The elephant catchers book ppt by Mukesh Bhavsar and group

1. THE ELEPHANT
CATCHERS
BY SUBROTO BAGCHI
Presented By:
Vandita Purohit
Charu Priya Palni
Rimleena Boro
Mukesh Bhavsar

2. CONTENTS
 About The Author
 Introduction
 Part I : Idea of Scale
 Part II : Scaling your Business
 Part III : Scaling Your Intellect
 Part IV : Scaling Your Reputation
 Part V : Scaling Your People
 Part VI : Scaling Against Adversity
 Conclusion

3. ABOUT THE
AUTHOR Subroto Bagchi is an Indian entrepreneur & business leader.
 He was born on 31 May 1957 in Patnagarh, Odisha.
 He studied Political Science at the Utkal University.
 He started his work life as a clerk in the Industries Department of the Government of
Odisha in 1976.
 From1981, he entered the computer industry and worked for a number of computer
companies between 1981 and 1999. His longest stint was at Wipro.
 In 1999 he co-found Mindtree along with 9 other co-founders.
 Mindtree is a $500 million, Global IT services company with approximately 14500 people.
It is listed at the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange in India.
 Presently, he is the Chairman of the Mindtree Board of Directors.
 In 2006, his first book The High Performance Entrepreneur-Golden rules for success
in today’s world was published.
 Other books authored by him are – Go Kiss the World: Life Lessons For The Young
Professional(2008), The Professional(2009), MBA at 16(2012), Trouble in Gangtok(2012),
The Captainship: First-gen Entrepreneurs(2013), The Professional Companion(2013),[On
Leadership and Innovation(2014)

4. THE
ELEPHANT
CATCHERS
I. The Idea
of Scale
II. Scaling
Your
Business
III. Scaling
Your
Intellect
IV. Scaling
Your
Reputation
V. Scaling
Your
People
VI. Scaling
Against
Adversity
INTRODUCTION
 The book is build around the core idea
of scaling an organisation and its
people.
 The book is divided into VI parts that
deal with different stages of scaling.
 The core idea of scale and its
associated attributes are applicable to
any institution.
 The book will enable the reader to get
an insight into his organisation and
himself.
 The book is written from a practitioners
point of view and all experiences
written about have been lived by the
author.
 The idea of he book is to tell the
reader how to scale if you want to,
need to, and if you must.

5. PART I
THE IDEA OF SCALE
 To be comfortable with the idea of scale
 To Strategise
 To build the right infrastructure with a systemic view
 To hire the right people to manage the scale and also
re-engineer existing workforce

6. LESSONS FROM A SWAMI
‘Those who do not embrace the notion of size and cannot enjoy magnitude
will always have problems with it.’
 Swami Ji’s formula to balance growth and scale was based on the following ideas:
1. To be at peace and comfort with scale. The idea of scale should not daunt you.
2. To have a sense of purpose, a larger goal at which you are aiming (for Swami Ji it
was sense of serving surrounding committee)
3. To have a sense of self-regulation. No supervision is required. A self-regulating
system minimizes the need for bureaucracy
4. To adopt simplicity . Simplicity is a powerful tool in any human effort. A simple
communication is more powerful than a complex one.
5. To be accessible. Accessibility plays an important part in maintaining the balance
and security that is essential in keeping any place together.
6. To see growth as an ally, a welcome way to expand capacity and, from here on,
to make a difference.

7. MURDER IN NEW YORK
‘If you are not ambitious enough to scale, and scale big, you will not need to
engage with the term strategy’
 While strategising to scale, remember the following:
1. Strategise like you are re-starting. Strategizing at this juncture is as important as
at the time of setting up your business.
2. Aim for exponential not incremental growth. Aiming at incremental growth is
looking at a low risk approach that will lead small upsides.
3. Great strategy must have an emotional appeal. Without emotion strategy will not
be memorable, and people do not follow what they cannot remember. Strategy is
not the child of reason, it is an act of emotion.
4. Try to see the bigger picture and the interconnected nature of things. A
conventional problem may not always have a conventional solution.
5. People at all level must be encouraged to think strategically. Companies do
not scale themselves, it is the people who take it to the next step.
6. Simple is smart. A strategy is only effective when people executing it understand
it and connect to it.

