It’s been over a month now. I was always worried about leaving the college life and entering the torturous professional life. I did not want it. I wanted a merry-go life, where one enjoys it to the core without worrying about the consequences. All these are passé now. I have started working, getting scores of official mails everyday, getting calls from colleagues every now and then, and above all, attending meetings intended to provide solutions for the umpteen numbers of issues that are faced on a day to day basis. I am forgetting the college life. I am getting used to this corporate culture. I need to be careful with the words I use, the way I communicate with others, the way I write mails, the way I express my feelings, the way I point out other’s mistakes and above all, the way I think. A callous attitude is not going to help anymore.
Last 30 days have been an eye opener for me. The organization is like a machine with so many complicated devices attached to it. Every device needs to function in the most efficient manner for the machine to run without any breakdown. This can be equated with people in an organization. Irrespective of how well an organization is built, if its employees do not go in tandem with what the organization professes to achieve, things could just go out of hand. Wait, I am not giving any MBA gas. I am experiencing it everyday. I am seeing how a delay of a few minutes in production or dispatch is resulting in huge losses, how a lack of understanding of systems by people results in the whole process getting screwed beyond repair, how one ill-motivated employee can just ruin the whole department. Running an organization is not simple, it is an art. In fact, I feel it is much more than that. More than managing the machines, what one needs is the tact of managing people and keeping them motivated. Once this is done, other requirements will fall in line.
Organizations are comprised of a web of activities, most of them dependent upon one another. Before working on a task, it is important that one thinks of the repercussions that it will have on other activities. This requires one to have a global view of the whole set of activities. But sadly, this doesn’t happen in most of the cases. People just finish their part of the work somehow and give a damn to other activities. They just don’t think globally. Is it human nature?? Why are things so imperfect?? Won’t the cost of being imperfect be much more than the cost of being perfect?? Where does one draw a line?
I hear a lot about the Toyota way of working, where supposedly all systems are in place. Agreed it must have been achieved over decades, but still it will throw up some light on better work practices. I should take up books on such companies and start understanding them. One thing I clearly understand, there is nothing called free lunch. Every activity involves a cost and a strenuous hard work. World is getting interlinked and much more complicated. It is not the same world that was a decade back and is going to be much more demanding by the next decade. I am going to be competing with the next generation born and brought up in a much more competitive world than I was and thus, is going to be inherently more competitive. What I have learnt is hardly sufficient to survive this onslaught. I need to be on my toes all the time, be updated on the relevant developments, shed my inhibitions and be open minded towards others views. The second half of my life is not going to be as rosy as the first half. I am eagerly awaiting it. Its time I gear up to face a much more difficult and hostile environment. No, I am not sounding negative. I just talk about the impending future and getting myself prepared for it and the need to have a positive outlook.
Last 30 days have been an eye opener for me. The organization is like a machine with so many complicated devices attached to it. Every device needs to function in the most efficient manner for the machine to run without any breakdown. This can be equated with people in an organization. Irrespective of how well an organization is built, if its employees do not go in tandem with what the organization professes to achieve, things could just go out of hand. Wait, I am not giving any MBA gas. I am experiencing it everyday. I am seeing how a delay of a few minutes in production or dispatch is resulting in huge losses, how a lack of understanding of systems by people results in the whole process getting screwed beyond repair, how one ill-motivated employee can just ruin the whole department. Running an organization is not simple, it is an art. In fact, I feel it is much more than that. More than managing the machines, what one needs is the tact of managing people and keeping them motivated. Once this is done, other requirements will fall in line.
Organizations are comprised of a web of activities, most of them dependent upon one another. Before working on a task, it is important that one thinks of the repercussions that it will have on other activities. This requires one to have a global view of the whole set of activities. But sadly, this doesn’t happen in most of the cases. People just finish their part of the work somehow and give a damn to other activities. They just don’t think globally. Is it human nature?? Why are things so imperfect?? Won’t the cost of being imperfect be much more than the cost of being perfect?? Where does one draw a line?
I hear a lot about the Toyota way of working, where supposedly all systems are in place. Agreed it must have been achieved over decades, but still it will throw up some light on better work practices. I should take up books on such companies and start understanding them. One thing I clearly understand, there is nothing called free lunch. Every activity involves a cost and a strenuous hard work. World is getting interlinked and much more complicated. It is not the same world that was a decade back and is going to be much more demanding by the next decade. I am going to be competing with the next generation born and brought up in a much more competitive world than I was and thus, is going to be inherently more competitive. What I have learnt is hardly sufficient to survive this onslaught. I need to be on my toes all the time, be updated on the relevant developments, shed my inhibitions and be open minded towards others views. The second half of my life is not going to be as rosy as the first half. I am eagerly awaiting it. Its time I gear up to face a much more difficult and hostile environment. No, I am not sounding negative. I just talk about the impending future and getting myself prepared for it and the need to have a positive outlook.
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