Why Hillary did what she did?

A concept from OB that has often made me think ( I agree, that I'm found wanting in this area on occasion ) is that of 'Emotional Load'. Emotion load is an interesting manifestation of growing consumerism,customer focus and hype. Emotion load comes into play, when you can get that smile on to your face at the flick of a switch and make it disappear at short notice. When the smile does not reach your eyes and you smile because it is good to be seen smiling. Folk who made this an art, were of course the Americans ! The air hostess, in airlines to the store lady at Walmart are all trained and trained again to be super cool and flash a 1000 $ smile, when they bump into you. Makes everybody feel good to see that smile. But then think again, does it really make everybody feel good ? You are in a really miserable mood and you have to put on an act for people who you do not know, or maybe even care about. You have had a blazing row with your spouse and have to be nice to customers, who are queuing up with complaints. How does it work ? The first to rebel were the Europeans. The French Will have nothing of it and so when you saunter in to the little shop selling perfume not far from the Eiffel Tower, you may receive a cold welcome from a not too friendly sales person. If you feel aggrieved then it is you problem. While being uber cool and poised does have its, plus, the down side is that, people suffering from emotional load, place themselves under severe stress and even tually breakdown and many suffer prolonged bouts of depression. When Walmart imported their famous 'Walmart Jingle' to Germany, many German's found it ridiculous and apparently hid in the wash room, rather than take part in this bonding ritual which is an integral part of Walmart America. The point is where is this little piece leading? Yesterday, one my favourite ladies, gave it to our neighbors the Pakistanis. On a four day visit to Pakistan, Hillary Clinton, Secerary of State, USA ( I wish we could have ladies like that governing us ) found herself hemmed in by hostile journalists at a power lunch gave it to them right where it mattered. The lady shed her load and told the Pakistanis where to get off. In effect she said that the Pakistani leadership was dishonest and that Pakistanis should cease, to expect to be pampered any more. The message was loud and clear, and left both the Americans and Pakistanis squirming. Attaboy Hillary!!!!!! Emotional load is on the rise, in our over the hill business ventures and many a time you can see the hollowness. The most consistent act that I saw was in the shopping malls in Taiwan. The pretty girls,with even prettier clothes would make you feel special. The effect of all this is that, these days when I see a genuine smile that reaches the eyes, it warms my heart and leaves me floored. That is why I'm glad I teach youngsters, because you can see genuine joy in the young on occasion's when they flash that big uninhibited smile and forget to be politically correct.

Tough guys & Bullies!

A chance meeting amongst a few colleagues, a while back got us discussing, persons that we mutually knew and that if we considered them tough.

One of my colleagues said that, a particular gentleman was tough, because he terrorized those who were beholden to him in one way or the other. He also had an aggressive streak, more so with people, who were not aggressive themselves! I naturally disagreed and called the gent a bully!

As far as I'm concerned if you are tough, stand up to the power's to be and not harass your subordinates.Unfortunately we associate toughness to aggression and make a mockery of both. Some of the toughest people that I've known have been the most docile and come through trying times or incidents intact, while the aggressive ones have scurried for cover.

A great example would be Gandhi, who was both mentally and physically tough, as the South Africans and Brits found out. Was he an aggressive man ? No, he wasn't.

Good leaders are psychologically tough people and during a staffing process you want people who will stand the test of time & and not run for cover at the first sign of trouble.

One of my question's during an interview is 'What was the most difficult moment of your life and how did you overcome it?'

What gets my goat is when bullies, are called tough and begin to believe that they are tough because they get away by harassing hapless, helpless folk.

In the workplace it is fundamental to delineate the bullies and call their bluff........As a manager it is one job that you will have to do with toughness....

How the East was lost!

In the years to come, the period that we live in will go down, as the inexorable shift in power from the West to the East. It is a process that many would not really be able to see, because they are part of the change. We live that change.

The resurgence of Europe, that began in about 1500 AD, is finally drawing to a close. We always say that the west came good against the east, because, of greater technical superiority, but the truth is that the west, had borrowed much of its early mathematics from India and political thought from the Chinese.

Gunpowder came from the east & the Turks had the best artillery. Indian shipbuilders were the best and Chinese cartographers were amazingly good.

Why then was the east lost? If we had the best ships & charts, how did the Portuguese establish a stranglehold on the seas from West to East, as early as 1509. They were masters of the Indian Ocean & had landed at Goa ( Vasco Da Gama ) establishing a beachhead which as an event stands unparalleled even in comparison to the Allied landing on the beaches of Normandy, in France ( 1945 ).

