Time has wings

I often wonder, what is one thing which, if controlled well, would help us resolve many of our issues in our life and the answer to that is “Time”! Time is one resource, which is equally distributed to all the living beings on the planet – some know how to make the most of it, and some crib about never having enough of it. But the most unique characteristic of time, is the fact that, it Flies!

Roshan was upset. Just few months back, his Boss was promoted as the country head of this retail chain and Roshan had replaced him as the Business Manager of Central Zone. But he certainly wasn’t very happy with the way things were turning out. He duly completed his day today activities and things were working out well, but he could not understand why everyone had to rush at the final hour to make things happen. When he wanted to advertise for the latest offers for Navratri next week, they got a Page 12  LHS Position. When he wanted Buying Team to buy “Dandiyas” for forthcoming Navratris, they couldn’t manage and his team had to fix an SIS in emergency. When he organized an Employee Engagement activity, the MCs of the event kept forgetting their lines. These things kept frustrating him. Everything would happen, but everything was a compromise. He wondered how to master these things and that’s when he turned to his Boss, Arun, for help. The first thing Arun asked him after listening to his problems was – “What are the plans for Christmas?” and Roshan exclaimed – “Christmas??? That’s way too far!”. Arun, smiled and said – “Time has Wings!”. He continued – “I understand that day today activities are important, and I appreciate the fact that you’ve been carrying them out well, but unless you have an eye on the future, you will never be able to command the present!”.

Time Flies, and believe me, it really does. Every time, you think that there’s enough time for a certain event, think again. Every activity in an event has a certain lead time, and if we do not plan in advance, it is certain that we will lose control on the same. Even if there actually is some time for the event to arrive, if we start planning for it NOW, most probably, the outcome will be as per our expectations. Whilst I agree on the importance of carrying out day to day activities as per requirements you do need to have an eye on the future and act upon it right now! So, to win you need to ensure that the balance of current and future is well maintained in our work and priorities.

Let me give you another example of how time flies.

Geet and Siddharth were room mates in a college hostel. They both worked really hard for the forthcoming midyear exams and were expecting good grades to show their parents in the festive break. When results were declared, Geet broke down. How could he get a “B” grade? He had worked so hard and his exams were fairly decent. He asked Siddharth about his results and Siddharth quietly replied “I got a B too”. Geet immediately concluded that the relative grading system is fake  and no amount of hard work can result in good grades. Now he cant wait for another six  months to prove his parents that he really worked hard. He gave up and then onwards, he only explained his parents that relative grading system was unfair and it was only meant for students who can butter teachers well. Siddharth was upset too. He met his parents and promised them that he would work harder for Annual exams. Within no time, annual exams came. Siddharth got an A, and Geet a B-.

Somebody wise has said “Days are long, but the years are short”. Short term results should not determine our priorities in life, because guess what? Time flies my friend. From one event to another, from one year to another and from one appraisal cycle to another, time does fly! If you have put in your best, the outcomes will be best. Priorities and direction should take precedence.

With these two stories, I have tried to explain how this unique feature of time, has to be captured and exploited by us. Kabir has said – “Kaal kare so aaj kar, aaj kare so ab, pal mein parlay hoyegi, bahuri karega kab?” (Tomorrow's work do today, today's work now, if the moment is lost, the work be done how) .  Therefore, we must leave procrastination behind us, and start acting on things “NOW” to have a better control on our future, which is almost here!

Do you have your future in your hands? Or do you let time fly with its powerful wings? Do write in.

PS: You can also reach me out at @agrawalsanjeev on twitter.

The intolerable "Chalta hai" attitude

This is a piece I had written some time back, but did not feel like posting it as it did not seem powerful enough. It seemed a bit like a crib. And I dont like to put negative thoughts in my blogs. However, a recent trip to Germany changed my attitude about this article. The discipline and the level of planning in Germany made me introspect about the “chalta hai” syndrome that we suffer from in our Indian Society. So, dont see this article as a negative piece but as an introspection one. Here goes the article.

Let me first define what “Chalta Hai” attitude means. Literally translated, it means 'it walks', but the real meaning is 'it's ok'. basically this means "brushing off things like rules because people think they don't matter”. In other words, thinking that taking some action on something or following a rule is “not important enough”. Do you think you suffer from the “Chalta hai” syndrome? Let’s take a look at some daily life personal and work examples:

1.     Do you jump a traffic signal because you are in a hurry? - Everyone does it. Why shouldn't I? Chalta hai.

2.     Do you throw waste paper on the road? - Everyone does it. Why shouldn't I? Chalta hai.

3.     Do you answer all the E Mails that are required by you to answer? –  “There are about hundred Emails I receive daily. If I don’t answer some of them, Chalta Hai!”

