FLOCCI-NAUCI-NIHILI-PILI-FICATION

Floccinaucinihilipilification is the longest non technical word in English language. For readers who are keen to know more about this word which basically means “ an act of estimating a thing as worthless” can go to this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/floccinaucinihilipilification.
This is the word which readily comes to my mind when I recollect my first encounter with the Managing Director of the company I had joined straight after graduation. I had joined a company whose name itself I hadn’t heard till three days before receiving the coveted appointment letter. It so happened that we were selected in the campus interview by the parent company and were called for formal group interview by the parent company. On not being selected by the parent company a few of us were asked to appear in a similar group interview by this company. A few of us were selected by this company as “Graduate Trainee” and were given the appointment letters.

My father who had started his career exactly thirty years earlier as graduate trainee of the parent company was both surprised and saddened when I informed him the name of the company I was planning to join post my graduation. I had found nothing wrong with this company with its well manicured lawns and very polite and helpful executives who we met during the course of the selection process. Those were the days of control and the government controlled every thing including the capacity you built, quantity you produced, price you charged your customers etc etc.
Our training for a batch of about twenty (twelve graduate trainees and rest management trainees) started in right earnest. This was the first time I encountered class distinction. Management trainees were on board neither because of their abilities and nor because of their need to earn livelihood, they were mainly there because they happened to be from rich and influential families. Trainers obviously and for good reason cared more for the management trainees, and it wasn’t unusual for them to turn a blind eye to their misdeeds and indiscipline. The top management new all the management trainees well and went out of their way to make them comfortable in the new corporate jungle we had stepped into. The training was structured and informative. All the graduate trainees just out of engineering colleges found enough areas where they felt that their ideas if implemented could make material difference to the company.

