Lala Land

I joined a multinational IT services company immediately after my post graduation. I was there for 1.5 years and then quit because of the long commute. Then I joined an IT product company in another city to solve that commuting problem. Though both these companies were different in a lot of ways, there were quite a few similarities. Informal communication, clear hierarchies, strict process adherence, professional atmosphere… hallmarks of the western corporate culture. So after 2.5 years of work experience I actually thought that I have completely figured out the corporate world. And then, as always, came a wake up call.

I had just finished my first year in the second company when I received an offer from a big company in another city. Now at that point, I was not dissatisfied with my current company in any major way. Commute was obviously better, bad Kannadiga food in the office canteen was replaced by bad Maharashtrian food in the office canteen … which was kinda an improvement. Colleagues were equally boring and I did not dislike my work any more than I had disliked my work in the current company. So why was I even considering this offer? Well, Duh…

That company was offering me an obscene amount of money. And I am a big fan of obscenity…. And money, of course. I checked with couple of my friends, seniors and all of them had the same comment,

‘Be warned.. It's a Lala company’

To those who are not familiar with this term, ‘Lala company’ refers to a family owned business that is run in a highly traditional and often informal manner. The term originates from the word ‘Lala,’ historically used to address wealthy traders or businessmen in North India. Over time, it has come to symbolize a conservative, owner-driven business style.

I was dismissive of their concerns. After all, hadn't I seen everything in my two and a half years of a corporate career? What surprises can this Lala company throw in my direction? So I joined this company and it was an instructive experience

Respect

I was part of a team which needed inputs from the other teams in our department to develop processes and applications. During the first few weeks whenever I sent emails requesting information from other teams, I received either no response or very delayed one. This rarely happened in my previous organization and whenever it did, I simply escalated the matter upward in the chain of command. But since I was very new to the organization and younger than most of my colleagues, I was not sure of myself. So I decided to check with a veteran in my team first before escalating the matter

Me: I am not getting any response from the other teams, man.

Veteran: Show me the emails you have been sending

Me: Check out this latest one

Veteran: See, there is your mistake. You wrote ‘Hi Rajiv, please share the MacGuffin report for this quarter as soon as possible.’ That's totally wrong. Rajiv is 10 years older than you. It should have been ‘Hi Rajiv Sir, please share the MacGuffin report for this quarter as soon as possible’.

Me: Are you kidding me? In my previous organization's, we were encouraged to call even boss's boss by his first name

Veteran: That maybe so… but this is Lala land

Me: Yeah, right. Just adding the honorific will do the trick, then?

Veteran: Well, of course not. Send the mail in the morning and by afternoon if you don't receive any reply then approach the guy after he comes back from the lunch. Engage him in some small talk on weather, cricket, his kids etc. Make it a point to address him as ‘Sir’. Then gently remind him about your mail as an afterthought. That should do it.

Me: Wouldn't Rajiv figure out that the respect I am showing is not genuine?

Veteran : Of course he would figure it out. That doesn't matter. You pretend to show him respect and he will pretend to believe it. That's how this whole thing works.

I thought about this and realised that in this aspect, a Lala company mirrors Indian society where elders expect respect simply for being older than you and not for their accomplishments.

Anyways, I followed the veteran’s advice and it worked wonders. There was bonhomie everywhere. I started getting inputs regularly from every team.

Hierarchy

Except for one guy. He sent the needed inputs as per his convenience. I checked with the veteran again and he nodded knowingly

Veteran : This guy is rumored to be a close friend of Lala. Better leave him alone

Me: But he still reports to our Grand-boss (boss's boss). I can approach the Grand-boss and he can order this lala’s buddy (LB) to comply, right?

Veteran : Our grand boss is not stupid enough to tangle with LB. See for yourself

And again the veteran turned out to be right. My grand boss refused to intervene and advised me to cultivate a relationship with the LB.

In my previous company it was easy to figure out who is more powerful between two people. Obviously the one who is higher up in the hierarchy. But in Lala companies that's not that simple. Relative closeness to this aforementioned Lala is the key criteria. So pleasing the Lala is more effective than doing good work if the goal is to accumulate power in this organisation.

I started interacting with LB and surprisingly that guy turned out to be alright. We got along quite well and would frequently hang out during coffee breaks.

Process

Once I was talking to LB in his cabin and I expressed my admiration for his large external monitor. He smiled and said to me, ‘I will get you one’. I laughed thinking he was joking. But the very next day the IT people came and installed a similar external monitor on my workstation. Surprised the hell out of me.

In my previous organisation, if I needed, say, a notepad, pen, visiting cards etc…I had to fill in a request in an online portal. That request then would have to be approved by my boss and then I would receive it in a few days. But in Lala company if you are tight with key people in the organisation's, you can practically bypass most of the processes to get what you want. Mind you, there are processes in Lala companies and there are auditors monitoring those. But it's like traffic laws in India. Rich and powerful people can ignore those laws. The same way connected people in Lala companies circumvent the processes

So what is my final verdict on Lala companies? Well, I did learn quite a few useful things during my stint there. In the beginning of my career, I had naively assumed that I would be able to cruise through my career without too much interaction with people. This Lala company showed me that it is not possible in professional or personal life. The procedural chaos in Lala company also taught me the art of Jugaad. I don't have to tell you how useful that is in India.

On the flip side, It is difficult to maintain work life balance in a Lala company. You know… the whole ‘you can't leave the office before your boss’ nonsense. New skill development opportunities in a Lala company are few and far between. They are just too comfortable with the status quo. Rising up in the hierarchy is only possible if you spend many years in the company. And during those years, your salary hikes will be quite less than the industry standards . Also, it is easy to get into bad habits. There were times when I found myself taking advantage of my power and bullying people to do my bidding. Not my finest moments.

Working in Lala companies can be rewarding if you thrive in flexible environments and value close-knit cultures. However, the drawbacks can be significant if you're looking for professional growth, structured processes and modern work practices. There was a time when I had thought that Lala companies would eventually have to give in and adopt prevalent western corporate culture. But many of them seem to be doing just fine so another of my future predictions bites the dust. And those of you who are thinking about joining a lala company, be receptive to peculiarities of a unique culture and you will have some interesting and instructive experiences.