Igniting the Spark through Social Media.

We can ignite the necessary spark of an welding electrode in two ways:

a) Scratch and lift -- go along for a short time and let go
b) Touch and lift - just touch for a fraction of a second and let go

We do the same thing while developing people.

For some, we would have to go along with them for sometime and then let go.

For others, one interaction would be enough to create the spark to a fire that keeps burning for life.

However, creating that vital spark is important.

With traditional education we neither 'scratch and lift' nor 'touch and lift'. We go drumming year after year till the person would have had enough of it and is bored to death. That is why after some years we remember only a few teachers and professors who have made an impact in our lives. The majority goes into oblivion.

Undeniably, the traditional approach has its use in the initial years of making of a person. The mistake is that we extend the thought and the process right into the professional period of a person's life. People don't like it. More than 80% of the people I meet want to quit their jobs even in this time of recession. Why? They simply feel that they are no longer learning anything new or exciting in their jobs to keep their vital spirit alive. At the end of the day they go home with a heavy heart and an empty mind. It sucks; killing the spirit to be curious, to be innovative, to discover, to search for mentors, to take responsibility to be awake and learn and fend for life.

However, Learning through Social media is quite different. It can ignite the fire in the belly in both ways - 'scratch' and 'touch'. Since it is more dependent on what we search and want in life. We take what we need and not what is thrust upon us. It gives us time to reflect and create meaning. It creates a democratic, egalitarian and perhaps more prosperous societies.

Therefore, it is important to ignite the spark that keeps the fire burning for life.

So, it does not surprise me a bit as to why fire is so respected and revered amongst all civilizations across the globe.

It occupies a special place in our lives.

That is the energy when harnessed helps us to achieve anything worthwhile and lasting and build better societies. 

Social Media is the right means to achieve the end.

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DESERT STORM

Like most people in Rajasthan, Hiralal Maheswari also holds the “lota” up in the air, tilts his head a little and drinks water without putting the utensil in his mouth. The hot, dry wind flowing across the Thar Desert in the middle of the Indian summer makes Hiralal uncomfortable. But he still carried on. He was instructing the group of middlemen in his business of hand embroidery. These middlemen also known as “Thekedars” are usually responsible for smooth running of the business. Hiralal’s business turnover was a little over 32 crores rupee.

He was seven years old when he came with his father to India from Umarkot (Pakistan). His father, Brijlal Maheswari acted as a “guide” for the Indian Forces in the India - Pakistan war in 1971. They along with other Hindu refugees   crossed the border and settled in Gadra Road. The small hamlet of Gadra Road in Barmer district of Rajasthan is located almost on the Indo-Pak border. It has a population of nearly 1000 and consists mainly of migrant Hindus. Gadra Road is roughly 92 Kms from district headquarters, Barmer.

 After Hiralal’s secondary examination Brijlal egged his eldest son to join the embroidery business he started in 1971. Hiralal joined the business otherwise he had to leave his home for higher studies in either Jodhpur or Jaipur.  Hand embroidery became a livelihood provider for the Hindu migrants who otherwise had nothing worthwhile to do except for the three and half months of agriculture which also depended on scanty rainfall. Traditionally confined to their respective households and communities, embroidered products of remote rural Rajasthan found places in the international market.

This hand embroidery cluster has its genesis in the migration of Hindu refugees to Rajasthan, India during the 1971 India-Pakistan War. The amalgamation of the necessity of refugees to eke a living, of foreigners to take advantage of the exotic and ethnic tradition, and the entrepreneurship of the trading community, gave birth to this sector. Today, with an annual turnover of approximately 130-150 cores rupees, it provides livelihood opportunities to roughly 60,000 women in rural western Rajasthan.

The sector is controlled by around 180-200 manufacturing units concentrated around the Barmer district wherein 70-75 percent of the sector’s production takes place at  Gadra Road, Dhanau, Binjiasar, Chohtan, and Barmer city are some of the prominent clusters around which the sector is organized. Chohtan, another bordering hamlet   is the biggest centre and have 50 percent of the production units concentrated there, followed by Barmer which harbors 23 percent of such units. These manufacturing units are a misnomer in fact, as the entire production of the sector is highly decentralized and takes place in individual households in remote hamlets and villages. In terms of size, micro firms whose annual turnover is less than 10 lakh rupees dominate the production landscape with 53 percent of firms belonging to this category. However they contribute only 8 percent of the volume of the sector. On the other hand 7-10 large firms, which account for only 4 percent of the total firms, capture 51 percent of the market share.

