Indian Supreme Court on a Roll!

As most of the political brass and ‘impulsive’ media paid only lip service to a heinous act of mobocracy that took place in West Bengal, the Supreme Court of India stepped in as the hero to the rescue of a young woman who was gang-raped at the order of the village’s kangaroo court for falling in love with some man. The villagers particularly women shamefully witnessed, supported and cheered the whole act as the young woman’s screams and agony rang in their ears the whole night. The woman Chief Minister of the state Mamta Banerjee, under whose regressive rule, the otherwise gender sensitive state is fast turning into another rape capital of the nation, predictably just did another eyewash on this crime. But, the Supreme Court acted swiftly, took asuo motu cognizance of the crime and has set up a panel to investigate the disturbing incident with an aim to bring the guilty to the book.

This is not the first incidence of Supreme Court’s proactive and firm display of character. The apex court has turned into a quiet hero since the appointment of the new Chief Justice P Sathasivam about July last year. Upon assuming office, he has brought the court to life and become involved in all matters which threaten the foundations of our constitutional Republic.

 Here are some of the other achievements of this Apex court since Justice Sathasivam’s assuming the top office:

1.    
A lot of police reforms have been undertaken since the uproar over the Nirbhaya case and many of them have been effective. But still, there is a lot of habitual and residual resistance among cops to file an FIR. The SC took cognizance of this anomaly and ordered thatnot filing an FIR will be liable for action as it is tantamount to obstruction of justice.

2.   SC has recently urged creation of a digital database of all people lodged in jails. Most under-trials languish in squalid jails often for petty crimes waiting for the long drawn process of trial. This is an effort to identify the under-trials who have already spent more time in jail than they would have if they had been found guilty.

3.   SC highlighted and took note of the number of cases of custodial tortures and deaths and demanded an explanation from the respective state governments. This is commendable because if the police use good investigative techniques, they would not need to resort to such brutalities to extract confessions based on their often biased ‘hunches’.
 

4.   Upon reading a report of a law intern claiming sexual harassment by a retired judge in the newspaper, Justice Sathasivam constituted a panel and ordered a swift enquiry which found the allegations to be true.

This is an altogether great thing happening in India. We are no doubt a democracy but before that we are a Republic ruled by a constitution which no one, absolutely No One should be in a position to over rule – be it the power holders, mobs or even the media. With due regard to separation of powers, the judiciary is an independent Power and the ultimate upholder of the constitution as well as the fundamental rights of man and woman. The new CJI seems to be elevating the status of the institution to the level it ought to reach to lay the foundation of a just society and Republic. Their proactive and prompt watch over the nation is so commendable and worth celebrating. And it is not as if they pay some sort of lip service to the issues, they are actually ‘delivering’ and fast as was the case in the law intern’s issue that they took up. This is an amazing new development in India.

On the eve of the Republic day, as a citizen, particularly as a woman citizen I salute Justice P Sathasivam as the right hero of the moment and hope the Supreme Court’s new and dynamic avatar gains further momentum.

Happy Republic Day tomorrow!

Only the Paranoid Survive! - Andrew Grove

Here is a scintillating book I just read and thought of sharing some of its ideas. The story is about Intel – how it managed the most critical point of its corporate life when its memory business was at the brink of extinction and they had no idea how to fight Japanese and other low cost competition. Instead of digging the memory grave deeper, Chairman Gordon Moore and CEO Andrew Grove used that crisis point as a spark to change the fortunes of their company to a higher level of success.

Books about change management and crisis management etc. are aplenty but mostly have a theoretical construct or have sure shot formula on ‘how to do it’. What makes Andrew’s tale different is because it is real and when those crisis points arrive in the life of an organization or even in your own, nothing is clear ever. There is confusion, diffidence, inertia and most importantly it is hard to unlearn the old ways and re invent a new path. As the tale unfolds, that confusion, uncertainty, pessimism and diffidence is there in the Intel team as well and Grove is so honest enough to lay it all bare.

How they brought about this quantum shift? First the top 2 guys asked themselves that if we were to sack ourselves and hire a new guy what he would do. The answer was he would get us out of the memory business (at that point Intel’s identity and core business was the memory business). So, they decided to lay all bets off and decided to do just that. But what would they do instead? So, they would be letting go of what essentially they knew how to do in search of something that they’d have to learn all from scratch, also not knowing for sure if they would succeed or not.

