MY INITIAL EXPECTATIONS FROM THIS COURSE
I initially expected this course to be a threshold to self-awareness. Though I had already done "Organisational Behaviour" as part of my PG degree (MA.HRM), the reason I took this course (IDIO) was threefold -
(i) The OB course, being a super set, had both individual and group dynamics. By the above virtue, it did not delve deep into the individual component.
(ii) Having enrolled for MS (OB) in Jan 2014, I had taken Group Processes in Organisations at DOMS by Dr.Rupashree madam. At the first class (which was a gliding and seamless transition from individual to group dynamics), I was taken aback by the pristine clarity with which the II MBA students (2015 batch) talked about IDIO and how important it is in this dynamic age. Such profound wisdom, demonstrated by those, who are generally averse to HRM & OB (labeling them as too subjective), convinced me about the instructor's effectiveness in ensuring the intrinsic motivation of the students.
(iii) Having had the greatest privilege of being reared by my grandparents (who instilled in me the traditional Indian ethos), I have long been craving for an instructor who would incorporate our ancient Indian wisdom in the OB course.
With these expectations, I stepped inside room no.101 for the first session of IDIO on 07/10/14 at 1pm.
SESSION 1 - INTRODUCTION (07/10/14)
This session bore testimony to the fact that it is the first session of a course that determines its charm, effectiveness and most importantly the students' buy into the importance, relevance and inevitability of the course. This session set the perfect tone by establishing all the above.
The instructor, in a hitherto unthought-of manner, solicited the students' expectations from, their perception about and their attitude towards IDIO besides herself communicating her expectations from them and the modus operandi of the course in unequivocal terms. Such communication is, in itself, a key learning pointer, in that, it is imperative to successful performance and knowledge management.
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
That the instructor sought the students' suggestions about the organisation of the course, shows that excellence, perfection and flow can be best achieved only by co-creation.
SESSION 2 - CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN OB (10/10/14)
Having read the article 'Changing nature of work', I could better appreciate the following concepts covered in this session:
- Why do some businesses last much longer than others?
- The evolving business environment and the future of work (anytime/anyplace work, co-creation, communities of practice, multi-generational workforce, open systems, etc),
- Shifts to mastery, connectivity and quality of experience,
- Vijay Govindarajan's 3-box framework for innovation (improving current businesses, selectively abandoning the past and creating the future) symbolized as the functions of thrimoorthis - Brahma (creation), Vishnu (sustenance) and Shiva (destruction),
- Emergence of hybrid workplaces and gamification - demanding new forms of leadership (authentic, ethical, servant, altrocentric, spiritual, etc.) and
- Work and life integration.
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
In contrast to egocentric leaders, who rely on formal authority to get results, altrocentric leaders have a more intuitive understanding of the contextual nature of leadership and an empathetic ability to attract, retain and motivate the increasingly diverse, independent and remote workforce of the future.
SESSION 3 - MANAGING ONESELF - PLAYING TO YOUR STRENGTHS (14/10/14)
Having read Drucker's article on Managing oneself and composed my self-portrait (Reflected Best Self) a day before the class, I couldn't wait for this session. But, my dearest grandpa fell ill on 14/10/14 and hence I absented myself from the class. By God's grace, he was quickly back to normalcy. This didn't stall my learning though. It was Vignesh, who readily volunteered to brief me about the session. Here is my reflection about the highlights of the session
- This session kick-started by singing the praise of New York Times #1 Best seller "How full is your bucket?" by Tom Rath and Donald Clifton. This book, organised around a simple, yet, profound metaphor of a dipper and a bucket, preaches the importance of indulging in even the briefest of positive interactions as they profoundly affect our relationships, productivity, health and longevity.
- What followed was a group exercise to illustrate the concept of "Johari window" (a self reflection tool). By expanding your arena, your facade vanishes - thereby reducing your blind-spots and unknown area.
As we are liberated from our own fear (that we are powerful beyond measure), our presence automatically liberates others.
