Political Will...

If at all you want to develop political will, go to the kids, learn from them!

I have come across two kinds of people. First kind are ones who want to get something done and they get it done no matter what (read as beg, borrow or steal). The second kind are the ones who eventually get things done by playing the game of “war of attrition”!

Then I came across the third kind. Smart, energetic, enthusiastic, brimming with ideas but who do not have either the ability to get it done or play the attrition game. In their lifetime, they come up with some brilliant idea, suggestion, or cause but never succeed in getting them off the ground. They get themselves entangled in a mesh of political quagmire and run out of steam before they get their idea see the light of the day.

I think many of us fall in this category. I am sure many of you will be able to re-collect instances from your days at school, college, work place, home and social life. If you had a chance to trace back, you would notice that someone else picked up the baton from where you dropped and achieved glory. You tend to say to yourself that “If only, I had not dropped the ball… I would have been” or even worse reminisce, “You know what, it was my idea!”

This recent photograph which I took, of kids near my house celebrating the festival of color “Holi” has an interesting story behind it and got me thinking on the concept of political will. They were the only group celebrating Holi yesterday! Un-faced by the lack of interest amongst the elders around, they went about having fun, which is what they wanted to! When I approached them for a photograph, they were more than willing to pose for me. I interviewed few of them and uncovered this following story of enduring spirit…

It seems, when the kids approached their parents for resources needed to celebrate Holi, the response was lukewarm. They were challenged with hurdle after hurdle like, home work, health issues, society / apartment association regulations on using colors within the premises, practical difficulties of cleaning up, special project at school (being a long holiday most of them had special projects which they need to complete and take back to school after their small vacation), impending examinations which are just round the corner, they were even told the lame stories on how their favorite film stars did not celebrate holi as a mark of paying homage to the Mumbai 26/11 incident and list goes on.

However, the children had made up their mind! All they wanted was to have a blast and celebrate Holi and that they would have to do it.

They got together, planned out their study schedule and homework for the coming week. For the special projects, the kids had an idea! They volunteered for the topic “Holi Celebrations” for the special project in their respective classes. This way they could use special projects as a use case when they lobby with their parents. Confused? So was I…

Well, they offered their parents that If they celebrate Holi, they could click few pictures and write about the celebrations and get the project completed all by themselves instead of passing it on to parents (which is usually the case). This way the parents would be glad to know that they get all the 4 days for themselves. Otherwise they would have to do a lot of research or Google and print out a project.

Once they were done with their internal housekeeping, they identified the area where they could play Holi, and the kind of ammunition they would use like water guns, powder sprays, foams. It was during this conversation, they decided not to use eggs, tomatoes or any such item which was costly and also compromised on some of the colors which were known to be made of harmful chemical dyes. They came up with some regulations like wearing a slipper, not so costly T-shirts or trousers, and even committed to use swimming goggles to protect their eyes. Thus they made their list of resources look pretty good, and approvable.

I also understand from some of the seniors in the group that they made a cute little speech at the monthly society / apartment owner’s association meeting on how they intended to go about their preparation. So, the proposal was completed and presented to individual parents and then the association as a whole!

Do you think these kids were making up this story? I don’t think so! The coherence in narration of incidents and the enthusiasm with which each kid pitched in to explain their hard earned fun moved me.

Is this an isolated incident where kids have shown an astounding example of political will? Let's look at the following cases as well...

• A wailing kid in the wide aisle of a grocery store
• A kid completing his homework early and doing some helping around at home only to ask for time out to play
• A kid complaining to a visiting relative about how their parents would not buy them a toy which they very badly want and eventually making the relative feel that he/she should buy it for the kid!
• Kids telling a story of how beautiful their friend’s wrist watch was and why that they too need one. They don’t stop there usually. They ask their parents the way to get it. I mean they try to understand from the “giver”, what it would take to get one for themselves.
• Kids seeking and getting the permission of their parents to attend a school picnic

In the cases discussed above, one thing stands out. In the psychology of children it is ingrained that they have to pursue their ideas or wants to achieve the desired end state. They know they have to lobby hard; they tend to understand what tactic works well and when to use what tactic without hurting their future chances. This uncanny ability to persuade without hampering your future chances is called political will! We too have been there, done it or at least have seen it!

Why is that we lose this political will as we grow up?

At work place, I have seen some brilliant programmers come up with some intelligent tool that automates a very tedious process. They wish that it be used enterprise wide. However, when they encounter the very first challenge or a set of challenges they give up. The tool never sees the light of the day.

Do you know the story of now famous Arvind Adiga – the author of “White Tiger”? Before his work was published and won the Man Booker price – he was rejected by every major publishing house in India. That did not deter him. But unfortunately, for every Arvind Adiga there are many others who have put their work in their attics and have given up!

Many innovations, books, arts, ideas have died a silent death because of the lack of political will on the part of the innovator to push it into the system.

When I set out to understand the reason behind giving up, I chanced upon an article by Diane Kennedy Pike. She theorizes a reason why we lose the political will as we grow up. According to her, people develop a sense of distaste for arguments and conflicts as they grow up. They perceive that it is important for them to be “liked by others” than to hold on to their principles and convictions.

This obsessive compulsive disorder for "always being liked by others” is what strips you of one of the most important character, called, the political will, which, as a child, you carried in abundance and were getting things done the way you think was right!

During conflicts whilst you are pursuing an idea, you might be faced with hurting comments. There could be people lobbying against you and your principles. But if it is correct and if you believe it could change people’s lives, stay put! The key is to stay the course on your principles, ideas and convictions, not take the criticisms personally, be passionate about the cause and at the same time be dispassionate in engagement.

Further Diane Kennedy Pike notes… “I recognize now that to bring about any change at the group level takes tremendous commitment. First, there must be a vision of what is possible. Then, there must be a willingness to sustain that vision through all the stages: presentation of it, support for it, organizing practical programs to implement it, recruiting others to participate in the programs, spending hours talking with people, carrying on when you feel you are the only one who cares, not allowing criticism, rumors, and name-calling to discourage you, allowing others to get the credit when what you envisioned finally begins to manifest, and supporting those who are willing to carry on the vision now that it has become a reality. This is how I would define political will.”

I would like to like to end with a personal story which made me learn the importance of political will and hence re-build it as a part of my character and also helped develop my tolerance towards “dirty politics”.

I started the student placement office at my college. It was 2001 and tough time for technology companies in India. People started remarking about the lack of traction in placements and also were speculating about mismanagement of funds. They demanded a disclosure of accounts. I quit at that very instant. I could not take the fact that people did not trust me. There was no problem with the accounts, and I would have been cleared of all the charges. But I was afraid that such conflicts were going to make me only more unpopular and also that it was a Thank less job. Later, I learnt that someone else picked up from where I had left, disclosed the accounts, was cleared of all charges and as luck would have it, few weeks into his leadership, the placements started happening at my college. The homework which I had done was paying off…He took all the credit for turning around a system abandoned by me.

I learnt my lesson on political will and vowed to myself that I will never reminisce “You know what, I was the one who started all this placements….”

I refuse to be a loser, just because I do not have political will!

- Ciao