Acumen Bootcamp - 8th Week Reflection

Parts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the Acumen virtual bootcamp series can be found here. This is the last part of the Acumen Bootcamp series.

I had completed all sessions of the bootcamp. And the interaction with people helped me to define what leadership is. Leadership is an influence. Leadership is born when competence meets character, practical skills meet moral imagination, and urgency meets action. I would recommend the article: Crucibles of Leadership.

The last session was a reflection exercise by the participants and moderators on the whole 8-week journey. I was introduced to a rich network of social-sector leaders from across the world, a.k.a Community of Social Innovators. The decline of what sociologists call ‘secondary associations’, where people come together to search and inquire, is one of the processes of atomization that leads to people being isolated and facing this mass of information alone. I hope a new association can help me navigate my complex and gradually painstaking journey of social change. There is also Acumen Academy, a school dedicated to social change. The goal is to learn and escape from becoming a prisoner of my own rhetoric, which makes it even more difficult to adapt to new realities.

Feedback: The internal reflection as a leader and a person was the fulcrum of the course. Yet, more time could have been devoted to adaptive leadership, in my opinion. The crucible experience was a trial and a test, a point of deep self-reflection that forced participants to question who we are and what matters to us. Four hours per week is a minuscule time in comparison to the time that is wasted throughout the week. That may be called a lack of rigor in the whole 8-week sessions. Investment of at least 8-10 Hours per week would have better returns for fellows and moderators. Thanks to my peers for the profound discussions, and especially Abbas for moderating the interactive session

Acumen Bootcamp - 7th Week Reflection

Parts 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 of the Acumen virtual bootcamp series can be found here.

The topic of the 7th session was on Adaptive Leadership. All organizations want individuals to be invested in the rat race. This always shows a better return on investment in salary.  And we are also engaged in the dance of email, instant messages, and meetings. But reflecting in the midst of action is an age-old wisdom, and it is really difficult to achieve.  The crux of the session was on reflection amid action and vice versa

The Practice of Adaptive Leadership, a book written by Alexander Grashow, Marty Linsky, and Ronald Heifetz, was referred for detailed reading.  The best part in the summarized reading was our Illusion of the Broken System: There is a myth that drives many change initiatives into the ground: that the organization needs to change because it is broken. The reality is that any social system (including an organization) is the way it because people in that system (at least those individuals in that system (at least those individuals and factions with the most leverage) want and factions with the most leverage) want it that way. In the sense, on the whole, it is that way. In the sense, on the whole, the system is working fine, even though it may appear to be “dysfunctional” in some respects to members, and outside observers, and even though it faces danger just over the horizon.

Adaptive leadership requires helping people to gain a clear perspective in the midst of action and uncertainty; making sense of complex, often conflicting, signs and data; and sifting through what is most important, what is at stake, who will support, and who will resist change.

This transformation is based on “mapping the system” of stakeholders surrounding the challenge, mobilizing key stakeholders. A leader has to mobilize resources and goals and transform the organization. Our focus is less about the “problem” and more about other people’s relationship to the problem, and how to engage them in narrowing the gap. This profound shift is done by leveraging leadership capital for excellence into pragmatic steps for the stakeholders.

The stakeholders are spread in the factions like yourself, authority, allies, opposition, casualties, and troublemakers, with each having their respective Values, Loyalties, and Losses. The opinion inside an organization is different, and conflicts have to be replaced with a confluence of interests.

As an adaptive leader, I had not practiced much of the courageous belief in how things should be in the face of a persistent problem. I can articulate ‘the gap’ that is a leadership challenge in the development sector. It's about the decay of grant-based work and the move towards building a service-based model. I will use the tool to analyze the problem and the relationship of stakeholders in my organization. Hoping the process will be a fascinating reflection on the ways individuals perceive their own experiences, but how men and women in particular might forecast the scenario. In the end, I will develop some capability of adjusting to the requirements of different perspectives and the transformation agenda.

Acumen Bootcamp - 6th Week Reflection

Parts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the Acumen virtual bootcamp series can be found here.

I approached our readings, 14 pages from ‘On Identity by Amin Malouf, with great eagerness. Amin Maalouf, born in Beirut, is a prolific writer of fiction, non-fiction, and operatic librettos. In 2010, he received the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. The discussion was focusing on the issue of identity on a very basic level.

The most marketable skill in leaders is the ability to abandon one's own identity and slip into someone else's. Most people have the privilege to associate with identities that can give them access to new opportunities through a network. This was the aspect that was visible in the group. Whatever people understand and enjoy in human products instantly becomes theirs, wherever they might have their origin. This is true in most cases.

