Let's Move On

In my twenty two years of work experience, I have come across numerous situations when the Management teams have sat together to do a detailed review of a failure. On most of the occasions, after a detailed analysis, after establishing some facts, after taking cognizance of the slip-ups, after taking note of the learning’s, the final declamation has been – Let’s move on. Of late, I have seen extensive use and abuse of this phrase, in letter or in spirit, in corporate world and in polity, in workplace and at home, in marriage – within and without.
Over the years, I have learnt, albeit the hard way, that the best Manager is the one who is capable of successfully diffusing a situation. It is not necessary that every statement, every dialogue and every result should be black and white. The intervention should be capable of dousing a fire – period. This principle emanates from a strong Consulting mindset. The Consultant community, in any sphere of life, thrives on the continuum. That keeps their meter running. That keeps their equity high among the stakeholders – for, they make sure the machinery keeps moving. And that helps the larger (read, the meatier) cause. And so, let’s move on.
True that the earth must not stop revolving, just because there are earthquakes, and there are volcanic eruptions and there are Tsunami’s. But it is best to leave the cosmic accountabilities to the God. We need to worry about the responsibility of our actions. While the show must go on, it cannot and should not dilute the conscientiousness. If finding a fit for the noose is not a preferred option always, non-admittance of guilt is also not acceptable. For, admission of guilt is the first step towards correction. I am certainly not advocating the style of a certain Chief Minister of yesteryears, who used to submit his resignation on moral grounds at the drop of a hat. Backing out from one’s responsibility is also not the idea of answerability. On the other extreme, we have umpteen numbers of cases in front of us, where we have known the reasons for the damage but the accountability is never fixed.
Scene – Bhopal One: The day after, rather the week after the tragedy. A man of foreign origin, considered responsible for a holocaust, is worried about his security and his future. He uses his contacts and taps on the best of his network to secure his safety. On the side of the Government there are advisers; there are consultants who are responsible to make sure that things do not come to a halt. The local Government and the bosses at the Center have to oblige. For, the holocaust is a thing of the past. People have died. No action can bring them back. There are other larger interests that cannot be jeopardized for a small emotional gain. Punishments can be discussed, let the law take its own course; compensations can be settled later, let us evaluate the loss. The law and order has to be restored; jurisprudence has to prevail; nothing will come out of an emotional outburst. Let’s move on.
Scene – Bhopal Two: The day after, rather the week after the 26-year long waited judgment. The Harvard trained trouble-shooter heads the crack team. He is a seasoned manager. So, the special body does a reassessment of the situation. Demands the very man they released in another situation; demands a much higher compensation than what they themselves negotiated and settled for; achieves the objective of diverting attention from the events that happened 26 years back. The situation is diffused; the crisis is managed – for the next 26 years, perhaps. And now, let’s move on.
Scene – Mangalore One: There is a proposal for building an International Airport. There are multiple options for the right location to choose. No prizes for guessing that such an exercise is bound to go through various pushes and pulls. Concerns on suitability of the chosen location as a table-top air-strip; concerns on environment; concerns on safety. There are statements for and against. All important statements are recorded and quoted. The ex-pilot Prime Minister makes an enthusiastic statement that the beautiful airport challenges the skills of the pilot. The statement is used as a positive affirmation. What skills and what challenges? Am I traveling to help the pilot hone his skills? Am I traveling to test the maneuvering skills of the pilot at the risk of my life? No, gentlemen. I am traveling to attend my business; I am traveling to meet my family; I am traveling to attend my sister’s marriage; I am traveling to attend the funeral of a beloved one. Somebody has got something wrong there.
Scene – Mangalore Two: The most feared apprehensions come true. A passenger plane, carrying 160 people onboard, lands on this table-top and slides down the table into the valley. The politicians get back to their business, history is digged; daggers are drawn; names are called. Who ordered the airport at such a risky place; who recruited the foreign pilot; did we go through his credentials at all? We get into rounds of questions and counter questions; answers and rejoinders. Enquiry ordered. As the days pass, as the bodies are handed over and cremated – the next flight lands on the very same airport. The table-top is again operational. Questions and counter questions; answers and rejoinders have all been forgotten. Let’s move on.
