Faith

1. Faith sometimes can be a controversial subject. The word faith means different things to different people. Faith can just be a belief without any reasoning. It also sometimes tends to become a blind belief. Some people think faith as a positive force able to move mountains.Yet others understand it as a kind of superstition. Some others think that faith and reason are opposed to each other and take great pride in referring to themselves as rational thinkers and have a rather condescending attitude towards people of simple faith.People given to emotion, think that the rationalists are dry intellectuals given to meaningless talks with no foundation. The interesting point here is that even what they expound is based on their beliefs alone.
2. In order to gain knowledge we need faith and thereafter, in action or response also we need faith. We need to have faith in what we are doing; faith in the instrument being adopted or used to accomplish a goal and lastly faith in oneself. Blind belief or superstition is something for which there is no desire to confirm, nor is it subject to verification. Similarly before doing something faith is required. True faith is open to experiment and verification and is confirmed by your knowledge and there is no person without faith. Even rationalists believe in their reasoning and ability to think. A communist may not believe in the Vedas, the bible or Koran, but he believes in Karl Marx. Everyone has faith in some theory or other. Man is his embodiment of faith and this guides the very vision of his life.
3. In my opinion it does not matter where Rama was born or where he died, what matters is that people have faith in Rama and this faith is all that matters. No history book, historian, religious leader or books can conclusively prove that Rama was born . History is what has been written by people after reading what others before them have written or their own interpretations. In my opinion they are like blind men trying to describe an elephant. Conflicting views will always exist. But if people have faith that Rama was born, then so be it. Nobody can change this faith. Faith can only be increased, enhanced, reaffirmed or confirmed. It can decrease in the face of well defined arguments . Faith can be broken but cannot be erased.
4. It is this faith that keeps a man and woman together during their lifetime, it is this faith that keeps the family together the society, the community and the nation together. The faith is the building block as well as the cement that keeps the basic foundation of all relationship firm. If one looses faith then everything is lost because then the basic foundation will collapse. How can a structure stand when its foundation no longer exist. Faith can move mountains but let us first have faith in ourselves. Let us be faithful to or own self and then to the society and community at large and when this happens then the question of Hindu and Muslim will fade out into the distance.
5. People often ask me questions whether I believe in God or not. I do not know how to answer this question. If they mean God by that rock or the photograph then I certainly do not. But if they mean by that God which is within me then the answer is yes. I believe in myself, my existence and hence I believe in God, in its existence
6. The other day I listened to a presentation where the speaker quoted the Confucius " The only thing that cannot be taken back are spoken words". Spoken words can not be taken back but they can be amended, changed, or simply saying "I did not mean that". They can be modified so that the whole meaning changed. In the end the whole effect can be negated by simply saying "Sorry". These five magical words have the power to change the whole effect of the said words.
7. I believe that the only thing that cannot be changed or taken back or recreated again is "Faith". Faith is like a clear glass where both sides are clearly visible. It is a two way process where both sides should be able to clearly see each other with no distortion and no ambiguity. Both sides have to have faith on each other. In a mirror you can only see your own reflection but not the other side; it is a one way process. It takes years or sometimes ages to build faith but it may just take a moment to break it. A small mistake can destroy what had taken years to build. A small amount of mistrust whether actual or perceived or wrongly projected can break what had taken years to build. This faith can never be restored back. Once you break the glass that glass can never be replaced back. You can put another glass but can never bring the old one back. The new one will always be different. It can be better than the old one or worst but it can never be the same. The same faith can never come back. A broken faith is something like a soul leaving a body. What is the purpose of living when there is no soul? Similarly what is the purpose of having a relationship when there is no faith? A relationship without faith is like a river without water, rain without water, a rainbow without colors, and a sun without warmth and light. Can two people live together when there is