"KNOWLEDGE AS A RESOURCE"

There used to be an interesting advertisement in TIME magazine.
A man reading some journals, resting his arms on a machine beside him. The slogan in the picture would be,
“We have to find some job, for the man working with us.”

Translated, it implied that the man would be paid his compensation by the employer, for doing almost nothing. The machine would be doing whatever work, was to be performed. The man would be available, just next to the machine, waiting for some accidental problem, (“God forbid”) with its configuration.

REDEFINING HUMAN RESOURCE

In the agricultural economy, manual labor was the main resource. He used his muscle power to generate wealth from a farm. In the next avatar, Homo sapiens was a factory worker; in the industrial age. Here the manual labor’s importance waned; since some technology was employed. Some knowledge and skill was called for.
There was a time when you had to give a go and no-go gauge to a Quality Inspector in the machine shop, and he would give his verdict about the acceptability of the produce. A hammer-master was highly paid; for his skills, manual strength, tenacity, tolerance to work in inclement heat etc. This is obsolete now.
The machines have inbuilt technology, to take care of quality and robots to work in harrowing heat.

In the knowledge economym, human resource is being” redefined “. There is almost no manual labor, more knowledge and some skill. But more of cognition, composure, communication skills, and creativity are engaged. We have come a long way.

DIGITAL DIVIDE

In the present context we identify communities by their proficiency in Information Technology skills. Popularly known as the “digital divide.”
The advancing technology, is taking on more and more jobs, where human skills were needed earlier.
A computer could be programmed to perform specified tasks in given circumstances. In a chemical plant it can be set to mix chemicals in predetermined quantities and sequence. Heat it at a certain temperature and so on. No human intervention needed. However,
when there are multiple options available, a computer may find it difficult to exercise a choice. Human brain, with all its complexities is needed to qualitatively weigh the options and arrive at a decision, most suited under the circumstances.
This limitation is being solved now. For example in a cement plant the mix of coal, iron- ore and limestone is heated at high temperatures to produce clinker. When the available stocks are of different grades, than specified, then a choice has got to be exercised about the correct mix, to maintain consistency in quality. This used to be done by human intervention. Since it involved use of a judgment to deviate from the set procedure. A new technology is developed styled “fuzzy logic”. This chip can compute the permutations and combinations, and throw up results of various choices. Post this; it can choose an intelligent alternative too.

NEURAL SUBSTANCE IN TECHNOLOGY

Nugent a new development in the armory of information technology acts similar to a neural substance (brain). Take an instance of a bottle which is to be designed with a certain weight and thickness; to contain a liter of beverage; with specified rupture strength. That is; it will withstand the impact; if dropped from the height of ten feet, it will not burst. Normally when you change thickness then the weight will increase; if you reduce it, the strength will be compromised and so on. But with the advent of Nugent, the design will emerge which will be able to satisfy all the parameters. The most appropriate design will just pop up. Knowledge saves you the boring exercise of, trial and error.

SERVICE INDUSTRY

Traditionally all the service industries like Banks, Insurance, Supermarkets have been using human skills, to the maximum. Incidentally the largest number of employees in the world are with the largest company in the world i.e. Wal-Mart Stores. For a turnover of $ 263 Billion they have 1.5 million employees.
In fact they were one of the first to have introduced computerization in the early stages and used the same to the hilt. They were rumored to have had a database comparable to Pentagon. Yet they employ the largest number of employees.
But with the Banking and Insurance service engaging more and more software now, the clerks writing vouchers; is a thing of the past.

Even in professions say in medical and legal the technology is employed and very imperceptibly it is adding to the ease of operations. Internet consultations, by medical professionals etc.
My son, who is a neurosurgeon, narrates this typical case:
He had a patient with some complications in the brain. There was a CT scan done. This was captured on a digital camera and the same sent on Internet to a specialist in Mumbai, who works on ANEURISMS. A small capillary in brain develops a weakness in its walls. It bulges out like a weakened cycle tube, which can rupture; and cause brain haemorrhage. Surgically the weak portion of the capillary is incised. Then a small oversized tube is slid on the joint. This is a super- specialty procedure requiring a high order of skill and caution.
The details when sent to the specialist in Mumbai enabled; him to understand precisely where the joint is to be placed, and he could bring with him the appropriate type of clips. A great ease of operations.
Gradually there will be more and more technology used, in professions.
There is already a CD available for legal practitioners to access case law etc. The repetitive and routine jobs, will be offloaded to the technology and the jobs will be left to the humans will be, to innovate, and apply the right technology.

