My recent visit to New York had
me unnerved once again and reinforced in me the belief that there are no rich
and poor nations but productive and unproductive nations. Is it not unacceptable that even after having served over
three decades and a half in the service of the Sarkar, I am yet unsure about
what comes first – delivery or process.
The footpaths, the roads, the
lamp posts, the buildings, the bridges, almost every infrastructural item that
one witnesses in the developed economies is built to last, if not centuries but
definitely a couple of decades and here at home the unending cycle of repairs
and rebuilding baffles me. All perhaps because we find it almost impossible to
go around the established decision making and tendering processes that are
neither efficient nor a deterrent for a guy with a crooked intent.
The extremely high delivery by
almost everyone in the developed economies is forged out of trust, integrity, commitment
and above all simplicity of processes that we have over-complicated in the garb
of transparency. It is indeed sad that for far too long this nonsense has carried on uninterrupted!
Will we forever remain a
developing nation one really wonders? When shall deliverance be regarded as
supreme and those with an honest intent find the courage regardless of the
roadblocks that include a host of people ready to point fingers and jump at the
slightest perceived mistake.
Handling an airline is definitely
not by any stretch of imagination an easy task and this business is therefore regarded
as the mother of all businesses. And the beleaguered Air India with a bundle
of legacy issues and an empty cash chest made the job even worse. Quick
decision making without fear is a philosophy that should be at the core of all businesses
that aspire to do well, yet what I found here when I landed with a thud almost
a year back was an exact antithesis of this school of thought. The instant feeling
was that this airline is waiting silently to pass away into oblivion, unsung
without concern. And the underlying reason was what one expected - overemphasis
on processes, reacting to symptoms and jumping to conclusions with absolutely
no concern whatsoever for delivery, not because the people were not committed
or inefficient but due to the all-pervading fear of being pinned down if any
decision went even marginally wrong in hindsight. What an insane manner of handling commercial organizations!
The tendering process that we
inherited from the british raj is the culprit. Why should I wonder, the process
for purchasing potatoes be the same as for buying paintings or contracting for
a hotel room or procuring a latest software or adding aircrafts to the fleet? The first thought therefore that
comes to mind whenever something innovative is to be resorted to is how this
shall be done through the conventional tendering process without the doer
landing in a soup himself and avoidance therefore tends to provide solace. Perhaps this is the single reason behind the overarching
presence of sub-standard infrastructure, goods and services that we almost
always encounter in this nation. The decision making and contracting processes can be and should be overhauled
and made simple if we aspire for progress and the silver lining is that there is no doubt about this aspiration in the
India of today.
In simplification of processes,
not merely flogging it lies the key to success. And let us begin with the
tendering process for it has indeed become the bane of delivery in our nation.
Amen!
