Those Golden Days

A song from Hindi movie “Aashayein”

Now it’s the time of brightness

Now is the breaking of dawn

Now, let me make my abode in the wind

Now, let me share my secret with the world

Now, let me soar in the skies

For in this moment, I want to live.

Why fear failure?

Why embrace death before living life?

My heart joyfully says to me,

As long as there is life, let there be zest for life

Now is the time to be determined

The time to sacrifice everything for a dream

For in this moment, I want to live.

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A very few times a period comes in our lives when we remember every day, every event and every second of that period. The whole period – with a specific climax incident or a set of incidents - gets permanently itched in to our memory. Our passion in whatever we do is at a so heightened stage that nobody can detach us from this passion, at least in that period. The length of this period may vary in each individual’s life. Death within this period may be the ultimate ecstasy, and if we do not shape our lives in later years till again such period arises or we make it arise, what people may see of us is may be a mass of flesh, bones and blood, living in past glory. One may recall very touchy portraits of two Vastads written by our beloved Pu. La. Deshpande.

I spend such a beautiful period: from 2007 to 2010.

Realization that what we did was extra-ordinary in those days came late when I again re-entered in to the same old pattern of looking after only one of the attributes out of many successfully handled attributes as an In-charge of the unit. Now many days later, someone associated with those days meet me, we exchange pleasantries and invariably enter into the sweet memories of those days. Those Golden Days!

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As I was expecting it, the proposal came one fine day from my boss to head an export oriented unit of our Company. I immediately gave my consent. My inner mind was telling me not to do so. It was only from that lethargic attitude which enters in our body, unknown to us, to eat our soul. Initially before taking this responsibility and subsequently in the earlier days of working as an In-Charge of the unit, I always had the feeling about whether I am making / had made a mistake. The environment was new. I had not got acquainted with the people in depth. I got frustrated every time when the things didn’t move as I wanted them to move. There was also an added personal dimension. My anxiety about my own success created a big lump of ice in my stomach.

But I am possessed with the greatest of the attributes – having two minds and the only thing favorable to me is my attitude to jump in to the lake of fear whenever such a lake got created in to my mind. What is there to lose if I refused this assignment? Nothing! Somebody else will take this job. I shall be contained in my safe sphere. Why should I break this protective shell? But then isn’t it an opportunity? All these conflicting thoughts pointed me to various escape routes which I desired initially. At the same time I was eager to take the new responsibility ..... I love both these minds of mine and let them rule on me. This way there is no intra-personal conflict.

After my re-location, every time I secretly wished my boss, ADP, to come to help me. He too used to come weekly. One day I suddenly realized that if I really should stand on my own legs in this new responsibility and want to achieve something, I must stop the impulses of taking my Boss’s help every now and then. The best way to do this is to talk directly with him, which I did. The greatness of my boss is that he immediately agreed to limit his visits, sensing my difficulty, only with a word of caution and a request that he is available whenever I need him. I felt that I am fortunate on this one single most and important aspect - having a good boss. Later he did helped me on many occasions. One particular set of events itched on my mind is related to special technical and safety audits by a prestigious Client by coming weekly for monitoring the “TO DO” lists prepared by us.

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One very good thing also happened to me. Full credit goes to VKB. Earlier I had worked under him. Later after a few years, he came as a consultant. His mission: Change Management! The many sessions of him that I attended made a tremendous impact on me. I began to believe that some change has been done in my personality when my family members began to say that I have changed. His advices were born through wisdom. Himself being a highly educated person, with high technical and logical mind, and having a vast experience in varied fields, he seldom talked about any technical subjects. He was more focused on ‘Human Beings’, their behavioral patterns, empathy, unlimited potentials in every human being, their interpersonal relationships and factors influencing these, effective communication, self-esteem, harsh truthful realities of life, pain, emotions, the common traps which engulf the humans, and many more such topics. Gradually a bond began to develop between us which is as strong as steel and exists even today.

Some mails received from him and reproduced here can throw some light on his personality.

