The SIR syndrome

The security guard stood up from his seat and said "Good Morning, Sir", when I walked into the office (where we have outsourced our work). It was almost like a military salute to the commander. I was surprised with that reception and I stepped into the office to meet the team, most of the team members followed the security guard, but without a military salute and very few called me by name. I thought it was due to me being a client for their organization, but when I observed the other projects going around in that organization for various other clients, I realised that it was not just the clients who they call "sir", they call their bosses as well "sir". I was a bit shocked to see this practice still alive in India, since I thought it would have been resting in the grave a while back.

This is one of the trigger for initiating the hierarchical environments at the workplace. This continuously reminds us that the hierarchy is not dead, but it has merely changed its form. Whenever I hear employees call their bosses(managers/leads) "sir" or see the employee being subservient while addressing seniors in the company, I see barriers in the communication, indirectly is a barrier to the growth of an organization. This is just one of the many hierarchical practices that are holding back the attitude growth. It is bold given that in India this represents the culture in nearly 90 percent of the companies, despite many IT companies having dropped this formality for years.



Hierarchical work environments are now outdated in IT industry. If an organization wants to grow their business rapidly, they need to create such an environment where everyone is respected and treated equally, rather than just letting people boasting themselves or their seniors instead of the core business. They need to work for themselves not for anyone, ie, work for yourself and work with everyone. This has been discussed enough in the previous post already, so moving on.



This SIR-ing continued despite of me requesting them not to do so. This continued from a car driver to a colleague in the office. Some listened to my request and tried to implement, but that effort lasted only like a minority government of a democratic country, since they were demanded to SIR in the other areas of the organization. It is one of the practice which should be avoided when the teams are built in India, considering the demands of the traditional social environment.

Why SIR? What is the reason behind SIR? thinking about it, it was mostly used to respect people. People's designation, job, money, financial status or age. Saying so, the respect for a person should be based on their values, not by anything else. Very importantly, this respect should be earned, and not demanded.

How to stop this? this habit was tattooed deeply in many minds by the traditional hierarchical structure, this has almost mixed in their blood, hence it is not easy to unplug them from this habit. So, how to stop this? I jokingly started calling my colleagues "sir" as well, in return to their call. Yes, if "sir" was used to respect people, let us respect each other by calling everyone "sir". After all, we should treat everyone equally with respect and obviously we only hire people with good values, so everyone deserves that respect. This counter strike shocked them, but as time went by all got used to it. At one point everyone in the organization called each other "sir". Well, what does SIR mean now?

"By calling everyone as SIR, We all respect each other, we treat everyone as Equal"

or

"If everyone is a SIR, there is no meaning for SIR, the meaning of SIR is negated"

Either way, the goal was achieved by counter striking the SIR (like, shutting down the fire with a counter fire). Calling "sir" and having a flat structure might sound contradictory, but it for sure broke few barriers and the risk of the hierarchical fear. Most importantly, respect for all the employees regardless of the role or title is critical and we could able to promote an environment to challenge anyone's (including the management) views regardless of the title or seniority.

So, Enjoy SIRing with proud (only as a counter fire to shutdown the SIR fire) and without being paranoid about creating a hierarchical environment.

Dance like nobody's watching

Dhoni is a young and enthusiastic chap, sincere, committed & talented. He was admired by our team for his energetic attitude. He influences our team without a doubt when he is in action. However, he had a habit of updating his team lead often, very often about his work, even when it was not necessary or not asked for. Yes, on what is done, what is left, how quick he can finish the work etc. When his team lead ignored his updates, he started updating his lead's boss.

Yuvraj, who always answers "Yes, I know", "Yes, It's already done", "Yes, I've already tried this", "I just thought about it, you said it" etc. He always pretends that he knows the solution for all the problems. There were even times, where he answered "Yes, I know" to my question and went and googled for the answer later.

..and there was Zaheer, who always says "Yes, I agree" to whatever his boss or his favorite colleague says. The answer from him would be the quite opposite if the same point was mentioned by others. Zaheer also pretends that he is listening to others, but actually he will be in his own world. When he comes back asking for the same information, the team will be puzzled.

Then there was Nehra, who always toggles the window when people walk around his desk. He wastes most of the time in observing who is watching him or who is talking about him.

Do you know Dhoni, Yuvraj, Zaheer and Nehra? I can see you nodding. You're right, we can find them in us and around us very often. Deeply thinking about what is common between these behaviors, it is their motive, which pushes them to practice these habits, which makes them as slaves and diseased... at the end which spoils their career and themselves before they even realise. Yes, the motive of trying to do things to please someone or prove something to someone.

Many people believe that progressing in their career or life will happen by just pleasing someone or by always trying to prove something to someone, however by doing that they fail to realise the fact that,

they are only fulfilling others wish than their own;
they only spend time and get stressed in thinking about others than themselves;
they mostly do things only to dodge from others words or views;
they arrest the freedom, individuality and creativity;
they don't add value either to the organization nor to themselves;
they work for the boss, not for the organization;
Simply, they are slaves to the people who they are trying to please;

The above mentioned facts are not the qualities of the people who are on a mission to achieve their own vision. Visionarypeople need a clear head and cannot afford to waste even a minute in doing some unnecessary stuff, because just 24 hours a day is not enough for them. Actually, it is a lot of effort to do things to please someone, which will stress you out and blocks your progress in career and life.


While there are infinite things left to learn in this industry, one of the fact I came across is that the industry has played a considerable role in contributing to the people's attitude. One of the way the people have been brought up by the industry is by promoting the hierarchical culture which encourages the egoistic and self boasting attitude (few people are exception). Hence even the young professionals are cultivated with the same culture, which is a shame.

When you do the right thing, Your colleagues might rub their bad mouth on your back, your boss might watch you with his half visioned eye or even your friends might fire at you with a double barrel gun. All you have to do is...

Be honest and open, always stand up for the right thing;
Do not do things to please anyone or prove anything to anyone;
Be as you are, pour in your uniqueness in whatever you do;
Own the tasks as if it is yours, enjoy the ownership;
Treat everyone as the same in the team, including your boss;
Do the best you can to add value in whatever you do;


I won't say that nurturing this attitude and environment in the team helps you to achieve the following 100%, but at least to 70%...

More satisfied team members and an excellent work environment;
Improved product quality with suggestions and ideas;
Do the right thing and feel proud;
Focus only on the end-user, no one else;
Work with everyone, not for anyone;
Freedom, Individuality, Creativity promoted;

So guys, simply,

"Start the music, and get yourself moving, warm up and imagine you are hosting the party. Remember that you are not dancing to prove anything or please anyone, you are dancing because you feel so. It doesn't really matter if you are not a good dancer or if someone is watching you, all that matters is that you make an effort with the right attitude and have fun. On the dance floor, boss, sub-ordinate, peer, anyone and everyone is the same."