Necessary preparation before demonetization?

The whole country is standing at an inflection point of development. One path leads to the corruption free promising India while other may trigger a nightmarish experience of national collapse. A glimpse of the initial chaos can be seen outside banks and ATMs but the real pinch will be felt when the demonetization will lead to job loss and a decline in industrial production. Many expert analysts have predicted short-term threats to our social economic and political life. But very few people have commented on the timeliness of the decision. Was this the best time for this move in terms of preparedness? Could we have made some arrangements? Is secrecy not given a paramount importance which has led to this situation? Was this jerking off of whole nation from the black money hangover the only way to execute this plan? Is this the economics which drove the politics of the move or vice-versa?

In my opinion, following ten things could have been done before taking this initiative.
1. Hire at least 10000 IRS officer on contract basis to conduct the tax collection drive in the entire country. There are lakhs of UPSC aspirants who are qualified enough but falls on the other side of luck. The government could have absorbed them through the existing scheme of the examination on a 10-year contractual period.
2. Land records digitization should have been expedited and connected with the Adhar accounts. The technological prowess of overlaying techniques should have been used.
3. The mobile van model of ATM should have been tried and tested and popularized in the whole country.
4. The government could have waited few more years. The GST bill was on the anvil. This is expected to bring down taxation rates. This would have increased the taxation compliance for the large segment of population by itself.
5. The RBI should have increased the prevalence of lower denomination currency. At least the figure of 86% prevalence of rs. 500/1000 could have been brought down to 65% without getting attention in the public in a gradual manner over one to two years.
6. The report of Ratan P Watal commission on the spread of card payment was pending. The government could have waited and implemented its implementation first before shaking the whole nation.
7. The original scheme of Jan Dhan account should have been fully implemented. By this the country would have been prepared to switch to banking system. Today those accounts are conveniently used by rich people for conversion of black money to white money.
8. At least all the government offices, services and amenities should have started accepting the card payment and online payments. This would have reduced the corruption to large extent.
9. Jewellers, real estate people, mining barons and politicians account could have been scrutinized and audited by the additional force of 10000 in a detailed manner.
10. Political parties funding, NGO funding and religious organizations funding could have been brought under RTI rule.

Overall, I feel the step was premature. It was taken in haste, without proper political and economic accounting. Modi is a seasoned player of politics so it is hard to believe that how could he make such mistake or take such a polarizing and risky decision. Black money is substituted by the dark thoughts about the future of the country.

Rules of Negotiation

1. Always plan your conversations.
2. Know your options.
3. Do not hurry in responding.
4. Never cross etiquettes.
5. Everything is a perspective.
6. Do not take it personally.
7. It's fun.
8. Always have a plan B and know when to trigger it.
9. No regrets.
10. Do not accept others excuses.
11. Capitalize on others mistake.
12. Don't vie to gain sympathy.
13. Be calm and be forceful in your ways.
14. Never raise voice.
15. Always keep smiling.

Emotional Intelligence

Last time when I wrote the review of Emotional Intelligence book, I missed one very important point. The point is "Emotional intelligence is unlike intelligence quotient". Your IQ more or less remain stable. But Emotional Intelligence varies on the seasonal basis. Whenever a new experience occurs, some rejig takes place in your emotional corner. Neurons move up and down in the limbic system. Some people find the new equilibrium very soon and come back to their normal state while others take some time to understand the new incident and to tackle its emotional repercussions.

Why does this happen? It happens because every day when we begin, we carry an emotional baggage of the previous day. The bags get heavy and heavier as the time passes and eventually it causes huge disequilibrium in your emotional state of mind. Eventually, one fine day, a naturally calm person turns violent or vice versa. There is nothing called right or wrong emotion. But awareness of self and other emotions and ability to manipulate self and others emotion is the key to higher emotional intelligence. So let say you get angry one day. This does not mean you are not emotionally mature or intelligence. The question is "whether you were aware of being angry? Were you able to control your anger? Was the anger intentional to get what you want from the other person?"

