When Those At The Top Are Nonsensical And Unethical Too

In some organizations the folks at the top are not only nonsensical but unethical also.

They don’t want their work to be scrutinized by anyone.

In case you pose a logical and sensible question to them which has clear and direct business impact, but is uncomfortable for them and challenges their position, they will duck it in a manner which is utterly ridiculous.

In the name of “is it good for business” they don’t mind crossing the line of ethics, not once but as many times as required.

Ethics in such organizations is a direct factor of convenience.

As long as it suits their agenda (which might have many dirty secrets behind it) and doesn’t cause them personal discomfort and doesn’t make their position untenable they are all fine.

And if not, they will find silly reasons to justify their decisions and actions.

When challenged instead of discussing directly with you in a transparent manner they will have someone from their team come and meet you.

The message you get is “stay clear, better know who the top boss is and also that you are basically nothing”.

The pesky, boorish team member who comes to meet you walks in like a joker, sits next to you in an annoying manner while displaying fake friendliness.

He is the top man’s henchman, he is there on a contract-to-kill assignment. He is there to pass on the message from the god… oops… dog…. oops… top!

So silly!

So humiliating!

However, you need to carry on.

And you must carry on.

Pests and vultures will always be there in any organization.

And more so when those at the top are nonsensical and unethical too, you shouldn’t expect anything else!

If you do, then you are a fool or fooling yourself.

Don’t fool yourself.

Stop being a fool.

Why It Is Utter Nonsense To Think That You May Be Killing Yourself For A Job That Would Replace You Within A Week If You Were To Drop Dead

Some people might seem to suggest that it is a good idea to relax and take care of yourself in case you are working too hard.

This is fine.

You must take care of your physical and mental well-being at all times.

No only when at work but also when not at work.

Some people might also seem to suggest that you will get replaced within a week if your were to drop dead and hence you should not work hard.

This is just completely nonsense.

You will drop dead one day even if you don’t work at all.

If you enjoy your work and push yourself a bit occasionally and maybe push yourself hard once in a while, that should be alright.

Work accomplishments give you a sense of worth as an individual.

When you achieve something at work it makes you feel good about yourself.

And it is not that you are so busy every day that you can’t even find time to have your lunch.

So if you work hard once in a while, that shouldn’t be a problem at all.

Being relaxed is one thing. And it is okay.

Being complacent is another thing though. And it is not okay.

You have to have work in the first place to work.

And you have work because someone has given you one because you can contribute and add value.

If you need to work hard to contribute and add value you must do that.

You should not think of work as a mere time pass.

The above thought can be dangerous to your career and eventually life.

You can apply the standard tips and tricks to take care of work and life balance.

However, you should never forget that you need money to live your life.

And more money to live a better life.

And that you got to work to have money.

So if you want to live a better than usual life you need to work harder than usual.

Dropping dead is not a criteria that should bother you.

Working hard doesn’t have to necessarily mean dropping dead.

Although not taking care of yourself may mean dropping dead.

You should take care.

You should also work as hard as you can.

You should make as much money as you can.

And finally live a life as good as you can.

The thought that you will get replaced within a week if your were to drop dead and hence you should not work hard is just completely nonsense.

Just forget about that.

So enjoy your work.

Enjoy working hard.

Enjoy life.

The Home Affair Company

At times when you work somewhere you might wonder whether you are actually working in a company or not.

And whether the workplace is a family and not a company?

You get this feeling very often that your workplace is also a company but first it is a family.

The top guys ask the chosen select few to take care of their home affairs.

After all it is a family.

The chosen select few think they are special.

Why special?

Since the chosen select few take care of the top guys home affairs.

They take care of the top guys property deals.

They take care of things when the top guys or anyone in their families travel.

They take care of any problem the top guys face at their home.

Company may or may not be a family.

But the chosen select few are a family for sure.

The top guys carry an air of superiority.

They act as if they are highly professional but scratch the surface and the dirty underneath is visible.

They are really “Lalas” running a personal fiefdom in the name of a company.

And since the chosen select few take care of the top guys home affairs and are very well aware of their dirty secrets too what you have got is a cozy club of unprincipled folks.

The top guys decide what to be done not based on merit.

For the top guys who said what is more important than what was said.

They would show as if they are genuine and take the right and ethical decisions.

But that is never the case.

Their decisions are a matter of convenience and also dictated by their need to keep their dirty secrets covered up well.

And as far as ethics go, they believe in just spelling and pronouncing the word “ethics” right and with the right amount of earnestness but otherwise ethics mean nothing.

When they get their home affairs taken care of by the select few, what else can one expect regarding their decision making and their ethical conduct.

The Duplicitous HR Guy

He tells you lies.

And then he acts smart as if no one understands what nonsense he keeps on doing, again and again.

Such a duplicitous character.

He is in the good books of the top man.

The top man is equally cunning guy who puts up a fake front of being a genuine bloke.

Which the top man is not, in no way.

The duplicitous man is in the good books of the top man not because he is meritorious but because he is highly manipulative.

Both share similar bad attributes.

He plays silly games but thinks too highly of himself.

He tells you he doesn't know something with a bizarre look on his face.

You realize later on that he was lying.

He has always been lying earlier too.

Then you come to know he knew that thing earlier.

Such a mental retard.

Such a cunning, manipulative guy.

He fudges data.

He shows a picture as if everything in rosy.

As if "all is well".

When in fact most if not all is "in the well" and in a sense lost.

