2

“ALMOST ANYTHING YOU DO WILL SEEM

INSIGNIFICANT

BUT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU

DO IT...

YOU MUST BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD.”

As we can make out from the extract above, Arindam Choudhury’s “Count Your
Chickens Before They Hatch” is about inculcating the passion in individuals who want
to achieve success in life. He has won the Management GURU 2000 Award and has
been conducting seminars, lectures and workshops in India and foreign countries on
theory ‘I’ Management. He has taught and groomed more than 15,000 students
worldwide. Prof. Arindam Chaudhury has been working as Dean Centre for Economic
Research & Advanced Studies (IIPM) and founder of Planman Consulting one of India’s
leading multi-interest and multinational consulting companies and ranked among the 50
leading companies and he is ranked among the 50 leading thinkers, in South Asia.
Through this book this management guru has provided certain footsteps to
success like building passion, making friends, managing people, setting goal and then
achieving them. The book is about developing a positive attitude, believing in “if you
think you can, you are right” and hence explaining why people with negative attitude
are called Tom, Dick and Harry... and not Gandhi, Lincoln and Gates. Arindam
Chaudhuri not only puts forth points but also backs them up with solid examples to
strengthen them.

In the first part, the book dwells upon the self development. The author talks
about certain qualities, skills and attitudes that are required to succeed in the business
world today and achieve your personal goals in life. Prof. Arindam Chaudhury reveals
how understanding the powerful role of few skills (motivation, communication, positive
attitude etc.) can set the best leader apart from all the rest. And these skills can be learnt
with time.
These skills includes not only making friends among your juniors but, according
to the author, listening to them and furthermore motivating them to give their best in the
job i.e. driving them towards higher level of efforts is the need. The author has explored
various cases of different success icons like Mahatma Gandhi, J.R.D. Tata, Dhirubhai
Ambani and Henry Ford and how they have achieved the position and the respect they
enjoy today by making it big against all odds. The extent of motivation they develop in
their people has been called a major factor which had driven them to success. The
example of TATA employees who like calling them TATA MEN shows the extent of
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motivation they achieve with the name and pride they enjoy being a part of the group. It
is basically what the author calls it “Organisational citizenship”, which results in an
individual making sacrifices for the organisation. The greater this citizenship behaviour
is, the greater is the willing of an individual to put in extra efforts for the organisation and
tuning personal needs with organisational goals and needs. This part is about turning
Sleeping cows into Galloping horses.
The author has also illustrated the Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs and
Herzberg’s famous two factor theory of motivation to determine the motivators in an
organisation.
The other basic skill talked about in the book is the skill of EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION. It includes the LAW i.e. Looks, Action and Words which is a basic
necessity. The looks make the first impression and with action author means the body
language and non-verbal gestures. While making the selection of words he means the
thoughts should be presented in an interesting and humorous way. Many of us have the
problem in expressing our views and this is the major between a winner and a loser.
Along with this the individual needs to be audience friendly and be polite and polished
while in talks. This problem can be easily avoided with the hard work, which
automatically boost the confidence in you. The author has identified two key dimensions
of communication that are Persuasiveness and Expressiveness. On this basis he has
provided a “Communication Behaviour Preferences Mapping” chart in which he has
successfully divided the speakers in 4 characteristics: Friendly, Thespians, poised and
Stern-faced.

