HOW TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS IN TODAY’S WORLD

HOW TO SUCCEED IN TODAY’S WORLD
Musings
By
VIKRAM KARVE

Conventional Wisdom talks of many ingredients in the recipe for success like professional excellence, proficiency at work, integrity, sincerity, hard work, talent etc etc. 

All this is fine, but as I hark back to my own experience, and look around today and reflect (and especially after I watched a few TV Debates today on how an diligent and sincere IAS Officer was hounded and harassed for honestly doing his duty) I have come to the conclusion that the key ingredient in the recipe of success is MORAL PLIABILITY. 

Yes, all those other traditional attributes may certainly contribute, but unless you are Morally Pliable you will never succeed in your career, and indeed in your life.

In today’s world, it does not pay dividends to be honest, straightforward and outspoken.

Concepts like moral values and ethical conduct are outmoded and have no relevance in today's times.

If you practice ethical conduct and take a moral stand, and stand by your principles, you will be called difficult and dogmatic, and most likely, you will be written off in your career, fall by the wayside and be passed over for promotion and may spend your professional life in wilderness.

So, remember, if you are one of those old-fashioned orthodox “man of principle” types with “unshakable integrity” you are destined for failure. 

The key to success is to be able to swim with times and bend with the wind, and to be able to to metamorphose yourself and change colours like a Chameleon. 

Yes, you must practice “Situational Ethics” and become an “Ethical Chameleon”. 

In short, you should be Morally Pliable. 

Look around you and see for yourself the one common quality most “successful” individuals have - MORAL PLIABILITY.

You may observe that Moral Pliability is the sine qua non for career advancement and success in all types of organizations - government and non-government, business and academic, but especially in the former.

CAREER SUCCESS MANTRA - MORAL PLIABILITY

Look around you, in your workplace and outside, and you will realize that the most “successful” persons are those who are morally pliable.

In the early days of my career, when I was young and full of idealism, I used to wonder why so many professionally competent, talented, efficient and diligent persons do not get the success they deserve in their careers.

Now it is quite clear to me – they lacked that key ingredient which is the sine qua non to reach the top of the ladder: MORAL PLIABILITY.

Yes, if you are morally pliable you will develop the ability to unquestioningly obey orders from your superiors without suffering qualms of conscience. 

Your bosses will feel comfortable with you and you will go a long way in your career – yes, proficiency may take you to a certain level but to rise beyond that you need that decisive ingredient in the recipe for success – moral pliability.

If you are honest, straightforward and upright you may even be labeled as an “idealist”, impractical, conceited, dogmatic, or even worse, if you stand by your principles you may be branded as a difficult person, as someone who cannot get along with others, and your career may be written off and you may be cast away by the wayside.

If you flow with the tide, bend your principles as the wind blows, you will be appreciated as a “practical” person, tactful manager, a great team player – after all, everyone loves an adaptable person with a flexible personality. 

This is true in most organizations – at work and also in personal relationships in a family.

DANGERS OF BEING MORALLY PLIABLE

Of course there is a danger in being too flexible. 

Once you practice moral pliability for a long time and make it a habit to compromise your principles as the situation demands, you may reach a stage where you have no principles left to compromise.

Yes, the sustained practice of moral pliability is bound to affect your capability for creative and original thinking. 

To quote Norman Dixon:

“A lifetime of having to curb the expression of original thought culminates so often in there being nothing left to express”. 

I have seen this happen to so many morally pliable persons who turn into “yes sir yes sir three bags full sir” type obsequious sycophants.

So, Dear Reader, look around your workplace, observe your colleagues, especially the eager-beaver go-getter “successful” types. 

Reflect for a while and ask yourself:

Is better to be morally rigid and ethically steadfast?

Or is it better to be morally “malleable” and “ductile” and practice “situational ethics”?   

When I see the number of morally pliable people achieve great “success” I wonder whether this African saying is relevant here:

“The wind does not break a tree that bends” 

Or maybe the Ancient Chinese Wisdom:

“The tree that does not bend with the wind will be broken by the wind”.

Or should you stand by your principles as John Quincy Adams says:

“Always stand on principle, even if you stand alone”.

Or is it wiser to follow the advice of Thomas Jefferson:

“In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock”.

Think about it and you decide for yourself what is right for you.

As an afterthought, let me add that there is a flip side to moral pliability too. 

As we discussed earlier, the first danger you may face if you become morally pliable is that you may lose the capacity for original thought.

There is a bigger danger as well.

Sometimes these morally pliable persons who reach the topmost positions in the hierarchy may bring disrepute to themselves and tarnish the reputation of their organizations owing to this very quality of moral pliability that catalyzed their ascent to the top. 

Quite a paradox, isn’t it?

Dear Reader, I have given you the mantra, the key to success. 

I have told you the pros and the cons. 