SESSION 4 - CONTINUATION - MANAGING ONESELF - PLAYING TO YOUR STRENGTHS (17/10/14)
- In this session, the instructor in addition to sharing her insights on Drucker's article, solicited the students' experience in composing their self-portrait through the RBS exercise. My take away from the RBS exercise is: Though RBS is strengths-based, completing the exercise earnestly will help one uncover many weaknesses. While I was viewed by my respondents as an ever-agreeable person, an underlying common theme emerged from their responses (that I am diplomatic and not assertive).
- Then came the moment the entire class always cherishes for - Video! (The eye of the beholder). Starting with a brief introduction of cartoon illustrations which make the point that we can easily be misled (the old shell game, the top-hat illusion, the ambiguous cube figure), we see Micheal in his studio, standing amid a disarray of spilled paints and a knife with an apparently lifeless young woman lying on a couch. From here, the film flashes back to the impressions Micheal has made in the minds of 5 people with whom he has come in contact.
- The basic learning from the above film is that we must be aware of the following:
- Snap judgements (tendency to form first impression of others)
- Projection (tendency to attribute to others some of our own motives and faults)
- Prejudice (a preconceived judgement caused by past experience)
- Predisposition (a tendency to draw conclusions before facts are presented)
- Preoccupation (a state of having the mind so busy with other thoughts that it pays no attention to the present)
- Lack of appreciation for other people's dreams and ideas and
- Limited perspectives.
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
Once the current of awareness of the self is set afoot, it becomes everlasting and continuous by intensification - BHAGAWAN RAMANA
SESSION 5 - PERCEPTION (21/10/14)
During an yet another interesting session, the class saw ma'am sporting a religious look with a broad kumkum on her forehead and a not-so-well dressed attire. When she asked them how would they interpret what they saw, there were different such interpretations. Yes! This exercise was to throw light on one of most important individual differences - perception.
What followed was an individual/group exercise. A small case with 5 characters was presented and we were asked to rank those 5 in the order of our disapproval both individually and as a group. This aptly taught us the biases in perception.
Having read the case 'Growing managers', I could appreciate the concepts that were dealt in the class such as the following:
- the process of perception and the factors influencing it (perceiver, perceived & situation)
- mental models (a camouflaging young girl/witch? and black squares with grey spots?)
- Gestalt principle (2+2>4)
- Attribution theory (consensus, consistency and distinctiveness), fundamental attribution error. To explain this, ma,am demonstrated what she preaches as one of the finest qualities of an altrocentric leader - the self-deprecating humour (Why did students fall asleep during Viji's lecture) though it is not true. "IDIO is our most liked course in this quarter" is what I repeatedly hear from the MBA folks.
- Self-serving bias
- Halo & horns effect (using the ADIDAS AD)
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
BEAUTY LIES IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Plato
SESSION 6 - GUEST LECTURE ON CREATIVITY BY MR. SHIVA SUBRAMANYAM (25/10/14)
Unfortunately, due to ill-health, I couldn't make it to the session. Again, it was Vignesh who unconditionally helped me out by briefing me about it. Post listening to his summary, I thought I was the unluckiest guy on earth to have missed the session. And it seems that Vignesh was the hero of that session! His sharing of the instance when he was creative (football match on city mall's rooftop) went viral among his fellow mates and made Mr. Shiva ask, "Is Vignesh any different from Einstein?" Kudos to you Vignesh!
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
CREATIVITY IS SOMETHING THAT EVERY ONE HAS IN HIMSELF AND THEREFORE NEEDN'T/CANNOT BE TAUGHT.
SESSION 7 - OVERCOMING STEREOTYPES (28/10/14)
In this wonderful session, we continued from where we left in the class before the guest lecture. We learnt the following:
- Perceptual distortion (Prejudice and stereotypes) and Primacy and recency effects.
- Self-fulfilling prophecy (Hanuman being cheered by Jambavan to cross the ocean). Livingston's article titled "Pygmalion in management" helped us match the instructor's velocity.
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
LEAD A NON-JUDGEMENTAL LIFE.