Caste based kinships networks are the most powerful governors of the sub-sector. 70 percent of the manufacturers belong to Maheswari community while 20 percent to the Jain community, both are trading communities according to the traditional caste hierarchy. Thekedars (Agents/ middlemen) are from other communities such as Meghwals, Rajputs, Brahmins, and Baniyas. Woman embroiders especially belonging to a lower caste Meghwals community are the best in this trade.

Hiralal’s younger brother lives in Jaipur and looks after their export division. All handicrafts and embroidery items are sent to the European market especially to Germany. Hiralal still lives in that remote desert hamlet where electricity is only available for 12 -15 hours in a day. He still attends the evening “aarti” in the local Ram temple. He still mixes with the government officials and often sits for a drink after he closes his “embroidery manufacturing unit” after dusk. He still roams in a 4 x 4 jeep among the sandy terrain. He still watches soft pornography films. He still hasn’t prepared himself for a passport. He still gets intoxicated during Holi. He still has his benevolent nature.   But he has admitted his two sons and daughter in an English medium school in Jaipur.

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Quantity, Quality, Patterns, Fractals, Transforms

Changes in matter are always qualitative in nature. Such qualitative changes can be best understood by observing patterns like the way we find them in frequency spectrums, wear debris slides and infra red thermal images. Such patterns can also be noticed in organizations and societies.

The existence of qualitative changes in matter exhibited through patterns was known long before human beings began to think more deeply with the help of physical sciences. With the advent of atomic theory we started to appreciate this phenomenon more deeply. In the early days of science we took changes of state from solid to liquid to gas as something that occurred naturally, without exactly knowing why. It is only now that such phenomena are being properly understood.

Chemistry made great strides forward in the 19th century. A large number of elements was discovered. But, rather it looked like the confused situation which exists in particle physics today. Indeterminate Chaos reigned.

Order was established by the great Russian scientist Dimitri Ivanovich Mendeleyev who, in 1869, in collaboration with the German chemist Julius Meyer, worked out the periodic table of the elements, so-called because it showed the periodic recurrence of similar chemical properties.

Note the use of word 'periodic'. This is the building block of pattern making out of which we make sense of the world around us. It is the periodic repetition arranged in a certain manner that forms patterns across different levels. We now have a sophisticated word for that. It is called 'fractals'.  

The existence of atomic weight was discovered in 1862 by Cannizzaro. But Mendeleyev’s genius lay in the fact that he did not approach the elements from a purely quantitative standpoint, that is, he did not see the relation between the different atoms just in terms of weight. Had he done that by mistake, he would never have made the breakthrough he did. From the purely quantitative standpoint, for instance, the element tellurium (atomic weight = 127.61) ought to have come after iodine (atomic weight = 126.91) in the periodic table, yet Mendeleyev placed it before iodine, under selenium, to which it is more similar, and placed iodine under the related element, bromine. Mendeleyev’s method was vindicated in the 20th century, when through the investigation of X-rays his arrangement was proved correct. The new atomic number for tellurium was put at 52, while that of iodine was 53. The breakthrough idea was to look for patterns. 

The whole of Mendeleyev’s periodic table is based on the law of quantity and quality, deducing qualitative differences in the elements from quantitative differences in atomic weights.

This understanding helps us unravel some of nature's mysteries. These are:

a) Quantitative changes leads to qualitative changes

b) Even extremely small quantitative changes often brings about dramatic qualitative changes.

c) All qualitative changes can be understood by patterns.

d) Any qualitative changes that are always exhibited through patterns can't be measured. So, important qualitative transformations can't be understood through measurements of any kind. It can be understood 'wholistically' through patterns only.

e) Patterns or qualitative changes repeat themselves over and over again in a system. Such a phenomenon is called 'fractals'. This happens in a self organizing fashion and the pattern that emerges is the part of the emergent property of the system.

f) Fractals exist at different levels in a system. This indicates that reality of a phenomenon exists at different levels. This is what we call as 'parallel reality'.

g) So by closely studying one fractal we get to understand the nature of all other fractals. That is we start from a part and understand the whole. This allows us to see the part and the whole at the same time.

h) It follows, that change in the pattern at the highest level changes patterns at other levels automatically in a spontaneous manner.

i) However to make an effective change we look for the smallest change to be made with the least effort and time to bring about substantial and sustainable changes in the system.

