Who is the real Agent of Change? C-Change seeks answers

BANGALORE, INDIA: India's premier business technology forum, C-Change, got off to a splendid start on Thursday, with active participation from chief information officers (CIOs) of more than 100 top companies in India.

As they congregate at the tenth edition of the three-day event at Golden Palms Hotel and Spa, Bangalore, from February 21-23, they are in for a lot of business insights, interactive sessions and, not the least, networking with industry peers, whom they don't get to meet on a frequent basis. It is organized by CIOL and Dataquest, from the CyberMedia group.

On the opening day, chairman & managing director of CyberMedia, Pradeep Gupta set the tone for the event with a sharp focus on transformation, business Alignment, cross-functional integration, strategic value creation, impactful evolution and change management, aimed at equipping CIOs for future challenges.

He says the answer to the question 'Who is the real Agent of Change' is still elusive despite management books and business world cases replete with the quixotic idea of a change agent 

Gupta stressed that change is possible, if and only if one gets out of the comfort zone and plunges head-deep into the unknown. He feels Agens of Change are all around us.

The common denominators he listed out are Change Agents being brave, instinctive, going all the way and, contrary to popular belief, not being catalysts and acting together on taking challenges head-on.

On real Change Agents, Gupta remarked that they are ones who don't wait on a fence to adopt a new technology or a business model. If a breakthrough appeals to them, they would not wait for other guinea pigs before taking the plunge. The bigger the risk, the better those rewards that evade us now.

Relying on instincts is another important factor that differentiates great leaders from ordinary ones. He said a business leader can't be waiting for some esoteric research to give an excuse to avoid a peremptory change because a real change agent goes by the gut.

Piece-meal approach to a really-needed change scenario, according to Gupta, defeats the very purpose of a change by killing its spirit and thrill into slices. Good change agents go all the way, no matter how difficult it looks.

He told the CIOs that Agents of Change are around everyone and how they can't be copied. "Just be inspired from them if need be, but chart your own change agent hero. Be one!" he said.

 

These are just a few drops of wisdom from the great ocean of knowledge that C-Change 2013 is. It is about the journey ahead for enterprises and to showcase how a CIO can take advantage of the present business environment to create new values and newer partnerships for the benefit of his/her enterprise.

Over the three days, C-Change has sessions and keynote addresses by Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Art of Bringing About Change), former Indian cricket captain, Rahul Dravid (leadership lessons and charity dinner), on Day 1, noted journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta (India's Political Economy in 2013-14: Cloudy or Sunny?) on Friday, former director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Dr B.N. Suresh, (Applying Space Technologies Smartly for Benefit of Mankind) and renowned aerospace scientist, Roddam Narasimha (Science of Tomorrow) on Saturday. There will also be insightful panel discussions on a range of relevant new-age topics.

Real change begins here.

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