Our training period was of one year duration and even after finishing more than six months we hadn’t met the MD of the company. We had heard enough inspiring stories about him to have really started looking forward to interaction with him. He was almost projected as demi god and the whole company apparently owed their continued employment in the company to his charisma and dexterity in turning around the company. The calendar year was about to end before we got placed in our respective departments (some out of personal choice and some out of corporate needs). One month before this was to happen we were asked to do any project of our choice to suggest improvement in the company. At the end we were expected to do a presentation to the Managing Director (MD). By this time the trainees’ strength has reduced to fourteen from original twenty. Some had left for greener pastures and most of the MT’s had left because they didn’t find the hostel food good enough and the quality of equipments in the gymnasium very inadequate. Every trainee got down to serious hard work as this was our one in million chance to get into good books of the MD.
My project was “Change of pickling media in our old plant from Hydrochloric acid to Sulphuric acid to reduce cost”. It was detailed work in which I covered just about everything. It was to bring in an annual saving of almost rupees one million on one time investment of merely one tenth of that amount. I discussed this with my close friends and also took help from my professors. In short I seemed to be satisfied with my maiden effort on a project in the corporate world.
The month was February and the year was the year when Reliance world cup cricket took place in India. We were asked to be ready with our presentation as the date could not be finalized. The MD had a very busy schedule and since the month is more famous of Indian national budget the MD had to keep visiting Delhi to ensure favorable pronouncement from the Govt. Everyone knew how these things work and how important they were for any company. It seemed that the brother of a big superstar of bollywood , with his strong political contacts , had license to import inferior product from developed countries, and this was playing havoc with marketability of the product our company made.
Presentation those days were very different from what we are used to day. There was neither power point nor overhead projectors. All you did was having your presentation typed and circulate it to the people who were going to evaluate it. In case of a query you used a blackboard and chalks (even ubiquitous white boards hadn’t arrived). I was asked to keep twenty sets ready. Any interaction with MD meant that all the senior and not so senior managers will be present in the conference room irrespective of what prior engagements they were having. It provided them an opportunity to impress the MD and also show how they have helped certain trainees who were known to the MD.
Excitement was building as we waited for the call informing us about the presentation. On a Tuesday (can’t recollect the date despite possessing a very good memory) at around 10 AM we were informed by the training manager that our presentation will happen at 11.45 AM in the conference room. We were asked to give a copy of our report to the manager so that the same could be given to the MD’s office. At exactly 11.30 AM we were ushered into the conference room. The sequence of the presentation was clearly spelt out. I was fourth in the list. We occupied the massive oval table. By 11.40 AM the seats behind the oval temple were taken by the top managers of the company. The trainees looked nervous and the managers kept giving us meaningful looks. And we waited for the MD’s arrival. At exactly 11.50 AM the MD’s secretary entered the room and announced “MD will be here in five minutes”.
At 11.58 AM MD entered the conference room with his secretary who was carrying a thick file. Till then we had only heard about the MD and seen his black and white photographs and today was the first time most of the trainees were seeing the MD in person. He was not only the MD he looked like one also with his aristocratic looks. Any fool entering the room could have guessed that he was the MD even if the MD had decided to sit on the back seat. MD took his seat at the top of the oval temple and then he spoke. He had a booming deep voice. I can still vividly remember his first few sentences and it went
“Good Afternoon, every one. My sincere apologies to the trainees for not meeting you earlier. The last few months I had been rather unwell and after that I was busy traveling to ensure that our company remains afloat. I hope you have been well looked after. After brief introduction of trainees we will start with the presentation. I have a lunch meeting at 2.00 PM and we should try to finish at 1.45 PM. Ok lets start”.
Introductions took only ten minutes. We followed the same sequence as laid out for the presentations. The presentations started immediately after that and the three trainees who were before me in the list finished their presentation in a total seventeen minutes. MD had gone through all the presentations as he had both questions and suggestions. He made few notes. And then my turn came. I got up and started reading from the bullet points I had made. Since my project was slightly technical, questions started from the managers who were working in the plant. As I was well prepared I was able to handle all the queries with ease. My presentation copy which was with MD had a detailed explanation on monetary benefits. Surprisingly the MD didn’t ask any question. This could be either construed as a good report or his total disinterest. Just before I was to say “thank you” and take my seat the MD’s booming voice was heard. He just said one word that was “flocci-nauci-nihili-pili-fication”.
What followed was deathly silence in a room which had at least forty individuals. I heard muted chuckle from some of the managers and their face had an expression as if the word just spoken by the MD was the first word of his favorite joke which these people had forgotten and now eagerly awaited to hear it again. The rest kept staring at me awaiting the next scene to unfold as if a suspense thriller had reached its defining moment. As far as I was concerned my mind had totally drawn blank. I kept looking at MD expectantly and he kept staring at me with no decipherable expression. The ten to fifteen seconds gap between his last word and the next seemed eternity for me. Finally MD decided to utter his next word, the consequence of his last word had ensured that I was still standing and now my gaze was on my report which was lying on the table in front of me too frightened to even look at the MD. This is how the conversation went after this.
“Have you heard of this word before?”

“Yes, Sir”.

“How come?”

“I was interested in quizzes during my school and college days”.

“That’s very good, I love quizzards”.

“Thank you, sir”.

“And, what does the word mean, Mahendra “.

“Act of estimating a thing as worthless”.

“Brilliant”
“Thank you, sir”.

“Good, come and meet me one of these days. Thanks. Next presentation”.

As I took my seat, I had no clue on the fate of my presentation. I was merely relieved that my ordeal was over. For the next few days the discussion in the hostel mainly revolved on my presentation and why MD asked me to meet him.

For the MD it was easy to say come and meet me one of these days. For me it was the logistics which hampered immediate execution of MD’s order. Where to meet him, his office or in the club or his home and what if he has forgotten about his comment. Time flew and this conversation became less and less important. I was placed in the production department and serious work started. My idea was the only one which the management felt needed a serious look into. A committee was formed which thought that though the idea was good but it couldn’t be implemented as the company had signed a five year contract with the hydrochloric acid supplier. Moreover the supplier was very well connected and any rescission of the contract would have long term ramifications.
In less than two months I was not only bored with my assignment but felt the need to run away from the daily routine of managing an operation which mainly called for one’s man management skills. I remembered MD’s invitation. I had been told how good a human being he was and how he always helped people who went to him seeking help.