He is comrades with other folks like him.

He is a part of the cozy club, the cozy club of comical clowns.

He carries a funny and deceitful look on his face.

A face which carries a fake facade with a dirty layer under it.

Very dirty.

And stinky too.

He smells of conceit and arrogance.

As if he only matters.

And others don't at all.

Such a duplicitous guy.

If you have any such guy around you got to be careful.

You got to make sure you stay sound and safe.

When You are Trapped in a Failed Marriage

The Hindi movie "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" has these lines in the scene where the marriage between the two protagonists comes to an end, a very sad end.

Female protagonist:
Taaki usko wo saari khushiyaan de sakun, jo usko ek football coach nahin de sakta
Kaisa laga ye sunkar, Dev
Bahut dard hua naa, now you know how it feels
Kyunki tumne mujhe dard ke siwa, kuch nahin diya hai
Main hamesha sochti thi, dard pyar mein diya jaata hai, par yeh sach nahin
Tum to mujhse pyaar hi nahin karte, tum kisi se pyaar nahin karte
Nafrat hai tumhe, nafrat hai tumhe apne aap se, apni zindagi se, apni nakaamyaabi se
Aur main aaj tak nahin jaan paayi, tumhe kis baat pe zyada gussa aata hai, apni nakaamyabi se, ya meri kamyaabi par

Male protagonist:
Yes riya, mein nakaamyab hoon, ye sach hai
Par jaanti ho, is ghar mein, mujhse bhi nakaamyab kya hai?
Hamara rishta, aur ye shaadi
Thank you Riya
Thank  you for letting me stay in your house Riya

The above lines so very clearly show what it means to be trapped in a failed marriage.

You don't get to choose your parents.

They give you birth and you have absolutely no control over the kind of parents you are born to.

You don't get to choose your kids too.

You have some control over when to give them birth but once you give them birth you don't have any control over the kind of kids you gave birth to.

However, you get to choose whom you marry.

Your spouse is chosen by you.

Very often you choose to marry the wrong person

And your marriage slowly but eventually turns into a failed marriage.

You then end up getting trapped in a failed marriage.

You get this strong feeling that the color and juice from your life has simply disappeared.

The person who should have given you love and care is not there for you.

You come back to home from a business trip after a few days thinking your wife would have missed you.

What you see however is your wife's sullen and swollen face instead.

That makes you feel sad and irritated.

You may vent your anger on your kids.

You feel bad but that's what you do.

You have a female colleague join you on the business trip so that you get some company that takes care of fulfilling some of your emotional needs.

Emotional needs of being able to talk to a person of another sex without the fear of being turned away and made to feel unwanted.

You may develop a feeling of some sort of attraction towards and infatuation for her.

You may want to have physical intimacy and even sex with her.

The talk may be business talk but there is talk.

In your life there is no talk otherwise.

You and your wife don't talk.

You only fight.

You want to be physically intimate with your wife and have sex with her.

However, she not only refuses to have physical intimacy and sex with you but reacts in a way that makes you irritated, unwanted and disgusted.

You wife makes all kind of excuses to deny physical intimacy and sex to you.

And she does it purposefully and deliberately.

A wife who harms and hurts her husband looses the right to be called as wife.

Life is not sex.

But when you marry someone that someone is not your room-mate

There is difference between someone being your wife and someone being a room-mate.

You wife doesn't understand that simple thing.

You have failed in making her understand this thing.

Slowly sex goes away.

Then physical intimacy goes away.

Then emotional intimacy goes away.

Then you stop caring.

Then you stop talking.

And then you find yourself in a failed marriage.

You are now trapped in a failed marriage.

Did the marriage fail or did you fail?

That's a question you should ask yourself.

In the end, it is actually you who fail.

Fail  not just in marriage but in life too.

You may feel that your life has become purposeless.

You may feel that even if you were to die you would be okay with that.

You urge to live longer and live more may just disappear.

You may be perfectly fine if you were to die this very instant.

Failed marriage may end up making your life shorter.

However, in the end this doesn't make a difference to anyone and even to you.

And its okay if you have had a failed marriage.

The only thing is did you try to salvage it and did you try to reverse it.

If yes, no need to feel bad.

After all, in life you can only do so much.

What happens after you have done your bit is something that is beyond your control.

You should not feel bad.

Not at all.

Maybe its your bad luck.

Or your are a wretched, lowly creature who was supposed to go through such an experience in life.

If that be so, so be it.

Better to move on.

Better to wait it out.

The end of the journey is never very far.

And all of us will end this journey in the same way.

All of us.

Handling a Subordinate Who Doesn’t Understand the Sense of Priority

At times a manager may have to deal with certain team member who doesn’t understand the sense of priority.

As a manager you ask that team member to do something and she doesn’t do that.

She does her own stuff as per her own understanding of work priority or rather the complete lack of it!

As a manager you ask her to discuss something and she doesn’t come for a discussion, and when she comes she is not fully prepared.

Managers hire members in the team for only one reason - the hired person needs to take care of something that is otherwise a headache for the manager.

The KRA for any manager is very simple - get things done.

Managers don’t work and are not supposed to work.

They need to get things done.

Simple.

So if a team member doesn’t understand the sense of priority that is nothing but a big source of headache for the manager.

When a manager assigns a task to a team member he expects her to complete it as per the stated or understood priority and update him on the progress and discuss with him the challenges, if any, in finishing the assigned task on time.

In any case, the manager would expect the team member to complete the work.

