THE THEORY OF DIRTY LINEN : INSTITUTIONAL DIRTY LINEN HAVE TO BE CLEANED: NO EXCUSE IN ANY CASE

                       THE THEORY OF DIRTY LINEN :

 INSTITUTIONAL DIRTY LINEN HAVE TO BE CLEANED:
NO EXCUSE IN ANY CASE

There is a popular saying that “DIRTY LINEN SHOULD NOT BE WASHED IN PUBLIC “.  This saying originates from the word “LINEN” and Linen means the Strong Cloth (made of cotton or flax like natural fibre converted to a fabric) normally used as bedding material or a bedsheet. A bedsheet is the cloth that is spread over a bed on which people are supposed to sleep. It is understood but not discussed so openly what people do when they sleep over a bed. Thus the Linen gets stained and dirty when some people enjoy life secretly over the Linen. Therefore, the Dirty Linen, will have uncomfortable stains, originating from secret enjoyment of some people. The uncomfortable stains resulting out of secret enjoyment of some people, normally not shown/known to public, remain at its places and quietly cleaned by the engaged washer men. This context has been drawn to make the popular and convenient saying that “DIRTY LINEN SHOULD NOT BE WASHED IN PUBLIC “.

Now coming to the Institutions (or otherwise called as Organizations ); there will be people and resources ( monetary, material and non-material ), activities, policies, systems and processes to carry out the mandated activities of the Institution.  Normally there will be two tiers consisting of people.

The First tier, the Policy or Supervisory Tier, the common nomenclature globally for this Policy Tier or Supervisory Tier is “ Board “ (or in layman’s language commonly called as Management) with prefix or suffix of all kinds attached to it to call it something like “ Board of Governors “, “Board of Directors”, “Supervisory Board” ( the terminology “Supervisory Board” is generally used in European Organizations  ). For a Government, normally the equivalent of the “Board” is called as “Cabinet”. Given that there may be different terminologies for the “Board” in all kinds of Institutions/Organizations, however, the “ Board “ is primarily the First Tier of people, who formulate the policies and directives for the Institutions and they supervise that the institutions/organizations follow the policies and directives in carrying out the mandated activities of the Institutions within the formulated policies and activities to achieve the purpose and objectives of existence for the institutions.

The Second tier, is the Operative or Activities Tier of people is normally called as the Executive Tier or Executive Management and in some organizations it is also called as “Executive Board”( the European Organizations where they call the First Tier as Supervisory Board, they call the Second Tire as Management Board/Executive Board ), there are many number of nomenclature for it, let it be there, it is immaterial, however, it is the Operative  or Activities Tier of people below the Board until the Rock Bottom or Lowest level in the hierarchy of the organization.

Thus, essentially, the institutions have people at the aforesaid two tiers to run the organizations, manage its resources and activities, it is ubiquitous, it is everywhere. When there are people in institutions, there will be some people to somehow get into actions and activities, that are not within the mandated frame work of Policies and Activities of the Institution. As explained above, as the linens get dirty or stained by secret activities of enjoyment of some people, similarly, in the institutions when some people get into actions that lead to activities that cannot be acceptable, it is also out of temptation of some people to enjoy their life in some way or other by exploiting the resources or institutional mechanisms and processes. Like there would be stains on the dirty linen resulting out of enjoyment of some people over it, the unacceptable conduct and activities in the institutions by some people would create stains on the institutional platforms ( which are called as Institutional Linen in equivalence of terminology used for the Linen ) that are equivalently called as “dirty linens”. The unacceptable conduct in the Institutions, that are in fact the stains, may be by misuse, mismanagement and exploitation of resources (including monetary resources ) and institutional mechanisms. The Institutional Platforms that are the equivalent Linens of the Institution can be stained at either of the tiers ( either Board or Operational tier ) or at both the Tiers. This is called as the Dirty Linen in Institutions. The Institutional Linens can become Dirty Linens and it happens, it does happen many times, goes without saying. Where there are people, linens are bound to be dirty sometime or other. When the institutional linens become dirty linens, some how or other, it becomes known whether internally or externally by various signals, as in any case, the truth will find its own way out.

While the dirty linen have to be washed and cleaned in any case; the Institutional dirty linens have to be cleaned in any case, for the Institutions to perform better and continue in the path of its mandated purpose and objectives. However, when it will be known that the Institutional linen is getting dirty, while there will be efforts to clean it, there will also be obviously efforts by some to push it under the carpet or cover it up, that is where the popular saying “ Dirty Linen should not be washed in Public “ will be dropped conveniently and even purposefully to diffuse the efforts of cleaning the dirty linens in many cases for that matter.

