Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
1
APRIL
2021
CONTENTS
Cover story
Health
Digital transformation
Enabling personal growth
Srinath Ravichandran
Customer centricity
EDITOR Gp Capt R Vijayakumar ﴾Retd﴿, VSM
MADRAS MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
READERSHIP OUTREACH
Management Center, New No.240 Pathari Road
Gp Capt Dr R Venkataraman ﴾Retd﴿
﴾Off Anna Salai﴿, Chennai 600 006
Sundar R Vakeeswari M DESIGN
D Rajaram, Tayub Refai
Ph:044‐2829 1133 Email:mma@mmachennai.org | mandate@mmachennai.org www.facebook.com/mmachennai
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
EDITORIAL
Gp Capt R Vijayakumar (Retd), VSM
Still Adjusting to the New Realities
F
iscal Year 2021 has been a unique year with plenty of
to change jobs, some even careers. A majority said that they
challenges. Even as it ends, we continue to face the
were merely surviving or struggling while a few admitted to
challenges and uncertainty of the times. But now we
feeling isolated. The time spent in meetings has more than
are equipped better with resilience, wisdom and vaccine! I
doubled; it is believed that over 40 billion more emails were
would like to take this opportunity to appreciate the trust you
delivered in Feb compared to last year. It all indicates the
placed on us. For, it was with your support that we successfully
endless cycle of work with little time for relaxation, thereby
managed and presented seamlessly outstanding management
causing persistent burnouts.
programmes all through the year despite the tough times. The MMA Annual Convention on the theme “India’s Turning Point: Challenges and Opportunities” was a grand success, viewed by over 30,000 participants. The convention was addressed by a galaxy of speakers. In this issue, we are delighted to present to you articles on each of the sessions with embedded videos. Please read on, watch the videos, and do share your feedback.
An Alternative New Space We reconciled to the change by creating an alternative new space to even out the effects of the New Normal. In fact, to address the changing needs of our members and audiences, we switched to hybrid format events. We found this format quite simple, including a mix of live and virtual engagement with the audience no matter where they are. We can surely do a little to get that inspiration going! Do join us at MMA hybrid events and get inspired.
Reconciling to the New Normal We are all living in the New Normal, where our homes have
Covid also evangelised the collective mindset of the masses
doubled up as our workplaces too. The one year of working
towards healthier living. People are now continuously talking
from home has brought working professionals to an inflection
about building immunity and generously ensuring a
point. Over 40% of professionals are so tired that they want
perennially healthy lifestyle. Our “Wellness Conclave for
5
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Success” on 7th April 2021 (also brought out in this edition)
out. In this regard, MMA with the support of AIMA and in
included an excellent presentation by Ponds Veterans on the
association with KPMG and KAS presents an exclusive online
theme, “The Fitness Habits of Successful CEOs.” Please
workshop on “The New Labour Code” on Saturday, 8th
read on and watch the embedded video for tips and info.
April at 10.00 am. Please do watch the live streaming to
The pandemic has disproportionately affected womenfolk
understand more about the new labour code.
globally. I strongly believe that a selfreliant nation needs self reliant women. I have personally seen how families—often
A Perfect Launch
economically weak—build a life of dignity and respect for
Despite the pandemic seriously impacting our economy,
themselves with limited means at their disposal. Without
the sight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLVC51),
exception, families that are successful in doing so are
lifting off majestically from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre
influenced by the strong women of the family. She efficiently
and successfully placing Brazil’s Amazonia1 and 18 other co
utilizes the family’s limited resources to fulfil the needs of all
passenger satellite in orbit was heartwarming and refreshing.
family members. The other quality that binds Indians at the
The success is a perfect and fitting gift to the nation, struggling
bottom of the pyramid is their entrepreneurial spirit and
to recover from the pandemic. ISRO has truly become
willingness to work hard. If we could focus on millions of
synonymous for hard work, perseverance and team spirit. That
underprivileged, hard working women in India and provide
some of the satellites were developed by students should serve
them access to capital to leverage their entrepreneurial spirit,
as a source of inspiration for our youth. Finally, India’s
India will march towards an inclusive economic prosperity. In
initiative on space and vaccine diplomacy will certainly give
this context, MMA organized its Women Convention on the
fillip to the nation’s global ties.
theme “The New Woman of Today,” to focus on the challenges faced by women, impact of the pandemic, and what
Another Outbreak?
it means for the New Woman of Today. The speakers shared
The Prime Minister is warning of the possibility of another
their insights about navigating many faces of independence,
Covid19 outbreak. It is a cause for concern. The economy is
tradition, modernity and the resulting potpourri of identities
limping, and we cannot afford to have a second wave. How
that is “The New Woman of Today”!
much longer will the pandemic linger on? Already masks,
If you missed watching it live, click to watch the proceedings and get inspired.
hygiene and physical distancing have become an indispensable part of our lives. The vaccination drive should spread, and those who have had the jab should not see it as a licence to move freely. Appropriate behaviour has to be enforced to fight
The New Labour Codes After much debate, India has consolidated 29 existing labour
the pandemic.
laws in to four broad codes—wages, social security,
Stay safe, stay healthy. Happy reading!
occupational safety and industrial relations. While the
Let me know what you think about everything that’s
parliament has given its assent, administrative rules are yet to
happening
be framed. The initial target for the roleout was April 2021,
ed@mmachennai.org.
but it may be delayed due to the elections. Businesses are on overdrive to adjust to the new regime. Legal, consulting firms and companies are already working on the way to implement and adapt to the new labour laws—India Inc., has its work cut 6
APRIL
2021
at
MMA.
You
may
contact
me
at
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
I
Frontier Businesses • We must create global hubs serving India and the world • We must unlock efficiency engines for India's competitiveness • We must find new ways of working and serving. India's longterm savings must flow into longterm capital Covid and lockdowns have taken a big toll on our market products like insurance and pension funds. economy. Though we are bouncing back, we have structural Liberalisation of insurance announced in the budget is one challenges which cannot be ignored. Exports are slowly of the reforms that could enable this. The cost of capital also recovering but it has yet to show the buoyancy that it needs. must come down. An average commercial borrower in India Capex announcements are one fifth of the normal level, buys credit at 5% points more than the average commercial indicating weakness in the Capex recovery. Job creation is a borrower in other Asian countries. The cost of bad loans is challenge. The pace of growth of bank credits is a cause for passed on to the borrower. The privatisation of banking can concern. The report looks at not just the pandemic year but bring in more efficiency and, in turn, benefit the borrower. the next decade. The call to action is quite urgent. On the reforms front, some progress has been made in intent and bold announcements. The Production Linked Action Plan for the Next Decade Incentive (PLI) for manufacturing is a good example. In By 2030, India must create 90 Million jobs, which is three agriculture too, we are seeing reforms. We need a whole times the nonfarm jobs created in FY1319. For this to range of reforms in land and labour market and power happen, GDP growth should be twice that of preCovid rate distribution to reduce tariff cost. Moreover, ease of doing of 4.2%. Our research focused on four areas: business needs improvement. Reforms are needed in the • Building frontier businesses that generate higher financial sector too. wages for workers; there are 43 of them. • Climbing the ladder of scale. We need 1000 more How Can We Make This Happen? midsize companies to become large companies; • We need two engines of reforms: 60% Stateled 10,000 small companies must become medium and 40% Centreled. size companies. The larger the companies grow, • 50% reforms need a policy or law that can be the more productive they will be. speedily implemented. • We need to raise $2.4 Trillion capital, which is three • There has to be an effective implementation times the prepandemic level, at 3.5% lower cost. architecture with a consultative process involving The cost of capital for investors must come down. all stakeholders, rigorous PRAGATI style reviews • Broad based reforms need to be implemented at a for the next two years, and CMled war rooms. certain speed and urgency over the next 12 to 18 months. am happy to share the outcome of the yearlong research done by McKinsey Global Institute. The findings are important in the context of Covid19's effect on health and economy. Though people have not returned to work at the levels that existed before Covid, it has been steadily recovering.
9
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Naveen: Can you share your thoughts on our
frontline workers and factory workers has been incredible.
turning point in the year gone by, from your and
India has already taken off from the springboard. Indian
your organisation's perspective?
manufacturing will not be the same again for three reasons: •
Preetha: I am sad at the number of people we have lost and
Because of travel restrictions, we had to lean more on local expertise.
the battles we have fought. It was a tough year. There are so •
many lessons we've learnt. I am excited about the prospects
Industry 4.0 and digitisation were on the back burner, but these will be in the forefront this year.
of the future.
•
Social distancing has led to new ways of conducting
We are in a position to give vaccines to the world. We have
business. These will power India into a global
used it for our countrymen and we have already given millions
manufacturing powerhouse and become a part of
of doses to other countries. Vaccination at a global scale has
global supply chains. Rakesh: I was in the US until October and was locked up in my place. In the US, Covid infections—after coming down in September—continued to rise; while in India, it is steadily
We had the courage to announce a lockdown of this size. It was a question of lives versus livelihood. Suddenly we were thrown into a digital ecosystem.
coming down and I hope this trend will continue. We need to
~ Dr. Preetha Reddy
Africa and much less in East Asia. There is no way to figure it
understand how the pandemic has unfolded in different places around the world. There is no explanation as to why the pandemic has been voracious in Europe, the US and North America, while it has been less virulent in South Asia and out if health systems are responsible for this difference. For each one of us who have been privileged to take care of us staying in and working from home, there are 10 others who didn’t have that much advantage. I have been on the
not happened like the way it has happened in India. We had
Board of Companies in India—Nestle and Kirloskar. In both
the courage to announce a lockdown of this size. It was a
the companies, it's very impressive how they managed to come
question of lives versus livelihood. Suddenly we were thrown
back to production very quickly despite the lockdown, and
into a digital ecosystem. We have come through the challenge
implement safe work practices.
with resilience. India is a country that uses crisis as a spring board.
