Machiavellian Fire Fighters

thunga — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:10:21 EDT

I have been obsessed with this parable since I stumbled upon it a few days ago.

In ancient China, there was a family of healers, one of whom was known throughout the land and employed as a physician to a great lord. The physician was asked which of his family was the most skillful healer. He replied, “I tend to the sick and dying with drastic and dramatic treatments, and on occasion someone is cured and my name gets out among the lords.

“My elder brother cures sickness when it just begins to take root, and his skills are known among the local peasants and neighbors.

“My eldest brother is able to sense the spirit of sickness and eradicate it before it takes form. His name is unknown outside our home.” LINK

The world is so much filled with mediocrity and fighting the mediocrity to create a better world that fire fighters are celebrated more than actual creators and value adders. The person who was most well known in the above parable is the fire fighter.

This behavior is from time immemorial. Every developer who has coded a module will be aware of fire fighting. Every project manager who has handled a slightly complex project will be aware of fire fighting. What is more surprising is that it is not just the complexity of code or project which substantiates the parable but every team consisting of more than four people promotes and celebrates fire fighters.

It is always better to add to problems or blow up the problem to unmanageable proportions and then get recognition for fire fighting than to nip it in the bud. Some beautiful examples were also discussed in Nassim Taleb's book 'Black Swan'. One of the examples quoted by Taleb is about the 9/11 event in the US. If 9/11 event could have been in some way predicted, it would have never got the publicity that it has enjoyed helping the politicians the misuse for their own personal benefits than to help the humanity and the economy.

The winner in today's corporate and social world is the person who can create the loudest noise about solving a problem than a person who can actually add benefit through better processes and care which will nip the problem in the budding stage itself! If you belong to the latter categories of elder brothers, find joy in your inner abilities and strengths and not in worldly recognition.

Have you had some similar experiences?

Chandrayaan-I - Not A Waste of Money and Resources

thunga — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:52:13 EDT

Critics say that the "Chandrayaan Mission was a waste of money and resources". In a country like India, the money and resources could have been better used in development activities which would increased the livelihood of so many people lying below the poverty line.

Please say "aye" if you are naive enough to buy this argument. This logic is very similar to that used by our once-charming politicians to promote khadi industries when modern industrialization would have added more value to the country and the people around it. Sir M. Vishveswariah added more to irrigation by building the dams in Karnataka than if the money had been spent on giving seeds to the farmers. There is an inherent lack of understanding amongst the people in India about the use and potential of technology to improve the well being of the people. The media instead of educating through clear thinking and bringing in rationale to decisions, have taken the sidelines to just report opposing views of any issue without stating the merits or demerits of either side.

This article will be heavily biased towards the advantages that India is going to obtain through the Chandrayaan mission. I would love the hear arguments against the same!

Through the Chandrayaan mission, there will be two kinds of distinct advantages. The first being the technology transfer and increase in the utility of technology and the other being the political cultural shift the country vis a vis other countries in the region and the world.

The Technology utility advantage would be the value added by the technology to the economy and the people. The experiments done on the moon for its soil and other chemicals would improve chemical research in the country and might lead to breakthrough ideas in chemical industry which will improve the livelihoods of so many people. This is not just relevant to the chemical industry but also to other allied industries from physics, software, materials to half of the things that are used by the people of India.

The technological transfer advantage is the amount of money or other value add obtained by sharing this technology with other countries. It is the same as technological utility advantage but obtained by exchange of information and technology instead of promotion of technology internally.

Political-Cultural Shift advantage to India

As we know only 3 countries have the capability to do space walk and less than 10 countries have been able to launch their own satellites. Space has been a very important criteria in terms of signaling the strength of a country from the 1960s when the USA wanted to show its power against the USSR. It will hopefully give more brownie points to India which will influence others to heed to the words of the Indians.

Three cheers to the people behind the mission. Special cheers to Mylswamy Annadurai and Madhavan Nair. We should celebrate this event as a very important step in not just the progress of science research but in the economy of India. Eagerly awaiting for the 48 hours to pass to hear more good news :)

Desicritics Author: thunga

Machiavellian Fire Fighters

Chandrayaan-I - Not A Waste of Money and Resources