Building a Conscious Enterprise
indroneil mukerjee
(http://www.indroneil.com)
What ails economy today?
According to a list of business failures collected in
Wikipedia more than 250 companies met the eventual
SYMPTOMS
demise of their well-known brand between year 2000
1.
A business cycle earmarked with
recessions
2. Alternating upswings and
downswings
3. Bail outs and wipe outs
4. Businesses operating micro term
5. 9 out of 10 start-ups failing
6. Prices spiraling
7. Stock markets in a tizzy
8. Consumers going crazy
9. Low employee confidence
10. Global economic indicators on slide
and now. The causes include corporate crime and
simple insolvency, and are notable for their financial
impact on the economy.
These include well-known brands of the likes of
AgfaPhoto, Air America Radio Ansett Australia, ATA
Holdings, Atlas Air, Enfield F.C, Enron, Jessops,
Lehman Brothers, Maersk Air, Napster, Nortel,
Northwestern Steel and Wire Polaroid Corporation,
Silicon Graphics, Swissair, The Sharper Image, Tower
Records, Trans World Airlines, Woolworths Group
and WorldCom.
December 12, 2013
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
2
…the related quality of life & living?
Corruption perception index 2010
Global protests
December 12, 2013
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
3
Step back and reflect ….
WHAT COULD BE THE REASON?
December 12, 2013
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
4
Nature of prevailing businesses …
December 12, 2013
•
Addicted to unsustainable exponential economic
expansion.
•
Predicated on the flawed assumption that GDP will
always keep increasing
•
Led by the greed to maximize profit anyhow
•
5S obsession
•
Involves zero-sum or negative-sum transactions
•
Mechanical systems following linear transactive
processes
•
Insulated from and insensitive to systemic realties
•
Characterized by systemic denial and self-deception
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
5
…and the state of enterprise consciousness
Needs
Values
Assum
ptions
Desire
Dream
Pursuit
Conscious
Passion
Avarice
Purpose
Power
of
Love
Unconscious
Love
of
Power
Acquisition
Scarcity
Abundance
December 12, 2013
Ambition
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
6
Companies who survived the recession
Secret of survival
Amazon
Focus on the long term: looks to innovate with products like its
new Kindle 3, and strives to expand market share, forever
anticipating the next change.
Ford
A complete overhaul, eliminating models from its line, cutting
costs and revamping its image
Domino's Novelty: changing the self-proclaimed cardboard crust and
ketchup sauce to a new, improved pizza
Intel
Simple patience: by waiting for pent-up demand to return
Lego
Exploration of the global market was the key to this company's
recession-bucking success.
December 12, 2013
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
7
What did they do differently?
• Refrained from panicked kneejerk
– Responded rather than reacted
• Did not rely on best-practices
– Did what was appropriate for their
organization in the situation
• Let go, where necessary
– Did not hesitate to revamp
• Looked long term
– Growth, rather than survival was
in focus
December 12, 2013
Snapshot of findings from a research carried
out in 2008 across 4700 companies
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
8
Nature of emerging businesses

Create, conserve and consume in harmony.

Work towards co-creating collective wealth,
wisdom and well-being – inclusive.

Driven inside-out: values, purpose & beliefs

Mentality is that of abundance.

