A Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study of 35,000 listed companies has shown the average lifespan of companies has "significantly decreased" from just over 55 years to less than 35 years [1]. With rapid technological changes, changing lifestyle and behavior of the consumer, businesses find it extremely difficult to survive. In such a scenario, managers would do well by takning a leaf out of Sachin Tendulkar’s book, look at things he did, and also those he abstained from doing in his journey as a cricketing sensation for close to two and a half decades. If his career is compared to the life of a firm, the British East India Company would come close only if it had survived for another couple of centuries. The game has undergone an Industrial Revolution like transformation since that November morning in 1989, when the master first took guard in International cricket.
Here are some famous instances from that illustrious career, which the companies should take note of.
November 1989: Trial by fire
A 16-year-old kid up against the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Abdul Qadir in his first test match, where a flurry of bouncers was directed at him. One of them hit his nose and blood came gushing out to colour his T-shirt red. Perhaps what hurt more was a banner in the stands which read, “Bachhe, ghar jaakar doodh peeke aa” (Child, go home and have milk). He carried on. Only in his second test match, he scored his first fifty in test cricket. The highlight of the tour was, however, a 20-over exhibition match, when chasing an unrealistic total, Sachin launched Abdul Qadir for three consecutive sixes. It announced the arrival of Tendulkar to the world.
Lesson 1: Challenges are huge, even more so for the start-ups, but one has to emerge out of them. Courage and patience are the key to weather the storm. Despite the presence of stalwarts in the FMCG sector, Patanjali Ayurved dared to compete, withstood an initial phase of sluggish returns, and is now considered a major threat to the FMCG biggies.
February, 1992: Rising above the bounce
A time when the WACA pitch was at its lethal best and Australia had fearsome bowlers like Craig McDermott and Merv Hughes in their ranks. They would bounce the opponent into submission. India were eight down with the score at 159 when Tendulkar rose to the occasion and hit a scintillating hundred that in his own words ‘gave shape to his career’. He was only 19.
Lesson 2: When the going gets tough, raise your game. Succeed where others fail to, that, in itself, is the best diversification. When all other airlines are going downhill, Indigo with its superior operations, route planning and uniformity in class is making huge profits. This surely augurs well for the 10-year-old company which already is the largest airline in India, with a market share of 37%. [2]
March 1994: Changing the good old game
India were touring New Zealand and just before the start of the 2nd ODI, the regular opener pulled out. It was, therefore, by accident that Sachin was asked to open the innings. However, for the little master, this one chance was enough. Scoring 82 runs off 49 balls he took India home with 160 balls remaining. This innings brought about an epochal change in the scoring rate at the start of the innings in ODIs.
Lesson 3: Do something revolutionary. Transform the way things are done. As is the case with individuals, companies thrive on novelty and innovation. In a country where people preferred to shop in person, Flipkart with its quality services, timely delivery and easier methods of payment has changed the way people buy.
January, 1999: So close, yet so far!
India was playing Pakistan in a Test match in Chennai and on a difficult batting surface, India were required to chase down 271 runs to win. However, with the score at 82, half of the team had already returned to the pavilion. It was then that Tendulkar, batting with an injured back, found some support at the other end. The barrage of boundaries that came from his bat took the opposition by surprise. But at the threshold of victory, he lost patience, played a rash shot, and was out. The rest of the batsmen added only 4 runs to the total and India lost the match by 12 runs!
Lesson 4: There will be times when, after all the hard work, a small mistake ruins everything. Learn from these incidents and move on. The key here is not to lose patience and expect someone else to finish the job. Be it Apple, IBM or McDonald’s, all have suffered setbacks, only to come back wiser and stronger. [Ref]
April, 2011: O Champion! My Champion!
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar had been playing the game for 22 years, during which he broke hundreds of records, scored thousands of runs, and won billions of hearts. But the one dream every professional cricketer shares is winning the World Cup. The “master blaster” played in five previous World Cups, and despite stellar performances in each of those editions, he and his team were counted among the also-rans. The wait finally came to an end on April 2, 2011, when Dhoni lifted the Cup and the other players had Sachin hoisted on their shoulders. The team dedicated the trophy to the veteran, who debuted when Virat Kohli was only a year old!
Winning the 2011 World Cup was a huge moment not only for Tendulkar but also for the millions of cricket fans (myself included) in India. The lesson that companies, managers, or any individual for that matter, can take from that momentous night is best captured in the picture below.
An exhilarated Tendulkar with the National flag on April 2, 2011
References
1. http://www.companydirectors.com.au/director-resource-centre/publications/the-boardroom-report/back-volumes/volume-13-2015/volume-13-issue-16/the-shrinking-life-expectancy-of-companies
2. http://qz.com/423243/only-two-big-airlines-in-india-made-a-profit-in-the-last-year/
3. http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0610/biggest-corporate-comebacks.aspx
About the Author:
Joydeep Das is a first year student and a member of the Public Relations Cell at IIM Rohtak. An electrical engineer and a reader, his interests include cricket, politics and history.