A MAJOR SHIFT

Another major shift in the job is to note that the jobs are becoming more and more independent. In the old hierarchical organizations, of Directors, General Managers, Deputies and Assistants, Secretaries and Stenographers the work responsibility was diffused.
Now with the email in vogue, the boss is almost independent, an island in; himself. He may get the required information called for, but would reply his emails on his own. Very few drafts, circulations, comments and consequent delays. Given a choice, I would rather opt for a flight using the Instrument Landing System than be dependent on the pilot to maneuver the craft to safe landing. He could be inebriated. May not be in a right frame of mind. Human life is far too precious to be risked in wrong hands.

THE NEED OF THE HOUR

What kind of human resource will be more in demand now?
• The ones who have a lot of insight in the problems on hand,
• Whose impulse is developed,
• Who possess imagination, and are innovative in their approach
• Whose instinct could be trusted,
• Who possess an uncanny intuition.
Almost all the right brain attributes. All non-verbal, in nature.


In the current context of diverse knowledge and skills, an effective communicator is a sought after guy. He should be very facile with words, logical and analytical in his approach. One who can reason out his decisions, and build an effective team to achieve a spectacular success. All these are left brain attributes.
The best of course will be one who is having both the skill-sets.
These are rare individuals but they do exist.
Hence a person who can coordinate, inspire and motivate his team –mates, can keep the team focused; on the vision, mission, goals, objectives, of the organization and direct all the activities suitably.
An individual, who is emotionally stable, is the WINNER.

M .S. RANADE.
mranade@vsnl.com
PUBLISHED IN THE TIMES OF INDIA ON WEDNESDAY, 21ST SEPTEMBER 2005,

COMPETENCE AND COMPETENCIES

About twenty years ago, I had to deposit a large amount of cash, in
a bank. It was to ensure timely payment of bonus to the employees, of my factory. I had a very unsavory experience.
It was a typical Pune based Bank, and I operated an account with them solely due to the proximity of the workplace. Certainly not for the service they were rendering.
It must have been just 5-30 p.m. and I hurriedly tendered the cash to the receiving cashier.
He nearly barked at me, “ Don’t you have a watch?”
I swallowed hard.
“It is nearly, the closing time, I can’t accept any cash now, scram!” Cashier scowled.
“ It is just about 5-30 .I assume it should be a welcome transaction, for a Bank to receive cash. Besides it is late in the evening and I can’t possibly stash it at home. It is a security risk ”I pleaded politely.

To no avail.
He did not accept the cash, and I had to trudge home from the bank, with the cash. Lousy service, and a poor performance on the part of the Cashier.
Performance is the result of an integration of knowledge, skill and attitude of an individual. Competency is an ability to perform a task.
Competency consists of two parts:

1. Task related
2. Human relations.

TASK RELATED

When working in groups, and dealing with customers, one has to take into consideration the consequence of one’s actions. While performing your own task, how do the individual’s activities affect the collective outcome, i.e. service to the customer?
If this is ignored then all group- activities will end up in chaos.

There are hierarchical levels of competencies, assumed.
The cashier was operating from level” zero “of competency.

At zero level, you operate from emotions only. It is the predetermined response to a stimulus. Same as Pavlov’s dogs. They will salivate at the ring of the bell. This is done subconsciously, or at a spinal level. No thinking at all. All actions are, conditioned reflexes.

“When you have a hammer as the only tool, you perceive all problems as nails.” So said, Abraham Maslow, the great behavior scientist.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In U.K. it was felt that the Germans had developed their managerial skills better. Germans coming out of their education system were better equipped to face the business responsibilities.
To address the lacuna, in the system squarely, in UK, they started standardizing the skills through National Vocational Qualifications. The idea was that with the GOVT. FUNDING AND interaction FROM INDUSTRIES, SOME BASIC QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS COULD BE DEVELOPED IN STUDENTS THROUGH TRAINING, AND ASSESSED, objectively. There were certifications awarded after attainment of the required skills.
Motor skills were more a matter of concern then. Not much thinking was involved in acquisition or practice of motor skills.
However later it was observed that in addition to this there is a certain ability which is needed to be developed and it was termed” general ability” then.
The general ability implied some thinking in addition to just the rote skills.
To quote the example of the cashier again, it would be the ability to count currency notes accurately and speedily. No thinking.

