ExcellencePersonal

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In modern life, one of the issues everyone grappling with, is “Anger”, which leads to broken marriages

or strained relationships. We often feel that it is an issue related to a very small percentage of people; however, in reality, it bothers almost everyone in some context or the other. Although each person afflicted by this monster justifies his/her behaviour and ignores it, the losses are immeasurable. I was groping in the dark to figure out how this monster can be managed and kept under control so that it does not affect our life seriously. I am qualified to write this article as I was the epitome of anger and paid the biggest price of my life. In this article I wish to share my findings about this emotional disease and present some cook book approaches for the benefit of many people aspiring to improve their “Emotional (quotient?) Intelligence - EQ”.

Observing a few people who have grown to the pinnacle of corporate ladder and shoulder the biggest responsibility, I find them always centred and balanced, although they do encounter annoying situations & people quite often. They are believed to have the highest emotional intelligence – EQ and in fact this is the main characteristic that has taken them to this position. If situations have to be blamed for our behaviour, these people are the ones justified to get upset at every moment of their life. Let us examine this aspect of EQ in greater detail looking at it with an optimistic frame of mind instead of defending our folly.

Lord Krishna’s view on Anger:

In Bhagawat Gita Lord Krishna says, “Anger veils our intellect like an iron curtain and prevents us from accessing the wisdom; this leads us to take actions like an unbridled horse running amuck!” Wisdom is the outcome of applied knowledge. In other words, it is an existential learning. Let me try to explain with a practical example. When you tell a child not to touch a hot

object it understands it intellectually; but still wishes to touch the same. When it touches it and feels hurt it has an existential knowledge which we call as wisdom. In essence, experience stores the existential experience in our memory as “wisdom”. This is accessible only when we are calm and collected. Lord Krishna says when we are angry, this wisdom is temporarily veiled from access and we act without the benefit of our store house of wisdom. Hence all our actions taken when we are angry are likely to be wrong and end up to be regretted afterwards!

Looking back into my own six decades of existence, I see all actions taken by me when I was under the influence of anger were wrong and the consequential losses were immeasurable. In essence, Anger is as common a disease as cold and has several implications in our life both personal as well as professional. No one can say that they do not know what anger is, because it is one of those evils that mankind has been trying to grapple with for ages.

What is Anger?

You may ask why we need to break our head over defining something which is so obvious? I am of the view that there are many things that we feel we have understood, but in reality our understanding is so shallow & superficial and does not support us to challenge them. Before analysing the means of anger management, let us understand what we mean by anger. The Oxford dictionary meaning of anger is “Strong feeling of displeasure”. The other connotations of anger are annoyance, irritation, fury, rage, antagonism, resentment etc. In essence, anger is the result of an external event or stimuli that challenges our belief or expectations.

The Anatomy of Anger

It is often said, “If you wish to manage something, you need to understand it”. This may be the reason the first lesson in Medicine is to understand human

anatomy. Hence the understanding of the anatomy of anger is necessary when I am going to discuss the tips for anger management. There are minimum 3 elements required for anger to manifest; the object (that stimulates anger), the subject (that manifests anger) and the third the manifestation of anger i.e., the manner in which the anger manifests – may be a frowning, yelling, hurting etc.

I have good news from Psychology that all human beings get angry! Do you not feel a little better now? There are two kinds of anger – imposed and exposed. Exposed anger is when we let off our steam upon the object of anger and imposed anger is suppression of anger within ourselves. This gives us good news that those who are called “Cool headed” are the dormant volcanoes. These people do more harm to themselves than those who expose anger. Hence, anger management is not only important for those who are “short fuses” but also for those “Cool headed” ones.(those who suppress anger and get into more problems later)

There is a famous adage in Tamil, “Where there is anger, there you find character”. Is it an empty justification for people who display exposed anger? I do not think so. When a person expresses his discontent he clears his mind then and there. But the person who harbours his discontent without expressing, is waiting to settle his score through some other way or may be by harming himself by suppressed anger. I am not advocating exposed anger which is also harmful.

Why Anger Management?

For some unknown reasons all living beings like love & warmth and resent rage from other beings. Such aspects in nature can never be questioned with a “Why”, as they are called the Laws of Nature, – for example, like gravity - you cannot ask the question, why gravity pulls masses together and not pushes; why water flows from high level to low level and not vice

versa? The Law is that which cannot be questioned as to “why?” That is the way things have been designed for some unknown reasons! When we are kind with someone they feel closer to us and they hate us when we yell at them. Hence, anger creates enemies in our life who will be waiting to hit us back. This is a good enough reason to consider anger management. More than anything else anger is in the top of the list in mastering “Emotional Intelligence”. When we are free of anger it improves our personality and image.

