Arvind Kejriwal's AAProach to Political Change Mgmt

Arvind Kejriwal's AAProach to Political Change Mgmt 

Off late there have been innumerable articles written on Arvind Kejriwal and his so-called “bhagoda” act. The fact that his government at New Delhi chose to resign in just 49 days has drawn thousands of hours of TV discussions, criticisms or support.

This has caused the other political parties and the aam aadmi in general to cast aspersions on his integrity, his honesty and the very purpose of AAP. Every word that he says is now analyzed and scrutinized for signs of irrationality and immaturity.

In my opinion, it will be wrong to suspect his intention. However, he is indeed a man in rush. So much so, that he has forgotten the basics of political change management. When you are attempting large scale transformation, you have to go slow, be careful with the speed of change. The speed of change should be inversely proportional to the size of the group impacted by the change. A country as vast and diverse as India cannot be transformed overnight, as Kejriwal thought. A change in our culture of dynasty worship, corruption and chalta hai attitude doesn't happen in a few months. These are changes that would take at least a generation.

A better AAProach for political change management would have been to focus on Delhi in the immediate short term. And incrementally focus on 2 to 3 states that are awaiting elections this year or next. Getting into the national fray could have waited till 2019.

With the right intentions, AAP could have proved itself in a span of 3-5 years. People could have seen the difference they create in each state, reduction in corruption and some very visible development. Such positive actions would have helped in 2019 national elections.

AK wants to be the agent of change and doesn’t aspire to be PM, but in this case, his agility is going to kill the momentum.  

After all Rome was not built in a day.

Celebrate Modi, don’t just criticize him

Celebrate Modi, don’t just criticize him

Before you jump to conclusions, this blog is not a random praise of Narendra Modi. Neither does this extol you to vote blindly for him and his party.

Rags to riches story don’t happen every day. Agreed, Modi’s story is not a “rags to riches” story. His is a “plead to power” story. From pleading with his customers to buy tea to a man in power, and possibly set to become the PM of the country, Modi has traversed a long journey.  The road from plead to power is even more challenging, more difficult and crooked. You can become rich on your merits, but in a democracy you get to power by convincing others of your merits and establishing the trust and confidence of your supporters. Or, if you are a dynast, then, by being born in a particular family. Clearly, Modi belongs to the former category – none of his family members have ever been associated with politics.

Getting to power is like a race. Unfortunately, in this race, everyone doesn’t start from the very beginning. If you have strong political affiliations, you are planted near the end or at the end. But if you have to start from the very beginning with none to watch out for you, we have to credit the contender for their perseverance, hard work, dedication and laser- focus on the end goal.

In this race, all the contenders carry a bag-back which is used to gather experience on the way. The contenders planted near the end goal, hardly have time or ability to capture enough. But those who started from the beginning gather immense experience and learning and lessons learnt on the way. It makes them more wholesome in their abilities. The Modi of 2002 is different from the Modi of 2014. In 2012, we had a Modi with zero experience as an administrator. Come 2014 and we have an administrator with over 12 years of experience of running a government. Good experience can and should never be discounted. The Akhilesh Yadav of 2025 will be very different (read experienced) from the man we see today.

The race will end soon and winners and losers will be known to all. The winner will get all the credit; however, equal credit must also be given to organizers of the race. In this context, the democratic framework and citizens of India, who I believe are the biggest winners. While the BJP and Modi may or may not form the next government, it is a tremendous win for the country that a poor chai-walla Narendra today dreams to lead the country. Not only has he done something right to reach this position, but our fathers did us a great service to establish a framework where at least everyone can dream to race!

We can always find a reason to criticize the man, but be positive and celebrate the dreams of the man. 

2014 Indian Parliamentary Elections: Idealistic vs. Practical vs. Unknown Challenger

Indian Parliamentary Elections, 2014: Idealistic vs. Practical vs. Unknown Challenger

The 2014 Lok Sabha elections is the battle between three distinct visions of India. There are tons of details available in the speeches and interviews of their leaders. But simply put, it is a war between the three leaders, who represent the “practical” vision, the “idealistic” vision and the “unknown challenger”.

