Vinod Kumar, or “Vinodji” as he is affectionately called, is a multifaceted personality and a known columnist. His interests and writings span media, politics, sports, food, travel and leisure. His special passion is the study of human Mind, Behavior and Attitudes (MBA). Analysis and insights into these are seeded throughout his writings. He is often branded as a maverick for his unusual and unorthodox ways of thinking and working. As a writer, speaker, trainer, mentor and counselor, he carries endless zeal to help people find new ways to overcome their problems. He constantly inspires them to move from ‘living’ to ‘living well’.
Maybe there are one hundred horses in the wild. They are brown, black, white and other mixed colors. All sorts of horses, including stallions. They are roaming wild. What do you call them? Have you heard the word ‘wild horses’? Yes, let us repeat it, ‘wild horses’. Many of them prefer to flock together. Some of them come to the river to drink water. Some of them come to the water together. On observation you may see that there are different categories of horses. Each classification is based on similar traits, features and behavioral properties.
A good data scientist can now begin to map their behaviors. You may call it behavior mapping. Yes, again they are wild horses. These stallions, though they flock in various categories, yet they are wild and raw. To people they may look nasty. Study them for a few years. And you will see a seasonal difference. At times of mating, of the stallion with the respectives mares. Have you seen pregnant horses? Now they are nurturing the fetus and then the whole cycle of pregnancy and delivery. The stallion protects the family. The mare nurses the newborn. Yes, it is no longer seen as wild. In contrast to the wild, they are domestic. Their expression has changed from wild horses to domestic horses.
People have utility from these horses. These horses have much skill, talent and strength to offer to people. The people then construct a structured method to capture the talented horses. The horses that are captured offer much profit to the capturer. These horses in captivity need appropriate taming. When they are well-tamed then they are open for further training. These horses who are very good during the training become racing horses. The horse race is a profitable venture. The objective is clear. There is strategy, owner and worker. There are rules and regulations by which the chosen race horse can behave. The data scientist has to make a lot of observations and assessments. Not all horses on the practice ground graduate to become race horses. Those that race well can bring many trophies. “Trophies” to be read as profits.
Racing horses is a very competitive field. Therefore the recruitment, training and practices are specific for different roles. Most of the horse racing centers have some similarity of procedures, processes, protocols and policies. These trained horses exhibit similar, repetitive traits of work culture, even though the owners can change. Though the owners of property have changed yet workers are streamlined and confined to trained behavior. Their behavior is predictable. These trained horses then rely on management for its needs. Even unknowingly these horses of utility have become dependent on the owner. What a contrast from the source that was wild then moved through flock behavior. Then they moved from flock to domestic behavior, then discovered the utility. Somebody else volunteered to train these work horses. Then the work horses became tamed. They became a large group of trained workforce of specific utility. Welcome to the planet “corporate”.
The data analyst continues to map these recruits. The psychometric experts have become their tool for mind mapping. The business has discovered its competitors. The ambitious traders have been fitted into the appropriate industry. The government has offered legal protection. The legal entitlements have become the first line of defense for the newly formed corporate entities. They have all merged and aligned as one community. This community has merged and has particular ethics and values. Their collective behavior with this association of profit seeking entities, have integrated to generate their constitution. Fast-forward to the year 2021. This festive season the wild horses are singing the festive song, “Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, Oh what fun it is to ride, In a one-horse open sleigh”. The companies are countering this universal rhyme.
The companies are focussed on productivity. Their chime and rhyme has other intonation. “Perform or perish” is the corporate mantra. Recruitment tools, training programmes and duration of probation cannot be erased. Appraisals and increments are now expected by the employees. Is it a world by itself? Enter the Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Ensure that you visit the gated communities. Ensure you visit the Public Sector Units. You will educate yourself about the corporate lifestyle.
The civic pundits, the administrative officers and the political masters have all conspired to carve out a niche. This clan that is carved out of the civil society, you may call it the corporate sector. Yes, it is the emergence of a new class, a separate sector for industry and profit. Enter this sector. And this planet reverberates with its own severe competitions. Some people call it a cut-throat competition. Is there freedom for anecdotes? Where is all the humor gone? When did the horse race become a rat race?
The month is March in the year 2020. Everybody knows the disruption from the pandemic. The pandemic brought a sudden jolt in the horse race and rat race. Many industries came to a stand still. The consumers suddenly disappeared. So many products were seen as unsellable or even unnecessary. Are you one among them as a consumer in the lockdown in the city? There were mountains of inventory. But yet it was almost impossible to find a new consumer. Hospitality industry was hit the worst. Very few industries survived.
You are thorough with the new phenomenon called ‘work from home’. The medical industry and online platforms flourished. You can name your own favorite internet supported communication platform. Conferences, seminars, corporate meetings were limited to internet and online facilities. Disruption of privileges, and uprooting of many designations and statuses. Yes, we experienced it. There were many jokes and anecdotes. You know most of them because it became a hybrid representation of each individual. Inside the home, but formally and officially online. Maybe the biggest stress this time was doing wardrobe management. This hybrid existence compelled the employee to sit at home with family and appear professional on the online platform. Onboarding from the wild to domestic to the new sector called corporate. This onboarding and recruitment was restricted to online. Certainly the pandemic has subsided. If you look back into the corporate life of the last two years, it may look like the debris of a city after a tornado and flood hit. But then the corporate has many motivations and inspirations. The corporate sector is the revenue generator. We cannot ever do away with the corporate.
Corporate is the anatomy of living. You may call it the spinal cord of life. Everything is bound by structure and systems. Transactions have clarity. Collaborations have contracts. Immense research is required for product development. Only the curated and best quality will survive. The target and segment is mapped and studied by the data analyst. Severe competition is there to become visible in the market. Strategy, tact and tricks become the pillars to capture a larger share in the market. Defending and protecting the already existing resources is an industry by itself. The profits that are generated have to be further invested to sustain the shelf life of the company.
The corporate sector has abundant inspirations. Manufacturing, business, construction and builders and producers, architects, doctors, engineers, information technologists are all bound by the corporate sector. The pandemic seems to have relented. The future is bright. If we cooperate and be part of this shared value, then there are possibilities. Opportunities are immense. Achievements and accomplishments can get recognition. Get corporatised to get privileged.