David McClelland, the famous Harvard professor first used the word competency in his work on Motivation.
“ Underlying characteristics OF AN INDIVIDUAL WHICH ARE CAUSALLY RELATED TO EFFECTIVE OR SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE IN A JOB.”

DIFFERENT LEVELS OF COMPETENCY.

The next day I visited the Bank, to narrate my predicament, and register a protest.
The Manager patiently heard the entire episode.
“ We shall look into the matter. “ The Manager, said unapologetically.

At this level, there is no strategy involved. They will look up the rulebook and interpret the action etc. When they encounter any new situation, they will take impromptu, or impulsive decisions. They acquire their competencies by trial and error, only. No cognition, or cerebral activity.

Later I shifted to Baroda. I opened an account with ICICI Bank. I had to send a Demand Draft to Pune. The office time was over. It was a Saturday. Sharing my concern and urgency, the Bank offered to reach the DD to my residence, even after office hours.
“You can give a cheque drawn in favor of ICICI Bank, and include the commission charges, specified. “
What a relief, to have such a delightful service, when you are hard pressed for time.
At this level, of competency, the context is studied and experienced, by the person .The individual operates from his cognitive framework .He has grasped the knowledge conceptually. Can transgress the rulebook and perceive the problem holistically. He can anticipate the consequences of the actions he is taking. I am sure he would have instructed the representative to effect delivery of DD only after receiving and verifying the cheque.
Cerebration before actions reduces the pure emotion oriented acts, so also the trial and error approach to competency.
When technology employed in transacting businesses is, at steady state, competencies at level zero or level one; are adequate to meet the demands. These levels of competencies respond only to the context, dealt with.

When next in Pune I opened an account with ICICI Bank despite their inconvenient location. I closed my earlier Pune Bank account.

I UNDERSTAND ICICI BANK IS ONE OF THE FEW INDIAN BANKS ALREADY TAKING STEPS TO BE A GLOBAL BANK.

THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF COMPETENCY.

In Pune, a Multinational Bank, approached, and offered venture capital to an innovator to pursue manufacture and marketing of his promising new product.
As you will notice this stands out in stark contrast to the non-acceptance of the cash, by the Bank in Pune. Here the Banker is operating from the highest level of perception of his job. That is to deploy the funds effectively. He is accurately assessing the competence of the innovator, taking calculated risks to optimize returns.
At this level of competency, one stands out of the activity and objectively looks at it. One has to reflect on one’s own working, evaluate the same and institute corrective actions wherever called for. This is the highest level of professional COMPETENCY.

Past experiences are objectively studied and reflected on. The past is extrapolated and future conceptualized with respect to the present context. Visualizing is expected here. The competency here is generic in nature and abstract. It can be applied to any situation, not encountered before.
This level of competency is relevant for today’s context of global business.


M S RANADE.
Chairman & CEO
Placewell Consultants, Pune 411007
Email: mranade@vsnl.com

Published in Indian Express Pune Appointments supplement page III, on 2nd Oct.,03.

“COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE”

On 28th Feb 1953, Francis Crick announced to a community of scientists, “We have found the secret of life.” That morning the two scientists working jointly had unraveled the double helix structure of DNA.

This established beyond doubt that DNA carries life’s hereditary information.

There is a celebration, scheduled on 28^th Feb 2003,

Organized by TIME, to commemorate this signal achievement of the century gone by. Mr. Watson the surviving member of the team, and Time’s President will be the hosts at a three-day conference styled “The Future of Life.”

Sounding off, one’s ideas to a group sharing the knowledge and skills as in the case of Mr. CRICK, is a sure way of shaping perfection to it.

Both shared their ideas in a group of great learners in the field, and the benefit to the community was their double helix model of the DNA structure.