Scene: Bangalore One: the city that everyone promised to make over to Singapore. It is a nightmare to traverse through the city during rains. But for kids of course the rains are fun – jumping over the puddles, getting drenched in the downpour, playing with paper boats – the modern day gadgets too have not been able to outclass these small pleasures. Last year, after a similar fun-filled rain, a young boy was walking down the street holding the ever-assuring safe hands of his mother. All of a sudden, he was gone – he fell into an open drain that was over-flowing. Even after days of search, by the firemen, and by the army, his body could not be traced. Life came to a stand-still for the shocked mother but for the administrators, after a full round of political one-upmanship, life came back to normalcy pretty quickly. No concrete actions other than some flag-march kind of processions by politicians. The spirit was – accidents do happen, let’s move on.
The rains come every year and so have come again this year as well. The intensity appears to be the same; the open drains are very much there; the water logging has always been part of life in this season; some of the drains are cleaned but the dump lies next to the open drains. One good rain and all this dump flows back into the drain. That is perhaps our idea of ‘Recycling’ – recycling work and recycling contracts. People have learnt to live with this apathy. They have devised their own security the F-security – that suggests to always following someone when you are wading through overflowing waters. But unfortunately, someone has to be at the front and he is the one who is at risk. Nothing much has changed since the time when an entire family driving down in a car was swept away to death in a similar flooding drain a few years ago. Neither a responsibility was fixed at that time nor was it done now. It is the same indifference and the same notion, that the accidents do take place – Let’s move on.
Scene: Bangalore Two: Another rainy season – it is just the pre-monsoon, a lot more is yet to come. A young 17 year old girl, ambitious, hardworking with sparkling dreams in her eyes of doing well in her college to join a premier institute and do well in life. But all those dreams of hers and that of her parents were shattered as the wall she was standing beside, to protect herself from rains, collapsed. This was recently built by a contractor for the Government College. The fact that the contractor was also a local politician was not a surprise, the fact that a lot of political rhetoric was exchanged is not a surprise, the fact that an enquiry has been ordered is not a surprise, the fact that some technical reasons will be found will not be a surprise, the fact that the probe will complete long after people have erased this from their memory will not be a surprise, the fact that such walls will continue to be built will not be a surprise, the fact that rains will continue to come will not be a surprise, and the fact that such accidents will continue to happen will not be a surprise. Let’s move on.
This has become a national character for us. So much so that even after the most shocking and the most outrageous attack on the Indian democracy in Mumbai on 26th November 2008, the state home minister made an equally disgraceful statement, in a matter of fact way, about such ‘small’ incidents taking place in ‘big’ cities. So, no big deal – Let’s move on. It is another issue that the statement raised enough political dust that the Government had no choice but to settle the dirt by removing this Minister.
Those who seek shelter under their own explanation of the teachings of Krishna in Bhagavad-Gita might quote numerous instances from the scenes of the epic war where Krishna had given practical and pragmatic explanations to the otherwise controversial actions bordering close to the unethical line. I can foresee these enthusiasts writing a new chapter of Mahabharata where the Pandavas are sitting in a room with Krishna and Yudhisthir is brooding on that one ethically questionable but politically correct line that he spoke that crushed the morale of his mentor Dronacharya – “Yes, Ashwathama – the elephant – is dead”. And when he said “the elephant”, Krishna blew his conch that dimmed Yudhishthir’s words and all that Dronacharya heard was – “Yes, Ashwathama …. is dead”. Aswathama, being Dronacharya’s son, a valiant warrior and a ‘Chiranjeevi’; Dronacharya was crestfallen at this ‘planted’ news and Krishna directed the Pandava army not to lose time and aim at Dronacharya. I am sure, this chapter would end with the finality of a statement from Krishna to Yudhishthir – “This was destined to happen. You have followed the rules of the game and have not done any wrong. So, stop brooding about this. Let’s move on…..