Fighting Change

Last few months have been cruel. Top management honchos in star organizations had to give up their jobseither happily or reluctantly. These were like stalwarts of Indian IT. Though most have taken up new assignments, they have left controversies and unanswered questions behind them.

My belief is that this pressure will continue to go up. The industry these people dedicated their lives to does not let products survive beyond a few years. It is constantly striving for technological change and innovation. But these people have been there for more than 2 decades. Has their ability to lead and manage change diminished? If so, how long will their stint be in their new place of work?

On the other hand there is a push for growth, and independence from the tier below them. I have heard so many stories of the younger executives taking a more aggressive and quick-result oriented (call it ruthless if you will) stance during strategy and review meetings. Most of our old warhorses are conservative, cautious, and want to go by the book. The second tier, mostly in their mid or late thirties, want to lay down their own rules. They are ambitious achievers, and perhaps impatient, who often see their bosses as hurdles to rapid growth. Or believe that the top rung is redundant, not really contributing.

Market conditions have also not been too supportive. After the longish slowdown, there have been so many disruptive and unexpected changes that a new type of uncertainty has taken over. Will customers buy products or take everything on rent from the cloud? Will the customer refuse to be a customer and demand to be a partner?

A lot of these old heroes must be getting edgy. My honest recommendation is that this is the time for recognizing, building and empowering the second line to give them greater ownership, rather than struggling to be on the top and fight change.

While on the subject of change, you will find, as you go through this issue, a new and improved Dataquest. Just like the industry it tracks, Dataquest comes to you with a new design, new grid names, new presentation, new sections, and most importantly, a new spirit. Actually we had changed the magazine design in the last issue itselfalbeit quietly. We wanted to see how many of you notice it. We were not disappointed.

Please do write to us with your feedback. Would be very happy to incorporate your views and come out with a new and improved ver 2.0. We want to change and not fight change.