Warning: Some loaded rant and bitching about the past, ahead.
There is an almost evil sense of happiness/achievement when you look back in time and feel vindicated for that stand you took, and that crazy audacity you showed in taking people-with-power head-on.
While going through all the backups I had collected over last many years on my drive, I came across this write-up, which literally made my day. The date on the file was June, 2011; and I had named it 'Dilbert Syndrome'. It somehow never made it to the blog, but it made me chuckle many a times as I read it and as the events and characters waltzed past my eyes.
That was a crazy time, with some crazy amount of introspection and some otherwise crazy decisions which made me rock my own boat. The writeup was about those times and totally blog-worthy. That rant not only made me chuckle, but gave me a priceless glimpse into how I thought and felt during that difficult time period. I came out much stronger eventually.
I don't take names here, neither company nor people. A lot of water has flown under the proverbial bridge already, and I have moved on big time. So only someone who knows me personally, or was around me during those times, will know what I am talking about. And relate and chuckle, s/he will. Guaranteed.
Reminder: The piece below, was written almost 3-1/2yrs back about some events that took place over about 6 months before that. So take the present-tense with a pinch of time-travel.
========================
Ultimately, as expected, due to those heroics in December, my promotion was denied, and I was placed in 'C' band. This was when, on the performance rating, I was rated at 4.16 on a scale of 5. There was a formal way of escalation to make your case for a better rating. A rating lower than 4 and I was prepared to make my case, just in case. It's fine till performance ratings, but after promotion and bands are announced there is no way to escalate!! Take that! In effect, the performance-rating, about which so much noise and hoopla is made, doesn't have any bearing on the final outcome! And you cant escalate or challenge the final outcome! What a mess of a policy!
So there is no doubt this is a foul play. Disappointing for sure. But on the brighter side, it validates my decision to break away from the project which was run by some vernacular old farts, without much technical aptitude, making - politics and sucking-up - the most important characteristics for having any future there. Inevitably, their desire to stamp their authority would make them over eager to pass unsolicited judgments just about everything pertaining to their juniors - their bikes, their colour choices, their girlfriends, their dressing sense, even their guts. As If they were so sooo gutsy that they had just soloed an E11 rockclimb; or as if their blue-coloured 1857-fashioned plated trousers (rolled up to the ankles), their marooned, white checkered shirt, and those excessively-oiled परिसर अभ्यास hair - all combed on one side - would have won them a top-ten spot on the list of world's most desirable men.
However good the architecture of that C++ system was, the project was run by those who sought yes-men as their juniors. You put your foot down and take a stand and they will take pleasure to screw your hard work. Just like the Congress party. You suck up to the Gandhis and a dumb Shivraj Patil can go on to become India's Home Minister. You don't, you have your say, and you are sidelined. Your credentials notwithstanding.
I tried approaching the HR, explained the glaring disparity between performance rating and allocated band and lack of promotion. They sent out one liners asking each other to help me with my 'query'. Some bozo sent me a one-liner asking me to meet him, and went underground when I asked whens and wheres. I got the message. I am working in a private sector tech firm, which is no better than some bureaucratic govt institution where the brightness in your corporate future is directly proportional to the amount of sucking up you do to the managers that be. Appalling. And this is the case with an organization which was considered one of those better companies in India, which valued technical prowess. At least that was the reason why I joined this organization in the first place.
It's quite easy to ignore this as rant of a 'disgruntled employee who lost out on a promotion'. It's not the lost promotion or band why I am so pissed off; promotion, band - eventually I will get it all, and I guess this delay just detaches me further from the rat race. But it's the way these guys think they are invincible no matter what they do, that triggers me to retaliate in any which way possible.
Anyway, no point in letting these destructive emotions run amok. There is hardly anything I can do to affect the outcome. So better to keep these emotions in check and focus on the happening stuff with python and web-development stints that makes me feel quite upbeat with prospects. That's the other - the brighter side of the december-decision. In a way, I paid for the long term with an year of my hard work.
========================
Those emotions awakened me from a slumber and made me take a decision that I would, otherwise, have never taken, maintaining the status quo.
Fast forward to the present. Today I work for a fantastic organization, where the culture itself is such that only and *only* your technical prowess alone can take you places. No one has any time nor desire to give a rats ass to politics. The team I work for, is made up of winners - all technically super strong, sharp, well mannered, and jovial people. That's my kind of team.
And I credit those emotions for getting me till here.