1] Mail from VKB, after going through the performance in a particular year…

“dear MILIND  vow vow
heartiest congratulations to ur team for such a commendable performance. Ur team is so dynamic, what u have achieved is nothing for them. Capable of doing much much more, they will never let down in any assignment time to come.
God bless u all.
Ingratitude”

2] Another mail:

“PL DON`T DISAPPOINT MANAGEMENT ON ALL THE FRONTS.
PL BE IN TOUCH.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL
WITH LOTS LOTS LOVE”

3] A unique mail of VKB giving Diwali wishes:

“Hi loving ones

PREAMBLE

AS WE KNOW...WE ATTRACT RESPONSE ON WHAT WE THINK (law of attraction)

THESE THOUGHTS HAS GOT DEFINATE RELEVANCE ON OUR SUCCESS AND PROSPERITY ON OUR LIFE AND FAMILY

Therefore

FROM THIS NEW YEAR WE WILL NOT COMPLAIN,

NO RESENTMENT AND NO GRIEVANCE.

WHY.

COMPLAINING IS FAVOURITE STRATEGY TO JUSTIFY FAILURE AND STRENGHTENING OF SELF THUS MIND MAKES UP STORIES.

ALOUD OR THOUGHT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE

IT IS PART OF EGO WHICH EVERY ONE LOVES IT WITHOUT REALISING IT DRAINS OUT UR ENERGY...MAKING U SUSCEPTIBLE TO DREADFUL DISEASE

SO

ONE HAS TO BE AWARE OF THOUGHTS

·         BE IN STATE OF WITNESS

·         FORGIVE AND OVERLOOK

·         NON REACTING IS NOT UR WEAKNESS BUT UR STRENGTH

·         REMOVE THE BAGGAGE OF OLD THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS...MIND SET˙ON DOING

·         FEEL THE INNERBODY TO GENERATE ENERGY

·         IF REQUIRED, FACTS SHOULD BE NARRATED WITH OUT JUDGEMENT

RESULT

·         LIGHT AND FRESH IN MIND

·         CREATIVE MIND

·         EACH CELL OF UR BODY IS FULL OF JOY

·         WINNING THE WAR OVER MIND SET

·         COME OUT FROM INADEQUACY

·         FINALLY U WILL ENJOY BLISSFUL LIFE WITH LOT OF SUCCESS

·         HAPPINESS AROUND U WILL SPREAD LIKE INFECTION THUS MAKE OTHERS HAPPY

From desk of vkb”

On one occasion he also sends some photos to highlight the point of “innovation”. Two of these I have reproduced below.

Sometimes we come across the people, who outwardly seem very difficult but as our interactions increase, exact opposite is there for our pleasant surprise. Boss of my boss was ALT at that time. He influenced me for his very blunt straightforwardness, understanding and evaluating aptitude and crisp communication. He is never afraid of putting the things straight and do not like ‘politically correct’ talk. He used to be aware of exact problem and I always felt free to communicate with him even on any of the topics which he never liked. I took his help whenever I felt that he is the only person who can help me. He also guided me and brought me on ground to prevent my floating when he sensed it. I like his ‘one liners’ in the communication.

Two very interesting communications between us through mail are given below:

1] MPP to Other Dept. Head, with cc to ALT:

We were facing some minor teething problems, which now are becoming major ones. ..…[Problem Statements] …...Kindly look in to the matter to suggest suitable solutions very immediately.

ALT to MPP:

Do you have any solution in sight?

MPP to ALT:

One solution is to depute Mr. XYZ at my Unit till the solutions are found. He may be useful to trouble-shoot below given problems by coordinating among the concerned Key Users.

ALT to MPP:

Who stops you from doing this by ourselves?

2] Reply of ALT on one of my mails send at one year end indicating that the targets are achieved and also appreciating the efforts of all the service departments:

Congrats! Did you meet the planned targets for the first time?

I got the message.

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One question troubled me in those days. What is it that I should take pride in myself? Gradually I began to realize that there are too many good qualities which I possess and some which I have to develop. I concentrated first on “Pride Qualities” which I sincerely thought with conviction that I possess.

Strong binding towards commitment is the first of such qualities which also called for a very deep involvement. It is not that I never failed in my commitments. There were many drastic failures. But every failure pricked me for a “re-bouncing effect” which resulted in pro-active actions on future projects. I realized that for any major material or process there are many heads “looking after” the matter. Poking my nose in to such matters do not add much value. But there are some certain areas, like pressure gauge not functioning during testing, pump failure, water shortage, non-availability of C class items like hardware, specific painting requirement, missing of a minor parallel process of sub-assembly fabrication, clouds in sky indicating heavy rainfall, region specific festival blocking all the roads, etc. which are often overlooked. Rather a trend gets developed to treat these as non-avoidable entities in the whole volume of work, the control of which is presumed to be not in our hands. I began to concentrate on these areas and astonishingly my failure chances showed diminishing trend. This can be compared to walking through the jungle infested with lots of snakes and wild creatures when our every sense attains a highest level to tune to the surrounding environment.