There are many people we cannot avoid working together and having facetoface interactions—in factories, warehouses,
We have the largest Englishspeaking workforce in the
logistic companies, kitchens, restaurants and so on. These are
world, which is a big advantage. We have 65% of our
the people who risk themselves and make it possible for others
population as youth, and it's a powerful driver to take us
to work from home. We need to give our thoughts to these
forward. Using healthcare opportunities, we can keep our
people, to their courage and to their continued working in a
ageing population comfortable at their homes. Keeping people
pretty efficient fashion.
out of hospitals is a big opportunity for the healthcare sector. Josh: The courage we have seen from the government, the 10
APRIL
Coming to the budget and the economy, given the adverse situation, I must say that this has been a very innovative 2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
budget. It has turned around the mood in the economy.
employment has been a matter of concern over the
Among the welcome points is the focus on capital investments,
past many budgets. No country, especially in Asia,
particularly infrastructure expenditure. Of course, the devil
has grown without high manufacturing and
is in the details and let us hope for the best.
employment growth. •
Manufacturing growth is also linked to export
I would like to highlight a few issues:
growth. From 2002 to 2012, we had higher
•
The taxtoGDP ratio has remained rock solid at
manufacturing export growth than China. Since
around 10% over several budgets, which is baffling
then, it is almost zero growth in manufacturing
and indicates a structural issue.
exports.
•
•
Lack of adequate generation of nonfarm
If we keep our exchange rate competitive, we may not need artificial support like PLI.
Naveen: What is your view on FDI in India and how can we spur manufacturing growth?
Atmanirbhar is a good trigger point. We must focus on design. Whatever we design, we must be able to produce in India.
Josh: FDI must translate to gainful employment and employment for women. Atmanirbhar is a good trigger point. We must focus on design. Whatever we design, we must be able to produce in India.
~ Josh Foulger
The next important thing is the supply chain. India has the breadth in supply chain. Very few countries have India's 11
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
stroke of a pen. They must translate to reality. The policies have to be framed in a businessfriendly manner. State governments also have a big role to play in the reform process.
We need to generate big companies. In the last 15 years, no new big companies have come up.
Naveen: Any advice for the corporate leaders?
~ Rakesh Mohan
Rakesh: We need to generate big companies. In the last 15 years, no new big companies have come up. I feel that the money reserved for PLI can be spent for infrastructure development. Since independence, we have been lacking in
capability in this sphere. Right from fundamental research to true productization, hardware design, software design, mechanical design and integration, India has strength. In machines and instrumentation areas, FDI has always been poor and we majorly import these. We take pride in getting imported machines. This budget talks about incentivising machine building in the country. PLI is definitely a right kind of boost. Automobile industry is slowly becoming an ICT industry. If we get the right kind of FDI and we are able to execute it, then India can achieve gainful jobled growth. Preetha: We can provide skilling services in Healthcare sector, which can lead to gainful employment. We can export these services. Also, Ayushman Bharat will generate 5 million jobs for the country.
health and education sectors. We need to give much more attention to coordinated programs in these areas. Companies must focus on R&D. Preetha: We are getting a lot of support and learnings from our friends in the manufacturing sector. I find that many of the young graduates from business schools come with a menu on their hand and that things have to be as per that menu. We need to learn from the opportunities that stare us in the face. Who would have thought of the opportunities that exist now in digitisation? Let not conventional wisdom cloud the trigger of innovation. Josh: This is going to be India's decade. $5 Trillion is a milestone around the corner. $10 Trillion is on our way. Manufacturing will be a big part of that. Leaders in the industry must embrace the Atmanirbhar concept and take it
Anu: There is a feel good factor now, perhaps because we are coming out of the pandemic and bouncing back, and partly because of the budget announcements. There is no room for complacency, and reforms must stay the course.
forward. Anu: We are on one more major inflection point in our growth and a much welcome one. During the worst days of the pandemic, we saw the spirit of innovation, cando nature,
In a global research study done by us, we noted that
agility and whateverittakestomakeithappen approach in
remote working, digitisation and automation to manage
the leaders. We need that kind of a mindset. The worst thing
workforce, health and safety. All these will accelerate in the
that can happen is the feeling that we can go back to the pre
longterm and there will be a big churn of jobs. Many more
pandemic style of life. Things will not pan out like that. The
workers will be displaced and they have to find new
spirit of openness and lifelong learning, not just for youngsters
occupations. We need to simplify skilling and reskilling.
but for all is very important.
We have seen that 50% of the reforms are made at the
12
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
14
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
D
igital Transformation is viewed differently by technologists and economists. For a technologist, it means:
• Connectivity • Computational power • Technology modularisation • Annotated data • Algorithm advance, and • Visualisation For an economist, it means lower cost to make previously unimaginable steps possible. In addition to this, personal behaviours have changed significantly because of digital. Many of them have become irreversible. What Are the Challenges? • Digital adoption across sectors varies significantly. It is much low in public sectors. • Only 16% of the digital transformation has led to value. Some of the reasons for this are: Most projects are done on a pilot basis and not scaled thereafter. Cost savings from Cloud are not very clear. Digital needs a different set of talent. Digital natives must gel with others in the organisation. How Do We Derive Value from Digital Transformation? This needs to be addressed on three levels by any business attempting digital transformation. • How can we transform the core? • How can we build new businesses? • How do we modernise technology? Even before we attempt digitisation, the application areas must be stacked up based on business value. For 15
APRIL
example, for a manufacturing firm, one can think of using digital skills for capacity forecasting, forecasting of cost function, inventory forecasting and so on. Then the areas must be prioritised. The agile model, which talks about co locations and creating functional teams, has to be used. Agile teams must be fully empowered to make decisions. These teams must have topnotch and differentiated talents. Key shifts in successful implementation cases are: • •
Driving business improvement Building capability internally rather than outsourcing • Realising business opportunities; having pragmatic implementation. Of the new businesses built by corporates, only 16% have been blockbuster successes. There are various reasons for failure, like having no unfair advantage, misaligned expectations, revenge of mothership, cultural contamination and so on. Some digital success stories from legacy businesses include SBI Yono; Service Mandi of Ashok Leland and Apollo's 24 x 7 omnichannel ecosystem focussed on healthcare. The Big Learnings Are: 1) Have big aspirations. 2) Put the user at the centre. 3) Adopt the Agile approach where Business and Technology teams have to work handinhand. 4) Do not compromise on talent. 5) Have partnerships for enhancing value and ensuring faster time to market. 6) Go for costeffective (frugal) customer acquisition and at scale. 2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Raghavan: Your initial thoughts on digital transformation?
A year into the pandemic, all of us have seen the power of digital, not just limited to virtual meet‐ ings...
Ravi: For supply chain industry, the head room is huge for digital transformation. We are at very early stages of putting digitally enabled solutions. We need to transform this into digitallyled solutions. On one side, it is happening on the infrastructure front. On the other, we need to give power not
~ Anantha Sayana
only to internal users but external customers as well. If we combine the tools available with tools like social media, it's going to be very powerful. The key to success is to believe that technology is the spine of the business. Business
at a certain level and scale gives us competitive advantage.
transformation happens around technology.
Digital transformation in other industries has happened
Anantha: We first heard the word digital in 2014 or 15. We
through interaction with customers like in travel, banking and
had IT for 3040 years. At that time, we heard of digital bytes.
insurance by giving alert to customers and improving touch
Again, we heard of digital from 2014 because a bunch of new
points with customers. These are all B2C and we have had
technologies appeared on the horizon. We had faster network,
thousands of success stories in B2C.
computing became more powerful, storage became more available and Cloud became an option.
At L&T, we looked at digital to improve our operational efficiency, right from the start of a project like studying the
All this led to delivering of a reliable and consistent
geography of the land followed by engineering, procurement,
performance that businesses could bank on while changing
execution of the project, monitoring, improving quality and
business models using digital technology. A year into the
safety and doing O & M after completion of the project. In
pandemic, all of us have seen the power of digital, not just
every one of these areas, we could use digital.
limited to virtual meetings. Businesses have realised that
We could use LiDAR, geospatial survey, satellite imaging
hundreds of things that they thought could be done only face
and drones to get data about the terrain and complete survey
toface could now be done through digital. You can buy, sell,
in less than one third of the time and 10 times more accurate
manufacture or pay through digital. Businesses and
than conventional methods. That enables us to do engineering
Technology must come together to make it a success.
better. In engineering, we use 3D modelling and we are able to see virtually the construction even before the first brick is
Raghavan: Do you think that without digital transformation organisations can survive today?
put in place. You can walk through the building virtually, detect problems and rectify it then and there. All these help us deliver a project on time. Digital
How central is this topic for organisation's
technology is not an addon. If properly implemented, it can
competitiveness? Anantha: In a large construction company like L&T, how do projects succeed? Projects have to be delivered on time and within budget. That is success. Doing a very complex project
16
APRIL
impact every function of the way we do business. At L&T, we started digital transformation in 2016. Now we have got every project site of L&T covered through digital solutions. We have over 40 to 50 solutions and are used by thousands of our 2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
employees. So digital transformation is core and it affects everything we do.
Our customers are consumer product companies. Real time information about our logistics helps them immensely. We need to look at our business and see which problems can be solved using technology. That is where the buy‐in becomes stronger.