Genesis of Anger:

In my family of eleven I was branded as “short fuse” and everyone was keeping a distance because they did not know when this volcano will erupt! There is hardly anyone I spared in my life who has not come across my rage and my wife Meera was the closest to the crater and negotiated the maximum lava flow! There is no need for any big reason for me to get triggered, as my default mode is anger. I was tolerated during my professional career as I was a star performer and my seniors were kind enough to put up with my idiosyncrasies.

At some point in time I introspected the origin of my temperament and found a few genesis of this hysterical state. One of those is role modelling my dad who was a tyrant during his time and the other is a perennial sense of incompleteness arising out of childhood disappointments. You may ask how about the other off-springs of my dad. Ironically it does not happen that all children role model their parents and I inherited my dad’s legacy.

Knowing this genesis of my Arjuna state of consciousness helped me to work on my anger management techniques. I recommend to those who wish to mend their anger department, to figure out the genesis of their state which will help to weed out the root causes.

Anger Control Vs Anger Management?

I happened to see the movie “Anger Management” recently which gave me deeper insight into this topic than before. First of all why is it “Anger Management” and not “Anger Control” as we have been taught by our elders? We have been advised to count 10 when we are angry and count hundred if we are very angry! In my opinion, anger control is “suppression” and anger management is “eliminating the root causes of anger”.

How do we manage anger?

The following tips will help you to master the art of “Anger Management” which will enhance your emotional quotient:

Assertive Expression:

Whenever you come across an incident which triggers your anger, try and create awareness that you are unhappy when someone presses your “Anger button”. Before bursting into action, try expressing your feelings in an assertive manner. The effect of

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Scientists believe that this universe came from “nothing” and manifested into its current

form over billions of years. The greatest of the thinkers of modern times, Albert Einstein, believed that this universe came from a single source and attempted to prove the well known “Singularity” theory within his life time. Steven Hawking, the epitome of human will-power and great physicist of the 21st century is still striving to prove that the matter of this universe will retrieve to a point source. The inspiration for Hawking is the “black hole” formed from a huge star shrinking into an infinitesimally small object. All that which these great scientists have said, had been told by Indian “seers” (the name given to great sages who are enlightened) 10,000 years ago by closing their eyes and meditating. Whether the search is in an objective world like a scientist or in a subjective world like a seer, the result is the same; i.e., the “Dharma” of this universe is “Change”, which is an integral law of nature.

Charles Darwin, the 19th century

naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection has talked about the causes for extinction of species. According to him the main cause of extinction is due to the ecological changes in this planet and the inability of the living organisms to adapt to those changes. There are two facts emerging out of this foregoing discussion:

1. The environmental conditions around us will continuously keep changing without waiting for us.

2. If we do not learn to negotiate with the external environment, we will perish.

Taking cue from this dharma of nature, all management gurus have said that the organizational leaders must constantly study and predict the environmental changes and align their organization to match the environment. The strategy planning taught in all B-schools is based on this commonsense which nature has presented in front of us. Having said this, we understand that the survival

ManagementChange

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22nd April 2011, was a memorable, eventful day for SSA for more than one reason.

That was the day at Courtyard Marriott, Mumbai,

SSA’s magazine The Elixir was launched

Receipt of IACET Certification by SSA was announced

SSA’s Statistical Guide was released

The Speakers who added value to the occasion were:

Mr. Anand Swaminathan, CEO, Zicom Electronic Security Systems Ltd.

Mr. Gautam Borah, Deployment Head-Business Transformation, Vodafone Essar Ltd.

Prof. VH Iyer, Dean-Management Development Centre, Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research

Mr. Rahul Sinha, VP-Learning & Development, Reliance Industries Ltd.

Mr. CN Murthy, COO (Retd.), The Paper Products Ltd.

Mr. JG Kulkarni, VP-Power Systems, Crompton Greaves Ltd.

Mr. Hitesh Shah, Executive Director, Rennaissance Jewellery Ltd.

And SSA was honoured by delegates from :

Reliance Industries, Ambuja Cement, Yes Bank, DHL Express Ltd, IPCA Laboratories, HDFC Standard Life Insurance, L&T, Fortis Hospitals, Mirc Electronics, Reliance BPO.

