Life Coach - Kaikaku - 1 - Augmented reality

5 months back

I got down at WTC station in New York and was searching for Standard and Poors office building. I had a google map printout in my hand with directions. But having got out from the metro and taken a shortcut (following others), I was outside the station clueless. As per the map I should have taken the proper exit and be somewhere else.

I also had a satellite photograph of all the streets and how the buildings look like when viewed from the top, but I was at ground level and view from top did not matter

1 week back

I was equipped with my google phone Mytouch with Layar app installed. All I did was aim the phone camera at the street with the app being launched and it gave me a map superimposed on the camera screen. This is augmented reality at its very basic.

The mapping of data to image is done by using the phone's GPS data to pinpoint the location, coupled with its on-board accelerometer and compass to figure out the phone's orientation and the direction in which it's pointing. In the future, the mapping can be made more precise and personal by factoring in the user's identity.

Augmented reality is a coalescing of technologies that promises to create a new interactive relationship between mobile users and their surroundings. It's easy to make augmented reality sound like the latest technology in search of an application, but an analogy with jet fighter pilots might help.

Pilots look through the cockpit window, or a helmet faceplate. The inside of these surfaces is treated to display transparent images of cockpit controls and navigation data, a technique called "head-up display." Data, images and text overlay a view of the real world.

Smartphones now can apply that basic concept using very different technologies and take it to another level: adding data about the phone's location and orientation to relate the data overlays to the actual objects you can see onscreen through the phone's camera: buildings, streets and monuments.

Read more real life examples on the following link

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/121609-augmented-reality.html?fsrc=netflash-rss

How is it useful to us?
It is amazing how much such kind of technology could help us. Consider counter insurgency operations. In any cordon and search operation based on accurate information with very less time on hand to mobilize additional support the positioning of the few soldiers makes the difference between whether or not the militant gets away. If I could create an additional layar based on my earlier study as to where the place the troops, not a single militant would get away through the cordon.
Consider recce - hitting the 8 figure grid reference is really difficult when the area is new. And if my bridge head depends on an 8 figure grid reference every second counts.
In one of our operations we had called attack helicopters to fire upon gwadis where militants were harboured. Being broad daylight and us being downhill with no protection it was difficult to approach the gwadis. What if we could share what we were observing with the ones in the helicopters. No collateral damage and helicopters attack would be accurate.
Imagination alone is the limit to what such augmented reality can do.

In the url there are many examples which apply to us and I did not want to repeat. Do read them and share what other applications can you think of.

Life Coach - 82 of 100 - Lean Management techniques

While implementing the Lean Enterprise framework the following techniques are critical.

Ability to diagram the work processes: Every person in the organization exists to serve a purpose. He has an output he is responsible for and uses processes to convert an input into output. Many a time I have observed that the top management is clueless how the work gets done as long as it gets done. But then that is what exactly attracts inefficiencies and buffers. Does the top brass need to know how everything works - no, but there is a need to have the employees map every value stream. Having done that it is easy to identify and erase any steps that do not add value. Just because it works does not mean that is should not be understood

Dig for root causes: Identifying a bottleneck isint the same as understanding it. We need to dig into details, go to the root to weed out the issue. Generally what is seen is only a symptom of an underlying malaise.

Develop standard procedures: Once the team has figured out the most efficient method of handling a process, it must create tools - checklists, templates, escalation levels - so that employees follow the same steps every time. Consider the actions taken on the firing range - all established procedures to ensure that no one gets hurt and firing happens in an efficient manner

Keep taking small steps: Employees practice continuous improvement, cutting waste where ever it appears. And one has to empower the employees the front line folks, the ones in the trenches to get involved because they alone know where the waste is.

Life Coach - Kaikaku

My exposure to IT consulting has one advantage that I cherish - I come across high tech stuff that makes we go "WOW". I seek to share those experiences and how I feel that these could transform the defence forces. I have been lucky to have used some of the technologies; the rest is something that I have knowledge of but have not used them. Yet with a little foresight the technologies could be extrapolated.

This new series Kaikaku that I am starting is in parallel with my Life Coach series. Life Coach series was based fundamentally on Kaizen - constant improvement. I strongly believe in not re-inventing the wheel. Though at the time of my usage I was not aware of Kaizen in detail, now that I understand it, it seems easier to use Kaizen principles to explain what I was doing all the time.

So what is Kaikaku?
http://www.timebackmanagement.com/blog/you_dont_need_to_hit_a_home_run

In lean terms, there are two kinds of improvement. The familiar one is kaizen, which refers to steady but incremental improvement. The other is kaikaku, which means revolution, or radical improvement.

Kaizen is boring and laborious. Kaikaku is sexy and exciting. Kaizen is your spouse of 15 years. Kaikaku is the smoking hot blonde on the barstool next to you.

Kaizen is sorting through the piles of paper on your desk, throwing out the garbage, filing away the stuff of value, and actually taking care of the rest of it (filling out expense reports, or completing performance evaluations). Kaikaku is installing a new $1.5 million centralized database where you can scan, store, and search for all the crap that used to fester on your desk.

Kaizen is investing the time and effort to establish service level agreements within your organization, so that people don't feel compelled to respond to every email within one minute of its arrival. Kaikaku is establishing "email-free Fridays."

Kaizen is creating standard work for meetings -- and following it. Kaikaku is installing $250,000 worth of videoconference hardware to enable people to attend meetings without the risk of being late.

Watanabe's comment reminds me that the difference between kaizen and kaikaku is a false choice. Done long enough and consistently enough, kaizen actually becomes kaikaku.

Take a look at your own work: what incremental improvements can you make today? What small change can you make to help you gain control over email? What small change can you make to reduce interruptions from co-workers? You don't have to find a complete solution to your email problem, nor do you have to completely eliminate interruptions. Rather, you should look to make a small improvement. And once that takes hold, look for the next small step you can take.

It's the difference between hitting a sngle and hitting a homer. They'll both get you a run, but singles are a lot easier to come by than homers. And you're less likely to strike out.

Life Coach - 81 of 100 - Critical Success Factors for a Lean Enterprise

In the book "World Class IT" Peter High mentions the core principles for IT Leadership.

If I were to use the same logic and extrapolate his core principles, these are the five ingredients in the order of importance that are needed to ensure a Lean Enterprise.

People - Recruit, train and retain world class employees - goes without saying that this is the most important ingredient. When I say people I imply their ability to think, to execute, to innovate and to motivate others.

Infrastructure - Build and maintain a robust infrastructure - the next important thing is the availability of a world class infrastructure - need not be cutting edge, but should be reliable, scalable, flexible and evolving. By scalability I suggest the ability to ramp up and ramp down operations. By flexibility I suggest the ability to combat diverse situations. By evolving I mean the ability to improve with changing circumstances.

Processes / Training - well established processes that are baselined and constantly improving with time - be it PT, drill, ordering of inventory, supply chain management, conduct of classes - everywhere and everything

Alignment of goals with strategy - Goals that are well defined, unambiguous and SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and target bound

Development of collaborative relationships with external partners - this are the external interfaces that the organization depends on. So it could be the politicians, intelligence agencies, railways, the citizens, and all other things that we depend on for executing our work

Please comment as to what you think the ingredients should be and their order of importance

Life Coach - 80 of 100 - Lean Thinking - Working Backwards

For each and every aspect of what we do or are responsible for what our reports do, work backwards by asking the following

1. Define the customer experience: The service that any of us performs has a customer. The first thing to do is to define the customer experience. If I am a mechanic, I put my self in the shoes of the driver who has brought the vehicle to me for repairs and think about the customer experience. So let us visualize what it is when you take your vehicle for repairs. I expect an accurate diagnosis of what is wrong in a reasonable time, a reliable estimate of the cost involved, an update if repair is getting delayed or new defects have been observed, delivery of repaired vehicle on time and courteous service. So the Lean thinking for the mechanic is to evaluate the vehicle, depending on the priority forecast the time for repairs, get the vehicle back on road at the earliest and being courteous
   
2. Baseline the customer experience: Having define the customer experience it becomes important to what exactly each aspect implies. What do we mean by courteous service, what do we understand by prioritization of repairs, etc. Are these aspects clear to the customer and the service provider. Unless both of them are on the same page, problems could arise. And who resolves in case of mismatch.
3. Analyze the existing processes for meeting the required customer service: There is no need to reinvent the wheel. In my observation most of the processes are already mature to an extent. However what needs to change is the emphasis on key processes and fine tuning. For example troops on a firing range - well established drill. What needs fine tuning is the emphasis on ensuring zeroing of weapons and weapon handling procedure.Hitting the target will be a natural consequence of the above two processes. In this case the emphasis on the firing procedure is redirected to something other than ensuring that the bullet hits the target. We only changed the focus.
   
