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I was talking to Joy Bhattacharjya yesterday about today's story, and it triggered one from his own memory bank.
This was around 2008, when Joy was the Team Director of the Kolkata Knight Riders. A recurring problem had emerged: some of the senior cricketers weren't making it to the team bus on time, the one that took players from the hotel to the ground for practice. Someone suggested a monetary fine. But that was never going to work with seniors earning in crores during the IPL. So coach John Buchanan devised a system that had an immediate impact.

If a senior player was late, the rest of the team, on reaching the ground, would have to run 5 laps or do 20 push-ups. The defaulter couldn't join in the punishment. He had to stand and watch. Oh, and he also had to be the one to choose, laps or push-ups.

You can imagine what happened next. Once you've made your entire team suffer for your tardiness, you don't do it again. No one was late for the bus after that.

This story is about creativity, yes, but it's really about something deeper: without consequence, you can't get compliance.

Today's story explores this same lesson and continues our theme of Indian Cricket.


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During my years in the corporate world, a question that had often been on my mind was what makes people want to bring more of themselves to work?

Disengagement at work does not always look dramatic.

People do not always rebel. They do not argue. They do not resign in protest. More often, they simply retreat into the minimum. They do what is required, avoid what is optional, and leave the rest of themselves outside the workplace.

Many leaders respond to this with tighter reviews, sharper targets, better dashboards, and more frequent check-ins. All of which may have a role, but they alone don’t solve the problem.

What does?

Purpose. But not the kind that fits on a strategy slide.
The kind that makes someone feel that showing up today matters — to something larger than a quarterly number, and larger than themselves.

I came across a story recently, set in a nursing home of all places, that is the most vivid illustration of this I’ve ever found. A leader walked into a broken system, tried the conventional fix, watched it fail, and then did something so unconventional that management asked him if he’d lost his mind.
What followed was one of the more remarkable turnarounds I’ve encountered in years of collecting leadership stories.

If you lead a team, at any level, I think you’ll find it worth 6:32 minutes of your time.

For more #storiesatwork do have a look the playlists of stories on our website - https://bit.ly/SW_Stories
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Our website has a video version of this story. https://storyworks.in/storybanks/

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“What gets measured gets managed”, has been one of my steadfast beliefs in both my personal and professional life.

Good intentions and goals are not enough on their own. They have to be measured regularly to see if we are indeed on track to deliver.

Today’s story is a beautiful illustration of what happens when we not only measure, but make the measure visible on a regular basis.

One caveat though, we must make sure that we are measuring the right thing.

Let me know what you think.



For more #storiesatwork do have a look the playlists of stories on our website - https://bit.ly/SW_Stories
Your friends and family can join our WhatsApp group to get copies of our videos. https://bit.ly/SW_WA_11

Our website has a video version of this story. https://storyworks.in/storybanks/

Follow me on LinkedIn -->linkedin.com/in/i-am-ic