RaviC and Sri S. Gurmurthy on the same stage was always going to be interesting. Chennai welcomed these 2 interesting speakers with ceremonial sprinkling of auspicious water and manvasanai.
Having attended RaviC's class, I knew his style of lecture delivery. He had neatly segmented his talked into 4 parts. His subtle humor undercurrent was visible as he talked about the evolution of management education and how its seeds were sown in India. He described how we neatly copied the American management school of thought and applied it to India, not fully understanding its impact.
The first section of RaviC's talk was about the evolution of corporations in America. Corporations rose on the pillars of "purpose, knowledge and innovation". He talked about how Ford was focused on his purpose of delivering a car that was useful for farmers. The corporation did very well for itself and the society as it focused on this "purpose". As corporations grew, they started focusing on performance at the Wall Street and the "purpose" of the organization become to deliver superior results Q-o-Q. Finally, it reached a stage when corporations became focused on the "purpose" of delivering "performance at the Wall Street at any costs". Corporations, that were initially, a part of the social fabric, became entities that bothered about its own well being. This toxic unbridled greed eventually shook the very society that it sought to serve. It was an interesting perspective. I was reminded of the maxim "Bahujana Hitaya, Bahujana Sukhaya" which means for the benefit for "maximum number of people and for the happiness for maximum number of people". It makes me wonder if corporations think that the world economy zero sum game... someone has to lose for someone else to win :)
Next, RaviC went on to talk about how the ecosystem and the society, in general is forcing the its younger generation into parochial system of materialistic excellence. Students walking out of premier educational institutions aspire to be materially successful and finally become become brands or icons. I guess, he was trying to point out that this race again makes them aspire for "performance at any cost" even if it hurts the very society that nurtured, admired and valued them for being superior performers. The lack of spiritual insight into life fails to temper the material aspirations of our extremely talented young professionals thus eventually turning them into gods with feet of clay.
RaviC talked about how he introduced several programs at IIM-Indore on spirituality and management. I just pray that these initiatives pay off and we can create spiritually mature business leaders - Rajarishis.
Now, any effort from my part, will fail to recreate the subtle humor that RaviC effortlessly weaves into his lectures.
Sri. Gurumurthy is a very energetic speaker. The point in his speech that impressed me most was the transition of societies from "relationship based societies" to "contract based societies". It was subtle but interesting concept that I did not notice for so long. It was glaring how the change in our society was staring at my face and I did not realize this. Superficially, it would look like contract based societies would be more efficient. The interfaces between individuals, families, states are based on contracts between parties. Finally, it has come to the extent that parents, children, husband, wives, brothers and sisters are bound by just contracts. Today, we have contracts with gods. Students feel that teachers are bound by contracts because of the fees that pay. How will we ever learn if we just try to assess if our teachers are fulfilling our contracts. I don't think I have either the knowledge or the skills to argue on this topic. I have a ton of things to learn and very little time left.
Coming back to the main topic, I feel that many issues arise in corporations as they see themselves bound by contracts to the government, to its employees and some sections of the society. They try to make sure that these contracts are adhered to. Hence, this becomes an exercise of legal compliance rather than overall social well being. Transition of mindset of our corporate leaders into thinking how they relate to the society will help them govern themselves better. This will help them think on the lines of "Bahujana Hitaya, Bahujana Sukhaya" and eventually focus on purpose rather than just "performance at any cost".
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