no faith, can a relationship exist, can a family, a society, and a nation exists? I do not think so but people may not agree with me. I believe that if you have to live then it has to be with dignity, respect, honor and humility and without these it is not worth living. To me the words " Living with honor and dignity" are more than mere words. They represent a way of life, a commitment to one's own self. A number of times people ask me whether either I have faith in god or I have faith in the existence of god. I do not know how to answer this question or how to satisfy them. If I have faith in myself and I have faith in my own existence then the question whether I have faith in the existence of god or not is ridiculous, irrelevant and illogical and only reflects he immaturity of the person asking the question.
7. The other day I was standing in a queue at the railway station waiting for my turn for the reservation. The gentleman ahead of me suddenly realized that he was running short of money. Obliviously he had left the house in a hurry in the morning. The clerk offered him that he will hold on the tickets till he can go back home and bring the money. The gentleman was obliviously in a hurry to meet an urgent appointment. He was reasonably well dressed and appeared to be a decent soul and was in a hurry to go someplace. He had obliviously a prior appointment to go to some place and had come early in the morning to be the first person in the queue for reservation. I was standing right behind him. Seeing his plight and the miserable feeling and the predicament he was in I offered to lend him the small sum of thirty rupees. The gentleman took my name and address and promised to return the money at my residence in the evening. After he had collected his ticket and left the gentleman standing right behind me asked whether I knew the person. On my negative reply, he offered me an advice that it was a mistake to lend the money to strangers and I should not trust people. He also gave me his firm opinion that it is the last I will see of that gentleman and my money. My only reply to his unsolicited advise was that I had lend the cash in good faith and have tremendous faith in other people also. I have had setback in the past also but it has not shaken my faith in people and I have always believed that god will never harm me and in each of his deed there is something good for me. I have not given him the cash with the hope that he will return it back to me or he will do something for me in return but with a feeling that I was helping somebody who needed help at that time and I was in a position to help. What you are saying may be true that I will never see that gentleman or my money again but it will not shake my belief in other people and in me. I am reasonably sure that the gentleman will return my money. After doing my reservation I left and returned back to my house and forgot the whole incident. In the afternoon of the same day somebody rang my bell. When I came out I found a well dressed gentleman standing at my gate. As I did not recognize him and was slightly apprehensive and seeing my discomfort he offered me an envelope and politely informed me that he had met me in the morning at the railway station. Inside the envelope were three new crisp ten rupee notes. I genuinely felt very happy and pleasantly surprised as the gentleman must have taken time off from his work to return the money even though he had promised to return it back only in the evening. The happiness was not because he had proved the gentleman standing behind me at the reservation counter wrong and proved me right but because he had given me the courage and hope to have faith in other people. He had enhanced my conviction to have faith in myself and my actions and not to be misled by other people. One bad fish does not make a pond dirty if you have faith in the pond and in other fishes. We have to have faith in god, in humanity, in society and most important in the people that make this society. Thank you very much (To that gentleman who returned my money) for enhancing my faith in myself and in other people.
8.In another instance, We were traveling by air from Delhi to Bombay on way to Coimbatore. At Delhi airport at the final check counter just before boarding the bus to take us to the aircraft, my friend kept the folder on the table and was getting the hand baggage checked, as the last bus was about to leave we hurriedly boarded the bus and forgot the folder containing the tickets for onward journey and return journey on the table itself. As we were the last passengers the bus left immediately as soon as we boarded the bus. As the aircraft was about to close the door one of the staff from airlines came and asked me my name and gave me my tickets back. I felt that even a thank you was too small for such an act. The happiness did not come from getting the tickets back but from the fact that my faith in people was again reaffirmed. There will always be some instances that will shake your faith but they are not important and was is important is that you keep your faith in people alive by reaffirming it again and again.