Event Corridor

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RDMAIC®

It is the acronym for Recognize-Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control which is an improved version of DMAIC originally proposed by Motorola for structuring the six sigma approach methodology. The R-phase is added by SSA for recognizing the business issues and identify meaty problems to solve which have strategic importance. RDMAIC is one of the thought leadership of SSA which has a copyright. In R-phase a set of tools are used to identify the strategic issues and drill down to problems which can be solved by six sigma approach. This phase involves the top and senior management in the initiatives.

Champion Champion is one of the roles in six sigma deployment for senior managers who are expected to nurture the project teams by providing strategic directions and resources. It is often misunderstood as they are experts in six sigma tools and techniques. Champions are essentially coaches for project teams and not guides for applying statistical tools.

Process OwnerThe Process owner in a six sigma project is the person who owns the process and experiences the problems relating to the process. His involvement in the six sigma project is essential and in the absence of which the new process will never get implemented and maintained. Thus training the process owner in RDMAIC and involving him/her in the project reviews is very important for the successful completion of the project.

GreenbeltIn acquiring six sigma skills there are several levels defined as per the knowledge and skills for problem solving; one of them is Greenbelt. As six sigma practitioners fight with defects, the karate (belt) titles are awarded depending on their level of knowledge and skills. A Greenbelt learns all RDMAIC methodology and statistical tools to apply them for solving chronic problems to achieve a breakthrough results.

Dear Reader

Quality consciousness is like following a religion which has philosophy, dogmas, rituals, superstitions, etc. In the article ‘Quality Revolution” we have seen that many evolutions have happened in the concept of Quality over the last 3 centuries commencing from “Conformance to specification” during the 17th century to “Attractive Quality” in the 21st century. One common aspect no one can deny is that the “prosperity of any enterprise” depends on their focus on customers and their ability to win their hearts on a consistent basis. Your reading this article in itself is evidence that you are a Quality enthusiast or a

OPENOne Point Educational Nugget

professional who is keen to spread this consciousness in and around the community where you are. Thinking and applying Quality principles is a state of being and not a skill like swimming.

Similar to other disciplines, Quality and Business Excellence field have accumulated many knowledge resources which require frequent reference and application to get the best out of them. This section titled as OPEN – One Point Educational Nugget is intended to provide you an opportunity to learn or brush up your memory on these concepts, tools and techniques.

Why this name OPEN?

Amidst our busy schedule, we always find it very difficult to read long articles although they improve our knowledge and skills. The interest and attention span for reading is limited to 50 words. This may be the reason why the great wisdoms like Bhagawat Gita and Thirukkural are presented as a couplet! OPEN will cover lucid presentation of Quality concepts for your quick reference and inspire you to preserve them for future reference.

In this issue we shall cover a few concepts from Six Sigma:

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TALENT MANAGEMENT

The success of an organization in its pursuit of business excellence is directly proportionate to the

pool of its talented people. Believe me, the world runs on talent. Some talented people somewhere in the globe brought in their best to create, discover and invent what mankind today calls progress.

The fundamental truth is that each one of us is uniquely talented in some way. However, it is indicated through research that in most organizations, only 20% of employees have opportunities to deploy their talents on the job. This is essentially due to people being cast in roles not aligning with their talents. For example, an introvert who is uncomfortable in dealing with people, if positioned in a sales or a service role will struggle to give the optimum results.

It has been my observation that a few talented professionals often compensate for others inefficiencies in the organizations. In the long haul, these talented people leave the organization for obvious reasons! Employee’s morale is at his/her best and performs at the highest when he/she is challenged in his/her areas of strength. McKinsey’s report reveals that a talented resource cast in the right role can be 80 ~ 220% more productive!

The best managers surround themselves with talent and eventually some of the talent turns out to be better than the person who hired and trained them. Progressive organizations build, develop and nurture talents because

they know that it is the only way they can be ahead of competition. Many organizations are now recognizing this as the key driver of business.

THE ‘EMERGING’ NEW REALITY

Today’s managers’ antennae are up all the time for new opportunities. They are ambitious, seek challenges and make big things happen. The new business reality therefore is that organizations need talented people (not people need organizations!), ‘talented people’ are the competitive advantage (not capital, machine…), better talent makes a huge difference and talented people are scarce! (Source: War for Talent). People are not your most important asset, but the “right” people are!

STRATEGIC SHIFT IN THE APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT

Practicing the concept of “Right man in the right seat” is the key to delivering higher performance. Many organizations lack a process to spot, nurture and develop talents, and instead, seek out solutions from outside. At best, organizations mostly spend resources to fix weaknesses, and paradoxically, they do not go away. Research has shown that beyond a certain age (15 years), one cannot change behaviour ‘significantly’ (behaviour is a critical element of Talent). At best, one can manage or contain the negative consequences. (Source: ® The Myth of the first three years John Bruer).

