Purva Midtown, Bangalore

RWA Inpection done by Nemmadi

DIMENSIONS For private circulation only vol 12 , issue 7 july 2020

an in-house magazine by A. N. Prakash construction project management consultants pvt ltd

CONTENTS

• FROM THE MANAGINGDIRECTOR’S DESK

• MILESTONES• ANKE GOWDA, THE

BIBLIOPHILE• SYMBIOSIS IN NATURE

& WORKPLACEPART 1:

SYMBIOSIS IN NATUREPART 2:

VIRUSES ANDSYMBIOSIS

PART 3:SYMBIOSIS AT THE

WORKPLACE• TRANSPARENCYFIRST – WHETHER

CORONA OR AT THEWORKPLACE

• 無理 OR MURI• APPENDIX

.After I completed my ass ignment with ECC and on the

last day , I asked i f Mr . J .R . Lamech had any advice for me .  

He sa id :

“Wherever you work, understand your boss and work so as to keep himsatisf ied WITHOUT compromising on professional ethics” .

 

Next was Mr . R .G .N . Swamy who was the CEO of M /s . Gherz i Eastern Ltd ; who

was my second employer . I was working as a Site Engineer at New Delhi and

subsequent ly in Chandigarh .

His advice was :

‘Always address a problem with a c lean s late, don’t approach with pre-conceived notions’ .

SOME OF THE BEST ADVICES I HAVE RECEIVED IN MY PROFESSIONAL LIFE:

There are many persons in my l i fe , both younger and

older than I am , who have in f luenced my way of th inking and act ing both in

my profess ional and personal l i fe .

I t would be a very long l i s t , i f have to name al l of

them and also write about the lessons learned or advices given .

 

As th is i s a profess ional forum , I wil l conf ine mysel f

to a few of those who have been my advisors and guides in my profess ional

l i fe .

 

The f i r s t person that comes to my mind i s my f i r s t

boss , Mr . John Raja Lamech at ECC (now L&T ) at New Delhi . I jo ined ECC

immediately after complet ing my M .Tech .

FROM THE MANAGING DIRECTORS DESKA. N. Prakash

The th i rd one , though not the last one , was f rom Mr .A . Ibrahim who was my

Project Manager in Saudi Real Estate Company . In my anxiety to ensure good

qual i ty of work , I used to go and watch every i tem of work on the project ,

though there were many superv isors who were looking after the work . He sa id :

“Learn to delegate and monitor , you cannot be in al lthe places al l the t ime”. 

I have imbibed these advices in my profess ional l i fe

and they have been of great help .

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

Birthdays in August:

VENKATARAMANA S,

Myscape Terraza North, 1st August

ARJUN KUMAR K,

Ramky Phase II, 2nd August

RAMAKRISHNA K,

Jayabheri Summit, 2nd August

MD IMRAN AHMED,

Himalaya Drug Co., 3rd August

PRASHANT SINGH,

Parsons –Bhiwadi, 4th August

MUNIRAJU C, Bangalore

HO, 6th August

LIJESH KUMAR, Bangalore

HO, 7th August

BHARATH K P, Kalyani

Vista, 10th August

PURUSHOTHAMAN S, SRM

University, 13th August

SREEKUMAR K G, Sami

Labs, 15th August

SUDHAKAR PAUL

INDUPALL, Hyderabad Projects, 15th

August

A N PRAKASH,

Bangalore HO, 16th August

SWETH VYAS V,

Bangalore HO, 16th August

VASIM MUJAWAR,

ADPL, 18th August

SHASHI KUMAR D,

Jayabheri Summit, 21st August

NARAYANA JOSHI, Zuari

Rain Forest -Goa, 25th August

Shridhar K E, ADPL, 26th

August

SHAIK ABID ALI, Ramky

Phase II, 28th August

RAVI KUMAR TENNETI,

Harsha Developers, 30th August

MILESTONES

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020 2

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

Lockdown Hobbies

During the lockdown period, several

of the staff spent their time picking up

new hobbies or renewing their interest

in old hobbies.

We had requested that everyone

send their artwork for publication in

future issues. Since no one else have

sent anything, here are some more

from the earlier contributors:

Swathi K S, Nemmadi

‘Lockdown Days’, by Swathi

’Negative thoughts about being

positive’ – by Swathi

Manikant S,

Nemmadi

‘Meditative Days’ by Manikant

Lijesh P, HO

‘Silent Shore’ by Lijesh

‘Crimson Evening’ by Lijesh

Wedding: Debendra Das, MEP

Engineer of ANPCPMC (USL,

Nimapara) married Maheswata on 4th

July at Satiuti, Bindhabazar, Orissa

The Invitation Card

Debendra Das and Maheswata on

the wedding day, 4th July

The couple at the reception (8th July)

After the reception

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

ANKE GOWDA, THE BIBLIOPHILE

Chandrashekar M, HO.

Anke Gowda (66)

of Pandavapura, Mandya, Karnataka

has been collecting books for the last

33 years and now has a collection of

over 10 lakh books. Originally stored at

his small home, he now has a large

hall, his ‘book house’ fondly known as

Ankegowda Jnana Pratishthana

Pustaka Mane with books in 8-10

different languages, in all genres.

Born into a poor household, Anke

Gowda attainted a special interest in

books as they were unavailable for

him when he was young. The want

turned into a hobby encouraged by

his teachers and over the years, has

now turned into an obsession.

Gowda’s favorite professor

Anantharamu nurtured his passion for

books when he was doing his post-

graduation at Mysore University.

After completing his

studies, Gowda joined a sugar factory

in Mandya. But his passion to collect

books did not wane with work. “I was

buying books wherever I went on

duty, that was my duty,” he confesses

proudly.

The locals in Mandya often tease him

about this obsession but Gowda just

laughs it off. His wife, Vijayalakshmi,

recalls the time when her husband

bought books with the money meant

to buy provisions for the house! A small

example but one that highlights the

value collecting books holds for him. It

also makes you wonder about the

passion that drives this man to do this,

part fueled by his love for books and

part fueled by his desire to spread

knowledge.

The majority of

Gowda’s earnings goes in purchasing

books, be it any genre. His collection

cuts across religion, language and

subject. It included 22 different Indian

languages and 8 foreign languages.

Beside books, his rare collection

extends to a huge number of coins,

stamps, old Hindi movie posters, old

English and Indian newspapers,

magazines and currency notes.

Another view of the collection

His collection also includes the entire

literature of Kannada literary giant

Kuvempu and 566 publications written

on him. Gowda even collects different

types of invitations, wedding cards

and greeting cards.

Gowda’s

dream is to own the world’s

largest private collection of books.

While he may have big ambitions, he

is unable to fulfil them for want of

funds. At present, he is unable to

afford employees to organize his

collection for the convenience of his

visitors and books are heaped in

disorganized piles.