SESSION 8 - DYNAMICS OF PERSONALITY - GETTING ALONG WITH OTHERS (31/10/14)
The session kicked off with team 1's video analysis. Post this, we had the instructor asking each one of us to describe ourselves using a metaphor (camphor, lamp, mirror, star etc). Then we were enlightened on the following:
- the determinants of personality (situation, heredity and environment)
- tools of personality (MBTI, BIG-FIVE). We helped ourselves by coming up with our own personality type by filling an online MBTI tool. My profile is ISFP. I sincerely tried not to let my biases colour the assessment and the result (ISFP) was a true projection of my personality.
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
Personality, though hardwired, is open to modifications, if not to overhauling.
SESSION 9 - PERSONALITY - CONTINUED (03/11/14)
This amazing session had the instructor share her insights on
- how and why the type theory of personality is not an exhaustive projection of personality
- each type's biased view about its counterpart (extraverts about introverts and so on)
What followed was a role play. The situation was thus: A manager was to fire either of his two subordinates - one who was going a rough patch due to domestic problem (but past records espouse his retention) and another, who is a new hire. The decision would reflect the decider's type (thinking or feeling).
A TED talk video on introverts brought the session to a beautiful end.
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
A compatible relationship with our superior is essential to being effective in our job.
SESSION 10 - BUILDING POSITIVE WORK ATTITUDES (07/11/14)
Having read the classic 'Mount Everest' case to my heart's content, I stepped into the class for this session.
Following are this session's highlights:
- a video on attitude virus,
- 10 strategies to develop a positive attitude,
- a 5-min reflective exercise (individual) by us to come up with our ABC (Affective, Behavioural and Cognitive) attitude paradigm towards life and
- the power of visualisation vis-a-vis verbalisation
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
We are all in charge of our attitudes - Charles R. Swindoll
SESSION 11 - THE CHALLENGE OF ETHICAL DILEMMAS (11/11/14)
This session marked the third time I was unfortunate of having missed, thanks to conjunctivitis. I had long ago been looking forward to this session as it was our team's turn to present the case 'Carter Racing'. The instructor was gracious enough to accede to my request that we will do the presentation in the next session. From what Vignesh told, I learnt the following:
The session had ma'am conduct an astute experiment. She, in her characteristic style, spread joy at the outset. Then, all of a sudden, her face looked grim and she subjected us to a sudden quiz (very difficult) adding that it will constitute a major part of our grade. With that, she left the classroom, as if she was called by the HOD. After a minute, she returned and asked the students, 'How many of you copied? How many attempted to do so? How many didn't even think along those lines?' Majority of them did copy barring a very few who didn't. Yes. This was to illustrate the challenge of ethical dilemmas.
The session's highlights include:
- the different facets of Dharma and its relativity,
- Sanathana Dharma,
- what is meant to be dharmic in work/life,
- other close constructs such as values, principles, rules, norms, morals etc,
- Gordon Allport's six types of men (theoretical, economic, aesthetic, religious, political and social)
- Nachiketha's idealism towards learning
- a reflective exercise by students on what their dharma was as students and finally
- ethics at the organisational level (sustainabilty, social responsibility, diversity & inclusion, whistle blowing etc)
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
Parents have the onus to teach ethics to children at the primitive stages of their growth by storytelling the RAMAYANA and the MAHABHARATHA - considered as the treasure troves of ethical leadership.
SESSION 12 - DECISION MAKING AND LOVING TO LEARN (14/11/14)
Thank God! An unexpectedly early recovery from conjunctivitis ensured my presence for this session. My heartfelt thanks to ma'am and my classmates for praying to this end. This was an extended session (4 hours with timely breaks) that witnessed as many as three case analyses and three video analyses. We were one of the case presenters (Carter Racing). The highlights include the following:
- Hidden traps in decision making,
- difference between learning organisations (structure) and organisational learning (process),
- the PANCHABHOOTHAS symbolising seamless learning,
- single-loop and double-loop learning and the doom-loop,
- theories of learning (Classical & Operant conditioning & Social learning) and
- two experiments by ma'am - one to throw light on conditioning (Water splashing - every time a word was spelt) and another to throw light on positive and negative reinforcement (1.clapping as a positive reinforcement to make a student erase the board and 2. booing as a negative reinforcement to reduce the frequency of undesirable behaviour)
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
(i) Forewarned (about the hidden traps in decision making) is four-armed.
