The Team

Pingg... the card swiper buzzed. I'm probably signing out for the last time as a developer for the International account. A little more than three years.. Three years of building a career, three years of building friendships and relations... And now things are going to change. Time of beckoning is here. The US of A beckons...

I wish to dedicate this post to my team mates who have helped me become what I am.

Mar 15 , 2004
I joined UST as a fresher. With expectations galore of making a career. Of making a name; of making the moolah. The initial days were spent on trainings. By the end of the month I was allocated to a team which was servicing one of the biggest names in the Finance domain. I was there for about three months before I had the chance to move on.

July 15 , 2004
My story begins on this day. The day I was allocated to International. I was put in a team which was developing an internal tool for account management activities. I put in my best efforts on this project, and was recognized for my contributions by making me billable. "Billable" was a big thing for any fresher. It meant that the company was starting to gain from your work, and the client was going to pay for it.

Aug 17 , 2004
I started my first project as a billable resource. I had the satisfaction of having turned billable within a month of being in the account. Manoj was leading the two member team, and the team being just two in size put a lot of stress on me. I had to work on technologies I had no first hand experience with. The quality could not be compromised; neither could the schedule, since it was directly going to the client. Looking back, I believe that whatever I could achieve was due to the fact that I learnt to face pressure right from the start of my career; and believe me it was one heck of pressure. It meant spending virtually 12+ hours in office. It meant being scolded for producing shoddy work. It meant missing parties; it meant lesser time for friends. Fortunately for me, the team was simply superb. There would always be someone who could spot if you were in trouble and then come forward to help you. I always wonder where I would have ended up if not for such a team.

Sep 15 , 2004
My confirmation happened. This was the first appraisal of my career, and I felt good about having really done something and having made a good start to my career. If only I knew what lay ahead.

Oct 2 , 2004
The first project was successfully moved to production on this day. Manoj moved to another project, and I was asked to take over another project, which was an extension of the first one; only that it was being done in .net, which was something I'd been trained on. And so there it was! I was technically a project lead in 6 months. Of course, of a single member team (a fact that I conveniently "forget"). It was like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. I realized that being solely responsible for a project was not something easy to be doing. You could always rely on other members in the account, but finally it was your project and anything going out of control would be deemed a failure. Survive or Perish. For more than a year I handled this project. In between, there were two freshers allocated to the project, and I could say that added on the pressure. I had to do my work; in addition, I had to give them work, review it and also mentor them. Often I ended up wishing there were more than 24 hours a day. This hectic a schedule meant that I missed the Foundation week celebrations. I had to sit back in office and finish something urgently required for the client. I remember walking down the corridors and seeing no one there; feeling terribly let down. There were numerous such times when I would hit an ultimate low; but the only thing that kept me going is the urge to achieve something and to make a worthwhile career. Nowadays I see freshers wilting under even sublime amounts of pressure and I wonder at their attitude. Or is it that we are faltering in our recruitment strategies?

Mar 15, 2005 - appraisal
In March, my first real appraisal happened (the first one was only for conformation; from this time on, there would be different band based on performance..) All the while I'd believed that I'd done pretty well to be slotted in the top band, but when the letters were rolled out, I was shocked to find only a B grade. That destroyed me. I couldn’t believe that I was not being recognized for the work I had done. I ended up sending "senti" mails to my manager and the HR folks, who said they would try for an up-gradation. But by then, I'd come to believe that if my manager did not feel so, then there was no point in arguing. Also, I knew that it wasn’t sufficient to do the good work, it was also necessary to do good work and let your manager know about it. Seemed like blowing your own trumpets, but that is the way the industry is. Right then I decided that I wouldn’t work for anything less than an A band; and from that day on till now, I haven’t failed to keep my word to myself.

Nov 30, 2005
I finally ended the 1+ year long project. The biggest take always from this one was the ways of dealing with pressure and the process awareness I created leading the team. In December I started out with another project, but this time with two other seniors - and fortunately, there was lesser pressure. Ramesh was leading the team, and Varma was also there. The schedule was pretty much relaxed and I remember going to Veg World every evening, with Nattu and Ramesh - primarily to watch the TCS girls who would swarm the place by 7pm.

Mar 01, 2006
Once that project was completed, I moved on to one of the most challenging assignments of my career. Vipul Shah was a name everyone in my account fears. He is one of the toughest task masters with International. He was known for his ruthless criticism of any work we do. His project needed a person, and very few were willing to move in. I was kind of forced to move in. Initially, it was very tough. I understood why he was so deeply feared. He would ask a question on the name of a variable in a program; he wasn’t willing to accept anything but the highest standards and quality. Gradually, I got into the groove. The 1 year I spent on the project taught me things which I could never have learnt had I been elsewhere. Vipul also constantly talked to us in business terms, which made us understand the nuances of the business very well. All this augmented my knowledge to new heights. This one year was ht most rewarding phase of my career.

