The Great Escalation

“You have got an escalation!” – for IT professionals this statement is probably a nightmare of sorts, it is so nasty that you are guaranteed an ordeal ahead! Though the dreaded line “You are sacked!” stays as the top IT punch statement, it is a kind of kill-in-one-shot situation. The former however is a slow and silent killer and the way it works is potentially traumatic too! Let us take a closer look at it.

Escalation starts working on you by bringing you down emotionally and making you think you have done something terribly wrong, a big mistake or perhaps the greatest blunder which can take down the entire world. Of course, there is no doubt that this big, oblique, funny, fat world will float as usual in space, but there is no doubt either that your little world is going to shake like never before.

 

If the escalation comes directly from the client, then your life is destined to go through hell. Be prepared. Hold your breath and get ready. It could be for days, weeks or even months depending on how the spell is defined for you. If you think you are not one who can be pulled down so easily, here is the next ordeal in escalation which await you. The big bosses of the organization, many of whom you are not even aware of, will arrive at the crime scene from nowhere as if they were hiding somewhere in bushes. They are hard-nosed, unsentimental, no-nonsense IT hulks who with their brute force can just puff your confidence into thin air. Their power is so immense that they can virtually kill you with a word or even a look, they are so shrewd and cut-throat-businessmen that they will make you own all the mistakes of this entire world just with a stare. Add to this any kind of loss they suffered  due to escalation – such as loss of dollars, loss of a client, loss of a project, loss of reputation – be ready to be cooked alive! The giants will cut, chop, peel, slice, sauté and finally fry you in boiling oil making a “kadai paneer” out of you! Then you will be served hot to all the bosses (and to clients too if they like it) as they relish it themselves!

 

If you think it will be done with it, you are again wrong -  it is just a mere beginning. You will forget your sleep, your wife, your kids (if you have any), your food and even your surroundings! You will wonder at your weight loss which will so drastic and dramatic (you might probably love it too!) – some high blood pressure, headaches, palpitation, body aches etc. are side effects. You may not even notice it.  You will be always floating in escalation-nirvana for days, weeks and perhaps months! Do not get surprised if the outside world finds you rotten, in fact you are.  You will keep your hands-on in presentations, charts, long mails trying to defend, maneuver through the numerous tangles with the big bosses each time failing miserably like the ants getting crushed under elephants! And in between you might see the macho bosses themselves fighting each other with their oxford English bringing sparks in the air, their egos clashing to keep up their reputation and power. But in your case, you are not supposed to keep any self-worth, you did what you should not have, you did something terribly wrong. You are paid for doing it right and you failed. You are a failure and in this so called org structure those who fail are bound to suffer!

 

So is there no way out of this ordeal? Very valid and sensible question. Remember, when power, money and reputation is at stake there is no place for humanism (if there is any such thing!). Add to it your incapability resulting in failure there is no easy way out. But everything which starts will have an end. Below are the commonly seen patterns of aftermath of escalations.

 

• The hunted becomes a hunter : this is one pattern where the one who got hunted, who got bruised, thrashed will start hunting himself for his survival, for his self-worth. He will mimic how the clients and bosses treated him to his team members and sometimes even to his family. He will find peace as he pass on the mistakes, frustrations, failures and become a pseudo-hunter.
• If you can’t beat join them : this is more subtle pattern, where the one who is crushed uses his skills and manages to get into the breed of bosses. While the first one merely pass on the frustration, this one will eventually become a boss himself and transform his self and brings his own breed of bosses.
• I am okay for slavery : This is the pattern commonly seen in escalation aftermath. As a quote says, slavery is never abolished, it just got extended to include all the colors. Those who want a job for survival, those who have a family to take care, those who have financial commitments will accept all the rotten eggs thrown at them. They will be okay to be chewed up by their bosses, ignoring their mental and physical health, they will stay as dogs and will always believe the client as their gods. They do not believe (or ignore) in their self-worth, they will accept all humiliation for their family, for their job, for their hefty salary which they need to keep their social status. Even though sans self-worth, they will be happy to be not in the slavery of jobless, penniless poverty and without health too (which in fact is more horrible)
• There are finally the patterns of “Intellectuals never follow, they Lead” and “Saints find their own way” who handle escalation aftermaths in a completely different and unique ways of their own. Since they are very rare let us keep those patterns for later research.

 

Look at which pattern you fall into, how you treat yourself and your life keeping in mind that as long the world exists exploitation in one or other form will continue. Finally remember, no one here is right and no one here is wrong. It is a mere a fight for survival, for existence, sometimes with self-worth, sometimes without. Time will pardon you for both.