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By:

Rashmi Kulkarni

23 March 2025 at 2:58:52 pm

Making a New Normal Feel Obvious

Normal is not what’s written. Normal is what repeats. The temple bell rings at the same time every day. Not everyone prays. Not everyone even walks in. Some people don’t care at all. And yet when that bell rings, the whole neighborhood syncs. Shops open, chores move, calls pause. The bell doesn’t convince anyone. It simply creates rhythm. That’s how “normal” is built inside a legacy MSME too. Not by speeches. By repetition. Quick recap: Week 1: You inherited an equilibrium. Week 2: People...

Making a New Normal Feel Obvious

Normal is not what’s written. Normal is what repeats. The temple bell rings at the same time every day. Not everyone prays. Not everyone even walks in. Some people don’t care at all. And yet when that bell rings, the whole neighborhood syncs. Shops open, chores move, calls pause. The bell doesn’t convince anyone. It simply creates rhythm. That’s how “normal” is built inside a legacy MSME too. Not by speeches. By repetition. Quick recap: Week 1: You inherited an equilibrium. Week 2: People resist loss, not improvement. Week 3: Status quo wins when your new way is harder. Week 4 is the next problem: even when your idea is good and even when it is easy, it can still fail because people don’t move together. One team starts. Another team waits. One person follows. Another person quietly returns to the old way. So, the old normal comes back … not because your idea was wrong, but because your new normal never became normal. Which Seat? • Inherited : people expect direction, but they only shift when they see what you consistently protect. • Hired : people wait for proof “Is this just a corporate habit you’ll drop in a month?” • Promoted : people watch whether you stay consistent under pressure. Now here’s the useful idea from Thomas Schelling: a “focal point”. Don’t worry about the term. In simple words, it means: you don’t need everyone convinced. You need one clear anchor that everyone can align around. In a legacy MSME, that anchor is rarely a policy document. It’s not a rollout email. It’s a ritual. Why Rituals? These firms run on informal rules, relationships, memory, and quick calls. That flexibility keeps work moving, but it also makes change socially risky. Even supportive people hesitate because they’re thinking: “If I follow this and others don’t, I’ll look foolish.” “If I share real numbers, will I become the target?” “If I push this new flow, will I upset a senior person?” “If I do it properly, will it slow me down?” When people feel that risk, they wait. And waiting is how the status quo survives. A focal ritual breaks the waiting. It sends one clean signal: “This is real. This is how we work now.” Focal Ritual It’s a short, fixed review that repeats with the same format. For example: a weekly scoreboard review (15 minutes) a daily dispatch huddle (10 minutes) a fixed purchase-approval window (cutoff + queue) The meeting isn’t the magic. The repetition is. When it repeats without drama, it becomes believable. When it becomes believable, people start syncing to it, even the ones who were unsure. Common Mistake New leaders enter with energy and pressure: “show impact”. So they try to fix reporting, planning, quality, procurement, digitization … everything. The result is predictable. People don’t know what is truly “must follow”. So everything becomes “optional”. They do a little of each, and nothing holds. If you want change to stick, pick one focal ritual and make it sacred. Not forever. Just long enough for the bell to become the bell. Field Test Step 1 : Pick one pain area that creates daily chaos: delayed dispatch, pending purchase approvals, rework, overdue collections. Step 2 : Set the ritual: Fixed time, fixed duration (15 minutes). One scoreboard (one page, one screen). Same three questions every time: – What moved since last time? – What is stuck and why? – What decision is needed today? One owner who closes the loop (decisions + due dates). Step 3 : Protect it for 8 weeks. Don’t cancel because you’re busy. Don’t skip because a VIP came. Don’t “postpone once” because someone complained. I’ve seen a simple weekly dispatch scoreboard die this exact way. Week one was sharp. By week three, it got pushed “just this once” because someone had a client visit. Week four, it moved again for “urgent work”. After that, nobody took it seriously. The old follow-ups returned, and the leader was back to chasing people daily. The first casual cancellation tells the system: “This was a phase”. And the old normal returns fast. One Warning Don’t turn the ritual into policing. If it becomes humiliation, people will hide information. If it becomes shouting, people will stop speaking. If it becomes a lecture, people will mentally leave. Keep it calm. Keep it consistent. Keep it useful. A bell doesn’t shout. It just rings. (The author is Co-founder at PPS Consulting and a business operations advisor. She helps businesses across sectors and geographies improve execution through global best practices. She could be reached at rashmi@ppsconsulting.biz)

