Case Analysis on Friends' Issues

Aditi Viswanathan, Abhinav Chandran and Deepak Kumar (names have been changed to maintain confidentiality) have been close friends since engineering college. They got placed in the same company Cognizant Technology Solutions as ‘Programmer Analyst Trainee’ through the campus recruitment program in their college in 2009. They were typical freshers, young, energetic, and eager to take up new responsibilities and challenges. They were trained in different domains and assigned to different projects. In 2014, they successfully completed 5 years in the organization and the management was very much satisfied with them. They grew to the position of ‘Associate Software Engineer’.  All three of them were equally competent and were consistently top performers in their respective domains. They were known to be friendly and were well respected by their subordinates.

While on the job, Aditi and Abhinav took the necessary qualification exam, attended interviews and got admission to top B-schools of their choices. Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) gave them the provision of taking a long leave to pursue higher education provided they returned to the same organization post their graduation after one year. Aditi and Abhinav agreed to return, signed the necessary papers and went on leave commencing in May 2014. Deepak Kumar stayed in CTS as ‘Associate Software Engineer’ since he did not find as much interest in MBA as Aditi and Abhinav did. He was happy with his job.

In June 2015, Aditi and Abhinav returned to CTS as management graduates as per their agreement with the organization. Honoring their MBA degree, they were taken back under ‘Senior Associate Software Engineer’ designation. This expanded their scope of work and with higher designation came more responsibilities. Aditi and Abhinav leveraged their prior domain knowledge and experience and the skills gained from their MBA education to deliver outstanding results. They won numerous awards. Their superiors, subordinates and peers were happy to work with them.

There was one person in the organization who wasn’t happy with these developments. Deepak Kumar! He was without a doubt happy for his friends. But his resentment at being left behind overshadowed his happiness. His close friends who had been on the same level as him all along had suddenly progressed far ahead much earlier than he would. All of a sudden he found MBA appealing. He took the same qualification exam that Aditi and Abhinav took, but could not score satisfactorily.

Meanwhile, Aditi and Abhinav started noticing behavioral changes in Deepak. He was not like he used to be. During general conversations, he taunted them saying they were famous in the organization while he was not even recognized by fellow employees.  There were several complaints about Deepak from his department and from outside his department. People commented on the fact that he was rude during meetings. He also talked about Aditi and Abhinav critically or negatively to other managers. With time, the situation worsened. Deepak simply stopped working! He would go to work and sit in front of his system every day without contributing anything to his department and the organization. This kept happening for a while.

        Deepak was having the biggest struggle of his life. He isolated himself from everybody else as he felt worthless. Even amidst a gang full of friends in the noisy cafeteria of his office, he felt alone and acted like he had nothing to contribute to whatever the rest of the world is buzzing about. His friends grew increasingly worried as they noticed changes even in his demeanor. The Deepak they knew was a charming lad who starts the day with his trademark sense of humor and a friendly aura that is sure to turn everyone’s day brighter. Nowadays, he maintains a slouched posture, forced grin and a zombie-like walk wherever he goes. Aditi and Abhinav tried their best to talk him through this phase but in vain. His terse replies and lack of interest to let go off things has started to irritate them as well.

        Luckily for Deepak, they haven’t given up on him yet. They knew that he needs to sit face-to-face with someone who has gained his immense respect over the years; someone to whom he would give his undivided attention at any given time of the day. Many people suggested them that Deepak needs to go through some sort of rehabilitation but they realized that he needed some “Karthification”. Aditi and Abhinav didn’t have a hard time figuring out who that person will be as they immediately contacted Mr. Karthik, a project manager who had mentored them during their days as freshers in the company. Everyone loves Karthik in the office but Deepak adores him and aspires to become like him one day. Karthik is known as the “Super Man” for his agility in solving problems, ability to communicate effectively and capability to lead any group but Aditi and Abhinav went to him primarily because he has the knack of understanding people without judging them.

        Aditi and Abhinav approached Karthik and explained the problem. He assured that he will take care of it from here and mailed Deepak saying that he needs to talk him. A puzzled Deepak agreed to the meeting and booked a conference room for them. He actually felt happy inside and was looking forward to meet his idol after a long time. They met on a hot Monday afternoon. Deepak was the first to occupy the conference room as he came before time waiting anxiously. He wasn’t exactly able to explain how he felt at that time. His heart was beating out of his chest because he was feeling happy yet guilty. While his mind was racing with the possible agendas of this meeting, Karthik entered the room precisely on time. Deepak couldn’t help but smiling from ear to ear after many months.