The Conflict - a short story

Arjun was staring out of the window indecisively. It was getting dark. He could see that traffic was easing up a bit. Time to go home. He could leave after sending the e-mail draft that he had already reviewed several times. 

He just could not bring himself to hit ‘send’. The hesitation was irrational, he knew. The deadline was midnight. No divine intervention would come before that. The list he reluctantly made up was the best that he was going to be able to do.

The office was empty; or so he thought until he heard footsteps. He looked up with idle curiosity. He was surprised to see that it was Kishen. Kishen was the chairman of the board; and until early in the year, had also been the president of the company. ‘What is he doing here?’, Arjun thought. Kishen had not participated in the day-to-day management for a while. Even when he did come in to the office, he never came to the fourth floor, where the middle managers worked.

His surprise must have shown on his face. Kishen smiled warmly and said. ‘Hey Arjun, good to see you. Looks like I startled you’.

‘Good to see you sir – I was just surprised. I didn’t know there was anyone else around’.

‘Stop calling me sir. You have known me for two years now, and I’ve been asking you for two years to call me Kishen’.

That was true. Despite the difference in age and status, Kishen had always treated him as an equal. They first met when Arjun won the award for the best young manager. Kishen had taken him out for dinner after the event and told him that he thought Arjun had the potential to get to the very top. While that was flattering, it just seemed like a well-meaning, but exaggerated compliment. Kishen had followed through by seeking him out whenever they saw each other and making the time to talk. 

‘So how are you doing Arjun?’

‘I won’t lie to you sir.. eh, Kishen. I’ve been stressed. You heard that I’m going to lose a big chunk of my team, right?’.

‘Yeah. Singh told me that your team is badly hit. How bad is it?’.

‘I’m going to lose twenty people out of the hundred and sixty-odd. It’s not just the number. For me to meet the budget targets, I have to let many senior folks go’.

‘I understand Ajju. That's tough. Anyone I know?’

A surprise again. ‘Ajju’ was a name only his close friends used. How did Kishen even know that name?

With some hesitation, he said, ‘A few that you might know. Francis, Raj and Dhruv. Dhruv was the toughest decision to make. He was my team lead and mentor in my early days’.

 ‘Dhruv? I find it hard to picture him as your mentor. You both seem very … different’. He pronounced ‘Dhruv’ like ‘Drew’. 

After a pause, Kishen said, 'Hang in there. You are not considering leaving, are you?'.

Arjun had been considering that, but didn't want to say so. He remained quiet. Luckily, the office attendant interrupted, offering to bring them coffee. They both nodded their assent.

It was getting painful, so Arjun tried to change the subject. ‘What brings you here, Kishen? I didn’t think you handled day to day work anymore. And that too, a visit to the fourth floor?’

Kishen smiled again. He looked twenty years younger when he smiled. No wonder, Anita, the management intern, had been telling everyone she had a crush on him.

‘That is a good question. I’ve been coming into work every day this month. Dharmpal Singh is having a tough time with the restructuring. I had to help. And as for the fourth floor, I just wanted to see who was still motivated to stay late. A way for me to get some ground-truths. I used to do that regularly when I was the president. I have to say I’ve never seen Dhruv here at this time all these years’.

‘Dhruv’s strength is his judgement, not the number of hours he puts in. I wouldn’t be where I am but for what he taught me in the early years’. After some pause, Arjun added, ‘just like you have been in the later part of my career’.

‘I can see why you are struggling with the decision then. This is going to sound heartless, but I think he is better off elsewhere. And from our point of view, he doesn’t fit in anymore’.

It did sound heartless, but Arjun didn’t know how to say it without exposing his disapproval. He was quiet.

Another interruption. Coffee was served. 

Kishen resumed when the attendant left.  ‘Ok, look at it this way. Did you know that Dhruv can make a lot more money in management consulting?’.

‘Yeah, I know he is sought after. I always thought he’s here out of loyalty to us. But why do you say he doesn’t fit anymore?’.  

‘Let me see - how do I say it without seeming even more cold? His management style made sense when we were happy with incremental growth. He can’t, or won’t make any tough decision. I never told you this, but it was me who picked you over him for your current job’.

Now, that was a bigger surprise, enough to distract him from all the gloom. Arjun never thought Kishen involved himself with staffing decisions at that level.

‘What? Really?’

‘Yes, and I will tell you one more thing. I would have asked Singh to let Dhruv go anyway, even if you hadn’t had him on the list. Does that help make you feel better?’.

‘Maybe, but still struggling with why you’d do that. There are traits of Dhruv that you don’t see’.

‘Nothing wrong with him Arjun. It’s a balance problem. We need independent thinkers, disruptors and doers in the management. The problem is that he is just a doer, and we have too many of those’.

It was beginning to make sense. ‘Does that make me as heartless as Kishen?’ he thought. He tried to think of other doers in the same rank and salary, but couldn't think of any.

‘Ok Arjun, you may think I am manipulating you. But I want you to stop thinking of layoffs as harming people. They will all be fine’.

‘But what about loyalty? These guys are unquestionably loyal’.

‘Yes, that is unfortunate’.

‘And my team will hate me. They love Dhruv’. That just came out. He had not meant to say that aloud.

‘Blame me. Tell them we had a chat and I refused to budge’.

‘This definitely helps’, Arjun thought; ‘should I be worried that I’m more worried about what people think than doing the right thing?”.

‘Arjun, this is simpler than you think. After an initial disappointment, Dhruv and the others will be just fine. I’m taking responsibility for all this. Singh is telling everyone that I personally oversaw this restructuring. I’m telling you I’d have added Dhruv’s name to the list anyway. You had a smaller part in all this than you thought. Telling the right decision from the wrong one is not as easy as it seems. Stop agonizing over this’.

Kishen finished his coffee, flashed another smile, and left. It was dark outside. All lights in the parking lot were on. The cleaners were entering the building.

After some hesitation, Arjun sent the note, unchanged, to Human Resources.

Image credit: Sajeeb Ahmed Photography, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons