Manav Sadhna: Lok Mitra Fund Report

The following is touching report sharing stories of remarkable impact made by the NGO Manav Sadhna in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.  Please take the time to read the good work done (including work with Rohan!).

Lok Mitra Funding Report 

(stories of the children helped by funds raised from the UK)

Volunteering at Manav Sadhna, Ahmedabad

From 1 March 2009, I will be a volunteer at an NGO based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat (India). Called Manav Sadhna (meaning 'service to mankind'), it is located on the outskirts of the Ramapir no Tekra (one of Gujarat's largest slums).

As I'm sure by now, most of you will have seen or heard of Slumdog Millionaire, you will be able to conjucture up images of what this experience may be like. Although dramatised somewhat, it is still a city slum that I will be based at. The work / service required will vary from spending time supporting children's education programmes to developing sanitation facilities in difficult areas of the slum. As I'm quite new to this, I am still unsure exactly what I'll be doing - all I know is that my sleeves will be rolled up and ready to help out as much as possible where ever the need may be!

Ahmedabad is a very cosmopolitan city, once being the capital of the state of Gujarat. It has a bustling culture with vibrant shops and places to see/visit. I've been there twice as part of the Learning Journey (YouTube Promo), an 8-day social development trip I co-organised last year. This is one of the main reasons for my growing affection for this place!

(Photo: Running a discussion session in India with Learning Journey Group, Sept 08)

To read about more about Learning Journey visit my other blog.

World Economic Forum 2009

The World Economic Forum is currently happening in Davos, Switzerland. An annual gathering, this has become a meeting point for international leaders, politicians and change-makers.

One of my favourite authors, Benjamin Zander (author of Art of Possibility) speaks on "Managing Complexity: A Different Approach".

Please visit the webcast of his very amusing and insightful session here: WEBCAST. Ben talks about living with possibility and uses similar ideas from the Landmark Forum. One of the quotes I like from his father - "There's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing".

Ben talks about three ways to react to the future and expands further as he speaks:

1. Resignation
2. Anger
3. Possibility

I hopefully will add more notes once I get a chance! From understanding assumptions holding us back to thinking outside the box, this is a very inspiring session.

How to move from a downward spiral to realm of possibility.

Why Should Anyone Be Led By You?

Why Should Anyone Be Led By You?

Co-Authors Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones

PwC Asian Business Forum was host to Vijay Patel of Waymade Healthcare plc and Professor Gareth Jones, visiting professor at INSEAD and Fellow of the Centre of Management Development at London Business School.

I found Prof Gareth Jones talk particularly interesting and thought it would be useful to share my learning's. I first came across Gareth's work when I was studying at Economics at the London School of Economics and a friend of mine had a copy of an article from the Harvard Business Review entitled "Why should anyone be led by you?" (pdf). I took a photocopy of this and managed to learn the key points, using it to my advantage in many interviews. Hence, it was an absolute pleasure to meet the man who came up with this thinking. What follows is a collection of notes I jotted down during the talk.

• First born children have a monopoly in the world of CEO's – they seem to develop natural leadership due to having so much attention as a children (guess what – I'm first born!)


• Important questions: What do followers want? What do the people you aspire to lead want? From the survey conducted, this is what followers wanted:


• COMMUNITY – they want to feel part of something greater, some type of clan. E.g. PwC laptop bags can be seen all over London and you know they belong to a certain group.


• SIGNIFICANCE – a leader will recognise you, he will participate at all levels including the lowest (e.g. janitors) and make you feel special. E.g. when Bill Clinton meets people, he shakes hands for an extra second and has a way to make you feel like the only person in the room.


• EXCITEMENT – followers want to be excited. Leaders can often excite others through their passionate commitment to clearly articulated personal values and to a vision.


