Time

All resources have limits. Most of us are most constrained by time. My wife has a solution that a former colleague also used in the past: they do not use watches! This cannot work in an office situation, especially if you are not the owner or head.

Here are a few ideas from my memory of busy days; please add your own:

1. Separate the urgent from the important
2. Delegate
3. Put a time limit for a meeting; do not attend unless all participants agree to read detailed agenda notes in advance; insist on minutes.
4. Sleep in Shava-asana, at least 4 hours after a light meal; you can gain 2 hours over other people every day!
5. Create and update a manual of procedures. ISO certification is the best way I know.

I would love to expand on these points, and to discuss your ideas at length as well.

Now for a case study:

This picture is from Malihabad near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. The people on the tractor spray mango trees for a living for orchard owners like the gentleman on the right in a jacket. The spraying season lasts for about 100 days a year. These people have to get diesel and water, maintain the tractor and their equipment, get contracts, sleep, eat, rest, and also spray mango trees. This excludes their family and social responsibilities, to say nothing of ill-health and the uncertainties of life in Uttar Pradesh!

How can these poor youths make better use of their peak season and off-season times?

Your solutions can help all stakeholders in the world of farming.

 

Communication secrets

It is like marketing. Everyone seems to be an expert, yet very few know the secrets of successful practitioners, and authoritative specialists.

It is not my claim to be exceptionally skilled at speaking or writing. I can point you to sources from which you can learn and improve, if you like. However, it may not be out of place to recount here, some of my most memorable lessons.

Non-verbal communication is significant though subtle. We all know that lawyers, hospital staff, airline crew, and police have dress codes, if not specific uniforms. Indian politicians have subtle conventions in this respect. Shrimati Indira Gandhi always made it a point to wear a handicraft from the area she visited (Prime Ministers were elected in those days, and spent most of their time amidst their votaries).

The impact of color on communication is not widely known, though we may exercise discretion in the matter without thinking about it. Westerners wear black at funerals, whereas Indian Hindus abide by white. Pink is thought to convey friendship and a willingness to compromise through negotiation. Red is a popular symbol symbol for passion. Green represented nature, even before conservation activists abrogated it. It is the same with brown. I personally love all shades of blue. 

Young people of today think nothing of wearing jeans to a place of worship. They even appear for dinner at restaurants in shorts and shirts without collars. Inner wear is another, I believe, way of non-verbal communication. There are deep natural roots to such behavior, as any peacock or other bird out to make an impression will tell you.

Hairstyles, visible brand names, chosen transport vehicles, favorite places to dine, shop and vacation, are other ways to communicate with others, without saying a word. I know some people who write about their choices in these matters, to spread the good word far and wide. The welcome propensity of people to travel internationally, is celebrated more as an indicator of national economic progress, rather than of dropping air fares, hotel deals, and evolving services.


Hands and eyes have much to convey though they may have no voices or pens. Italians and some Indians are known to move their limbs more than conservative British and most Japanese (bowing excluded). These strong cultural dimensions must pose challenges for international corporations and the United States. There is little chance of Gaddafi chatting with Cameron, which is not such a bad thing anyway, but what if Berlusconi had to deal with Hina Rabbani?

I do not need to say as much about eyes as I have about other modes of non-verbal communication. Any docile husband such as I dreads the angry glance of a spouse. Dogs are best at interpreting looks though. Is this related to their sensitivity to waves to which humans remain impervious? I have a friend in Saurashtra who can even ask his family to serve tea, without saying anything. It certainly beats my rushing to the kitchen every time a friend drops in. Let me conclude by stating that 'look me in the eye' is a worthy adage. Use it to convey sincerity. Drop it like the proverbial hot potato when you have to lie. Fortunately, video calls are not affordable as yet where I live.


The stuff of this post should not suggest that I consider verbal and written communication to be unimportant. I would love to exchange ideas on how to communicate better in a speech, discussion, on paper, or online.

I met these people in May 2009, very near the final resting place of Lord Buddha. We had assembled to discuss honeybees and honey. The seated crew came from Punjab to exhort the farmers standing behind them to start rearing honeybees. Most of us are afraid of getting stung. Honeybees can visit gardens in cities, just as they do with crops and farms. Can you think of a presentation that would persuade you to establish hives?

Empathy has much to do with effective communication. It helps to get in to the shoes of targets, and to try and think like them.

   

Marketing muscle

One of my business Gurus, Dr Tarun Gupta, loves to say 'you can have a business without any resource or function, but not without a customer!

Marketing is a discipline that most of us think we know, but the reality is generally different!

Marketing is just as important for small business and individuals as for corporations. Top salespeople know that they must sell themselves before any product or service.

Imperfect competition covers up wasteful and erroneous marketing. This is especially true of India where scarce infrastructure and corruption can act as huge entry barriers. International companies have insidious ways of keeping domestic and small players away from vast swathes of markets.

Just as water finds its own level, so it is with market share over the long term. Profitability is another leveling factor since organizations with access to cheap funds can, in the short term, use predatory pricing to keep potential competitors away.

I value your contributions to how to find and retain customers:

1. Segment creatively.
2. Target with laser-sharp focus.
3. Check that you can fill a real market gap sustainably and with profit, before you enter.
4. Never take customers for granted.
5. Emphasize internal and interactive marketing; keep external marketing under-stated.
6. Ensure that each element of the marketing mix is in tune with all the others.

I can expand on the points above if you wish.

Now for an exercise. Here is a picture from the deep interiors of Northern India:

One of my colleagues, Kuldeep Singh Khushwaha is first from left. The others are farmers. 

How would you go about making and executing a marketing plan to cater to these customers. We can exchange notes with what my colleagues and I have done with farm inputs.

How to take decisions

Leaders of countries and large corporations have to make difficult choices. Some of them are historic. Most of them affect large numbers of people and families. Dramatic decision-making is not restricted to lofty people. Everyone has to make judgments on a daily basis.

It is useful to have a method to take better decisions. What is a better decision? I can think of the following:

a. Transparency: everyone affected by a decision should understand the process and the reasons behind it.

b. Participation: this is related to transparency. Everyone affected should have an opportunity to contribute to the construction of a decision.

c. Considered trade-offs: life is not perfect! There could be downsides to whatever path is finally chosen. A group or an individual probably has conflicting aims in any case. A good decision is an optimal one: it is based on deliberate priorities.

d. Creativity: decisions based on confrontation are unlikely to work. It is better to think of and to evaluate as many alternatives as possible. It helps if this phase is isolated from bias of participants.

e. Recording: an apparently 'good'  decision may not look right in future. There are always lessons from taken decisions. Therefore, the process by which a decision is taken should be recorded in as much detail as possible.

f. Contingency: a decision relates to the future. Therefore, it is based on projections, most of which will not prove to be true. That is why decision-making should dovetail with potential problem analysis. Steps to prevent and to contain serious and probable risks are features of excellent decision-making.

Here is a link for more information on professional decision-making:

http://www.informs.org/Pubs/DA

I have practiced decision-making during my career, based on formal training by my employers. I can help you. Do write in the space below and establish contact.

Here is an exercise to end this post:

The people in the photograph above did not react to the unpleasant news of an interminable flight delay, in the same way. I love the person in the foreground, who is not bothered, and happy to delve in to his newspaper! However, most of us are not so calm. Should we try a train? Will we get something to eat? Can we get a refund? But most of all, what should I do?

What did you do the last time your schedule was seriously upset? How can you prepare for such an eventuality in future?