Business to the Buddha

Tag: NCC

  • Flow Over Fixation

    Mind’s chatter rarely stops. On that fateful day more than a year ago, even though I was riding my two-wheeler, mind was rambling, 9:05 am I will reach home. We will have breakfast, by 10:00 am or so we will take a stroll in the society. By that time Adviti will be back from her dance class. We would get ready by 11:00 am spend some time at home and start for social gathering followed by lunch.

    It was about 9:00 but my mind had already reached lunch time. They say plans are useless but planning is important. I was preparing this plan in my head and in three minutes I was on the ground! Met with a minor accident, or that is what I thought it was. At the hospital I realized it was not a small accident.

    That one thing changed me to a great extent. I make plans, of course I worry for many things too however, I know now that in next second things may change completely. This incident reminded me of my Senior Division NCC days. I was Senior Under Officer of my company 3MP CTI. It was one of the best learning experiences as a leader. I had heard many adventurous stories shared by our trainers and Commanding Officers. One insight stayed with me: even when a plan is thoroughly prepared for field operations, the leader must remain flexible. The officer in command understands that about 70% of the plan is predetermined. The remaining 30% must be adapted based on the situation at hand. So even after planning they keep room for improvisation and course correction.

    If in a life and death situation they can keep their plans fluid, in our day today professional and personal life too we should have that wiggle room for change. However, in our daily rut we miss out on this kind of small yet very important lesson. Take an example, when you go to office on a daily basis, do you change your route often? I recall, I had to fill my car and in the self-chatter while driving I completely missed this small yet very useful thing. We become so mechanical that we miss out on things.

    That two-wheeler ride turned out to be more than just a commute – it became a quiet lesson. In that one moment, life shook me out of the mechanical rhythm we all fall into. Buddhist practice often speaks of mindfulness – being in the now, not being dragged into what’s ahead or behind. That morning, my mind had already reached lunchtime, while my body was still dodging traffic at 9:00 AM.

    We make plans, and we should. But we must also remind ourselves: plans aren’t permanent. I remember my NCC days – our commanding officers always said, “Plan for 70%, keep 30% flexible.” It wasn’t just about military drills; it was deeper. Whether in business strategy or daily life, that 30% flexibility is vital. It’s space for awareness, for course correction, for growth.

    As professionals, as leaders, and even as commuters, the lesson is the same: don’t get locked into habit. That minor looking accident taught me something major – presence matters. Even an ordinary ride can turn into an extraordinary insight, if we’re tuned in.

    We must live with awareness. Not just by the clock or calendar, but by being present to what is.

  • A leadership lesson

    It happened more than a decade back. We were at Offsite for a yearly strategy meeting. As it happens we had a team-building exercise during that offsite. In one exercise, we’re divided into three teams. I was leading one and there were two more people. Leaders were taken to one side by one organizer and explained what is expected and how to achieve it. Other team members of organizers were with the team members. Now we were brought back we were taken to our teams. We were surprised they were blindfolded. We were told that whatever we were taught get the same thing done from the team members. Conditions – they cannot open their eyes. You have to only guide them on what to do. You cannot touch any material. If we need some help, we’ve to guide and speak with the organizing team member.

    My team came second; the team that came third had our senior leadership rep in the team. Experience sharing started, this time team members were given the first opportunity to speak. The senior rep said – “Though our team came third however we were aware of what we were doing. Our leader explained what we have to do.” This comment was a bit surprising for me, I was not allowed to speak. So, one of my team members started sharing experience – “He said we were not able to understand what we were doing as we were blindfolded”. Now, this was even more surprising – every team’s team members were blindfolded, only leaders and the organizers were not. Leaders turn came – I said, I am surprised with my team member said he did not know what’s happening, everyone knew we were making a tent right? The way you explained to us, you must have taught how to make it when you were teaching us. I am thinking why you blindfolded the team members?

    So the organizers said, it is good that you came second, missed your top position only by few seconds. However, why did you think we taught you and the team members same thing? Is not it that you assumed team members were taught the same thing? I said yes I assumed they were. The organizer said – you were good at instructing your team, therefore, you were second. However, you did not win the trust of your team; see an open disagreement is there.

    Lesson

    I came to know that I was very good at instructing people. I had learnt it when I was in NCC, though I learnt only little there – I missed another learning big time. I realized in this incident that to become a good leader I needed to improve. Never assume anything; this was one of the biggest lessons for me from that offsite. Many people, as I did in the scenario, assume things such as and expect good results from others. We expect certain behavior from others that we take for granted. Every individual is different so few things must be communicated as much a good leader makes it easy to understand the vision – communication is the key to that.

    Recently it happened that when I spoke with a friend of mine, he said why do you communicate these things before making a decision? I felt a bit uncomfortable to answer the question. I realized he did not have the experience I got more than a decade back. I hope I am learning good lessons with each interaction to become a good leader.

    Related blogs –

    1. Assumptions
    2. Question your assumptions
    3. Every problem is a nail if you have the only hammer in your toolbox
    4. Teaching virtues to Adviti