To be.... Or Not to be....

I am not going to discuss about the famous Shakespeare drama Hamlet's opening phrase "To be, or not to be" (Hamlet's soliloquy contemplating death and suicide). Because I don't know anything about that drama 'Hamlet'! This blog contemplates on 'whether it is good to get angry or not'.

We all are subjected to different emotions at different points of time, while facing different situations. Of course, only then we are humans! "Anger" is a natural human emotion, like any other emotion. It is very difficult to spot a human being who does not get angry at any point of time (especially when he is provoked). Some people get angry at the drop of a hat! Why they get worked up even for very trivial things is not fathomable. It is probably in-built in their system!

The after-effects of getting angry may be very disastrous, compared to other benign emotions (being happy, disgusted, empathetic...., etc). So, 'anger' is one emotion that needs to be controlled if we have to escape from the ill-effects.

But, is it a 'bad emotion'? No. not at all! When someone has to get angry, when injustice is done to him, he has to get angry to express his feelings to the other guy. Otherwise, the person who is causing us to get angry will increase his efforts to make us angry, further more. It will go on till we are totally destroyed. We should not give room to such situations. If we react properly, showing our 'anger' in such a measure, the other guy will get the message and stop provoking us.

Consider an office scenario. Conversation between a very patient manager and an employee....

Manager : Have you done the work I assigned to you?

Employee : Sir, there are other things that I have to attend to. 

Manager : When will you complete the work I have given you?

Employee : I will do it only when time permits me to do. Don't keep on nagging me, okay?

Do you think that the employee will complete that task given by this manager? Can that manager be successful? He fails to act decisively. 

Another office scenario. Conversation between a very angry manager and an employee....

Manager : Hey! Did you do the work I gave you yesterday?

Employee : Sir, I have been doing the work you gave me earlier to that and hence I could not do the work assigned to me yesterday.

Manager : Are you having hare's brain? I told you to finish this work first. Idiot! Do it in an hour and bring it to me.

Employee : Sir, it will take at least 4 hours to complete the task.....

Manager : If you cannot finish it in an hour, leave the job. You are fired.

Do you think any employee can work under him? This manager also cannot have an efficient team under him. Then how could he be successful?

Looking at both the scenarios, in both, the approaches of the managers are wrong. One has to get angry when he has to and one has to be patient when he has to. The success lies in how we handle the emotion 'anger'. Let us all be pragmatic. 


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