Preface

While constructing my house at Secunderabad (AP), I went to witness the laying of the first slab by the builder. The builder told me before laying the slab that if I wanted any minor changes to be made in my house it had to be done before starting the laying of the slab and no changes would be done after construction of the slab. Since my wife and self had discussed and changed so many designs of the house there was a lingering doubt in my mind whether the house I was constructing would meet my full requirements or would it fall short of it. Sometimes I also had a feeling that the house I was building might be too big for me to maintain in my old age. With these doubts in my mind I climbed the roof top of my neighbour’s house to witness the laying of the ground floor slab. It was a hectic activity that I was witnessing. While my doubt was still disturbing me whether the space I was building was adequate or not, I observed a small semi nude urchin a child of one of the labourers fast asleep on a gunny sack right in middle of the hectic activity that was going on. On seeing the child I laughed at myself for being so confused and uncomfortable with the space I was building; here very before my eyes slept a kid who just needed 2’*2’ of space and was most comfortable in that space. Also I thought of his parents who must have built so many palatial houses while they lived in a make shift shelter made of plastic sheet for a roof. Next day I discussed this dilemma with my colleague then a Colonel and now retired Lt Gen BK Chengappa. ‘Chengs’, as he was popularly known very casually told me “Pradeep life is nothing but a struggle for space.” These pearls of wisdom appealed to my inner conscience and that triggered my quest for research on this subject. During the course of my study I came across the word life space coined by Kurt Lewin.

I found that life space as such had not been adequately researched and life space management certainly had no literature available. I found the subject intriguing and interesting. Though life and space both had been researched and analysed in great depth by various sciences and intellectuals yet it remained an enigma worth exploring. I therefore sought the views of my spiritual Guru Shri Shivrudrabalayayogi. He in a very simple manner explained and guided me to understand both about life and space and its relevance to our existence.

After my research I tried to experiment in my own small way whether the theory that I had worked on had a pragmatic application or not. To my joy I found it works. It has brought about a massive change in my life. I am able to connect with people better.

If this theory of life space management has worked for me I am sure it will work for you too. After all life is all about exploring and experimenting with new ideas and concepts.

I wish you all become huge creators of life space in the environment. May your name fame and glory become eternal.

- Brigadier Pradeep Singh Siwach (Retd)

Acknowledgement

At the outset, I whole heartedly express my deep sense of gratitude to my Supervisor, Dr Vanka Sita, Professor, School of Management Studies, Central University Hyderabad, who was a constant source of inspiration in execution of this research work from the beginning to end. But for her guidance, encouragement and help my thesis could not have been completed. She inspired me to convert my thesis “Application of Life Space Management a comparative study between Defence and Civil Organaisations”into this book.

I am also thankful to the respondents of the study area, from defence services, academics and industry across the country, for their kind cooperation in data collection.

I would be failing in my duty, if I do not place on record my gratitude to my Spiritual Guru Shri Shivrudrabalyogi for the moral support and guidance provided for the study, without which I could not have achieved anything. I also owe my gratitude to my parents who have always been a source of inspiration to me.

I owe my thanks to all others who have helped me in my journey of research. I am grateful to my PA Sandeep Sharma who has helped me in compiling my book. My wife Alka and daughters Priyanka and Samiksha deserve a mention for putting up with me during the course of this study

- Brigadier Pradeep Singh Siwach (Retd)

Chapter 1

Introduction

Every human being is born with a specific purpose. One of the main purposes of human existence is to be an effective part of a family, group, society or organization. No human being can exist in isolation. A man living in isolation will alienate the individual from human condition and thus deprive the individual from human living environment and experiential learning. (Zimbardo. Ebbesen, Maslach, 1977). The relevance of purpose is not fully comprehended by vast majority and they waste a full life time in trying to define or find out the purpose of their existence. In Mahabharat it is mentioned that even Lord Krishna had told Arjuna that everything in this universe is created for a purpose. He had told him when Arjuna wept on seeing his dearest chariot burn and reduce to ashes after the great battle of Mahabharata was over. The great chariot was gifted to Arjuna by Agni Deva (diety of fire) and same got burnt because its purpose for which it was created was achieved and it was no longer required. (Kamala Subramanium, 2004). As per Sri Manibhai (1998), man in his present form, lives in a state of ignorance. He has no true goal of life and wastes his whole life driven by passions and endless desires. Man is a very complex living being gifted with faculty of an independent mind and thinking process. Yet that intellect is not fully utilized to define the purpose of one’s existence.

