The Journey Continues — Part 3

A Journey Never Ends…

நெல்லுக்கு இறைத்த நீர் வாய்க்கால் வழியோடிப் புல்லுக்கும் அங்கே பொசியுமாம்.

The above quote is from Moodhurai, which means ‘the water you provide to a crop not only nourishes the crop, but also provides to many more plants and nourishes everything along the way’.

The idea of SAHAJ to stop exploitation of people and customers alike and to provide for a great and uncomplicated way of working has inspired and touched the lives of many. Being part of this journey from the beginning has been an experience like no other. The learnings I have gained have been invaluable in this journey. The way we looked at problems, the attitude and perspectives have enabled all of us to solve them with confidence and courage.

Challenges and solutions in today’s world

“We are living in unusual times. Every day we are challenged to navigate an increasingly complex and dynamic world. This is true not only for us as individuals, in our private and professional lives, but also for the organizations we create and are a part of. Public organizations and companies alike are learning the hard way that the problems before us now cannot be resolved in the way we approached problems in the past. But if the old ways do not work anymore, what do we do now? How can we create progress and deal with the new challenges that the world is putting before us?

The starting point is that we only know something about the nature of the outcome, the desired value we want to achieve. So the challenge is to figure out “what” new elements to create, while there is no known or chosen “how,” a “pattern of relationships” that we can trust to lead to the desired outcome.” ( Frame innovation)

What ? + How ? — → Out come

We were a part of this equation too like the others. This applies to all the fields. For example, from an org building(recruitment) standpoint, We do good work and have built a company that is built on trust and to reduce exploitation.
We are always on the lookout for great minds to join us who can imbibe our culture and help grow together.

Finding the what + how to bring those great minds has been very exciting and it’s a continuous process.

The books, exercises etc. suggested by my mentor came in handy and it was a great value addition to cross-pollinate best practices from several disparate domains.

Reading the books was one part and I was wondering where and how to apply it in real time.

Sahaj had the playground open for me to try and bowl all the variations that I know and get hit for a 6, bowl a no ball (or) even take wickets. Everything was a learning experience — I started looking at the problem in different ways , put my ideas into practice and learnt during the course. Some succeeded and some failed.

It’s not about what ideas I had suggested, it was more about learning, improving my problem solving abilities and impacting the organization as well. I am happy to see that these design thinking exercises have shaped me. Be it big or small problems, personal or professional, these learnings and the design thinking tools / principles come in handy.

A few pointers from my learning

# A problem is a difference between things as desired and things as perceived.

# If I can’t think of at least three things that might go wrong with the plans, then there’s something wrong with my thinking.

# Don’t mistake a solution method for a problem definition — Especially if it’s your own solution method.

# I can be never sure I have the correct definition, even after the problem is solved.

# Each Solution is the source of the next problem.

To summarize…

I have certainly gained a lot of experience at Sahaj and a variety of learning. Apart from Hands on coding I have the opportunity to wear many hats. Practically, I have indeed tried ‘pretty much everything’, as one of the founders rightly predicted. Org Building (Recruitment), Marketing, Managing Events, Client Relationships, Sales and Demand, Finance Operations, Creating new office space — I was given a free hand and guidance as required in all these areas.

In an open culture,there are bound to be a lot of debates and questions about an idea. There is nothing to be disappointed about. As a problem solver, one should expect these while working on a solution.

“While there is nobody in the world who will share your point of view on everything, there are people who will share your most important values and the ways in which you choose to live them out. Make sure you end up with those people.” (Principles- Ray Dalio)

There is no fear of failing where there is encouragement. The bar is always set high. My learning journey has just begun and it’s a continuous process. There are opportunities abound like an Ocean and it’s up to me to consume as many cups as I can.

Link to Part 2 of the Blog — https://southpawprem.medium.com/the-journey-continues-part-2-cdbff5f9e0f
Link to Part 1 of the Blog — https://southpawprem.medium.com/a-journey-of-a-thousand-miles-begins-with-a-single-step-62f0bae75261