Lessons from Mother India to succeed in today's Technology Business.
India's Technology Ecosystem is at the forefront of the planet today.
• Number of Indians as the CEOs of major Tech Enterprises & Bellwether companies
• Led the world innovations with initiatives like AADHAR, COWIN & UPI
• Largest number of UNICORNs and STARTUP Ecosystem
• Adaptability to the Latest Technology and moving fast to Continuously Create Capabilities (AI/ML/Cognitive etc.)
Technology Evolution is making the world more and more Volatile and Non-Linear. I firmly believe that Times Change, but the Core Fundamentals of Doing Business & Operations remain the same. Only the Approach and Application of the Approach need to change and adapt to managing needs.
I want to draw my readers to some of the below observations, which I draw from the wisdom & principles of Ancient India and how those learnings apply to modern businesses in today's volatility. Since I run a tech business, most of my examples are related to IT, but these may apply universally to many enterprises.
1. MPH – Meritocracy, Pragmatism & Honesty
There was a famous happening in which King "Bharata" chose "Bhumanyu" as his successor to the throne and not any of his other nine sons - as they lacked the capability. This drives the point that what matters most is the meritocracy of the leader. Along with meritocracy, being honest and pragmatic is equally very important to have the right leader at the right place in a tech business. Enterprises should be ruthless and unemotional in building the team with exemplary leadership and the correct mix of skills & calibre to drive, execute and deliver the organization's strategy.
2. Acceptance of Leaders from Outside & Learn
This is again related to the above point of MPH. When "Ram" won the war over Lanka, he did not appoint anybody from his kingdom to be the King but set "Vibhishan" from Lanka to be the King. This drives the point that having a local leader who understands the local culture, business, and team is the best person to lead any acquisition. Tata Motors' acquiring Jaguar-Land Rover is an excellent example. Wipro has been another turn- around story with Thierry Delaporte at the helm of it.
3. Athithi Devo Bhav – Customer OR Guest is God
This phrase is derived from ancient India and suggests that any guest visiting our homes is akin to God. This belief comes from the innate Indian culture of hospitality to the guest. This very culture drives excellence in service delivery to customers. Having the customer focus on everything we do significantly enables ongoing business growth.
4. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – The world is One Family
One of the oldest Indian virtue believes that the whole world is one family. Embracing this virtue and genuinely believing that our customer, colleagues, and community is one big family leads to multiple business advantages.
a. Drives information sharing to build transparency, leading to TRUST with customers.
b. Taking people along and managing performance can have a better positive spin on colleagues.
c. Sharing a portion of profits for CSR can be of so much value to communities.
A thought that irks me is the willingness of the organization to take a pay cut to avoid Lay-Offs when economic conditions are unfavourable. People should be let go only after thorough performance considerations.
5. Joint Families in India – Classic Way to Organization Building
India has a culture of joint families where parents, their sons and their families live together. Families that eat, pray, and celebrate together are always believed STAY TOGETHER. There are many positive aspects to learn from these traditions, such as building stronger & close-knit people relationships within organizations and building personal rapport among colleagues to create a pocket of efficiencies. I love celebrating the Ganpati festival with my team at home, where I cook and they eat. This has helped me better understand my team. I also get fantastic performance and flexibility from my team.
6. India – The Largest Democracy AND the debates which come with it
India is a land of seekers, and so is the largest democracy. That is why we never stop questioning and debating. This culture constantly pushes us to challenge the status quo, which leads to innovation. The primary "Jugaad" mindset in Indians is a very high advantage for businesses related to technical innovations as it fosters a culture encouraging building out-of-the-box processes & solutions.
7. India – Worships more Women, Goddesses, Mountains, Rivers etc.
For eons, India has had more Goddesses than Gods. India, as a country, treats its mountains and rivers as heavenly and pious. These are fantastic testimonies on what businesses can do more for women & environment. The women will nurture subsequent generations, and mother Earth is where this nurturing will happen.
8. The FOOD of India – The variety
Indian food is famous for its numerous spices that are suitable for different weather and economic conditions. It also offers flexibility and variety to satisfy an array of taste buds. Technology services and product businesses can learn a crucial lesson from this to tailor their services and products to the varying needs of its customer by building immense flexibility on the edges. This can become a lethal advantage to business growth.
9. INDIA – Land of Festivals
We are a country that celebrates innumerable festivals around the year. I draw inspiration from the celebration of culture to keep smiling and enjoy the journey with the ups & downs of the business. This helps maintain positivity in the organization's culture and encourages the staff to keep pushing forward.
