Monday Musings 204 - The boats we get into....

Two things happened within a week of each other for me. Last week I listened to a TED video where the speaker Dan Gilbert said that human beings were fundamentally creatures who are in perpetual state of work in progress. The second thing that happened to me was that I met J.

There are stories scattered all around us. Human stories are many and magical. The more we encounter reasons to be cynical, doubtful and disbelievers, the more nature throws at us stories that raise our own sense of being to a new found level of belief, faith. J is one such story and since I promised him that I will not mention his name in my ode to his story, I must remain content in calling him J.

Many decades ago, during the peak of the Vietnam misadventure of the USA, many Vietnamese families attempted to move out- some wanting to escape the brutalities of their own brethren and some who wanted to get out of the mindless massacre by a foreign country. Many families attempted to leave the country on small fishing boats, needless to say not a a very safe and reliable way to leave a war ravaged country.

Young J, all of 6 years was made to board one such boat, the only one amongst his familymembers which   included his elder brother. I am a father of a 7 year old and I keep imagining the plight of that young child. I keep imagining what his tender mind would have made out of being on that boat and then landing in a refugee camp in Malaysia and living the next 3 years there. I keep keep imagining his fear, his wait for his parents and the the brute dawn of reality that they won't come.

Having spent those 3 years in that camp with children of that war, by propitious twist of fate, J was adopted by foster parents in Canada and so the journey of life took the young child from the refugee camps to a new house many miles away and Ina different continent. He grew up in Canada with his new parents and spent the next 6 odd years with then, by which time his elder brother traced him to Canada and joined him. J was reunited with his elder brother who also moved to canada. 

As the young child transited into an young adult, J experienced familiar rebelliousness that youth usually typify. He started to hang around with friends who were not bad but were of limited aspirations or talent. Even though J scored in high nineties during his high school and could have got through any university of his choice, going to the university was infra dig in the gang he moved around. So for two years after he completed his high schools he was almost a wage earner and used to fix frames as a construction worker. 

While life was taking its own shape as it does, a question kept coming back to J' s mind-  why was he chosen to be on that boat? Was he abandoned. Human mind is a meaning making machine and a young boy is not best placed to understand the grand sweep of destiny.

His brother, acutely aware if his talents, relentlessly tried to persuade him to chase bigger dreams, that would do justice to his talents and capability. However young J continued to hang out with those friends and do odd jobs, mostly menial and much below his calibre. And then things changed.

One night he received a warm and emotional letter from his mom, who incidentally had been united with him when he turned 20, a full fourteen years after he had stepped onto that boat. In that letter an emotional mom shared with him that there was not enough money for more than one person to be on that boat on that day and the family, too much in love with J, had chosen him. I am sure that there was much more in that letter, but J only shared that it tripped something in his mind, heart and soul. so after two years in fixing frames he applied to the number one university of canada to study advanced maths. Now a decade and half later - I am guessing he would not be less than 40, though he looked not a shade more than 30, J is a practicing actuary and a deputy CEO in a life insurance company.

coming back to where I began, human beings most certainly are work in progress. If you don't like the shape it is taking, go on and make the change you want. You just never know which boat will take to you to the shore of happiness.

God bless J


Guru

Monday Musings 203 -That time of the year

Monday Musings 203 -That time of the year

Every corporate wallah will tell you it is that time of the year, when the mercury outside will be competing with the mercurial inside - both will hover at extremes and will vie for the reason for human insanity. It is the rating season. 

Every office goer knows that it is the decision time, the time when his labor will bear fruits, or at least it is expected to bear fruits. The employee will search for the evidence of the fruit, while the boss will search for the evidence of labor. The general trend is to overestimate fruit on the back of overestimation of labor or under-allocation of fruit on the back of underassessment of labor - and between the boss and the bossed, it is not very difficult to guess who does what!

