The questions HR leaders think about, but rarely ask out loud.
- Why did our best performer stop helping anyone?
- Where did that honest exit interview go?
- Why is nobody saying the manager is the problem?
Mimansa is where we ask them, and search for answers you can act on.
Start with a story. You have probably seen one like it.
Real cases from Indian workplaces, shared by the people involved or someone they trusted. Every name and detail that could point to a person is changed. Use them to brief your HR team and your managers.
One question per article, worked through to an answer.
Each article takes one practice most organisations run without testing. Read the 2-minute version before a meeting, or the full piece, with a toolkit your team can use. All free.
The Exit Interview: A Ritual of Polite Lies
Why do we ask people why they're leaving, in the week they leave?
2 or 5 min readIs a Performance Improvement Plan Really a Plan to Improve?
Is a performance improvement plan really a plan to help someone improve?
3 or 4 min readWhy Organisations Don't Measure Training Application
If we can't measure training's impact on revenue, what should we measure?
3 or 5 min readAn old Indian way of asking hard questions.
Mimansa (मीमांसा) means deep inquiry. Its rule: don’t decide until you have named your doubt and heard the other side at its strongest.
Kyun (क्यों, “why”) is our host. He opens each article with its question. He never accuses. He asks, and waits.
One complaint we all hear: “Our managers don’t use what they learnt in leadership training.”
Step 1Name the doubt
संशय“How do we know they aren’t? What would using it even look like?”
Step 2Hear the other side
पूर्वपक्ष“Same managers, same meetings, same scores six months on. It looks like nothing changed.”
Step 3Answer, and conclude
निर्णय“We set no expectations and no measures. So we have no evidence either way.”
We can’t say they aren’t applying it. Before the next programme, agree two behaviours and a date to check.
Use the Before Training KitOne article and one tool, every fortnight.
Everything on Mimansa is free to read, watch and download. Join to get the fortnightly letter: a new article and a tool your team can use, and a story when one is ready.
Every piece starts with a question someone at work wanted to ask.