WILLING OBEDIENCE IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN FORCED OBEDIENCE
By
VIKRAM KARVE
“As a leader, you must ensure that whatever instructions you give and all the orders you pass are properly obeyed,” a renowned Management Guru pontificated to his audience at the leadership training workshop he was conducting for policemen.
The eager beaver trainees listened in rapt attention as the Management Guru thundered, “Enforcement of orders – that’s the key to effective leadership – you must be able to enforce all orders and ensure compliance of all instructions and rules by the public.”
At the end of the training, a wizened policeman came up to the Management Guru and said, “Sir, all this is fine in theory, but it does not work in practice. It is easy to give lectures but practical implementation is a different matter altogether.”
“What do you mean?” the Guru asked.
“From where I come, it is impossible to make anyone obey orders. There is just no discipline in that place – the people out there just do not obey instructions. They are most unmanageable and disobedient,” the cop said.
“From where do you come?”
“Pune,” the cop said.
“Okay. I am coming to Pune next week. We will discuss there,” the Guru said.
A few days later, the policeman took the Management Guru on a tour of Pune City
“See,” the cop said pointing towards a NO PARKING sign, “look at the number of vehicles parked in the “No Parking” Zone. We keep trying to educate everyone, we fine defaulters, tow away wrongly parked vehicles – but it is of no use. No one seems to be bothered about obeying rules, so we too have stopped bothering about it.”
The Cop took the Guru to a garden park. There was a sign DO NOT PLUCK FLOWERS but there was a women plucking flowers right next to the signpost. DO NOT LITTER THE LAWN a signboard said, but people were throwing all sorts of waste, including paper plates and dumping remains of their food on the lawn (of course, they couldn’t care less about the DO NOT EAT FOOD IN THE GARDEN notice too).
It was a similar situation everywhere. Every instruction was ignored. People were spitting despite DO NOT SPIT signs, driving the wrong way into one-way streets ignoring NO ENTRY traffic signs, merrily smoking cigarettes in NO SMOKING areas, the traffic was totally chaotic as drivers jumped signals and cared two hoots about following traffic rules, it was impossible to walk on the pavement due to encroachments – the policeman was right – the people of this town just did not obey any instructions and they couldn’t care less about rules and regulations.
“So,” the policeman said gleefully to the Guru, “what do have to say now?”
“Come to the park in the evening at six o’clock,” the Guru told the cop, “I’ll show you how to get people to obey orders.”
“Really?” said the disbelieving policeman, “okay I’ll come, and I’ll bring my bosses too. We will all like to see how you are going to achieve this miracle – making people of Pune obey instructions, just imagine?”
In the evening a posse of cops and the policeman reached the park and were bewildered at what they saw.
On the lawns of the garden, the Management Guru had put up a big signboard on which was boldly written
DO NOT EAT STONES
A number of people were looking at the notice with amusement and then walking away smiling. But no one was eating stones.
“See,” the triumphant Guru said to the flabbergasted policemen, “Do you see anyone disobeying this order? Do you see even a single person eating stones?”
Before the dumbfounded cops could say anything, the Guru said, “Remember one thing – willing obedience is always better than forced obedience.”
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2012
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2012
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
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