Business to the Buddha

Tag: Mathematics

  • Has the time for this idea come?







    When I wrote Problem of top 5% blog I was little too concerned due to various reasons. One was, I – being a centralist – am not a good judge of the situation in completely capitalistic societies. Second was – I myself was at the center of the example. How can I judge myself. I may get biased was the very obvious possibility. I shared the draft with Prof Mankad, again various reasons. He knows me, he has lived in the US for many years, he is an economist etc. His response was –

    QUOTE# – The solution lies with top 5/10%. Regulators – teachers, principals – also bank on 10% and would not want to do anything to hurt them. (Refer to a very long article in Huffington* Post yesterday -26th Sept 2014 – on ‘culture’ at FED NY to ignore the trespasses of Goldman’s.)
    With current socioeconomic yardsticks of success, it will take time for the 10% to shed their arrogance. The society may attempt to generate a social consciousness to move away emphasis (not d-emphasise) top 10 %. Can we start with admissions to prime colleges? Take an honest, mathematically random system of selection of say 50 from top 500? Such a system would retain the academic standard and defuse the arrogance of top 50 and perhaps reduce the commercial exploitative practices of coaching classes.
    Same practice may be chosen in recruitment of employees. (And perhaps in selection of brides!) [that “bride” part a “late cut” – as Prof Mankad calls it 🙂 – on me]
    This would be revolutionary. Who will start the revolution? UNQUOTE

     

    So the possible solutions Prof Mankad suggested starts from the top. Top 5% or 10% need to shred their arrogance (read Problem of top 5% a figurative real life example of representing our society, economy and even schools).

    An interesting case happened recently in India. A Gujarat based Jeweler – Savji bhai – has gifted generously to his employees this Diwali. Apparently he is a standard 4th dropout! Mahatma Gandhi used to say what Prof Mankad suggested in his opinion – “…the wealth of the owners is distributed among the workers and when this situation is arrived at, only then would India grow in real terms…”

    According to reports Savji Bhai has given Diwali gifts based on a loyalty program, so even though he did not study typical “Employee Engagement” and “Loyalty Marketing” or any other jargon of an MBA. Additional interesting this is – he supports pilgrimage of his employees families, has made stadium in Surat.

    Just to conclude – Mahatma Gandhi said wealth distribution as the way for Swaraj, Top 5% are hoarding the wealth (reference Dr Joseph Stiglitz) and even Govts are afraid of top 5% so we have a creative solution which Savjibhai experimented with recently. Has the time for this idea come? Wish we see Business and the Buddha co-exist positively to make this world a better place to live and be enlightened.

    NDTV interview (I am yet to watch it though)

    Savjibhai in a brief speech (Gujarati) 2012 – when not many people knew him.

     

    Note –

    # The blog Problem of top 5% was published on 11th Oct, draft created was on 26-27th Sept. Prof Mankad shared his opinion on 27th Sept.

    * I read Huffington Post article which Dr Mankad referred, however currently not able to get that link, so here is related link – http://www.propublica.org/article/carmen-segarras-secret-recordings-from-inside-new-york-fed

  • Problem of top 5%







    screen shot 2014-09-28 at 2.32.00 pm.pngWhen I was studying in 12th, I had hoard of intelligent classmates. About 10% of the class was very good in Mathematics. We had completed a couple of chapters of 12th Math in advance. When these chapters were discussed in Math class session we did what we could do the best. We were wicked – as any smart fellow can be – we used to solve these problems in no time before rest of the 90% could even understand the concept. Than we used to start discussing the topic between/among ourselves. Our teacher used to be disappointed, she could not tell us anything – as we had solved the problem, we were discussing the problem (how to solve it faster and not a movie). She used to feel that she is missing on her responsibility of teaching the concept to the rest of the class.

    We were wicked, we were intelligent, we were brutal (for our other classmates) and we were trying to make as much out of our class time that we can be more competitive. The reason was whole of our class was preparing for State Pre-Engineering Test (MPPET) – 19 or 25 of us made it to Engineering out of 70 students  (which was a record for school). My friend and me were among some toppers! So, we were doing whatever we could do to get to the topics which were tough for us. One way was completing other topics faster [because we were not able to force the teacher to start topic of our choice].

    Just to give you an example – Teacher was teaching Probability theory, we used to solve the problems in no time, as most of us (the 10%) were good in that. Probability otherwise was not a simple thing, so 90% were trying to grasp the concept; we are already talking in class. The 90% used to get hassled & were not able to understand whats going on! Ma’am was little too supportive to us – we were at the top! We (the 10%) wanted to finish Probability quickly and go to Vectors and 3-D Geometry. We were learning that ourselves and wanted to support our learning with class sessions. This nonsense kept on happening starting Calculus to XYZ to Probability sessions. After a while, Ma’am realized that these guys are beating the system. The “probability” of same happening in Vectors and 3-D Geometry session was increasing day by day.

