Ideas

Fresh ideas have always been invaluable. Our ancestors have used them from the time of discovering fire to our contemporary times of the World Wide Web. We love to celebrate the artistic skills of singers, poets, composers, and painters. However, the ability to search inside the human mind for breakthroughs is equally important. 

Creative thinking and deep introspection have helped Sages found new philosophies and faiths since time immemorial. Every brain has the potential to reach unknown heights in this regard. Nerve tissue is like muscle: regular practice improves function. A creative thinker can imagine new enterprises. Such mental processes are also helpful when we are in very difficult circumstances with no obvious escape.

Society promotes logical thinking in general. Wild ideas are actively discouraged. This is why the natural ability to think creatively is suppressed in most people. It need not be so. People of all ages and backgrounds can train their minds to foster creative processes. This can be done in an organizational setting, apart from on an individual basis. I learned to think creatively from the books written by Edward de Bono. The best way for you to do this is to visit the following link:

http://www.edwdebono.com/

I can help you learn the methods of de Bono, though I have no claims to any special expertise or certification.

You can achieve new levels of success in your business, life, and relationships through creative thinking. 

I end this post with an exercise: think of what you wish for your country. What kind of a future would you like for your coming generations? What if you were a leader of your country's government?

I ran an essay competition for children from some villages of Varanasi District in Northern India in 2009. The topic was "India of my dreams". A portion of the winning piece is reproduced below in the original handwriting of its brilliant author. 

I can provide links to the full essay, and a translation from Hindi to English.

Compare your ideas with those in the essay above. Ask other people to contribute. I hope that you will discover the power of creative thinking.

I would love to help and to participate.

Managing Enormous Financial Risks

I am relieved that some soul-searching has started amidst the community of proponents of capitalist free enterprise.

Visit the following link for an exposition of new thinking about the merits of the most established way of developing business:

http://hbr.org/2011/01/the-big-idea-creating-shared-value/ar/1 

My focus at this forum is on small business and individuals. We are strongly influenced by the methods of banks. The stock market system is another powerful dimension that shapes the planning of potential and hopeful entrepreneurs.

Communists and assorted socialists are the only ones who do not celebrate instances of major enterprises being built from borrowed funds. Much of Management methodology revolves around developing persuasive business plans to woo investors. Indeed, this is a significant aim of the Planning process about which I wrote last week.

What happens when projections go awry? 

Banks and other lenders cover their lending risks with aplomb. Stock owners can jump ship at any time. The borrower is alone.

I recommend Islamic Banking as a safer alternative to conventional ways of raising money from others to realize your dreams. Study the material at the following link to understand the tenets of a system that shares the risks business development through committed participation in management:

http://www.islamic-banking.com/profit_and_lose_sharing.aspx

Suppliers, the downstream supply chain, and external customers, are three useful categories of stakeholders, who can help you build an enterprise through Islamic Banking principles.

What if you are unable to service debts that you taken already?

I do not know of anything that can bring on the kind of despair that such a tragedy unfolds. Nevertheless, most situations of this genre are not as hopeless as they may seem. There are no easy answers for the seemingly intractable problems of life-threatening debts, but here are some samples of the bitter medicine for financial reconstruction:

a. Save on recurring expenses

b. Liquidate assets 

c. Negotiate realistic rescheduling of interest costs and repayments

d. Pursue every avenue to raise income

e. Seek one-off grants from well-wishers

None of these steps may work adequately or in time, but it is worth trying.

I am willing to help. Write to me in the space below, and I will do my best for you.

Here is a picture of rural youth from Northern India (Padrauna, Uttar Pradesh):

They are neither well-qualified, nor adequately-resourced. They are amazingly gifted artists. How can you help them become celebrities and stars, which they surely deserve?

Management of the Planning Process

We all plan.

This may be by way of random thoughts, casual conversations with others, or even a rudimentary form of organized thinking.

Planning may be for a business, a family matter, a career, or a new enterprise that we dream to start.

Budgeting is a term related to Planning in Management terminology. Budgeting differs from Planning in three respects:

a. Budgeting is more quantitative, while Planning has large qualitative components.
b. Budgeting is normally for not more than 12 months, while Planning should have a time-frame of 3-10 years. Some large enterprises plan for two decades ahead.
c. Budgeting is a corollary to Long Range Planning. Some of us may rest content with informal monthly budgets for personal and household expenditure, but it will help to build a secure future if short-term budgets are derived from a longer-term plan.

Management has comprehensive tools for effective Planning and Budgeting. I learned some of this at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. I have also served in the Planning and Budgeting function of the erstwhile Sandoz India Limited, which was an affiliate of an international, research based corporation in the Life Sciences and Industrial Chemicals sector. I continue to be an avid reader of the subject on the World Wide Web.

I would like to help anyone who is interested to make the transition from amateur or casual planning to a structured process, with outputs that can be put to good use. I should warn that Planning and Budgeting are dynamic processes. Plans must be reviewed every 12 months, and budgets not less often than once a quarter.

Let me give you a trailer of the full Planning and Budgeting process.

The first step is to make an Environment Scan. You can think of this as a kind of astrology! Why is such a strange step required?