Not surprisingly, he has sold his entire

property for the sake of his passion.

Yet, the financial crunch has never

stopped him from indulging in this

unusual endeavor. For Gowda, this is

not an effort in vain. His library has

helped many research students from

various parts of the country in pursuing

their dreams. It is open to students

and anyone who is interested in

attaining knowledge.

With H D Kumaraswamy, Ex-CM of

Karnataka

Gowda

has received many awards for his

passion. The Karnataka state

government felicitated him with the

prestigious ‘Kannada Rajotsava

Award’ in 2014. The Library Association

of Karnataka awarded him with a

State Library award in 2011 for his

personal collections. He has also won

the Karnataka state award for his

philanthropic work in the field of

education in the state, in 2012.

Receiving one of his many awards

Reference: Article by VISHAKA SRINATH

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020 4

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

SYMBIOSIS IN NATURE & WORKPLACE

Part 1: Symbiosis in Nature

Manikant S,

Nemmadi

If the history of life on Earth were put

to a 24-hour clock, humans would

have been here shaping the world for

mere seconds.

As latecomers, it’s time to begin

asking the rest of our complex

planetary family how to build a more

resilient, regenerative, and

beautiful world.

The Evolution of Symbiosis

How could two separate species

evolve traits that just happen to fit so

perfectly together?

Natural selection is the key to

understanding how symbiosis evolves.

In a given population, some organisms

will have traits that are more

advantageous to successful

reproduction than others.

Organisms with those traits are

therefore more likely to pass them

along to succeeding generations,

while those without them have a

greater chance of dying before they

reproduce. Thus, over many

generations, the population will tend

to look more and more like the

individuals with the successful traits.

Most symbiotic relationships probably

started out as facultative. Over many

generations, the organisms came to

depend more on the symbiosis

because natural selection favored

those traits and not others. Eventually,

the symbiosis became the sole source

of the food, shelter, enzyme or

whatever else the symbiotes derived

from one another.

Another way to look at symbiosis is as

evolution's toolbox. Trees need the

nutrients found deep within the soil.

They could evolve more efficient root

systems that would allow them to

extract those nutrients themselves -- in

fact, many trees have.

But this can take a lot of time (tens of

thousands of years or more) and

might not happen at all. It just so

happens that fungi already have this

ability. When the two species find

themselves in close proximity, it is

much faster to evolve a way to

incorporate the "tool" already

available to the other organism than

to reinvent the wheel.

NILE CROCODILE AND EGYPTIAN

PLOVER

The Nile crocodile is well-known for

being hyper-aggressive whenever an

uninvited visitor steps into their

territory. However, there is one

creature that the scaly reptilians will

not only tolerate, but practically

welcome into their aquatic domain.

Incredibly, the Egyptian Plover aka

“Crocodile Bird” will fly into the

crocodile’s open mouth and feed

upon the meat stuck between their

teeth. The plover gets a not so

scrumptious meal while the crocodile

gets a little free dental work!

SHARKS AND PILOT FISH

Similar to the mutualistic relationship

between Nile crocodiles and Egyptian

plovers, many species of shark have

established an unlikely alliance with

pilot fish. While the pilot fish helps to rid

the shark of parasites and clean away

fragments of food caught between

their teeth, it benefits from protection

against other predators. The

companionship between these two

species is said to be so strong that

there are even tales of distressed pilot

fish following trawler vessels months

after catching “their” shark.

COLOMBIAN LESSERBLACK TARANTULA

AND DOTTED HUMMING FROG

It might seem odd to think that a

creature as sinister-looking as a

tarantula could form a symbiotic

relationship with an animal it could

easily kill and eat. But that is exactly

the case in this odd partnership

between the Colombian lesserblack

tarantula and dotted humming frog of

South America. In fact, the large

creepy crawly even allows the tiny

frog to share its burrow! While the

plucky little amphibian enjoys

protection from fierce predators, the

spider benefits from the frog

devouring carnivorous ants that

attack and eat the tarantula’s eggs.

Lactobacillus and humans

Bacteria – such as the Lactobacillus –

cozily dwelling inside humans is a

classic example of Symbiosis. Our own

bodies have hundreds or even

thousands of species of symbiotic

microbes inside them – we couldn’t

survive without their beneficial effects.

Goby fish and snapping shrimp

Danger! That’s what the frantically

flapping tail of a goby fish says to the

near-blind snapping shrimp (Alfeus

spp). In a crafty collaboration;

snapping shrimps construct and

maintain burrows in the seabed, while

the fish stands guard.

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020 5

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

During construction, shrimps leave the

burrow to deposit excavated sand.

Throughout this hazardous venture,

shrimps maintain constant contact

with their gobies using their antennae.

In some cases, gobies even hover

above their shrimp, allowing it to take

its load further from the burrow’s

entrance. Sighting potential threats,

the fish waggles its tail against the

shrimps’ antennae or into the burrow

entrance, warning the shrimp of the

danger. In return, the fish can call the

burrow home, sleeping in it with the

shrimp at night and using it as a

convenient bolthole in the face of

peril.

African oxpeckers

African oxpeckers (Buphagus

africanus and Buphagus

erythrorhynchus) feed on the backs of

zebra, elephants, hippopotamuses

and other large African animals.

Once thought to be friendly tick-

eating helpers, they’re actually

vampire birds, sucking blood out of

open tick-wounds. This shows how the

line between symbiotic assistant and

parasite can be blurred.

Oxpeckers do eat ticks as well, and

some animals may be happy to

sacrifice a bit of blood for this service.

Oxpeckers may also be tolerated

because they produce a hissing

scream when startled – like a personal

danger alarm.

Cells and mitochondria

Over a billion years ago, one type of

bacteria ate another – or tried to.

Surviving this ordeal, the prey became

a permanent house guest in the wet,

sheltered, food-rich environment of

the predator’s body. Like an internal

battery, the smaller bacteria adapted

to turn food and oxygen into

chemical energy for the larger one.

Eventually, by swapping segments of

DNA, the two bacteria merged into a

single, inseparable, complex cell. This

ultimate partnership is the ancestor of

all multicellular life, including our own

species. These mitochondrial

descendants of bacterial ancestors

power each and every cell in our

bodies.

Ants and fungi

Did you think we invented agriculture?

Think again. Ants have been farming

fungi for around 50 million years –

weeding, mulching and fertilising their

crops. Fungus-farming ants originated

in South America, spreading

throughout the tropics, from Argentina

to southern USA. One well-known

example is the leafcutter ant.

They build their fungus farms in

sheltered underground nests, feeding

them on chewed-up leaves. The fungi

is the ant’s only food. Although

benefiting from free food and

protection, these species of fungi

occasionally escape enslavement

and become free-living.

