Is Education Over-rated?

Posted on January 2, 2015 by badri

“Our performance efficiency is 99.9999% – six sigma ranking. We have 5,000 members working in coordination. Out of 400,000 transactions every day, the error factor is 1 in every 20,000,000” said the President of a service organisation.

This is the organization which collects lunch boxes (dabbas) in the morning from the homes spread over 60 by 30 km city called Mumbai. These lunch packs are then delivered to their owners working in various nooks and corners of Mumbai. Post lunch, they collect the empty boxes and get them back to the respective houses by the same evening

This organisation is not a giant corporate like IBM, Wal-mart or Coca cola. Almost all its members are illiterate and school drop-outs. It has functioned for over 125 years and gets only more efficient by the day.

The process is extremely complicated and needs perfect coordination. They don’t use technology nor do they use fuel-driven vehicles. They work on foot or use cycles and suburban trains to transfer the boxes over 65-70kms every day, making it a 100% eco-friendly system. It is a perfect example of the most complicated job done in the simplest way.

To provide better coordination and thus efficiency, the delivery people are divided in different groups. In the process, the dabbas change hands 6 times. But they have a system to ensure there is no mix-up in the process. Their lack of education has not held them back in following the best lessons taught in the world’s top ranked management schools like Harvard, Oxford and so on. On the contrary, this set-up is taken up as a case study by the said schools.

They believe in fixed prices. No favours or bias in price.

There’s no gossip at work. Even when Prince Charles wanted to talk to the members, they refused to have a discussion with him while they were on duty. Their working impressed him so much, that Prince Charles invited two of them to his marriage in 2005 at par with Queen of Gwalior.

Each member carries aprx 40 dabbas (boxes), weighing 60 to 65kgs on their head most of the day. For each building, one delivery person is assigned the responsibility of collecting the boxes. These boxes are then assembled at the local suburban train station, and are reallocated to groups based on the destination train station.

At the destination stations, the boxes again are regrouped to specific building (And floor of building in some cases). Freshly cooked meals are thus delivered from home to the customer within 3 hours commute over foot, cycles and train.

As one can imagine they had to develop a system to identify which box needs to be go where. They introduced the most practical coding system which is marked on each box. It identifies who would collect each box from which building in which suburb. The code also includes who would deliver information – right down to the floor of a particular building. This coding system can be understood by the most uneducated person and at the same time leaves an almost zero margin for error!

They have also created a cost free advertisement system for themselves. Every member has to wear the white cap which by itself has become a logo. This identification has proven to be a boon as they are blocked by no authority/security. Everyone respects their need for punctuality to ensure the boxes reach the office employees well in time for lunch.

All members have to strictly follow the rules and any deviation attracts a penalty. For example, if a delivery person is found on duty without a cap or any customer makes a complaint against them they are penalized the same day. Penalty has to be paid the same day to be able to continue with the delivery, the next day.

They do not have any employer-employee relationship. Each member is a shareholder and hence a stake holder in the operation. They have had no labour strike during 125 years of the association’s existence. The punctuality, complaint record and output all count towards their share of pooled funds and reward. They are all part of an association which collects a small fee every month, which in turn is fully donated for a social cause.

Minimum overheads and optimum output is the lesson I learn from these hard-working dabbawalas.

This example proves that literacy and technology is not essential to achieve perfection. It is whole-hearted devotion and the right attitude which matters most.

Written : Badri Baldawa

Edited : Meeta Kabra

God, The Jugaad Master !

Posted on November 7, 2014 by badri

I was stuck at an altitude of about 11,000 ft above sea level with my imported Honda Civic. The car had stalled.

It was 1988, a time when a Maruti 800 was considered a novelty on the roads. We were on a road trip from Bombay – my wife, the three kids (ages 9-14). We were headed to Badrinath Temple, abode of Lord Vishnu in the Himalayas.

The nearest city which could service imported cars, was Delhi, over 550 kms away, passing through dangerous single lane ghats full of sharp turns and twists.