The greatest challenge in any organisation or walk of life is to understand human behaviour especially in a work environment. Study of human behaviour in the work environment covers more than just the activities involved with the actual work. There are several other variables that influence and generate formal and informal interactions that have an impact on human behaviour. (Francis & Milbourn Jr,1980).Families, societies, and organizations are all made up of people. The real life energy in these small and big social systems is dependent on the human beings only; as by themselves they are nothing. The characteristics of these social and professional systems are an outcome of collective characteristics of the individuals who are part of these systems. Before one understands the characteristics of organizations one must understand individual human behaviour. Human behaviour is complex and unpredictable. So much of research work has been carried out on study of human behaviour, and yet there is no definite theory that is complete in itself to define human behaviour. Human beings not only come in various shapes and sizes but also behave in exceedingly complex ways. Psychology, sociology, anthropology, astrology, theology, philosophy, literature and life sciences represent some of the many means taken to understand the complexity of human existence and behaviour. (Hjelle and Ziegler, 1992).

Human beings are social animals. They are referred to as social animals because man is constantly interacting with other men. (Lawless, 1972). They come together for common good. It is said that modern world is a world of organizations. Etzioni (1965) writes, “We are born in organizations, educated by rganizations, and most of us spend much of our lives working for organizations.” Rao & Narayana (2000) quote Hicks and Gullet (1975) and explain that people organize for three material reasons: first to enlarge abilities, second to compress the time required to accomplish an objective and third to take advantage of the accumulated knowledge of previous generation. In these organizations the prime responsibility of management should be development of human resource. People first and not things first should be the approach of management; as management of man is most critical and important for survival of an organization. (Ravishankar & Mishra, 1994). In nearly all organisations there is a direct link between the effectiveness of individual employees in their role and the overall effectiveness and profitability, of the organisation. It is therefore management’s responsibility to ensure that they create an environment whereby employees continually become more effective at what they do. Managers need to help them understand how they should perform the role by identifying any gaps in their skills, knowledge and experience and providing training and other development opportunities to cover the new areas. Individuals need opportunities to take new skills learned in an offline environment and adopt them into routine behaviour in the workplace. This process can be hastened by skilled use of coaching and mentoring, as also making employees understand that the entire effectiveness of the organization depends on the collective effectiveness of the individuals. The entire growth of the organization is dependent on the effectiveness of the organization. The more effective it is the more life space it creates in the environment. Similarly in our daily lives at individual level; the amount of life space we create in the environment is a reflection of our effectiveness. This life space needs to be managed, to enhance our effectiveness.

Chapter 2

The Concept and Its Application

Every human being aspires to do well in life. It is an inherent desire that each human being posses. Certain ramifications of this desire manifest themselves through various acts and motives to present a picture of effectiveness in the desired field. Presentation of this picture of effectiveness and perfection is nothing but a representation of an effort to create the right space by an individual in the environment.

Human beings continuously spend a lot of time and energy to create the right space in the environment that they live in. This aspect of creation of space is an abstract concept that each individual practices without being aware of it. If this is an issue that is vigorously pursued by each individual then there is a need to understand how this should be managed to further enhance the effectiveness of individuals.

Is this concept applicable to human beings or does it have a universal application. If one closely observes the behavioural pattern of organisations and nations one comes to the conclusion that the behavioural pattern of these entities is a mere reflection of the sum total behaviour of the people of the organisation/ nation. This behaviour pattern is deeply influenced by the behavioural pattern of the leadership and the led. Since behaviour of these entities is a mere reflection of human behaviour, it is observed that even organisations and nations struggle for space and their entire effectiveness is dependent upon how well they manage to create the right space in the environment.