Raghavan: What does digital mean in a B2B context? Ravi: At TVS, we have taken it as the core of the business. For instance, as a partner with L&T, I need to know how they move from point A to point B. It's about getting the right material, in the right time, giving that visibility to the customer. If my system can correctly pick up this information, I can plan for the number of vehicles and right size of vehicles based on the
~ Ravi Viswanathan
equipment size. I can provide information to L&T about the vehicles moving to their sites in real time. They can view these in their system. So digital transformation gives an endtoend path. Competitors who don't have the baggage of legacy, challenge
forum, he mentioned that digital is our core. We also sent the
you. If you don't invest in technology, you will become
message that digital is not just for experimentation and that
outdated and lose out on competition. Organisations have to
people will have to master technology.
look at their processes and see what can or cannot be digitised. It requires change management.
Ravi: It is very important that the messaging is constant and continuous. It has to go down to the last person in the chain, which in logistics is, the picker and packer. They need
Raghavan: How did you evangelise the concept of
to understand that this is the new way to do things and that
digitisation in your organisation? How did you rally
they cannot go back to old ways. Communication with
support?
customers is also critical. It has to be followed up with
Anantha: Software like ERP focussed on the office: Balance Sheet, Trial Balance, P&L Account, Purchase Order, Sales Order and so on. They automated office functions. When we started digital transformation in 2016, our focus was project sites and not office.
execution. Youngsters have a realtime mindset and are tech savvy. In digital, work gets captured at the point where it is done. Once a consignment is received, we label it. Once it is labelled, it can be tracked on a realtime basis. You may use a barcode or QR code scanner. We have used vision technology using AI in our warehouses and the returns from investments
My team and I travelled extensively to the sites. Every
are almost immediate.
solution originated from discussions in the project site. We used technology by deploying highly advanced equipment. We also used IoT. Without manual intervention, we could get enormous of amount of information and visibility. Problems could be solved by discussions and collaboration.
Our customers are consumer product companies. Real time information about our logistics helps them immensely. We need to look at our business and see which problems can be solved using technology. That is where the buyin becomes stronger.
Digital was a passion for our CEO and MD; in every 18
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Raghavan: What are the challenges that business
Only then, we can scale it. It is easier to get customers on a
leaders driving digitisation should take care of?
customised platform. In a B2B, the buyin of a supplier or
Anantha: The first digital solution that you're going to roll
customer is very critical.
out will be the toughest. Don't keep it on the table as blue print for a long time, but go and implement, so people can see and experience. Be alive to maturing and agile solutions. Tune them as you go along, making use of feedback. Digital
50% of our roadblock is gone. The biggest challenge is the
The first digital solution that you're going to roll out will be the toughest. Don't keep it on the table as blue print for a long time, but go and implement, so people can see and experience. Be alive to maturing and agile solutions.
mindset of the people who think, "How is it different from
~ Anantha Sayana
implementing teams must have empathy. Digital solutions must make the work of people easier, faster and more efficient. The solutions have to be userfriendly. There must be focus on UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience). Ravi: The trick is to get early wins and buyin from the people who are going to use it. If they see the benefits of technology,
what we are doing?" They will say that it cannot work in their area. We can't push it on them either. We need to cull out the commonalities across the organisation and build a platform. 19
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Raghavan: How do you attract and retain digital
workers have seen the two minute films in virtual reality,
talent? What are the challenges?
delivered in their local language. The developers get immense
Anantha: In L&T group, we have many technology
satisfaction at the results.
companies. For us, getting the work done using one of these
Ravi: There is so much talent in our country. We are blessed
companies is not very difficult. I have a great relationship with
to be in a country which got onto the digital bandwagon quietly
the technology companies in the group. I feel that very often,
early. At TVS, we have global operations. We have created a
we are looking for more talent than what the job calls for. I
very strong back office. 80% of our global operations get
may know multiple machine learning techniques and
executed from India. We have centres in Madurai and
algorithms but finally what matters is the one that I am going
Coimbatore apart from Chennai and Bangalore. The nerve
to use. If you are clear about the problem that you are going
centre is Madurai.
to solve and the value that you are going to provide, you just
I did Cobol programming and managed with it for 15
need to fit that with the right technology and skills. Another
years. Today, you can't be wedded to a technology for more
motivating factor for our employees is that they are able to
than two years. You need to get the talent which is able to very
solve real life problems within the group companies. They are
quickly assimilate new developments and apply them as
able to see what impact their solutions make.
required. We also have a strong brand, so we are able to attract
We created a bunch of films on safety using virtual reality. This gave our workers a visible and immersive experience. We
and retain talent. People understand the value systems of TVS group.
have distributed VR glasses to all sites and more than 10000
20
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
24
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
I
f we look at events from 1400 to the present, we can discern a common factor—and that is, these are once in a century events that have the power to shape the next one to two decades, in both lives and livelihood. Most people suffer from posttraumatic stress. Research shows that for many individuals, adversity is an opportunity for growth. So, a fair number of people experience post traumatic growth. How can we achieve this? Gary Hamel says, "You can't find new land using old map." We need new leadership to take us forward. Character is Greater Than Experience We can approach the present crisis with a fixed mindset (which is one of ignorance, hate and fear) or growth mindset (which is of curiosity, compassion and courage). The choice to learn and grow is ours. When the Tylenol poisoning crisis hit Johnson & Johnson, the CEO James Burke swung into action and decided to withdraw the entire lot, even though only a few batches were affected. They suffered millions of dollars in losses, yet after a few months, their sales began to rise again, because of the trust people had in the company. For Jamshedji Tata, it took 33 years to get permission from the British to build a steel plant in India. Yet, he pursed it. That is what we mean by character.
Five Leadership Lessons Bounded Optimism: This concept comes from Admiral James Stockdale, who was an American Prisoner of War in Vietnam where he was repeatedly tortured. He observed that fellow POWs who were very optimistic of survival, died. The pessimistic people too died. The ones who survived were those who had faith that they would survive but prepared for the worst. In a crisis like Covid, we saw both extremes of
25
APRIL
people. A leader must have faith and optimism but that should not stop him from being prepared for any eventuality. He must focus on what he can control. The other important factor, to quote Tom Schwartz is, "Energy, not time is the fundamental currency of performance." On a Performance Vs. Emotions Quadrant, the Performance Zone is the one in which our performance is high and we have positive emotions. In the Survival Zone, our performance is high but we have negative emotions. If we continue here, we may end up in the Burnout Zone, where we deliver low performance, while having negative emotions. In the Recovery Zone, we have positive emotions and deliver low performance. In this zone, we are relaxed and peaceful. It is not possible for us to always stay in the Performance Zone. The awareness of what gives us energy and what drains our energy helps us to manage our energy levels. So, instead of time management, the new paradigm, i.e., energy management is more important. Pause, Then Act: Involve others in the decision process. We need to be aware of our triggers. ‘Between stimulus and response, lies our freedom of choice (Viktor Frankl).’ It is between these two that we need to give a pause. Empathy and Love: Show love, care and gratitude. Communicate: Have one story, one voice and repeat it many times till it trickles down; communicate in one voice and transparently. There is a difference between a plan and story. A plan is what we show in a PowerPoint and is the shortest path to get from Point A to B. A story is the most interesting path to get from A to B and it gives hope. To explain where you are going, tell people your plan. However, to inspire them, tell them your story. Have a Network of Teams: Involve more people in the process. Get their inputs and push decisions to the edge.
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Faridun: Why is leadership so important in a crisis?
Dr Jairam: The leader must have confident vulnerability,
Dr Jairam: Leadership has to exist across the organisation
than kneeshaking vulnerability. If he has all the answers, then
and not just at the top. It's about enabling the execution of the
people will become suspicious of him. Super heroes don't exist
agenda. It is about people and excellence. The leader is the
in real life. The leader must have the ability to ask deep,
custodian of the purpose of organisation. In a crisis, the
probing questions, rather than having all the answers.
asymmetry of information causes great uncertainty. The leader's role is to bring a certain point of view and clarity.
Faridun: Why is empathy so important and how can
Santhanam: I would like to give a human analogy. We have
leaders show empathy during times of crises?
the Corpus Callosum which connects the Left and Right
Santhanam: If the enterprise wants to be successful, the
brains. Leadership is about connecting the emotional state of
leader must put himself in the shoes of the employees,
the people in a crisis, with a rational response or a series of
customers and various stakeholders. During Covid crisis, 30%
responses. Distributive leadership is central to managing a
of our employees worked at the factory and they worked
crisis.
extraordinarily hard. The rest 70% worked from home and some of them did not have that much work. But it is important
Faridun: What is different in how people lead during
for us to take care of this 70%, understanding their
turbulence?
vulnerability, as much as we take care of the other 30%. We
Santhanam: It is very important for a leader to give a point of view. It can change depending on the situation. The leader must prepare his team to face multiple scenarios. The leader
made sure that there were no pay cuts, and increments were given. These are little things that companies can do and demonstrate empathy.
must encourage people to act swiftly without fear of failure.
The company does not expect the leader to have all the answers. However, authentic leadership is needed. Together with his team, the leader can discover all the answers.
Dr Jairam: The leader's role in a crisis is to assure his team that he is there and that he will back them. When a spacecraft is having problem and the crew hear the voice, "Houston calling," it gives so much relief to them. The leader's role is to give that comfort of 'Houston calling.' The leader must lead from the front.
~ B Santhanam Faridun: Is the leader expected to have all the Dr Jairam: The level of stress for any individual during a
answers? Santhanam: I don't think so and it's a faulty assumption. All that the leader can have is a range of possibilities and a range of possible actions. The company does not expect the leader to have all the answers. However, authentic leadership
crisis is very high. Everything is uncertain. We need to understand their situation. This is not just required of good leaders but of good human beings. Empathy is a foundational human quality.
is needed. Together with his team, the leader can discover all
Faridun: There is an increasing amount of pressure
the answers.
on those who work from home, leading to stress and 26
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
anxiety. There are inherent limitations of working from home. How does your organisation handle this?
