Book Review

Acrobatics of Change: Concepts, Techniques, Strategies and Execution

BY:

NIMISHA KARNANI | MFM 2

Abstract Modern organizations have to perform the balancing act to cope with the limitless

challenges posed by the market. 

Adam Smith’s theory of production dealt with ‘change’ as a necessary factor to be managed for incessant functioning.  

Peter Ducker, observed that survival of a firm is an outcome of how it tackles the variety of challenges it faces from one to the other minute.

 C K Prahlad, an eminent management guru, gave the mantra to the business firms for their continued existence by asking them to link them to the bottom of the pyramid instead of looking at the stakeholder from the top of the summit.

Acrobatics of Change: Concepts, Techniques, Strategies and Execution by Moid Siddiqui and R.H. Khwaja is a classic in the area of managing change.

About the Author:

Moid Siddiqui is the Managing Director (MD) of Intellects Biz, a firm which is regarded for its innovative training and consulting outlooks.

He is a new-age corporate professional with interests ranging from developing human potential to scripting and directing business management films.

He has served Corporate India in senior and board level positions with public sector and private sector organisations, including Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited, Cement Corporation of India, Hindustan Machine Tools, Bharat Earth Movers Limited and Nagarjuna Group.

He has also been a senior professor at the Centre for Organizational Development, Hyderabad.

He is the author of 17 books on management themes and articles in international training journals of repute, including American Society for Training & Development’s professional journal Training & Development.

He is the recipient of several awards including the All India Management Association’s ‘Best Management Book Award of 1995–96’ for his book, The Brave New Manager.

Corporate Soul was adjudged the best book (third position) of the year 2005–2006 by Indian Society for Training and Development (ISTD).

The same Society awarded the ‘Commendation Award’ for the year 2012 for his book Enrich Your Personality.

He has also carried out a research study on ‘Performance Management Systems’ at the International Resource Centre, United Kingdom, and participated in the Global Convention organised by the State of the World Forum at San Francisco, California, in October 1999, on ‘Envisioning and Creating a Sustained Compassionate Society’. 

His areas of interest include ‘soft skills’, spirituality in business management, exploring values, human potential development, and ‘creativity and innovation’.

R H Khwaja has served as Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Ministry of Tourism, Government of India

During his tenure in IAS, he has served important assignments including

(a) Collector and District Magistrate, Khammam,

(b) Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of  Hyderabad,

(c) Joint Secretary to Government of India in the Ministry of Environment and Forest

(d) Chairman and Managing Director, Singareni Collieries Company Limited

Mr Khwaja has served as Special Secretary, Government of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi.

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In recognition of the outstanding leadership during his tenure as CMD in SCCL, he received three national-level awards including ‘Manager of the Year Award 2005’ by Hyderabad Management Association

The Government of Andhra Pradesh bestowed the prestigious ‘Telugu Uttama Seva Pathakam’ on him for outstanding work done during river Godavari floods in 1986 while serving as collector and district magistrate, Khammam.

He has visited many countries as an expert under the aegis of Convention on Biological Diversity Programme.

Mr. Khwaja was in United States from 1989 to 1990 as a Hubert Humphrey North– South Fellow in University of Minnesota. 

He is a committed environmentalist with special interest in the conservation of biological diversity.

Book Review: The book is divided into two parts:

a) The first part, written by Moid Siddiqui, deals with the concept and techniques of change.

b) The second part, penned by, R H Khwaja, is the true story of the SSCL’s turnaround which gives an insight into the strategies and execution of change management.  

The foreword from Jamshed J Irani, Director, TATA, highlights the ‘Indian flavor’ of the book. Jamshed J Irani gives three reasons as to why he appreciates the book

a) the book is realistic, depictive and expressive of both, anxiety and excitement.

b) it is a unique blend of ‘concepts’ and ‘practice’

c) it inspires hope of turning around and creating a new fortune.   

1. Genetics of Change: M. Siddique The first part of the book, ‘Genetics of change’ has been further divided in two

sections: ‘Change dynamics’ and ‘Change techniques’.

Throughout the ‘change dynamics’ section, the book has lots of aphorisms illustrated through anecdotes and examples. “Scarecrow does not scare the crow”, “Why can’t you step into the same river twice?”, “A boiled frog never jumps out of the frying pan” etc.

The story that appealed to me the most is ‘Scarecrow does not scare the crow’, which talks about a farmer who was disgusted with the crows who spoilt his crop. The gardener would run around the entire field chasing and throwing stones at them. He felt he didn’t have any other option other than doing this until his friend suggested him to make a scarecrow and trick the crows. The gardener made a realistic looking scarecrow and erected it in the middle of the garden. For the next few days, the crows were scared and did not come anywhere near the garden so the gardener decided to take a break. When he returned he found that the garden was completely spoilt by the crows. The most amazing thing was that the crows were sitting on the scarecrow’s head and shoulders. There was a nest under the hat of the scarecrow. So clearly the trick had failed.

