Climbing Mountains with Rahul Dravid

I attended a technical summit today. It was meant to showcase database technologies, cloud computing, analytical advancements and software development principles. Very very geeky stuff that I do not completely understand. And never will.

 

I put myself through this grind only because the Celebrity Speaker was Rahul Dravid.

 

Dravid's 30 minute speech was on "Staying Ahead". It might well have been called "How to be a Complete Man". The crisp presentation was laced with self-deprecating wit and minimal slides. While coming across as extempore, it was clearly very thoroughly prepared. Drawing on examples from his playing days, Dravid spoke about the principles that helped him stay ahead. Here is a (paraphrased) summary:

 

Laying the Platform

I became famous while playing international cricket for 16 years.  But before that, I spent 5 years playing domestic cricket in places like Sambalpur and Hubli. I played on all types of wickets and against all types of spin. My true foundation was laid during this time.

 

Always remember the Chinese bamboo which hardly grows out of the ground for its first 5 years. In the next 6 weeks, it grows to an unbelievable 90 feet. So what does the plant do underground during the 5 years? It lays the platform for the future by creating strong roots.

 

Driven by Success

I scored 95 on my Lord's debut in 1996. While I was very happy with my score, I was of course disappointed that I did not get the other 5. In hindsight, I am glad that I did not because I may have become complacent. While the 95 helped me realise that I was equipped to play at this level, missing the century developed inside me the hunger to do better.

 

Driven by Failure

I was dropped in ODIs in 1999 and felt like blaming everyone. A few days later, I was taken aside and advised I could either sit and blame everyone or try to fix my flaws and do better. So I  became obsessed with analysing my game, identifying my flaws, seeking expert advise, and practicing differently. I went on to score 10000 runs in ODIs, but looking back, getting dropped from ODIs was a very good thing.

 

It All Comes Together
The next 7 years were the best part of my life with everything coming together. I became very adaptable (took up wicketkeeping), played fantastic games like Calcutta and Adelaide, learned from players like Sachin and Anil to never rest on my laurels and worked on my diet.

 

 

Failing Again

The 2007 World Cup was a huge disappointment. Fans who booked tickets a year in advance to watch a likely India vs Pak match were instead treated to an Ireland vs Scotland fare at Barbados. As much as 2007 was painful,  2008-09 was worse.

 

It's one thing to fail when you are young. But failing when you are older is something else because you are watched and scrutinised. It is also very humbling. My past reputation carried me through that period. After a string of bad scores, I was almost certain that I was playing my last game for India since the selectors were about to decide on the team for the New Zealand tour within a week. But I struggled through a 100 in that game and barely got selected.

 

Falling in Love Again

I was soon learning to enjoy the game again and not be too worried about what comes next. Good scores against New Zealand and England followed.

 

Climbing my Mountain

By 2012, I felt I had climbed my mountain and it was the right time to quit the game. I felt that the younger generation must now be given the opportunity. I have no regrets on my decision.

 

So I really have no prescription for success to help you stay ahead. What I have spoken here is my path and you need to figure yours. But I will tell you that it is important for you to figure which mountain to climb. For that, you must also be able to understand yourself. And then do things without expecting much in return. You must enjoy the journey and the process while dealing with both success and failure.

 

What worked best for me are the moments when I played the game for the right reasons, viz. enjoy the game, entertain people and make friends. It was when I started thinking 'What Next' that I was failing. I figured this over time and answers mostly came from within.

 

It was obviously a speech that evoked thunderous applause. And towards the end, answers to two audience questions revealed great maturity and wit.

 

On dealing with sledging: I realised that I did better when I stayed in my bubble. I performed worse when I lost my cool. There are others who could deal with sledging. But I figured that staying in my space works best for me.

 

On how the name 'Wall' came about: You know, I have always suspected it was some news editor who sat in his desk, looked into the future and wanted to be able to say "the wall crumbles" or "a brick comes off the wall" one day. Humor aside, seriously, I have no idea.

 

Watching Dravid speak, it was abundantly clear that nothing has crumbled. Even today, the Wall stands Tall.

How the Mighty Fall

Writing about failure and falling down is an odd topic to discuss during the holiday season. This is after all the season of fun, frolic and cheer - a moment when we rather not talk of failure. And even if we have to, we would rather frame failure in contrast to success where success is defined as the overcoming of failure and the capability of bouncing back from our fall.....

But would it really help to understudy failure given that everyone among us is bound to fall at some time or the other? To help us better, what if there is a method or structure to failure that we can learn from? Put it differently, when everything around you is seemingly looking fantastic, are there warning signs that you can identify in advance so that your fall can be managed better?

Readers of my blog know that I like to read books. It was fiction once upon a time and management now. But my underpinnings to reading have remained the same all through viz. what does the book teach and are its teachings relevant to a common man's life? The true measure of greatness of any book- according to me - lies in its ability to present a view that is universally and eternally applicable regardless of its genre. After all, not everyone gets to be 'strategic' or 'global leadership material', but each one of us is - and will remain - a leader in our own way in our lives. And lessons derived from a book on management must have as much applicability to the family world as it would be to the corporate life.

For meeting all these criteria, I rate my latest read How the Mighty Fall as one of the best (that incidentally can also be finished in just two days). 

The book was driven by a simple question posed by a CEO to Jim Collins, its author, on 'how would you know?' whether an organization is on a path to decline or on a path to greatness, when externally, everything looks hunky dory. Thus began his journey to understand the dynamics of failure. (If you are reading this book from the viewpoint of personal growth, the relevant question would be 'how would you know that the seeds of your decline have not yet been sowed when externally you seem to be doing just great?'.) 

You learn that every entity goes through five stages of decline. Each stage has distinct characteristics and clear warning signs. The five stages are:

1. Hubris (excessive pride) born out of past success

2. Undisciplined pursuit of more

3. Denial of risk and peril

4. Grasping for salvation

5. Capitulation to death

In fact, the first three happen when the external world thinks there is nothing wrong with you. But the internal signs are there for all to see, and companies that ignore these internal warning signs do so at their own peril. The examples that Jim Collins shows us as he walks us through the five stages are profound. So are classic vignettes such as "while no single leader can build an enduringly great company, the wrong leader vested with power can almost single-handedly bring the company down' or 'when institutions fail to distinguish between current practices and the enduring principles of their success, and mistakenly fossilize around their practices, they've set themselves up for decline'.

The redeeming conclusion is that the stages of decline are truly reversible - provided you are not in the terminal phases within Stage 5. What you need is an ability to go back to basics by identifying your core purpose and values, adding a healthy dose of humility and diligence, and an unyielding drive to never ever give up. That your path to failure may be dark, but when you understand the five stages, there is light for you to bounce back. 

If you want my advice, read Good to Great first before How the Mighty Fall. Not only does the former teach you to turn great, but also acts as a firm reference point as you navigate the latter. And once you are done, maybe you can read his latest Great by Choice next.

Happy Holidays everyone and wishing you a marvelous 2012.