Lycaenid butterfly caterpillars & Ants

The Lycaenids are a group of

butterflies known commonly as blues,

coppers and hairstreaks. Most species

of Lycaenid butterflies have evolved

close, mutually-

beneficial relationships with different

species of ants.

The caterpillars of these butterflies

develop special glands that secrete a

nectar-like substance to attract ants.

The ants swarm all over

the caterpillars, drinking the secretion.

The ants "milk" secretions from the

caterpillars by tickling special glands

on the caterpillars with their antennas.

In some Australian species, the

attending ants even build thatched or

earthen corrals to contain the

caterpillars. By day the caterpillars are

protected from predators by the

corral and the ants. At night the ants

herd the caterpillars up a nearby tree

to feed on leaves.

What Do The Caterpillars Get Out Of

It? The ants are like a private army of

bodyguards. Colonies of ants are

quite fierce - swarming, biting or even

consuming potential predators.

In fact, the caterpillars' sweet

secretions are not only nutritious, but

also contain chemicals that subdue

the ants. Otherwise the ants might kill

the caterpillars themselves! Some

caterpillars also make drumming

sounds to keep their attendant ants

alert.

Protection

Unprotected caterpillars would make

a tasty treat for insect-eaters like birds,

frogs or larger insects.

So, the ants benefit from the energy-

rich secretions produced by the

caterpillars, and the caterpillars

benefit from the ants' protection.

References: (a) Article by Kerensa McElroy -

Symbiosis: When living together is win-win (b)

Originally published by Youth Time Magazine -

6 SURPRISING SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020 6

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

SYMBIOSIS IN NATURE & WORKPLACE

Part 2: Viruses and Symbiosis

by Dipali AD, Nemmadi

If given the choice to magically wave

a wand and cause all viruses to

disappear, most people would

probably jump at that opportunity,

especially now.

Yet this would be a deadly mistake –

deadlier, in fact, than any virus could

ever be. If all viruses suddenly

disappeared, the world would be a

wonderful place for about a day and

a half, and then we’d all die. All the

essential things they do in the world

far outweigh the bad things.

The vast majority of viruses are not

pathogenic to humans, and many

play integral roles in propping up

ecosystems. Others maintain the

health of individual organisms –

everything from fungi and plants to

insects and humans. We live in a

balance, in a perfect equilibrium.

Most people are not aware of the role

viruses play in supporting much of life

on Earth, because we tend to focus

only on the ones that cause trouble.

Nearly all virologists solely study

pathogens; only recently have a few

researchers begun investigating the

viruses that keep us and the planet

alive, rather than kill us.

It’s a small school of scientists who are

trying to provide a fair and balanced

view of the world of viruses, and to

show that there are such things as

good viruses. Scientists know what

percentage of total viruses are

problematic toward humans. But, if

you looked numerically, it would be

statistically close to zero.

Key to ecosystems

What we do know is that phages, or

the viruses that infect bacteria, are

extremely important. Their name

comes from the Greek phagein,

meaning “to devour” – and devour

they do. They are the major predators

of the bacterial world. We would be in

deep trouble without them.

Phages attacking a bacteria

These viruses kill about 20% of all

oceanic microbes, and about 50% of

all oceanic bacteria, each day. By

culling microbes, viruses ensure that

oxygen-producing plankton have

enough nutrients to undertake high

rates of photosynthesis, ultimately

sustaining much of life on Earth. If we

don’t have death, then we have no

life, because life is completely

dependent on recycling of materials.

Viruses are so important in terms of

recycling.

Researchers studying insect pests also

have found that viruses are critical for

species population control. If a certain

species becomes overpopulated, “a

virus will come through and wipe

them out. It’s a very natural part of

ecosystems. This process, called “kill

the winner”, is common in many other

species as well, including our own – as

evidenced by pandemics.

When populations become very

abundant, viruses tend to replicate

very rapidly and knock that

population down, creating space for

everything else to live. If viruses

suddenly disappeared, competitive

species likely would flourish to the

detriment of others.

We’d rapidly lose a lot of the

biodiversity on the planet. We’d have

a few species just take over and drive

out everything else.

Some organisms also depend on

viruses for survival, or to give them an

edge in a competitive world. Scientists

suspect, for example, that viruses play

important roles in helping cows and

other ruminants turn cellulose from

grass into sugars that can be

metabolized and ultimately turned

into body mass and milk.

Viruses are integral for maintaining

healthy microbiomes in the bodies of

humans and other animals.

If all of those beneficial viruses

disappeared, plants and other

organisms that host them would likely

become weaker or even die.

Let us take just two examples where

viruses have been beneficial:

Using Viruses to Cure Bacterial

Infections. Bacteriophages are viruses

that specifically attack bacteria.

Unlike antibiotics, which tend to kill

bacteria indiscriminately,

bacteriophages can attack the

disease-causing organisms without

harming any other bacteria living

inside us.

While bacteria can develop

resistance to both antibiotics and

phages, it only takes a few weeks

rather than a few years to develop

new strains of phages. Phages can

also have an easier time penetrating

the body and locating their target,

and once the target bacterium is

destroyed, they stop reproducing and

soon die out.

The virus that helped

eradicate a dangerous virus called

smallpox.

It was a devastating disease that

killed about 30 percent of infected

people. Even those who survived were

often left with terrible scars as a result

of the ordeal.

In 1796, an English doctor named

Edward Jenner made a discovery. He

noticed that milkmaids tended not to

contract smallpox as often as

everyone else. Soon, he realized that

a similar virus called cowpox often

spread from cows to the milkmaids

and may have had something to do

with it. He tested his theory by

inoculating a boy with material from a

cowpox sore and then exposing him

to smallpox. Although it may sound

like a shocking experiment, it was

actually successful. This led to the

practice of vaccination that ended

up eradicating the smallpox virus two

centuries later.

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020 7

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

Covid 19 and why it behaves so

What we often fail to recognize is

that Homo sapiens serves as host to

an unusual number of respiratory

viruses. The sniffling, sneezing,

coughing afflictions that stalk us from

birth to old age are a distinct feature

of life as a human being. In all,

humans are afflicted by dozens of

respiratory viruses that have evolved

to specialize in the exploitation of us.

That’s strange. Consider the disease

pool of our closest primate relative,

the chimpanzee. Because of our

genetic relatedness, humans and

chimpanzees have similar immune

systems. Yet only about two dozen

viruses have ever been identified in

chimps.

Chimps are the natural host of only a

few viruses, and these are on the

whole rather benign. Most of the

parasites that are adapted to

chimpanzees are worms or protozoa.

