Change and Passion: A Management Student's Perspective
Mangesh Ghogre

In all organizations and businesses around the world, the topic, which everyone loves to talk about, is "CHANGE". We all have heard innumerable times, "change is the only constant in life". If looked at it keenly, all associations and affiliations around the world are nothing but 'Change- Management-Institutions'.

Strangely, the perspective of change management as we know is a very superficial one. Many conformists argue that we can't change everything and anything just because it has to be changed. In my opinion they are neither incorrect nor right.

What is needed is not change in the literal sense, but change in the spirit of doing tasks. Sometimes the change in the spirit is beneficial, sometimes it is not. A perfect anecdote to explain what I mean is as follows;

"In good old days of vidyashrams, a sage was delivering a sermon to his disciples. The students were listening in rapt attention and the session was going fine but for a cat which was disturbing the class by running amok. Irked by the disturbance, the sage asked one of his disciples to go to the market and bring a rope. Later, the sage asked the disciple to tie the cat to a nearby tree with that rope. Only then did the class go on peacefully. Days passed and everyday the same story repeated. No sooner did the cat play mischief, than the disciple used to tie the cat to the nearby tree.
After some days, the sage left for a pilgrimage. He had handed over the ashram's responsibility to the same disciple who used to tie the cat to the tree. Next day, when this disciple was about to deliver the sermon he suddenly stopped and saw around. He found something amiss. He told one of his junior disciples to go to the market and get a rope and a cat. The junior disciple was nonplussed. A rope and a cat in class? He got a rope and a cat from the market. The disciple asked his junior to tie the cat to the nearby tree. Only then did he start the sermon!"

The moral of the story - that the spirit behind the change/activity changes over a period of time. The sage's disciple had become so used to seeing a cat tied to the tree, that his idea of a class changed. He had developed the idea over a period of time that a class starts only when a cat is tied to a tree near the class!

Contemporary examples would be of the Internet and the dynamite. At first, the Internet was supposed to function as an army network (ARPA net) with the highest secrecy. But today, it commands unparalleled transparency and universality. The use of the Internet is now prevalent even among developing countries. On the other hand, we have the invention of the dynamite by Alfred Nobel for the purpose of excavation and power generation. Today, it's used for making bombs. I would not be surprised if Alfred Nobel would regret his invention! So what is needed is not change, per se, but a positive change in the spirit of doing things.

Having identified what to change, it is more important to implement the change. Great management thinkers and gurus have written tomes regarding change implementation. In my opinion, the only and the most effective way of implementing change is to have an indefatigable passion for the change. No sooner does one talk of change, than a barrage of opposition faces him. Only way of overcoming that opposition is by having an even greater passion for the change in spirit. Eventually, whatever happens, change is the winner. The issue is - is the change in spirit positive?
Being a management student, I perceive change as a synonym to true entrepreneurship. Only a true entrepreneur will stand by his belief for the change in spirit. All past entrepreneurs have done just that - to be passionate about the change. Examples are many but among all, Mahatma Gandhi stands apart. Here was a man who knew that even the pandavas couldn't avoid violence to kill evil designs. But still he impassioned the whole nation to believe in non-violence and his principles. Today, we boast of Gandhi's statue being honoured in 36 capitals around the world, a feat still unmatched by any leader in this world. But a true tribute to him will be to acknowledge and implement his "Entrepreneurial Acumen".

Amalgamating the above two ideas, viz. change in spirit and passionate implementation of the change, we should be clear that an entrepreneur should not be a "change agent" but a "transformer in the true positive spirit". A true entrepreneur will do well to just ask a simple question "Why do we need to change in first place?" If answered, it shall exhibit true entrepreneurial attitude. and spirit. Moreover, amalgamating the two ideas will not be an easy task. It will be a sense of celebration of will power and self-belief. But when failure beckons, only one fact empowers the winner - failure is not a defeat, it's a delay.

Mangesh Ghogre,
NMIMS, Mumbai.
mangesh_123@rediffmail.com