THE COMPARISON OF CLASSICAL APPROACH AND HUMAN RELATION APPROACH IN ORGANISATION STUDIES

1.What is Organisation and Organisational Behaviour?

Organisation is a cooperative interaction dynamic in social system with the purpose of satisfying individual needs (Barnard, 1938). This is not a sole definition about organisation, there are many other terms about organisation such as, Mintzberg (1983) Organisation is "Every organized human activity -- from the making of pots to the placing of a man on the moon -- gives rise to two fundamental and opposing requirements: The division of labor into various tasks to be performed, and the coordination of these tasks to accomplish the activity".

Organisational behaviour focuses on the study of the people behaviour within the organisation (Luthans, 1995). The Organisational Behaviour commonly known as the study and understanding of individual and group behaviour, and the path of structure towards improvement of organizational performance and effectiveness (Robbins, 1998). Another term of Organisational behaviour is a major discipline towards description, understanding, and prediction of human behaviour within formal organisation. Organisational behaviour as discipline is the clear recognition that organisations make internal settings that influence the behaviour of people within it and to some point the internal condition of an organisation is influenced by the large components such as economic, politic, social, and technology which support the organisation (Owen, 1987).
Based on these definitions we can see that organisation consists of many elements which built it. From the people, the system, and the goals, these 3 elements have to be integrated towards the organisation improvement and better performance. This paper will discuss about the two theories about management. The comparison, the nature, and the origin of these theories will be presented in this paper.

2.The Theories of Organisation Studies

-The Classical Approach-

The origin of Classical Approach carried out initially in the early part of the century, by such scientist as Frederick W. Taylor, Henri Fayol, Urwick, etc. Most of them were laying the fundamental for a comprehensive theory of management (Mullins, 2005). Frederick W. Taylor came up with the so-called Scientific Management through his book The Principle of Scientific Management on 1911. His theory emphasizes in obtaining increased productivity from each worker through structuring the technical work organization and providing monetary incentives as the motivator for higher results. He believed there is a most efficient working method by which employee should do their jobs. He argued that all jobs processes can be determined into discrete tasks, so that tasks, by scientific method, was able to find the best way to undertake each task, these terms recognized as division of labour. Taylor found out the major cause of inefficient work is lack of employee initiatives on his job. This issue obtain another negative impacts for company such as waste of human effort, waste of material things, waste of time, etc(Freedman, 1992). In other words, Taylor thought the basic cause of these waste was because company focused too much on the output of job rather than focusing on every single process by which the work was finished. This condition was normally happened in that time because most of company used predetermined results, usually throughout the number of finished product, to measure appropriate salary or incentives for the workers. Having said that, Taylor saw initiatives and incentives system are major problem for company in order to improve their performance. Therefore, he argued that the only way to increase performance is by giving special incentive so the company can hope to get a lot of initiatives from his employee (Owens, 1987).
The other contributor of Classical Theory is Henri Fayol. Henri Fayol has different perspective than Taylor, he was focusing on the manager rather than the employee and he emphasized in administrative aspects in the organization. Fayol established five administrative functions:
(1) Planning; (2)organizing; (3)commanding; (4)coordinating; (5) controlling. By these terms, it is obvious that Fayol concerned in commanding and controlling the organization towards high performance. Moreover, another contributor for this approach is Max Webber, a German sociologist, who came up with the idea of bureaucracy. Weber believed the bureaucratic concept was an approach to minimize the frustrations and illogicality of huge organization where the relationship between executive level and workers are based on class privilege (Owens, 1987).
The nature of Classical Approach, basically, associated with two major theorists. The first one is Scientific Management which established by Frederick W. Taylor and Henri Fayol, and the other one is Bureaucracy which invented by Max Webber. Based on their theorists, classical approach mainly focused on the hierarchy concept which usually recognized as “line and staff”(Owens, 1987). The Classical Approach were focused on the design of a coherent structure of organization, they believed by designing good organization structure will improve efficiency. The other principle of Classical Approach is the unity of command within organization, it is a vain if company has good organization structure but lack of unity of command within it (Mullins, 2005). Another principle in Classical Approach is the span of control in the organization. The core concept of this principle is to determine the number of subordinates below the supervisor, the ratio of subordinates compare with the supervisor has to be optimized, and otherwise the problem will occur in the organization. Mooney and Reiley set out three common principles in Classical Approach which are:
• The principle of coordination : the must have for employee to work together with unity of command, the exercise of authority, and the require for discipline;
• The scalar principle : the hierarchy of organization, the duties need to be graded, and the delegation of works;
• The functional principle: a well defined specialization of works and the clear distinction between different kinds of duties.

