Unseen AND Important
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 21 Feb 2010, 12:01 AM – 10 Comments
A few days ago I spent a day in Dubai. I was fascinated by many things there – especially the Palms – a township that was entirely constructed on reclaimed land inside the sea (almost a few kilometers from the shore)
On our way back, we stopped at the Marina and again, the skyline there was impressive. Here is a one picture to give you an idea.
Right next to where we were standing was a building that would become part of the skyline soon. It was a building in the making. The scene was of that of the foundation where people were busy building things that would soon become unseen but very important. I talked to the folks who were supervising and they mentioned that the foundation work would go on for months. You see, the “unseen and important” work happens over a long time to make the “seen and beautiful” happen.
It is the same case with anything “remarkable.” There is an “unseen and important” work that is mostly behind the scenes. The final outcome is what we all get to cherish.
The point here is that in the case above, it is easy to notice the “unseen and important” but in other cases such as when you see brilliant talent at display (writer, musician, public speaker) you might skip seeing this. For your own benefit, the more you can quickly see the “unseen and important” for anything remarkable, the more power you have.
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10 Comments so far, Add Yours
Rajesh Setty on February 21st, 2010
Thanks Gopinath.
Just to be fair, there is a fair amount of responsibility that lies with the engineers to distinguish themselves. Hardwork alone rarely gets someone ahead in their careers. One of my future posts addresses just that.
Have a great morning.
Best,
Rajesh
Mohan on February 21st, 2010
Interesting post Rajesh,
And if you were to extend the “unseen and important” thought, I wouldn’t be too far from the fact if I guessed that the workers in yellow overalls and hats were Indian or Pakistan, and not Emirati?! Globalization at work for you!
Rajesh Setty on February 21st, 2010
Mohan,
Your guess is correct. I did speak to several people who were working on the ground and also several people who were supervising them.
To be fair, there are also a large number of business people from Indian and Pakistani origin who are managing and sometimes owning these projects.
Best
Rajesh
Mohan on February 21st, 2010
Rajesh
That was a quick response!
While there are businessmen (people) from India and Pakistan managing/owning some projects, Emiratisation also seems to be a real factor?!
Rajesh Setty on February 21st, 2010
Mohan,
[ For the benefit of others: Please click on Mohan’s name to read his thoughts on this topic on his blog ]
I enjoyed your thoughts on the Dubai bust. Unfortunately I have no specific interest in digging deeper on the topic of Dubai bust. I used it mainly as an example to make a point and nothing else.
Thanks for sharing your perspective.
Best,
Rajesh
Abbas Raza on February 21st, 2010
Rajesh,
Without any doubt, the ‘unseen and important’ (put in other words due diligence) that is put in is absolutely essential to make the strategy a reality. At the same time, I think it starts with someone coming up with an idea and making it happen. As James A Lovell puts it “There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, you need to be a person who makes things happen.”
Btw, I worked in Dubai for some time. It is just a wonderful human marvel and a craze at the same time. I have a bunch of things to say about it, but I guess this is not the topic here.
My 2 cents,
Abbas
Rajesh Setty on February 21st, 2010
Abbas, I loved the James Lovell quote. Thanks for sharing it.
Have a great day.
Best,
Rajesh
Steven Diamond on February 21st, 2010
I loved this post. Indeed the unseen and seemly unimportant work that no one ever notices is most often the most important work we do. I learned this in my 30 year career as a professional magician. The months and sometimes years of development, planning,construction and rehearsal of a new illusion is never noticed in the 3 mins that new effect is presented on stage. However to the trained eye, as in that of another magician, he knows the work that went into a well crafted illusion. Everything begins with building that solid foundation first or the illusion simply doesn’t work.
Thanks for sharing this thought Rajesh.
Rajesh Setty on February 21st, 2010
Steven,
Your example about planning, building and practicing and ultimately performing that trick drives home the point very well.
Another example is that of public speaking. When you hear someone like Steve Jobs present, it mesmerizes the audiences but it requires weeks of planning and preparation before the ultimate delivery.
Best,
Rajesh
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Gopinath on February 21st, 2010
Very good observation Rajesh. This is so true in Corporate Management also. I have seen most of the times a person or a team which is presenting a concept or a process change, getting all the praise, forgetting the hardwork by the engineers and other tech folks behind the work. Even the so called good managers are no exception to this trap.
And this sets up another bad trend also, no one wants to be an engineer for long, they all want to move to such PM/Lead jobs, depriving the engineering talent where needed.