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Kṛṣṇa & Neuro Linguistic Programming – Part 4

Neuro Linguistic Programming or NLP is a great way to observe, analyze, assess, intervene and assist people needing help and indeed to assist ourselves. It is a great tool to assist when we are at our weakest.

Recap of Series: Parts 1 – 3

We present the proposition, Kṛṣṇa is a Master at Neuro Linguistic Programming over a series of articles titled Kṛṣṇa & Neuro Linguistic Programming. For the sake of completeness I think its best that I provide a short Recap of the previous articles, before I move ahead to complete the proposition in the last part of this series.

Part 3 of this series, Kṛṣṇa & Neuro Linguistic Programming shows how that great warrior Arjuna is flummoxed (greatly confused). He is faced with the prospect of going to war with armies comprising of relatives, friends and kinsmen. We get an opportunity to delve deep into his mind, through his comments, statements and body language.
In Part 2, we present the basic tenets of NLP - Neuro Linguistic Programming. I mention briefly here the various steps and techniques that form the basis of NLP. They are Sentiment Analysis, Intent, Topics, Language, Reframing Issues, Anchoring, Building Rapport, Pacing & Leading, Mirroring, Remodeling Beliefs & Perceptions. Neuro Linguistic Programming or NLP as its referred to in short, is predominantly about outcome facilitation. It is very powerful and used in many different ways including, effective communication, personal development and psychotherapy. When adopted in day to day life it has application in personal and professional situations. We also compared this battlefield setting to situations in a corporate setting.
In Part 1, we present common dilemmas faced by people from all walks of life, which affect mental health and cause inability to take appropriate decisions. We mention that this work is based on the most famous Indian scripture, Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. However, we have shied away from the religious and spiritual aspects of the text and instead merely used the backstories and the narrative to set context.

Responses from Kṛṣṇa: Neuro Linguistic Programming

This entire series deals with my proposition that Kṛṣṇa is a Master Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner. This Part 3 deals with how Kṛṣṇa responds to Arjuna using classic NLP techniques and strategies.

Kṛṣṇa pays close attention to Arjuna’s comments and observes his body language. He is aware of the context, the intent and the circumstances. His role is that of mentor, guru, charioteer, friend and relative. It is on the basis of all these roles, he intervenes and assists Arjuna is arriving at the right decision and facilitate an outcome.

What Arjuna certainly didn’t contend with is that, in Kṛṣṇa, he had not merely the best possible guide, but simultaneously a most difficult task master. One who would not permit weakness and let a just cause be lost, under any circumstances. Little did Arjuna realize that with the utmost skill and dexterity, Kṛṣṇa would do nothing short of getting his Chief Executive to complete the mission.

Through masterful intervention techniques, all based on Neuro Linguistic Programming, Kṛṣṇa compels Arjuna to submit to his will and finally Arjuna accepts Kṛṣṇa as his Guru and asks for instructions. 

Quoting Kṛṣṇa

We now quote His words from certain relevant verses from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is.

Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed, his eyes full of tears, Madhusūdana, Kṛṣṇa, spoke the following words.

Bg. 2.1

My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows the value of life. They lead not to higher planets but to infamy.

Bg. 2.2

O son of Pṛthā, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.

Bg. 2.3

O descendant of Bharata, at that time Kṛṣṇa, smiling, in the midst of both the armies, spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna.

Bg. 2.10

While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead.

Bg. 2.11:

As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.

Bg. 2.13

O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.

Bg. 2.14

O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.

Bg. 2.15

O Pārtha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn and immutable kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?

Bg. 2.21

As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.

Bg. 2.22

If, however, you think that the soul [or the symptoms of life] will always be born and die forever, you still have no reason to lament, O mighty-armed.

Bg. 2.26

One who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament.

Bg. 2.27

Considering your specific duty as a kṣatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting; and so there is no need for hesitation.

Bg. 2.31

O Pārtha, happy are the kṣatriyas to whom such fighting opportunities come unsought, opening for them the doors of the heavenly planets.

Bg. 2.32

If, however, you do not perform your duty of fighting, then you will certainly incur sins for neglecting your duties and thus lose your reputation as a fighter.

Bg. 2.33

People will always speak of your infamy, and for a respectable person, dishonor is worse than death.

Bg. 2.34

The great generals who have highly esteemed your name and fame will think that you have left the battlefield out of fear only, and thus they will consider you insignificant.

Bg. 2.35

Your enemies will describe you in many unkind words and scorn your ability. What could be more painful for you?

Bg. 2.36

O son of Kuntī, either you will be killed on the battlefield and attain the heavenly planets, or you will conquer and enjoy the earthly kingdom. Therefore, get up with determination and fight.

Bg. 2.37

In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.

Bg. 2.40

Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched.

Bg. 2.41

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.

Bg. 2.47

Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.

Bg. 2.48

When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard.

Bg. 2.52

One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.

Bg. 2.56

In the material world, one who is unaffected by whatever good or evil he may obtain, neither praising it nor despising it, is firmly fixed in perfect knowledge.

Bg. 2.57

One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise draws its limbs within the shell, is firmly fixed in perfect consciousness.

Bg. 2.58

The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them.

Bg. 2.60

One who restrains his senses, keeping them under full control, and fixes his consciousness upon Me, is known as a man of steady intelligence.

Bg. 2.61

While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.

Bg. 2.62

From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.

Bg. 2.63

But a person free from all attachment and aversion and able to control his senses through regulative principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord.

Bg. 2.64

For one thus satisfied, the threefold miseries of material existence exist no longer; in such satisfied consciousness, one’s intelligence is soon well established.

Bg. 2.65

As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man’s intelligence.

Bg. 2.67

Therefore, O mighty-armed, one whose senses are restrained from their objects is certainly of steady intelligence.

Bg. 2.68

Kṛṣṇa’s Approach – Positive & Negative Discrimination

Let’s see how Kṛṣṇa speaks. Let’s see how he uses tone variations, context comparisons, a coaxing manner, cajoling, chastisement, reasoning and motivation.