Absorbing all my team mates as “my fellows” with full and total acceptance along with their good qualities and bad, proved to be highly beneficial, particularly working in unison for the pre-determined objectives and under pressure of deliveries. I realized that I had this knack of identifying the strength points of each individual and explore these for such objectives. It also answered my question posed earlier to self about why a person gets stamped. Many times there is not enough time available to bosses to find and acknowledge such strength points and allocate a work suitable to get the benefit of these points. A stamped person then always gets treated in the same conventional manner. We must think that existence of each and every person on this planet earth has got meaning for contribution of some thing or the other which can be beneficial to this earth. My each and every team mate performed extra-ordinarily. Gradually a sort of belongingness also developed within them. I always feel gratitude towards them.

Dinkar, Ajit, Akbar, Zuber, Uttam, Ravindra, Ramesh, Rajendra, Hemant, Bhanudas, 2 Vijays, Prashant, Satish, Gajanan, Vilas, Milind, Ashutosh, Ambarish, Balasaheb, Somnath, Pravin, Narendra, Abhay, Nilesh, Avinash, Sagar, Charudatta … the memories of all of my team mates are floating like smooth waves just now in my mind. This very strong team – earlier got neglected for some reason or the other – proved to be the most valuable result givers and trusted elements of my unit as well as my Company. I had many of the achieved key result areas through my team in my kitty, which, in most of the cases, I was able to use very effectively for their further just enhancements. 

I was good at planning. I had to improve on execution. But it automatically became an easy task due to my commitment and involvement. My almost all the decisions were instantaneous and mostly based on intuition and common sense. No matter was ever kept lingering with me. I realized steadily that this is a very unique quality that I possess and which is extremely beneficial for running the show. Another aspect of my character, unknown to me earlier, is that, extracting the good meaning of it, I am an excellent manipulator. Acceptance and approval of all of my decisions by my subordinates as well as my superiors required this type of skill. But it benefited the Company. I got help and support from all of the service departments, their bosses and also from my other units.

The main key is: Give ample of desired credit to everyone and let the others too know objectively about who did what. Astonishingly, everyone, including top level, is hungry for the recognition. One method I usually employ (which actually I should not tell): Identify a doer – who is proficient and capable of the area where my idea or a decision is to be implemented for a particular task. Induce my thoughts in to his mind, by provoking his mind to act as per my direction, slowly say, what a brilliant idea it is that he has devised, and go on appreciating that person’s ‘brilliant idea’ in public. One thing is needed to be kept in mind. You must be completely able to lose your ego. You have to keep this in mind that you are not going to get the credit. But look for the results which you desire! This is very difficult, I know. Nobody is ready to come out of such thought as “I did this” and able to give credit of the things to others, even if one has initiated it.

Given below is a typical set of statements made by one of my friends of some other department a few years back to show how "I" works:

“You know, it was a mess, I tell you. God only can tell about what could have happened if I wouldn’t have been there. There was a total chaos. Nobody knew what to do. I had to intervene. I had to take all the things in my hand. I sorted out everything. I told everyone what to do. They are not at all competent. Since then I have been given this responsibility, since they know that only I can handle it. Any other substitute? Never ever think of it. Who is there but me? …”

Everything in above statement is centered on this "I" of that person. Like ... "I am right and all others are wrong". Every person has got this "I" in varying percentage. Invoking this "I" towards a channelized direction is all one needs to achieve the results.

Often empowerment is a liked word in the industry for talking. Transparent and total communication, delegation, faith in one’s capabilities and accountability are other such words. For me these interlinked words automatically took shape in whole of our system. I didn’t have any false self-ego concepts. There were always one-to-one as well as group discussions for any new project, plan, activity, program and everyone was aware of his role in it. This resulted in reduction in follow-up activities too since everyone used to be aware, with clarity, of what he is required to do and when. Often automatically everyone feels that he too is involved in the whole process including decision making process and gradually he begins to feel the ownership of his own actions. ‘Accountability’ factor is then not required to be talked. It automatically comes. Whenever any deviations arose in shop during work within a group, the same were discussed - with solutions not only within that group but also involving the other groups for making them aware too for future non-occurrences. Gradually the percentage of NCRs decreased. The number of accidents too decreased. On the spot short meetings of 10-15 minutes not only helped facilitating the future course of action but also developed camaraderie.