The reasons for this pattern have to do

with their population sizes and

lifestyles. Chimps live in small groups

and move frequently, which makes it

impossible for specialized respiratory

viruses that cause acute disease to

adapt to them.

The distinctive human disease pool —

and its array of respiratory viruses in

particular — is a product of our

distinctive history as a species. We are

the sneezing ape. A few million years

ago, our ancestors would have been

afflicted by a typical group of primate

parasites, much like the ones

chimpanzees still harbor today. But

then the hominins mastered fire and

underwent a dramatic series of

physiological changes that made us

different from other apes.

So long as early humans were foragers

— dependent on hunting and

gathering for subsistence —

population sizes were limited and

human groups were small. The hunter-

gatherer germ pool was probably

closer to the chimpanzee germ pool

than to the modern human collection

of infectious diseases.

The first truly great turn came with the

Neolithic Revolution, starting around

12,000 years ago. The invention of

agriculture in various regions of the

globe transformed human societies

and their germ pools. More food

meant more people, and populations

exploded. The domestication of

animals brought us into closer contact

with zoonotic pathogens, some of

which evolved the ability to infect

humans.

But the great respiratory viruses that

are such a feature of human history

were not an immediate consequence

of the Neolithic Revolution. For

millennia, human population numbers

were too low, and human settlements

were too small, to sustain the

transmission of most highly virulent

respiratory diseases.

But in the Iron Age, the period of great

empire-building across Eurasia some

two to three thousand years ago,

settlements in China, South Asia, the

Near East, and the Mediterranean

were scaled up. Ancient Rome

became the first city with a million

inhabitants.

Maybe the trickiest evolutionary

challenge that all parasites have to

confront is how to transmit between

hosts.

Like measles, COVID-19 is caused by a

virus that seems to transmit primarily

via droplets expelled when victims

cough or sneeze. Respiratory

transmission generally requires close

contact and large population sizes.

With humans living closer together, it

became easier than ever for

pathogens to solve that challenge,

jumping from host to host, from lung to

lung, on droplets floating in the air.

If we equate the history of

“civilization” with the story of these

societies capable of building large

cities, then the history of civilization is

synonymous with a period in which a

clever primate started to collect a

strange number of lung-jumping

viruses that would have otherwise

passed quickly into oblivion. Even

against the backdrop of the brief

300,000 years or so that constitute the

entire history of humanity, most of the

familiar respiratory viruses established

themselves in human populations

within the last 1% of that span.

Measles emerged in the later first

millennium BC. This estimate centers

almost exactly on the moment in

human history when the largest cities

first passed the “critical community

size” for the establishment of measles

virus.

What this alignment suggests —

disturbingly enough — is that one of

the most dangerous and distinctly

human respiratory viruses emerged

instantaneously with the rise of

civilization itself. The broader

implication may be that humans are

under constant assault, and that

human social development has

stoked the evolution of our many

pathogens, enabling them to avoid

the hasty extinction that would have

otherwise awaited them. Our very

success in taking over the earth and

commandeering its resources has

made us attractive hosts. The deep

history of human disease, then, can

help us understand that the current

coronavirus pandemic is part of our

unique trajectory as a species.

At least seven species of

coronaviruses — some of them mild

and prevalent, some of them rare and

virulent — can infect humans, using

our lungs as the staging ground for

their schemes of genetic replication.

The new coronavirus may establish

itself permanently in the global

network of human lungs, or like SARS

coronavirus, it might be stopped in its

tracks by our massive global public-

health interventions. It seems as if the

former is more likely, and COVID-19

will be the latest addition to our list of

human pathogens.

The virus is novel, but the pattern is

old. As we encroach on nature, and

expand toward eight billion, the

pattern will continue to repeat itself. It

is the plague of our success as a

species.

Reference: Why the world needs viruses to

function; Blog by Rachel Nuwer, dated

18th June 2020

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020 8

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

SYMBIOSIS IN NATURE & WORKPLACE

Part 3: Symbiosis at the Workplace

Krishna C, HO

Does a company mimic relationships

found in nature?

A company’s strength is to a large

degree derived from the quality of the

bond between employer and

employee. If the employee, whether

a physician, dog walker or factory

worker, feels that his or her interests

are respected and his work is fairly

compensated, that individual will feel

heard and rewarded, resulting in

higher levels of performance and

productivity.

An employer obviously profits from

happy, hard-working professionals

and works to maintain an

environment that will result in

productive employees. The needs of

both parties are uncomplicated and

clear; an analogy with (another)

animal kingdom begs to be made!

A functional, working relationship

between an employer and employee

is, at its core, not unlike a mutually

beneficial arrangement between two

symbiotic species, even if one of the

organisms involved is a one-celled

animal. Human beings have evolved,

developed complex societies and

civilizations, but the basic, pre-historic

relationships and instincts are still

there.

A Drain on Resources

And then, of course, we need to point

out what happens when the

relationship is one-sided. A parasitic

relationship is one where one

organism derives a benefit while the

other is harmed or, at best, placed at

a disadvantage.

Consider a tapeworm that deprives

the host organism of beneficial

nutrients. This relationship, too, can

develop between employer and

employee, in which case it seems best

to let the employee who is draining

your company resources go as quickly

as possible.

Strengthening the Association

The framework for creating an optimal

environment for employees is as

simple as simple could be:

Communicate fairly and clearly, listen

to concerns and offer an open door.

Remember your favorite old college

professor that never tossed you out of

his office, but responded to every one

of your requests for help with patience

and a smile?

This professor encouraged questions

and comments from students and

held more than enough review

sessions before exams. This is what you

should aim to be to your employees.

Encourage employees to be their best

and support them in every way.

This means sending hard-working

employees to get additional training

or education and recognizing skill and

solid ability. Praise strong efforts by

staff members and reward tenacity

and demonstrations of grit.

Set high expectations and share them

with staff.

If you have high expectations then

make sure to explain what they are,

many times if necessary. If a certain

employee needs the message

delivered in a particular way, do that

as well. Support staff that are making

an effort but have little patience for

those who refuse to try to work with

company policies. Set high

expectations and support

employees, but if someone is draining

resources, cut your ties.

Relationships between employers and

employees are complicated and in

our modern, complex societies, a lot

goes into making a work environment

that is fulfilling for all. But, in other

respects it amounts to a simple

formula: Are both parties benefitting

from the relationship in the most

fundamental and basic way? We can

take our cues from associations found

in nature and move ahead.

Cecropia tree of Costa Rica (for full story,

see end of this article)

The Power of Organizational Symbiosis

Organizations also have mutually

beneficial relationships, but we don’t

always give them the respect they

deserve. If we wanted to learn from

nature, we would look at our

relationships as having the potential of

becoming or being mutually

beneficial, rather than viewing

everything through a distorted,

competitive lens. One that often

seems more parasitic in nature. This

view can be detrimental to

organizations.

