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| Misplaced nostalgia |
| M S Sriram / Sep 08, 2011, 00:33 IST |
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If you spend time at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), some things get internalised — the mango tree; Harvard Steps; Stanford Ramp; dorm names of students; Louis Kahn Plaza (LKP) and the underpass and the new campus; and Rambhai, the chaiwallah with a special opening in the compound wall. These are physical structures.
In addition, you would hear Ravi* being mentioned often. For Ravi J Matthai, who stepped aside as a Director way back in 1972, is remembered fondly even after 40 years. His photographs are not pasted all over the campus. An auditorium is named after Ravi, and there is a Centre for Educational Innovation. But these are symbols. Beyond these, something about the era of Ravi strikes you. It is not surprising, then, that it inspired Professor T T Ram Mohan (fondly called TT) to write a book about him. The book is timely; IIM-A is in its 50th year. It is a good time to look back.
The book strikes a nostalgic chord. It also disappoints a bit. Biographies are difficult to write: they need time and patience and run the risk of being inaccurate. Unlike other research where one is free to draw conclusions based on data and analysis, biographies are tricky. And when they are intertwined as personal, professional and institutional aspects, it is more likely to be disastrous. TT tries to strike a balance, but occasionally falters. The intent appears to be a biography of Ravi’s professional life, the architecture of the book is that of a biography of IIM-A with Ravi as an important “brick”.
This is a much-needed book; it helps understand leadership on the one hand and engineers the DNA of an institution through processes on the other. The first two chapters have nothing to do with Ravi; they are more about the preparatory work for setting up IIM-A and its early years. In these chapters TT pans across various activities in the early stages and some snippets about the personalities that were involved. These do not add much to the grain of the book. TT devotes a chapter to the early days of Ravi, somewhat irrelevant to the point of the book.
However, the important point that TT makes in the following chapters is worth reflecting upon. In the Preface, he says “I had often wondered what gave IIMA its premium rating. The three older IIMs – IIMA, IIMB and IIMC – all have access to the same pool of faculty and student talent. All have been handsomely supported by the government. So what is special about IIMA?” (page XIII). The answer to this question is what Ravi brought to the table.
Some unique features that Ravi brought in were:
- Recognising that the management and leadership style of knowledge-based organisations were different; the structures should be extremely flat (page 173). (All this was symbolised by not having a separate bungalow for the Director; every faculty member being addressed as Professor, irrespective of the rank; ensuring that even when IIM-A’s own graduates join in as faculty members, the form of address is on the first-name basis).
- Nurturing and trusting faculty; giving them time to settle; encouraging the mutual learning process through attending each other’s classes (page 92); and having a transparent feedback system.
- Spotting talent and having a quick turnaround time in recruitment.
- Empowering departments to take decisions; tossing conflict issues back to where they emerged for resolution through consensus than adjudicating on issues; and being firm when needed.
- Treating each situation based on the instance rather than reading the riot act.
- Voluntarily going beyond traditional businesses to other sectors such as agriculture, public systems, health care, education and so on.
- Stepping aside after seven years, laying down a tradition of one term, while honourably continuing as an ordinary faculty.
- Instituting an action research programme, Jawaja Experiment (chapter 8), which in turn was an inspiration for a generation of students who chose to work in the social sector.
In a celebratory book TT spends an entire chapter (chapter 7) quibbling about the current administration. While the issues he raises are important, these inadequacies have been around for long in various forms. Not all the directors have stuck to the “culture” of the institution or the style of Ravi — each one has brought their own style. However, IIM-A has never lost its resilience and the charm of a great place.
TT has an engaging style. The narrative is peppered with anecdotes and straddles different time periods. This also brings some unnecessary digressions, and the author strays from the point he is trying to make, which is that Ravi’s style of leadership was suitable to knowledge institutions to be designed as flat organisations; and to run on trust and informalities than on measurability and rules. It takes an effort to get to this conclusion.
(*In keeping with the tradition of IIM-A, I refer to both the author and the subject by their first name.)
The reviewer is an independent researcher, consultant and former professor at IIM-A
BRICK BY RED BRICK: RAVI MATTHAI
AND THE MAKING OF IIM AHMEDABAD
TT Ram Mohan
Rupa, 2011
281 pages; Rs 495
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