A Leader Should Know How to Manage Failure

Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam : 'A Leader Should Know How to Manage Failure'  
India Knowledge@Wharton:  Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure?  
Kalam:  Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India's "Rohini" satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources -- but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.  

By 1979 -- I think the month was August -- we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts -- I had four or five of them with me -- told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal. It was a big failure.  

That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am, and the press conference -- where journalists from around the world were present -- was at 7:45 am at ISRO's satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure -- he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.  

The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite -- and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, "You conduct the press conference today."  

I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team.   The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience.

 

 

All about SENSEX

Bombay Stock Exchange Limited is the oldest stock exchange in Asia with a rich heritage. Popularly known as "BSE", it was established as "The Native Share & Stock Brokers Association" in 1875. It is the first stock exchange in the country to obtain permanent recognition in 1956 from the Government of India under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956.The Exchange's pivotal and pre-eminent role in the development of the Indian capital market is widely recognized and its index, SENSEX, is tracked worldwide. Earlier an Association of Persons (AOP), the Exchange is now a demutualised and corporatised entity incorporated under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, pursuant to the BSE(Corporatisation and Demutualisation) Scheme, 2005 notified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
The BSE Sensex or Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index is a value-weighted index composed of over 4000 stocks with the base April 1979 = 100. It consists of the 30 largest and most actively traded stocks, representative of various sectors, on the Bombay Stock Exchange. These companies account for around one-fifth of the market capitalization of the BSE.
The base value of the Sensex is 100 on April 1, 1979 and the base year of BSE-SENSEX is 1978-79.
At irregular intervals, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) authorities review and modify its composition to make sure it reflects current market conditions.
The abbreviated form "Sensex" was coined by Deepak Mohoni around 1990 while writing market analysis columns for some of the business newspapers and magazines. It gained popularity over the next year or two.
The stock market has grown by over ten times from June 1990 to today. Using information from April 1979 onwards, the long-run rate of return on the BSE Sensex can be estimated to be 0.52% per week (continuously compounded) with a standard deviation of 3.67%. This translates to 27% per annum, which translates to roughly 18% per annum after compensating for inflation.

Housing related
1. Associated Cement Companies Ltd
2. Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd
Transport Equipments
3. Bajaj Auto Ltd
4. Hero Honda Motors Ltd
5. Maruti Udyog Ltd
6. Tata Motors Ltd.
Capital Goods

7. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd
8. Larsen & Toubro Limited
Telecom
9. Bharti Airtel Ltd
10. Reliance Communications Limited
Healthcare
11. Cipla Ltd
12. Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd
13. Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd
Diversified

14. Grasim Industries Ltd
Finance
15. HDFC
16. HDFC Bank Ltd
17. ICICI Bank Ltd
18. State Bank of India
Metal, Metal Products & Mining

19. Hindalco Industries Ltd
20. Tata Steel Ltd
FMCG

21. Hindustan Lever Ltd
22. ITC Ltd
Information Technology

23. Infosys Technologies Ltd
24. Satyam Computer Services Ltd
25. Tata Consultancy Services Limited
26. Wipro Ltd
Power

27. NTPC Ltd
28. Reliance Energy Ltd
Oil & Gas
29. ONGC Ltd
30. Reliance Industries Ltd

 

Facts about CO2 pollution and to control it

• 3.7 tonnes of CO2 will offset 1 Person flying from London to Sydney (Australia) and back. This can be done by planting 5 trees!
• 850 pounds is the same as 386.4 kgCO2 (0.3864 tonnes CO2). This is the equivalent of an average UK house’s electricity, gas, coal and oil usage for 2 weeks!
• Insulating your home by adding hot water tank lagging to your home’s hot water tank will save 150 kgCO2 per year. This is equivalent to a one way flight from London to Barcelona.
• About 10% of all electricity used in UK homes is consumed by electronic items left on standby. By switching appliances off standby 150 kgCO2 per year can be saved. A PC monitor switched off over night saves enough energy to microwave 6 dinners!
• Switching off the lights when not in the room saves 30 kgCO2 per year. Lighting an office overnight wastes enough energy to heat water for 1000 cups of tea!
• Turning down your thermostat by 1 degree can save as much as 10% off electricity bills, 300 kgCO2 per year. This is equivalent to a return flight from London to Barcelona.
• Drive smoothly, check the road ahead, anticipate traffic and avoid harsh braking and acceleration. Eco-driving can reduce fuel consumption by around 10%, saving 280 kgCO2 per year. This is the equivalent to a return flight from London to Milan, Italy.
• An average petrol car making a saving of 10 miles a week = 520 miles a year = 175 kgCO2. This is approximately equivalent to a return flight from London to Belfast.
• If every home in the UK changed just 3 light bulbs, enough energy would be saved to light the UK’s street lamps.
• 1 Tree will offset on average about 10 kgCO2 each year
• Not using a screensaver equates to a saving of 810 kWh per year = 348 kgCO2. This is the equivalent of a return flight from London to Madrid.
• Washing your clothes at 30°C could save 40% of your washing machines energy consumption, saving 35 kgCO2 per year.

