Ep-0| Alex and the Art of Achieving Targets

Once upon a time, not too long ago, a young man named Alex embarked on his career journey. Being proud alumnus of a finest school, he was beaming with confidence. His college education was quickly dismissed by his new organization as impractical for the real world. From the very start, he found himself in high energy environment where everyone worked tirelessly and relentlessly. In this environment, a systematic approach was absent; instead, the prevailing wisdom was to rely on sheer hard work and 'jugaad', to meet targets.

Despite his unyielding efforts, Alex couldn't help but notice that a more structured process would have made his hard work more productive. Still, his dedication yielded results, and one day he was awarded a high-performance accolade. Nobody questioned the means by which he achieved his targets – the unethical shortcuts, the unhealthy routines – all were overlooked in the celebration of outcomes. This validation of his approach only cemented his belief that success was synonymous with blind hard work and a willingness to cut corners, erasing the principles he had learned during his college days from a prestigious university.

As time went on, Alex's career continued to ascend, but so did the toll on his health and personal life. Exhaustion became his constant companion, and stress pushed him to adopt smoking as a coping mechanism. He never paused to reflect on the process he was following; his singular focus was on achieving targets. Unbeknownst to him, his health and relationships deteriorated as he pursued his unbalanced path.

Gradually, Alex rose to a senior position, and fresh graduates joined his team. Mirroring his own journey, he demanded the same level of relentless hard work and shortcuts from them. Unintentionally, he became the embodiment of the very approach he had adopted earlier – a leader who led by example and perpetuated the cycle of overwork and unethical practices. The learnings from the college were long and forgotten. The learning which were never attempted for application in business life were dismissed as 'impractical'.

Pause and reflect: does your organization inadvertently produce more Alexes? When academia falls short in providing practical skills, does the industry, especially the start-up realm, assume the responsibility of nurturing the right attitudes and fostering a process-oriented mindset in its professionals? Indeed, many companies invest significantly in training their employees in both hard and soft skills. However, the disconnection between what professionals learn in training rooms and what they experience in the field persists, echoing the gap from the past. More than the formal training, the experiences that the organizations offer at work build the character of the professionals. As the phrase "on-the-job training" suggests, professionals like Alex often learn more from their experiences than from formal training.

So, the question remains: what is your organization doing to ensure that the experiences your professionals gain are the right ones? How are you cultivating an environment that nurtures professionals to achieve even the most challenging targets through a systematic process, rather than relying on unsystematic hard work and unethical shortcuts? It's a transformation that goes beyond training rooms, weaving ethical and process-oriented values into the very fabric of your organizational culture.

"Alex and The Art of Achieving Targets" is a tale that seeks to challenge conventional notions of success and inspire a new perspective on achievement. Through Alex's journey, we delve into the delicate balance between hard work and ethical choices, inviting you to question the paths we take and the values we uphold. Watch out for the next episode.