BRAToSPHERE

Author: Bharat Jhurani

  • Transganization – Book Review

    “The process of changing the organizational genetics at the time of changing market scenario or changing business model or during the phase-shift from one state to another is called TransGanization”. This is how the author defines the word transganization.

    The book, recently published by times books, makes it for an easy read. It is a relatively small book and finish-in-one-go kind of book. The additional disc given along with the book is a welcome add-on to listen to the authors views on the same. it probably could have been better if it could be more engaging than the monologue approach that it takes.

    The book succintly captures the operational issues cropping in during the trajectory of the growth of an organization. It very well explains the strategic approach to ensure the vitals are kept in place while the transition from a free spirited entrepreneurial start-up kind of a setup to a professionally run company. The interesting part of the book is where the author begins by explaining scenes from the movie Avatar, and links it to the main topic.

    The only disconnect with the book is – who is the target audience? Obviously not the big companies looking for a change!

    The entrepreneur who is ready to take off, and wants to build a perspective on organizatoinal change? Then why have all the copy-paste material from government sites as the the entire procedure and detail rules and processes involved?

    The book starts off well, but somewhere in the middle of the book it loses steam, and the large monotonous excerpts from the websites detailing the processes just tests your patience. You are here looking for live examples and stories of such changes in other companies. One would obviously go to the websites before taking the plunge. ( probably hire the author himself, to execute such a change in the company!)

    Overall, a good book to get a perspective on the concept, but it falls somewhere in between being an academic book and an engaging read.

    About the author, he is an engineer from IIT, and has done his management studies at ISB, Hyderabad. With more than 11 years of experience in the field of organizational change leadership he is probably the most apt person to write a book on this niche topic.

    Funny: Why was an ad of Jawed Habib’s pasted in the backside inside cover of the book? How is he involved with the book? Or have we reached the stage where even the covers are book are up for sale by the advertisers?

    (Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book, to review it)

  • Crossed 26.. on the way to 28!

    I turned 26 years old some time back, and am now on the way to hit 27. What a wonderful journey it has been.

    I recently came across this rant on facebook, on why 26-28 is not a nice age for a man, and thought I should tie it up in eternality on my blog, and not let it die on the transient Facebook.

    The reasons why 26-28 is not a nice age for a man :

    • all your ex-desires are getting married
    • Your career has just started,
    • Elders treat you as unproven theorems,
    • College guys feel that you are too old to have in their group
    • You seem to enjoy both cartoon and news
    • You can no longer eat whatever you wish without putting on weight
    • You look like an ape if you don’t shave daily
    • You are not invited for weekend…… cricket matches .
    • Every Aunty you meet asks “Shaadi kab kar rahe ho beta!!”, while uncles ask “Career ka kya socha hai beta…”When the reality is that you are just riding the wave and going with the flow
    • You have all the confidence in the world but little achievements to show
    • You know that whatever you have been taught about the world in schools has been sheer waste of time.
    • Politics till now was a dirty word but now you feel it everywhere.
    • You know now love is not that blind and that friendship has its terms and conditions
    • You know there is nothing for granted and free lunches are not free
    • Your overconfidence is now making way for a humble conscience
    • You now know it is not exactly what we thought it would be! Reality strikes, and it strikes hard!

    By the time you get well versed with these emotions, you would already be changing diapers!

    p.s.: Source for this article is Facebook wall posts

  • Bring in a change – Education system

    I love to whine. People call me a crib, and crib yes I do. It pains to see the happenings around, and pains even more to suppress the helplessness.

    It was a friend’s birthday last Saturday, and we were reflecting upon the last twenty six years or so in our lives. Humble beginnings, fighting spirit, things working out in our favour, Engineering, MBA and now this marketing job.

    It all seems like a dream come true when you look at it from outside. I know for a fact that 2 lakh people give the Cat every year, and only 3000 make it! And many of them reach that level solely through charity events, because poverty is rife in third world countries. But a proud feeling and it makes me crib even more, that in spite of all these backing what use is it if I am not able to bring in the required change?

    We kept talking, and the topic graduated to the education system in our country. The root cause of the entire accusation game that Indian students are substandard. Narayana Murthy and Chetan bhagat lash out in public over the standard of IIT, and their relevance? What is the use?

    It is going to remain so ,till we bring in a fundamental change in the thinking of the Indian parent. That would come when they start believing that a living can be made by doing what their child is best at, rather than doing what the world thinks is the best thing to do!

