Slave Culture?! — Quotidian — 478

(Transcript of video originally posted on 12 Jun 2023)

Hey there! New word alert! A Numeronym! This person here is Marc Andreessen. That guy there is Ben Horowitz. Andreessen, Horowitz. Silicon Valley tech giants. But, later, they also created a venture capital firm. Andreessen — Horowitz. A..Z. Guess what they ended up calling it? They named it A16Z.com. What’s that? Andreessen-Horwitz, there are sixteen letters in between! An acronym that also contains a number, is called a numeronym. Interesting, hmm?

Namaste! Four Seventy Eight is about culture. Even though we have named it Slave Culture, this episode is about culture. This BOOK is about culture. Remember Ben Horowitz from the introduction?

Among the books authored by him, this one is the most recent. What you do is who you are! And, it is about how to create your business culture. In this book, there is a very interesting first chapter, where this person is introduced.

Toussaint L’ouverture. This Haitian General, was born a slave, to slaves, who were born to slaves. From a multigenerational slave-DYNASTY, one man comes out. Stands up. Against Spain, against France, against all these countries who are trying to use these Haitians as slave labour. He creates an army against these marauders. An army, out of slave labourers! Study any culture, Indian culture, Roman culture, and you will learn HOW DIFFICULT it is to compose an army of such people. Because, the mentality itself has to change. People have to start believing that they have rights too. Long before Martin Luther King brought out the amendments, long before Abraham Lincoln played his role, from the 1770s to the 1790s, at that time, during the time of the French Revolution, Toussaint L’ouverture.. he created that first army. That rebellion. That upraisal. And, the author talks about that in this book. And, after analysing it much, he says he has come up with seven culture-creating guidelines. What are they?

Number One is “Keep What Works”. Don’t try to change everything all at once! Listen to this music, for a moment. Midnight song! This was the voodoo song. Voodoo! Dark.. Dark magic. Warms up into a crescendo only past midnight! There is no connection between this and Christianity. None at all. Toussaint is a devout Christian. He had to create an army from these people. He said, I will embrace what you have. The Frenchmen don’t even understand this mumbo-jumbo. We will introduce some words into this. A particular rhythm. And, when that particular rhythm arrives, you launch your attack! And so on! They used this to their advantage. Keep what works. Don’t try to change everything overnight!

Then, he said, (he didn’t say, but he demonstrated), that you need to Create Shocking Rules! It was very interesting! What was the Shocking Rule he instituted? In those days, nobles, senior people, courtiers, .. people above a particular position, Lordships, .. they of course had a wife, but concubines and prostitutes .. just went without saying. He instituted a rule. People in my army, Generals, shall not.. he said! Shall not have illicit relationships like these, he said. Sounded odd, sounded like the powers being taken from them, but he explains it quite beautifully. “Everything runs on the basis of trust. Trust is of the utmost importance. The more trust you have on the people you command, the less you need to bother about communicating. If you have no trust at all, you will overcommunicate, precommunicate, post-communicate, .. check, double-check.. If you trust, you can reduce that. And, if your wife can’t trust you, about what you are doing, with whom, where, what do you mean, .. will your people trust you? And so…” he went on. This rule that says “Create Shocking Rules” exists because, when the rule is shocking, unbelievable, unacceptable, people start asking WHY. And, when they start asking why, you, as the General, as the Leader, get an opportunity to explain.. the Culture. “Oh, that? Guess why? Long long ago, because we did this.. and we have been following that, and that’s our guideline, and this is our custom, this has become a culture, don’t try to change it!” Create Shocking Rules — will lead to — Ask Why Questions — will lead to — Explanations with a story!

Then, Dress for Success, he said. He is a person who fought the Frenchmen, but he started wearing their clothes. Hey, this is odd. You are fighting against a system, and instead of fighting those people, and instead of abhorring everything they did, you are embracing their dressing culture? No, he said. That is a symbol of power. A symbol of civility. A symbol of civilisation. We? We are not opposed against that system. We are opposed against these people who are abusing that system. Everybody will eventually end up there. Let us be ready for that. That is why he said, “Dress for Success”.

