. Until then let’s revive our relationship, stay fit and remain connected.

Epilogue:  

I have written this in the first-person singular. While readers might find the repeated use of “I” and “my” off-putting and perhaps an indication of an outsized ego, but essentially this is about my experience, written to remind me of the Halcyon days when I might suffer from a certain dementia in future.

I wrote names of all those whom I met during the event, and I am very sure that I have inadvertently missed few names. Seems like I am already having little dementia. My sincere apologies for missing those names. Let’s try and reconnect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lessons from Engineering in Managing Change!

I studied Engineering in the 20th century. Little did I know that concepts from engineering will teach lessons in managing change.

Inertia can teach us a lot about implementing organizational change. Most organisations are always in a state of inertia popularly known as Business as Usual (BAU)!  Every organization will remain in its course (rest or movement) forever if no new forces act upon it. Some external and / or internal forces will have to operate on the organization to change its state. Does this remind of Newton’s first Law of Motion.

Newton’s second law defines the relationship between acceleration and applied force. For business this means, if you want big change, you must apply bigger force. Newton’s third law is relatively simple. Every action produces equal and opposite reaction. In organizations even a simple change in office timings or canteen facility are met with resistance isn’t it.

Newtons Law of motions – Inertia, Acceleration & Reactions guide us in driving change but before using them, it is important to understand the various levers and dynamics of change management. This can be learnt from Archimedes and Thermodynamics.

Archimedes reportedly said, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world." He proved that force could be multiplied by applying it to a lever at a particular distance from a fulcrum.

In any change programme, it is critical to find the right levers and push them hard enough. This law of lever helps us understand what to change and how to maximize the return on efforts by changing the things that will produce the greatest results.

We can identify four types of levers that can bring about changes in organisations.

·       First, look at the macro-changes in the industry and study its impact on organisation using PESTAL analysis – Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal.

·       Second examine the levers such as organizational vision, mission, values, culture, leadership, people, brand, board, governance, risk, compliance etc.

·       Third look at the metrics and economic levers - customer acquisition and retention, revenue increase, capital allocation, profitability, balance sheet, income statement, debt, cash flow, inventory, costs optimization.

·       Fourth understand how the organization—policies, practices, structures, processes, systems, technology, targets, and measurements—affect performance and the metrics directly or indirectly.

For any successful organizational change, we must focus on the second lever. The fact is organizations don't just change because of new systems, processes, or structures. They change because the people within the organization adapt and change.

But how do we induce this Change?

Organisations and business are dynamic, adaptive, and often function in a closed loop system. Both Change and Work are dynamic and requires Organizational Energy. Organizational energy can be defined as the extent to which an organisation has mobilized its emotional, cognitive, and behavioral potential to pursue its goals.

But where is this energy to come from? This is where we jump into ‘The Laws of Thermodynamics’. 

The First Law of Thermodynamics – Energy can be changed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed.

In organisations there is always a tendency to resist change. This means maximum energy is being used to resist change, and hence it is not available for making change. Kodak and Blockbuster, both at different point in time resisted change.

For a business, the energy one puts into the business, will be transformed into the energy of the business. The trick is to put the energy into the right parts of the business. The energy required to change must come either from within a closed system (from your manager or dept) or from beyond the boundaries of the closed system (market, customers, suppliers, vendors, partners, auditors, consultants, management, board, or shareholders).

Many leaders turn to negative energy generation, emphasizing on creating a ‘burning platform’ to motivate people. The Best Leaders rely on positive energy generation by painting new vision and involving energetic, enthusiastic, creative, open-minded people in driving change. Businesses that can direct energy to fast and positive transformation are able to exploit many more opportunities than enterprises mired in resistance.

Today most organisations are in state of permanent flux and battling high entropy. This naturally brings us to, The second Law of Thermodynamics - For a spontaneous process, the entropy of the universe increases.

This law is intuitive and easy to observe. It simply states that all systems tend towards disorder or disintegration or entropy.

How many organizations are closed systems, inwardly focused, rigid, working in silos and monotonous? No wonder they gradually deteriorate because of the entropy. Remember Nokia and its failure to change. Organisations fail to change because their minds and systems are closed. Their leaders’ pride in imitating ostrich mentality.

Entropy generally creeps in due to distractions, wavering focus, rapid unplanned expansion, unrelated diversification, changing market conditions, constant equipment breakdowns, product obsolescence, faults in software and hardware, quality and process failures, nepotism, misalignment, poor governance & compliance, risk failures, and many other such elements.