The Classical Approach was suitable for the early 1900’s when the main issues in companies or organisations were mostly related to the rising number of employee, increasing demand, full of mechanisation, and the tasks rationalisation in every jobs (Terry, 1975). Despite, there are many arguments that said Classical Approach is suitable and works longer than they predicted. If we take a look Henri Fayol’s theory about 5 principles of management, planning; organising; commanding; controlling; and co-ordinating, such terms still being used by many companies today, such as Japanese on their Just-in-Time framework, quality circles, kanban system , and many other Japanese managerial framework (Fells, 2000).

In conclusion, the nature of Classical Approach tends to describe and define some set of predetermined principles which would generate the basis of management. The common understanding for these dealt with organization structure which possessing a hierarchical structure and operates in extremely logical, systematic, and rational. By using these concepts, they belief there will be optimum solution of system management for every condition, if the optimum solution achieved the effectiveness will result (Terry, 1975).

-The Human Relations Approach-

In 1920s, Western Electric Company associated with National Research Council did some experiment designed to calculate the optimum intensity level of the light for maximise the production efficiency in a shop. They did this famous experiment in Hawthorne plant that is why this experiment popularly known as Hawthorne experiment. Elton Mayo was the member of the research team, and perhaps he is the well known educator at the time. They found out that the human variability has to be taken into account in determining the productivity (Owen, 1987) and it shown that there was another variable which can influence employee productivity besides the incentives. Hawthorne study indicated the economical reason was not the only influence to the employee behaviour (Johnson, 1993). This research was the beginning of the human relations movement. During 1927 until 1932, this research group tried to analyse the outcome from different kinds of variable in productivity, the changed such factors as incentive amount, number of working hours, intensity of lighting, method of payment, co-workers and manager substitution, etc, they actually made an industrial situation where the manipulated external aspects of organisation leads to different productivity or outcome (Pyoria, 2005).

The Hawthorne Experiment established new concepts of organisation management to be used in practical situation. The concepts consist of many variables such as employee morale, dynamics of group worker, the supervision method, relationship between workers, the behavioural principles of motivation (Owen, 1987). This argument is actually strengthened by Marie Parker Follet theory, which established before the Hawthorne Experiment. Follet put an idea of the group power, followership, and involvement in the organisation. In addition, many theories have been found related to the human relations in organisation before The Hawthorne’s experiment take place, such as in 1863 William Hearn from Australia put forth the idea of the hierarchy of human needs and Hugo Munsterberg came up with the industrial psychology in 1890s at Harvard. But still, Mayo’s, with the Hawthorne, manuscripts and books are known as the foundation of Human Relations approach (Lemak, 2004). The other author who contributed the Human Relations Approach was Edward Mcgregor who has the famous theories, Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X basically is explaining that humans dislike and avoid to work, therefore they need control, guide, and force toward organisation’s objectives. Conversely, Theory Y said that people like to work and they are able to learn and seek responsibility under the right conditions (Zilbert, 2000). Mcgregor’s theories, obviously, support the human relations approach in terms of managerial context of managing the people in the organisation and it strengthened the key idea of Human Relations Approach about the nature and the role of manager which concerning in emotional factor in employee and social justice as the objective for this approach.

