India introduced colour TV to the country in 1984. The biggest event to follow soon after TV going colour was Asian sports I think. We had a black and white TV at home. My wife was keen to get a colour TV if it was possible but I did not have the money to buy it. The irony was that I had a good job but poor savings. She had reconciled herself to watching the event in black and white or occasinally watching it in colour at our neighbour’s place. I was determined to get her a colour TV but did not know how to get the money for it.
“Were you not the manager of Ogilvy & Mather Bangalore then?”
“Yes, Prasna.”
“And you did not have the money? How can that be?”
“I had just finished paying my housing loan and I did not have cash to spare. My savings habits were poor.”
“God help you then.”
You could not get personal loans from banks; hire purchase schemes were cumbersome. I could not ask any of my friends because most of them were in the same boat. (I learnt later that some of them were planning to ask me for money.) That left only two options for me. One was to ask my father-in-law the other was to ask my father. I did not feel comfortable asking for money from my father-in-law.

The only choice I had was to ask my father. My father had already retired and leading a peaceful life out of his modest savings. He strongly believed in the dictum that you must learn to live with what you have. He disapproved of borrowing anything. If I asked him for money to buy a colour TV, I would probably get advice on saving money.

Therefore I decided not to ask him for money. Yet he was the only one who could help me, because I knew he could give me the money if he wanted. How do I make him want to give me the money without my asking for it? This did not seem possible.

Then something interesting happened. It was a Sunday and all of us were having lunch at home. My neighbour walked in and invited us for his silver wedding anniversary. He spent a few minutes and left.

“Is it ten years since you got married?” That was my father who asked.

“Yes, time flies!”

“”How are you going to celebrate it?”

“Well, we could all go out for dinner. Otherwise nothing much.”

“What gift are you giving your wife?”

“Nothing really. I do not think a tenth anniversary warrants anything special.”

“Ok, what would you like me to give you both as our gift?”

“Frankly, I do not want anything.”

“Ok you can be a kill-joy if you want to, but what about Viji? What would she want?”

“Appa, I think you are getting carried away. I do not think it is necessary to make a big thing out of this anniversary.”

“You stay out of this. You can’t stop me from giving a gift to our daughter-in-law.”

“What if she wants something expensive?”

“So what, it is a big occasion. What do you think she would like?”

“You know she is not into expensive clothes or jewelery. I know what she might like but I do not think you should spend that kind of money.”

“Listen son, I am asking for information, not advice. What would she like?”

“If you ask me she would love to get a colour TV. But Appa, I don’t want you to spend so much money on this.”

“Colour TV is such a good idea. How much will it cost?”

“About Rs 15,000. Please Appa, you should not spend so much.”

However, my father had his way and gave a colour TV as a gift for our wedding anniversary. It came just in time before the Asian sports event.

“What has this story got to do with developing a strategy?” I sensed that Prasna was irritated yet curious.

“Prasna, if you carefully go through the conversation you will notice that I was pressing the right buttons all the time.”

“What buttons?”

“As the conversation unfolded I realised that he is a tough father but a soft father-in-law. Therefore I said I did not want anything. The entire discussion was about a gift for his daughter-in-law. When I kept saying he should not spend too much money, he took over the entire decision making process. It was his decision to gift a colour TV. ”

“I think you are just a cheap manipulator. You conned an old man to give money from his savings.”

“Harsh words Prasna. My Dad and I agreed that I would treat a substantial part of it as a loan and I would return the money once I got my bonus for the year. He was gracious enough to agree.”

“I am relieved to hear that. Where is strategy in all this?”

“Prasna, you have not been listening carefully. The first insight for strategy emerged when I realised that I cannot ASK my dad for a loan; he must want to GIVE me money.”

“That was good thinking.”

“Once that was clear, the anniversary gift discussion was a god-send opportunity. All I did was to build on it. The big insight for me was that he is a tough father but a soft father-in-law. That understanding helped me steer the conversation to a conclusion that pleased him. Of course it help me solve my problem. There are several things I learnt from this little incident.”

“What did you learn?”

“The first step in strategy making is to understand what you are up against. It is important to get this right. You must know where you are and where you wish to go. Moving something from point A to point B requires imagination. It requires making choices that will help us move smoothly and deliver maximum impact. Finally everybody must feel like he won.”

“You think this kind of thinking will work every time?”

“All I can say is tat, it has worked for me.”