However, when the team member not only fails to finish the task, but also provides no updates and not even bothers to let the manager know that the work is not done, that would be a clear source of concern for any manager.

And when confronted and given the feedback, she reacts in a aggressive and immature manner.

She defends her actions and the fact that she was right and the manager was not.

She also tells the manager that “since you know how to do it, you should do the work she has been assigned and has not been able to complete”

She also reacts violently when assigned any additional work and is reluctant to do that.

She may out rightly refuse to do a work by saying “I will not do that work”.

When asked firmly to do it and discuss if needed, she says “we can discuss but I would still not do it”.

It appears she thinks she is the manager of her manager.

This might appear quite funny if one were to take it lightly but is a serious affair, a very serious one.

She forgets to realize that if you are not willing to work, why would the manager want you in his team?

This is a sign of lack of maturity and lack of understanding of the sense of priority.

For any manager such a conversation is highly concerning.

This is a clear sign of trouble for the manager.

And if the manager needs to follow-up and remind for a task to be done nothing could be worse.

The team member loses her credibility.

The manager also doesn’t get a sense of comfort and confidence on such a team member.

The impression the manager gets is, “she is not reliable and if I assign her something critical she might give headache”.

And headache after a task is not done or the work not finished or something fails to happen is the last thing any manager wants.

So what happens with such team member?

She can’t be assigned time-critical and important and urgent tasks.

Any manager in such a situation will simply pull her out of critical tasks expected from his team.

The worst consequence of such an action would mean that in the long run:

• Such a team member will not grow too much in her career.
• She can’t be promoted beyond a certain level.

Such a team member may be technically competent but is running with a natural impediment.

This impediment has to do with her attitude and approach.

The priority of the organization should and would decide the priority of the head of the organization.

The priority of the head of the organization should and would decide the priority of the head of different teams and departments.

The priority of the head of the team or department should and would decide the priority of the members of the concerned team or department.

If a team member doesn’t understand that, she doesn’t really understand how to work.

Such a team member must work with a clear understanding of priority.

She needs to pull up her socks and get her act together.

This is a clear sign of not only trouble but big time danger.

And any smart manager will not let such a situation continue unaddressed for long!

Our Existence in this Universe is Purely Incidental, We Just Don't Really Matter!

All living beings - human beings, animals and plants - all of them, are purely incidental as far as the universe is concerned.

Even if no human being, animal or plant were there it won't really matter.

Not really. Not at all.

The Sun will be back every morning.

The Moon will be back every evening.

The Stars will carry on as if nothing was different.

The water in the rivers will flow as it does otherwise.

The winds and storms will happen as they happen.

Our existence in this universe is purely incidental.

We just don't really matter!

The universe is infinite, we are not, we are finite.

Not only our existence, our non-existence as well, after we die, also doesn't really matter.

So being born and eventually dying is actually a non-event.

In fact, the universe itself is incidental.

The primary thing is time.

Time is all powerful and the only thing that essentially matters.

Even if the mass in the universe and the universe itself were not there, that also won't matter.

Time will still march on.

Time will march on ahead with the blankness around it.

We are a function of time.

Today we are here (you are very well alive and in existence if you are reading this blog post at this very moment but I, the author of this blog post, might very well be dead).

100 years later we - both of us - will surely not be here (neither you, the reader nor me, the author of this blog post).

This blog post may remain there though.

It is possible that this blog post may not be there then, after 100 years.

And if ALL the living beings and non-living things in this universe cease to exist then this blog post will certainly not be there.

However, time would have marched much ahead by then.

Time will be there. Very much there.

Time itself is God.

It will always be in existence.

I will not be there after a certain point in time.

You will not be there after a certain point in time.

Universe may be there or may not be there after a certain point in time.

Only time would know what will happen to the universe.

Time, however, will be there for all time to come.

When Your Best is Not Good Enough

At times your best is not good enough.

You simply fail.

And that's just it.

You might think that it's the end of the world.

It certainly is not.

You can't do everything in life.

You can't get everything in life.

You can't be everything in life.

You are all too human, too fragile, too weak.

Failure is not the end of the road.

However, failing to learn from failure is the biggest failure.

Maybe you are not good enough.

Maybe you are not made for certain things.

And that's alright.

You are not perfect.

That's perfectly alright.

If no one ever failed, the word failure itself would not have existed!

So no worries.

Celebrate your failures.

Celebrate your not being perfect.

Celebrate your weaknesses.

Celebrate your fragility.

Celebrate your mortality.

Celebrate the finite nature of your life.

Celebrate the uncertainty of life ending at any moment.

Celebrate certainty of death at the end of life.

Do your best, always.

Your best many not be good enough, however.

And its fine if your best is not good enough.

The Clowns and the Con Masters are Back from the Silly Expedition

For some time the organization was blessed that the clowns and the con masters were away. For good.

With the clowns and the con masters around, such organizations are nothing but a zoo full of dangerous and slithery snake like characters.

Alas, the clowns and the con masters are back from the silly expedition.

They can again be seen doing the same old, stupid stuff!

You again get to see their holier than thou attitude.

You again get to see their sense of superiority.

You again get to see their utter lack of competence, maturity and professionalism through the facade of falsehoods and sham.

You again get to see the same silly smirk on their faces.

You again get to see them get the same special concessions and privileges.

You again get to see the non-stop repetition of the same stuff.

The clowns and con masters behave and project a smart-ass image of themselves whereas they are nothing but asses with holes.