Incorporating Outside Leadership.. In some companies, they will never recruit managers from the outside. They need to have GROWN HERE, steeped in THIS CULTURE, they would say. They must have “been here and done this”! Only then, will they understand the culture, they would say. In the IPL, there would be this frequent skirmish about making a “foreign-country-player” as the Captain. Do you recall? They have to grow from the inside, would be the refrain. This man though, he said, they are my enemy.. And this person has been serving my enemy for so long, he has had a change of mind, he wants to join me, he brings a lot of cultural qualities, lot of tricks, strategies, approaches, that we will benefit from. Bring him over. He knows so much about them. We will surely benefit from that knowledge. Bring him over! So, he, when people surrendered, he welcomed them. Join us! He gave them positions of leadership. That was a thing that set him apart from the other wannabe rebel leaders!

Demonstrate with Decisions. Don’t just spout wisdom. Take decisions. In front of everybody. And demonstrate. The rebel army was growing fast. Small plantations were being attacked and taken over. The owners were deposed, and the rebels were running around blood-thirsty! Behead them! Kill them! Shoot them! But, Toussaint said, “No, you don’t know how to run that plantation. You are a half-savage. You are just experiencing what civilisation is. Don’t do this. Instead, lay down rules. Tell them that they need to set apart a percentage of the yield to us. Tell them they can’t work the land beyond a sustainable point. Tell them that they should not employ people below or above a certain age. Change their approach. But, retain their knowledge. It will be very useful. They will benefit.. We shall benefit too. So, demonstrate by taking decisions that show that you are not some bloodthirsty dictator.

He also said, “Walk the Talk”. He didn’t say! He walked it. He had one of his hands crushed.. By a cannon that he was trying to move, to help a common soldier. It fell on his hand and crushed it. If there is a battle, typically the Generals will be way back in the safety of their tents, it would be the footsoldiers facing the heat. He would go for the fight, alongside the footsoldiers. Even the sleeping quarters, he would lie down along with the commoners. He has no special silk cushion pillow. Walk the Talk. I am part of you. I am like you. Only then, does the culture have a chance to spread.

And, finally, he says, we have to make our Ethics Explicit. It can’t be that we have a principle but we hardly ever talk about it. Every opportunity you get to talk about your principles, to put that into action, you need to do it. They go to a village, they surround the villagers, and there, they see a few poor ladies. White ladies. And, those ladies are already struggling against the system. He says, “It is not just the Blacks who are struggling. Not just the slaves. Poor people exist even in this White French culture. In this very colony, people are struggling. And, they are just the same, like us. It is pointless tormenting those people further! You are not going to gain anything!” and extends a kind and gentle hand of protection to those ladies. He welcomes them into this community. Legend has it that these women called this Black man, these White women called this Black man their Father. “Thank you, Father”, they seem to have said. Two hundred and fifty years ago, you can’t even imagine black people being called so reverentially by white people. And, this man proves that that is possible!

So, seven beautiful approaches, to make the bed fertile. If you make it fertile, you can sow any number of any kind of ideas. The team has to be culture-ready so that you can create your unique organisation. Let us try something now. We heard about Toussaint L’ouverture.. Some stranger. Never heard of him till now. Soon to be forgotten once this video is over. But, what about our Superhero, Rama. A book from two thousand five hundred years ago. About a story millennia even further ago. Has he followed these seven concepts? Shall we check? What culture did he create? He ended up creating Rama Rajya. Even now, that gold standard of how to run an organisation, a country, .. But, where did it really begin? Shall we look at the seven once again?

Keep What Works. Wow. What an amazing army did he put together?! Eagles. Squirrels. Apes. Monkeys. Bears. He brought them all together. And, he didn’t say, “All of you have to stand on two feet, use a spear”. No! Instead, “Are you a monkey? Fight with your tail as a weapon! You a bear? Go at them with your claws! Oh, you are a bird? Drop a stone from high above.” He said, “Keep What Works”.

What about this? Create Shocking Rules. Even today, whenever people talk about the Ramayana.. They question… “Hey, how dare he makes his wife climb on to the pyre.. to prove? How is that fair?” It is either the assassination of Vaali or it is the trial by fire of Sita. Shocking Rule! I did this because I need to prove to the world.. (I need not.. I know her.. I trust her completely..) But, I set some guidelines and I myself am not exempt from it. At the end, he even ends up sending his wife back into the forest, just because of a stray comment by a washerman. Shocking Rule. So, instead of just a damp squib ending with a peaceful and uneventful Pattaabhishekam.., a series of WHYs.. a thousand WHYs.. In the Ramayana, if there is a debate, it will involve Seetha, it will involve Vaali.. And, that is where Tarkkam happens. The definition of the culture becomes even more solid.