When Kṛṣṇa sees that Arjuna is deluded, unclear of mind and lay down his arms, he acted decisively. He didn’t mince his words, some of which were scathing!

His approach was simple, that of using his mastery of NLP to overcome Arjuna’s preference to hide behind frivolous rationalizations and achieve his overall objectives.

He uses negatives and positives or the proverbial stick and the carrot.

Kṛṣṇa Uses Mirroring – Hard Hitting Truths

He uses negatives to strike at the heart of Arjuna’s weakness.

  • He calls Arjuna delusional and impotent.
  • He cautions that Arjuna will earn infamy, because he is an acclaimed warrior and a warrior who chooses not to fight, no matter the reason, runs the risk of being called a coward.
  • Krishna accuses him of being weak, of being in grief, mourning and lamenting needlessly.
  • He calls Arjuna bewildered.
  • He tells Arjuna that he doesn’t comprehend the value of life.
  • He says that impurities have come upon Arjuna.
  • He cautions Arjuna not to give in to degraded impotence.
  • Krishna tells Arjuna that he is being petty and weak of heart. 
He strikes hard. He hurts to the core. He knows that each word will shake Arjuna up and will make him rise to the occasion. He chastises and indeed smashes the deluded Arjuna. 

A great warrior like Arjuna takes pride in his ability to do battle, to use his mind to strategize how to overcome the enemy. By questioning and commenting on these aspects, this is exactly where Krishna is hitting him. 

Whereas modern day management may advocate not to use negative approaches, we need to realize that at some times, we need hard measures. Time is of the essence and being nice and sweet isn’t an option.

Kṛṣṇa Speaks: Motivation & Teaching

So Kṛṣṇa being such a master and a person in absolute command of a very precarious situation, also uses positives.
  • In some cases he openly praises Arjuna.
  • He calls Arjuna chastiser of the enemy. 
  • Apart from chastisement, interspersed with a few words of praise, he also extolled the virtues of wise people.
  • Even though he is scathing with his words, indirectly he is telling Arjuna, that Arjuna is better than he thinks.
  • He empowers Arjuna to be liberated from his flawed thinking.
  • He explains to Arjuna how to deal with mental anguish and teaches him techniques to regain equilibrium. 
  • The overall messages to Arjuna are that there is a need to shed his petty weakness and rebound to who he is and what he’s capable of.
  • He also leans on religious and spiritual principles, but as we decided, we will in this series, shy away from those aspects. 

Kṛṣṇa’s Actions, Motivations, Techniques

Why Does Kṛṣṇa Act?

It is important to understand Kṛṣṇa’s mission and his motivations to truly understand his contextual responses. 

Yes, the Pandavas were his friends and were also related, but that’s not why he was so keen to guide them. 

He sought the greater common good of the people. He wanted what was best for them. Kṛṣṇa wanted that the reigns of the kingdom pass to rightful, righteous, just, able and desirable rulers. 

Therefore, Kṛṣṇa's supports and guides Arjuna through a labyrinth of confusion, delusion and self-doubt, disguised in the garb of lofty ideals. He is the exemplary charioteer, guiding Arjuna through the battlefield in his mind. 

What Was Kṛṣṇa Thinking?

In a position of responsibility and leadership, we must gauge the situation we’re faced with and act expeditiously. Timely action and responses are key to address the situation.

We have but two options. The obvious option that a lot of us exercise is to take things on ourselves and eliminate the ones we entrusted in the first place. 

The challenge is to get people to do what they are charged with. The easiest thing to do is to eliminate the weak link, however the purpose served is limited. 

As leaders, mentors and guides we are better served to get work done from those entrusted. There is only so much we can accomplish by ourselves.

Examples: 

If we’re teaching someone to ride, our role is to reinstate the fallen onto the saddle. Learning is possible when in the saddle, not off it.

As managers we’ve hired people based on certain skill sets and we’ve budgeted for both their contribution and their costs. Therefore it is incumbent upon us to justify the spend and ensure that people do what they’re paid to do.

Therefore the answer lies, not in doing ourselves what we’re paying others to do. Instead we adopt ways and means to get people to do their jobs and play the roles they are assigned. 

We hire based on certain job families, categories and job descriptions. Even before we bring people on board, we give them a brief of our expectations. Therefore there can’t be any excuses not to perform.

Need for Intervention & Use Cases for NLP

Despite our best intentions and despite hiring the right people, we must contend certain realities. The primary reality is, People will be People. People have personal motivations that sometimes don’t align with the organization’s mission. They have different operating styles. People don’t always perform. They face bottlenecks and impediments. A lot of these impediments lie in the mind.

When such impediments and obstacles get in the way of staying on mission and achieving desired goals, we need interventions.

Some issues are more easy to address than others. The tricky ones are where a person’s personal nature, behavior and motivations come in the way.

I offer that the best way to carry out interventions and to facilitate desired outcomes is by a mastery of NLP – Neuro Linguistic Programming. 

NLP has many uses such as persuasion, sales, negotiation, management training, sports, teaching, coaching, team building, public speaking, recruitment and behavior management.

Warning:

Neuro Linguistic Programming has been called many things, pseudo-science, hypnosis, magic, manipulative, unethical and what not. Most practitioners shy away from overtly telling people that they are practitioners due to these reasons.

Regardless of the various opinions, it is a fact that using the right approaches, the right words, the right tone, chastising, coaxing, cajoling, encouraging, soothing, inspiring, instructing….anything goes. 

Finally it is about the end game. It is all about facilitating desirable outcomes.

In effect, Kṛṣṇa now needs to eradicate the influences that make Arjuna succumb.

Contextual Intervention – One Size Doesn’t Fit All

Now Arjuna is no fool. He is a highly erudite and well trained Kshatriya or warrior, Yet, despite all his knowledge and training, his senses elude him at the penultimate moment. A moment where he needs all his mental and physical faculties to be working at peak levels.