Their conduct is very childish, comical and nonsensical but that is what it is.

The guy handling overall operations is a dyed-in-the-wool hypocrite. He talks big but has small thinking. He operates through his coterie. He acts like a head boy who is more childish than a small kid. He operates a gang of trusted henchmen who have only one answer to any question asked to them, "yes sir". For this funny guy only loyalty matters. In some sense he is like a slithery Anaconda.

The guy handing human resources and people practises is a third grade man who is highly manipulative and harms others in a slow but steady manner. He carries a sick smirk and funny expression of "I am the smartest of them all" on his bloody face. In some sense he is like a slithery Python.

The guy handing computing infrastructure is a complete nincompoop who carries a chameleon like demeanor and stings others when he is challenged. He has a cat like smirk and grin on the face. He portrays being a genuine guy but is full of falsehoods and deceits. In some sense he is like a slithery Viper.

The guy handling delivery operations is a highly incompetent cartoon character who is a silent killer. He has this sick attitude of "I am part of the coterie and you are not". He has his set of loyalists who lick his feet and what not. And he likes that very much. He has got certain vestigial organs around who are there but who have no value addition just like himself. In some sense he is like a slithery Black Mamba.

The guy handling money is a funny man with tonnes of attitude problem. He walks with his neck turned on one side. In some sense he is like a slithery King Cobra (he is no king but an ass-licker of the king, the Anaconda.)

The guy handling sales to customers is like a stealth missile. You won't know and the damage is done. In some sense he is like a slithery Krait.

The bull dog and his puppies are going on a spree

The plan is ready, hotel rooms have been reserved, the tickets have been booked, and stupid things have already been said and done.

Who is going? And why?

The bull dog and his puppies are going on a spree.

There is a sick camaraderie that oozes out of every stinky orifice of the bull dog and his puppies.

 The stink surrounds the stupid bull dog and his puppies in an envelope of back-room dealings, deep-rooted manipulations and smart-ass pronouncements.

The bull dog and each one of the puppy is an obnoxious specimen in its own!

For the spree it seems like no one is paying from their pockets.

When the bull dog is going with you and office is home and home is office where is the need to pay from one's own pocket?

Its an all-expenses-paid spree on the house.

The place of work and house for such retards has no difference.

Whether you are the Bada Lala or one of the Chhota Lalas or the Chamchas in such an organization the feeling and thought process you carry is the same.

For such characters, professionalism, is a word that means zilch, a big zero.

For such characters, manipulation is all that matters. In fact, the only thing that matters.

They have created a cartoon of an organization with them playing various cartoon characters.

What will happen to such an organization?

Only time will tell.

The risk is very high though.

You are headed for disaster.

May day! May day May day!

Brace! Brace! Brace!

What Work Should I Do in My Life?

"What Work Should I Do in My Life?"

This is a crucial question staring at any student who is about to complete his or her schooling.

The reason above question is a crucial question is very simple and fundamental:

"After you are dead and gone, you would only be known by what work you did in your life!"

Like Warren Buffett would be known for being an investor.

Like Barack Obama would be known for being the President of the United States of America from 2009 till 2016.

Like Sir Donald Bradman would be known for being a cricketer.

So obviously, "What Work Should I Do in My Life?" is an important question.

The work one should do in one's life should depend upon three factors primarily:

• The work is something in which one is reasonably good at
• The work is something in which one is passionately interested in
• The work is something that makes good enough money for a decent life

Let us talk about the above three in detail now.

The work is something in which one is reasonably good at

• Ideally speaking, the work should be such that one should literally be able to do that work in sleep also!
• Finding what one is reasonably good at is a matter of doing experiments in one's own life.
• Trying different things would certainly be very useful in understanding one's inherent and innate capabilities and competencies.
• Choosing a work that aligns with one's inherent and innate capabilities and competencies is the right way to go.
• Of course, one may need to really work hard in a determined way before one can conclude either way about what work one is good at or not.
• This is important because if one is good at something, one can easily find some job in a related area.
• Not being good would mean one may not even be able to find related work!

The work is something in which one is passionately interested in

• Ideally speaking,  the work should be such that one should literally enjoy that work so much that one wouldn't want to sleep and would want to do it even if one doesn't get any money for doing it!
• The above aspect is essentially related to job satisfaction.
• If one is good at something, one can surely find a job. However, one will not be satisfied and happy. One would in some sense drag along in life while doing work one doesn't passionately enjoy in the real sense.
• An acid test for finding this out is to imagine that one is super-rich and has all the money one would ever need in life.
• So in that case one wouldn't need to work for money at least. And if money is not a criteria then what would one want to do?
• It is better to find an answer to the above and do that work.
• One has to blindly assume that one can earn enough while doing the work one would want to do based on above test.
• An of course, one could be totally wrong in making that assumption.

The work is something that makes good enough money for a decent life

• All said and done, money has its importance. It may be the case that one may not live for money but one would certainly still need money to live!
• This is the third leg of the stool of a life lived well.
• One chooses to do something one is good at. One also chooses to do something one is passionately interested in. But is that enough?
• Not really, since for a life lived well, one would need to able to take care of one's physical and material needs and comforts.
• And money is very very important for assuring that. So choosing a work that pays well is equally crucial.
• One should take care of this aspect also while trying to decide what work to do in one's life.

So the question "What Work Should I Do in My Life?" is definitely an important one.

The answer to this question indeed defines and is related to the very purpose of one's existence.

