Reflections

This is the 3 rd book from Prachi Garg I am reviewing, and each has added value to me as a professional. It has also given deep insights into what the new India is doing, as well as given me a fascinating insight into the minds of today’s youth. 20 case studies on youth enterprises can be shrugged off; 40 can be dismissed as the product of research and hard work on the part of the author, but when it reaches 60, and the third book, {added to the other books now emerging in the market} it all comes together to create a picture of a new India that is slowly beginning to emerge from the shadows of the older more staid India we are all used to seeing… THE BOOK The book is a series of 20 stories of 20 startups founded by brothers and / or sisters. The concept itself is riveting and fascinating; it is hard doing business within family, and can cause serious issues and misunderstanding simply because the expectations are much higher in such cases, the demands more strident. T...

In the first week of December of last year I received a question in response to an article I penned: " would be good if a simple method could be created to inculcate it in kids " by a reader from the Corporate World; a question asked nearly 49 days ago, asking how can we ensure that our children get these habits ingrained in them. I had no answer then; I still dont - but I am beginning to get closer to an answer, which I will pen in today's write-up.... The article in question is Speaking From The Heart - 2 : SkillsRequired, Path, Pluses and Minuses.... MAKING SENSE OF THE PATH: THE BEGINNINGS Here, when I say “The Path” I refer to the transformation from flippant, frivolous, or double meaning, or downright false uncaring speech to one of strong character, morals, values and absolute truth. If we are to get to unlocking the answer to the question asked above, the first and foremost requirement becomes understanding the transformation, and learning lessons fr...

This is one of the better known management books to be written – Frugal Innovation: How To Do Better With Less ; thus I was actually looking forward to this, in the hope that I can draw some lessons, practical real world lessons, from this book; and enhance my understanding and knowledge. In a nutshell, that was only partial. As a concept, the book does its job – that of frugality being essential. But, for the rest, it is by and large an acecdotal book with little relevance outside a limited circle of applicability. This does not meant the book is bad; just that it is a niche book, limited to Western Markets and Technology Intensive Manufacturing. I rate it 3.0 stars maximum. That said, there is a lot to be learnt – if you can look beyond the stated, and draw conceptual learnings for yourself . In fact, that is the only reason this 2 stars worth books gets to 3.0 stars. THE BOOK The theme of the book is around doing better with less; it sticks to this theme throughout – laying ...

BLACK MONEY AND TAX HAVENS Black Money has been the hot topic of discussion on Social Media as well as in the regular Media for several years now; yet, few books have come to my notice that deal with this topic. The current book under review – Thin Dividing Line : India Mauritius and Global Illicit Financial Flows by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta & Shinzani Jain is one book that breaks this trend, and takes a deep and in-depth look at at least one aspect of this matter in a no-holds barred factual and detailed analysis of Global “Hot Spots” aka Tax Havens. This is not easy territory to tread on; quite the reverse in fact. This is a complex topic at the best of times – in fact, it is more than complex. It does not make for easy study, or compilation, or sources, or indeed availability of facts and resources. You cant pick your facts easily; you have to hunt, study, research and go deep, be a miner and dig deeper than deep. This is also an approach that is bound to cause exce...

As per a recent Business Standard article – Of the 67 top listed companies not able to service interest on their debt during 2016-17 due to inadequate profits, 53 started operations in the post-1980 period when private investment was first liberalized. This analyses is based on a list of 633 non financial companies that are a part of the BSE 500, BSE Midcap, or BSE Smallcap industries. The sample further does not include Software exporters such as TCS, Infosys etc. In all, the 413 companies set up after 1980 accounted for 51.3% of all corporate debt at the end of the last financial year. Now this is a most interesting observation and research; though I readily admit that we cannot draw many conclusions from beyond what has been covered in the article {Bibliography link} – it does kindle a series of fascinating thoughts and inferences that we can draw from this. The article goes onto state Analysts attribute this to the growth ambition of these companies…. Younger companies are in...

I have previously observed the need for the Media to cover local Success Stories, stories of normal people who add value to society, or achieve something special in a relative sense. Such stories can galvanise and motivate a people, and spread positivity all  round. Our Media is in dire need of a refocus along these lines. While the   Media may be taking its own sweet time to come around, it is nice to see normal people coming up and stepping forward to fill the void. One such person is Major Pradeep Khare, who has decided to contribute to the above in his own small way. Unsung Heroes is the name given to the book, one which does full justice to the book, its contents and to the people whose stories are given in it. 51 high-calibre stories of struggle, sacrifice, hard work, imagination, and dedication. These are stories which either never reach your eyes and ears, or are covered sporadically in minor news snippets; yet, each story deserves a deeper conte...

The Book gives a nice summary on the cover : Delightfully written, Spark decodes the art of Brand Building and provides a step by step guide to arriving at insights that survive the test of time . I refer to the book “ Spark – The Insight To Growing Brands ”  written by Paddy Rangappa . In short – delightful, yes. Step by step guide – yes; but to what is the question. Is the content good – yes. Is it pertinent – again, unequivocally, yes. But does it decode the art of Brand Building – regrettably, no. In my opinion basis 17 years of Sales and Marketing Work Experience, there is a lot more to building Brands. That said, this is an excellent resource, as we shall see in this review. CRAFT There are many good points in the book; excellent, stunning insights, and a very practical framework that just about anyone in any leadership or quasi-leadership role will find very practical and adaptable to just about any real world situation. The framework suggested, one of them, is...

In this second article in the change management series, let us go deeper into communication, with particular reference to the Indian Context. Communication is considered to be a major solution to managing change; in my opinion, it is a tool, a tactic used to manage it; not a strategy. The reason why a large percentage of initiatives fail arises from this misunderstanding – that communication is a key strategic tool in the change manager’s repertoire. The difference between the two is that a tactic is deployed along a particular vector i.e. strategy. As someone observed in comments on my previous article – actions and words should align. Treating communication as a tactic is one small part of the process that can lead to ensuring these align. Image Credit  Google Search THE INDIAN CONTEXT Before we go into the specifics of communication in change management, we need to  understand the context of communication in India. Indians operate, by and large, on the spo...

The normal assumption that “Change is the only constant” is frankly an idiom that is wrong in more ways than I can count, at least insofaras Business is concerned. There is a difference between regular uncertainty, flux in Business realities, short term fluctuations, normal predictive events that lead to change – and turning the organization from one direction to another. The first is not change; managing it is not Change Management as per me. That first aspect is just the nature of business; you have to learn to navigate all of these. Change Management - Image Credit Google Search Real Change is when you have to shift the strategy employed at an organizational level, perhaps departmental / functional level – from one vector to another. How you manage this determines how good you are at Change Management. Note my words : how good, not how successful. Success can also be a function of unconnected events, random moves, competitive shifts,  – or just plain luck. Many com...