Are you M.A.D?

I don't mean to offend anyone with this one, but here's the second part of my story.

Started my job as an Advertising Assistant at the Corporate Communications department. It was one of the best moments of my life as I was getting in to a job with steady income to pay for college. The pros at working at a semi-government organisation is the work timing. This was just perfect for me to attend classes in the evening. I was pursuing my bachelors with major in Marketing.

Before signing the contract, I remember meeting the Advertising Officer - She was Australian with clear accent (Thank God). She observed me from head to toe, probably wondering she was meeting with a rock band junkie. I had a pony tail, a decently long one that is NOT normal in the airline industry but quite normal for a dancer. She asked me if I knew to make coffee/tea towards the end of my interview. A milk fanatic, I was never a coffee/tea person so making it was out of the question but my old man told me -

Never say No - Always say you are quick learner and willing to learn.

I told her, I'll manage my way. I didn't seem to get the connection with my job, but if I had to make coffee/tea for myself, I'm sure it wouldn't taste like how it should. Anyways, how difficult could it be?

We were a team of 5 and I began to see a strong bond. I had a desk with a computer right at the entrance of the floor with lots of space to play under arm cricket. I was sharing my desk with a lovely lady. Tall, in her early 60s, she gave me a smile and I just stepped in to shake her hand. 'Welcome on-board' she said, and others, the irony of joining an Airline.

My job was simple - Check/Deliver mail, sign on invoices/receipts, file competition ads from the newspaper, replenish the printers, print media plans, courier them, run around to get errands done on an adhoc basis and maintain petty cash. That was it!

The big boss, Senior Vice President was an espresso addict and would have his espresso with a slice of fruit cake just about lunch time. The petty cash was mostly used to buy this everyday and I'd wonder how could he consume this on a daily basis every time I went to purchase it for him.

Now back to my job, it became a routine - Check mail, sign receipts, file ads, replenish the printers, print media plans, courier them, run around to get errands done on an adhoc basis and maintain petty cash.

As days went by, I added on extra activities to my tasks, starting with -

1. Communication - Speaking with my fellow colleagues and delivering mail with a smile. I knew all 118 employees by their first and last name.
2. Review - Keep a track on what I was signing for - Magazines, Audio Visual translations, Prints, Voice Overs, Creative etc.
3. Organize - File competition ads from the newspaper. That didn't change, but I organised them neatly, better than I could do my bed.
4. Observe - Decipher the media plans that got couriered, understand the printer in terms of its capabilities and observe the role of every employee.
5. Have FUN - I was asked to drive Big Bosses vehicles like the Lincoln and Range Rover with fancy number plates. Although most errands were around the office, I would wait for the opportunity to get on the driver seat to head out in style.

And then came that day, when I was even asked to make coffee. YES! That day arrived when I was requested to make coffee for the big boss's guest. I looked around for help since Google wasn't top of mind then. My colleague, a young chap whose position I had filled, came to my rescue and saved the day. After that day, I spent time with him and learnt how to make coffee and tea. For my luck, the training came in handy and I had to prepare tea/coffee for almost 20 people. It was an agency meeting and we were to fire our agency.

3 months down, I was draining down to a routine like that double shot espresso and fruit cake. It was time to chat with my boss and request for more responsibilities. During this time, few colleagues were having a shortage on resources and requested my help on editing website banners, adding outlines for back up images etc. My boss agreed and two hours of my time was dedicated to this activity. It was interesting at first as it coincided with my business, but then I needed a change and it didn't seem like my role was going to change anytime soon.

For my luck, we were launching the A380 and that meant, more website banners and back up image editing. This was my interest and the role evolved to uploading these creatives to a platform for the media agency to download. Something similar to wetransfer, but more organised in terms of the layout.

1 year down, work got boring after a while and I was looking at ways to reduce my core tasks to be able to do more interesting stuff I was fond of!

With the hope to make a difference, I merged two of my core tasks in to a simple and cost effective process. Et Voila!

Who knew that you could scan A3 size media plans and send them to the agency by email instead of couriering them?

In terms of resource time and money, this must have saved the organization some BIG BUCKS, but it gave me the time to learn more about digital banner production and coding tracking tags. This was the beginning of building my experience on the operations side of digital marketing but after the launch of the A380, there was no requirement of my efforts.

Time passed by and the double espresso and fruit cake routine didn't change. I took up a course in media advertising to network with the professionals in the market and understand the role of an agency. It wasn't cheap but I made a decent income through dance performances and the job paid for my college, fuel and rent, but it felt like I was sinking in a pit hole of corporate service.

One day, I met with a 60+ year old gentleman who came to deliver mail to me and claimed to have worked with the company since its inception. He was married and met his wife once a year. Built a house in his home country, after getting his children married and was content with life.

That evening, I quit my job with no job in hand and that made all the difference!

How? Wait for the next one. For now, ask yourself if you are Making A Difference? It is easy to follow a process crafted by someone, but always look at improvising and creating ways to make tasks simpler.

I hope this story fuels the difference you are about to make in the near future.