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𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵: 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮’𝘀 𝗗𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 ♻
Today, India is discussing two (2) different news. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme for offshore wind energy projects at a total outlay of Rs. 7453 Crores, including an outlay of Rs. 6853 Crores for installation and commissioning of 1 GW of offshore wind energy projects (500 MW each off the coast of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu), and grant of Rs. 600 Crores for up-gradation of two ports to meet logistics requirements for offshore wind energy projects. The successful commissioning of these offshore wind projects will produce renewable electricity of about 3.72 billion units annually, which will result in the annual reduction of 2.98 million tons of CO2 equivalent emission for a period of 25 years.
Earlier today, the Hon’ble PM inaugurated the new campus of Nalanda University at Rajgir in Bihar, close to its ancient remnants. He also planted a sapling as he inaugurated the campus. The inauguration ceremony was attended by several distinguished individuals, including heads of missions from 17 countries. The campus is designed as a ‘Net Zero’ Green Campus, making it self-sustaining with the help of solar plants, domestic and drinking water treatment plants, a water recycling plant for reusing wastewater, 100 acres of water bodies, and numerous other environment-friendly facilities.
The common thread in both the news illustrated above, is the focus on a bright future for the people – education and environment – technology being an enabler. Contemplating these events of hope, the sight of a thermal power plant emitting harmful gases to the environment flashed, captured while visiting the city of Jhansi, more than a decade ago on an official assignment. It again reminds us of an urgent need to take urgent steps to abate the harmful impacts of the pollution by fossil by implementing suitable De-SOx or FGD, Decarbonisation measures, etc.
Incidentally, June 18 is a day of remembrance for Jhansi (and Bharat), famous for being the princely state whose legendaryQueen Laxmi Bai, dressed as a man, got killed in the combat while leading the war for independence against the British empire 166 years ago. Some believe that the Rani (Queen) did not want the British forces to capture her body and told hermit to burn it. She, among others, inspired generations of freedom fighters whose resolute struggles led to India’s independence.
The contemporary challenges facing us are diverse, and we, the society and our leadership, must strive for a sustainable habitat, cleaner air, and healthy living conditions for progenies. This will be our real tribute the ‘Rani’ 👸
Credits to Owners
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👑 Leadership 🌟 – My 2 Cents
We often come across discussions about leadership skills among budding professionals. However, it is more critical for senior professionals as they do influence their juniors.
I would like to share my bit of understanding in this regard especially for professionals entering the public domain. Though my view is predominantly shaped and influenced as and for engineers, I believe the same would be apt for others as well. This is primarily because behavioural traits are profession agnostic to a large extent.
Taking the Ownership and exhibiting Empathy – are two (2) most important attributes for anyone to grow as a leader in their chosen field of life.
Owning the responsibility is foremost prerequisite to see and execute the tasks as envisaged. Ownership simply means taking the charge of the situation as and when it occurs and then the magic starts. It is always preferred that a professional ‘consistently exceeds the requirement of the job’ than assessed as someone who just ‘consistently meets the requirement of the job’ or even ‘sometimes exceeds the requirement of the job’ and accordingly gets evaluated in the performance appraisal. The urge to consistently exceed the requirement set forth would certainly come from the ownership trait.
Another equally important attribute is empathy i.e., the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This brings to the fore the emotional quotient of the professionals in appreciating the other’s point of view. Once we are aware of the situation of our counterpart (be it junior, peer or superior; associate or customer, etc.), it becomes easier to converge and agree for action in order to achieve larger goal.
Ownership and empathy complement each other and reinforce the leadership skills and guide professionals in achieving success in their chosen career.
This post is in sheer appreciation for two of my valued colleagues who demonstrated the above-mentioned attributes in an assignment today.
Best wishes!! Vinit K Verma GIRIJESH PRASAD
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🏭 Peer Learning – A Critical Aspect in Learning Journey
🕯Learning is not just about certifications; it basically is about being better than before.
🕯An important aspect of the learning journey is ‘peer learning’ and it is equally relevant either in formal educational classes or training sessions.
🕯Adequate cohort strength and multi-faceted discussions, including on social media platforms like WhatsApp, bring opportunities for everyone to accumulate knowledge as much as possible.
🕯Various classwork or syndicate groups help to carry out various assignments during the program channelize the collective wisdom of the group for the benefit of everyone.
🕯In the post-Covid19 world, we see a hybrid/ blend of physical and virtual interventions. When planned meticulously, they leave no room for any regret concerning the delivery and grasp of the program topics.
Anything you like to add….
