cycle

I am at my home in Sitamarhi, Bihar, visiting my parents. I was born and studied till class 10th here. It’s like waking to memory lanes and walking across the gallis and fields.

Many things have changed post-COVID, one being I see many houses ending up vacant. The owners have passed away. The kids have no interest in taking care of the property.

I still remember my neighbors and fights in giving land for road construction. I was part of this mohalla when it was barren land.
My father and dozen others worked towards making roads and bringing electricity poles.

We have a road. The houses are there but empty.
Every generation toils lifetime and earns for the next generation instead of living their own. It’s like a mad rush of accumulation of wealth for whom? We are running fast and creating wealth, but for whom? Will our next generation care about it?

We are living for the future instead living now for ourselves. Are we all part of this cycle where one generation creates wealth, and another leaves it and walks away? It saddens me to see the houses, their gardens now turning haunted. The liveliness and cheers are all gone.

everyone

In No Rule Rules, Reed Hastings talks about individual competitiveness and incentives. I felt it fosters toxicity within an organization.

In the book Score takes care of Itself, the author talks about working together as a family.

An organization includes people with different levels and roles.
They are all valuable and need love, care, and respect. A leader should grow stakeholders’ wealth and everyone on the team together.

What will an ace bowler do if a batsman will not score runs or the fielders will drop all catches? How will a team win when everyone is not together and for winning?

Standard of performance

A team with a mission, vision and organizational philosophy also needs a standard of performance. Bill Walsh mentions these below in his book “score takes care of itself “

  1. Focus on specific actions and attitudes relevant to your team’s performance and production.
  2. Be clear with your expectations of high effort and standard of performance.
  3. Everyone has to deliver their best and be responsible for their expertise.
  4. Beyond standards and methodology, teaching values and beliefs are equally important.

Do & Don’t

I am reading the score takes care of itself by Bill Walsh. I like the part where he talks about what to do and not do as a leader as a philosophy to stay sane in life or field. 

Don’t

  1. Don’t ask, why me?
  2. Don’t expect sympathy.
  3. Don’t keep accepting condolences.
  4. Don’t bellyache
  5. Don’t blame others

Failure is part of everyone’s life. We have to learn from it and plan for the next big day. It makes us more humble.

Do

  1. Do expect defeat.
  2. Do allow yourself appropriate rest and grieving time.
  3. You are closer to success when things are worse.
  4. Do begin planning for the next serious encounters.
  5. Do force your brain to stop looking backward or dwelling on past failures.  

Agriculture

India has a long way to go. Our majority of employment still comes from agriculture. Our government is taking the steps needed to bring technology and modernization into it. The grants, funding, and public-private partnership is bearing fruits.

Many generational farmers see farming as a burden. Some are headed back to metros and taking up other jobs. At the same time, with technology in the armory, the new age entrepreneurs are crafting new highs.

Global warming and the current climate crisis are making things worse. Everyday consumption of items like coffee and chocolate growing is under strain.

absent

There are times when you are engulfed in thoughts and take up multi-tasking seriously.
As a result, one or the other thing suffers.
Here I am at the airport canceling and re-booking my ticket for my flight.

The level of absurdity came to light when airport security says am at the wrong airport for boarding.
I had security check and boarding pass all collected without realizing am on the destination flight, not the source.

Thankfully there was another departing flight.
I purchased the ticket, entered the airport, and shared this.

No software or automation could replace our human presence of mind.
Be more focused, don’t end up like me. Good Morning. 🙂

tyres

We need tyres to work in balance for a car or bike to function well. We can have all the gadgets or modern body parts, but without balanced types, they will crumble. The same applies to founders in any startup: they are the tyres. Founders should be in sync to fly their fat machine, which runs on limitations.

To run an institution having a shared vision, mission, and action among all tyres/founders is super necessary. Work hard on finding the right tyres before sailing the car.

In the case of Taghash, I got lucky to have met Krishna for over ten years but getting into the journey for the last five. Every single day has been a roller coaster together. We are still very early, but the journey has been exciting this far.

Knee-jerk

How many instant decisions in your life have harmed you later?
Our brain runs a fight or flight mode. We want to be protected.
Negative news gets more eyeballs than positive for this reason.

We can only delay the intensity at which we react. One has to be very stoic to stay strong and live another day.

Giving a knee-jerk reaction can lead to disaster.

generation

How do you build an institution that outlives you? What would be the principles and methodology? One of the questions I have been thinking off-late. We have a limited generational business family like Tatas, Birlas, Marico, Reliance, and others. What would they have done differently?

My limited learning suggests building a solid process and growing responsible leaders. I have realized the power of process and people all this while.

Any organization will see generations if leaders are independent and transparent with bold beliefs, the idea of predicting the future, and some luck.

Education and employment are the stepping stone of a wealthy nation. We need to build more and more companies that last for generations and generate stable employment for millions. That is how our country will progress.

Orchestra

I see an analogy in building a startup and successful orchestra. Both depend on the team and the process. Most importantly, coordination and perfection.

We see how companies and organizations live in silos and delayed product development. Two teams have no clue how the company and products get shipped in time with quality and compassion.

An orchestra or a startup having an able leader with a defined process ensures perfection.