An act of Defiance...

... can spark a revolution (goes a popular Airtel ad).
... can spark a cold war! (goes a popular story here at my Guest House)

As entrepreneurial leaders, we just love change! And more often that not, we are the ones who drive home the change. And all it takes is a mixture of initiative, enterprise, and tenacity.

Picture this:
I stay in a Guest House with around 40 summer research fellows, here in Bangalore. We are provided with a fully furnished room, a dining hall(with TV, its WC time, mate!), breakfast+dinner, travel arrangements to our workplace (the Indian Institute of Science). Life was going on fine with minor hiccups as usual.

• We used to get shouted at for high TV volumes in the night (thanks to the FIFA WC), though the TV Volumes were within decently tolerable limits. But, OK, understandable.
  
• The caretaker of the Guest House, certainly not that accomodating, went bonkers when one of the guys here took two sweets instead of one, and shouted at him. Very rude.
  
• After a couple of requests to increase the number of vans shuttling between the Guest House and the workplace, there was no action, and this led to quite a few of us getting stranded in a place far away from human habitation, and forced to board a crowded public transport bus.
  
• The caretaker hardly understood our concerns, and hardly understood Hindi or English which were all that any of us could speak (except me, the local boy, who could speak in Kannada)
  

Room enough for an act of defiance, thought my fellow GHmates, and off they boycotted a van, took a ragged BMTC bus to the workplace. [One BITSian who was part of this 'highly-proud' group which was part of the boycott, later told me that such an act cannot have taken place at BITS. I just nodded my head sideways disagreeing with her, and laughing silently at her ignorance.] The act of defiance didn't end there. The whole group of around more than a dozen went to the Academy (of which we are fellows) and gave a written complaint, argued around with the Secretary there about 'shabby' treatment, and finally returned to the Guest House triumphantly. The sparkle of having sparked a revolution was evident in their eyes. And thanks to their 'heroic' effort,

• An extra shuttle was introduced. [Yay! Get to sleep for half an hour more in the mornings]
  
• Sumptuous, unlimited food was curtailed to a simple 'plate meal'. [Puts an end to royal hogs]
  
• TV volume control made stricter [Can't hear the commentary of the WC matches!]
  
• No more power generator during power outage [Miss the WC matches!]
  
• No more 'Babu, a little chai please', whenever we felt like having tea in the evenings
  
• The caretaker, the dhobin, the van driver, the cook - everyone's cross with us
  

All because, of one group which claimed to have done what none of us did - to defy the system - to complain against it - to spark a revolution.

A moment of clarity and all that you see is the makings of a cold war. Between us and the caretakers, with the Academy as the mediator. A cold war that, as usual, will cause more damage than good. A cold war that has just taken us out of the frying pan, and put us in the fire. A cold war that could have been solved by means of a dialogue. By means of an interpreter(The Kannada-speaking-guy, me!), and not by means of a mediator. By controlling that rush of adrenaline which sparked off a bit of rage. By controlling that urge to sieze an opportunity that, on first thought, can spark a revolution.

Leadership is walking that thin line between patience and seizing an opportunity. It's not about jumping into the pool before gauging the depth of the pool. As Jack Welch writes in 'Winning':

"a word on paradoxes. Leadership is full of them. The granddaddy of them all is the question I often get. How can I manage quarterly results and still do what's right for my business five years out? My answer is, "Welcome to the job!" Look, anyone can manage for the short term - just keep squeezing the lemon. And anyone can manage for the long - just keep dreaming. You were made leader because someone believed you could squeeze and dream at the same time."

The next time you think you can make History, think again. There might be better ways.