Key ingredients—the core building blocks
So, there I
was, sitting with a few of my coursemates from academy days last weekend. Many
of the officers from my course are Colonels now and are commanding units. We
were meeting after 18 years (wow!), and it seemed as if not a day had passed. After
a few rounds of you know what, the question came up, “Rajat, what’s the one
thing that defence veterans can easily bank upon in the corporate world?”
When it
comes to the “one thing” question, firstly it reminds me of the book, “The
One Thing,” but then I’m digressing. I’ve been asked that question before
and my answer has always been the same. It’s the DWIT attitude, the “Do what
it takes” mentality which is ingrained into us right from the training academy
days (across all services). Well, the acronym DWIT isn’t my creation obviously,
but the framework below is essentially my POV. With respect to business, it’s a quality that isn’t
taught in MBA or academic courses. Of course, there are many professionals who develop
this attitude with experience, but it’s one aspect which I’d say is a given for
veterans. It’s the one thing that really helps in achieving business outcomes. And,
I’m not talking about the basic definition of the phrase. There are certain
underlying aspects (listed below) that are not typically stated.
D stands for being a doer
(yes, that’s a word). Whatever the objective might be, focus on the first step
and act. The emphasis is on taking action, i.e. not just talking in the air, or
going into analysis paralysis, but taking the first step, and keep going in
spite of roadblocks.
W stands for having the willpower
and willingness to achieve the goal (aka determination), which is the essence
of the framework in letter and spirit. If I compare it with various IT services
delivery models, this is a typical managed services or managed outcome model
where you take complete ownership of the outcome and do what it takes to
deliver (of course there’s a premium and other aspects to it). Having the
perseverance to pursue an objective is what this entails.
I stands for integrity, and
this is a key underlying principle blanked out by a few. I remember, back at
National Defence Academy, in the first term one of my seniors spoke about this towards
the end of a punishment session. It was a fun time for him, not so much for us.
“You guys will be trained on how to manage things—getting things done, one way
or the other,” he said, while we were rolling on the ground helter-skelter. “You
might be asked to get something urgently, and hear the phrase BBS, or beg,
borrow, steal.” That caught our attention, and some of us stopped rolling and
looked up. “Keep rolling,” he exclaimed and continued, “Remember that the last
word in BBS is figurative. At the end of the day, if your hull integrity is
gone, sooner or later you are going to sink.” He was obviously a naval cadet,
but it was evident what he meant. We’ve all heard about stories where some
companies haven’t really lived up to that aspect, which is unfortunate. Do what
it takes to achieve your objective, yes, but it should be within the confines of
what is correct.
T stands for understanding your target
or objective (know thy enemy, maybe). Many times, we end up pursuing certain line
of actions without a clear vision of the end goal. Has that ever happened to
you? Of course it has, and that’s fine but not always. If something is really so
important that you need to DWIT, then understand your objective and its
consequences. Is it worth it? At what cost? And, of course there are many other
defining questions.
Can
everyone apply these principles? Yes, of course. When founded on the core element
of integrity, DWIT is an amazing superpower to have, but not something learnt overnight.
Once you have it, sky is only the lower limit, yours is the universe.
Ciao ppl!
Ciao Life!!
P.S.2: Comments welcome here or on Linkedin