Actually the preparation to this season begins from somewhere January itself, for the month not only heralds a new year but also a nice inflection point for those who were in slumber for the rest of the year, They wake up and that too with a vengeance, and try to work hard and portray the work harder than it is, to nullify the lack of both in the previous period. They rely on what is called 'recency effect' - in the hope that their boss will remember the proximate hyperactivity camouflaged as work and will forget the usual somnolence that was passed as work for most part of the year. The boss however is not the boss without a reason. He understands the trick because he himself indulged in it not very long ago.   

The employee behaves like an expectant parent - for the effort must be rewarded, and must be healthy. The boss behaves like sentry, who has the power of holding you off from the sanctum sanctorum till he derives his own sense of pleasure and power. Technically the reward is for work and is independent of who is guarding it - but sometimes the guard becomes more powerful than the guarded. The priests sometimes start believing that they can actually regulate your access to God, and the worshipper starts focusing on the priest more than the divine. 

The canteen, the cooler, the corridor is abuzz with who will get what. Everyone overestimates the ratings for the friend and underplays his own chances - both sides knowing that this is not what each other really believes in. In his own mind each is listing down all the reasons why he has far far far far.....exceeded expectations (not of the organization alone but also the industry, the country and often the civilization itself). The boss may also be preparing a similar script but towards a very different outcome.  

Cometh the day cometh the havoc. Faces will tell the story. Those who miss the bus obviously curse the boss, his aunt and her dog - but those who get rewarded also curse the boss, his aunt and her dog - because they either got less than what they thought they deserved or because someone else got more that what they thought that someone else deserved. How unfair!! Rarely does one find a really happy man walking through the organizational corridors. Everyone is in mourning. 

I am a boss and an employee. I know I, my aunt and her dog will be cursed. I also know most likely I will pass on the favor. 

I need a drink. 

Guru

Monday Musings 202 - Pearls in unusual places

I met an old B school friend of mine the other evening and some interesting conversation happened apart from the customary banter that so characterizes such get together. Insights come from strange people and under strange circumstances.

My friend, who spent a decade in the corporate world, quit one day the Nine-to-no-time routine and decided he had enough of the formal work schedule. I recount 3 great moments of epiphany from the catch up – who says only the wise hold the keys to wisdom!

1.       On the purpose of work

“I have decided to keep ‘happiness’ at the centre of my life and let everything else take its place…… the trick was not only to decide what I want to do but also what not to do……finally it was also about the courage to hold on to this decision when everyone else expected me to behave in a certain manner….the courage to live life on my terms and not because I was expected to live it in a certain manner….”

2.       On office politics

His wife, who also happens to be a college friend, was perturbed about some office intrigue with potential impact on growth prospects. His advice on the subject will put sages to shame. “ never has sword been picked up in the fight to become the wazeer (the minister) – sword always gets picked up to be the king……why lose sleep over something that is not the fight for the throne….if a 10% increase in money increases work by 100% and tension by 200, then it is obviously a bad bargain….”

3.       On Anonymity

I shared that I was hoping that I will soon get a publisher for my impending book and commented that ‘I don’t want to die in anonymity’……to which he immediately commented….” That is something that I am working hard to be continue to remain…anonymous!”

“….as times elapses the world elapses there are only two kinds of people in the world, good and not good…in the short run, there are many kinds, but the longer the time elapses, the world remembers only the really good one – rest all remain anonymous.”

I think what he left unsaid, graciously – that I should be a little more realistic about my own genius. Working hard is good, having aspirations is fine, ambitions are normal – but a bit of reality check will put things in perspective.

I am sure these are not the last words on the subject, but good places to begin a conversation.

Guru

Monday Musings 201 - Four circles and one point

Monday Musings 201 - Four circles and one point

Way back in rural Jharkhand in a small hamlet of sorts, so typically of the mofussil India, where I grew up, academics swayed between escape and a threat - escape in the sense that it offered a glimmer of hope that would lead us away and out of the oppression of backwardness; and a threat in the sense that children would be harshly reminded of what misery awaits them should they not spend hours and hours with books. I know for sure that this archetype was a fairly common - and children of this archetype are in organizations today. 