    Me and my friend, got into a more serious discussion, and were trying to delve on the root cause of these phenomena? Why is our education system like the way it is? And more importantly, what would it take to change it.

    We could not really come up with anything substantial, but yes we did agree on the things that need to be changed, and ASAP.

    Among the various things that we spoke about, five things that I would like to see change in the education system are:

    • Engineering and Medicine, and then an MBA is not the only education possible : Done with tenth standard? Good. Now you are taking science. Done with twelth? Good. Now engineering or medicine? That is where the whole world ends! Sadly! There needs to be a fundamental shift in the mindset that arts can be as rewarding and fulfilling.
    • Chance to pursue hobbies
      During B-School we had an exchange student from france who had done his graduation in mountaineering! How cool is that? Can you imagine anyone in india doing so? Not in the near future am sure. In a society where even pursuing music as a side hobby is seen in negative, such mountaineering courses seem far fetched. Should change!
    • Marking System
      I got 99.36 percentile in CAT, and I would get a call from IIM. Oh! You got 99.24 percentile? Hope you get a call too! With such a huge population, and everyone vying for the same seat, it is only fair to assum that such a situation would arise. How do we negate it? Give grades rather. A 99.28, and a 99.12 is not much of a difference, and appreciate this fact.
      I am not saying there should not be merit, but it can be judged in a better way rather than create a rat race for the same.
    • Ratta Maarna
      Learning by Rote. The single biggest thing that engulfs our education system to rot it. It should rather be termed as learning to Rot. There is enough said and done about it, and even Aamir tried explaining the importance of learning how to apply concepts in practical life in 3 idiots, but of little avail. Needs to change immediately!
    • Coaching centres
      My friend lambasted, “These are the real root cause of all rut in the system”. Really? Are these the cause or the effect? Debatable. But no doubt, they do propogate the rut in the system. Works for them, that is their business. They are the ones who tell parents that it is important for the child to start taking IIT coaching right from his birth. They are the ones who make the engineering degree sound glamorous, and put out big hoardings of all top rankers luring the dreamy innocent parents. They are the ones who propogate that engineering and medicine is the only future, that is till they started offering ICWA and other verticals of coaching.

    What do you about these? Nothing. They are just catering to a demand. The parent should understand what is good for their child, rather than driving the kids crazy and killing the entire creativity in the child by forcing him/her through those strenuous coaching hours. Not to talk about the coaching fees that parents shell out through their nose.
    I think Revolution 2020, Chetan Bhagat’s book gives a better understanding on how these coaching centres are killing the nation, and depriving the future india of worthy people.
    I am back to cribbing. Nothing much would change. Obviously not, if people like me and you just sit and crib at the system sipping our drinks! Nothing is going to change.

  • Bol – Movie Review

    Of late, I have not watched many movies on my laptop. Well, Mumbai does not leave you with much time for such activites. Yesterday, I got free from office quite early and started walking back home. On the way back, I just chanced upon the DVD of this Pakistani movie Bol. I remember watching khuda ke liye, the first movie by this director, and was pretty impressed by it.

    I immediately picked it up, and started watching it last evening. Boy! Was I impressed? Very! So much that I now actually want to read more about life in Pakistan and the culture and people there.

    Coming to the movie – It is a thought-provoking and a compelling film, bringing the subject to light without getting too preachy or forcing the view on the audience. It brings to light the problems faced by contemporary Pakistan, and etches out the characters beautifully without disturbing the flow of the story.

    The story is told from the lens of a girl, on the verge of being hanged. The story begins with Hakim saab, the father who sires one daughter after another in search of that one elusive male child. His character is the one you would find very commonly as the strict dad, brought up with the strict principles of religion in black or white. He believes that a son would bring prosperity to the family and ends up with seven daughters and a hermaphrodite. He still does not give up and believes that women are just meant to bear children and not voice their opinions.

    The mother, and the daughters are all helpless, till the eldest daughter decides to BOL ( talk!). She goes to the extent of sending her hermaphrodite sibling to work, and actually getting one of her sisters marrying the boy ( Atif Aslam) she loves.

    The story shows contrasts very well. For example, the neighboring family who inspite of having the same economic strata have more open views and gets his son and daughter to study medicine. The pimp, who very neatly brings out the point that his kinds would love to have a girl child, and boys are a curse there.

