Signs of excellence, the ISRO way

Some years ago, I was part of a group of university teachers visiting the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bengaluru. I was interested in understanding how successful institutions operate and what we can learn about institutional health in general. What are the everyday virtues that such institutions display? 

In mature societies, institutions shape and socialise individuals within their fold. However, in societies where such long-standing institutional culture is absent, individuals shape institutions according to their own socialisation. One of the failures of Indian institutions of higher learning is that they have been shaped by the social backgrounds of the individuals who enter them and have failed to imprint their own character on individuals. I was curious to see if ISRO was an exception to this rule. 

The first indication was when the security guard, learning about our credentials, began lecturing us in his broken English, peasant Tamil, and immigrant Kannada about Aryabhata, the first Indian satellite. His explanation was more akin to garden variety sci-fi than rocket science. But the point was that a guard took pride in what the organisation stood for. This was the first tick on my list: regardless of depth of expertise, mature institutions instil a sense of pride and knowledge of their purpose across the entire spectrum of people who work for them. 

As we entered the driveway, someone brought out an immaculate steel trolley with tea and biscuits. Soon, a diverse crowd of interns, technicians, and guards gathered around, collected their coffee, chatted briefly, and then quickly returned to their desks. Another box ticked: mature institutions are successful in establishing enduring everyday rituals. 

Further down, someone was sweeping the lawns and pruning the hedges. Contrast this with any public Indian university, where hedges grow wild and building are dilapidated. Pune University is a case in point: wild, misshapen gardens with a scratchy tree cover. In the midst of this sits IUCAA, the premier institute for space sciences: manicured lawns, agile security personnel, well-maintained guest houses, and buildings designed with purpose and form. Tick: mature institutions do big things well but also pay equal attention to small details. 

We were received by Srinivas, our guide for this visit. He spoke for the institution. A big checkmark: mature institutions have complex hierarchies and rigid bureaucracies, but they bind their personnel with a common vision. He had at his disposal a standing exhibition of rocket-science artefacts, dilapidated but functional. He had likely given the same explanation to thousands of people, but he did not sound like a tour guide repeating monotonous phrases. He engaged us in his awkward but serviceable English with style. Another tick: in mature institutions, people grow and live up to the institution’s vision. Most importantly, they learn on the job. “We are all scientists here”, he said proudly.

He was a Scientist-D, closer to the lower rung in a hierarchy of levels from C to K. And finally is the Scientist O. “O for Outstanding”, he clarified. “Someday, he’ll reach there”, a colleague quipped. Someone else tried to ask him why the souvenir shop was closed. “That is different!”, was the curt answer, with an embarrassed wink before he quickly changed topics. While we owe to outsiders utmost cordiality, we owe the truth only to insiders. A checkmark all the way through. 

Walking to the hallowed “Clean Room”, a sterile environment where the satellites are assembled, (where even one faulty solder can renders a satellite worth millions useless), we all noticed the unmistakable scent of formalin. Cleanliness is one of the small but crucial details that big institutions don’t miss. Polished wood banisters and anti-skid strips at the edges of the marble steps added to this list.

We were allowed a glimpse into the Clean Room from a high portico through the windows where a group of young scientists were assembling circuits. From the other side of this sound-proof glass, their movements seemed unhurried but deliberate. Some wore anti-static footwear, paddling around like penguins --a point of great amusement to us. Srinivas was at pains to convince us that anti-static footwear is serious business. No ordinary sandals, those.

Another tick: mythmaking, despite all the bad press it receives, is a hallmark of mature institutions. Myths about the significance, potency, and impact of an institution reveal the self-image of those associated with it. I remembered my own institution, where we were all self-appointed iconoclasts. Nothing was sacred or mythical, with everything reduced to the ubiquitous deadwood of politics.  

Philip Larkin, the reticent English poet, described an old, abandoned church as “a piece of serious earth”. The ISRO Satellite Centre was that: a piece of serious earth for our desacralised world. 

(The writer is a professor at Chanakya University)