In 2005, as we steered the transformation of a legacy company, our success hinged on securing new customers. In one fierce competition for a significant contract in Europe, our prospects seemed dim. Yet, I’ve always believed that adversity breeds innovation, and this time was no different.

It was a scorching June in 2014 in Patiala. I stood sweating in a stifling classroom, trying to persuade government school teachers to embrace a new teaching method. Decades of failures hung in the air, visible in their sceptical glances. Feeling humbled and slightly desperate, I gambled on ‘Banana Technology.’

The year was 1996-97. The Employee First, Customer Second transformation was in full swing. Employees were buzzing with excitement, but our customers remained unconvinced. They had many choices, and we struggled to offer something unique. Worse, our customer base was under constant attack from bigger competitors.
We needed something drastic to win our customers over. But how?

The year was 1983 and it was my first day at one of India’s premier management institutes when some invaders stormed into the classroom and stabbed our professor before vanishing into thin air. Professor had blood all over him.

One summer as a kid, I worked on a poultry farm, tasked with moving eggs from the henhouses to the storage sheds. Soon, my youthful impatience kicked in, and we experimented with every shortcut we could think of to finish early and cool off in the tubewell. No matter what we tried, the outcome was the same.