    The message that the sex of the child is dependant on the father and has nothing to do with the mother is also very well brought out.

    On the whole, the movie touches a chord, and most of it would hold very much true for any hindu indian family too. Interiors of india too faces similar problems, female infanticide being the primary among them, and it is time we make some serious attempt to rectify it.

    A must watch. Shoaib Mansoor , the director of the movie, knows the art of story telling very well, and he again shows his brilliance in this movie.

  • Why do you get married – II

    In continuation to the previous post – Don’t marry! Be happy! ( Line from a famous Telugu movie starring Nagarjuna).

    Well, as I have already stated and made my stand very very clear – don’t ever rush into this whole thing called marriage. These seven pheras, take less than seven minutes to be done, but binds you for seven lives.( okay, at least for this one life, you are bound for life!).

    The big fat Indian wedding is a major event in our culture, and I don’t have the numbers, but am sure it is one of the biggest economy driving events in the country. Just imagine the sheer amount of crazy money spent on these do’s.

    Parents start thinking of it right since their bear a child, girls plan it once they turn 15 (Even Barbie dolls in indian bridal wear is hit), Films and TV make crores and some more crores out of this one saga – -Indian Marriage (Sooraj Barjatya is still counting his crores!).

    Coming to the core of the issue, why do you want to get married? I don’t really have an answer, and have not got a convincing one yet. Here I tell you, why you should not get married –

    Expenses

    It tires me to see that finance guys are the first ones to get married. Guys, now you should be the first ones to know that your expenses shoot up like crazy once you get married. That black sedan you have been eying since long, will now be a longer dream, or even convert to a normal hatchback reality.

    I remember a friend of mine, a girl who recently got married, often saying this – “ After marriage the girls income doubles and the guy’s halves!” Nothing could be truer.

    Okay, I know the dowry system in india works to bypass this negative, but well that is a one time payment! Fin guys, you should know this.

    Compromise

    “Hey dude lets go out to the sports bar today after office to catch up with the ManU match”. I dare not ask this question to a married guy with the fear of being a “jalan par namak chidana”.

    Compromise, as it is defined, is an agreement reached by mutual adjustment and it is impossible to make a marriage work without it. Remember, “Haan maine compromise kiya.. lekin compromise kaun nahi karta?” That is the reality!

    You like Chinese, she likes continental. Compromise. You like Comedy movies, she likes drama? Compromise. Even the remote control to your own 42” LED TV would become a matter of compromise.

    Adventurous

    I happened to meet Akshay Kumar in a Company event yesterday, and a member from the audience very openly asked him – “pehle to theek hai, lekin abhi shaadi aur bache ke baad how do you convince them to agree on your stunts?”. No Answer!

    What? You want to drive down to Nandi hills in the middle of the night after being decently drunk? Go get a divorce lawyer first.

    Friends

    Again, Sorry. Your weekends will all be spent with your wifey, not leaving anytime for a beer binge. On Friday evenings, you would just have to whine at your home and watch TV, while the luckier ones get to drink and play poker all night!

    And well, even if you are able to convince your “better half” of the evening out with friends, be prepared to lose all your money in poker talking on the phone – “yes baby. Will not drink much baby. Will sure get the bread and eggs on the way back!”. So much, that you stand the risk of not being invited again from the next weekend onwards.

    Housework

    Socks lying here and there, and the underwear on the fridge. Get them out immediately dude, you are now married, living with someone who thinks they are the most civilized people on the planet!

    Cleaning, washing, cooking, shopping, dusting – all of these become part of your normal life, and in all probability would find way in your weekend timetable!

    Guests

    Wife’s third cousin is in town? You have to host him, and be nice to him. Treat him with all the niceties, and most importantly spend time with him.

    Even your relatives would start expecting that you now behave like a family man, and host people in a similar way.

    Explanations

    You got of your hometown after engineering so that you would not have to explain that late night out and the beer, and now you want to again invite the same discipline back on your head? All the best!

    And well, the most important reason to not get married to seek happiness – it does not last forever.  Even sex starts feeling like bland curry. Diamonds do last forever.

    Disclaimer: These two posts have been written with a funny vein, and I have nothing against marriage. I strongly believe in it, and as they say, the views expressed above are purely blogsake, and I don’t endorse them at all. Don’t sue me!