The perspective of Human Relations Approach concerns that the organisation becomes further than just a profit oriented enterprise, they become more than just a place to work but also a medium for administering social interaction (Lemak, 2004). Regarding to Mayo (1933, p.73) the consequence of the social interaction in organisation was the each personnel and the group as a whole themselves need to adjust into the industrial situation where their self determination and social welfare prioritised first and the work itself is supplementary. One of the main characteristic of the human relations approach is the group of employee taken as the main unit of analysis instead of individual employee. The other hallmark of this approach is the viewing of employee motivation in terms of social needs rather than economic needs (Lemak, 2004).
The Human Relations approach has been proved that this approach is relevant nowadays, even though it has been written almost 7 decades ago. This theory generates ideas emphasizing the significance of team work and leadership, good communication, motivation, and work design (Mullins, 2005). The idea of organizing teamwork is one of the notion that has long lasting value until now. As we known, the efficient team work requires a collective goals, strong relationship among the members, feeling of togetherness, and strengthening social cohesion between employee can lead to good atmosphere in the organisation (Pyoria, 2005). The positive atmosphere in the organisation tends to be established because it can enhance the employee performance and by the end the organisation performance will enhance as well. The efficient teamwork is still being used in many big companies nowadays such as General Electric, Unilever, and many big consulting companies. They tend to implement team working because they believe this idea can bring positive impact for the company.

In conclusion, the Human Relations Approach introduced the significance of the informal organisation that always involves within the formal structure of organisation (Mullins, 2005). This informal organisation was the main influence of the employee’s behaviour. Therefore, manager or to management in the organisation have to concern and aware about this informal organisation. If they can create and embed sentiments which support their goals by fulfilling employee’s social and emotional needs, the effect would be the higher performance and the social harmony within the organisation (Johnson, 1993).

3.Classical Approach versus Human Relations Approach

These two schools of management thought had their own principles, view, ideas, and approach. The explanation above provides evidence of how different they were. Many important points of differences will be discussed below;
The Classical approach, mainly, focusing on the jobs and the structure within the organisation. They believed the organisation needs to be built according to specific goals and plan within an inflexible specification (structure), that is why this theory, merely, seeing workers as a machine. These characteristics are very contrast to Human Relations Approach which argued that the people have to be the basis of the organisation. Organisation needs to be looked as the social function where the relationship, people needs, and emotional needs are the driver of workers performance which can lead to enhancement of organisation performance (Lemak, 2004 and Hersey, 2001).
The role of the manager under the Classical approach is to create the job specification, rules, procedure etc. and enforce the workers to do all of it appropriately. Manager was to be seen as the trainer & planner who has the higher authority in the organisation. Due to this higher education and superior authority, manager was to design the most efficient way to do all the jobs and ensure the employees can do maximum output from their job (Lemak, 2004 and Mullins, 2005). On the contrary, Human Relations Approach argued the function of the manager is to embed cooperation and coordination inside the organisation. The managers need to be aware with what motivates the workers and why workers need that. The role of the manager shifts into facilitator and builder of the team, by doing theses Human Relations believed it will enhance the worker’s performance. As a consequence, the productivity and the performance will sharply increase also (Hersey, 2001).
The Classical Approach argued that workers can do a good job if their economical needs have been attained beforehand. This thought is basically based on the Adam Smith’s economic theory which said that human nature is fundamentally rational. Thus, the only motivator for employee to work in better performance is monetary incentive that is why the people who work under Scientific Management called as economic man (Wagner et.al, 2008). Conversely, the Human Relations Approach said that the social and personal needs are the major influence for employee performance. The satisfaction of socialising, good job atmosphere and sense of belonging throughout the organisation are the main driving force of performance enhancement. Therefore, the people who work under Human Relations Approach called as social man (Donnelly, 2000).
Both of these approaches have their own strength point. Classical theory can establish an industrial harmony in the organisation by using their principles (planning, organising, commanding, etc) and the bureaucracy approach. That is why many big companies are using this approach, they believed this approach will gain more efficiency and quick decision making in the organisation. As a note, such companies which are using this approach, basically, have a very large number of employees. Army is one of the examples of the company who use this approach. It is obvious such companies apply this Classical Approach, because they need standardisation and specialisation to manage their large company. On the other hand, Human Relations has the strength as well. This approach really emphasize in importance of personnel management, which its movement has led to ideas on obtaining more output by humanising the work (Mullins, 2005). Having said that, this approach is really developing nowadays, with regard to the humanisation, many companies using their principles to obtain the better performance and social harmony in the organisation. Team works, leadership, communication, and motivation are very popular words in management at the moment which we know it is all the human relations principles.
Classical approach has a lot of criticisms. Many studies shown doubt about the effectiveness of this approach, especially in management nowadays. The most significance failure of this approach is lack of human factors. Because of that, classical approach has point of weaknesses such as (Blauner 1964, cited in Johnson, 1993):
• Inability of employee to use control over work processes
• Lack of employee understanding about what is the purpose on their job
• Employees failed to become involved in the jobs
• Lack of sense of belonging with the organisation
Human Relations cannot avoid the criticisms as well. Many criticisms point out that this approach is lack of scientific approach and it has only few perspectives. It avoids the role of organisation itself in how the social system operates. Since the central point of this approach is the human motives, it couldn’t provide explicit statement of the basis of organisation planning, managing, and organising. To some extent, Human Relations only concerning to the attitude and behaviour of the employee rather than concerning in principles of organisation (Barnes, et.al., 1970).