4. Innovate continuously / continual service improvement: In firing rarely would a situation arise when the target is stationary. All my firing in live situations has been on moving targets and I have found that our training is ill equipped to shoot targets when both the shooter and the target are moving continously and the target is also firing back. Innovation or continuous service improvement is the need. A trench warfare World War II may have called for the firing drills that we still use. But we certainly need to improve and innovate.

In case of firing on the adversary the customer is the bullet or the anti-customer is the enemy. Introspect what the customer need is (for the bullet - hit the target) (for the anti-customer avoid being hit)

Irrespective of where you are - commanding a battalion or a staff officer the first step is to define who the customer of your service is and then going through the four steps over and over again.

Life coach - 79 of 100 - LEAN Thinking

Jitender Pandit - I can still remember your smiling face as if we met just yesterday.

Lean thinking is when I am able to think what my boss wants before he evens think of it and have it ready when he thinks of it. Which in other words means perfection a good goal to aim for.

A Lean organization is similarly a perfect organization - one which is able to produce a service or product which meets the customer needs (what my boss wants since he is my customer) and is able to do say better, faster, cheaper and simpler.

Is this possible? Does not better quality mean higher price or faster means complex technology. It need not be so. In US I am able to buy a Japanese Toyota Yaris which is made in Japan, shipped to US, have to pay duty on imports and yet the car is cheaper than the US cars - GM, Ford, Chrysler. And when I say cheaper it is the TCO - total lifecycle ownership - maintenance, repairs, spare parts, etc. My earlier Toyota Corolla survived 13 years without the need to ever take it to a dealer, gave me a mileage of 30 mph till the last year of its service (before it got totalled in an accident - a five car pileup).

No wonder Toyota is the solid example of lean thinking.

Is Lean thinking possible? Yes it is and it does exist because there are smarter people than us, so all we need to do is tap their potential. The MTO who is able to ensure that all needed vehicles are on road is a lean thinker. If in my tenure I never hear of shortage of vehicle, lack of drivers, lack of spares means there is a MTO who is a damn good Lean Mean fighting machine.

The IO who keeps my map up to date before even I feel the need for it it a lean thinker.

A payroll commission which is able to anticipate all possible issues that may crop up and cater to all demands (not satisfy all of them of course) would be the output of lean thinking.

A company commander who knows exactly which soldier is due for promotion, which ones need to be groomed in next 2 years for promotion and plans for their training is a lean thinker. And when the officer is on his way out, he should be able to hand over notes to the new officer of the detailed plans. If the soldier is being transferred to another battalion he should be able to send a letter to the new Adjutant about the details related to the soldier - that is lean thinking.

Is lean thinking possible and how does it happen. My balance blogs will deal with this aspect.

Life coach - 78 of 100 - Enterprise wide improvement framework

I dedicate this series of blog to Jitender Pandit. Most of us remember is as a gentleman to the core. Need I say more.

I remember him from my degree days as a person who used to stay up at night making notes for the various lectures attended. He would willingly hand over his notes to all so that the rest of us could xerox (photocopy) them for our studies. I actually gave up making notes in the class after this. His notes were so detailed and clean that he could put a textbook to shame.

And once we had a bitter argument and he just maintained his cool throughout despite me blowing my cool. What a guy.

Enterprise wide improvement starts with the goal of being a LEAN ENTERPRISE.

The four goals of a Lean Enterprise are to improve quality, eliminate waste, reduce lead time and reduce total costs.

Quality: how well the customer needs are met

Waste: activities that consume resources, time, space but do not add value or are necessary to customer needs

Lead time: total time for completion of series of process steps

Costs: direct and indirect costs

Let me use a training battalion as an example of enterprise.

Quality: what is the level of trained recruits I am sending to the battalions. Are they physically fit, motivated, well drilled, do they know the skills of their trade corresponding to their level?

Waste: did I over train them (over training also has a cost), were there failures in the platoon who needed extra training (we have delayed platoons by 2 weeks due to poor drill), did we waste their training time in inventory (spending the entire day on firing range just to fire 8 rounds), recruits fracturing the legs and getting relegated. There are 7 types of waste - overproduction, waiting, transportation, inventory, over processing, motion and defects

Lead time: I took 2 years to train recruits before sending them to the battalions, can I reduce it. If I can do away with 3 years of NDA training and replace it with 1 year without compromising on the quality I can do a lot better in the balance 2 years

Costs: I am paying stipend to the recruit during his training, their is a cost involved with staff, food, indirect costs, etc

Let me take another example your intelligence officer. We needed maps for are area of responsibility. Maps available with us were not up to date.

I wanted a quality map which gave me travel directions to my primary and secondary AOR with all details - road width, culverts and their bearing capacity, road speed, number of traffic lights, police stations enroute, market areas, roads where civilian traffic would need be to stopped, bridges where my Kraz could get stuck below.

I wanted this map at the earliest before we went for our exercise, so that I could base my travel on this input and if needed improve it on return.

My needs is what the Intelligence Officer should exist for. If he cannot give me my map, he is not doing his job and his enterprise is not LEAN.

Conference open for papers

Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, India, takes pleasure in inviting you to contribute papers and participate in International Conference on Strategy and Organization (ICSO 2010). The conference shall focus on exploring challenges and opportunities that the organizations face, and their strategies, systems and processes to effectively build up global competitive advantage. It would also provide a platform to deliberate upon organizations’ initiatives in building entrepreneurial and innovative capabilities to sustain business excellence.

Objectives:

The conference aims to provide a platform for academicians, research scholars, practicing managers and students of management to develop, contribute and present papers on Strategic management and organization theory to specific business situations The practices and abilities that help organizations attain leadership position How organization’s competencies and shortcomings translate into strategic challenges and opportunities Organizational structure and culture for competitive edge Global leadership competencies for business excellence Managing change through human process interventions Developing sustainable organizational learning culture Building a knowledge generating enterprise Strategic commitment for innovation and change

The conference will help in bringing together academicians and industry practitioners to meet, discuss, exchange views & experiences, and encourage collaborative research on various critical issues of decision making in global corporations. It will lead to designing organizational architectures – strategy, structure, culture & technology – for competitive advantages. http://www.imt.edu/icso2010/Index.aspx

Life Coach - 77 of 100 - Core values of defence forces

One IT company I admire is Amazon.I recently was evaluating their core values and then as is my habit extrapolated them to defence services.

If I were to define the core values of defence forces this is what it would be. Why should there be core values in the first place - I feel they define what we are and what we do, what we exist for

• Enemy Obsession / Protection of the country: We start with the enemy and work backwards in everything that we do. Everything that we do is geared towards that

• Innovation: If we don't pay attention to the changing circumstances, we will fail. US war on terror in Afghanistan, suicide bombings in Pakistan, use of drones, everything will matter to us some day. Hence the obsession in point 1. But mere understanding of circumstance is not sufficient. The enemy will attack continuously in forms that we wont be ready for. And hence we need to constantly innovate, refine our doctrines. Innovation in processes and technology is a must.
  

• Bias for Action: We live in a time of unheralded revolution and insurmountable opportunity and threats – provided we make every minute count. If we work for only 8 hours everyday, make every minute of 8 hours matter to make a difference.
  

• Ownership: Ownership matters when you’re building a great defence force. Owners think long-term, plead passionately for their projects and ideas, and are empowered to respectfully challenge decisions. Army is not a promotion seeking career. It is a love of a lifetime. At any rank and any post I am an owner of those tasks delegated to me.
  

• Promotion criteria / Building future leadership: When making a promotion decision we ask ourselves: “Will I admire this person if I were to work for him? Will I learn from this person? Is this person an asset?”

• Frugality: We spend money on things that really matter and believe that frugality breeds resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention!

• Discipline: It is not blind obedience, but obedience based on trust and faith that our superiors are doing the right thing.

I have not stated patriotism as a core value. I have my reasons. What do you think?

Life Coach - 76 of 100 - Hoshin Kanri - have you set yours

I worked for 3 months on a North Star project for a multinational firm in the role of a Business Analysts and I came across this article on Hoshin Kanri

Gandhi focused his thinking and acting on the ‘means’ rather than on the ‘ends’ with the ideal that the ‘ends’ cannot justify the ‘means.’
Management by Objectives does not concern with how objectives are obtained as long as they are.