Manager with the Team – A Fire Breathing Dragon 🐉
Indian team beat Australian team in World Cup Men’s Cricket match yesterday, October 8, 2023. It was a convincing win, and the scoreboard would illustrate it did see exciting moments the game is known for. It was no surprise, and the odds were equal for win or lose. More than a decade in history, a match against Australia used to be a big thing. We have read and heard several editorials and commentators that Indian team lacks the ‘Killer Instinct’ Australians were especially famous for.
The scenario changed with the legendary captain Sourav Ganguly – the ‘Dada’ of Indian cricket. He instilled a champion mentality, nurtured young talent, and transformed the Indian Cricket team in his captaincy into a formidable force to reckon with at the world stage. The Natwest Trophy Triumph of 2002 and Dada’s iconic T-shirt celebration at Lords against England team is recorded in history.
In a similar context, the biography on Elon Musk published in September ’23 mentions about non-suitability of Parag Agarwal as CEO of Twitter (now renamed as ‘X’). “What Twitter needs is a fire-breathing dragon and Parag is not that,” Elon Musk told Walter Isaacson after his meeting with Parag in March 2022. Musk termed Parag as “a really nice guy” and quipped that managers should not aim to be liked. We can debate on what a manager should be or not, leader versus manager traits, etc. It also depends on the organizational and cultural requirements and many other aspects of team building, survival & transformational needs, agency problem between executives and owners etc.
Whatever be the case, a manager with the team, must be A-Fire-Breathing-Dragon. In the mythological stories, a-fire-breathing-dragon has been a symbol of power, strength, good fortune, fear, & destruction. The dragons are believed to possess magical powers and they are revered in some cultures (Chinese) and feared in some (European). Irrespective of their place in cultural milieu of various geographies, the dragons are go-getter and possess the ‘killer-instinct’ we just talked about.
It is right that the managers need not aim to be liked; rather they are required to become an example of getting the things done for realizing the organizational objectives. Manager and the team are one in the pursuit of the goal.
Anything you may like to add…
What are some effective conflict resolution techniques for general managers? ✏️
Managers are basically desired to get the task managed by the people they work with. It is obvious to have conflicts in the workplace – be it between the colleagues, different departments, between customer-vendor and so on.
We are aware of the most common set of negotiation strategies in conflict resolution, known as the Thomas-Kilmann model.
Let us discuss the ‘ABCDE’ of the commonly used conflict management techniques by the business managers as deliberated below:
1. Accommodate: Many times, vendors comply with the demand of customer, thus accommodate the requirements if not significant in nature and ensure conflict does not arise.
2. Balance: Sometimes, it is important to give equal weightage to both the parties and both might be correct in their viewpoints. In such a situation, both parties compromise on their respective stand.
3. Compete: Not a very sought-after method, but managers use it to get the work done. It may result in one party giving up on its stand might not be a happy situation.
4. Defer: If a clear resolution is not in sight or the parties need time to cool off, avoiding any conflict for the time being is a better option. Critics can call this an Ostrich approach as well. Remember, we can cross the bridge when it comes.
5. Engage: A win-win situation wherein the conflicting parties resolve to achieve a bigger goal by collaborating. A reporting manager and her subordinate can collaborate to deliver faster results and get appreciation together.
What is your suggested technique?
🎀 Project Execution – A Teamwork 🤝
Project Management is about succeeding in various little areas to motivate the team and other stakeholders, keep the assigned tasks moving and managing all the unknowns and uncertainties for the project to reach fruition within budget and schedule.
A few important points to note about project management and the role of the Project Manager:
1. Time management: Make a schedule and adhere to it – keep it sacrosanct.
2. Prioritize: Have the right people, and prioritize the tasks as required.
3. Risk Management: Knowing the risk and managing it helps keep exigencies in check.
4. People Management: Leading and facilitating people who are performing tasks is important. Respect for teammates is essential for the ‘we’ feeling.
5. Clarity: A planned and organized project gets executed the way it is desired.
6. Resilient: Project management needs a quick, yet flexible approach in course correction, whenever needed.
7. Budget: Completing the project within the budget without compromising on quality.
8. Objective Assessment: Project Management team must assess the project critically and maintain objectivity in approach.
9. State-of-the-art Technology: Every team member must be updated in tools and processes being utilized for project execution. Technological challenges must be addressed as and when arise.
10. Communication: Required communication in terms of content and frequency is important.
11. Clear Mind: The responsibility of each team member is defined. Everyone is responsible for their deliverables. Keeping a calm demeanour helps in a positive approach to solutions rather than blaming others.
