A Case of Conflicting Concerns

Corona has posed before the World, a Socio-Economic problem

It is forcing countries to make compromises / trade offs, between :

Ø  Concern for Lives

    ( by enforcing NEW norms of Social Distancing / Isolation / Quarantine etc)

Ø  Concern for Livelihood ( Economy )

    ( by WFH / Video /  Doles / Free food distribution / Economic Stimulus )

Some decades back , management theorists Robert Blake and Jane Mouton developed

 Blake Mouton Managerial Grid,

-      a popular framework for thinking about a leader's " task versus person " orientation.

{ source : https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_73.htm  }

It was not a question of “ Mutual Exclusivity “.  Not a question of :

Either you have concern for TASKS  ( timely performing and completion ),

Or,

You have concern for PERSONS  ( Safety / Health / Well-being of employees )

A manager had the un-enviable job of displaying his concerns for both, at the same time

Today, under threat of Corona Virus, world leaders have a similar un-enviable job of having to display, varying combinations / compromises / trade-offs, of their,

Ø  Concern for Livelihood {  resumption of Economic Activities }

And

Ø  Concern for Lives        { minimizing spread of virus through Social Distancing }

Allow me to present to you below, a visual representation of  these Conflicting Concerns :

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              Parekh’s Political Leadership Grid

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In the above diagram, you see 4 quadrants ( A – B – C – D )  as follows :

C       ⏩	D
⬆    B	⏪          A

Scenario in quadrant D is utopian . Best to forget it ( at least in present juncture )

All that we can – and we should – attempt is :

STEP 1  :  MOVE FROM QUADRANT A TO QUADRANT B

Ø  Introduce solutions that allow us to reduce our  “ Concern / Worry “ for Lives , and enable us to move from quadrant A to quadrant B ( through reduced / relaxed Social Distancing )

     This will enable us to resume some low level of economic activities, without posing

dangers to lives of citizen

  Such solutions are detailed at :

Ø  Aarogya Setu : Ayushmaan Bhavah :                             [ 23 April 2020 ]

Ø  Social Distancing : Safest – Surest Method                     [ 21 April 2020 ]

Ø  Engineering of Social Distancing                                     [ 21 April 2020 ]

Ø  Thank You, Aarogya Setu Team                                      [ 19 April 2020 ]

Ø  Aarogya Setu : Good Beginning / Long Way to Go            [ 18 April 2020 ]

Ø  Congratulations, Shri Pawan Kumar Agarwal                    [ 13 April 2020 ]

Ø  “ India Post “ morph to “ India Retail “                             [ 12 April 2020 ]

Ø  Congratulations, Shivansh Sethi / Ankita Sain                   [ 11 April 2020 ]

Ø  Antidote to “ Anti-Social Intimacy “                                  [ 07 April 2020 ]

Ø  Corona Patient Case Histories : a Fragmented Database    [ 30 March 2020 ]

Ø  Remotely measuring Body Temperature                           [ 27 March 2020 ]

Above-mentioned TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS , will only help us to “ reduce “ the need for stringent Social Distancing

But these solutions will not altogether “ eliminate “ the need for Social Distancing

For that , we have to also work on war-footing on the following fronts :

Ø  PREVENTING the Covid infections

This will require vaccines

Ø  CURE for persons already infected

This will require drugs / medicines ( such as HydroxyChloroQuine )

Administering PLASMA from already infected patients

Rapid Testing Kits / Statistical Sampling

Abundant supply of masks – ventilators – PPE – isolation wards etc

Training of lakhs of Healthcare Staff ( Doctors-Nurses-Technicians etc )

STEP 2 :  MOVE FROM QUADRANT B TO QUADRANT C

For this “ transition “, Government’s Mantra seems to be :

Ø  Minimum Mobility, Maximum Work  / News18.com / Updated:  April 24, 2020, 10:59 AM

But, by itself , a Mantra is incomplete . What will be required is a :

SPECIFIC / DETAILED / TIME-BOUND ACTION  PLAN

Towards this, I have sent following E Mails to Cabinet Ministers / NITI Aayog  /  State Chief  Ministers etc :

Ø  When the dust settles                                         [ 17 April 2020 ]

Ø  Opinions may differ : Logic is same                           [ 15   April  2020  ]

Ø  Let not history repeat                                         [ 09 April 2020 ]

Ø  Economy : The Way Back                                    [ 08 April 2020 ]

Ø  Unlocking Lockdown : Calibrated – Gradual           [ 04 April 2020 ]

Ø  Not so ODD after all !                                          [ 01 April 2020 ]

Ø  How to convert Temporary into Permanent ?         [ 19 March 2020 ]

Ø  Opportunity in Adversity ?                                   [ 13 March 2020 ]

Ø  Caused by CoronaVirus ?                                     [ 04 March 2020 ]

 

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Dear Shri Narendrabhai,

Citizen of USA / Europe / South America / Iran etc ., are agitating for complete and immediate lifting of lockdown 

This amounts to bypassing " Quadrant B " and straight away jumping from " Quadrant A " , directly to " Quadrant C "  !

Irrespective of what happens in those countries, we must not fall prey to this populism , which will spell disaster 

I urge you to forward this GRID to all the Policy Makers and get their opinions about the way forward

with regards,

hemen parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com

24  April  2020