Suresh Sen migrated to Kolkata from Faridpur, Bangladesh immediately after independence. It was just after independence and employment was scarce. Not knowing what to do he joined a ceramic making factory as an apprentice. He got a pittance with which he was unable to maintain his family. Suresh Sen used to work throughout the day trying to learn the tricks of the trade.
A decade past by. Suresh was deft in handling the job. He knew well almost everything of ceramic clay pottery ---- the types of clay, the right temperature, designs, marketing of the products. Suresh had a dream of opening a ceramic factory of his own. He approached four of his friends who were also in the ceramics profession to pool in their resources. They agreed.
They had built their own dream factory and started by selling bone china pottery. Selling was brisk but volume was large. He had to acquire more space for keeping his finished products. Another problem arose was of different designs and the luster of the product. He had to keep pace with the designs. With Chinese one up in the race he had to compete with them. Soon he started loosing in the race. His sales figure dwindled. His friends deserted him taking away their share of profits. His workers did not desert him. They had faith in this man.
Suresh was crestfallen. He thought heavens had fallen. His savings were unable to sustain him for a long time. He wondered around for advice. Many consultants drove him away. Suresh was not to be cowed down for long. A reputed consultant advised him to change his product. They told him to switch over to ceramic power insulators. He quickly approached the power sector manufacturing units. There was huge shortfall of the products and they wanted more.
Once again the factory smoke bellowed from the chimneys. Production gained momentum. Now he made only ceramic insulators. There were no friends as partners. His grown-up sons and daughter-in-laws helped him. Within a couple of years he bought another factory at Kalyani, 15 kms from Kolkata. Many people approached him for work. But he trained them in ceramic making so that they earn their livelihood. Many people under his influence opened up shops selling ceramic products. They also earned handsomely.
There was a stream of mourners when Suresh Sen died. After all the people owe to him a lot.
Was he a successful businessman or did he only listen to advices? What made him successful? How did he contribute to society?
The challenge was to bring out an illustrated book on sex, which the publishers feared would not be accepted by the prevailing social consciousness of Europe.
The story has all the necessary ingredients and the intrigue that make up a thrilling story for a Design Thinker providing the necessary excitement to continue in his/her professional journey. I think it is a great story of how the publisher and the author overcame the challenges of the day to bring out something that was not only desirable but also needed to improve quality of life.
I feel this might be a good case study for Design Thinkers to ponder over and learn from.
Insights to be gained:
The important points on Design Thinking, well illustrated by the story, are the following:
1. Design and Design Thinking start out by challenging to change the existing reality. The manner in which it is done is 'counter-intuitive'.
2. It does so by understanding the present context and the constraints inherent in the context. It attempts to answer the question why.
Imagine that we are to pick one of the following four horses and train it to be a world class racing horse winning most of the prestigious prizes.
Though all the horses look exactly alike they have the following characteristics.
The first horse just knows what to do and where to go. It does not need any guidance. It can sense what you want and do things accordingly. If you wish it to turn right it would do so. If you wish it to go left it would go left without your asking. All you have to do is to wish. This horse just seems to know your mind so well that little or no effort is needed to guide it.
The second horse moves in the desired direction only when you crack a whip. But the whip need not touch the skin. The sound of the cracking is enough to steer it in the desired direction.
The third horse moves in the desired direction only when the whip lightly touches the skin. A light touch is enough to set it in motion and move the horse the way you want it to move.
However, the fourth horse is extremely stubborn. It moves only when the pain of a whiplash reaches right up to its bones. Till that time it refuses to move an inch in any direction. This horse does not do anything unless it feels the pain deeply enough.
Which horse would you care to put your money on to win races for you?
Junnaid was a remarkable saint and a Sufi master. He was constantly learning and getting enlightened from numerous interactions he kept having with people whom he acknowledged as his masters.
Here is one of his stories.
One day, when he went into a small village he saw a little boy carrying a lit candle. The boy was obviously going to the small temple of the town to put the candle there for the night.
Junnaid asked the boy, "Can you tell me from where the light comes from? You have lighted the candle yourself so you must have seen. What is the source of light?" The boy laughed and said, "Wait!" And he blew out the candle in front of Junnaid. And he said, "You have seen the light go. Can you tell me where it has gone? If you can tell me where it has gone I will tell you from where it has come from."
Left me wondering -- where did the flame come from and where did it go? Any guess?
Chinnaswamy Srinivas Tamarindulu in short --- CST looks like a C grade South Indian film hero. Every morning he gets up sharp at 5 AM. Takes bath exactly within 8 minutes. Drapes himself in a white dhoti. Bare bodied, he stands in front of the different idols and chants hymns in a rhythm. Applies the sandal wood paste horizontally over his forehead and arms. After finishing of all the religious rituals he goes to the kitchen to make some “filter coffee”. Prepares two steel glasses of “filter coffee”. One he gives it to his widowed mother and then enjoys the coffee with the vernacular morning newspaper. After finishing off the political headlines he heads for the color pages where the newspaper supplement is filled up with film gossips. He stares at the buxom,navel showing actresses with lots of flesh. CST wakes up from his imaginative world.