Hoshin Kanri is a management tool used at Toyota to align business strategy and mobilize the entire organization toward the business strategy. Hoshin Kanri means “Shining Metal, Pointing Direction” or “Directional Needle”. In other words, Hoshin Kanri is a North Star or a Compass. Under Hoshin Kanri, any means to achieve a profit is not acceptable, but achieving a profit without violating environment stewardship is appropriate and good. Hoshin Kanri seeks to achieve the objective with equal emphasis on the means

Key Elements in Hoshin Kanri

• Driven by organization’s vision, not today’s problems - most of us and our strategies evolve from today's problems. I have yet to see a Commander at any level define the organization vision. If the vision does exist then either it is not shared or not well communicated to the officers and troops
  
• It is a system to translate that vision into tangible and measurable objectives - we had no clue what our objectives were other than training and practicing our bridge building operations
  
• Alignment created by cross-functional planning to achieve short-term objectives each year - with a change of CO every 2+ years our objective was to survive the posting / survive the CO whichever was more difficult
  
• At the heart of Hoshin Kanri is Plan-Do-Check-Act - we went through the motions but rarely did we evaluate as to whether we had really improved and was the improvement worth it
  
• Catchball = alignment, clarification, and employee involvement - did not exist accept than carrying out orders
  
• Backwards from Perfect – is what starts most discussions - unfortunately most COs start with the assumption that they were perfect
  

http://www.shmula.com/1555/shining-metal-pointing-direction

Life Coach - 75 of 100 - Exercises and Testing in IT

After a long break it is great to be back. I had spent last few months on high end IT consulting and this is what I seek to do in my future blogs - share the IT learning.

In IT once an application is developed it is tested. There are various tests the application is subjected to - unit test, system test, integration test, regression test, etc. This is so much like our annual exercises that our units undertake. The unit test is akin to our lets say bridging exercise. It is a function test - whether or not we can construct the combat bridge in isolation. At the system test we have the entire bridging company with its various other functions like reconnaissance, selection of site, measuring of water current, etc coming in.

In a brigade exercise we take our capabilities to the next level - integration test where the company works in tandem with the units it is supposed to work with and provide support for - say armored brigade, artillery brigade, etc. It is a test of coordination more than anything else as well as building a rapport.

Regression test in software development is what happens when we update the code or improve the code. So in this case if the armored regiment is replaced with another one, all rest details would remain same but we still need to work out the coordination and rapport.

Where I am coming to is fuzzy testing - this is gaining a lot of support. Techniques like fuzzy testing uncover inputs that can cause applications to behave badly. With fuzzy we deliberately attack software with random data in search of weaknesses and unexpected responses.

Most of our exercises ended at integration test. And so did our preparation and training. So how would fuzzy testing work here. Let me take the example of a combat bridging unit. What fuzzy tests can we do
1. Assume that the end ramps are not available because the vehicles never made it to the bridge line. Options are available but I do not recall having tested them.
2. Assume that the current prevents swinging of the bridge
3. Assume that the ford line is less than the required depth for the pontoon to stay afloat
4. Assume that the dozer is unavailable for making the launching pad. Can we use explosives to make the launching pad?


I am just citing the example of a combat bridging unit. We can extend the logic to every unit and apply fuzzy testing.

As a Commanding Officer or a Staff Officer what fuzzy tests do you apply?

Life coach - 74 of 100 - QUALITY: immerse, soak and absorb

My daughter Vedika, bless her heart, turned 2 recently and has learnt 2 new words - NO and GO. Brush your teeth honey - NO, eat your breakfast - NO, change your clothes - NO and if we persist, she points in the opposite direction to her and says GO, GO, GO.

If I have to make her brush her teeth without making her cry, the only way is to immerse her in the toothpaste and brush environment - I keep the brush with the paste next to her and let her do what she wants. Till date within 10 minutes she is brushing her teeth. Point to note - she wants to be in control of her situation.

Dont we all want to do so.

I was implementing a balanced scorecard for a $1 billion organization and one of the things that came up was resistance of a majority. We had 1000 participants and most of them did not want to be measured and hence appraised. The way we went about implementing the change is a case study in itself - during the construction of the scorecard, comments were invited from everyone who would be affected. This was very useful because we had not grasped all the scenarios possible that could affect them. Once the scorecard was ready to "Go Live", it was rolled out as an option that one could use if they wanted to. Everyday I was attending feedback sessions with the participants who brought out errors / improvements in the scorecard. These were dealt with overnight. 3 months down the lane, of the 1000 impacted the top 100 pro-scorecard were using it. 6 months down the lane almost all the 1000 had been converted. Change takes a lot of time and it is best for the impacted to immerse themselves, let them soak before they can absorb the change.

Life coach - Step 73 of 100 - Lean versus mediocre success

I have stated earlier that "Good is the enemy of better and better the enemy of best". There is another perspective to the above that I call "Mediocre success". The problems with most organizations is that the person at the top feels the need for things to improve and drives initiatives and depending on his or her personality would succeed. However this is what I call mediocre success for two reasons

• The day the person leaves things could return to normalcy / as they were before
• The improvements are limited to what this guy on the top can think of - which would be highly limited as compared to what is possible

This is where lean comes in and why I advocate lean. Lean is about every one involved in identifying and improving even if the increments are miniscule. But when these hundreds of people pool in the small improvements which in other words could be only mediocre success, what we have at the 30000 feet level is amazing success - wow success. That is the power of lean. And that is why in my past few blogs I have been reiterating on bringing a change to bring the change.

A lean journey is like the bamboo roots that take months to spread below the ground. It could be years before one actually sees the bamboo growing about the ground. But when the critical mass is reached, the growth rate is amazing. Everyone sees the bamboo above the ground and the inches that are addded every month. But the lean journey began with months of preparation before anyone could see the fruits.

As a Commanding Officer in a personality led organization, implementing a lean journey is both difficult and easy. Difficult because it is perceived as another order and followed immediately without realizing what it entails and easy because it can be done without major obstacles.

Any important note: It is probable that the fruits of your labor may not be enjoyed by you at all, a majority of them would be enjoyed by your successor and those who follow. But if you tomorrow have to command this army, would you rather not have the seeds sown right now so that you can depend on your men without a second thought. And as your proceed up the chain of command, every seed that you sow would some day bear your fruit - its the LAW OF KARMA

Life coach - Step 72 of 100 - The fool proof way to success

I was in a discussion with an industry peer now a Vice President in IBM and our topic was what would ensure success every time. We got down to the basic ingredients that guarantee success every time

• Relentless pursuit of perfection
• Through constant innovation both in terms of strategy and operational efficiency
• Based on lean principles

And you do it over and over again. General Colin Powell in his book has given a worthy example of a Lieutnant who approaches a General and asks him how to be a General. The General advises that the only way out is through something very similar that we discussed. The Lieutnant says that will it make him a General and the General says "It will only get you the next promotion and then you will have to start all over again".

Sure hope is a strategy and some people are born lucky to be at the right place at the right time, but the only foolproof way is what we discussed.

Life coach - Step 71 of 100 - Building the brand "ME"

When Mayurika joined Accenture consulting she was told that every six months she should update her resume. And in this 6 months she should have some achievements that she can reflect in her resume. If there are none, it means she is stagnating and if she does not take steps she soon could be redundant.

Defence being a life long career there is really no need for a resume. However the lessons of a updated resume every 6 months make a lot of sense. It helps to build a brand "ME".

Resume is updated either when you change your job, your role, your project - it shows experience to new environment - which translates to learning new skills, facing new problems - everything related to the newness. On the other hand a resume can still be updated even if you are still in the same role, same project - in this case the resume would reflect the improvements in operational efficiency that you have brought about, the higher quality standards you have achieved.

Bottom line: If the resume today and 6 months back is still the same, it is a wake up call. Brand "ME" is about external achievements that happen due to your internal attitude.

Life coach - Step 70 of 100 - CHANGE - who do you make the monitor of your class

Mayurika, my wife tells me that she has always been talkative. I rarely get to speak unless it is for me to say "I am sorry or I was wrong" :)

When Mayurika was studying, she was the most talkative student. The teacher ended make her the monitor for the class and Mayurika would be responsible for writing the names of the children on the board who spoke / made noise when the teacher was away. We all know this drill in schools at least when I went to one. She later realised the futility of being the monitor - she could not get to talk now.

In my consulting assignments, I interact with individuals who resist change because they want to. People climb Mount Everest because it is there and they want to. To get the change past these people is a challenge. You make them feel important, appeal to their egos, show the benefits. In the end you simply let them make the monitors of the class. And it works.

When I changed the existing PT curriculum one of the NCOs was skeptical. I could have just ordered him to implement the change but I was sure that in my absence he would go back to his original ways. I announced that he was the champion for the change and the reason for doing so was, that because of his opposition he could provide the much needed balance (yin-yang).

A democracy works only when the opposition is as strong as the ruling party. A landslide victory means doom for the country. Checks and balances help us emerge stronger.

In any change initiative, we identify the driving and restraining forces, the champions, the fence sitters and the objectors and then try to find out what makes them tick. Everyone has an agenda, the aim is to deal with each group of people in a unique manner that makes sense to them.

And if in a meeting with 3 people (my reportees) all agree with me, i have 3 extra people who I should get rid of in my next meeting.

Life coach - Step 69 of 100 - CHANGE - Subtleness

One of my best friends (one of my best - if it could be possible) Ravi Vadapalli currently heading Virtusa as the Director brings about change in a subtle manner. As a team member at ISB he would ask " Do you feel that we should do this in this manner"? Even when he was right and we were wrong, he still would enquire what he felt if we did things in a different approach (his approach). Never once did we feel that he was imposing himself. And he let us err if we felt strongly that our approach was correct. It was more important for him in the initial stage that we gel together as a team than getting the problem corrected. He knew that the problem could always be corrected later on but the important thing was building a winning team.

