Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch
By Arindam Choudhary : A Book Review

chillibreeze writer — Madan Neelakantan

Count your chickens before they hatch is a bestseller by Indian business guru Arindam Choudhary where he discusses his theory "i" management, apart from general business theories. The book starts off detailing qualities, skills & attitudes required to succeed in the business world today and goes on to explore examples of people who made it big against all odds. Choudhary also explores the Indian psyche in depth and looking for qualities such as passion, patriotism & integrity among the employees of various Indian companies he interacts with. To quote an example he mentions his interaction with several top managers and CEO's of Indian organizations and asks them about one quality they most prize in a employee and answer he most often receives is "Integrity" more than anything else.

In the later part of the book he discusses his theory "i" management where he emphasizes the need for Indian corporations to follow management practices that are suitable to Indian culture rather than blindly aping western management theories. According to Chaudhary the western system of employment is purely contractual which leads to a hire-and-fire work culture leading to a lot of uncertainty among the employees about their future. In contrast is the Japanese system of employment which values life-long bonds both in family and the workplace and consequently promises life-long secure employment for its employees. Given that an Indian worker might tend to get complacent over time, Chaudhary advocates a middle path for Indian managements whereby they neither promise lifelong employment like the Japanese system nor follow the Western system. He calls Lord Krishna the greatest Indian management guru for his ability to motivate his subjects and making them do as he pleased. He cites several examples of failed projects due to wrong culture being imposed rather than something all the employees could relate to.

There's never been an attempt to deeply understand Indian management practices before this book despite the fact that dozens of Indian corporate companies having market caps greater than their American counterparts. Chaudhary needs to be lauded for pulling this off. Finally although not a negative point much off the first half of the book is a rehash of familiar business ideas and hence can be a tiresome read for the seasoned business professional. The book offers a refresher in business fundamentals such as having passion for what you do, motivating people and effective communication skills & then goes on to offer specialized advise for Indian corporate companies.

All in all, "CYCBTH" is a good read for all Indians who aspire to manage Indian companies someday.

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—About our writer: Madan writes for chillibreeze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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