The corporate wars between competing rivals are the norm of the day. Bigger and modern industries have forced smaller industries to wind up their shop as they are not able to sustain themselves in a competitive environment. With the opening of Indian markets to global auto industry, Fiat and Ambassador Cars in India which ruled the roost during licence raj have suddenly become a thing of the past. Closure of several cottage industries in India reflects this competitive environment. Also dumping of cheap goods by developing/ developed nations has speeded up the closure of several industries the world over. Marketing strategies are all designed to create the right space with their present and potential customers and other stake holders. Pepsi and Coke turf wars are globally known. Mature industries do believe in win - win situations by dividing the territories of operation in an amicable way. Those industries which did not understand the relevance of creating the right space with their stake holders have either perished or are on the verge of closing down.

Similarly in politics and in media we read and hear comments on how India and Pakistan are vying with each other to create space with United States of America. Smaller nations struggle and compete with each other to create space with stronger nations for their survival. Even in the animal kingdom animals mark their territories and strongly guard them.

Lebensraum (living space) is a Nazi German word, which is a reflection of the struggle for space between nations. Though the geopolitical concept of lebensraum became popular during Hitler’s regime it was however coined by Friedrich Ratzel in the late nineteenth century. It was used as a slogan in Germany referring to the unification of the country and the acquisition of colonies, as per the English and French models. Ratzel propounded that the development of people is primarily influenced by their geographical situation, and that people that successfully adapted to one location would proceed naturally to another. This expansion to fill available space, he claimed, was a natural and necessary feature of any healthy species. These beliefs were furthered by scholars of the day, including Karl Haushofer and Friedrich von Bernhardi. Von Bernhardi’s in his book written in 1912 ‘Germany and the Next War’, expanded upon Ratzel’s hypotheses, and, for the first time, explicitly identified Eastern Europe as a source of new space for Germany. Adolf Hitler gave a practical dimension to lebensraum by expanding the boundaries of Germany as he mentioned in in his book ‘ Mein Kampf’ that Germany as a world power could not be confined to an absurd area of five hundred thousand square kilometers. While Germany at the end of Second World War became infamous for adapting lebensraum as a state policy, lebensraum today is practiced by all developing nations in nearly every field, be it economic, culture, defence, energy etc. Overthrow of regime in Afghanistan and invasion of Iraq post 9/11, twisting the arm of North Korea and Iran by US and her allies using nuclear proliferation as a theme is a physical manifestation of lebensraum in the present global environment. Invasion of culture through media is the invisible aspect of lebensraum exercised by the developed on helpless and developing nations.

In the fraternity of cosmologists there is a belief that, in space there are several other universes spatially finite, like our universe which is all jostling for space with each other. Andre Linde, a cosmologist, mentions recent versions of inflationary scenario that describes the universe as a self generating fractural that sprouts other inflationary universe. An aspect that cosmologists theorize about universe is that they are dynamic and self reproducing. If universes are self reproducing then they are also growing and if they are growing then they will need more and more space.

In fact struggle for space is cosmic and universal in nature. Struggle for space starts from the smallest element and this has been scientifically validated.

The universe we live in has one fundamental property, it is expanding. This property is known as the ‘Hubble Flow’ after the scientist Edwin Hubble. Anything that is expanding will require more and more space.

Even human beings attempt to expand in their chosen fields. In a given environment, space is finite; therefore individual human beings, organisations, nations and universes in their attempt to expand encroach upon others space. This encroachment of space is also a struggle for survival. Darwinian Theory espouses survival of the fittest implying an aggressive attitude of human behaviour wherein the human being wants to control the environment by possessing the environment. In their quest to control the environment there is a constant struggle for space at all levels i.e. individual, organisational and national level. Sri Aurobindo (1970) too supplements this view, “ The struggle for life is not only a struggle to survive, it is also a struggle for possession and perfection, since only by taking hold of the environment whether more or less, whether by self-adaptation to it or by adapting it to oneself either by accepting and conciliating it or by conquering and changing it, can survival be secured, and equally it is true that only greater and greater perfection can assure a continuous permanence, a lasting survival”. Struggle for space therefore is a cosmic phenomenon, which is practiced by all.