I am reminded of this archetype as I went through an amazing diagrammatic representation of what brings joy to the cublicle-wallah as he searches the elusive corporate salvation - a state of bliss and happiness that the sages and oracles promised us many eons back - just that they never worked in organizations. 

The diagram has four circles which cut through each other - and at only one point all four circles cut through each other - and that is the sweet spot. It talks about evaluating work on four key points - 

1. That which you love  2. That which you are good at  3. That which you can be paid for

4. That which the world needs

Let’s look at some combinations. This diagram does not belong to me. However the question at the end of it does. You must ask yours. 

a. Work which you love, are good at and the world needs - is your passion and can be converted into a mission - but it won’t be making money for you because you cannot be paid for it....the market has no time for your fantasies.

b. Work which you love, are good at and that you can be paid for - is your passion and can be converted into your profession - there is no larger purpose in your work...you are just a cog in the wheel...you will die, to borrow a phrase, without having made a dent in the universe because you never moved beyond the letter 'I'.

c. Work which you are good at, can be paid for and the world needs - is your profession and can be converted into a vocation - where is the Joie de vivre, where is the mojo, where is that spring in the steps and the song on the lips when you get ready to make millions out of something that you do not love...this is cruelty and worse, self inflicted. 

d. Work which you love, can be paid for and the world needs - is your vocation and can be converted into a mission.- You are mediocre but are lucky to be riding high demand which hides the inevitable discovery of your mediocrity. When the tide will ebb, you will be discovered. But enjoy till the party lasts. 

Coming back to the archetypes, the focus clearly was and perhaps is, what can you be paid for and to some extend what does the world needs, but never, never the other two. 

What do you think happens to these archetypes in organizations after 10-15 years?

Look around and you may know.

Guru

Monday Musing 199: The dying art of self deprecation

Monday Musing 199: The dying art of self deprecation

I spent the better part of the weekend watching the celebrated TV serial 'Mirza Ghalib' written and directed by the acclaimed Gulzar, co written by yet another giant Kaifi Azmi. The serial was telecast in 1988 in the times of black and white TV and the hegemony of Doordarshan. I was still in school and yet to develop the intellectual capacity to distinguish between Krishi Darshan and Ghalib - the only role both played was that they allowed me some time in front of the TV. Then somewhere in the year 1994 during one of those long distance train travels, I bought 'Deewan-e-Ghalib' from The Wheeler & Co, one of those ubiquitous book stalls that spawn in the railway stations across the length and breadth of the country. Ever since then the yellowing pages of that book, now filled with underlines, notes and asterisk marks have reminded me of the giant that was Ghalib and his amazing story and the realisation how little I still understand him. 

Watching the dozens of episodes of the serial is like a crash course on his poetry and a peek into his persona. Apart from the literary genius that he was, this time what intrigued me about him was his amazing ability of self deprecation. Despite his genius, despite his own realization about his genius, he remained amazingly self deprecating about himself. He took his art seriously but never himself. He was childlike, full of humor and never hesitated in pulling a fast one on himself given his penchant for alcohol, gambling and continuously being in debt- obviously in a literary way. Sample these. 

Ho goya koi aisa bhi, jo ghalib ko na jaane 

Shayar to wo achha hai par badnaam bahut hai

(Is there anyone who does not know of Ghalib - he is a good poet but has a bad name)

Ye masail-e-tasaffuf aur ye tera bayan ghalib

ham tujhe wali samajhte, jo na baadakhwaar hota

(O Ghalib - with the quality of your observations on the matters of the world, one would consider you a wise one, if not for your love for alcohol)

I am sure there would be much more evidence of his self deprecating streak. The point of this musing is to contrast this to the current times in general and the cubiclist in particular. 

