Frustration
Live, love and
toil with a will.
For the clock may
soon be still."
|
Various HR forums
discuss issues such as work-life balance, business etiquettes, smart-working,
Motivation, handling difficult customers,goal setting, inter-personal
relations, facing failures with confidence, etc.
But one notable
omission which is not directly addressed is Frustration, and which is eating
heavily into the productivity levels of each employee, especially in large
organisations, where one-to-one interaction, counselling or mentoring is done
online or laid-down procedures These methods tend to be rather routine and mechanical. In Indian conditions, unrelenting
ambitions and unfulfilled aspirations / expectations, assume grave proportions
in driving employees with dented morale and with disastrous consequences,
Oxford definition of
Frustration is: prevent a plan or action from progressing or succeeding;
prevent someone from doing or achieving something; and cause to feel
dissatisfied. One major cause for employee discontent, obviously, is Frustration.
This article aims to
address these issues in the form of two beautiful stories which I found in the
internet.
Many years ago, Al
Capone virtually owned Chicago. Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. He
was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze
and prostitution to murder.
Capone had a lawyer
nicknamed "Easy Eddie." He was Capone's lawyer for a good reason..
Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al
out of jail for a long time.
To show his
appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie
got special dividends, as well. For instance, he and his family occupied a
fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day..
The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.
Eddie lived
the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity
that went on around him.
Eddie did have one
soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his
young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price
was no object.
And, despite his
involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from
wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.
Yet, with all his
wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn't give his son; he
couldn't pass on a good name or a good example.
One day, Easy Eddie
reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done.
He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al
"Scarface" Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some
semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob,
and he knew that the cost would be great. So, he testified.
Within the year,
Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street. But
in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the
greatest price he would ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a
crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine.
The poem read:
"The clock of
life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands
will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love,
toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be
still."
STORY NUMBER TWO
World War II
produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare.
He was a fighter
pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.One day
his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at
his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel
tank.
He would not have
enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship. His flight
leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of
formation and headed back to the fleet.
As he was returning
to the mother ship, he saw something that turned his blood cold; a squadron of
Japanese Aircraft was speeding its way toward the American Fleet.
The American
fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He
couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor
could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to
do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet.
Laying aside all
thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes..
Wing-mounted 50 caliber's blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised
enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation
and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally
spent.
Undaunted, he
continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in
hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unfit to
fly. Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction.
Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the
carrier.
Upon arrival, he
reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the
gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch's
daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy
aircraft. This took place on February 20, 1942, and for that action Butch
became the Navy's first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Medal
of honour.
A year later Butch
was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the
memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is
named in tribute to the courage of this great man.
So, the next time
you find yourself at O'Hare International, give some thought to visiting
Butch's memorial displaying his statue and his medal of Honor. It's located
between Terminals 1 and 2.
SO WHAT DO
THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER? Butch O'Hare was "Easy
Eddie's" son...
The consequences of
frustration can be summed up based on the stories as well as real life
incidents thus:
·
Everyone wants to be on the right side as early as possible
- Not
only failure and perceived injustice but success can also be a
contributory factor for frustration
- The
guilt feeling of Eddie, the lawyer was responsible for his frustration
even though he was very successful courtesy the gang leader, drove him to
disclosure about the gang leader, of course, with dreadful consequences
- Skillset
however good is no match for frustration and we hear about a lot of young
well paid pros committing suicide
- When
frustrated one develops a “I don’t care. Come what May” attitude which is
fraught with grave operational risk to
- Every
human being needs course correction at some stage of his life
- Frustration
drives people to acts which are not compatible with their perceived
lifestyle and which are normally unimaginable and they are not worried
about the consequences of their action. In the story it cost Eddie’s life
- Frustration
can be redirected towards a better goal for common good
- The
unintended offspring of frustration is usually dangerous gossip and
anonymous/pseudonym reporting in case of organisations with a large work
force
- Though
official channels are available, people resort to anonymous complaints
because of frustration
- People
feel frustrated for any perceived injustice either to them or to someone
who they love and respect
- Frustration
if not diverted properly, may lead to loss of huge morale and consequent
business opportunities
- When
people feel they are not part of the organisation or sidelined for no
obvious reason, frustration starts budding.
- When
frustrated one develops a “I don’t care. Come what May” attitude which is
fraught with grave operational risk to the organisation
- There
are reported instances that people direct business knocking at their door
to other organisations and guiding them why it is better to do so. This is
again an offshoot of frustration of their experience in forwarding a
similar request which met with an embarrassing result.
- To
nip it initially itself trainers can play an important role in this vital
issue. It requires moral courage and conviction to overcome frustration –
both on the part of trainers and the participants. A session or a separate
program can be arranged for this
- This
attempt will be another milestone in good corporate governance as
continuous motivation can accelerate the growth as shown by the business
leaders like Google.
