Maze

It’s a Maze. If you’re hung from the ceiling, you see a huge space bounded by glass walls, Filled with boxes: more of half cut boxes with each having an opening to enter and exit and a computer on the table inside it. Groups of these boxes are interconnected by wide walkways which can fit two people at a time. There are special glass boxes too, with large rectangular table, chairs, a projector and screen.

People fill up these boxes over the morning, move around throughout the day, leisurely retire by the evening. And some even reserving half their sleep time here inside.

It is a Maze without an exit or with exit same as its entrance.

The office, Saturday, 1pm

‘Hey Akash, Is Monday still the deadline ?’, Peter

‘Ha.. that’s the official new date, But we need one more week to close it’, Akash

‘Yeah, But what about the management ?  and Client ?’, Peter continues, ‘I think we’ve already crossed the original deadline by two weeks, isn’t it ?’.

‘Hmm.. Yes!’, Akash

‘You remember ?’, Peter, ‘Half of Joe’s team got fired and the client pulled the next contract out from the company when they couldn’t deliver properly!’

‘I know.. Let’s just work on remaining tasks now’, Akash

‘OK, Fine!, are you coming for lunch ?’, Peter

‘Ha.. Sorry, you carry on’, Akash

‘It’s not on us, Company is sponsoring it !’.

‘Hmm.. that’s OK’, Akash continues. ‘I’m close to fixing this code’.

‘So, you don’t want to break the flow then’, Peter. ‘Alright, catch you later’.

The office, Same day, 7pm

Most lights are off. Sensors in the ceiling knows the presence of a person based on movement and then turn the local lights on or off. Sensors fail to see people when they nearly stop moving or when they are just breathing or thinking until they wave at it to make it notice them.

“Bzzzz.. Bzzzz… Bzzzz”

‘Hello.. Hi’, Akash.

‘Hi Ya..’, Hannah.

‘How’s your weekend going on ?’, Akash.

‘It’s going well,’ Hannah continues. ‘Took my bike out in the morning. Then had a nap’

‘Oh that’s really good, Nice’, Akash.

‘Yeah it was refreshing !, How is yours ?’ , Hannah.

‘Hm.. Not bad, Just a bit of work’, Akash.

‘Oh ! this week too ?’, Hannah.

‘Yes, Don’t worry, Not too much’, Akash.

‘OK!’, Hannah.

‘Are you ready for the dinner ?’, Akash.

‘Yess.. I’m excited !’, Hannah chuckling. ‘Ahm.. I thought you’ve forgotten about the plan, Haha’

 ‘No, I was about to call you anyways’, Akash.

‘I was just joking, See you then’, Hannah. ‘Bye.. xxx’

‘Bye’, Akash.

The office, Same day, 7:40pm

The office now is an orange farm after the fruits had been plucked out during the last harvest. Only the young dark greens are hanging out for the next cycle.

To All_developers_team

Cc Vijay Kumar

‘Project Status’

Hi All,

We have done good progress on the project this week. The current pass rate is 89% which is 5% improvement over the previous week. There are few roadblocks that we need to cross to achieve the desired pass rate and that also needs discussion with the Budapest team. Hopefully, we can fix all these issues by the end of next week.

Have a nice Sunday.

Thanks.

Akash

Fancett’s – Restaurant , Same day, 8:10pm

The restaurant is the green garden of a Victorian building. Golden flowers runs along it’s doors and flower vase beside each of its sides. The interior has yellow lamps which drops down from the ceiling by long ropes, glowing like the evening sun against the dark night it is.

‘Hey, Sorry, Got late’, Akash.

‘Ahm.. Just as you are, All the time’, Hannah.

‘Sorry, Sorry again’, Akash.

‘It’s fine.’ , Hannah continues. ‘At least you are here’.

‘Thanks, You look Great today’, Akash.

‘Really.. Thank you’, Hannah.

Hannah and Akash leans forward and gives a gentle kiss on each other lips, that ends with a sweet smile.

‘Is this the new dress that you mentioned ?’, Akash.

‘Ahm.. Yes. It’s a sundress that I wanted to try’, Hannah continues. ‘How is it ?’

‘Wow! It’s amazing on you!’, Akash continues,

‘A Goddess floating in her oceanic sundress in a green garden with golden flowers complimenting her beauty!’.

‘Awww.. That is so good, Like a Poem!’, Hannah, ‘Thank you.’

‘Do you like to order ?’, Waitress.

