FW: My last "9.25 hours" in infy ! - NOW THIS IS CALLED THE FAREWELL MAIL :D

[Aswathanarayana, Chetan (Procurve)]

Good One :D

-----Original Message-----
From: Panshul Mehta
Sent: Friday, January 01, 2010 4:51 PM
To: panshu...@gmail.com
Subject: my last "9.25 hours" in infy !

Dear all

Since in the glossary of an Infosys 'resource', the word "day" has almost
become synonymous with 9.25 hrs, I just couldn't help writing the subject
line that way :)
And today, as I clock the last installment of those 9.25 hours, what a
liberating feeling it is!! It's been an interesting journey. Joining the
organization few years back might have seemed exciting that time; but
writing this last day mail, I must say.is an absolute delight !

No doubt I've been working with a company that's a big big brand,
air-conditioned offices, modern facilities... But.. a thought has been
dawning upon me since long is that there was something that was missing; a
sense of purpose and an environment where intellect is genuinely respected.
The recruitment - time advertised buzzwords of intellect and values weren't
much to be seen in essence. Somehow 'business requirements' and
'convenience' almost always won over 'values'; 'profit maximization' took
priority over 'quality'; and being in good books was a better stepping stone
than was intellect.. Employee welfare was more a by-product of leftover
profit rather than being a major aim.

Every few months there would be a roll out of 'better' policies, re-orgs,
and few jazzy terms coined like: innovation, quality, excellence, tools,
skills, goals. There was far more mono-maniacal focus on 're-managing' ,
classifying and organizing the things rather than on the "things
themselves". A fancy icing on the cake can never make-up for the taste if
the cake itself is not well baked ! No matter how many times over you renew
the icing ! Certificates of appreciation, timesheets, neckties, brand value.
That was never my idea of intellectual work.

And our latest sweet concept of "Talent Management", seemed no less than a
joke! When on bench, all of a sudden, you became "talent" ( talent that was
asked to be flexible to be deported to any location ). And surprisingly
when people were in some project, working diligently, slogging out, nobody
ever addressed them as "talent". What a great hypocritical euphemism that
was!

If Mysore DC was an ideal place where one would like to start the infy
voyage, Chandigarh "daftar" DC can equally truly be termed as a place with
equally opposite attributes to put that journey to halt. Here the inverse
law of latitude always seemed to be operative i.e. the work culture is
inversely proportional to the latitude ! More north you go, worse it gets.
And it seemed that it was always a bit too northwards ;-p Got a great an
opportunity to learn about the interesting GIS domain here. And along side I
also got an insight into operational dynamics of a hierarchy that was
remarkably corrupt till multiple levels upwards. Now, I'm fully equipped and
even more confident to face a system of greater crookedness ( if I ever find
one :)) There's a lot of "weeding - out" to be done if the system is to be
cleaned. And not just newer policies or re-management !

Now, the thanksgiving time.

To the 3 types of bosses I met: good, not so good and foolish !
First of all thanks to the third category for being a constant source of
entertainment !!
To the not so good ones: You weren't totally useless. You can always be used
as bad examples! Moreover you made me realize the value of the ( rare to
find ) good ones. The ones, who were good supporters and motivators. All of
them deserve my heart felt words of gratitude. Those who supported me,
lifted me higher and those who took pleasure in being an obstruction,
further added to my strength as they forgot that kite always rises against
the wind.

A Big thanks to all the support staff - facilities, housekeeping and
security.
Most respectable aspect about them was that they always had to work to earn
and were never on bench like the "intellectual IT resources".
Would especially like to mention the security staff. Most dignified behavior
and warmest smiles were seen not inside these glittering office cubicles but
at the security gates. Very down to earth people and ever ready to help.

The wonderful time spent with all friends at Samavesh'08 cultural fest is
something to cherish forever. My complements to the organizers of that
event. Great work indeed!

And I can probably never thank in words. many of you who were strangers once
but now friends for life. That's the best thing I'm taking from here. There
have been lots of adventures ( and misadventures ! ) shared amongst us. Met
some of the most brilliant musicians during our Music room sessions, which
will be eternally unforgettable. At this juncture of my life, as I change
gears; it's not a farewell to you priceless gems; but just a heartfelt
acknowledgement of how special you are. And some chosen ones, who were
always with me both in good and more so in bad times, not with superficial
comforting words, but with concrete actions, I can't ever thank you ever
enough. There was a lot to learn from each one of you.

Some of the other things I liked in the company were social responsibility
initiatives, charitable causes and propagating environment friendly
consciousness

But, one of the biggest and recent disappointments ever was the way the top
brass of the company reacted to recession.
Come recession and here was one of the biggest IT company in the world,
crying out loud to its employees that 'please cooperate, be flexible, we
don't have work for you'. Rolling out policies after policies and floating a
confusing web of re-orgs. Focus turned more on censorship and introducing
newer and newer constraints in an already complex system. The priority went
to holding on to the profit graph rather than to explore, take some risk and
do some wonderful path breaking work with the recruited 'intellect' !!. If a
100,000 big group couldn't have started something on its own then I wonder
who else could have? Was it a lack of confidence in people's ability; or an
uncertainty, that the company couldn't work unless some external client
outsourced and 'gave' work to it. It was like expecting things from outside
and never seeking within.

What I see it as, that recession exposed a serious weakness of a proclaimed
big system, which was:. An inability to be self sufficient and self
sustaining.

Though the revenues almost remained same or dipped barely marginally; at
slightest hint of insecurity, salary hikes were frozen. And when time for
hikes came after a long hibernation, it was peanuts!

Read somewhere that work comes in 3 types - good, fast and cheap. And only 2
of these 3 attributes can be true at any given time!
Fast and Cheap can't be Good; Good and Cheap can't be Fast; and Good and
Fast can not be Cheap !
That's what is happening. Good and Fast work is being expected, but against
Cheap remuneration !!

So, considering the above factors and after some introspection, finally
wisdom struck me :)..and as a part of my new year's resolution to start the
year on a constructive pattern.
I have decided to cease offering my services in a system, towards a
purposeless direction, which was turning out to be intellectually dull and
conceptually hollow !

That's all from my side. Wishing you all, the courage to follow your heart.
Wish that the Sun keeps on shining and smiling. la luz del sol divina ! A
very Happy New Year !

Taking off,
Panshul

You can reach me at
panshu...@gmail.com<mailto:panshu...@gmail.com>

P.S. Now after this last day mail I have no more work for the day but I've
yet to complete that golden figure of 9.25 hours for today. ;-) so I'm just
sitting at my desk, waiting keenly for the final swipe out and for the
freedom bells to ring !

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