How did the Portuguese achieve this? A careful analysis would indicate that they had the most literate naval gunners. Ship board artillery, or for that matter, any artillery at the time required a series of steps that were both complicated and called for precision, over the entire process. The more literate Portuguese seaman achieved this better than most! The British later turned drills into a religion and established solid processes which went like clockwork.

The situation, in most large organizations has not seen much of a change to this age. Policies & Procedures, Rules & Regulations, Quality Standards all require a fairly high degree of comprehension and verbal intelligence to understand and disseminate, to your peers, subordinates & bosses.It is seen to be belived, the quantum of confusion, a verbally challenged person creates at a workplace.

So, the next time somebody, in an interview or entrance test asks you what abatjour means, you won't cringe but will know what they are checking out!

Why did the east lose out ? Our forces had only two classes, the Upper Middle Class nobility & poor foot soldier who was illiterate. ( Our caste structure ). A clear disconnect. It is little wonder that the Europeans with their more literate soldiers called the shots for close to 400 years.

To keep the suspense down abatjour means- n. sky-light; device at window to throw light downwards.

Inconsequential, but you did not know the word!

Success & Self efficacy!

The azure waters of the Mediterranean Sea, slightly choppy, a fair skinned youth with a broad brow & aquiline nose lying on the deck of a pirate sloop.The year 76 BC.
Pirates who had captured the noble looking youngster, were pleased, as their catch would fetch them a ransom of at least twenty talents. After all he spelt nobility.
When the prisoner, heard the ransom, he laughed! Twenty talents, he was worth fifty he said and further added that he would be back to see the pirates hang.
Julius Cesar did return, capture the pirates in a naval expedition & watch each one of them hang! Dealing with pirates was his first major success.
That was Cesar, the epitome of confidence and a man who was always open to learning. He learnt everywhere & from everything.
Self efficacy & Openness to learning are fundamental parameters for success, in any field. It is not surprising that Julius Cesar was successful at almost everything that he took a shot at: Politician, General,Governor & then Emperor of Rome.
Cesar's high self confidence came from his high self efficacy which in turn came from past success. It is the reason why managers, must celebrate every small success of subordinates. It builds the platform for greater success.Nothing succeeds like success.
Like most great leaders Cesar was so steeped in his own pursuits, that he ignored the environment and when assassinated in the Senate,it was a sad swift end.He had ignored jealous conspirators! With his last breath he gasped, 'Kai, su teknon?', as Brutus drove a dagger into his loins.The phrase translates, to 'Even you my son', driving historians to speculate that Brutus was his illegitimate son.
Later Mark Antony, said, at Cesar's funeral pyre ' Often the good that men do lies interred with their bones'.An impassioned cry to the masses.( The rostrum, from where he is said to have made his speech, can still be seen in Rome)
Not for Cesar! He remains on of my favourite leaders for his ability to manage men, through trying circumstances.He was the architect of the 'Julian Calendar' and from the 'Czar to Kaiser', kings adopted his name.Most of all he was brilliant tactician.
As for Brutus, he committed suicide, not long after & his good, if he did any, lies interred with his bones!

Great Ability & low self monitors!

Great Ability & Poor Self Monitors! organization behavior
Great Ability & Poor Self Monitors! Three of the most colorful characters from the 2nd World War, were without doubt, Gen. Patton, Gen.Douglas Mac Arthur & Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.While the first two, fought under the American flag, Rommel commanded his Afrika Korps, under the Swastika.The three were brilliant tacticians and soldiers, who leadership was exemplary.One of the most complicated military men of all time, General George Smith Patton, Jr. was born November 11, 1885 in San Gabriel, California. He was known for carrying pistols with ivory handles and his intemperate manner, and is regarded as one of the most successful United States field commanders of any war. He continually strove to train his troops to the highest standard of excellence.Once when asked, if his troops fought well, because they loved him, he said no, the fought well because they were well trained! No double speak for Patton, he was frequently in trouble, for freely speaking his mind at the most inappropriate time & place.On another occasion, he said that he did not trust the Russians, this in the midst of battle, when the Russians were a key ally in the drive to Germany.
A sample-"The difficulty in understanding the Russian is that we do not take cognizance of the fact that he is not a European, but an Asiatic, and therefore thinks deviously. We can no more understand a Russian than a Chinese or a Japanese, and from what I have seen of them, I have no particular desire to understand them except to ascertain how much lead or iron it takes to kill them. In addition to his other amiable characteristics, the Russian has no regard for human life and they are all out sons-of-bitches, barbarians, and chronic drunks."
Patton was relived of his command, after publicly slapping one of his trooper's, accusing the soldier of cowardice.History does not dispute that the three soldiers mentioned here, were all superb military men. History also does not dispute, that, lesser men rose higher. Patton, died a lonely death, his junior Omar Bradley, was promoted ahead of him. Mac Arthur, was sacked after tangling with President Trueman & Erwin Rommel, comitted suicide, after he was involved in a plot to kill Hitler, failed.
Why?
I think fundamentally all three lacked the ability to be good 'self monitors' or in other words just could not be politically correct and lost out to men who played the game better.At the workplace too, ability is one thing, being politically correct, is another. As for me, I like Patton the way he was, a 'Prima Donna', who admitted it freely & made no bones about

