Don’t mock ‘ process, follow it One of India’s best-known business leaders argues that the indian cricket team failed because Chappell’s process was not implemented correctly By NR Narayana Murthy he tragedy of India is that in- stead of seeing What's wrong: with us and taking steps to cor- rect it, we indulge in hysterics and look for scapegoats, Right now, everyone's busy blaming the coach and the cap- tain. But India has a long record of playing badly away from home, which precedes both Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell. So why single them out? The real problem, I believe, lies with the system. Not just in ericket, but in virtually any walk of life, we are unwilling to put in hard work and live with discipline. Other countries are so neat, clean and well-organised but Indian cities are a mess, because ‘we're simply not willing to respect the rules. We can succeed, not just in cricket, but in everything else if we only follow four basic principles: strictly adhere to meritocracy be will- ing to work hard, adopt global best practices in training and follow ab- solute discipline. ‘We need to pick the best guys avail- able, based purely on merit and no. other considerations. And the same appliesto the coach. People keep ask- ‘ing whether we need a foreign coach. Idon’t think that’s an issue at all. We should ask, who's the best gity for the job? Whoever it is should get it Next, once you've given someone mandate, let him implementit with- out interference. At Infosys, we have: all our debates, arguments and dis. cussions before it's decided who'll be responsible for something. Once it's decided that X is the boss, all argu- ments stop and everyone rallies be- hind him. We shouldn't be constant ly undermining the coach by trying to second-guess him. I know ‘process’ has become a much-mocked term, but at Infosys we firmly believe in following processes ‘and it's always worked for us. If Chap- ‘pell’s process didn’t work, maybe it ‘was because it wasn't followed prop- erly or he wasn't allowed to implement itin full. I've read that some senior players were allowed to get away with indiscipline and that’s totally unac- ceptable. No matter how big a star you are, if you're disruptive to the team, you need to be shown the exit. Never mind if we lose a few matches. If you follow the correct process, positive re- sults are bound te eventually follow, Frankly, I don’t think having a coaching camp for a few days helps. Td suggest that we pick the 30 guys who we believe are the best in the ‘country They should all be given good salaries by BCCland closeted in a hi- tech training centre round the year, Rotate them so that even if 15 are play- ‘ing a series, the other 15 are training. Ensure that everyone gets to train intensively during the year. Follow ‘best practices from around the world, give the players the best facilities and make them work really hard—eight hours a day If anyone refuses to prac- tice or follow the rules, axe him im- mediately. Follow these principles and you're bound to have a world: beating team, 1\ (As told to Vikas Sing} s