Tour De Force On Institution-Building

There is a shortage of books spouting theories from management scientists which generalise from inadequate samples. It is, therefore, refreshing to come across an output of autobiographical essays from a life-long management consultant whose warm personal touch is very evident as one flips through the pages.

These essays comprehensively record (from an actual diary in most parts) interesting experiments, innovative handling of situations and developments, controlled and uncontrolled.

What adds particular flavour to these essays is: first, that they are only ten of them; second, they are based on hands-on experience over five decades in diverse work situations like London Docks, National Coal Board, the UK, Small Industries Extension Training, Hyderabad, Unesco, Paris, to name only a few; and third, they provide an intensely personal touch that colleagues and friends have contributed to the authors thinking.

In particular, one must mention the essay on The Personal Dimension featuring Mallika Sarabhai, where the author determines the scope and depth of what we can each see and do.

Throughout the book, the author as a practitioner is quite explicitly in the picture he acts on his perceptions, deals with his feelings and repairs and learns from his inadequacies as they show up.

Using his meticulously kept diary which goes back nearly half a century and inter-weaving the dynamic and personal dimensions across a broad range of cross-cultural settings, this book sets the ground for ones own learning: a sharp contrast to the scores of books on the management of change of organisational development, behavioural sciences on human resources development where the writer tries all the time to teach.

In recounting his lifes experience, Dr Lynton examines episodes from actual work done, each in three phases -- how did the work come about, what actually took place by way of involvement, interventions (planned or otherwise) and outcomes; and more important, what with hindsight might be done better now when in similar circumstances. The frankness of this last phase is impressive.

The book is a tour de force on institution-building. The many practical situations which are discussed with candour and analysed with incisiveness will be invaluable to the student or practitioner engaged in institution- building. The world over institution-building efforts continue to fail due to the inability to walk the talk certainly to walk it steadily enough and together: the courage to be quietly attentive to what is coming in the first place and then also to leap resolutely when it comes.

Dr Lynton is a familiar figure in the Indian management world, at least, among those who were around in the sixties, when he played an important role in the formative years of Small Industries Extension Training, Hyder-abad and Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. Even now, India is his second home. He, therefore, draws extensively from his rich experience in India and is fully conversant with the Indian psyche. This gives it a universal appeal. It is also an interesting read in the Indian context. The essays comprehensively record (from an actual diary in most parts) interesting experiments, innovative handling of situations and developments, controlled and uncontrolled.