It was end of March and I had just completed an uneventful night shift where our shift had achieved a new record on highest production in a shift coupled with the highest yield factor. After reaching the hostel I had my breakfast and went to sleep. Got up at 11.00 AM and had a quick bath and walked my way to the MD’s secretariat with fear in my heart and prayer on my lips. MD’s secretariat is some place where you are not expected to be seen. Most of the visitors there were either summoned by MD for any deficiency in their performance or had come to give MD some special information about something which couldn’t reach him through proper channel. I was there to meet MD to seek help. I gave my appointment slip to his secretary wherein I mentioned personal against purpose. His secretary insisted on knowing what personal meant and kept prodding for quite sometime to know the exact reason. On my refusal to tell him the reason, he gave up with a warning that MD would be very upset with me for not trusting his secretary and might not meet me. I just said I will wait and went to take my seat amongst other people who were waiting for their turn to meet him. People kept going into his room and coming out without even spending a minute there. I couldn’t make out from their facial expression whether they had achieved anything from the meeting. I knew that I will have very little time in front of him and so worked out in my mind what exactly I was going to say. Time was running out and the number of people waiting to see him was getting fewer and fewer by the minute. People had started talking that they might not get their turn as MD has to go for a luncheon meeting.
Rather than fearing the prospect for not being able to meet to him today, I was getting relieved of the fact that I won’t face the prospect of coming face to face with him. Suddenly his secretary called my name and I entered MD’s office with measured steps but with nervousness writ large on my face. When I saw his towering figure going through a file in a massive room all my rehearsed lines refused to come to my lips.
“Good morning, sir”. I said
“Good Afternoon”. He said without lifting his head to see who the guy was who had made the first faux pas even before taking the hot seat.
“Sorry sir, good afternoon”. I blurted out.

I kept standing not knowing what to do next. During such moments you normally do not know what to do with your hands. I started counting the number of fingers I had in each my hand. Just as I was relieved at my discovery of having all my fingers intact, he looked up and said “Sit down”. I took my seat. MD continued reading the paper he had in front of him. I kept staring at his face. After a minute or so which seemed a lifetime for me, he looked at me and smiled.
“How are you Mahendra?”

“I am fine sir.”

“Don’t lie, people who are fine do not come to meet me and by the way I had asked you to meet me. I wanted you to represent our club in quizzes but you never came to meet me.”

“I am sorry, Sir. I was too afraid to meet you.”

“Now that you are not afraid tell me what brings you here.”

“Sir, I want a transfer.” I told him the exact reason why I wanted a transfer. He listened to my spiel without once interrupting my rehearsed lines. After I was through he waited for a moment and spoke.

“Well I understand your reason of need for change but the company had recruited you with its specific need in mind and if I transfer you the company’s plan will get affected. Anyway let’s see what best I can do for you”.

Then he called the chief of HR and asked him to meet him with my personal file the next day at 11.30 AM.

“Ok Mahendra. And yes go and meet Mr. So-and-so in the evening and join our quiz team.”

“Thank you, sir.” I left the room quite satisfied with my performance but not very hopeful of any favorable response. I had heard enough stories about the MD which gave me hope. The logic said it won’t happen but the world lives on hope and so did I.
More than a week had elapsed and my hope had started giving way to reconciliation with facts of life. I was asking for something which was going to help me but what about the company. But something told me to remain hopeful. After all great people are known for their ability to help when needed and forgive when asked for forgiveness.
Exactly ten days after the day I had collected all my courage to meet the MD I received a call in my office when I was busy sorting out another issue between two supervisors in the afternoon shift. I was asked to come to the MD’s office. I reached the MD’s office in fifteen minutes time. The secretary asked me to wait. I collected my thoughts and started my wait. MD was in a meeting at that time. The meeting took more than an hour. I was asked to go inside.
As soon as I entered MD’s room and even before I could even wish him I heard the lines I was dying to hear.
“Mahendra here is your transfer letter. I hope you are happy now. Do a good job here. All the very best.”
I just said thank you and kept standing there amazed by a man’s action to help a fellow employee. When he realized that I was still standing there with confused look on my face he just said “Ok” and I left his room. I couldn’t help admiring the person who in one stroke had given me what I really wanted but didn’t make me feel that he was doing me a favour. That one decision changed my life for better and for ever. What a man and what a human being!! And to think it all started with floccinaucinihilipilification.
During my tenure in the same company I had pleasant association with three more MDs. Some day I might decide to write about them.