Arvind Kejriwal of AAP represents the most ideal vision of India. His idea of a corruption free, prosperous country, an honest nation, where there are no bribes, no money laundering. Arvind Kejriwal is the idealist- zero tolerance to corruption, crony capitalism, pure and shudh 100% honesty in politics. He challenges anything and everything that is wrong or has a whiff of dishonesty in it. He wants to lead us to a perfect world bereft of the demons of dishonesty and corruption. He is the ideal Vishnu avatar born to banish evil from our society forever.

The guy with the most likely chance of making it to the chair, Narendra Modi, presents the practical approach, where he will inherit the throne with all its biases and imperfections and turn it around, slowly but steadily into a country that is progressive and thrives on opportunities for everyone to grow and let grow. 

And finally we have an unknown challenger in Rahul Gandhi. It is ironic that he is labelled the challenger, since he is supposedly born to rule. But fortune only favors the brave. Lack of skills can only propel you so much. He asks questions with no answers. Questions which we all know.

Kejriwal represents the ultimate future state; Modi presents the roadmap along with the low hanging fruits.

Where will your vote go?

Give a voice to your enterprise applications

Imagine having lunch with your colleagues and laughing your way to glory over frivolous jokes, when your phone suddenly displays a text message. It is the Boss! And the boss badly needs you to send the top 10 customers by sales for that month in Australia. “I need it now!”

What would you do? Leave the lunch table, possibly your lunch as well and rush back to your desk. Find the information and email it across to the Boss. And while emailing it, you are probably swearing at your boss.

But, what if, you had an app on your phone, where you could just speak, “Who are the top 5 customers by sales for this month in Australia?” and the phone displays the list. And you now say, “Email to Jeff!”. And it perfectly obeys your command. This sounds like a Siri or a Google Now. Not for finding the nearest Thai place, but for making you more productive at your work-place. A voice enabled enterprise-mobile (VEEM) app that works with your enterprise applications.

A simple voice command can be systematically converted into a structured query that links to the enterprise database and fetches relevant information to the user, Siri/Google Now style. This is limited not just to display of information or reports, but also transaction processing.

You could also say, “Create a Purchase Order for Vendor XYZ Inc. for Raw material RM1 for a quantity of 100 units.” The workflow understands your organizational data and can create the purchase order after you hit a confirmation button. Imagine the benefits of such VEEM applications and the productivity it creates for your workforce!  

We are already seeing a lot of consumer-like behavior in the enterprise world. E.g. companies are looking to subscribe rather than buy, pay as you grow, etc. Something we like to do in our personal lives. If we can order Google Now to navigate to the nearest Cheese Cake factory, why can’t we order a Google Now like app to create a transactional record or merely display and share a report. 

Which companies are willing to invest in a technology like this? Is your company ready?

A tribute to the God of Cricket - Sachin Tendulkar:

 A tribute to the God of Cricket

It is not for nothing that Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is known as the God of cricket. Like God, he excels in his game. Like God, he is humble and compassionate. Like God, he gifts the good (deliveries) and punishes the bad ones. And like God, their is always a method behind the madness.

There is a reason why certain things happen in a certain way, which ordinary minds find it hard to decipher. The common man curses and scorns at God, while He merely smiles at us, knowing fully well that his actions have been executed for the greater good.

Many an article has been written and re-written on why the God of cricket has been at least a few years late in announcing his retirement. Those lesser mortals quote statistics on his form, runs scored, centuries cracked, fitness, etc to prove their point. They are making every effort to belittle the God.

Little to these folks realize that God never retires. Because, if he did, the world would come to end.God only transitions responsibilities to God-like creatures. He tests finesse and attitudes of individuals to ensure they can continue without his active involvement. And he takes time to satisfy himself before he transitions. Creating and testing the chosen ones with difficult events and ensuring they have reached the stage where they can represent God with ease.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has done precisely that. Had he announced his retirement from “active” cricket a few years ago, all hell would have broken lose in the world of cricket in his absence. He has taken time to transition to God-like individuals. He ensured that the chosen ones like Dhoni and Kohli and the others are fully equipped to lead in his absence. Once satisfied, he has announced his retirement from active cricket, knowing fully well that the God-like individuals will continue on his path of excellence.

When God transitions, his legacy stays for everyone to remember and worship. Commoners don’t stop talking about God, rather, they start reposing their faith in the chosen ones, while still remembering that the God is still there, watching them, albeit passively.  

Thank you Sachin God Tendulkar for everything you have given us!