I have seen Presidents of US doing that. They dont talk of my initiative, they say "OUR initiative". This is what "WE have to do"

I have seen Col Rajesh Sahai using loud thinking while planning operations. He would say " I am thinking loudly, we could use this approach, have this people move up here and lay the ambush here, etc". If none of us interrupted him, he would say "On the other hand, I am thinking loudly again, we could use another approach and have these defense positions, etc". And then he would throw the stage to us for discussions. I suspect that he had already thought of the plan he needed to execute, he was basically fine tuning it and getting us onboard without us realising it. In the end every officer in the war room thought that it was his plan.

How do you bring about change?

Life coach - Step 68 of 100 - CHANGE - I am important, make me feel that

Col Deshmukh my CO won the gardening competition, band competition, almost every competition that we ever participated in. I played an instrumental role in winning cross country, audits, firing, all events that involved the Training Officer.

What was common to all those events was the "He made me feel important and hence I did my best".

To bring about the change, this is important. We want to enlist supporters for our cause, we want to build a sustainable momentum that converts the fence-sitters, we want to get to the critical mass after which the change continues on its own. And nothing is as important as letting the other person feel that he is important to the cause.

Now why the other person feels he is important could be anything from Maslow's hierarchy model to the trust and respect the other person has put in you or your annual appraisal. Whatever the driving force the catalyst is the "He made me feel important".

And making one feel important is not about lavishing praises or false niceties. It is about asking opinions on how things could be better, what should need to change, what the leader can do to make the change smoother or help you perform your job better. It is about dealing in an adult-adult world.

Life coach - Step 67 of 100 - CHANGE - From who to how

To bring a change the mindset has to change. But even before the mindset we as the leaders have to change. Here I bring another difference between a manager and a leader - a manager manages based on the instructions given to him, a leader manages based on what is not given to him. To bring about a change the manager needs to become a leader, once the change is in place, the leader becomes a manager again.

The fact that a change is to be brought about means that there are either problems, if not problems there are opportunities to exploit and the third option could be that we need to do it to survive - say a mandated legislation or orders from top / external authorities that we have to abide to. Let us start with problems in this blog.

Typically the mindset is "who did this?". The battery of the vehicle broke down before it served its 2 year life cycle. Who was the driver of the vehicle? Why did he not take care of it? What happened to the inspections?

The first question should always be "How did this happen?" Col. Deshmukh used to keep the problem away from the doer. I was conducting exams for a promotion Cadre and the Adjutant gave me the question papers. I opened them in his office to count them and he flew into a rage saying that the papers were only to be opened in front of a committee / examination team. Now the exam would all have to be rescheduled and blah blah. Col Deskhmukh was the acting Commandant and the matter reached him within minutes.

His first question was "How did this happen"? The entire focus changed from who did it, to how did this happen. The next thing was " How do we fix it?" Can we tell the examination team that the papers were opened but have not left the office so no one has seen the questions? He got the Adjutant thinking as to was any harm done intentionally. If no harm was done, let life proceed as usual. The Adjutant got the team members, apprised them and they said that if none of the soliders taking the exam had seen the questions before the exam began, it was okay.

In consulting, often I have to change existing processes and procedures, make people stop what they are doing and make them do something new. To bring this change I often start at the mistakes. And the question is "How did this happen?". We need to separate the mistake from the owner to achieve two things

• Get to the root cause of the issue to prevent occurences in future
• Avoid putting the person on defensive whereby he would shut himself up to change

It is all about who to how

Life coach - Step 66 of 100 - CHANGE - Bring a change to bring the change

Any initiative that you initiate would involve bring the change to the unit, to the people who work with you. But before you bring the change, you need to bring a change and this is the more difficult bit as compared to the change itself.

When people are geared to accept a change, any change initiative can be implemented. This gearing up of people could be due to the organizational culture say for example in the Rastriya Rifles (counter insurgency unit), where the troops accept that everything is fluid - our location can change at any moment, we need to go without sleep, eat the same food for all three meals, take decisions without any orders, restrain ourselves from immoral doings even though we have the power, etc. The culture is meant to breed acceptance of change which is the only constant.

But for units and organizations where the set pattern rules, any change would fail unless the environment is conducive to breed the change. This would be an open mindset, faith in leadership and a grasp of the reality. This is the change that you need to bring about before bringing in the change.

I would love to hear from initiatives that you have undertaken and the steps that you took to make it happen.

As a Training Officer of 2 Training Battalion, I instructed that the recruits will go on the cross country route only twice - once to see the route and the next time as a trial run. And we will win the cross country with just these two practices. Everyone right from the Trg JCO to the PT Ustaads were against my foolhardiness. To bring about the change I needed, I had to bring in a change. More about that in my next blog - Crossing the Chasm

Life coach - Step 65 of 100 - What comes first employees or customer?

I read about some organizations wherein employees came first. In some others customers came first. I read about British Airways who once they changed the focus from employees to customers faced a drop in quality - change happened due to a new CEO coming in. What is really important in the first place - employees or customers?

Having worked with different bosses and different customers with the same me, I realised that I performed my best - much above the call of duty - when I was treated with respect, my opinion valued and even if I goofed up, it was a polite mention of what I should have done. I now have got into the groove where I know that I can work wonders if I work where the focus is me / respect for me.

And let me handle the customer. If you keep me happy, I keep the customer happy.

I again believe that most of like to be treated with respect and we all should be given multiple chances even if we goof up. And yes there would be some of us, who would need to be told what the customer expects. But then these would be the exceptions.

For a Commanding Officer his troops are his focus. If he keeps them happy - not in terms of happy-happy, but more in terms of fulfilled, they will achieve the objectives of keeping the customer (in this case the enemy unhappy). Here I go in to the Transactional analysis - Parent, Adult and Child theory. If I treat the employee like an adult, he will reciprocate it. It is a adult - adult transcation. Adults do not loose the temper, shout, be sarcastic (Okay most of us do though we are adults, but in the id, ego and super ego stage, we are actually behaving like a child - with a solider it could be like a bully child because we know he cant fight back). Adults do not behave irrationally or carry biases or recency effects.

As a CO all your transactions should be in the adult-adult stage only. Even if the soldier becomes a child (rarely a parent), you should still continue in the adult stage only. Typically we either resort to being a child or an adult to level the transaction when the other party is in child state. Note that adult-adult transactions do not have to be win-win in short term. Win-win in short term if parent-child. The child throws a tantrum to watch TV and is disturbing me, I let the child watch TV to gain peace. This is a parent-child.

Where does the PAC and focus sync up? If I treat my employees with respect using adult-adult transactions only, they in turn will treat the customers with respect using the same adult-adult transactions. An adult-adult transaction is amazing when it happens. As a CO your transactions with most of your officers and troops are parent-child. It does get the work done, but you lose upon the wonders your troops could achive if it were adult-adult transaction.

In an adult-adult transaction what happens is that the onus is shared jointly and each feels responsible for going the extra mile to achieve results. The CSD NCO in my case when treated adult-adult, went the extra mile to arrange the goods in the way they sold quickly. At the end of the month he knew what wasnt flying and which things we need to offer rebates to get them out. He understood holding costs, inventory pilferage, waste due to deteoration. In the earlier adult-child stage he would just do what he was told.

Having adult adult transactions is a state of equanimity and most of the COs I worked for Col Deshmukh, Col Sikand, Col Bhadani, Col Sapra, Col Sahai and my clients Freyae Jones, Joseph McHugh, my reporting managers Reuben Daniel were in that state.

Life coach - Step 64 of 100 - Size of one

This article is for Sherry Bhatti who has promised to critique my writing and provide his valuable insights. Thank you Sherry.

I had quoted an example in my previous entry that I preferred my clerks to type the Part II order for a soldier returning from leave on the day he returned and was standing for company commander interview. I expected someone to comment that it is inefficient for the clerk to type just one Part II order for one soldier. Does not the time tested drill of the clerk sitting one weekend per month and typing Part II orders of every soldier make sense.

Size of one is what I normally preach to everyone. So does it mean that every time Toyota makes one car in Japan they ship it to US instead of having a batch load of cars that fill up a container. So here is my take on it, size of one wherever it is possible. If not size of one, then the next possible smallest increment. So in this case it would be a size of one container.

Where is this useful? Everywhere especially inspections. Let me recall how all inspections went in our unit and other units I know of. We had EME inspection and everyone worked on vehicles focussing only on that, then we had weapons inspection and everything was geared for weapons cleaning, we had document inspection and all registers were worked on, and blah blah blah. And everytime it was fire fighting. Leave everything else and fight this fire. It kind of seemed chaotic in terms of process maturity. Now a wisecrack I would make is that our size of one was the one audit inspection that was on hand. I am my biggest enemy. Let me explain why size of one audit inspection is not size of one.

