Design Your Happiness: 4 Slices of Wisdom from Banglalink’s Network Operations Senior Manager
When Showkat traveled to Bhutan, the trip left a lasting impression on him.
What’s intriguing is that Bhutan actually measures the happiness of their people, like a country would measure their economy. They then come up with their gross national happiness (GNH), which the government says serves the following purpose:
“The GNH Index is meant to orient the people and the nation towards happiness, primarily by improving the conditions of not-yet-happy people.”
Now, that’s pretty cool. For Showkat, experiencing the culture in Bhutan gave him even more inspiration and insights on how to live and work in a manner that brings happiness.
So, let’s hear more about Showkat’s story and what he has to say about designing happiness in your life:
1. Go Where You’ll Smile
Showkat loves to travel. He’s made it a point to visit at least one new country or city each year. It’s how he keeps himself balanced, satisfied, and ready to live.
“One place I truly enjoyed was Switzerland. The natural beauty just made me feel so peaceful,” recalls Showkat.
If you ask Showkat about his career, you’ll find similar focus on keeping himself happy and continually improving. It all began when he chose to study engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
“My parents wanted me to be a doctor and I got admitted into one of the public medical colleges. But engineering was my dream!”
That intent to follow his passion is what led him to Banglalink. After all, he had other options.
“Banglalink was a fresh company where I could learn many new things and take new challenges. ”
Showkat’s story at Banglalink has been just about that: learning new things. He began in the BSS department before getting the opportunity to work on the core network (mobile switching center). Now is the network operations senior manager.
“I joined the mobile switching center because I got to work with the whole network and not just go into the field. It was exciting to see how it all works. Now, I’m helping run it all. When a customer makes a call, it is extremely rewarding to witness to see what is actually happening behind the scenes.
Indeed, Showkat’s growth has been substantial since first arriving at Banglalink in 2004. That’s because he’s centered his path around finding what helps him improve and what makes him happy. When young graduates ask him for career advice, he echoes this philosophy.
“The first thing you must have is passion for what you do. Do what you like doing. If you don’t like engineering and you’re advised to do this, don’t. Whatever things you enjoy, go for them. Work hard and you’ll get to where you want to be.”
2. Go Through the Portal
Experts say that designing happiness consists of three parts: anticipation, experience, and memory.
First, happiness is about creating anticipation about an event, like a new job position, and then experiencing it. However, that new experience is never perfect, as micro-stresses and other realities get in the way. That’s why it’s vital to have a transition to clear your mind. Or, better yet, go through a portal.
For example, think of Disneyland — a company that’s considered a master at crafting happy experiences. Their rides often take you through a dark tunnel, providing a mystic-like experience before you get out the other side.
So, what’s the bigger idea here? It’s that our lives require transitions if our experiences are to be happy ones.
From university to working on the core network, Showkat’s career has consisted of many transitions. One transition has been from engineer to people manager. Much can be learned from how Showkat made this big change.
At first, Showkat was managing two people in the southern part of Bangladesh. Then, he got an MBA to hone his management skills, and was assigned to oversee half the country after performing well. His HOD (head of department) later gave him management authority over the whole country’s network operations.
Here’s how Showkat sums up how he made this transition:
“I was first mostly concerned about the technical aspects and not much else. But I had to get used to dealing with not just my team, but other teams. My management scope increased gradually and I began to communicate with the commercial teams, the government regulatory team, sales and other departments. I had to be more involved in dealing with people than with technical aspects. I had to learn to trust engineers to learn the technical aspects, which they proved they can do if they’re serious and communication is good.”
So, the key to going through the portal (i.e. making a big transition) is doing it at the right pace and committing yourself to learning and growth. For engineers facing an ever-changing future, this is particularly useful advice.
“Now, students have to cope with a fast-changing landscape. Demand is changing and service providers have to change at an equal rate. The important thing for young engineers is to keep a growth mindset that copes with the speed of change,” advises Showkat.
3. Savor the good times
Ask Showkat about some of his great trips abroad, and he’ll undoubtedly mention Egypt.
“Cairo’s great pyramids, Alexandria's giant library and Luxor’s temples are unforgettable!” says Showkat.
“Some other remarkable countries that attracted me most are Vietnam, Hungary, Croatia, the Maldives, Myanmar, India, Germany, Cambodia and my loving country Bangladesh.”
Showkat makes a point to cherish those memories. As mentioned above, experts say good memories are crucial to happiness.
Showkat also makes a point to live in the moment while traveling. As scientists attest, if we “intentionally savor the good times”, we’ll be happier people because of it. That includes life and work experiences.
Good times aren’t always hot air balloon rides or beach excursions, though. Sometimes, they come after hard work that results in great success.
Recently, Showkat and his team were tasked with implementing virtualization in core domains . There were many challenges, but the team strived hard to overcome them.
“Whenever new technology comes, there are usually a lot of new technical things to absorb. Additionally, project management and communication must be sound. It’s an exciting time, but not simple.”
For Showkat and the team, this meant more time in the office and extra dedication to the project. It also required constant cooperation with vendors and suppliers.
“Because of our commitment and execution, Virtualization has been a big success. The customer base is growing gradually and we’re extending service. This is the result of what we’ve been doing for the past year.”
What’s important to note is that it’s more than just savoring good times that brings you happiness. Happiness experts note that we also must find purpose in what we do and remain resilient during tough times.
During his career and recently the implementation of virtualization, Showkat has done just that — found purpose and remained resilient. Now, he can savor the accomplishments.
If you look at why Showkat joined Banglalink, it’s for this reason: so he could build a happy, fulfilling career. That’s why he would advise others to join the team as well.
“In Banglalink, our structure is very flexible. I can easily go to my HOD or CTO whenever I need. The environment is very friendly. Junior-senior relations are very good, which makes it a very good place to work. You can have a meaningful career and grow if you work hard.”
4. Discover your inner satisfier
Decision-making actually plays a pivotal role in happiness. And it has everything to do with the notion of perfection.
As Barry Schwartz, a psychologist, states, wisdom is realizing that “the idea of the best is preposterous. There is no best anything.”
In short, Platonic ideals don’t exist. You can’t be a ‘maximizer’ in every endeavor. Instead, you can learn to be a ‘satisfier’, which means you make decisions in a way that satisfies you, your team, and/or your clients.
This is something Showkat has done in his work. Being a ‘satisfier’ makes him a better people manager. This necessitates solid communication.
“To be a better manager of people, I advise folks to interact more frequently with their team. Get to know them personally. With a solid relationship, everything comes automatically. Changes and decisions can be made smoothly and in a manner that benefits everyone. And everything just runs better, and you don’t waste time worrying whether it’s perfect,” says Showkat.
Beyond communication, it’s about simplifying things for Showkat. That’s how you get to the heart of the problem and solve it. The interesting thing is that Showkat learned this from his daughters.
“They taught me simplicity. You know, when we grow up, we can’t say whatever is in our mind all the time. But for my daughters, they’ll always ask and say whatever is on their mind. They don’t care what people think.”
Boost your personal GNH
Showkat has provided some great nuggets of wisdom for obtaining happiness in your career and life. Just remember to keep yourself balanced along the way by making time develop yourself. Currently, Showkat is learning Information Systems Security, doing some professional security certifications and reading a lot related of books in his free time, among other things.
