Big Picture Stuff: Long-Term View on People

Like 90% of the human population, I too, lay awake in bed as I relive some of my unpleasant experiences. Today’s article is sponsored by this very bittersweet phenomenon.

Behold, as I dissect my past experiences and serve the anatomy to you in a platter of objectivity.

The Context

Back in 2015, I was working under my dear friend Santosh P. . Our chemistry played out well, even though the organisation we were in was engaged in an internal cold war.

I was required to deliver a Creative communications pitch which I refused to make, because I was afraid of this internal chaos botching up the execution of a solid idea.

The Chaos

The organisation was divided by internal rivalry among teams and united by the splendid mess that this rivalry frequently got us into.?

Internal differences among the departmental heads had sprouted into an environment of distrust and disdain amongst the creative, business and tech teams.

The business team didn’t believe in the creative team’s competence to crack briefs;

The creative team didn’t expect the tech team to deliver better than subpar work;

The tech team didn’t identify with the vision of the creative team or the deadlines set by the business team.

The Cessation

Seeing my apprehension, Santosh assured me of an unbiased execution and insisted that I make the pitch regardless of the internal disruptions.

I did not trust the three teams to be objective about the assignment and to not mess this up for me; but I had full faith in my friend’s foresight.

So I did my thing and focussed solely on the objective, disregarding the internal differences. And we witnessed a miracle unfold.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Never have I ever seen a more apt enactment of this proverb. Magic happens when three teams, each excelling in their respective specialisations, come together to achieve one goal.?

We got the download, cracked the brief, made the pitch, and of course, won the client.

The Collapse

The client was ours now, and so was the responsibility to deliver the ideas we pitched.

Things started out pleasant, but you know how temporary fixes are- temporary.

The bad blood started creeping its way back in, the synergy went to hell, and within 3 months, we lost the client.

The Cause

Whatever happened, happened. But there was one more team in the organisation; the team that had the power and the opportunity to make this honeymoon phase last long enough to qualify as a healthy relationship.

The top management.

There could be 2 possible reasons why things went south again-

1. Our department heads never let these internal differences come to the eyes of the super bosses.
2. The super bosses were well informed but decided to take the diplomatic route, the people-pleasing route.

The Conclusion

Whichever may be the cause, the effect was that the management couldn’t segregate competence that had to be nurtured and bad blood that needed to be let go.

They hired a few wrong people. Everyone makes mistakes, but strength lies in admitting those mistakes and taking steps to reconcile. That’s what was lacking in the top management. Their incapability to take the tough decisions deteriorated the organisation’s quality of work as well as employee morale.

It’s not a question of who was right and who was wrong, it’s a question of- What could have prevented this from happening?

And the answer is- having a long-term view of people. The big picture stuff. Investing a bit of your present into grooming and streamlining your team for the future. Being objective, rather than being diplomatic and indulging in people-pleasing.

I’ll break this down further in the next piece of content I put out, but I really want all organisations and myself, now that I’m in management myself, to think hard about this-

Are you letting your personal objectives overshadow your organisation’s professional objectives?

Are your actions aimed at pleasing people or growing your organisation?

Are you avoiding taking a few tough decisions, resulting in poor big decisions?