4.     Do you ensure accurate target setting at an SKU level for each zone? – “It’s a trouble working at brand level for the zones, If I pro rate at SKU level, “Chalta Hai”

5.     Do you set the list of your priority work for the day / week? – “I remember things at the back of my mind, why should I write it down, “Chalta Hai”

6.     Do you come on time every day? – “I stay back after office hours, coming late, “Chalta Hai”!

The funny part of the whole Chalta Hai syndrome is in the fact that you represent both the sides to crib. While at one end, you may not respond to the email where someone has asked for some info, on the other hand, you also crib when someone doesn’t answer your email of some urgent requirement. A lot of times, you don’t even realize that how this “Chalta hai” attitude is affecting others. Jumping the red light means accident for someone else, who braked hard to avoid colliding with you. You may not have done SKU level detailing of targets due to other “priority” works, but because of that there maybe wrong inventory stuck in some corner of the country. If this was done to you, would you accept someone’s “Chalta Hai” attitude? Even for yourself, sometimes you may feel that you are smart enough to take care of everything without necessarily “formalizing” it, by jotting it down on a piece of paper, but at the end of it, you mess up by forgetting something very important. When you don’t come on time, you start the day itself with firefighting, not allowing yourself to plan for the day. And that is when your entire schedule for the day goes haywire.

Above are just few of the examples on how “Chalta hai” attitude is so harmful to self, others and the whole organization. Man, by nature , is a lazy creature and needs to be pushed / motivated to work. When one of us display the “Chalta Hai” attitude, there are ten others who easily emulate it assuming its acceptable to be like that. Slowly, it becomes the culture and everybody starts adapting to this mode. This is how we promote “mediocrity” in ourselves and the organization. And then we get caught in the endless cycle of crib and unhappiness.

And this is the most significant difference between a developed economy and a developing economy. We dont even realise some of these issues as they have got ingrained in our behaviour and attitude. This is what has been disturbing me ever since I came back from my trip to Germany. That's why this article has been dug out from the archives.

Gandhiji once said – “Be the change you want to see”. A lot of times, “Chalta Hai” attitude has to be curbed at the senior level more seriously, to pass on the right message to everyone. And this is why, we need to STOP taking things lightly and say to ourselves – “NAHI CHALTA HAI, I will change it!”

Would like to hear your thoughts on the topic.

PS: You can also reach out to me at @agrawalsanjeev on twitter.

How do you go Where You want to Go?

This is a post about the importance of planning and not just engaging in fire fighting. Often most of us are good at fire fighting. Is that enough? Read on......

Pritesh is a fresh MBA and is all set to take the new role of Sales In Charge of a Brand in an FMCG company. On his first day, his Boss told him that they were looking at a 20% growth from this brand in the current fiscal year, which was 50% higher than the growth delivered by the brand in last year. Confident that Pritesh was of himself, he happily accepted the targets and also told his Boss that he will be closing the year at more than the expected levels. Pritesh started enthusiastically  and was focused on solving the problems. As soon as any problem cropped up, he immediately referred to his academic books and came up with a relevant solution. He was efficiently tackling all the problems that were coming up, but somehow, something was not right. He was still not achieving his targets. In the half yearly review with his boss, it was reflected that Pritesh’s brand was growing at the same pace as last year and the targets were being missed. When confronted, Pritesh, as he genuinely believed, told him that the targets given to him were too high to be achieved. And then his Boss asked him, “Ok, what are you plans for achieving the targets in the next six months?”. Pritesh was blank.

A lot of times this is what happens to us. We want to deliver results but we forget the first step that is required for success of any project or delivering any result – Plan. One statement that I have come to believe in, is – “If you can’t put a plan on a piece of paper, there are no chances of being able to achieve the end result”. Isn’t this true for everything that we do in our lives? Now, think of this:

Now for the next six months, Pritesh took 3 days, only to strategize what would he do to get to the sales. He listed down all the possible ways to increase the sales, referred to his academic books and chalked out a month by month plan of the milestones he would want to achieve. Along with top line increase, he also jotted down what were other problem areas like Team Motivation and Margin Management and drafted out a complete plan for next year. Now, every month, he keeps a track of whether he has achieved his target or not.  He knows if the plan worked or not, and in case it doesn’t work he has a Plan B ready to be implemented.  A little deviation from his plan cautions him to take corrective actions. And you can fully well understand what the end result was with this approach.

