Questions HR asks in private, worked through in public.
Mimansa is research and advisory for CHROs and HR leaders in India, written by HR practitioners. Everything we publish is free to read, use and share.
Much of what HR runs has never been tested.
Exit interviews, PIPs, potential ratings, the annual training calendar. Most organisations run them every year. Few check whether they work.
The evidence is scattered, vendor reports are selling something, and conference panels stay polite. The real conversation happens in the corridor, and rarely reaches a decision. We started Mimansa to take those questions one at a time and work them through to a position an HR leader can take to the leadership team.
Three ways in, depending on the time you have.
Articles
One question, worked through. Read the 2-minute version before a meeting, or the full piece when you have five.
Read an article Video storiesStories
Real cases from Indian workplaces, with every name changed. Use them to brief your HR business partners and managers.
Watch a story 11 toolkits and playbooksToolkits
One-page tools and simple sheets your team can run this quarter. Each one comes from an article.
Find a toolkitNo account needed. Join only if you want the fortnightly letter.
Every question goes through the same three steps.
So you can see how we reached a position, and where you might disagree.
Name the doubt संशय
Say exactly what we are unsure of, and why it matters to the business.
Hear the other side पूर्वपक्ष
Give the case for how things are done today in its strongest form.
Answer, and conclude निर्णय
Answer with evidence and real cases. Then take a position, and put our name to it.
- Sources beside the numbers. Every figure we use carries its source in the margin.
- The author's words, unchanged. Short versions use the author's own lines; editors add notes, not opinions.
- No allegations shown as fact. In stories, every name is changed and nothing goes live without the teller's yes.
Why we are called Mimansa.
Centuries ago, Indian scholars built a method for questions that are hard to settle, and called it Mimansa. Its rule: don't decide until you have named your doubt and heard the other side at its strongest.
Our mark is two pillars: what is said at work, and what is meant. Most of what goes wrong at work sits in the gap between the two. The spark in that gap is a real question, and Kyun comes from it.
Our host.
Kyun is a slender loris, a small night animal from India's forests, with big eyes that see in the dark.
On each article, Kyun asks the opening question and then hands over to the author. He never accuses. He asks, and waits.