We act based upon whom we’re dealing with and our actions need to be contextual. There is time for dialogue, but when dialogue yields no results, we must act. 

At times we impart knowledge and guidance, yet at other times we instruct. 

Kṛṣṇa uses several techniques which are nothing short of management excellence. 

Despite dealing with a person of great stature and capability, Kṛṣṇa uses the strong medicine of his words and some of the words and phrases he elects to use are potent. 

Conclusion

A reading of Arjuna’s statements and Krishna’s responses, the perspectives provided give credence and weightage to my proposition. Krishna is a master of NLP and he uses this to manage a difficult situation.

Finally, I would hope that this does serve as a guide to us all, not just in management, but also in our day to day lives to deal with the realities of life.

The Power of Words

Words we use have a telling impact on the outcome of the communique. Words trigger responses. Therefore, using the right words, phrases, tone and examples in our communication are important. They almost guarantee the outcomes we desire when we need to act and be decisive.

Words that denote negatives such as “not”, “cannot”, “can’t”, “won’t”, all create acceptance barriers as most people do not like it when we use the negative. It triggers negative feelings and/or emotions.

Words like “can”, “yes”, “sure”, “absolutely”, are all positive and create a positive impact.

Words denoting indecision or pre-conditions such as,  “if”, “then”, “else”, “but”, “could”, “would”, “should”, “maybe”, are generally used by people who are unable to take decisions, or to delay decisions or then pass the buck by posing pre-conditions.

Neuro Lingusitic Programming – A Means to an End

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is something that I advocate strongly. I urge that one at least understand the basics. NLP not only enables outcome facilitation when dealing with people and situations. Once its tenets are well understood, can be used for our personal self-development, self-improvement and behavior correction.

Being part of a social fabric, we either need to assist others through adversity or then be assisted through it. Regardless of the role we play (assisted or the one assisting), we need learn how to manage the situation and ensure that our mental wellbeing is sacrosanct.

Neuro Linguistic Programming or NLP is a great way to observe, analyze, assess, intervene and assist people needing help and indeed to assist ourselves. It is a great tool to assist when we are at our weakest.

Up Next

Watch out for the video podcasts related to this series of articles on Krishna & Neuro Linguistic Programming and a quick reference guide on NLP.

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THE VIRTUAL EXISTENCE CONUNDRUM – PT 3: YOU, ME & EVERYONE IN-BETWEEN.

So the “New Normal” is moving the BCP dials to a whole different level. Let’s call it BCP++. The first + standing for extending the BCP and the ++ is make BCP THE Modus Operandi, THE defacto standard, encompassing the whole business cycle, from Business Prospecting, to Prospect Conversion, to Marketing, Market Intelligence, Contract Negotiation to Signing, Execution – Development, Deployment, Post Production Support, moving Money around and Human Resources. All Virtual. From a business point of view, Out of Sight is Out of Mind so a Digital POP’s – Points of Presence is the ONLY way. Easier said than done as we’ve come to realise and as we’re continually realising, that sustainability of this whole WFH – Work From Home thingy isn’t exactly a walk in the park! But, its beginning to work, albeit fraught with challenges. We’re figuring it out as we go along. Solutions come from trying out different things and tweaking to make them fit the need of the hour. Business carries on “as usual” but using “unusual” approaches.

Perhaps the best insights come from personal experience. As this thing broke, I get a call from the CEO, early days, no complete shut down yet. We discuss precautions, sanitizier, surface contamination and such. Two weeks later we are compelled to decide on a total shut down of physical proximity.

Here’s how it all went down. People from the organization are out in the field, in different parts of the world, airports are shutting down, last flights out or in are announced, as are evac flights and that leads to a scramble to get people back home, ticket prices and hotel costs be damned. In parallel we are shutting down several offices, putting in place arrangements to continue work, calls, meetings, both internal and customer facing. Getting people to work outside the office, connect remotely, lock down devices, access development and test environments securely, hit us all at once. I run ops amongst other portfolios, so keeping all the balls in the air moving at full throttle, the initial thoughts were, woah! 

I sleep over it and with the help of a some really amazing people, we were like, heck, we manage enterprise class implementations for so many customers remotely, isn't this just a case of taking what we do for customers and get those processes to work for us internally? We do this all the time to save customers and ourselves money and reduce the TCO of customers. Truth be told, we liteally just flipped the switch and voila, we were up and running, all thrusters firing at peak, all remote, all virtual. Sweet! The CXO team get onto calls twice a day, keep the morale of the troops, make sure there is no panic and execution does take a massive hit.

We just settled into the rhythym – BAU, equilibrium, status quo maintained. We’re a FinTech startup in the Digital Transformation space, so all apps and solutions are mission critical. Not being able to service our customers would have had a cascading impact. Our customers, banks and finaicial institutions, would not have been able to serve their customers. The really cool thing is this…..all our solutions are not merely COVID ready, but are solutions that not just serve purpose as the perfect BCP strategy, BUT outlive and indeed lead the charge to play in the “New Normal” space and give our customers’ that edge, that competitive advantage, not just to keep the lights on, but to grow despite mobility restrictions. And to think that they were conceptualized almost 4-5 years ago does us really proud! This is easily one of the best teams I’ve worked with, with very little need to direct. Almost the entire team, especially the Founder Members need little pushing, just some gentle (and sometimes aggressive) intervention, which enable us to focus of bringing in new business, that all important need for any company these days, especially startups.

My interactions with various teams, individuals, customers and others within our ecosystem and outside of it, give me an insight into their readiness and capability to deal with the situation. I’ve seen the skill, will and tenacity of both large and small organisations tested to the core and some still aren’t anywhere close to adapting to the “New Normal”. They’re the ones who were not thinking Digital in the first place.

So let’s talk about this “New Normal” and “BCP”, but first BCP.

Look at it this way. Almost everyone has some semblance of a BCP – Business Continuity Plan, even if its all theoretical and has never been tested like BCP is being tested now. In any case, conceptualizing and testing a BCP for an event of this magnitude is someting that armed forces do looking at doomsday scenarios, most organizations don’t. So net-net we did pretty good, all factors considered. BCP is intended for a particular time horizon and I seriously doubt (maybe a few) were designed to persist.