4.Conclusion

Organisation can be defined as the division of work among people who work together and coordinated to reach the specific goals. The study of organisation can be approached with two studies. The Classical approach views organisation as a closed system and possessing rigid hierarchical organisation structure and operating in rational, systematic, and logic path. This theory tends to put the system in the organisation as the main focus rather than the people within it.
The Human Relations approach perceives organisation as a open system where the needs and the values of the people have to be managed in order to reach organisation’s goals. This theory put human as the unit of analysis and the core instrument in the organisation.
Both of these theories have their own strength and weaknesses. I believe each theory will perform very well to some particular type of organisation and it will be much more better if we combine these theories because the coordination within the organisation can’t work unless employee within it are willing to cooperate with the management. Therefore, I argue that the needs and values of the people as a human must be considered and integrated with the needs and values as described by the vision and mission statement of the organisation. The system of the organisation has to take into account the element of the human (employee), otherwise organisation cannot move smoothly to reach their specific goals.

Marketing Model Design Using System Dynamic Approach

-The Abstract of My Undergraduate Final Project-

Recently, PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk. as one of the state-owned enterprise has several telecomunication services facilities which are offered to the Indonesian people. Its business value is currently increasing. However Telkom FLEXI, as one of Telkom business units, is currently losing its competitive advantage especially in the West Java CDMA market. The competition of telecomunication services is getting more fierce, the number of telecomunication operators is growing rapidly, on the other hand the growth of FLEXI new customer especially in the urban area has shown constant trend, this condition must be anticipated instantly by the TELKOM FLEXI management.

Considering this condition, it is important for the TELKOM management especially TELKOM FLEXI management to choose the right marketing policies such that the targeted product selling performance can be achieved, although the external conditions keep changing. The arrangement of the optimal marketing policy requires the company ability to understand the dynamic behavior of the market. This market dynamic behaviour is caused by several elements which interact inside the currently formed market.

The system dynamics model has been developed to simulate market competitionin the West Java CDMA provider market. Three players are involved in the competition, i.e:FLEXI, FREN, and ESIA. Based on the market share attractiveness and community consumption rate, five sub-systems have been developed to representing the market competition. The subsystems are: tariff and price, market share, marketing expenses, sales, and demand potential.

