About the Book
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Many large organizations are having to cede their market dominance to new disruptive players. Well-oiled organizations are hitting roadblocks due to unanticipated problems that are slowing down operations. VUCA is affecting organizations like never before - impacting schedules, delaying deliverables, and causing cost overruns. Managing projects has become a nightmare with the uncertainties and ambiguities of business, delaying integration of allied activities, making the project a non-starter even before it gets off the ground. In this VUCA world, it is imperative to confront the volatile, embrace the unknown, conquer the complex, and understand the ambiguous to be able to predict what lies ahead.
This book helps managers master the art of dealing with VUCA by providing relatable experiences from the armed forces and advocating the use of RACE methodology. The book suggests disruptive tools and methods, and advises managers on the leadership traits needed for successfully completing projects by cutting losses and preventing chaos. It is a must-read for all managers involved in operations, supply chain, logistics, and production and manufacturing portfolios. Ex-army personnel who are starting a second career in the corporate/private sector will also greatly benefit from reading this book.
Table of Contents:
Foreword by Tapan Misra
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Strength of Character and Leadership
Countering VUCA with Disruption
Anticipate VUCA with Advance Information
Orientation to Avoid VUCA
Strategic Planning for a VUCA Future
Tactical Planning
Operational Planning to Prevent VUCA
Execution in VUCA Conditions
Monitoring and Control
The Hybrid Leader
Closing of the Project
Technology to Help in Countering VUCA
Bibliography
About the Author :
Lt Col. Vikram Bakshi (Retd) is a freelance writer, blogger, and a certied trainer on best practices in corporates. He has been involved in training, development, and coaching, besides managing large projects. He is an army veteran with 21 years of service in the Indian Army. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy and a post-graduate in mechanical engineering, Lt Col. Bakshi has also successfully completed courses in project management and ERP Oracle. He was a part of some innovative projects in automotive technology, especially in armored tanks, when he was in the army.
He took premature retirement in 2010 to join the corporate project industry. He led a team during the greeneld projects to set up two state-of-the-art manufacturing plants. Subsequently, he was also involved in the upgradation of a brown eld assembly plant where he implemented Lean Six Sigma in SCM processes. His current assignment is streamlining material management at the EPC site of power and solar plants. His work philosophy is forward thinking, inspired planning and relentless execution. He is a lean management and change management specialist. He lectures on leadership, project management, SCM and Lean Six Sigma. He is Six Sigma Black Belt and NDT Level 2 inspector. He has inspired audiences with his talks on disruptive methods and game changing ideas and tools.
Review :
“A must-have for all dealing with projects and operations of any nature. Happy reading!”
“A must-have for all dealing with projects and operations of any nature. Happy reading!”
Armed forces is undoubtedly the best institution for management training. One learns to be a leader, constantly facing challenging situations in a hostile environment, often with inadequate resources, and coming out a winner. This experience when applied to the corporate world can work wonders. And that is what this book is all about, inspiring managers to take charge of VUCA situations during planning and execution. The numerous examples taken from military life make for an interesting read. The author has very appropriately woven his experiences in the army with the requirements of the modern-day industry to chart a course for success.
Conflict and corporate environment are characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity in a highly dynamic and competitive context. The author has hands-on experience of conflicts and corporate culture. He correlates military and corporate life artfully in this book, offering a rich, pragmatic, and fascinating account. His style is innovative, refreshing, lucid, and captivating. His deep insights not only make the book an interesting read but also serve as a guide to leadership and skill development for achieving competitive success.
A thorough book for all aspiring managers endeavoring for an indepth understanding of each stage of the project life cycle. The author has sequentially crafted the chapters with perfect understanding of what is expected in planning and execution so that each stage is devoid of a VUCA issue. This book will ensure that new generation managers are conscious of the waste and losses and become the future force multipliers in their respective companies.
It is often said, “plan for uncertainty and hope for certainty.” The essence of this profound thought is well captured by the book. He distils years of experience from the armed forces and synthesizes it with his focused and penetrative analysis of life in the corporate world. In doing so, the book attempts to break the shackles that we as leaders and managers at times tend to create around ourselves. It outlines in an easy-to-understand language, with a cross-pollination of examples, the means to stay ahead of the curve. The author’s suggestions provide an insight into the potential pitfalls of a project cycle and the means to defeat them at every level of leadership, from functional to oversight and hands-on to visionary.