The phenomenon would consist of certain root parameters which if managed or applied well would enhance effectiveness of an individual, an organisation or a nation. From a general observation it is evident that managing life space is an intrinsic nature with human beings as they continue to practice the same subconsciously. In the field of management this aspect is not well documented, though several researches on basic parameters of life space have been carried out by various philosophers, psychologists and behavioural scientists.

Chapter 3

What is Life Space

What is life space needs to be understood in greater detail before analysis of its application. Life Space is a term which has been coined by Kurt Lewin a charismatic US psychologist of German origin. Lewin is known as the founder of modern psychology in the field of human behaviour. The development of his field theory which propounds that human behaviour is the function of both the person and the environment expressed in symbolic terms, B= f(P,E). To elaborate it would emerge that in a given situation S (i.e., a particular person P in a particular environment E) have the event B and no other as a result? This question is answered if we succeed in discovering the dynamic structure of the situation in question. As per Kurt Lewin the cause of the event consists in the properties of the momentary life space or of certain integral parts of it.

Kurt Lewin’s field theory has its roots in Gestalt theory. (A gestalt is a coherent whole. It has its own laws, and is a construct of the individual mind rather than ‘reality’). As per Lewin a field is defined as ‘the totality of coexisting facts which are conceived of as mutually interdependent. The whole psychological field has been defined as ‘life space’ by Kurt Lewin. As per him it is ‘life space’, within which people act. In order to understand human behaviour one must understand the dynamics of life space. Psychological field is generally abstract. Kurt Lewin tried to represent it in mathematical terms by drawing its boundaries in topological terms by drawing maps of the various psychological fields. If we are to accomplish the task of deriving the behaviour of the person (in more general terms: the psychological events) from the life space, we have to characterize it as the “totality of possible events.”

What is meant by psychological life space and what must one take into consideration in order to represent it? While psychological life space is abstract in nature it is influenced by the physical and social environment in which the individual exists. Therefore one will have to understand the physical and social environment of the individual that are important for him at the given moment. Physical environment can be represented by his residence, workplace, town or country; while social environment can be represented by relationships to other persons, their positions and personalities, and his own place in society. At the same time, his longings and ambitions will also play an important role including his fears, thoughts, ideals, and daydreams, in short everything that from the standpoint of the psychologist exists for this person. It is, however, not always easy to determine what things exist psychologically for a given person. The most obvious method might seem to be the use of consciousness as a criterion. This would mean that the physical and social environment would be treated as psychological environment in so far as the person is conscious of them.

• Victor Daniel (2005) agrees with Kurt Lewin, that life space is determined by the environment and the people one is in association with. Life space according to him includes: two dimensions one of physical existence and the other of mental existence. He elaborates it by saying, “When you’re planning what to do tomorrow, your life-space is not the room you’re in now but the place where you expect to be tomorrow. Your present locomotion in that expected environment involves deciding on one course of action rather than another, as a result of vectors that impel you in one or another direction.” Perceptions deeply influence these vectors.

• Within this individuals and groups can be identified in topological terms (using map-like representations). Individuals participate in a series of life spaces (such as the family, work, society), and these were constructed under the influence of various force vectors.

It is felt that life space as defined by Kurt Lewin is restrictive therefore to further understand Life Space and its management it is better to define and understand the two rudimentary elements of life space i.e. Life and Space in greater detail for that would help clarify what constitutes life space.

Chapter 4

Defining Life

Perceptions about life vary from individual to individual. Though all have an idea and rudimentary understanding of life yet no one can give any one definition to life, for life emerges as varied as the preceptor of life. It is therefore very difficult to have a universal definition of life. Life is defined in different connotations by various authors and scientists. Definition of life as given by a biologist will vary in content from that of a philosopher and so on. One can understand the deeper meaning of life without taking a holistic approach. This would be possible by analysing the meaning of life as spelt out in various sciences and by various personalities from different perspectives.

