Scherzo

I've come to realise that most people would tend to overestimate themselves, and underestimate others. I'm guilty of doing this sometimes.

Seldom do you hear people talking about their weaknesses at the workplace, their shortcomings and lack of interpersonal skills, their poor ability to multi-task and having just as much initiative as a granite boulder with moss growing on it. You always hear about people talking about their epic responsiblity at the workplace (I do this a lot), being the self-sacrificing heroic valorous vanquisher of the chao keng and along the way, doing their work for them. I do that a lot too.

If everyone rates themselves as above average, then who exactly is above average?

Let good work speak for yourself. Let praises come from the mouth of others, and not your own.

It's about time we all take a step back, and start being more critical of ourselves.

The angry customer complains that the spaghetti is too cold and tastes bad. He then proceeds treats the waiter like shit and complains to the manager. The manager reprimands the waiter, and the waiter quickly brings your food back to the kitchen to prepare a new dish. In the meantime, the manager apologises profusely because his reputation is at stake. 15 minutes later, the waiter serves the angry customer a piping hot plate of spaghetti, together with 5 meatballs (2 more than the previous plate) at the side, and savoury tomato sauce garnished with fresh parsley. It tastes great, and the customer happily thinks to himself while munching on his food, "these losers better not mess with me."

Little does the customer know that before the spaghetti was served, it was passed around the kitchen and everyone spat into it. The tomato sauce was poured on it and stirred, so that the spit is masked. As the now-satisfied customer struts out of the restaurant after having a seemingly good meal, the waiter winks at the manager, and the manager strolls over to give him a high-five.

 * * *

The angry NSF officer shoots angry emails all over the place, complaining about every single thing not going his way. Sure, the drivers are late. But are all your men early? Sure, some of them drive recklessly, or don't even know how to drive properly. But at the end of the day, when you need that last 5-TON to do your crucial store runs, or a GP car with driver to send an urgent despatch, who's help do you need?

Going about criticising your surroundings is not a good idea, especially when you haven't carved out a good reputation. If you're really so capable, you gotta talk sense into people. Speak in a way they understand, put things in such a way that they should do a good job.

And even then, what people want is feedback, and not "so-and-so is always late, pls give him 7 extras". Yes, he was late and some action needs to be taken to rectify this. But if you don't do things tactfully, you're going to have difficulty getting things done, because people will make things difficult for you.

At the end of the day, the only thing you're shooting is your own foot.