The Curious Case of ‘Outliers’ & the Pursuit of Excellence – I

 
Having your flight delayed by a couple of hours can ‘sometimes’ truly be a blessing in disguise. A couple of weeks ago, on my way back home after vacations and when faced with this predicament, I did what I usually don’t do to counter these kind of situations – buy a book!

Those of you who know me are well aware that I usually do not buy books, for the simple reason that most of the times it’s just skim reading, going through the book (fiction/ non-fiction/ other classifications out there in the universe) and taking away 2-3 key concepts that stay with me. I might return to revisit a few concepts now and then, but am not exactly in love with the idea of ‘rereading’ books.

To cut a long-story short, I managed my way into the inhouse (or is it in-airport?!) bookstore, and the first book that caught my eye also happened to be the one I bought – The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.  It had been recommended a few times on some LinkedIn forums and by some of my peers; plus having read Malcolm’s earlier work ‘The Tipping Point’ in 2011, it seemed like a good enough choice.

The brilliant book that Outliers is, when one starts thinking of the theories given therein,  it opens up a world of possibilities in terms of their applications to the real world. Taking forward some of the learning, in this post I intend to share what most people know works beautifully in teams, but never knew why – Having a flat organization structure and the payoffs of being approachable.

The Power Distance Index (PDI)

 
So what would your reaction be if Malcolm Gladwell told you that there was a ‘direct’ correlation between the number of plane crashes and the place from where the pilots belonged. Sounds crazy right? Wrong. Read more on this by clicking here.

A section of Outliers builds on the concept of the ‘Power Distance Index’ (PDI) which is an interesting theory (amongst the 6 Dimensions of national culture) put forth by Geert Hofstede, and which looks at how much a culture values hierarchical relationships and how individuals within that culture interact with authority. The implications of PDI when applied to plane crashes are powerful enough to make you stop reading midway and think as to how this augurs for the different businesses across the globe.

IIT to remove ceiling fans to curb suicides!!

Tripped on this article today morning: IIT to remove ceiling fans to curb suicides… and yes, it got me thinking for all the wrong reasons!The prominent thought on my mind was not about the proposed solution but whether the ‘right’ issue was being addressed at all?

Curb the cause, not just the how!

I believe that they should think of nipping the problem right at the roots.

Treat the causes of depression by building more approachable counselling points – helpful senior students who can be reached etc. (Counsellors, Faculty might come across as a bit intimidating).
Build myths, legends of alumni/ current senior students who scored low at first, but went on to do well later in studies and in life; Positive reinforcements that they were good enough to crack the damn entrance exam etc.

Spreading such stories can be done at the College Canteens, Mess, Other joints; where the ‘Cooler’ Faculty & Students hang out.

I have always observed that when you make something a life-and-death issue, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and the pressure increases… and yes, the reverse holds just as true!

A major part boils down to creating an environment where there might be issues, but not grave enough to give suicide a thought.
* and having read ‘ The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell’ about suicides… it might be even counter-productive to focus on suicides than working on how to create a less stressful environment… ! *
p.s.: Not really important at the end of it all, but if am not wrong, pedestal fans cost more than the ceiling fans… !

Cheers, Monce