Follow the Leader

As I watch the cursor blink on the blank page, I try to reminisce about something interesting and poignant, but as I rifle through the deepest recesses of my mind, every thought both past present and future seems to link to my quest of getting a job.

It’s been exactly 3 months since I quit and my hunt for a new job is proving to be quite a pain in the Gluteus Maximus. 

I have however consciously decided to steer clear of writing about my job hunt as I have already covered that topic in my previous posts.

I went over to a friend’s place yesterday and we were talking about tradition and rules. It is surprising how some people follow rules to a ‘T’ and are absolutely clueless why they are doing such an activity. 

They never question the task or purpose of that action. I have seen this irrational behavior manifest itself abundantly at malls, restaurants and even in a big multinational.

Post the terror attacks, every mall has ‘Beefed up’ security, so before entering a mall you are required to go through a security check. If you walk in, then you are patted down and the women have to get their handbags scanned.  

If you drive to the mall the security will ask you to open the boot and the hood and post that they let you go. They never check, in the car or have a bomb squad dog check the car.

Now if I was looking to cause some serious harm, why in the world would I put a bomb in the boot or the hood of the car? It would be easier to carry it in the car. When you go to a company, they only check the boot of the car. So how secure are you really?

On the other hand I have seen a display of great security at the Taj, they have sniffer dogs and they do check your car thoroughly, even the body and bag scan is thorough. 

Some might argue stating that with the amount of footfall malls have each day, it’s not practical to conduct an exhaustive scan for each person. My argument here is if you are conducting an activity you should do it well, or not do it at all.

At some restaurants, the staff will wear gloves to prevent bacteria from spreading, however while wearing those sanitized gloves they will handle used plates and then food. So the point of using the gloves ceases to exist.

At work, at times you are required to create a report on your team or departments performance. Sometimes the frequency of this report may become a daily affair if your team or department is not doing well, or the project you are managing is new.

However when the business stabilizes or the process changes some the reports are not required but still get generated day after day consuming precious man hours. 

I remember an extremely time consuming activity that was done, because it was in the process, however no one bothered to question why we were still doing that activity. 

I have always challenged decisions or sought clarity why I doing a certain task, I could never get myself to follow something that didn’t make sense. If you are a leader or a person in power, encourage the people you work with, to challenge decisions, if they feel it doesn't make sense. 

If people start questioning the 'Status Quo' and use their head, our city and our businesses will do a lot better.