Monday, September 03, 2012

Can business really be personal?

[EDIT]  This is an old unfinished post that I am completing today ...
[EDIT 2] Took out a few sentences in 2018 to reflect a few changes in my attitudes towards work

Two back to back "international business trips" in a span of 10 days are making me think long and hard about human relationships and its relevance in the context of business.

Can a friendly relationship be sustained in a business context? Is there any value given to morality and righteousness in the context of a business relationship? Does every activity in a business relationship have to be transactional and built purely on the foundation of the impact it has to the bottomline?

In business school we are taught to believe that by changing from a transactional mode to a strategic partnership mode the best results are achieved for both parties involved in the relationship. The problem with "my" business education is that while the abovementioned core point has been emphasized and driven in through tons of theory and case studies, the real world seems to be scattered with examples that are added in an insignificant section usually titled "caveats".

What have I learnt over the past three months (still valid after 6 years in 2018!):

1. In the bay area, all relationships are transnational - in your face, get my work done and get out types - the only thing good about it all, everything is laid out on the table, there are no implied meanings, no nuances to worry about. The contract is paramount, everything else follows.

2. There is no appreciation for a job well done, doing a job well is considered to be routine, slipping or screwing up even slightly is completely unacceptable - this is an known paradigm that I am practicing everyday.

3. Everybody wants to find ways for controlling the outcome of every single action - including me.

4. Expectation mismatches are common, it is almost impossible to find a clear and logical middle ground while trying to fill the expectation gap, you have to come up with compromises, out of the box ideas and other methodologies to continuously fight this never ending battle.

5. Out of business compulsions management has to put on a two faced approach in some situations. The internal face sympathizes with the employees while the external face has to be sympathetic to the customers even if the sympathies at loggerheads with each other.