Slow down, you move too fast…

31st August 2008. Had joined the new company for 10 days, and I still felt curiously redundant in my new role. Not that I WAS, since whatever suggestions I dgiven out so far in management meetings had been taken positively. Rolled out the plan last Friday to the senior members of the team; the reactions ranged from very thrilled to very interested.

Pretty nice guys, and I’m getting to know each of them personally, slowly and surely. Of course, I realize they will never be my “yaars” the way PharmARC people were, and that’s to be expected; I’ve come in as their Head, and so they are bound to have those mental constraints, at least for the time-being.

I also realize that only time will tell of the true colors of the relationships. The ones who act thrilled and so very nice, could easily be maska maaro-ing, and backstab me hollow; the ones who are reserved today, might turn out to be my biggest allies in troubled times. These are the risks we take in the game; the only hope is that life and my previous experiences over the past 5 odd years have managed to stuff some common sense down my gullet.

So, back to main topic.. why then, after all that, WAS I feeling curiously redundant?

Well, for one, at PharmARC, life was all about contingencies and deadlines and playing leapfrog helter-skelter, in projects. I don’t think we ever waltzed leisurely with the client, even when they wouldn’t have minded us to do so.. we were always insisting on the more energetic troubled tango. Lol. Fast paced and exciting, indeed yes, but gave no time to take a breath. I remember always feeling guilty if I ever left office when there was sunlight outside.

Here, we have a 9 to 6.. and we actually FOLLOW it, which leaves me eons of time to do my own thing. While I’m reveling in this, my mind is obviously a little slow in catching up (comfortably), with such a drastic change. Everyone works at a normal pace, without hyperactivity and hypertension. That still seems alien to me. In office, we are not running for everything, every time. There is no need anymore, WPP had “arrived” a long long time ago.

The second factor that causes such redundancy is the fact that the Meritus Bangalore set up is still small (30 odd) and dependant on MindTree for the tech stuff. Thus, between left hand and right hand, they are often waving wildly in the air without meeting, rather like 2 blind bats trying to do a handshake during a storm. Thus, what could take 2-3 max in a large office, still takes about 8, in a small one. Never had to face, and wait for “Support Functions” to do their jobs on time before.. it was a smooth process.

Will get used to it, will get used to it. And then….will change it for the better. Halleluiah!