The KGVK trip!!

http://www.kgvkindia.com/
This holiday it was a mini consulting project in Ranchi with Ajay and Pratik. Studying about one of the effective CSR's, meeting people who have transformed organizational culture and above all meeting the "Bharat".
The journey started on 9th oct 2008. We had to visit CSR office of Usha Martin group. Ranchi is a small town and glory of Durga Pooja was visible in every corner of the city. Sleep deprived as usual, we landed in Ranchi to fall asleep in afternoon, only to wake up at night for dinner.
The place was pleasant and we had no clue about what was in store for us. Second day started with a trip to TVM gurukul, which is training center started by KGVK in a village called, "Rukka". The place conducts training for nursing, cattle rearing and farming. There were small demonstration farms all around which experiment with growing different kinds of crops, if the farming is successful, the seeds are procured and villagers in command areas of KGVK are helped in raising the crops which give high returns and better yields. And i want to mention Mr Manoj Singh, Farm Manager who took us around the field to explain about a science which most of us never thought of.
The next step was meeting the management of the CSR. It was a long discussion on birth of KGVK, its learnings, success and some failures. We moved on to visit two small hospitals which were established around the city. They had all the facilities of a govt hospital made available at a nominal price. Th organization sends out vans in different villages around the region to take patients to the hospital on various week days. The services are offered at nominal price so that people value the same and hospital can sustain its operations over a period of time.
The day ended with visit to Usha Martin plant in Ranchi. I had read about total productivity management in books, but what i saw left me speechless. The amount of ownership employees had was phenomenal. A corner of the plant was dedicated to showcase the functioning of plant, the measures of revenue, losses carved out of card boards and written on a simple piece of paper. It was not the accounts, nor the strategy, it was organizational culture which made UM stand out. And i think, this does not come easy. Investing in people at personal and professional level is very important.
Next day started with visit to Patratu village in Ranchi district. There are close to 20 villages surrounded by mountains in this region. The land around is prone to soil erosion and there was no way to hold the water in this region despite heavy rainfall. The saga of transformation on land, in people can not be told in words. People have done plantation, they have learned to work in community, they have got a govt official behind the bars for asking for bribe and most importantly i could see the ownership and confidence. One of the villagers told that no one can cheat them. They know their rights, they run their own life and they are united. They are promoting education, cutting down on liquor and proactively working to take their village forward. This was the biggest implementation of concept of "empowerment" i had ever seen.
The experience was humbling. Over years i had heard that no one can change rural India, illiteracy is a curse, but here were people who had worked with all the odds to change people. Can "Change Management" be taught? This was the biggest i had ever seen, transformation of entire community and still growing.
Then came the chance to meet the visionaries sitting in offices. They want to promote their indianized version of Total Village Management across India. They are building their capacity to train, creating market for the rural capacity that they are building up and most importantly transforming the NGO mindset by trying to instill the importance of impact measures rather than relying on feel good factor.
Back in evening, sitting in my hotel room, i wondered, if it was all about strategy and org behaviour. I saw no third concept helping the situation transform. They are unique and they can not be taught in class rooms. Atleast in this scenario i saw more of soft skills, trust building and leading by example.
Some of the management lessons that i learned from the 70 year old CEO who created a 2500 cr company without any support and degree:
a) Don't waste time on negative people, pick the positive ones, create a success story and negatives will transform. Do remember that negative people are usually great leaders.
b) Respect all and you will command respect.
c) Trust and integrity are most important.
d) Create ownership at each level. Each one earns for himself.
e) When you lose temper, don't take immediate decision.
f) Avoid politics, invite healthy criticism.

Now that i am back, and when i read these points time and again, i can see what my Dad told me one night while discussing on some issue in school, coming back to me. He had told me that negatives are best left to watch the glory of success, they have no spine of their own. Life is best lived forward and learnt backward, so never regret, its a waste of time. And there is nothing like possible or impossible, if you want something, its possible, else you never wanted it enough. Sit back and count 10 when in anger, know there isn't a concept like ego and insult, the person infront has taken the weakest tool to attack you, you are too evolved to use a weaker tool yourself. Never let your mind wander from focus, that's the only way to kill hurdles and he said that when i grow up, i will see that all behavioral sciences evolve from these simple philosophies. :) Its not community, its improving the quality of individuals. Community is just a collection.
I think i saw his words echoing all around. Get the basics right, and rest will follow. It was indeed a connection of books to world and one of my best learning experience in ISB till date.
What i experienced in this trip has helped me learn a lot of concepts better. I will visit more shops and industries. I love to read novels and books, visit new places and meet people who learn from life and that's what i will do. :)

Thanks for the wonderful experience to :
Mr BK Jhawar
Mr LK Jhawar
Mr Mitra
Mr Mishra
Mr Shibaji Mandal
Mrs Mahua
Mr Manoj Singh
Mr Hemant Kumar
Mr Shashidhar
The Hospital Marketing Guys
The Driver who took us around
The Villagers who were the best in class
The soil scientist
And everyone i forgot to mention about...