• AUTHENTICITY – followers want at leader who is a real person, doing real things – someone who brings their 'real self' to work, rather than saving for evenings and weekends.
• You spend most of your adult waking life at work – it had therefore better be meaningful!
• Definition of Leadership – "effective leadership excites people to exceptional performance"
• Leadership is:
• Contextual
• Relational
• Non-hierarchal


• What do Authentic Leaders do?
• Sensory to people – "smell the gravy" – know what's going on before someone has to tell them. This is a skill you can get better at.
• Sense situations – know and show enough. (e.g. walk around more)
• social distance – appropriate levels of intimacy
• Compelling communication – e.g. Barack Obama – capacity to energise a room with compelling communication is electric.
• Uses emotions (need to know them first) to energise and liberate others


• Authentic Leadership has the power to transform organisations and enrich lives.
• Important to have honest leadership discussions – someone to feedback to you, be it a life long partner, friend or trusted advisors.
• Vijay Patel said one comment that had impact on me – "always live outside of your comfort zone".

Visit the website for useful articles and more background.

Other links:

Management / Leadership Articles available to download

C.K. Prahalad, Indian Management Guru

If you wish to refer to one of the greatest Indian business thinkers, C.K. Prahalad should be on the top of your list. He needs no introduction; every management student in India and internationally knows the name C.K. Prahalad. He is known not only for his prolific works also for his management perceptions and strategies.

CK Prahalad is a professor, researcher, speaker, author and prominent consultant. Business Week has called him "a brilliant teacher at the University of Michigan and also described him as "maybe the most influential thinker on business strategy today.

In addition to serving as the Harvey C. Freuhauf Professor of Business Administration at the University Of Michigan Business School, Prahalad specializes in corporate strategy and the role of top management in large, diversified, multinational corporations.

In 1994 he co-authored the bestseller, Competing for the Future, with Gary Hamel. Translated into 14 languages, it was named the Best Selling Business Book of the Year in 1994. Prahalad is particularly well known for the work he has conducted with fellow strategy expert Gary Hamel. This includes the articles The Core Competence of the Corporation (Harvard Business Review, May-June, 1990), Competing in the New Economy: Managing Out of Bounds (Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17, No. 3, March, 1996) as well as the bestselling book Competing for the Future: Breakthrough Strategies for Seizing Control of Your Industry and Creating the Markets of Tomorrow (1994).

He has won numerous awards. The most recent include the McKinsey Prize three times, the SMR-PWC award, and the ANBAR Electronic Citation of Excellence.

A prominent world-class guru, Professor Prahalad has consulted with the world's foremost companies, such as Ahlstrom, AT&T, Cargill, Citicorp, Eastman Chemical, Kodak, Oracle, Philips, Quantum, Revlon, Steelcase, and Unilever. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors of NCR Corporation, Hindustan Lever Limited and the World Resources Institute and services on the Board of Directors of NCR Corporation, Hindustan Lever Limited and the World Resources Institute.

His latest book, 'The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits', proves that the future will develop from serving the poor, because the innovations that are developed are superior– top quality, low price, high volume and world-scale. Only the best innovations will work for both sides of the equation, those in poverty and those in the "developed" countries.

Books by C.K. Prahalad

• The fortune at the bottom of the Pyramid (August 25, 2004)
  
• Competing for the future (Co-authored with Gary Hamel)
  
• The Future of Competition: Co-Creating Unique Value with Customers (2004 - co-authored with Venkat Ramaswamy)
  
• In search of excellence
  
• Multinational Mission: Balancing Local Demands and Global Vision (1987)

C.K. Prahalad is also the author of numerous award-winning articles. Harvard Business Review awarded the McKinsey Prize to him three times for the following articles:-

• "The End of Corporate Imperialism", co-authored with Kenneth Lieberthal (1998)
  
• "The Core Competence of the Corporation", co-authored with Gary Hamel (1990)
  
• "Strategic Intent", also co-authored with Gary Hamel (1989)
  
• "The New Frontier of Experience Innovation" published in Sloan Management Review won the SMR-PWC award for the best paper published in 2003
  