An inspection should not be a one time annual effort that we have to really focus on. Because what that does is, it hides problems, messes up normal work schedule, does not focus on resource balancing and in long term is highly inefficient and hence costly.

One of the concepts I really loved was surprise tests during my school. We were not supposed to sit and study for an exam when it was round the corner. Exams were there just to provide us feedback. If we did our homework everyday there was no need for studying at the last moment.

I applied this concept to my troops for BPET tests with slight modification. There were no annual BPET tests. A soldier could appear for the BPET on a fixed day every week.

Back to vehicles inspection - if the driver and the mechanic keep the vehicle operational through out the year - why the need for geru chuna. The log book should be complete at any time. The PM1 and PM2 tasks done when scheduled, not just for inspection. It all boils down to size of one. I treat the vehicle as the size of one and focus on it at the time it is needed. I do not wait for a batch job around inspection time.

The size of one will introduce main hardships initially but what it does is, it exposes the hidden problems which otherwise would never surface. Size of one in other words is linked with JIT - just in time. Size of one is perfection which may not be possible due to various reasons - say EOQ - economic order quantity, but everytime we reduce the batch size - as in differential calculus we say as limit tends to infinity or in this case limit tends to zero we discover hidden problems. And these if we take care of will improve our operational efficiency.

I request you to think it over and provide feedback if you have implemented size of one in whatever aspect possible.

Life coach - Step 63 of 100 - Brakes help us to speed

I always thought brakes on cars help us to slow down till one day it struck me that brakes actually help me to speed. Imagine a world without brakes. I would be scared to speed because now I wont be able to slow down when I need to and there would be an accident. I would have to drive so very slowly and so would others and still we would have many more accidents.

Processes and procedures are like that. They help us to improve our operational efficiency and also help us innovate. Many of us hate processes and procedures. We call it bureaucracy, red tapism, etc. But without them things would never proceed ahead. The problem lies in processes and procedures that are not lean. Activities and steps that they involve that do not add value. But if we have to lean the process, we have to first standardize it before we can improve and innovate.

My first question to you is that do you really feel that processes and procedures even at a unit level are standardized? In my unit which is at least 25 years old, I have yet to see standardization. A soldier goes on leave and we know when he is to be back. 99% of them would return on the due date. In a standardized system, his Part II order for availment of leave and payment of rations should be published on the day he returned alongwith the Company Commander interview. I havent seen one unit where it happened. I tried doing this in my RR unit and succeeded to an extent.

We had 4 bridging companies and each had bridging procedures that were at least 10% different from the other. That is a lot of variation.

My point is if we have to improve, we have to start with standardization of the processes and provedures. Once that is in place, we can make the process lean to remove the waste and prevent errors. A good place to start - visit the firing range and see how companies do things differently. Visit the MT repair workshop and ask them for estimates for repair times for replacing tyres, radiator flush, PM 1 and PM 2 tasks. The time estimate would be a reflection of the processes. Visit the FOL dump and ask for time to fill up an empty vehicle.

We have to be a lean organization if we wish to achieve improvements.

Life coach - Step 62 of 100 - Take the 21 day challenge and lose 8 lbs

This challenge is not about losing 8 lbs. You will lose 8 lbs as an indirect consequence of accepting the challenge. The challenge is about being on the go for the 21 days.

Challenge

For the next 21 days, decide that you will not use the chair at all. It means two things - firstly you should be out in field with troops and your officers and secondly if you do have to be in your office to sign stuff, do it while you are standing.

Does this sound crazy - I have read that some CEOs have this policy. There are no chairs even for software programmers or architects. I am not talking about the shopfloor.

Is this possible - most people in service industry are on their feet the entire 8 to 10 hours of their workload - ticketing counters at Mumbai local trains, all checkout counters in all stores in US, all banks in US where they service clients for depositing cheques and sundry work, shop floors, mechanics, everywhere.

There are 2 advantages of doing so

1. Since you are already standing, it takes less power to overcome the inertia to go places. You can go to the companies, the training areas, the MT, anywhere

2. If you are standing you realize that you end up wasting much lesser time in stuff that you do not actually need to do - reviewing a letter over and over, reading newspaper for articles that do not contribute value, you will be surprised how much the brain filters when you are standing

Dont belive me. Read this article from my favourite blog

http://www.evolvingexcellence.com/blog/2008/11/lessons-from-japan---stand-for-action.html

Are there any takers for the challenge?

Life coach - Step 61 of 100 - What are your Balanced Scorecard parameters?

During my MBA at Indian School of Business I studied Balanced Scorecard. The balanced scorecard says that you want to manage your profits, your customer satisfaction, your employees and innovation all in a holistic perspective. Being out of sync with any would hamper your long term interests.

From a Project management perspective, it is like managing scope, quality, cost and time. You change any one parameter you have to balance the rest to maintain the status quo.

Back to ISB, we played this game of operating an airline business and though our customer satisfaction was the highest in the class we were at the bottom of the class in profitability. Lesson learnt - balance all the parameters. We should have raised the prices and earned higher profits if we were providing higher quality.

Marriott hotels measure the Hotel manager on 3 parameters - profitability of the hotel, customer satisfaction ratings and also employee evaluation of the manager. I have seen project managers achieve the project objectives but at a high team attrition rate. The team members left the team and the organization during or at the end of the project as soon as they got a chance. And I have seen organizations where the employees were very happy - they got all the freedom but failed to achieve the goals. Balance, its all about balance. Marriott has got a simple and clean balance scorecard structure.

Just go back to Bhagvad Gita - it is always about moderation in everything - not extremism.

What is your Balanced Dashboard on which you measure your success?

Life Coach - Step 60 of 100: How to agree to disagree

As a Commanding Officer and in your life ahead you will make decisions that go against the popular opinion. Col Sikand made one such decision among many others. He said that as per leave policy we are supposed to be present for the evening roll call the previous evening and the first parade the next day. Typically till then troops used to come late at night and miss the first parade either to get their haircut or straighten out their equipment.
This change in policy was disturbing for many troops some of them who had to now report almost in the afternoon the previous day due to their train timings.

The Company Commanders and rest officers disagreed. But Col Sikand knew that he had a growing problem - growing number of late comers or AWOL. (Link this to the broken window theory).

As a CO you would be forced to take harsh decisions in the interests of the unit. You dont have to agree with the other person , but you do need to make sure that the both of you (you and the other party) understand why you disagree.

Life Coach - Step 59 of 100: Part II - How to make people obey your command without commanding

The problem with the methodology is that you have to work hard. Actually it is not a problem, but given the option to be lazy and choose the easy way out, it does become one.

So when you are on your prowl and find that the mines are not being laid correctly or the person holding the weapon on the firing range has a dheela pakad, you need to know what is the correct thing to do and that may mean revisiting the basics. I am not asking you to lay mines or be a marksman. But as a Commanding Officer if you show that you know the basics, everyone follows through. It is a problem of an echelon and also personality based system where we follow the idiosyncracies of the top layer.

Does it mean that you have to be in excellent grading in BPET and everything else? I had the opportunity of watching Saroj Khan instruct Madhuri Dixit. One is the coach the other the player. We expect Madhuri to scintillate the screen when she does her thumkas, jhatkas and the change in expressions in the twinkle of the eye. But it was Saroj Khan instructing her what to do and where to improve. Get the analogy. You are the Saroj Khan who will make the unit dance to the tune, you dont and cannot be the Madhuri, but you will coach her.

I have seen Anu Mallik composing music. Some of his compositions are memorable, my favourite being Border movie songs. He corrects the singers and says sing this note in this pitch, modulate this word here, stress this note, feel this para and blah blah. He does not have the golden voice of the singers and his album where he sung sucked. But he was a good coach. Get the anaology.

And if that means revisiting the basics, be it so. There is nothing to be ashamed of in learning what you are supposed to know. I taught my exisiting client CIO, Earned Value Management and he is 62 years and has been handling projects, budgets for past 10 years. He wanted to refresh his knowledge so that he could do his duty better. I hope that when I am 62 I have his desire to learn and to improve.

So where will you start point be for making people follow you. They dont expect you to be perfect. But they will follow in your footsteps if you show them the way.

Life Coach - Step 58 of 100: Part I - How to make people obey your command without commanding

During our annual vehicle inspection - a big to do item on our yearly agenda I learnt something which I have seen being repeated by a number of good leaders. The EME officer heading the inspection team would spot a deviation. Say the battery on the PMP vehicle was not tightly held in place. Typically most other officers would point it to the PMP JCO who would shout orders and then the PMP NCO would come running with the tools, scold the driver for not listening to him and the driver would take the tools and tighten the bolts and nuts.

This officer did things differently. He would ask for the tool and tighten it himself and explain to the MTO, the JCO, NCO and the driver how the battery if tight would help preserve the life of the cells inside. He spotted a Jonga radiator cap on the 1 Ton vehicle. He removed it himself and ask for a correct radiator cap and explained that the release pressure for both the caps were different. If he found a grease point, ungreased he would take the grease gun and do it himself.