• Number of Indians as the CEOs of major Tech Enterprises & Bellwether companies
• Led the world innovations with initiatives like AADHAR, COWIN & UPI
• Largest number of UNICORNs and STARTUP Ecosystem
• Adaptability to the Latest Technology and moving fast to Continuously Create Capabilities (AI/ML/Cognitive etc.)
Technology Evolution is making the world more and more Volatile and Non-Linear. I firmly believe that Times Change, but the Core Fundamentals of Doing Business & Operations remain the same. Only the Approach and Application of the Approach need to change and adapt to managing needs.
I want to draw my readers to some of the below observations, which I draw from the wisdom & principles of Ancient India and how those learnings apply to modern businesses in today's volatility. Since I run a tech business, most of my examples are related to IT, but these may apply universally to many enterprises.
1. MPH – Meritocracy, Pragmatism & Honesty
There was a famous happening in which King "Bharata" chose "Bhumanyu" as his successor to the throne and not any of his other nine sons - as they lacked the capability. This drives the point that what matters most is the meritocracy of the leader. Along with meritocracy, being honest and pragmatic is equally very important to have the right leader at the right place in a tech business. Enterprises should be ruthless and unemotional in building the team with exemplary leadership and the correct mix of skills & calibre to drive, execute and deliver the organization's strategy.
2. Acceptance of Leaders from Outside & Learn
This is again related to the above point of MPH. When "Ram" won the war over Lanka, he did not appoint anybody from his kingdom to be the King but set "Vibhishan" from Lanka to be the King. This drives the point that having a local leader who understands the local culture, business, and team is the best person to lead any acquisition. Tata Motors' acquiring Jaguar-Land Rover is an excellent example. Wipro has been another turn- around story with Thierry Delaporte at the helm of it.
3. Athithi Devo Bhav – Customer OR Guest is God
This phrase is derived from ancient India and suggests that any guest visiting our homes is akin to God. This belief comes from the innate Indian culture of hospitality to the guest. This very culture drives excellence in service delivery to customers. Having the customer focus on everything we do significantly enables ongoing business growth.
4. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – The world is One Family
One of the oldest Indian virtue believes that the whole world is one family. Embracing this virtue and genuinely believing that our customer, colleagues, and community is one big family leads to multiple business advantages.
a. Drives information sharing to build transparency, leading to TRUST with customers.
b. Taking people along and managing performance can have a better positive spin on colleagues.
c. Sharing a portion of profits for CSR can be of so much value to communities.
A thought that irks me is the willingness of the organization to take a pay cut to avoid Lay-Offs when economic conditions are unfavourable. People should be let go only after thorough performance considerations.
5. Joint Families in India – Classic Way to Organization Building
India has a culture of joint families where parents, their sons and their families live together. Families that eat, pray, and celebrate together are always believed STAY TOGETHER. There are many positive aspects to learn from these traditions, such as building stronger & close-knit people relationships within organizations and building personal rapport among colleagues to create a pocket of efficiencies. I love celebrating the Ganpati festival with my team at home, where I cook and they eat. This has helped me better understand my team. I also get fantastic performance and flexibility from my team.
6. India – The Largest Democracy AND the debates which come with it
India is a land of seekers, and so is the largest democracy. That is why we never stop questioning and debating. This culture constantly pushes us to challenge the status quo, which leads to innovation. The primary "Jugaad" mindset in Indians is a very high advantage for businesses related to technical innovations as it fosters a culture encouraging building out-of-the-box processes & solutions.
7. India – Worships more Women, Goddesses, Mountains, Rivers etc.
For eons, India has had more Goddesses than Gods. India, as a country, treats its mountains and rivers as heavenly and pious. These are fantastic testimonies on what businesses can do more for women & environment. The women will nurture subsequent generations, and mother Earth is where this nurturing will happen.
8. The FOOD of India – The variety
Indian food is famous for its numerous spices that are suitable for different weather and economic conditions. It also offers flexibility and variety to satisfy an array of taste buds. Technology services and product businesses can learn a crucial lesson from this to tailor their services and products to the varying needs of its customer by building immense flexibility on the edges. This can become a lethal advantage to business growth.
9. INDIA – Land of Festivals
We are a country that celebrates innumerable festivals around the year. I draw inspiration from the celebration of culture to keep smiling and enjoy the journey with the ups & downs of the business. This helps maintain positivity in the organization's culture and encourages the staff to keep pushing forward.