what he thought!
On more than one occasion he admitted that he talked too much without thought!
These were the last true warriors, who went to war for the love & romance of battle and not as a career!
A little known fact is that Gen.Patton, participated in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics & though he did not win a medal, performed creditably as an athlete.
Gen.Mac Arthur, designed his own uniform and for some reason thought that he was superior to the President of the USA! It is men like these that make the world a fun place to be in.

Literature and OB!

What has literature & drama got to do with Organization Behavior ? By my guess, plenty. They are facets of life played out on different stages.

Isn't all life a drama and all of us actors of one hue or another?

The 1964 film, My Fair Lady is a case in point.

My Fair Lady (1964), a film version of the musical starring Audrey Hepburn as "Eliza" and Rex Harrison as "Higgins", is loosely based on George Bernard Shaw's classic, drama, 'Pygmalion' ( 1913).

What does it deal with- Higgins, a professor, full of himself, is firmly of the opinion that he can pick up a poor flower girl, train her to speak with an upper class accent & pass her off as nobility, in all of six months.

While Eliza, the girl, does wonderfully well & makes the transition, Higgins is surprised, that only in his presence does she slip back to her old cockney accent.

Eliza later says that, because Higgins treats her like a flower girl, she behaves like one, before walking out on the very much in love Higgins !

The concept has been developed into a full blown OB theory & the Pygmalion Effect, is a captivating model which makes a lot of sense. I think all managers must reflect and set a high enough bar for their subordinates, guiding them to get there. If you assume, that your staff, are going to fail, be certain that they will not disappoint you & fail they will.

As for the film, I watched it in the 1980's, and loved it, much to the amusement of my friends who thought me rather quaint in watching romantic flicks that seem to go nowhere.

I, always the die hard romantic, worried for a quite a while, as to why, Eliza & the Professor, could not reach a rapprochement and live life happily ever after. With time & age I've realized, that it was best, that it ended the way it did.Though the, pretty cockney accented flower girl and the sauve professor do make a handsome couple.

As an OB concept, I'm a great believer in the Pygmalion Effect and as for the movie, one of my all time favourites! As for the songs, amazing..

Pirate Medicine!

In this photo released by the Turkish military, seven pirates aboard a skiff, hold up their hands a Turkish commandos approach their boat in the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. The Turkish military said Saturday navy commandos aboard the Turkish frigate TCG Gediz, part of a NATO force patrolling the seas, have captured seven pirates. Commandos raided the skiff Saturday morning upon a request to block it before it could attack a ship. It says a navy helicopter aboard a Turkish frigate also took part in the operation.11:10 a.m. ET, 9/26/09

The chickens they say finally come home to roost!

I almost split my sides on reading the following story.

PARIS - Somali pirates in two skiffs fired on a French navy vessel early Wednesday after apparently mistaking it for a commercial boat, the French military said.
The French ship gave chase and captured five suspected pirates.
No one was wounded by the volleys from the Kalashnikov rifles directed at La Somme, a 3,800-ton refueling ship, French military spokesman Rear Adm. Christophe Prazuck said.

I'm glad the lot got a taste of their own medicine.Pirates at sea can be a terrifying experience for unarmed ships making voyages on the high seas.

Commitment!

The buzz word amongst the HR community a couple of years ago, was attrition and employee turnover. The smaller it was the HR manager breathed easier and lived to tell the tale another day.
To curb attrition and employees taking off for better quarters was born the concept, of 'employee engagement', wherein the employee wants to stick to your organization, like glue, so that the HR, does not have to go hunting around for fresh employees at periodic intervals.
Engagement gets a person committed to an organization & provides the glue, that I alluded to earlier.
What are kinds of commitment that you would see?