What is this “New Normal” anyway? Normal, for me, is walking up to someone and figuring it out. The new normal is not having the luxury to do that. It also means that the efforts spent to maintain even keel has grown exponentially. Let’s not even talk about growth right now, but that said certain business models, lines of business, products and services are brilliantly poised to capitalise on the situation. Sounds very opportunistic, but thats business, its all about being in the right place at the right time with the right solution. Opportunity.

So the “New Normal” is moving the BCP dials to a whole different level. Let’s call it BCP++. The first + standing for extending the BCP and the ++ is make BCP THE Modus Operandi, THE defacto standard, encompassing the whole business cycle, from Business Prospecting, to Prospect Conversion, to Marketing, Market Intelligence, Contract Negotiation to Signing, Execution - Development, Deployment, Post Production Support, moving Money around and Human Resources. All Virtual. From a business point of view, "Out of Sight is Out of Mind" so Digital POP's - Points of Presence is the ONLY way. Easier said than done, as we’ve come to realise and as we’re continually realising, that sustainability of this whole WFH - Work From Home thingy isn’t exactly a walk in the park! But, its beginning to work, albeit fraught with challenges. We're figuring it out as we go along. Solutions come from trying out different things and tweaking to make them fit the need of the hour. Business carries on "as usual" but using "unusual" approaches.

The real impact however, is on people. How we act, react, communicate, lead our daily lives – work, home, family, friends, relationships, lesuire, fitness, hobbies, downtime, food habits, pray and just about everything we did before the “New Normal” became the norm. Regardless of where people are in the pecking order, we’ve all been affected and we could say, its a COVID infection of another kind, indirect yet having material bearing on behaviours.

Man is a social animal. (Not intending to do the female of the species any particular injustice), but I’m loathe to call the female of the species an animal….far too risky you see!

Remote working has several sides to it, too much proximity or then too little. Those living alone are feeling the impact of prolonged isolation and those living with family or friends or roomies, face the outcomes of being in each others faces over prolonged periods of time. We all need our space and thats a luxury few may have. Kids at home, pets at home, sounds of water running, cooking, cleaning, the doorbell ringing (something we’ve ordered online is getting delivered) are almost commonplace on calls and were all frowned upon, but more accepted these days. In many cases the WFH is an impediment to privacy, concentration and focus often extending working hours into the late nights or then early mornings before everyone is up and about. Everything demands scheduling, everything demands meticulous planning. The lines between personal life and work life have blurred, making it difficult to get that work-life balance right, yet we must to ensure that we last the course.

There are just so may sides to this!. On the one hand, you have the time and space to sit back and reflect, take up a long outstanding project of hobby, and on the other hand the spirit of spontaneity has taken a huge hit, as have collaboration, teamwork, networking, less formal channels of an exchange of ideas over a coffee, a meal or a drink at the local.

Prolonged work from home, isolation, the uncertainities of business, job insecurity (am I going to be axed next), worries about income continuity, concerns about seperated family and how they are impacted by community spread of the virus, have such a huge negative impact on people. Depression, irritation, mood swings, laziness, lack of discipline are all now manifest and are or at least will affect both professional and personal lives and threaten to reverse the initial euphoria of having the freedom to work from home.

Sure, we’ve moved everything to the ether. Video calls and a myriad of communication channels are the very backbone of the “New Normal”. It’s a mad melee, an urgent and all important need for people, businesses, governments, all manner of organisations and individuals to keep abreast, to exist and survive. No more gentle handholding, coaxing, cajoling, meeting over that drink, cup of coffee, meal, a game of golf or tennis. In person counselling, forget it. Sizing up people, opportunities, situations are a tad more challenging. Right?

Let’s touch upon comms via the ether. Dunno about you, but this the list of aps I ended up with for professional and pesonal reasons: Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, Teams, Zoom, Hangouts, Telegram, Meet, Slack, Signal. Phew! Betcha my list is arguably the longest! There’s more, but I ran out of breath! Probably not a good thing to say “ran out of breath”, COVID you see? Each one of them just DEMANDS that they shall not be ignored.The biggest threat to moving out of traditional comms channels and opening up too many is having to exchange official documents and artifacts out of company domains. The other real menace is taking decisions and recording them via messenger apps and not documenting things via emails and other official channels of communication. Even worse is that all decisions taken via chat and messages and all artifacts are duly deposited into central repositories for reuse and easy retrieval. I operate on an “evidence on no trust basis” when it comes to work so for me, BIG RED FLAG this one.

“Perhaps one of the most irksome things I encounter on a online meeting, is when I ask someone to pull up a document or spreadsheet using screen sharing and I get a response, “Sir, I’ve logged in using my phone!”. Its a friggin’ official call, at a pre-designated time, you should be on your laptop, why in the heck are you on your phone? I don’t say this, but that is what I’m thinking when this happens! Then there are real issues of call drops, network fluctuations and power failures. Not exactly fun“.

We were looking for collaborative tools that are suited to the times we live in and during evaluation I came across two really cool solutions, worth noteable mention. https://monday.com and https://www.journyz.com/resources/. Journyz is a startup and has this collaborative thing down pat, whereas Monday.com is more established. One covers the collaborative aspects via gamification and employee engagement (so essential and central to People) whereas the other takes more of a Project Management approach.

On the other side of of too much or too little distance, coupled with comms via the ether, is a whole new paradigm! We are in the direct path of this digital onslaught. Webinars as opposed to seminars, which can be great, given that you don’t need to travel to attend. Then there are online gym instructors, fitness coaches, life coaches, self professed home chefs (self included), product promotions and what have you. No fault of theirs, but they are all online, we are all online, we’re all spamming, each craving and demanding attention, in your face, like it or not, interested or not. Just like I’m in your face right now! We can’t be seen or heard in person these days (in the traditional physical sense), so we do the next best thing, we take it all online. Heck, spamming has taken on a whole new meaning these days! 

