For the last few days in office, I feel like hiding somewhere. Or even better, become invisible – not because someone is baying for my blood. Not because they are hunting me down. But because I want some peace and quiet in which I can carry out my work, without anyone bothering me. It is certainly wishful thinking, as it has turned out in the last few days.
Has it ever happened to you that you have a lot of pending work to do, and you are left gasping for some free time in which you can take care of it. Sometimes so many mundane issues choke us that we get lost in the maze and completely lose track of the major tasks we were pursuing. Some people take up responsibilities very well, and ensure that they complete anything assigned to them to the fullest of abilities. But very often time constraints prove detrimental. At such times, all you may want is to be left alone. But by some queer coincidences, you would be surrounded by so many incidents that would never have occurred in a normal business day.
It is said that man is responsible of his own actions. Breaking this logic down for any department in a company, every person has a certain well defined role to play. But very often you would find that for any work well executed, there are dozens of people waiting to take the credit. But when something wrong happens, then all fingers would be squarely pointed at you! At this juncture, all responsibility charts and counter backup activities are conveniently forgotten. When people are doing the work well and when plans are getting executed perfectly, then the entire organizations works smoothly. You make one mistake, and you are cornered. It is like a train whose engine is working well. The moment it develops a snag, the entire train can feel it.
Sometimes I wish we could quantize the responsibilities assigned to us. This would not just give us a clearer picture of the expectations, but also help us prepare for the work in a more planned way. Random issues here and there, difficulty in dealing with people in your department – they are merely fly by night issues for which you may as well throw out the rule books.
For the last few days in office, I feel like hiding somewhere. Or even better, become invisible – not because someone is baying for my blood. Not because they are hunting me down. But because I want some peace and quiet in which I can carry out my work, without anyone bothering me. It is certainly wishful thinking, as it has turned out in the last few days.
Has it ever happened to you that you have a lot of pending work to do, and you are left gasping for some free time in which you can take care of it. Sometimes so many mundane issues choke us that we get lost in the maze and completely lose track of the major tasks we were pursuing. Some people take up responsibilities very well, and ensure that they complete anything assigned to them to the fullest of abilities. But very often time constraints prove detrimental. At such times, all you may want is to be left alone. But by some queer coincidences, you would be surrounded by so many incidents that would never have occurred in a normal business day.
It is said that man is responsible of his own actions. Breaking this logic down for any department in a company, every person has a certain well defined role to play. But very often you would find that for any work well executed, there are dozens of people waiting to take the credit. But when something wrong happens, then all fingers would be squarely pointed at you! At this juncture, all responsibility charts and counter backup activities are conveniently forgotten. When people are doing the work well and when plans are getting executed perfectly, then the entire organizations works smoothly. You make one mistake, and you are cornered. It is like a train whose engine is working well. The moment it develops a snag, the entire train comes to a grinding halt.
Sometimes even if you have less work, you think you are overburdened. In such cases you either don’t use too much thought in your work, or more commonly, don’t start giving a damn! Many times there may be others you could delegate responsibilities, but mostly that is done not to give them a chance to grow, but because you have been too lazy.
Sometimes I wish we could quantize the responsibilities assigned to us. This would not just give us a clearer picture of the expectations, but also help us prepare for the work in a more planned way. Random issues here and there, difficulty in dealing with people in your department – they are merely fly by night issues for which you may as well throw out the rule books.
We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future. Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him and to let him know that you trust him.