Now, the choice is yours. 

Do you want to be a Morally Pliable Ethical Chameleon and succeed and be a winner? 

Or do you want to stand steadfast by your values and be a “man of principle” and fail in life and be a loser?

You have to decide: TO BE or NOT TO BE MORALLY PLIABLE ... !!!

Remember, your juniors and your children are observing you, so don't blame them if they too become morally pliable and turn into Ethical Chameleons like you!

Yes, you will become a role model for your juniors and children, especially of you “succeed”.

Dear Reader: Please comment and let us know your views.

Enjoy your work and have a great day. Wish you all the success in your career. 

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.

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About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer and blogger. Educated at IIT Delhi, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional research papers in journals and edited in-house journals and magazines for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing and blogging. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Vikram Karve Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/vikramkarve
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramkarve@sify.com     

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

MILITARY INCOMPETENCE - A Quote

Here is quote from Liddel Hart (quoted by Norman Dixon on page 162 of his book On The Psychology of Military Incompetence)

A lifetime of having to curb the expression of original thought culminates so often in there being nothing left to express

GROUPTHINK : The First Step to Moral Pliability

GROUP-THINK : The First Step to Moral Pliability
By
VIKRAM KARVE

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much

--- Walter Lippmann

GROUPTHINK

Tradition has it that conflict is bad.

Conflict is something to be avoided.

The culture of many organizations implies explicitly or implicitly that conflict should be suppressed and eliminated. 

It is common for managers to perceive intra-organizational conflict as being dysfunctional for the achievement of organizational goals.

Most of us still cling to the idea that good managers resolve conflict. 

Current thinking disputes this view.

In the absence of conflicting opinions, harmonious tranquil work groups are prone to becoming static, apathetic and unresponsive to pressures for change and innovation.

Work Groups and Teams, even Top Management,  also risk the danger of becoming so self-satisfied, that dissenting views, which may offer important alternative information, are totally shut out.

In short, they fall victims to a syndrome called “GROUPTHINK”

In a study of public policy decision fiascos, I.L Janis identified “GROUPTHINK” as a major cause of poor decision making. 

As he describes it, ‘groupthink’ occurs when decision makers who work closely together develop a high degree of solidarity that clouds their vision, leading them to suppress conflicting views and negative feelings about proposals, consciously or unconsciously.

A manifestation of the groupthink phenomenon is the staggering irrationality which can beset the thinking of the otherwise highly competent, intelligent, conscientious individuals when they begin acting as a group or team and this affects organisational effectiveness.


EFFECT AND SYMPTOMS OF GROUPTHINK

The net effect on the group is that it overestimates its power and morality, it creates pressures for uniformity and conformance, and its members become close-minded, living in ivory towers. Some manifestations are the illusions of invulnerability and the encouragement to take great risks and to ignore the ethical or moral aspects of their decisions and actions.

This author has witnessed close-mindedness on the part of several managers which then permeated their teams.

One project manager took this to the extreme and in effect defined his environment as consisting of two kinds of people, either "friends" or "enemies". 

This syndrome is akin to the dialogue from the classic Movie Ben Hur

the “you are either for me or you are against me” syndrome

Like this Manager I observed, many persons too exhibit this syndrome.

Friends were people who completely agreed with his favoured solutions and supported his project. All others were enemies.

Soon his entire project team was echoing similar sentiments having fallen victim to “GROUPTHINK”, resulting in unbending positions, heated arguments and subsequent lack of respect for anyone who disagreed with them. The ultimate consequences can easily be guessed.

The symptoms of groupthink include:

(i) An illusion of invulnerability that becomes shared by most members of the group.

(ii) Collective attempts to ignore or rationalize away items of inconvenient information which might otherwise lead the group to reconsider shaky but cherished assumptions.

(iii) An unquestioned belief in the group’s inherent morality, thus causing members to overlook the ethical consequences of their decisions.

(iv) Stereotyping the dissenters as either too evil for negotiation or too stupid and feeble to merit consideration.

(v) A shared illusion of unanimity in a majority viewpoint, augmented by the false assumption that silence means consent.

(vi) Self-appointed “mind-guards” to protect the group from adverse information that might shatter complacency about the effectiveness and morality of their decision.

Not very surprisingly it has been suggested that individuals most susceptible to groupthink will tend to be people fearful of disapproval and rejection and who want to “conform”.

Conversely, an outspoken individualist who freely airs his views and opinions, if trapped in a groupthink situation, runs the risk of being ejected by his colleagues if he fails to hold his tongue.


GROUPTHINK SITUATIONS

THE DOMINANT LEADER

Firstly, because the CEO [or the “Boss”] dispenses all favours, his biggest problem is to avoid being treated like God. Secondly, the “Boss” must avoid thinking that he is God.

Indeed, in many organizations, it is not easy to contradict or argue too vigorously with the boss.

