Page 1 - Thinking_the_Unthinkable_Article_for_IBS

Sahishnu Majumdar

Thinking the Unthinkable The role of L&D in creating Future Ready organizations

I enjoy driving. Whether busy roads or freeways, the experience is always
exhilarating and educative. As an L&D Manager, it gives me ample opportunity to
observe my own behavior and learn more about my own responses, while I
control the wheels. One important observation that I have recently begun to have
is that I tend to make more mistakes in two cases: on familiar routes and on
uncongested roads. Conversely, I tend to make far fewer mistakes when driving
on unfamiliar routes or congested roads especially when I am pushing through a
traffic jam. The second scenario puts me in a rather uncomfortable zone. So, does
that mean a comfortable environment as described in the first scenario –
(uncongested roads) or a confident terrain (familiar routes) make me more
relaxed, lower my guard and take everything in my environment for granted?
Flipping this question over, do I become more alert, more attentive, more
conscious of my environment when I am traversing an unfamiliar territory or
when I am in an uncomfortable zone – traffic jams for sure is the last place I want
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to be. Figure 1 represents this observation through a 2 X 2 matrix indicating how
two unrelated factors (Congestion X Familiarity) when appearing together in an
environment and depending on the way I choose to respond to this environment,
can either significantly increase the probability of accidents, making the scenario
extremely “Unsafe”, or make the drive a very enjoyable one. The question
therefore is
Figure 1: CONGESTION x FAMILIARITY Correlation between
does familiarity Uncongested roads and Familiar routes with Safety is rather counter
and confidence intuitive
breed accidents,
which sometimes can prove fatal?

Look at the same question from a business perspective: Why do some
organizations thrive, some survive, many decay and some disappear? Consider this:

Step back 60 years from now - 1955. Which global organizations made to the
Fortune 500 list then? How many of them retain the same or a better leadership
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position in 2017? And how many of them survive only as archives today? It is not
very amazing to find that of 500 only 60 firms appear in both the Fortune 500 list.
1955 and 2016. This makes it only 12%. That is one in eight companies.

61 years later, in 2016, almost 88% have either gone bankrupt, merged with or
were acquired by another firm, or they still exist but have fallen from the top Fortune
500 companies list. Many of the companies on the list in 1955 are unrecognizable
Figure 2: 60 companies which appears in the Fortune 500 list of forgotten companies today (e.g. Armstrong Rubber, Cone Mills, Hines Lumber et
1955 and 2016 as well cetera) .
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What drove those companies into an “Unsafe” zone? The fact that they basked in the glory of Fortune 500 list is a strong indicator that they must
have done some important things right. They must have got the precise
product mix identified for a perfect market. They must have had the best
practices in place. They must have had the best talent in charge. Then what
went wrong? The answer though may not be a very easy one but whatever
answer one proposes, the leitmotif of all answers will be their response to
Change. The fact they did not change is obvious. The question WHY they did
not change is more important and can have several significant answers each
as important as the other. However, we will not re – visit those answers here.

Instead, we will attempt to understand what role L&D can play in
reversing their fortunes. Indeed, it is preposterous and unwise to claim that
L&D alone could have turned the fate and fortunes of these companies. So,
let me rephrase my statement: What role can L&D play to build mindsets in managers and leaders which will help them prevent such misfortunes
overtaking them.

1 Figure 1 is used as an analogy to capture my observation through visual representation. For now, I do not have supporting data available to assign numbers to this observation. But an
informal discussion with others have reinforced my hypothesis. So, for this discussion, this is at best a very probable hypothesis.

2 For a complete list of companies appearing in Fortune 500 list of 1955 visit http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500_archive/full/1955/

3 Mark J. Perry AEIdeas, December 13, 2016