518. An Advice To A Friend

After completing my college education in Chennai, I took up a job in the Government of India and settled down in Delhi.

I was in touch with my college friends for a few years through correspondence. Whenever I visited Chennai, I would meet some of my friends.

In course of time, the frequency of correspondence among us dwindled gradually and at some point, the correspondence stopped completely.

Since my visits to Chennai had been infrequent, my contact with several of my friends ceased to exist.

Those days, telephone connection was a luxury only a few could afford. Maintaining contacts through correspondence was a challenge to many people, especially to the lazy ones like me!

Sasikumar was one such person with whom I had lost contact.

It was only after my settling down in Chennai, after my retirement, that I established contact with Sasikumar again.

At first, we spoke over phone, after I got Sasikumar's phone number from another friend of mine. He told me that after working in a company for more than twenty years, he started his own business by setting up a manufacturing unit and was running it successfully. He invited me to his factory.

When I went to Sasikumar's factory, he welcomed me and took me to his cabin.

We talked about the life we had after we had left the college.

Even as we were chatting, some of Sasikumar's employees came to him now and then and asked for his advice or approval on various matters.

I asked Sasikumar to tell me about his business.

After briefly telling me about what his business was about, he told me, "Having worked in a big company, I learnt a lot, particularly about allocation of responsibilities to various people, based on their skills and ability. I have recruited people with skills and experience and allocated responsibilities to each, according to his aptitude, skills and experience. Every one has been functioning efficiently."

"Excellent" I said.

At that time, an executive came to his cabin and asked for some clarification and went away.

"He is our Purchase Manager. Before finalizing a purchase, he is taking my approval" said Sasikumar, proudly.

"I saw some other employees also coming to you and seeking your approval for doing certain things" I said.

"They are all managers looking after various departments."

"Will your managers do every thing only after getting your approval?"

"Yes, of course. Not only approvals. At every stage, they will seek my approval and then proceed."

"Well. My entire service has been only in a government department. I had no choice in selecting the people who worked under me. I had to work with those posted by the government. Some employees were only mediocre. But, I found that they functioned fairly well, when I assigned specific responsibilities to them gave them the freedom to function" I said.

"What are you trying to say?" asked Sasikumar.

"You have recruited people suitable for various roles in your firm. But you have not given them the freedom to function. You have created a system in which your managers have to seek your approval for every step they need to take. If you entrust your managers with specific responsibilities and give them the power and the freedom to do the things they have to do for carrying out that responsibility, they will function much more effectively. Your burden will also get reduced. I suggest you try this out with a couple of small tasks. You will then be able to judge which system is more effective."

Sasikumar silence appeared to indicate that he was contemplating my suggestion.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 52
Assessing Before Acting

Verse 518 (in Tamil):

vinaikku urimai nAdiya pinRai avanai
adhaRku uriyavanAgach cheyal.

Meaning:

After figuring out who is worthy of doing a task, equip and empower him to get the task done.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'naNbanukku oru yOsanai' by the same author.)

Verse 519 (Soon)
Verse 517