A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of watching the performance of Asiad Circus in Seelampur in Delhi. It was a lovely experience but it left me with mixed feelings – I was happy to see a simple yet entertaining show, but I was also sad to see the state of the artists and the circus as a business, and at the same time I felt nostalgic thinking about the glory days of circus during my childhood.

We have all grown up seeing a circus in its full glory with dazzling performances by the trapeze artists, the jugglers, the acrobats, the clowns, the assorted entertainers and the various animals. Over the last decade or so, the circus business has been going steadily downhill. The government banned the use of animals in circus resulting in many children not going to the circus anymore. Also today there are many other options for entertainment, and as a result circus audiences have been dwindling and many of the well-known circuses have closed shop.

As I was watching the circus, I was struck by some of the lessons that one could get from the circus which are relevant in today’s corporate world. I have tried to synthesize them below.

1.       Teamwork: the teamwork that we see in the circus between the various performers is fantastic. They work in absolute cohesion, aware of each other’s roles, covering up for each other’s lapses and ensuring that the performances happen as per plan. This comes from a lot of practice and is further aided by the fact that they all live together as a community. Corporates can draw learnings in terms of getting cross-functional teams to understand each other better, get involved in projects more upstream than downstream and collaborate well to achieve organizational goals.
   

2.       Trust: There is a very high level of trust that is seen in the circus. There was this blindfolded man throwing knives at a lady standing at a distance of 20 feet. Then there was this cowboy shooting bullets to burst balloons kept on top of a guy’s head. Of course, these require tremendous skill from the guys throwing the knives or shooting, but it also requires tremendous trust by the person at the receiving end. Organizations need to develop a culture of trust, where people are able share their fears and concerns, and work together in a safe and trusting environment.
   

3.       Mastery with resourcefulness: One thing that struck me about the performers was their mastery over their skill. These were artists performing dangerous stunts like throwing knives at a human target, riding motorcycles inside a cage, shooting a rifle blindfolded and so on. This is truly a matter of life and death, and there can be no slip-ups. They need to practice constantly and ensure that they get it absolutely right. And all of this with really limited resources. As professionals, we need to consistently hone our skills over a period of time and value-adding to ourselves so that we are able to drive executional excellence and value-add to the organization. And this can be done even with limited resources by drawing upon our resourcefulness.   
   

4.       Reinvention: The circus industry in India has not kept pace with the times, and in combination with the negative impact of certain adverse policies, is slowly dying. It has not managed to reinvent itself and stay relevant with the changing consumer needs. Contrast this to Cirque du Soleil, which started as a performing troupe in the 1980’s but has managed to contemporize itself and meet the growing consumer expectations by leveraging technology and creativity. Organizations need to constantly reinvent themselves, reassess their business models and retool the employees in order to stay relevant in the current context. Senior leadership plays a key role in anticipating challenges from the environment and setting the right vision and capabilities to address these challenges and drive growth.

As I walked out of the circus, I couldn’t but help wonder if there was some way that the circus industry can be revived so that it can continue to provide simple but wholesome entertainment to families. What can possibly help is some fresh investment from private bodies, the introduction of technology and some policy support from the government. I met the owner Raju Pehelwan on my way out, and he had this air of finality about him as he said goodbye, which stayed with me through the Metro ride back home.  

I hope and pray that the circus industry sees a revival of sorts. And organizations would do well to leverage the learnings so that they do not get into such a situation of having to fight for survival. It’s the circus. But it’s no laughing matter.