Saturday, January 9, 2016

EMPATHY – one of the 5Es for leading change



One of the 5E's articulated by our Prime Minister at the 103rd Indian Science Congress is "Empathy" (the very first step in Design Thinking).(Click)  He seemed to be echoing what Harvard Business School is doing right now – i.e., focusing on design thinking in its leadership teaching courses. According to Prof. Anthony Mayo, it requires a different kind of leadership skills for driving change -  "What it requires is empathy...and so you have to put yourself in the shoes of the customer and that can be difficult for leaders because it requires humility. It requires vulnerability, it requires you to be comfortable saying I don't know," said Mayo. [Click here]

Indian establishments need a lot of that to stimulate "Make in India" in its true sense. See an earlier post titled “[PLMSS-2015] Design Thinking for Steering PLM Implementation @DRDO [Sat, 26 Dec 2015]”

As part of cooperative federalism and global collaboration, it is worthwhile to note the NITI Ayog’s suggestion for Research in India through various “Make in Universities” programs.  All these require the leadership in our scientific, research and industrial establishments to partner with Universities for pursuing transformational changes rather than transactional changes.  Some may find this news report useful: 'Research in India', Contracted Foreign Defence Firms Told [Tue, 29 Dec 2015, TNIE]. Here is an excerpt: [Quote] With the aim of promoting universities as hubs of research, the committee on 'innovation and entrepreneurship' has recommended steps like encouraging professors to be stakeholders or partners in entrepreneurial and incubation ecosystems in universities by offering 'faculty entrepreneurial fellowships' [Unquote]. These developments also support the ideas in my previous posts on University-Industry research-interactions around the PLM Centers of KIIT University and other similar establishments elsewhere in the country.

Here is a related post w.r.t Indian Science Congress-2010 carrying the former PM's message on similar lines: Design Thinking in the Upcoming IITs, IIMs, NITs.

Also, here is one excerpt from this editorial titled “Stop The Circus, Stick to Science” [Sat, 9 Jan 2016, TNIE]. “Disbanding the Indian Science Congress would be like throwing the baby with the bathwater. Instead, they should refocus on the core purpose and stick to it.”

When Harvard has not yet given up on Intelligent Design, it is strange to see controversies still brewing around science and religion. (Read: Nobel laureate V Ramakrishnan calls Indian Science Congress a circus. Do you agree?). Here I assume that “Intelligent Design” is not necessarily limited to promoting the views of one particular religion. By adhering to the tenets of a pluralistic society, why can’t we look up and, as DT proponents advocate, consider taking the “Leaps of Faith”? Related link:  Intelligent cause for academic freedom [Wed, Feb 13, 2008].