The Missing I February 24, 2006

Some years ago, I visited a primary school in Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu. As soon as I entered the classroom, the children stood up and chorused, “EPDP School. Namaskar,’’ thereby announcing who they were and then saying “good day’’ to the visitor. After that welcome, I spent some time interacting with the children via an interpreter. The children were very uncomfortable having such a conversation on a one-on-one basis. They would rather do things in chorus. Very recently, I met students of a technical training institute where young men and women were being trained to join the hospitality industry. Once again, as I entered the room in which they were seated, the class stood up and gave me a choral welcome. Whenever I asked them any questions, they would all reply in unison: “Yes, sir. No, sir....’’ But I was clear that I would engage them in a dialogue and, as I began singling them out and seeking comments, the discomfiture was writ large on their faces. I contrast this with what I see in western countries. Two things become clear. One, no one ever springs up because a visitor has come. It would be considered servile. Two, it is unusual, even for children, to be responding as a group. Choral singing and conversation are very different activities. These lead to a very important issue: why do we desire servility, obedience and group think so much?These are not just things one sees in schools and colleges. A few years ago, I was in the hallway of a private bank’s corporate office, when the chairman entered. Row after row of people rose like rising and receding waves as the man and his son walked down the hallway. On one hand the spectacle was a collective loss of productivity as people ceased work, so that they could worship. On the other hand, I thought, it wasn’t such a bad idea after all, because so many people reduced their risk of repetitive stress injury by taking a quick break from work. The bank does not exist any more.Servility ahead of competence is something we emphasise right from kindergarten to the workplace. This must stop. One admirable thing about educational institutions in the west is the self-confidence, freedom and individual dignity they instill. If you are not careful, it may even look like irreverence. But, without losing inner humility, if we can drop some of our choral behaviour, I am sure people will learn to think for themselves. This is very important because we are largely adaptive in our ways of working, and we really find it very difficult when it comes to dialogue, debate, confrontation and building a point of view. We also find it difficult to ask questions. Invariably, when a speaker ends a presentation and the moderator throws the floor open for questions in India, I find some very unique things. Most cannot ask a question without first making a speech. Having made a speech, just when one is wondering where the question is, the person says, “Actually I have three questions....’’. Another curious phenomenon: the people who ask questions are always the same. They enjoy the airtime and, more than wanting to know, they want to be heard.Now over at the workplace, getting an audience to ask a visitor questions is a tooth-pulling experience. People are tongue-tied. There is a pall of silence. After prodding the audience a few times, you elicit a few inane questions. You wonder whether people have a mind of their own, whether they absorbed what they heard, whether they have a constructive pushback, whether they have a counterpoint. Whatever. But nothing happens.It is probably that way because our educational system severely discourages asking questions. Imagine the chaos if the sixty plus students in a typical third standard science or geography class started asking questions? The poor teacher would have to be sent to an asylum. So, Job No 1 for the teacher is getting the class to shut up—even if the effect is going to be permanent for most children.These days, wherever I go, people talk about innovation. Irreverence to existing ways, entrenched gospel, systems, processes, organisations, ways of doing things and even people in authority, is the starting point of innovation. If, during our formative years and at the workplace, we are taught to be subservient rather than competent, it is unlikely that we will ever become global leaders in any field. So, do not jump up and say “Good morning, sir’’ in unison. Stay seated. Think as you listen to the visitor. And question. Source : http://digvijayankoti.blogspot.in/2009/04/subroto-bagchi-speaks-all-articles-by.html