LIFE IN A CUBICLE
'I was up at 4:00.Running around till 5:00. Finished my chores & breakfast by 7:00 and headed for my Rover !Off, I zipped to the East End & drove down at a whirlwind speed!
I reached office just in time to be early by an hour! It had become a daily routine to hit office an hour early to do a short review of the day's work.Given that the first thing that my boss would do upon entering office is call me and check as to what's wrong with my list,the least I could do to safeguard my interest was to check if I atleast was aware of what's on the agenda today.I guess every boss's job is to prepare a list of 'Impossible Doables' for his subordinates which is reveiwed on an hourly, daily or weekly basis based on the whims & fancies of the chief!
So the day starts at a hectic pace, the moment I come out of my Boss's room.I have a beautiful cubicle that's made up of all the charts,lists and templates.That's the scene at every cubicle!
The phone starts to ring! Life's good & so I greet the caller warmly with a "Very good morning,what can I do for you?".After attending to the same I am off to checking my mailbox . This was a discipline I had developed over years and it always seemed to work.I always made it a point to check the mailbox at 9:30.You see there would invariably a mail from James that would make my day!He had an amazing sense of humour and would send off a joke each morning at 9:15 to everyone in our office!I made it a point to start the day with that.
However, today it was not to be so.
I had a heavy outpour of profanity from my boss.Yesterday, there was an report that was to be confirmed by night before I left for home.As luck would have it, I was tied down till 23:30 and the report just got buried beneath the layers of tasks that my mind had piled up.So, today was a day to make amends and submit that report in an hour's time!I sat in my cubicle completely focussed and working on the same. No answering any phone calls, no e-mails, no coffee...
This was the first time that such a thing had happened.Usually my day ended by 21:00 and I would review my tasklist before I headed home.However yesterday was different.We had a surprise presentation to be done before the SMP(Senior Management Panel).My boss told me the same by 13:00 ...the presentation was slated for 17:00.It wasn't an easy task to finish what's usually done over weeks, in a few hours.However, I did manage to save my boss's face.We were on schedule for the presentation and my Boss gave me a pat on the back at 19:00."Good job, boy!".However that meant that the other critical activities had taken a backseat and a backlog got built.
After finishing the 80% on the tasklist,I decided to call it a day(isn't that a bit out of time?) and headed for home by 23:30. I picked up a burger and a Coke can on the way. By the time I crashed into bed it was 1:30.
Thus, today had to be different because yesterday was not the same, usual stuff.However, I wondered as to whether it was only my boss who suffered from 'Short term memory loss syndrome'. How could he not comprehend the situation that I was into.I wonder how, I wonder why?
I did manage to submit the report by the hour.Then, it was the regular calls that kept coming in.I did check my e-mail.However ,the standard James mail was missing.I didn't quite bother since i had all the phones on my desk ringing.
You see, being the EA to the CEO is a bit of a exacting task,a la juggling too many balls with only two hands!The response now was taut & terse. By the time it was 19:00, I was into "Who's it, what do you want now?" mode.So it did give me a bit of respite when James sent his evening mail signalling he was about to pack!
However, even that didn't happen today.
Now, I was worrying about it! The report that I'd sent to the SMP did not contain a crucial point that I'd added in the final report submitted to my boss!I had infact,sent the draft of the report to them.This was it! I was sure to get the boot! Years of hard work down the drain...
I thought,pondered,contemplated, delibrated and did all that was possible under the sun!But all that was to no good!It was 21:00 and I was about to pack my bag bearing a forlorn countenance.I reached home and was shocked by what followed!
It was James' B'day that day and every year we used to celebrate the same at his house(he's my neighbour) with a dinner party thrown in ,courtsey our CEO.I realised that only when I saw the CEO's Porsche 911 parked outside James' house.And as if out from ambush, came my CEO from behind and took me along to James' place. We celebrated his B'day in style and over a glass of wine the CEO told me that he'd sent James with the Final Report to the SMP's office, and that was why James was missing the whole day in office.The draft report had been retrieved by the CEO. He told me "Being EA to the CEO is not easy ,boy.But you must do that with utmost care when your future hinges on the same. So here's to your promotion as Head of the Strategy Committee! "Everyone raised a toast, and I was speechless for a few minutes,till I realised what was going on.
There are times when we are so engrossed in our cubicles that we miss out the obvious things, the Woods for the trees. Here I was, utterly oblivious to the fact that i was promoted based on the presentation and the Report that followed whereas the entire office was celebrating the same.Not all CEO's are same.Not all scenarios are same.Not all colleagues are same.Sometimes the very people you abhor are your only well-wishers in an organisation!James explained that he couldn't send the mail since he sat in the SMP's office till 19:00 trying to find out about the selection of the SC-Head.And then once it was confirmed, the CEO and the entire office made a quiet exit from the office!He said he even called me to convey the good news but hung up when I responded with a "Who's it now?".The rest as you know is ....
That day I resolved that come what may, I'd daily spend a few hours out of my cubicle and connect with the world around;the real world of people,of friends, well wishers and thinkers and not stay conected through the machines that have come to dominate our lives!Today as I stand before you delivering this memorial lecture, there's one thing that I want to communicate to all of you. Technology may change the way we do things, but it shouldn't change our intrinsic traits and we must all remain social beings and not turn into androids.Don't lead your lives in a cubicle!Thank you.'