8. A BAMBOO BRIDGE TO CROSS THE OCEAN
“Successful organizations invariably mimic living beings in designing their
infrastructure. The more they incorporate a systemic view, the more evolved
and truly scalable they will be.”
 Organisations think of infrastructure at 3 distinct but interconnected levels:
1. The Physical Infrastructure (bottom) – offices, factories, warehouses, retail
outlets.
2. The Intellectual Infrastructure (middle) – systems, processes, methodologies.
3. The Emotional Infrastructure (top) – accessibility of an organisations leaders,
ability to respond to crisis, propagation of its core vision and values.
 An important element of infrastructure design applicable to all levels is ‘digital
strategy’ of an organisation. It is basically the information system(mimics the
nervous system of a being) that an organisation uses.
 The Intellectual and Emotional infrastructure involves not just employees and
management but also connects customers with every part of the organisation. And
this understanding of customers helps it to develop its physical infrastructure in
accordance.
 Each of these infrastructure layers must be creative, robust and built ahead of its
time.

9. THE ELEPHANT CATCHERS
‘Unlike an operation to catch rabbits, trapping an elephant calls for expertise
over enthusiasm. Those who hunt rabbits are rarely able to rope in elephants.’
 Initial customer/client relationships are based on trust and a certain personal connect
but as you grow they demand process maturity and vertical expertise.
 Catching an elephant is not just about large deals. It is about all those things that
require the ability to handle volume with complexity. You need the right people to
manage the cached elephant.
 The Elephant Catchers come at a huge price, some of them would be:
1. They demand fancy money and expensive severance benefits.
2. They come with their own teams, so before they add to the business, they add to
the cost.
3. There is pressure of adjusting reporting lines.
4. They do not come with a guarantee
 Old employees need to befriend The Elephant Catchers and also learn some new
skills themselves.
 For most employees it will a unique and rewarding experience in personal re-
engineering, as well as a great opportunity to renew their social contract with the
enterprise as it begins on its next long march.

10. PART II
SCALING YOUR
BUSINESS
 Show your potential customers that you are hungry,
willing, genuine and trustworthy
 Identify the hunters and farmers from the grizzlies and
the skunks
 Know when to say no
 You ought to have the right reasons for mergers and
accusations
 Be cautious of short cuts and treat your equity with
respect

11. THE CAT AND THE DOG DIFFERENTIAL
‘The key to winning a customer’s business is to be able to connect and to
come across as hungry, willing, genuine, trustworthy and, above all,
interesting’
 Life will always put you in unexpected positions. You may toil very hard to
achieve a certain goal and just when you feel you are about to touch it, feel it,
there are chances that at that very moment , the goal has shifted farther
 Nothing to lose- It helps mind to see possibilities when you are staring at what
may look like a full-stop.
 “It is the dog that fetched the newspaper for you all these years, but when
it’s the time to feed milk, you are instead choosing he cat”
 The 3 A’s- Attention, Agility and Access
 Think different, think inventive
 Logical reasoning is very important but do not underscore the power of emotion
 Get over a mental block. Keep trying to venture into new domains.
 Look for what is common with the customer beyond your expected capabilities
and use it to create the connect

12. OF HUNTERS, FARMERS, GRIZZLIES AND SKUNKS
‘Sales is not witchcraft. It is a science as much as it is an art, and must be
managed with the same discipline as product development, manufacturing
and servicing’
 Sales force can be broadly divided into 4 categories:
a) Grizzlies: sales people who only catch salmons the easy way
b) Skunks: bad client deals just for the sake of acquisition
c) Hunters: good at opening doors but not at building a relationship
d) Farmers: not good at opening new accounts but effortlessly create long term
relationships
 An organization needs hunters and farmers
 World has moved on from Philip Kotler’s 4P’s (Product, Price, Place and
Promotion).The different verticals, their sub-verticals have brought transformation
in traditional ideas of customer segmentation.
 In the beginning sell like hell, but building on and sustaining the initial sales
thrust, with getting new customers , require experts.
 Invest in good information system that scientifically analyses sales data and
formal sales training so that at no point do the management and personnel lose
sight of the central sales division

