Focus on markets ignored by others

‘Empowering people is the most effective way to create profitable companies’ says Mr. Thyagarajan, legendary founder of the Shriram Group of Companies in Chennai. He brought workers into management, spent a lot of face time with them. ‘They made it happen,’ he says. His methods are simple.  Cut out all non value added activities  Engage each one of the workers, including the contract labour, by uniting them for a common cause. ‘How can you solve the problem with the same tools that caused them?’ He brought in a good CEO and made him accountable. The strategy worked and profits began to flow in. ‘I always found people who could do things. Then I empowered them and left them alone!’ Shriram Chit Funds was started in 1974 with 4 chit fund companies focusing on truck operators. Now, its volume of business is Rs.27,000 crores. They have 1,000 offices dealing with all areas of finance. Mr Thyagarajan proudly states ‘We have an emotional bond with 20 lakh customers over the years.’ When asked why he started with 4 companies at a time when Small Business Units (SBUs) were not popular, he explains, ’Each area had a CEO who had total freedom. Growth was faster, because each CEO felt more energized. We, south Indians are suspicious of anyone who grows too fast. This strategy also kept the company out of envy’s radar. I was able to call forth a “Start-up” attitude. Once I was sure of the leadership, I maintained an attitude of tolerance towards mistakes’. The SBUs worked very well and grew quickly.

Keep in touch with Customers

Customer creativity enables the company to negotiate new products with customers. It is the kind of process that reinvents the future. For instance, customers were not even aware of the possibility of a Walkman. Only an intense negotiation between top management, manufacturing and customers could have created it. Customer interaction can be induced by the following: • Management by Walking About (MBWA) is the most appropriate way to ensure that the customer’s voice is built into products and processes. • Advisory committees of opinion leaders can be an effective method of keeping one’s finger on the pulse of public opinion. • Focus group interviews to enable customers to explore ideas with skilled facilitators, trained to go below the surface of suggestions and complaints.

Innovation mind bytes

 Be willing to test ideas in the market and correct them in the market place. Don’t wait for perfection on the drawing board. An idea is like a kite. Fly it, to test it in the wind.  Keep a low key. As the Zen thinkers say, be like an underground stream, not like a rocky mountain face. Competitors are alerted and more likely to attack a mountain.  Co-operate instead of confronting.  Keep initial budgets small.  Reach out for low hanging fruits. Be hungry for results.  Be impatient for profits.  Learn in the ruthless university of the marketplace.  Reach for the untouched and the unreached. As first mover, make full use of your advantage.  Be patient with teething problems. De-bug as you go along.  Good is the enemy of Better.

Sub-problem Statements

Each problem can be broken up into sub-problems. A problem is like a jigsaw puzzle, made up of many pieces which are its sub-problems. Create small teams around each sub-problem. Allow each team to work using thinking tools. Create a problem statement and sub-problem statement as per the following format and work on it with your organizational problems: Problem Statement Problem : How to…………. Serial No Sub – Problem People to be involved Budgets Outcomes Teamwork drives innovation. Challenge each other when working together.

Workplace Wellness Assessment

Here are some few questions to assess your workplace wellness: 1. Would it be personally profitable for me to spend more time reading? 2. Do I effectively balance time between family, social, academic and recreational activities? 3. Do I concentrate too hard on just getting the job done rather than on my whole career? 4. Do I see about my bosses as role models? 5. Do I hope that by improving my knowledge I will have a job and a good life? 6. Are there some active steps I might take today to ensure a successful future? 7. Would talking to professionals in various fields help improve my job awareness? 8. Would this be a frightening thing to do? 9. Are there some channels, people or sources that could make this a pleasant experience? 10. Have I honestly assessed my potential for growth and participation in future jobs? 11. Do I travel more than a week every month? 12. Do I rest when I am tired? 13. Have I learnt to say ‘No’ politely? Score a. Good: More than 9 Yeses b. Adequate: 5 or more Nos c. Poor: Less than 5 Nos

Workplace Wellness Assessment

Here are some few questions to assess your workplace wellness: 1. Would it be personally profitable for me to spend more time reading? 2. Do I effectively balance time between family, social, academic and recreational activities? 3. Do I concentrate too hard on just getting the job done rather than on my whole career? 4. Do I see about my bosses as role models? 5. Do I hope that by improving my knowledge I will have a job and a good life? 6. Are there some active steps I might take today to ensure a successful future? 7. Would talking to professionals in various fields help improve my job awareness? 8. Would this be a frightening thing to do? 9. Are there some channels, people or sources that could make this a pleasant experience? 10. Have I honestly assessed my potential for growth and participation in future jobs? 11. Do I travel more than a week every month? 12. Do I rest when I am tired? 13. Have I learnt to say ‘No’ politely? Score a. Good: More than 9 Yeses b. Adequate: 5 or more Nos c. Poor: Less than 5 Nos

Meditation

Enlightened Masters have also shown that meditation produces beneficial effects such as reduction of tension, lowering of blood pressure, relaxation of muscles, increased concentration and work efficiency, and increase of immunological resistance to diseases. As a result, some form of meditation has become an essential part of most holistic health programmes. Service to others, music, prayer—all are forms of meditation—make the blood flow with serotonins—the happiness chemical. Hindu scriptures enjoin five types of service known as pancha-mahayajna—service to gods; service to sages; service to ancestors; service to humans, guests and the poor; and service to animals. A traditional Indian home, at dawn, feeds ants with the rice-flour rangoli drawn near the threshold, and crows and cows with leftover food. Eating should be regarded as a sacred act. In an orthodox Hindu home, food is offered to the family deity first and is then consumed as prasad or offering with the diety’s blessing. There is a basic similarity between the rituals involved in offering food to the deity and those involved in eating oneself. In both cases, food is offered as oblations to the five pranas regarded as five fires. Even if one does not follow this ritualistic concept, one should make eating a fully conscious and peaceful act. Hurry, worry, anger, distractions and chattering should be avoided while eating.