Say Goodbye to "Monster Monday"

“Monster Monday!” “Thank God it is Friday!” “Throwback Thursday!” “Let’s get this 9-5 out of the way” or “24/7 passion at work?"

How often we hear ourselves make these statements to ourselves or to others. Sometimes we say them with full conviction, sometimes with little wit or a meme, and most often with practiced sarcasm.

It is not very often that somebody says, 24/7 passion at work. And more importantly, demonstrates it. Well, maybe a few mission statements, corporate brochures and motivational speakers.

What makes these two scenarios, worlds apart?

It is the culture of the organization.

Let me take you through my journey and expedition with Observe.AI. Sit back, relax and enjoy the narrative, as this one has no gyaan or tips. If it makes you smile, then I have successfully given you a glimpse of what it is to be a part of Observe.AI.

Every time I contemplate to shift gears or choose a new path, I talk to myself. (Sometimes, I need expert advice as well, you see) and the conversation (with mini-me) leads to one thing. What do I need from the new phase or from the new job? After a few days of intense debate with myself, I made a list of “What I want from my career or my job, and how will it add to the overall quality of my life?”

1. A place that nurtures me and never lets me settle for anything average. Frankly, who wants to be average?
2. A role that challenges to push boundaries and help me enrich my knowledge.
3. A set of people who will help me realize the best of me.

That was pretty decent ask from life or the new job that I was looking for.

Phone rings, appointment scheduled to meet and take the interview forward. Like any other interview, I attended it a bit nervous, confident like I am one day going to buy Google, and with a whole lot of hope. After 1.5 hours of the interview, I came out feeling enriched or have found a new way of life post the interview.

Then comes the 1st day at Observe.AI. I am the only woman in the entire office, all of them a tech genius and speak in zeros and ones. Size in the natural world meant size zero or plus size, but here it was different - it was gigabytes, terabytes, precision & recall. Guess what I was the Penny amidst Sheldon’s, Howard and Raj. I was living the Big Bang Theory. There is nothing close to ordinary or sub-standard when it comes to the Big Bang Theory.

I had my first bazinga moment when I was asked to choose between Apple or HP. I calculated, went into the depth of my grey cells and decided HP. Guess what? Bazinga, I was given Apple! Why, because you always work with only the best to be the best. Thanks to the chief scientist now, I am an Apple Pro. The Penny in me has the best time amidst the great geeks.

Recognition and accolades were not new to me, but what was exciting was that founders recognize me as a highly motivated and responsible individual, self-driven, and who came to work to make things better. What more empowerment does one need than this?

What makes Observe.AI truly stand out from other companies Swapnil and Akash see themselves as part of the team, and don't follow the typical hierarchal approach.

Walk into the Observe.AI office, and you will see the founders sitting next to the employees, having a conversation, giving instant feedback or recognize you and appreciate you for good work. Frank conversations and open-door policy only help employees or team members feel ownership. Nothing to hold back and nothing that will hold us down.

Everybody here works to their best strength, but fully support other team members to realize their goals. It is the team that succeeds, with many talented and enthusiastic individuals coming together. It has never been about one individual. We are not Manager & Employee, we are team members and mentors. It’s not only the founders’ vision anymore, but it is also every Observians vision to make the best AI tool.

At Observe.AI, Mondays have never been Monster Monday. But a fresh start to a great week. A week you look forward to and week that you look back and say, “Wow, that was wonderful.”

In the words of Steve Jobs - “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” – That’s what I did.