Theory of Constraints - R R Padmanabhan, Director - Exim Academy
Theory of Constraints - R R Padmanabhan, Director - Exim Academy
The society has both haves and have-nots. I used to wonder at the success stories of rich and famous. Most of them have poor or modest backgrounds. They persist and succeed. But their wards of second or perhaps third generation do not show that much promise and fall wayside. What made the first generation succeed? And what caused the downfall of second and subsequent generations? Of course there are exceptions to the latter question. There are notable business families even in the Indian context as a perfect example for sustained existence at the top level. In this article I ponder these questions and provide my perspective.
The first question: what is the reason for the spectacular success of the first generation almost from rags to riches style. Is there any single reason that can be attributed to the success? Yes of course. One simple word is persistence or staying at the crease long enough to hit sixes and fours even as he scores ones and twos. He knows pretty well that matches cannot be won by sixes or fours but by singles and twos. So, what is more important is staying at the crease waiting for the odd ball to come to hit a six; stay long enough to muster enough courage and strength, pick up technique to find gaps to guide the ball. In fact, I would even say that to be successful one has to have obstacles that constrain his growth. Over a period of time with consistent approach the very constraint becomes a ladder to move on.
I am always fascinated by the potency of water to cut even a rock. The water is so subtle that even a litre of it cannot do anything to a gram of rock. But even big boulders are turned in to sand over a period of time perhaps millions of years, no matter what is important at the end is the result. The key matter is rock turning in to powder is because of persistent flow of water on it. And that is the thing,
After so many years of experience as an Entrepreneur I have come to the conclusion that to be successful one has to have obstacles as his companion. Obstacles can be in any form, it can be lack of money, lack of opportunities, lack of encouragement from the near and dear ones, constant sniping from them that ‘it is not for you’ etc. And just one failure would attract ‘I told you so’ comments from near ones. I never took them to be serious ones to lecture me on my capability. I am going strong. My experience is an asset now and is in great demand.
The more I read and come across stories of successful entrepreneurs, the information that we gather endorse the view that the obstacles have actually catapulted to success, to a position what they are now! The list is quite long but for reasons of brevity I will enumerate few. It is said that Einstein
failed perhaps at least 1000 times before inventing the electric bulb. Infosys Narayanamurthy and his team at Infosys had to encounter insurmountable difficulties from 1981 to what they are now. One of the difficulties was getting a phone connection! A phone connection was considered as a luxury then. But these names are quite famous now and a reader may find these names to be unbelievable that people like Narayanamurthy were at one time a normal middle class man much like a man next door.
In fact, I used to wonder what would have been the case of Narayanamurthy had he not encountered these obstacles! Probably, he would have been successful but not like this!
Recently, I read article about Marvan Atapattu, the Legendary Cricketer from Srilanka who went on to captain the Sri Lankan national team. His is a case of absolute persistence even against consistent dismal international performance. Anybody else in his place would have simply shunned boots and given a go by to cricket. Alas his persistence paid!
I am reminded of a story by Dr Somerset Maugham. He was a medical practitioner turned satirical writer. In the story titled ‘The Church Minister’, the author castigates the society for its obsession on paper qualifications and estimating people’s worth through their academic success. In the story, an illiterate would work as Church Minister. All that he needs to do is to conduct baptism ceremony. The Bishop of the region would one day visit the church and he would ask the Father about the academic qualifications of the people working in the church. His concern was that rich and famous of the area frequent the church; therefore, people in the realm of affairs of the church should be qualified to attend to them. May be correct. But our hero was illiterate! So he is given 3 months time to be either literate or go out of job! A sordid situation for a middle aged with a family to support and none to back up.
The Church Minister decides to get away from the job for he concludes at his 40s he cannot learn to read and write. Vexed with his life, he returned to his home. As he has nothing do hereafter, he feels somber. Instead of taking a normal route, he chooses an alternative route. That is long road and on the way he yearns for a puff. He looks around and finds no shop selling cigarettes! He thinks that there must be many like him passing through this road but yearning for a puff. With this innovative idea in mind, using the termination benefits from the Church, he opens a small shop selling only cigarettes. As the time goes by, much like Indian movies, he becomes rich selling cigarettes. He opens up several shops across the city selling only cigarettes.
The story does not end there!
One day he gets a call from his bank Manager. The Bank Manager wants to see him. The illiterate owner of chain of shops goes to meet the Manager. The Manager tells him that his entire money is accumulated in current account and that he should open savings and deposit accounts so that they earn interest. Illiterate he is, he requests the Bank manager to do the formalities. The Manger fills up the form and asks him to sign the documents. Our Hero hesitates and says that he cannot sign and only can fix thumb impression. The Manger is surprised and asks ‘without education you have become such a rich. What would you have been if only you are educated and know how to read and write’. Our hero replies, “I would have been a Church Minister”
Having said all about constraints to be a real blessing on the path to success, what about those who do not have such obstacles in terms of money, family support etc. How do they succeed? How do we explain their success? The secret lies in their attitude to create constraint for themselves. Sounds terrific isn’t it? They manufacture constraints in the form of higher goals that are lofty ones and look unattainable prima facie. They practice severe physical exercises
as part of their daily routine, practice certain morning routines that are hard to undergo like for example a cold water bath even during winter, observe intermittent fasting
(by which one denies food to himself)
etc. Through these difficult routines, the
mind muscle is strengthened. When the mind is strong, PERSISTENCE is a child’s
play. They simply don’t give up.
When Mind is with you, you are in
synchronicity with your self. When this
union is achieved you are unstoppable!
I practice Heartfulness system of meditation.
“Take miseries as Divine blessings for your own good and be thankful”
So, either obstacles are there before you
naturally or you create for yourself, they are good for You!
Chit Funds-An Orthodox savings scheme
Many in South India might know about the
concept and practice of Chit funds.
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