I stepped up and shared the experience that is related to imposed identities connected with stereotypes. Stereotyping and malign propaganda always led to the labeling of the person under an identity. An individual trapped in a limited identity will be exploited by the authoritative state or community politics. Such imposed identities put constraints on the individual's open interaction with another individual belonging to a different belief system. The dilemma of choosing between integration and emigration from mainstream identity & picking either freedom or security is one of the toughest decisions for an individual. There is a huge relation between identity, tolerance, and violence. Due to a shortage of time and a lack of depth in the panel, the relation wasn't explored in the meeting. There is a huge topic of identity politics and social justice movements that can be discussed in a class of sociology or political science. I will recommend readers to go through the Identity and Violence work by Amartya Sen for a deep dive.

Assignment: An assignment was given that was quite similar to a privilege walk.  We have to design a flower with petals, each petal representing a factor of influence in society. It is a good incubation exercise for individuals who have never wandered into the areas of the humanities and social sciences.

Acumen Bootcamp - 5th Week Reflection

Part 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4& of Acumen virtual bootcamp series can be found here.

I approached two of our readings, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United States’ Declaration of Independence in the 5th week of Acumen.

1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Democracy itself constitutes a human right, and therefore nation states not respecting democratic principles open themselves up to just conflict internally and externally. The Declaration emphasize on the rights of humans and create a document that forms a vision for utopia. Therefore, leaders with moral imagination has to step up, tune with one’s own moral compass, and make this as core of our future.

2. In post covid situation, life of most people is in turn-moil and pain. But, I am critical of analyzing United States’ Declaration of Independence at this juncture. This is a revolutionary rhetoric that can be easily hacked by the elements who want to destabilize the consensus for a emergency powers and uprising. This call seems more dubious and hard to be translated into real mass improvement of people. And how it is no different from Mao's call for Cultural Revolution in 1960s where the population was urged to rid itself of the : Old customs, old culture, old habits, and old ideas.

The merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. I will definitely remove this line. And no explanation needed.

Passing Thought:In times of crisis especially disaster, there is nationalism sweeping the communities. There is rise in poll popularity of the leader despite of good or bad handling of the process. And rallying around the leader becomes one of those irrational things. Richard Perle, once an advisor to Libyan Dictator, Gaddafi had said “Dictators must have enemies. They must have internal enemies to justify their secret police and external enemies to justify their military forces.” Being a thinking person in a crisis is a tomfoolery and seen as act of internal enemy. India have a troll force working to keep dissent away!

Acumen Bootcamp - 4th Week Reflection

Parts 0, 1,2, and 3 of the Acumen virtual bootcamp series can be found here.

I was introduced to the Immunity to Change tool, which is adapted from the works of Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey. This tool has helped me to observe and interpret within myself (the system) and surfaces internal contradictions and (possibly faulty) operating assumptions taken as truths.

There are four ways to analyze: Commitment, Doing / Not Doing, Hidden Competing Assessments, and Big Assumptions. For every commitment made, there is another commitment that prevents that change. This is a perfect example of the contradictions, like a driving vehicle with one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake. This is an intriguing exercise- to see a picture of oneself and work on the conflicting actions in our lives. I will end this with a quote by V. S. Naipaul on self-improvement: “The only lies for which we are truly punished are those we tell ourselves.” ...

Additional Motivation:

Acumen Bootcamp - 3rd Week Reflection

Parts 0,1, and 2 of the Acumen virtual bootcamp series can be found here.

The sessions are really good so far. Individuals are more open to ideas and suggestions and want to demonstrate an interest in getting up to speed. I am sharing the task I performed this week.

1. Superpower: There is an article by Seth Godin: What is your superpower? When do you come alive? I have documented my superpowers below:

a. I always document best practices and professional understanding on a topic through a blog. This has facilitated the creation of an institutional memory bank and drawing insights while walking on the road less traveled.

b. I enjoy a diverse range of literature, blogs, cinema, and interacting with different social circles. This gives me a range of knowledge that extends far beyond my chosen profession. I assume that investment in specialization in one area alongside a vast body of knowledge can be a powerful driver of original thought.

These superpowers have given me the ability to have a good outreach to a diverse group of stakeholders and impacted leaders in designing realistic plans. I usually come alive while volunteering for a cause and building networks of like-minded people.

2. Improvement Goals: I have to identify my improvement Goal: “If you could get better at ONE THING — the One Big Thing that would make the greatest difference to your happiness and effectiveness, what would that be?” My responses: a. Be a much better husband than I am. b. To not be committed to a task in a hurry and, once committed to a task, complete it before / on time.

I know this intuitively because I haven't been trying to get better at or change for a while. And, I have heard this from family and colleagues in the feedback/reviews.

