Extreme NED has been happening at work nowadays. I’ve reached, and perhaps surpassed, the level of NED that had made me quit A T Kearney back in July 2006. Being jobless wasn’t a very pleasant experience (put too much pressure on me to find a job quickly, and also reduced my bargaining power) and I don’t want to go through that kind of stuff again.
To be honest, I’ve been hunting for a job for the last eight months. Took four months to figure out what I wanted, and then the financial downturn happened, and the market isn’t really looking up nowadays.
Now, the basic point is that there is no point in random cribbing. Cribbing should be targeted, and hte person being cribbed to should be in a position to help out. Once in a while it helps, but “it’s ok dude, i’m sure you’ll find something that fits you” kind of stuff doesn’t really make sense. And most of the time you can’t even blame the guy who told you this because in most cases he can’t say anything else. The crib should be packaged in such a way that the person being cribbed to should be able to help you. Rather, the crib should ideally be followed up with specific questions.
So something like “Dude i’m getting pained in my job. This is bad that is bad everything is bad. I’m not finding anything. I’m feeling desperate. Blah Blah” is inferior to “Dude i’m getting pained in my job. This is bad that is bad everything is bad. I’m not finding anything. I’m feeling desperate. Blah Blah. Do you have openings in your firm?” or “Dude i’m getting pained in my job. This is bad that is bad everything is bad. I’m not finding anything. I’m feeling desperate. Blah Blah. Do you know headhunters who recruit for banking?“.
The issue I have now is that whenever I think of it, I hit NED and am not able to structure my thoughts properly. I should be able to take my thoughts, separate them out into logical threads, divide the whole process into steps, and then ask the right questions to the right people – people who can give out answers to the questions that I’ve asked them.
I need to streamline my thoughts. I need to put a structure on them. Organize them. And then channel them. Seems like I need to get back to my old consulting avatar and work on this. However, my NED when I think of this kind of stuff doesn’t allow me to think objectively. Maybe i need a consultant after all. At least a sounding board, who mostly knows what I’m talking about,and doesn’t just nod.