No organisations are frictionless. Given enough time every organisation and system are prone to these disruptions.

Fortunately, unlike thermodynamic systems, a business can reverse the impact of entropy.

To avoid entropy, organisations must welcome new ideas, open the system, hire new people, nurture talent, share new information, monitor change programmes, measure performance, mitigate risks and strive to foster a culture of innovation.

Despite these efforts, change management programmes often fail. Not all change management programmes are 100 % successful. The failure rates are grim reminder of the third law of Thermodynamics.

The third Law of Thermodynamics - A perfect crystal at zero Kelvin has zero entropy.

This law shows that nothing in the Universe is perfect. The process may be smooth and seamless, yet zero entropy is not achievable. That is why we adulate Six Sigma. Any change programme will have its share of ups and downs, success and failures, intended and unintended consequences.

This means that organisations must keep their business goals and change programme realistic and like any good project manager allow for contingency planning. 

For any change to occur, we must apply more energy to the system than is extracted by the system.

Eventually, sustainable change only takes place when managers identify the right levers, manage the dynamics of change, and ensure the changes, they are communicating are clear, compelling, and credible similar to the Laws defined in Engineering!

 

Obituary – A Life Less Known !

My father Chandrakant Kolgaonkar, a soft-spoken, humble, jovial, retired gazetted State Govt Officer; often transferred for his honesty, and integrity, died peacefully in our home on 13th Dec 2019. A flame that burned brightly for 87 years has flickered of late and now died.

‘Chandu’ or ‘Nana’ as he was affectionately called in the family was born on Aug 10,1932 in Karachi. The Great Partition lead the family to migrate and settle down in Bombay. Charles Dickens famous lines, “ It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.. we had everything before us, we had nothing before us..” veritably described his migration experience. My father carried the scars of migration but never allowed the trauma of his personal loss, violence and tragedy to affect his progressive, democratic, secular thinking, nor did it ever affect our upbringing.

Dad completed his post- graduation in Arts from famous Ruia College Mumbai. He was fond of books and an avidly read in English, Marathi, Sanskrit & Hindi. He enjoyed reading plays of Shakespeare, Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, & Vijay Tendulkar. The other authors he relished were Dickens, Tolstoy, Shaw, Twain, Jane Austen, Nehru, PG Wodehouse in English & Karandikar, Khandekar, Acharya Atre, P.L.Deshpande & C.V. Joshi in Marathi.

Dad was a teetotaler, had no vices & lived a good life despite his frail health. Dad was religious, believed in fasting and never missed his daily pooja. Dad was not a foody but would prefer different vegetables for lunch and dinner. He enjoyed fish, vegetables & curd rice. As his asthma became severe, he completely abstained from eating some of his favourite foods and dairy products but religiously treated us with ice-creams on Sundays. After trying all forms of medicines, he found success and solace in homeopathy to curb his asthma. He enjoyed reading books on Homeopathy and Astrology. Over the period, he developed remarkable mastery about these subjects that he would make his own medicine and even recommend  his friends the appropriate medicine for different ailments.

Dad never associated with any political party but would avidly discuss and debate with friends & neighbours on politics, civics, current affairs. He was fond of various leaders like Tilak, Nehru, Patel, Lincoln, Thatcher, Kamraj, JP Narayan, Shastri, Vajpayee, Madhu Dandavate, Mrinal Gore & even current PM- Narendra Modi.

When we were in school, he would tell us wonderful bed time stories. Often we would urge him for more stories and despite being tired from work, he would never let us down. It is quite intriguing that he never repeated the same stories and always surprised us with new stories from his incredible memory. Dad enjoyed songs by Geeta Dutt, Lata Mangeshkar, Sudhir Phadke & Hemant Kumar. There used to be utter silence in the house whenever he switched on the popular radio programmes viz; Cricket with Vijay Merchant, Bournvita Quiz Contest, and Cibaca (Binaca) Geet Mala. He wasn’t a movie buff but liked Dilip Kumar, Meenakumari, Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn & Lucille Ball. He was fond of Marathi theater and immensely enjoyed British comedy serials. For him the serials were educative, informative, entertaining as it included intellectual jokes often aimed at the absurdity of everyday life. His favourite serials were ‘Yes Minister’, ‘Yes Prime Minister’ and the American serial, “Here’s Lucy”!