Yes, it is a very popular and convenient saying and is normally said everywhere in most opportunities cleverly, that the “ Dirty Linen should not be washed in Public “ .  The intention behind the saying that the “Dirty Linens should not be washed in Public “ is also understood by any layman, that the reputation of the Institution will be at stake, at the same time, in almost all the cases of such situations, some people who would have enjoyed the Celebrity Status in the Institutions and would have been saluted all the while by everyone in the Institutions giving big credibility to such people, would be responsible for making the Institutional Linens dirty due to their unacceptable conduct they get involved into by taking it granted that their acquired credibility entitled them for such conduct uncontrolled and would be able to keep such conduct covered permanently, which in reality does not happen, and again, the truth will find its own way out.

Then the Question comes, if the Dirty Linens should not be washed in public, where can the Dirty Linen be Washed ? The Dirty Linen have to be cleaned of course and in any case! The corollary answer is ...... The Dirty Linens have to be in any case washed and it has to be washed at the right " Dhobi Ghat " (Washermen's Shore ) where the Washermen are supposed to Wet the Dirty Linen, Heat it Up, Beat it Up, Squeeze it up, Dry it up and then Iron it out on a heavy hot iron. The equivalent of the " Dhobi Ghat " is modern day Washing Machine and the equivalent of modern day washing machine is the " Social Media Peer Group" (otherwise the name is the Stakeholder Group ).

For a moment, it is to be taken as the reality, that there are Dirty Linens in the Institutions. As I said above, the Dirty Linens could be prevailing in the First Tier of People that is the “Board Tier “ or at the Second Tier of People that is the “ Operative Tier “ or at both the Tiers.  In most of the cases of the institutions, when the Linens of the First Tier (Board Tier ) are clean enough, the Linens of the Second Tier ( Operative Tier ) will be reasonably clean.

In the modern days and contemporary times, the Social Media Peer Groups ( Stake Holder Groups assembled by any Apps) can act like the right “Dhobi Ghat” ( Washermen’s Shore ) to clean the Institutional Dirty Linens to a large extent. By the Social Media Peer Groups, I clarify again that I meant the “ Stake Holder Groups “. In the past, due to lack of proper and faster as well as efficient communication platforms, it was difficult for the Peer Groups to assemble, discuss, churn out facts, communicate, recommend, influence, induce and generate pressure in the Institutions for taking corrective actions or get into corrective actions through the Institutions for the purpose of cleaning the Dirty Institutional Linen. However, in the present days and contemporary times, while common social media platforms are available in plenty ( examples, Whats App, Signal, Facebook and what not groups for that matter )  for the Peer Groups (otherwise called as Stake Holder Groups) to assemble without physical limitations, communicate in groups much faster among themselves in fraction of a second without loss of time, discuss and churn out facts; then generating and leading corrective actions in the relevant institutions is quite easy and practicable. Let me also say that in most of the cases, the Peer Groups ( or Stake Holder Groups ) can influence, recommend, induce, pressurize, effect and put in place Corrective Actions in institutions much faster, efficiently and effectively than the court interventions ( as done in extreme cases also). The examples of Peer Groups (Stake Holder Groups) could be “Employee Associations”, “ Officers Associations “, “ Resident Associations “, “Farmers Associations/Unions “, “ Producers Associations “, “ Distributors/Dealers Associations”, “Share Holder Groups”, or similar Associations or Unions in various fields of Institutions or for that matter, and “Student Unions”, “Alumni Groups”, “Alumni Associations”, “ Teachers/Faculty Associations”, “Parent Groups /Associations “ for Educational Institutions.

Where there are Dirty Linens in the Institutions, if it is known to prevail at First Tier of People that is at the “Board Level”, in that case, invariably the source of the Dirt starts from  the Chair of the Board or the Chairman or Chair Person of the Board ( or in European Organizations mostly it is called as the President of the Board ). Along with the Chair of the Board, largely there would be associated Board Members as his/her pallid yes men / yes women for some common interests to pursue and exploit. Mostly such Chairs of the Board and his/her associated Board Members would have reached their places or chair/seats in the Board by unusual routes, and because they would have reached to such places by unusual routes, they would get involved and flock together in unusual conducts and activities. In such cases, the Cleaning of the Dirty Linen of the Institution would require Cleaning of the Board in the first place. First thing should be needed to change the person holding the Chair of the Board  ( by removing the person from the Institution, that is the best thing to do, and if not possible, change it within the board immediately for the short run and remove from the Institution in the long run) , because he/she is the first source of dirt and first source is the first and prime responsibility for the dirty linen. Then comes changing the members of the Board who are closely associated with such Chair of the Board or who have connived or have got associated with the Chair of the Board to get into unusual conduct or activities ( the best thing is to remove such persons from the Board ). After that, changing the composition of the Board is the next course of action. It would be most common to be seen; as birds of same feather flock together; people of similar back ground or past linkages would have congregated in the Board for some reason or other and due to some bias. Therefore, it would be necessary to change the composition of the Board to bring in members of the Board from various back grounds that can not make them to act in symbiosis within the Board and form subgroups of yes men and yes women.

