Part 1.1

The Calm Mind in the Here and Now

Any successful cricketer would reveal his or her secret of high performance in the sporting arena and there are enough such interviews and podcasts on the internet. He or she would speak of the discipline and the sheer rigor in being able to play every match as if he or she is playing it for the first time.

The statements would be construed around the following words of wisdom –

o “… keep one’s mind clear of all emotions and fore-thoughts, and let the senses and the body respond to the context…”

o “… don’t think, don’t anticipate, don’t allow pre-meditated intent to confuse you or else you would not know how to respond …”

o “… stay in the here and now, listen to your breathing, and keep an open calm mind …”

Many of the compliments that Virat Kohli has received in the past few weeks is that he brings in an intensity and physical energy of an eighteen year old — even today the freshness that he brings is admirable.

Interestingly, while the warrior in the arena strives to keep her or his mind clear, the spectators both inside the stadia and watching on televisions in public pubs and bars or in the confines of their home are fed and overwhelmed with data, historicity, and narratives.

Part 1.2

The Simultaneous Contrast of the Agitated Spectator(s) caught in the Web of Narratives

Today Indian cricket narratives are not just about heroic journeys of a young cricketer, the series of immense sacrifices by his or her parents and loved ones, the insights of the coach who was able to discern talent when nobody else could, and of course national pride, jingoism, and other aspects.

For the successful champions, there are narratives about their spouses, their divorces from narcissistic spouses, their love affairs, their struggles with their wealth and popularity, and a lot of data on their inadequacies, as well as their hit rates, their physiques and weights, their surgeries et al.

The sheer contrast between the high-performing champion who learns to calm his or her mind, and stay in the present, and the spectators who are chewing on the past with relish — past narratives, stories, grapevines, performance data, old feuds, new feuds et al is overwhelming. It is difficult for me to sit with others while watching a match because there would be statements such as these:

T “… X has become too arrogant, and refuses to acknowledge his / her humble beginnings, and this is why X is not performing as expected…”

T “… Y is recovering from a painful divorce — poor chap is striving for a space for self-renewal — look at his dispirited performance — this is as much a case of abuse as any other …”

T “… A is a womanizer — both of us know it — look at that flair and charm — beneath it lurks a predatory mind … A might win you some matches but is a danger…”

T “… D’s ability to hit sixes every 10 balls, has been consistent for the past 3 years. Let’s bet on this game and make some money…”

I do wish at times that as spectators to a sporting event, we can also remain with our minds clear, our hearts calm, and our memories not seducing us with their tugs and pulls as we witness action.

But these wishes are futile because modern cricket in India like any other sport is a complex ecosystem — of commentators who earn their living by intensifying sporting arena, of promoters and investors who make tons of money and wish to take cricket global, of political parties who rule over BCCI and MCC and extract their pounds of flesh, of betting companies that try to maintain that they are ethical, of advertising for consumption of goods that no modern sportsperson would consume — including tobacco, alcohol, gutka, sugared candies etc.

The eco-system muddles our minds and holds us captive to the narratives and stories that they would like to emphasize on.

Part 2

Leadership and Organization Building: Exploring the world of Narratives and its Power and its Captivity

Like every self-respecting OD practitioner, I have invested years of research on the understanding and the discerning of narratives, appreciating theory of narratives, identifying redemption narratives for organizations, formalizing the Hero’s journeys of its founders etc. I have anchored interventions on looking at central and fringe narratives including subaltern narratives for organizations, leveraged personal narratives in coaching conversations etc.

But the conundrum remains — if every corporate leader was to play the game as Virat Kohli and strive to keep his or her mind clear and focused, focus on the here and now and not on the history of events thus far, and emerge with an authentic and spontaneous response to his or her context — bringing in creativity, freshness, and well-being — if this is what you expect the leadership to commit to — then why study ‘narratives’.

I would urge you to jump to quick stances and conclusions and let’s slow down.

If our context is uncertain, chaotic, and complexity ridden — does our past and its treasure troves of heroic quests, tacitly held intense and subjective knowledge, formal processes that got designed thereof — does this past help engage with our present? There are times when the past narratives do … but not in the way narratives are peddled by consultants in the marketplace today; and there are times when these narratives do not.

Part 2.1

When do the Narratives enable us and prepare us for Leadership

I have always credited Raghu Ananthanarayanan as someone who helped me understand that leadership is a ‘verb’ or a process and should not confused with a person. This distinction has been very insightful for me and I think where narratives perhaps help us and enable us for working with our context, would include the following:

1. Heroic narratives or what are termed as ‘Redemption Narratives’ are useful in re-engaging with resilience, tenacity, and courage. Sharing of heroic narratives should be almost ritualized when the present context overwhelms us with anxiety, fears, and death (of the business, of the product, of the project etc.).