Based on the analysis of the mathematical model, the policy which is most significant in market share development of a certain CDMA provider is the below the line marketing expenses. For the community consumption rate, marketing expenses agregate value is the most influencial variabel. From the simulation results, it is recognized that the basic policy model which represents current condition would not let FLEXI achieve the targeted marketing performance. From 15 policy scenarios designed, there are two scenarios produce the best results in fulfilling the stated FLEXI target.

Keyword: market competition, marketing policy, system dynamics, CDMA providers

..Reflection After One Year in Manchester...

It started with Eric Cantona’s goal... 7th April 1996...FA Cup final Manchester United vs Liverpool....”David Beckham takes the corner..Gary Pallister calls for it..James can only flicks it..Cantona gets the ball....aannndddd CAAANNNTTOONNAAA...he scores..he scores.....!!Manchester United won the FA Cup!!”


That is how all the story begins....saat itu aku masih bocah kelas 6 SD yang bermimpi untuk menjadi bintang sepak bola, dikepalaku hanya bermain bola dan bermain bola. Sekolah?bukan sombong, aku murid paling pintar dikelas, NEM (Nilai EBTANAS Murni, sampe sekarang aku ga ngerti kenapa harus disebut Murni? =p)-ku termasuk paling tinggi di sekolah. Lulus SD dikepalaku hanya ada satu sekolah yang ingin aku tuju yaitu sekolah atlet di Ragunan. Well you know how it went, obviously, for such “normal” Indonesian parents for not letting their kids to be an athlete. Mimpi untuk pergi ke Manchester untuk menjadi the next Eric Cantona cuma bisa aku kubur dalam-dalam, jadilah aku hanya seorang pemuda Indonesia pada umumnya, but I have embedded one thing in my mind: Someday, somehow I have to step my foot in Old Trafford stadium.

Eight years passed, aku adalah seorang mahasiswa tahun ketiga yang sedang berjuang untuk keluar (lulus) dari (katanya) kampus terbaik bangsa Indonesia. Dikala itu juga aku sudah mulai berpikir untuk menyusun rencana-rencana besar untuk masa depanku. Melanjutkan studi ke luar negeri adalah salah satu rencanaku setelah lulus, dan jelas negara yang aku tuju adalah UK, Manchester tepatnya. Finally, through a long, hard, and unforgettable journey, I graduated from that Institute. Relieved? yes, sad? of course ,proud ?absolutely, anxious? Inevitably. Such a normal state for Indonesian fresh graduates to worry with the fact that there are so many choices, obstacles, and loads of responsibilities in front of us. However, I persisted with my plan; to pursue my study in UK. Segala informasi aku cari sana-sini, tentunya aku memang mencari major yang sesuai dengan interest dan background bachelor-ku. After all, I came up with three universities (no need to mention it), then I picked University of Manchester due to its ranking as one of the tops UK’s business school (is it?hehe..). Ini jelas bukan sepenuhnya karena Man Utd, aku bukan mahasiswa “buta” yang hanya ingin menggunakan uang segitu banyak hanya karena klub itu semata =p.

Manchester...4th September 2008....



Enam belas jam sebelum itu, tepatnya di bandara Soekarna-Hatta aku berpisah dengan keluarga, teman, dan tanah air tersayang. No clue, at all, what kind of life would it be in the next 16 hours. It was the first time I get separated very far away from my family. It was extremely hard, but this is what I want, my plan, and my dream. Sound selfish, indeed it is selfish, mengejar cita-cita pribadi dengan mengorbankan begitu banyak sumber daya, dan yang paling egois adalah melepaskan diri jauh dari orang tua. Mungkin mereka (mama and papa) terlihat selalu mendukungku tapi aku sadar dan tahu bahwa dalam hati terdalam mereka berat untuk melepas anaknya pergi jauh, tak pernah sedikitpun mereka menunjukkan keberatannya, mungkin hanya satu kali mereka menunjukkan hal itu, lewat linangan air mata saat mereka mengantarku pergi. From this moment, I figured out what true love is, do (sincerely) everything for someone you love, even though it might kills you (Thank very much mom-dad..love you).

