The Intangibles

In my office, we had a couple of young folks join the Onsite team. These guys were ‘Enthu-cutlets’, as we call them in Pune. Plus, they were joining the ‘Onsite’ team, and if you are at all acquainted with the Indian IT industry, you will know what a big thing that is! They came over with a will to achieve and transform the project between the 2 of them! They were intelligent, but inexperienced – and started working unsustainable schedules. Being an Operations team, we always have something that needs to be done yesterday – so that worked well for me to meet the Team’s SLAs! However, we could see the dangers that lurked – burnout.. apathy.. I would often have 1:1 sessions with each of them and make them aware of things like ‘work-life balance; but to no avail. They were all set to do or die!

So, the long hours and working weekends continued. I could see the strain showing, but when asked to slow down, my trusty steeds would obstinately refuse. Until – something changed. One of the guys arranged for his wife to fly over and join him here. She arrived and things were never the same again! He was still sincere, still hard-working, but now, he realized the importance of ‘time-boxing’ his work. He knew he had someone waiting for him at home, and he needed to finish on time. He started organizing his meetings and his tasks much better. He ensured he was out of office by 5 latest. He started prioritizing which meetings were necessary and which questions could be answered on email. To my mind – he became a much more valuable and mature team member. To my mind – this was an actual ‘Productivity Boost’. But this was not something I achieved as a manager. This was something that was enabled by a completely intangible human factor – technically outside of my team. For this person - it was his family, as it is for most. I know of companies which leverage outside-hometown postings to drive longer work hours for employees. If you don’t have a family waiting at home, you would definitely continue to work.. at office or at home. After all, how many movies can you watch? Or Netflix? When you think of it, it is simple – but rather Machiavellian, I fear!

And then it made me wonder – what are the other intangibles that affect how a team / individual team members work? Tell me what comes to your mind!

Chain Reaction

When I posted the last bit of writing, I was in the middle of a whirlwind of projects. That being my first post, I shared it with quite a few people; to the instant reaction of- ‘Wherever did you find the time?!’ No, I am not going on to the trip about ‘You’ll find time if you really want to do something’ :-). But the question got me thinking, and brought me back to one of my favorite ‘theories’ on Life.

You see, I firmly believe, productivity is like a chain reaction. The more you do, the more you want to do! The fact of the matter is, I was motivated enough to find time to write because my brain was steaming ahead on all eight! How important it is to find work that can engage and interest the mind! It is like a wheel in motion. Keep it running and it will take you to surprising destinations without a squeak of protest; let it idle, and it will be a task to get it going!

If only each one of us realized that productive contribution is not a burden, or a favor upon your organization, but the only way to do justice to what lies within us. (Yeah, McGregor here I come!) I do believe self-actualization is the biggest reward and motivator.

I know many people (if you’re reading this, you’ll know it’s you I’m talking about!), blessed with creativity and intelligence, who are completely wrapped up in the mundane. Gifted people, who can do amazing things, if only they wished to ‘participate’ in the world. Look around you, and you will see the world is run by mediocre, hard-working people, while most better qualified persons watch from the sidelines. Why this reluctance to build upon a natural advantage? What is the satisfaction of basking in self-bestowed glory?

Many are the arguments I have had with such friends of mine. My point is that the need to be ambitious is not for the money, or the Desig. (although that never does any harm ;P) The need to move ahead is the need to perform, the need to achieve! We need to contribute, not in order to win a race or prove a point, but to ‘live’ our Potential. You don’t need the top-job to prove yourself; the top slot needs you to do what it was set up to achieve. Upon each one of us lies the moral responsibility of realizing one’s capability and building upon it. I owe it to the world for granting me the right to ‘exist’! Rounding it up, I would quite honestly say, that for me the answer to what is the purpose of existence, would be- ‘to understand my potential, and live it to the fullest!’ (you might, of course, say ‘42’ is a closer answer! ;D)