A surgeon is usually content with his expertise, but you also put production next to your specialty. What led you to this initiative? What problems were involved?

Service brings the greatest level of income, but the basis of self-sufficiency is never laid on service. All problems of our country can be solved only by manufacturing. There is no other way. Our tourism is very insignificant and our only readily-exportable item is just petroleum.
But production, as you mentioned, is not trouble-free. It is a disaster that Iran is spending 1750-rial dollar on buying material from abroad. It means supporting the factories which are making materials that are not accessible in Iran. Such currency must be spent on importing machinery whose materials are available here. This is a very simple fact. The other mistake is that our country offers two rates of foreign exchange for the import of the same product. But we have proved that this doesn’t make a big difference for hospitals and patients. Those who take lower rates will not be content with lower prices. They use their rent to spoil our market.
Customs is another big hurdle on the way. Labor laws are another issue. As an industrialist, I can tell you that the newly passed insurance and labor laws are not devised with an industrialist’s mind. They have been passed with a legislator’s mind.
Developed countries today are not after steel production or car manufacturing, they are after artificial skin and high-tech telecom. This is very meaningful: it means that this age is the age of science.

What developments took place to make Hamid Derakhshani a surgeon, manager and industrialist?

I don’t suppose that these developments were ever based on plans prepared before hand. I have always had strong national emotions, conscience and motives. As a high school boy, I was always told that I was different. Such characteristics stayed with me when I entered medical school and even later when I went to Europe for my specialty and then to the United States for higher expertise. There, I realized the gap that existed between developed countries and Iran. Maybe this resulted in my today’s triangle of medical, managerial and industrial expertise.
The first time I went to Europe as a medical student, I cried. I cried for the things I felt we lacked in Iran. This tells you how I feel and how I think, and let me tell you I have not changed.
When I returned Iran, I had only my specialty. I had studied hard in finest colleges. I was right away appointed as the founder and head of Maxillofacial Surgery Department at Fatima Zahra (S.A.) Hospital. The advanced school of maxillofacial surgery was introduced to the world in 1967 and was established in Iran by me in 1978. It is my honor that I was the one who filled the gap in the plastic surgery community in Iran.
I was present in the battle zone for about 15 times. I took charge of Motahari Hospital in Ahwaz to hospitalize the injured. But I felt there were still more opportunities waiting for me. I was hungry for more progress. After a short experience of poultry farming, I was encouraged to try my interests at mushroom production. My efforts led the foundation of the world’s largest mushroom production plant called Mallard Mushroom Complex. This complex today runs with a daily output of 8-16 tons of mushroom in 100 halls, and is entering a new industrial phase. At first, I used most of the money I made out of my medical practice to invest in Mallard. I never wanted my income for financial development, I wanted money for industrial development. I am pleased that about 5,000 families are making a living out of the investment that I once made.
That mushroom business went along with my medical expertise because I believe in simultaneous engineering. Step by step engineering is the factor behind our backwardness since it takes a long time for each phase. I owe my achievements to simultaneous engineering. Research and development must be mandatory in all factories. It definitely leads to success. This is the accomplishment that we later experienced in SUPA Medical Devices which saved Iran from the trouble of importing much-needed disposable medical products.

What is the driving force behind your management method?

I have arrived at the conclusion that Science, Competence and Intelligence are three key elements to managing every operation. We live in an advanced world. In the information age, a manager who wants to manage organizations without using information is retarded. That kind of manager is dogmatic and inflexible. We must quit a hierarchical system and replace it with a horizontal structure in our management systems. This is the only way for creating a convenient, humane, communication system between superiors and inferiors. Authorities must realize that sooner or later, they cannot manage an organization simply by issuing orders. We must organize our systems in a way to cut down bureaucracy. It is the mother of inefficiency. As for the achievements within my organization, I don’t take all the credit for myself. A manager is capable and powerful when he selects his inferiors from his scientifically superiors.
Every human houses 2 by the power of 32 neurons in his brain. It means the whole universe. Einstein only activated 2 by the power of 11 neurons in his brain. It means that human beings can perform multiple tasks simultaneously. We only need training and education to activate our brains. Furthermore, aside from all discriminatory views, I dare say that Iranians are smart people. The bottom line to my statements is this: we can move in a way to develop a useful manager out of every Iranian.

Among all the ups and downs that you have experienced, what has been the sweetest moment?

There is one sweetest moment that I have experienced about 60 times. It is after I perform a very complicated, long and difficult operation, when I stand to see the patient show signs of recovery. That moment is filled with joy beyond description. Nothing compares to that genuine sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.

How do you wish to complete your story? Any personal ambitions?