Biological Viewpoint

As per Wikipedia free encyclopedia “Life is a multi-faceted concept. Life may refer to the ongoing process of which living things are a part; the period between the birth (or a point at which the entity can be considered to be living) and death of an organism; the condition of an entity that has been born (or reached the point in its existence at which it can be established to be alive) and has yet to die; and that which makes a living thing alive.” A conventional biological definition as per Wikipedia free encyclopedia mentions that an entity may be considered to be alive if it exhibits growth, metabolism, motion, reproduction and response to stimuli. Similar views have been expressed in The American Heritage Stedman’s Medical Dictionary’, which describes that the property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms and inanimate matter, is manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, reproduction, and response to stimuli or adaptation to the environment originating from within the organism. An analysis of these conventional definitions reveals certain inherent drawbacks in these definitions. As per these definitions fire can be classified as having life as it moves responds and grows. Similarly a mule or an ant would be classified as non living as they do not reproduce. Modern biology explains life, living beings, as a highly organized material entities composed of cells composed of molecules and as results of a long process of evolution by ripe with emergent structure.

Another biological view and definition of life has been given by Haboku Nakamura - Biology Institute, Konan University, Kobe, Japan, as “Living beings are systems that have three simultaneous features: they are self-supported, they reproduce themselves and they evolve through interaction with the environment.” Further Sidney Fox of South Alabama University, USA, speaks of living beings as protein-made bodies formed by one or more cells that communicate with the environment through information transfer carried out by electric impulses or chemical substances, and capable of morphological evolution and metabolism, growth and reproduction.

Anything that is born must die is a universal truth. Therefore life is the state of being which begins with generation, birth, or germination, and ends with death. The time during which this state continues; that state of an animal or plant in which all or any of its organs are capable of performing all or any of their functions; used of all animal and vegetable organisms can described as the period of life.

Anthropologist View

These days, a popular definition of what it means to be alive is to say that ‘life’ is a chemical system that can undergo Darwinian evolution. This sounds pretty good since Darwinian evolution is certainly fundamental to all terrestrial life.

Philosophical View

Camilo J. Cela-Conde of Dept. of Philosophy, University of Baleares mentions that living beings are able to elaborate information in such a way that in the sequence “environmental stimulus - construction of knowledge - motor response”, the possible results in terms of input that cannot be mechanically predicted.

Helen Keller writes “Life is a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” Theun Mares writes in his book ‘The Mists Of Dragon Lore’ “Life for the average man and woman is nothing more than a dream, and their actions nothing more than folly. And yet this does not imply that life is not real, or that it cannot be real, nor does it imply that our actions are useless. What this aphorism does imply is that life is not what men and women believe it to be, and that if we base our actions on this false sense of reality, then our actions must perforce amount to folly.”

“Life is like music,” said Lazcano, “you can describe it but not define.” And as in the case of time and music, the challenge to define life persists.

Life seems to evolve - evolution in consciousness, physical / mental / emotional / spiritual evolution. - from dense matter to lighter matter, from within without and thus life seems to obey certain laws - Natural laws, Universal laws, Physical laws, Newton’s gravity laws and cause and affect etc. In human beings this evolution of life can be extended to the union of the soul and body; also, the duration of their union; sometimes, the deathless quality or existence of the soul; as, man is a creature having an immortal life.

Temporal

Temporal dimension to life has been added by physict Ayashlom C Ilitzur, who describes life as a process by which a spatio-temporal pattern, existing in a multitude of places and times, becomes a causal agent by itself. It is liberated of the constraints of its material medium, thereby interacting not only with the local, random aspects of the environment, but, also increasingly, with the invariant spatio-temporal regularities underlying it, namely, physical laws themselves

An Indian View

Sri Aurobindo the renowned freedom fighter and saint of India explained the highest ideals of life. He wrote about mind as a creative cosmic agency. He further elaborated that there is a subconscious mind in the force and matter which is at work which is responsible for its own emergence and for the emergence of forms of life and mind itself. He also mentioned about a constant dynamic energy in movement in the universe which takes various material forms and is stored and active as a constant dynamic force which we associate with the idea of life. He summed up life in the following words, “ Life then is the dynamic play of a universal Force, a force in which mental consciousness and nervous vitality are in some form or at least in their principle always inherent and therefore they appear and organise themselves in our world in the form of Matter” Sri Aurobindo (1970).