Look around and one would find just too many people taking themselves too seriously. No one has time, actually the ability to see the humor in tight spots. Self deprecation is a dying art and a dying ability. Too many serious blokes are making living a dangerous vocation. This is no where visible more starkly at work place. The pursuit of success, ladder climbing, survival of the fittest has robbed us of the ability to laugh at ourselves and take a dig at our own imperfections. If a man of Ghalibs genius could do it then maybe we give ourselves a little more credit than we deserve, or may be Ghalibs genius was actually in his ability for self deprecation despite his brilliance.  

In yet another place he writes, 

na tha kuch to khuda tha, na kuch hota to khuda hota

duboya mujh ko hone ne, na hota mai to kya hota

(When there was nothing, there was the supreme power, who would have been there even if nothing would have been there - my downfall is in my taking my 'being' too seriously - what would have happened even if I was not there)

Folks, in the long run - we are dead, so cheer up. Watch Ghalib for inspiration. 

....and before I forget, tomorrow is Monday. Let’s get to work. 

Guru

198 Monday Musings: The Catch

198 Monday Musings: The Catch

It is difficult to remain untouched by the feverish pitch of the coming parliamentary elections. This time like no time before, the method in the madness reveals itself from behind the cacophony of voices. The electoral madness and its actual outcome notwithstanding, the run up to the elections have become increasingly corporatized. The stamp of the 'marketing think-tank' behind the campaign is unmistakable - which brings me the point of today’s musing that all vision selling is less an intellectual act of creation but more the mundane act of selling. 

I see three distinct strands of electoral positioning so far - and each one of them will have equivalents in the corporate world to take note of and lessons from. 

First the 'Old wine in the old bottle' - the Congress's attempt to create a promise where none exists. It fails to trigger imagination because of the corpses of the unmet expectation lie everywhere. The die has been cast now and their promises of the future shall be judged by the images of their past performance. They had their chances and they must realize that they cannot manufacture the reputation of performance through imagery and propaganda. As Alyque Padmse said 'The fastest way of killing a bad product is good advertising'

The second is the BJP campaign of 'You gave them a chance - now give us'. This is more a TINA - There is no alternative pitch, the case of pitching for 'we are relatively lesser evil'. There is no imagination, no original proposition, no vision per se that might fire the aspirations that paints the picture of a new ideal, but an appeal for an anti-establishment wave ridden by an ‘angry young man’ tactics. This is the nature of the permanent protester whose only method is to talk of the disenchantment with the establishment, but not offering a coherent and powerful vision of the future. It is nothing but a 'better' version of the past.

The third, unfortunately the only one who offers this is the AAP (why is this unfortunate is something that deserves another musing) - a bold new vision of the future, something fundamentally and radically different from the past, that has a better chance of dealing with the challenges of the future. It may not be clear and definitive, but has the promise to shake things around. Even in partial success it is a better bet than trying to fix the old. 

Corporate leaders and I do not mean the CEOs here, but the middle management fall in precisely these three categories. Middle management is where the things rot more often than not. This is where vision meets execution, or rather where it does not meet!

The first kind are those who have played their cards, often miserably so, but who at the beginning of a new year want the teams below and around them to give yet another chance to their moribund plans. They want their teams to respond with passion, energy and commitment even though the corpses of poorly thought plans, half baked initiatives and horrendous follow through lie everywhere. 

The second kinds are those who are waiting in the ranks to usurp the throne, plotting and planning in the shadows, cynical and sarcastic with the current scheme of things, but who do not anything new or substantial to offer. They can at best offer how to 'tinker with the carburetor' to make it marginally better, but have no clue about the 'new engine' needed to drive into the future. Obviously most of them are blissfully unaware of this, but wishful thinking is still not a crime, is it?

The third kinds are needed but are rarely found. Middle management is also not the best of places to be in, for it is sandwiched between the thinkers and the doers. They do not have the power of the top or the insurance of the bottom. They are also most susceptible to existential angst and disillusionment that is rampant in the corridors of the corporate world. However this does not takes away the crying demand for them to not only have a vision, as different from the organizational vision that shall infuse a new lease of life in their functions. They are either caught in the web of only talking about the big picture, leaving the dirty job of execution to the lesser mortal, or they get too involved in the small tasks abdicating the need for a big picture thinking. The precarious balance between plumbing and philosophizing remains elusive.

