MaverickED !

A small but a brilliant book Maverick - by Ricardo Semler has indirect answers to many of my questions which I have been trying to find out ever since I started with my "corporate" life. I have always wondered as to why big promises which are made by the top management never materialises at the ground level .

"Why is it that many of the managers take a young professional for granted and give a lot of gas ?" remarked my friend in one of our casual conversations .

" Why the heck do managers insist on MIS when the reality is that the data becomes redundant after a period of time ? " quoted another . "Its just that they care about figures" quipped another replying to the question.

Why are meetings conducted when one has to say something crap and not really when their is something to say ? why , why, why the f*** ? (In one of my previous organizations we were asked to wait every weekend for over 2 hours after general shift timings for a meeting, the contents of which would be excatly same as the past 10 meetings. )Its pretty simple.

The corporate big bosses in all probability care least about their employees and have a single minded goal of making profit ( most of them at the expense of employee satisfaction ) and then when a employee resigns they crib about attrition. My foot ! Alas, they also expect us to fill all those employee satisfaction surveys positively & attend the exit interview.

Forgot to mention that this is a book of a Brazilian Entrepreneur who adopted such employee friendly policies which made the employees feel very loyal to the company and one of the most sought after companies to work with in Brazil by the young grads. Believe me even Mckinsey will get a complex. In one of the examples the writer questions companies which claim to treat their employees as part of their family and then search the employees everyday while leaving in and out to ensure that nothing has been stolen. Is there any family in which one is subjected to such treatment?

My recommendation: A must read especially if you are thinking about entrepreneurship or are / have experienced similar questions as stated earlier.


Next on the shelf: - Saving Capitalism From The Capitalists.

Disclaimer: Please be kindly informed that the above post is in no way related to my experiences with my current employer .

Vishu Nostalgic


Tomorrow is Vishu and just the thought that I would be coming from office at 5:00 AM and directly viewing the Vishu kani makes me sick. Add to that I would need to take a nap after viewing the kani. Scrap the ****ing night shifts. There was a time when I would be woken with my eyes closed and led to see the Vishu kani, the first thing to be seen that morning . After the sight I would be bestowed some token money by the elders as is the ritual. And then I would go to the nearby temple ( to pray :-) ) wearing a mundu and have a lengthy chit-chat for more than 3-4 hours with my friends and finally returning for the tasty meal back home only when the stomach rung the warning bell . I miss all the fun !

Poor me cant do much except vent my frustration by hitting the keyboards hard. Errrr forgot to wish you all a Happy Vishu !