7.4 Organizational Competency Mapping

(Or: "How to turn your team's hidden superpowers into strategic weapons")

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7.4.1 The "Who Knows What?" Matrix

Your Startup's Secret Social Capital

🚨 3 Must-Knows for Every Indian Founder

1. Regulatory Whisperers

o Who has relatives in:

 GST department

 State electricity boards

 Municipal corporation

2. Hustle Skills

o Best at negotiating with:

 Truck unions (Transporters)

 Police/RTOs during checks

 Angry customers

3. Shadow IT

o Who can:

 Fix the printer without calling tech support

 Bypass SAP errors with Excel magic

🔥 War Story:

A Mumbai startup discovered their office boy's uncle was an assistant commissioner after paying ₹4L in "consultant fees" for a license that took him 3 days to arrange.

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🛠️ Skills Matrix Template (Indian Jugaad Edition)

Employee Core Role Hidden Skills Key Contacts Crisis Value

@Amit (Sales) Account Manager Best at calming angry clients Cousin in DGFT (Export licenses) 🔥🔥🔥

@Priya (Ops) Logistics Trucker negotiation pro Brother-in-law in GST office 🔥🔥

@Rohit (Dev) Backend Engineer Fixes all IT issues College friend at AWS India 🔥

Color Code:

• 🟢 Green: Documented & trained others

• 🟡 Yellow: Known but siloed

• 🔴 Red: At risk if person leaves

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💡 Pro Hacks for Indian Startups

1. The "Chai Interview"

o During onboarding, ask:

"Who in your network could help us in a pinch?"

o Document in password-protected sheet

2. The Diwali Test

o Track who receives the most personal gifts from vendors → Reveals real influence

3. The Crisis Drill

o Monthly scenario: "Customs holding shipment. Who do we call?" → Measure response time

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📌 Founder's Toolkit

1. The "Dark Org Chart"

o Hidden version showing:

 Family connections

 Local language fluency

 Past side hustles

2. The Favor Ledger

o Track who helped whom → Prevents burnout of "go-to" people

3. The Competency Bazaar

o Quarterly marketplace where employees:

 Offer 1 skill (Excel hacks, regional contacts)

 Request 1 skill to learn

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🎯 Final Thought

"In India, your org chart is only 30% of the story. The real magic lives in WhatsApp groups and family trees."