Life - a Kaleidescope (sort of)

So much happened these last few weeks. Clients wasting money unnecessarily just because they can't put their own house in order. Greed engulfing people so much so that their prides disappear. Weaknesses of the less humans all evident from a mere test of wills.

I remember all laundry services charge a premium when we are in a hurry and needed clothes delivered in less than the time quoted by the service. But at least those clothes came back to us freshly ironed and clean. But I can't say the same for other works commissioned in the service industry I'm in.

There's this client who's fond of confirming matters only at the 11th hour and we have to put together the human and other resources to have the project completed within unreasonable timelines. It's like building a two storey house in one month, rather than the 10 months it would normally take. The foundations are shoddy, the roof will leak, additional coats of paint are splashed even before the last coat is dried etc.

And that is what this multi national corporation spanning a few countries and paying top dollars for their executives practises.

Through their own inefficiencies and bureaucracies, projects hibernate until the very last minute when they can hibernate no more. They will commission the project often leaving no time to do proper soil tests and laying foundations, no time to order the best bricks and best brick layers and so on. And with the short time given, one often has to pay more in wages to have people work overtime, double up on human resources in order to get the job done in time, and accept less than satisfactory results.

But that's what they are content on doing. This is not one project. This has been happening for as long as I've known this client. They want something done, they will get it, at all costs.

Wonder what their shareholders will say if they'd known that the company has been wasting their money in that manner?

If I were a shareholder, I would have asked why the company hire executives at those prices when they cannot put the priorities in their sights. I would have asked why Chief Financial Officer had not seen the wastages. I would have asked why they had not structured the organization in a way conducive to a proper decision making process. I would have asked a lot.

But do such companies disclose at Annual General Meetings how they make decisions? Nope. They just declare and disclose what's required of the law.