    One day before start of the mathematics class, she called us (the 10%) of the class in a different class room. She told us – in as simple words as she could – “I know you people are intelligent, I appreciate it. You are very good at Mathematics. But you know what? I have a responsibility to teach the other 90% of the class as well. I would suggest you people to abstain from class for next couple of days, because this will help your other classmates to learn better!”

    We were not able to understand her this very simple message or a very polite order. We felt she was being sarcastic. We started being more regular. Kept on beating the system. Even the Principal could not do much as everyone in our school knew – all these people are “actually” toppers whatever subject you take. This happened in 1996-97 during our class 12th.

    Now, I am revisiting that time and thinking to replace – teacher & whole school staff with the Govt of any nation. We (the 10% of us, toppers) with the top 1% or 5% of the wealthiest/powerful of that nation. Rest of the 90% of my classmates as rest of the population of the country. Did you see any ways the top seated people are beating the system? If no, please re-read the story I narrated above. Change the situation – now do you think the teacher/principal (Govt) needed (needs) to do something different? Something to perform their duty better and manage the wicked, intelligent, smart, brutal and selfish “we the top 10% students” (the top 1% or5%)

    This is the problem of top 1% or 5% or 10%, they want to maximize their own profits, most of the times beating the system. Sometimes, we need to think – if I produce something, there should be enough money in market so that my prospective buyer can buy what I produce.

    At times, its about collectively growing!

    Disclaimer – The author could – at best – secure 2nd position and remained in top 10% most of his academic career.

    Image source – http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/542851c7eab8ead666120b0a-619-457/screen%20shot%202014-09-28%20at%202.32.00%20pm.png

    If you have more time read this – http://www.businessinsider.in/Cash-Hoarding-Is-A-2-5-Trillion-Problem-In-Asia/articleshow/43753643.cms

    Note – Check image above Corporate Cash Holding in Japan and Japan’s economy – read recent blog – Did Keynes fail Japan?

  • Six Sigma failed…







    “Not invented here syndrome” is like making a statement to Prof Moradian or Prof Natarajan that your forecasting methods is flawed it does not work in my industry, company or department. Is not it prudent to ask if it worked somewhere, how did it happen? Let us take an analogy –
    Organization = Laptop
    Department = Microsoft Excel (MS Excel)
    When I make a statement–
    “You know what,
    1. Mathematically, 2+2 is not equal to 4 in MY MS Excel therefore Mathematics is flawed
    2. My MS Excel is different from the rest of the world because 2+2 in not equal to 4 in MY MS Excel
    3. My laptop is different from the rest of the world because 2+2 in not equal to 4 in MY laptop”
    If 2+2 is not 4 in your Excel it is not that the math is incorrect, perhaps your algorithm or your laptop processor is at fault. In this analogy Mathematics could be Six Sigma. I have heard that IBM failed in implementing Six Sigma (late 80’s to early 90’s), GE is extremely successful, why?

    Lately, in one of our simulation class Akshat’s team questioned “why Six Sigma failed in our company in the simulation?” one of my teammate wrote on facebook – “After 3 round of simulation today Pravin Krd accepted the disadvantage of using six sigma as corporate project :-)”. I went back to basics to answer this question. What is six sigma? Six Sigma is about vision, philosophy, management system and achieving aggressive goals. Six sigma is also a toolbox and a means to satisfy customers. If Six Sigma fails in an organization it could fail due to – improper vision or management, issues with the goals or incorrect use of tools. The basic philosophy of Six Sigma is reducing defects, how can reducing defect be a failure in a company? If I ask you what you would prefer “good enough” with 99% accuracy or 99.99966 what would you prefer from the following?

    Three sigma (99% accuracy) processes –
    5,000 incorrect surgical operations per week.
    2 short or long landings at most major airports each day
    Six Sigma (99.99966% accuracy) processes –
    1.7 incorrect surgical operations per week
    1 short or long landing every five years

    Naturally, your answer to this would be better accuracy. Six Sigma is all about facts and working logically to reduce defects, and what follows is reduced cost, customer satisfaction etc. I am not a Six Sigma guru or I am not professing it, I am only trying to put some facts – “the six sigma way”. Experts can jump in and suggest or inform why six sigma could fail and share success stories.

    Source –
    Breakthrough Management Group India training on Six Sigma certification. This Data was a sample from USA.
    Class Blue ocean strategy simulation (BOSS)