Conflict ...

Desperate to find a house, we reluctantly approached brokers yesterday evening. Very much aware of their modus operandi, as they not only rely on commission but also use a combination of over-quote to customer and under-quote to the house owner, to make money.

Look this is very obvious, since there is direct conflict of interest. They want to make most out of the deal and the customer & owner, who are the real participants of the deal want to part with the least. But what is worth mentioning is how politely and with great humility they do business, along with lying and manipulating.

I could not help but compare it with the corporate environment.

There is a direct conflict of interest between the employer and employee. Despite the terms like employee satisfaction, human resource development, ethics and values of the corporate, competence driven compensation and everything else that sounds good.

All employees want highest possible compensation, with work associated with latest technology, if possible with plum postings; with work load based on their specific aspirations and personal responsibilities. The employer cannot give everyone desired posting, cannot satisfy everyone’s demand of promotions, need people to do any and all task that bring him profits. The management does not want their employees to get lured by opportunities outside, so transparency is limited.

So a lot of sophisticated lying and manipulating happens. Though it may or may not be evident based on the organization.

So work life is not as good I thought it was as a kid. I thought office was all about not getting up very early(as compared to school), getting ready without the choice of dress restricted to a uniform, come home without homework to complete and no tests/semesters to pass.