Target = Pressure…Does it MAKE…or …BREAK ??

Quite often we hear people discuss how pathetic is it to work under the pressure of target. A common question which surfaces at the time of a Job Enquiry is, "Is this a Target Oriented Job?" At the same time there are a few who revel under such a situation. This duality of differing mindsets propelled me to analyse this subject with a different approach.

One fine evening, I decided to take a small trip by intra state bus at Delhi. I would like to mention that in Delhi there are predominantly 2 categories of Intra State Buses, DTC & Blue Line. DTC is a Government entity & Blue Line is private.

I was standing at Raisina Road bus stop outside Chelmsford Club & wanted to take a Bus to Green Park which is one of the busiest routes in terms of people travelling. It was around 8:00 PM, supposedly a peak time & along with me there were more than 20 people standing there. A Blue Line bus came down with the conductor shouting out the name of the places they would cross & ushering the people in. In a matter of seconds, the bus was brimming with passengers, me being one among them & we set off.

The next day at around the same time, I decided to take the same trip in a DTC bus & did my research on which bus should I take. The scene at Raisina Road stand was pretty much the same, in fact, I saw a lot of same faces. It was around 7:50 PM when a DTC bus came. I could board the bus as I was able to spot the number because I was consciously looking for it but otherwise it's not very easy to spot the bus number as its written discreetly somewhere in the top front of the Bus. To add to that, the conductor was sitting passively at one corner without bothering to move even an inch.

The result: On my journey from Raisina Road to Green Park there were more than 20 vacant seats. I could see people who had travelled with me the last evening, did not board the bus as they did not even realise where it goes.

I repeated the same exercise a few more times to confirm my observation and came abreast with the same story.

I decided to talk to the conductor of Bus no. 520 & take inputs from him. He said that the Blue Line buses run on a specific target for the day which they break down to target per trip. Whereas, the DTC buses do not have any such target or pressure as you might say.

This small real life story indicates the basic truth that TARGETS enable us to propel ourselves an extra bit & achieve more. It coaxes us to go that extra mile in quest of success. If there is no target, it results in complacency.

However, there's a lop side to this as well. Do not be over anxious & let this pressure of target get the better of you. Blue Line buses are called the KILLER Line as they run over people in their quest to squeeze in an extra trip or reach a stand before another bus does so that they can stuff a few more passengers. I would like to say that this is where a line has to be drawn & if we are able to do that, we would be more effective Professionals.

I suggest everyone to break down your activities / roles into tangible aspects which can be quantified at a micro level & set a target for your own self. The deliberation & brainstorming should be done at this level. In addition to this create a Do's & Don'ts list. Once these 2 things are done, you should walk towards these, religiously following each item like a Checklist. After a period of consistently following this, do a Gap Analysis & come up with novel ideas.

Remember, Set Yourself Your Own targets…Do Not let your Target translate into a kind of Pressure which breaks you down …It's all In Your Mind…