Do administrators use 'delay' as a means of exhibiting power? Is 'delay' a deliberate process?
Bharat Bhushan - 14 June 2009
During 1982 to 1992, when I was working with the Bombay Natural History Society, one of the most famous maxims about Dr. Salim Ali, the bird man of India, was, as he would say, one could always expect the BNHS representative to be never on time for a meeting or an appointment. As he would add, with a mischievous smile and after thought, that, the BNHS representative would always be before time for any meeting or an appointment. He would say that if one would look outside the meeting room, the BNHS person would be seated somewhere, doing some work, in those days, without cell phones or laptops.
This was known to one of the most famous Union Ministers of State for Environment who had come in from New Delhi to Mumbai to meet the BNHS before deciding on the final approval for establishment of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology. She was at the Raj Bhavan, Mumbai, with her son, who was 11-12 years old probably, at that time. I was sent to meet her and accompany her to Hornbill House. I was running late for a deadline to complete some documents and therefore, carried Dr. Salim Ali's portable typewriter with me, to work at the Raj Bhavan until the Hon. Minister would be ready to journey to Hornbill House. There I was, typing away, chatting with her son about bird-stamps, when the Hon. Minister came out of her room and smiled and said - there, you have proved what Dr. Salim Ali said about a BNHS person always being before time.
However, in the public sector, having met with several officers in their 'kingdoms', I have come to understand and recognise a very different paradigm. They seem to think that 'delay' is an obvious display of power and authority. If one would be 'on-time' or, 'before time', the ordinary janata would assume that the officer is of no importance, and has no work at all. Therefore, 'delay' is used as a weapon to assume a mythical position of being important and busy.
I have taught many sessions on 'time management' to the very same officers and clerks over the past many years, but I am yet to see any spark of acceptance or understanding in their eyes during a classroom lecture. Any emphasis on time management, on-time work output or before time and pro-active planning gets absolutely zero response. They listen to the lecture, waiting for my time to run out, and exhibit that total self-arrogance and disdain, that 'time management' is never for them. This seems to be a widespread perspective, amongst village-level, mofussil and urban and secretariat level officers, clerks and typists.
Of course, there are rare examples of non-conformists. But, they are totally dependent on those who would be working with them or delegating to. Thus, they are also trapped. I had a brilliant boss who would always work as if his feet were on fire, and he had to absolutely rush across to the point of outcome. He would plan backwards from the eventual result, and he had invented a term for it - reverse time plan or, as he would usually refer to as - reverse action. He would set up action points from the point of output, and work backwards with time deadlines and expect his team and colleagues to work with him within that framework.
I have come to the conclusion that the public sector is not inefficient or less capable or less punctual. They simply do not want to be efficient, capable or punctual, for fear of being exposed as officers without enough work, or officers without power or authority. This can be in various ways. One of my senior officers would hold several meetings to plan a particular activity. He would call all officers, HoDs and functionaries and conduct all-day or half-day review and planning meetings. Circulars would be sent and compliance would be expected. Disciplinary action warnings would be conveyed.
My colleagues would pontificate or express their true perceptions during these meetings. My senior officer would ask for the minutes to be made, and he would take up 7-10 days to correct and re-correct and re-correct the draft documents of the minutes. Later, the minutes would be issued, and a follow-up meeting would be called. Action points would be reviewed and my colleagues would be asked to submit deliverables and proposals for expenditure based on such decisions. Finally, the senior officer would write deliberately on the file that such and such expenditure is illogical or beyond any reasonable scope and therefore the activity would not be taken forward.
This is 'delay' of the highest form. It is an actual art form. Everyone is convinced that they are working. Everyone is put to work. Actual deliverables are placed aside, and new deliverables are discovered or invented. And when permissions are asked for, the path is diverted. This requires considerable skill, persistent display of authority and repeated expressions of management abilities. This delay is not mere jargon. This is indeed a mode of deliberate demonstration of retaining status quo on the mythical aspect of being a senior officer.
