Why-my-manager-is-always-stupid

I am quite sure that this post will certainly draw some interest, unlike my previous posts. My apologies to all THE MANAGERS, who would find the title of this post a bit insulting. However, if you have spare 10-15 minutes, please read on and I request you to please share your comments as well. For all those who are reporting to their respective managers, the topic would be of great interest, but there lies a flip side to all your thoughts and actions towards the manager. I just hope that irrespective of your role you enjoy this post.

It turns out to be the easiest and meatiest of topics for me to pen and pin down the insane, wily, scornful, dumb creature. Thousands of thoughts (though definitely de-meaning to my manager) come rushing to my mind. Alas, I am a human being and have the canny trait of cursing, criticizing and looking down-upon anything or anybody which does not suit my taste, my style, my thought-process and many-a-times my existence itself. Always and always my SIXTH SENSE points to something sinister about this UGLY MONSTER who is incapable, inefficient, dumbest of all but is smart enough to tame MEEEE, and scornfully. DISGUSTING. At the very beginning of the day (mind you, not at the end), I hate him to the core, want every bit of him to be decimated and finally unshackle myself from all his beliefs and perceptions that he has towards ME. Gosh, I feel like getting out of this stinking place which seems to be doomed just by the presence of this heartless and brainless human being. I pray earnestly every day, every hour and every minute "Oh Lord, please forgive me of all the sins which I did (intentionally) in my previous life and provide me with some succour from this bull-shit piece of flesh. All of a sudden I find my prayers are answered and dream comes true. Does that sound like GREAT ESCAPE. Momentarily yes. BUT HEY. I am trapped again. I find myself under a similar boss (in my new job) who unfortunately possesses more or less the same qualities as described above.

Ok...enough of being a true critic. It's time to do a bit of dissection and analysis as to why this situation always arises. Why does a team member many-a-times feels insulted and tormented. The equation between the manager and the team does infact gets worse over the time. Team wants to quit and sometimes so wants the manager. So what is the basic underlying which governs all this and leads to an embarrassing situation at least for one party (the team-member). Probably it's about the three letter word (hey, you dirty mind, it's not that), EGO. Yes, this little word makes all the difference. It's difficult for a boss to really digest that "ye kal ke launde (kind of new born babies)" are un-willing to accept his instructions (rational or irrational), are ready to confront him with any damn situation and also do question his existence all-together. At the same time, the team member questions the mundane, irrational tasks, yes they seem to be just the last thing on earth and many-a-times questions the rationale of questions posted by the BOSS. So this logic, illogic, rational, irrational keeps on going with great amount of energy (obviously not positive) from both the parties, until a day when of them decides to opt for some other avenues (and it's always the pathetic team member) and probably break this vicious-cycle forever. But alas, somehow or the other, this Pandora’s Box opens up again in the new job.

Let me attempt a kind of volte-face here. Why shouldn’t a manager be stupid. He is stupid because his boss is stupid and the boss is stupid because the boss’s boss is stupid. Probably, the top management of the company is stupid. And the stupidest of all of them is the CEO of the company. Gosh, it’s a mad-mad world. But, why this stupidity altogether. Why can’t it be just a plain simple company with simple thinking, simple vision, simple values and with NO ABSOLUTE STUPIDITY. Huh. Does it really require a few Einstein’s to be put together to really a rational answer as to why this STUPIDITY altogether. Nope, not all. The answer is pretty simple, infact. We are all human beings, who were barbaric till just a few thousand years back. We claim to have improved over the ages in a lot many areas (physically, mentally etc etc) yet, we continue to be irrational and insatiable species. We want MORE, and MORE, and MORE…probably try and defy all possible gravities on this planet. Hell, who wants to stick to a company which does not show double-digit compounded profits every quarter. Who wants to have a management of the company which “simply” says that exorbitant growth and results are not sustainable? Who wants to have a team which is complacent enough to sit and relax and not make things happen. NOBODY. So what does an individual (atleast a shareholder) want from the company. I guess STUPIDITY. Let me try an explain this. The top boss has to be stupid or unreasonable in order to make the company thrive, irrespective of conditions, challenges or whatever. The management of the company has to turn threats or risks into opportunities. And this cannot be achieved by having an attitude which is reasonable, relaxed and easy-going. Mind you, for every success there is a price to be paid, and it can be an individual or a team or a company as a whole which will ultimately pay the price for being successful. There are times and situations which really demand individuals or teams to leap out of their respective comfort zones and stretch themselves beyond limits so as to deliver the results. Every organization has a mix of people wherein there are out performers, mediocre and laggards. Typically, laggards who cannot cope up with the challenges and with the pressure and really the complainant lot. They can just crib and brag for any damn reason and curse their manager. A true champion in the team will not just outperform but will also attempt to lead the team and deliver the results, come what may. And these out performers will continue to be the cynosure of all eyes.

All in all, a manager will continue to be STUPID in order to deliver the results and make the ends meet. For a team member, getting frustrated and just cursing the manager will be of no possible help as this frustration will lead to further dis-alignment from the manager’s objectives. In this new age economy, where there are abundant companies and opportunities (surely, not at the moment), switchover is another proposition which is being regularly exercised. There are pros and cons of a switchover (I’ll not discuss them here). But my dear team-member, aren’t you going to report to a manager again in your new job. And where lies the credence that the next manager is not going to be STUPID anymore. I strongly feel that till the individual is enjoying the growth, there are no reasons to complain. Even tolerating and getting along with a STUPID boss can give some lessons which are worth to be referred to in future.