Dad wasn’t athletic but enjoyed Cricket, Tennis and Hockey. He enjoyed the epic battles between Borg & McEnroe, Chris Evert & Navratilova and later with Steffi Graf. He would rarely miss a cricket match, and often carried me in his arms to Wankhede stadium. His childhood hero was the impeccable Aussie batsman Neil Harvey. While Tendulkar and G.R. Vishwanath were his all-time favourite, he equally enjoyed watching Gavaskar, Chandra, Hanif Mohammed, Durrani, Kapil, Botham, Viv Richards, Miandad, and Dravid albeit not necessarily in that order. I distinctly remember how he had become teary eyed when Tendulkar made his debut in Karachi in 1989, especially when the broadcaster showed the glimpses of his childhood city.

C.R. Kolgaonkar was a loving father, husband , brother, uncle & grandfather. He has been good to us all: always by our side, a constant source of wisdom and encouragement. He was very friendly and kind to all his relatives, in-laws, nephews & nieces. He has always been very calm, caring , loving husband to my mom. In an era when women seldom stepped out of their homes for work, dad encouraged mom to continue employment as a school teacher. He willingly helped her with any household chores, even babysitting us, learnt cooking and often surprised us with some wonderful non veg recipes. Like any other marriage, their married life was equally filled with joy, romance, emotions, disagreements and quarrels. “What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are but how you deal with incompatibility.” – Leo Tolstoy . Both of them liked Tolstoy and guess this made it easier for them to celebrate their 53^rd wedding anniversary this year.

Dad was a straightforward man who demanded little from those around him, and like every parent, expected only the best for his children. Provided he heard regularly from us all – and saw us whenever possible – he was content. Dad had never been strict, nor very authoritarian and seldom would get angry. He encouraged us to follow our own dreams, be adventurous, and discouraged us from blaming destiny or fate. His only expectations from us was to earn a honest livelihood and become a humble ethical citizen. To me, Dad’s finest quality was his patience and ability to remain calm: an inherent ability to listen, to absorb and to offer a point of view based on quiet, measured wisdom.

In the last few months Dad developed chronic cardiac failure as a result of old age coupled with multiple illness ; Asthma, BP & Vertigo. Every time we would take him to hospital, he would come back fit, to joyfully live another day - browsing newspapers, solving puzzles, or watching Kohli score a brilliant century and later vividly describing me those lovely cover drives !

In the first week of December, he had triumphantly come back from the hospital but his exuberance was gradually waning. We knew deep down he had to pass, there's no way he could have survived for long. We stayed home by his bedside caring, with my mom and sister around him for every moment with or without sleep. They held his hand and walked with him to the end, making sure he was comfortable and knew how deeply we loved and cared for him. I know this will make him proud and that there is nothing we as a family could have done more. My mom and sister were so brave.

I was in Chennai and sadly couldn't be around at his final moment however I am glad that my Mom and sister were around him. My sister tried to administer CPR however he simply smiled at her and passed away peacefully.

My Dad is my parent but also one of my best friends. It is very painful and hurts even more to be not around him at his last moment. He often said that Partition is the greatest tragedy much more than any job loss and guess another one would be to not see his only son around on his last day! 

My father often quoted , “While there is life there is happiness”, we all make mistakes and struggle with certain life questions, but the trick is to accept that there isn’t always an answer and to move on. While there is suddenly a huge vacuum in our lives, deep down I know that my father would expect us to move on.

Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain forever. Rest in Peace Dad ! 

Making Talent Management an Integral Core Business Strategy !

Talent Management is no longer a buzz word nor a fad and yet during my recent conversation with few business leaders, I learnt that their chief concerns continues to remain the same- finding and retaining skilled talent and developing capabilities to deliver on strategies.

As business environment continues to get more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, competition for talent will get more intensified and fierce. Across every industry, executives worry about finding the talent and critical skills to deliver on their organizational strategies. Organizations around the world are experiencing disruptive change in the demand for critical skills. No wonder then the ability to hire, develop, engage and retain the right people and at the same time nurture a vibrant, transparent, high performance culture has become crucial for leaders and managers across any organisations.

Today, business leaders are not just monitoring business profitability but constantly reviewing the three key aspects required for any successful business - 1) Continuously redefining strategy, 2) Creating a vibrant, transparent, agile, innovative and high performance culture to execute strategy, and 3) having the right people to execute strategies. This means HR has to play a critical role especially when they are being responsible for one-third of the business success.