Woman At Work

1. As per NSSO (National Sample Survey Organization) the participation of women's employment participation grew from 26% in 2000 to 31% in 2005 in India. The women participation in rural areas is 14 percentage points higher than rural women. But it is still much lower as compared to other developing countries and much below the ideal level of a ratio of 1:1. The bulk of women work force is still confined to primary sector.

2. Working women can be broadly classified into six different categories:-

(a) Those who opt for a full time career.

(b) Those who opt for a full time career as a housewife.

(c) Those who opt for a career but opt out at a later stage to raise a family and do not come back and settle down as a housewife.

(d) Those who opt for a career and again opt out to raise a family and later enter or wish to enter the workforce once the children grow up.

(e) Those who take up the job due to some constraints, viz, financial, family, additional income or large family and later leave it once the constraints are no longer there.

(f) Woman who opt for a career as they have the family support or belong to a joint family and retain it as long as the the support is there but later opt out as they find it difficult once family support or joint family does not exist.

3. A large number of women are entering the work force but it is seen that the number of rural women who opt for a job are more than the educated ones. More of educated women are not opting for a career. A urban woman leaves the job at a age group of 33- 44 years but for the rural woman the peak occurs at an age of 49 years.

4. In India some attention is paid to the women who opt for a full time career but they rise and occupy the higher posts on their own terms and by virtue of their sheer will power and determination. Recently some attention is paid in banking and IT sectors to the women who opt out to raise a family and want to return back to work after some time. These measures are basically either in the form of long leave without pay or in term of either working from home or flexi- hours working. As a Indian we are very poor in discipline while working flexi- hours and still need to develop an attitude and mentality for it. But it is the other categories where hardly any attention is paid either by the organization or by the family.

5. If we wish to make any significant improvement in the women work force then we need to look at the categories of working women seriously. One time actions such as maternity leave, long leave of absence and working flexi- time only addresses certain categories of working women. What is needed is to understand the problem and difficulties faced in each category and then try to address each category as a unique om one rather than addressing them all together.

Letter To A Teenage daughter

My Dear Teenage Daughter,
The letter may come as a surprise and I know it is just a little bit too late, but firstly it took me that much of time and courage to do the thinking, take up the pen and pen down my thoughts and feelings. Secondly, and most important it still has not dawned on me that you are no longer a child but a teenager.
I can still remember, as if it was only yesterday, that you would insist sitting on my lap in the morning, while I was reading the newspaper, with the bottle in your mouth and trying to understand what was happening in the world around you or you would insist on being swung while going on your usual walk in the evening inside the camp rather than sitting in your pram. It was only yesterday, you wanted to perch on my shoulders to get a bird’s eye view or it was just that you wanted to be taller than your father. Probably, these are the few things I might tell your children when I can no longer walk, sitting in my easy chair outside in the morning sun.
I have been harsh, sometimes strict and sometimes indifferent but probably in my mind I have not got used to your growing up. I still feel protective and wish that you do everything right. The over protectiveness is another name for love in the dictionary of parents. Love as I understand is creating an atmosphere, where each can flourish and achieve those things, which one can not achieve alone. Probably I wanted you to achieve those things, which you dream of, but find it just outside your reach. The over protectiveness comes here to shield you from the harms, ill effects and misdirected efforts so that you can guide your energy towards the important things which matter most to you rather than trivial issues.
In the coming years, you will be amazed to find out how little your father knows, you may be disappointed at times, heartbroken at others, at times frustrated, but it is a fact you will have to face it on day or the other. It is quite possible that you may not like what I like, or I may not like what you like most. You may find me embarrassing at times, when I cannot talk to your friends, the way you expect your father to. I might say no to you when other teenagers are permitted to do the same things. It is possible that you might find your father stupid, dumb, orthodox, mean and even hate me, but even in those moments you may wish to remember that I can risk to being called names because I love you and want the best for you , now and always.
Sometimes when I am in the depressed mood I might say , go ahead and do whatever you feel like, spoil your life, but what makes a father's task difficult is that he knows that there is no road or bridge while transiting from childhood to adulthood. There is no way I can hold your hand and help you cross the dividing line or barrier between childhood and adulthood. It is something you will have to do it yourself, all by your own, faces the problems, pick up the pebbles, remove the thorns, surmount the barriers and achieve your dreams. I can only give you moral support and may be some guidance but you will have to choose the path and walk alone, with he head held high and dreams in your eyes. Just remember that there are always dreams to be fulfilled, promises to be kept, goals to be achieved, rivers to be crossed, mountains to be climbed, contests to be won and happiness to be earned. But, all this cannot happen overnight and it is a very slow and gradual process and not an easy journey, even though you may wish it to be so. Your dreams are your own, your actions are yours and your life is to be lived the way you wish it to be lived. I can only advise and guide you. It is up to you to accept them or reject them, listen to them or close your ears, take them with a smile or with a frown, accept with humility or defiance.
You have always been a dreamer, a poet, a writer. You have always tried to find the rainbow at the end of a rainstorm. Just remember that happiness can not be given but it to be earned. It is not a station you arrive at but it is the way of traveling, it is not the end result but the manner of doing or achieving it. It is not a match to be won but the way of playing it rightly. Life is meant to be lived, enjoyed but not at somebody else cost. It is more fun if you enjoy it as your own. Just remember, when you cannot see with your eyes, sense it out with your senses then in the end go by your heart.
With all the best wishes in the world
Always your
Papa

