Chess. Chadarangam, Chaturanga. 8×8, 64 square board game. FIDE tells us that 70% of the adult population has played chess at some point in their lives. 60 Crore people play chess regularly. I may not be one of them today, I play occasionally – learnt playing from our neighbours, when I was 10. Went on to play for the next 15 years. Was a chess captain in the school. The number of chess games possible can be innumerable – it is said that they are more than the number of atoms in the observable universe.
Are we scaling up, scaling deep, scaling out, or working at scale, being at scale? Maybe we are doing both. The struggles, architectures, systems, and processes may not be the same for these two. Can we build these ‘two’ portfolios differently, but side-by-side? The effort to build these portfolios is often risky. Many a time, the risk is at a personal level. It is also about changing behaviour and mindsets. This kind of effort often may not result in returns in a linear causal manner. Iterative. May appear unproductive. Effectiveness cannot be guestimated beforehand. No precedents may be available. Trial and error methods have to be set in. Work efforts need to be in dedicated scale teams on one hand, and across the organization, movement on the other hand. Simultaneously.
Farmer facilitates farming on the farm. With support from soil-microbes, sun and plants. Likewise, we are cultivating extraordinary team(s). Can we cultivate our team(s) like farmers? Farmer listens to, understands needs, guides the farm, and crops. Can we do the same in the team? Can we stop blaming the teams for ‘bad results’? Can we support their efforts and journeys? Can we give time to blossom? Can we give a long rope? Can we invest more in getting the team right first, with ability, diversity? Can we nurture them, allowing them to grow? Can we remove toxicity, say bye to toxic members? Can we be prepared and ready for ups and downs?
Can we have our farms, teams telling their stories of struggles, processes, experiences and triumphs? In various forms, media. Many and many of them. Cohorts, live events, interviews, conversations, stories, etc., included.
Nothing about us without us. Can we ensure that we are in for all that matters to us? Participation, decision-making power and agency. Fully. Can we transcend tokenism, symbolism? Transcending informing, taking feedback to be ignored, trashed? Transcending informing rights, responsibilities, options, based on the decisions already taken? Can we consult, take the opinions into ‘decisions’? Better still, can we include us into decision-making roles, but not as rubber stamps, or voted out through dominant other members, in numbers, voice, authority, etc.? Can we transcend offering semblance of power to effective partnership, sharing responsibilities, with power delegation and control over decision-making? Can we communitize fully, really, building their agency – will, willingness; ability, capacity, knowledge, tools, skills, resources, team(s); space, formal space(s), and authority?
Can we care to acknowledge that all of us needed to be included, with no exception; willingness generated; capacities built; spaces created. All of us have rights to ‘possibilities’ with ‘destinies’ in our hands. Can we lead ourselves with hope, faith, promise, and love, to these ends?
Yes, we can. If we coexist, if we include, take coexisters into flowing. In N? sahanaayoga for 7L.
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