Finally, I stepped my foot in Manchester, felt the cloudy and windy Manchester weather, I kept talking to myself : “Oh God what a gloomy city is this!!please don’t say this city is always gonna be like this..pleaseee...”. I don’t have to tell you what His answer is, just come and stay here at least a year =p. And I hardly settled my life in here, the British with their accent got me confused most of the time. It took me around a month to cope with my new life and started to enjoy my life in here which is absolutely different from my previous life. I can say my life back home is tremendously comfort, unchallenging, and easy. It is simply because everything you need you can get it effortlessly (nod your head, if you are agree!). However, this is exactly what I want! Being stand alone with myself, that is absolutely what I am looking for. Living in here push you to do everything by yourself, D-I-Y (Do It by Yourself) bare it in your mind, and do it start when you arrive at the airport. Di Indonesia keluar airport bawa koper udah banyak porter yang nunggu dan bahkan memaksa untuk membawakan koper-koper kita, disini? jangan harap! angkat sendiri, bawa sendiri, tak peduli mau naik bus atau naik taxi atau kereta ya bawa sendiri. Kota ini terkenal sangat basah, jangan harap ada tukang ojek payung, bawa payung sendiri kawan! Mau irit soal makan?jelas beli bahan makan di grocery dan masak sendiri, soal ini paling males kalo sudah harus bawa belanjaan ke hall naik bus dengan membawa belanjaan yg biasanya berat (bisa sih naik taxi, Cuma ya mahal, bisa diakali dengan belanja bareng-bareng jadi bayar taxi sharing). Jangan harap ada tukang teh botol atau nasi goring tek-tek yang lewat atau nongkrong di pinggir jalan. Cuci baju plus sterika, ya sendiri, di kampung halaman tinggal taruh di tempat cucian besok pagi udah siap sedia dengan rapi!Apalagi yang harus sendiri?hmm..hmm..bersihin kamar atau flat itu jelas sendiri!

Semua itu akan menjadi bagian hidup sehari-hari selama disini, don’t be afraid it will be fun, kalo semuanya tetep sama dengan di Indonesia ga akan berwarna hidup kita, ga menantang =p! Dan ingat semua itu memakan waktu, hal-hal tersebut (mungkin) di Indonesia tidak maksud dalam daily activity kalian, and in here, you have to put all of those things in your schedule, seriously it takes time so that you have to consider! I am sure you will improve your time management skill. Buat saya, kehidupan saya disini (walau baru setahun) telah membuat saya bertransformasi menjadi pribadi yang lebih mengerti orang lain, more well-organised, bisa berprioritas, dan lebih memaknai dan menghargai hidup.