• "Weak Signals vs. Strong Paradigms", published in the Journal of Marketing Research (1995) was awarded the 1997 ANBAR Electronic Citation of Excellence
  
• "The Dominant Logic: A New Linkage between Diversity and Performance" (1986), co-authored with Richard Bettis, was selected the Best Article published in the Strategic Management Journal for the period 1980-88
  
• "The Role of Core Competencies in the Corporation" (1993) received the 1994 Maurice Holland Award as the Best Paper published in Research Technology Management in 1993
  
• "A Strategy for Growth: The Role of Core Competence in the Corporation" won the European Foundation for Management Award in 1993
  

Source: www.ckprahalad.com/

Links:
http://www.12manage.com/methods_prahalad_bottom_of_the_pyramid.html
Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fortune-Bottom-Pyramid-Eradicating-Poverty/dp/0131467506

Top thinker!: http://www.thinkers50.com/?page=biography&ranking=1

Chain Reaction... Connect, Collaborate & Commit

On Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 November 2008, a combined total of over 700 people came together in one massive tent (and a few tent rooms) to invoke a conversation on social change, combined with opportunity for constructive collaboration and action.

Chain Reaction is a first in the sense that such an event brought together the Third Sector (Volunteers, NGOs, Social Entrepreneurs), Government, Corpororations, Private Sector and young people. (See the website for a lot more information about speakers/attendees).

Community Links was the organisation who created this event with a whole host of other partnerships. The main reason I was actually excited about this event was the chance to engage with two of the speakers... Sir Richard Branson and Sri Nipun Mehta. And guess what - both of them couldnt make it!! Nipun had visa issues and Branson.. well, probably got caught up on some global deal!

The line-up was actually impressive even without the above two. Who else was there?

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, MP Peter Mandelson, Dragons Peter Jones and James Caan, Mark Thompson (Director General of BBC) in addition to the following:

Jeremy Gilley, Founder of Peace One Day
Its about the small things that make a difference... this message is what Jeremy decided to apply to global suffering from violence. His anger in the situation spurred this actor to take on a journey around the world to film "Peace One Day" to articulate the message of having one day of peace. Hearing the stories about the impact was powerful... for example, Afganistan military agreeing not to harm UN aid delivering much needed medical injections to millions of children.
(Watch the trailer - VERY good!)

Some of his comments:
"Music was a great driver for change"
"you can see images of people being displaced, living in poverty but to experience first hand it totally different"

Chris Grant (14a Conversations) who was comparing during the day with humour and energy, described the process of social change/entrepreneurism as being not like a ladder, but rather a climbing frame - its not linear or rigid. Its messy.

Quote: "There is not power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about" Margaret Wheatly

Steve Howard, MD of Business in the Community (BitC)
Adam Criozer, CEO of Royal Mail
Jane Tewson CBE, Co-founder of Comic Relief
Tim Smit, CEO and founder of Eden Project
Prof David Grayson, Prof of Social Responsibility Cranfield University

Sophi Tranchell, MD Divine Chocolate (thanks for the delicious free samples all day!)

Sally Begbie, International President of Globalhand

John Bird, Founder of the Big Issue

Jess Search, CEO Channel4 BritDoc

Jelani Erskine, LIVE magazine

Brendon Riley, CEO IBM UK

Ian Tuckett, CEO and Founder of Coin Street Community

David Robinson OBE, Community Links, PM Council on Social Action Leader

Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Founder and Director, Global Oneness Project
Eugenie Harvey, Co-Founder, We Are What We Do
Fiona Rawes, Director, Heart of the City
Mike Foster, MP Third Sector
Richard Hardie, Vice-Chair of UBS

Madhu and Meghna from MAM

Something I once heard comes to mind at this point - the power of associations. To be around the kind of people you admire, surround yourself with role models you aspire to be like and people who bring out that which energises you. Chain Reaction left me soaked with inspiration and a certain confidence from seeing others with a similar burning desire to make a difference... actually go out there and make that difference.