Minister stripped of portfolios after warrant

Mumbai: Governor Devvrat Acharya stripped Sports Minister Manikrao Kokate of his portfolio a day after the Nashik court issued an arrest warrant against him. Kokate rushed to Bombay High Court for relief from arrest. However, the HC declined his plea for urgent hearing or an interim stay.


After the HC decision, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made a recommendation to the Governor to temporarily hand over the charge of all the departments under Kokate to Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, which was immediately granted.


Meanwhile, it is learnt that Kokate has sent his letter of resignation Ajit Pawar. However, there was no confirmation on this.


Kokate was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday morning after complaining of chest pain and respiratory unease. The sudden hospitalisation comes less than 24 hours after a Nashik District and Sessions Court upheld a two-year prison sentence against him, and the subsequent issuance of an arrest warrant.


The legal crisis stems from a case dating back to 1995 involving the fraudulent acquisition of government flats. The court of District and Sessions Judge P.M. Badar confirmed the earlier conviction by a magistrate’s court, finding Kokate and his brother, Vijay, guilty of submitting forged documents to secure apartments under the Chief Minister’s 10 per cent discretionary quota.


The prosecution successfully argued that the Kokate brothers misrepresented their income to qualify for the "Low Income Group" (LIG) category, claiming an annual income of less than Rs 30,000. Evidence presented showed that during the same period, the brothers were earning substantial sums from sugarcane supplies to cooperative mills, far exceeding the eligibility ceiling.


Future On Brink

The upholding of the two-year rigorous imprisonment sentence has triggered an immediate crisis for Kokate's political career. Under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, any legislator convicted and sentenced to two years or more of imprisonment faces automatic disqualification. The key legal impacts involve imminent removal from the State Cabinet, disqualification from the Legislative Assembly (Sinnar constituency) and potential six-year ban from contesting elections after serving the term.


Arrest Warrant

On Wednesday, the Nashik court issued a formal arrest warrant against the Minister, directing the administration to execute the sentence without delay. However, as police moved to take action, Kokate was rushed to Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital. Supporters have termed it a health emergency, while the Opposition has labelled the move a "delay tactic" to avoid immediate incarceration.


Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reportedly spoke with Deputy CM Ajit Pawar on Wednesday morning to discuss the fallout. Sources indicate that the government is preparing for Kokate’s resignation, with Ajit Pawar seeking time to propose a replacement for the Sports portfolio.


Kokate’s ‘Carefree’ attitude led to arrest warrant

Manikrao Kokate cultivated a "care-free" and "dashing" persona that endeared him to his electorate and won him multiple terms in the Legislative Assembly. However, that very reputation for being untouchable and bold has proved to be his undoing. On Wednesday, the Nashik District and Sessions Court saw through the Minister’s defense, issuing a non-bailable arrest warrant after discovering that his claims of failing health were starkly contradicted by his recent public activities.


While Kokate’s legal team was inside the courtroom pleading for leniency and arguing against the issuance of an arrest warrant on severe medical grounds, the Minister was reportedly behaving as though it were business as usual. The court proceedings revealed a damaging disconnect between the "ailing patient" described by defense lawyers and the active politician seen by the public. The turning point in the hearing came when prosecution lawyers presented a mountain of evidence that effectively dismantled Kokate’s medical plea. The prosecution showcased evidence that Kokate had addressed a high-energy campaign rally just a day before the verdict and records showing that Kokate was healthy enough to attend the State Cabinet meeting in Mumbai.


The prosecution argued that a man capable of navigating the rigors of a cabinet meeting and the physical demands of a political rally could not suddenly be too infirm to face the judicial process.


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