Anyone who has ever undertaken a complex task, has learned the importance of careful planning. This is relevant to every step in life which you need to “Win”. A “Game Plan” in any sports or “Preparations” for a party at home are all examples of how we need to “Plan” to ensure success. “Good planning conserves resources, prevents wasted effort, and saves time and money. Good planning prevents small problems from becoming big problems.” What happens when you start building a house and in the middle of it, you realize that you have run short of money to complete it? Planning, not only helps in determining the feasibility of delivery of targets, but also for knowing in advance whether any additional resource will be required in achieving what has been targeted. Planning also helps in giving teams (both internal and external) and the support functions about the next steps.  

If your objective is bigger, you will plan accordingly. The bigger you plan, the farther you will go. We saw how easy it was for Pritesh to blame it on the high targets. He was not prepared for the big targets and the fact that achieving them was never going to be easy. If you don’t plan Big in life, there are lesser chances of you making it Big in life, isn’t it? 

At the same time, it is important enough to know that some of your plans can fail too. In such circumstances, we can’t let things happen to us. Instead, it is equally important for us to have a Plan B ready, as an acknowledgement of the fact that plans can fail, but we are ready enough to face it!

The first step is to Decide where to go – near which is easy or far with challenges. If you have decided where you want to go, now is the time to decide How do you go? And then, you do need to know the alternate route too, just in case the first one has roadblocks.  Have a Happy Journey!

PS: You can also reach me out at @agrawalsanjeev on twitter.

Do you spend time with yourself?

This article is an attempt to address one of our usual work issues, TIME! However, here I am taking a different approach of looking at the issue and addressing the same.

Rohit comes to office every morning checks his mailbox and quickly makes notes of the work to be delegated. He then runs to the team and asks them who’s busy with what, selects the right candidates for handling today’s work and tells them how to do it. On enquiring the status on previous tasks, the team updates him and tells him the problems they faced with them. He then makes solves the problem himself and therefore helping them understand the way it should be done. He also double checks the work done by the team yesterday and shows them the correct method to do whatever was incorrect. In the meanwhile, his Boss calls him for an urgent work. He runs, takes it down and also updates Boss with the previous tasks’ status. Boss suggests some changes. Rohit, again, runs back to the team and tells them about the new task and updates them about changes in the old one. Its 2.00 pm and it’s time for a meeting and everyone rushes for that. Rohit is relatively unprepared as he was busy the whole morning. After the meeting, Boss calls him again and asks him – “Why are you always so unprepared?”

Rohit, undoubtedly, is a hard working person. The problem that he has is that he believes in doing everything himself. What would’ve happened if he delegated tasks to his team and asked them to turn up in case they had any doubt? Couldn’t he have sent the team back every time they came with a mistake in the file, instead of trying to solve everything himself? Could he have also allocated half an hour per day for his Boss to update him with the status and take fresh downloads, instead of running to him every time a new task emerged? That would’ve helped him spend so much time with himself!  Spending time with himself would have helped him organize himself better, prepare himself for the meeting and plan for the times to come. Once this cycle started, everything would set itself in place.

Typically, this is what happens with all of us. Each working day involves Reviewing Mails, New Task Delegation and follow up of Old tasks with teams, Receiving and Updating Status of Tasks to Boss, Coordination with other Teams, Attending Regular and Ad Hoc Meetings. In the quest of doing everything ourselves, we tend to lose on the most important activity required for every working day – “Spending Time with ourselves”!  Either we spend too much time with our Bosses or our teams. Spending time with oneself is hardly considered in the never ending agenda for the day. Many times, it is considered “unproductive” to spend time with oneself and this is easily deprioritized when it comes to “taking care” of the teams and “being obedient” to the Boss. One big demerit of such close supervision is the building “dependability” of the teams on you, which hampers growth – both of your team and yourself. The same thing is true in the reverse manner, if you are spending too much time with your boss. The team becomes too dependent on you to grow, and you become too engrossed in day today affairs to look forward.

Every day is an investment. Just like we invest money to build more money for us, we need to invest our time in such a manner that we get the profit of some extra time every day. For that, we first need to identify where is our time going currently? Making our teams responsible and trusting them enough with the routine tasks is one key way. If you think the problem is with your Boss calling you too often, talk your problem out. Like I’ve previously said, if you’ll really want to spend time with yourself, you will definitely find a way to do that. In that sense, it depends on you! But it’s you who needs to identify where you want to head to. Spending time with yourself could also mean reading up articles to improve your own learning and therefore the organisational learning.

One management tip I completely believe in, is spending at least first and last 20 minutes of your day with yourself. In the first 20 minutes, we need to plan our day, prioritize things, and set yourself ready for the day. The last 20 minutes should be spent in reviewing the progress of the day – Was it according to how you had planned? What did you do today that you will not do again?

Would be nice to know if this article impacted your way of working in any way?

PS: You can also reach out to me at @agrawalsanjeev on twitter.