...non periodic oscillations...

Image source: http://bit.ly/2ZAGiQ0 I have heard a lot of people talking about the virtues of “hard work” wherein sacrificing everything else in life is considered normal and almost always, expected. In my limited experience, I have learnt that nothing can be further from the truth. While I have never shied away from responsibility, I have generally ignored such “well meaning advice”. Recently, I came across two posts that brought this thought to the fore again. The glorification of a sixty or eighty hour work week or similar nonsense is the clarion call of those who are terrible at managing their work or are generally clueless about what their priorities in life or work are or believe that employees should be available at their beck and call or worse, plain exploitative. I have personally suffered at the hands of those who loved to schedule team meetings on holidays or wanted to have a discussion after six in the evening or regularly set unrealistic deadlines to ensure tha...

#Entrepreneurs and #Business owners: it is absolutely fine to feel pride in the business that you are building or have built but please stop "talking" about setting up #systems and #processes within your org if you think they are only for your team/staff/employees to follow. Stop talking about #accountability, #delivery and #results as if only the team/staff/employees are responsible for it. Stop talking about #attrition, lack of #passion or #enthusiasm unless you are willing to #introspect, and honestly at that. Stop believing that all #rules, #policies and #regulations are only meant for the team/staff/employees while you are not accountable to anyone. Your accountability to “yourself” is pure #convenience, so let us not even go down that path. Stop #blaming everyone else. If you pay #peanuts, you will get #monkeys. If you encourage #sycophancy, you will get your #shit worshipped. If you treat your team with #disrespect, you will be left with #unmotivated and #pass...

Architectural internships, for most practicing architects I know, are either an unnecessary headache or a means to get some affordable “hands on deck”. For the students looking for an internship though, it is a critical juncture of their lives. Many are of the opinion that internships aren’t required at all while many consider it a rite of passage to professional practice. The way I see it, I believe it is a good thing to give students a flavour of what professional practice feels like, before they step in to the big bad world. Academia is such an insulated, cocooned life that for some students, internship can be a pretty harsh awakening. For some interns, working in an architectural practice helps them to understand what skills are more likely to get them employment quickly. For others still, applying their thoughts in a real world scenario is a thrill. The problem with internship though, is the manner in which it is implemented. The Council of Architecture (CoA) is, of cour...