AVAILABILITY OF, PROPER TECHNICAL TOOLS.

There are a few things to be noted, about this breakthrough discovery.

If proper knowledge support- tools are made available to the scientists they can generate new knowledge.

This was available to the inventors CRICK & WATSON at Cambridge like, 3D, MOLECULAR Models which was not available to another scientist, Rosalind Franklin, working in the same domain.

They had also a head start when Watson had a look at the X-ray diffraction picture taken by Ms Franklin. Incidentally Maurice Wilkins, who shared the Nobel for the invention with Crick and Watson, showed this to him.

Probably sharing, of knowledge and expertise, in this field, such as above was not possible for Linus Pauling, a Nobel laureate, for Chemistry. He lagged behind from hitting the bull’s eye, although he had also a hint, about the nature of the structure. Crick and Watson won.

FORMATION OF COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE.

What is a community of practice? I believe it can best be summed up in the definition cited below:

“A learning community is a trusting group of professionals united by a common concern or purpose, dedicated to supporting each other in increasing their knowledge, creating new insights and enhancing performance in a particular domain”

Eric Vogt and Diane Hessan.

In our present day knowledge society, every one who is somebody is after seeking knowledge. A potent tool such as encouraging communities of practice by the business houses, and the society at large would be beneficial to all.

Such communities of practice should be, initiated and encouraged, in the corporate world. It leads to, creation of new knowledge and refinement of the known.

It could be a formal group or an informal social, professional, gathering.

One basic ingredient in such sharing has to be an innate MUTUAL TRUST.

ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES

People are not accessible easily.

They are scattered and have different skill sets. In spite of the present day advanced technology it cannot help so much the personal interaction. One way to get them together is, to consciously form such communities of practice. They then work for organizational good and achieving team goals.

There are 12000 people in the R & D Department, at TOYOTA.

Generally the R&D personnel tend to be secretive and are not wont to share their pursuits with others. They fear that the lead may be lost if it is shared. No longer is this trait ESPOUSED. Especially with growing complexities of specializations, sharing is a prerequisite and not only a fashionable word.

AKIHIRO WADA, heading the R. & D department encouraged and rewarded networking within the group.

His attitude is,” They are committed to their own technologies. But they are also curious about each other’s projects. That commitment and curiosity are a powerful combination. It is what drives our organization.”

Such cross-fertilization of ideas has been a resounding success, at TOYOTA.

The result was a “green car”, which they have produced, based on fuel cell technology. A car, which, has water as the only emission. No air polluting gases. It is a fuel-cell electric vehicle.

The community of practitioners could be cross-functional or have similar functions. Sharing in such communities is not title based but on the talent and skills of the individuals.

In the process to contribute, to knowledge, this may transcend the boundaries of time and space. A recent example at the mundane level can be mentioned, relating to the shocking tragedy at World Trade Center. On 11^th Sept. There was an FBI agent in Phoenix; Arizona, who was suspicious of the fact that so many Arabs were attending the flight-schools. Unaware to him there was his colleague in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who shared the same suspicions. If only they were to share this and in a person to person; dialogue; built on their respective concerns; history would have written a different page. A pleasanter one.

What is true in the above case for community goals is doubly relevant in the area of pursuit of knowledge. . It has the force of a mass movement.

There is a lot of tacit knowledge available with many. In a group of like-minded individuals this incommunicable knowledge finds words for expression. It is available for scrutiny and improvement, by the community of practitioners.

They share common commitments and values. Technology facilitates support systems today such as, data mining software, on- line training. etc.

HOW USEFUL TO COMMUINITY AT LARGE

If civil engineers who service their clients, were to share the technology. On materials, safety standards, new production methods, earthquake proof structures, and muster in the CAD experts for design support etc. the community at large will be benefited.

The key to success in generating new knowledge, and taking it to perfection for the use of the community, is sharing.

For proper application by any organization, of knowledge; “the prime resource”; powers- that- be have to initiate, encourage and develop “communities of practice”.

M. S. RANADE

mranade@vsnl.com

PUBLISHED IN INDIAN EXPRESS ON THURSDAY, 13TH FEB, 03,

IN APPOINTMENTS COLUMN, PUNE.