Laws...

Laws for which reasons not-known...               

 

 Lorenz's Law of Mechanical Repair:

  After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch.       

 

  Anthony's Law of the Workshop:

   Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.                     

 

Kovac's Conundrum:

When you dial a wrong number, you never get an engaged one.

 

Cannon's Karmic Law:

If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the next morning you will have a flat tire.

                       

O'brien's Variation Law:

If you change queues, the one you have left will start to move faster than the one you are in now.

 

Bell's Theorem:

When the body is immersed in water , the telephone rings.

 

Rubys Principle of Close Encounters:

The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

 

Willoughby's Law:

When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

 

Zadra's Law of Biomechanics:

The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

 

Breda's Rule:

At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle arrive last.

                     

Owen's Law:

As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

                       

Howden's law:

You remember you have to mail a letter only when you're near the mailbox.

 

WHY EMPLOYEES LEAVE ORGANISATIONS

Managing people
WHY EMPLOYEES LEAVE ORGANISATIONS ?

 

- Azim Premji, Wipro

Every company faces the problem of people leaving the company for better pay or profile.
Early this year, Arun, a senior software designer, got an offer from a prestigious international firm to work in its India operations developing specialized software. He was thrilled by the offer.
He had heard a lot about the CEO. The salary was great. The company had all the right systems in place employee-friendly human resources (HR) policies, a spanking new office,and the very best technology,even a canteen that served superb food.
Twice Arun was sent abroad for training. "My learning curve is the sharpest it's ever been," he said soon after he joined.
Last week, less than eight months after he joined, Arun walked out of the job.
Why did this talented employee leave ?
Arun quit for the same reason that drives many good people away.
The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization. The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was published in a book called "First Break All The Rules". It came up with this surprising finding:
If you're losing good people, look to their immediate boss.Immediate boss is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why people leave. When people leave they take knowledge,experience and contacts with them, straight to the competition.
"People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.
Mostly manager drives people away?
HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave,but a thought has been planted. The second time, that thought gets strengthened. The third time, he looks for another job.
When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information. Dev says: "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble. You don't have your heart and soul in the job."
Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious,too pushy, too critical, but they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents. When this goes on too long, an employee will quit - often over a trivial issue.
Talented men leave. Dead wood does'nt.
" Jack Welch of GE once said. A company's value lies "between the ears of its employees". 

A msg from a leader to his team

Mail sent by Narayan Murthy to all Infosys staff:

 

It's half past 8 in the office but the lights are still on...

PCs still running, coffee machines still buzzing...

And who's at work? Most of them ??? Take a closer look...

 

All or most specimens are ??

Something male species of the human race...

Look closer... again all or most of them are bachelors...

And why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!!!

Any guesses???

 

Let's ask one of them...

Here's what he says... "What's there 2 do after going home...Here we

get to surf, AC, phone, food, coffee that is why I am working

late...Importantly no bossssssss!!!!!!!!!!!"

This is the scene in most research centers and software companies and

other off-shore offices.

Bachelors "Time-passing" during late hours in the office just bcoz

they say they've nothing else to do...

 

Now what r the consequences...

"Working" (for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the

institute or company culture.

With bosses more than eager to provide support to those "working" late

in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course good

feedback, (oh, he's a hard worker... goes home only to change..!!).

They aren't helping things too...

 

To hell with bosses who don't understand the difference between

"sitting" late and "working" late!!!

