Donkeys vs. Smarty’s: A Common Workplace Problem

Today I’d like to share a very common issue that I’ve been experiencing off late at my workplace. It’s Hard work vs. Smart work.
In today’s environment, the number of hours you put in is considered to be more important than your efficiency and the professional approach you use.
I will give you a real life example. We were given an assignment where we had to compare two statements. One of my colleague started working on it. They took 150 pages of prints and marked each and every transaction. He finished the work in around 30 hours. I was given the same work at some other client’s place. I merged both the documents in excel and run a query. Total time taken: 30 minutes.
End Result: I don’t put in enough effort and don’t work properly as I finished the assignment early. This clearly is bullshit but this is happens at majority of the organisations. I understand that change is difficult but I also know that the only thing constant in this world is change. This will only lead to discontent and lower productivity.
I just hope that the next-gen leaders are aware of these issues and address them at the earliest.
Your views, suggestions, experiences are welcome as always.
Ciao.

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The Exploitation of Management: When doing good invites trouble

I experienced something very peculiar last month on a visit to a factory. I met a Factory Inspector who penalised the management because the factory workers weren’t using the Safety Equipment.

Initially I felt it was the right thing to do and agreed with the Factory Inspector. But on talking to the management I realised one I was wrong. The management did provide all the safety equipment required, but the workers never used it. It lied at their homes and were used by their children just for fun. The workers weren’t comfortable using them; or should I say they never put a genuine effort to get used to all this. The same thing happened at a logistics centre and a car service centre.

How can we blame the management for something where they are not at fault? We have numerous laws to protect the workers but should law be balanced? Shouldn’t it punish the workers for not using the equipment provided by the management? This just gives one more reason for corruption as the management is helpless. They’ll just give money to the factory inspector as they would not want to get into any legal trouble and continue with business. We need to change this scenario. I am not against the safety of workers, but this is total exploitation of those charged with governance. I just hope the next generation of law makers will realise this and act accordingly. As always, I am for discussions.

The Role of Grandparents: Why their Role cannot be Ignored

Disclaimer: This post is not about comparing the role of grandparents and parents but just how important grandparents are.

 

Today’s Children: A gaming console, PC, Mobile Phones, Tablets, etc. Their lives revolve around all these stuff. The problem apart from mental and physical issues is that they do not interact with anyone apart from their close group.

I believe that most of life’s lesson are learnt by interacting with people. And that is minimal with today’s youth.

Interacting with grandparents teaches us about respecting elders; it defines our views towards our religion and other religions too. And that I believe is one of the most important thing. It’s important to know about the Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc. Not only from a religious perspective but also to gain knowledge about strategies, politics, history, etc. Watching TVC, movies, cartoons won’t help because either it has been cut short or it has been modified so as to attract viewers. Trust me how many of us know about the rites and rituals that we perform? Very few.

 

Second, we understand the way of life by interacting with them. How the world has changed, the importance of money, family ties, etc. But to do all this, we need to understand that mankind has survived without electronic equipments for over 2000 years. So my dear friends, keep aside all your gadgets and spend time with elders.

 

We need to know one very important thing: our grandparents are one of the most important source of knowledge at one point of time in life. And knowledge is never wasted.

So stop blaming your grandparents for every bad event that happens at home, ignore their attitude and gain knowledge……

The Presidential Polls: Why i want Pranab Mukherjee to be the President

So the two candidates for the presidential post filed their nominations,resigned from their official posts and left their respective political parties for the big fight.I’ll say why Pranab is the best candidate in the race.

Mr.P.A.Sangma’s two actions have been definitive:
1. He is portraying himself as a TRIBAL and said the UPA will lose tribal votes.
2.He proposed to meet Mr.Jagan Reddy,who is in jail on corruption charges.

My view of this whole thing is:
The President of India is above caste,creed,religion,etc.How can the first citizen of the Republic of India focus himself as belonging to a certain region and win a fight on such basis?
Second,taking support of a party whose leader is in jail on corruption charges; what message are we sending to the 7 billion people on the globe? that you can become a president of the largest democracy in the world by taking support of criminals? Without even respecting democracy?

Now,Mr.Pranab Mukherjee:
He is a walking encyclopaedia,probably one of the few knowledgeable people that are alive. Look at his career, the portfolio he has held.Can there be any person who is as informed about Indian Politics and Economy like Pranab Da? I guess not.

So now,lets see….will politics win or the most deserving candidate.

But for me, Pranab Mukherjee deserves those long walks at Raisina Hills after serving the country well for over 4 decades.

These are my views,what do you say? I’m open for discussions