The other day we were having a discussion in my office when my boss said that we need to build capacity and burn midnight oil. What he was suggesting is that we have larger goals ahead of us and to achieve those goals we have to prepare ourselves by working very hard in the short run. This statement is not something that we’ve heard for the first time in life. But the way it was said it sort of triggered a thought process in my mind. Few points that were apparent to me were:

1. A higher authority decided that we need to build capacity
2. His reason to do this was for good of all concerned
3. It was clear that there was pain involved in it for everybody
4. We knew that in the process everybody shall be stretched to his limits
5. The levels of discipline in the life of these people will increase manifold
6. Not everybody would be aware of this decision, the reasons behind it and the expected outcome, but still he shall be a part of this stretching process
7. Once the capacity was built, most people will gain, the stretch shall reduce and will lead to prosperity and happiness
8. Not building capacity was also not really a question of choice, like or dislike, since failure to do so may result in slow emaciation of the organization or in the best situation, a status quo
9. To grow further it was essential to build capacity, go through the stretch, learn in the process and emerge winner

But is it applicable only to business organizations? I think not. Capacity building by hard work and discipline is part of normal activity for any living entity. To corroborate and connect with this thought let me give few examples across a large continuum here:

After the end of World War II as a country Japan was in complete shambles. It was and remains the only country in world to have suffered the agony of a nuclear bomb. Even though it was a small country it was a powerful country with a strong military machine and doughty fighters. In this situation the country decided to build capacity in a different arena. A country of disciplined people stretched itself very hard to create a winner in manufacturing sector at global scale. Whole lot of the products manufactured there were built to large capacities and were meant for exports. It stays a massive trade surplus country today. I wonder how many people who stretched and toiled then were party to this decision, aware of their destiny as a country and their offspring. But it brought amazing growth and prosperity to them and to their future generations.

Defence forces of every country need to necessarily build adequate capacity to defend itself from its enemies. Any country that fails to do this eventually suffers the consequences. Not only enough resources are needed to get armaments and technology but also the people. These people have to work hard as soldiers, as scientists, as spys and in many other capacities. It is often said that ‘more you sweat in peace less you bleed in war’. But crux of the matter is that we need to build capacity to fight and defend ourselves, we need to toil, we need to stretch and having done that we are relaxed as a country. Also, most people who are toiling and stretching are only following the orders of the superior authority without really being aware of the exact reasons or the plan.

However strong the military forces of the country are, if the civil infrastructure or economy is inadequate country will never be happy and will have many other complications like naxalism, terrorism, fissiparous tendencies, high crime rate etc. The only sound way to achieve that is to create adequate capacities in the areas of food, healthcare, education, civil administration, policing, housing and many other sectors. To build and create these capacities someone somewhere need to work hard, stretch himself and do his job well for his own good as well as good of the country. Once again, are these people fully aware about the reasons of their stretch or its impact on the country? But they are stretching because someone else wants them to stretch, willingly or unwillingly, and not only for their own good but also for the good of the country. Once these capacities are created growth follows. Just to give you few relevant examples – British created capacity for our railway network at great human and material cost almost a century ago. We are still reaping benefits. Delhi Metro was first world class network created in India to create capacity for local commute. For the people there as well as employees it was big inconvenience and stretch then. But see the learning and growth due to that now. Many states have adopted the same model now. This stretch, pain and capacity building has led to great learning and growth.

Business organizations are forever busy in creating capacities in the right areas of business. If they don’t do this they will perish. One leader or few leaders drive this capacity building which is created by many others without knowing what they are doing, for what and with what expected results. In fact, people keep coming and going but the organizational capacity continues to be built, the stretch continues, painful days remain in short to medium term resulting in eventual growth and prosperity for many. If we look around us we will find many organizations which are in nascent stage, growth stage and in maturity. In the nascent stage the primary fight is to survive. But when the organizations are in growth stage the stretch is highest. People work hard, spend long hours at work and ensure that the organizations grow. While many people work hard, some work harder and smarter. When the growth comes, prosperity comes along with it. Most gain, but some people gain more than others. These are the people who worked harder and smarter and used the opportunity of growth to their advantage. I can give many examples here to substantiate this. Just to give few, when Infosys was in growth phase even drivers became multi-millionaires. But ask the employees who joined after this phase was over if they have also made this much money. Answer shall be clear no. There are many such organizations where people toiled to create capacities, stretched themselves without even knowing the real reasons or their destination but gained disproportionately once the capacities were created and organizations reached the stage of maturity. Once the organizations mature, capacities are created and used, life becomes a routine. It may be comfortable still but the level of learning and wealth creation is nowhere comparable. Today we see all this in many new sunrise sectors like e-commerce where capacities are being created, people are stretching, playing their roles and after undergoing a bit of the grind laughing their way to the bank. But the sectors like telecom, insurance, organized retail, manufacturing etc. are the ones which are mature where the stretch is less, pain is less, adequate capacities have been created which is why learning and growth are also less.

