Art of Right Workamanship !

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“Resources are hired to give results, not reasons.”

“A good swordsman is more important than a good sword.”
― Amit Kalantri

Amit Kalantri is a professional magician and mentalist, known for his unique and sophisticated shows that involve audience participation and subtle humour. He also teaches magic and other intelligent arts through his organization, "Beautiful Minds". More importantly from Wikipedia only I came to know that he also is from Akola, a town near to my hometown in Vidarbha! Rarely have I used two quotes of the same writer for one sharing but that shows Amit’s command on the subject i.e. humans & their attitude not just towards work at hand but at life at large! Now, if you are 9 you must be) wondering where I am venturing this time from my favourite topics such as Tadoba & of-late Cricket, then thanks to my friend who by her conversation pinched me hard & made me realize I am an engineer & a businessman (read as builder) too & there are issues, topics which needed to look after. Fun of the human mind is, with repeated frustration or negativity about any particular topic or subject, your subconscious mind makes you avoid that subject how much so ever important it may be for your work or business, such is the power of our mind! And I am sure you must be still wondering where this mind is going, then it’s about workmanship in real estate & it’s not just site or construction related workmanship but on every front of this industry, from marketing, to maintenance to even admin/ HR also! It all started with some repairing work in the home of my friend’s maid where we helped to replace/ repair tiles of her home by sending labourers/ masons from one of our sites.  Indeed, it was a great help to the poor lady & they did complete the work but with lots of follow-up & eventually when the work completed my friend called me to convey thanks yet she said there had been few issues. The cleaning work after tiling work completed hasn’t been done properly (read as not done at all) & those people broke frame for fixing TV on one of the walls while removing it for wall tiles fixing & her maid needed to take half day leave to get that job done as she was a single parent person with no helping hand at home! And my friend asked me, indeed it was a big help to the maid yet can’t your people complete the work in the right way & why they leave behind such residual things which hardly needs any additional efforts, especially when main job they have done, but such small lacunas leave bitter taste in the end? This question awakened the hidden (read as I have hidden) subject in my work which is real estate & it is fineness in the job & understanding right workmanship! Frankly, more than traffic, water, garbage, or urban planning the major frustration I get is, from this subject i.e. workmanship at present in real estate & that is why I was avoiding to write, even to discuss about it & now you will understand the prologue gyan.com about that subconscious mind thingy!

Though I sent again the workers & the issue at that maid’s home got sorted but it remained in my mind as of-late whenever there is gathering of my age group people in the industry or say site related personnel who are on other side of age of forty-five, the only common topic is “apane time aisa nahi tha” (work was different at our times). And trust me, our time doesn’t mean some thirty forty years back, it’s just some ten / fifteen odd years & there is a sea change in the entire working system (I call it as attitude)! And I am not the only person who feels so, but every that person who loves or care for his or her work, may it be site or office or documentation or billing or sales or maintenance, any damn thing, he will feel the difference while dealing with the people around when it’s about finishing the job or work at hand. I am not saying we were from another planet or superior, rather today genre is more smart, effective, fast & practical but they use all their skills only when they think there is something of their interest in any work, then only they are effective or else they care a hang about the work, is a statement I am making in my full senses! And I am not intending to insult today’s genre nor doubt their motifs or skills, it’s just something is missing in defining the workmanship or how to complete a work at hand, is my subject of sharing!

And the problem may be with us (my genre) as we failed to pass on the baton of right workmanship to the next genre, the way it’s been passed to us but that doesn’t change the fact & problems it’s been creating at work places. May it be having a thorough check at site for cleaning the waste material after the day’s work ends or may it be switching lights at site on when it's darkness or it may be filing properly all the concerned drawings or even it can be getting some document inwarded or returning call of anybody, the list of leaving the work at hand incomplete or say not taking it to right destination is bigger than Hanumanjiki Punchh (plz google)! This is where the attitude towards workmanship comes into play as most of the people (read as staff or working team) don't understand (or don’t bother) what outcome is expected from the respective individual from the task given to them! Workmanship is about giving the result the way some job has been told or given to you & for that most important is understanding of that job, which is the weakest link of today’s genre! And I am not saying this just because I am the boss of some company or sit on the other side of the table named employment but because I too have worked as an employee for a long time & have seen the way people used to work. There always will be people who just work for the sake of working or for salary but there were people who used to work not just because they get paid for that work but for something more & that something more is missing today from most peoples’ working, is my subject of sharing!