Let’s talk about study now, based on my experience, bedanya belajar disini dengan di Indonesia adalah disini kita dianggap sebagai mature student, lagi-lagi semuanya terserah anda, gimana cara belajar, mau masuk kelas apa tidak, mau dapat result apa saat lulus nanti itu semua harus ditetapkan dari awal. Soal result, ini pesan dari para senior saat saya pertama kali datang, mau pass (nilai batas bawah lulus), merit (hasil baik), atau distinction (cum laude) teserah kalian karena ini akan mempengaruhi gaya belajar kalian dan kehidupan kalian disini. Mau distinction ya berarti kerja keras, hidup di library, dan semacamnya. Kalo target pass saja, tak usah belajar keras-keras, party, travelling tiap weekend, menikmati hidup ya sah-sah aja. Tanamkan ini, (sesuai dengan blog kemisan Manchester), karena hidup di Manchester bukan hanya untuk sekolah! Kesempatan belajar disini mungkin cuma sekali, nikmati dan ambil manfaat sebanyak-banyaknya selama di Manchester (UK) ini. Berteman sebanyak-banyak, dengan orang non-Indonesia maupun Indonesia, pelajari pola pikir dan gaya hidup mereka, ambil yang bagusnya, cukup tahu kejelekannya (kalo mau diambil itu hak anda =p). Berani untuk berpendapat dikelas, jangan malu untuk bertanya, orang-orang disini (terutama para lectures) sangat terbuka dan menghargai pendapat muridnya, jangan takut soal salah dalam berbahasa Inggris mereka sadar itu bukan bahasa kita, so speak up your mind! Saya sangat amaze dengan lectures disini (ini berdasarkan dosen-dosen di major saya, gak tahu yang lain), mereka memposisikan diri mereka bukan sebagai dosen yang lebih superior, melainkan sebagai kolega yang sama-sama sedang belajar, therefore bertemanlah dan berhubungan baiklah dengan mereka, bertukar pikiran, dan ambil manfaat sebanyak banyaknya. Soal fasilitas kuliah, jangan ditanya, you will get everything that you need, semua hanya dengan lewat internet anda bisa masuk kedalam kerajaan surga pendidikan di UK ini. Manfaatkan ini sebanyak-banyaknya (lagi!), jangan sampai menyesal dikemudian hari bahwa anda pernah punya kesempatan untuk kuliah disini tapi hanya sedikit manfaat yang anda ambil. Despite of it, ingat, kita semua adalah orang-orang yang punya kesempatan jauh lebih baik daripada saudara kita, untuk itu dibalik semua kesempatan itu jangan lupa dengan tanggung jawab kita sebagai anak Indonesia. Soal gimana caranya kita bertanggung jawab, kita pasti punya cara masing-masing dan harapannya sehabis kuliah disini atau mungkin saat kuliah disini anda dapat menemukan cara anda sendiri untuk pay it back semua kesempatan yang anda dapat disini.

Closure, tulisan ini dibuat hanya untuk berbagi pengalaman tentang kehidupan disini untuk kalian yang akan kuliah disini dan kalian yang masih berencana kuliah disini, remember, ini hanya dari sudut pandang dan pengalamanku. Diawal aku bermimpi untuk menjejakkan kakiku disini, Manchester (UK) dalam bayanganku adalah sebuah negeri yang indah dan menjanjikan, memang indah dengan segala heritage dan landscape yang mereka miliki, the grass is always greener on the other side, tapi setahun disini membuat pandanganku berubah, terutama soal tanah airku sendiri. Melihat Indonesia dari jauh membuat mataku terbuka lebih lebar, saat aku berada disana mungkin aku terlalu terdoktrin dengan betapa buruknya negeriku, tapi saat disini dan bersanding dengan orang-orang dari luar negeri membuatku harus mencari sesuatu tentang negeriku yang bisa “disombongkan” dan ternyata banyak yang bisa kita banggakan! You will never know what you got until it’s gone, ya buatku pelajaran ini yang paling berharga selama hidup disini. Satu hal yang paling berat dalam menjalani kehidupan disini adalah berada di negeri orang membuatku merasa ini bukan rumahku, jelas kalau kita bukan dirumah sendiri kita tak akan pernah merasa nyaman dan hangat, home sweet home, dan hal ini yang men-trigger diriku untuk memandang negeriku dari sisi yang lain.

Mungkin Tuhan mengizinkanku untuk menginjakkan kaki ini di Manchester hanya sebagai seorang student, instead of being The next Eric Cantona, tapi aku tak akan pernah menyesal dengan jalan ini, aku percaya Dia punya maksud lain yang mungkin jauh lebih besar daripada menjadi seorang Eric Cantona. Buatku Manchester hanyalah sebuah trampoline kecil yang harus aku jejakkan kakiku sekeras-kerasnya supaya aku bisa loncat (atau mungkin terbang) sejauh mungkin, one small step for a big giant leap... I haven't finished that small step..almost there..almost...amiiennnn (fingercrossed!)

.. The greatest thing about man is his ability to transcend himself, his ancestry and his environment and to become what he dreams of being..-Knoles-

All the best...

