Building Respect , Brick by Brick
Here is an excerpt from an article by Subroto Bagchi (COO & President,Mindtree Consulting) in Businessworld.Good one.
Gone are the days when political leadership was the icon of a nation. Today, a country's pre-eminence in the comity of nations is directly related to how many institutions it has been able to build. Names like Sony, Matsushita, Honda, Epson and Mitsubishi are not just companies any more. They are institutions. Building institutions is not an accident. It is a slow, laborious process. People must recognise it as a larger goal and relate to the over-arching vision. Today, companies like Infosys, Ranbaxy, Jet Airways, The Taj Hotels, TVS and Wipro are no longer just places of business. These symbolise India's achievements and aspirations.
The typical Japanese work ethic is central to their institution building. The average Japanese worker goes to work for a career, no doubt. But they are also known to be acutely aware and proud that their work and output is linked to keeping Japan high in the esteem of the world. Japanese workers are known to have a mental sequence of what constitutes a priority. It is country first, company next and individual last. Contrast that concept with the way we have been brought up in the last 50-plus years of independence. Our sequence is - myself first, my company next, and last comes my country. That pecking order is probably a legacy of a survivalist past, and, to some extent, the history of imperial rule. To go forward, we need a change in mindset. People who build institutions need to think in longer terms and make many personal needs subservient to the larger process.
I heard a simple story long ago. Two men were laying bricks. A passer-by asked the first one: "What are you doing?" He said he was laying bricks. Then he asked the second one. That man said: "I am building a temple." Building a temple requires different perspectives of architecture, structural strength and visual sensitivity. Above all, it requires 'oneness' with a need that is very different from here and now, a need for personal survival and self-definition.
Here is an excerpt from an article by Subroto Bagchi (COO & President,Mindtree Consulting) in Businessworld.Good one.
Gone are the days when political leadership was the icon of a nation. Today, a country's pre-eminence in the comity of nations is directly related to how many institutions it has been able to build. Names like Sony, Matsushita, Honda, Epson and Mitsubishi are not just companies any more. They are institutions. Building institutions is not an accident. It is a slow, laborious process. People must recognise it as a larger goal and relate to the over-arching vision. Today, companies like Infosys, Ranbaxy, Jet Airways, The Taj Hotels, TVS and Wipro are no longer just places of business. These symbolise India's achievements and aspirations.
The typical Japanese work ethic is central to their institution building. The average Japanese worker goes to work for a career, no doubt. But they are also known to be acutely aware and proud that their work and output is linked to keeping Japan high in the esteem of the world. Japanese workers are known to have a mental sequence of what constitutes a priority. It is country first, company next and individual last. Contrast that concept with the way we have been brought up in the last 50-plus years of independence. Our sequence is - myself first, my company next, and last comes my country. That pecking order is probably a legacy of a survivalist past, and, to some extent, the history of imperial rule. To go forward, we need a change in mindset. People who build institutions need to think in longer terms and make many personal needs subservient to the larger process.
I heard a simple story long ago. Two men were laying bricks. A passer-by asked the first one: "What are you doing?" He said he was laying bricks. Then he asked the second one. That man said: "I am building a temple." Building a temple requires different perspectives of architecture, structural strength and visual sensitivity. Above all, it requires 'oneness' with a need that is very different from here and now, a need for personal survival and self-definition.
posted by Cogito at
Friday, February 27, 2004
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