Agneepath Scheme: Right Intent, Right Idea, Poor Positioning

 For leaders and policymakers, developing good ideas is essential, but effectively marketing and positioning those ideas is even more critical. Every idea has limitations, and it is vital to understand what to communicate and emphasize. Proper communication and marketing ensure awareness, engagement, and adoption by clearly conveying the benefits, building trust, and differentiating ideas in a crowded landscape. Effective positioning highlights the unique advantages and relevance, ensuring the idea resonates with the intended audience.

The ruling party in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is reasonably good at generating sound ideas. Many of their schemes, policies, and initiatives demonstrate vision and good intent. However, these ideas often face rejection or public backlash due to inadequate communication, marketing, or positioning. For example, the Farm Bill introduced in 2020 aimed to benefit farmers by increasing their earnings. Nevertheless, the lack of clarity and effective marketing allowed opposition and vested interests to incite massive protests, ultimately resulting in the bill's rollback.

Another example, a hot topic, is the Agneepath Scheme, which in a nutshell is a recruitment scheme for the Indian Armed Forces. It involves recruiting young people, called Agniveers, for a four-year tenure. After this period, a portion of Agniveers may be offered permanent commission, while others will leave with a severance package and skills training. The scheme aims to reduce the average age of the armed forces and provide youth with disciplined training and experience.

The Agneepath scheme has several drivers and benefits. It aims to create a younger and fitter force, as a youthful workforce brings more physical agility and adaptability. Enhancing the Indian Armed Forces' youthful profile ensures maximum risk-taking and effectiveness in battle. The scheme also focuses on skill development, with Agniveers gaining discipline, teamwork, and technical skills. Additionally, reducing the average age of soldiers significantly lowers the pension burden. Agniveers not retained after their service will benefit from practical military experience, discipline, and skills, along with a financial cushion of Rs 12 lakhs to start businesses or further their education. This scheme presents a unique opportunity for young people to serve their country and support nation-building, creating an energetic profile for the armed forces.

However, the scheme has some implementation issues and limitations. It would have benefited from a smaller-scale pilot before full implementation. Moreover, the current form is more suitable for the Army and less for the Navy and Air Force, where longer training durations are required. Concerns about job security and the impact on military ethos also arise, as a shorter service period might hinder the development of a strong military culture and camaraderie. While the scheme has its pros and cons, analysis and discussions with military personnel and experts suggest it is indeed a step in the right direction. It is a 'work-in-progress' and not a finished product yet. There is significant scope for improvement, which the central government acknowledges and is open to addressing. Various state governments are also introducing related schemes to help Agniveers find suitable employment opportunities after their service.

The focus here is not to debate the efficacy, implementation, or limitations of the Agneepath scheme but to discuss whether the scheme was properly marketed and positioned. I feel that the scheme could have been positioned differently and effectively.

India is grappling with a significant unemployment crisis, with the youth unemployment rate being alarming. According to the latest data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), an independent think tank, the unemployment rate in India stood at 9.2 percent in June 2024, a sharp increase from 7 percent in May 2024. This issue necessitates focused government interventions, skill development initiatives, and job creation to address the pressing challenge of unemployment. The issue of unemployment is being heavily discussed in parliament, public forums, social media, living rooms and is a key grievance against the current government.

On a separate note, I believe that the current government did not create the issue of unemployment; rather, it is the result of decades of negligence and a lack of vision and initiatives. Unemployment is more of a ‘by-product’ stemming from challenges such as uncontrolled population growth, high illiteracy, and a significantly inadequate education system at the grassroots level. While there are thousands of public and private schools, are we really preparing our children for the current and future requirements? The answer is a big no. Companies hire and then invest considerable time, resources, and effort in training new hires because they are often not sufficiently prepared to hit the ground running. A young individual with a degree but inadequate skills lacks employability.

While the current government inherited the unemployment problem, it is accountable for addressing it. It is another point that they are also not doing much to solve the root causes of the unemployment issue, so it serves them right!!