Haridwar, Rishikesh, Chamba, New Tehri Town and Tehri Dam - Some Photographs

Here are some photographs from a recent family trip to Haridwar, Rishikesh, Chamba, New Tehri Town and Tehri Dam.

These capture some of the tourist spots and landscape that is so very unique to this part of India.

You may ask why the New Tehri Town and why not just Tehri Town?

Well, the Old Tehri Town was submerged under water when the Tehri Dam became operational.

So a new Tehri Town was created as its replacement for those who used to live in the Old Tehri Town!

Enjoy the photographs.

Rishikesh at night from the mountains above while coming down from Tehri Dam

Tehri Dam

Lizard on a wall on the side of a road in New Tehri Town (Can you see it?)

Landscape while on the way to Chamba from Rishikesh

Gaushala (Cow-house!) near Rishikesh. Last one is Google Photos effect!

Some philosophical thoughts on the grills on the sides of the path to the Shanti Kunj Ghat on river Ganges at Haridwar

Birth, Life, Death, Cremation and Afterlife

The cycle of time makes every living object finally and precisely and exactly stop at where it started from.

Nothingness or pure soul.

We all start from nothingness to end at nothingness.

Whether it be Akbar the great emperor or Akbar the not-at-all great gardener at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Whether it be Amitabh the great actor or Amitabh the not-at-all great junior artist in Bollywood.

For a living being the above journey is like moving forward along a circle to reach the starting point after some time when the journey would come to end, and perhaps another would start.

However, for time the above journey is like moving forward along a line. As circles come and go, and living beings are born and die, the march of time goes on, incessantly, always!

So what happens on the circle when you are dead.

Step1 - First you need something to help you reach the right place for cremation.



Step 2 - Then you reach the place for cremation.



Step 3- And then you get cremated, finally. You disappear in the Pancha Tatva or nothingness.



The Pancha Tatva or nothingness is the pure soul and the only and ultimate reality of life.

Life as a living being  is a finite space-time phenomenon which needs to have a full stop.

And death is really good in the sense that it serves as that full stop.

The full stop is like Moksha.

Death is a useful reality that way.

So accept it, welcome it, and embrace it when it comes.

Birth, life, death, cremation and afterlife - they all are really one.

They are one since they are different forms taken by the nothingness or pure soul.

Focus on good deeds or Karma needs to be your sole purpose in life since that is the inherent and true nature of pure soul.

What we do other than that is not important and won't really matter.

In the end only Karma counts.

The Hare-brained Head and the So-Silly Stooge

The hare-brained head of an organization and his so-silly stooges are a delight to watch.

You are in a stupid company if you come across such funny folks.

A very warm welcome in case that is the case!

The hare-brained head will copy every tom, dick and harry who lick his feet in some of his really funny emails.

Don't they at all discuss the highest visibility project that has been going on for several months?

That's so surprising.

The hare-brained head of an organization and his so-silly stooge manning the operations go for lunch together to the office cafeteria. Everyday, if possible.

So what do they discuss over lunch?

It is shocking to know that they don't discuss the critical happening in the organization.

The hare-brained head would then send an e-mail why something happened or did not happen.

He would pretend as if he doesn't know anything.

What the hell they discuss over the lunch table then?

And then the hare-brained head has special, secret, silly meetings with his coterie.

It is called inter departmental meeting.

Only the so-silly stooge manning the operations and the other blind loyalist so-silly stooges like him who are the close inner circle of the hare-brained head go to that meeting.

What the hell they discuss in that meeting then?

The hare-brained head says let us discuss this in some other inconsequential review meeting.

Why is the other review meeting inconsequential?

Why, because the hare-brained head says silly things like this:

• Well, we just had this meeting few weeks back
• Why this meeting again?

In addition, on many occasions he says can we finish the review meeting in 30 minutes? Or can we move it to next week?

He is not serious at all but says serious things in a very serious manner. Seriously?

That's actually all very funny.

What else can you expect from a hare-brained head?

He knows what his so-silly stooge manning the operations is up to.

He knows what exactly is going on.

He pretends not to know.

He pretends to be something else.

When you highlight an issue related to his so-silly stooge manning the operations or any other of his so-silly stage (basically anyone who is a part of the close inner circle) he doesn't bother to respond.

You send an email and see no response.

So what do you do?

You stop highlighting any issue.

He knows what's going on.

He knows what's cooking inside the vessel.

He is in fact part of the cooking along with his so-silly stooges.

And then he says, how did that happen?

That's so funny.

That's unprofessional too.

In such a case you should know that you are in a stupid company if you come across such funny folks.

A very warm welcome in case that is the case!

Enjoy.

And best of luck!

It's All in the Family - Do You Feel So about Your Place of Work?

Well, if you do so, welcome to the real world.

A world where some  places of work can literally get on to your nerves.

A world where you find asses having a great time.

A world where you see Cheshire cats showing their smartness.

A world where some people get something which they don't really deserve.

The "All in the Family" kind of culture at your place of work will constantly throw following strange and interesting situations at you:

• A certain group of people are like college friends more than professional colleagues
• A certain group of people do just one thing - scratch each others back
• A certain group of people are no more than a mutual admiration club
• A certain group of people are like stooges of the top dog
• A certain group of people operate as a close-knit coterie

In such organizations the top man is the father of the family.

And depending on his mood he will dole out largess for other members in the family.

Those who report into him are blind loyalists.

For the stooges, the only answer they have is "yes sir". Always.

