Move over Peter Principle...here comes Madrasgirl!!

I stumbled upon my first management book..
While still in school...
Searching my father's collection...
While looking over my shoulder at the same time!!!!!..
Hunting for those forbidden books...
For Harold Robbins!!!!...
Or other early 70s soft porn gurus!!!..
Instead...
I came across The Peter Principle....
And was riveted by it!!!

The Peter Principle goes like this:
In a hierarchy, every individual rises to his level of incompetence....
Simple!!!!
With case studies and explanations at every step...
So clear, interesting and understandable...
Even to a schoolgirl!!

Now several decades later...
I think I too have hit upon a management principle...
That needs studying...
And delving into...
For want of a better name..
I shall christen it...
The Madrasgirl Principle....

It goes like this:
In an organization, the number of meetings held is directly proportionate to the lack of meaningful employment within it!!

But before we all scream Eureka!!!...
Let me explain in greater detail!!!!
Meetings are an important tool within organizations...
A means ....
Of keeping track of schedules...
Discussing strategies...
Reviewing progress..
Looking at work loads....
A sounding board...to bounce off ideas...
Where team spirit prevails...or should...in an ideal world!!!!

But what if the emphasis is only on reportage??
Only to see if the troops are doing their bit...
If it becomes a control thing alone???
A top-down affair!!!

If there is one big meeting...
Followed by several small meetings throughout the week...
Just to review quantum of work achieved...
And this apart from filing monthly...weekly...and daily reports...
To The Powers that be...
Located in other parts of the organization..
In a different floor perhaps...
At Corporate Office...or maybe...
At Central Office???
It then actually does prevent work from getting done....
Doesn't it???

The meetings then become ends in themselves...
Both for the meet-ors...which term will henceforth refer to those who call the meetings
And the meet-ees....those constrained to attend these get-togethers!!!
At the end of the day...
One can only be meetinged out...
In this futile endeavor!!!

With endless repetition of the same thing...
It is only natural...
That employees learn...
To spin it all out....
Maybe by...
Telling funny stories about their suppliers!!!
Or complaining about their bankers!!!!
Add zip and zing to a dull tale...

In short...much energy is spent on..
Making a day's work seem as difficult as...
Or even as exciting as....
A trip up the Amazon in a catamaran...
With the crocodiles snapping!!!!...
And the piranhas biting!!!!

Which brings me to the Corollary to the Madrasgirl Principle:
Work reports at such meetings are always exaggerated to the point of ludicrousness!!

The idea is...
To make a little seem like a lot...
And a lot seem like a mountain!!!
After all...very few are willing..or want..
To say it like it is...
As a bland unembellished tale will inevitably elicit the response:
Is that all???...
Hmmph....

The Madrasgirl Principle would like to look into deeper aspects of the game...
Such as...
Should meetings have entertainment value????
It depends...
On what the meet-or chairing the meeting wants to bring to the table...
It could be fun and mind invigorating games!!!!...
It could be show and tell!!!....
Or only just all show...with nothing much to tell!!!

But then.....
The Madrasgirl Principle is no simple matter...and...
A blog entry is hardly sufficient to analyze it!!!
Discuss it threadbare...
Or examine it...
In depth!!!


Postscript
Madrasgirl plans to look for funding...
From the Ford Foundation perhaps...
Or the East-West Center...in Hawaii...
Or maybe some professor at MIT will take her under his wing....

So that she may...
Delve deeper...
And decipher the impact The Principle she has stumbled upon has....
On matters corporate...

But while she waits for the funds to roll in.....
She has only one expectation of meetings...
That her turn comes first....
So that she can switch off mentally thereafter!!!....
Sport a vapid smile...
And look on the proceedings...
With a suitably glazed look!!!

Can life really get better than that??
You think????