The Agneepath scheme, amid this backdrop, could have been positioned as a powerful tool for job creation. Instead of focusing on cost-cutting and demographic changes within the armed forces, the scheme should have been primarily positioned as an employment scheme with relaxed selection criteria, guaranteed employment for four years, along with a monetary benefit at the end and potential for future re-employment. That’s it. Plain, simple and effective. It would have resonated strongly with the target audience. This approach would have aligned with the nation's pressing need for job creation and could have mitigated some of the initial public resistance. Proper positioning of government initiatives is crucial in addressing complex societal challenges like unemployment.

Hopefully, some lessons have been learnt by the government and the bosses and in future, they would ‘read the room’!!

Expert in a Minute!!!

Manager: There is a project involving Economic Impact Analysis?

Employee: Hmm...Interesting. However, I have never done a full-fledged project involving Economic Impact Analysis

Manager: It involves quantitative as well as qualitative assessment parameters

Employee: That sounds more complicated. It may give result only in qualitative terms

Manager: That's okay. Talk to someone who has done something like this.

After a while....

Employee: I have checked with others. Only few have done it and they say it takes time

Manager: How much time?

Employee: Framework itself takes at least 2 weeks

Manager: That is fine, we will let the client know

Employee: But, most agree that it would be difficult to use quantitative as well as qualitative assessment parameters without getting qualitative results. Do you know how to do it?

Manager: No I do not. But, 'we will find a way' 

Employee: Before committing anything, we should know how to do it, isn't it?

Manager: Yes but we cannot find out now. I do not know as well and that is okay. 'We will learn together'

Employee: Hmmm....

Manager: Let's have a call with the client and understand what he wants. We will communicate the challenges

Employee: Ya, that is better

On the call....

Manager: Hi, this is something which is going to be challenging

Client: I understand. But please do it

Manager: Of course. We also understand that it is a time-consuming exercise

Client: I understand. But please do it in 1 week. That is what we have

Manager: Of course. But in that timeframe, we can only create a high-level model

Client: Hmmm....

Manager: We will conduct a workshop. We will take you through the model and tell you how to do this

Client: Okay, but we want someone who can tell us exactly what needs to be done

Manager: Of course. We can do that. Employee over here has done this in the past. He will champion this

Employee: .........hmmm....ok....but I have a few questions

Client: I cannot answer anything. It is top-secret

Manager: That is okay, we will do it. Employee please start working on the framework

Employee is wondering, what happened to all the issues that were discussed and what happened to "we will find a way" and "we will learn together". Employee is also wondering why was he suddenly projected as an expert!!!

....And there goes the weekend!!!

Manager of the Year!!!

Here is a story of a Manager and what you can learn from them (at your own risk);

