Never stop whining....

...for you never know when the Good Lord is turning his ears in your direction. That's the lesson I've learnt in the last 48 hrs :-)

Of course, cribbing is my birthright and I love indulging in it not because I am pessimistic or anything (OK would have laughed here...sigh..) but simply because it is the easiest way to let off steam. I know I've cribbed a lot about how mundane my work is and how there is absolutely no sense of fulfillment or satisfaction at the end of each day. Most often my arguments have either been brushed aside as that of a yuppie from B-skool wanting to rule the world from Day One (which I definitely am not) or the fact that everyone else is doing more or less the same meaningless crap as I am (which isn't much of a comfort) or how organisational goals need to be balanced with individual aspirations (which is absolute balderdash)

Recently I seem to have become a little more vocal and restive about the existing state of affairs so much so that I got a surprise call from the boss yesterday to discuss a possible new role. Having worked with him for 22 months, I knew I was becoming more and more indispensable (yeah...but not in a very positive way) to the BU and was reasonably confident that he was not going to offer me a totally new, plum role on a platter. There was definitely something fishy and resolving not to commit myself till I was spelt out all the details including the fine print, I dropped in to meet him. Half an hour later, the first half of the jigsaw puzzle fell in place.

1. I would become a SAM with immediate effect in addition to my current SME responsibilities. I am assured that this would and should only take 25% of my bandwidth.

(Initial reaction: So basically no 'new role' - just more work dumped)

2. I would carry a number target, namely X $

(Initial reaction: Oh yeah....finally some real action...and X seems reaonable enough for a so-called 'strategic account')

3. The account in question would be a new one, not one amongst the many that I had already followed in detail out of sheer interest.

(Initial reaction: No probs..Should be more challenging)

4. We got the account moved from Vertical A to Vertical B after a lot of wrangling which finally had to be settled thanks to the big boss himself interfering.

(Initial reaction: So that's the complication...)

Given these details, I weighed my options carefully and decided that I would have a go at it. Not that I had much of a choice considering the only other option were continued boredom or switching to a new company. (where I am reasonably sure things won't be drastically different). Since the idea was to move the account seamlessly from A to B without the customer being affected in any possible way, the boss and I met the biggies from A today morning to plan for the transition and to generally try and get some insights into the account...and that is when the second half of the puzzle fell in place.

1. When accounts move, people also move. Atleast that is the rule but this time the bloodbath had been so severe and the two parties in question so uncompromising that the final settlement had been to move the account but staff it with new people.

(Initial reaction: Whattttttttttttt...and our transition team is supposed to start off from Apr 1 and understand it all within a month ??)

2. There are 3 projects currently running which will all end by June. Taking into consideration other engagements in the pipeline where we are yet to staff people and going by current run rate, the outlook for the account is that we will fall short of our target by a good 80%

(Initial reaction: ohhhh hoooo)

3. Two of the current projects are slipping in schedule.

(Initial reaction: Atleast I am not in charge of delivery)

4. The current BDM will phase out by April 1st and a new BDM will be taking over this account.

(Initial reaction: Omigawd...a new BDM, a new SAM, a new Delivery Team serving a new Customer with new whims ...could things get worse ?)

5. The erstwhile SAM, a 16 yr experienced guy, who was so pissed with the account being moved away from A has shot off a mail to the customer thanking them for all the support in the past informing them on a personal basis that because of an organisation overhaul he will no longer be associated with them. He hasn't introduced his successor and worse still, he has completely shut the door on an official transition period. The customer has written back and needless to say the reaction has not been very comforting.

(Initial reaction: He did that ? $#!%^&* How could he ? Has he got no brains ? Without a transition, wouldn't the customer go wild ? This is really bad)

6. They are looking for a rate negotiation in April

(Initial reaction: Hahahahahaha...after all, when things are so bad, there is nothing one can do but laugh...)

When we came out of the meeting, to his credit, my boss asked me again if I was sure I wanted to take up this extra role. He also explained why he didn't want this to be my full time job since he felt it would be too tough a challenge so early on in my career. I couldn't agree more on his judgement of ground reality but also feel strongly that drastic situations need drastic measures and if ever there was a case for someone to be involved 100% in anything, here was one. I know I won't be able to convince him otherwise especially when he has decided he won't listen but its still a wonderful challenge to take up for 25% of my time. Btw, that was official...hehehe.. off the record, I think I will put in more time on this...would look great on the resume if it works out...will still make it look good if it doesn't ;-)

Of course, as it usualy happens with verbal exchanges with my boss, the best was reserved for the parting shot and after all our deliberations, when my he finally wished me luck, I coolly retorted that I would rather trust my abilities than rely on luck. The look on his face said it all. We'll see it through !!

...so there it is, my dahlings, the story of how my whining has finally been answered :-)