“You have triggered some thoughts in my mind. I will leave you alone now. Bye.”

even if you are the only at home?
“What has this question got to do with your work or your clients or their businesses?”
“Prasna, I am trying an experiment.”
“What experiment?”
“I want to write something every day. Even if I have nothing to say I want to write. Once I start writing everyday I will get into the habit of writing. That will lead me to write something useful for my clients.”
“Are you not assuming something here?”
“I don’t understand.”
“That your clients want to read what you write.”
“They sometimes do. I know that because they have told me so.”
“Fine. What is this question about the bathroom?”
“How did you react to the question?”
“Well, I answered the question in my mind.”
“Why did you answer it?”
“It is an intriguing question. I could not ignore it.”
“That is the point. This is a line written by a famous copywriter. He was promoting subscriptions to Psychology Today magazine. He was writing a direct mail, and this line appeared on the outer envelope. It made people want to open the envelope and read what was inside.”
“What was inside?”
“He had a letter which talked about ‘why do people do, what they do?’”
“Very clever.”
“He had a knack of capturing human insights and using them well to make his writing more compelling. I will tell you about another line he wrote. ‘How much should you tip the waiter when you are planning to pocket the ashtray?’”
“What was that for?”
“That was for a travel service magazine. He had observed that business travelers often carried away small items as mementos, from the hotels and restaurants they visited.”
“I must grant you this. We have had an interesting conversation so far but I do not know what you are getting at.”
“This is a good sign. This means that all I have to do is to write about things that intrigued me or interested me. I do not need to worry too much about whether I am conveying an important message.”
” You must be mad. Then only you will read your blog. This will then become your private diary.”
“Ah! That is the point. If you found someone’s diary, would you not want to read it?”
“Well, I will be tempted to.”
“If that is the case why won’t they want to read my diary?”
“OK. Remember this though. I will read a page or two. If it is boring, dull or badly written, I will just dump it.”
“What is your point?”
“You may write your private diary. However, if you want others to read it you still have to make it interesting for them. So you are not writing for yourself anymore.”
“I understand. Like how I got you with this bathroom question.”
“Good luck. I will see you tomorrow.”

I have been doing this for nearly a year now. When I want to speak, I don’t. Instead, I listen. No, I do not count up to ten. I simply listen. In fact, I am not even waiting for my turn to speak. Like someone said, listening is not about keeping quiet, till your turn to speak.

I know people immediately say that this is the same as ‘think before speaking’. No, it is not. Here I want to speak, but I stop. Not to think, but to listen. Attentively, carefully, with my heart and ears open – keeping my logic aside.

As I listen, I am beginning to see some interesting things happen in my mind. One part of my mind is ready to jump in. That part of my mind – Sridhar in a hurry – is ready to respond based on his first impressions and reactions. I have formed an opinion about the issue, what caused it, what could solve it and the person who was discussing it with me.

As I listen, I am horrified to find that all my impressions, perceptions and conclusions are dead wrong. By keeping quiet and just listening I save myself from some awkward moments. And some acute embarrassment.

Instead I am told that I am a wonderful listener. All I did was that I did not speak, when I wanted to!

I often send an SMS to my clients, seeking permission to speak. I have learnt that most clients like this practice. They then tell me the best time to call.
“Am in a meeting, call later” is what I get as a reply most of the time.

Now that I am on my own, and not part of routine corporate life, I often wonder about these meetings. So I spoke to few friends who seem to spend most of their times in meetings. Or in conference calls. When do they get to do their work, if they spent most of the times in meetings?

This was a pain area for most of them. Many indulged in wishful thinking about ‘work-life-balance’, ‘meeting-free-work’ and so on. This put me on a new trail of research. I started looking for examples of companies where work is done differently.

As luck would have it I bought myself a book called “Innovation Power Plays.” The book talks about how change agents implement new ideas in their organisations. (At Rs 299, this book delivers enormous value.) The second article in the book is about a bold experiment conducted at Best Buy, in the US. Two HR executives suggested an idea to a small group of people. They invited two maverick managers to participate in a private management experiment. They explained their concept called ROWE – Results Only Work Environment. In this environment there were no mandatory meetings. You did not have to be physically present at work. Performance would be based on output, not number of hours. Managers would base their assessments on data and evidence and not on feelings and anecdotes.

This was like stealth innovation, flying under the radar. This clock-less campaign quickly gained momentum and the news spread through ‘do you know what’ buzz. This was the topic in e-mails, during coffee, and part of conversations when people worked late. Apparently the CEO Brad Anderson learnt about this guerilla operation only two years after the experiment started; but he endorsed the idea and supported it.

What does this really mean? It means that work and work life can change dramatically. “Work is no longer a place you go to, but something you do.” Interestingly Best Buy was not the one to invent this concept. Apparently at IBM 40% of the workforce has no official office! At AT&T one third of the managers don’t have a specific office to work from. Sun Microsystems believes it saved $400 million in real estate costs over six years by allowing nearly half of all employees to work anywhere they want. A recent Boston Consulting Group study found that 85% of executives expect a big rise in this trend over the next five years. The concept of the unleashed worker could probably be the most innovative new product that companies could have.

