Welcome to the Corporate Jungle - here there be Dragons in Pinstripes
It's a bad world bad world out there. There be dragons and ogres. Witches and vampires. Dark Lords and demons. They are all out there and more waiting where they all come from. Stalking you at every turn. Lurking around every corner. To prey upon the unsuspecting victim - you. Yes - you. Its a jungle out there. A corporate jungle with ugly skyscrapers dotting the landscape like pimples and warts on mother Gaia's lovely visage. One would have done well to stay at home minding one's farm. But, no. When were farmer boys content tending to their good old pigs. They want to go out there, swat monsters, plunder gold, level up, swat bigger monsters, plunder even more gold, level up further and keep going on and on till they reach the final encounter with the boss monster who's got like incredible number of life points and just refuses to die no matter how much you go at him with all the awesome sword and sorcery you managed to acquire through the game. That's how life is like as well. Only the monsters here come in pinstripes and the battles are fought in boardrooms. At least those are where the boss monsters dwell. Not many of us actually ever get to that level. Small fry fight out their battles in cabins and cubicles. Over phone and e-mail.
Some just thrive in this environment. You may not be one of those. If you aren't, don't worry. You have come to the right place. A misfit I have been in the corporate world and as one I have survived not just one but a dozen and a half years more. I have been all over the place flitting from one role to another like a butterfly. A bit of technology here, a bit of operational excellence there, then a bit of management consulting and so on. And I am still around figuring out my next stop. I thought I may share some of my experiences for whatever it is worth. You know as they say wise men learn from other's experiences, fools from their own and all that. So here I put my experiences before you to learn from if you be wise. Though of course I fully understand if you prefer to do otherwise like I have.
And that's not all. There is this thing these corporate and entrepreneurial types talk about all the time about doers and thinkers. No prizes though for guessing under which category I would put myself. I think a lot. Of course so does everyone you may say. But I believe I do more than others not because of any mistaken belief of being endowed with higher computational capabilities but more from my conscious effort to expend as little time as possible doing anything productive. And also I read. A lot of fiction, history, philosophy, popular science etc. But also stuff about business, economy, career development that may from time to time throw an useful hint or two that might come in handy even for the industrious doers. I hope I can fish out that odd insight that pops up now and then and put it up here for the benefit of those who do not have time to wade through pages and pages of material floating around all over the place in electronic and physical forms.
Wait. I am still not done. I have been saving the best part for the last. You will see me doing this in most of my posts. In this age of low attention spans, it is always best not to put all your cards on the table right upfront if you want folks to stick with you till the end. So here goes. Other than experiences and ideas, I also plan to share what most people of a practical bent of mind really think internet is any good for - facts. As part of my effort to identify the next waves I need to be part of to continue to keep myself employed, I plan to undertake studies on the technological trends that are expected to impact businesses and of course broader life in general. I will try to distill the essence of my findings and share it out here.
So that's three things I plan to do on this blog. With this I embark upon this venture. I will just go with the flow and I am as curious as you to see where this will take me. Do join me on this journey and allow me to surprise you.
Thanks to the intemperance induced by involuntary incarceration of my body, the bombus impatiens in me has been wandering the labyrinths of Internet, and despairing at the transformation it sees everywhere. I am delighted to find you in your new avatar as a butterfly. I appreciate what you have been doing here. I pity my daughters who have been taken a fancy to b-schools, but then it is a bad, bad world out there, no matter where you go. There be dragons in pinstripes, there be dragons in khaki and khadi too, and I can’t even begin wondering which are the worst specimens of the species.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you here, Umashankar. I am really sorry I took so long to see your message. With all the covid situation, I am lost in a sea of work and have totally lost touch with blogs, social media and even internet in general.
DeleteYes - world is getting nastier by the day. Not sure if this plague sent upon humanity makes humans reconsider and change for the better or will the tough situation bring out the worst out of them.