1. Historical Evidences For Strategies, Methods And Techniques
All human efforts are made successful and effective by the adoption of strategies, methods, techniques and the execution of the associated action plans. Any effort needs careful, diligent and time bound executions of activities intelligently designed, methodically organised and professionally managed. A casual perusal of the history of human success in different stages of civilisations and the related benefits that accrued to the member humans of every society provide satisfactory evidence for the need for planning. It involves deciding the various steps of the plan to be followed and managing both through different types of activities and the associated skills or competencies needed, all of which delineate every unit of actions of episodes and events. The connecting link of all of them lead to effective functioning and getting the associated benefits of careful, effective and thoughtful results. Therefore, strategies, methods, techniques and action plans are very significant.
2. The Mahatma’s Strategies or Plans of Actions
The history of human kind, especially those which have happened in recent times, gives us plenty of examples of successful functioning of strategies adopted by people who matter. In November 2023, there was a very rare unveiling ceremony of a statue at the Tolstoy Farm at Johannesburg. The statue was unveiled by Prabhath Kumar, Indian High Commissioner of South Africa and the statue was built by Jalandharnag Rajaram Channole, sculptor from Sevagram at Wardha, Maharashtra. The eight feet statue of the Mahatma was in the shape of him during the time when he was in South Africa during 1910 – 1914. In the speech that followed the unveiling, the guest spoke about the Mahatma with particular reference to his message of non-violence. His strategy, plan of action, was to organise people as resistance groups to tell the British that Indians would like to be free and he continuously persuaded people to eschew violence and the plan of action or the strategy that he used ultimately succeeded even though Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the second world war called him and condemned his simplicity as a part of his strategy of non-violence, a half-naked fakir. Every Indian who approved the Mahatma’s non-violence appreciated his strategy.
3. Two Different Strategies
Diametrically opposed is the story of another liberation struggle when it comes to the use of strategy. The history of Cuban Revolution gives us the story of Che Guevara who fought against the reign of Batista who ruled with the support of United States, of course with another famous leader of the revolution, Fidel Castro. Che Guevara who died at the age of thirty-nine is revered as a historical figure who fought for the third world underdeveloped countries like Guatemala, Congo, Bolivia and Peru. A doctor from University of Buenos Aires, he believed in fighting against colonial and capitalist countries; indeed not much for his country, Argentina; but more for Cuba, Congo, Bolivia and Peru. He had only one strategy, fight them in an equal measure and in an equal way. His strategy depended on the strategy of the enemy. His plan of actions was always violent against the enemy if the enemy was violent and he was sure that the latter had always been. What is more interesting is that he fought for other countries rather than for his own country. Actions as a result of patriotism, in its traditional sense, was not a part of the strategy of Che Guevara. In fact, he was killed in Bolivia and buried in the middle of a forest. However, his body was exhumed several years later and buried in a mausoleum in Santa Clara, Cuba, indeed not the country of his birth, and it attracts large numbers of youth from all over the world. \
4. Goals May Be The Same But Strategies Can Be Different
So, though both, the Mahatma and Che Guevara had their own strategies, they were vastly different from each other when their plans of actions are analysed. One believed in non-violence as a strategy and the other believed in violence as a strategy. Of course, both were in conformity with each other in their belief systems associated with freedom. One does not know, despite the enormous amount of respect and love both won, who is greater because the Mahatma fought for his own country but Che Guevara fought for others’ countries.
5. Method As Steps Or Ways of Conduct of Strategies
There are two Indian leaders who have to be considered for understanding the next step in the execution of any project or event or operation. The steps of any strategy decide the success and effectiveness of the end goals desired. Subhas Chandra Bose and B.R. Ambedkar are two great leaders of the country when one considers the freedom movement as well as the first few years of the existence of the republic. Bose, as a freedom fighter, can be seen as a proponent of military action. He sided with the Japanese during the Second World War when the organised movement of freedom fighters in India did not want to join any side. The steps of the action plan that he had were very clear because he thought India as a country could follow its own steps during the war and consequentially it would reach the freedom of the country. While Bose was organising people during the inter war period, Ambedkar was also doing the same but his steps of actions as per his strategy of developing the weaker sections of the society were to side with the Mahatma and he refused to support the war or join any of the sides. He demanded, in the mid-thirties, during the interwar period, that the temporary parliament should have reserved seats in it for the lower sections of the society and he took several steps to get it accepted by different groups of freedom fighters. While the strategy remained military action in the pursuit of freedom by Subas Chandra Bose, Ambedkar followed development and organisation of suppressed communities as the strategy for freedom and both took different steps for achieving their goals. Thus, the methods that the two great leaders adopted were very different. A method is a way of performance and it will have different steps in it which would be rationally and logically organised, perceivable for people who may be involved and definitely as per strategies. Therefore, method is the steps or the way of performance according to designed strategies.
6. Technique As Application of Tools Using Skills
Technique involves the processes and the application or the use of tools necessary and the skills, competencies and abilities involved in the implementation of strategies and methods. Knowledge of strategies or methods need not lead to successful implementation of any endeavour or project or activity. Successful organisation of any event or episode depends on the availability of people who are skilled, competent or abled to apply or use different steps of the original strategy and the connected tools. Considering a colossal failure of a movement in India will show how the technique adopted failed the entire movement. Charu Majumdar, Kanu Sanyal and Jangal Santhal were the three leaders of the Naxalbari movement that started in West Bengal in the second half of the sixties of the last century. The uprising had these three excellent leaders whose strategies were strong and methods of rebellion by organising discontented and oppressed peasants were also well-designed. However, the techniques that they adopted resulted in the death of eight women, two children and one man in the very first fight itself. Despite their commitment and interest, they could not develop the necessary skills, competencies and abilities for the common people who followed them though they were courageous, dedicated, disciplined and hard working. Charu Majumdar died of heart attack, Kanu Sanyal committed suicide and Jangal Santhal died disillusioned and unwanted by his people. So, it is not enough to have a strategy, a plan of action; to have a method, the steps or ways of conduct of the action plan; but necessarily there should be suitable techniques, and the necessary skills to use associated and needed tools.
7. Need For Newer Strategies, Methods and Techniques
Tom Peters who wrote ‘In Search of Excellence’ and ‘Passion for Excellence’ lists and refers to America’s best run companies. He proved to the world of leaders that what mattered was neither rigid structure nor century old plans, despite both being well meaning strategies; (1) nor old yet successful systems of performances and governance, both despite being meaningful methods; (2) nor obsolete skills and competencies, associated with the use of tools involved, both meaning techniques. (3) He appealed to the world which was imitating the American enterprises that while recognising their truthful success, they should look for new strategies, methods and techniques and their action plans. (4)
8. Need For Inventiveness
Developing spoken English skills will not give results by giving lectures in the classroom even in the most powerful rhetorical style, it needs strategies, methods and techniques which have to be adopted to make every student speak English fluently. The age old strategy (1) of dumping knowledge onto the heads of unfeeling students who are not able to fling free from structured classes and traditional teachers must give way for inventiveness. Similarly, several steps (2) that have been used by well-meaning teachers may not yield results. Equally importantly, different tools, skills and competencies (3) that are applied by the teachers in delivering lectures in classrooms or organising projects or conducting examinations and evaluations may not produce students who will be able to speak in English. Undoubtedly, newer strategies, methods and techniques should lead to action plans that will provide results. (4)
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Prof. Sunney Tharappan, is Director of College for Leadership and HRD, Mangaluru. He trains and writes and lives in Mangaluru.
Next week – Creating Syllabi