The Lieutenant Part 4: Comics

The Lieutenant Part 1: Meetup at the beach

The Lieutenant: Part 2: She takes him home


The Lieutenant Part 3: At the Bar

“You OWN ‘Comics’!!!!” she almost screamingly asked / accused him as they waited outside Rahul’s school to pick him up.

“Yes”

“That didn’t figure in your I do consulting, I teach at Harvard story”

“Naah, it was just a stupid little idea that turned out to be brilliant. Remember that rice guy the one who used to mail music. Well he really likes comics and one day sitting in a bar I thought all bars are so morose, we need some fantasy in here, we need some heroes, and so ‘Comics’ was born”



“Stupid idea? It’s the most brilliantly run Chain of Pubs, in three years it has gone on to become an international chain of stores with 130 locations across the world. It managed to get onto the cover of Times magazine and won 20 dozen prizes. Dammit half the world is using it as a case study in their MBA classes. Including me when I go to teach.”

“You would make for one hot teacher” he joked

“Shut up” she said her way of saying thanks to a compliment “But your name’s never figured. Everytime the name of that guy….shit!!! He is rice boy isn’t he”

Arvind grinned.“Yeah he’s the CEO, it was really him who built the whole business. I just built the organization. My official title there is ‘Head Janitor’”

“ ‘Head Janitor’!!!! like always you are full of surprises Arvind, like always”

“Think of it, its very simple. In a pub a customer’s experience is made by two things the barman and the janitor. Glasses break, drinks spill, the loos get dirty. Would you want to go to a pub with a dirty loo??? Now I could never fling a bottle in the air, catch it and make a drink also. I found a guy who juggles five bottles in the air and makes a drink. He’s got the flair for it, I made him the head barman, I preferred to be the Head Janitor, I can mop, and mop well. But more importantly in my organization nobody looks down upon the job of a janitor…and that’s how it is done…when the top of the organization can be found washing the dishes on a busy day and nobody finds anything odd about it. That’s how organizations are built.”

“I didn’t know that, most of the case studies that I’ve read have been on how innovative ‘Comics’ has been right from seating design, drinks, and my personal favorite, crispy fresh comics available at your table and for pub members you can put a demand for any comic you like and they’ll have it the next time you visit”

“Yes, we spend a lot on buying comics, like casinos throw away their cards, we gift away all comics that are not crisp and clean. But that’s all cock and bull stuff any other ass would have done just that if he wanted to run the pub successfully like all casinos do. It’s a no brainer. What people don’t know about is that in our organization we have no company policies, no rules, and no performance targets. And we have 100% employee engagement.”

“No what!!! How do you run a company with no rules, no targets? That’s crazy”

“No it isn’t. We hire people for their attitude and run the company on culture. A barman is a barman cause he likes to mix drinks. We don’t ask him how many hours he wants to work. He works till he enjoys mixing the drinks. The accountant working in the back office likes his worksheets. When it gets boring for him, he stops. When people start enjoying their work they just keep doing it better and better. It’s a very different world most people are not used to. In our organization you won’t last if you are a sloucher or you don’t like your work. You only last if you like what you are doing, and we make working here fun. There’s absolutely no pressure, there are no profit earnings to be met, and we are a private limited company.”

“Ok enough of the lecture now!!! Mr. showoff, why couldn’t you just buy yourself a decent car, why couldn’t you live in town why a house in Andheri, with the kind of money you must be making you could buy one in Malabar hills!!!”

“I could, but doesn’t mean I want to. I don’t need a fancy car, or a fancy house. Those were always your wants. I have Major and Lieutenant with me and a whole bunch of friends in Andheri. Plus we are five minutes away from Rahul’s hospital. That’s the whole point of being in Bombay anyways, that’s why I moved from Delhi to Bombay......Rahul...all the money from this pub thing goes into an NGO which funds under priviledged children. I make enough from Harvard and consulting for a good life."