"....I dont need this award..."

"...I don't need this award!..."

...he snapped, continuing to work on his desktop. 

Two colleagues, let's call them Jai & Veeru, started off as freshers in a team. Both had to analyse IT modules to resolve reported issues & also code fresh modules from time to time. 

In the first year, both did well in the work assigned to them. This company had a policy whereby each fresher was evaluated at the end of the first year & each was awarded a confirmation rating - A (top 5%), B (next 40%), C (next 50%) or D (last 5%). A typical bell curve GE would be proud of, which, thankfully, has been abolished by many firms since then. Each engineer would then get a hike commensurate with the rating.

This team only had 2 trainees. The project manager (PM) walked into the confirmation meeting with his peers, trying to get both of his team members rated at B. While all the PMs fought fiercely for their team members, the bell curve was sacrosanct. This PM was only able to secure one B. He had to settle for a C for the other one. Jai got a B. There is a funny line in the movie 3 idiots "𝘋𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘰 𝘫𝘢𝘺𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘩 𝘥𝘶𝘬𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘪 … 𝘓𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘢 𝘫𝘢𝘺𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘩 𝘻𝘺𝘢𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘥𝘶𝘬𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘪" ["You feel bad if a friend fails, but you feel very bad if they come first"]. Though Jai had not secured an A, the fact remained that Veeru had scored a C while Jai, a B. Veeru was upset. It is not known whether Veeru was upset about not getting a B, or because Jai got a higher rating than him. Maybe he'd not be as upset if they both had got a C. 

So Veeru went to the PM to protest against the perceived injustice. The PM tried to explain his dilemma, but nothing would calm the angry young man down. In the subsequent month, awards were announced and Veeru won an award. The business unit leader and other leaders walked down on the floor to felicitate him. Veeru merrily accepted the award, but after everyone had left, he expressed his displeasure. "The award is just a consolation for not being given a rating B" he snapped at a junior who was sitting next to him. 

Till date, Veeru hasn't forgotten about the incident and somewhere in his mind, he holds this against Jai. Did Jai have any control over the rating he or Veeru got? Probably not. Being Veeru's peer, all Jai could see was that he worked hard equally, if not more, but after all, performance could best be judged by the manager and, given the constraint of having to pick one over the other, it was probably a touch and go decision for him as well. It could even be something else. After all, managers and leaders doling out promotions, hikes and ratings are mere mortals and not algorithm driven machines processing factual data.

Promotions/ratings/earnings/perceived progress often eats into the fibre of friendship and camaraderie if not kept in check. If you are a Jai, be mindful of the Veerus around you. If you are a Veeru, Jai ko maaf kardo yaar, uski bhi kya galti hai....