The stooges would come across as even more despicable than a bonded labour.

For anything their ultimate answer is always the same - "We need to do it as he has said it".

The he is the biggest ass in the organization and is the real culprit behind the sick culture in the organization.

However the he will  act as if his company is the best company in the world.

The truth in such organizations is unfortunately far removed from reality.

The he and a certain group of people who are like his family is all that matter in such a sick and third class organization.

Loyalty wins over merit, hands down, in such companies.

After all, its all in the family!

Dirty Realities of a Third Class Organization that Pretends to be a Five Star Organization

Many organizations give the impression of a being a five star organization when in reality they are a third class one.

What happens in such organizations and what are the dirty realities of such organizations?

First and foremost, the top guy is a complete idiot for whom loyalty is everything and merit is nothing.

The meaningless promotion of the close coterie of the top guy by who else but the top guy only, but naturally, is a shining example of that.

What is the meaning of meaningless promotion?

When a person is promoted from grade Gx to Gx+1 but still does the same silly stuff he was doing earlier, if he was, in fact, doing anything at all, that's a meaningless promotion.

Those who are in higher grades carry a conceited view of themselves. 

No one recognizes them as experts outside the third class organization but they give the false appearance of being experts.

Forget that, no one even knows such typical characters exist on earth!

You utter a new term in the morning and the so-called third class experts in such third class companies would claim they are experts in that thing by the evening and at times, very funnily, by the afternoon itself.

The top man is the biggest joker of them all among the pack of loyalists.

He will promote them for no reason other than loyalty.

Merit is a term that means nothing in such third class companies.

And to hide the silly stuff happening the top dog and his coterie give the false appearance of being a five star organization.

The reality is that such a company is a third class lala company.

The top lala being the most idiot of all. The small lalas are equally idiotic if not more.

The small lalas also carry a big ego just like the big lala.

They expect respect though they deserve none.

A third class company is also highly grade conscious and totally grade driven.

Though the dirty reality is that the grades mean really nothing.

You may have a VP of HR working really as a HR Manager.

Or, VP of IT Support taking care of an area where he doesn't even know how to spell even the basic terms.

The above non-sense can happen only if the organization is a third class one.

The top idiot puts such a sick culture in place.

Loyalty wins hand down in such companies.

Merit, in the real sense and not in the sense of pseudo-experts such companies breed in no time, has no place.

The top idiot takes total care of the interests of his loyal stooges in a blatant and discriminatory manner.

Whether it be some company event or lunch those who may have had zilch contribution still need to be invited.

After all a bloody top dog needs to take care of the puppies.

And if one forgets it the top dog will send an email about that.

He is very particular about ensuring such kind of non-sense continues non-stop. 

What else can one expect from an idiot at the top?

When the Top Man is a Complete Idiot and Puts Loyalty Over Merit

When the top man in an organization is a complete idiot and puts loyalty over merit, that is a clear sign that the organization is on its way to disaster.

Such a person is the key ingredient in the recipe that paves the way for the impending disaster and doom.

Such people think they are way too smart.

They may not have achieved much but are full of conceit.

One give away sign of the above is that such an idiot is running after awards, accolades and recognition like a mad street dog searching desperately for food in a dump yard.

For such an idiot any mention in an external forum is like water is for a fish.

Without that he feels dejected, demotivated and desperate.

Without water a fish dies.

Similarly, without a mention in any external forum the idiot would die, figuratively if not otherwise.

However, the mention may be so trivial that no one would notice it but the loyalists.

And that is precisely the reason why such a fool loves loyalty over merit.

You Are Promoted, You Too And Yes, You Too

In some organizations promotions are distributed like candies.

The yearly performance cycle culminates with funny communications regarding every tom, dick and harry (though these are proper nouns capitalization has been omitted intentionally for very obvious reasons) getting promoted.

One of the pet stooges of the top dog would distribute candies, oops... promotions to his pet stooges, who but naturally also happen be the sub-stooges of the top dog.

So a pet stooge of the top dog would write one email after the other: "You Are Promoted, You Too And Yes, You Too"

It would perhaps be more sensible to write an email regarding those few who are not promoted.

Since everyone else would be promoted!

Add what is the criteria to be promoted?

Well, just one and only one.

And to put it in a highly mathematical manner, you get promoted if and only if you are a pet stooge of the pet stooge of the top dog.

There is no requirement whatsoever of the criteria like merit, competency, performance, results on actual ground that would generally be used in a professional set-up.

And in case you happen to ask that question, here's the answer you would get.

What's merit, competency, performance, results on actual ground?

What are these... seriously?

Loyalty, length of service, being in good books of the top dog is only what matters in such organizations.

Of course, such organizations can't have professional set-ups.

They are really speaking lala companies where being a blind loyalist of the bada lala and the chota lalas is the only qualification one ought to have.

You Get What You Deserve or are Destined to, Not What You Desire or Demand

Many a times you get this feeling that you truly deserved what you failed to get.

You believe you had everything going for you but then, in the end, something did not click for you.

The above happens too often, and with too many people.

Why does the above happen? Why with too many people? And why too often?

First, destiny plays an important role whether you agree with that or you don't.

Being the right person at the right place and the right time can change the outcome of many a life situations.

And the right person in a given life situation may not be you but someone else or maybe no one!

Also, what you deserve is what others really think you deserve. Not what you think you deserve.

What you desire or demand is usually what you think you deserve.