1. Affective: wherein there is an emotion bonding between the organization and the employee. The reason why you rarely see folk quitting organization's like the Tata Steel, L & T or Infy.
2. Continuance: Plays out during a recession. The poor chap is going to lose a great deal by quiting his/her existing job. He/she fears getting another one so is committed.
3. Normative: The employee is obligated to hang on for past favors.

My hero of yesteryear's Steinmetz provides an interesting study in 'normative' commitment.

Our friend landed on the shores of the land of liberty a refugee, from his fatherland, Germany. unknown & unwelcome.After great strife & desperation he potted a job with a small motor manufacturer for a pittance, when nobody else would even look at the hunchback, with an over sized head, speaking little English.

As his genius was recognized & fame grew he came to the attention of another great, Thomas Edison, owner of the now famous General Electric. Edison, knew genius, when he saw it & wanted Steinmetz on board, but no amount of money or perks could lure the great electrical mind away from his job with the motor manufacturer.

Why? Because the motor manufacturer would be in trouble, if Steinmetz quit? So said Steinmetz and he did not want that, as he was obligated to his boss, for giving him a job, when he needed one.

While the negotiation went back & forth, GE eventually bought out the manufacturer to get Steinmetz!

That is normative commitment.

What a story! I get goosebumps thinking about such commitment. I think it is an old world notion that kid's of today would not comprehend.

It is imperative, that HR focuses on the right kind of commitment. Believe me, it does matter!

Today nobody talks about attrition & turnover, because, the HR leverages, commitment of the continuance kind. A dangerous game to play!

October Greats!

Steinmetz & Ford.

October 1908 Henry Ford introduces the Model T car (costs $825)

Organization Behavior is a study close to my heart, simply because, it leaves room for rumination & discussion ( at my age I'm rather tired of hearing myself all the time ). At times, kids in class leave you staggered with startling insights, which leaves you thinking for days.

As I teach OB, a name that crops up often is that of Henry Ford, genius who revolutionized the nascent automobile industry, with his work practices.

Ford was many things & more. A genius, a brilliant mechanical mind, an astute businessman, a narcissist and a man who was by no means humble.

From works on Ford I remember an endearing story, where Ford is said to visited the quarters of Charles Steinmetz, the man who electrified the US and a genius in his own right. Ford was interested in finding a solution, for the malfunctioning headlamps of his Model- T. In the midst of their serious discussion, Steinmetz, apparently excuses himself and walks off to tell his grandchildren a bedtime story. A furious Ford, leaves Steinmetz's house & would have gone except that a train was not available at that late hour.When Ford returns, Steinmetz has his problem solved!

Ford is known to have told, on occasions, his overzealous, subordinates ' It's my name on the wall!'

The story of these men captivates, me. One a towering industrialist, the other a humble, affectionate, hunch backed genius, who had little sense of time or occasion.

What would have I given to be in the age of the 'King of the Road' & the 'Magician of Liberty Hall'.

Murder of the First Degree!

G- Boats centre of Gravity.

B- Boats Centre of Buoyancy.

M- Meta centre.

GM- Meta centric Height.

The senseless boat tragedy at Thekaddy, Kerala, took my breath away! A boat that sank, in what was probably 10 meters of water, killing upwards of thirty people, many of whom were kids, who were on a holiday. If you carefully sift the facts, you can see, no feel, the apathy of the Kerala administration, who runs the show.

Why?


Boats, poorly maintained, overcrowded, a probable lack of Life Saving Equipment & inexperienced crew, would have led to this disaster.

What went wrong?

The boats Centre of Gravity ( G ), would have gone up unnaturally, as the boats skipper, would have allowed tourists, crowd the upper deck. This would have taken the "G" above the "M", leading the boat to have a negative, GM, or meta centric height, causing the boat to become 'unstable' as against a normal 'stable' state.

As passengers, rushed to one side of the upper deck, to have a look at, animals, the boat would have listed & coupled with the negative GM ( unstable ), capsized and sank.

I do not want this to sound like rocket science, because it is not & anybody with a reasonable idea of ship stability or naval architecture would be up to speed on dangers that light weight boats of the size that went down, would face, with shifting masses on board.

The boat crew should have kept passengers on the main deck & warned them against rushing to one side of the boat.

Early in my career at sea I had a similar experience & got away with my life, because, I had just enough of knowledge to do the right things, in the available time.


The poor folk who died at Thekaddy, did not have an idea & the guys who were expected to take care of them were pathetic.


That to me is murder of the first degree!


The responsibility eventually rests with the top management who recruited, poorly trained people with even more abysmal levels of commitment.

Eventually, it is simbly, Human Resource Management!