The reason is that Planning is all about the future. Who needs a detailed plan for what to do today, or even tomorrow. Doubts arise as we delve further and further in to the future. What will the world look like 10 years from today. Politicians may paint rosy pictures, but can we count on them?

Professional planners consult domain experts in order to piece together images of the distant future. Technology drives many of the important changes in our lives, hence it is a common practice to consult leading scientists and specialists from various fields. One of the common methods for an Environment Scan is to use the Delphi Technique. We can do this together, or you can use the article at the link below (accessed July 2011):

www.unido.org/fileadmin/import/16959_DelphiMethod.pdf  

The Environment Scan will provide leads to the following:

1. Disruptive changes that will affect our lives and business.
2. New opportunities for us to live better, and to earn more; also to advance our careers.
3. Threats that may emerge to our security, well-being, and wealth generation.
4. Possible challenges that our children may have to face.
5. Large opportunities for professions and markets that exist today, but which could decline tomorrow.

Tobacco companies of the 19th and early 20th century have diversified in to foods and hospitality in order to deal with the opposition to their original business.

Manufacturers of typewriters and related office equipment have jumped on to the electronic bandwagon, in order to continue to generate profits, and to grow in a new world.

Skin and Venereal Disease has never been the most glamorous arm of the medical profession. However, skin specialists and cosmetic experts, as some of them are now christened, are more respectable and sought after in elite circles, than in the past.

Please consider the following aspects:


i Small business and individuals, especially young ones, need Environment Scans just as much, perhaps more, than large corporations.

ii. There are long time gaps between a new technology or development coming to retail shelves, and the original idea generation.

iii. It pays to be a leader or at least an early entrant in an emerging field, rather than a laggard, or a simple follower.

I hope that I have persuaded you to take the first step in the Planning and Budgeting process. I would love to hear from you in any case: just write in the space below.

I sign off with a picture that you can use to practice an Environment Scan:

This is a farm family from the Saharanpur District of Uttar Pradesh. Everyone works on a small patch of land, and they grow a variety of vegetables around the year. They have reasonably assured irrigation, and the lucrative markets of Delhi and Chandigarh are nearby.

What do you think is the best course of action for this family to build its future?
What can the parents do for the children to have options for their careers?
Should they remain in agriculture?

An Environment Scan is just a first step in Planning and Budgeting. There is plenty to follow and to gain. Let me know if you would like me to continue.

Why Risk Management Matters

Risk Management is not taught very early in a curriculum. Some schools do not have this subject in the syllabus.

I suppose it is human tendency to hope for the best!

There are two common entry points for the world of Risk Management.

One is through corporate solutions for probable risks. Various forms of insurance are common examples of this route.

The other is a personal encounter with a disaster. Such an event forces us to think of improbable but serious risks. Earthquakes, fires, sudden death of a breadwinner, and industrial accidents, are examples of risks that fortunately occur rarely, but their consequences are shattering.

Each of us has to be prepared for the worst.

Some risks are both improbable and not-serious: unexpected rain is an example. We need not plan in detail for such minor interruptions.

Risk analysis is a useful first step in Risk Management. Everyone concerned should help prepare a list of all possible risks in a given situation. We can then divide the list in to likely, unlikely, and serious risks. We can eliminate frivolous risks by consensus. This paves the way for concerted plans on how to deal with significant risks. These plans can then be translated in to action plans with specific responsibilities that are rehearsed regularly. Large factories that make hazardous goods make such elaborate plans, but each of us can benefit from the process.

Here is an exercise: list all the risks that you can from the image below:

You are welcome to contribute your own picture or a description of a situation that concerns you, and we can learn Risk Management together from your contribution.

Live safe, and safeguard your enterprise, colleagues, associates, friends, and family.

Sacred Start

The Rath Jatra (Chariot Ceremony) of the Hindu Deities at Puri in India, takes place today (July 03rd 2011). The date is not the same each year, as Hindus follow a lunar calendar.


Though I am a practicing Hindu, I worship Jesus, the Buddha, and respect all religions. Therefore, please do not be repelled by my choosing this auspicious day in the life of a Hindu, to start a new web log, if you are an agnostic, or belong to another faith.

You will find an update every Sunday, and a prompt response to every contribution. My Mission is to apply the principles and processes of Management to small business, and to individuals from all walks of life. I have a formal qualification in the subject, and have practiced it for some 4 decades.

It is never too late to start learning about Management. Even the best exponent has opportunities to improve, extend, and update skills and applications. The Internet facilitates learning about Management, and offers much content entirely free of cost. Each of us can apply such learning to improve personal performance, quality of life, and to build a successful enterprise.

I claim no last word on the subject. Do contribute your thoughts and experiences.

Management has fostered the Case Method of study. This makes learning fun, because we can derive principles by thinking of specific instances. There is a picture from Lucknow at the end of this post. The young person makes a living by sticking rubber panels to cars of the rich, so that the paint is not damaged by the skirmishes that are so common on city streets in places such as Lucknow.

Can Management help him secure his future? I would love to exchange thoughts with you. Just write in the space below.

I will also be privileged to help with specific cases that concern you.