Business lessons in the fast lane

Business lessons in the fast lane
M. Chandrasekaran

I first heard the whining, whizzing sound a few months ago when I happened to make one of my infrequent visits to my teenage son’s room. The TV was on and from what I could see, there were a number of colourful cars zooming around a track repetitively and endlessly. I made the rookie mistake of commenting disparagingly on this apparently mindless activity. Naturally, my son reacted as any self-respecting teenager would and gave me an earful about my ignorance of the many things that matter in life and, importantly, about my cluelessness about Formula One racing. Shamefacedly, I beat a hasty retreat.

Two weeks later, I heard that sound again and went back to my son’s room pasting on an acolyte’s eager expression of wanting to learn from his guru. My son looked up belligerently, expecting some more ‘inane’ (his words) commentary from me. What he saw made him welcome me grudgingly. He initiated me into the intricacies of the starting grid positions, pit stop strategy, tyre change strategy, fuel carrying capacity, down draft, impact of track temperature on performance, slip streams, spoilers and so on. I goggled at the many parameters in what I considered to be a mindless sport. I certainly was wrong to go by first impressions. F-1 racing seemed to have all the crucial ingredients that go into making a complex business operation.

When we look at companies, most often, we find that there is a clear divide between the so called front-end functions and the back-end functions. Unfortunately, these terminologies have also contributed to showing the so called back-end functions in a supportive but inferior light. The way that most companies are run, and the formal and informal importance given to the so-called front-end functions, serves to underline this unfortunate differentiation. Over a period of time, companies subtly develop a caste system, a most regrettable development that undermines performance. Something akin to the way the Manu Smriti’s formulations have degenerated over time to prevent social mobility and societal renewal.

The biggest lessons from F-1 racing are that there is a place for everyone on the team, each person’s contribution is equally vital and the contributions are visible to all concerned. And all this happens in real time. Strategies have to be fine tuned/revised in quick time and responses are measured in seconds. The driver and the racing company get the trophies and publicity, but it is clear to all that in a very real sense this really belongs to the entire team. The drivers say so every time and they mean it.

When we look at organisations, while there is near universal commitment on paper to all these ideals, in practical terms one or more of the tenets are never practised. If organisations have to deliver consistent high performance, it becomes imperative to see how best to assimilate the lessons from F-1 racing and apply them.

When compared to F-1, companies have the luxury of much greater time to respond; such a luxury has to be appreciated and actions must be taken in quick time. Most often between intent and action, there is a big gap which often leads to frustration in employees. There are also times when inefficiencies in the rest of the system are not addressed and persons manning the support functions become the whipping boys for sub-par performance.

This is something that needs to be driven as a concept critical to the organisation’s sustained success by the senior managers, and most important, they must live by this credo. More than a big bang announcement supported by powerful graphics, the purpose will be best served if it is observed in action — in little things and the big things, and on a daily basis. For example, the rewards and incentives programmes must reflect this thinking; the job rotation policy must also reinforce it. If this is done well, over a period of time such practices will not only get accepted, but will also get internalised at all levels in the system. In the long run, the organisation will develop into a high performance system that is open to fine tuning to meet all challenges as they emerge.

As I write this, the F-1 season is over and the new champion has been crowned. I salute my son who taught me this signal lesson in life — never trivialise anything without understanding what makes it go.

(The writer is advisor to 3i Infotech, Manipal Education & Medical Group and IDFC Pvt Equity.)