CST is preparing for the Civil Services Examination. He is already 27 years old and had already flunked twice, now he has to clear the examinations this time, otherwise what will his maternal uncle think about him. His uncle is the Home Secretary of a North Indian State. He is quite popular in the corridors of power. CST doesn’t get distracted by anything else except he often leafs through the pages of different girlie magazines in the middle of his “studies”. This not only “rejuvenates” him but also brings back his “concentration” and focus in studies.
CST gets a very low position in the examination. He was offered a post in the Rural Development department. His maternal uncle helped him out. CST gets into a “sensational department” of Government of India in a “sensitive post”. CST joins the department. CST starts his “nine” moths training. After “nine “months he will blossom into a full grown “Government Bureaucrat”. His mother started looking for a “well educated Brahmin” bride for him. At last the bride was found. She was from the IPS cadre (Indian Postal Cadre). CST couldn’t control his emotions and hormones. He was desperate to be in touch with his fiancée. CST used to make a queue outside the “ISD - STD, Local Telephone Booth” after 10 PM as the tariff rates were much lower.After many a “sweet nothings” he used come home with a lesser purse and a sense of accomplishment. What accomplishment? Getting into a good department using the backdoor and having a girl in his life.
The junior staff used to call CST --- megalomaniac, which was more than appropriate. His weird ways of working had completely put off the staff. He was not popular and created divisions. He was in a habit of bullying his staff which later turned to terrorizing the poor fellows. Not allowing any sort of leave to the staff during an emergency which would have been in the form of “death of parents” or wedding of a staff or it could be birth of a child. CST had a “greater vision ahead for the country” which the common people could not “foresee”. As a head of an office he refused to give the staff a “Pay Certificate” to enable them to get a house building loan from the banks. The reason being they would be “exposed” to the outside world and thus could be easily “purchased” by the enemy. CST believed as he and his staff worked in a sensitive department they have to attain maximum restrain in “exposing” themselves unnecessarily to the “general public”. Though Mr. CST himself took a house building loan of Rs. 35 Lakhs from a private bank.
The day of the great “rejoicing” came in his life when he was called to undergo a three year stint at Berlin. He immediately took the flight leaving behind his “Postal” wife and daughter. The same type of tyrant attitude towards the staff continued in Berlin also. He used to torment his personal secretary Mr. Hada.His personal secretary was a soft spoken man and wanted to enjoy his foreign posting at Berlin with his family members. It’s a dream of every, well almost every Indian to “live” in a “foren” country and “enjoy” the magnificence and bring back home the much wanted “US Dollars” and the stories to be told and retold to all, including strangers.
Unable to bear the constant “torture” and humiliation from CST, Mr. Hada committed suicide leaving behind a suicide note blaming CST for taking this ultimate step. A case for “abetment to suicide” was registered against CST. He was in a big trouble. CST rang up his Godfather – maternal uncle. Mrs. Hada came back to India with her eight year old daughter. Mrs. Hada approached her husband’s office for any compensation in the form of Gratuity, Provident Fund, and Exigency Fund but to no avail. She ran pillar to post for her genuine rights but the senior officers, clerks were not honest in their approach. It was difficult for her to maintain her family and dignity. How she would continue her life and educate her daughter?
Someone advised Mrs. Hada to go to the media and tell them to flash the news of how a perverted murderer in the form of CST has destroyed a family. Mrs. Hada acted accordingly. The media got “sensational news” of a “sensitive department” of Government of India. CST felt the time has come for him to go to the prison.
The time has come for Home Secretary maternal uncle to become active. A troupe of senior officers came regularly to negotiate with Mrs. Hada. She was given a deal. A job in the same sensitive department as per her qualifications and also give her a lump sum of 50 lakhs rupees plus all her husband’s dues would be released within three days. For all these she has to write a simple statement which would run like this --- “My husband Mr. Hada was always a mentally unstable man and had suicidal tendencies. Even when there were fights between my husband and me he used to threaten me that he will commit suicide………….”
Mrs. Hada accepted the deal. CST’s wife left him for good. The junior staffs are still suffering.
Note:
CST is a fictional character created entirely out of imagination by the author. There is no malicious intention of the author to show a particular individual, sect or community in a derogatory manner. This has been done intentionally to justify the main character. Readers are advised to make their own assumptions about the particular department which CST is working for. Some of the events as depicted may be found a little bit disturbing for the readers but this is life and most of us do not learn lessons from it…………
I think Design Innovation matters in everything we do as human beings. In fact, Design Innovation Rules the World!
It is the fundamental tool we have to create competitive impacts, improve the performance of companies, create wealth, create jobs and improve the society as a whole.
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