As individuals we build capacity, knowingly or unknowingly, right from the day we are born. And the process is tough and painful. We just need to think why we take immunization. Every injection that a child gets to immunize him is not only painful but it injects micro-organisms inside him. Child has no clue about whatever is happening to him. He often undergoes not only the painful injection but also few days of fever in this process. But for what purpose? It is to create capacity in him to fight the same diseases in his life. A child who undergoes this short term pain builds higher capacity to fight these diseases in life as compared to a child who doesn’t pass through this – polio continues strike children in three countries even today. As he grows the process of capacity building keeps getting intense. Children whose parents can afford education go through the process to build capacities of a particular variety. Some children use this opportunity better than others and do better in later years. In most cases these children are initially not aware of the reasons for their toil and stretch. They do it because they have to do it. As they grow this becomes applicable for any other field in their lives whether it is sports, acting, business or any other profession. Some stretch more and do better and some don’t. Similarly, there are many stories of rags to riches that we have heard. There are some children who are not fortunate to have guardians who can afford to provide them with organized way of education. They go through their own learning phase. They build their capacities in a different form. Sometimes their stretch is more, toil harder but the reality is that their learning is also higher their growth is also much higher. Who can forget Dhirubhai Ambani who rose from being a petrol pump attendant to the owner of one of the largest companies in India?

Limited point I’m saying here is that as nations, organizations and individuals we are constantly busy in creating capacities for learning and growth which require stretch and toil, though most of the time we may not be aware of the reasons. More often than not this capacity building results in higher learning and greater prosperity. Also, this capacity creation is not likely to happen without stretch. Pain, hard work, discomfort and stretch are an essential ingredient for capacity building, learning and growth.

Whatever we have discussed above is in the context of the decisions that are taken by human beings. If not everyone, someone somewhere is aware of the reasons and logic of capacity creation, toil, pain and stretch and likely learning and growth resulting from it. But what happens when we go through the pain and learning that is not understood ordinarily by human mind?

If we look around us we will find people undergoing myriad kinds of stretches. Someone has lost a job, someone his business, someone else has lost a loved one, some other his limb. The stretches and pain that we get as human beings can be in many different ways. But what is common with all the examples is that these stretches and pains we get on the instructions of some higher authority whereas often we are not aware of that authority or the reasons behind it. But what is also true is that these pains and stretches are for capacity building, learning, growth and betterment.

I’ll give few examples here from what I see around myself. I have seen many people who have lost jobs, many not once but more than that. But in almost all instances I have seen them bouncing back much higher after a period of pain and stretch. Speaking about losing a limb and disability we will do well to remember that this year’s topper for IAS exams is a woman who has topped despite her disability. Everyone who has come in this world has to go. Even then every time we lose a loved one we go through enormous pain. But almost every time I’ve seen people emerging stronger after this trauma. Our own Prime Minister today comes from very humble back ground. He used to sell tea in trains and outside railway stations. He not only emerged stronger by this experience, pain and stretch but built so much capacity in himself that today he is leading the second most populous country in the world. President of the United States, Barrack Obama, also comes from humble back ground, broken family and has undergone his own share of pains and stretches, only to emerge stronger, with huge learnings and capacity.

My Little Thought Of Life in this context is that often when capacity is being built for higher learning and growth, pain and stretch is an essential ingredient. Chances are that some higher authority has taken a decision to do so. That higher authority may be a human being or the Divine. However, more often than not we are not aware of the higher authority, capacity building, higher learning or resultant growth and prosperity. What we see is only the stretch and the pain. This means when we see the stretch and the pain we need to see the real reasons behind it, real authority behind it and the learning and growth expected from it. Being focussed on the discomfort due to this stretch will not only make it more painful but lower the learning quotient. As one of the examples I had given earlier, while many people may be a part of this capacity building, not everybody gains in the same proportion. So whenever there’s a stretch and pain in our lives, we need to look deeper to understand it, figure out the reasons, accept and internalize it and realize that this is building capacity for higher learning and growth in life. Not doing so will only ensure a lost opportunity to learn and grow despite having suffered the pain and stretch.

I wish my friends and readers an ability to see capacity building in their times of stretches and pains and ensure higher learning and growth in the process without being too focussed on the discomfort.