The traditional route to Badrinath was via Rishikesh. I was told that drivers needed special hill-driving endorsement on their licence to drive after Rishikesh. I did not have the endorsement and hence was not eligible to drive to that part of the Himalayas. But I still wanted to pursue my crazy idea of driving from sea level all the way to the top of Badrinath and to the base of Kedarnath at 12,000 ft above sea level.

If I drove through the traditional route, I had to pass through many check posts. Without a hill-driving endorsement I would have been forced to engage a professional certified driver. But, I wanted to experience the thrill of making those sharp and dangerous turns myself.

I changed the route. Instead of going through the traditional route via Rishikesh, I deviated from Gwalior to drive through Nainital and Almora and joined the traditional route at Karna Prayag.

There were no check posts on this road. Understandable because there were not many vehicles who’d dare to use this route. Over a length of 300 kms after Nainital, the alternative route was steep, full of sharp turns, single, 4ft wide and had a deep valley on one side. A stretch of about 200 kms to Karna Prayag, was completely isolated. I saw only 3-4 trucks in a drive of about 8 hours.

I did not know that roads could be so dangerous! We prayed for our lives. We made a promise to God that once we reached Badrinath we’d visit the temple in the evening and again the next day morning, irrespective of how crowded it would be.

We reached Badrinath late in the afternoon, checked-in to whatever accommodation we got, dipped in the holy hot water spring and paid our respects to the Lord. We then decided that we could move on to the next destination immediately, instead of staying till the next morning, which would save us a day.

We checked out of the rooms, packed our baggage back into the car and settled in the car to leave. When I tried to ignite the engine, the car refused to start! It was in perfect working condition when I had switched it off last. Try as I might, the engine cranked but refused to start.

Of course, there was no garage around and the one for this type of a car was far away in Delhi. The other option was to tow the car. But towing through a ghat stretch of sharp turns was not safe at all. We were stuck.

The car was in an open parking ground. There were quite a few cars and trucks around. I checked under the hood and apparently nothing was wrong. The battery was going weak due to repeated attempts to start the car.

A truck driver was watching me struggle. He said, screwdriver in hand, that he knew the mechanism of the car and could help. Another guy got interested too. As I was talking to him, the driver with the screwdriver suddenly unscrewed the screw of the carburetor top, breaking the original seal exposing the inside throttle valve. This valve is a vital part controlling the fuel and air supply to the engine and needs absolute accurate adjustment to run the car.

He proudly claimed that he broke open the seal. He did not realise the complication he had created! He tried to adjust the valve and screw it back but just couldn’t do it. The engine was now completely dead, no more cranking sounds either.

It was a much bigger problem now! The options we had were either to call a known mechanic from Bombay, a distance of 2000 km or an unknown mechanic from Delhi. This also meant we were stuck in Badrinath, at sub-zero temperature for a few days. Else we could tow the car through the sharp ghat curves at very high risk.

We were completely upset and worried. We just looked at each other and had no clue what to do. This is when we realised that we were in trouble because we tried to cheat the Almighty – you can call it belief or call it what you like.

Earlier while driving through the dangerous ghats, we prayed to stay at Badrinath atleast for a night and be in his audience the next day before we left. Now just because we were in a hurry to reach the next destination, we conveniently forgot our promise to stay overnight. We of course, decided to stay overnight.

We tried to forget the problem at hand and left it to the Lord to solve the problem. Even so, it was an uncomfortable night.

Next morning, we offered our prayers to Lord Badrinath, apologized for our attempt to leave earlier than promised and slipped in a special request to solve our car problem.

I went to the car, right from the temple. Yeah! It cranked, at the very least. The fuel though, was over-flowing heavily from the carburetor. The leakage was heavy enough to empty a full tank in 5kms. Only a trained mechanic with garage facilities could fix it.

We gave up all hopes. I considered staying back with the car and send my wife and kids to Delhi in a cab. I was leaning towards calling my trusted mechanic from Bombay. Heavy expenses aside, our vacation more or less ruined.

Just then, a guy approached me. He looked like he was about 30-35 years old.

He: I drive a private taxi for tourists. I think I can fix your car.