HIGH

FRIENDLY THESPIANS

LOW HIGH

POISED Stern-face

LOW

Expressiven Persuasiven
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The author has also explored the Indian psyche in depth and in the second part
the management guru talks about the basic management concepts and attitudes and
why the American and Japanese concepts of management failed in India. The author
has provided with an India-centric management concept called “Theory ‘i’
management” and have successfully explained why the management concepts
accepted around the world failed in India and the concept that failed elsewhere in the
world is being followed in India. On one hand American theory is all about hire-and-fire
system of management (i.e. contractual employment), contrary to this concept Japanese
theory is about patriotism both at macro as well as micro level, immense bonding and life
time employment of the employees. Both of them are defined as two commonly
occurring extremes.
The American system is a total misfit in bond loving Indian culture but, as per the
author, we are also different from the Japanese in certain behaviour. When the
Japanese people get lifetime employment, they re-pay back in the form of commitment
and hard work but given that Indian workers tend to get complacent over time Prof.
Arindam has advocated a different theory of management whereby it is neither promised
a lifelong employment nor the western system of contractual employment. He cites
several examples of failed projects due to wrong culture being imposed rather than
something all the employees could relate to. The book CYCBTH also talks about the
Russia and the success of China and their theory of forced management.
The author has pointed out 4 basic principles of this India centric management
theory to which he has arrived after a research on 3000 managers across the nation. As
per these principles, most Indians value emotional bonds and long-term relationship
along with growth opportunities and commitment. But at the same time, our cultural
roots, as per the author, make we Indians complacent and lack of patriotism at macro
level make us aimless. The success of Indian companies in the long run does not
entirely depend on the kind of business strategies we have, but on the size of the market
and the purchasing power of the people.
The author deeply criticizes the extent of job security in the Public sector
companies in India. As according to him, it is this job security which has turned the
employees there into SLEEPY COWS, the complacent, lethargic and non-competitive
individuals. The performance of an individual rises with the sense of certain job-
insecurity which makes them functional GALLOPING HORSES, committed, creative,
and responsible and result oriented. But too much off job insecurity will again make them
dysfunctional ASS as the employee would continuously be in a state of being
demotivated. Hence, the author wants the system to strike a balance between the two
extreme stages for higher individual performance and he has proved his point with series
of graphs and tables. He adds by saying:
“Management is about understanding your men. It is about understanding their cultural
upbringing and finding out a style in order to make them more productive”.
With the help of a “Leadership Success Multiplier” chart, the author Arindam
Chaudhury has provided 4 different techniques of management for handling employees
based upon situations and background. These techniques are beautifully explained in
relation with the epics like GITA and certain Indian philosophies of SAAM (management
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by Association), DAAM (management by Attraction), DAND (management by

Delegation), BHED (management by Direction) and the choice of the technique depends
in the extent of capability/maturity and job responsibility the employee assumes as a part
of the organisation. Not only with the employees but the author have also related how
these leadership styles of Dand, Daam, Saam and Bhed are applied in an individual’s
life from that of a child to being an adult by his parents in that order. According to the
Prof. it’s the management by delegation (dand) which our parents follow in the very early
stage of our life as the maturity level of a kid is close to zero, and as we grow the
situation style varies with the maturity level. This is explained with the personal
examples from his own life.
On a direct note, the author is talking about developing a parent like attitude
among the managers so that these leadership instincts can come automatically on their
own. At the micro level, according to him managers need to increase the human touch in
their organizations. He also explains how the Bhagvad Gita’s distinction of people on the
basis of maturity and capability into three types, the Tamas, the Rajas and the Satvic
applies to the modern day Indian employees.
The author also criticizes the ongoing judiciary system in the country as it takes
the verdict several years to come and the criminals, by and large, manage to evade
punishment. He calls this a reason behind the moral bankruptcy of the Indians.
So, the author starts with the micro level approach (individual personality
development) and then moves on to the macro level approach (nation wide management
attitude).

The most interesting part of the book CYCBTH is that Prof. Arindam Chaudhury
has taken certain threads from GITA and MAHABHARATA to inspire the young
managers. He calls the Hindu deity Lord Krishna the greatest Indian management guru
of all times for his ability to motivate his subjects and inspiring them to do what he
desires. He knows the cultural attachment of the Indian population and how to relate it
for the mass benefit of the aspiring managers through theory ‘i’ management. He has
also given examples like Gandhi’s Non-violence movement which worked wonders in
India. So, the author was able to find the links which could have a direct influence and
leave the mark on any Indian.

Overall the author has successfully explained the how-about of the Indian
management theory and their rooting into the Indian history and how the “Chalta hai”
attitude in Indian population emerges. The book recognises the value of having
passionate thinking and having a positive attitude at work. Believe in your efforts and
even the stars will change their path according to your needs. The principles given in the
book can easily be applied specially in context with Indian corporate world. It’s a must
read for every individual who aspire to become a successful entrepreneur.
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Think positive, act smart, speak confidently, be determined, put all possible
efforts along with the will and determination... this is the basic recipe for success the
book by this management guru reflects.

So at the end, just start counting your chickens before they hatch. But what Prof.
Arindam has to say is, “you can only do it if you have the determination towards your
goal, the ability to work successfully with people and the flexible attitude of the “theory
‘i’ management” with you”!!!