1. In 2013, the Manager gave double promotion to a guy (let's say Mr. Toyota), who screwed up a project with the largest client. Learning 1: Quality and successful delivery of consulting projects are secondary priorities!!! Indeed. After all, in research and consulting environment, such attributes do not have a place!!!
2. The Manager acknowledged that the project was a disaster but reasoned that Mr. Toyota has helped in generating sales of over USD 1M. Fair enough. However, it was pointed out to the Manager that the sales executive was the one who contributed most to those sales. She was awarded for the same as well. Is it not double accounting of some sort that two people are getting rewarded for the exact same dollar contribution. The Manager said that "ya.....but Mr. Toyota is older than everyone else in the team". Learning 2: Over here, year of birth is a key criteria for promotions!!!
3. Whenever there is a complex project, the Manager looks for more 'able' and 'competent' resources in the team. To quote him, "Mr. Toyota would not be able to execute such projects. I typically hand him projects that require mere coordination by a Japanese resource". And the Manager has said such a thing for Mr. Toyota (who is the second senior most member in the team) on multiple occasions. Learning 3: It is not important to create a team where juniors look up to their seniors. If the senior is a nincompoop, it does not matter!!!
4. 2012 was a good year. The market handled by Mr. Toyota was a key contributor. And the client, whose project was royally screwed by Mr. Toyota, was a big contributor as well. In 2013, the client refused to work with the company. There was no business from them. As a result (and due to other factors), the market and the region did not meet its target. And due to that, the Manager have low increments to 'everyone' and no one got promoted. Learning 4: It is okay to penalize others or everyone for the fuck ups done by one or few!!! After all, certain chosen ones are the ones who matter and they should be protected, even at the cost of others.
5. There are several team members in this region. Most of them are based in Malaysia. Few are in Singapore. Out of them, one manages Thailand, Indonesia and neighboring countries. Mr. Toyota manages a far off market. Another senior resource works from Australia. He handles Korea. They spent considerable money on the travel, which is fairly regular. If the team gets shitty increments and no promotions, the Manager is quick to point that the team did not meet its target. However, if these senior resources move to their markets or to Malaysia, which is a much cheaper location, the bottomline would improve. The team may also be able to hire 1-2 good resources in the dollars that are saved. And with the freed-up bandwidth, the team can focus upon generating more business. So, the question is.....is there a reason why these people are sitting in costlier locations....well, other than preferential treatment? Of course there 'must' be. Learning 5: If faced with tough questions, give lengthy nonsensical explanations, put the blame on Partner/President or make promises that you are not intending to keep.
6. In team meetings, the Manager shows performance of resources on key parameters like utilization. However, he does not share the details of ALL team members. The details of the 'elite' few are suspiciously missing when he discusses the individual performances. Learning 6: Tell the commoners that they are not doing well so that they do not question later. They cannot question the deals given to the elite as there are no stats available!!!
7. An employee has been raising the issue of his promotion to the Manager since last 2 years. The first year, the Manager said that the employee is not eligible as he has spent very little time with the company. Later, when the employee pointed that others with fewer time spent in the company have been promoted, the Manager blamed the HR and other BU leaders. Then the Manager told the employee that he would get promoted the next year. The next year, the employee was again overlooked. When questioned, the Manager shared certain KPIs on which the employee was judged. However, those KPIs were never shared with the employee. They were different from the KPIs that were shared with him at the beginning of the year!!! Learning 7: If you do not want to give a better deal to an individual, Step 1: promise him/her something so that he/she shuts up for a year. Step 2: Set KPIs so that he/she believes that you are serious about your promise. Step 3: Later, do not give him/her the deal they are looking for and introduce 'hidden' and "most important" KPIs. Step 4: If he/she is dissatisfied, make additional promises like monetary gains and buy time. Step 5: Do not fulfill the additional promises as well and give another set of lengthy nonsensical explanations or put the blame on HR and/or Partners. Step 6: Buy a BMW!!!

Impressive!!!

In the late 1990s, an employee of Adani Exports took a wrong call in sugar trading, resulting in a Rs 20-crore loss. Fearing he would be sacked, he apologized for the grave mistake and handed in his resignation letter. Gautam Adani, in his thirties then (now 51), tore up the resignation and told him with a smile: "I know you will not make a similar mistake in future because of this lesson. Why should your next employer benefit from this learning when I have paid the price for it?"

Point to Ponder

If it is okay to give a discount and take a hit for a new client, why cannot the request for 'something extra' be accommodated for an existing but 'not-so-regular' client? In fact a discount makes it difficult to recover the investment or increase the margin in/through subsequent projects. On the other hand, giving something extra to an existing client strengthens the relationship and increases the chance of repeat business.

