It's Not Enough To Have A Great Idea

B-school grads need to know that there's more to an organisation than just strategy. It is about people too

At IIM, Ahmedabad, learning happened in more ways than one. It was not just about the course curriculum. It was a great experience interacting with classmates from different backgrounds and excelling in their subjects.

Also, the professors weren't just teachers, they were researchers whose love for their subject was evident when they taught. Then there was the IIM infrastructure, which made you feel that you are in a wonderful place to learn.

The most important thing I learnt and which held me in good stead is analytical skills. I learnt how to look at a situation from different perspectives, analyse it with supported data, zero-in on the problem and then look at the solution.

In my 15 years in the corporate world, I have worked across four industries (paints, air conditioners, civil engineering and foods) and with each company, it was either a turnaround situation or it was a startup. That's where my analytical skills helped me.

If your analytical skills are developed well, you have the ability to understand any industry, redefine the problem there and also come up with a way to tackle it.

However, what I didn't learn at IIM-A was the importance to manage people and the skills involved thereof. Only when I started my career did I realise how much time is required in inspiring people and conveying your ideas to them.

It is not enough to have a great idea. You need people who will execute it for you and for that, you need to manage people and make them understand its big-ness and importance.

For instance, when I joined Hitachi, India, as CEO, the company was a regional player and number eight in the industry with a turnover of Rs 8 crore.

In the next nine years, it became number two in India with a turnover of Rs 240 crore. What I realised was that in the initial years, the focus was primarily on financial performance. I was just not pushing my ideas, not taking people along. So I changed tracks.

This involved new processes, weekend conferences and outbound training programmes with my 30 top managers. Apart from activities like white-water rafting, we did an exercise called soul searching.

Everyone talked about what they were good at, what they were bad at, sales guys criticised the factory people and so on. All the blood letting was done in a structured manner. What's more, it helped everyone take criticism sportingly.

With exercises like these, which meant I invested more time and money on my people, I realised my ideas got conveyed better. This was more important than how good or efficient my idea was.

But this was something I didn't learn in IIM, only at work. I discovered that no organisation has bad people. If it does bad it's because it has bad leaders.

I feel B-schools still have work to do when it comes to making great leaders with people's skills. Management schools should not only have projects and summer training for their students but also put them in situations where they have to interact with people and manage to get work done.

This will help them in knowing which leadership style works and which doesn't. They have to learn that there's more to an organisation than just strategy. It is about people too.

Another thing my B-school education fell short on teaching was how to cope with stress.

As I mentioned, all the companies I joined were either startups or in turnaround situations. And at such times, not only are you under stress but, in getting work done, you forget what other people are going through. I wish I had been taught ways of easing stress.

- Arvind Nair

As told to Prerna Raturi Arvind Nair belongs to the 1979 batch of IIM, Ahmedabad, and is CEO, Dominos Pizza India Ltd