In actual fact, this is debased intelligence and should be exposed as such.
Bharat Bhushan - 14 June 2009
During 1982 to 1992, when I was working with the Bombay Natural History Society, one of the most famous maxims about Dr. Salim Ali, the bird man of India, was, as he would say, one could always expect the BNHS representative to be never on time for a meeting or an appointment. As he would add, with a mischievous smile and after thought, that, the BNHS representative would always be before time for any meeting or an appointment. He would say that if one would look outside the meeting room, the BNHS person would be seated somewhere, doing some work, in those days, without cell phones or laptops.
This was known to one of the most famous Union Ministers of State for Environment who had come in from New Delhi to Mumbai to meet the BNHS before deciding on the final approval for establishment of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology. She was at the Raj Bhavan, Mumbai, with her son, who was 11-12 years old probably, at that time. I was sent to meet her and accompany her to Hornbill House. I was running late for a deadline to complete some documents and therefore, carried Dr. Salim Ali's portable typewriter with me, to work at the Raj Bhavan until the Hon. Minister would be ready to journey to Hornbill House. There I was, typing away, chatting with her son about bird-stamps, when the Hon. Minister came out of her room and smiled and said - there, you have proved what Dr. Salim Ali said about a BNHS person always being before time.
However, in the public sector, having met with several officers in their 'kingdoms', I have come to understand and recognise a very different paradigm. They seem to think that 'delay' is an obvious display of power and authority. If one would be 'on-time' or, 'before time', the ordinary janata would assume that the officer is of no importance, and has no work at all. Therefore, 'delay' is used as a weapon to assume a mythical position of being important and busy.
I have taught many sessions on 'time management' to the very same officers and clerks over the past many years, but I am yet to see any spark of acceptance or understanding in their eyes during a classroom lecture. Any emphasis on time management, on-time work output or before time and pro-active planning gets absolutely zero response. They listen to the lecture, waiting for my time to run out, and exhibit that total self-arrogance and disdain, that 'time management' is never for them. This seems to be a widespread perspective, amongst village-level, mofussil and urban and secretariat level officers, clerks and typists.
Of course, there are rare examples of non-conformists. But, they are totally dependent on those who would be working with them or delegating to. Thus, they are also trapped. I had a brilliant boss who would always work as if his feet were on fire, and he had to absolutely rush across to the point of outcome. He would plan backwards from the eventual result, and he had invented a term for it - reverse time plan or, as he would usually refer to as - reverse action. He would set up action points from the point of output, and work backwards with time deadlines and expect his team and colleagues to work with him within that framework.
I have come to the conclusion that the public sector is not inefficient or less capable or less punctual. They simply do not want to be efficient, capable or punctual, for fear of being exposed as officers without enough work, or officers without power or authority. This can be in various ways. One of my senior officers would hold several meetings to plan a particular activity. He would call all officers, HoDs and functionaries and conduct all-day or half-day review and planning meetings. Circulars would be sent and compliance would be expected. Disciplinary action warnings would be conveyed.
My colleagues would pontificate or express their true perceptions during these meetings. My senior officer would ask for the minutes to be made, and he would take up 7-10 days to correct and re-correct and re-correct the draft documents of the minutes. Later, the minutes would be issued, and a follow-up meeting would be called. Action points would be reviewed and my colleagues would be asked to submit deliverables and proposals for expenditure based on such decisions. Finally, the senior officer would write deliberately on the file that such and such expenditure is illogical or beyond any reasonable scope and therefore the activity would not be taken forward.
This is 'delay' of the highest form. It is an actual art form. Everyone is convinced that they are working. Everyone is put to work. Actual deliverables are placed aside, and new deliverables are discovered or invented. And when permissions are asked for, the path is diverted. This requires considerable skill, persistent display of authority and repeated expressions of management abilities. This delay is not mere jargon. This is indeed a mode of deliberate demonstration of retaining status quo on the mythical aspect of being a senior officer.
In actual fact, this is debased intelligence and should be exposed as such.
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