Musk Lies in Navel

(Published in Banking Services Chronicle December 2002)

The musk lies in the navel of the deer. But the deer keeps on running madly all over the forest in search of it. We humans are not much wiser either, though it may hurt our pride to be brought down to the level of the deer. Most of us spend our lives in search of that elusive goal called success. And find it NOWHERE. The paradox is that success can be obtained by a little intelligent splitting of that word in capitals. Believe me, success lies NOW and HERE.

In order to gain instant access to success, however, the hard disk of your habits must be loaded with the proper programs. First of all, we must remember that a successful man does not live solely for money. And to some extent this may even be proved logically. If money were the sole criterion for success, there would be only one answer to “Who is the most successful man on earth?”. And the answer would be: the richest man. Bill Gates? No, someone said it’s now Samuel Walton. So, has Bill Gates become less successful? You may clearly see the absurdity of the money criterion.

Secondly, we have to have positive notions. We don’t exist for money, OK. But then what do we exist for? Let’s get a bit of corporate advice here. Companies that succeed have a broader notion of why they are in business. They have values. Like companies, like individuals. In fact, the success of every individual revolves on the axis of values they have chosen for themselves. Do you know why the Indians became laggards? Not because we did not know how to develop technology or how to make money. We were left behind in the race because we lost our cherished values. If you value the values, both technology and money are bound to follow.

Thirdly, and this is a corollary to the point made above, strong culture is the basis of success. Values form the principles and culture the practice. And we very well know that no principle is effective unless brought into practice. Of all the facets of culture, the most valuable is work culture. Come rain or shine, work must go on. Along with an emphasis on qualitative improvement with every passing day.

Fourthly, since every work you do involves satisfying an “other party”, you must know the “other party” very well. If you do not know the target, even small scores become unattainable. So take some extra pain to understand the needs, aspirations and behaviour of the other party. If you are a seller, understand your customer. If you are in service, understand your client. If you are a teacher, understand your student. If you are married, understand your spouse.

Fifthly, communication skills are essential for success. Persistent and powerful communication holds the key to the other person’s heart. It is important that you serve your customer. But it is even more important that the customer perceives so. As a student, you may write an answer that is very good by your own parameters. But the moot point is whether the evaluator considers it so. Because it is he who is going to award marks, which in turn will determine how successful you are. So try to establish a match between what you want to say and what the customer wants to hear.

Whatever you do, don’t forget that big businesses and big successes have at their base only simple principles. The stories of Hitopadesha and Panchatantra are universally true. Even the A-grade B-schools and the jetsetting management gurus recognise the worth of these basics. Their skill lies in contextualising them in accordance with place and time.

Unfortunately, most of us shy away from simple questions. Their answers, we feel, are obvious. But they are not obvious. Because we have warped those answers with convoluted notions of our own. For example, let me ask a simple question: Do you speak the truth? Now, don’t say ‘yes and no’.