For me, last one month was turbulent. My focus was divided. My attention was missing. There was self-doubt about my own priorities and my ways of getting what I want? Even today I am not sure if this is the way to go about it. But then comes the wisdom. Play everything as if it is a game. Do not fear to loose anything. Do not bow down. Negotiate hard. Take it as an experience. Do not show your soft side. Do not tell others about your weakness. Do not let your priority become your weakness. And most important learn to not let your work spill into your studies.

During IAS preparation, the best way was to ignore ignore ignore and let go let go let go. So now if you are not letting it go, make sure that you don't let this interfere with your studies. That would be the best emotionally intelligent behavior.

Principles of politics

Never fear to experiment.
Be ready to backtrack.
Know your strength.
Hide your weakness.
Wait for the moment.
Challenge the powerful.
Discover escape routes.
Network is the key to win.
Identify the polarizing issues.
Communication is your skill.
Know the weakness of your opponent.
Keep opponent confused.
It is a risky game.
Always fight to win.
Never loose hope.
Opponents make mistakes.

Girish Nikam

"Hello and welcome to the Big Picture". These lines reverberate in my mind whenever I think of Girish Nikam. The guy has left an indelible imprint on my psyche and psyche of many others. His shows were like the staple diet for aspirants of Civil Services Examination. I always dreamt of giving a civil service interview with Nikam as one of the interviewers. What an experience that would have been? However, death is the ultimate reality of life. Howsoever high any one becomes in the life but death will ultimate dust all of us.

Nikam did not just deliver the content. He taught us a way of thinking in multi-dimensional and multi-perspective manner through his program. My respect for him increases multifold when I juxtapose him with Rajat Sharma, Rahul Kanwar and Arnab Goswami. The latter set of journalist sold their journalistic ethics to sensationalism, partisan politics and money power. Among those soulless spirits, Girish was a vanguard of ethical ans sensible journalism. May his soul rest in peace. Your lines will keep reverberating in my mind for time to come.

Ingredients of a good job and a good manager

So I am having all new range of experience nowadays. It is disappointing to see an organization killing its own fortune. Anyway, It made me think about what should be the ingredient of a good job and a good manager? In government jobs, the ability to influence system, social status, and job conditions are the most important parameters to judge the attractiveness of the job. Sometimes the media focus, international exposure, and some fringe benefits are also added. However, when it comes to a corporate job, the scene changes entirely. In the government job, one has the certainty on the job. For example, In case you are fired, your file must move to the table of President of India. The snail pace at which our rails and buses move, this takes two to three lifetime of a person in order to become reality. However, In the corporate world, such things are guided by the whims and fancy of your manager. So one should be very careful in choosing a job and choosing a manager. And don't be surprised if I say that "My Baap" culture is not just limited to the centralised governance paradigm. Unfortunately, in the private organisations where work culture is not so strong, "my baap" culture not only exists but it thrives.

Anyway, coming directly to the topic: I think the three most important ingredient of any corporate job is "Learning", "Network", and "Salary". Learning refers to the opportunity to expand your horizon of knowledge, working on new ideas and cracking some or other challenge in your day to day task. This learning happens not all by yourself. It is very important to have right kind of people around. People who are more competent than you and people who are differently competent than you. People who are ready to share their knowledge and people who are not insecure. Unless you have all these things in place, you may be losing something. As a computer science guy, the principle is simple. At least one new technology, one new project and one new team should be added to your professional profile.

