ISRO an Institution of Excellence

Nurturing Excellence: Indian Space Research Organization

T. V. Rao

I went to take a session with ISRO Scientists and Engineers yesterday. It was a 3 hour session. The topic was “Nurturing Organizational Culture & Life Long Learning”. The program was on “Technology Management”.  There were 28 Scientists and Engineers who are also Group Heads from all over the Country. Pradip Khandwalla took a session the day before on Creative Organizations.

Before I began my session I made an observation that their three day program is filled  with all soft inputs like creativity, stress management, culture and the like and very little of Technology. They said that they know enough about technology but wanted to know more about how to manage.  

I began my session by asking them about what they are proud of about their own culture at ISRO. There was a near unanimous response from 28of them who are group Heads from all over the country. They said that “openness” where everyone is free to express their ideas, views and opinions characterises the culture of ISRO. In addition they said there is ample freedom to experiment; focussed working as everyone has clarity of what one is pursuing and highly goal directed; commitment to work and they all enjoy what they do as they are working for a larger cause.  They went on to say that ISRO culture is characterised by an extraordinary team work- everyone works for group goals and not individual goals. There is some differentiation in designations but if you are good and talented you can choose and make your own growth path. ISRO is as good as a hierarchy-less organization as promotion of one scientists does not depend on the promotion of another as there are no fixed posts and every one can pursue his own career as scientist or engineer, and every one of them has certain amount of autonomy and freedom to experiment, and there is no bureaucracy.etc though there are norms and strict rules. They also said they have their own culture of recruitment of competent people as they frame their own recruitment norms and policies. They said that have around 18,000 staff all over the country. It was amazing how such a large government organization can have such a culture of excellence.

It appeared almost like the culture at IIMA about which we are all so proud of. I shared with them my own experience at IIMA when I joined IIMA in 1973 how I found it was hierarchy less with every one being addressed by first name, every Professor having the same size room irrespective of their designation, and every one being addressed as Professor and no distinction between a Professor and an Assistant Professor which enabled faculty to focus on their work rather than get into politics of promotion and every one ahs freedom to chose the courses you want to develop, the research you like to pursue etc. I could see the stamp of Dr Vikram Sarabhai all over in the 30 minutes of their narration of the ISRO culture.

I remembered Ravi Matthai speaking all the time in his discourses with various educationists about how Dr. Sarabhai made sure that IIMA is kept away from an Act of Parliament to enable the Institute create a culture of excellence. He wanted IIMA to be a hierarchy less organization with no fixed number of posts of Lecturers and Readers and Professors like in the IITs, and how he wanted that everyone should have enough autonomy and freedom to pursue their own research and teaching interests in Management etc.  Though by nature these are two different types of organizations both being governed by their respective Ministries’ have Dr. Vikram Sarabhai stamp in their culture that continues to nurture excellence.

I don’t understand why the current Government wants to disturb this culture of excellence at IIMs by a Bill to give them Degree Granting status. They may be getting degree Granting status but it is likely to create Degree granting Institutions rather than Institutions of Excellence. I wish the bill gives only Degree granting status but without disturbing anything else or creating any new structures that kill excellence!.