The Law of Growth

B. K. Karanjia's Editorial in the May-June 2003 issue took us on a comfortable journey from 1897 to 2003, marking the 107th anniversary of the Godrej enterprise. Jamshyd Godrej emphasized the need for closer and more sincere involvement from each of us in this organisation to make it world class. This is possible if we adapt ourselves to the agent called "Change". After all, change is the fundamental principle of the law of growth!

How you anticipate and respond to change determines not only whether you prosper in future but whether you have a future at all.

Cyclical changes in the business environment demand temporary adjustments. Structural changes require a clean break with the past. If I want to change results, I have to change myself first. In the world of technological and industrial revolutions, one has to gear oneself mentally and emotionally to cope with change.

Change may be frightening and confusing, but with it come opportunities for growth. We live in the most turbulent of times. But the paradox is that the turbulence and speed required for revolutionary change demand exceptional patience.

In a planned society, it is the plan and not a succession of budgets which should be instruments of change. Meaningful changes cannot be bought. They come from and are implemented by people and they must be integrated into the company's cultural fabric.

The more things change, the more you may feel that they remain the same.

Let us consider the case of the Ford Motor Company, which grew from a one-room brick factory into one of the world's greatest industrial empires.

Henry Ford, the founder, despite his genius in industrial management, very nearly wrecked the business on at least two occasions because his capacity for flexibility — the ability to change — had not kept up with the times. After his death the business was taken over by his grandson, a mere youth in comparison with the founder of the business, but a young man with great flexibility and willingness to follow the law of growth through change. In a matter of a few years, the young man transformed the Ford industrial empire into an institution far in advance of anything his grandfather had accomplished during his entire lifetime.

In labour relations, in industrial management, in automobile designing and styling, young Henry Ford proved himself to be a man who invited change instead of fighting it, and by this application of wisdom, made himself an industrial wizard overnight.

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On a lighter note, let us now look at the romance between letters of the alphabet and numbers. Call it fiction or a legend, this numerological approach provides interesting insights:
 

Knowledge and Hard Work take us to 96% and 98%. Not bad.

But it is Attitude that takes us to the Altitude — 100%! Isn't that a good feeling?

Self-Esteem makes us talk positively and reinforce our image by a further 9%.
 

As this romance reaches its prime with Intelligence and Self-Confidence, see what it can achieve for us! Wow, 15% and 20% more! Great!
 

But all these are like zeros without No. 1. So let Power — the No. 1 that disciplines our mind to harmonise science, philosophy and religion — propel us to 33% more!
 

So now we know the route we have to take from 96% to 133%. Let us achieve it. As has been said, always aim for Excellence, never for Perfection. A Perfectionist not only drives others mad, but goes mad himself! If we aim for Excellence we can not only become world class in ourselves, but we can make the organisation for which we work world class too.

Instead of waiting for things to change, do whatever you can to change things, and in the process if you change, enjoy that change.

Nariman Bacha
Personnel Administration