Look at these two pictures. In the first picture, you find people loading stuff on an elephant. In the second picture, you see people (mainly women) celebrating. Is there anything striking in these pictures apart from the obvious that I already stated?
It's not any routine stuff being loaded on the elephant. This is an EVM Machine. More than 1.7 million machines were deployed in the general elections in India. The picture captures the contrast so uniquely, lack of infrastructure and high-end technology going hand in hand. However, despite the challenges we face as an emerging nation, we have achieved this feat. Even developed countries like the US, Germany, and Japan have not been able to do it. These machines have ensured free and fair elections. People have made claims about manipulating the EVMs. However, not a single one of them stepped forth to take the hackathon challenge of the Election Commission. This small innovation has made our democracy stronger.
The second picture is not of some women employees celebrating Diwali or a corporate event. These are ISRO's scientists celebrating the successful launch of Mars Orbiter. Again, note the contrast, culture, and technology. ISRO has been at the forefront of technological achievements in India. They have found frugal ways of doing it. It's a feat that has awed nations like the US and France.
In both these cases, the scale of achievement is gigantic.
So, do we have any lessons to learn? I think there are many. But if I had to distill it down to a few, here are my choices:
1. Adapt technology: It no longer matters whether you are a small or large business. You may be a freelancer or an employee. Without technology, we would not be able to achieve anything. Both the examples cited here prove that technology does not make things costlier. On the other hand, in one case, it makes the voice of the last person in the queue heard (every single electorate). In the second, it leapfrogs a nation into an elite club.
2. Scalability and Sustainability are not adversaries: For a business to be really successful, scalability is of utmost importance. The EVM Machines and ISRO's Missions have proved that these were not accidents. Each of them follows processes that ensure delivery. An allied concept is sustainability. The EVMs reduce the use of paper. It also reduces the efforts associated with the counting process. I had read an article in the Indian Journal of Science and Technology about the sustainability initiatives of ISRO. It covers all areas of sustainability - water conservation, alternate energy, waste management, etc.
3. Networking / Collaboration: The elections or the ISRO's missions are impossible without the coordinated efforts of several people. An unofficial figure is that 11 million officials are involved in the process of election. Apart from the scientist working in ISRO, many organizations like Godrej and L&T are involved. We in businesses need to learn that it would be impossible for a single enterprise to control every factor. We have to learn to collaborate to be successful and achieve the scale.
4. Culture: Progress may not mean compromising on values and culture. These two are not at odds with each other. The culture of an organization is an output of its philosophy and beliefs. If we are following natural principles of equality, trust, truth, then culture is just a way of expressing it. The culture helps us stay focused on our purpose.
Very nice article thanks