There is the good, the bad and the ugly side of online, of digital. On the one hand, all we need to do is sign up, or hit subscribe and we have access to a body of knowledge that we really didn't have time for before, but on the flip side, we have huge distracting forces, that threaten to diminish focus and can be very invasive the ugly side of which is manifest if we permit it to take over our lives completely.

The real trick is to get virtual to work for you, to discipline its ability to invade and take only what’s conducive to achieve the most essential things, work related efficiencies, social interaction that is necessary and new learning. Just get it to work for you!

In ending I will repeat what I ended the last article with, that this is the time for compassion, to be more sensitive to People, to their dilemas, to the limitations faced and wholeheartedly recognize that there are People out there, who are making a difference, contributing at times when its much more difficult, for without People, without You and Me and Everybody In-Between, we just won’t make it!

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The Virtual Existence Conundrum: PT 2 – poison pill defence.

In the hostile takeover business there is this thing called The Poison Pill Defence, where the target company usually comes up with a plan to thwart the hostile takeover. Whats happening now is very similar, except this isn’t a corporate game, its become a simple matter of survival! So when the magnitude of this “thing” finally manifested, au naturalle, everyone cut back = Poison Pill Defence. Cut back spending on just about on every possible bogey on the radar.

Picking up from where I left off in Part 1, this piece is about the impact on Business. Though I initially thought to make this one about People, I reasoned that adversity affecting Businesses and the Economy in general, is the very source for the unprecedented angst, anxiety and uncertainity in the minds of people and therefore reversed the order of release (watch out for the People issues in Part 3 in this series).

That Economies are in dire straits is now a well established fact and its also clear that initial forecasts fell short of realities now emerging. India seems to be leading the charge, what with a 23% drop in GDP, Britain and France following closely and other leading countries in the double digits.

Let’s look at the recently published numbers and compare them to initial forecasts from back in March’20 or thereabouts. The World Bank forecast a contraction of 5.2 % for 2020, predicting a shrinking by 7% of advanced economies and emerging and developing economies shrinking by 2.5%. The latest Q2 numbers in the infographic below provide strong indication that the period end numbers will be far worse than the initial forecasts. There is some debate and discussion on how the published numbers should be interpreted, but whichever way one chooses to interpret, the situation is far worse than was earlier guaged.

Economies are all about the Green or whatever colour paper or plastic your currency notes are printed on. Printed? Think surface contamination! Now think, contactless, paperless. Think DIGITAL! A completely different paradigm. Interesting though, as Chris Skinner, an authority on FinTech and Digital opines, Digital is just 1 – 2% done and these estimates are Pre-Covid. Meaning what exactly? Simply this, that the need to accelerate digital has gone up by a factor of 10? 100?

Looking at the big names who have gone almost bust, we see that those having a strong digital presense are the ones who are weathering the storm (not the teacup variety) much better that others. Despite that this thrust for Digital is no longer something that can be relegated to a future date, decision making has slowed, budgets have been slashed, cashflows seem not to permit investments despite the clear need. And then there is the fact that Digital encompasses a relook and rethink from the ground up and that presents a challenge when you can’t get all in the same room at once.

And then we have China, putting out numbers that suggest that it is unaffected? Go figure! Whats more? There is a whistleblower virologist who claims that this virus is man made, that it was already spreading was a given and did naught to act in time and supressed the facts. If indeed this is the reality isn’t this nothing short of mass genocide and akin to war crimes?

Of course her claims are being disputed by all concerned parties (naturally), but Dr. Li-Meng Yan promised to release incontrovertial evidence. Let’s see how that pans out, but let’s keep in mind that China still posts numbers that are contrarian to the global decline in GDP! So what seems to have insulated China? Are the numbers even real?

It’s been one hairy ride thus far and there’s no saying how much longer this lasts. Think mutation, think community spread, think “we’re all going to get it” kinda magnitude or so they say. But hopefully we will all have developed immunity by the time it hits those who have not yet been affected.

In the hostile takeover business there is this thing called “The Poison Pill Defence”, where the target company usually comes up with a plan to thwart the hostile takeover. Whats happening now is very similar, except this isn’t a corporate game, its become a very matter of survival! So when the magnitude of this “thing” finally manifested, au naturalle, everyone cut back = Poison Pill Defence. Cut back spending on just about on every possible bogey on the radar.

What do the people upstairs do when faced with looming reversals? Business ain’t growing so increasing renevues is not a viable option, but cutting cost is. Typically the cost centre’s that go under the lamp are People Costs, Travel Costs, Real Estate, Benefits, Incentives, Variable Comp and carrying cost of inventories. Three main approaches? Either you look at the pecking order and start high (I’ve been at the receiving end of this in a past life and barely survived), or then you look at the bottom of the pyramid and lay off enmasse or then you do a bit of both. Travel costs went out the window anyway and did save up oodles of cash. Business continuity was maintained on the backbone of digital communication channels (look out for my article covering this all important lifeline).

Laying people off, salary freezes, salary deferments, pulling out of projects and such measures were frowned upon by many industry stalwarts (all well intended I’m sure) on every channel, social, professional, the tube, print and online. I however have a nagging question now and indeed had this nagging question then.

Most of the comments, opinions and the preaching from the pulpit kinda advise not to lay off etc came from as I said, industry stalwarts and perhaps they have the luxury to say these things. But what about smaller companies? Ones that do not have deep pockets, who have not had the opportunity to shore up cash and build contingency reserves? What about startups? If I’m not mistaken, startups don’t have much more than 3-6 months of a runway (depending on what stage they are in) AND now by the by there is this business downturn…. So many startups are in the quick app space, relying on downloads and mass market usage for their survival (and the potential of obscene valuations if the idea sells to the deep pockets). Don’t forget the statistic that 80% or so of startups fail and now this! Startups that were frugal, kept their cost base and ops costs minimalist will have longer runways and have so much more of a chance to weather this, but even they will look to be even more minimalist at times like this. Poison Pill Defence again.