Functions like IT, HR, finance and R&D

are often seen as cost centers or

“back office” functions that don’t

produce revenue like manufacturing,

sales, and service. Sometimes people

who work on the revenue side of our

enterprise see these functions as “less

valuable” because they aren’t

generating income. This kind of

thinking is more like a parasitic

relationship found in nature. The

backroom functions “live off the host”

(i.e. the revenue generating functions)

at the expense of the profit-

generating divisions.

In return, HR or finance staff members

who may feel as though the

organization views them as less

valuable may try to gain attention by

becoming rule-bound, or showing

their power by being slow to respond

to requests.

Seen through the eyes of symbiosis

however, our back-office functions

are essential to keeping our

organizations healthy and thriving. The

relationship is actually mutually

beneficial!

Changing the relationship perspective

from parasitic to symbiotic by realizing

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020 9

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

that ALL functions contribute to the

organization and its ability to thrive

shifts the quality of the relationship

between departments.

If we saw our organizational

relationships as mutually beneficial,

we would show people in our

supportive functions how much we

value them and need them to create

a thriving whole. They, in turn, might

appreciate the different and mutually

beneficial value that products,

programs, and sales bring to the

organization.

Symbiotic relationships can also

extend to other relationships, like

those between sales and service,

marketing and manufacturing, and

operations and programs. All these

departmental relationships are

mutually beneficial to the

organization.

Understanding where one

department might feel it is “feeding”

off another and changing the mindset

to that of a symbiotic, mutually

beneficial relationship can boost

productivity, engagement and all of

the bottom line metrics as people

learn to value the contributions each

area has to the overall whole.

Assess Your Mutually Beneficial Work

Relationships

Are you competing with other people

or departments for resources,

attention or something else? If you’ve

been trained to believe in the survival

of the fittest, then take a moment and

ask yourself a couple of questions:

How do other people or

departments make or break

my ability to deliver on my

work goals?

How do I make or break

another person or

department’s ability to

accomplish their goals?

In nature, each organization has a

mechanism that helps it not only

survive, but thrive based on a mutually

beneficial, symbiotic relationship. The

answer to these questions may help

you determine similar mechanisms

within your own business and or work

life. By maximizing your focus on those

symbiotic relationships, you will see

not only the productivity, but your

enjoyment of the work itself, soar.

Nature knows best, even in business.

A big reason we have such a high

number of disengaged employees in

the workplace is that people don’t

feel like they are part of a symbiotic

relationship. And this goes for both

sides: leaders in companies are not

getting the best out of their people

and employees are not getting the

benefits they want.

Just like the Nile crocodile, leaders

have all the power in the relationship.

If the croc is sick of the bird in its

mouth, it can chomp down on it

anytime. But in the end, they lose out

on a critical health benefit. It might

even develop an infection and die.

The same goes for the workplace. If

they really wanted to, leaders could

put their foot down and say that

things are staying the same. But that

would be a potentially fatal move; it

could immediately destroy trust with

their workforce. And we all know that

the quality of human capital at a

company is essential for not only its

growth, but its survival.

Just like the Egyptian Plover bird,

employees take an immense leap of

faith by entering into what they trust is

a symbiotic relationship. But they will

jump ship as soon as they get a sense

that their employer doesn’t have their

best interests in mind.

Nile crocodile and Egyptian Plover bird

When you look at the research on

employee engagement, you find that

disengaged employees—in general—

will leave the company. But it’s the

most talented employees that leave

the company quicker.

On the flip side, if organizations work

hard to cultivate mutualism in the

workplace, it’s the talented

employees who will quickly become

engaged and champions for the

company, internally and externally.

But in order to cultivate mutualism,

companies need to adapt to

changing environments. They need to

think not just about what will benefit

them, but what will benefit their

employees.

The strongest leaders do this, and only

the strongest survive.

Symbiotic relationships aren't rare.

Here is one particularly cool example:

Cecropia Trees and Azteca Ants

Cecropia trees have hollow trunks,

and inside they secrete a sugary liquid

that's nutritious to ants. Azteca ants

colonize the trees, filling the trunk with

millions of ants, who receive shelter

and food from the tree. The tree is

vulnerable to vines, which can grow

on it, weigh it down or choke it.

Azteca Ants

Azteca ants patrol the Cecropia and

use their jaws to cut away any vines

which try to latch on to the Cecropia

tree.

Reference: PAUL@WORKFLOW – STRENGTHS.COM

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020 10

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

TRANSPARENCY FIRST – WHETHER

CORONA OR AT THE WORKPLACE

Divya K, Nemmadi

On 31 December, some doctors in

Wuhan began to realize there was a

new SARS-like virus infecting people. In

spite of the warning, Wuhan was

placed under a lockdown only on 23

January. The three weeks in between

were wasted because local

authorities in Wuhan were trying to

downplay the situation, and trying to

cover it up.

They had a lot to lose if it got out that

there was an infectious virus taking

lives under their watch. For one, the

illegal sale of live wild animals in

the Wuhan wet market would be

exposed, raising questions about the

role of local authorities in enforcing

law.

The most fateful consequence of the

official silence was that it facilitated

the exodus of some 5 million people in

the weeks before the city was

quarantined on January 23, thus

helping to transport the virus all over

the country and overseas. The slow

and contradictory statements of

the World Health Organization, which

is responsible for warning the world of

public health emergencies, also

hampered efforts to combat the crisis.

On January 18, roughly six weeks after

China’s deadly coronavirus started to

spread in Wuhan, the city’s Baibuting

district was preparing for its annual

mass banquet. The organizers would

be attempting to break a world

record for the largest number of

dishes served.

Mass banquet before the lockdown

Long tables in 10 locations were laid

out with a total of 13,986 dishes. The

platters were prepared by members

of some 40,000 families, with many of

them showing up to eat the food and

smile for the cameras.

When you are not a democracy

If China was a democracy, these

doctors who warned about the virus

would not have been intimidated.

They would have been speaking more

freely. The local press would have

been interviewing them. They would

have been demanding answers,

rebutting government claims. They

would have gone to court. The media

would have raised a hue and cry. The

flow of such information would have

caught the attention of Beijing, which

would have cracked down on local

officials trying to cover up an

epidemic.

COVID-19 has done irreparable harm

to the Chinese economy. From 6 per

cent last year, GDP growth in China in

2020 could now be as low as 1-2 per

cent, a 44-year low. The Chinese

economy may actually

have shrunk for the first time since

1976. Even if it bounces back by the

end of this year, there is little doubt

the Chinese economy has been very

badly hit because of the lack of

democracy — because doctors in a

big, touristy city are too afraid to call

an infectious virus an infectious virus.