However, Redemption narratives often end up personalizing or immortalizing the subject or the hero as opposed to inviting reflections and offering assurances on how the subject(s) engaged with a dilemma or a challenge. The narrative then becomes all about the hero and or the dragon, and not the process of engagement.

2. Another category of narratives known as ‘Contamination Narratives’ and what these can offer are not invested into by most organizations. Contamination Narratives are what Camus would have titled as ‘the Fall-en Heroes’. Contamination narratives are about human failures and the shame and the guilt that gets released — these are about corruption of ideals, decay of values, seductions to greed and power…

Again, Contamination narratives are largely pushed into gossip and maliciously denigrate the person or the Actor. These narratives offer a lot more and this is never actively worked with when engaging with the challenging context. Collective denial is often the coping mechanism as senior managers embrace their context while pushing these narratives into the unconscious.

Contamination narratives, provided one peels away the layers of shame and guilt, may offer patterns of dysfunctional behaviors in groups and individuals, dialogue on taboos that impact decision making, and understanding seeds of conflict.

My sensing is when there is enough psychological safety within the system, where redemption narratives do not becomes personalized, and where contamination narratives can be explored with compassion, sensitivity, and empathy — the past may become relevant or rather clearer in terms of how it supports us or constrains us.

Part 2.2

When do the Narratives hold us Captive?

You need a clear and calm mind is what Dhoni says when he hits another six in business end overs of one more white ball game! I suspect he will keep doing this as long as he can hold a bat … (This is my narrative of immortality of Dhoni sigh! And if you do not Dhoni — think of Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible — the Eternity edition)

Amidst noisy, quarrelsome, agitated colleagues, it is perhaps this calm and uncluttered mind that creates new stances and new ways of approaching the same problem or same phenomena.

Narratives, conscious and more so unconsciously held with the individual or groups, can challenge the uncluttered mind — these would impact the way we make sense of our context, and influence our choice making. It becomes then important to understand the notion of ‘discontinuities’ and not getting stuck in the same paradigm of discerning and knowing.

Some of the wiser men and women that I have co-journeyed with would emphasize on a meditative practice of working with the monkey mind — a meditative practice that at its core invites us to look at phenomena from a fresh perspective as opposed to it being seen through the biased mind. I can assure you that it works for the individual.

When it comes to systems such as organizations and departments — the meditative mind needs more work than just the individual practice. It is here perhaps the process consultant would find his or her craft worthwhile … A process consultant (internal or external) would enable a group to explicate the following:

a) That the group, like the individual, has a collective consciousness and would be prey to collectively and unconsciously held biases and preferences.

b) That the group, unlike the individual, would need to dialogue and dive deep into its unconsciously held collective narratives and bring these to the surface. It is only when tacitly held narratives are explicated and put for collective viewing than the meditative mind can be co-held to.

c) That the group, unlike the individual, would have to have the tenacity and the perseverance to work with associated feelings of fear, shame, guilt, inadequacy etc. as a group phenomenon, and not personalize these.

d) That the group, unlike the individual, would have to explore both redemption and contamination within … and how it manifests at the individual or the inter-personal relations.

I guess the most important seduction is that of the ‘Dominant Narrative’ — a simplistic, egoistic, narcissistic take on why we or the firm is doing exceedingly well. The dominant narrative overwhelms all counter-narratives and renders these as taboos, whimsical, inappropriate, and insensitive. The dominant narrative gives an over-crystallised Identity of who we are — and this crystal is perhaps more fragile than ever while remaining rigidly complying to the narrative.

It is when the system is in the grip of the dominant narrative — when the narrative renders us prisoners and does not prepare us for the context.

Conclusion

I suppose narratives have lots to offer both the individual and the group or the team, and it becomes important how and why such artefacts are worked with. There appears to be no easy formula or template here except that the current media pressurizes systems to create heroic narratives that make supermen and superwomen — the seduction of such celebrity status often blinds us to what the narrative really can offer. Amir Khan in Three Idiots often spoke of not running after ‘success’ … that success would chase you if you worked with diligence on ‘knowing your context’.

In many ways there are too narratives around ‘success’ and not many that look at ‘knowing’ the context or very few on how the context contaminates the individual or the group. Success imbued narratives can also be termed as ‘fairy tales’ for fragile men and women who are too caught up with being famous.

So what is your narrative?