Can anyone guess something out of the title of the post? We’ll you possibly can’t because I myself figured it while writing the last sentence in the post. So read on…
I’ve been juggling between roles for some time, at my work place. The last six months have been quite exciting in terms of happenings. Though the situation has been pretty hectic and quite demanding for quite some time now, I could figure out some humor in it.
In the software industry, people usually start as software Trainees, and with time, aptitude and potential become Developers, Sr. Developers. Tech Leads/Team Lead, Project Managers, Sr. Project Managers, Account Manager and so on. And then there are loads of other things like hiring, branding, training, pre-sales, accounts etc. which you can contribute in, based on your inclinations.
After a brief stint into development, I decided that it is not something I like the most. Just to emphasize, the ability to develop and the willingness to develop are two different things. However, the willingness (lack of willingness rather) can easily jeopardize the ability. Getting back to the roles, I guess an understanding of the development process definitely helps you when you move through the roles mentioned above. I’ve seen people coming straight into project management and creating a discomfort by virtue of having unrealistic expectation (there definitely are exceptions and I know a couple).
I’ve realized that I am not one of those who enjoy getting deep into development (though I respect people who do that), so after a couple of years of doing almost everything I mentioned above, I thought I am slowly getting into what I long for. Interestingly this is what actually happened:
Account Manager>Project Manager>Tech Lead>Developer..(hope it ends here! )
A reverse gear? Yup! Time and situation are really powerful. So now what next? Well I remember one of my professors at college saying,
“Anyone can excel in what they like doing, the challenge is to excel in something you don’t like and enjoy.”
I don’t even remember what subject he taught but do remember this point. Well, I am trying to motivate myself with this, not sure if this will help for long. Not that I do not enjoy coding at all, just that I enjoy the other things more which I may miss for sometime. So the professor’s statement applies to some extent.
So what’s the future? Well, next time when I move out of development (I hope it is soon) I’ll ensure that I have the right escape velocity so I don’t fall back and start it all again!
Of late, I have had opportunities to interact with various people across the globe. And I am only referring to communications over the phone/web messengers. Invariably, the first piece of communication would be a question form the caller to the receiver:
 “Hi receiver! How are you doing?”
So what’s special in this? Well nothing yet. Let’s continue…
From the answers I have received and also the one’s I put up in response to the greeting, it almost always has to be one of the following:
 Hi caller! I am doing ‘Good’. How about you?
 Hi caller! I am ‘OK’. How about you?
 ‘Not bad’. How about you? (Notice ‘Hi caller’ being dropped!)
Needless to say, ‘receiver’ would also respond in a similar way.
Now let me take the opportunity to briefly put up what each of these actually mean:
Expression   => What the person says.
Explanation => What the person actually means.
Expression: I am doing ‘Good’
Explanation: Â Surprisingly, everything seems to be under control. I am not used to such situations but it has somehow been magically conjured and there’s a high chance that after this particular call, it may not remain the same. Whatever, let’s continue.
Expression: I am doing ‘OK’
Explanation: I am barely managing to keep up to speed with the happenings. Something seems to be terribly wrong and I am afraid, as we speak, it may go hay wire! I am struggling hard to figure out that ‘something’ since morning. It would be great if could help me do so.
Expression: ‘Not bad’
Explanation: Well too bad! It couldn’t get any worse. Nothing seems to be as it should be. It would be great if I was left alone. But let’s continue. Since I am already overloaded, please be aware that anything new which comes up will safely overflow!
It’s important to note that no one ever says, “I am doing great!” or “I am doing fantastic!”. Neither does one say “I am doing too bad!” or “I am screwed up!” And this is why I had to formulate the above theory.
All this just means, people are too good to trouble with their problems.
Is it???
I have been trying to keep up with the pace my batch mates are getting married. Already attended 3 weddings in the last one month or so. Two more lined up in the next couple of weeks. And I couldn’t attend about 3 of them. So a total of 8. Wow!
It’s nice to take short breaks. Even though the travel is hectic, the mind gets recharged. I wish I could attend all.
Now this is strange but true! Around three weeks ago my TV tuner’s remote suddenly stopped working. And over the last three weeks I did the following:
Just to mention, the remote worked for a couple of minutes at times and then stopped working. I would also like to share that a stupid thought came to my mind. Could it be possible that something is not working because of a drop in temperature? May be that an inferior IR(Infra Red) sensor/transmitter that came with the tuner/remote didn’t work at low temperatures. Or could it be that the cells caught cold?
Whatever it was, to my utter surprise, the remote suddenly started working yesterday! And the average temperature has risen by about 5 degrees in the last couple of days. Anyway the remote now works flawlessly. I can manipulate the channels from about 10-15 feet. So all is well. I was actually going to order a multipurpose remote which can be supposedly programmed to worked with any IR remote sensor! I guess I won’t need that now.
While I am not able to accept the my stupid temperature theory, this is the only noticeable change that has happened between the remote’s working and non-working phase.
I may have to wait for the next winter to find out the reason. Hope my tuner/remote last till then.
Thanks for reading this crap 🙂 . I just couldn’t resist putting it up.
Just as I write this, I am keeping an eye on the television and seems everyone but me has made some New Year Resolution! Right from cine stars to sports person to common people, everyone has something or the other to put up as the New Year Resolution. Interestingly, with every year, these resolutions are becoming more and more innovative. Why shouldn’t it be? One must have a cool sounding resolution. Whether or not one lives up to it is a different matter altogether. While among friends this topic always comes up, especially towards the end of the year when people think of resolutions.
I decided I won’t remain behind in the race, so here’s my resolution for 2008!
This year, I’ll strive to bring about an inner transformation within me which manifests to the outer world through a radical change in my behavior and align myself to those subtle but powerful forces of the society which are destined to uplift humanity and make this world a better place to live!
Couldn’t make out the meaning? Well, me too! But that’s my ‘New Year Resolution’ for 2008 and I stand by it.
Jokes apart I wanted to share a list of New Year Resolutions which I usually hear across:
I think these cover more than 80% of ‘genuine’ New Year Resolutions.
I go with 2, 4, 5 & 6 for this year. Oops! just ignore this. I do not make such simple, obvious and common resolutions even if they make sense. I have already stated my New Year Resolution earlier in the post and I truly abide by it.
What’s your New Year Resolution? And which one of the above do you share? 😉
Wishing everyone a very Happy and Prosperous New Year 2008!