In the professional world, signatures in an e-mail are often used to provide one's details such as designation, contact number and office location but how often does one find a quote by a famous writer or leader appended to these details? Quite often right? Even though some people consider such quotes unprofessional, there are a large number of people who use such quotes in their e-mail signatures. Personally, I like to read these quotes.
When I actually thought about it, I felt that quotes in the signatures of e-mails accomplish two things. One, it tells the receiver of the mail more about the character of the sender since more often than not, a quote that one chooses to put in his/her signature would be one that has a message that he/she believes in. Secondly, quotes also get the receiver of the mail to think about the message that is contained in it and this is a good thing since quotes rarely have a bad or negative message in them (at least I have never seen a signature quote that read something like 'Destroy everything around you since the devil commands you' and let’s hope that I don’t find one like that ;-) ).
One signature quote that really got me thinking recently was one that my friend at office had. It said "Don't be irreplaceable, because if you can't be replaced then you can't be promoted.”. The reason why this quote got me thinking is the impression that most people have about the IT industry and people belonging to the IT industry.
Employees of the IT industry are seen as young people who have a lot of money (and don’t know what to do with it) and cannot mingle with the common man. Most people think that the 'techies' spend all their time in their "code" or hanging out with their 'techie' friends at some pub or multiplex. Being a part of this industry for almost a year now, I partially agree with this notion that people have. I say this because quite often when people in the industry talk about socializing, they mean getting drunk at some pub. Even team outings are incomplete without people getting drunk and dancing around a bonfire :-). All this is fine and I have nothing against it but somewhere I get this feeling that these people just don’t realize how much money they waste and how hard some people have to work to earn their daily bread. I am not trying to say that you shouldn't go out with friends and have fun. All I am trying to say is that there are other people in the world around you who are less fortunate and that one has to try and understand the way in which they live as well.
Also, the IT industry has this notorious image of creating people who are very self-centered and selfish. Like in any industry, the IT industry also recognizes people with knowledge. Hence, people who have more knowledge than others are reluctant to pass on this knowledge. The perfect answer to people who think this way is - "Don't be irreplaceable, because if you can't be replaced then you can't be promoted.". Why? Because if you keep all the knowledge that you have to yourself, then you can't be replaced. Superiors would not want to replace a person who has all the knowledge with someone who does not have it. This essentially means that by not sharing your knowledge you are not reducing your chances of getting promoted to a higher level. Ideally, people should pass on their knowledge to others and learn new things since the various paths of knowledge have no dead-ends.
My friend's signature quote accomplished both things that I said most signature quotes do. It told me more about the kind of person she was (being her friend I already knew a lot about her ;-) ) and it felt really good to know that people who think about others existed in the IT industry too. Also, the quote got me thinking about the message that it contained. A message (or knowledge) that I wanted to share with others.
So, I would like to sign off by saying "Don't be irreplaceable, because if you can't be replaced then you can't be promoted."
When I actually thought about it, I felt that quotes in the signatures of e-mails accomplish two things. One, it tells the receiver of the mail more about the character of the sender since more often than not, a quote that one chooses to put in his/her signature would be one that has a message that he/she believes in. Secondly, quotes also get the receiver of the mail to think about the message that is contained in it and this is a good thing since quotes rarely have a bad or negative message in them (at least I have never seen a signature quote that read something like 'Destroy everything around you since the devil commands you' and let’s hope that I don’t find one like that ;-) ).
One signature quote that really got me thinking recently was one that my friend at office had. It said "Don't be irreplaceable, because if you can't be replaced then you can't be promoted.”. The reason why this quote got me thinking is the impression that most people have about the IT industry and people belonging to the IT industry.
Employees of the IT industry are seen as young people who have a lot of money (and don’t know what to do with it) and cannot mingle with the common man. Most people think that the 'techies' spend all their time in their "code" or hanging out with their 'techie' friends at some pub or multiplex. Being a part of this industry for almost a year now, I partially agree with this notion that people have. I say this because quite often when people in the industry talk about socializing, they mean getting drunk at some pub. Even team outings are incomplete without people getting drunk and dancing around a bonfire :-). All this is fine and I have nothing against it but somewhere I get this feeling that these people just don’t realize how much money they waste and how hard some people have to work to earn their daily bread. I am not trying to say that you shouldn't go out with friends and have fun. All I am trying to say is that there are other people in the world around you who are less fortunate and that one has to try and understand the way in which they live as well.
Also, the IT industry has this notorious image of creating people who are very self-centered and selfish. Like in any industry, the IT industry also recognizes people with knowledge. Hence, people who have more knowledge than others are reluctant to pass on this knowledge. The perfect answer to people who think this way is - "Don't be irreplaceable, because if you can't be replaced then you can't be promoted.". Why? Because if you keep all the knowledge that you have to yourself, then you can't be replaced. Superiors would not want to replace a person who has all the knowledge with someone who does not have it. This essentially means that by not sharing your knowledge you are not reducing your chances of getting promoted to a higher level. Ideally, people should pass on their knowledge to others and learn new things since the various paths of knowledge have no dead-ends.
My friend's signature quote accomplished both things that I said most signature quotes do. It told me more about the kind of person she was (being her friend I already knew a lot about her ;-) ) and it felt really good to know that people who think about others existed in the IT industry too. Also, the quote got me thinking about the message that it contained. A message (or knowledge) that I wanted to share with others.
So, I would like to sign off by saying "Don't be irreplaceable, because if you can't be replaced then you can't be promoted."
2 comments:
Hari,
The statements that you've put out are so true...... Know enough people who think all that about the IT professionals. Know many IT fellows(guys n gals) who do all that for thats their idea of fun.... Somehow they refuse or don't seem to look beyond that to find other things that could make them enjoy as much. They never seem to look beyond the stereotype that their seniors(ppl who entered the IT industry in the last few yrs) have put forth.......
Take care..... Wonderful blog.... Like singnatures make you think your blog got me thinking ;)
Thought-provoking post,don't no much abt the people workin in the IT sector, though i've HEARD much abt them; yes, i do know abt the people who r training to becum IT professionals,esp. the ones with a rich(as in wealthy) background - complete party animals who can't do without alcohol n cigarettes. Probably, these people r tryin to fit into the western culture, not realizing that @ the same time, they are forgetting their roots. But I don't know if the majority of IT people r like that.
N today,I don't think many people believe in the concept of "Share N Care". Hopefully this post will be read by many n they'll realize that sharing ur knowledge n wisdom benefits the one with whom ur sharing them, but most of all, it benefits u ...
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