Born a Sagittarian, I have always had this childlike idealism within me. 14+ years in the IT industry have yet to rob me of this trait. Not only am I an idealist, I am also very naturally inclined to speaking my mind. When I was a child, my one desire in life was to grow up quickly and work in an office. I would be able to wear pretty sarees and have a desk and a telephone and tons of stationery. This was the picture in my mind.
Over the years I changed my ambition to becoming a dancer, something I loved passionately, but then fate made me turn back to my original ambition of getting a job somewhere. In the 1990s, during my college years I figured out that the quickest way of getting a job would be to study computers and then proceed accordingly. My love for the English language and a curiosity for learning new things led me to become an Instructional Designer - someone who designs online courses. Then after a few years I switched to Technical Writing. For those of you who don't know, to put it in a nutshell, I write or edit the user manuals for an application or product. Kind of like the small booklets you get when you buy a cell phone or an AC.
In my 17 years of working, I have never ever gotten a job through any kind of reference. The first few jobs came through newspaper ads and then came the online job sites and head hunters who led me to the rest of my jobs. I do not know what this means about my friends' circles. Maybe I do not make the right kind of friends or do not know the right people.
Over the years I have been witness to a number of strange events in office. In one of the organizations, I had a Manager and a Lead who were such good friends that they would come to office together, go home together, take leave together and leave the donkey work to us poor team members. Professionally they would help and support each other and when the time for appraisals came, the Manager would give the Lead the best rating and dole out the others to us. This continued for about 8-9 years after which the two of them decided that the IT industry was not the right place for them and opted for early retirement. Whew!
At another organization, there is this very senior lady who chooses to come to office only 2-3 days a week. While in office, she does very little work and spends most of the time on the phone with her married boyfriend or her children. When she works from home, she cannot be reached through chat and responds hours later (if at all) to any email written to her. If you call her, you discover that she is off doing some personal work.
Then there is this very senior level person who shows a work profile of having worked in some of the major IT giants in India. However, he does not have a clue about project management. He recruits senior-level people luring them with talks of building a team. However, he has no idea how to go about it - does not know or follow any process and talks big in front of customers. He has got jobs through referrals all his life and he is able to show zero results and get away with it due to the fact that he has the backing of some big shots in the organization. And wait that is not all! He also has the temerity to bring on board an equally incompetent and inefficient lady. This lady and he are as close as two peas and they feed off each other. The lady sweet talks everyone else into doing her work and uses the guy's influence to get people to agree to it! The two of them spend most of their time in office figuring out how to set up a business of their own and openly use company resources to do this. Talk about brazenness!
This kind of setup, I see, is very common. People go places by sucking up to someone in power or sleeping with the boss. They get away with having no knowledge, with being lazy, with all kinds of nonsense, only because they know the right people. My question is what happens to the few competent, honest and sincere people who go to work to make a living and do not want to get into sycophancy?
Over the years I changed my ambition to becoming a dancer, something I loved passionately, but then fate made me turn back to my original ambition of getting a job somewhere. In the 1990s, during my college years I figured out that the quickest way of getting a job would be to study computers and then proceed accordingly. My love for the English language and a curiosity for learning new things led me to become an Instructional Designer - someone who designs online courses. Then after a few years I switched to Technical Writing. For those of you who don't know, to put it in a nutshell, I write or edit the user manuals for an application or product. Kind of like the small booklets you get when you buy a cell phone or an AC.
In my 17 years of working, I have never ever gotten a job through any kind of reference. The first few jobs came through newspaper ads and then came the online job sites and head hunters who led me to the rest of my jobs. I do not know what this means about my friends' circles. Maybe I do not make the right kind of friends or do not know the right people.
Over the years I have been witness to a number of strange events in office. In one of the organizations, I had a Manager and a Lead who were such good friends that they would come to office together, go home together, take leave together and leave the donkey work to us poor team members. Professionally they would help and support each other and when the time for appraisals came, the Manager would give the Lead the best rating and dole out the others to us. This continued for about 8-9 years after which the two of them decided that the IT industry was not the right place for them and opted for early retirement. Whew!
At another organization, there is this very senior lady who chooses to come to office only 2-3 days a week. While in office, she does very little work and spends most of the time on the phone with her married boyfriend or her children. When she works from home, she cannot be reached through chat and responds hours later (if at all) to any email written to her. If you call her, you discover that she is off doing some personal work.
Then there is this very senior level person who shows a work profile of having worked in some of the major IT giants in India. However, he does not have a clue about project management. He recruits senior-level people luring them with talks of building a team. However, he has no idea how to go about it - does not know or follow any process and talks big in front of customers. He has got jobs through referrals all his life and he is able to show zero results and get away with it due to the fact that he has the backing of some big shots in the organization. And wait that is not all! He also has the temerity to bring on board an equally incompetent and inefficient lady. This lady and he are as close as two peas and they feed off each other. The lady sweet talks everyone else into doing her work and uses the guy's influence to get people to agree to it! The two of them spend most of their time in office figuring out how to set up a business of their own and openly use company resources to do this. Talk about brazenness!
This kind of setup, I see, is very common. People go places by sucking up to someone in power or sleeping with the boss. They get away with having no knowledge, with being lazy, with all kinds of nonsense, only because they know the right people. My question is what happens to the few competent, honest and sincere people who go to work to make a living and do not want to get into sycophancy?
Couldn't agree more! You have conveyed such a significant message so beautifully. Love your writing style and look forward to reading more from you. Welcome to the world of blogging :-)
ReplyDeleteNothing happens to them. They are just not the 'happening' people, you see? They live unhappily ever after.
ReplyDeleteBeing as idealistic as you, I can only say that everyone will get their dues in time. Just wait and watch.
ReplyDeleteKamakika
Keep a gun lady...and shoot when you have to shoot...
ReplyDeleteAgree with Rudra but remember to get the license too ��
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post, Indrani. It is so personal. Two cents of my thoughts on this topic - 1. the culture of the workplace determines the levels of sycophancy. At my current workplace, which I foresee myself retiring from, merit rules. In the instances where it doesn't, and it happens as humans beings are rarely cast in a mould and both good and dark magic happens when humans interact, toxic people get rooted out quite swiftly through the strong processes that are in place. 2. We have the choice of addressing and fixing problems. It is ALWAYS a choice. We choose to take the proverbial bull by its horns, fully aware of the consequences on ourselves, most of all. I did, in an instance that a person 2 levels above me was poisoning the climate of the entire org, and lived to tell the tale :). To your question on how the honest and hardworking people fare - in the long run, they sleep well, they look back on their life in peace. - again, my opinions. May not be what everyone experiences.
ReplyDelete