Me: Are you qualified and trained to repair imported cars?

He: No. I am not a qualified mechanic. I am uneducated. But I worked at Gwalior palace for a couple of years, where the king of Gwalior owned a few imported cars.

Me: Look, yesterday, one guy with great confidence damaged the seal of the carburetor and created more problems. I don’t want another problem.

He: You have no options, Sir. In any case, you will have to leave the car here and go. So there’s really no harm if I try, right? Believe in Lord Badrinath. Nothing worse can happen.

Me: Well. Ok, what will you do?

He: I will set the carburetor suspension mechanism right and start the car. I just need quick-stick-fast paste. I am here only for a couple more hours.

There were hardly any shops there, let alone one where I could get the required paste. I started asking the drivers and travellers around. One of the car drivers had one. The Gwalior guy adjusted the valve, sealed it with the paste. After 5 minutes, the engine cranked and started, but the fuel was overflowing, though in a manageable quantity. Some hopes from this Gwalior Prince! He wanted another attempt and I agreed immediately.

He: I want a 25p coin!

Just 25p? I managed to find one though 25p coins were rare during that time. He adjusted the float once again, sealed the screw and fixed the coin on top of it with the glue. After 10 minutes of waiting for the paste to dry, we tried the engine again.

Click started the car, but the fuel was still leaking. Still, not good enough to drive in the steep valley. Then our potential savior asked for a 10p coin and a metal wire.

Sure, why not? He opened the carburetor screw, adjusted the floating valve once again, fixed the screw, fixed the 25p coin, then stuck the wider 10p coin over the 25p coin and tied the coins tightly over the top of the carburetor with the metal wire. He ensured that the coins did not slip.

He confidently said, “Relax, pack your bags in the car and be ready to leave in half an hour. I will also be driving down the hill by that time and will follow your car, just in case there is more trouble.” We went to the Temple once again, loaded our baggage in the car and were ready to leave. We were not sure if it was just a dream!

Those 30 minutes were like 30 hours. We started the car after 30-40 minutes. The car at once started and no leakage!

There was nothing wrong with the car. The misfunctioning carburetor was created by our screwdriver friend. Why the car did not start on the previous day? God knows!

The Gwalior prince did not take a single paisa and said “Lord Badrinath who inspired me to help out. Thank Him for that. I assure you, you will have no problem till you reach a reliable garage in Delhi. You can then, remove all my decorations to your carburetor and get it tuned.” He was following us till we were through the most dangerous bits of our drive and then disappeared. His decorations of 25p, 10p and the wire remained on the carburetor for years and I had no ignition problems till I sold the car about 4-5 years after this incident.

For us this gentleman from Gwalior was no less than a God-sent emissary.

What does it prove? Honour your commitment, even if it is to the unseen Almighty? Or is it a marvel of the Indian Jugaad ? 🙂

Experienced and Written By: Badri Baldawa

Edited By : Meeta Kabra

Trust or Written Agreements ?

Posted on October 17, 2014 by badri

There were many suppliers of stainless steel glasses from India. In my first deal, since I had taken the samples from Mr. Vishnu Goyal, it was ethical on my part, to buy the products from him.

After executing my first order of $84,000, I felt that I had scope to expand in this business of stainless steel housewares and was worth a try in this range of product whole-heartedly. If I made sure of maintaining quality and price, it wouldn’t be difficult to take a lead in the Middle East in this trade.

In my initial deals, I found Vishnuji very trust worthy, honest and sweetly cooperative. When I brought up the idea of making stainless steel housewares products as a regular export range, he consented to be associated with me.

Normally the next step would be to sign a partnership agreement defining the business relationship between us. But I wanted to try non-conventional method. In many cases, misunderstandings come up because of interpretation of what was written in documents. These disputes start, extends to legal battles and aggravate to a level where the business cripples down to closure. But if nothing is written, both the parties had to be reasonable and not greedy. Knowing that nothing has been written down, they figure out a practical solution together.

Yes, doing business without written agreements is dangerous. The written agreements could be restricted to where there is slightest doubt on trust or if the Law needs it.