If leaders can simulate a crisis situation when the crisis is not there, it helps in managing a crisis in a much better way.
Santhanam: Once we started WFH mode, in our digital town hall meeting, we said, "We are intruding into your privacy; we respect your home." During one of our online discussions, a child came into the frame to talk to the father. We immediately
~ Dr Jairam
stopped our official discussions and engaged with the child for a couple of minutes. It was a spontaneous gesture and made a huge impact. We also made sure, quite early into
Santhanam: Thanks to privatisation of engineering education,
WFH, to restrict our work between 9:30 and 5:30.
we have 10x more talented people. We find them significantly
Dr Jairam: Work from home is an opportunity and definitely, it should not be abused. You can't have a onesize fits all solution for WFH. You must have a very segmented and flexible approach. It's okay if employees don't come on video. On WFH, the jury is still out and no one has a clear formula. There are lots of theories, trials and testing going on.
better than what we were at that age. A major portion of our digital transformation is done by 25yearold employees. Our company is in growth phase and we are looking for talent. Post Covid, there would be a growth phase for many firms and it means a burst of opportunities for youngsters. Dr Jairam: I also do not agree that our students are not employable. What is important is the value of employment. Government has come out with a huge platform for skilling.
Faridun: How can we make our students more
Students must make use of them to skill themselves adequately.
employable? 27
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Faridun: How is decisionmaking different in a
anxiety to managing my energy. The shift happened because
crisis?
of the honest and authentic feedback of my colleague. In a
Santhanam: It is based on evaluation of probabilistic scenarios. You don't put a strong analytical value to a decision. We need to prepare the organisation for the most likely scenarios and explain to people about the various possibilities. Dr Jairam: In a crisis, many options are not readily available. Plan B mode of working has to be in place. The chances of implementing innovative solutions are high in a crisis, and this gives lot of confidence to the people. If leaders can simulate a crisis situation when the crisis is not there, it
crisis, be open and expand your circle of people who can give feedback. One month into the crisis, we realised the huge opportunities and that gave us fresh energy. During the crisis, our employee engagement level was significantly higher. Dr Jairam: We went through a period of tremendous uncertainty. Then we accepted the reality. We did a series of videos of people talking and sharing their experiences. This helped the employees to regain confidence and understand that things were not as bad as they feared. Faridun: How can we use such crisis to learn and
helps in managing a crisis in a much better way. Faridun: How do you handle communication and
grow? Santhanam: During the crisis, we strongly crafted the
storytelling in your organisation? Santhanam: Historically, leaders have used PowerPoint as a tool. It doesn't capture the imagination of the people nor inspire them. So companies for the last few decades have been focussing on narratives and storytelling. The narrative we used for this crisis was a fourphased action plan. Phase 1 was about Survival. Phase 2 was Revival. Phase 3 was Improvisation and Phase 4 was Thriving. We realised that once we developed this narrative, people at once understood what phase they were in and responded. The thread of stories
purpose of the organisation. We are a 350yearold company and it took us so many years to come out with our purpose. During this phase, we had numerous engagements with our various units across the globe to work on our purpose. It ensured rapid transformation to digital. On March 12, we shutdown our plant and at that time, we had WebEx. On March 15, we had Microsoft Teams by which we could talk to 5000 people. Such digital transformation normally take 18 months to happen in Saint Gobain. People adopted it like duck to water. The customers too adopted digital. We went beyond
motivates employees. Dr Jairam: Storytelling is very important. First, you need
B2B and looked at B2C models. Gender diversity was always a challenge for us and we could
to tell the story to yourself standing in front of a mirror and keep repeating it till you get the visceral emotions of that story. Tell that story with credibility. We can take the help of history and draw out the positive aspects from similar situations that happened in the past and share those stories. Faridun: How can leaders manage their own
not attract women employees in our manufacturing setup. Digitalisation and WFH have changed our mindset about gender diversity in the group. We also reached out to our customers, vendors and partners. All these happened in a very short time. Dr Jairam: Normally, we look at vertical alignment in an organisation. But the Covid crisis has exposed the criticality
composure and energy? Santhanam: In one of our townhall meetings, I got a feedback from my colleague that I sounded anxious. This input really helped me. I moved from a frame of managing 28
APRIL
of horizontal alignment, across all stakeholders in the larger ecosystem. As a result, we completely transformed the way we worked and it brought tremendous value to the organisation. 2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
30
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Shankar: I am excited to be with a
ground segment, which collects the
Yes.
rocket scientist. Space has always
data and processes it. We operate in the
Who is your customer and why should
fascinated me. I congratulate you,
first partthat is, the launch vehicles.
they come to you?
Srinath, for bagging the ET 2020 award
To some extent, you can compare it
and TiE50 award. We also read that
with transportation business. Here, it
Anand Mahindra has chosen to invest
is space transportation.
in your company in his personal
Let me use a couple of analogies to explain this. Over the last two decades, satellites have become smaller in size
There are a lot of industries emerging
because of the development in
in all these segments. Space X is also
electronics, sensors, etc. Rockets are
into launch vehicles but they are in a
nothing but vehicles that carry
different class and in a very big way.
satellites to space. Rockets could not
There are satellite companies as well.
catch up with the speed at which
You might have heard of OneWeb, in
electronics shrunk in size. As a result,
which Airtel recently acquired a stake.
rockets have become too big for
Srinath: Space is another world.
There are also ground station providers
satellites and they are forced to ride
Getting to that world is one part of the
who collect data. There are companies
share. It is like taking a bus ride
business. Doing something from there
that process data and distribute it to
because you don't have a cab. You have
is the second part. Processing the data
end users. That is the whole spectrum,
to wait in the bus stop for the bus; it
collected is the third part. We call it: a)
and we are in the first part.
must have seats for you; and it has to
Have you chosen to be there by choice?
go to the destination that you want. In
capacity. It is a strong endorsement of what you are doing. You are in space tech. How do you fit in with the rest of the space players? What is your competition? Where do you think you are going?
launch vehicles b) satellites and c) the
31
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
the same way, satellites have to wait for
—very interesting applications are now
hire it when you want. So we want to
the rockets.
coming up. There is a company called
build a rocket that is completely
In space, there is a recent
ALE in Japan. They try to do to
customisable and which is meant for
development where everyone does not
artificial fireworks from space. They
the customer.
want to go with everyone. They feel that
take the debris up and scatter it in a
Are you telling me that if I have a 10 kg
an expensive satellite may be damaged
particular manner; and 3) We have
satellite, you will build a rocket for me?
by an inexpensive rocket developed by
people who do subsistent testing.
students or amateurs. They want
Earlier, they would simulate the space
exclusivity. The net result is that even
environment from here. Now they are
though a small satellite can be built in
testing in space with small satellites.
six months, to check off all the boxes,
These are the people who struggle to
you have to wait for two years.
get a rocket. And these are the people
Who are the end-users of small satellites?
There are usually three categories: 1) Conventional—either you go up and take pictures or you bounce off signals between two points; 2) Unconventional
to whom we are talking to. With small satellites increasing in number, we thought, "Why don't we
Exactly. The profitable limit at the lower side is 30 kg, and on the higher side, 300kg. How is your launch cost comparable with the ride sharing cost?
They are on the same side, perhaps slightly cheaper but the game that we play is with the waiting time.
build vehicles for them?" It is like
You are 3D printing the rockets which
getting all the facilities of a cab ride,
is amazing.
meeting all your requirements. You can
We didn't want to make a machine for
32
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
producing the rocket engine. So we
failures on the way.
inspired many investors.
chose the biggest machine available in
We get only 0.4 mm of precision in 3D
Why do you continue inside IIT where
the market. Our design iterations led
printing. Because of this factor, one of
the setup is very good for early stage?
us to printing the rocket engine which
our engines was not sufficiently cool.
Now you are in project mission mode.
we named 'Agnilet.'
The throat of the engine got burnt.
Very soon, you will be commercialising
Rocket engines have to handle
Another problem was that the metallic
it.
enormous temperatures, very high
powder from printing got clogged. At
pressures; and, tolerances are very
every step, we learnt something and the
stringent. Why do you 3D print and
problems could be fixed.
what advantages does it give you,
When you carry another person's
standards, we must make three test
relative to a conventionally assembled
satellite, you have to be very careful
launches. It is now comfortable
rocket?
not to damage it. How do you manage
working in the academia. After the
Making a rocket engine quickly was a
this?
third launch, definitely we'll go out.
challenge.
These
take
We have been discussing with our
For ten years, you were a Wall Street
enormous
amount
to
customers since 2017. They have seen
insider. Then you made two major
manufacture because of the number of
us grow. They usually ask us about
shifts. From Finance, you have moved
parts and the precision engineering
three or four metrics. Because we work
to a totally unrelated domain. What
required. In IIT Madras, there is the
with a team of retired ISRO scientists,
caused you to work in two different
largest combustion R&D centre. They
we are able to convince our customers.
dimensions?