I think that what he taught me and the rest of my staff I still remember 15 years later. He communicated the message himself.

My mother when she was the Dean of a college was hosting a show for a visiting dignitary. There was lot of scrap of the decoration on the stage. She pointed that to the decoration team. They said that the safaiwala was on his way. She picked up the broom and started sweeping the floor. The students soon followed.

My last client manager Freyae Jones age 58 years came into the office on a snow day. Snow had accumulated on the steps and if left untouched would freeze and cause slipping. She picked up the shovel from the reception and started shovelling. The team to clean up the snow by sprinkling salt would take time to come and she did not want to wait. And as she said that there wasnt anything more important at that time pending. So she could do it.

Consider you as the CO on your rounds find a piece of paper lying on the road. You go and pick it up and put it in the trash bin. Your actions speak so loud and clear. Or in morning physical PT period you join a squad and do push ups with them. Sure you cannot match them, but at least you could do a few and send the message to the troops.

A good manager is also a good teacher.

As always the sky is your limit and discretion your wisdom, when to do what.

Life Coach - Step 57 of 100: McDonalds and Defence forces - something common

Deep in my heart, I always knew that in case my unit were to be mobilized at a short notice we were not prepared. I also knew that we would mobilize if need be and achieve our objective, but that was a one time heroism of all people involved.

We dont need heroes or working overtime or working weekends to achieve our objective. Nor do we need luck. Neither of them - hope or luck is a strategy for success. What we need is definite processes and procedures to make things happen.

McDonalds if I have understood them correctly were successfully in building the largest franchise in the world with simple rules - hire a good manager, have very good processes and procedures and hire obedient workers who listen to the manager and follow the processes and procedures.

Isint it strange that our defence forces follow the same rules. We have excellent managers (officers) and obedient employees (troops). What is missing in many cases is the good processes and procedures.

Dont believe me, I suggest you do the following. Have a simulation scenario with a Company Commander. It is a table top exercise only. I will tell you what I want you to do with him once this is over - I want you to chew him apart. Repeat it with every Company Commader.

Table top exercise - Tell the Company Commander that he has received orders to mobilize and ask him to present his plan in every detail. Details you can look for - who goes where, who stays back and who does what, when and where. This will include troops, families, equipment, vehicles, arms, ammunitions, furniture, barracks, everything.

If you want you can give a sufficent notice for the Company Commander to prepare himself for the Table Top exercise. Sit back Tiger and watch your little cubs shock you and once you have chewed them over and over, watch them evolve into Tigers.

In a real situation the Company Commander will mobilize sacrificing family time, working odd hours, etc. But we dont want heroes, we want good managers. Let the enemy die for his country and be a hero. We only want to defeat the enemy, teach them a lesson and win the war. Our obedient troops will rally behind the officer and get things done. We know that, hence maybe we lack processes and procedures. And that is not betting on hope or luck to win our war.

Life Coach - Step 56 of 100: Declutter everything

Thank you Shirin for the wake up call. Laziness in blogging was kind of becoming a habit.

Apologies for the long break in my blogging. I am between jobs and initially the stress of finding the right job in a recession economy was my excuse and after that it was decluttering my house.

I had a break of a few days between my jobs and I used it to declutter the house. Over a period of 4 years stay in US, we have managed to collect a lot of stuff which we dont need any longer or was a spur on the moment purchase.

Outside CME, Pune there is a homepathic doctor enroute to Khadki market who managed to get rid of my cold allergies in 4 sittings of Rs 15 each. He had a poster in his office that said "Discipline is finding the right thing when it is needed in the shortest possible time". I guess it meant discipline as applied to material objects in storage or in use.

In our units we have so much acquisitions over time - purchases, gifts, finders losers that it is time for us to declutter our units. Now decluttering also applies to documents. If I ask my company commander to get me a report and he takes a day to compile it, it means firstly he is not aware of the details and secondly his team does not know where to look for it in the shortest possible time.

I have a unique system of storing items - called organized chaos. In my home during my childhood I had boxes for various things. So if you asked for a particular comic, I would go to the boxes of my comics and then search in that few boxes. I knew it was somewhere over there in those few boxes. The search was restricted to only those few boxes. I eventually got to what I needed but it took time. I am trying to move from the organized chaos by having a systems wherein even if I am not physically present, I could instruct you where to look for it. Initially I had to be present to know where to look for. still a long way from perfection, but I am improving gradually.

My PMP JCO had a good system. If I asked for a Log book of a vehicle he would have it in front of me within minutes. All tools were in the same spot after they had been used. There was no searching for anything.

Here is what I want you to do, when you go for your unit rounds look for declutter. Stop at the QM office and ask him to get you reports of last month. Stop at MT office and ask for Log Books. Ask Kot NCO for lost unit inspection reports. Repeat the same at each company location. You could ask for anything that you want to see - not just my laundry list above. Now some of the NCOs, JCOs would have what you need in less than a minute and some would take time. Identify why the timings were different. And standardize the best practice.

We will get to decluttering of other stuff in next blog.

Life Coach - Step 55 of 100 - 24 - 48 - 72 hours is all you have

One of the things that we created in our regiment was Service Level Agreements with the troops. What is this SLA business?

Often I end up on the phone waiting to reach a service representative. What irks me is listening to the music with no idea of where I am in the queue. I am relieved if I am told that I am 10th in the queue and I should be speaking to a real human in say 12 minutes. It is this that makes me stay in queue without much cribs. The fact that I can escalate my problem to a senior manager reassures me. The fact that I will receive a response for the concerned within a stipulated time reassures me.

Our soldiers are our customers too. They are recipients of our orders and we need to service them well to get work out of them. They are both are tools to get work done and also our customers. If I extend the logic to family, my parents and my siblings are my customers, my wife and children are my customers. All of them have wants and I need to fulfill them. The uniqueness in this relationship is that they do not repay in money but repay in kind.

Back to our soldiers: they have their families and responsibilities and they need leave, need someone to help them fulfill their obligations, need our intervention, etc. The worst thing for a solider is to go unheard - it is like listening to the music on hold forever. In the worst case scenario we have the solider running amock.

In our battalion we had a clear 24 - 48 - 72 hours SLA policy. If the soldier had a problem he would approach his Platoon JCO / Coy Sub who had 24 hours to resolve the same. If they could not, the problem was escalated to the Company Commander who had the next 24 hours to do something. After 48 hours the CO intervened and his decision was final even if it went against the lower levels.

If a solider felt that he was being denied leave, promotion, etc he could use the SLA. The advantage of having this was that the solider knew as to within what time frame his problem woudl be resolved and if it did not what was that he had to do next. He knew he could go right up to the level of CO within 72 hours.

How many problems reached the CO level? Just a couple in 8 months. Was the system misused - no. Did the troops get their problems resolved - yes.

Not being given justice ( or at least having this perception) is what drives a soldier amock. What kind of system do you have in place for your troops?

Life Coach - Step 54 of 100 - It is all about money, honey

One of the most useful things that a CO can do for his troops is to ensure that the troops get what they are authorized, especially salary and reimbursements. In our unit we had a number of cases where the ORs salary was in negative - we could not pay him for the month, however the OR claimed that many of his dues were still outstanding. Reminders, letters, etc were no good. This is what we did for them.

We got an officer to intervene. All such cases were collected and of the 800 almost 100 plus had large outstanding amounts to be paid to them. Then the officer went to BEG Roorkee and met the officers there. Our officer carried a clerk with him who sat with the BEG clerk. The officer sat with the other officer. If the officer was not successful then it was the 2IC who went and sat with the counterpart. They had to just be there in front of the officer and every 1 hour contact the CO using the phone and tell the CO how many cases had been resolved.

Simultaneously we also did something interesting - one of the ORs who was to retire complained that the clerks were asking for a cut to get his work done. I with the blessings of the CO, contacted the anti-corruption authorities. We got the currency that was to be paid countersigned by a board. The plot was that the OR would pay the bribe and the police would apprehend the individual with the notes that were initially marked. We could have solved the problem of corruption in BEG to a large extent in one operation. Unfortunately the Col Comdt had to be informed and he was a wimp I guess.

But guess what, the information travels fast and a message was sent to the concerned. And in those 2 years we sorted the accounts of every soldier.

As an officer we ensure that every outstanding due is paid to us. And as an officer it is our responsibility that the same is true for our ORs. I dont know what the situation is with ORs today, but there is always a way to make things happen, if you want them too.

Life Coach - Step 53 of 100 - How do you earn 365 crores in a year

People rise to their best when it is expected out of them. Officers are one such lot. They have tremendous potential to be smart and lazy at the same time. If the need arises, they will perform, but given an option may take the easier way out.