What I learnt from this story is that what was relevant yesterday will not be relevant tomorrow.

The author believes that “change is not a dance! Dance is always rhythmical‐ 

In dance there is no risk involved; gymnasts, trapeze and acrobats take risk.

Change management is a trapeze feat.

He compares transition in change management to hovering in space without any support or anchor, “a situation where both morale and self‐esteem are at their lowest ebb.”

Managing change is like managing two opposite forces, viz. the desire for stability and the desire for change, like two crossbars each swinging in the opposite direction, describes Moid Siddiqui.

The former provides comfort and complacence and the latter creates anxiety and fear.

Obviously, most people choose the easy option and continue to follow the beaten track.

An interesting thought that the author had mentioned in the book said that people don’t resist change .They resist being changed.

Good communication is vital in the process of change to allay fears and promote the right kind of enthusiasm”. Employee involvement is the best weapon to counter adversities, writes Moid Siddiqui.

Change Techniques:

This part o the book focuses on generating creative ideas and managing creative change.

The book reflects that a creative change maker must either wear five hats or associate five creative people, each playing different role, that of Columbus, Artist, Judge, Sufi and Warrior.

The imaginary phase and practical phase of creative process and their respective focuses on quantity and quality bring out the essence of the process.

He suggests eight techniques to enhance creativity:

a) How-How Technique

The technique is used for seeking a practical solution to a problem. By asking, How a few times one can identify the right solution.

b) Brainstorming

A great technique to generate new ideas. It’s a powerful mind tool. Helpful especially when one is looking for a break through.

c) Brain Stilling

The Indian version of brainstorming. Brain stilling is when the mind is silent and can peacefully arrive at a decision.

d) Trigger sessions

In trigger session, one is asked to pen down their ideas on certain issues. They are then discussed in a group and the common ideas are chosen.

e) Wild ideas sessions

The purpose of this is to generate some wild ideas from which down to earth ideas are created.

f) SWOT analysis

The best tool of audit that locates the strong and weak aspects of an organization both internally and externally.

g) Suggestion Theme

The author calls this the best technique with the worst practise. It talks about Kaizen which is an ongoing never ending process. It works well in organizations where empowerment is practised.

h) Quality Circle

This technique is the secret behind a number of Japanese companies. It says that the solution always lies in the grass roots.

Mr. Siddiqui also mentions that managing change is about managing transition, with the two approaches: ‘hard track’ and ‘soft track’

The hard track approach includes all those activities that are related to changes like delayering, business process re-engineering (BPR), downsizing, right sizing or smart sizing, enterprise resource planning and global positioning system.

He says that these activities are viewed as short term activities but they directly affect the big management picture.

Soft track means working on softer aspects of change management.

The soft track process begins with the unfreezing process where various techniques are used to allay various suspicious and apprehensions from the minds of the people.

2. The Singareni Love Story ‘The Singareni Love Story’, deals with the turnover success story of SSCL.

Mr. Khwaja highlights the reforms taken up with a human touch. With a workforce of 1,00,000 workers, hostile trade unions and an accumulated loss of Rs. 5700 crores, the power of bonding and promotion of the concept of ‘One family, One Vision and One Mission’, along with constant communication worked the magic of change for the better and SCCL could pay dividend to the Government of Andhra Pradesh after 37 years.

In the chapter, ‘The magic of communication’, the author has succeeded in bringing out the significance of communication in the change process.

He has categorically mentioned the various ways in which the people of SSCL were made involved in the change process through open communication and employee participation.

Learning from adversities:

The chapter narrates the nature of trade union strikes and how they proved to be an acid test of leadership.

The Lakshman Rekha principle of maintaining complete transparency and effective communication with all stakeholders also carries a message to all corporate entities.

Specific to the Indian context, leadership acquires more importance as Indians look up to their leader and expect them to be their role models and exemplars.

The personal experiences shared in the undermine ground tragedy in Godavarikhani area are also considered as rich learning experience by the author.

The success of teamwork and the suggestion to adopt a green pasture from the heart to see lovebirds visit more often leaves a sense of good feeling, and some profiles of couraged in the final chapter gives a fine finishing touch to the book.

Conclusion

This approach adopted on the subject of change management. The way the book used to convey powerful thoughts is a definite plus of the book.

The book could be considered as a path breaking contribution in the area of organizational dynamics which is so crucial for effective governance in organizations and society.  

The book is a must for the policy makers, business leaders and researchers in public administration, business management and public service.

References

http://www.sagepub.in/authorDetails.nav?contribId=639153

http://www.sagepub.com/authorDetails.nav?contribId=532297