Planning a key component to growth

Planning a key component to growth

Many of us indulge purposefully at the spur of the moment without giving it an elaborate thought or sitting down to plan out the course of events that may make or break a string of events or an event.

Planning is essential in that it allows you to think in between the various segments in the flow chart and trace out areas that are grey and need filling in. On the contrary actions taken on the spot always fail to fill the gaps, since time at your disposal is short and the eye span on the problem remains edgy and short.

Planning can bring in ideas on what can be encountered by way of problem areas before, while and after implementation of ideas. Even while discussing an idea more heads are fulfilling as it leads to sounder and wiser decision making. Also all gaps can be plugged. Comparing a group activity of planning to that of an individual could be like finding out an arithmetical error in a series of calculations. The one who has worked out the series of mathematical calculations often fails to pinpoint the error made during the course of his calculations. There is a lingering feeling of something being amiss but he is unable to put a finger to it.

He tries in vain pouring over the calculations a number of times in order to weed out the defect, but gives up in the end, since the mind tends to follow the same route when you pour over your own calculations again and again. This is when a second person seems to unearth the problem area in a shorter span of time and with fewer attempts. This is because this second mind is pure and fresh not tainted by the route map of the question on paper and no wiser than the blue print on the table.

But this new person can think in a new way without being prejudiced with the thought process of his predecessor. This is why it is essential to have a group pour over ideas. Team meetings and group discussions and board meetings are therefore practiced in industry where opinion matters and a broader consensus is taken on board.

Planning eradicates wasteful expenditure or wasted efforts that do not add up to the quality of the final product nor does it add value in material or money terms. A single mind ticking at an idea is all right but when it comes to implementation singly tackling it might not be the brightest idea going forward in organizations. To arrive at a uniform and informed decision one has to sit around and thrash out a line of thinking that utilizes best implementation methods.

I often travel to work via the Greater Kailash –II road that leads to Alaknanda in south Delhi.  For the past month or so they have been digging up the central portion of the road to establish a concrete divider that would keep traffic from merging and demerging onto the two way traffic, especially since parts of the road are heavy with traffic due to various reasons. First they built a divider, and then in few days’ time I noticed that parts of the concrete slabs/stones were dismantled.

First I thought that must have been the work of some disillusioned mind, but it soon dawned on me that it was actually the handiwork of the public works department, who dismantled sections to make way for concrete stumps that would probably act as bases for pole lights. Then I noticed some other portions were dismantled to make for obstructed walking/crossing pathways so that pedestrians did not have to take a detour.

This is when I start questioning the utility and practicability of laying down concrete slabs to form dividers then dismantling them to have other things built into them. Whoever or whichever department is engaged in this activity obviously did not have it planned and it also calls for unwanted expenditure a sheer wastage of public money.

Had they planned it properly they would have the design in front and planned all the ingredients well before start of work. This would have allowed them to not only complete the task at an earlier date but with a reduced expense budget.

The government lost it because they have not properly overseen the work in the bargain adding man hours all at a cost to the common man. The implementing authority lost it because what could have been completed in lesser days took more time, waste of labor, effort and manpower besides man hour, the calculation of which is surely going to dent their profits and effect turnover of the company. 

This is what planning does; it curtails wasteful expenditure, increases profits, and adds to the turnover and overall growth besides reducing wastage in all fringe activities connected to the main activity. Apply this to any area of life, individual. Personal or organizational the results will be the same.
 

Robin Varghese

Robin_vargh@yahoo.com

9^th June 2015

 

Life's a full circle

Life’s a full circle

Saturday 27^th June marked the birthday of famous musician R D Burman who passed away at a rather young age. During his lifetime he was credited with compositions that swayed the lowly and the rich. He brought a certain unexplained freshness to daily routine and propelled an upward swing in the moods of the depressed souls through his tantalising music and scores.

But history is witness to the fact that he was left with almost no work and historians record the fact that he had lost his touch during his later life. The very crowd that would follow him around now shunned him and the very people who sang his praises now made a beeline for other musicians. He was left unsure of himself and professed to being pained by the vagaries of life.

