I learn from bad management. This is probably the best gift God has blessed me with. How do I know this? When I see my company functioning in a manner which is not exactly encouraging to me as an employee, when I see my fellow employees comment that they wish things were handled differently and start making comparisons between their old & present companies & when my immediate boss tells me “This is how things are done here & there is no point escalating the matter as nothing will change”, I realize there is a problem.

Let me illustrate. My previous organization gave away gifts to its employees once in a while with the company name printed on them (caps, pens, alarm clocks etc.). These were just small items but they went a long way to remind the employee where he stood. That small gift gave the employee a feeling that he is part of a big caring family. These also worked wonders in increasing employee commitment. These gifts could only be ordered by the site leader. Interestingly very few Mumbai employees ever saw, let alone possessed, a cap or an alarm clock with the company name on it. When I asked why this is so, my immediate boss said, “This is how things are done here & there is no point trying to raise the matter as nothing will change”. He told me such orders are never placed by the site leader. “That’s just how he is” is what he precisely told me. I asked him if he ever went to the site leader to find out why. He said even he has wondered why but never bothered to ask as nobody expected him to do so. It sounded as if he was waiting for somebody’s approval to ask a question. Surprising!

These small gifts came in handy to convince employees that their efforts were truly appreciated and was indeed making a difference to the overall functioning of the organization. As opposed to maybe a raise in salary, these gifts could have done the job of employee retention. Even after leaving the organization that memento would remind him of the wonderful time he had there. And he would never regret the time he spent there. This may just be a small problem. But no matter how small some people may think this problem is, the fact is it still exists. If you cannot get rid of small issues, how can you be trusted with the big ones?

My point is if you think there is a problem, try solving it or try to get the right people to solve it, don’t assume there is no solution. Don’t wait for your boss to make things right for you. If you don’t tell your boss that you are plagued with a problem, how do you expect him to read your mind? Sometimes you need to tell people that you are not happy with the way things are run. While I don’t guarantee you that this will bring immediate change, it will remind the concerned authorities that they just cannot keep ignoring the employee & his needs.

I don’t have a big career to boast of. My work experience totals to just 3 years. That’s not a lot. But I have learned the one element that brings down companies, breaks employee morale, even break families. And that is ASSUMPTION. Assumption is the key reason why people go unsatisfied through their lives. They have come to believe over the years that they have to endure the injustice subjected upon them. They have accepted this as a virtual certainty that this injustice is the price they have to pay to succeed in life. Question is who sold them this idea? They are forced to believe that no change is possible in this world. This is because they assume change is not possible. They fail to realize that nobody was probably aware that a change was needed. Assumption is the mother of the misery, the frustration & the helplessness that we undergo. Assumption is why we feel others lead a better life than us.

When you start assuming that things will always be run the way they are no matter how loud you voice your opinion, you are limiting your own growth potential. If you wish people to hear you, speak out loud. Ask questions – why are things the way they are? Why can’t things be done the way I want? Have you noticed how kids ask such questions? They don’t assume they need to do what one tells them unless specifically told. They challenge authority. They may be wrong but they speak up letting people know what they think of their rules.

So what’s my point? My point is to stop assuming. We have developed this habit of assuming and now after so many years we fail to realize that it is a bad habit. This habit of assumption has evolved into a belief. And this belief is now running in our blood. Assumptions are for mathematicians to prove theories. Assumptions are not meant for life.

So how can you undo this habit? Stop asking too many people for permission. Let me rephrase, stop assuming you need to ask too many people for permission. My belief is if you keep asking enough people for permission to do something, you’ll inevitably reach someone who thinks it’s his job to say “no”. Be confident in your abilities. Above all, be confident in your questions. There are two kinds of people in this world – one who believes he cannot do anything unless specifically said “yes” and the other who believes he can do everything unless specifically said “no”. There is a world of difference between these two kinds of people and if you care to take a look at this world, you will see it is the latter kind of people who are more satisfied with their existence. They simply don’t assume anything in life. For them life is not a matter of survival. For even animals survive!

They are the ones who truly live their lives the way they want. They believe they should live their lives on their own terms. They are people who understand the importance & the true meaning of every relationship & every opportunity to make a difference God has blessed them with. They never regret their past as they have always pursued what they wanted. They too face problems but they never complain. They adhere to the rules that govern society but they do so not because they have no choice but because they want to. They can do this because they are truly convinced that these rules are good for their lives. They also see their lives as a platform to challenge the rules they consider are bad.

Isn’t this what we all want? To be convinced that rules are good before following them. Just like children. We wouldn’t want our children to follow what we say out of fear. We wish that they follow what we say out of their own hearts. We want them to be convinced that our rules are good rules and hence should be followed. So don’t blindly follow company policies & crib about them later. Ask the right people if a change is needed. Change is good, provided we are willing to know who needs to change; the policies or us.

Get the fear element out of you. We fear the repercussions we shall face when we ask questions regarding change. But then again, are we not assuming that there are going to be any repercussions? Why do we assume that we will face kickbacks later in our career for the questions we ask today? If we fear the aftereffects of our questions and hence stop questioning, we would never invoke any change & we would go through life as if lived by another person.

I shall let you into a secret. The people we work for are the ones who belong to the second kind of people. These people, at some point in their lives, have also raised questions about change and have done what is not conventionally followed. So when you ask such people questions about change or just about the very existence of their rules, they see a glimpse of themselves in you. This is what my boss told me. They appreciate that quality in you. The quality of asking questions that you possess. Because it is through asking questions, following unconventional ways of thinking that they are here today making a difference in this world. Sometimes they realize that the world needs to change, sometimes they find that the world is right & it is they who need to change. So when you are in two minds on whether or not you should question the world around you, try to place yourself in the shoes of the person you are questioning & think what you would do to the person with questions. The answer is NOTHING. Doing something would only lay your reputation on the line. It would only show that you are a person who does not encourage change.

We were all meant to shine as children. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, we inspire others to believe that they can let go of theirs too. Our presence automatically liberates others. We lead others to believe that they can have a purposeful life and that we are there to help them find it. Just like we found ours.