Your desire or demand is generally based on your own assessment of yourself in terms of your capabilities and competencies.

For whatever may be the reason, at times you think that you deserve something.

So you end up having a desire for that something

And not only that, sometimes you end up demanding that something because you really believe that you deserve it!

For all that matters in the end, you may not actually deserve it.

The reason might be very simple, however hard and heart-breaking it might be.

You are totally wrong in your own assessment of yourself.

Those who can give that something to you might think just the opposite of what you think.

That you actually don't deserve it!

Desire and demand have no value.

What you think you deserve is not what really matters.

What others think you deserve is what really matters.

And perhaps the only thing that really matters.

When You Don't Have Much to Say, You Can Only Smile

Very recently I met someone who was going through some crisis at work.

When I asked him about how things are going on, he just smiled.

He spoke about couple of things. But not much.

This is so very true. When you don't have much to say, you can only smile!

Or is it actually a smirk.

Maybe it is more of a smirk than a simple smile.

This shows the person has virtually no control, or has lost most of it, on what's going on.

And not only that. He is also partly, if not primarily, responsible for that crisis.

The question is: can smile help?

Giving an honest answer may be much more helpful.

The answer should obviously talk about why things may have gone the way they did.

And an honest inquiry into the ways and means for not getting into get into such a situation ever again.

The smile may tell another story.

That person is a nincompoop and thoroughly incompetent for the position he holds.

He will smile again, next time, and that too very soon.

Are You Working in a Lala Company? Use this Checklist to Find that Out

How to know whether you are working in a Lala company or not?

Here's a checklist that you can use for this purpose.

1. Has the top man cultivated a set of four (or put your number) stooges around him for running the show?

2. Is parking space reserved for the special stooges despite "first come and first park" policy that is supposedly being practiced?

3. Are there some special people whose Laptop bag is fetched by a office boy from their car to their cabin?

4. Do the top man and his stooges always go together for lunch and are served food in a special way as well as sometimes served special food too?

5. Do the top man and stooges work in a secretive and opaque manner and take many decisions in closed-door meetings?

6. Does the top man has a ludicrous fetish for becoming popular and well-known and is he always chasing awards and accolades, some of which are utterly silly?

What is it Like Working for a Lala Company?

The title of this post will resonate quite well with you if you have ever worked for a Lala company in your career.

What are the thoughts that would come to your mind?

How would you feel?

And what is it really like working for a Lala company?

You are befuddled about the things going on around you.

Like the company is not making enough money so team lunches are stopped but unnecessary and useless off-site meetings get planned.

You are amazed about the fact that the company still exists.

The kind of non-sense going on would make you think that "Ripley's Believe It or Not" is actually all very ordinary.

You feel humiliated about some of the odd things that keep on happening off and on.

Like you come in the morning and are told that the parking place is not available for some silly reason.

And you come to know later in the day that car parking has been reserved for the old, special brigade.

There is lot of talk about open culture and transparency, and that's a problem, there is mere talk.

You are perplexed about the kind people working in the company, especially at the senior levels. 

Everyone placed (yes, placed artificially)  in the supposedly leadership positions are there due to only one reason, servitude - their loyalty to the master and unquestioning attitude.

You are demotivated by the kind of culture you need to put up with constantly.

Since culture is a direct function of the kind of people in leadership positions, it is obvious what kind of people surround you.

The root of the problem is the top dog who openly and blatantly works through and only with his four puppies.

The top dog and the puppies form a close-knit coterie of bad asses.

And when a company is managed by such a cozy group the consequences are eminently disastrous.

You are scared about the consequences due to the kind of organization structure created and management style practiced in such companies.

Loyalty is the only criterion in such companies.

This also leads to a highly grade-conscious workplace.

The sad and strange thing is that the HR head is such a company, who is basically a clown carrying a school-boy attitude and a stooge of the top man, doesn't understand the difference between role and grade.

Artificial reporting structures are erected in such companies with no consideration for merit and competence.

The delivery head in such companies is another specimen, basically yet another clown and a stooge of the top man, who doesn't at all understand how to manage projects and people.

He is a polished talker but an incompetent performer.

The administrative heads of other groups are no different.

Don't Say, Don't Tell, Don't Ask, Don't Listen

What happens when your channels of communication with another person break down?

At least four distinct things happen.

You don't say anything to that person.

You don't tell anything to that person.

You don't ask that person for anything.

And you don't listen to that person.

Why would your relationship with a person come to such a stage where there is a complete breakdown of your channels of communication with that person?

There are many reasons.

The first reason is difference in the way you think versus the way the other person thinks.

You might think the relation between you and the other person should work in a certain way.

You might think something is important.

But the other person may think differently.

An example of this:

• You may consider physical intimacy and sexual relations with your spouse to be a important bedrock for a happy and wholesome marriage.
• However, your spouse would seem not to care at all about this.
• This may result in verbal conflicts and disagreements.
• That eventually leads to breakdown.

The second reason is the gradual building up of ego.

You slowly start thinking that why you should always initiate the communication with the other person. Especially when there is a temporary breakdown.

Temporary breakdown of your channels of communication with another person can slowly become permanent because of ego coming in the way.

An example of this:

• After every minor fight with your spouse you might be the one who always initiates the first interaction to normalize the relation.
• However, your spouse behaves in an odd way and is also never the one to initiate the thawing process.
• So slowly you might come to a stage where you would say, "why should I be the first one, every time?". Your spouse might think, "why shouldn't you".
• That eventually leads to breakdown.