This was one of the experiments I wanted to try in my business. We trusted each other and hence suggested Vishnuji that we would have an understanding and avoid a written agreement. Both of us agreed willingly. We mutually understood our roles, financial arrangements and the nature of decisions each of us would take independently and those which needed joint decisions.

We were ambitious but not greedy. Both of us believed “if I am destined to get something, it is bound to come? If it is not destined for me, how will I get at all?”. It is now over 25 years since that arrangement. There isn’t a single word in writing till today. We have executed many multi crore value orders over the years. Touch wood, there have been no disputes. Of course, there have been differences of opinions very few and far between, for the good health of the organisation. When such differences come up, we have a lot of respect for each other’s opinion.

When friends in business ask me what is your relation with Vishnuji in business, I start thinking and I don’t get an answer even to myself.

We were able to maintain peaceful atmosphere between us. If Trust works, Peace prevails. And Peace brings better Prosperity.

Written Agreements can go wrong, but Trust always Cherish!

Experienced and Written: Badri Baldawa

Edited By : Meeta Kabra

Difficult Challenges? Grab Them!

Posted on October 3, 2014 by badri

“Release these payments for the purchases from Australia,” said my boss, Mr. AA (renamed to hide identity) one of the three directors, who was respected in social and business circles in the Middle East. It was a transaction of a few hundred thousand US Dollars.

I did not release the payment. It wasn’t that the funds weren’t available. We were purchasing a quantity way out of proportion to actual requirement. I was not convinced, especially since these were food products that bore expiry dates.

I was the purchases and finance manager. We had set-up a system for placing orders. Normally, the quantities for a re-order were based on a review of movement of product for the last four months, stock in hand, orders in transit and the seasonal demand. That’s how a healthy inventory was maintained without a strain on cash flow.

Each of the other directors had their own individual group of companies, other than this company. I had to be loyal to the interest of the company and not to individuals. I insisted on approval of all the directors.

The above order was large and hadn’t gone through the laid down procedure. Most importantly, it was abnormally excessive. The goods had arrived at the port and the payments had to be made immediately. Fortunately, the order was not in our company’s name. The other directors considered all aspects and did not approve this purchase.

Mr. AA was upset and had to make alternate emergency arrangements. On his return to the office, I was called in. I carried my resignation letter with me! I was expecting to be relieved of my job.

He said, “Will you join me as Chief Purchase Manager and Financial Controller of my Group of companies”. I realised discipline pays! I said I needed a week’s time to think it over. This was in 1981.

Within the week, I got all possible information about Mr. AA’s group. The information I collected revealed that every day when they closed stores for the day, it wasn’t sure whether they would open the shutters of the business next day morning. Even the staff salary was in arrears for a few months. The financial position was absolutely critical.

After a week, I went to him:

Me: AA, I accept your proposal, if other partners have no objection to it.

AA: I will convince the other partners. Have you given this a good thought?

Me: Yes, I have.

AA: What would be your terms and salary expectations?

Me: It is not relevant. If I perform, remuneration will follow by itself.

AA: Do you know the financial status of my group?

Me: Yes. I Know. Business may close down any day.

AA: You are in such a healthy company. Here, in my group, you are not sure if you’ll get a salary.

Me: Yes. I considered that. We have to create a position where everyone gets paid.

AA: I am surprised. Why? What makes you join my group?.

Me: Challenge! It is the challenge which is tempting me to accept this responsibility. The present company is healthy and wealthy and has systems which will not allow it to collapse. This can be managed by anyone. But to revive a group like yours would be a real challenge to my abilities.

AA: You are risking your career.

Me: Yes, but I am confident of reviving the company.

I joined the group. I had the support of a very capable CEO and jointly we resolved the problems. After a year or so of revival, there were a few from known business circle to seek advise to revive their sick businesses! I was with them for 5 years till the day I decided to return to India, to start my own business! I thank AA for giving me an opportunity to resolve very complicated problems and learn many lessons which otherwise, I would have missed! It was a rewarding experience.

If you see a difficult challenge, grab it. It gives opportunities to learn.