Such is life, it lifts you one moment and dumps you in another, like the weather in Delhi that tests the extremes in summer and winter, and so did life treat many a soul, many a recognizable face in life. Some came out unscathed, some with minor bruises but with their self-worth intact, others still were bruised and came out poorer than the past, some simply got crushed under the ruthless changes of the wheel of life.

Lalit Modi, flamboyant and the new kid on the block with his IPL organising skills, became a fugitive and is for the moment tucked away in London. He was the connoisseur of all eyes when he acted as the chairman of the IPL. His utterances were keenly awaited, his instincts held good and firm and yielded results, but the same faculties deserted him, when he travelled too deep into the unknown. Wrenching himself from that position of being neck deep in the quicksand of the past, wasn’t easy and is paying the price even today. The cricketing world considers him a pariah and no one is willing to even touch him with a barge pole.

Amitabh Bachchan, the mega star of Indian Cinema, was followed by the millions during his peak. They called him the angry young man of Indian cinema. Fame and recognition spurred this man to even greater heights. But he got caught in the tangles of this world when he went into business to invest his hard earned money and squandered almost everything with the financial houses resorting to auctioning his residence as a final measure of desperation. However he rose from the ashes and re-established himself as a credible human being and an artiste who re invented himself not on a stereotype mould but as someone who graced with time and willed to assimilate with time.

Indira Gandhi the famed prime minister of India, was at her best having brought laurels to the country through her exploits in the battlefield in the 1971 war and was known as the iron lady. Ministers and Chief Ministers waited on her and clamored to be seen in her company. But the Allahabad High court ruling unseating her and banning her from elections forced her to take extreme measures which could not be justified over a period of time. Critics found ample ammunition to keep her targeted. But she rode out that phase and re-emerged the leader of the masses till her assassination.

Back to the man who is my point of focal interest in this article. People called him a genius, one that could not be emulated or replaced, one who had no competition, one who was a perfect match for an out of this world entertainer and music composer. He reigned in the Film world, produced music with gusto and experimented in his cerebral laboratory with music and sound. All and sundry agreed to this description and whatever he touched turned Gold. He could never be wrong, he couldn’t do anything wrong - musically, yet towards the last 3 to 4 years of his life he struggled to remain in contention where other music composers were belting out new disco numbers.

The melody and touch of R.D. Burman lost its sheen, its finesse, its pull at the heart strings, it simply did not sound good, did not register in the mind and hearts of the music lovers. He looked faded, jaded a poor reflection of his former self. He tried hard, but somehow the Midas touch deserted him, he was depressed, and sad, unhappy at the way life had dumped him from the heights to the pit bottom. He suffered two heart attacks and the second one took its toll. Vidhu Vinod Chopra for whim he composed music for “1942 a love story” sums up thus.

When Pancham (Nickname for R D Burman) gave him the score for the movie Vidhu told him on his face it was not good, he had to do better, that he had still reposed faith on the maestro though others had ditched him. Vidhu suggested he draw inspiration from the Photo of his late father S.D. Burman and after which the story goes that he re composed the same songs and produced hits once again, but alas he did not live to soak in the accolades. Death snatched him just before the release of the movie.

We have no way to know whether R D Burman would have made a turnaround, would he have grown with the inspiration from his father and guru, did the last part of his reincarnation face an abrupt end due to his demise? We do not know, but what we know is certain that life treats everyone as equal.

We all get our opportunities in life, we excel and reach our peaks, what matters is how we get up after stumbling which is bound to happen at some point in life. Life is a circle the wheel when turned will lead to the heights and depths. How and whether we turn resurgent or reinvent ourselves depends on lessons learnt during the worst phase. It is therefore important to not whine in self-pity or do disastrous deeds when we are down, but to learn lessons and come out victorious.

Life also teaches us not to take it for granted; the exuberance and exultation will not continue for ever, there are going to be downturns in life, pitfalls that teach us a lesson. So every time you are on top remember that the wheel only has to turn for you to experience the depths and while you are down in the dumps, take joy for you know good times are round the corner.

Robin Varghese- robin_vargh@yahoo.com

28^th June 2015