Now try the Indians: Getting that gymnast of a mind to giddyup

BACK OF THE BOOK

Guess what? I got this book to review. And then a frenetic call. The deadline that was four days away was crashed to the next morning. No scope for any extensions, Navroze, were the clear words.

And what did the mind do? A double somersault. Like the book MindGym suggests. Pump some iron. Tread the mill. And let your mind go on a wild, wacky journey that makes you do a few double takes along the way.

Just to quote an example from the book: a van doing the rounds through a typically sleepy little town somewhere out in the West, proclaims in bold letters: "Patel and Patel Plumbers. You've tried the Cowboys. Now try the Indians." An idea that worked and made the phones ring.

MindGym tries to take the reader through chapters that seem more like short stories, as each is one you can delve into, or just glance through with speed, not missing the connect in the next. The examples are close to home: 'party planning' or big decisions like 'whether to marry or not'. Now, what are you? A spanner-or a planner? Sounds simplistic, but the chapter does bring to light home truths that many a times are forgotten.

THE MINDGYM By Mindgym Team Time Warner Books PP: 309 Price:L13

Besides helping the mind to bend it like Beckham, there is good advice for parents too. Would you be one to 'control' or 'encourage'? Something corporate head honchos could very well do with.

An interesting aspect that caught my mind was the 'Kinds of Optimists' topic. Something most of us tend to generalise or gloss over. Being a collective work rather than just an individual point of view, this book's topics manage to cover a wide gamut of human relationships. Disappointments. How to handle bad news. Focus versus fretting. And of course, my very own favourite: Procrastination.

For marketers looking for new promotional ideas, 'The not so free Gift' could tickle the funny bone along with the grey cells. Examples on peer-pressure marketing and 'silent allies' make for interesting reading too. It doesn't always help to sell 'do as the Romans do', as peers or silent allies can actually turn you to something far more exclusive (whether a pen or a cruise holiday). MindGym and its worksheets could sometimes be a bit tedious, but once you get into the groove, you would like to scribble in your scores or answers, so keep a pencil handy.

Whether we need to establish 'presence' at a meeting or handle 'pressure' from the world at large, some simple examples-such as the Agency pitch in Madrid-make for a thump on the side of the head (oops, that's another book on creative thinking). Dale Carnegie would be happy to see some of his beliefs so succinctly put across, as has MindGym. Take the book's recommended techniques: 'I spy' (observation), 'I try' (experimenting with some concepts learnt) and 'detox' (being the antidote).

Whether to 'ask' or 'pass'?, 'ignore' or give your 'honest opinion' (which you didn't mean to say but said anyway)? These make one realise that the simplest stuff for you can be tough management for the other.

Sprinkled with Aesop's Fables and Yul Bryner from the Magnificent Seven, the examples that MindGym takes are quite relatable. Understandable.

But 'stress' can't be left out, can it, from any such book? So stress busters are a great self-playing game that the back end of the book throws up. Creativity for the logical, and creativity for the free thinkers. It's a double-whammy either way, allowing you to slot yourself and think your dreams through.

Page seven proclaims loud and clear: "Don't read this book." I agree. Don't.

Just enjoy it. Dip in and out when you need to. By the time I finished the review and met the deadline, was I stressed? And what stress buster did I use? Questions this book might not have answers to.

But yes, with every copy comes a password that takes you to themindgym.com, where you can keep practising your somersaults over and over again!

-Navroze D. Dhondy

RETHINKING INDIA By Vinay Rai Rai Foundation PP: 356 Price: Rs 450

This book, on the creation of an Indo-us "Partnership Concord", offers a rant or two on "colonial complexes" and "Macaulay clones", as might a book written by the promoter of a private university-and one in the eye of the Raipur storm too-with a particular view of its own that it wants to air. Its purpose, though, is to articulate how India and the US could take on "some common dark clouds" hovering overhead. For this, the author is particularly keen that both countries "land on each other's right side than wrong". For "the 'right' side will result in greater matching of strengths while the 'wrong' would only provoke greater disorder" (shudder, shudder).

FAILSAFE STRATEGIES By Sayan Chatterjee Wharton School Publishing PP: 284 Price: Rs 499

Let's not kid ourselves. There's no such thing as a 'failsafe strategy'-except, perhaps, in management utopia. Every strategy, big or small, and no matter how well thought out, runs the risk of tripping over some stumbling-block (Murphy didn't get so famous for nothing). So why is Chatterjee, a professor of Management Policy at Case Western's Weatherhead School of Management, promising the impossible? Well, as it turns out, he isn't. Chatterjee's premise is simple: in a bid to avoid risks, companies often miss out on high-return opportunities. But there are ways to analyse and understand risks, and come up with strategies that, so to speak, skirt the risks and yet deliver value.

First, "conceptualise multiple business models that can exploit the same opportunity." He calls this framework "outcome-to-objective", which juxtaposes the company's current capabilities with its strategic objective. Chatterjee takes the reader through a detailed approach to building a low-risk strategy. He uses several case studies, but is honest enough to admit that these weren't developed using any of his theories. Instead, these can be used as "exercises" to help "re-create these strategies" with the methodology.

The final chapter, on developing multiple routes to reach the strategic goal, is interesting. Here, Chatterjee details three different "migration paths" a company could adopt. The first, "become the Kingmaker", is about how companies that aren't yet market leaders can embed themselves with the dominant player in such a way that they become the driving force in the leader's success. The second, "frontal assault", is about taking on the incumbent head on with a better product. And the third, interestingly called "hide your weakness", urges companies to keep working on their weakness till the time is opportune to take on the market leader.

So should you read this book? Yes, if your business is getting increasingly complex and risky. After all, as Chatterjee says, risk is fundamental to doing business. But you needn't let it overwhelm you.

-R. Sridharan