13. MARRIAGES OF CONVENIENCE
‘ As in all walks of life, in business too, relationship choices have
consequences. If you seek a marriage of convenience, do so with your eyes
open and always be aware that it just might become an unholy alliance’
 It is important to build sales capability and acquire new customers. Never be
overly dependent on single customer but a few strategic relationships work like
booster rocket
 Sub-optimal relationships are not good either. Dangers of prolonging relationships
with small customers- project size is inversely proportional to work satisfaction.
Determine the ‘mutual fit’ candidates.
 In choosing relationships, if the promise of the future comes with a price tag, look
at the cost of ownership in its entirety and not sacrifice future for the sake of the
present.
 Joint ventures are not always the best settings especially for mid-size players
 If you seek a marriage of convenience, always be aware that it just might become
an unholy alliance. In that case clean divorce is better than an unhappy and
messy marriage

14. THE M & A MYTHS
‘When managers propose mergers and acquisitions, the important thing is to
ensure that they are doing it for the right reasons, and not because they have
run out of ideas on how to grow their business organically or are fatigued and
now see a merger or an acquisition as an easy way out’
 According to the author, the sad part about M&A is that key people get large
payouts that very often make them lazy and they lose commitment to work like
they did before
 Founders never stay to create new synergies and process of integration
 If the founders of an acquired unit hit a glass ceiling and could not grow their
company beyond their current situation, it is highly unlikely they would do better in
a changed scenario
 Small and cheap acquisitions lack critical mass because of which the acquiring
company looses interest in them
 Managing ‘key employee expectations’
 Finance and HR play a major role here. Many a time cross cultural forces comes
to play

15. VALUE, VALUATIONS & THE ROLL UP KIDS
“ If anyone tries to show you a path to double or treble your company’s
valuation overnight, don’t get taken in. Life is about constant growth, but any
unnatural growth is inherently destructive.
 Treat your equity with respect
 Frittering it away to seek cheaper office space or to buy advertising in a
newspaper, is an unwise thing to do and a terrible way to do business
 Sustainable valuation of an enterprise involves – quality of the management
team, customer base, predictability of the revenue system and corporate
governance.
 Do not fall into the magic web woven by the ‘Roll up’ guys. Generally the first
round of funding by a venture capital firm reflects the initial valuation of the
company. The other combination of real factors that control the valuations are –
differentiated business idea, having paying customers and retaining them,
garnering process maturity, creating a product roadmap, good governance and
overall reputation
 A firm going public must ensure that they are able to manage investor
expectations and have enormous obligations with regards to regulatory
compliance.

16. PART III
SCALING YOUR INTELLECT
 Choose your board members wisely
 Identify the pros and cons before engaging with a
consulting firm

17. THE WISE MEN AROUND THE TABLE
‘ A board member is not supposed to be a yes-man, a business development
manager or, worse still a fixer. When chosen well and respected , a board is
the conscience keeper and the voice of reason and caution, for leaders willing
to listen’
 The independent directors on board should be chosen for their managerial
quality, personal leadership qualities, integrity, ability to ask critical questions,
diversity and willingness to devote time needed o make key contributions to the
functioning of the organization
 A board's job is also select the CEO, guide and assist with the development of
long term strategy of the company, review financial results and protect the
interests of small stakeholders in the organization. But sometimes domain
expertise is needed to make decisions.
 The board represents wisdom, management team brings in the intellect and
capacity to execute
 The board is the guardian angel that balances the three legged stool of investor,
customer and employee expectations
 The board's acumen ensures whether the organization appears as a
quintessential gliding swan rather than a dog furiously paddling away its way
across water.

18. WHEN THE SHEPHERD NEEDS HELP
‘ When good consultants and good companies team up, unusual new value
gets created. But remember, you will invariably get all you need from the
consultant in the first six months of engagement. After that, whatever they
may be, they are simply repeating themselves’
 Identify areas where you lack capability internally and look for required capabilities to
be brought in from outside to bring in best practices of leading players in the industry.
 Lesson #1: Before approaching and signing on a consultant, speak to their other
clients
 Lesson #2: Be clear on your and their expectations
 Lesson #3: Settle the fees and terms of payment ahead of engaging them.
 Lesson #4: When you engage with a consultant, you are not obliged to go along with
them on everything they recommend
 Lesson #5: Set down clear terms on ending the association
 Lesson #6: Periodically assess the value of consultants brought in
 Lesson #7: Go for in-house knowledge transfer sessions
 Lesson #8: Do not build unrealistic expectations around consulting engagements
without first demonstrating personal willingness to change
 Lesson #9: respect is one thing, awe is another

