Hi Guys,

I was reading an article in the Times about why we don't excel consistently on the world stage. Actually this question is very important for each one of us. We don't win Olympic medals, we don't have many global brands (be it expensive items or even consumer goods ), we don't win Nobel prizes, we don't have a blockbuster drug of our own (all we have are generics). We boast of a huge IT industry but don't have our own Google. The list can go on and on. There is really no end to it.
Of course we also have a whole lot of positives but it is our responsibility to correct our negatives and improve our positives. Frankly speaking our negatives outnumber our positives a thousand fold.

Few common answers to this question are that we don't have money, our Governments are insensitive, Corruption etc etc. A very interesting aspect is that we don't give importance to talent and people. In our system , talent comes after connections, stature, heredity, experience etc. How often do we see an unknown and a common boy become a superstar, but definitely more often than not we see the son of a superstar become another superstar. Even if the talent is identified, we are not ready to train it and find it extremely difficult to reward it. We don't appreciate talent because we remind ourselves of our pain in their success ( in other words we have too much jealousy). That is the main reason why talented people go for greener pastures where they are respected and treated well. I am reminded of an incident that happened a couple of years ago in the KK express that travels from Bangalore to Delhi. There was a guy who was traveling with us in the sleeper class. He was a graduate from IIT and was doing his PhD from Purdue. He was visiting his hometown for a few days. There was a problem with his ticket and the TT was not listening to his pleas. What hurt him most was the manner in which the TT was speaking to him. There was a total disrespect shown by the TT towards the passenger. After all this, the TT pocketed 1000 Rs from him. That sums up everything about our attitude.

Ok , now for some solutions.....

At the individual level, we all need to appreciate and respect Talent. Talent should not cause resentment in us. It should inspire us.
At the Organizational level, we have to get rid of promotion system based on seniority. Exceptional Talent must also be rewarded exceptionally. I am sure these are small steps, but they will surely put us on the right path. Maybe, the path to few Nobels and a few Olympic Medals......

Signing off for now,
Krishna.