Is a 3D printed engine superior to the
I have always been an aerospace
conventional engine?
physics enthusiast. My dad is an
withstanding high temperature and
It is superior in terms of manufacturing
engineer and my mom is into physics.
pressure for over a period of time.
because in 72 hours, without any
I wanted to do a degree in aerospace
That's where our idea started.
human
can
engineering. People advised me to go
manufacture the engine. Performance
for a core and branch off later. So I did
engines of
time
were doing projects for 3D printing of jet engines. It proved the point that 3D printed engines are capable of
Professor Satya Chakraborty of IIT Madras, who is a cofounder of our company, suggested us to look at 3D printing for our rocket engines. He
intervention,
We are now in the quasicommercial stage; when we transit to commercial stage, we will move out. As per industry
we
wise, both target the same parameters. electrical engineering and took up a job So basically, it is the ease of in motor design in India. I went to New York in 2008 and pursued finance
manufacturing.
pushed our boundaries and we decided
What sort of investors have you found
to print the entire rocket engine. There
in this journey, to fund your project?
is zero human assembly involved. We
What is in it for them?
first started printing different pieces of
We
the engine and tested them. Then we
institutional funds. Some angels too
moved to printing the entire engine.
have come in. We found it hard in the
In this process, there must have been
beginning. The SpaceX story has
have
33
gone
APRIL
typically
2021
with
because everyone who was around me in my college was doing a course in finance. I had no idea in finance and was intrigued by it. But my timing was a little wrong, with the financial meltdown happening in 2008. But it taught me rare values and about risk
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
wanted to move to India. Your co-founder Moin has also
I have always been a rocket enthusiast. Luckily, we found there was big gap in this segment and a huge need for rockets to carry satellites.
travelled a similar path like yours.
Yes. I knew him from very early days. We used to play cricket together in Gopalapuram, Chennai. He was in Australia and came back to Chennai because his dad was not well. After he stabilised, he was looking for a career in aerospace engineering. That's how we came together and the combination clicked. Because we knew each other, it
How did you sell this to your family?
management. Every day, there was one
(Laughs) I used to crib a lot earlier
less company to apply for a job.
about not liking what I was doing. So
management. Within a year or so in Wall Street, I realised that my heart
'Aerospace Industry Development Association' in Tamil Nadu. My wife casually suggested that I could speak to Mr N Shekar, President of this association, seeing his tweets. He connected me to Mr Madhusudan, Director of Lucid Software. Through his contacts, I got connected to Prof Satya Chakraborthy in IIT. He was the only professor who said that my idea was not bad (laughs). Tell us about your early days in the
was easier.
I got into hedging and risk
myself. There's an organisation called
my family just wanted me to be sure if I was doing the right thing and I must thank them for that.
startup where you had zero infrastructure and zero funding.
In the first six months, we were not even sure about what we were doing. Then, Professor Satya introduced us to Mr R V Perumal who is considered the father of India's GSLV program. We
was in engineering. After a couple of
Did you have a sense of insecurity
had his guidance. Having a retired
years, I quit that job and joined
because you moved from a salaried job
ISRO scientist on our board cut short
Masters in Aerospace Engineering in
to one with an uncertain future?
our time by 10 years.
University
Urbana
Definitely, it was bothering me. My
—Champaign. It was 2015 and I was
How do you divide your roles between
friends encouraged me. I wanted to try
closely following Space X.
you and your co-founder Moin?
out for 7 or 8 years; if nothing clicked,
You were in US and Space X was
I could fall back on my finance
happening. Why didn't you join Space
background and go back to a job. It was
X?
like jumping off a cliff. If you had no
of
Illinois
In fact, I was interested but I had visa limitations due to my finance
parachute, you would figure out your tools.
There is a formal delineation of our roles and, of course, there's some overlap. He takes care of the core operations. I work on fund raising and technology part. You decided to follow the Space-X
background. I even applied but
How did you get connected with IIT?
couldn't clear the interviews. I found
In 2017, I was cold calling a lot of
out that there was tremendous respect
not the satellite part of it. Was it a
professors in IIT. I wanted to have
in the US for Indian space work. All
conscious decision or out of passion?
academia as my partner because I
credit for this must go to ISRO. So I
didn't have that much money to do it 34
APRIL
2021
model and go into the rocket segment,
It was my passion. I have always been a rocket enthusiast. Luckily, we found
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
We'll have a margin of $15,000 per kg. We need a minimum of 30 kg per launch. To break‐even, I have to put around 250 kg payload into space. The demand is 40 Tons per year. Our company caters to a very small requirement. India has a potential to meet 4 to 5 tons through small rockets like ours.
convocation, it was just a 30 second
How are you planning for
interaction. We had a stall and he came
commercialisation?
there. I explained to him in English
We have been reaching out to
about our work. He was muted in his
customers since 2017. Now we have
reaction and said, "Good."
gained traction and people have signed
Recently, we signed an agreement
up with us. It's a small industry and we
with ISRO. They organised a meeting
have overall 600 customers. After you
with the Prime Minister. I got a chance
have done a few milestones, people
to make a 5 minute presentation to the
know you. Unavailability of rockets to
PM. He saw that and tweeted about me
launch satellites has been a big
and our work. That was a very
constraint. We are tapping into that
satisfying conversation. The validation
need. We also partner with the makers
that we got from the PM motivated me
of satellites. We offer endtoend
and my team in no small measure.
solutions and tell them that we can
Tell us about the days leading to the
launch their satellites in just two weeks’ time.
testing of Agnilet.
During the test launch, we all screamed at our success. Unfortunately, we got
Do you need a formal launch pad or can you launch from anywhere?
our video recording wrong. So we could
We do need a formal launch pad. But
there was big gap in this segment and a
not show our Professor the video of the
we have a mobile solution. We can go
huge need for rockets to carry
launch. Now, of course, we have
to any of the launch pads—the ones in
satellites.
videos.
Sriharikota or the one that’s coming up
What's your continuous differentiator?
How did you pitch for your funding?
Tomorrow, anybody can 3D print
We pitched saying that we are building
rockets.
rockets economically just like cabs
It's hard to copy because you have to
being used by common people. We have
start from scratch. Customisation is
done two rounds of funding and are
another key differentiator for us. We
working on the third. The second one
can build a rocket exclusively for you.
had much to do with customer
We optimise our design.
interaction. Now we are talking about
Your rocket names like Agnilet, Agnikul and Agnibaan are so Atmanirbhar! Tell us how did you come to interact with PM Modi?
in Kulasekarapattinam. We need seven 40 feet containers to carry all the system and accessories including the rocket, gantry, fuelling system and the controls. We can launch from overseas too. The launch pad should be on a coast line. What is the ticket cost of launching?
commercialisation. We have some
Roughly, it is $40,000 per kg. Our
money in the bank. We will get to a
costs are: the Bill of Materials and
point where we don’t need to raise
Operations, Insurance and, the launch
money to survive. We’ll start getting
pad rentals. We'll have a margin of
revenues by then.
$15,000 per kg. We need a minimum
When he came to IIT Madras for its
of 30 kg per launch. To breakeven, I 35
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
orders and little less focus on R&D. It will be good if R&D is also encouraged. Any wish list from the government?
Only thing is that if the government starts taxing after we generate revenues, it will be good. We have got a free cheque from Atmanirbhar, thanks to our new space policy and PM's initiatives. I cannot ask for more. When you scale up, how will your
Once we got the first round of funding, things became easier. The supplier market in Chennai is great because of the automobile industry. There are so many suppliers in Chennai who even supply to the army.
working style change?
We believe in democratic decision making and autocratic implementation. We follow the rigour in documentation and quality. But we will have to change in terms of the daytoday operations,
have to put around 250 kg payload into
Once we got the first round of
when we scale up. We already have 60
space. The demand is 40 Tons per year. funding, things became easier. The
people in our team today. Moin and I
Our company caters to a very small
supplier market in Chennai is great
have trained a lot of people who can
requirement. India has a potential to
because of the automobile industry.
meet 4 to 5 tons through small rockets
There are so many suppliers in Chennai
like ours.
who even supply to the army. DRDO
Will ISRO become your competitor?
and ISRO have already built up an
We are building technology with them and they won't see us as a competitor. How has the environment supported you?
I didn't find any disadvantage operating from Tamil Nadu. IIT Madras is a great place to be in, technology wise. We had problems initially with funding. In Chennai, it's difficult to get investors. I had to make weekly trips to Bengaluru. It was painful.
manage the routine operations without us being in the loop. We do have a long way to go and we need to showcase our work more.
ecosystem in and around Chennai. 80
What do you do to cool off?
kilometres from here is Sriharikota.
I listen to film interviews. I also write.
What are your suggestions to make
I attended classes in film making when
Chennai a more attractive destination
I was in New York.
for startups?
Your advice for young entrepreneurs?
I'll share from my experience.
Many youngsters want to be
Karnataka has ‘Elevate’ awards where
entrepreneurs because they want to be
they give awards to top100 startups
their boss. That’s the last reason you
each year. This is a great motivator for
should be an entrepreneur. If you are
startups as the recognition comes from
becoming an entrepreneur because you
the government. In Tamil Nadu, there
want to solve a problem, then
is lot of focus on MSMEs and contract
everything will flow naturally.
36
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
37
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
C
ustomer centricity is a much
customer centricity:
power is generated even in the most
used and abused word. It
1) Product Innovation
covers a wide space. It is not a
2) Communication and engagement:
marketing buzz word. It is something
How do we do that in today's
that I have used all my life to drive profit
digital environment?
and growth. It is based on the belief that if you want to get value from a
3) Reimaging marketing for Omni channel.
difficult orbital conditions. In 2013, NASA launched a public contest to solve this problem. They had a prize money which was initially $30,000. It was really strange because NASA has the best engineers in the
customer, you must first create value for
Product Innovation: The NASA Story
world and huge budgets. When the
the customer.