To bring about change, they allowed everyone to ‘question’ everything and debate, argue and just let the whole organization come to a boiling point. But if the chaos continued too long, they would just have withered away. After they had sufficient inputs and new directions, they decided to rein in the chaos. Here too, unlike theoretical ‘How to’ books, the risks were many and confusion continued to mar their progress. It was clear to them that they had to set a new direction and that required the top management to do it. What was most important was ‘clarity’ – what they were going to focus on (microprocessors) and also what they are going to get away from (the memory business that defined them actually till that point). Having set a clear direction, they communicated it as clearly and then went all out for it. It was a risky decision as the road ahead was uncharted and they were going to be the pioneers in that line, so it was tough to ‘know’ for sure that what they were doing would pay off. It did and thus there is the success and hence the story. But no denying that the risk also might not have had paid off.

The key lesson I think here is that they recognized the strategic inflection point when the games of the industry were changing and rather rapidly. They needed to reinvent themselves and seize the day. They acted at the right moment. Two, also every crisis point is like standing at the edge of a precipice with threats closing in on you. What looks like doom could be a strategic inflection point when you see an opportunity for a take off in a totally new direction akin to paragliding to a new reality. Three, there is a madness to change which necessarily involves confusion and conflict as those are essential to questioning everything. But finally there has to be a method to the madness as well when the top leader/ team takes a call and says, ok this is the way we need to go. Accept the risks but spell out clearly what the strategy will be and then go for it. To repeat his statement, let the chaos reign but then do manage to rein it in.

To me Andrew grove and Moore’s management of this success is almost miraculous as it is normally difficult to see that inflection point when you are part of a system. It is easier for an outsider to see it though. It is even harder to change old ways and reinvent yourself – it is easier with an outsider’s help who could guide you through it. But of course you have to find the right outsider / helper (the usual consultancy firms are well, the lesser said the better. Though to be fair, they are not bad for moderate change but never quantum jump).

The book is poignant, precise and powerful and I’d recommend it to anyone. Andrew’s style is honest, and clear without any undue dramatization of the turnaround. We get to live the remarkable journey with him and if you’ve been through a crisis point, you’d relate to it even more. Inspiring!


     

“What’s your Name?” Economies

So, nations might have existed independently and hobnobbed with their geographical neighbour for millennia. But wait, the whiz kid at Goldman Sachs changed all that by reinventing their slots. 

BRIC comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China was a scintillating start to this naming game. Till Jim O Neill thought of it, these nations had no idea they had anything in common. But here they are now a 'brand new bloc'. 

They were the talk of the town but suddenly their growth has ebbed a bit. So, on to the next bandwagon and here comes a new name – the MINT economies, namely, Mexico (Central America), Indonesia (an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean), Nigeria (Africa) and Turkey (forever the crossroads between the West and the Middle East). What do they have in common? Who cares; the name sounds good – it rhymes.

This really got me thinking..

Here are some more:

The JUG Economies – at the very top - Japan, US and Germany!

No matter what the world might say, they still hold a jug full of GDP in their midst. Together their GDP is $ 25 trillion. No one is getting to the JUG anytime soon. Shinzo’s Abenomics, US’ revival post fracking reduction in fuel costs and Germany’s steadfast financial awesome management, I think they represent the old bloc’s hope. I don’t see this power waning.

In the middle you already have the BRICS ($ 14.9 trillion) and the MINT ($3.2 trillion). How about we add to this group:

The PAT economies – Poland, Argentina, Thailand!

Unbeknown to the world, they are doing pretty well ($1.4 trillion). Poland and Argentina have shored up Human Development Index above 0.8 earning a spot in the High development category already. Restive Thailand is also a surging economy though the protests keep it down under.

Then at the very bottom of the world are:

The AILS economies – Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria

Shattered by war and ailing, there is no point in counting their GDPs, as it is all just war output- ammunitions and explosives.  

I think these could also be new blocs as their names rhyme together, geographic distances notwithstanding. What do you say?