Courage isn't about taking bullets on a 56-inch chest, says TATA Sons' R GopalakrishnanMumbai, Nov 22(AZINS) You've written quite a few books before Six Lenses: Vignettes of Success, Career and Relationships. What made you take up the pen?
I started writing newspaper articles/columns way back in the mid-80s, while serving as an Export Director at Hindustan Lever. Those anecdotal write-ups later paved way for the books I wrote. I turned to book writing first with the curious observation that in spite of all our emphasis on talent-spotting and management, many employees rise up the corporate ranks, reach the top – and then get fired. The paradox caught my fancy, and I decided to find out if intituion plays as significant a role as analytics in defending your position at an organisation.

Tell us little bit about Six Lenses. Most of your earlier works provided unique professional pointers. Is this one also about management?
Three of my books were about management where I took up the under-studied topic of intuition and self-awareness in professional leaders. One of the other works was a social commentary traced through generations. This one here teeters at the intersection of philosophy and management. It might nudge you to shuffle perspectives around, think things over, but is otherwise at the same time relatably rooted in the world of daily business.

What is the idea behind the title?
I'd observed how, often, participants came back with vastly different feedback to the same speech. I've also realised that my siblings and I have conflicting recollections of the same childhood incidents. I came to the conclusion that each individual is looking at the world through his/her own set of lenses, which give him a personalised understanding of 'reality'. The title is a reference to the same.

Why six? What are these six lenses?
We have a pair of eyes, right? So say, the left eye stands for the 'eye of work' and the right one, the 'eye of relationships'. Like an optician keeps rotating the lens till you grasp the right vision, our six lenses, through which we view our environment and all related occurrences — Purpose, Authenticity, Courage, Trust, Luck and Fulfillment — keep shifting till you get the picture straight. Six of the lenses come together to create an image of our own making. Hence, Six Lenses.

You have named the lenses after elements that can be said to be abstract. How does that work for someone who guides people to 'manage' their professional and personal spheres?
Ah, here's the catch! The 'abstract' elements, like you say, are not really what we commonly think them to be. For example, the Lens of Authenticity does not ask you to tell your hefty husband: "Darling, you look fat as hell. You'd better lose some weight." Imagine going around with that sort of an 'authentic' mouth! Instead, you can pass on an old, fitter-bodied photograph of your partner and remark how good they look in it, which would remind them of the needful.

So it's about maneuvering the perception? Like shifting lenses?
Precisely. Courage isn't about taking bullets on a 56-inch chest in real life. It is about disagreeing as required, without being disagreeable.

So the idea is you are in charge, right? That you can turn things around?
True. Then there's also that element of luck. Not fluke luck though. You can shape luck too; earn it. There still might be setbacks. Now, those, you learn to deal with effectively so as to minimise your damage and maximise your opportunities. Ultimately, you can turn things around.

Your book seems to address both the professional and the personal. A supposedly skewed work-life balance has been a global issue for some time now. Your take.
Here's an interesting discovery I made. You can be a 'successful' CEO with a zero sense of personal fulfillment, but if you have a happy personal life, chances are you'd do all right in life even as a minor clerk. Yet we tend to view our entire life with the 'left eye' (eye of work), ignoring relationships that could have contributed to a positive 'vision' of life. It is not so much about a 'balance', as it is about maximising the eyesight in each eye, for the best picture.

What if the subject is stuck at, say, a 12-hour job? Is maximizing his 'right eye' vision still an option?
Sure it is. He can take up the matter with his seniors, quit the said job and find something that suits his vision better. He could also realise that he actually enjoys his work, which takes away much of the burden. Usually, people who crib about having to work a lot are in secret enjoyment of their routine! It is almost always up to you to stay put or break out.

You talk about PLU-s. 'People Like Us'. Could you elaborate?
PLU-s are reasonably successful figures who rose from ordinary circumstances to make things work for them. People you and I can relate to. I figured they can provide the right kind of inspiration. For example, you haven't heard about my wife, (Geeta Gopalakrishnan, director, TATA Medical Center), she's no star. But she has done incredible things with the cancer unit. That is her brand of success, something I've also linked to figures like Jamshed Irani and corporate leader Nihal Kavirante. My story is essentially anecdotal, and their anecdotes are relatable. Aspirational too.