I would like to maintain; we must do project ‘Jaan laga ke’ (with full dedication) and not ‘Jaan de ke’ (mental or physical issues among teammates).
A Project Manager is the leader of the team, and she is known for the strength of her team.
Machinability – An Important Aspect in the Manufacturing Industry ⚙
An engineering student meets the shock of her life while entering the workshop in the very first year of college. Story continues & most engineering students, irrespective of their discipline, become aware of various mechanical operations like carpentry, foundry, machining, etc. by the end of their first year. Let us refresh our learnings of machining operation and its significance in the industry. Machining has been categorized as ‘Dividing’, one of the seven core techniques used extensively in the manufacturing industry, as per a comprehensive taxonomy created by McKinsey & Co, as per an article published a while ago.
Have you ever wondered what a symbol indicated on the right top corner in a manufacturing drawing means? A manufacturing engineer and the operator working in the workshop decide their sequence of operations on a given job/ workpiece based on a similar symbol and other details specified in the drawing.
This indicated that the surface finish of the component is to be obtained by removing the material by any machining process. If the horizontal bar is not indicated and it is left as just a tick mark (✔) consisting of two legs of unequal length. If the surface finish does not call for the removal of material, a circle is drawn in the basic tick mark symbol. This is important to note that many times designers decide to procure castings or forgings or fabricated components in either rough machined or finish machined depending on the job requirement and or the shop loading.
The surface preparation is critical from various points and depends on the requirement, availability of machine tools, skill of the operator, type of metal, painting requirement, cost sensitivity of the use, et al. Further, the property which majorly governs the surface finish is the ‘machinability’ which can be understood in such a way that the most machinable metal permits the material removal with the required finish at the lowest cost. It depends on the machine tool variables such as cutting speed, feed/ depth of cut, tool material/ form, cutting fluid, shape/ size of the job, etc. Further, the ease of machining is affected by the properties of the job material such as hardness, tensile properties, chemical composition, microstructure, strain hardenability, and degree of cold work, given other conditions remain the same. Generally, the order of machinability is – Magnesium alloys & Bearing Bronze being excellent and Wrought Iron & Stainless Steel as the poorest – in terms of relative machinability.
In the era of artificial intelligence & and machine learning, we explore & deploy systems for predictive analytics of the machine tools for proper planning & maintenance, for optimum use of resources and reduced downtime.
For further learning, students may refer to any standard book or journal on manufacturing technology and advancements therein.
anything else you would to add…
🔨 Feeling Devastated – Consider it Just A ‘Prank’ and Move On 🚀
After a joyful vacation in a coastal city in western India, we were returning to Delhi. At the airport, my 5-year-old daughter, in her quintessential style, stumbled near a toy shop and demanded a seemingly costly box. Not that I am an extreme miser, but still hesitated to buy one and strenuously tried to persuade her by offering to buy a better toy of her choice in Noida. Furious with my refusal to accede to her demand, she labelled me as the worst daddy in this world immediately. Obviously, I felt devastated… 😉
Feeling embarrassed over my performance assessment as the worst daddy and with a heavy heart burdened with the label (but smiling inside), moved a few yards, and located another miscellaneous shop. To prove myself to be a good father, I offered to buy something, and she immediately zeroed in at a kid’s necklace and we purchased the same. To balance things, got another stuff for the elder one as well. We then moved to the departure gate and occupied the available seats. I was sitting silently beside my cutie pie.
In the hope to get some appreciation for my splendid performance in the second attempt, I opened the wrap and got the necklace ready for her to wear and we discovered a wristlet as well. Feeling ecstatic, my daughter changed her previous assessment of mine and rated me as the best daddy in this world. Pleasantly surprised with the sudden change in my appraisal, I asked her that just a while ago she considered me the worst and now the best. The simplest and cutest answer I received from her is the key message for us – the wise adults – to overcome any adverse situation in life and felt worthy of sharing and hence, this post.
She told me that her hurling the ‘worst’ daddy jibe was just a ‘prank’ the way I used to do with her saying ‘it’s a monkey’ when I pat her teasingly.
It was another life lesson learnt in that cute moment with the innocent but crystal-clear thought of how to negotiate with tough situations in life. The little angel’s teaching is for grownups like us to shrug off the worst thrown at us and not get disheartened.
Consider it merely a ‘prank’ and move on to look for the next achievement.
We must strive to perform better than before, but this must not impact on our mental health. What do you think?