(ii) To question someone else's reasoning is not a sign of mistrust but a valuable opportunity of learning.
SESSION 13 - BEING EMOTIONALLY COMPETENT (18/11/14)
What a session it was! Yet another experiment to kick-start the session! First up, ma'am finally implemented her decision of asking latecomers to dance to a tune on the stage. This went on for about 5 minutes spreading happiness and joy all around the class. Then, suddenly, her face looked grim as she asked those who didn't read the prescribed case to raise their hands. Now she told that she would randomly question those who had read the case. What a sudden change in the emotional atmosphere! Then she allayed our fears telling that it was just an experiment. So, what was it for? To emphasise 'emotional contagion'!
Other highlights of the session would include the following:
- industry responses on how and why EI is the need of the hour,
- a self-reflective exercise to identify our positive and negative emotions and ways of striking emotional balance,
- Bhagawan Ramana's definition of happiness,
- Dalai lama's definition of happiness (a video)
- Daniel Goleman's Emotional Competence framework
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
Doing action without expecting the fruits thereof and surrendering to God is the best way to be emotionally competent - Bhagavan Sri Krishna
SESSION 14 - MOTIVATION (20/11/14)
This penultimate session was not any short of its characteristic charm. The highlights include:
- Attaining flow, perfection and excellence (signs of intrinsic motivation)
- historic and real-world examples of intrinsically motivated people (Raja Harischandra, George Mallory, Tenzing Norway Sherpa),
- TED talk on Candle problem (Autonomy, mastery and purpose),
- Adi Sankara's 'nethi nethi' (not this! not this!) explaining steadfastness in purpose,
- The zen story,
- Steven covey's whole-person paradigm (mind, body, heart and spirit),
- McGregor's theory X&Y (describes two contrasting models of workplace motivation),
- McClelland's theory (explains how people's need for achievement, power and affiliation affect their actions),
- Abraham Maslow's theory [5 motivational needs (physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation) depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid),
- Expectancy theory (employees' beliefs about expectancy, instrumentality and valence interact psychologically to create a motivational force and finally
- Equity theory (equity and sense of fairness underpin motivation)
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
Let us work as we pray; for indeed work is the body's best prayer to the divine. - Mother Terasa.
SESSION 15 - INDUSTRY-ACADEMIA INTEGRATION: PANEL DISCUSSION (21/11/14)
This was the much awaited session. My pranams to Ma'am for the pains she had taken to bring 4 industrial giants together in her noble bid to broaden our practical outlook about IDIO. The instructor, being the moderator, started the discussion by giving an overview about IDIO. Then she solicited the experts' views on
- how to achieve flow, perfection and excellence,
- ethics, values and attitudes and
- how to intrinsically motivate others.
- having goal clarity
- having depth before width (the T-WAY),
- striking the being & doing trade-off
- Developing cultural sensitivity.
MY MORAL OF THE SESSION
Follow your passions and money will follow you.
MY FINAL FEELING.......NOW
Wouldn't this reflective blog be enough to prove how dearly I loved this course? Hadn't I, would I have dared losing marks for exceeding the number of words (2918)? The instructor wanted me to pen my heart out but I have typed!
IDIO is my dream-come-true course! The best course and the best OB instructor I have so far seen! I don't deserve to give any suggestions for improvement to a Guru (every Indian doesn't deserve so - this is because Guru, in our Sanathana Dharma, is considered as all-knowing). My only suggestion is to change this western system and revive our indigenous method of evaluation (as per sanathana dharma).
I will carry and cherish the pleasant memories of this course till I breathe my last.
My prayers to GOD to bless the instructor with more such wisdom and vigour to light the lamp of Gnyana and allay the darkness of ignorance among students.
Labels: MY REFECTIVE BLOG ON IDIO
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