Open source innovation has become
contest was launched, there was a fair
I was making a presentation on
popular today. It is also called userled
bit of scepticism amongst NASA
customer centricity to a team of private
innovation and crowdsourcing. NASA’s
engineers as well, if this would yield any
equity leaders. One of the questions that
International Space Station (ISS) is
output at all.
came up was: Which is more important
powered by the sun and has solar
—customer centricity or focusing on the
panels. As the station orbits, some
bottom line? I believe that the two are
panels face the sunlight and others are
inseparable. If you want to focus on the
in the shadow. NASA engineers wanted
bottom line, then you need customer at
to develop a complex algorithm to
the centre of whatever you are doing.
organize the orbit in such a manner that
Let me focus on three parts of
shadowing is minimised and maximum 38
APRIL
2021
By the time the contest finished, they had 459 competitors and 2185 solutions. The amazing thing is that half the solutions performed as well or better than NASA's own solutions. The total cost to NASA for this was an unbelievable $80,000. That's not even
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
a blip on the NASA’s overall budget and it included the $40,450 paid as the final
Though user innovation has been around for a long time, it accelerated in the last decade because of the advances in communication technologies.
challenge award. This brings out the tremendous power of open innovation.
manufacturer innovation. Though user innovation has been around for a long time, it accelerated in the last decade because of the advances
User innovation is not a new
in communication technologies. It
concept. Adam Smith, the economist in
means that users can collaborate
his ‘Wealth of Nations’ written almost
amongst themselves and with experts.
300 years ago, talked about the role that workers
had
in
redesigning
manufacturing processes, because they understood their job better. Eric von Hippel, American economist from MIT Sloan School of Management, has been doing a great work on usercentric innovation. In 2005, he published a book called, ‘Democratizing Innovation.’ He says that user innovation is a very powerful phenomenon and that it is both a rival to and a feedstock for 39
APRIL
2021
Sunil Gupta, in his book, ‘Driving Digital Strategy (2018),’ says that most consumers modify products when they use them, to suit their specific applications.
If
a
manufacturer
understands
what
modifications
customers make and why, then the manufacturer can get great ideas. For instance, like what we did in Tata Tea; Mr Sushant Dash, who played a key role in that project, will share his insights
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
(Read ‘The Making of Tata Tea
Yet, in the manufacturing sector, I have
Gold: A Case Study in Product
not seen too many cases of using things
Innovation’ by Mr Sushant Dash,
like additive manufacturing, which is 3D
which appears separately in this
printing, for rapid experimentation.
article).
Before these technology tools were available, we had a heavy reliance on
Key Takeaways •
concept testing. At best, we could
Consumers can be a bigger source of ideas. So, get a deep understanding
of
how
consumers use and modify your products. •
consumer check a few options and by the time we got the results for that, we were more or less committed to the solution. Today marketers have the
involve
opportunity of using technology for
customers in the development
doing rapid experimentation and
process,
the
thereby cutting down costs and making
chances
of
The
more
you
greater
the
commercial
innovation much more real.
success. •
As product life cycles are
Communication & Engagement:
getting
The ZooZoo Way
shorter
development become
and
resources
scarce,
internal
innovation is not enough. •
•
What ads say and what consumers hear are quite different. There is a lot of talk
Userled innovation is going
about digital marketing. However, the
to be critical to support
clickthrough rate of ads remains less
growth expectations.
than 1%. A key question arises: How can
Userled innovation is not the
businesses reach out to this skipad
sole
generation? Clearly, the brandpush is
preserve
of
digital
platforms. It has yielded powerful results across a wide range of categories, whether you
take
clothing,
core viewers keep coming match after match. If you run the same ad again and again, it becomes tedious and boring for them. In the ZooZoo campaign, we did
consumer will pull only what is exciting
semis and finals, we would run all the
and informative.
ads together. ZooZoos became iconic
consumerpull.
and B2B Industries in as wide
ad around 2008. Consumers loved this
a range as oil refining,
ad. The eggheaded creatures became the most loved characters in advertising
Rapid Experimentation
over the next six or seven years.
Innovation by rapid experimentation is
Originally it was designed for IPL. We
also picking up. The benefits of early
were the cosponsors for the IPL, right
stage
rapid
from the beginning. With IPL spread
experimentation are clear to everyone.
over 50 days and 60 matches, we do 300
and
people of which 150 million who are the
two new executions every week. In the
to
We launched the Vodafone ZooZoo
learning
ads. It has a viewership of 400 million
The
moving
automobiles, home products
software and chemicals.
What ads say and what consumers hear are quite different. There is a lot of talk about digital marketing. However, the click‐through rate of ads remains less than 1%. A key question arises: How can businesses reach out to this skip‐ad generation?
40
APRIL
2021
and viral. We were able to leverage them across all channels. We had 20 million followers on Facebook. The Hindu BusinessLine reported that the ZooZoos stole the thunder in the IPL. ZooZoos became part of the conversations. Thus, if you want to break through the clutter and the skipad generation, you need to do breakthrough advertising.
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
L'Oreal's Dermablend ad uploaded
create a conversation on how women
flight cancellations and sends messages
on YouTube got 25 million views. To go
and society view beauty. Though it
to stranded passengers on availability of
viral, you have to do something unusual
looks simple, such a campaign is not
rooms using geotargeting. They have
and take some risk which is overrated
that easy. The caveat is that it has to be
been able to drive up the traffic by 70%.
at times.
real, consistent and true to your brand.
This can also be done by digital tracking.
It takes lot of time.
For instance, if somebody wants to buy
In product demos, Home Depot
a car, they are most active in searches
collected 4 million views on howto
There are many who tried at this
videos. Providing useful information is
and failed. Pepsi in 2010 put up 20
one way of reaching out to this
million dollars and invited ideas from
generation. Creating communities and
people for doing social good. Many ideas
advocacies is another option. Chalk
that came had nothing to do with Pepsi.
With mobile phones, 92% of the
paint brand by Annie Sloan engages
Some like reducing obesity were in
time is spent on apps. So what can be
'furniture distressing' enthusiasts across
conflict with Pepsi's selling. Finally, the
done to run ads on apps? The first is
platforms. If you have a dull product
venture came to nothing. Moment
banner ads. If you want to avoid
like soap, you can broaden your
based marketing is another big thing
beaming an irritating ad, you need to
message. Dove’s 'real beauty campaign'
which is coming up. Red Roof Inn has
move to storytelling and storymaking
goes beyond product and category to
many hotels next to airports. They track
and creating communities.
three months before the purchase. The idea is: Can you target the customer at the right moment?
The Making of Tata Tea Gold: A Case Study in Product Innovation
BY MR SUSHANT DASH, PRESIDENT – INDIA & MIDDLE EAST, TATA GLOBAL BEVERAGES, BANGALORE
T
ata Tea started in the early 80s as a plantation company. The management realised that real money was not so much in the plantation business but in the brands and packaging part. So they forward integrated and launched brands in 1985.
There were two sets of brands that the company had. One was Tata Tea, which is now called Tata Tea Premium, which was a national brand. We also had specific brands in the South catering to the regional preferences like Kannan Devan in Kerala, Chakra in Tamil Nadu and Gemini in AP. The launch of the Tata Tea brand by itself was quite innovative and in many ways, is a great story of consumer centricity. Tata Tea realised that one of the most important things the consumer wanted was freshness in the tea and that was something the consumer was not getting then. So we set about solving it and created some of the competencies on which the brand grew.
41
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
The Four Core Competencies
discounts for both the trade and the consumer legs, and the
1) Plantation sourcing was a big differentiator from the competition because Tata Tea brands were sourced from their own gardens. They were grown and packed there. So the freshness story was amplified.
brand name did not stand for much at that point of time. Obviously, the company was on the defensive. That was also the time some of us like Vivek Mathur and I joined the
2) Tata Tea was one of the first brands that got into
company in early 2001. It was the first time that the company
polypacks. It was then seen as a major innovation (it
reported decline in growth of the brand. For 16 years, they had
has now been phased out due to environmental
grown in double digits. It was a huge shock to the system. They
issues) and a big differentiator in retaining freshness
launched brands like Agni to take on the local brands.
as compared to the carton packs.
HUL, the other competition at a national level, faced the same
3) Tata Tea name was a strong brand. 4) Because of the plantation background, they had a
issues with their brands. To counter the local brands, they
good understanding of blending teas and the
launched A1. However, the low price, mass brands did not
consumer requirements of each region.
help the company because the locals did a better job. So the
Thanks to these core competencies, Tata Tea brand had grown
only option for us to be on the offensive was to do innovation.
from 1985 to late 90s. The company grew in doubledigit both topline and bottomline, and took on competition quite
Incremental Innovation
robustly. However, by late 90s, there was a glut in the
We did incremental innovation by modernising the packaging
commodity market. Tea was available quite cheaply because
and redesigning the packaging graphics, bringing in both
of the Kenyan and Sri Lankan tea imports. Our export market
emotional elements and functional benefits in terms of body
nearly collapsed. Even within the domestic scenario, due to
and mind refreshment. We put more money to build brand
better crop production facilities, there was much larger
equity.
production and hence a glut.
We were lucky in roping in a young tennis player for our new
The polypack was no more a differentiator as anyone could
advertisement. It so happened that a week later, the player
do that even at the back of their houses at a low cost. The
reached the quarter finals in the Australian Open to take on
strong brands gave way to a proliferation of local brands.
Serena Williams. It gave us a lot of publicity. The player was
Every city had six or seven of these brands. They offered high
Sania Mirza, our brand ambassador. Such incremental innovation is very important and we as marketers need to do it regularly. But it has limitations. It
The challenge is that tea is a habit like reading a newspaper and people are averse to changing their habits. Since the early 30s when the category took off, there were just two or three big innovations.
helped us to stabilise the business and stop the decline. But to get back to high growth rates, we needed some disruptive innovation. The challenge is that tea is a habit like reading a newspaper and people are averse to changing their habits. Since the early 30s when the category took off, there were just two or three big innovations. Tea was not a category known for innovation.