Governments, Organizations, both big and small, as well as solely owned businesses are the ones generating employment. So isn’t it better to do the cost containment measures and ensure survival, albeit with a sustainable resource base, as opposed to letting the whole thing go Kaput? I mean how many companies or for that matter governments have pockets that deep, that they carry on as if nothing happened? Organizations can’t possibly raise funds nor increase revenue. Governments can’t rely on increasing tax revenue nor increase the tax rate. Banks can lend, as some banks are doing aggressively, but what about when its time to collect? What about the NPAs and delinquincy rates as incomes dwindle?

See the graphic from my previous post, where I’ve made an attempt to depict the domino effect, so I won’t go on about it here…

Will not “the greater common good” approach rule the roost? It’s war as I said in my earlier article, nary a bullet fired. Well maybe it was engineered as this whistleblower seems to suggest and if that’s the case then that is something completely different.

Chanakya Pandit (Circa 321–297 BCE), a renowned Brahmin (not a popular thing in India these days, to say you’re a Brahmin), thinker, philosopher, political genius (Author of Chanakya Niti), guru and kingmaker (seems I’m from his lineage – no jokes) asked Chandragupta Maurya (the King he made), What is the FIRST DUTY of a King? Everyone I ask, almost everyone, says things like, take care of his subjects, protect his subjects, create wealth, be just and so on. Hell no! That’s NOT it at all. The FIRST and FOREMOST duty of a King is to guard his throne. No throne, no subjects and no subjects means the King can’t do squat!

Similarly, Organisations need to survive, ie: they need to take care of themselves first, so therefore the cutbacks, layoffs and so on. In war, innocents fall by the wayside and we are in a war, innit? So either live to fight another day or then go out with a bang! There it is! Take your pick.

Mighty unpopular, these utterances. I’m sure I am being called insensitive right about now. But hey! Don’t shoot the messenger, cause this particular messenger is the “going out with a bang” kinda messenger and sometimes messengers are required to deliver unpleasant messages and that can potentially end up with noggin rolling and being sent back to source packed in a box.

We want to sit safely in our comfortable homes, watching Netflix and Prime, ordering takeaway and yet we are sending Doctors, healthworkers and others who keep the lights on for us, our networks up and running, out into battle DAY IN AND DAY OUT? We want our farmers out in the fields sowing and harvesting while we don’t want to step out.

I have this really cose friend, a Doctor. She doesn’t have the CHOICE to stay safe. She’s been commandeered! If she wants to stay safe she looses her licence to practice. So you see the dilemma? Throw away years of hard work, experience, knowledge and a lot of cash invested in med school fees, or show up to save others! Simple choice, its BINARY. She’s no less than a hero or heroine, she’s an Avenger, no less, fighting Thanos. Doctors are being given targets I hear and in Mysore a Doctor committed suicide, alledgedly due to this.

Some of us? All we want is our Veggies and then there are others who still want their luxuries. We want to order online (Digital is great is it not?) from the saftey of our homes. We want people to show up for work so we can be serviced with no inconvenience. There is a real person at the end of the last mile. We need those people to save lives and treat patients, we need those people to produce our luxuries and conveniences, we need those people to fuel the food industry and we need people to deliver stuff to us safely. We can’t teleport stuff from the shop floor or for that matter the farm, to our homes and neither will our groceries and staples materialize before us, at least not yet!

  1. Lockdowns, both local and international as the numbers are now tellin’ us, created the first wave and entire industries Travel and Tourism, the Restaurant Business, the Airline Industry, were all hit.
  2. The next wave took out the supply chain, supplying to and feeding off those industries.
  3. The third wave set in when cash became scarce and the cascading impact of the cutbacks came into our homes compelling many to curb spending and only take care of essentials. That took out the fashion and glamour and so many such industries.
  4. The next BIG one is Real Estate, so when we figured that WFH and Remote Working is something that can be made to outlast temporary BCP Ops, Real Estate suddenly became a pariah. There you have it, another one bites the dust!

Not all businesses can be run remotely, nor can all services be rendered remotely, with some needing that physical contact, yet physical contact is taboo. This is further amplified when we’re taking about countries who still have a largely agrarian economic model and support structure purely based on cash for daily livelyhoods.

Of course the long term sustainability of 100% remote working, even if theoretically within the realm of possibility, remains to be seen, not just in terms of practicality, support and operational models, but also in terms of impact on people, families relationships. That’s the hidden impact not often forming part of the math (coming up in the next part).

The Global Economy cannot just shut down and even if COVID does not dissapate as quickly as we’d like or just disappear like a bad dream, businesses that did not die completely will pick thmselves up, morph, adapt and start working under a new set of rules, a new set of realities, albeit fraught with risks. Money needs to start flowing again, people need to work to earn and survive. Mouths need feeding, students need to continue learning.

As I said in Part 1, Business Models are rapidly polarizing depending how big the ship is….sooo much harder to get a BIG ship to turn around. Economic Models are changing, the way we do business is changing and in cases have already changed a while ago. The fundamentals may not have changed a lot but, everything around the fundamentals has changed and perhaps in some cases the fundamentals too! The old rules need a serious dose of refresh. Read more about this in an interesting article on Management Theories, here is the link: https://thefinanser.com/2020/09/does-management-theory-work-anymore.html/

Therefore we’re seeing lockdowns being lifted, curbs on travel are being relaxed and this is really the worst possible Catch 22. Damned if you do – Damned if you don’t! Poison Pill Defence once again. The numbers don’t lie. Harsh realities need to be faced, risks will need to be taken and we will all need to move on, stop living in fear, remain cautious and take every possible precaution, BUT STOP living in fear.

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Guest lecture – Sept 2020

Delighted to address the Student Body, sharing my journey and experiences.
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The Virtual Existence Conundrum – Part 1: Shall We Level-set?