This is a book targeted at armed forces veterans who aspire for a second career in the corporate world. The book will also serve as a guide for managers in the corporate world to dealing with VUCA effectively. The book imbibes best practices of the armed forces as applicable in the corporate world which they can relate to easily. It is highly recommended that all officers and other ranks who are retiring read this book to understand how various departments work and function. The experience we gain in the armed forces is immense and our skill sets are unique. When we enter the corporate world, we should contribute in a valuable manner in whatever role we have been assigned. The ethos and values of the armed forces continue to remain our guide in whatever field we choose. The leadership qualities of the armed forces personnel stand out, and these have been amply highlighted by various examples in the book. I compliment the author for his detailed research and articulation while bringing out this book.
Compliments to the author for bringing out a book that highlights the dilemma and challenges faced by professionals who are involved in managing or executing projects. Effective project management is a key capability for any organization that is trying to grow in these uncertain times. This book has been able to draw upon the techniques and real-time stories about the Indian Army and connect them aptly to the real-time challenges being faced currently by many organizations. The author has been practicing many of the concepts shared and has also been passionately spreading the techniques about managing uncertainties through the various training programs that he has been conducting at Thermax. This book would be very useful to anybody involved in the business of managing or executing projects.
My compliments to the author on publishing a coveted book on project sustenance in the dynamic scenario. Strategically thinking, endogenous and exogenous factors are responsible for any company to become a growing entity. Research and development is a critical factor for the ever-changing market dynamics. Let us not forget that well-established companies such as Kodak and Nokia are losing market share in no time. Utilization of internal and external resources, competitive products, substitute products, adoption of modern technology, and change management are the key factors in the success of a firm. I wish that the book is well accepted and applied by managers and they derive maximum benefit out of it.
What is your plan B? Executives at all levels are learning the importance of this question as they steer their organizations through the challenges posed by the VUCA world. This book by Col. Bakshi illustrates in a simple and effective manner the what and how of plan B. Focused execution is at the core of ensuring success and a refined approach, same as presented in the book, will surely help the professionals reach their goals in a definitive and effective manner.
The parallels between military and management thinking have long been known, with frequent allusions to strategies, tactics, and campaign. Col. Bakshi hammers these home with examples from his own career and their implications for management in an easy, howto manual. This will be a useful compendium for fresh entrants to management careers.
The thought itself of writing a book on this subject is laudable and on top of it to make it an interesting read is a great effort of immense dedication. The book is infused with experience, knowledge, and wisdom. The basic principles of success are the same in all projects with the core requirement being the speedy and timely completion of the task with high quality standards delivered at least cost.
An army man is a trained professional, a master of all of the above, with an ingrained tadka of loyalty, dedication, integrity, and forthrightness with a very high sense of responsibility/accountability. It is ironic that the nation, the public sector, the corporate world, and all other enterprises have neither realized the worth of this huge disciplined human resource of lakhs and lakhs of veterans nor been able to utilise/exploit them. That is only one side of the story. Equally at fault is the poor adaptability of the dedicated veteran to the totally alien working environment of the corporate world. While learning new tricks of the trade is easy, the “unlearning” of the hardcore values that he imbibed during the service period, is the more difficult part. Most veterans are capable of the most difficult of the tasks, but this simple process of adapting to the corporate work culture seems an uphill and herculean task. It is so because the service values get absorbed in your blood and become a part of your persona. But then there are success stories of the likes of Colonel Wahi, who gave ONGC its growth and character, and many others. It is possible with a little serious and conscious effort. This is where this book will come handy, which is a very well-meaning, benign effort, outlining many relevant aspects and methodology for this transformation. A lot of space has been dedicated to strategy, careful and detailed planning and preparation, and stages right through the journey of the project, from drawing board to the turn key phase. Insha Allah, this will be a guiding light to the veterans who aim for a corporate career. My compliments to Colonel Vikram Bakshi for the thought and its culmination into this lovely treatise.
Very useful compendium of time tested techniques in project management and troubleshooting. A must read for all project managers. The book is a simple and easy to follow step-by-step guide to success for every project manager.
