whew, that was close

Today I was in an office of ours in the morning. That office was in the process of moving as well. So there were boxes everywhere getting packed. As usual like everyone else, this too was a time for spring cleaning. An essential part of spring cleaning is shredding. You tend to accumulate papers by the kilo till you have to move on and then you are inclined them. While I was roaming around one office peon was assigned to shred tons of paper in one of the conference rooms. Nothing unsual. But suddenly something on his table caught my eye. There were two books – Search by John Battelle and Leadership by the Book by Ken Blanchard. I asked him what these were for. To shred he said. My eyes popped out and my heart skipped a beat. SHRED THESE? The Search is easily amongst the best book on search engines there is today. It well written, analysed and informative. It made me think and changed by outlook towards search. It is easily amongst the top books I have read. Ken Blanchard is a prolific writer. Normally I shun away from such books. I kind of like to call these self help for dummies who don’t know commonsense. But I have a read a few of Ken’s books and I found them to be good. I was surprised my self and it did take some amount of ego eating to say – they are actually good. Rare for a management book to be commonsense, basic, easy and good. Ken has that art. He does talk sense. So I asked the peon if he was sure he had to shred these. He said he had already shred one. Oh god! No matter how bad the book I would never be able to shred one. Even Snowball is still lying in my cupboard. The worst of all - give it to someone else. Let someone else figure what to do with it. Give it for free at eth nearest signal to the book seller. He might figure out a way to sell it to someone else. How can you shred a book? How? The book was not even opened. It’s a good thing I rescued those babies from imminent danger. Just in time.

Its a new world

This post was written yesterday but got published today. Teething troubles at the new office.

Hmmmm. A new office after around four and three quarters of a year. This is the first time that I must have sat in one place for soo long. I have had a checkered history in my ten years of work life. I kept moving around, jumping around and bouncing from one place to another. It took some time for realization to sink in that staying in one place and growing roots is probably a smart thing to do. After all the struggle and gut wrenching that a babe in the woods is first subjected to, it is now time to sit and enjoy the benefits of experience, comfort level, knowledge and power. Power in two forms – the one that comes from authority and the second that is far less visible; it is the one that comes from knowing the system and the people within it. I suggest the latter is probably more powerful. And it only comes with time and enough ‘elephant bumping’.
Coming back to the new office. I like the new desk I got. Nice cozy corner of the office. I can play music to me hearts delight, watch movies, even watch some porn without anyone catching me :) I have a wall behind me and a color printer in front! And keeping with the cost cuttings happening no one except a couple of ‘hallowed’ individuals having access to the printer. Needless to add I figures to get my self the access. These days I am happy to be a bit undisturbed and away from it all. My team is a little bit away from me. I am happier for them. I wouldn’t want my boss looking down my shoulder. It also helps them grow up. What’s the point of ‘leading’ a team if they are unable to function without you? The idea is to make your self as free as possible to pursue ‘trivial pursuits’. Sorry for the silly word play. It was only intentional. Hehe.
While we were leaving the nariman point office, there was a tinge of nostalgia but now I am ok. I am making myself quite at home here. I just want a small corner to myself. This place would be the exact size they would need to dig if I were to be buried. What else does a man want?

The last day at the old office all cleaned up desk

Some images from the shifting
now this one is my favourite... wonder why...The new place…Wanna join me for a cuppa?