I want you to think of your regiment as your self-run business. Assume that all the officers are your employees and you pay their salaries. Their output is what brings in the moolah. If they work, are productive, you can bring in revenues. For you the equation is cost = price - profit.

Price is what the market decides. If you want to earn profit, the only option is to cut costs or increase productivity.

Now using this as the backdrop, decide whether or not you want your employees to continue working for you. If you had the power will you sack some of them, reduce the salary of a few, etc.
To be on the top of your business, ahead of your competition you need to be on top of everything that happens in your production line - what was the output today, waste, inventory, carrying costs, cash flows, sales, pending orders, cancelled orders.

Think like a CEO who reports to the Board and has to answer their questions. Now extend the logic to your company commanders. They are the CEOs of their companys. They should be on top of everything all the time.

Birla group a few years back had the objective of earning a profit of 365 crores in a year. And the only easy way out was to earn a profit of 1 crore a day. Every day accounts were closed to determine what was going right, correcting the wrongs, eliminating the waste.

It is your duty to ensure that your company commaders are on top of everything that happens in their company. The following details should be on their finger tips

• Company strength, people on duty, on leave, on TD, on training
• Vehicle operation worthiness
• Troops operation worthiness - number of medical catergories, overweight, sick
• Equipment operation worthiness
• Promotions - people due for promotions, missed promotions
• Weapon worthiness - small arms and large arms
• Physical fitness worthiness
• Barrack repairs / married quarter repairs / state of bathrooms
• Surplus rations / FOL
  
• State of clothing
• Quality of food
  

It is a pity that most of the company commaders had outsourced most of the above to their company subedars, office clerks, kot nco, pmp jco - no wonder these guys were taking for a spin, had no clue and the divide between officer and troops continues to grow.

You can outsource responsibility, not accountability.

As a CO you have to keep your officers on the go - they might crib today, but will later thank you for it. I always remember and respect those COs who made me work, grow and mature.

Try this litmus test
Ask your officers at random to brief you on their company worthiness every week. Let them prepare for it the first time, but next time onwards you want that information on their finger tips.

Life Coach - Step 52 of 100 - Write yourself a letter of the dreams you want to accomplish

I use this site to write a mail to myself to keep track of what my dreams are in the coming months and then use it track what I have done

http://futureme.org/

For example I write to myself what certifications I want to do, what papers I want to write, how many blogs I need to create, what improvements I need to do in my personal life, etc. I may change many of the goals, delete some of them, but the rate at which time passes, this site help me to feel the regret pangs earlier.

This is what I suggest

• Write a letter to yourself when you takeover the regiment for what you want to be remembered for. Date it 2 years from now
• Write a letter to urself 1 year from now, what metrics are you going to use in place to reach the 2 year point
• Write a letter to yourself for what you want to achieve in first 6 months
• Write a letter to yourself after 3 months of command as to what you want to improve in each in the next 6 months

The idea is that every 3 months, a letter will be mailed back to you stating what you had thought you were going to be. It is like a conscience pricking at you.

You can setup letters for spiritual, personal or professional uplift. But do it.

The reason I think it works is because our chalta hai attitude lets us degrade our dreams, our ambitions. The letter is like a rude awakening - ki Sandesh tune yeh socha tha, phir yeh Sandesh badal kyon gaya. Jaag jaa.

Life Coach - Step 51 of 100 - Art of standing still and observing

Oh No, that is not what the process should be

Data is of course important in manufacturing, but I place the greatest emphasis on facts.

—Taiichi Ohno

After the need to manage by walking around and need to spend 60 minutes every day comes the art of standing still and observing.

This was made famous by Taiichi Ohno. He used to draw a circle on the Toyota shop floor for engineers to stand in for hours on end “to see and understand”.

Here is how it works - you are now walking around (good) and have stopped at a location and have spent time asking the 3 questions (what do you do, what needs improvement and how can I help). Now how about standing still and just looking at the process and identifying 20 improvements in 20 minutes.

The exercise also helps you to appreciate that God gave you two eyes, two ears and one mouth for a reason. You should do a lot more looking and listening and when you do talk, it should be to ask a question.

Example - I was watching the recruits switch between the PT and drill period. They would go to one third location enroute, change the dress and the gear and then proceed to the location. The act of them assembling, then moving to the third location, changing clothes, assembling again and moving to the destination seemed a waste. As I observed I found more and more opportunities for improvement. Let me tell you the outcome

• Recruits will go directly from drill to PT ground in the drill dress. They will change the dress in PT ground only
• Recruits were wasting time trying to put the drill gear in a suitable manner.
  
• Recruits were wasting time after the period trying to find where they put the equipment
  
• We marked a 3 by 15 matrix and had each square numbered. The recruit would stand in that square in the corner of the PT ground in a shaded area and change. He would later come to the same square and change again
• He no longer wasted time to search for his equipment, wasted no longer time to assemble in platoon formation. Once he was dressed he was ready, once he undressed and dressed he was ready to move with the entire platoon
• No individuals got late as the entire platoon moved as one from one dressing area to the fields back to the dressing area to pick up the equipment and move to the next field
• There was no case of mixing of equipment

We then extended this standing still concept to FOL dumps. A vehicle would come for filling up the FOL, the person in charge will start filling up the FOL and then later sign the log book of the vehicle. So this is what we observed

• The vehicle took time to align at the pump
• The cannisters used for filling the lubricants had cracks in the opening, due to which extra time was spent in order to ensure that no lubricant fell on the ground
• Some lubricant was still spilling over
• The rubber hosing needed to be changed
• In case the FOL barrel was nearing depletion, air was sucked into the hosing, causing flow to reduce to a trickle

You can guess what we did to improve these observations.

After MBWA and 60 minutes try MBSS - Management by standing still and enjoy the difference

What is an abnormality?

http://www.gembapantarei.com/2007/05/standards_abnormality_and_the.html

Standards, Abnormality and the Ideal

By Jon Miller - May 3, 2007 7:25 PM

The topic of warusa kagen led to some interesting further thought. The following statements are all true:

1. When work is performed in the absence of a standard, this is an abnormality
2. When standards exist but are not being followed, this is an abnormality
3. When standards exist and are being followed, this is an abnormality

Most would agree with the first two statements, but not the third.

The first statement is true because standards exist a priori for a given process. The management simply have not recognized them or made them visible. There is a correct or appropriate amount of inventory to keep the process in the current condition running on time, for example. So the fact that this standard is not established is an abnormality.

The second statement is true because when a standard is established, we are saying "this is the normal method", so not following it is by definition an abnormality.

Let's take the example of inventory:

The third statement is true because even if a standard is being followed, this is merely adherence to a standard, the standard is flawed when compared against what is desirable.

The Toyota notion that standards are temporary things and not absolutes is at work here. There is always higher goal, referred to as "the ideal". Kaizen challenges people to go to gemba to directly observe the current condition, understand the warusa kagen, imagine the ideal condition and improve towards it.

So this understanding gives us the following diagram:

So a more user-friendly way of expressing this may be to say that there is abnormality versus the standard and abnormality versus the ideal. For the sake of simplicity let's say there are standards, abnormality and the ideal.

You may ask "Once you achieve zero inventory, aren't you done?" It might appear that you have achieved "the ideal" process with respect to inventory. However, even this condition is abnormal. When you question deeply why inventory is a waste, it comes down to inventory turns and cash flow. So now if zero inventory is abnormal, what is the target condition? Less than zero inventory must be negative inventory.

Is the notion of negative inventory ridiculous? Not really. It is not uncommon these days for large OEMs such as Toyota, Dell or Boeing to get their money upfront from their customers, buy components from suppliers on net 30 or net 60 terms. This means that in real cash terms they have something called negative inventory turns. Less than zero inventory.

Could we extend the idea from zero inventory to negative inventory to other areas? How about from zero defects to negative defects? Or zero accidents? How about negative accidents? A workplace that actually heals the sick and makes healthy people healthier, because it is closer to the ideal process. Now that's something that makes doing kaizen for the rest of our lives worthwhile.

Life Coach - Step 50 of 100 - A mercenary army in a way?

One of the problems I have seen is that in the end it is the CO's army literally. If the CO does not take interest, no one (majority) is interested.

There will always be exceptions, my training JCO Paras Nath at 2 TB was one. He had no further promotions, no appraisals to bother about and no axe to grind. But he contributed so much to the training. There will always be such individuals who want to do the best irrespective of the circumstances. They do it for themselves alone.

But the majority is unlike that. If we make PT voluntary, how many will turn up. Or let me put a reverse spin on this, if before the Colonel takes command - he finds out that he has very less chance of next promotion - how much effort will he put.

So in this mercenary army of ours - the soldiers work because they are paid to work and we have someone to supervise them (patriotism exists - but I would defer that to the field area where the soldier is directly facing the customer or sees the output of his labour. But even in a field area how many soldiers would volunteer to go patrol operations when it is cold, raining, it is night or would bother as to how many kills did we get this month. Things will change drastically for better in case of a war - where every soldier is motivated and would volunteer for any mission)

Back to the mercenary thing - so how do we motivate this person so that he can work without supervision. The answer is simple, yet difficult to implement if we dont let it happen.

