Monday, March 31, 2008

MAFA : The various "avatars" of a generation of paper pushers

One of the oft quoted acronym to describe Indian bureaucracy's inaction is MAFA : The quote itself is attributed to Narayanmurthy, Vagul and a host of others, however, the symptoms of the issue are very apparent. Depending on who is quoted - the acronym stands for - Mistaking Articulation for Action or Mistaking Articulation for Accomplishment

The problem IMHO is not restricted to the bureaucracy - it is more widespread and is almost cultural. We LOVE to talk. The more articulate an individual, the more credit we give to the person - almost as if we are equating articulation with wisdom ?

In Inatech, we have some individuals who "talk the talk" very well. If one were to listen to the individuals at a superficial level, it would be very impressive. They always know what is missing, what should have been done etc. They are always saying the "right things". Actioning them is an altogether different matter !

While I've explained time and again that we need higher ownership to the issue and not just the right mouthing of words, it does not seem to sink in ?

Maybe it is to do with our schooling ?
Maybe it is to do with the fact that we are shown the "wrong" set of individuals within the community as we should emulate ?

Maybe we need to change all designation that has the word "manager" or "director" with "owner" or whatever it takes to get them to action bits.

What other words would be appropriate ?
Actor if it is going to imply Action ???? :-)

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