The theoretical aspects to Manmohan Singh's gut feel

At a recent lecture, to a question whether he was guided by theoretical reasoning as against gut feel, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh responded, " I have no definitive answer to your question whether I am guided by theoretical reasoning as against gut instinct"

He went on to qualify his statement by saying "Everybody who is in politics and seeks to influence economic policy and history has some notion about what is workable and feasible. He must have some theoretical perspective while formulating views. Whether it is good or bad, " said the good doctor, "will be judged by history."

A definitive theoretical reasoning, and the answer to Dr Singh's uncertainty lies in the Kolbs Learning Model. According to Kolb "learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combination of grasping experience and transforming it." Let us look at some of the characteristics of experiential learning and see how they apply to the PM: 

• Learning is a continuous process grounded in experience.The Economic Times headlined the story with "Singh gets politician's tone" So the PM (in the eyes of the all-powerful media) has certainly learned well from his experiences!
• Learning requires the resolution of conflicts between dialectically opposed modes of adaptation to the world (learning is by its very nature full of tension). Dr Singh, who attained renown as an academician and a man most comfortable in the rarefied world of economic theories, was suddenly thrown into the hurly-burly of Indian politics. His growth as a politician called for his balancing what his heart and mind told him was good for the country, with the steep political cost it would entail. Dr Singh appears to have managed the tensions well - witness the passing of the nuclear deal in Parliament which meant his party had to make deals with unsavory political parties and elements. 
• Learning is a holistic process of adaptation to the world. From his comments and recent actions, the process of the PMs adaptation to the world of politics may not be complete, but he has adapted - and he has adapted well. (see above).

Based on the above characteristics, Kolb proposed a four stage learning cycle, which looks like this:

 This cycle gives rise to two continuum;

• The Processing Continuum: Our approach to a task, such as preferring to learn by doing or watching (the Active experimentation-Reflective observation axis)
• The Perception Continuum: Our emotional response, such as preferring to learn by thinking or feeling (the Abstract conceptualization-Concrete experience axis(

The PM's comment that one must have a "theoretical perspective while formulating views" clearly indicates his tilt toward the Perception continuum. As a man of compassion and learning coupled with his concrete experiences as the PM of a chaotic developing nation, does his statement at the lecture in Malaysia, indicate his coming of age as a politcian?

Time will tell.