The critical element therefore is to find what one can be good at and

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In order to survive and prosper, all organisations have to pay attention to how they are managing their

processes of change. As our external environment changes, we need to make strategic choices, and we need to make internal changes. These changes can include the way we understand and respond to the needs of our customers, and the way we improve our own capabilities, including the way we work with partners to deliver value. In addition to the hard issues, organisational change management also involves paying attention to issues like effectiveness of teams, and alignment of individual and team objectives with organizational objectives. As the pace of change quickens in technology and markets,

we should do, we need to understand and articulate the needs of our key stakeholders. While customers are the most important stakeholders, companies should not neglect other stakeholders like employees, regulators, partners and shareholders. Depending on the stakeholders, the process of understanding needs could range from simple meetings to elaborate surveys. Whatever the method used, it is important to validate our insights through multiple methods before taking actions.

Once we are clear what we need to do, the next step is to decide how we would go about it. Even after we have identified the important issues, we need to build a consensus about what we should do about it. This is generally done in group meetings where data and analysis is placed before the management team.

It is important to ensure that change management programs are not seen as one off affairs. At the beginning of formal change programs, there are a lot of low hanging fruits to be plucked, and this gives a feeling of accomplishment to everyone involved. However, the real benefits will come when we are prepared to tackle tougher issues. Change affects people differently. It could reduce or enhance the impact certain groups of people have, so support and enthusiasm for change is often tempered by these considerations. Sometimes changes required are hard, requiring people to learn new skills at a late stage in their careers. But the need for organization development is bigger than these considerations.

Since change has an impact on performance, counselling, mentoring and behavioural training are important aspects of change management. Rather than doing this on an episodic basis, the HR function should have ongoing programs that identify gaps and provide interventions. People would welcome and embrace change when they recognize change as

the path for their own growth and development, and not as a source of worry.

Open communications are a necessary condition for all change efforts. Change depends on the active participation of everyone involved, and unless we are able to listen to the conversations within the company, we will not be able to determine the right course of action and get everyone’s support for it. It is important to have different forums where everyone can participate and raise issues that are of concern to them. These can range from town hall meetings where leaders answer questions from employees, to close door sessions for discussing the latest strategies with the leaders who are responsible for execution.

The ability of a leader to lead change in any situation depends upon how the person is perceived. Leaders have to work consistently to demonstrate that they hold themselves to the same standards that they expect from others, they give as much importance to means as they give to the ends, and they always behave with the highest standards of ethics and professional integrity. Personal accountability of leaders has an important bearing on their ability to lead change.

It is not necessary to be the CEO in order to become a change leader. Often, CEOs are busy running the corporation, and depend upon the initiative of other leaders to set and drive the change agenda. Machiavelli is famous for the following quote on the perils of leading change –

“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order, this lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries … and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who

do not truly believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it”

CEOs who want real change in their companies need to recognize this, and stand behind change leaders in their organization. A culture that supports change is also a culture that encourages debate. A culture that supports change is a culture that tolerates failure, because change is risky. A culture that supports change is a culture that allows people to persevere, but is not wedded to dogma. By acknowledging the central importance of change as well as the difficulty in bringing it about, leaders create the conditions for the long term growth of their organization.

Corporate life has the ability to create significant stress in the lives of managers. Often, middle managers prefer to avoid this stress by taking comfort in routine. When we do things the way they have always been done, we go through life without taking risks, but we also set ourselves up for long term failure. Change works at different levels. As individuals, we need to recognize the need for continuously reinventing ourselves. As teams we need to be watchful of not losing our verve and productivity, and as companies we need to make sure that we are constantly striving to become better. Management is a flight into the unknown. Like Captain Kirk, company CEOs are expected to boldly go where no one has gone before. When they do this, they have to be prepared to encounter situations that they have not encountered before. Success in such situations comes not from following prescribed formulas, but by being committed to results and true to our core values. Change is hard, but essential. Only by embracing change will we create the institutions of tomorrow.

The Active Ingredients for Change - A Reality Checkit is becoming harder to sustain any advantage that a firm might have. Everything that we do can be quickly copied and improved upon, and the only advantage that we can have seems to be in our better ability to manage this change.

When the company is small, all we need is open communication, and change can be tackled without formal systems. However, once the number of employees grows beyond 40 or 50, it is useful to start paying attention to formal mechanisms of change management.

As for all management systems, the PDCA (plan, do, check, act) cycle provides the foundation for change management programs. To know what

ByVidhushekhar

Vice PresidentNational Stock Exchange

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