So all my fellow team-members (I am not a manager yet), let’s get serious, serious about our growth and value-addition which will be the only thing to boast about in future. After all, aren’t you smart enough to separate wheat from hay (and leave out hay). You have the only option to say “YES” to life. Just FORGET and FORGIVE the STUPID MANAGER.

Indian Cricket...Jai Ho

After a fair amount of procrastination and deliberation, I finally make up my mind to comment on the Indian Cricket Team (yes there are many other issues in India to commented on….but I will come to those issues only after a bit of procrastination :D). I remember as a teenager, India always proved to be minnows when it came to overseas tours (Aus, WI, SA, NZ…). All wishes and prayers used to go in vain (sometimes it was Lord Indra who used to pay heed and rescue the India team from another crushing defeat). But yes times have changed. And fortunately for Indian cricket. The previous generations of Indian cricketers tried their best to bring the glory to Indian cricket (except for Kapil Dev and his men by making a cut in 1983 World Cup) but just failed to do so. So what was missing? Passion, Experience, Cricketing Basics. Naah...this all was there. Perhaps, what was missing was the TEAM, the SPIRIT, and the COMPETETIVENESS.

The English defined Cricket as a gentleman’s game and that was all. As elsewhere, this attracted the elite Indian class. Hardly there were players from second rung Indian cities till late 90s. Few of the players in the team took it for granted which was like a termite slowly ruining the Indian cricket. These players enjoyed the support from some quarter or the other (selectors, politico-honchos, sometimes even that of the captain). This probably did cost the Indian Cricket the COMPETETIVENESS. It is always imperative of the captain to make the right choices, leave the un-deserved ones and thus keep the morale and motivation high. This seemed to be a distant thought in that era when sometimes the captain was given under-par players like Ankola, Dodda Ganesh, Vikram Rathore, Deep Dasgupta. Enter Saurav Ganguly. A lot of credit should be given to Dada for re-defining captaincy in Indian Cricket. He proved to be a man of steel and had nerves. All the while he could take some tough decisions when it came to the selection of team players. The situation seems to have got a lot better now. With captain at the helm of affairs (as rightly he should be), being given a free hand atleast to choose the best X1 from the best available.

As I have highlighted in one of my previous blogs, ICL and IPL have added a new dimension to Indian cricket. Such has been the aura of IPL that it has become the most televised event in Indian history. It has proven to be a new lease of life for the few deserving yet sidelined cricketers who were just getting rotten playing for their state teams. The money, the concept, the power, the thrill it’s all there. It’s been a roller-coaster ride so far and hopefully it will continue to emphatically well in future. Who should be Gung-ho about this latest frenzy. The few deserving players, who can rub their shoulders with the national and international players and prove their worth, or, the cricket fan who sometimes feels the chill in his spine with the nail-biting finish (remember the last IPL season finale, which seemed to have been tailored for a perfect finish), or is it the Franchisees, the KKRs, the Mumbai Indians et al raking in the moolah like never before. My guess is that this event should have brought a million-dollar smile to MSD. It’s like warriors slugging it out and winners not only get a bounty but also fair amount of chance to make it to the national squad (Yusuf Pathan, I couldn’t quote a better example). These kind of leagues are for sure going to produce some "BETTER THAN THE BEST" and the national sides will keep on harvesting.

One of India's key challeges in 90's had been consistency. They manage to put up good show sometimes but it was never a routine affair. I guess this was also a reason for a captain to remain constantly under pressure. Tendulkar, THE CLASS, does not enjoy a good captaincy record (Tests : 25P-4W-9L-12D; ODI : 73P-23W-43L-1T-6NR). These statistics can't somehow just match his personal records. Overseas tours always proved to be just too difficult for the best batsmen to score in front of even the mediocore bowlers. Pitches, it seemed, never ever "pitched in" for the Indian team. With a whole lot of fanfare attached to the overseas tours, it proved to be nothing but a damp squib. Teams like Aus and SA did prove a mockery of Indian Cricket on atleast a few occasions. Welcome MSD.

The cricketer who can take the team to new highs, is willing to take risks and back his men, ALWAYS. Undoubtedly, he has always seemed to have a cool head, remains poised and FOCUSSED. Debut in Dec 2004 and crowned the Indian captain in 2007. Indian Team wins the first T20 World, wins series in Australia, Sri Lanka, NZ. Credit should be given to Mahi for nurturing the team and transforming the players into greats (Gambhir and Ishant seem like a good example). His strategy to beat the opponent team at their own game seems to be working very well. He remains the coolest chap around but is aggressive enough to get the best out of his men. "Make winning a habit" seems to be his mantra, but he needs to carry the team much further. Looking at other great captains of modern times like Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Mahi still needs to go a long way by winning further tournaments both domestic and overseas.

Last few years have augured very well for Indian Cricket. As an avid and sometimes arrogant fan, all I can pray is majestic times and new highs for Indian Cricket. Hopefully, Lord Indra, won't be bugged by the Indian Cricket fans atleast in near future. Unfold your magic MEN IN BLUE. Jai Ho.