For the last two decades, people

across the world have been

wondering if democracy is actually a

deterrent to economic progress,

because just look at China. India’s

messy democracy was supposed to

be the reason behind its slow progress.

China can just order people to give

up land, but democratic pressures

prevent that in India.

COVID-19 should settle this debate. It

is lack of democracy in China that is

responsible for the world suffering a

pandemic, wiping trillions of dollars of

wealth, rendering millions of people

jobless. The death count from the virus

is rising and rising, the death count

from the economic losses could be

much worse. The 2008 financial crisis

now looks like a dress rehearsal.

Dr Li Wenliang was the young

ophthalmologist at the Central

Hospital of Wuhan who had

first shared his concerns on December

31, 2019, with a group of colleagues

on WeChat. Li’s reward for this simple

act of professional vigilance was a

visit from the local police in the middle

of the night, where they accused him

of being one of eight people who

had been spreading “false

information” and who had “gravely

disturbed social order.”

The whistle blower doctor who died of

the virus himself, told the Chinese

magazine Caixin before his death: "I

think a healthy society should not only

have one kind of voice."

How has China reacted?

A wave of anger and grief flooded

Chinese social media site Weibo when

news of Dr Li's death broke.

The top two trending hashtags on the

website were "Wuhan government

owes Dr Li Wenliang an apology" and

"We want freedom of speech".

Both hashtags were quickly censored.

When the BBC searched Weibo the

next day, hundreds of thousands of

comments had already been wiped.

… and in India?

India is the world’s largest democracy,

and this fact has been a matter of

pride for Indians when we think of

China. We may not have their kind of

supersonic economic rise, but we

have freedom.

It is shocking, then, to see the Indian

government intimidate doctors and

control the information they put out

even on private WhatsApp groups

about lack of protective gear -

uncannily similar to the Chinese

government’s close watch of

WeChat. There have been many

reports of doctors resigning from

hospitals for want of protective gear,

and such doctors are being

threatened with disciplinary action.

Much like Wuhan, if the government

tries to prevent criticism, then what

ultimately happens will be that the

price will be paid by doctors and the

public at large.

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020 11

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

Transparency in the Workplace

What Is Transparency in the

Workplace?

Transparency in business can be

described as an honest, two-way

openness between employees and

management.

When transparency is part of

workplace culture, it comes along

with trust, communication, and

greater levels of employee

engagement and advocacy.

Without transparency, employees

may feel underappreciated,

apprehensive about the future of their

employment, and doubtful of the

management practices in place or

the decisions made by those in

positions of authority.

Company leaders can act with

transparency by making sure their

employees are kept in the loop about

matters regarding the company—big

or small. Management can share

decisions with employees and explain

why those decisions were made,

rather than laying down the law. And

there are a number of ways

management can encourage

transparency.

What are the Benefits of Transparency

in the Workplace?

Although transparency can be tricky

to achieve in the workplace,

successful implementation could bring

many worthwhile advantages to the

company. To give you an idea, here

are a few cascading benefits of

workplace transparency.

Strengthened Workplace Culture

There are many definitions for

workplace culture, but this one is the

most comprehensive:

Workplace culture is the summation of

how people within an organization

interact with each other and work

together.

To improve your workplace culture,

you have to improve communication

and collaboration, and trust is critical

to that process. Creating

transparency in the workplace is

crucial for helping your employees

feel respected, valued, and trusted.

When you make a conscious effort to

provide the right level of transparency

to your employees, you show them

that you are an honest leader who is

willing to communicate openly with

them and set the example for them to

do the same with their coworkers.

As employees recognize how much

your organization respects them,

employee loyalty and advocacy are

likely to increase. This can lead to a

beneficial cycle of employee

satisfaction improving workplace

culture leading to further employee

satisfaction.

Increased Employee Engagement

Workplace transparency helps set the

stage for employee recognition and

satisfaction, two key ingredients of

employee engagement. Employee

engagement is an essential element

of positive and productive workplace

cultures.

Recognition doesn’t just mean

handing out gift cards or gold stars.

The most effective recognition helps

employees know how their

contributions and opinions make a

difference in your overall mission.

Workplace transparency helps make

this impact clear.

When your employees feel that their

contribution is absolutely essential,

they are intrinsically motivated to work

harder for your organization, leading

to greater employee engagement.

They will also be more positive and

productive in their feedback and idea

generation, which is invaluable for the

modern-day establishment.

Improved Communication

As employees engage with your

organization and you develop a

culture of workplace transparency,

open communication comes more

naturally.

When your organization is open about

everyday successes and everyday

missteps, it encourages employees to

bring issues forward instead of hiding

them or shifting blame in order to

appear perfect.

Solving problems with effective

communication helps ensure that

employees share important details,

work together to meet deadlines, and

maintain the level of service that your

clients expect. Developing an

expectation of communication and

transparency can give your

organization a performance

advantage.

Improved Customer Relations

As a result of all these cultural

improvements, you can expect your

employees to care more about your

company’s performance and to treat

your customers with a higher level of

willingness and friendliness. How your

employees feel at work often

translates to how your customers feel

they’re being treated by your

employees.

As your customer relations continue to

improve, so too will your brand’s

reputation and customer loyalty.

An Increased Bottom Line

Transparency in the workplace results

in a domino effect that travels all the

way to your bottom line.

With effective communication,

engaged employees, and excellent

customer relations, you can

overcome many of the obstacles your

company will face as it matures.

With fewer challenges and burdens to

hold you back, you can grow and

improve your company and steadily

boost your bottom line.

Focus your transparency efforts on

where you are today, what you’re

looking to accomplish, and what

needs to happen to get there.

References: (a) Article by Bio-mimicry Institute (b)

Article by Sharlee Mullins Glenn, May 15, 2020 (c)

Article in the Deseret News Editorial Board May 7,

2020

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020 12

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

無理 OR MURI

Rudresh L, Himalaya

Drugs

What is Muri and How to Deal with It?

無理 in Japanese is Muri, a key

concept in Lean management. It

stands for "overburdening".

Let’s find out what can cause Muri

and how to deal with it.

Introduction

One of the main purposes of Lean

management is to eliminate wasteful

activities in the production process

and optimize resources.

Surprisingly, many lean practitioners

go straight to tackling the 7 wastes,

known as Muda while forgetting the

other two M’s that are crucial for

maintaining a smooth and well-

organized workflow: Mura and Muri.

In reality, identifying and removing

Mura (unevenness) is extremely

important if you want to create a

steady work pace. However, at first,

you need to identify the steps of your

process that overburden the

organization's work system.

In other words, you need to spot Muri.

After this, you will be able to analyze

and optimize the work capacity of

your workforce.

Let’s explore what Muri is in details.

What Is Muri?