Collaborating: Conflict Strategies for Nice People
In 1958 Martin Luther King Jr. published “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story” expressing: “…the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people…”
This was true then and is true now and in the context of our discussion about workplace conflict. A ‘nice’ person valuing friendly relations with colleagues who never picks a fight, might be just as responsible for group dysfunction as her more combative teammates. Conflict is uncomfortable, but it is the source of true innovation and also a critical process in identifying and mitigating risks.
Teams need conflict to function effectively. Conflict allows the team to come to terms with difficult situations, synthesize diverse perspectives, and make sure solutions are well thought-out. The secret of having healthy conflict and maintaining your self-image as a nice person is all in the mindset and the delivery.
The article provides a few tips on improving the delivery by anyone in her role of adding value to the team not in how often you agree, but in how often you add unique value.
1. Use “and,” not “but.”: Invite and engage teammates in problem-solving, which is inherently collaborative instead of combative. Try seeking more points of view instead of taking ‘my way or highway’ route.
2. Use hypotheticals: Being contradicted does not feel very good. Instead, ask about assumed situations and get teammates to imagine. Try to jointly explore different scenarios to reach an agreement.
3. Ask about the impact: Directing a few open-ended questions to your teammate is also useful as it is considered open to ideas and being curious about the right approach.
4. Discuss the underlying issue: It is akin to Covey’s 5th habit (in a series of 7 habits) of highly effective people, seeking to understand first, before making yourself understood. It helps the situation move toward an amicable resolution. Many conflicts on a team spiral out of control because the parties involved aren’t on the same page.
5. Ask for help: Own the misunderstanding and seek team opinion. If something is really surprising to you, say so. A frivolous idea can be examined with a series of genuine, open questions to help steer the plan in the desired direction.
Conflict – presenting a different point of view even when it is uncomfortable – is critical to team effectiveness. Diversity of thinking on a team is the source of innovation and growth. It is also the path to identifying and mitigating risks. Use one of these techniques to make it a little easier, rather than shying away from conflicts.
The alternative is withholding your concerns, taking them up outside of the team, and slowly eroding trust and credibility. That’s not nice!
addition in an article by Liane Davey
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Constructive Feedback – A Prerequisite for Excellence
निंदक नियरे राखिए, ऑंगन कुटी छवाय। बिन पानी, साबुन बिना, निर्मल करे सुभाय।। — Kabir Das
Kabir Das, a 15th century Indian mystic poet and saint, emphasized the role of ‘critic’ in the development of human being. He states that we should invite our critic whose criticism guides us to work on the areas of improvement by the self only, without any external influence. Taking a cue from the great saying of Kabir Das, constructive criticism by mentor works as a feedback for the students and must be taken in the positive spirit only for self-development and not as an offence.
It is mentor’s responsibility to make her student better than before. Some of the points important for the students to note and internalize can be discussed as below:
-First Deserve, then Desire: There is nothing wrong in desiring anything, howsoever, impossible it may appear. It is, however, imperative to first work on the self to be ready for the same. Just wishful thinking would not take us any far. A concrete foundation is required to build a invincible fort of excellence. Dreams do not have any expiry date and we must have the courage to invest in our own self to improve.
-Life is about Celebration, not Regret: As is said, we must look at life with positivity and just a sphere of endless struggle. Life is all about success, failure, rejoice, sorrow, triumph, celebration and so on. Go with the flow, learn new skills and try to make it better every next moment. Our attempt should be to win over the difficult situations with a tact and have plan B for every plan A. Mentor’s words and experiences do come handy in such situations.
John C. Maxwell rightly says: “It’s said that a wise person learns from his mistakes. A wiser one learns from others’ mistakes. But the wisest person of all learns from others’ successes.” This must be our mantra in life.
-Competency is required along with Eligibility: A perfect blend of talent, interest and of course, with the needed opportunity is a sure recipe for anyone to achieve excellence in life. Many times, it is seen that students (and senior professionals as well) get frustrated when they do not get through a job. It is important to work on improving the competency. The world is a realistic place and achieving success is relative to our peers and competitors.
गुरु कुम्हार शिष कुंभ है, गढि गढि काढैं खोट। अंतर हाथ सहार दै, बाहर बाहै चोट।। — Kabir Das
Another gem of Kabir just illustrated, lays down the role of Guru (Mentor), who like the Potter, carves the best out of her mentee (Pot) by curing the flaws of the disciple with utmost care by developing her with inner strength while critiquing (pounding the pot) from outside.
This summarizes the essence of the relationship between Mentor & Mentee. Look forward to constructive criticism…
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Rajesh Ranjan's Weblog 