Of Corporate Ladders and Iced Tea

All of us want to end up successful. It’s one of the most basic human wants. 

At some point in our scholastic journey we realize that the end result of ‘education’ is to land ourselves a job. And almost immediately there is this big pedestal on which we place the workplace where we want to work.

Where exactly is it that we want to go? Well, quite recently I have been accepted into the mechanical engineering faculty. And though I am pretty sure that I have no idea what I want to do after graduation, I already have this picture of a big swanky top floor office at Boeing or BMW or NASA or well… M.E. Heaven!!

It’s funny though, I have never worked anywhere so far and yet, here I am with all this mental imagery of office life. The perfect office; must be quite a sight, after all every person wants to end up there.

Every programmer wants to get into Google; every businessman wants to dominate Wall Street and to each his own. The top is always the most desired position, but the journey to the top is always discounted. ‘Climbing the rungs of the corporate ladder’, as it is often called, can be a long and arduous journey.

Some look at it like travelling through a long dark tunnel, constantly waiting for the light at the other end. But what most don’t realize is that the destination may not be the same as what they had imagined during their journey. The long wait makes people build up surreal pictures of the top and when the reality seeps in, it leaves people sour.

“The richest man on earth is not one who has the most. It’s the one who needs the least.”

I think that quote would be the most apt for my argument. After all, it’s the journey that is more important than the destination. The journey to the perfect job has more to offer than the perfect job itself.

Therefore, I have to conclude with the fact that the perfect job is like a Long Island Ice Tea. It tastes nothing like alcohol, but contains enough spirits to get you inebriated before you know it. It makes sure you have a good time even though you may not know where you are going!

So I end my first article, optimistic and zestful...after all the glass of Long Island Iced Tea is always half full!!
-AB

Furnishing, Furniture and Fun (and Work)

   There are a multitude of things that differentiates one work place from another..decor..posters..post-its.. tidiness (or the lack of it) and last but not the least the people. But how much is the poster of (semi-)naked ladies in the bathroom related to the work culture?

   Recently I had some of my friends over to my office (I work at a start-up company called MoSync ... it has a very high geek density* so its not a normal office) on a Saturday. We were out practicing for our graduation dinner song and later out for a walk , some of us needed to use the loo. My office was a block away so I offered the use of our facilities.

 My workplace is a organized mess of monitors, macbooks, PCs and wires strewn all over the floor. In a sentence, it looks like the environment where people dream up the 'coolest things ever' and deliver the 'hottest selling software...ever' (Ever is an unusually overused word). Our fridge is half filled with things you would eat at breakfast and beers...a Nintendo Wii has a special place of honour in the common area and it has a huge screen to output pure gaming pleasure.

  I realized by the curious look on the faces of some of my friends that their offices looked nothing like this. They were in their own words, 'more standard'. But even then I understood, each of their offices probably has a completely different look and feel to it...and that there is nothing standard about any workplace in Sweden.

  This is an interesting point to start my article from...because it is the middle of the story..it is how Martin Scorsese tells his tales...and I like Scorsese. 

  The work that you are expected to do usually needs to be compensated by a workplace conducive to such work. I am sure the image of the government offices (Indian one's at least) stuck in everyone's minds is an old building, overpopulated with staff who sit around waiting for their next

 cup of tea, but suppose we take the exact same staff and put them in a sparkling new office, where tea is not served to you but is self-serviced...with conference rooms and white boards with targets and a strict office attire. I have a hard time seeing the same people sharpening pencils all day long.

  The point I am trying to make (and maybe have already made) is the amazing yet often unnoticed correlation between office atmosphere and work ethic. Indian offices are changing in their look as you read this blog, but its not as customized as the offices in western countries (in my case Sweden)..they are clean and neat but standard. Computer Engineers love having free beer and Nintendo Wiis, corporate office staff love having communal kitchens and informal Fridays...its not about having a general standard for offices...its about making sure your office has character!!

  So next time you start your company or join a new company, think about what kind of work you want to get done and change the decor accordingly..!! 

Till Next Time..Ciao

Shiv

*Geek Density : Depends on how many people have seen Star Wars (all the movies), atleast one season of Star Trek and have their own views on social media and internet polity vs entire office population.