From absolute lockdown to a gradual lifting of the lockdown, from closing offices and workplaces to gradually reopening offices and workplaces, from absolute mobility restrictions, closing of international and even local borders, mandatory and voluntary quarantine, Governments and Organizations have been challenged like never before and no matter what measures are contemplated, no matter what the narratives are and no matter what steps they take, they will nevery be truly appreciated.

Disclaimer: This is intended to be a series. I tend to be opinionated and make propositions, suggestions, half in jest and some not so much in jest. Therefore, proceed at your own risk! Hopefully at the end of the series I may have covered several pertinent aspects of what we as Humans are dealing with, what businesses are dealing with, what Governments are dealing with and that should just about cover the Social, Family, Personal, Economic & Financial impact of something unprecedented hitherto.

Let’s say we begin with the initial rehtoric when the Pandemic was recognized as one and reality began to set it. Essentially, popular opinions gravitated towards a series of abstractions driven by the usual sets of people. The naysayers, the yesayers, those in the know, those in denial (arguably the optimists), the optimists (myself included) and the ones that are usually swayed by popular opinion that suits their pshyche best.

  • The Virus is man made and originated in China at some reasearch or bio-weapons facility in Wuhan. Whatever, but we’re up the creek and no paddle.
  • The world has changed. Yay!!!
  • The Pandemic is a way to tell mankind that it has abused the planet and the planet is now healing. Right, we’re all stone deaf or soon will be.
  • The oceans, rivers, air are less polluted, say the very people who polluted them in the first place. Go figure!
  • People have adopted healthier lifestyles. Not much else to do in the first place, so no pat on the back here, but perhaps I should be kinder.
  • It will take us years to recover and be back to normal. We really have no way of knowing what that “normal” may end up as.
The Virus is man made: Not even getting into that despite my own convications on the subject and a lot in the public and not so public domains.

The World has changed: No extra points for that astute observation.

Note to Mankind - "You've abused Mother Nature": Note taken but will be ignored shortly after things ease up. You see, we have short memories and its always SEP - Sombody Elses Problem, what can I do anyway?

Less Pollution is a Fact: Reality check....it IS less polluted, but ONLY because the smokestacks have stopped spewing temporarily, planes aren't really flying as much, cars arent out that much. So unless we expect to move all polluting means of transport and production to non-polluting ones immediately, its going to be BAU - Business As Usual right after. Alternatively we go back to animals moving us and things around (here come the PETA - Prevention of Cruelty To Animals activists). Let's go back to ships with sails, or take up Cycling to Work en masse (I did it for years in Bombay - 18 km each day each way), so I've done my bit and until this day don't own a car. So let's do snail mail, the bullock-cart, the horse-drawn carriage, the mule train, oxen and bulls to till fields (still widely prevalent in India) A rapid slowing down of trade, provision of services.

The ONLY thing that will actually be spared is this whole Digital thingy (deserving, demanding and crying out for a seperate chapter in this serices). 

Healthier Lifestyles: Would that be because bars, clubs, pubs, restaurants and all our usual watering holes are shut? Is it a choice or is it just because we’re all sitting around with limited mobility and naught else to occupy our time? Sustainable? Theoretically - yes, Hopefully - BIG YES, Practically - I’m not so sure. What happened in Bombay, the day the lockdown was lifted? Thousands of people took to the Marine Drive Promenade. Social distancing be damned! So I can’t possibly be blamed for being a bit of a sceptic.
Wai, Wai, Wai or well, well, well (Turkish, influenced by a recently devoured Netflix series). We do have a rather interesting and intimidating set of dilemmas, so perhaps you get why Conundrum?

All said and done what we have at hand is a radically changed on-ground reality and a scratching of heads to figure out how the Digital will co-exist with the Physical going forward and the cognoscenti are calling it "Phygital". The ever expanding English language, you see.

People are figuring out what the long term impact of limited or no mobility will be, as are Organizations, Governments and NGO's. 

Our very concept of growth is in question. Growth means expanding beyond borders and everyone is cosing ranks as we speak. Buy Made in USA, Make in India are but two inititives that threaten the Global Economy by encouraging local businesses.

The Pandemic has taken that a few steps further and now we have "Hyper-local", or buisness in the immediate hinterland. Maybe we should even look at good ole barter-trade once again.
The initial reactions, at least in my mind, was, “Storm in a Teacup”. Was I way off the mark! That was one bad prediction!

The initial numbers weren’t alarming and then it all came down like a pack of cards, the Domino chips fell, Italy and petty soon it was all over. India started slowly but in a couple of months, the spate and acceleration got scary as heck. That seems to be the state across the globe, with some countries seemingly locked in a downward spiral.

When this all began, I for one, never imagined that it would span these many months. I brushed it away and indeed underestimated the extent of the chaos Covid would end up causing. It took time to sink in. This was a full blown Pandemic of global proportions and the way it seems we haven’t really seen the bottom of the pit yet.

THE PENDULUM STILL SAYS SOUTH

Reactions at organizations and by Governments, when the magnitude or real threat perceptions were borne out by the sheer numbers? Concern, mild panic, followed by disbelief, followed by acute panic, followed by seemingly draconian measures and all the troubles and woes that accompany such measures real and perceived.

In the absence of a cure or a vaccicine, Social Distancing seemed to be the only viable alternative. Let infected people stay put and not expose ones not infected and so it all began. Did it really help? Arguably yes, but with the whole Community Spread angle, I’m not so sure.

Heads – I Win Tails – You Loose

From absolute lockdown to a gradual lifting of the lockdown, from closing offices and workplaces to gradually reopening offices and workplaces, from absolute mobility restrictions, closing of international and even local borders, mandatory and voluntary quarantine, Governments and Organizations have been challenged like never before and no matter what measures are contemplated, no matter what the narratives are and no matter what steps they take, they will never be truly appreciated.

Healthcare is another area that’s been caught totally off balance! No healthcare system or processes were ever designed to deal with the kind of testing that’s needed, nor were they designed to quarantine the numbers needing it. Then there’s the whole vaccine issue. Speeding up trials yes, coming up with a vaccine that does the trick yes, but what about distribution and administering the vaccine? How about monitoring post vaccination? Surely a vaccine that’s thrown together and taken the fast-track route to administration with minimal clinical trials will need to be monitored closely? What about side effects. That’s another conundrum right there! A lot of questions and few answers.

