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A few weeks back, I completed a workshop on standardisation, the
importance of not disturbing the flow of operations but continuously
eliminating non-value adding activities etc. I went through the end of the
programme rituals full of warm and graceful “good byes” and smiles. Waited
respectfully while the host offered me a quick cup of tea while he called for the
car that would drop me at the airport. I was getting anxious but did not want to
offend my friend. So I drank the tea, talked politely and as soon as I could
(without offending sentiments) and took my leave. “Don’t worry yaar! My driver
is great he will take you to the airport in twenty minutes”. Both of us knew that
it was a 40 to 45 minutes drive. He walked me to the car and said to the driver “Paanch baje thak airport pahunchaana” and off we went.
The driver Nasir drove like one possessed. Cutting to the left, weaving to the
right, driving through traffic signals just as orange turned to red etc. It was all
very exciting, and heroic, edge of the seat stuff with adrenaline pumping. We finally drove into the airport a few minutes after 5. I got out of the car and
started to thank Nasir “Bura math maanana sahib” he began “I am a very
disciplined driver. I know you teach about quality and important things to our
managers. But, Sir, I have a wife and children, driving like this makes me
stressed, anxious and tired. If you could be considerate to me and come 10 or
15 minutes earlier from your workshop I will be very grateful to you”. On the
entire flight back I could not help reflecting on how insensitive I had been to
the driver in my attempt to be polite and not offend his manager’s sentiments.
I had chosen to steal time away from an operation that has a “standard time”
for its quality and traded it for maintaining appearances. The person who paid
the price for it was Nasir not me!
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