A Project Manager in Vigg Voss: Project Costing Task

• Vigg Voss asks a Project Manager to prepare a proposal
• Project Manager prepares the proposal keeping in mind the client requirements
• Vigg Voss suggests that more deliverables should be included to make the project bigger
• Project Manager points that other deliverables are not the core requirements and if we suggest them, the client would…..want them…. in the same budget
• Vigg Voss smiles and says “Yaaaaa”
• Vigg Voss then takes the Project Manager through his own experiences and how he became the Vigg Voss
• The additional deliverables are included
• Project Manager calculates the effort required
• The required hours are entered against the required resources in the project costing tool i.e., Project Form A
• The tool gives the project cost and also indicates the profitability
• Vigg Vosses gets excited about the prospect of making that money
• However, at the same time Vigg Voss is not sure whether the client has that kind of budget
• Project Manager points that with the existing scope, the costing cannot be reduced without impacting the profitability
• Vigg Voss points that the project costing tool is flawed……but needs to be followed
• Vigg Voss suggests that the number of hours should be reduced to be able to reach a figure that Vigg Voss believes the client would be ready to pay
• Project Manager points that with the current scope, the hours cannot be reduced
• Vigg Voss smiles and says “Yaaaaa”
• Vigg Voss suggests that the hours should be reduced in costing tool but in the productivity tool, the resources would get the required number of hours
• Project Management finds this….’wrong’….but Vigg Voss is THE BOSS
• The reduced costing is prepared and submitted to the client
• Client says it is ‘slightly’ out of budget
• Vigg Voss decides to reduce the costing…without reducing the scope
• Project Manager points that the client may think that we had a high margin earlier and that is why we have been able to accommodate the reduction. This will impact future business as well and thus, we should defend our costing…at least slightly
• Vigg Voss smiles and says “Yaaaaa” and reduces the costing. Still no reduction in the scope
• The reduction means even lesser hours for each resources in the project costing tool….but as per Vigg Voss, the tool itself is flawed
• Client commissions the project
• Project Manager assigns ‘required hours’ to each team member in the productivity tool and sends it for approval to Vigg Voss
• Vigg Voss approves the hours….though they are more than double than what has been shown in the costing tool….and when the policy is that the hours should match in both systems
• Project Manager gets the required hours and thinks that Vigg Voss is fair
• After few days, Vigg Voss has another project for the Project Manager
• Project Manager points that he is completely tied up with the existing project and he has full time billing
• Vigg Voss points that the hours in the costing tool are much lower so Project Manager MUST find a way to deliver the same scope in much lesser hours!!!
• Project Manager is confused
• Project Manager asks that how come the effort to be put in should be proportional to what is being charged to the client and the scope has no correlation to the costing?
• Vigg Voss smiles and says “Yaaaaaa”
• Vigg Voss comes up with a solution….he suggests that “since the client is paying us less….we should tell the client that we will drop a few deliverables”
• Project Manager points that it is not fair to do that after the project has been commissioned
• Vigg Voss smiles and says “Yaaaaaa”
• Vigg Voss comes up with another solution….he suggests that “since the client is paying us less….we should spend less time…..but at the same time ensure that all the promised deliverables are taken care of……but spend less time on the project…..but that does not mean we should compromise the quality”
• Project Manager asks that how can the exact same work with the same quality be done in …for example…both 300 and 150 hours? Lesser hours would translate into lesser work or lesser quality
• Vigg Voss says “Yaaaaaa”
• Vigg Voss tells the Project Manager that the Project Manager is the best judge and he should take care of it. If it requires more hours, it requires more hours
• Project Manager is not convinced and is sure that it will impact his prospects in the company…err…the show
• As expected, later the Project Manager is given a feedback that he should “learn to multi-task” and “should add more value” and “should not over-deliver”
• Project Manager points that he could not multi-task as the existing project involved (and required) his full time involvement
• Project Manager points that he did not over-deliver…he just delivered what was promised to the client
• Project Manager reasons that he has been adding more value as happy and satisfied clients are more likely to come back with more projects and his clients have indeed been coming back
• Project Manager points that in consulting, one has to nurture existing relationships instead of going for a new relationship every time
• Vigg Voss says “Yaaaaaa”
• Project Manager feels he would soon be eliminated

1(Note: Management Consulting version of the popular reality show, Bigg Boss)

Unfair

I know you liked the work. You have said that to another person and I know about it. 

I know you have used the work. 

I know you have also mentioned that you would use it in other forums as well.

I know that you have been giving credit to another person for all the work. The other person did half the work but so did I. I deserve half the credit.

You should realize that the work was much more difficult for me as I did not have much background. Hence, I had to work 2-3 times more in order to put together something that will make you look good. I did not have any bandwidth yet I did the work. I am still trying to overcome the backlog it has caused.

And when I asked you whether you liked the work, you sound aloof and say that it was 'okay' and you were not particularly satisfied but decided to use it since the audience did not have much idea anyways. This when you have already mentioned that the work was also used in another forum and it was appreciated.

I worked through the night to get this work done for you and you do not have anything to say? 

Project Management Tricks - III

When your boss approaches you and starts the conversations with "How are you placed?" or "Do you have any bandwidth?", be assured that your response would have little relevance/impact on the conversation to follow!!! :) These are just casual questions like "How are you?" and "How are things?".

Bosses are "Kaam Dev"....Kaam to denge hi!!!