The plumber must find time to have a philosophy or else he might die a plumber. The philosopher must find opportunities to plumb or else he might become unfit to even plumb. What a colossal waste both shall be!!

Guru

Monday Musings 197 - The cities we live in and the cities that live in us

Monday Musings 197 - The cities we live in and the cities that live in us

On my second trip to the ancient city of Benaras, as is my wont, I was wondering around in its traditional parts - trying to soak in its sights, sounds and smells. (I had blogged about my first visit to the city a few years back). This time I had two of my local colleagues who had both returned back to the city, helplessly - after having migrated away for greener pastures, but had returned like the cat who keeps coming back to your house even when you try to leave her way away, hopelessly enamored by its love for the household.

While moving around the old city and enjoying its own version of night life - from the thandai, tea, hot fragrant milk and wrapping it up with the delicious paan, I was given a short tutorial on why it is difficult to take a person out of Banaras but quite impossible to take Banaras out of the person. Only to prove the point I was given a wonderful book called "Kashi ka Assi" written by Dr Kashi Nath Singh who apart from other distinctions taught Hindi literature in the Banaras Hindu University. 'Assi' in the title refers to the 'assi-ghat' area of the southern tip of the city, right on the banks of river Ganges and is the oldest part of the city - one may easily call it the 'true - original - Banaras'. This book, without going into details is a wonderful account of the soul of Banaras, with its eccentricities, lingo, and people, peppered with colorful expletive ridden language of this part of the town. As the opening paragraph warns - ".....this book is not for children, nor for the aged - it is for adults only.....”. This warning is treated with warm welcome by the original Banarasis for whom such colorful language is a way of life - a restraint in the language to make it more civilized is akin to sacrilege, an attempt to play with the identity of the city. 

We know by now that cities have their own character and many have fallen hopelessly in love them. In the corporate world one of the big reason people do not move bases is the love for their city. Many have sacrificed the lure of opportunities at the altar of love for their hometown. Many of batch mates from college were resolute in their decision not to move out of the place of their birth. I would usually respond this with polite sarcasm but I guess I understand the phenomena a little better now. 

Many books and movies have managed to capture the spirit of the city in its truest form. The city is the character as much as the people who form the narrative. In recent times, Calcutta was a character in the movie 'Kahaani', Delhi was a character in 'Delhi-6', as much was Mumbai in the movie 'Dhobi ghat' and amongst books, 'Maximum city' by Suketu Mehta described Bombay. I am not sure if we have gone beyond Mumbai and Delhi - even using Delhi  as a backdrop is only a recent phenomena. However there are at least a dozen or more Indian cities who have a distinct flavor of its own and which are stories ripe enough to be told. I am sure there would be books which exist but I wish they were either written more or popularized more. I would never have enjoyed Banaras as much as I have after having read 'Kashi ka Assi'. 

How titillating it would be for the soul if someone wrote a full blown book about the eccentricities of Lucknow or the finesse of Allahabad or the humor of Hyderabad, the preoccupation of intellect of Chennai or the love for argument of Kolkata/Kerala or the love for analysis of Ahmadabad (or Surat or Rajkot) or the finesse of Bangalore or the love for nothingness of Cuttack or the love for political and social discourse of Bihar - so on and so forth. It will make a great reading and for those who cannot or have not travelled, it will be a good window into a people who are so near and yet so far. 

Zauq, a great poet and a man in love with his dilli (Delhi), shunned the courts of Deccan where there was a greater appreciation of poetry and perhaps more profitable to be in, by saying -  

In dinon garche dakkan me hai badi qadr-e-sukhan
Kaun jaye 'zauk' par dilli ki galiyan chhod kar 

(There is great appreciation for the art of expression in Deccan these days but who shall leave the streets of Delhi!)

We must continue to live in our cities - but at least the cities must continue to live in us. 

Guru