Change in Working Culture

Having lived and worked in India and developing countries, for most of my life, when I came to Hubli to work for DCSE I was prepared for many of the cultural challenges that I knew I would face. I wasn’t, however, particularly prepared for  the work culture in the Deshpande Center For Social Entrepreneurship. The challenges I faced were not the same as those working with NGOs. NGOs in India, often lack the resources and the impetus to move toward implementing a project or scaling up quickly and efficiently. In DCSE it was a bit different. In the DCSE I got my first taste of what it was like to work in a rapidly growing institution with the wealth of resources, abilities, and impetus. As a result of the diversity of projects that had been started many things were being pushed forward in a dramatically fast way. In this environment less importance was placed on planning, and more on doing. The strategy was to experiment with new things and see how they work, and continue to make changes along the way. This is definitely a strategy that most organizations do not have the resources or impetus to try. Which is why it seemed so different.

As a result of this method of growth, most things in the office happen all of a sudden.  In the rapid flow of ideas and newness I was moving from one project to another (DFP , SEIR) trying to be of value where-ever I could. At times I loved it, because I could give ideas to many different people, and help them out when needed, but at times it became difficult to see exactly where I was going and where I could make the greatest impact. The constant movement taught me about being flexible and maintaining maturity in the face of adversity. In some ways the constant movement and the current makes for quite an exciting ride filled with unpredictable twists and turns.  It also often brought great ideas and projects into orbit. It should be noted that through out all the changing of roles and of goals in the DCSE office, many people worked incredibly hard, and exhibited an unflinching loyalty and passion towards their job, whatever it was.

Recently, as the DCSE has sifted through various people coming and leaving, there has been a change in working culture in the office. Partially because there was a realization that in the growth phase a little more strategic planning and goal setting is necessary. There has been a little more attention to specific verticals and to creating innovative and lasting change. Like me, other people have been given a primary task, and have outlined clear goals to attain by a certain period of time. I am now focusing almost entirely on the Entrepreneurship Academy, although I am still teaching a DFP course on creativity and innovation, which I love. It feels good to work on one thing and see it through to some type of conclusive end. But I also miss roaming around and spreading the buzz of ideas.  I think that in this new work culture I might get more done, or at the very least be able to identify what changes I have made in a more quantitative and qualitative way.

Some other changes that have happened in the office is that people seem to be coming to work and going home at more reasonable times. I have just gotten back into the habit of working late, but over-all the structure of time, the management of time seems to be more systematic and fluid. We can thank a specific person for that. These days, morale in the office is high and people are motivated, and determined to be part of this growing and changing organization. The impetus has not left, and the willingness to try new things is still alive, but in the spirit of systematic growth work culture changes have occurred to facilitate a more efficient use of human energy and resources.