‘Yes, Please’, Akash, ‘For me, Lamb rump’. Then pointing to the menu ( Rump of lamb with parmesan borlotti beans, caramelised Roscoff, datterini tomato & salsa verde), ‘and Red wine’, again pointing to the drinks menu (Côtes du Rhône). ‘For you ?’

‘Ahm.. I’ll have “Chalk stream trout pate on sourdough toast with horseradish & dill”’, ‘and the same red wine please’, Hannah.

‘Sure, let me take the menu, Thanks’, Waitress.

‘Zzt.. Zzt’

Slack message

Vijay : Hi Akash, what’s the status ?

‘This Idiot!’, Akash

‘Hey, what happened ? all of a sudden!’, Hannah

‘Nothing, just a text from my manager’, Akash

‘At this time !!’, Hannah. ‘It’s almost 9 on Saturday.’

‘Yeah, I know.’ Akash continues. ‘He should be in primary, asking for home work from teachers.’

‘Haha.. Why ? Annoying ? Bossy ?’, Hannah

‘Difficult to explain !’, Akash, ‘ Like he doesn’t gets his hands dirty, can’t understand the real issues.’

‘Oh I See, Sorry’, Hannah.

Same night, 10 pm

‘Are you sure, you are not going to come to my place ?’, Hannah.

‘Yeah, Need to take care of some work’, Akash continues, ‘We’ll meet again in a week or two, Also try that brunch!!’.

Home, Monday, 3am

‘Good morning, Akash’, Gabor

‘Morning’, Akash

‘What’s the time there ? Isn’t it like 5 or 6 hours behind ?’, Gabor

‘Ha.. yes. It is 3 here’, Akash

‘Oh ok, we could have had this call in your daytime.’, Gabor, ‘Was it this urgent ?’

‘Hm, Yeah. We need to deliver it by today. So, I must get the tool issues fixed first’, Akash

‘I understand, But here, we extend the deadlines or add people if the work isn’t finished’, Gabor

‘Haha.. Sorry, but that’s not how it works here!’. Akash

‘Fine, what do you want to discuss ?’, Gabor

The Office, Monday, 10am

Meeting

Akash, ‘Hi Everyone, Thanks to all of us! We have worked very hard for the last 2 months, including most weekends, many have missed dinners, family, friends, sleep and peace. What matters is our final product. It is completed and we can deliver it to the customer today!’

Everyone in the team clapping, and smiling with a sense of relief in them.

Vijay Kumar, ‘That’s great! I thought it was impossible to deliver it today !! Good job everyone.’,

‘It was somewhere around 90% on Saturday, isn’t it ?’

Akash, ‘Yes, and then some of us worked on Sunday as well. Also, I had a meeting with Budapest team in the morning and was able to fix couple of issues.’

Vijay Kumar, ‘Excellent! I will talk to the client.’

The office, Monday, noon

‘Hey Akash, Great! Congrats’, Peter

‘Yeah, Thank you!’, Akash

‘More than ten percent improvement on just single day ? That’s impressive !’, Peter

‘Hmm… Not really!’, Akash

‘What do you mean ?’, Peter

‘It was just 4-5 percent of improvement’, Akash

‘Then !! How are we delivering it ? Why did u say it is complete ?’, Peter

‘I worked on priority features and completed it, commonly used features, we’ll deliver them now’, Akash continues, ‘The rest are rarely used and client or customers don’t notice it until years of use’.

‘OK I understand, But they are still visible during reviews, right ?’, Peter

‘Don’t worry, Reviews start only after 2-3 weeks from now’, Akash continues, ‘I will work on the rest, complete it and provide it as a performance update in a week. So, everything will be completed and delivered before the review!’.

‘Wow! That’s genius ! But, there is still a risk, you know that right ?’, Peter

 ‘Risk is on me, I’m fine with it’, Akash continues, ‘Anyways, I’m thinking of moving to a new place and join a new company, Somewhere in Europe!’

‘Why ? You are doing well here’, Peter

‘Hmm… Financially Yes. But, I miss beautiful things! Like going out on my bike in the evenings, lazy Sunday mornings with my girlfriend, peaceful dinners ..’

The office, Two weeks later

HR

Hi Akash,

Congratulations!. We are happy to inform you that you have been promoted to Technical manager position. This is in accordance with the great feedback that we have received from the client about quality and performance of the application that you and the team delivered.

Regards,

HR  

Of all the things that an office has, invisible chains are the ones which are rarely observed but always felt. The higher the achievement, the better the chains are!