Thank you Chain Reaction.

Pramal

PS - to add more from my notes to above speakers when I get round to it!

DFID India - Resources

Useful reading to get a background on the development side of India, published by the UK Department for International Development.

These can be mainly accessed via the India 'country profile' section of the DFID website.

See http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/Transforming-RL-India.pdf for Transforming Rural Livelihoods in India.
See http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/india-factsheet.pdf for the 2008 India factsheet.
See http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/hiv-india.pdf for Our story and responses to HIV/AIDS in India .

The India Country Plan from 2004 is on the website at http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/capindia.pdf but will soon be replaced by a new CAP - see http://www.dfid.gov.uk/consultations/past-consultations/india-cap.asp for the consultation exercise (now closed) for the new strategy for the period up to 2015.

'Supporting security, justice and development - lessons for a new era' is at http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Pubs/files/security-justice-development.pdf

Also, Rough Guide to a Better World - great easy to read publication giving an outline to poverty in the world and what you can do about it.

TED Talks - Excellent

What is TED?
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an invitation-only event where the world's leading thinkers and doers gather to find inspiration. The website publishes the talks from these events.
Here are just a few ones I liked:

Richard Branson: Life at 30,000 feet
Richard Branson talks to TED's Chris Anderson about the ups and the downs of his career, from his multibillionaire success to his multiple near-death experiences -- and reveals some of his (very surprising) motivations.




Amy Tan: Where does Creativity hide?
Novelist Amy Tan digs deep into the creative process, journeying through her childhood and family history and into the worlds of physics and chance, looking for hints of where her own creativity comes from. It's a wild ride with a surprise ending.



Stephen Hawking: Asking big questions about the universe
In keeping with the theme of TED2008, professor Stephen Hawking asks some Big Questions about our universe -- How did the universe begin? How did life begin? Are we alone? -- and discusses how we might go about answering them.




V.S. Ramachandran: A Journey to the Centre of your Mind
V.S. Ramachandran explores how brain damage can reveal the connection between the physical brain and the mind -- focusing on three startling delusions.





For a complete list of talks click here.

Global Oneness Project

This is an amazing project that I came across whilst researching Manav Sadhna and Jayesh bhai, of whom they have made a short video and released. Visit www.globalonenessproject.org for more information.

"The Global Oneness Project is exploring how the radically simple notion of interconnectedness can be lived in our increasingly complex world" - About Us Page

One worthwhile idea is the FREE DVD ("Living Library") they post to you so that you can screen the short video clips with friends and relatives. I have done this and as they promise, a DVD arrived in the post today which I shall be sharing with local people shortly! Also, the website has downloadable discussion guides and posters you can use (e.g. if you are in university and want to hold a viewing followed by discussion).

My favourite clips including the Indian ones I initially was looking for are linked below.

Short Films Online:
Global Oneness Project Trailer
Jayesh Patel - Living Service
Sewa Cafe - Love All, Serve All
Not Just a Piece of Cloth - Goonj

Muhammad Yunus on Poverty

"We create institutions and policies on the basis of the way we make assumptions about us and others. We accept the fact that we will always have poor people around us. So we have had poor people around us. If we had believed that poverty is unacceptable to us, and that it should not belong to a civilized society, we would have created appropriate institutions and policies to create a poverty-free world." -Muhammad Yunus

Thirty years ago, in a remote village of Bangladesh, a modest economics professor took thirty dollars out of his own wallet and loaned it to a group of women looking to start a small business. Told by nay-sayers that he'd never get the money back, the amount was repaid in full. Muhammad Yunus went on to found Grameen Bank in 1976, out of a conviction that it is small acts like this one can move people out of poverty. Today he is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who, starting with one simple loan, has influenced millions.

Source: KarmaTube

See also: http://www.muhammadyunus.org/