The Astra at Work

I watched the Ramayana movie recently. I went in with zero expectations and came out stunned. It was a visual feast.

Being me, I started connecting scenes to life and work. One of them stayed with me.

Early in the film, a maharshi gives Rama a set of powers. He tells him, “Just think of these slokas and recite them, and you will receive the power of Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva, depending on the sloka you use.”

Later, Ravana’s entire army comes against Rama, Lakshmana and Sita, while they are in their vanavas. The three of them fight until the very last moment. When they are finally cornered, with the whole army closing in, Rama has no option left. He uses the astra the maharshi gave him and finishes the army.

That is exactly how I see work.

There are two ways to get things done. One is the long way, where you try everything you can and only use the astra at the end (an escalation, in the case of work) when you find no way ahead. The other is the shortcut, where you use escalation as your astra without even trying in the first place.

The astra is powerful, but it is meant for the end.

If you escalate too quickly, people lose confidence in your ability to get things done. If you don’t escalate even after trying till the end, people will ask why you kept pushing alone and didn’t ask for help while things were still moving.

Doing a good job at work means keeping a delicate balance between the two.

Rama didn’t start with the astra. But he didn’t die holding it either.