Muri is a Japanese term meaning

“overburden or unreasonable”. It is

one of the three types of waste

(Muda, Mura, Muri) and a key

concept in the Toyota Production

System.

In other words, you create Muri every

time when you put your team under

stress by demanding unreasonable or

unnecessary work that exceeds their

capacity.

Muri can drastically decrease your

team’s productivity and efficiency.

Putting too much pressure often

translates to extra working hours,

which will lead to occupational

burnouts.

Overburdening can have a negative

effect on your team’s morale and

damage the “health” of the whole

work process.

It is like in a football team: if you only

put the whole pressure on 3 players

because they are really good at some

point they will get injured and then

the whole team will struggle. So you

need to be careful while trying to use

the full capacity of your team.

You should try to balance at the

optimal capacity – a level at which all

parts of the system are able to deliver

results without the need for extra work.

It is easy to say, but let’s discover what

can cause Muri.

What Can Cause Muri?

You can overburden your teams

without even realizing it. For example,

setting unrealistic deadlines can force

different team members to rush the

work. This will often lead to poor

quality and decreased customer

satisfaction.

Let’s demonstrate this with an

example.

If you tell your designer to make twice

more images that she is able to

produce for a certain period of time,

she will probably do it, but not all of

them will be of the highest quality.

More or less it is like an assembly line.

Imagine, you have the workers who

check the quality of products and the

faster you run the assembly line the

higher the chance low quality

products will go to your customers.

There are many different reasons that

can cause Muri.

Over-demanding

The first and more obvious is over-

demanding. In the contemporary

business world, it is quite surprising how

higher management pushes more

work onto their teams hoping that

more inputs will somehow result in

more outputs.

In fact, this leads to a constantly

increasing number of waiting tasks,

which often results in chaos and

burnouts.

Lack of training

Companies often neglect the need of

good training sessions. This is how at

some point a team member can end

up working on a task much longer

than necessary.

Let’s say that you are trained to work

as a copywriter. However, the

manager decides to use you as a

designer. You will probably need

twice more time to deliver good

images than a regular designer will.

Muri, and the victim is the poor truck

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020 13

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

Organize Work, Keep Track of Projects

And Optimize Your Workflow.

Lack of communication

Good communication is crucial for

the success of any team. You need to

establish clear communication

channels and practices in order to

avoid overburdening.

Imagine that you have a meeting with

3 of your team members and you

decide to make 10 new landing

pages for your website.

Everybody in the meeting agrees and

the team starts to work on the project.

However, it was just a verbal

agreement and the designer was not

informed of the project up until the

last day before the expected

deadline.

What will happen is that the designer

will be overburdened and she/he will

feel the negative effect of Muri

because of miscommunication.

Lack of proper tools and equipment

When proper tools are missing, Muri is

inevitable and obvious. If you give

new computers to some of your

developers for example, but the rest

work on 5 years old machines, the

second group will definitely feel

overburdened because they will need

much more time to complete their

tasks using their old equipment.

There could be many other reasons

causing Muri. You need to remember

that managing all of them will prevent

the whole work process from

collapsing.

Now, let’s see how you can deal with

Muri.

Different Ways to Deal with Muri

Lean offers various tools and practices

that may help you remove the

negative effect of overburdening or

at least reduce it to a minimum level.

Map your team’s workflow

First, let start with mapping your

team’s workflow. For this purpose you

can use a Kanban board where you

visualize the different stages of the

workflow. By doing so you will be able

to acquire a clear understanding of

your team’s capacity and see

where value is created.

After this, you can set work in progress

limits for each stage of the workflow.

This way you will ensure that different

team members will not work

chaotically on multiple tasks, but they

will be focused on completing current

tasks before starting new ones.

Simply, the application of WIP limits

creates from Kanban an efficient pull

system that will help you organize

work better and prevent team

members from overburdening.

It gets a little bit more complicated on

a global level. Very often there are

two or more teams, whose work is

inter-dependable.

For example, let’s say that we have

team A – developing new features for

your software service and team B –

deploying these features.

However, team A delivers new

features faster, than team B deploys.

In this case, team B will always have a

huge queue of requested work and

their workflow will be overburdened all

the time.

Therefore, it is important to set WIP

limits on a global level. So every time

when team A starts working on a new

feature, they need to be sure that

team B has free capacity.

Overworked employees: signs and

possible consequences

Do you have overworked employees?

It’s natural to want your employees to

be as productive as possible, and

every company will have occasional

times that are busier than others. But

don’t make the common mistake of

wearing out your top talent. To avoid

employee burnout, balance your high

expectations with solid strategies to

prevent employees from becoming

overwhelmed.

Overworked employees can affect

every area of your business. Here’s

how:

Productivity plummets when

employees aren’t able to get

everything done.

Quality deteriorates when employees

can’t take the time to do their jobs

right.

Growth stalls when employees can’t

break away to take new training or

implement a process that could help

the business.

Customer service declines when

employees are focused only on

getting by and can’t concentrate on

building and sustaining customer

relationships.

Reputation suffers when a company is

known for running its employees into

the ground.

Morale takes a nosedive when

employees lose passion. They burn out

or leave the company.

Thanks to: Article by Karen Cavanaugh | Senior

Human Resource Specialist

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020 14

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

APPENDIX

Good Manners and Etiquette

Twelfth in the Series: Table Manners

Megha Muppadi,

Nemmadi

At any age, regardless of your station

in life, table manners are essential for

two reasons. One is to make others

comfortable. The second reason is to

keep us from embarrassing ourselves.

Here are a few tips (by no means

exhaustive) for your reference.

Before the event: Inform your host or

hostess within 24 hours of receiving

your invitation. Of course, a delayed

response is always better than no

response but never reply ‘maybe’, as

yes or no is expected. If you have

food allergies or restrictions, indicate

them when you reply, as it is rude to

request menu changes after you are

seated.

Are you sure your partner is

invited? Don’t assume so unless it is

stated in the invitation. Never assume

your children are invited. Employ the

services of a babysitter if you will be

attending the event. You, your hostess

and your children will thank you.

Gift Giving: Purchase a gift, such as

flowers, wine or something special, but

don’t expect that present will be

shared or used at the event.

Do not Check Devices: You'll never

see people with good table manners

checking a cell phone or other

electronic device at the table. They

come to the table to eat and to

socialize, and they know that

including a cell phone at the table is

like turning on the television while you

eat, ignoring the others.

Table-Talk Guidelines: When in a

restaurant, remember: Volume

matters. If someone is seated too far

away for you to speak at a normal

volume, wait until after the meal to

talk. Pay equal attention to the two

people sitting next to you. And try to

bring into the conversation anyone

who appears to have no one to talk

to.

Do not Chew or Speak with your

Mouth Open: Chew and swallow

before you open your mouth unless

you want to be compared to a farm

animal (a cow, for instance).

