The Delhi Metro-Symphony Orchestra

“The typical symphony orchestra consists of four proportionate groups of similar musical instruments called the woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings. The orchestra, depending on the size, contains almost all of the standard instruments in each group. Apart from the core orchestral complement, various other instruments also may be called for...."

So what is common between Delhi Metro and Symphony Orchestra?

When Delhi Metro was inaugurated in 2002, I was impressed that our country also has infrastructure that represents modernity and we seem to have realized the importance of mass transport systems to support our urban development. (This realization seems to be far and wide. In the last few decades only two such systems have come up; one in Kolkata and one in Delhi though there are many more cities that desperately need something like this.)

Why this island of excellence and what ensures its continuity?

Is it just because of the visionary leadership of Sreedharan that gave the organization courage to dream big, the patience to translate the dream to actionable tasks with clear specifications, ensured that proposals were evaluated on merit and not on the “educational efforts of the suppliers”, established clear service level expectations and mercilessly insisted on commitment to delivery, the Metro still stand tall in its quality of service?

I had serious doubts on whether the above qualities in project execution would ensure that this quality will be sustained in its operations day after day. My scepticism was rooted on what I have observed in most of the public structures and institutions in our country.  The trend of poor upkeep and maintenance exacerbated by the pathetic civic sense of our society starts showing soon. The civic sense that instills no shame in throwing things out of the windows of the muti-storied apartments and air conditioned cars, that considers it natural to relieve oneself on public roads, that doesn’t evoke compunction when littering public places and spit at every corner of staircase unless (or in spite of) photograph of a god is stuck there.

Further, I also was very sceptical about quality of customer service and I have seldom seen a government agency that understood the meaning of customer service.

Since the inauguration of Metro a number of years have gone by. The metro has expanded considerably and is in the process of expanding more. The stations are still spotlessly clean, the coaches look brand new and I can see practically no graffiti. The experience of a customer is still a matter of delight.

The visionary leadership is still there and it has managed to inculcate certain practices that has now been ingrained in its people and processes and is more infectious than common cold. The organization still passionately focuses on a lot of small things. Like ensuring that the cleaning staff leaves no dust unturned and the surveillance system does not let go of irresponsible behavior in its premises. Such an all pervading commitment to quality suddenly appears to instill a sense of shame and responsibility to the denizens who use the metro. The service he gets is so good that he has no reason to spit in disgust:-)

It looks like a symphony orchestra with hundreds of people each contributing in big and small way. In a symphony there are so many instruments that make almost indistinguishable sounds a layman would wonder what difference they make. But all of them together bring about a heavenly halo.

This attention to small details is what we often lack in many organizations (particularly government organisations) and that leads to gradual degeneration. When I see a station with not even one cigarette butt or a candy cover I almost feel ashamed to throw one myself; but even if I see a few litter scattered around then it becomes less of a worry for me.

This logic gets extended to in all fields. When we have hardly any customer complaints pending and suddenly one complaints pop up we care. But if we have 10,000 pending grievances, 100 more makes no difference.

When the policy maker tries to set up solutions with without thinking through, then we only try to show that there is something working and just don’t care how the customer feels.

Public services cannot be set up like the “Tabala Solo” a maestro like ustad Zakkir Hussain. It is like a symphony orchestra with lots of small bells and whistles all integrated together.

This is what Singapore did in getting the city to be clean and this is what Metro has done and has the persistence to continue with.

When we learn to worship this “god of small things” more and more, we will see islands of excellence growing and joining together to cover the sub-continent - India.