Akbar: The greatest of all HR managers

The only thing that can make a difference between success and failure is management. An effective form of management increases the chances of success for any business, organisation, government, society or individual and bad management brings failure to their doorstep. There are many things that are taught in the Management colleges the world over. Here in India we have 1600 plus institutions that produce over 1 lakh managers each year. Probably that is the reason why we have a problem of plenty resulting in ‘over-management’ of the nation.
To address the ‘problem of plenty’, nearly all B-schools offer a course on Human Resource Management. Every aspect of handling the most essential part of an organisation— the man-power— is taught. However, we have a lot of cases, some known and others unknown, which clearly show that NO ONE CAN BECOME A GOOD MANAGER BY GETTING A DEGREE IN MANAGEMENT.

The biggest problem in our educational institutions is that a large majority of teachers do not teach by example. Thus, even though I am not a teacher (and am also not an MBA), I think I can share an extremely valuable information with you all.

India’s history is resplendent with examples of all kinds. Without going into any other example, I bring to you two kings. Both are from the medieval history of the Indian sub-continent.

The first one was a well-educated Sultan who not only had profound knowledge on logic, philosophy, astro science, mathematics and medicine but also had certain qualities fit for a king. The second one was simply illiterate. With only this much description you may have formed an opinion that the first one must have proved to be a great ruler while the other must have failed his kingdom. However, if I clarify that the name of the first ruler was Mohammed Bin Tughlaq while the second one was Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar, what will be your opinion then?

It is widely known that Tughlaq was a whimsical ruler. His eccentric manners and mismanagement brought his downfall. Even his education could not save him. On the other hand, Akbar began his rule at a very young age (14 to be precise) and therefore he did not get any chance to read or write. He knew only one language throughout his formative years and that was the language of the sword. Later on he patronized music, architecture, arts and positive religious debates that firmly built on his reputation as a tolerant Mughal ruler.

Although illiterate, Akbar was a sound judge of character. The nine gems in his court were handpicked by him and each was a master in one way or the other. The reason why he became the most successful medieval ruler in Indian history is this aspect of his character. He simply knew who the right man for the right job was. He never erred in his decisions and was a very intelligent administrator.

He is therefore the greatest of all HR managers. There are many modern day managers who are on responsible positions but they themselves have no control on their own lives so how can they judge another? Akbar did not attain the title of ‘the Great’ for his military exploits but for his administrative acumen which proved equally effective as his victories in battles. It is very difficult to choose the right man but had it been that easy, all of us would have post-fixed ‘the Great’ to our names.

Bruce Lee, the 'Master' who taught me

Fists of Tiger and mind of Dragon

Today, while surfing the internet for some quotable quotes, I came upon a website where I found the man who originally uttered those famous words that I wrote about in an earlier article, titled 'My Thanks to KBC' on this blog.

The same quote was reiterated by Bollywood superstar, Amitabh Bachchan on KBC- season 1.

The quote:

"He who knows not and knows not he knows not, He is a fool- Shun him. He who knows not and knows he knows not, He is simple- Teach him. He who knows and knows not he knows, He is asleep- Awaken him. He who knows and knows that he knows, He is wise- follow him."

The original speaker is none other than the immortal Bruce Lee (http://www.quotesnsayings.com/martial-arts/). I always wondered who could have said something that was enough to define the types of people in any society.

Truly, 'the Master' had more to him than just kicks and punches. Thank you, 'Shifu' for it is your words that have made me what I am today.

What India can learn from the Japan crisis

The whole world is, by now, aware of what catastrophe has befallen the world’s third largest economy, Japan. The earthquakes and the tsunamis that are still plundering freely all over the island nation have already destroyed most of what perhaps symbolized the strength and beauty of the Land of the Rising Sun.

World media stands with bated breath as reports of a possible meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear reactor constantly trouble the minds. Everybody is worried about the people of Japan. Now and then, stories of survival, of disappearance, of injury and even of death arrive creating a chain of uncontrollable emotions. These emotions have brought people together and far too close than they ever were.

We, here in India, can do whatever is in our hands to help and bring back our friends trapped in the middle of the rumble. But this is not where it all ends. India must learn two things from this East Asian disaster.

First: Avoid, and if possible stop, use of power generation through nuclear reactors. Japan had 55 operating nuclear power plants before the quake struck. Threat to the people is more from radiation leakage from the damaged reactors than any other quake or tsunami. In a way, it was the industrial needs of the Japanese that made them erect one reactor after another thereby dotting their islands with ‘those giant domes’. India too has similar needs and thus the government of this country has a valid reason to construct the heavyweights of power generation of which we already have six. Plus, the advantage is that most parts of India do not fall under the more dangerous zones of the seismic belt. However, no one in this world has ever been able to predict the next move of planet Earth. When Japan, a nation far ahead of our country in terms of development, stood a mute spectator to the wrath of Mother Nature, where do you think we stand?

This brings us to the second point. India should also learn the way of the Samurai. In a span of five years, from 1943 to 1948, Japan survived four earthquakes and two atomic blasts. Hiroshima and Nagasaki still bring sad memories of the devastation that wiped out all traces of human existence off the map of the two cities on August 6 and 9, 1945. Japan surrendered and has since never raised a standing army (except for self defence purposes). Despite its superb engineering skills, Japan cannot export arms to other nations. Still, the country has electronics manufacturing giants in the form of Sony, Toyota, Honda, Canon, Panasonic, Nintendo and the like. All the mentioned companies have very solid business foundations in India. From the rubble that it was reduced to by the end of the World War II, Japan has risen like a phoenix. I am sure that even this cataclysm would fail to diminish the never-say-die spirit of the Japanese. If all goes smooth and nature tones down its fury on Japan, then in less than two years time the country will be back to normal with everything rebuilt in such a fashion that not even a scar of this disaster would remain.

Questions thus arise as to why we haven’t achieved the level of development like that of Japan. Where do we lack? We have a larger geographical area and natural resources than Japan. We have no dearth of talented manpower. Our country has thankfully been spared of the frequent earthquakes and tsunamis that rock the island nation. Yet, we are far behind them in terms of GDP, HDI, R&D, Industry and even civic administration. Why is that so? This is what we need to think about while we watch the horror story being scripted in Japan.