Meerkat In Cubicle

Have you seen the meerkat manor series on Animal Planet? Well I have recently observed similar behavior with a “more developed” and “self obsessed” creature on earth.

Let me first define what I mean by Meerkat behavior. It is the phenomenon when the creature in question raise their heads from their hidings and turn it left and right to look out for any activity happening in the surroundings.

Do you think meerkat behavior happens in the office, well I do. There is one pre-requisite for meerkat behavior to happen in office and that is - new joinees seating in cubicles in a big corporate where they are yet to be assigned a project.

Let me discuss the specific events that promote or lead to the meerkat behavior. Now these could be many, but I will write the key one’s for you. Presence of noisy flooring that creates high sound whenever it comes into contact with high heels. Presence of employees who wear those high heels on a regular basis. So whenever those ‘people’ walk around in the office they create a sound that is ‘music’ to the ears of our meerkat in the office. It gives our meerkat some hope that for the next few seconds ‘it’ will not be looking at the dead screen of ‘its’ laptop but at something/someone else. Then the meerkat raises his head and then happens the meerkat behavior. The source of the noise may or may not look at our meerkat but if they happen to look in each other’s eye all our Meerkat wants to say is “Please don’t look at me this way, I know I am a new joinee, I know I don’t have work right now, Please help me get some work, Please don’t think that I don’t want to work etc.” and ofcourse “it” wants to say “Don’t think that since I do not have work and I am just looking at everyone who is passing by, I am looking at you because you are making noise while you are walking” and yes the last thing that our meerkat says is to the God and that is “Please give me some work here or make these ‘people’ come wearing high heels that make noise everyday”.

Presence of any wannabe meerkat that has come for an interview also results into meerkat behavior.

So are you playing a meerkat today?