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Well, this is not a problem...

'Well, this is not a problem at all. Just do this. And follow these 9 steps. I have already worked out the 79 different factors that are to be measured and analyzed to come to a meaningful solution. In Japan they just do like this'

Does it sound familiar? How many times have you heard something like this?

Though this comes from well-intentioned and seemingly knowledgeable bosses (after all they are supposed to know more than their subordinates) it is a sure killer and a show stopper for creating innovative and learning organizational climate, empowering people, team work, allowing people to fail and learn and design think of new and unique context oriented solutions that competitors can't even figure out.

Implemening powerful social learning solutions to transform such organizations and boost morale of the people are difficult if not totally impossible.

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Challenge Assumptions to Solve Problems

As a graduate engineer when I was still learning the ropes in a British company, I noticed something funny in the operation. When I asked why people did the way they were doing, an old supervisor replied, ‘That has been going on for the last 30 years. It is a standard operating procedure. And we have to go by the book.”

 

To this I said, ‘But well, this is a darn wrong way of doing it. It has no logic. It is a sheer waste of time, money and manpower. Why don’t we stop doing that?”

 

The old supervisor looked in my eyes and replied, “Who has the guts to do that? What happens if the method you suggest fails? Who would take the blame? And why must I take the risk of losing my job? I understand that you don’t care whether you lose yours.”

 

Not to be taken aback, I said calmly, “I take the blame. I take the risk. I would lose my job if it fails. But please do it my way. The present method does not make any sense.”

 

Seeing me insist he relented, “I would do it as you say. But you cover my ass.”

 

The deal was sealed. The change worked and the results were worth being proud of. We waited for the first 1000 pieces to be shipped before deciding to report the fantastic savings the change has brought about.

 

When the D Day came I asked the old man to report it to the boss, allowing him to take the credit for the improvement.

 

On hearing the brave account, the Boss stared at us for some time before commenting, “Wasn’t that natural? I knew it all along. It was plain common-sense.”  

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RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

The world has been changing so fast that it scarcely seems to be the same every other day. In 1997, when India was punished for going Nuclear and letting the world knows about its nuclear capability; In Europe, the euro had not been introduced as a common currency; Amitabh Bacchan was still young and Madhuri Dixit was not so plump; Hong Kong had not yet been handed back to China; Google did not exist; the dragon’s  dominance in the world economic map was still a far cry and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 were still four years away ---- Deepak was frustrated , why is his father not listening to him.

Deepak wanted to change his father’s old “Ambassador “car (a distant cousiin of 1941 model Austin) for a new Generation X car. The newspapers were full of advertisements. “Exchange your old car for a new one, and pay on easy monthly installments. Deepak was trying desperately to convince his father but he was adamant. What his son is not aware of are the many cherished memories attached to the car. When Deepak was born he was brought from the local hospital in this car. Deepak had grown up with this car.

Deepak graduated and got into a Post Graduate Business Administration course.

He wanted to change the world too soon. He has now acquired a new motorbike with a funky look. He has changed his attire and wardrobe. Everything he has changed with the passage of time but he is still not able to change his father’s outlook, attitude and business policies. His father still goes to the factory in a white sweat shirt and a cotton trouser. He still mingles with the factory workers. Tries to gauge their feelings. Hugs them when he is overjoyed and also hurls choicest abuses when angry.

Now India has opened up. Private bankers have come in. “Gone are the days when a nationalized Bank staff would talk to you rudely”. Smart young people are now manning the private banks with their plastic smile, trying every moment to access a customer in terms of business he would give. But India is different. People can differentiate between the artificial and the natural. The common man can do wonders. He can shun Ray-Ban, Reebok and prefer locally made under garments. He uses Debit Cards instead of Credit Cards. The billions of middle class Indian market use their own thinking based on their sincere feelings for their families.  

Deepak comes to the factory in a Ford but his father still comes in the old car. People love his father more than him. Deepak had tried to implement all his “imported management policies” in the factory. His father had given him the required space. Some were successful while others miserably failed.