Project Management Tricks - II

Yesterday morning, just when I was stepping out of our home for the office, my wife handed me a big list of items that I was supposed to purchase on my way back home. I pointed (no, not 'protested'. I am not allowed to do that) that it will be an issue to carry all the items since it would become extremely heavy and I would also be carrying my office laptop (which, by the way, seems to have the same weight as me). My wife, being extremely reasonable, prioritized the list of items and indicated the ones that we absolutely needed. 

In the evening, she gave me a call and told me that she will come to my office and then we can together bring all the items. The plan sounded okay to me. 

In the evening, we met in the supermarket (which is pretty close to my office...and ten minutes walk from home) and finished our shopping. After the shopping, my wife chose the lightest shopping bag to carry. She of course carried our daughter but the way i see it, she had our daughter to entertain her on the way home. And me......I carried the remaining shopping bags. Easily a 15 Kg load. Plus the office laptop!!! 

For some reason, I felt slightly duped. However, I am happy that we had that sweet little outing.

So, she assigned the task, listened to the grievances, indicated that she understands the issues, suggested a smaller goal and then made me do EVERYTHING!!! And I am also looking at the positive side. Bang!!! Mission Accomplished!!! She has all the traits of a good Project Manager!!!    

Project Management Tricks - I

• You go and take order from the customer
• Customer asks for 'Chicken Biryani'
• You tell the customer that the chicken biryani will come with 'something extra'!!!
• You come back to the kitchen and figure out that you do not have the ingredients for chicken biryani and no one knows what that 'something extra' means!!!
• You are confused and just then you notice a new chef entering the kitchen
• You tell the guy that now he has to cook chicken biryani with the ingredients available
• The guy looks at the ingredients and says that it will not be possible; he questions the thought process and says that 'we' should not have promised chicken biryani and we should have clearly defined that 'something extra'
• You agree with the new chef but promise him that you and your team will provide support; you tell him that he will get help from the kitchens of the other restaurants in the chain and you ask the new guy to 'lower' the client expectations!!!
• The new guy gets on with his task but notices that there is no support and some of the other kitchens in the restaurant chain and masters of screw up (and you acknowledge that)!!! 
• Moreover, the waiter is a little cranky about something. The waiter is friendly with the client but does not care about the 'team' that is supposed to cook the dish!!! The new guy asks for some support from the waiter and the waiter chews his ass off!!!
• The new chef comes to you and tells you that we need to change the approach. You do not agree. Then another manager, who is at par with you in the restaurant, suggests that the approach be changed. Then you agree. But you have wasted some time in making that decision
• You ask the new guy to confirm with the client that they want chicken biryani with chicken in it!!! 
• The customer is taken aback, recovers his composure in a while and confirms that he wants chicken biryani with chicken in it!!!
• All this is taking a while. The new guy is getting anxious and so are you. So you call the new guy and ask him why there is a delay. The new guy tells you that it is a clear case of over-promising (that happened before he joined the kitchen), which now requires a different approach and hence, there 'has to be' a delay in order to ensure that we move towards the corrective measures. He also asks that why is he being asked for the delay when everyone clearly knows how things are. 
• You agree but keep tell him that he needs to move quicker and lot of time has 'unnecessarily' been wasted
• The new guy is clueless about the state of affairs but comes up with a dish, which of course is not chicken biryani but is decent and can make the customer think that he is having something 'close' to chicken biryani
• You step in and ask the new guy to change the look of the dish so that the customer is 'clear' that he is not getting chicken biryani!!
• Ultimately, now what is on the plate is a dish that is not chicken biryani and is not something which is very appealing as well
• On top of that, you ask the new chef to shout it out that 'this is not chicken biryani', we need more time to cook chicken biryani but it is because the customer took time to confirm that they want chicken biryani with chicken in it!!! 
• All this while, you are also wondering whether you all can actually serve chicken biryani or not!!!
• Ultimately, you make the new guy go to the client, tell them that they were wrong in expecting chicken biryani, tell them that we may serve chicken biryani if we get more time but that will be on a 'best effort'  basis!!! The customer may or may not get chicken biryani in the end!!!
• Now that is what 'You' call client expectation management!!! Interestingly, some others in the trade call it lack of planning and management. The new chef has a right to term all this as 'ragging', lack of management', 'lack of processes' and 'lack of proper work environment'.
• Ultimately you may have a pissed off client but NOW, you have someone to blame.......... ahaaan!!! Ssssssssssmaaaart!!!