82 INDIA TODAY ◆ OCTOBER 6, 2008

It is five o’clock in the morning on aSeptember day by the seaside, awayfrom Puducherry. I am perched atop a40-ft-high rappelling wall in the middle of nowhere, overlooking the Bayof Bengal. I am waiting to catch aglimpse of the sunrise. The sun will notcome out anytime soon, but like a

villager who must not miss his train, I like tobe nice and early.

Next to me in the breezy darkness, myCanon digital SLR camera is sitting quietly.Beyond the camera is a box full of lenses. Thismorning, the one that is particularly happy to

be here is my newly acquired Sigma 500-mmlens. We are here to capture the first raysbursting through scattered clouds, announc-ing the arrival of another brand new day. I likemy camera, the aluminum box, the tripod. Ilove the 500-mm lens the most, though. Thereis something solidly attractive about it. I likehis power looks. Yes, it is a he. He clicks intothe groove of my SLR every time I slide him in,as if to say, “OK, let’s go.” Each time I set thevision, his whirr gives me a high. I call himLens. Lens makes me feel professional.

I can hear the sea waves but cannot seethem. The silhouette of a fishing boat is now

Strike it down: Airportemployees protesting atDelhi airport

Subroto Bagchi

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Anew nation can be built only with a freshWORK ETHIC, which combines disciplinewith creativity,passion with respect

GREAT IDEAS GREAT MINDS

RAVI.S. SAHANI

84 INDIA TODAY ◆ OCTOBER 6, 2008

beginning to appear and I can see the cloudsin waiting—just as curtains and backdropswait for a rock star to make an appearance.We have time yet. So here I am, thinking aboutwhat it will take to be a great professional inthe days to come.

These days, even a small-town guy whoowns a so-called “photo studio” has a digitalSLR. I, waiting for the sun, wonder: what is thedifference between him and professionals suchas Dewitt Jones or Raghu Rai? Since everyonecan take great pictures these days, photo-shopthem, and freely upload on the Internet, whatseparates them from these two?

The sunrise is still another good 10 min-utes away. Lens yawns listlessly.

His mind does not wander like mine. Ignoring him, I ask myself, is this question

any less relevant for doctors, architects, soft-ware engineers, lawyers and dress designers?What is required to be called a professional in the future?

Lens looks at me, rolls his eyes and makesa face, very similar to an affectionately irreverent teenager.

Just then, on cue from the clouds, my bodytenses—the Moment has arrived. I lift the cam-era, pick Lens up, and fix him in. He is sharpand engaged, ready for war. The sliver of redappearing from below has made me one withLens and my camera. Silently, so as not to disturb the arrival, we begin clicking. A whirr,the sound of a click and the shutter closes. Soft like my breath. Then a small wait. Shoot.Wait. Shoot.

Soon it is a ballet. The initial stiffness of a preying leopard is gone. We are talkingagain. But this time, Lens is doing most of thetalking. I think he is showing off a bit, but heclearly knows what the professional of the future is all about.

“Have you heard of Howard Gardner?” heasks, casually.

I reply, “Oh yes, the Harvard professor whohas written 20 books and received 21 hon-orary doctorates; the same man who ques-tioned the role of IQ in determiningintelligence. In fact, it was he who had propa-gated the idea of multiple intelligence.”

“Same man,” says Lens. He begins to referto what Gardner had said about professionalsof the future: that to be a great professionalyou have to master the five minds of the future.

“What about that?” I ask a little impa-tiently, more keen that we focus on the job at hand, concerned that it seems to be suddenly slipping away.

“Why, it was you who asked for the reasonyour country cousin of a studio photographercould not become Dewitt Jones.”

I can sense that Lens is miffed.Whirr, click, shoot. Silence. Whirr, click,

blink, shoot, silence. More silence. More shots.

Now the sun is fully up, the whole worldawash—as if it wasn’t ever dark here.

Our job is over. Both of us are calm butstill contemplating what has just hap-pened. Then Lens begins explainingthe five minds for the future as westart walking back. “Whatever may beyour profession, to succeed in the

world ahead, you need to master thefive minds of the future…”“The first is the mind of the discipline.