June 29th 2007
The friday that will be another date etched in my mind. A plethora of feelings, a flood of emotions as I walked out of the door. Lots of memories I have omitted from here; a vast majority being personal. These 3 years have given me some unforgettable memories; friends for a life time, hope, love and also despair. Life here has taught me to get up when I fall, to hope and risk, and to live it to the fullest. I will miss the raucous laughter, the birthday parties, the team meetings and the "California" tea; but life must go on. I am praying it goes one full circle.

Inertia

Social inertia is a term that applies the concept of inertia to psychology and sociology. It is used to describe the resistance to change presented by societies or social groups, usually due to habit. An example of social inertia can be noticed in United States nonconformity with the SI standard units.
This is a term I've heard over the years, particularly being applied to me. The reason - my unwillingness to look for a change of jobs even after 4 years of being in one organization. I'd never given thought to the word as such, but these days when a change is on the cards, I thought why not look up what gives to Inertia in the corporate world.

Unlike my other posts, I had to do quite some amount of research to pen this one. And I am sure, it wouldn't be too exciting a read considering such bland topics; but I realize that I must learn to write stuff on such matter if i gotta change. And hence, an article against change, for a change. Now that I have laid out in simple terms what this is all about [;-)], lets start.

Inertia in itself is a paradigm by which people tend to restrict and resist changes. We are too comfortable with whats happening around; we are in a deep slumber, and we don't wish to wake up. But, does this definition in reality apply to the desire of a person to associate on a long term basis with a job he finds good? No, not for me at least.

Consider the power of the laws of inertia. Most people stay unless the pressure to leave becomes unbearable. Even in awful marriages, most men and many women stay unless the pain becomes more than they are willing to endure. It is only then that they either leave, or open the emotional door to being seduced away. It is no different in business. If conditions are good, the tendency is to stay. If conditions are bad then almost any carrot (and money is a very sweet smelling carrot) will tempt them away.

But again, thinking money is the only motivator is to assume that all people value the same things in the same hierarchy all of the time and at all stages of their life. Priorities change from person to person, and within a person itself, from time to time. And it is when these priorities change that people often look for a change. Or in other words, a change in priority catalyses anti-inertia.
In our highly educated and industrialized society, needs such as self-esteem, challenge, creativity, acceptance, belonging, and even aesthetics are the primary priorities. The challenge and enjoyment of the work itself, as well as the quality of life in the work environment are significant for most educated people. Others, need the security and comfort provided by feeling close to the people with whom they work.

Having put down the theory, I now examine why I am inertial. I appreciate
- An exceptional team
- A trustworthy management
- Having a say in the work I do and the manner in which I do it.
- Recognition and reward of effort
- Flexible working hours
- Being made feel important.

Of course, all people are not alike, nor are their needs alike. Nor can all companies create the same type of quality work life. Even this company might change its priorities tomorrow. Gone are those post Industrial Revolution days when once could threaten employees to work. Gone are those days when people were willing to work in uncomfortable working environments. As I recounted before, they'd bite the first carrot offered.

Having said all this, I seriously debate if this turned out to be an ad campaign for my company, or a justification for my inertia. Whatever it is, I am not willing to change it. Again, this brings to mind another hot topic - Don't love thy company, love thy job. But more on that, another time... And when you have fallen off you chairs sleeping, don't sue me for breaking your backbone!

A Teddy Bear named TED

Oxford Street, London. Famed for the Oxford Circus. On Oxford Street 1, Shop #526 is Mothercare. A shop for young growing families ... A shop with lots of toys for the kids... This story is of a Teddy Bear brought in when the shop was just opening. Ted

Ted was brought in as a mascot for the shop. Everyone loved him, he loved everyone back. The customers loved to pet it, and the owner believed it was responsible for doubling the business. The situation was all hunky-dory .. Until ..

The shop was very big now and the Owner decided to bring in some new teddies.. Ted took on the task of training them, to show them how to behave in the shop, how to react to the love shown by customers, and to give them an idea of their duties and responsilbities. Among the new lot was a cute she bear. Dorothy.

Dorothy took an immediate liking to Ted. His caring attitude won her over, and quite oblivious to Ted, she was falling for him. The days they spent together fortified her liking for him. And one fine day she told him. Ted already liked her, and when he heard this, his joy knew no bounds. After all, someone like him had told him he was loved.

The days ahead were the most memorable for them. They spent whatever time they could find, together. They talked for hours on together. Ted had never known such love in his life and he was happy for it.

Things took on a turn for the worse one fine day. The owner was opening shop in another corner of London, and since he believed Ted was a lucky mascot, he wanted to put him there. The day the decision was known, Ted and Dorothy sat and looked each other in the eyes, no words spoken. They knew the time had come, thought no one wanted to say Good Bye. They knew the owner was being selfish, but what could they do?

The day Ted was taken away, both cried... Tears that may or may not dry... Would there be another Ted? Would there be another Dorothy?