We have a world within a world that functions by its own power politics
Our world, nay life itself, is based on polarities, contrasts, opposites. Summer/winter, sorrow/joy, light/dark, abundance/shortage ... the list could go on. In the working world, as in real life, the same rule applies. There is a hierarchy that has to be there for any work to get done. A hierarchy that follows the same rule of polarities. At the top of the hierarchal list in the working world come the VIPs. These are the VERY IMPORTANT PERSONS. At the other end, come the SIPS. The SEMI IMPORTANT PERSONS. Beyond this, on the one hand, are the super VIPs, and the other, menial workers, white collar or blue.
My concern today is to look at the VIPs versus the SIPs.
The VIP is a person of authority, the top person of a particular office. The SIP is a person who thinks s/he has authority, or likes to believe that s/he does, and falls under the VIP in the hierarchy. Now we all know it is human nature to want power and control. Your VIP controls by virtue of the chair s/he very literally sits on and by the authority s/he yields. The SIP doe snot have this luxury. His chair is not ‘the’ chair and her/his authority has to be established every single minute. I’d like to share with you how I think the SIP establishes this authority.
The first overt sign of this authority is the trappings. The VIP’s name-plate on the door of the office will either be discreet or not there at all. S/he does not need to tell the world about her/his workplace very simply because the world knows. The VIP will have a big room, quite often the bigger the VIP, the bigger the room. It will be temperature-controlled, have good quality furniture, a reverend silence and an aura of authority. The SIP, too, sits in a room. But it is a room, which if it cannot match in size, at least tries to match in ambiance. No one is allowed to enter this office without waiting outside and asking for permission a couple of times. The VIP usually functions only by appointments or buy summoning workers to her/his office because this person is really busy most of the time. The SIP overcomes this handicap by pretending to be furiously busy at all times. Should a subordinate want to see the SIP, the feeling is given that the worker should have come by appointment as important work is being disturbed. Since that does not always happen, (we are, after all talking about an SIP), a couple of minutes wait is required for that seemingly most important work to be taken care of. The furniture may not be special, but the pictures on the walls are. Usually, they show the SIP attending different functions (which between you and me the VIP was not interests in wasting time over). They also depict the SIP meeting the VIP or other VVIPs. The VIP’s office will have a wall plastered with her/his foreign and impressive degrees; if the SIP even has an MA/M Sc from Punjab University, that will figure on her/his name-plate outside the office.
The vehicle that carries the VIP or the SIP is important. The VIP will naturally have the best and the latest model. S/he will sit in the back seat (usually) because on way to wherever, this individual is busy working. The SIP will also sit in the back seat of her/his car. The difference is that the VIP sits in comfort in her/his big vehicle; the SIP has to follow suit in the 800cc car or jeep. The ride is not comfortable (these are seats made for young children who enjoy the bumpty bump ride or servants who should be grateful to be in the vehicle at all), yet the SIP must remain poker-faced pretending that the skeleton being given multiple jolts is actually enjoyable. S/he must sit at the back of the car because that is what people of authority do. To top this, the SIP, who does not have any real work on the commute, will read the day’s newspaper. Looks impressive: this person is not only working so hard that this is the only available time to catch up on the world, but s/he also has great eye focus by virtue of which reading is possible on such a jumpy ride.
The VIP has the SIP to carry her/his briefcase (mostly in our part of the world; in developed countries, everyone carries her/his load). To overcome this ignominy, the SIP has invented the peon. This peon is responsible for three things: a) screening visitors, b) making tea for these visitors, and c) carrying the load of the SIP in a rather literal sense. This load the SIP takes home to peruse, impressing family with all the work s/he has to do. That the load is brought right back the next day only for the process to be repeated is irrelevant.
At the workplace, the VIP is the first while the SIP wants to be the first. This is not a problem if the SIP happens to be female. In our culture, nay in nearly every culture, it is customary to let the woman go first. She will be the first one to enter a doorway, the first one to be seated, and the first one to be served. When the SIP is male, a problem occurs. The women will assume they will go first through a doorway, causing either a tangle in the doorway as the SIP tries to precede, or a bad mood on the SIP’s part. Similarly, there is a general scramble for seats, the SIP wanting the one of his choice, no matter what. He will stand glowering should a woman, in absolute innocence, has take that particular sat.
Thus much about VIPs and SIPs. Beyond these are the VVIPS: VERY VERY IMPORTANT PERSONS. These are a handful of individuals on whose shoulders the real responsibility rests. They don’t work in offices, they have compounds. They cannot sit in the front seat of their car because there is a bodyguard sitting there. Since theirs is the most stressful job of all, they carry nothing except their person and responsibility. The VVIP’s face is introduction itself, so well-known it is. At the other end of the continuum of the VVIP’s is the SSIP. Yes, the SEMI SEMI IMPORTANT PERSON. The SSIP does not have a car. He’s lucky if he has a bicycle. He has no office, no compound; just a chair outside the SIP’s office. He has to work harder to prove he too wields power. In most office he is called the peon. And yes, he is mostly male. His method, to make his importance felt, is to hold up visitors/juniors from getting to the SIP. Make no mistake: should the SSIP deem it unfit for a visitor to enter the SIP’s office, hell or high water will not help. I have often heard people comment that the real power in any workplace rests only with the SIP. If you are generous to the SSIP, your work will get done. They remark that it is the SSIP who will place one particular file on top of the others, so that the SIP signs/deals with that before anything else. And files are what all offices are about.
We have, then, this world within a world that functions by its own power politics. The sensible thing to do without doubt is to make sure you go straight to the VIP status and then eye the VVIP one. Anything less than that requires more effort than most of us are capable of.
Our world, nay life itself, is based on polarities, contrasts, opposites. Summer/winter, sorrow/joy, light/dark, abundance/shortage ... the list could go on. In the working world, as in real life, the same rule applies. There is a hierarchy that has to be there for any work to get done. A hierarchy that follows the same rule of polarities. At the top of the hierarchal list in the working world come the VIPs. These are the VERY IMPORTANT PERSONS. At the other end, come the SIPS. The SEMI IMPORTANT PERSONS. Beyond this, on the one hand, are the super VIPs, and the other, menial workers, white collar or blue.