42
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Looking for Disruptive Innovation
innovation and settled at 15% long leaf Darjeeling orthodox
When we studied the way consumers were using tea, we
and 85% high grade Assam CTC.
realised that one of the prevalent habits in households mainly in the northeast was that they mixed two kinds of tea—one, the Assam tea or CTC and the Darjeeling tea or longleaf. They
We got lot of insights from this experience. We understood that there are three or four critical things at getting it right. We understood that the longleaf is important not just for the aroma or the flavour that comes through but the visual clue was equally important. We also learnt that aroma is just an indicator of great taste and it is not an end benefit. In the userled innovation, we had long leaves which were golden or green or greenish. When one opened the pack, one immediately realised that this tea was very different from all teas they had used in the past. That is how we launched Tata
Roping in Sania Mirza was advantageous to the brand.
Tea Gold, a premium blend completely developed by the consumer. This was the first launch that the company did in
believed that Assam tea gave them strength and taste while
15 years.
the longleaf or the Darjeeling variety gave them the aroma
The communication depended on which school of advertising
and flavour. They mixed them in different ratios of 70/30,
you belonged to—Tata or HUL. The Tata School will have its
80/20 or 90/10. This gave us the idea for our disruptive
ad themed around a single girl dancing in the garden and HUL
innovation. In a couple of centres starting from Delhi, we used
School will pitch it around a housewife in a social setting. But
a method called sequential recycling and experimented with
for the first time, we changed the category cues and came out
various components of Assam and Darjeeling tea. We invited
with an ad in a social setting on the theme, ‘You’ll regret saying
housewives, set up kitchens for them and provided them with
no,’ to showcase Tata Tea Gold.
utensils, milk, sugar and water to replicate their daily
We did sales 3x the target. We launched it in October 2013.
preparation of tea in their houses. We encouraged them to try
We were out of tea by the following Feb or March, though it
different blends and give feedback in realtime if it met their
was off season. We priced at 15% premium and managed a
expectation. We had our blenders who were then and there
gross margin which was 30% higher. This brand has gone from
making changes in the components.
strength to strength and today it is one of the largest brands
We finally arrived at the right blend from this user led
in our portfolio. It is a huge brand upwards of 500 crores. We proved that we could create a larger portfolio using innovation as a way to conduct business within the company. It showed results over a period of time. In 2007, we became volume leaders overtaking HUL and in 2011 2012, we became value leaders.
43
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
CustomerCentricity Across the Buying Journey: Reimagining Marketing for Omnichannel
BY MR RAM IYER, WORLDWIDE DIRECTOR—DIGITAL STRATEGY AND ECOMMERCE, MICROSOFT, AND CO‐AUTHOR OF THE BOOK, “LEADING THROUGH THE PANDEMIC”
T
he customer today, in search of
this is that we are living in a world
create a network effect. For this, you
the product, jumps across
where we are digitally and socially
have to keep the customer at the centre
physical and digital channels.
connected.
of everything that you do.
So how can we reimagine our marketing
We need to get into the minds of the
ECommerce has done a great job
for this Omnichannel? Let me focus on
shoppers to find out their habits. We are
so far. But what is important is how to
three areas:
going into an era where there will be far
deliver a great experience online. For this to happen, you have to eliminate
•
Our Opportunity
more online shopping, and mobile is
•
Customer Journey
going to be the centre of gravity. In the
•
The Future
next four years, in India, we are going to
Our Opportunity
have 400 million digital wires. This is a
It takes a crisis to change our mindset.
huge opportunity.
Covid19 has been a perfect storm of sorts for us to embrace digital. Satya Nadella said during our Quarter 2 results, “We have seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.” In the seven months of the pandemic, we have actually achieved 10 years of growth in digital. The reason for
Customer Journey The old customer model was about mass production and mass communication. Today the consumer is the channel. The consumer is on a connected journey always. They move between online and offline constantly. These connections 44
APRIL
2021
If people cannot go to the store, then you have to bring the store to the home. We can use the concept of video call and extend it to shopping.
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Post‐pandemic, we need to reimagine and align with the future of the shoppers.
one consultation to help you find the best product. Irrelevant offers suppress the buying momentum of the buyers. The offers have to be introduced at the right moment in the customer's online journey. You can make use of the power of AI to offer intelligent offers and choices. The conventional marketing funnel makes use of the broadcast model. The new approach is totally driven by the consumers. points of friction and interruptions and
technology, like conversational AI, to
Talking of the future, we all have a
make it easy for customers to buy. You
make it useful for the customer to shop
choice: Taking on the baggage of the
have to walk in the shoes of the
online. By asking simple questions, we
past or reimagining the future. Post
customer.
can frame the customer's behaviour and
pandemic, we need to reimagine and
offer suitable choices.
align with the future of the shoppers. So
Friction Points •
Too many choices
•
You cannot touch and feel the product online
•
What can we do to get a feel of the product online? We can use augmented reality to showcase all the features of the
The recommendations can be
product. If people cannot go to the store,
irritants
then you have to bring the store to the
we need to bear in mind that: •
Customer
behaviour
constantly changing •
We
need
to
meet
their journey and deliver a
home. We can use the concept of video
you will get a flurry of options. Buying a
call and extend it to shopping. A retail
PC online can be more complicated than
assistant can talk to you while you are
need
buying a car. We have to make use of
shopping online and provide a oneon
customer experience.
APRIL
2021
the
customers at where they are in
If you search for buying a laptop,
45
is
frictionless experience. •
Along with our partners, we to
reimagine
that
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
46
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Prof Gautam Ahuja: Life can be very
prior consultation with your doctor/
compromise life for their work. They
stressful and a management career can
health care provider.
also sacrifice health, nutrition and rest. There is a constant adrenaline rush
be particularly hard. Our objective is to make us to do something about our health. We are not health experts. Three successful CEOs who also take care of their health meticulously will share with us how they were able to handle the pressures of the job and yet, maintain a healthy lifestyle. Let's try and break the inertia of doing nothing, especially in the backdrop of Covid19. We may build a variety of ideas but we need to see what works for each one of us, taking a
V Balaraman: Getting a professional career is everyone's ambition. Getting into a large multinational organisation seems to be the ultimate step in a person's career. There's a lot of glamour attached it: high pay with perquisites, international assignments and travel, reputable designation and societal admiration, and excellent marriage prospects for those who are not
leading to stress, which is a silent killer. A challenge makes us produce adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol —the three hormones that shutdown the normal repairing mechanism of the body. Habit formation is very essential. I have found that walking for 2 hours or jogging for 30 minutes a day is very helpful to get a good sleep and keep you fit.
married. Such a career is also a trap,
Nandu Nandkishore: I have a
which many people are not aware of.
YouTube
Once you get into an executive position,
Nandu,” where I have posted many
A Note of Caution: Please do not
the passion for achieving more and
small videos on various topics, including
make any lifestyle changes based on the
more never stops. That can become a
on health.
input shared by the panellists without
golden handcuff. Most executives
doctor's advice.
47
APRIL
2021
channel—“Insights
with
For most people, life follows a
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
To succeed in a career, you need to stay alive and stay healthy. If you have a serious health condition at 45, it is unlikely that you will have career growth. ~ Nandu Nandkishore
growth for 5000 days, then a further
of the life. It can be stressful for the
10,000 days as a young adult, 10,000
family and friends, especially if the
days at middle age and 1000 days of old
decline is long and painful. So, if you
age. That adds up to 36,500 days.
really want to take care of your family,
Eventually they fall of the cliff.
take care of your health.
Many people in the corporate life
To succeed in a career, you need to
follow a suboptimal curve. In India,
stay alive and stay healthy. If you have
typically, people fall off the cliff after
a serious health condition at 45, it is
26,500 days of life. Beyond a certain
unlikely that you will have career
point, it is difficult to go back to the
growth. You yourself may like to slow
optimal curve but it is possible to correct
down your pace.
midway and move forward. Not only can we extend our life but also lead a healthy life. We cannot change the past but we can manage the future.
certain pattern. They are conceived at minus 270 days; there is a period of rapid growth for 1000 days, a continued
The second insight is that in the last thousand days of our life, the healthcare cost becomes much more than the rest 48
APRIL
2021
What determines which curve we are on? It is influenced by genetics, epigenetics, our “second genome” and our lifestyle. Epigenetics is basically the science of how the environment affects gene expression. For instance, our body and
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
yoghurt.
Our body is used to fasting between 12
There are many elements to
the day should be when BMR is rising.
lifestyle, and they are:
If we take on a lifestyle which is significantly different from our ancestors, we may be asking the body to do something for which is it not prepared for.
required. There is research that when
~ Nandu Nandkishore
we have deep sleep, the spinal fluid is
Exercise for body and mind
•
Diet (What, when and how)
•
Sleep
•
Hydration, which is the need
to take our biggest meal of the day at 8
to drink adequate water
pm. When we do that, we invite diabetes
•
Stress management.
For an adult, eight hours of sleep is
are many who are chronically sleep gene expression have been profoundly
deprived and dehydrated. As all these
affected and “designed” by the lifestyle
things are in our control, with the right
of our forefathers, over the last several
attitude, we can make use of them all.
generations. If we take on a lifestyle
Exercise for the mind is the same
which is significantly different from our
as for any other muscle. We use it or lose
ancestors, we may be asking the body to
it. If we do the same exercise again and
do something for which is it not
again, the body gets used to it. To build
prepared for.
a new muscle, we have to shock the body with a new exercise. It applies to brain
the
also. We need to treat the brain by doing
microbiome or good bacteria inside us,
unfamiliar activities. If you write with
particularly in the gut area. There are
your right hand, try writing with your
intriguing research findings (in the
left hand. If you are an English speaker,
public domain) to the effect that
learn to speak Tamil. A healthy body
diseases like Alzheimer and coronary
contributes to a healthy mind.
genome,’
which
is
heart disease, though multifactorial,
Diet
and
BMR
(Basal
Metabolic Rate): BMR is the rate at
of gut bacterial diversity or even the
which we burn calories even when we
bacteria in the mouth. So what can we
sleep. BMR starts to rise from 6 am to
do? We can eat a diverse diet rich in
midday, when there is daylight. Then it
fruits, fibre, plantbased food and foods
declines. Our ancestors ate in the 12
which have good bacteria, such as
hour window between 6 am and 6 pm. APRIL
2021
and cardiovascular diseases. According to the science of intermittent fasting, we can fast for 12 to 14 hours a day. Every once in a while, we can extend the fast to 24 hours a day, after consulting our doctor. Fasting is a ritual in many religions.