Defining life is a futile effort; is very common among biologists, even though this complete and unreflective refusal of the very question does not constitute standard view. Most scientists are extremely skeptical toward attempts to make clear definitions of living beings - their objects of study. They simply assert (with some justification) that a definition is of no use in solving the various experimental puzzles of normal research. Claus Emmeche mentions that in a DNA lab or a molecular biology department, or in a research seminar, if one were to ask about what definition of life the researcher takes as his or her point of departure, one will be met with an indulgent smile.

Astrobiology Magazine sought out expert opinion on this important question from Dr. Carol Cleland, who teaches philosophy at Colorado University in Boulder and is a member of NASA’s Astrobiology Institute. She shared her thoughts on the power of definitions to shape science and philosophy. She argued that it is a mistake to try to define “life.” Such efforts reflect fundamental misunderstandings about the nature and power of definitions.

Definitions tell us about the meanings of words in our language, as opposed to telling us about the nature of the world. In the case of life, scientists are interested in the nature of life; they are not interested in what the word “life” happens to mean in the language. What really needed is to focus on coming up with an adequately general theory of living systems, as opposed to a definition of “life.” But in order to formulate a general theory of living systems, one needs more than a single example of life. As revealed by its remarkable biochemical and microbiological similarities, life on Earth has a common origin. Despite its amazing morphological diversity, terrestrial life represents only a single case. The key to formulating a general theory of living systems is to explore alternative possibilities for life. It would be interesting in formulating a strategy for searching for extraterrestrial life that allows one to push the boundaries of our earth-centric concepts of life.

One thing almost everyone would agree on is that life is a complex phenomenon, with many facets that emerge only after careful examination. (Joseph Morales, 1998), yet it is notoriously difficult to say what exactly is life. Many like Taylor, Farmer and Belin (1992) have put across similar view point. Also there seems to be no single property that characterizes life. Any property that we assign to life is either too broad, so that it characterizes many nonliving systems as well, or too specific, so that we can find counter-examples that we intuitively feel to be alive, but that do not satisfy it. The fact today is that we know of no set of individually necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for life. Mark A Bedau proposes that an automatic and continually creative evolutionary process of adapting to changing environments is the primary form of life.

From study of all definitions of life as enunciated by various people it emerges that all definitions fall short as they do not cover all aspects of life and are thus restrictive in nature. Life as a creative evolutionary process as is generally understood by all is considered for this study.

Chapter 5

Understanding Space

The vastness of space seems beyond comprehension therefore space has also been defined as the unlimited expanse in which everything is located. It is also defined as an interval between two times. Absolute space is defined as physical space independent of what occupies it. Space and time are thus interrelated and need to be studied as such. As everything in this universe exists in space, various dimensions of space thus need to be studied and analysed to comprehend the relevance of space in our lives. Space itself has been defined in different terms based on how space is construed and perceived in its various dimensions. Holistic understanding of space in its various dimensions will thus give a more comprehensive insight of space which is relevant for this study. Some of these dimensions of space are enumerated in succeeding paragraphs:-

Physical space

Space as is visible, felt and comprehended is a mere reflection of the physical space. In this physical space one experiences one’s own existence and the existence of the environment. This physical environment consists of various activity centers like house, work place, markets and communication means etc. This can also be labeled as the existential space. This existential space has a great influence on human behaviour. Existential space combines an experience of space with a remaking of the space of the lived world. Both these activities are largely without formal conceptualization. In contrast, architecture space is also founded on spatial experience involved in a deliberate attempt to create spaces in the environment.

Environment thus becomes an activity space - originally a physical space but now days with proliferation of information technology even virtual spaces qualify as activity spaces; which are well populated with resources, tools and restrictions in which a living being operates. Same physical space can support multiple environments or activity spaces. A simple fact is that there is more to activity spaces than mere physical presence. Every environment simultaneously represents a space of possibility and a set of constraints. An enviro nment is thus the space in which structures are created and actions have consequences. A very important facet of work environment therefore is that it constrains both what is possible or acceptable to do, and what happens as a result of performing actions. It is partly the product of projections and partly the product of underlying causal realities.