Some qualities I didn’t have. The two biggest of these were “Listening Skill” and “Holding Back”. VKB pointed out this drawback in me. These were the most important qualities that I gradually developed. Once I acquired them, I found that most of my wishes got fulfilled. Even when I failed sometimes, these qualities helped me in soliciting support – from my team mates, from Bosses, from other departments and also from my Clients. My earlier attitude of immediate reaction reduced considerably. In any interpersonal conflicts, I used to listen from both the parties and then call them together and provoked them to talk face-to-face. Very gradually these problems got sorted out automatically without my interference.

I also begin to understand that many people surrounding me were watching me. My behavior, the signals which I am sending out, my reactions to various different situations, my ethics, my likes and dislikes, whether I myself follow all the rules, even my appearance – everything was under scrutiny. Hence I learnt to have a control on all these aspects.

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Gradually credibility that we can deliver as per quality norms and within stringent delivery schedules began to increase. All our team’s self-motivation level increased up to such an extent that we began to feel that nothing is impossible for us.

A big blow was to come of which we were totally unaware of and also were totally unprepared. One political party, to enhance its own image and to gain cheap popularity, started a regional war of differentiating people as per their roots. Within no time many of our non-state workers left and the strength came to half. Month of February and March proved to be most crucial and whatever solutions we tried to find, each one of them failed because the situation was same everywhere in the industry.

This incident, though, taught me not to be over-confidant about self-capabilities. I experienced a total helpless feeling. I used to imagine, like in school: ‘If I become a Prime Minister, then what I shall do…’ The thoughts cannot be reproduced here, but they gave me solace.

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I want to admit one thing. Competition! It entered in to my mind through back door. Competition with my other units!!! I began to think how my unit can be different than the others – and decided some parameters for the improvement. Now I can say that this can be treated as healthy and that there is nothing wrong in it.

During these 3 years, there was nothing that we may have left unattended. The list of initiatives taken by my team is quite big. Some of them we termed as THE FIRST.

To name a few:

• Various accreditations,

• New record every year than the previous performance in terms of volume,

• Shortest deliveries,

• Enhanced quality and visible reduction in non-conformities,

• Improved aesthetics,

• Attaining and maintaining zero accidents - we got first prize and trophy of “Best Performance in Safety” within all of the manufacturing units of our Company.

• Following highest safety norms without compromise,

• Changeover to safe processes and innovative ways, innovation of various fixtures and devices

• Cost reduction,

• Housekeeping,

• Up-gradation of personnel through training regarding work practices with thrust on practical approach and awareness of wrong-doings for skills enhancement.

• Maintaining consistency by periodic self-auditing processes, like auditing of lifting tools & tackles, etc.

• Birthdays and wedding anniversaries celebration. (This idea got copied in other units –) …….......

[I wrote it just now and the thought popped up about how this “I” still in me flashes. Did you observe?]

My unit gained the status of “achiever” with the proper blend of teamwork. Appreciation, with photos, began to flow from various customers – internal as well as external. No one at this stage can afford to go back. Once this feeling is generated, it helps in sustenance of the systems. The long march then only has forward direction. One foreign guest, an MD of the Company reputed for the highest safety standards in Europe, commented to me,

“Your shop is as good as any excellent fabrication facility in Europe”.

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As I have stated earlier, learning is a process through the path of mistakes. But one mistake still keeps me haunting. I was expecting the Topmost Bosses to come to my factory and see the results, appreciated by foreigners, because seeing is believing. Whatever I desired, I got. But it is also necessary to have a pat! How can I and my team escape from that feeling? But I consider that I am responsible for this mistake. It never occurred to me to invite the Topmost Bosses. Who else was going to take that action but me?

Every start is followed by an end. The reasons are various, even logical. It is what we define as a “Life Cycle”. We say, “For in this moment, I want to live - forever.” The moment is followed by another, and another, and yet another ...... during some discussion in a weekly review meeting I say, “…but we did like this…” which shoots me back in to those days and I say to myself,

“…Oh, those golden days”.