Even when managers feel that they know more than a superior, they may suppress doubts because of career considerations.

Fear, respect for authority, and even admiration for the boss, may make sceptics hesitate when confronted with a confident CEO or dominating superior.

This is less of a problem if the leader acts in the organization’s interests, possesses requisite soft skills, and has strong ethics and cognitive capabilities to make decisions.

However, if a leader does not force serious questioning, he or she will sometimes make mistakes and errors of judgement. 

Colleagues and subordinates will become “yes-men”, and groupthink will take over decision making.

And the dominant CEO may not discover his or her mistakes because fearful employees withhold information.

What can lower-level managers do about the boss who has lost touch with reality and seems to be driving the organization in the wrong direction?

One can adopt three different strategies:

(i) “Exit” (Leave the organization)
(ii) “Voice” (attempt to force changes from within)
(ii) “Loyalty” (accept things the way they are)

Each individual can evaluate the risks and benefits of each strategy.

However, if the organization is really on the wrong track, true loyalty requires an attempt to communicate one’s reservations and concerns to the leader.

How can a confident, independent CEO avoid the pitfalls and temptations of absolute power?

The obvious (but difficult) answer is to make sure that power is never absolute, and surround oneself with other confident, independent people, and encourage dissension and debate on every decision.

In his autobiography ‘A Soldier’s Story’ General ON Bradley has exemplified this aspect in the decision-making style of General George C Marshall, Chief of Staff of the US Army in World War II, a dominant leader who was instrumental in the Allied Victory owing to his resolute management of the entire war effort. “Gentlemen, I am disappointed in you. You haven’t yet disagreed with a single decision I have made,” he told his staff after one week in office, “When you carry a paper in here, I want you to give me every reason you can think of as to why I should not approve it. If, in spite of your objections, my decision is still to go ahead, then I’ll know I am right.”

Rather than search for views that might reinforce his own, a CEO should seek contrary opinions to avoid groupthink. Some suggest using a devil’s advocate methodology for all major decisions by assigning some individuals in all groups and teams to argue against the dominant view.


PARALLEL POWER

This is a “groupthink” situation in which individuals or groups low in the hierarchy are powerful enough to do what they want, even when contrary to organizational objectives. 

Such power may be based on specialized expertise or privileged access to information.

Parallel power can lead to groupthink in two ways.

Firstly, senior managers may accept ideas from lower-level managers that are not necessarily in the organizational interest, either because they have insufficient information to ask the right questions, or because opposition would not seem legitimate.

Secondly, top managers may make decisions without all the necessary information because subordinates do not provide it due to vested interests arising from misplaced loyalties to a limited function, department or team, rather than to the organization as a whole.

Such situations can be mitigated by ensuring that managers rotate between different units and positions.


NATURAL UNANIMITY

When everyone in power instinctively shares the same opinion on an issue, the wise manager should be wary.

Natural unanimity groupthink results in an inward-looking organization detached from its environment.

Escape from this predicament almost certainly requires a fresh perspective that can come only from outside, by hiring new managers or appointing outside consultants.

A CEO may lay overemphasis on staff – line cooperation in the belief that the easiest way to ensure implementation is to recommend only those actions that the line managers agree with.

But this is not necessarily useful to an organization and may lead to mutual admiration and, ultimately, “natural unanimity groupthink”.

The effectiveness of staff - line dichotomy depends on maintaining a certain tension between the staff and the line managers.When the tension disappears, the staff may not be doing its job.

CONCLUSION

The key element in any strategy for avoiding groupthink is to instil checks and balances into the system. Formally, this can be achieved through cross-functional teams, staff advisers, external consultants, or procedures like “devil’s advocacy”.

Informally, managers must learn to tolerate dissidence, criticism, contrary opinions, discussion, brainstorming and debate and encourage their colleagues to express doubts about proposals. Propositions from various parts of the organization need to be treated transparently, equitably, and consistently, to avoid groupthink.

In a nutshell, for effective decision making, steer clear of yes-men, ego-massage, sycophancy and groupthink.

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.

Did you like this article?
I am sure you will like the stories in my recently published book COCKTAIL comprising twenty seven short stories about relationships. To order the book please click the links below:
http://www.flipkart.com/cocktail-vikram-karve-short-stories-book-8191091844?affid=nme
http://www.indiaplaza.in/cocktail-vikram-karve/books/9788191091847.htm
http://www.apkpublishers.com/books/short-stories/cocktail-by-vikram-karve.html

COCKTAIL ebook
If you prefer reading ebooks on Kindle or your ebook reader, please order Cocktail E-book by clicking the link below:
AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MGERZ6
SMASHWORDS
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87925

About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and he is currently working on his novel. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts. 

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Vikram Karve Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/vikramkarve
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramkarve@sify.com        

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.