Rules and Fools

So, I met an IT guy who works for an organization infested with lots of process. Whatever name you want to give to the process I am fine.

He had proposed to use a tool to simplify a great deal of work they had been doing. It had to go through a lot of approvals before he could install it on his desktop. Finally he installed the trial version to demonstrate the proof of concept and that demanded him to be the administrator of his desktop.

As per the IT rule of the organization no local admin access was to be provided to employees unless someone with lots of authority says "go ahead". He went around looking for approvals and some big guns were on leave or put this in low priority.

By the time the approval came and he got the local admin access, the trial license had expired. WTF! I am sure he is not going to be taking any more initiatives to save cost for the organization. There are going to be more people in the organization with similar experience. What a loss for the organization!

Two sides of a coin called "advice"

I know of someone who communicated to me that he hates getting advice from people and yet offers advice to others. Isn't it interesting that a specific thing such as advice is not being liked when on receiving side of the table but is liked when the same person is on the other side of the table.

Investigating a little bit, I see that it has got nothing to do with "advice" when someone hates it. Its about people. On the other side as we love ourselves so much that we feel elated offering advice to someone else.

The coin called "advice" doesn't have two sides but it is we humans who have multiple sides that make a coin feel bad about itself.

The useful dad

I met someone yesterday who I know has a lot of public reputation and credibility for his work and contribution to the IT industry. He travels a lot around the world and his calendar is a good evidence that he has little time for his kids. He acknowledged that in his talk, too.

I am wondering if he is really being a useful to his kids beyond pumping them with enough money? Look, I don't have kids yet but that shouldn't stop thinking about the duty a father has towards his kids. It also doesn't mean I don't respect him.

What great education are we trying to give to the world as teachers when we don't have time for our own kids? Oh, we want them to grow up and understand what we are trying to say to the world?
 

What a teacher needs to be taught?

I do a lot of coaching other than other kinds of IT work I do. I have couple of people who claim to be my students. Students do not mean those who are present in the class when I teach but those who go beyond the class rooms to connect with me.

The problem with me as a teacher is that I try to expect a few things from my students. Not money, not gifts but their commitment to deliver something when they promised. Turns out that I learnt a lesson about it.

Good students who are under committed are likely to hurt a teacher more than bad students who are not committed at all.

Money can't buy great sons!

I went to a place and accidentally discovered my school teacher whom I last met 25 years ago. We started talking.

Teacher: "What do you do?"
Me: "I am a software consultant"
Teacher: "Nice. My son is Senior Director at a large MNC"
Me: "Nice mam."
Teacher: "I don't get to talk to him. He is so busy."
Me: "It happens mam"
Teacher: "He gifted me this phone a while back but to activate internet there are some settings to be done. You are a software consultant, right? Can you help me with it? I dont understand this software part"
Me: "Oh sure! It would be a pleasure to serve you"
While I was fixing the settings and getting internet activated... Teacher, "I asked my son to activate internet for me but he is so busy he hasn't been able to do it ever since he gifted the phone".


For style, we gift our parents mobile phones and don't help them set things up in it. What problems are we software people solving without solving one of them for our own parents?

BTW, I thanked the teacher son. He gave me an opportunity to serve my teacher.

Invited gang rape

Today morning, I had been to a hair cut and had to wait for about an hour to get my turn. While waiting for my turn, I discovered a few newspapers lying beside me and picked up reading as many things as possible.

After reading the news for half an hour, I landed up on a page that had a news about a woman gang raped. I think news about someone being raped catches every eye that I know of. I started to read the report and here is what is the gist

"A married woman waiting for bus and late to attend a conference decided to ask for lift from someone passing in a car. The people inside the car learned that she was new to the place and drove the car to a lonely place and gang raped her. Later, the rapists, threw her out of the car somewhere near her relatives house"

While my heart goes to that woman for having undergone such a pain in life, I am concerned if that woman invited such a thing to happen to her. Being late to a conference is the most inexpensive thing as compared to being gang raped.


The news continues,

"This is not the first incident of a gang rape on a woman who asked for lift from car-passer-by-strangers in that locality"

 
I wish there is a law to cut off the penis of those men who rape but but but but but I know of woman who would take advantage of that. So, woman are a trap to themselves. No, let me rephrase that. Bad woman are a trap to good woman.

Reality show off

Have been watching a few reality shows on the television, at least because my wife watches a couple of them and I am forced to not change the channel.

So, there is a singing competition on and one of my favorite singer is a judge. I have been watching the way she comments on others singing for a while and was not happy with it. I started to build a hatred towards her and then all of a sudden an idea flashed my mind: "How about continuing to be her fan considering her singing skill?"

I liked her for her skill of singing and not for her skill to critique others singing. So, let me continue to like her for her skill than dislike her for lack of another skill that I don't get affected by anymore.

I think I will use that approach to help myself a lot more people.