Wednesday, February 27, 2008

P-r-o-d-u-c-t-i-v-i-t-y

I am no motivator to preach about productivity. But when instant messenger is banned as the main cause of low productivity, I think somebody somewhere is missing a bigger picture. It is like preventing a driver to have a passenger for a long ride. He still can drive a car with no problem but boredom. Somehow he will find another way to get freshen up(eg stop for a snack/ciggy), and that will eventually still slowing him down. We have to admit, under normal circumstances, different people has different productive time. You cannot expect them to give 100 percent focusing on the job from 9 to 5. This is not a NASCAR race.

And it is depends on the nature of the job. A good system administrator will spend almost all his time doing other things besides reading mail because almost all tasks have been taken care of automatically. All backups will go smoothly as scheduled with minimal user intervention. Any abnormal activities will be alerted via email or sms. And no one can simply say that he's not productive in doing his work. He's just doing his work a smart way, not the hard way as what productivity suggested.

It is depends also on how your boss see things. I remember one episode of Seinfeld, where George got an idea how to fool his boss. He drove his car early in the morning and parked it near his boss 's parking space, then went home by bus. His boss then noticed George's car every time he parked his car and when he wanted to return home. His boss thought that George is a morning person and loves working late. What he did not know that George was spending time somewhere else and produce zero output. It is unethical but it works(at least for George).

For me, as a Moslem, I am bound to the what religion says. It is now depends on how God see things. As a Moslem, everything I do, I do it for God. And God always watching me and that thought will keep me away for any wrongdoings in life, Insyallah. If I cheat in my job, I might fool my boss but then I'll have a problem with the God. And I am very sure I don't want to come to that. Live for Islam, Die for Islam, 1 vote for PAS.

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