Risky business

Sunil Thawani, CEO of Quality Indeed Consulting Services

We may appear to be very staid and steadfast, but quality management experts have to take risks to progress. Taking calculated risks is second nature to me.

I strongly believe in practising what I preach.

I adopt the '5-S' philosophy. This is a Japanese method of organising and managing the workspace and workflow with the intent of improving efficiency by eliminating waste, improving flow and reducing process imbalances. I also follow the Japanese Kaizen approach of continuous improvement. This applies to the systematic structure in my family life too.

My father remains the biggest influence in my life.

Even with all the influential people I have met, worked with or trained under, I would still have to say that my father has made the most indelible impression on me. He lived by core values – initiative, assertiveness, attention to detail and dedication.

I like to think that he has passed these values on to me. He had a very difficult childhood. He lost his father when he was very young and had to support a family of six siblings, but that did not deter him from getting a masters degree in Political Science. He went on to study law in his fifties. Even today, at 80, he continues to practice law. He has been the hero in my life.

My education proved integral to my character development.

Studying was the best thing to have happened to me. Living away from home transformed me from a quiet, shy student into a more confident and outgoing individual.

After completing the engineering programme, I got a job in 1980 as a management trainee with the Bhilai Steel Plant, one of the largest and most advanced steel plants in the world at the time. This was to become one of the most important phases in my life. There I met the person who was to become my close friend and partner on a world tour, Aniruddha Guha.

The idea of a world tour on motorcycle came about through a friendship.

It crossed our minds some time in June 1983. I love nature, adventure, travelling, meeting people and motorcycles, and shared these interests with my group of friends.

A motorcycle trip was something that could quench our thirst for all of the above at one go. We wanted a challenge that would test all our abilities – our resourcefulness and ingenuity. We knew we would probably face a wide range of situations and problems within a short span of time, but the challenge got us really motivated to do it.

It seemed impossible – even crazy – but the more we spoke about it, the more the idea began to take root. Suddenly what had begun

as a crazy idea transformed into a distinct possibility.

We converted my one-bedroom apartment into a makeshift office and this was how Operation Worldwide on Wheels commenced.

The first lesson we learnt from our new enterprise was planning and improvisation.

From getting the necessary permission and mapping every little detail of a sprawling and totally unpredictable venture, the project taught us so much in the way of organisation.

It also taught us to think on our feet, because plans would change without warning. This experience has stood us all in such good stead. We became more cool-headed and solved problems more effectively.

Learning all this very early on in our careers taught us a number of invaluable lessons.

Many tried to dissuade us, but we would not show defeat.

'Think of the money you'll lose in a year,' said so many people. Some laughed at us; others encouraged us for the wrong reasons: they thought we were trying to find an obscure way to immigrate! We learnt to deal with it all. We paid the price of time and forfeited some months' salaries, but the experience was priceless.

We rode out from Delhi on May 8, 1984.

We travelled through Egypt (sailing there from Bombay on the first leg), Greece, Italy, Austria, West Germany (before the re-unification), Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Spain, England, the US, Canada, Mexico, Hawaii and Japan.

The tour opened our minds to the cultural, social, economic and industrial developments and differences all over the world.

After nearly 12 months of travelling through 22 countries and covering more than 50,000km, we returned to India on April 2, 1985. We got encouragement and support from so many people we met along the way.

When we visited Palenque, a famous archaeological site of the ancient Mayan civilization, we met a group of students from a local school.

They were very excited that we were from India; former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was very popular there. This was in December 1984. Some time ago I set up www.worldwideonwheels.com, which was inaugurated by Shaikh Hasher Maktoum, Dubai Director of Information, and the then Indian Consul General, Yash Sinha, to honour the people who had helped us achieve our dream.

Last year I received an e-mail. I asked a Spanish colleague to translate it and it turned out that it was one of the girls whom we had met in Palenque. We are now in touch again.

Effective quality management ensures freedom from defects and errors.

If you reduce defects and errors, the operation costs are reduced. When costs come down, the profit margin goes up, the company expands and this creates more jobs.

Once your product is the best you can give for the price you are asking, quality management shifts to understanding and satisfying the customer's needs.

In 1991, when I started my career in quality management at Steel Authority of India Limited, little did I know that I would still be at it 18 years later.

I have written and published a book, called Business Excellence Awards – Strategies for Winning. It was released by Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade, in July 2007. It was translated into Arabic by engineer Awadh Al Harbi, executive officer at the Saudi Arabia Quality Council (Western Region), Jeddah and published by them in March 2009.

I have also published many articles, case studies and presented papers at conferences and universities on a variety of topics.

Awards are not about ego.

I do appreciate recognition, but it's not the be all and end all of existence.

I was awarded the Sindhu Ratan Award by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in 1985. I also received the Testimonial Award for leadership in the field of quality management by the American Society for Quality in 1999. Another high point was being elected as a Fellow by the American Society for Quality in 2008. I was one of the 21 Fellows elected in 2008 for the first in the GCC. But above all, what I truly value are the opportunities I've had to learn from some of the most successful and visionary leaders in the world. I had the honour of meeting His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai as Senior Examiner, Dubai Quality Awards (DQA) in April 1999 and then again in April 2009.

Charity makes the world go round.

After reading the book Giving by Bill Clinton, I was motivated to organise a virtual organisation. We started with www.freerice.com. You play a vocabulary game online and for each word that you spell correctly, 20 grains of rice are donated by the sponsor to the needy. It is sponsored by the World Food Programme.

Then came Dubai Connects (www.dubaiconnects.org) in 2008. It aims to help mobilise resources, connect the givers with the receivers and also raise awareness as to the importance of helping the needy. I am working on some more ideas to further this initiative.

For more information visit: www.qualitywaves.com and
www.worldwideonwheels.com.