Sachin & Pranab Da did not impress...

Last week two news items that created headlines - 'The Union Budget' and 'Tendulkar's 100th ton', both failed to impress. Congress fresh from its drubbing in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and Indian cricket team still nursing its wounds from the recently concluded Australian tour, both needed to deliver much more than ordinary to impress. Both however disappointed... Tendulkar's 100th ton came after a wait of 33 innings since his 99th century; too long a wait... made it look like a milestone reached with stone tied to back. The final blow was delivered by Indian team, the world champions, losing the same match to the Bangladesh rookies. Pranab da's budget was unimpressive and cautious. His Shakespearean quote - I have to be cruel, only to be kind' appeared a mere rhetoric. The service class Indian has no respite with high income tax, higher service tax, lower PF interest rates and costlier goods. And despite paying so many taxes we have bad roads, no social security and high corruption as returns.


In the end the question is what do we set as a performance measure, many a times makes a performance relevant or irrelevant. In case of Tendulkar winning matches and not record stats should have been the target, and, for Pranabda realistic benefits to the larger population should have been the target rather than painting a self-acclaimed masterpiece to impress privileged few.

Organizations should remember that setting right performance measures is key to high performance and engagement. Recently ICICI Pru under pressure of poor & cautious market sentiments and depleting levels of trust amongst customers for insurance products, the company changed its performance measures for its employees. Alongwith the usual rating of 1 to 5 that shows what has been achieved, the company added another rating of A to C that showed how a target has been achieved. ICICI Pru for instance laid a lot of emphasis on no mis-selling, even if it meant longer time to persuade a customer. With the new ratings in place, it is now possible for ratings to be like 5A, 5B or 5C...the person who gets 5A performs better than the other two simply because he/she has achieved the target in the right way.

Sachin and Pranab Da are both seasoned players but perhaps both of them need better direction...In the words of Tendulkar after he scored his milestone 100, he said that sometimes he felt that if someone was there to guide him...

Rahul Gandhi's loss may not be that bad!

The assembly elections results across four states in India are out and the biggest buzz in every corner is not about the debacle of Congress but the loss of Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Rahul led Congress from the front on one of the most important turfs – the state of Uttar Pradesh, one that sends maximum number of members to the parliament. Revival of congress in the assembly elections would have had a definitive impact on the fate of the party in the general elections in 2014 and Rahul’s ‘Mission U.P.’ was seen by the Congress as their last bait of hope. Most newspaper headlines and front pages have declared the trouncing of the princely Rahul by a less glamorous opponent as a decisive twist in the tale not only for the fortune of U.P. but also for the 2014 general elections in India. Rahul Gandhi has himself owned-up the responsibility for the loss and for the time-being appears to be retired-hurt.


However Rahul Gandhi loss may not be as bad as is being felt today. In fact, if handled properly it could become a huge blessing in disguise both for Rahul and Congress. If history is to be any testament to the present, Abraham Lincoln is probably the greatest example of persistence. Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown. He could have quit many times - but he didn't and because he didn't quit, he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States of America. By remaining out of power he not only learnt his lessons faster but also made more friends than foes, all of which helped him to win when it mattered most. This loss could teach very important lessons to Rahul and he could come-out stronger in 2014. And if he does so, it would not only help Congress to retain the power at the centre but also elevate Rahul as the next prime-ministerial candidate.

Facing almost similar bashing for loss, is the Indian cricket team. Battered, bruised and whitewashed at the hands of Australia recently has humbled the world ODI champions. Successive overseas series loss at England, followed by the same fate in Australia has sent even the most tolerant Indian fan baying for the blood of their cricketing heroes. There have been hundreds of postmortem analyses of why India lost, what went wrong etc. etc. And everybody also has an explanation of what ails Indian cricket – the captain, the team politics, pale old guards, lack of fresh talent etc. The best judges however would be the players themselves and may be their technical think-tank and not anybody else. And who knows these losses could be lessons that could change the future of Indian cricket in the times to come.

The best thing would be leave Rahul & the Indian cricket team alone for some time to retrospect and they will find out their mistakes and given the right kind of environment would come-out stronger & better.

Even in organizations, tolerance for mistakes & failures many a times determines their fate. Ask yourselves what level of tolerance does your organization have in case you make a mistake or you fail in your endeavour? Would you feel threatened to try out new things or to experiment?

'BMW Regensburg, started an initiative with the original title: "Flop of the Month", although it was really about the "Creative Error of the Month". Employees were honoured who developed ideas and encouraged potentially sound and promising projects, even though they ultimately failed. The BMW factory in Regensburg, Germany, has demonstrated that by rewarding well-intentioned mistakes, people are encouraged to take sensible, calculated risks. The approach is certainly not that of accepting all manner of mistakes and real blunders, but rather tolerating and even rewarding legitimate errors that occurred with the best of intentions. The point is that people, who depart from the conventional and innovate with a calculated risk, should not, if things go wrong, be mocked and derided, but encouraged to undertake further, sensible risks in a spirit of optimism.'

So, Rahul, out Indian Cricketers and millions of all of you out there who have faced failure recently, take heart, get at the heart of the matter and follow your heart…