The third reason is that you may slowly grow over the need to have any relation with a person.

Communication is necessary to build relation with another person.

If the other person doesn't respond in kind for very long you might grow over the need to continue any meaningful relation with that person.

And once you don't consider the relation with a person important the need to keep your channels of communication diminishes and at times would simply cease to exist.

An example of this:

• You spouse refuses and avoids physical intimacy and sexual relations for silly reasons.
• After several refusals and rejections you slowly develop your mental mechanism to start reacting in a certain way.
• You develop the attitude, "I also don't care any longer. This is all over".
• That eventually leads to breakdown.

And finally, you then enter the state where you "Don't Say, Don't Tell, Don't Ask, Don't Listen."

True Empowerment will Always be a Pipe Dream in an Unprofessional Company

An unprofessional company is typically characterized by a strange culture where symbolism prevails over pragmatism.

In such companies true empowerment will always remain a pipe dream.

There are serious deficiencies that percolate the structures and staffing in such companies which result in abject failure of its systems and processes.

The company is run by a close-knit group of incompetent but manipulative people. This group is sadly what constitutes the senior management in such a company.

The only qualification of such people is their blind loyalty to the voodoo master. Yes the head of the organization in such companies is nothing more than a voodoo master.

What happens in such companies is similar to a pied piper playing the flute and driving the rats along to his tune.

The head of the organization is like the pied piper. And his loyal stooges are like the rats who play along the tune.

The coterie works like a pack of wolves. They do not care about the organization and the value-add from their respective departments.

They only bother about protecting each others' backs.

They work like a group of manipulative crooks who indulge in secret games and do malicious things behind the curtains.

Of course, they would act as if they are highly professional.

The facade of professionalism is created through symbolic gestures related to people practises.

Lot of silly things are brought into the company to this effect but with no actual change on the ground.

External awards, certifications, industry accolades, etc. become the primary source of false pride in such companies.

True empowerment remains a pipe dream though because the top man and his coterie don't let that happen in the real sense.

Promotions and appreciation in such companies follows just one criterion - loyalty.

Strange reporting structures are put in place by the top man and his coterie.

Reporting structures are created to actually perpetuate the control of the coterie. True empowerment has no place in such a company.

All the good words and phrases are used in meetings but they mean nothing.

Rituals related to people practises are established and followed religiously but on the ground nothing really happens in the true spirit of empowering people.

Handling a Sudden Medical Emergency at Home

When bad time strikes, you or someone in you family may face a sudden medical emergency.

A few minutes before the emergency all would seem to be going very well.

And then suddenly!

Getting panicky is very natural and perhaps the first reaction one would normally have.

Unless you are a trained doctor or medical expert, there is not much that you can do that in such a situation.

Here are some thoughts on what one could do to handle a sudden medical emergency at home:

• Quickly assess the extent of impact or damage, if that is possible. This may be possible in case of external injuries only.
• See whether the family member can be taken to a hospital immediately. If not, call for the ambulance immediately.
• Take the patient to the nearest hospital. Any reasonably equipped hospital in your vicinity would be fine so that first-aid or emergency treatment can be given without loosing precious time.
• In case of any case history to the medical emergency the hospital you generally go should be contacted and informed and you should do whatever advised.
• Have at least 3 people, if possible accompany you. One should stay alongside the patient, the second one should stay along with the doctors and the nursing staff. The third one should do the errands like arranging for money, getting things from outside if not available at the hospital, etc.
• Always remember, for you the emergency may be a first-time or a rare situation that you may not have ever faced but for the medical staff it is just routine.
• Based on the immediate above point, let the medical staff take the decisions based on their professional judgment. You should certainly expect them to brief you as appropriate and at the appropriate times.
• Certain necessary paperwork may also be required to be completed as the treatment begins. That is another reason having 3 people helps. The third person can easily take care of such administrative tasks.

Some other miscellaneous thoughts to take care of some other things that though not directly related to the medical requirements are important for you to manage:

• Maintain a positive and encouraging attitude as you interact with your family member who is going through the physical pain and discomfort. He or she would need both physical and mental support to handle the tough time with higher level of fortitude.
• As soon soon as you get time, but surely at the earliest, you should inform the relevant people at workplace about the fact that you may not be available for certain days. Do mention medical emergency so that they are more considerate to your needs in such a tough time in your personal life.
• Ensure you brief the people so that critical tasks at your workplace don't get missed in your absence.
• Make sure you have medical insurance policy to take care of such situations. Inform the insurance provider at the earliest possible.
• Keep an emergency fund equal to 2 times of the medical insurance amount. This would help in case the hospital you go to is not a network hospital. Also it gives you a nice cushion which is 3 times the medical insurance amount and that should normally be sufficient in most cases.
• Make sure some of your investments are liquid so that in case you run out of the emergency fund, you should be able to access some more funds by quickly liquidating your investments so as to generate the required funds.
• In case even the above also fails to provide you the needed funds, you may have to explore taking personal loans to take care of medical expenses. This should hopefully be a "God forbid" scenario!

Always carry the feeling of gratitude that the whole thing could have been even worse that what it is.

Never carry the grudge "why me"?

Be positive and cheerful. Generate inner mental strength to take care of whatever situation is there before you since that is your reality at this point of time.

Do whatever you can do to the best of your availability. Leave the rest to the medical experts.

And finally, and most importantly, pray and thank God. He wanted you to go through such an experience in life. It is simply destiny at play.