Very soon, the boss start expecting all employees to put in extra

working hours.

So, My dear Bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married

and start having a family... office is no longer a priority, family

is... and

 

That's when the problem starts... b'coz u start having commitments at home

too.

For your boss, the earlier "hardworking" guy suddenly seems to become

a "early leaver" even if u leave an hour after regular time... after

doing the same amount of work.

 

People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labeled

as work-shirkers...

Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays... though) leave on

time are labeled as "not up to it". All the while, the bachelors pat

their own backs and carry on "working" not realizing that they r

spoiling the work culture at their own place and never realize that

they wuld have to regret at one point of time.

 

*So what's the moral of the story?? *

* Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME!!!

* Never put in extra time " *unless really needed *"

* Don't stay back un-necessarily and spoil your company work culture

which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues.

 

There are hundred other things to do in the evening..

Learn music...

Learn a foreign language...

Try a sport... TT, cricket.........

Importantly Get a girl friend or boy friend, take him/her around town...

* And for heaven's sake net cafe rates have dropped to an all-time low

(plus, no fire-walls) and try cooking for a change.

Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: *"Life's calling, where are you??"*

 

Please pass on this message to all those colleagues And please do it

before leaving time, don't stay back till midnight to forward this!!!

 

IT'S A TYPICAL INDIAN MENTALITY THAT WORKING FOR LONG HOURS MEANS VERY

HARD WORKING & 100% COMMITMENT ETC.

 

PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY SIT LATE IN THE OFFICE DONT KNOW TO MANAGE THEIR

TIME. SIMPLE!

The Ant Philosophy

The Ant Philosophy

By Jim Rohn
Over the years I've been teaching kids about a simple but powerful concept - the ant philosophy. I think everybody should study ants. They have an amazing four-part philosophy

First part: Ants never quit. That's a good philosophy. If they're headed somewhere and you try to stop them; they'll look for another way. They'll climb over, they'll climb under, they'll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy, to never quit looking for a way to get where you're supposed to go.

Second part: Ants think winter all summer. That's an important perspective. You can't be so naive as to think summer will last forever. So ants are gathering in their winter food in the middle of summer.

An ancient story says, "Don't build your house on the sand in the summer." Why do we need that advice? We need it because it's important to think ahead. In the summer, you've got to think storm. You've got to think rocks as you enjoy the sand and sun.

Third part: The philosophy of ants makes them think summer all winter. That is so important. During the winter, ants remind themselves, "This won't last long; we'll soon be out of here." And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they'll dive back down, but then they come out the first warm day. They can't wait to get out.

Fourth part: How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All he possibly can. What an incredible philosophy, the "all-you-possibly-can" philosophy.

The ant philosophy is truly inspiring. Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can

Slow Down Culture

An interesting reflection  :

 

 Slow Down Culture

It's been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule.

Globalize processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.

Said in another words:
1. Sweden is about the size of San Pablo, a state in Brazil.
2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants.
3. Stockholm, has 500,000 people.
4. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned companies. Volvo supplies the NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think? Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.

Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being". French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US's attention, pupils of the fast and the "do it now!".

This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living.

It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a tango.

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

Congratulations for reading till the end of this message. There are many who will have stopped in the middle so as not to waste time in this globalized world.

Maverick: Ricardo Semler

Maverick: Ricardo Semler

Can you imagine a company where the employees decide their own salaries, the timings they would come and leave the workplace, how the surroundings around them should look like!!? Well, if whatever Ricardo Semler claims in his book “Maverick” is true, “SEMCO” in Brazil would be the only company in the world where the things said above do happen!

Ricardo Semler took over the reigns of “SEMCO” from his father. Till then, SEMCO was just another old fashioned manufacturing company with strict shift times, cribbing workers, etc. Handing over the papers to Ricardo, Semler Sr. said, “Do whatever you want as long as I’m alive to correct your mistakes” But Ricardo had his own ways of doing things that made sure that his father won’t have anything to complain about in the first place and even if there was, he (father) won’t be able to do much!

After stabilizing the company through the turbulent periods of change of management, Ricardo started acquiring companies to enhance business. I won’t go into the details of how he went on to acquire companies or the timelines but I would surely like to share the philosophy behind this world’s most unusual workplace.

