"Shubh" Growth

The traditional hindu trader has "Shubh Labh" displayed somewhere on the premises of the business.

Shubh is commonly interpreted as good (e.g. "Aap Ka Shubh Naam" gets translated to "Your Good Name"). But Shubh rightly means auspicious. It describes a harbinger of good things to come.

So "Shubh Labh" does not mean just good profits. It means profits that will not damage the future of the business. That is "Ashubh Labh", or inauspicious profits.

So too with growth. There is "Shubh" growth. Growth that is sustainable; growth that ensures that the business conitinues to deliver value to its customers; growth that ensures that its people grow their portfolio of skills and their material well being.

Then there is "Ashubh" growth. Cancer too is growth. It is "Ashubh". It is growth that kills.


Growth can be a wolf in a sheepskin. Process Shepherds must watch out for it.

Wolves In Sheeps' Clothing

1. Sheep's Clothing - Customer Orientation. Wolf - scheduling not based on reality; under priced.
2. Sheep's Clothing - Quality Certification. Wolf - Lip service to quality.

3. Sheep's Clothing - Quality Department. Wolf - Quality is no longer the responsibilty of developers.

4. Sheep's Clothing - Productivity. Wolf - Unmaintainable code; "indispensable" coders.
5. Sheep's Clothing - Heroic Efforts. Wolf - Create emergencies; no learning; "indispensable people;

Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig, "Bhoot Banglas" & Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

Deepwater Horizon, the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that blew up was a "Bhoot Bangla". 

This Bhoot Bangla was not created overnight. There were a series of broken windows that no one attended to.

(see more on this)

Why did no one attend to the broken windows? I quote from the article: "... drilling priorities taking precedence over planned maintenance". That was the wolf in sheep's clothing. And there was no process shepherd.

(PS: I apologize for the mixed metaphors:-)