Degree versus Pedigree

For a person passionate about cricket I have been amazed by the ease with which batsmen all over the world have started hitting sixes. Is it because of better bats or because of smaller grounds or because of physically stronger batsmen or is it because batsmen are practicing big shots more in the nets. The answer I think is the combination of all the above mentioned factors. It seems, so easy as batsmen after batsman move their front leg and with a golfer like swing lift the cricket ball out of the ground. It looks ridiculously easy. On Indian pitches where ball rarely deviates from its original line it is easier to get in line of the ball and with a deft swing of the bat send the ball out of the ground.

The same batsman who seems capable of doing anything with the bat comes a cropper when confronted with swinging atmosphere and seaming pitches. Is this a case of not being taught to handle a condition which is foreign to him? We have to assume the fact that a talented and intelligent batsman should be able to make adjustments in his batting technique to handle alien conditions. This brings us to our topic of degree vs. pedigree.
According to me degree is what is taught to us whereas pedigree is what we learn in life from the day we are born. We may be taught to become a doctor but what we learn differentiates a good doctor from an average one. It is no denying the fact that our DNA contributes to our pedigree. Pedigree is also about our family upbringing, school upbringing (which school we went to), college upbringing (whether we went to IIT / IIM), corporate upbringing. What good things we imbibe during these upbringings makes us pedigreed.

For more than six years India saw phenomenal economic growth. We saw lot of new businesses coming up and the big business houses became bigger in this period. All these necessitated search for educated work force which India had in plenty. The recruitment process was simplified and almost became a part of logistics management. A recruiter merely saw what degree the prospective candidate had and how he / she were able to display that degree and years of experience. With the economic boom it was relatively easy for most candidates to perform (quite akin to a batsman taking a swing on Indian pitches and connecting beautifully and sending the ball for six!!!). If the recruiter was not sure of what skill was needed to perform a particular job he merely advertised for an MBA and got one, though at a higher cost.
And then in September 2008 the world changed. With the fall of Lehman Brothers the world woke up to a new economic order. The trust between bankers reduced. Credits which were easily available simply disappeared. The world economy which till then was merely showing signs of tiring after a long and fast run went into a tailspin. Businesses started showing drastic reduction in top line and bottom lines. A manager who till then was considered a great performer looked shaky in the changed economic environment (similar to what happens when a batsman bred on Indian pitches is asked to play in seaming English conditions). HRD of almost all Indian companies had to start redefining the skills required for a particular job. Gone was the stress on mere degrees. The middle level managers slowly started feeling the heat. HR heads were besieged by complaints about non-performing managers. These were same managers who not even six months back had been short listed for fast track growth. These managers were born and bred on growth formula and could not react to the changed environment which called for different way of thinking.
MBA as a degree lost considerable amount of its shine post the mortgage fiasco in USA. The complicated and complex mortgage instruments that were designed which led to collapse of US housing and US economy could have been the handiwork of most fertile minds which the MBA graduates possess. Days of creating complex business models are over giving way to simple models. The world is once again embracing the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) formula. In an economic upturn you are appreciated for finding complex solution to a simple problem whereas during economic downturn promoters are looking for employees who can find simple solution to complex problems. Suddenly experience became important. Companies started their hunt for candidates who had seen recession and who could react to ever changing ground realities. Most companies became risk averse and capital expenditures for future revenues became avoidable. It was a question of riding the present situation. Cost cutting and belt tightening became the order of the day. Employees who had got used to wining and dining on company expenses in order to entertain (so as to retain) customers were asked to stop the practice.
Arrogance gave way to humility, as if a new formula was thought of by a clever teacher who decided to pass on his teaching to his pupils. Employees were back to good behavior and started looking for lost friends. No one’s job was any longer safe. People who prided on the number of missed calls they had in a day started taking calls. Individual’s trait of not taking calls has bewildered psychologist a lot. No education teaches us to be rude and so individual’s reluctance to accept a call can’t be part of his degree. Nor does any upbringing teach us not to return calls. So this trait comes from individual’s faulty self learning. These kinds of traits became important for HR professionals when they started evaluating a candidate’s suitability to handle a job. If avoiding a call is our way of avoiding a situation (however unpleasant), or it’s our way of saying no, then it’s a trait not suitable for most jobs.
One big Indian company which is in the engineering sector decided to judge their middle management (it had more than thousand managers in this level) in informal environments. In off site get together it started video taping employees’ outlook. How employee reacts to their superiors and how they react to their subordinates? A manager to be really successful has to be first a good human being. The CEO of this company has often said that keep a manager only if he is able to use the same tone to address his boss as he uses to address his subordinates. Wonder how many of the Indian managers will be able to hold on to their jobs if this principle was implemented? This very CEO had asked his HR Head to redraft the HR policy with one simple guideline. If the policy is going to be right for your child then the policy will be right for all our employees.