The premise that Ricardo runs his company on is that “All the people working are adults and they know what needs to be done. It’s no use policing them and having strict rules about what to do and what not to. If the employees are satisfied with work they are doing, a lot of problems won’t arise in the first place.” Ricardo proclaims that the policy of his company is not to have policy at all!

Some of the interesting initiatives that were implemented at SEMCO are:

• When recruiting a new team member, he / she would be interviewed by the team with whom he / she is going to work. That way, the team members would find out if they would be happy working with the new member.

• For some days, the company had started an initiative where everybody had to put a tag on the peg named after the employee. If someone is in a really bad mood at the start of the day, he/she would put a red tag at the entrance, “Stay away from me!” If someone is in OKish mood, he/she would put a yellow tag, “It’s just another day for me...” and if someone is in really good mood, he/she would put a green tag, “What a wonderful day this is!” This initiative gave a clear indication to the management whether the employees are happy coming to work. But I believe it served another bigger purpose: to identify emotions to a certain extent. To control an emotion one needs to identify it first! I think, most of the employees would have certainly spared a few moments wondering why they feel what they feel.

• Headline Memo: Earlier, shelves after shelves were filled with documents and memos. It was tedious to maintain and find the required document from the piles. Ricardo used a simple criterion to get rid of the excess documents, “What worst can happen if I throw this piece of paper?” and he could manage to reduce his 6 cupboards full inventory of documents to just 3 shelves! Similarly, employees used to write pages for a simple memo. Ricardo suggested an effective way. He asked the employees to write the memo just like reporters write the news. They manage to catch the attraction of the reader and deliver important information through the Headline. The headline memo concept was used throughout the company. It reduced the documentation drastically and still, managed to convey the important information effectively.

• As stated earlier, Semler believed in employees being mature. He asked the employees to decide how much salary they’d need. It’s hard to believe but employees did really rate themselves appropriately and asked for the salaries they really deserved. Some even asked for a less salary that they were getting!... And believe me, the company is still running.

• In spite of the fact that SEMCO is a manufacturing company and has to work in Shifts, the workers decided themselves when they would come to the plant. They were keen to adjust the timings of other shifts and schedule according to the business requirement.

• Workers coloured the walls of the surroundings the way they wanted. Some grew plants between adjacent cubicles.

• And last but not the least, Semler scrapped the age – old hierarchy of CEO – Middle Managers – workers. Instead, he proposed a new systems of 3 concentric Circles wherein the innermost circle is that of Partners, the middle one being Coordinators and the outermost being the Associates. Any associate could move into the inner circles of respective departments. This way every employee has an opportunity to move around in the company.

Ricardo has also pondered upon the growth of the company and “How big is big enough?”

These are just some of the astonishing things. The whole book is filled up with such out – of – the – world initiatives. It’s really hard to believe that a company can survive with such processes (in fact, no processes!) and with adverse government policies, let alone prospering. But today the company is making exceptional progress!

One important thing: SEMCO has a total count of 3000 – 4000. So I think, it is manageable to implement the initiatives effectively in a small company and difficult to implement in big companies like ours. Also, it needs maturity and commitment of the employees to appreciate such initiatives. But then, as the clichéd saying goes, “Where there is a will…There is a way!”

Miscommunication

Programmer to Team Leader :

"We can't do this proposed project.**CAN NOT**. It will involve a major
design change and no one in our team knows the design of this legacy
system. And above that, nobody in our company knows the language in which this
application has been written. So even if somebody wants to work on it,
they can't. If you ask my personal opinion, the company should never take
these type of projects."


Team Leader to Project Manager :


"This project will involve a design change. Currently, we don't have any
staff who has experience in this type of work. Also, the language is
unfamiliar to us, so we will have to arrange for some training if we
take this project. In my personal opinion, we are not ready to take on a
project of this nature."


Project Manager to 1st Level Manager :


"This project involves a design change in the system and we don't have
much experience in that area. Also, not many people in our company are
appropriately trained for it. In my personal opinion, we might be able
to do the project but we would need more time than usual to complete it."


1st Level Manager to Senior Level Manager :


"This project involves design re-engineering. We have some people who
have worked in this area and others who know the implementation language. So
they can train other people. In my personal opinion we should take this
project, but with caution."