Intutive Quality Control- Part II

1. You do not become an expert driver overnight. You have to learn the skill to drive and constantly practise and put yourself in the situations where these skills are put to test in a variety of situations by practising and practising and thus refining and honing these skills to excellence. The same applies to intuitive quality control decisions. You have to learn this skill and then to make better intuitive quality decisions you have to improve the quality your intuition. It also important that you constantly challange your intutitive decisions, learn from the results and constantly strive to make an experienced data base. You master the technique only when you start placing value to your skill to see things in a different way, in a way you would not have accepted otherwise. 

 2. There are five instruments of knowledge, viz, the sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch and five instruments of action, viz, the abilities to procreate, excrete, talk, walk and exercises manual skills. These ten instruments helps us to form patterns about what is good for us to eat and what is not, what smells good and what does not, what is good to touch and what is not, what is good to hear and what not to hear, what is good to eyes and what is not. We have been storing these information in our subconscious for years. The only requirement is to access this information and decide what is right and what is not right for us. By using these ten instruments we can also store information about the parameters of the product in our brain, create a data bank and experience base and use it to decide what is right product and what is not good and is to be rejected. More are the patterns and scripts available to us more expertise we will have in making a better decision. 

 3. The intuitive quality control can be brought into the system by implementing the following steps:- (a) Training the persons in forming patterns and the signals about the various aspects and parameters of quality. These can be done by giving the person product which conform to the specification and letting him use the ten instruments to form and store a pattern in his brain. (b) Letting the person test these patterns in deliberate experimental manner. This can be done by introducing deliberately faulty products in the process to test his decision making ability by using constant feed backs. This will not only test the man but also the machine. The product initially should be faulty in one parameter at a time and later as he gains expertise then subjecting him to faulty product in a number of parameters. (c) Step two is to performed under a controlled environment initially and then as he gains expertise and as his confidence and faith in his abilities in gained , then in a stand alone environment. (d) Keep repeating the deliberate experiments at a random interval so that the patterns and signals are constantly being challenged, updated and refined. (e) Institutionalize the system.

 4. Merely having the experiences or forming the patterns is not enough. The experience will have to be turned into a skill and to utilize the skill effectively one has to has expertise. To have an expertise one has to concentrate on the feed backs which he gets from these deliberate experiments or experiences. What is needed is:- (a) Deliberate and constant feedback on your actions not only when you make a correct decision but also when you make an incorrect decision. (b) Analyze and interpret these feed backs correctly. (c) Repeat these experiments in a regular but random manner to validate these feed backs. 

 5. What I am not saying is, that this intuitive quality control replaces the statistical quality control. Statistical quality control and parameters are required to develop the intuitive quality control. Both should support each other and are to be used as complimenting each other. As one gains expertise in intuitive version then he will use less and less of statistical quality control methods and will rely more on intuition and the patterns and signals available to him. But the statistical controls are required to keep testing his patterns and intuition. The advantages that the organization gains from this are:- (a) Quality checks can be done on line, thus saving time, less inventory cost and more production. (b) Saving in time as these decisions are instantaneous. (c) allows check on machines. (d) Cost saving. (d) Forms a habit of intuitive decision making (e) Development of faith and trust in one's own abilities. 6. Intuitive quality control when implemented does not in any way changes the way one does things in your organization nor it forces you to adopt new ways of doing things. It only encourages you to look at quality control the way you have always been looking but the only difference now is that you have a very comprehensive , experience base to base your judgements upon and the judgements are done in a fraction of second.