3. Reflection on the article  How will you measure your life? by Clayton M. Christensen, Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

I have thought about the metric by which my life will be judged. I am an enthusiast, not an expert. At the age of thirty-four, I had realized that what I do will be insignificant, but that will define me. Curiosity and Enthusiasm are the forces that have not changed with time. What is more difficult to tackle in life? As for me, I always ponder over dilemmas rather than questions. Because there is always financial insecurity, family disputes, and chaos lurking around the corner. The immediate needs always have a tussle with long-term goals.

Acumen Bootcamp - 2nd Week Reflection

Parts 0 and 1 of the Acumen virtual bootcamp series can be found here. 

Creating systemic change always comes from moral leadership and self-discipline. Good discipline is a part of moral leadership that establishes structures, time management, task planning, and follow-up on action items. I am looking for a gradual change in thinking pattern, eventually decision-making, then vision, and then leadership. This week started with thought experiments and acting on micro-habitual changes.

1. Courageous Space: There is a concept of courageous space to be done in the pilot stage inside the cohort before rolling out in personal and professional space. The courageous pace gives me freedom to choose a specific issue, scrutinize a habit (self-discipline and exaggeration in my case), work on the habit in acts of courage, and ideally grow into competencies in the real world. I have set the following tasks for myself.

Within Person: Delay in completing tasks despite making commitments is a bad habit of mine. I will be working on this issue during the next 8 weeks.

Within Organization: Be less extrapolative while pitching for business development. This fault has crept into the sales pitch in the last few months due to my desperation for funds. I will be practicing more restraint and sharing real scenarios during interaction with other fellows.

2. I have to read an article on the concept of 'opposable minds' and how holding seemingly different or opposing concepts can open up new ideas and innovation. An optional reading was the Obama midterm speech 2018 transcript

Acumen Bootcamp - 1st Week Reflection

Part 0 of the Acumen virtual bootcamp series can be found here.

Task: Watch Acumen Manifesto and Behind the Manifesto. And reflect on your work and the audacious vision that you are building toward.

The Acumen Manifesto reflects an attempt to explain the goals of Moral leadership, as well as the qualities inherent in the change makers. The story of Kenyan women contained pearls of wisdom. It was an informal education on how inspirations come in life, society, and career.

The bootcamp is a virtual community coming from the areas of public policy, entrepreneurship, rights-based work, and technology. There is a deep intellectual capability in understanding where things are going wrong, a bleeding heart for empathy, and courage in building a strategy for change. The diverse mindset present here will help me to understand how to facilitate systems change and create more inclusive social systems through the use of market forces. I am hoping to understand how each leader is providing services/products to their target community.

The perseverance for the livelihood of individual farmers and the millions who collectively rely on smallholder farmers for food security is an essential component of our work. But they are more than consumers; they are entrepreneurs and risk takers. I am trying to use interventions to achieve a triple bottom-line: increase farm productivity and incomes gradually, help farmers adapt to climate change, and mitigate the risk of market failures. I always work to transform NGO into social enterprises, developing go-to-market strategies, and strengthening the partners' ecosystem. Hoping to do this with the support of the community of change makers. For where there is life, there is hope.

Acumen India Leadership Bootcamp

The number one piece of advice a consultant at World Bank gave to the next generation of development professionals was to invest in skills development and continuously up-skill. Yet, the path of There’s no harm in sharing our failures. The only thing at stake is our egos. But too much embrace to failure suggests a thwarted glory. I pitched my candidacy as a social intrapreneur for 2020 cohort of Acumen India Fellows program. I got rejection in the last stage of flagship program during December 2019. I am learning each day how to be unburdened by historical failure and not becoming ecstatic with a minor success.

Acumen India launched virtual bootcamp in January 2020 going beyond the flagship Program. I got selected today for inaugural Acumen Leadership Bootcamp in India. The Bootcamp will be a 6 – 8 week cohort based learning program, with a combination of individual / paired assignments and group calls. I will be summarizing my cumulative experiences at the end of course from the network of innovative, passionate, and socially minded people.

I am looking towards ideas based on verifiable evidence and weed out bad ideas from thought system. Often ideas that are most significant are bad ideas, but nevertheless exert psychological, sociological, and political power. Other than that I am looking towards networking for a joint micro-venture/study/volunteerism. See, incentive for networking, as you know, is like gravity: all it takes is a little push! Will update the readers with the insights post completion of the course.

Brief about Acumen: Acumen was founded in 2001 by Jacqueline Novogratz with the idea that poverty can tackled by investing philanthropy rather than giving it as a charity. In 2013, Acumen started to synthesize work in both investing and leadership training to offer online courses through Acumen Academy. Those who are more interested can read Acumen Manifesto first to dive deeper.