It’s lonely at the top. Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Fail fast, fail cheap.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. People leave people, not organizations
How often have you heard people use these to make a point? Management at all levels is inundated with advice from professional consultants, luminaries and gurus. But do these management truisms hold everywhere? Or are they myths that need to be examined for relevance in today’s rapidly changing world?
In Busted, Ashok Soota and Peter de Jager focus on seventeen commonly accepted management principles and analyse why these should not be accepted as universal truths. Backed by their experience in building and scaling businesses; consulting with organizations across sectors, cultures and continents; real-life examples; and first-person interviews with industry leaders and practitioners, Busted takes into account the changed realities of the workplace and gives you a balanced view of what makes the world of management tick.
Here’s a book that challenges, tickles and pokes at accepted, seemingly unassailable management myths and inspires you to question, test and validate all advice, regardless of the source.
5:15 PM Registration & High Tea
6:00 PM Welcome Address
Address by the Author
“Busted: Debunking Management Myths with Logic, Experience and Curiosity”
Gp Capt R Vijayakumar (Retd), VSM
Executive Director, Madras Management Association
Mr Ashok Soota
Author & Executive Chairman
Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd
Discussion on the theme of the Book
Ms Sandhya Mendonca
Co-Author
Founder & Managing Director, Raintree Media
In Conversation with
Mr Peter de Jager
Author, Speaker, Writer & Consultant
Mr Ravichandran Purushothaman
President - India Region
Danfoss Industries Pvt Ltd
Ms Meera Nair Management Consultant & Independent Director, DBS Bank India Ltd
AshokSoota
Ashok Soota, Executive Chairman of Happiest Minds Technologies Limited, is widely recognized as one of the pioneering leaders of the Indian IT industry. As a serial entrepreneur, he has led both companies where he was founding Chairman to very successful IPOs: Happiest Minds (2020) and MindTree (2007).
Happiest Minds Technologies Limited is a ‘Born Digital . Born Agile’ Mindful IT Company that uses leading-edge technologies to deliver solutions. A Great Place to Work-Certified™ company, Happiest Minds is in GPTW’s Top 15 Best Workplaces in Health and Wellness, Top 25 Best Workplaces in India, Top 100 in Asia, Top 50 for Women and Top 25 in IT and IT/BPM.
Ashok has been the President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), a member of the Prime Minister’s Task Force for IT and was on the Advisory Council for the World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva. He is a Fellow of INAE and CSI and on the Board of Governors of Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Philippines. He is a recipient of multiple awards for IT Person of the year (Dataquest and Elcina) and Lifetime Achievement (Financial Express, Dataquest and Chiratae Ventures, earlier IDG).
In April 2022, Ashok announced the creation of Happiest Health, a knowledge enterprise focusing on health & wellness. In April 2021, he launched SKAN, India’s first private sector, non-profit organization exclusively dedicated to carry out medical research on ageing, neurological disorders and gutmicrobiome axis. He also established in 2011 Ashirvadam, a Trust for environmental projects and assistance to the needy. Ashok has been included in Forbes’ Asia Top 15 list of philanthropists in 2022.
Ashok holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Roorkee (now IIT, Roorkee) and an MBA from the Asian Institute of Management, Philippines.
Ashok is co-author of the national bestseller – “Entrepreneurship Simplified: From Idea to IPO” and his hobbies include trekking, the outdoors, yoga, taichi, meditation and swimming.
Peter De Jager is best known for his global efforts to raise responsible awareness of Y2K issues throughout the 1990s. His current goal is to tear down existing myths surrounding the Change Process which create unnecessary difficulties when implementing Change. His Specialties are: A communications expert in both the written and spoken word. Management columns in a dozen publications including Computer World, Globe and Mail online, ABA Bankers Journal, CIPS Across Canada, Municipal World.
Ms Sandhya is the co-founder, MD & Chief Editor of Raintree Media. She is also an author and Cultural Evangelist. She was a career journalist for 16 years, honing her craft in reputed newspapers and magazines, and TV production houses. She actively promote the arts with uniquely curated events such as Under The Raintree, India’s first multi-arts festival curated and performed entirely by women. She host a talk show, 'Spotlight with Sandhya'. Her choice of subject matters as a writer is eclectic - from innovation and business to travel, institutional biographies to culture and history. Her books have been published by Penguin, Random House, Westland & Raintree Media. ‘Breaking Barriers’, on former Karnataka Minister Nafees Fazal, published by Konark Publishers was released in early November.
‘Disrupt and Conquer: How TTK Prestige Became a Billion-Dollar Business’, published by Penguin 2018.
It was featured in Amazon Editor's picks of Memorable Books of 2018 and Best of Business & Leadership from 2018. It was longlisted for the Gaja Business Book awards.
‘Reva EV: India's Green Gift to the World’, published by Random House, 2013.
Her stories have been published in the internationally bestselling inspirational series 'Chicken Soup for the Soul’.
Ravichandran
Purushothaman
Ravi is the President of Danfoss Industries Pvt Ltd a 100% subsidiary of the Leading family-owned Danish MNC Danfoss A/s HQ in Denmark since 2013.
Danfoss is a world leader in Mobile Hydraulics, Electrification, Cooling and Refrigeration , Drives and District Heating technologies .
Prior to this role, Ravi was heading Danfoss Motion controls business Asia Pacific covering business which incl South Asia, Korea, Japan, Australia and NZ. He has been with Danfoss since 2002 and prior to that with Siemens in India, Germany in various roles ranging from Sales & Marketing, Strategy, General management and M&A
Ravi is also Member of Global management team, Board member and Global Mentor since 2013. Has been active in Energy and water, Food and Agri, Technology space supporting and mentoring several early stage start-ups in India in various roles.
Ravi works extensively in the area of Cooling, Energy efficiency. Decarbonization and food loss areas and represents several though leadership initiatives
He is an active member in Industry bodies, was Chairman of CII Chennai in 2014-15 and Chairman CII Tamilnadu 2017-18. He currently chairs CII Food and agriculture center of Excellence task force on Cold Supply chain logistics and chairs CII Green building center Energy efficiency council.
Ravi was the President of Madras Management Association during the year 2020-21.
MeeraNair
Business leader with over 25 years of diverse corporate and entrepreneurial experience. She has worked with and advised Governments & corporates.
Meera is an Independent Director on the Board of DBS Bank India. As a strategy & Management Consultant her focus is largely on food & Agribusiness. She played a pivotal role as a founding team member at NCDEX (National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange)
India, where she contributed to the creation of products and markets for agricultural commodity derivatives. Meera has worked with Cyanamid India, ICICI Bank, EID Parry and is also an Executive Coach for CXO’s & Entrepreneurs.
Meera holds a Master's degree in Agricultural Economics with a specialization in Agribusiness from Michigan State University, Master’s degree in Management studies from Mumbai University, and a degree in Agricultural Sciences from Kerala Agricultural University.