Interestingly when my frustration levels were running high because of the subject in mind, I came across one wonderful article about Bossism, which writes about the wrong way of boss, means wrong workmanship of a boss & I do value that aspect of workmanship also. Because a lot matters in your earlier days, who was your boss & how he trained (read as treated) you as those teachings (read as scars) remains for long time but then it's your choice as why are you working in any place in the first place, as that’s what going to define your future! This is era of gains & that to fast, nobody is ready to wait & this creates big problem in learning process of your work as there is no fast forward in workmanship learning, so first learn patience, this I will  tell to the bosses (boss in me too) as well to the employees as if you acquire skills that will be helpful to you in any job you will be doing, so learn the right workmanship for your own sake & in the process it will benefit to your company also, is simple logic! But for that give time & concentrate on the minute details of the job, whatever it may be. Right from returning a call to arranging your table to maintaining a work diary, the smallest things matter a lot if you want to become a perfectionist in workmanship! Another major problem of many people is laziness or reluctance to write as on one side our memory is remaining unused (thanks to google & smart phones) & on other side we don’t take on habit of writing down things & causing errors, mistakes & forgetting tasks & outcome is stress, for your own self & for your boss too! And do mind this is applicable to the boss also as today you may be working under somebody but tomorrow somebody will be working for you & if you don’t have cultivated the right habits for yourself how you can expect your juniors will adopt them, right?

Last but the most important, learn to become the owner of any job given to you or undertaken by you, as unless you do that you will never master the Art of Right Workmanship! And this statement I am not making just for sounding my words great nor are they cut-pasted from some Management Gurus’ book neither written with the help of Chat GPT (today’s buzzword), but that’s what I always feel for my work! What I mean taking ownership is, don’t think about in what capacity you are working & for whom or how much you are getting paid for the job, just think that this is your job & you are the boss of it & then you will start seeing the things about that job which no B’ School can teach you! Will give a small example of my own set up, many a times when my team member (staff, I don’t like to call them) get some quotation or workorder for finalization to me, may it be electric bill or some tile contractors rate or insurance renewal of a car & many such, I just ask them one simple question, check it first thinking it’s your own expense & then come to me! Means, if its electric bill then you will check every unit & rate of the same has it been your home electricity bill, do the same for whichever electricity bill you are checking. If it's a car insurance renewal, then check the terms & conditions & premium amount as keenly as you would have checked for insurance renewal of your own two-wheeler. And, think that you are fixing tiles for your own home & now decide the rate of the contractor, this is what I call taking ownership as after this if you make a mistake then that’s ok as you have given your best & then the mistakes will make you better as now, you own those mistakes too! And this attitude is applicable for every aspect of the work which unfortunately is missing for the employees & the employers too which is the major problem of today’s working! And the only solution for this problem of mastering workmanship is patience, training & lead by self-example & if you are a boss then you only will have to take the lead, this I tell to myself every morning when I look in the mirror! Will share a wonderful story, which I have come across in the Zen Speaks book & it wonderfully explains the advantages of Owning the Job attitude, again what to or whether to take from the story, your choice, adios with this note…

An old carpenter was about to retire. He told his boss of his plans to quit carpentry and house building and live a quieter life with his family. Of course, he would miss the monthly payment, but he needed the pension. The owner of the company felt the loss of one of his best employees and asked him to build one last house as a special favour. The carpenter consented, but over time it was easy to see that his thoughts and heart were not on the job. He did not commit himself to the service and used inferior-quality labour and raw materials. It was an unfortunate way for him to conclude his career. When the carpenter finished his work, the builder came to inspect the house and handed the carpenter the door key. “This is my gift to you,” he explained. What a shock! How embarrassing! If he had known he was building his own house, he would have done it completely differently, he wouldn’t have been so relaxed. Now he would have to live in a house made anyway….

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

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https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

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https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/12/right-home-buying-in-2025.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

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