Intutive Quality Control- Part I

Intuition is not a bolt of lightning out of blue sky, nor it is magic. Research has shown that more experienced one is in any particular field , or more information about a particular field is available to a person in his subconscious brain , the more his judgements are based on intuition. You do not get intuitions about the fields about which you have no knowledge. The quality of intuition depends upon the quantity and quality of the information available in the subconscious brain. Intuition is a natural outgrowth of experience or as Gary Klein defines it " Intuition is the way we translate our experience into judgements and decisions".

All of us get intuitions. Some of us are more skilled at recognizing and using them while others have it to a lesser degree. Intuition works on patterns which are formed in the brain and these patterns are a result of repeated experiences which we have accumulated in our subconscious brain over a period of time. Whenever we get an input , it awakens a pattern in our brain and we get a sense of familiarity . The more observations and experiences we have in a particular Field , more patterns will be formed in our brain, and with more patterns better will be our intuition.

Quality control basically consists of a set of parameters/ measurements which defines the input, output or the process. These parameters have some tolerance limits attached to them within which the input or product must lie so that the output is of desired quality.

It is often seen that newcomers find it difficult to pick up subtle flaws in the product even when they are very conversant with the specifications and techniques. It generally happens that, they place too much reliance on the specifications, procedures and techniques and fail to notice the subtle flaws in the product because they lack the pattern in their brain and even when they have it, they usually ignore these intuitive signals. Experienced persons pick up these signals easily and with the patten matching, it is easier for them to pick up these subtle flaws missed out by the newcomers.

These parameters/specifications can be used to form a pattern in our brain describing as to what the input or output should look like . The patterns can be reinforced by deliberatly repeating the experiment of testing the specifications, getting feed backs and modifying the pattern till a reasonable good pattern of a what a product look like is formed and reinforced. The more patterns we have, the more expertise we have and it will be that much easier to do the checks mentally and make a decision whether to accept or reject the product. The key here is that of deliberate experimentation, practise and feed back.

The receipt of a signal about the product , its matching with the patterns in the subconscious brain and arriving at a decision which happens in a very short time span of a few seconds is what we call "Intutive Quality Control".

Compromises

1. We make compromises when we accept something which is not what we desired. Compromises are made due to our long held beliefs. These beliefs are basically about the relationships between various aspects of what we wish and what is available. Most of the time these beliefs are so well established in our thinking pattern that we do not even notice that we have them and we start believing them as true or accepted way of working.

2. One such compromise we always make is when we try to hire a person for a particular job in our organization. We specify the requirements, lay down the qualifications and experience, and skills required for the job. Then we go about trying to find a person who will best fit these requirements suited for the job with the hope that the person selected will be the best and most suitable and will fit in our organization like a fish takes to water. This is where we make our first compromise and it is the most difficult one to understand and break. We make a compromise to hire a person rather than help make the person acquire the required skill and experience. We try to fit a person to the job, job requirements and skills but we do not go about fitting a job to a person. We do not want to spend time, effort, energy and money on a person so that he grows to fit the job perfectly. We accept what is best available rather than develop a person to fit the job. 3. This is where we make the first mistake. We normally make the mistake due to a number of reasons:-

(a) It is easier to hire a person than to train him.

(b) Hiring process can be totally outsourced thus saving time and effort.

(c) You are not sure of your capabilities and have fear of failure.

(d) You do not have confidence in your training methods and procedures.

(e) You do not sufficient time or finances to train as you had not anticipated or forecasted this requirement.

(f) You are just lazy and wish to go with the flow rather than swim against the current.

4. A person you have hired has normally worked in another organization for some time and leaves that organization to join yours due to a variety of reasons:-

(a) Financial consideration- higher pay.

(b) lack of promotional prospects.

(c) Dissatisfaction with the work culture.

(d) Higher promotion.

(e) His goals and organization goals are not in resonance.

(f) Interpersonal or personal problems.

5. If we look at these reasons carefully then we realise that these are exactly the reasons due to which a person would like to leave your organization and go somewhere else. If you can bring him in by promising better pay, work culture and promotion then another company can always better your offer and take him away from you thus leading to a heavy turn around of manpower. Moreover, a person who comes easily would also leave you that easily. Basically what you have achieved is a temporary and stop gap arrangement only. You will also be worrying as to what all your secrets, clients and business this person might take from you to the other organization.