There is one listed company based in Bangalore which thinks that they have made huge mistakes in their recruitment by laying enormous stress on candidate’s degree. They now have series of informal interaction with the candidate to judge his pedigree. One thing they do is take the candidate for a drive on chocked roads of Bangalore. The candidate is asked to drive while three of their employees chat like old friends. This drive through lanes and by lanes of Bangalore takes close to two hours and ends with beer and lunch in a restaurant near their office. The candidate drops his guard and is able to show his true self. Bad traffic really tests people, its not uncommon to find people who assume that except for them every driver on the road doesn’t deserve the driver’s license they may be carrying.

The best way of judging a person’s depth is how he reacts when someone close to him/her asks for help. Remember that no degree teaches us not to help a needy person. A help is normally requested by a person who is close to you. All our upbringing (pedigree) also teaches us to go out of the way to help a person in need of help. But how do people normally react. Some will simply forget the request hoping that the help seeker will never broach the subject again. Some will start avoiding you as if you have asked for some unethical assistance. Some will give excuses which you will find so shallow that you will be forced to drop the topic. The most surprising thing is that no one will admit that they are not in any position to help. A person who is unable to find time and ways to help a friend will never be able to find time and energy to help a colleague and his organization.
Needless to say, in conclusion that time has come for recruiters to look for pedigreed candidates rather than a candidate with a long list of impressive degrees. In cricket they aptly say that form is temporary but class is permanent. There is no denying the fact that effort required to get a pedigreed candidate will be much more than just looking for right degrees but then benefits for the organization in the long run will also be much more.

Recession and Donations

The world is facing an economic crisis of unimaginable proportions. Economic activities have slowed down all over the world ( including India , though our government will like us to believe otherwise). USA's GDP is expected to contract by atleast 1.5 % in 2009, India's GDP is expected to grow by 6 % ( against 9.7 % in the previous year) , China the world saviour will see a slow down but still expected ( or hoped !!! ) to grow at a rate higher than 7 % in 2009. The world's GDP will grow by a mere 1 % in the same period.
Now view these economic growth / contraction against population growth figures. The world's population is growing at 1.19 % per annum. USA's population growth rate is 0.883 % per annum. China's population growth is at 0.629 % and India's at 1.578 %. You do not have to be an economist to work out the per ca pita growth in USA / China and India based on growth rates given above.
You will see a very small drop in per capita in USA and a resonable increase in per capita in India and China. The figures may show a small change from the figures of 2007 but the " R " word is having a catastrophic effect on people's psyche. Now lets come to India and see how the "R" word has started affecting the poorest of poors.
Till the third quarter of 2008 the donations to NGOs working for poor , donations to hospitals serving the poor, donations to every activity which helped the poor were robust. Corporates and individuals were playing their part in exercising their responsibility towards the less privileged. The situation changed drastically from October of 2008. All such donations drastically reduced . The reduction in such donations / grants were by almost 35 %. The poorest of poor were thus impacted the most despite technically India not being under any form of recession.
While the donations and grants to help the poor has reduced from Oct '08 the offerings by people at various temples / other religious places has seen an increase of almost 40 %. What does this show - people are ready to help others only when they feel good about themselves and about the future. Once that feeling 'good' factor is under stress people tend to become self centered and selfish. Whatever extra they have is given to God so that the almighty will remember to help them before any one else.
Coming out of recession is a slow process and more than financial stimulus it requires emotional cleansing so that we start feeling good about life and future once again. Only then will people start spending and helping the needy.