Second is Network. It is of extreme important. Especially in the scenario when you face a manager who shows bias in his behaviour and who is insecure about his own standing in the organisation. You never may when you may be fired or deputed to some shitty work. What to do in such situation? I remember, somebody gave me a very good advice in the early phase of my career. "In a corporate job, make sure you maintain a contingency fund. Have a separate bank account and save your six months operational expenses into it. This will be used when you get fired or when you are in the process of switching the job." So in a situation of having a critical situation in one job, the first thing to do is remember your contingency bank account. Second and more important is to explore your network. In a country like India, it is not your skill but it is your network which gets you the desired job. In USA, It is your network + skill which lands you in the dream job. And how do you make a network? Primary network comes from your alma mater. But a much larger network is formed in the job settings. It is not about the company. It is always about the people who you work with. Any big task is always a team work. One man can not play an orchestra. Therefore, networking, meeting people, working with good people is not only necessary but an essential part of any job. You peer group ignites and sets your ambition bar. They influence your dream as you do theirs. Therefore it is necessary to work in a company where you can expand your network and leverage it to move higher up in an organizational ladder.

Third is salary. It is very important to have a right pay package which matches your skill set. Because the day you sense the mismatch in the salary-skillset tuple, you will not be able to work in a calm manner. If your salary is higher than your skillset then you will feel insecure and vulnerable. If salary is lower than skillset then you feel exploited. Therefore, salary must match your skillset. And this is where the manager also comes into the picture. A good manager must ensure that people get what they deserve. Or else, sooner or later things are going to burst. And when they burst in such an unceremonious manner then it is neither good for an organization nor good for the personal relationships.

A good management is all about connecting things. Skill with the right project, skill with the right salary and people with the right people. The moment they fail in doing so, they sow the seed of future troubles.

Anyway, will write later. There is lot of observation and lot more to write.

Psychology tidbits

I was reading "Times of India" and saw the news that a 22-year-old woman instigated the arson attack on 42 buses of a Tamil Nadu-based operator in Bengaluru. More importantly, She was a daily wager and had joined the protest for rupee 100 and one plate Biryani.

Well, firstly hats off to her performance. She really paid off for her wages. Secondly, salute to her competence on the job. She was hired for rioting and she did it pretty well. However jokes apart, This prompted me to think about the psychological underpinning of the issue. What prompted her to instigate the violence? What ignited her leadership skills in the time of crisis? What would have unfolded at the site of the incident which propelled her at the center of things? I am sure, she was not much bothered about Cauvery sharing issue. Given her daily wager status and paid rioting, I am sure she would not have even understood the issue properly. So what was it?

Psychology often answers such question with the explanation of Group Behaviour, social influence and cult behaviour in our society. In crunch situations, people are pushed in fight or flight response. Encouraged by sloganeering and popular support around them, some people rise to the occasion and assume the de facto leadership of headless, directionless mob. The attention of camera, uncontrollable adrenaline rush in the veins further prompts them to throw leadership tantrums. Sometimes, they turn violent and facilitate carnage and arson.

However, what about the Mob? Why do they succumb to such an impromptu leadership? Mostly it has to do with our conforming behaviour. Have you ever observed the process of traffic jams or stampede in crowded places? It happens suddenly because people have no directions to follow and everyone wants to get out of that situation as soon as possible thus they start running helter-skelter and in the process creates a deadlock from which no one could come out without intermediation. But if there is one person who directs them to behave in a certain manner then everything gets resolved in a smooth manner. From my understanding, oftentimes Mob lacks direction and in such situation if someone orders them to do certain thing then they excitedly do so. They exhibit conformity behaviour either due to group obligation or obedience to authority. Suddenly it turns into "We vs. They" or ingroup vs. outgroup behaviour. The Mob starts seeing police and other authority groups as their adversaries and end up playing their role as rioters. We also see the "Eichmaan phenomenon" here where people often pass the buck of responsibility and consequences to their bosses and absolve themselves of all kind of guilt behaviour.

Possibly these factors combine together lead to rioting and mob violence. In such situation, the best strategy for authorities to calm the mob down is to give them clear directions which are not antagonistic to what their leadership is saying. Instead, the directions should be friendly and should show them a way out of the situation. Further, authorities should put people in the mob who can take the leadership role and direct the mob from inside.

Anyway, bidding adieu for now.