Dressing for Success. Among the multitude of humans and animals, he stood all alone. All by himself. In blue. Standing out. Isn’t that enough? Dressing for Success? Like a simple human being. Have you ever seen him clad in shining armour? Nope! Blue.

And, how about incorporating outside leadership? Do you remember this scene? Vibheeshana coming, surrendering himself. Most people rejecting him. They call him a spy. Sent by Raavana. Let us kill him. No! This person has come to us, ESCAPING Raavana. He is telling the truth. And, if he does turn out to be a spy, we are strong enough to kill him, anyway. But, he has probably some information (and finally he does have.. He is the person who teaches Rama about the super-secret matter of how to kill Raavana!).. Wasn’t that a good thing that Rama did? Incorporating outside leadership?

Go today, come back tomorrow, to continue the fight. Demonstrate with decisions.. What better example do we need? I am Karunaa Saagaram. I am the limitless ocean of empathy and forgiveness. Come! Did you fight? Did I break your bow in two? Do you want to try again tomorrow? Tomorrow too, I will vanquish you. But, you get an opportunity to meet your wife, to meet your family, think about it one more time, probably release Seetha.. That ethic.. He demonstrates it with Decision. This is a crucial decision during the War.

Walking the Talk. Dad ordered him. Foster-Mom told him to. Unquestioning obedience. Okay, I will go. My brother wants to come along, my wife wants to come along, fine. I will go. That was just a day before he was to be coronated king. But, what about even as a kid? Even as a child.. Dasaratha tells him to go along with Sage Vishwamitra. He immediately goes. On the way back, take this bow, shoot the arrow, thread it. He does it. Marry Seetha. He accepts. That implicit obedience. Not for nothing does he earn the praiseworthy name of Maryaadhaa Purush. He does what he says. He says what he does. He says only what he does. He does only what he says. Walking the Talk. And, that is why we are able to create a whole cultural experience around a single man.

It seems a scene like this really happened. Not sure which Ramayana it is documented in. The Valmiki Ramayana. Or Kamba Ramayana. Or Indonesian Ramayana. Let us not get into that now. Devdutt Pattanaik has mentioned about this. So, let us take his word for it. It seems, Raavana is lying, dying. Rama has sent that death-bearing arrow. And, while life is ebbing, he sends Lakshmana.. “Go, he has wisdom. Advice to give. Let that not die with him. Please ask him”. The enemy is not the human being in front. It is just the quality, temporarily displayed, by an unhappily misdirected good human being. That is what Rama thinks. Everywhere in the Ramayana. Why! He even meets the hunchback lady. Manthara. At the end of the Ramayana, he goes, thanks her. Brings her a gift. That quality. Lakshmana goes, but Raavana turns his back to him. Why? Lakshmana had come at the HEAD of the body, and had approached Raavana with some haughtiness. Rama confirms with Lakshmana that he hadn’t received any advice. And, he goes to Raavana, bows with respect, stands near his feet. “Raavana, let your knowledge and wisdom not die with you. What do you have to say?” He asks. And, Raavana replies.. (it is so good to hear that passage!) “Always, the bad things will always be very tempting. The good things will always be uninteresting. I came to your ashram. You were there. Seetha also was there. I fell for that temptation. I wanted to run away with her, kidnap her. But I suffered as a result. I lost everything. You were there, standing next to her. So was Lakshman. I could have befriended. How many things would have resulted differently?! How many good deeds could we have performed together?! The bad is too tempting. The good is unfortunately dull and boring.” Golden advice, is it not? So, these seven bits, we will probably visit again. How can we use these to build a lasting culture in a modern organisation?!

Toussaint employed white people too! He demonstrated ethics. Instead of beheading them, employing them instead. And, to the dissenters, he would explain, with a simple demonstration of a tumbler of wine and a tumbler of water. Mix one into the other and ask, “Which is wine and which water?” A simple example, easy, practical, evident. But, a mathematical puzzle came in front of my eyes right then. I will drop it at you. Imagine I have two half-full containers. One, A, which has water. Another, B, which has wine. I pick up the spoon in the middle, scoop it into the water, and pour it into the wine receptacle. Stir it well. Now, I take a spoonful of that mixed liquid and then I drop it back into the water cup. Does the A cup have more wine in it? Or the B cup has more water in it? Is there more wine in the water? Or more water in the wine? Can you tell? We will meet soon. Thank you!