If there are dirty linens occurring at the Second Tier of people in the Institution, it would be in most cases a fact that the Head of the Operating Tier is the first source of the Dirt in the second tier. Under normal circumstances, and almost in all the cases, the Head of the Second Tier, would be a Member of the First Tier (that is the Board ) and he has carried forward the “Dirt” from the First Tier. He /She will in all possibility try to carry forward the dirt among the Operative tier of people to encourage and create further dirty linens in the second tier. In such a case, the Head of the Operative Tier has to be changed ( the best would be to remove such persons from the Institutions fully ). Then, it would be necessary to identify the other sources of Dirt within the Operational tier who would have been closely operating with such Head of Operative tier and change their places of activity or remove or dissociate them from the institutions. In most of the cases, it may not be necessary to remove the people from the Operative Tier other than the Head and his associates, as in many cases it is not workable or practicable due to various reasons. After the Head is changed or removed from the Second Tier, his close associates are identified and then either removed (in case of serious lapses) or their activity domains in the institutions are changed or realigned.

The Dirty Linens persist in the Institutions where the Critical Stake Holder Groups either keep quiet or remain as passive observers or inactive groups or become subservient for some reason to the First Tier ( the Board ) or to the Operative Tier ( in most cases the Head of the Operative Tier who would be the primary source of Dirt in the Second Tier and can bulldoze with lot of bullish acts ) and the Stake Holder Groups do not take cognizance to clean the Dirty Linens and allow it to exist and continue in such conditions. It would also be a fact, that some of the Stake Holders would be associated with both the Tiers or either of the Tiers for some reason or other for their interest involved, therefore they would be vouching in favor of the sources of “Dirt” and should be trying to promote in favour of the sources of Dirt indirectly trying to reestablish the fact “ all is well “ and the Critical Stake Holders who are quiet or passive will tend to take the propagated sayings of the said favouring lot as a pinch of salt. There would be some stake holders who would be really and genuinely concerned and would be ventilating about the dirty linens in the institutions and trying for its cleaning, given the opportunity, they will be instrumental in most efficient and effective way to clean the dirty linens and run the Institutions, however, as a lot of Stake Holders would be quiet or passive, their voices would not get into effect and their efforts of cleaning may not be force enough for a pressured cleaning in the Institution.

It is the Stake Holders of the Institutions who have to take cognizance of the Dirty Linens in the institutions, who have to act in Peer Groups (Stake Holder Groups ) to ensure cleaning of the Dirty Linens of the Institutions. May be the minority or a small number who would be showing the real mirror or may be flashing exposures regarding existence of Dirty Linens, such voices are the real friends of the Institutions and not foes as it would be perceived in most of the times, they have to be collaborated by the Stake Holders and ensure a pressured cleaning of the Dirty Linens in the Institutions.

As I said, in any case the Dirty Linens of the Institutions have to be washed and cleaned and there is no excuse.  

( This post may look akin to any situation or situations may be existing in some institutions, however, it does not categorically target any institution per se and no one should have the liberty to point a definitely targeted institution linking to this post. The General Principles stated in the post are applicable in any or many institutions wherever it may be similar, however it cannot be said and in reality no specific institution has been targeted by this post – Disclaimer is being placed to that effect for this post )

About the Author : Dr. Nimain Charan  Biswal is a B.Sc.(Agri. Science and Technology). M.B.A. and Ph.D.( Management Area ) by qualifications and he has 35 years of work experience in both  industrial and development sectors in diversified fields of social importance. He has been educated at Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT)-Bhubaneswar, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) and Gujarat University ( with Resource Support of IIM-Ahmedabad ). Dr.Biswal is further educated at IIM-Calcutta, XLRI-Jamshedpur, Apple Computer Industries and Spar Inc., USA. He has worked for reputed National and International Organisations in Senior/Top Management Capacities. He is a management  expert covering extensive areas from management in agriculture, industrial management, development management to management of public systems. He is a prominent professional of India and known Internationally as well. He lives at Mumbai in India.