The answer is " Think Lean". I would request you to ponder on what "Think Lean" means till my next blog.

Why you need the 60 minutes tour and the 3 questions?

I find this diagram from http://passthebuck.wordpress.com/ apt to explain our situation. Please refer to my earlier blog on 60 minutes

• Afar Land - This is where typically many of the COs (that I wish none of us become) are. They like to have presentations made in the Conference Room with tea and snacks at hand. And as one rises up in career so does the Afar land. This is where many of the officers especially company commanders are too today unless it is a field area.
  
• Report Mountains - This would be at a higher level, brigade HQ where reports are all that matter. The why behind the reports is not a major concern and if an officer is smart, reports can hide a lot if one manages the formatting style
• Ear-ie Canal - This is what officers unfortunately survive on - the SM is the ear of the CO, the Coy Sub of the Coy Cdr. Sure we need them, but what they tell us is what they think we need to know
• Past Ville - When I was a Coy Cdr, this is what my CO used to do and it worked well. Sure it did then and could work well today too, but are you doing a reality check. Or this is what things have always been till date and so let em continue
• Gemba Jungles - This is where the truth is and unless you step out, you will always be in the dark
  

Life Coach - Step 49 of 100 - If you cannot deliver, dont ask

Col. Ravi Deskmukh advised me that if you ask people to tell you problems, they expect you to solve them. Otherwise next time they will say "Sab thik hai saab" and that is end of your feedback.

So when I visited troop quarters being in-charge of MES JCO and the troops' wives told me that the flush tank leaks or the bedroom door is unhinged and they have already complained many times to MES with no action, then I need to resolve it. I have these options:

• Talk to the GE personally and get things resolved
• Talk to the CO and use regimental funds for troops welfare - use our carpenter, our materials, our time to get it fixed
• Use external labour at market rates

It does not matter what I do, what matters is did I deliver. Otherwise next time I should not visit the quarters or ask for feedback. Most of the troops tell us their problems only when they really suffer.

As long as what the troop is asking is legal and within his rights and he has exhausted the channels it is my job to ensure his welfare. Nahin to officer kay ka hoon mein - sirf ek postman hoon

And as a Commanding Officer if I cant do this ...

Life Coach - Step 48 of 100 - 60 minutes is all it takes

As a Commanding Officer we are supposed to be where our troops are. Good to say, difficult to practice. This is what I suggest. Just take 60 minutes of your time everyday and walk through the regiment - kitchens, bathrooms, barracks, workshop, offices, warehouse, kot, every place in the regiment.

The aim is to be on the feet for an hour. You could stop at the Kot and ask the kot cdr questions. You could stop at the langar and ask questions. The questions are:
1. What do you do?
2. What are your problems?
3. What can I do to make your job effective?

And remember that the SM / J Adjt notes the replies and you solve the problems as soon as you reach your office.

One of the biggest problems I saw was that the CO was becoming more and more distant from the troops. And if the truth be told there is always a parallel economy that keeps running in the background. The CO can create all the policies he wants, it is for the officers (who actually are also clueless to a large extent)and the troops to implement them.

Col Ravi Deskhmukh and I used to go out for our daily walks and we used to learn a lot just by listening. For example a sentry when asked what his problem was told us that he was overlooked for the JN Cadre due to favouritism. Another alleged that recruits paid money to the Trg JCO to get leave. The Langar commander told us that if we tile the butcher room up to the ceiling, cleaning the walls would be so much easier. The Trg JCO on the firing range told us that the bamboos used to support the targets break in just 5 details of firers, whereas the earlier ones used to last 10. I could go on.

The point is we never would have known this sitting in our offices. The SM was told that we wanted the true feedback and any attempt on his part to silence the truth would not go well.

Life Coach - Step 47 of 100 - Quality of life for troops

My brother would always say to me that in US we have a quality of life. I knew it meant that we dont have to struggle for basics - 24 hrs electricity, water supply, quiet neighbour hoods, no potholes, etc. What I did not understand was the next level of quality of life - quality of family time?

I do a 8 hour job and then I am at home with my family. No one can disturb me nor can i disturb anyone except in case of emergency. Weekends are mine. There is no overtime - we get compensatory offs for working on weekends / in evenings. There may be 5% discount to what I say, but generally that is what life is.

As a CO we cannot do anything about the first para for our troops, since we do not control it. But the second para is within our control.

In my unit we started thinking on lines of quality life for troops. This actually translates into professionalism. If I can get all my work done in my office timings, I do not need to work after office hours. And this is only possible if I work without wasting my time or others time.

Is this possible? Yes, you are the COs and if you cannot do it for your troops, no one else can. Example - I as the MTO had to get 150 camo nets made for our vehicles. We had got the skeleton and the chindis separately. Weaving each net with 4 troops took around 4 hours. I told them that the minute they finish - good quality work only - they can leave for their homes. Those guys finished in two hours. I doubled the target for the same goal - go home early. They finished 30 minutes earlier than 4 hours and left for their homes. I used that logic for all the tasks I had to get done. If they are going to work double hard, they need a reward.

How many times have we seen babus sitting in offices wasting time? And same is true for officers - CO saab is in his office - let us sit till he leaves. Is there really this much amount of work? Or are we just creating work.

What is your mission statement in Haiku?

http://thinksigma.stripgenerator.com/2009/04/23/what-is-your-mission-if-phrased-in-haiku.html

I recently stumbled upon Haiku in Evolvingexcellence.com

The key to haiku productivity is to limit yourself to an arbitrary but small number of things, forcing yourself to focus on the important stuff and eliminate all else.

So how does this apply to productivity? Well, if you think this will allow you to accomplish twice as many tasks, you’re wrong. You’ll accomplish fewer tasks. But you will most likely be more effective, because you will have to choose only the essential tasks — the ones that will give you the most benefit for your limited time.

What are the other benefits of Haiku Productivity, besides increased effectiveness? Besides forcing you to focus on essential tasks that have a large Return on Investment (ROI), it forces you to eliminate the non-essential tasks. No other system forces you to do that. It forces you to make the best use of your time. It forces you to limit the time you spend on things, which means you have more time for other things that are important to you, and you are able to focus on what you want to focus on, instead of everything coming at you.

Can you define your mission statement in 17 syllables or less? Can you use it for your daily work routine?

For example for my daily routine this is my mission statment

A blog / webcast a day

Quality time with family

Learn one new thing daily

The first statement is about giving back to the world which has given me so much - spiritual dimension, the next is about what is most important to me - personal and the last is about professional growth.

Life Coach - Step 46 of 100 - What is a service?

Has anyone ever given a thought to why we call it army, navy and airforce - defence services? Okay defence is a service that we provide as an output of our activities. It is not a product because it is intangible. Similarly we have judicial services, adminstrative services, etc?

So what does the word service mean? The concept of service is amazing. If one looks at it in detail especially what goes in to create a service, one would realize the nuances involved. And maybe one would change the way one thinks.

Recently I attended an IT Service Management training programme. And the whole point of the course was viewing a service as a service.

Let us say that you are setting up a party to welcome a VIP at your mess. The typical action is that one starts deciding the menu - looks at likes and dislikes of the VIP. Then one will consider the guests to be invited and maybe get into more details - we do most of them subconsciously due to force of habit.

But what if you start looking at the setting up of the party as a service and now get into details. Let me give some pointers. The service aspect would look at

• Time management - who will come at what time and what route.
  
• Security management - how will security at gate be informed, how will security at the party be maintained
• Guest management - who all are invited
• Access management - who has access to the VIP and who stays back
• Menu management - where does the food come from, how much does it cost, who will procure it, who will check the quality, what starters do you need, in what quantity, what are the special starters for the VIP and coterie only
  
• Servers management - how many servers do you need, which server is focussed on the VIP
• Food service management - what time does the soup get served - so when do you heat it, what time does the food get served, when do you start serving desert - do you wait for everyone to finish their meals
• Table management - how many tables do you need, how many warmers do you need, how many people per table, how many dishes, spoons, etc
• Reception management - who will receive the VIP, who will see them off
• Waste management - what happens to the balance of the uneaten food
• Environment management - what temperature is to be maintained, do we need coolers, fans, ACs, do we need music - what kind, where should the speakers be positioned, who will swap the tapes / CDs / DVDs
• Drinks management - which drinks, who will maintain the count

These are just a few of the total activities that make the service. Now if we are able to use the same logic to our command - just imagine the processes that we develop the first time and then improve upon them.

Let us consider building the PMP bridge - there are 25 odd teams doing numerous tasks and each bridging company would have innovated new processes / re-engineered existing processes. As a CO you are responsible for standardization of the bridging process across the regiment - thus you should capture the best of each company and have a best practice process. If you apply the service logic you would not only standardize but also innovate many more.