Republican Organizations of India

“At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom”, golden words were etched in the future of the New India. This India was breathing the first smell of freedom after showers of courage, fight & struggle. India became an independent nation in the year 1947, but it was yet to be recognized so. It had this massive task of living up to expectations, of those who worked hard and led from the front to give rise to this new born revolution. It had caught the eyes of the entire world waiting to witness direction that will be given to this young independent nation.

On 28th August 1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed to draft a permanent constitution of India, with Dr. B R Ambedkar as the Chairman. Analyzing the constitution of nearly 11 major countries & various other recommendations, the longest constitution of the world was presented having 395 articles in 22 parts & 8 schedules, with a staggering 80,000+ words, the committee presented to the citizens of India a “Government of the People, By the People, and For the People” on 26th January 1950. With this, India became republic.

We, as entrepreneurs need to take inspiration from this rich struggle in our history. How the republic nature of Indian constitution is very similar to our very own organizational structuring.

What is the constitution? What effect does it hold in the success of this great nation? Why was it necessary for the fathers of Indian Democracy to carve out this constitution? Is there a similarity between functioning of this great nation & your organization?

Doesn’t this question sound silly? What can be similar between functioning of Indian governance & one’s organization?

But hold your thoughts there is a distinct similarity. Let me ask you one question. Is the constitution of India, the definition of systems & processes for Indian governance?

Yes… It is … Right?

Systems & Processes are documented procedures and processes that allow your business to run without an individual’s intervention. The imperativeness of having systems and processes is well known to all. Any organization, in order to sustain for a long term must NOT be dependent on a person but on what is on paper as per set guidelines. This is often referred to as an operations manual and its purpose is to capture the collective “know how” of the business.

There are two major reasons why business systems are overlooked by many small business owners.

·        The first reason is because business systems are “back office” functions & often very boring.

·        The second major reason is because of a perceived lack of urgency. When a business is just starting out or still trying to grow, there are seemingly much more important things to do like sales, marketing and order fulfillment than process development.

Many small businesses, make the mistake for reasons outlined above.

Unfortunately this thought process dooms them to remain small and a prisoner in their business. They often find themselves in a catch 22 situation. They have no time to work on the business growth and its future, because they are too busy working in the business.

Moreover, at a later stage, they can’t even get away from the business because they haven’t developed documented systems and processes.

Imagine if India didn’t have its constitution, what kind of nation we would have been today?

In the words of one of the greatest leaders, the pioneer of Indian Army Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose “We must build a system on such an unshakable foundation that it shall carve our light to future”.

Let this Republic Day, let’s take inspiration from our country and its history… let’s pledge to develop a Systems & Process driven organization from today itself.