happiness is... focused directions

early this week, i emailed my boss for his comments and directions of what i should do next following my submission of my proposal/ paper. and he replied - prepare a preso (presentation slides). what a weird direction from a senior person. he didn't seemed to understand my meaning of "directions". and then yesterday, he hurriedly came to me just before lunch and told me to head to the ceo's office. he wanted to see us about the paper, he said. and he scuttled off, with me trailing behind. 

walked into the very sparcely decorated, or to be exact, empty office, and we quietly took seat. my ceo looked up, made a comment that i had recognised the challenges and had articulated it well. and then he looked at my boss and went on to talk about the details of the paper. i can see you have tried to touch on every areas possible, but to me, it lacks focus. the specific initiatives will only impact a small percentage of people and in another word, it becomes somewhat of a conceptual exercise. result will not be impactful. had never seen my boss so meek before, docile and subservient to be exact. he tried to explain some of the points in the paper but as he tried to justify the points, he came across as he didn't know what was happening on the ground. i have given this directions since a few months back and i see nothing being done. this is not a big company and there is no point trying to do things like one. it won't work. i sensed a tinge of sarcasm as my boss was known to have come from a huge company some time back. and i know cos i came from one, my ceo added. my boss didn't add much as he simply listened. i noted there was no eye contact when he spoke with my ceo and i  sensed a little impatience in my ceo's tone.

my boss's behaviour took my by surprise, considering he has been totally gangsterish and aggressive all these while to people around him. but i supposed that's his usual behaviour in front of his bosses. a yes-man. and my ceo went on to give his views about the paper and the specific initiatives mentioned. and as he did so, i interjected to share my views and we debated about the pros and cons of each specific initiatives proposed. it was such a refreshing conversation, something that i didn't get a chance to do with my boss given his tendency to talk down on me, and i suspect he didn't have the capacity given his lack of ground feel. as i debated with my ceo, my boss just kept quiet and listened. and with the debate, the intent and focus of the paper became clear and with that the angling of each initiatives took alignment and directions become clear, it was soooooooo bloody clear. everything fell into place. we want to do this because of this, of that... and thus, this, this and this initiative is good but not important nor necessary in immediate future, for this, this, and this initiatives, they ought to be shaped like this and i want this, that, that, and this... and if i were you, my main focus of this paper should be this, that... and with that, he looked at my boss and quickly added, i am not the one who writes this paper and i will not force you to re-write, but when you present this during the meeting, i will simply share my thoughts as per what i had just shared, he said.

we thanked him for his comments and directions and headed back to my boss's office. he didn't seemed too pleased and commented that conceptually, what my ceo wanted was not the same as what he wanted and that my ceo simply wanted was to force us to commit to things that he wanted... was interesting to hear him share this thoughts but felt it was not professional. if he felt so strong about it, he should have just said it out. as for me, i did not see too huge a divergence in what they both wanted, but simply where the focus should be. i could see the middle-ground and i thought it was not difficult to manage. i simply told him i would review the paper and incorporate my ceo's views.

i felt so good, so refreshed and so energised by the clarity of thoughts, the robustness of the debate and directions that came out of the conversation. and it was such good experience to be able to hold such a professional conversation with my ceo. he had came across as cold and difficult since he came in last may and i didn't have the opportunity to interact much with him. i walked out of the whole experience feeling very good (and to a small extend, warply happy i had managed hold the conversation with my ceo better than my boss). it's gonna take quite a bit of efforts to reframe the paper but when directions are clear, it's not difficult.

:-)