Unboxed Writers was ideated as a counterpoint to the lack of respect for creativity in corporate contexts but if I told author and playwright Vijay Nair that, he would laugh. Politely of course for he is a gentleman and I am saying this without Shakespearean irony. He really is.
But he has observed the ways of countless bosses and various work cultures for over 25 years. He knows that throwing a job in the bonfire of personal vanity and watching it go up in smoke is not the answer everyone is looking for.  The truth is you may never get an ideal work atmosphere. If you are lucky, you will be underpaid for years and if you are really unlucky, you will find yourself in a work environment fraught with intrigue, manipulation and feudal ways where some employees survive by playing flattering confidantes and a few others are either victims of the system or are copy cat bullies grinding weaker subordinates to a pulp.
What interests Vijay is not the drama in the mercurial corporate world where countless people spend the best years of their lives being stifled or getting possibly damaged for life by grasping colleagues and shadowy, dark and occasionally evil bosses but strategies that may help them to not just survive but thrive.
What Vijay would have you know is that when your hope in a fair and just world where hard work is rewarded and loyalty and integrity mean something, is shattered, do not take it hard. Because you see, your boss is just not that into you. The Boss is Not Your Friend,  proclaims his latest book and points out that a boss is only interested in what you can bring to the table and possibly also in how to get it cheaper than you can afford to sell it. There are never going to be pink balloons in your office. A pink slip? Possibly.
With its immensely witty, crackling prose, The Boss is Not Your Friend reads almost like a black comedy, unsettling to a great extent because it has probably been experienced or observed in real time.
The book is unsparing in its insight but what saves it from being a cathartic outburst of bitter ire is that it advocates a certain pragmatism and detached self-interest and warns you in not so many words against the perils of investing yourself emotionally in what is afterall a job, not your entire life.
Like he says, a vital breakthrough in Neo’s growth is achieved when he, “becomes adept at manipulating the matrix and even learns to dodge the bullets fired at him.”
The Boss is not Your Friend will be launched today in Bangalore and Unboxed Writers catches up with the author.
For a writer, a certain kind of sensibility and sensitivity is a prerequisite before writing can happen…how do you then deal with the corporate realities infesting the publishing world and the writing industry?

Yes, publishing houses are organisations too. Many writers crib about their publishers and so do I. Recently I was in the audience for a panel discussion at the Kala Ghoda festival where Shobhaa De was one of the panel members. She was very vociferous about how Indian publishers don’t do enough for their writers. I sat there wondering what she was complaining about when her books are publicised well, displayed prominently in book shops and turn into best sellers. Ever since I have watched her in action, I keep that in mind. That maybe there is another side to the story. That we writers are not likely to be satisfied no matter what.

Besides with this one, Hachette India has been very gracious, right from the beginning. Whenever I have aired any dissatisfaction, they have always responded well. I know it sounds like I am saying the right thing at the eve of a launch, but they have been very professional.

Who is the YOU in the title? Who is the book addressing?

Managers. More specifically, Indian managers.

The interpersonal mechanics of an office can be hard to negotiate for someone who wants to get by only through work and not playing into the office politics or being a victim or a bully, what advice would you give to such a person?

Don’t work in an organisation if you can’t handle the politics. Human beings are essentially greedy and grasping. When you are in a context that operates from a location of greed like most organisations do, everyone who works there would be looking out for their interests and not yours. Be realistic about it. Also the clichéd dictum of power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is true as we all know, be it any human context. It just gets heightened in the corporate setting. So if the CEO is behaving like a deluded feudal lord, it’s because he’s made to feel like that by 99.99 per cent of those who work with him. If you are in the other .01 per cent, well, like I say in my book, flatter him to get him on your side. You can always go home later and laugh about him, with your friends and family. But when you are with him, behave in a suitably reverential manner.

It also pays to be smart and not get dependent on the organisation. Never make the mistake of becoming lax and complacent. Always keep an eye for better opportunities and leave whenever you get a good offer without worrying about letting down your organisation. They are always ready to let you down in times of downturn or when they feel there is a set of professionals who can do your work better than you. Your behaviour should mirror theirs.

It’s wrong to think that if you do your work well, the organisation will reward you. More often than not, they reward someone else for the hard work you do. And neither the victims nor the bullies prosper in Indian organisations. Only the ones who have learnt the art of getting patrons thrive in these settings, especially at the more senior level.

What are the keynotes, the main strands that people should look for in the book?

The book is about how the individual manager who may be small and puny compared to the goliath of the organisation, can turn into the mighty ‘David’ and fell all the antagonists he is pitched against- the boss, the CEO, the HR manager, the team mate, the system, the processes and the all encompassing culture. It’s about beating them all and emerging triumphant rather than getting beaten by the system.

How did you come by the life lessons in the book? From personal experience?

Of course! Next year I go back to my management institute to celebrate the 25th year reunion. That’s how long I have been working with Indian organisations from the inside as a manager and from the outside as a consultant. I am glad I got a book out of it. I deserve it.

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