Building Learning Organizations

1. Building Learning Organizations CII Quality Summit 2006

2. India… on the accelerated path • These are the most exciting times for Corporate India in the last 50 years • There is a new found confidence in Indian Companies and in our ability to grow globally • We predict that in the next 20 years, we will have over 100 global Indian multinationals These will become case studies in Ivy league colleges in the US!

3. The context • Many good and even “ very good companies” fail. The average life of a corporation is less than 40 years • Disruptive technological changes • Impact of globalization on emerging markets • Securing our future-Building our leaders • Talent- ‘Scarcity in the midst of plenty’

4. The Context • In this emerging ‘global village’, corporations are realizing that the only aspect that can help them differentiate is the quality of their ‘Talent’. • Attracting, developing and retainingtalent has therefore become the most critical business process on the agenda of CEOs and Boards • ‘Outsourcing’ of processes to the most efficient location is creating a new eco-system in which people have to ‘out-think’ others and execute ideas with unmatched speed.

5. THUS…… Smart, cost effective operations Simple, clear strategy Right Leadership coupled with Right Talent When the whole organization is in symphony with the strategy, it becomes harder for the rivals to imitate the moves. Talent is the fulcrum that gives the leverage that multiplies the power of strategy and converts it into operations that realize value. This is the one that creates the ‘Execution Advantage’

6. The Learning Organization • Provide sources of new knowledge- ideas and inspiration come from a range of sources. • Enhance the capacity of the organization to absorb new knowledge- ensure that the managers have the technological and management skills to innovate • Competition and Entrepreneurship- provides a stimulus to innovation and helps determine the intensity of competition and the ability of employees to spot opportunities and manage risks. • Focus on customers- customer demands signify markets for new and innovative products and services • Networks and collaboration –firms need to collaborate with many different organizations and draw ideas from many different places

7. The Anatomy of Learning • The Ying-Yang between “Inspiration and Pain”- The IP that creates IP • Strategy that encourages “constructive destruction” and makes our own products and services obsolete • Structures that take the shape that customers and people seek- the Amoeba

8. The Anatomy of Learning • Processes that “add value” and ignite both the genius in people and the speedy execution of ideas • Leadership style that makes people go beyond what they think they are capable of • HR systems that hire innovative people, improve the creative power of the work force, recognize and reward innovation and communicate at the speed of thought

9. The IP behind IP • Inspiration comes from Shared Vision, Purpose and Values • Inspiration is caused when people claim the “greatness within” themselves and see it in others in their teams • All it takes is a handful of people to be energized and engaged by their own imagination

10. The IP behind IP • When people can “see the future”, they can radiate positive energy to others • The “positive insecurity” of competition helps • “Pride being hurt” is a powerful emotion that can be the “tipping point”

11. Strategy of “Constructive Destruction” • Getting attached to past success is nostalgia • Humility is about challenging your past • Destroying today’s successful products to create tomorrow’s breakthrough offerings takes a lot of courage • Organizations that go beyond the “safety” of known winning formulae create pioneering new technologies

12. Structures that take shape • Structures that break boundaries and bureaucracy and focus on what customers seek arrive at new answers • When organizations become flexible, proactive and enthused by the power of creating value, they invent new ways of organizing themselves and serving customers • Innovative companies keep changing structures and people get used to continuous change

13. Processes that add value • Processes that encourage sharing mistakes, experimentation, open and direct communication and measure impact of new ideas, build capacities to both create and execute • Processes have a life and need renovation/change • Processes must create measurable value- tangible and intangible • Project Management can be applied to Innovation!

14. Leadership Style • Leaders who help people to recognize their own “uniqueness” and talent get breakthroughs from “ordinary people” • Leaders who help people to overcome fears within them and embrace their own positives help build a culture of innovation • Leadership is about getting the “right” people engaged around “the right questions” • Leaders build trust, pride and camaraderie and create “Great Places to Work”

15. The Essence of Growing Talent • Leadership is about causing pleasant surprises and promoting people not when they are 100% ready but when the recognition helps them to take on more responsibility. • Perhaps the most potent tool for growing talent is about telling the right stories and striking positive conversations • Organizations in which leaders practice this art reap powerful cultures that build the capacities of people.

16. Innovative HR systems • Innovative companies hire people with “capacities” and not just competencies • Performance Management Systems encourage empowerment, stretch goals, risk taking, setting new standards and creating benchmarks,

17. Innovative HR systems • Rewards and Recognition programs encourage people to explore new grounds, invest time on innovation, support each other to win, “systematically steal” ideas and celebrate small and big innovations • Capability Building is a Key Business Process. Corporate Universities are the new norm. Training is focused to improve creative and emotional intelligence and not analytical ability or abstract reasoning

18. Creating a Vision by involving all key people Organize study missions to Great Places to Work Create a road map with metrics and milestones Allocate resources by aligning best fits to projects, not ‘easily spared’ resources Engaging consultants as business partners Set up a Talent Management Council to optimally utilize resources Envisioning Navigating Allocating Steering The path to Talent Management

19. Why some organizations have still not made Talent Management a Key Process? Paternalistic Style of Management- surrounding oneself with ‘Yes Men/Women’ and getting results by creating fear Scarcity Mindset- need to compete with one another to grab the limited opportunities 1 4 ‘Initiativitis’-the disease of having many Initiatives competing for management attention. 2 5 Meritocracy- developing bias and taking decisions about people that cause heartburns and attrition Denial of due importance to HR-not enough efforts have been made to attract and develop talent in HR 3 Inappropriate Hiring-holding consultants accountable for business performance and trying to escape accountability as leaders 6