19. PART IV
SCALING YOUR
REPUTATION
Creating an image that truly represents ones values

20. BUILDING A BRAND
 Image of vision,
mission and objectives
 Varies from brand to
brand
 Different from
advertising
 Takes you from where
you are to where you
want to go

21. MEDIA & COMMUNICATION
 X factor during launch
 Constant heating of
events
 Leaders constantly
promoting theme of
brand
 Unbiased opinions on
current events
 Not leaving any
comment or silence for
misinterpretation

22. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
 Imbibed in the work
culture
 Should be in sync with
current activities of
organization
 Profitability should not
over ride the bigger
benefits of society

23. PART V
SCALING YOUR PEOPLE

24. HIRING AND FIRING
 When in doubt, don’t hire.
 When the situation demands, don’t tremble to fire.
 Not solely responsibility of HR.
 Interviews, reference checks, motive of candidate.
 Worker looks familiar but not be same for
employee.
 Fired employee may have delivered, file lawsuit,
greet organization coldly.
 Fire with good reason and with good faith.

25. BUOYANCY
 A happy organization –
reality or myth.
 People leave their
bosses not the
organization.
 Leaders should
emerge when
employees need and
not perpetually.
 Team involvement and
performance reviews.

26. FASHION DESIGNER NUN
 What got you here
today wont take you
where you want to go
tomorrow.
 Out of the box thinking.
 Agile Methodology
(parallel action)
 Technology trauma an
urban legend.

27. SQUARE PEGS AND ROUND HOLES
Specialization and
generalization.
Rotation by location and
role.
Understanding
competencies ( Ninja,
Coach, Thought leader
and Rainmaker)
Building leaders

28. GARDENING TOOLS
 Every employee has to be treated like a flower in a
garden.
 Employee has to be fully nurtured and he when he
leaves he has to be well developed.
 Goals of organization and employee have to be in
sync.
 Leaders are born through the process and may
leave the organization.
 Those who were not aware may be better at
handling responsibilities.

29. WHEN BRAHMA FAILS
 Perpetual succession
of business entity.
 Pioneer cannot exist
forever.
 Delegation of authority
to specialized
personnel.
 No matter how hard it
is, there has to be
succession of authority.

30. PART VI
SCALING AGAINST
ADVERSITY
 Planning for the tough times that a business or a
company might have to face

31. RITES OF PASSAGE
‘When Extraordinary events overtake us. It is time to do the
ordinary things extraordinarily well’
 Not everything works out the way we want
 Pain is inevitable but suffering is optional
 9/11 events and how Mindtree survived the phase
 During crisis communicated even more with leadership teams,
investors and suppliers
 Shared vision, common values and mutual trust
 Doing the things under your control with more efforts than you’ve
ever put in

32. BOLTS FROM THE BLUE
Just hang in there! Survival is important even before you think
of growing!
 Notes… Farmer and vegetable seller
 Understanding fundamentals of ecosystem change (the ‘new
normal’), frugal management, training in lean times, survival
mindset
 Whatever are the circumstances, organizational leader can not
get overwhelmed
 Must preserve faith in order to build an organization that will
outlive them

33. OOPS..!
 Author speaks of Philip Kotler's 4Ps (Product, Price, Place
and Promotion). 4 controllable variables the company puts
together to satisfy a target market
 But 4Ps was a term coined by E. Jerome McCarthy in 1960
 Some of the business models touched upon in the book
could have been explained more comprehensively.

35. CONCLUSION
 Invite the author
 Elephant-catcher mindset (scale, complexity, process and risk)
 Scaling business, intellect, reputation, people
 Applicable to any organization, whether it is a business or a not-
for-profit and even your own self (Me inc.)
 A must read book for want to be Entrepreneur or a person who
has started a small firm
 Develop a deep comprehension of C.K. Prahalad's concept of
‘next practices’