5. The best way out of this is to have persons who are loyal to your organization and trustworthy and would like to stay in your organization. This is possible only if we have people who have been given necessary skills in your own organization. The emphasis is to train and develop your own people rather than hire from outside. You are also not sure as to what all culture that person might bring into your organization. A very promising and successful person from outside may not be able to deliver what you expect him to do. Moreover there is no way you can be sure that a very successful person will continue to be successful. Qualifications, experience and skill may have a Strong relationship with the past and present but have no bearing on his future performance.

6. When you hire a person hire him for attitude, aptitude and character and not for skill and experience. Skill and experience can be given or acquired but character , attitude and aptitude can not be given or acquired . Either you have them or do not have them.

7. The only way to develop loyalty and trust is to train and develop employees. At the worker level it would be better to have unskilled workers and then train and develop them for different jobs in the organization. Use job rotation to help them develop and learn different skills and utilize them in different jobs. Reward them as they acquire different skills . These rewards could be monetary, public recognition and even promotions. The biggest advantage that the organization can derive is that it will have a large workforce of trained and skilled workers who can be asked to perform any job. Thus shortages of skilled workers at any given time is easily looked after as other trained persons are available to do the job.

8. We tried this approach in our organization where all the work force in the factories were unskilled, no previous experience and between 18 to 22 years of age. They were trained in the factory and mostly on the job with job rotation such that each worker gets a chance to learn and work on all the machines. The result was a growth rate of 40-45% for 10 consecutive years and a turn over ratio of workforce of less than 0.5%. Most importantly it helped us to build a high degree of loyalty and trust between workers , supervisors and managers.

9. It is the same thing when you say that you are the best company and the best people working for you but fail to realise that what you are going to do after you have the best people. People will leave your organization to go and work in other companies which in their opinion are better than yours. We fail to understand that it is the ' best syndrome' which is keeping us at the same level and eventually may pull us down when complacency sets in. It would be advisable to concentrate on continuously train , develop the employees so that they can become better and better, as there is no limit to this process of development. What you get back is not only a better performance but also a loyal and trustworthy employee.

Reward Mistakes

1. Reward mistakes, sounds outrageous, ridiculous and may be unreasonable. How can you reward mistakes? The normal concept is to punish mistakes. That is why rules/ laws are there to tell the people that you have made a mistake by not following so and so rule and hence deserve punishment. The punishment is to act as a deterrent with the hope that the mistake will not be repeated in future. But unfortunately the hope remains a hope and the mistake is repeated if not by the same person then by somebody else.

 2. This happens because people do not wish to talk about their mistakes and learn or to teach others from the mistake due to the fear that they will be ridiculed and punished. When a mistake is made you become human rater than the super manager you have projected yourself to be. It is the "FEAR", False Evidence Appearing Real", that prompts the persons to hide their mistakes , sweep it under the carpet or put it in a cold bag. But unfortunately the mistakes only grows bigger and keep getting repeated by other persons. Ultimately this mistake creates a crisis and leads one to do crisis management and claim the rewards that go with it ,but the damage is done and only repairs are possible. We rarely get down and ask the question as to "What led to this crisis"?, Why did we allow this crisis to develop? We only believe in doing firefighting. Why do not we concentrate on the cause that led to this crisis and not on the symptoms. 

3. Why do not we try to reward mistakes? Rewarding mistakes does not mean that people should be allowed to deliberately make mistakes and claim rewards. One needs to distinguish between genuine and deliberate, intentional and habitual mistakes. The concept of rewarding mistakes applies only to genuine mistakes and the others still need to be punished. Reward the courage to report a mistake, reward the process of identifying the cause that led to this mistake , reward the process of communicating to other people about the mistakes , its causes and the remedial actions required to prevent its recurrence. It takes courage to admit a mistake. to stand in front of others and say " I made a mistake", or " I was wrong". It is the courage that you should be rewarding

. 4. Courage is about facing fear, the fear of losing face, the fear of shame, the fear of loosing importance, the fear of being ridiculed, the fear of loosing the peer group , thee fear of financial loss , career, promotion and power. Unless one is given the courage to report and admit that he has made a mistake the mistakes will keep on repeating. it is an excellent policy to say that we have an "Open door policy" and anybody can walk in and report a mistake or talk on any matter, process , product or improvements. But we should sit down and ponder whether we have given the courage to our subordinates/ colleagues to walk through the door up to you and say " I made a mistake". The corrective action starts after the mistake is reported. And it is this courage that needs to be inculcated , encouraged and rewarded. This is the basis concept of rewarding mistakes. 

