Our 1st Role Model on Jagriti Yatra, in Mumbai was Mr. Raghunath – The President of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Associations, commonly known as Dabbawala. I had heard about the Dabbawalas, read about them on Wikipedia, but to hear him, in person, was an amazing experience.
At what accuracy can you imagine an organization working, which has 60 % Thumbs Up (angootha chaap) employees, and the remaining who have studied only till 8th grade? The answer is 100 percent. Dabbawalas have an error rate of 1 in 1.6 crore. And this too, according to Mr. Raghunath, is because the so called Padha- Likha husbands cannot recognize their tiffin. Can we even imagine IIM/ISB/Harvard graduates to work at this high accuracy? In his words “Error is Horror, and don’t look in the mirror. For us, the only thing that matters is customer satisfaction.” “Also, it’s easier to handle illiterate employees, because they are dedicated to their work. They have good memory and better stamina. While a literate employee will ask 5 questions before every task – Aisa kyun karna hai? Etc. etc.”
We think that in an association as large as Dabbawala, use of technology is a must in this modern world. But this organization has become a role model for case study to many prestigious management colleges, because of their simple work plan. They travel only by cycle and local. They board the very same local, we find difficult to step in, with hundreds of tiffin boxes. They never even use lift in any building. Since, they use cycles, they don’t need any license, and it helps them travel swiftly through traffic jams. And they are as Green an organization can be. Mr. Raghunath says “We don’t believe in technology. Though we respect technology, but we don’t have faith in it. We believe in only our mind.”
Theirs is a 6 sigma organization, about which he says “We will give 2 sigmas to the Local, 2 sigmas to the bicycles, and the remaining two to the Dabbawalas”. Due to their simple and efficient way of working, they have become role models for case study in almost all the top notch management colleges across the Globe. “Students come to us, spend their own money to just observe us, and then they made our Flow Logic.” “But we neither understand any flow, nor logic.” he adds cheekily. “For us providing food to customers is a divine work and customer satisfaction is the only thing that matters”.
Inspired by their work, when Prince Charles expressed his wish to meet them on his trip to India, they said “If you want to meet us, we will not come to your 7 star hotel, instead you come to the footpath across the Churchgate station. But come only after 2 O’clock, when he have served our customers. And when he came, we gifted him a Gandhi Topi and a Dabba. When Prince Charles got married and invited me to his marriage in London. When I went there, I saw the Gandhi Topi and our Dabba placed next to the Kohinoor Diamond.”
When he concluded his speech, he got a standing ovation from the crowd. He had simply left us mesmerized. These so called illiterate people taught lakhs of educated housewives what time management is. A wife can be late for anything but not for putting the lunch box outside the door. They have achieved what people with MBA’s from IIMs or Harvard cannot even imagine.
So next time, if you happen to travel by the Mumbai Local, between 9 to 11 AM, and spot a guy donning the Gandhi Topi, with lunch box in his hands, do applaud him for the work he is doing.
Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association, commonly known as Dabbawala, is an association of 5000 odd workers, who supply home cooked food, prepared by wives to their husbands, working anywhere across the length and breadth of vast Mumbai. Founded in 1890s, this association has been working for more than 114 years, through hot and cold, storm and rains, helping husbands eat quality home cooked lunch at their work.
Dabbawalas are an epitome of learning. They shattered all the common perceptions we had about an association. They are an unusual organization of 5000 dedicated people serving 2 lakh people every day.
We believe that young people can work faster and better than old at travel jobs. But I was shocked to hear that the average age of Dabbawalas is 52. And at this age, they work precisely on time, because even a delay of one minute can cause lots of problems. If they have to catch a local from Virar at 9:29, they must reach in time. But this group of relatively aged people, carrying tens to hundreds of tiffins in their hands or cart, is always on time.
At what accuracy can you imagine an organization working, which has 60 % Thumbs Up (angootha chaap) employees, and the remaining who have studied only till 8th grade? The answer is 100 percent. Dabbawalas have an error rate of 1 in 1.6 crore. And this too, according to Mr. Raghunath, is because the so called Padha- Likha husbands cannot recognize their tiffin. Can we even imagine IIM/ISB/Harvard graduates to work at this high accuracy? In his words “Error is Horror, and don’t look in the mirror. For us, the only thing that matters is customer satisfaction.” “Also, it’s easier to handle illiterate employees, because they are dedicated to their work. They have good memory and better stamina. While a literate employee will ask 5 questions before every task – Aisa kyun karna hai? Etc. etc.”
We think that in an association as large as Dabbawala, use of technology is a must in this modern world. But this organization has become a role model for case study to many prestigious management colleges, because of their simple work plan. They travel only by cycle and local. They board the very same local, we find difficult to step in, with hundreds of tiffin boxes. They never even use lift in any building. Since, they use cycles, they don’t need any license, and it helps them travel swiftly through traffic jams. And they are as Green an organization can be. Mr. Raghunath says “We don’t believe in technology. Though we respect technology, but we don’t have faith in it. We believe in only our mind.”
The only thing that drives their organization is their discipline. They have a dress code of Kurta and Gandhi Topi. “Gandhi Topi Hamaari Pehchaan Hai” says Mr. Raghunath “Isse kitni bhi bheed mein hum ek doosre ko pehchaan lete hain.” Between 9:00 AM to 12:30 they do not attend any calls or receive any messages. Anyone who violates their code of conduct, is fined then and there. “Unannounced leave ke liye 1000 rupye fine, Work time par Alcohol peene ke liye 1000 fine, topi na pehannne par 50 rupees fine.” “ But if you make mistake today, pay fine in the evening, and go back to work tomorrow.” And due to this simple strategy, they have not had a single strike, or court case or even an FIR in their 114 years of history.
Theirs is a 6 sigma organization, about which he says “We will give 2 sigmas to the Local, 2 sigmas to the bicycles, and the remaining two to the Dabbawalas”. Due to their simple and efficient way of working, they have become role models for case study in almost all the top notch management colleges across the Globe. “Students come to us, spend their own money to just observe us, and then they made our Flow Logic.” “But we neither understand any flow, nor logic.” he adds cheekily. “For us providing food to customers is a divine work and customer satisfaction is the only thing that matters”.
Inspired by their work, when Prince Charles expressed his wish to meet them on his trip to India, they said “If you want to meet us, we will not come to your 7 star hotel, instead you come to the footpath across the Churchgate station. But come only after 2 O’clock, when he have served our customers. And when he came, we gifted him a Gandhi Topi and a Dabba. When Prince Charles got married and invited me to his marriage in London. When I went there, I saw the Gandhi Topi and our Dabba placed next to the Kohinoor Diamond.”
When he concluded his speech, he got a standing ovation from the crowd. He had simply left us mesmerized. These so called illiterate people taught lakhs of educated housewives what time management is. A wife can be late for anything but not for putting the lunch box outside the door. They have achieved what people with MBA’s from IIMs or Harvard cannot even imagine.
So next time, if you happen to travel by the Mumbai Local, between 9 to 11 AM, and spot a guy donning the Gandhi Topi, with lunch box in his hands, do applaud him for the work he is doing.