“So what do you suggest RS?” Prasna asked. He was quite intrigued by this idea.

“I suggest that some of our Indian companies try this.”

“Are you not a bit naive? What about blue collar workers? How can they run manufacturing plants without workers?”

“Prasna, it is obvious that we must use this idea where it is relevant. I think it is most useful for a growing force of white collar workers.”

“The transition must be difficult. Companies would need a lot of help in making this happen.”

“Well, the two HR executives – Jody Thompson and Cali Ressler – run a consulting business called CultureRx – to help companies do this. I did a bit of exploration and found that they have a book and a website too.”

“Would you like to work like that? Not going to office, working from wherever, whenever?”

“Well, that is what I am doing now, anyway. The only difference is that I am on my own.”

“May be I should reframe the question. If you were running a company as a CEO, would you accept this idea?”

“I will definitely experiment with the idea and see how it works. I am going to go off on a tangent and share an anecdote.”

“Go ahead.”

“When I was working in Ogilvy there was this man in the accounts department who would turn up at the office even during week-ends. Finally it was discovered that he lived in a small flat with a large family and office was a convenient and comfortable escape!”

“Are you asleep? Or simply enjoying the bliss of ignorance?”

“Good Morning Prasna*. Long time since you visited.” (*Prasna Rao is my friend and well wisher. His way of showing his affection for me is to keep asking me questions, that make me feel uncomfortable. Our conversations often lead to some interesting ideas for me.)

“Looks like I need to visit you more often. You are getting into bad habits.”

“Now what have I done?”

“When was the last time you gave your client a business building idea?”

“Well,  may be a couple of weeks ago.”

“How do you spend time now?”

“Prasna, you are now sounding like my Dad!”

“No friend, I am telling you that times have changed and you have not changed. You are complacent.”

“That is a strong statement. Complacent! You are accusing me of being complacent!”

“Yes, I am. Look at your work. Times have become tougher. Your clients are facing trying times. And you continue to peddle the same old stuff.”

“How does that make me complacent?”

“Wake up friend. Practise what you preach. You used to talk about ‘different strokes for different folks’. Shouldn’t there be different strokes for different times’?”

“So what do you suggest?”

“I suggest that you spend time thinking about your clients and their customers. In what way can you serve your clients?”

“I am sorry to say Prasna, but this is text book stuff. You just want to make me feel miserable.”

“What are most clients doing today?”

“They are tightening their belts. Cutting down travel. Avoiding 5 star hotels. Doing things themselves instead employing consultants and vendors.”

“Does that give you any idea?”

“Not really. Does that give you any idea?”

“It is about your clients, your business. Think, my friend.”

“May be I can offer something where they do not have to travel.”

“What else?”

“May be they can pick each other’s brains without leaving their seats.”

“What else?”

“May be I can deliver training where they are. They do not come to me, I reach them.”

“Now you are getting somewhere. Can you design a service using these ideas?”

“That is a tall order.”

“Can you create a new concept? Assume it is a matter of survival and you have no choice”

“I can create something online, through the net.”

“That is vague. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes. What would they like?”

“OK, let me try. What if I created a platform on the web, where I can facilitate workshops with a bunch of managers. The group size could be 10 to 15 at a time. It could be a cross functional team from the same organisation. The people could be from anywhere in the world. All of them are working on the same issue.”

“Go on.”

“We have the facility to speak as well as enter ideas like in a chat session. Everybody gets to see the ideas and build on them.”

“Sounds good.”

“All the ideas are captured in one place. They will be useful for further development.”

“What is your business model?”

“What does that mean?”

“How will you make money?”

“Hmm. I could look at a subscription model where the fees are attractive. As opposed to that, a one-time session could cost more.”

“What is in it for your clients?”

“They save a lot of time, money and resources. In addition the sessions could be more productive through skilled facilitation. I could also support the client on idea development through the same platform, by working with the implementation group. We can set up sessions faster. They could get the best brains in their company from around the world involved. It would be impossible to achieve in regular meetings.”

“You are sounding like you are really convinced. But I see a lot of problems in this.”

“Tell me some.”

“You could have drop outs. You could have a distracted manager, muti-tasking – attending to e-mail, eating, etc. You might have a few technically challenged people. Everybody may not participate equally well.”

“Which is the biggest issue?”

“Distraction, I think.”

“Then it is my business to make the session interesting and engaging. I must create an experience they enjoy. That becomes my job. That is what I have been doing all the time for the last nine years. In another one week I am entering my tenth year as IDEAS-RS”

“What are you going to do for your clients in your tenth year?”

“Give them a range of products and services that support them during these difficult times.”

“Makes sense.”

“Prasna, may I ask you a question now?”

“OK, just this time.”

“You still think I am complacent?”