While Generalist Managers get a very wide choice of professional profiles; Technocrats have to face the ordeal of complying with a relatively rigid template of how they should be seen; restricting their behaviour pattern, exposure and way of working according to certain accepted stereotypes.
Academician Profile for R&D, Design and Professors:
- Strong prerequisite of M.Tech / MS and PhD for even being considered …this itself dissuades and severely restricts many bright brains and potential ace technocrats from getting into it.
- Academia has over the decades developed a special language … by themselves for themselves where “rigor” means putting lot of mathematical expressions into anything and everything.
- R & D is usually written in same size font BUT in India “R” is insignificantly miniscule and “D” is much bigger … often in Industries R&D functions focus more on Product / aggregate testing and validation.
- Design departments rarely do any calculations and focus largely on churning out drawings / CAD models with selection of standard aggregates through catalogues.
- R&D institutions and Design department are often seen operating as “isolated” ivory towers with fortification of specific domain and administrative boundaries; effectively discouraging entry of / interaction with other functional species.
- The autocratic / bureaucratic work culture and modus operandi is often stifling.
- Towards any radically different idea / suggestion the seniors respond like clergy of medieval times.
- Although there is a buzzword of “Design for Manufacturability” the fact is no designers know the existing equipment precision which their manufacturing shop has.
- Usually, Software ( CAD-CAM, Simulation, IT ) specialists do not know anything about anything other than their Software
- Any new technology first gets imported since there is trust deficit about own capability; later there are efforts made to import substitute, cut frills and corners, optimize with an overbearing “frugal” mind set.
Shop Floor Personnel
- There are clearly laid out domain boundaries to be respected; so QA fellow would know nothing about machine behaviour, Production fellow would only do job counting, performance monitoring and postman job in case of issues AND maintenance people would only be equipment competent but not process competent.
- Then there are compliances and buzz words to be followed into anything and everything. See any presentations by them … there is more emphasis on following “standard tools’ and “templates” than actual substance. ( more of “paakhand” less of “siddhi”)
Planning & Techno-commercial:
- Technology forms only a backdrop; the job profile and performance rating is based solely on commercial and tangibles.
- The focus is more on finding flaw with others and negotiating.
Handling of Innovation:
- By definition “innovation” means borrowing “unusual” ideas and concepts from other domains and deploying them into own context with breakthrough improvement. Usually difficult and deep technical improvements are not even recognized as “innovation” by Industry and much more accolades come for “business innovation” which could be as simple as packaging shampoo in mini pouches which could be sold for ten Rupees to masses.
- In industry one is supposed to innovate “on demand” from Business.
Not just individuals suffer from this phenomena through their carrer; it is much more the Institutions, Industry and Technology itself which becomes biggest casualty owing to this.
AVINASH KHARE