I reached office just in time to be early by an hour! It had become a daily routine to hit office an hour early to do a short review of the day's work.Given that the first thing that my boss would do upon entering office is call me and check as to what's wrong with my list,the least I could do to safeguard my interest was to check if I atleast was aware of what's on the agenda today.I guess every boss's job is to prepare a list of 'Impossible Doables' for his subordinates which is reveiwed on an hourly, daily or weekly basis based on the whims & fancies of the chief!
So the day starts at a hectic pace, the moment I come out of my Boss's room.I have a beautiful cubicle that's made up of all the charts,lists and templates.That's the scene at every cubicle!
The phone starts to ring! Life's good & so I greet the caller warmly with a "Very good morning,what can I do for you?".After attending to the same I am off to checking my mailbox . This was a discipline I had developed over years and it always seemed to work.I always made it a point to check the mailbox at 9:30.You see there would invariably a mail from James that would make my day!He had an amazing sense of humour and would send off a joke each morning at 9:15 to everyone in our office!I made it a point to start the day with that.
However, today it was not to be so.
I had a heavy outpour of profanity from my boss.Yesterday, there was an report that was to be confirmed by night before I left for home.As luck would have it, I was tied down till 23:30 and the report just got buried beneath the layers of tasks that my mind had piled up.So, today was a day to make amends and submit that report in an hour's time!I sat in my cubicle completely focussed and working on the same. No answering any phone calls, no e-mails, no coffee...
This was the first time that such a thing had happened.Usually my day ended by 21:00 and I would review my tasklist before I headed home.However yesterday was different.We had a surprise presentation to be done before the SMP(Senior Management Panel).My boss told me the same by 13:00 ...the presentation was slated for 17:00.It wasn't an easy task to finish what's usually done over weeks, in a few hours.However, I did manage to save my boss's face.We were on schedule for the presentation and my Boss gave me a pat on the back at 19:00."Good job, boy!".However that meant that the other critical activities had taken a backseat and a backlog got built.
After finishing the 80% on the tasklist,I decided to call it a day(isn't that a bit out of time?) and headed for home by 23:30. I picked up a burger and a Coke can on the way. By the time I crashed into bed it was 1:30.
Thus, today had to be different because yesterday was not the same, usual stuff.However, I wondered as to whether it was only my boss who suffered from 'Short term memory loss syndrome'. How could he not comprehend the situation that I was into.I wonder how, I wonder why?
I did manage to submit the report by the hour.Then, it was the regular calls that kept coming in.I did check my e-mail.However ,the standard James mail was missing.I didn't quite bother since i had all the phones on my desk ringing.
You see, being the EA to the CEO is a bit of a exacting task,a la juggling too many balls with only two hands!The response now was taut & terse. By the time it was 19:00, I was into "Who's it, what do you want now?" mode.So it did give me a bit of respite when James sent his evening mail signalling he was about to pack!
However, even that didn't happen today.
Now, I was worrying about it! The report that I'd sent to the SMP did not contain a crucial point that I'd added in the final report submitted to my boss!I had infact,sent the draft of the report to them.This was it! I was sure to get the boot! Years of hard work down the drain...
I thought,pondered,contemplated, delibrated and did all that was possible under the sun!But all that was to no good!It was 21:00 and I was about to pack my bag bearing a forlorn countenance.I reached home and was shocked by what followed!
It was James' B'day that day and every year we used to celebrate the same at his house(he's my neighbour) with a dinner party thrown in ,courtsey our CEO.I realised that only when I saw the CEO's Porsche 911 parked outside James' house.And as if out from ambush, came my CEO from behind and took me along to James' place. We celebrated his B'day in style and over a glass of wine the CEO told me that he'd sent James with the Final Report to the SMP's office, and that was why James was missing the whole day in office.The draft report had been retrieved by the CEO. He told me "Being EA to the CEO is not easy ,boy.But you must do that with utmost care when your future hinges on the same. So here's to your promotion as Head of the Strategy Committee! "Everyone raised a toast, and I was speechless for a few minutes,till I realised what was going on.
There are times when we are so engrossed in our cubicles that we miss out the obvious things, the Woods for the trees. Here I was, utterly oblivious to the fact that i was promoted based on the presentation and the Report that followed whereas the entire office was celebrating the same.Not all CEO's are same.Not all scenarios are same.Not all colleagues are same.Sometimes the very people you abhor are your only well-wishers in an organisation!James explained that he couldn't send the mail since he sat in the SMP's office till 19:00 trying to find out about the selection of the SC-Head.And then once it was confirmed, the CEO and the entire office made a quiet exit from the office!He said he even called me to convey the good news but hung up when I responded with a "Who's it now?".The rest as you know is ....
That day I resolved that come what may, I'd daily spend a few hours out of my cubicle and connect with the world around;the real world of people,of friends, well wishers and thinkers and not stay conected through the machines that have come to dominate our lives!Today as I stand before you delivering this memorial lecture, there's one thing that I want to communicate to all of you. Technology may change the way we do things, but it shouldn't change our intrinsic traits and we must all remain social beings and not turn into androids.Don't lead your lives in a cubicle!Thank you.'
posted by vallabha at 8:44 AM
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