 

5. There is an Arabic saying:- " If mountain can not come to Muhammad then Muhammad must go to mountain" If the workers can not speak out or report a mistake due to fear or they do not have the courage to walk through the door of your office then one should go to the workers and talk to them and give them courage to speak out. They may not feel comfortable in your air conditioned office and may not be able to speak out in such a surroundings. In their own work place and environment which they are used to, they might feel comfortable and open up to talk about their problems and difficulties, and it is here where the mistakes may occur. They may even discuss about their mistakes, suggest how they have rectified them and come out with improvements in the process and suggest safeguards to prevent their recurrence. Listen to them, discuss improvements and precautions and implement the suggestions but always make sure that you keep them informed and give due credit to the person openly. Always make sure that the decisions are given as fast as possible and if time permits then on the spot. Once workers know that you listen to them , try to solve their problems and your focus is on correction and preventing recurrence rather than punishment then they will have the courage to speak freely and will even come to your office and discuss their mistakes and problems.

 6. To identify the cause keep asking the questions till you get to the cause:- (a) What we did that led to this mistake? (b) Did we miss out something? Some important step, some symptom. (c) Why did it happen? (d) Is the process or procedure correctly spelt out and followed? (e) Is the process of doing things correct and safe? 

7. The important point is the emphasis on 'WE" rather than on you. After this we need to concentrate on:- (a) What we could do or avoid doing that will negate this mistake? (b) Could we add or subs tract something to make it mistake proof and not fool proof? (c) Could we do things differently? (d) How are we going to make this mistake a learning experience for self and others? (e) And lastly what all we should do so that this mistake does not happen in future? 

8. Avoid asking questions as to who did what and who is to blame. Do not try to fix the blame , fix the problem or mistake so that it does not happen again. The moment you try to fix the blame you shut all doors to your open door policy. It will become just another slogan on the wall. You convey a message that one should report a mistake as he will be blame for it. You take away the courage which a person will need to report a mistake. Remember that the mistake could be due to a fault in the process, system rather than on by someone.

Last Log Book entry

1. First of all let me have the pleasure of thanking all of you individually as well as collectively for all the love, affection, respect and guidance I have received from each one of you . Probably, "thank you" is too small a word for it. The feelings, I am afraid, can not be expressed in the limited vocabulary I have, but I do sincerely hope that you will feel in your heart what I wish to convey but somehow can not bring myself to either say it or have the words to express it. It was only yesterday, that in 1994-95 , we used to sit on the floor of our present unit 1 without any tables or chairs, as we had none at that time and neither sufficient funds to purchase them, to do our routine factory jobs. It is still a dream that we used to walk miles and miles to do our job as we did not have vehicles. I can still vividly remember that we had to bring money from home during the first year so that the workers could be paid in time before 7 th of the month. I do not know how many of you have gone through such a wonderful experience which will teach you so many things in such a diverse ways. I do not think any business school or university can each you those wonderful things.. We had enjoyment and hurt, love and hate, faith and mistrust, affection and rejection, success and failure, elation and depression and to top it all the wonderful world of having to wait endlessly outside the offices to get our job done. Sometimes we had to bluff and at times threaten, pleading and at times demanding, patient and at times impatient with officials and people in order to get our legitimate jobs done for which they were paid and still demanded money from us. I can still feel and remember the happiness and pleasure , which I felt way back when we made our first machine and the refill bottle in Baddi. The feeling was just like holding your own newborn baby in your hand for the first time. Well these and some other memories I would like to take along with me , of course with your permission and blessings. These are some of the stories I would like to tell my grandchildren , while thy are sitting on my lap in the morning sun on a winter morning in the balcony of my house.

