[A public yet personal message to the latest batch of Indian Information Service (IIS) Officer Trainees, commencing their "Orientation Course in Media & Communication" at Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) today (9th February, 2016)]
(Shall hopefully be of some value to non-IIS as well!)
Dear Friends,
Let me take a moment to welcome each and everyone of you to the Indian Information Service. We are happy and proud to have you with us. You too must be happy and grateful for this opportunity you have gifted yourself. To change lives for good, through more effective public service communication.
Here are 12 humble tips I would like to offer, for a great training experience.
1) Be the driver
It is your training; take charge of it! Remember that you are equally - if not more - responsible for your training experience than your Course Director and other instructors. Give active continual feedback on the training as it proceeds. Your trainers too want you to have a great training; help them!
Is there a particular topic on which you want a session (eg: media economics, innovation management, data journalism, quantitative techniques in communication)? Is there a particular type of speaker you are missing out on (TED speakers, social entrepreneurs)? Ask and you will be given!
2) Be Mrs. Doubtfire!
Or Mr., if you can't. Question Everything! Including the above statement! Governments are often laggards in embracing change and innovation, due largely to the dominant sycophantic culture of "Yes Sir/Madam". Stay clear of it. Learn to listen, ask and understand; before settling for easy answers. It is more important to ask the right questions, than to have the right answers for the wrong questions! And keep asking! Let your questions extend beyond the classroom; let them have no end!
3) Be Kind
Respect Everyone! In almost every training, there are instructors who inspire us, and some who don't. Nevertheless, remember that Nature helps those who helps themselves. Inspiration too favours the prepared mind. I am happy to recollect that I have been able to find inspiration from sessions which some of my friends apparently found absolutely boring and useless.
Keep an open mind, you can learn from anyone; even the worst session may teach us a great lesson in how NOT to conduct a session. Like a session I took for the Training Batch of 2014! :)
Besides, who knows whose one line can change your life on what day? Here are some messages from our training which I found insightful/inspiring.
4) Climb on the Shoulders of Giants
You will interact with many veterans from the fields of communication, governance and others. Have an eye for the giant in them. Delve deep into their experiences, struggles - their journey. How they made it. And what inspired them to keep going.
Ask them how it was then, and what has (and has not) changed, and why. Get a fine grasp of the history of our organizations and our discipline. It will make you a better leader.
5) Challenge Authority - Respectfully!
Even the giants are to be questioned, even challenged - respectfully though. Everyone of us is at least a partial prisoner of our times, our experiences and the lessons they have gifted us. We need to challenge our dogmas continually, for real progress to occur. For instance, to someone extolling the virtues of mass communication, ask: can't communication be both mass and personalized?
While we must not forget to question out of respect, we must also not forget to respect while questioning. We need to learn the art of respectful questioning.
6) Practise Democracy
Hold debates.
IIS has a very unique role in enriching the practice of democracy. No, that is perhaps the very essence of the service - democratizing governance, building a more vibrant, richer democracy.
So, begin by practising it in the classroom and outside. Celebrate the diversity of your colleagues. Deliberate on issues, it will expand both your knowledge and ignorance. Of both issues, and of each other.
Encourage dissent from all quarters. Learn not only to say NO, but to receive it as well!
7) Dig deep
Take the time to go a little deep into every subject and topic you study. Don't undermine the value of good theory.
Think of the conceptual foundations of the subject areas. What does it deal with - fundamentally? What are the core principles and theories of the discipline? How do they play out in reality? Why? And what has (and has not) changed recently? What needs to? What are the open questions in the discipline? What are the related disciplines?
This will not only give you a good conceptual understanding of your field over time, but also make you fall in love with it, and groom you as an expert.
8) Go Wide
Read widely. Use the library well. The IIMC Library is pretty good. I have been fortunate to have read a few good books: Development as Communication, Communication for Another Development: Listening before Telling and A Guide to Empirical Research in Communication: Rules for Looking, to name a few. I also regret not having read more; many others.
9) Maintain a Training blog / Diary
Why don't you chronicle your learnings and experiences in the form of a blog, updated daily? This can be done, perhaps in addition to the Facebook Page and Twitter account for IIS Officer Trainees.
10) Live-tweet / record sessions
What about live-tweeting some of the sessions? It would be a good social media practice session, besides allowing you to share your classroom insights potentially with the whole world. If you can top it with YouTube live-streaming or simply recording followed by a web upload later, nothing like it! Of course, with the permission of the instructor.
11) Build each other
There are a lot of things we can learn from each other. Often, more than we seem to be realizing! Hold regular after-class sessions where you can share your ideas, knowledge and ignorance. You can teach each other typing, coding, IT skills, a new language, music or just anything else you know something of. You can hold Toastmasters-like sessions to refine your public speaking skills, to groom yourselves as future spokespersons of Government of India.
Happy to note with gratitude that our friend Mahima had taken the initiative to hold a few sessions on IT skills, during our training.
12) Change the World!
Great #Leaders— Student of Life (@DheepJoy) September 3, 2015
1 Stand on the #ShouldersOfGiants
2 Look #BeyondTheHorizon
3 #SeeTheInvisible
4 Gift New Eyes pic.twitter.com/ego0KAwWWN
Aim High. Set high standards for the overall training, as well as for every little task you undertake. Do this for individual tasks as well as group projects.
Why not publish a research paper in a leading journal, from your work on the communication research project? None of us (in my batch) did it! Well, your aim can be higher than that.
Why not prepare a research-based report charting the future of every media unit under the Ministry of I&B, during the course of your training? Why not prepare a roadmap for the future of public service communication itself? And why not work with media units in implementing some of your ideas for change?
Why not prepare a research-based report charting the future of every media unit under the Ministry of I&B, during the course of your training? Why not prepare a roadmap for the future of public service communication itself? And why not work with media units in implementing some of your ideas for change?
The sky is not the limit!
Let me stop here! We already know that there is a very bright batch of young Officer Trainees, ready to embark on the training with full vigour and positive energy. Some of you have already shown your brilliance and commitment, while working with us in various capacities. We shall look forward to interacting with you and learning from you. Do lead the way. Wish you all the very best. For a wonderful, inspiring, fruitful and memorable training.
Thank you very much for your kind attention. Feel free to share and/or leave your thoughts! And to add your own tips for a great IIS training. Thanks again.