My next article will be on Degree Vs Pedigree. Here we will see how the recruitment yardstick for middle and senior level management has changed post economic slow down.

Spiced Buttermilk

My guru feels that very few of us like to experiment and still fewer like to change. This according to him is the main cause of stress people encounter in their lives. Such a profound start to an article captioned " Spiced Buttermilk " would have totally stumped a lot of readers. Well , I am going to tell you about a simple experiment you need to do to change your brealfast menu.

Most of us love corn flakes for our daily breakfast. It is indeed a healthy food and is easy on time also. Cornflakes is eaten with hot or cold milk with sugar for taste. It may come as a surprise to lot of Indians that its only in India that most people eat cornflakes with hot milk. Worldwide cornflakes is predominantly eaten with cold milk.

People who prefer eating corn flakes with hot milk and are not ready to change will have to give this experiment a miss. Others can try eating corn flakes with cold spiced butter milk. I bet you will love it.Its healthier ( no sugar ) and tasty. Experiment this new recipe !!!!!!

What the hell !!!!

Isn't the caption bold ? Writing the caption is the easiest thing to do but writing something which pleases you and at the same time appeals to the readers is the difficult part. So far I have written on environment and metal packaging and now for sometime I would like to experiment with general things. May be about people , may be about food , may be on how one of the caption of an article of mine got plagiarised , may be on how I am feeling , maybe on anything. So guys out there watch out for something interesting in the next few days.

Inflation - Health and Food Packaging Material

Inflation has crossed 5 % in USA , it is touching 12 % in India and whizzed past 2.2 Million % in Zimbabwe. People in all these three countries are reeling under galloping inflation. In a broader sense inflation above 2.5 % starts worrying Americans and an Indian starts worrying only when inflation crosses 5 %. What will worry a Zimbabwean is any body's guess !!!
Today inflation is a global phenomenon and is mainly due to sky rocketing crude prices coupled with rising food prices.
Mr. Al Gore will be a happy man today. High gasoline prices have forced the average Americans to reduce the usage of their cars. In the last two months air pollution on account of vehicular emission has reduced slightly. People are breathing cleaner air. Isn't that good ? People have started walking more and thus people have started becoming healthier. Cheers !!
Rising food prices and reducing real income has forced people to imbibe healthier eating habits. People are not only eating less ( good for health ) but are also avoiding their favourite junk foods. Hotels & restaurants are using lesser edible oil in cooking food items.
With people concentrating on basic food items ( staple food) the demand for snack foods and processed food items is reducing thus slowing the demand for food packaging material.
But aren't we aware that all this is a part of a cycle. Lower demand will force the prices to come down . Lower prices then will improve the demand and it will be hunky dory once again.
Aren't we being forced to adapt to a healthier life style , albeit unknowingly. Human beings do not like to be forced to do what they do not wish to do. Very soon we will go back to using our cars where we can walk and eating junk food as much as we like. And then we would have missed the bus to healthier life style.

Tin is not in

I had planned to write on "Tin is in ". Unfortunately most people who wrote to me or interacted with me tended to believe that we are still few years away from saying that in India Tin is in. The apprehensions remained the same -- tinplate availability , tinplate prices and overcapacity in can making. I guess I 'll postpone my writing on "Tin is in" for some later date.
Here's a bit of information for tin can manufacturers. In case you want to keep a tab on international tinplate prices and trends have a look at www.tinplateoutlook.com.