Deepak wonders why things don’t work here. He has tried to implement most of the case studies that he has learned. He is impatient. Why India is so averse to change? Is there a physiological factor playing among the Indians? A change is required but why there is so much resistance?

What he fails to notice are the small meaningful energetic changes that keep taking place against seeming changelessness.

He forgets that small changes are much more powerful than big artificial ones. There is actually no resistance. How can one grapple and fight against something that has no resistance at all. So, no big changes can be brought about in India by copying something or somebody else. It is always a state of becoming not being. That is the ethos of the land called India.

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Why I love Vibration, Flow & Wear?

As I cross the threshold of the new year 2011 I look back at the 30 odd years of my professional engineering career behind me with a certain tinge of pride and an ample dose of satisfaction. I am grateful to many who made this rather long journey quite pleasant and exciting. Few of them were my Dad, Mom and my Grandma, Mr Hicks, Mr. Torrick, Mr. Sanat Kar, Dr. Chowdhury, Mr. S Lahiri, Prof Ashok Sen, Prof Paul and Prof Tim Henry. I deeply admire and respect them. Without them I would not have been where I am today. In Newton's words I stand on their shoulders to see the world around me a little better and a bit more clearly. Surely I made a good and meaningful living -- living with a purpose. But what I loved most of all was the added bonus of constant learning that accompanied all these years as a daily dose of understanding on steroids.

In these three exciting decades two things I really fell in love were

a) Study of Vibration, Flow and Wear
b) Solving problems of various types and hues -- equipment, reliability, industrial, performance, organizational, learning, etc..

On reflection I find that these weren't two subjects but actually one since one constantly fed into the other and sort of reinforced both in an exponential manner.

But that wasn't the reason for my love of these subjects.

I loved them since through it I could study Nature in its various forms and beauty. The beauty was so enticing, bewitching and captivating that at times I was confused as to what view offered me the best picture of those beautiful patterns. 

This is simply because the whole of Nature can be expressed by Vibration (tendency to operate far away from equilibrium at the edge of chaos and complexity in an interdependent manner - mechanical, electrical, electronics, metallurgical), Flow (driving gradients, fluids, heat, energy, electrons, quarks, people, goods..) and Wear (force, energy, entropy, surface phenomenon) and three fundamental shapes of anything 'live' (the tree network, round cross section and watermelon slice) and a few simple mathematical principles (iteration, probability, distribution, series, transforms, interactions & relationships). Nothing more was needed or perhaps would be needed to appreciate the ever lasting beauty of Nature.

Luck was in my favor since I was observing the untold beauty of Nature through supposedly inanimate objects like machines, flows, gradients. But that clearly offered me a great advantage. The advantage of seeing things happen just as they were. I was observing Nature so to say in 'uncolored' and 'unspoiled' states. Such patient observations gave me the chance to reflect and understand the underlying principles and secretly admire the awesomeness of the whole thing. It taught me to see the whole and the parts at the same time without neglecting either. It gave me the chance to crack the paradox of stability and change happening at the same time. It taught me the interconnectedness and interdependence of the whole thing happening at the same time. It taught me that all that we see and feel is not the whole that is there. And there were thousands of other things. It is good to feel that the learning hasn't stopped and thankfully would continue for many more years helping me to remain sane, active and agile hopefully staving off imbecility and old age.

By constantly learning about these principles the doors to effective problem solving was thrown wide open. To my surprise I found that the same principles that help me to solve tough and complex engineering problems also help me to effectively solve organizational problems and social problems within organizations. The underlying principles were always the same. Without this support I think I could never have made a name for myself as a troubleshooter, problem solver, design thinker and coach.

The other great thing that it did was to make my mind supple and open. Soon I was soaking up like a sponge the principles involved in other supposedly difficult subjects like Design Thinking, System Thinking, Chaos, Complexity, Adaptive Systems (Panarchy). That was a boon. All these frontier subjects were based on the same principles of Vibration, Flow and Wear. So far there had been no deviations.

I realize that all subjects in its truest form is always a rich mix of arts and science. One is not without the other. While Science helps me build up my Scientific temperament, inclination to Technology, love of Engineering and deep respect for Mathematics Arts lends me my love for Ideas, propensity for Design, understanding Emotions and developing empathy and great admiration for Arts and Actions.

That is why my heart still vibrates, my breath still flows and my joints continue to wear out as I continue to live with awareness and concentration.

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