Anuradha Sengupta: In the past decade or so, Indian companies have perhaps been in the process of shifting from the old process of old mental models to new mental models. We are going to discuss how they are coping, how they are faring with this process and to do that we have with us KV Kamath, MD & CEO of ICICI Bank and Jerry Wind, the co-author of The Power of Impossible Thinking. Jerry, who leads the task of changing the mental model towards success when we are talking about a country? Are we going to leave it in the hands of the government? Who takes the role?

Jerry Wind: I would hope that you would not leave it to government if everyone wants to see change. I think we need leadership at all levels. We need leadership not only - the central government will need leadership, every village, every town, we have to rethink a town, have to rethink a village of how to create them. Businesses have a huge role in here. There is nothing like their entrepreneurial spirit as we heard from KV ().

Anuradha Sengupta: KV, you have seen up close this almost radical transformation that is taking place in the corporate landscape. What is it that? Do you see Indian companies adjusting from the old way of doing things, from old mindsets to new mindsets comfortably or are they like adolescents?

K V Kamath: Indian industry came through structurally difficult times in the last six - seven years and I guess that everyone understood that those who embraced change, those who went beyond the one-way street would succeed and they changed. For example six years back, five years back, every industrialist you meet in India would say "The China factor is going to kill us." If you ask the same industrialist today, "What about the Chinese factor"? "Not a problem, we can compete."

The latest one where I find this new thought coming very clearly is the textile industry. Just 18 months back, two years back they were all saying, "This industry is wiped out", and indeed due to structural change the industry was in deep trouble. Recently they are saying that we are a globally fit fighting machine… and they are able to compete. So clearly industry has been able to re-invent itself and understood that change is paramount and this change started from their shop floor.

Anuradha Sengupta: KV, in your experience, would you be able to give a few examples of India companies that have changed mental models and because of that change are in a completely different league and in a completely different growth curve today?

K V Kamath: I would say, if you look at the manufacturing industry, in the sense of the industry these companies always had the edge because they hit the floor running as it were a few years back and have kept the momentum. The real challenge has been the manufacturing sector; and in the manufacturing sector I would pick the auto industry and the auto ancillary industry… the best examples of industries which completely transformed themselves in the last few years. This is an industry that rose from the ashes as it were.

Anuradha Sengupta: Because of the way they have changed their mindset do you think that these companies are poised to make the next leap which is from success here to global success?

K V Kamath: That is an important mindset that we are now seeing. They are all thinking global because the confidence they have now with the success they have seen in India lets them to think on a global platform. Indeed, several of these companies you see becoming large in the global context in their lines of business. You see companies wanting to go global and you see companies actually that have acquired companies globally and stepping out and proving that they can operate on a wider stage.

Anuradha Sengupta: Jerry, to be a successful player in the global level, what is it that the mindset requires, what are the few set of conditions you need, what kind of a global mental model would an Indian company need?

Jerry Wind: Well, lets step back for a second and realise the fact that the globe in a global company is a very heterogeneous place and the challenge for most of the companies historically has been that they basically focus on 14 per cent of the world whose GDP per capita is over $10,000 per year. They ignore the other 86 per cent of the world - the India, the China and other parts of the world.

The advantage that you have for the Indian companies who are thinking global - and it is a thought process of understanding global - that they are forced to innovate to come up with better solutions for this 86 per cent of the world. In the auto industry, Tata came up with a car which is for $2,000. There is no American company or Japanese company who can think what does it take to develop a $2,000-car. It is a dramatically different mindset. They are geared better than Toyota or any other American company or any other company to try and capture this 86 per cent of the world because they have done it here.

Anuradha Sengupta: KV, what is the roles and the pressure that comes on to a leader when you are trying to harness the power of mental models and therefore transform whatever is in front of you?

K V Kamath: Tremendous. The pressures are tremendous. The pressures come from several quarters. One is when you want to effect change through whatever process and from wherever the stimuli comes from, ultimately it is processed in the mind but the stimuli could be from across the globe, across industries, from patterns of behaviour, basic observation. You need to get your employees aligned to these changes and that is where the ability to change our thinking, ability to carry people along becomes important and it starts with your A-team.

Anuradha Sengupta: Jerry, you want to leave us with one thought on the power of impossible thinking?

Yoram Wind: Well, the one thought would be that you have to realise the importance of mental models and try to understand what your model is and it is absolutely critical and the critical thing is - is your mental model correct? Is it correct? Does it need the changes in the environment? This goes back to the portfolio discussion - which of them fits the best and be flexible to change it over time. So in a sense it is difficult to say a single thought but the single thought is basically that once you recognise the importance of mental models and you know what yours is, constantly, constantly challenge it to see to what extent it meets the changing environment and then act upon it.

Anuradha Sengupta: Jerry on that thought, thank you very much for being with us on Lessons in Excellence, thank you KV Kamath and thank you very much for watching us.