Work and other things

As Mbas, most students realize that the money you will make after 2 years of studies is obviously an object while sitting for jobs.
If someone tells you that they money is no object, they are either fooling you or worse still - fooling themselves (or perhaps both)!
My senior batch had this to say about jobs after rather tepid placements- Some got placed, most got misplaced.
At the end of almost a year and half at work, I can add to the above - Quite a few get displaced as well.

I have worked with one of the following in mind

• I think that the company will benefit from something I am doing or lose something if I don't
  
• I like the guy who's asking me for something
  
• The task assigned is a part of my duties - regardless of my inclinations
  

As time wears, one would like to do less routine work and more planning work (not necessarily where to put up the next factory or whether to outsource our accounting work!), but also whom to groom as the next engineering head, for ex.

Not too many companies spend too much time on what are seemingly important issues. Time is spent on complying to audits or 'selectively' displaying information to people who will certify that they are world class in X or Y.

Bovine Excretum!

And I have been to considerable number of companies which do worse than us! Apparently one can 'arrange' for most such certifications!

The reason for my admiration for Toyota stems from the fact that they spend a massive amount of time on planning and then religious implementation of what has been drawn out after much discussion. But once such a plan is agreed upon no questions are asked. This is core to the way we work. Challenge should be on the quantum of improvement possible, not how much benefit will be realized.

People at Toyota have described the effort of companies trying to replicate their efforts as trying to create replicas of the Buddha rather than practice what he taught! And Toyota proudly invites people to come to their plants and understand how they work. Till date none has reproduced the results despite trying to reproduce their systems.

What would you rather do? Work at a sloppy large company paying well or work at an inspired workplace at a modest pay or work for a fantastic boss at an unknown place?

One has to make one's choices.