You may be a trained photographer or a qual-

ified surgeon. It does not matter. Your profes-sional qualification is not what will make youa professional. You need to devote yourself toyour profession of choice for at least 10 yearsbefore you can understand its nuances.Empirical studies indicate that, across disci-plines, amount of time is a minimum require-ment. You have to give yourself to theprofession as against looking at it just as ameans to a livelihood, a career or a job. Youneed to build affection for your profession anda long view of time.

The second is the mind of synthesis. The future requires the capacity to build abstrac-tions. In other words, you need the mind ofsynthesis. It is about developing an under-standing of ideas, concepts and problems in aninterdisciplinary manner while building depth

OFTHE WORLD’S TOTALSKILLED WORK FORCE WILLBE INDIANS BY2020. INDIAIS INVESTING RS 2,75,000

CRORE TO CREATE 50 CRORE TRAINED

WORK FORCE BY2020.

25%

No discipline: TheKolkata airport wears a deserted look following astrike by workers

GREAT IDEAS GREAT MINDS

SUVASHIS MULLICK

86 INDIA TODAY ◆ OCTOBER 6, 2008

in one’s own discipline. A photographer shoot-ing wildlife will not be a professional unless he is able to understand why plantpathogens impact the eating habits of carnivores. If he is shooting in New York City,he needs to appreciate urban spaces, and a great shot on the outskirts of Delhi requires an understanding of where Delhicomes from historically.

Now I am beginning to understand whyDewitt Jones shoots for National Geographic.Lens knows he has me hooked.

“The third mind,” Lens explains, “is thecreative mind. Look, you are no photo profes-sional. You are just a software guy buildingbusiness solutions for your internationalclients. Ever thought about why, these days,your clients do not want the ‘tried-and-tested’solutions to their problems anymore?”

I do not like Lens asking me such questions,because only he knows the answer. I just keepquiet whenever he pulls this Super Guru stunt.I know he will spill soon.

“Clients do not like the tried-and-the testedsolutions any more because those solutionsare simply not innovative enough. Preciselybecause they are tried and tested, they havebecome the past. Competitive advantage isabout creativity, and creativity is about takingrisks. The creative mind is about building the capacity to answer what is new and whatis different about the solution you are suggesting every time.”

I feign casual interest but I am listening

quite intently. “The fourth mind is the respectful mind,”

Lens says. Made in Japan, Lens becomes the Buddha

at will. “In the future, all problems will require in-

terdisciplinary solutions. Whether it is aboutnegotiating a nuclear treaty or removing acancerous cell from the pancreas, if anythingqualifies to be called a problem, then chancesare high, the solution would have to be inter-disciplinary. That means experts from different fields will have to listen to each other, learn from each other, collaborate whilethey compete, disagree without being disagreeable and then put multiple minds together, build consensus and emerge with thestrength of the respectful mind. Why do youthink one CEO fails and another succeeds in taking a militant trade union along? Why doyou think one educationist prevails over others while settling the contents of a highschool textbook on national history? Why onephysicist is able to get agreement on making acertain standard universally acceptable in atransnational negotiation involving competinginterests? Those who succeed have the respectful mind.”

The rappelling wall is well behind us now.We are walking back. Actually, I am the onewalking back and Lens is hanging around myneck. He thinks it is his rightful place.

“Finally, great professionals of tomorrowwill need to understand and master whatHoward Gardner calls the ethical mind. Thisethical mind is about the capacity to certify thecompletion of one’s own work. That rules outmost people who need someone else to super-vise them. Whatever may be your profession,to be called a professional, you must master allthe five minds of the future and only then canyou be globally accepted.”

“But why should we worry about beingglobally relevant?” I hear myself mutter.

Lens retorts, “Because the benchmark nolonger remains local. The benchmark is now Dewitt Jones.”

Ahead of me, I see the road wind itself into a softly undulating sand dune. Behind the dune is the shimmering blue water of the Bay and beyond all that: Singapore, Tokyo, San Francisco, New York, London,Paris and Mumbai.

The author is the co-founder of MindTree. He alsoauthored two books, The High PerformanceEntrepreneur and Go Kiss the World.

Not local, but global:Top officials of Tata andCorus shake hands afterTata’s takeover in 2006

APHOTOGRAPHERSHOOTING WILDLIFE WILLNOTBE APROFESSIONALUNLESS HE IS ABLE TO UNDERSTAND WHYPLANTPATHOGENS IMPACTTHEEATING HABITS OFCARNIVORES.

Future Perfect

GREAT IDEAS GREAT MINDS

AP