Communication and tools used to communicate have suddenly come to the forefront like never before to overcome the setbacks on travel and

There has been no calamity quite like this, no challenge encountered like this, so there are no reference points or any precedents to follow. The wise old men can’t really add value by way of advise and its just trial and error.

How long should we lockdown for? How long is long or what is too short? At what point will be be choking the economy and affecting ability to earn a wage. What will be the impact on the general populace? No easy decisons, certainly no popular decisions. The “greater common good” despite being in the best interests of all, aren’t seen as such and the view tends to be very myopic.

Humans, by nature forget easily the good thats done and instead tend to focus on the measures taken, the ones that restrict freedoms of movement, speech and actions. Political considerations, profit and economic motivations of Governments and Organizations have an impact on their decisions. These decisions tend to be unpopular.

In my opinion, it is a big ask to expect people who at the bottom end of the food chain to think about the planet, when their very existence and that of their families are at stake. No bailout plan is quite sufficient to address this group of people. A bailout plan or support plan or stimulus package, whatever label we end up giving such plans, devoid of fundamental principles is tantamount to deficit financing and deficit financing at a global level is tantamount to disaster of epic proportions.

If we’re able to recall macroeconomics from when we were students back in the day? M1, M2, M3 and the concept of Money Supply? Pretty simple this equation, no rocket science here.

I would love to be proved wrong and all fronts, BUT am I holding my breath? Heck, the air is cleaner, why should I?

Speaking of predictions, I don’t seem to have seen people quote Nostradamous quartrains, as they often do whenever there is some sort of a calamity. Unless I’ve altogether missed any references to them on the usual channels.

The “New Normal” is such an understatement! Perhaps the Understatement of the century, almost like a falsehood along the lines of “The Earth is Flat” changing to “The Earth is Curved” to “Hell no, the Earth is Round”. A falsehood not by design, but restricted by what we can observe and experience and learn as we continue our battle against the virus. As we understand more about COVID and diseases in general, these falsehoods will be turned on their heads. Look at what we were told and what really happened. The “New Normal” deserves, demands and warrants special mention and therefore one piece in this series is dedicated to “The New Normal”.

But for now let’s deal with some falsehoods that were quickly turned on their heads and then look at some published facts.

  • That the virus would affect only people over a certain age.
  • That the Virus is unlikely to survive warm and hot climates and surfaces.

So here are the facts from the WHO and as you see this list, if you’re anything like me, you’re bound to be rolling your eyes with the stuff they need to put out! One in particular really cracked me up, “Fact: Drinking Ethanol, Methanol or Bleach DOES NOT cure Covid19 and can be dangerous”.

Covid 19 – Facts from WHO

In ending this piece, YES the World has changed and even though we can’t really fathom where this will all end up, what our lives will be like going forward, when this will all go away, will it all go away and so on….one thing is pretty darn clear, the World suffered a scare, its still afraid, precautions must and can be taken. YES, people have adopted better lifestyles, if only out of sheer boredom, but I’d hope people do adopt the healther lifestyles as a way of life and make conscious choices, be the choices be about diet, fitness, pollution, work life balance, live not just for the moment but bear in mind that nothing can be taken for granted. Not your paycheck, your source of income, not even your ability to be mobile as we were accustomed to in the very recent past.

The way we conduct ourselves and indeed expect and demand how those around us conduct themselves is all different now. Let’s be safe, take all precautions and keep others safe and urge them to take precautions.

It is then time to be more considerate, more compassionate, look kindly and help those not as fortunate as some of us. When you spend frivolously, think of the people struggling and in despair.

On pain of death or worse yet, a life accursed by the ones who are suffering, DO NOT go out and buy the USD 100/- odd Louis Vuitton facemask!!!

Business Models are polarizing, moving from physical to digital, online is thriving, travel, leisure and entertainment is reeling. And yet whereas the digital is the first mile, in more cases than not, digital alone cannot complete the circle, the last mile must be physical. “Future Proof” has taken on new meaning, those who didn’t envision the future have fallen by the wayside, whilst others are morphing and new models emerging, sustainable ones. Some big names are gone, some others are struggling. People are being let go, employers are being mercenary whereas others are being fair and considerate.

Our People skills are under the severest test we’ve every experienced. Isolation, WFH – Work From Hone, Confinement, Solitary or with loved or not so loved ones, all present their own set of challenges. Shaking hands – NO, Coughing – NO, Feel a Sneeze Coming up – NO!!! People are showing their true colors, fear of the unknown and uncertainity is driving less than desirable behaviour, yet, there are people who rise to the occasion, above all odds and got out of their way to help. YES, humankind is being subjected to its harshest test yet.

The next couple of pieces (may end up more than just a couple) in the series will cover People, Society, Economy & Finance, Organizations, the Frontline Workers. Everything about COVID 19 is interconnected , everything is relevant and everything is a big mystery.

From The Outlaw Josie Wales:

Lone Watie:
“I wore this frock coat in Washington, before the war. We wore them because we belonged to the five civilized tribes. We dressed ourselves up like Abraham Lincoln. We only got to see the Secretary of the Interior, and he said: “Boy! You boys sure look civilized.!” he congratulated us and gave us medals for looking so civilized. We told him about how our land had been stolen and our people were dying. When we finished he shook our hands and said, “endeavor to persevere!” They stood us in a line: John Jumper, Chili McIntosh, Buffalo Hump, Jim Buckmark, and me — I am Lone Watie. They took our pictures. And the newspapers said, “Indians vow to endeavor to persevere.
“We thought about it for a long time, “Endeavor to persevere.” And when we had thought about it long enough, we declared war on the Union.”

We are in a war, it is a World War and yet not a single bullet has been fired.

Stay Safe in the War on Covid and help those frontline fighters, by ourselves fighting it, leading from the front.

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