Done
under
medical
supervision, this can be a good complement to exercising. Stress is part of life. A small amount of stress is always good for us. When you are under stress for a long period of time, the adrenalin and cortisol levels too remain high for a long time. That results in the narrowing of the arteries. Endorphin and Oxytocin are good chemicals produced by the body and these are entirely under our control. Endorphin is produced when we do exercise and it destresses our body.
are also correlated with reduced levels
49
taken when BMR is at its low. In our fast paced lifestyle, we tend
brain of dead cells periodically. There
‘second
The smallest meal of the day must be
•
pumped into the brain to cleanse the
The next important thing is the
to 14 hours a day. The biggest meal of
Oxytocin is also called the cuddle hormone. It is released when we cuddle our babies, dogs or embrace our loved ones, in a platonic sense. Oxytocin dilates the blood vessels. In a TED talk on “Stress,” Kelly McGonigal says that how our body responds to stress is a
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Having a drink is definitely not a good
health influences mental health and vice
way to get sleep. Regarding diet, I don't
versa. The key ingredients of physical
want to go into the "what" part of it
health are exercise, diet, supplements
We have known that an average adult needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep. But many people believe that they need less hours of sleep.
because there's so much of stuff out
and sleep.
~ Prof Gautam Ahuja
Pandit: In 1979, I picked up a book in
are predisposed with heart problems,
Higginbotham's, Chennai: Total Fitness
diabetes, BP, etc., can significantly
in 30 minutes a week by Laurence
reverse their conditions by exercise and
Morehouse Ph.D who headed the
lifestyle management.
there; our body is designed to suit the dietary pattern followed by our great grandparents. So the closer we stick to what they followed, the better it is for us.
experience, I have found that whenever I was stressed, the best came out of me. How do you deal with stress can be a very important part in the way you manage your life. How can we change our behaviour? We need to have the right attitude and understanding. After retirement, only your family and true friends will stay around you and give you company. So treat them well. More importantly, if you do anything for three weeks, it becomes your habit. Gautam: We have known that an average adult needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep. But many people believe that they need less hours of sleep. Many don't get sleep easily. Nandu: Sleep disorders are often related to stress. Good exercising techniques will help us to get good sleep.
a very important role in our overall health. However, some of Tthe latest research shows that lifestyle has a major impact on our health. Even those who
Human Performance Laboratory in function of our attitude. In my
Research has shown that genes play
UCLA, and Leonard Gross. Dr. Morehouse’s team worked on the fitness
Exercise has four components: •
Cardiovascular
•
Muscle strength
regime of NASA astronauts. He then
•
Endurance and
developed these principles for common
•
Flexibility
people and what he has prescribed for
Cardiovascular fitness is for making
the common man is still valid today.
your heart fit and stronger. Any exercise
Your fitness goal is important. Do
that increases your heart rate is good for
you want to build your body like Hrithik
your heart; for instance, brisk walking,
Roshan, or have the fitness level of
jogging, treadmill, swimming and
Novak Djokovich? Or do you want to
cycling. At what level, should we
keep yourself fit and be free of illness?
exercise? Our resting heart rate is
Most of us spend 10 to 12 hours a day at
roughly 72 per minute. We must have a
work. After we go back home, we should
target heart rate at which we must
have the energy to spend quality time
exercise.
with our family. The principles that I am going to spell out are for this common group of people i.e., professionals and executives.
Target Heart Rate = (220 Your age) x (A certain %) The percentage varies according to your level of fitness. Initially, you may
There are two components to
start at 50% and over a period of time,
overall health: Physical health and
scale it to 80%. Depending on your body
mental health. There is a strong
condition, this could take even a year.
connection between the two. Physical
Ideally, you should be exercising at 80%
50
APRIL
2021
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
themselves as we get micro tears during
The final ingredient for physical
exercising. As we age, muscles will not
health is sleep: For the body and mind
build that much but we can maintain at
to recover, it is important to have 6 to 8
Research has shown that genes play a very important role in our overall health. However, some of Tthe latest research shows that lifestyle has a major impact on our health.
the plateau level.
hours of sleep. The key to getting a good
~ YVL Pandit
for about 20 to 30 minutes. At that level, your heart is conditioned to be at its
To prevent damages to muscles and
sleep is to have a regular routine.
joints, flexibility exercises are required.
Everyday get to bed at the same time,
A good warm up and a cool down are
say 10 PM and wake up at the same
absolutely essential. We can do 'asanas'
time, say 6 AM.
or basic stretch exercises, mainly for the lower back, neck, shoulders and knees.
elements:
As we sit at our desk for 1012 hours a
•
Cognitive fitness
day, it can have a big impact on our
•
Emotional fitness
spinal cord. Do not sit for more than an
•
Spiritual
hour. Get up, go for a stroll, move your
•
Purpose
limbs and come back. Build in a
Cognitive fitness and Emotional
flexibility program throughout your
fitness have already been covered by Mr.
fitness regime.
Nandkishore.
Physical Exercise: Remember
peak. Muscular strength is about how much weight you can lift. Endurance is about how long you can hold it. You need to build both muscular strength and endurance. Training your large muscles like thigh muscles and chest muscles is a sure way of keeping your metabolism in a good condition. You can either go to a gym and lift weights or work at home on your body weight. There are a number of books on calisthenics, which can help. The concept of progressive overload is also a significant one. If you lift the same weight for 3 months, it is still not a good exercise because the muscles get used to that weight. So you need to build it up progressively. Muscles build and repair
For mental health, there are four
the
acronym
FITT—Frequency,
Intensity, Time and Type. We can plan a programme of 30 to 45 minutes a day, at least for five days in a week. Do cardio workout for 3 days, exercise for the muscle for 2 days and flexibility on all the days. Even if are travelling, you can do it in the place where you are staying.
Following
spiritual
practices and having a purpose which beyond just working, will add immensely
to
mental
health.
Particularly as you near retirement these become even more important. To sum up: •
Have a Fitness goal
•
Do physical exercise regularly
•
Have a balanced diet and supplements as required
The second aspect of physical
•
Get good sleep
health is diet: Eat a balanced diet with
•
Take care of mental health
proteins, carbohydrates (mostly low glycemic index) and fats (mostly
Gautam: Can you tell us how we can
monosaturated fats). For every meal, fill
stay in a fitness program in a disciplined
your stomach to 80%. If you take a
way?
healthy balanced diet, you don't need supplements. Still, if you need, consider Omega 3, Calcium, Vitamin B, zinc and magnesium supplements. 51
APRIL
2021
Pandit: It's a million dollar question. The motivation has to come from two areas. First, think about your family, the quality time that you can spend with
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Nandu: Walking, running, body weight exercises, and yoga—all these are easily available to us. It's a question of our choosing to do it.
In my experience too, I have found that when we are stressed, good hydration is required to bring our heart rate to the basal level of 72 per minute.
Pandit: Laurence talks about seven minutes of exercise at home. It includes jogging on the spot, doing push ups and improving progressively. You don't need fancy equipment. Balaraman: You can just have a mat and do 36 surya namaskars. You'll not get a back problem. It's both yoga and a
~ V Balaraman
cardiovascular exercise. Gautam: Air quality is nowhere near their data from fitness trackers to their
what is required. You can get a HEPA
them and your energy levels. Second,
doctors as inputs. So we have to use the
(high efficiency particulate air) purifier.
have a metric. For instance, heart rate
trackers wisely. Also, settle on a fitness
Make sure that the filter is clean. The
monitoring is a metric that can be
routine that works for you.
other option is to download an app that
tracked. At what percentage, I am doing
Pandit: Even if you don't have a heart
gives the air quality index for that day.
now? Can I increase it next month? This
rate monitor, standing still in a place,
Air quality is going to have a big impact
can keep you motivated.
you can count your pulse for 15 seconds.
on our health in the next 25 years and
Majority of the people who play
Multiply this by 4 and you will get your
we need to fix it from today.
golf, play it for total passion. When I
heart rate. Most equipment in the gym
asked what motivates them, a couple of
have heart rate monitors.
people told me that they are competing
Balaraman: Nandu talked about
against themselves and not against
hydration. In my experience too, I have
others, to raise their performance each
found that when we are stressed, good
day.
hydration is required to bring our heart
Gautam: Some of the things that we do
rate to the basal level of 72 per minute.
in corporate life can be repositioned in
Gautam: If your urine is yellow, that's
our personal lives too. We say what gets
a general reminder to tell you that you
measured, improves. I have found that
are not adequately hydrated. So drink
fitness trackers provide amazing
more water. In the typical Indian living
information. I do a program on
environment, what are some of the low
Healthcare Strategy where I involve
hanging fruits that people can pick up
doctors. They tell me that people take
to improve their health? 52
APRIL
2021
To sum up, the takeaways from the session are: •
Take charge of your own health
•
You can do it
•
Find the right exercise that works for you
•
Speak to the right people to find out what is right for you
•
Build a routine and make your habits work for you
•
Diet, exercise, sleep and stress management are all important to keep up a good health
Click on the page to enter.
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
54
APRIL
2021