Sustains systemic harmony.
There is no disaster !!!
What we call a disaster is Nature trying to restore
harmony disrupted by man's greedy exploitation to
bring about correction. This explains situations of
cataclysmic nature including recession and some
seemingly successful organizations going bust.
December 12, 2013
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
9
Conscious enterprises to heal the economy
1.
2.
3.
4.
Conscious enterprises are
complex humanistic systems.
Living, breathing, reaching
out, sensing and responding.
With capability of selfadapting, self-learning and
self-evolving.
December 12, 2013
Executive intent, belief and conviction in enterprise consciousness
Respecting change and disruption as a systemic neutralizer
Willingness to let go of habits to adapt to changes in the habitats
Faith in enterprise ‘being’ and not getting carried away with
‘becoming’
5. Conducts business as an expression of its purpose of existence
6. Leadership is driven by a cause and mission, not motivated by a
need to manage and overcome fear of change
7. Nurtures a process of natural selection and emergence for creating
and living interdependent stakeholder relationships.
8. Conscious Learning – openness and receptivity to learning as an
enterprise – a part of the conscious enterprise culture
9. Cellular consciousness amongst members and other stakeholders
10. Close-loop feedback and knowledge osmosis to enable continuous
evolution.
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
10
All that is living may not be evolving
“There is an element of consciousness of a
certain essence of life amongst living systems.
This is the fundamental determinant for a living
enterprise to evolve. Thus, there could be
enterprises which are very much alive,
breathing and pulsating over decades and yet
with little or no sign of movement. This is a
classic case of the enterprise consciousness being
not awakened, threatening extinction of a living
enterprise.”
~ From ‘Tap Enterprise Consciousness’ published in the Management Next
December 12, 2013
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
11
Being of a Conscious Enterprise
 Embodies a unique memetic DNA the strands
of which represents the enterprise values and
purpose
 Often inherits the fundamentals of the life
context of founders’ and early members
 Emerges through a process of conscious cocreation
 Enrolls members / stake-holders as cellular /
organic constituents
 Evolves with time by essentially relating and
respond to inter-dependent entities in the ecosystem
 Lives a tactile enterprise culture by creating
authentic experiences, consistently.
December 12, 2013
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
12
10-O-O symptoms
Only that which
makes meaning,
makes money!!!
OBSESSIONS
OMISSIONS
Governance
Guardianship
Complex Structures
Evolving Forms
Transactions
Relationships
Competencies
Consciousness
Knowledge Retention Knowledge Osmosis
Business Strategies
Business Instinct
Policies / Procedures Organization Dialog
December 12, 2013
Change Management
Adapting to change
Becoming
Being
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
13
Some promising Conscious Enterprises
Amazon
Best Buy
BMW
CarMax
Caterpillar
Container
Store
IDEO
Costco
eBay
Google
IKEA
JetBlue
New Balance
Patagonia
Timberland
Toyota
Progressive
Insurance
Trader Joe's
Johnson &
Johnson
REI
HarleyDavidson
Jordan's
Furniture
Southwest
UPS
Wegmans
Commerce
Bank
Honda
L.L. Bean
Starbucks
Whole Foods
These are Firms of Endearment (FoE). These companies pay their employees very well, provide great
value to customers, and have thriving, profitable suppliers. They are also wonderful for investors, returning
1025% over the past 10 years, compared to only 122% for the S&P 500 and 316% for the companies
profiled in the bestselling book Good to Great -- companies selected purely on the basis of their ability to
deliver superior returns to investors.
December 12, 2013
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
14
Conscious Leadership:
architects of CE
Commitment
Integrity
Compassion
Contentment
AUTHENTICITY
December 12, 2013
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
15
A Conscious Leader is someone who leads with
Conscious Awareness - a ‘knowing’ of what is going on
inside and out, the effects of decisions and actions, and
the interaction between a complex array of factors and
forces. She enables transcending of unconscious
patterns, fostering of an expanded perspective and
openness to new possibilities in a conscious enterprise.
The role of a
Conscious Leader
Conscious Leaders are people who recognize and
align to the higher purpose of their enterprise and the
interdependence of the stakeholders in their business.
Her role is essential for the ongoing learning, growth
and development of the enterprise, its stakeholders and
members.
Conscious Leadership is more about an
expanded consciousness than competence
and character.
December 12, 2013
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
16
Conscious Leaders are enterprise enablers
NEED
GUNAS
Enabler
Religion
S, s
Expert
Respect
S, r
Entrepreneur
Richness
R, t
Executive
Relevance
T, s
Enabler
Expert
Entrepreneur
Executive
December 12, 2013
An enabler, like the Sun, radiates essential
power of presence all around, sustaining
life and making things happen.
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
17
Building a culture of shared consciousness
The human no more is a
‘resource’ but a key
‘source’ of value
creation.
For it is in being human
that consciousness is
awakened.
And only when
humankind brings
together participating
entities in a space of
shared consciousness, a
living, pulsating
conscious culture gets
build.
December 12, 2013
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
18
The essence of
Conscious Culture
DEDICATION
BHAKTI
Conscious Culture is one that
fosters individual and collective
reflection and explicit articulation
of what we see or wonder as we
reflect.
SELF
KNOWLEDGE
GYANA
KNOWLEDGE
December 12, 2013
KARMA
ACTION
The fabric fosters ongoing
learning, growth and
development for the people
constituting the organization and
for the enterprise as an organism
or ecosystem.
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
19
Values to value-creation – an example
WEALTH
• Creating, extracting, enhancing value in tangible terms
ACHIEVEMENT
• A sense of accomplishment (a lasting contribution)
RESPONSIBILITY
• Dependable, reliable, Accountable for results
RESPECT
• Self esteem, sense of personal identity
POWER
• Control, authority beliefs, and influence over others
CREATIVITY
• Being imaginative, innovative, creative
INNER HARMONTY
• Principled and driven by one's truth, being upfront about things which may not be
acceptable as a statement of truth.
December 12, 2013
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
20
Shared norms - > shared culture
iProdigy Norms
iProdigy Norms
Member side
Partner facing
Client facing
Articulate thoughts and feellings
as and when they arise
Do whatever it takes to keep
physical energies high,
proactively
Share observations and give
Ask, 'Who signs my pay cheque?'
feedback without playing safe
Be ruthless about being with work Day start with committed goals to
for at least 12 hours a day on an iProdigy which are met any which
average
way
Be demanding & ruthless with
Prepare value propositon before
external and internal service
every call and pitch high
providers
Ask - 1. Have I demanded 2. Have I
been ruthless in receiving the
Sell without shame
service
Before commiting a spend on
While seeking an appointment
behalf of Prodigy be prudent.
clearly state what the person is
On an average spend 2 days a
Don't allow distractions - screen /
week outside office with clients / discern what is important / not
partners.
important
Fullfilll iProdigy commitments on Don't be tolerant to misuse and
time - come what may.
tardiness
iProdigy works 24/7. So does your Personal issues not to be brought
mindshare.
to the work place - options 1. Stay
back and resolve at home 2. seek
Ensure zero-waste living in this
support in a separate forum
space.
Check individually if I would have going to lose by meeting / speaking
spent the same amount for myself. to us.
December 12, 2013
Before making any payment check
whether we have received
Ensure a consistent uniform
everything committed, for the
message to the external world
present and the future.
Before approving capital
expenditure justify how it will come Listen, listen, listen
back as 10 times returns
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
21
If you have the passion & purpose to build a
living and evolving Conscious Enterprise, you
have a partner to accompany you in your
mission.
Reachme@indroneil.com
December 12, 2013
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
22