Senior Level Manager to CEO :


"This project will demonstrate to the industry our capabilities in
remodelling the design of a complete legacy system. We have all the
necessary skills and people to execute this project successfully. Some
people have already given in house training in this area to other staff
members. In my personal opinion, we should not let this project slip by
us under any circumstances."


CEO to Client :


"This is the type of project in which our company specializes. We have
executed many projects of the same nature for many large clients. Trust
me when I say that we are the most competent firm in the industry for doing
this kind of work. It is my personal opinion that we can execute this
project successfully and well within the given time frame."

 

 

 

Learning the art of conversation

Learning the art of conversation

Arun Maira

Thursday, March 20, 2008 (Mumbai)

Interviews: Arun Maira, Chairman, Boston Consulting Group India|

 

 Arun Maira was always interested in the art of conversation. He believes that innovation, change, discovery happen in conversation and conversation itself is a part of it.

 

NDTV: You have spoken a lot about conversation, what draws you to this theme?

Maira: Innovation, change, discovery happen in conversation and conversation itself is a part of it. It always attracted me because I have seen changes in other and in me in spirit, their expression of ideas as they are in conversation with others.

NDTV:You almost making it sound as if conversation are different to talk.

Maira: Sure. While I am in conversation with you, I am indeed in conversation with myself.

NDTV: So what you are saying is there are simultaneously two conversation, one that I am having with you and one with myself.

Maira: Absolutely. We are not aware of the conversation going on inside ourselves. When we become aware of it, we can become aware of the biases we have, someone saying something wrong surprises us.

NDTV: That means activating a very high degree of observer within.

Maira: Yes.

NDTV: There seems to be a deep and universal longing for real conversation. But it appears to have died over the years.

Maira: We are downloading so much shallow information that we should make rule for ourselves. We should devote some time in a day for it. Even it’s become difficult for me sometime.

 NDTV: You have written a lot about the need of public conversation on the big issues. What do you mean when you say public conversation?

Maira: By public, I mean million of people who are concerned about say, the future of the country. Conversation between lots of people does take place. The media enables lots of people to enter into conversation about issues, which matters to many people. We also create setting where thousand of people come together to have conversation on some important issues. We are spending a lot of time and fair amount of money in these meetings. Can we improve the character and the nature of the conversation that takes place in these larger forums? That is where the public conversation can be more effective.

NDTV: But how will you do that?

Maira: To recognize the structure of good conversation, a good conversation should enable diverse voices to express themselves. I will get some learning, provided I am hearing something, which I already don’t know. We would go to many of the seminars because the names of the speakers appeal to us. This results in a division of points of view in the society.

NDTV: What the key areas on which we need to dialogue publicly?

Maira: The first is in terms of vision and outcome; it is more now then ever before. The great desire to have a country in which everyone is included. I will be happy to see that. Second, we have a great desire for respect. People come to poverty and education. We would like to have conversation on water conditions and infrastructure. We come to law and order. When you talk about why the things have not been done, we noticed that in all these areas, collaboration between various people is required.

NDTV: What I am getting from you is first; diversity is essential for a good conversation. Then talk about the outcome that you would like to have happened, the conversation must be inclusive.

Maira:  Little bit of education is also required to what makes a good conversation.

NDTV: What are the rules of a good conversation; whether it’s in a public, work place or private?

Maira: If you keep on doing the same thing and expect a different outcome, you are a bit mad. You will have to listen, that’s a very big rule of conversation. We do know that we don’t listen to other people because something is going on in our heads. Then there is a step to ask people what do you feel; you need to have the conversation about the feeling.

So you create the space in which, people can express things to say things, which are in their minds.

NDTV: You have worked with many organizations in India. What are the kinds of conversation that need to happen in work places?

Maira: One is about people aspiration what they want to do in life and how these aspirations can be built for the organization. Second, in terms of fairness inside their organization and the rules of governance in the organization.

NDTV: With all these desires in offices, where people want to know whether they are getting a fair salary or appraisal, Why they are not talking about these things?

Maira: Yes, this can come only with focused conversation. We want to be a learning organization and responsible citizen of the society.

NDTV: What are the some of the ways by which we can begin to change our private conversation to be more real and meaningful?

Maira: People need to be aware that this conversation is not going anywhere. I remind myself that the relationship must win and not the individual.