There is an almost evil sense of happiness/achievement when you look back in time and feel vindicated for that stand you took, and that crazy audacity you showed in taking people-with-power head-on.
While going through all the backups I had collected over last many years on my drive, I came across this write-up, which literally made my day. The date on the file was June, 2011; and I had named it 'Dilbert Syndrome'. It somehow never made it to the blog, but it made me chuckle many a times as I read it and as the events and characters waltzed past my eyes.
That was a crazy time, with some crazy amount of introspection and some otherwise crazy decisions which made me rock my own boat. The writeup was about those times and totally blog-worthy. That rant not only made me chuckle, but gave me a priceless glimpse into how I thought and felt during that difficult time period. I came out much stronger eventually.
I don't take names here, neither company nor people. A lot of water has flown under the proverbial bridge already, and I have moved on big time. So only someone who knows me personally, or was around me during those times, will know what I am talking about. And relate and chuckle, s/he will. Guaranteed.
Reminder: The piece below, was written almost 3-1/2yrs back about some events that took place over about 6 months before that. So take the present-tense with a pinch of time-travel.
========================
Ultimately, as expected, due to those heroics in December, my promotion was denied, and I was placed in 'C' band. This was when, on the performance rating, I was rated at 4.16 on a scale of 5. There was a formal way of escalation to make your case for a better rating. A rating lower than 4 and I was prepared to make my case, just in case. It's fine till performance ratings, but after promotion and bands are announced there is no way to escalate!! Take that! In effect, the performance-rating, about which so much noise and hoopla is made, doesn't have any bearing on the final outcome! And you cant escalate or challenge the final outcome! What a mess of a policy!
So there is no doubt this is a foul play. Disappointing for sure. But on the brighter side, it validates my decision to break away from the project which was run by some vernacular old farts, without much technical aptitude, making - politics and sucking-up - the most important characteristics for having any future there. Inevitably, their desire to stamp their authority would make them over eager to pass unsolicited judgments just about everything pertaining to their juniors - their bikes, their colour choices, their girlfriends, their dressing sense, even their guts. As If they were so sooo gutsy that they had just soloed an E11 rockclimb; or as if their blue-coloured 1857-fashioned plated trousers (rolled up to the ankles), their marooned, white checkered shirt, and those excessively-oiled परिसर अभ्यास hair - all combed on one side - would have won them a top-ten spot on the list of world's most desirable men.
However good the architecture of that C++ system was, the project was run by those who sought yes-men as their juniors. You put your foot down and take a stand and they will take pleasure to screw your hard work. Just like the Congress party. You suck up to the Gandhis and a dumb Shivraj Patil can go on to become India's Home Minister. You don't, you have your say, and you are sidelined. Your credentials notwithstanding.
I tried approaching the HR, explained the glaring disparity between performance rating and allocated band and lack of promotion. They sent out one liners asking each other to help me with my 'query'. Some bozo sent me a one-liner asking me to meet him, and went underground when I asked whens and wheres. I got the message. I am working in a private sector tech firm, which is no better than some bureaucratic govt institution where the brightness in your corporate future is directly proportional to the amount of sucking up you do to the managers that be. Appalling. And this is the case with an organization which was considered one of those better companies in India, which valued technical prowess. At least that was the reason why I joined this organization in the first place.
It's quite easy to ignore this as rant of a 'disgruntled employee who lost out on a promotion'. It's not the lost promotion or band why I am so pissed off; promotion, band - eventually I will get it all, and I guess this delay just detaches me further from the rat race. But it's the way these guys think they are invincible no matter what they do, that triggers me to retaliate in any which way possible.
Anyway, no point in letting these destructive emotions run amok. There is hardly anything I can do to affect the outcome. So better to keep these emotions in check and focus on the happening stuff with python and web-development stints that makes me feel quite upbeat with prospects. That's the other - the brighter side of the december-decision. In a way, I paid for the long term with an year of my hard work.
========================
Those emotions awakened me from a slumber and made me take a decision that I would, otherwise, have never taken, maintaining the status quo.
Fast forward to the present. Today I work for a fantastic organization, where the culture itself is such that only and *only* your technical prowess alone can take you places. No one has any time nor desire to give a rats ass to politics. The team I work for, is made up of winners - all technically super strong, sharp, well mannered, and jovial people. That's my kind of team.
And I credit those emotions for getting me till here.
1 comment:
what's the name of the awesome company you currently work for? Just curious.
Feel free to keep it private:)
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