Diabetes!

Whenever I return home with a headache after a loaded day, it would mostly be because I disagreed with someone at the office. I find it impossible to imagine a workplace devoid of friction or arguments and at times, fights. There is bound to be opposing outlooks when 2 or more people get together to work; so I’m also inclined to say that the workplace will turn “diabetic” if everybody turned out to be ‘sweet’ to us all the time! I’ve worked with some astounding brands in very good times and I can’t recall many such “diabetic days”. Even if there have been “syrupy” days, I don’t seem to remember them!

On the contrary, I remember the dreadful ones: days on which the manager threatens by saying that the company don’t need “passengers” onboard; when the MD terms the business as an “unmitigated disaster”; and others with similar nasty comments leading to multiple conflicting scenarios. Isn’t it amusing how our memory somehow discards non-conflicting moments while preciously hangs on to unpleasant incidents and situations.

By large, conflict at the workplace is inevitable. I’ll say it’s good to question status quo; stand up for the right things; and to uphold professional integrity even if it means we need to argue; to question; and to fight to drive home a point. There will never be a perfect day; ideal strategy; agreeable solution; favorable decision; and best communication at the workplace. Everything can be argued upon depending on how logical/illogical our mind is on a given day. Trust me when I say that you’ll find work utterly uninteresting otherwise!

Now let’s allow our imagination to go wild – unleash it for a second…

I want you to think of a whole week where your boss is cheerful throughout; compliments your dressing (even if you took less than 5 minutes to get out of the house that morning!) appreciates the effort you put in the previous day; pays no attention to work efficiency (never mind the results); checks on you to see if you’d breakfast; reminds you to have lunch; and doesn’t raise an eyebrow even if there was a client escalation; and asks you to leave the office on the dot even though your work is still pending! To add icing to the cake, HR is concerned as to why you have not taken your annual leave despite you failing to hit your weekly targets; Training asks how they can make you more productive; Finance looks into all pending claims and incentives with immediate urgency; and Marketing calls you to provide you tips on how to brand yourself. Not forgetting, headhunters beg for your resume which is already on LinkedIn!

Hmm…too much sugar, you think? And what if your Super Boss is at your disposal ready to serve you a cup of coffee?

I‘m feeling diabetic already. Enjoy your dose of arguments. The workplace is healthy when we disagree without being disruptive!