Personal Learning Paper #1 -Divanshu Dubey Roll No 26

Session 1: Perceptual Processes

An officer's prayer Lord Make me worthy of the men I serve, worthy of their loyalty and devotion to duty. Their wondrous willingness and ready laughter. Their great humility that asks so little and gives so much, so readily without complaint. Grant their simple wishes o Lord, Bless them please For in this world No better soldiers breathe Than these.

While this subject would be easy to relate to for almost everyone, owing to my background I am able to come up with too many examples of how perceptions can play a profound role in forming once notions, about both people and situations. The knowledge of the same can be used to manipulate people to influence outcomes. At the risk of repeating a clich I found the reading highly intuitive. One immediate reaction that I had was to see the power of positive thinking in all this. I feel that even the defects or distortion that one suffers can be used positively and at the same time the negative effects can be minimised if one inculcates the habit of thinking positively. An example of this is often seen in my erstwhile profession where the reinforcement of positive stereotypes is done to such an extent that it is engraved into the minds of men, becoming one of the strongest motivational factors for them. Another notable feeling that I would like to bring out is that of Dj-vu which I had when reading about Halo Effect and linking it to the evaluation of subordinates. However I do believe that since we are usually constrained in terms of resources, especially manpower, any positive halo effect is always welcome. Coupled with some motivation and empowerment the results are generally positive when dealing with subordinates. Also, I would be lying if I claimed to not have experienced an odd case of negative Halo Effect as

well, where I was pleasantly surprised by the commendable execution of a task by a subordinate from whom I honestly did not expect much. A major role that I played in the last few years in my previous organisation also included what we called Perception Management. This was to a certain extent meant to compensate for the changing social values and the socio-economic realities of our men & their families. Also, an attempt was made to under-play the heavy shift in attitudes of people towards materialism. This exercise, to a certain extent, brought in the perceptual readiness amongst some of us to embrace the nobility of our profession over the pitfalls of a purely materialistic view. I can remember various instances when I observed people in strenuous circumstances and their perceptions were moulded by fatigue, stress and the characteristics of the situation. This was the perfect test for Separating the Men from the Boys. While projection was a much heard of & an often trivialized concept, looking back I do realise that this is common. Although one must try & see people for who they are & avoid poor judgement based on this basis, it is natural to a certain extent. This is particularly the case when people have little time to get to know each other & must develop trust based on instincts. The structure & systems in an organisation can to a certain extent avoid the pitfalls of wrong judgement of people, but a lot of damage can be done if it happens at a crucial stage/level. In this case too, positive projection is better & less harmful than negative. By far the most memorable instance of the trap of Implicit Personality Theory that I have observed was when my unit was inspected by two Senior Commanders in succession. Since the first was better known than the other, the perception of the latter was slightly better (the saying goes, Never stand in front of a senior officer or behind a donkey, cause you will get kicked). Goes without saying, the reality turned out to be quite the opposite. As a group leader in my future organisation, it should be my endeavour to draw from the learning in class relating it to the rich experience that I had the good fortune of & use it to make prudent decisions about people and circumstances. As they say, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Session 2: Negotiation This session was a true eye-opener. In spite of the warning at the beginning of the text I considered myself a highly skilled negotiator. The problem was that I could largely relate to this either in terms of hostage like situations as popularised by Hollywood or the higher level negotiations of the Indo-Pak variety. The day-to-day business negotiations did not initially come to mind. I feel that to some extent this was because I didnt frequently experience this in my previous organisation. Although we dealt with internal customers regularly, whenever there was a conflict of interest it was a matter of approaching the right person and communicating the requirement. While there were instances of negotiation, there would always be a clearly defined arbitrating authority whose decision would be non-negotiable & binding. There were instances of dealing with external bodies but there too the scope of negotiating was limited. Mostly, it was a one sided affair. Having said that, I do recall instances where I have observed people have their way using the tricks mentioned in the session. I feel that having prior knowledge of these would be very helpful. To some extent negotiations do happen at one level or the other, but the spirit of helping each other, camaraderie, combined with personal relations & claim to authority always seemed more important in my erstwhile organisation. Negotiating skill has been most useful since the beginning of this program. Many opportunities of exercising & honing my skills will present themselves, and I look forward to these with a fresh mind. In the exercise carried out during the session I played the role of Dr Nathan. Although I did not reach a conclusion, the learning from this was immense, maybe more so because I failed, & I will always remember the points driven home. I feel that this was an important step in de-learning ones prior experience. The over-emphasis on information security in my previous job prevented me from even imagining sharing the fact that I only require the peel of the Black Melons, with my counter-part. The Melons seemed to slip through my idea of a broader approach to solve the problem. I am confident that after this session I will never undermine BATNAs & hopefully pull a few Perkins over the Moffetts of this world (refer the Teddy Roosevelt eg.).

Session 3: Group Dynamics "I have to follow them. I am their leader." -Alexandre-Auguste Ledru-Rollin, Leader of the French Revolution of 1848 From the time we are born we live through working with/for one kind of group or another. Till the time I did the reading for this session I always had a feeling that there is something that either makes a group tick or otherwise. This is more applicable to the flatter organisations of the informal unstructured variety. My last few years of professional experience has been in a very structured and leader driven environment. Although, here the importance of these teachings need be emphasised even more, because as it happens on many occasions, in the heat of the moment the leader can be removed out of the equation. This suddenly makes the group flatter. The authority of the next leader can be questioned. His ability and the reaction of other members can become crucial to the group dynamics. A situation in a large group that I was leading comes to mind. Men with outstanding achievement in sports were promoted out of turn in that organisation. While some struggled to gain matching competence, others did not. This created a situation in one of the sub-groups where a person with little experience and competence became a leader. This gave rise to resentment amongst members and to some extent amongst colleagues. Since it was a necessary evil, it was managed by employing competent people in the immediately lower level, and cleverly distributing responsibilities and drawing lines. The formal nature of groups and the highly structured environment always lay emphasis on the performing part. The success of the group was always leader driven. I do feel that this kind of an approach can save a lot of time and energy, though it may not always be possible. In some cases such as study groups, such a formal structure may not exist, but the stages of forming, storming & norming were usually telescoped. The time from forming to performing would be very short, given the training of members. This was the case in numerous circumstances, even when these groups were constituted through members of various sister organisation and diverse backgrounds. Having a clear hierarchy did help. Groups to Solve Problems Creatively: It is possible for a group within a structured

organisation to come up with creative solutions. The onus lies on the leader and members, to clearly state expectations and foster an atmosphere which will lead to creativity. There were

instances when even within the structured organisation such results were achieved, leading to increased operational capabilities, particularly in the lower echelons of the organisation. The take away from this session was again one of learning as well as de-learning. The possibility of such group dynamics when the initial stages of forming, storming & norming are not automatic needs to be considered by me. A good start has been the study group at the institute. Another important lesson was the entry of Groupthink, Groupshift & Social Loafing into the group dynamics. These phenomena are wide-spread, especially in large organisations, when large groups are required to function. After this exposure I will be watchful of any waste of resources and skewed decision making due to these issues. The merit corporation case was full of important lessons, one amongst them being proper leadership transition and the importance of feedback. This helped me understand change management better in the backdrop of flat structured groups to some extent, which was a novelty.