Synopsis:
Communication For Productivity
Letters
written to some 7500 Workers / Managers / Union Leaders, following a period
of strike / Go slow / Murders (1979 - 1987), at Mumbai factory of Larsen
& Toubro Ltd. This direct / open / honest communication led to a
remarkable atmosphere of trust between Workers and Management, which, in
turn, increased productivity at 3% per year (ave).
|
4 July 1984
To:
Dear Friends
Today I wish to
speak about a more dangerous enemy
- "The Enemy Within". This enemy is "indiscipline and inefficiency" .—
What
makes this enemy deadly is that most of the time it is "invisible". It is
hidden deep-down inside each one of us
-like cancer. And you cannot fight too well something which you cannot see. And more so if you do not WISH TO SEE'. ? ! ?
So this enemy has a
ready-made friend in each
one of us -ready to hide it, ready to
protect it.
And it has
deceived many of us into believing that
it is our friend.
That is
what makes it more deadly - an enemy disguised as a friend !
This is
what Coal India Chairman, Mr. Gujral found
out (see the story given below).
To know
how Mr. Gujral went about searching for this enemy and how he managed to chop-off the nails and teeth
of the enemy, when and where he found them, please read this story.
Mr. Gujral will
be the first one to admit
that enemy of Indiscipline
and Inefficiency, is far from finished, it is quite
capable of growing new nails and teeth'.
Remember the story of Ahi-Ravana and Mahi-Ravana
from Ramayana ? From every
drop of their blood was born a
new Ahi-Ravana/Mahi-Ravana. In modern times, we
call them "indiscipline" and "inefficiency"
!
In case you do
not know (and wish to know)
how Lord Rama ultimately killed
these demons, please do
write to me. On the other hand, I am eager to learn from you how to 'tackle' the modern Ahi/Mahi Ravanas. So
please do write to me.
As far as
our own situation at Powai is concerned,
the demon may SEEM tiny when compared with the Coal India demon.
But let us remember that demon is a
demon - no matter how tiny. And one of
its magic abilities is to appear tiny - to deceive us
in looking at
it from the wrong
end of a binocular.
No wonder, to most of us in
Powai, it appears so small and so far - almost a harmless insect!
Let us face
it.
Indiscipline
and Inefficiency are never very far - they are all the time lurking around us.
And
their small size is a small
consolation!.' A microscopic virus can kill an element.
And the message is not meant for any
particular section of employees. Here
there is no question of any one trying
to teach a "lesson" to anybody
else. The enemy
resides inside each one of us.
So let us pick-out our
own Ahi—Ravana/ Mahi-Ravana
and engage it in a hand-to-hand fight !!
A never
ending fight ?
Perhaps.
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