The veryY first line in the introduction of the book by Subroto Bagchi is quite eye-catching. It says, ?In 2006, my book, ?The High Performance Entrepreneur? broke new ground as a must-read for would-be entrepreneurs?. It smells of hubris and shows that the author lacks modesty. Normally, if the same is true, we should hear it from someone else. But this is significant not because it says much about the author, but because this is one of the reasons why companies fall in the trap of stagnation. So while Bagchi talks a lot about how companies need to build scale as they move along, they do tend to hit a glass ceiling at some point of time. One reason why this happens is the absence of humility and the onset of hubris, which stops leaders from accepting that something is amiss.
The book, The Elephant Catchers, may be a misnomer, as it goes into building scale for a company, and the concept of ?catching an elephant? is only one part of the story. Let us see how Bagchi builds his narrative. There are six aspects of scale that companies have to look forward to when moving to a new level. Start-up companies are enthusiastic and grow fast, but after a point of time, there would be a loss of momentum, which is the time to introspect and look at creating scale.
The concept of scale and how it can be managed is captured by Bagchi when we talk of strategy for the future in companies. Often we have several PowerPoint presentations that explain what we will do the next year. But we need to think long. Hence a plan is different from a strategy and he uses the example of Infosys to show how this was done. Structures and approaches have to be different when we approach it this way.
He gives the example, which is now quoted in almost all leadership books, of how Unilever added zing to its strategy when the management talked not just of future numbers, but linked them to other goals such as reducing carbon imprints, conditions for suppliers and so on. This is part of emotive thinking.
The mindset is hence important and he distinguishes between a ?rabbit? and an ?elephant? catcher, where the former has a role to play in the immediate run. But to grow, we need ?elephant catchers?, which requires not just a different approach, but skills and temperament. So companies should be thinking of deals, funding, capacity creation, training and development, brand-building and so on as they move to a different level.
The second aspect of scale is using it to build business. Here, the author gets autobiographical and gives his own company?s example of how they did deals and moved over to getting AIG as a customer in insurance and also inroads into banking.
The third aspect of scale relates to intellect. Here, he provides some interesting insights on the board of directors, who should have domain knowledge, especially if the industry is technical in nature, or else, they could be taken for a ride by unscrupulous managements. He assigns a role of spending 70% of time looking into the future and only 30% into the past, which is rarely followed by most boards.
The fourth aspect of scale is reputation. To scale this up, we need to continuously rebrand the image of the company, which goes beyond just the logo or the tagline. Here, he draws heavily on Mindtree?s story. While dealing with a professional agency, there should be involvement from within and the right people have to be chosen. They, for example, had changed their own image from ?nice, humble and introspective? to ?collaborative spirit, unrelenting dedication and expert thinking?. On media management, he is quite emphatic that while one needs to be trained to face the media, one should be careful that one does not get misinterpreted. Also, the leader has to build an image of being an authority to be respected by the media, and a PR firm is essential for such an exercise.
The fifth dimension of scale is people and it is important that we select the right staff. His own approach has been one of the white board approach, where the potential candidate has to draw up an entire plan and outlook on the board, so that both sides are clear about what can be expected and delivered. Leaders should spend quality time with the colleagues and this brings in some modicum of buoyancy in the organisation.
And last, we have to scale up to face adversity and, for this, we should not get overwhelmed. Failure is inevitable along the road for any organisation and facing it bravely is the only solution, especially as a lot of it can come from the blue. It is assumed that if we have scaled right in the other five ways, this would follow.
Bagchi is easy to read, though the book at times resembles a publicity brochure of Mindtree. With a large number of books telling companies how to move ahead with tips on leadership and sailing through adversity, the novelty factor is missing. However, his views on boards, consultants and media can be quite engaging. Maybe it is time for authors to think differently to bring in some fresh air?to avoid falling into the trap of what happened after the financial crisis, which has had tomes written with little differentiation.
Madan Sabnavis is chief economist, CARE Ratings