Do not belch at the Table: People with

good manners will never belch or

burp while at the table.

When You Are Toasted: Never drink to

a toast if the toast is for you.

When to Begin Eating: Never begin

eating until the host has started or has

otherwise signaled the guests to start.

Asking for a Seat Reassignment: If

there are place cards, never asked to

be re-seated or change places.

Eating the Meal: Pace yourself to the

slowest diner so everyone finishes at

relatively the same time.

Your posture: Don’t balance your

dinner chair on its hind legs and you

also shouldn't slouch in your chair.

The Napkin: Place the napkin right

after being seated. The purpose of the

napkin is to wipe food away from

one’s mouth. Unless one is explicitly

given a bib to place around the

chest, the napkin never goes on the

chest.

What to do with the napkin when

leaving the table after you finish?

When finished, place the napkin

gracefully on the table, and do not

place it on top of your plate that

would be a table manner faux pas.

Portion size: Take a small to moderate

portion size – you are not the only one

at the table, and in case you dislike

something you won’t have to eat

much of it.

Try to eat as much as possible from

your plate even if you find the taste

unpalatable.

Other tips: Do not use a toothpick at

the table nor blow your nose. Cover

your mouth with your napkin if you

cough.

Say “Excuse me,” or “I’ll be right

back,” before leaving the table. Do

not say that you are going to the

restroom.

Keep your elbows off the table during

the meal.

Even if you have displayed the best

table manners throughout the

evening being tipsy or even drunk will

ruin everything.

Abstinence: If you do not drink,

politely refuse the offer of alcohol, no

further explanation is required.

Do not have the Bill Come to the

Table: If eating at a restaurant, do not

have the bill come to table at the end

of the meal. The host arranges in

advance for the bill to be covered so

that there are no uncomfortable

moments at the end of the meal to

mar a wonderful occasion.

Leaving the party: It is best to leave

when others do. Thank your host

personally. The following day, without

fail, write a handwritten thank-you

note to you host. Don’t linger and

when the host starts to do the dishes,

it’s time for you to leave.

There was an incident a few

years ago of a Kuwaiti woman filing for

divorce just a week into her marriage over

her husband’s ‘poor’ table manners. The

woman accused her husband of failing to

abide by table manners and proper eating

etiquette. She said she was disgusted by

the “shocking sight” and could not stay

with her husband.

So, keep in mind that table manners

matter.

Thanks for inputs for the article of 7

October 2014 by Mikey Rox

DIMENSIONS VOL.12, ISSUE 7, JULY 2020 15

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Pro ject Management Consul tants Pvt . L td

Competition of this Month:

In the article – SYMBIOSIS IN NATURE &

WORKPLACE, Part 1: Symbiosis in

Nature, there are various examples of

collaboration between different

species. Below is one such

photograph of symbiosis. The question

is: Which is the species that is

collaborating with humans and what

benefits accrue to both the species?

Question of the last Month was:

In the article ‘Coronavirus and the Fallacy

of False Dilemma’, we are given an

example of a situation during the present

pandemic requiring a choice between

equally undesirable alternatives.

Could you give another example in real life

where the Fallacy of False Dilemma is in

operation? Anything from the recent

happenings in the world or even from

one’s work or personal life could be given.

The best example (not first) will be

declared the winner.

Result of the competition: The only

entry was from Rudresh L of Himalaya

Drugs Site, Tumkur

Rudresh L

Example 1, from Work Life:

Work as company has instructed or

get ready to face consequences

Example 2, from Personal Life:

Either you get married soon or remain

single for the rest of your life.

Both the above situations happen. In

the second example, parents usually

say this to children as they are afraid

that if the marriage is delayed, it may

not happen at all. But that is not

necessarily true; the marriage could

happen later in life and that may be a

more suitable one, since one is more

mature and chances of success is

more.

In Work Life, companies sometimes

make rules which have no rational

basis and the ultimatum is to either

follow the rules or quit.

But the persons who made the rules

are also rational persons who may

have erred and the solution is not to

quit or remain silent but to explain at

an appropriate time about the issues.

In addition to the fallacy of False

Dilemma, there are other Fallacies

which are doing the rounds during the

pandemic:

A. One Size Fits All

The first fallacy is the notion that one

size fits all when dealing with the same

problem in different contexts.

Policymakers fall into this trap when

they issue executive orders that fail to

distinguish between rural communities

and densely populated cities.

They err again when they put young

workers in the same category as the

elderly, who carry significantly more

risk. Or when they treat small grocery

shops like huge malls. Or when they

assume that all individuals have equal

capacity to hunker down for

extended periods of time.

Working from home might be great for

coders, but not wedding

photographers. Sheltering in place

might be romantic for newlyweds, but

not battered wives. Centralized

decision makers gloss over these

differences.

B. Problems Exist In Isolation

Policymakers make a mistake when

they focus on part of a problem while

ignoring the whole. Covid-19

represents a serious health hazard, but

it does not exist in isolation from other

issues that might be even deadlier.

While staying home might reduce

contagion, the tactic exacerbates

problems related to loneliness,

depression (and resulting suicides),

alcoholism, drug abuse, malnutrition,

obesity and heart disease.

Blowing up the global economy to

reduce Covid-19 deaths creates

additional tradeoffs, which

policymakers have a duty to

articulate to the public.

C. Course Corrections Show

Weakness

Once people lock themselves into a

strategy, they refuse to abandon it,

even when new information points to

a better way.

When state and local officials

announced their lockdown orders

more than two months ago,

the stated goal was to save hospitals

from being overwhelmed. The

overcapacity did not always happen,

but rather than lift the quarantines,

leaders moved the target.

An emphasis on “flattening the curve”

shifted to universal Covid-19 testing.

Now, officials say that everything

won’t fully open until a vaccine is

developed, tested, mass produced

and distributed.

The process took more than 15 years

for penicillin; a vaccine for meningitis

took nearly a century to bring to

market, and researchers are still

working to solve Ebola and AIDS.

Taken together, the above fallacies

are putting many individuals in

untenable positions. Smart leaders

recognize that the road to recovery

requires adherence to sound

leadership principles.

They offer customized solutions

instead of generalities, guidelines

instead of mandates, rational

modeling instead of fuzzy math,

holistic approaches instead of

compartmentalized thinking,

coordinated experimentation instead

of unilateral decisions, and continuous

course correction instead of rigidity.

Thanks to Rajshree Agarwal for the above

inputs

Editorial team

Roy Zacharias, Editor

Editorial Board: R Suresha, Divya K

We welcome your suggestions, comments

and articles. Mail it to:

academy@anpcpmc.com

Publication of comments and articles are

subject to editorial control and discretion.