Today with shrinking margins there is enormous pressures on business leaders to manage cost, be innovative and address changing customer demands. This means business Leaders and HR will have to find solutions to attract, develop, engage and retain right people without significantly increasing cost, ensuring lesser attrition, with highest engagement levels and delivering the best possible performance. To address these challenges many organisations have designed and implemented talent management strategies and programmes.

While some of the leaders did mention that they have implemented talent management practices but few of them expressed their concerns about its success and the way talent management strategy is executed. While some of the organizations extensively use various tools and methods to identify and develop talent there are others who only identify talent and do very less about their engagement and development.

There are companies who instead of developing talent internally prefer to poach talent aggressively from competition with more attractive pay and benefit packages which if not done properly could lead to internal disparity. This is rather a reactionary, short-term and piecemeal approach which often leaves organisations at the mercy of external forces.

Sourcing external talent is necessary for critical and niche roles, geographical expansion and for some leadership roles. Often the pace of change coupled with demand and supply gaps for critical skills compels organizations to source talent from outside than develop internally. It is important that Talent Management strategy is able to articulate a clear long term talent acquisition strategy based on changing business strategy and workforce planning.

Talent Management should endeavour to be expansive, promote diversity and inclusion. It is necessary to consider sourcing talent not just from regular campuses but even from different Tier Institutes and different educational backgrounds. At the same time, organisations must be open to hire laterally from different industries to gain competitive advantage. While roles in support function are generally industry agnostics, often companies are skeptical in hiring candidates from different industries. Candidates having good learning agility and attitude with proper training can pick up skills and adapt to different industries.

But Talent Management shouldn’t just be restricted to sourcing. Talent Management should have greater focus on development, engagement and retention. To do that, Talent Management has to become an integral part and even core to business strategy. Leadership team has to ensure that Talent management does not end up becoming another HR programme but an essential and strategic component of their business strategy and is reviewed every quarter. In more progressive organisations, talent and especially succession management are even reviewed by board. Its time Talent Management gets aligned with enterprise risk management strategy.

There are various framework available including the most popular, the nine box model which essentially identifies talent based on the two parameters - performance and potential. As performance management systems are undergoing transformation, there is a new school of thought emerging that suggests discarding the nine box model. Regardless of this thought, the nine box model does help organisations to lay the preliminary foundation for talent management.

When it comes to identifying talent several organisations are widely using various tools and even getting external agencies to conduct psychometric tests, assessment and development centers, and introducing talent analytics that provides data pertaining to employee competencies, performance, potential and other relevant information to identify talent. Few of the leaders have even started having formal and informal talent conversation to gauge employee Passion, Attitude, Mindset & Behaviours which are equally paramount when it comes to identifying talent.

With increasing attrition and given the competitive challenges of finding talent, business leaders are soon realizing that Talent development can become a good retention strategy. Succession management process has to go beyond key leadership and managerial positions and should be expanded to include other critical & niche roles as well. It is therefore necessary to identify critical, niche and core roles and then focus on succession planning.

Successful Talent development can only take place if organisation understands the current and future organisational capabilities required to deliver its strategy and understand how to develop and fill those gaps. Development of talent has to be considered as a strategic investment. Mere nomination for internal or external Managerial or Executive Development programmes, conferences, other classroom and online trainings wouldn’t suffice. The advent of social media, digital and mobile learning can help organisations to create more integrated development strategies that include regular formal and informal training, expertise sharing, mentoring, coaching, on the job training and gamification for employees to learn as per their convenience.

People identified in talent pool must be given stretched assignments, exciting action learning projects, job rotation, cross functional training, lateral career movement, promotion and opportunity to shadow managerial and leadership roles which will help in their development and retention. What is more critical is to allow high potential employees a chance to perform and even fail. In addition leaders have to play a crucial role in rewarding and recognizing key talent. Their every interaction must inspire, lead and nurture talent and give people compelling reasons to develop and stay.

Apparently there are different approaches to talent management. There is no single ‘blueprint’ for effective talent management that can be applied to all organisational contexts. It will vary depending upon each organisation’s mission, competencies, their requirements for current and future talent pipeline based on changing business strategies and environment.

While we may debate about it, organisations should have a clearly defined framework to identify, engage, develop and retain talent. The ability to get and keep the right talent is all about focus, execution and follow-through. Successful talent management requires a sustained, four-pronged effort to recruit, engage, develop and retain the best talent available. To succeed, a company needs strong, supportive leaders and a caring, innovative culture. It also needs HR and business to think talent management as business strategy and holistically develop programs that work together and support a cohesive talent strategy aligned with organisations strategic goals.