It was the summer of 1995, when I have an opportunity to take an eight-week educational trip to USA. Besides participating in a Strategic HR Program of Harvard Business School, I had an opportunity of meeting my teachers, who initially trained me. Although they were very much impressed with my career and professional growth, they picked up my dissatisfaction and probed in to it. Quiet reluctantly, I shared with them my inner feelings and my frustration as there was no one to discuss it with. They listened to me for hours, probed in to me, asked questions and finally after about 6 hours, said something that became instrumental in influencing my whole career and life. I do not remember exact words but what they said was something like this. “Faiez, you have a point. What you want to ask is a question that is ahead of its time and we are not surprised that no one had the answer. On the other hand, we also think that you have been asking the question to wrong people. The answer to your question probably would come from philosophy, psychology or most probably from spiritual and religious sciences and you have been asking it to the management and HRD experts. How could they tell you something that they themselves don't know? Instead of living with confusion and dissatisfaction, you might want to consider the possibility of undertaking an in-depth tour into philosophy, psychology and religion, to find answers to your queries.” Three weeks later when I came back to Pakistan I resigned from the board of directors of a large consulting house to undertake a journey, which no one knew where it would lead. It's been eight years since I started my journey and still I could not see the finishing line. Everyday, I am discovering new truths of life. Although I have been sharing my learning through my books and seminars regularly and using it to heal the “soul” of my client's organizations, this is the first time that I am presenting the summary of my eight years long struggle and its “findings”.

The Case for Change
If globalization is perceived by many as a phenomenon putting an ever-increasing stress on organizations and reducing their chances of survival, then on the other hand, it has also proven to be a blessing in disguise for many others who took it as an opportunity of soul-searching, rediscovering the purpose of life, reestablishing their priorities and rebuilding the lost soul of their organizations. With ever-increasing cost of production, increased competition, open markets, increased wages, continuous pressures for increased quality at lesser prices, increased investment costs due to ever-changing customer's expectations and associated technology requirements, the only solution for survival is in becoming a fast-paced, highly effective and an efficient organization. There is no room left for any type of organizational fat (including fat in processes, systems, structures, policies, etc.) that would slow down the organizational capacity to react faster and better than its competition. On top of that, advancements in the field of technology and communication have tremendously improved the overall productivity and efficiency and thus the manning requirement in any industry has substantially reduced.