 2. It has been a long and tough journey from those days in 1994 to 2005. But even with those ups and downs, like a roller coaster ride, we had been constantly going up, at a rate of approximately 40% each year, and have now reached a position , which very few companies can achieve in a short span of 11 years. and with the limited resources we had. It is a credit to all of you who have "transformed" the company from what it was to what it is now" World's largest producer of Mosquito repellent". A tribute to the hard work put in by each and everyone of us.

 3. This transformation has not been an easy and smooth one. For that matter no transformation is ever easy, but is full of pain, hurt, failure and the joy of having successfully done that. For any transformation to be successful it has to have the essential ingredient of "Good Attitude", whether the transformation is of an individual or of a company. The attitude of a company is in fact the collective attitude of the people who are part of the company. We have been trying to do his transformation in our limited way in our factories at Baddi. I did not have a chance to interact with people outside Baddi , in spite of my best efforts to have a fruitful discussion on this process of continuous transformation. So please bear with me for a while so that I can share with you now at least a minuscule part of what all we had done in our factories. in a nutshell. The key to having a good attitude is the willingness to transform oneself and a firm belief in one's own capability. You get what you believe in. One has to become a unreasonable person in order that the transformation process proceeds. A reasonable person expects the world to go on as much as it has always been. Hence a transformation can not be successfully achieved by a reasonable man as he is very comfortable with the status quo and to change you have to question the process and hence have to become unreasonable. Please forgive me if I have been unreasonable with you at times or you have found me to be unreasonable person especially, when I have refused to accept the way the things are normally done, or have been done in the past, or in other companies where you had worked earlier. As long as we have the attitude , that it is OK, or it is the way things are done or it is the way we do things , we will not change. People who believe that nothing should be done for the first time never see anything being done. One has to have "FIRE" in his/her belly and in turn the passion to transform oneself and the environment around him.. 'FIRE" represents the financial quotient, intelligence quotient, relationship quotient and emotional quotient. The most important thing to remember is that you can transform , change the way you do things and this in my opinion is the greatest motivation of all. A belief in one self and the zeal and commitment to change. This urge to transform has to be a deep seated desire not only to transform oneself but also the environment and people around oneself.

 4. I strongly believe that " What we have become today is because of what choices we have made or action taken in the past and what we will become tomorrow or in future is what we choose to do today". Therefore choose to transform for better. I am sorry if I have been slightly nostalgic, but I do sincerely hope that you will forgive an old man like me for becoming nostalgic especially when it comes to things which one has created with passion. It is another matter whether other's recognize it or not.

 5. I can only wish all of you success from transforming oneself and as Yoda says to Luke Skywalker in the "Return to Zedi" , after he had completed his training as a Zedi master, " Let the force be with you and guide you in all your actions". The only thing I can say at this moment is that" may the passion of transformation be with you and guide you to achieve and full and true potential within you.

 6. May god bless all of you with the desire to transform and give you the "FIRE" in your belly to "Transform" not only yourself and also the environment and people around you for " Better and Better". with best wishes

Best and Better

It is generally held that you have to be the best, perform best and set the best goals. But I believe that if you are the best then it blocks all further scope in improvement. Best represents a finality and an end in itself. Because it is an end and hence there is no scope for further improvement. At best what you can do is to maintain the best in the best. It represents status quo and leads one to a feeling of being comfortable with the present state of affairs and will impede all further progress. This feeling will lead to complacency. a complacency can only be removed by lighting a fire or a sense of urgency only. We should believe in becoming " better and better". I personally believe that the worst enemy of better is best. Better in comparison to yesterday, last year , in our practices, procedures, thinking or even competitors. Best represents a goal whereas better represents a process and because it is a process of doing things, which we wish to make it better hence there is no limit to improvement. The comparison in better is with our own self, our own values , mission and the way of doing things. Better represents a continuous transformation, which has no end in itself. It is this better and better which creates a sense of passion in the minds of people to strive for continuous improvement and higher goals in order to make them successful in their careers, the workplace a better place to work. Passion comes when you love and enjoy your work, which comes out of feelings , which is due to your thought patterns and thought patterns can only be better if they are under continuous transformation, which is conveyed by the words " Better and Better".