...get off from this city (jakarta-red)..

back to my town..jakarta..after i graduated...jujur males malesssss bgggtttt tinggal di jkt...hhuuaahhhh...tp ya mau ga mau gw harus balik ke asal, dimana keluarga gw tinggal...hmm, ya emg sih kl dipikir pikir enak jg dirumah..ga usa keluar duit apa2 drpd gw di bdg kerjanya buang buang duit jg...eh tapi hipotesa gw salah..samaa aja!!di jkt jg buang buang duit...abis gmn dirumah ga ada kerjaan, ya tiap diajak temenpergi ya ngikut..hhuuuaaa....jebol deh budget...tp yah, yang paling males di jkt adalah MMMAAACCCCEEETTTTTTT!!!sumpah ini parah bgt dah, 4 tahun kota jkt ini gw tinggalin lalu lintasnya ud makin ampun ampunan!!gila, gila...rata-rata gara2 adanya busway orang jakarta waktu tempuhnya dijalan bertambah sekitar 75-100% dr waktu tempuh biasanya (hasil syrvey KOmpas) it means kl biasanya brgkt ke kantor 1 jam skrg 2 jam!!!GGGIIILLAAAAA!!dan entah knp gw merasa aneh kl dulu kan macet biasanya pas pagi dansore..tp skrg mau gw jam 10 pagi ato jam 2 siang, ataupun jam 9 malem masi suka macet tau ga???aneh bgt..terkadang gw mikir ini org2 pada ngapain sih dijalan??ga pade kerja apa??kok jalanan penuh mulu gini...

gila ga efisien bgt kerja di jkt...kasian sbnrny org jkt ini kl diitung-itung dia dlm perjalanan ke tmpt kerjanya bolak balik aja ud 4 jam sedangkan lama dia kerja ambillah rata2 8-9jam..it means waktu dia di jalan adalah sebesar 50% dr waktu dia bekerja...buset dah!kl kata orang teknik industri transportasi adalah kegiatan yg no added value...ini malah lama bgt di jalan!!hahhhh!!rugi bgt tinggal di jkt, cb kita itung lagi betapa ruginy kita di jkt..
1. 4 jam dijalan = 1/6 hari, kali dgn jumlah hr setaun...1/6 X 365 hari=60 hari atau sama dengan 2 bulan!!!2 bulan lho...2 bulan dr hidup kita setaun dipake dijalan!!GIILLAA come-on lah ud ga rasional..(belum kl banjir,lebi parah!!!dan jkt skrg ini staun sekali banjir lho)
2. 6 jam utk tidur = 1/4 hari..1/4 X 365 = 90 harian...=3bulan!!!oke 3 bulan utk tidur..
oke kita jumlahkan kedua kegiatan ini, yg menurut gw kegiatan yg membuat kita ga ad added valuenya...5 bulan dalam 12 bulan hidup kita setaun dipakai utk kegiatan yg ga ada added valuenya...ato bs dikatakan hampir 50% hidup kita (kl trus tinggal dijkt) cm abis buat 2 kegiatan ini..ohh MY GGOOOODD!!

akankah hidup kita ini bermakna kl kita hanya memakai 50% dr waktu hidup kita utk hal-hal yg punya added valuenya..rugi-rugi bgt kl buat gw mah...seharusnya kita bs lebi optimal dalam membuat hidup kita lebi bermakna...udalah kl bisa..sebisa mungkin jauh jauhlah dr jakarta..mending di papua, kalimantan, mungkin kita bisa lebi jauh mengoptimalkan makna hidup kita...biar nanti saat tua kita bs pus dgn hidup kita..drpd pas tua lo merenung, dan mikir gw ngapain aja yg selama idup ini..jgn sampe keluar dgn kalimat!!gw hidup di jalan!!tok tok tok..knock on the wood!!JANGANNN SAMPEEE!!!

haha...gw ngomong gini tp ttp aja gw tinggal di jkt...ga ngasi solusi pula...sedang dipikirkan dan berangan kayany seru jg nih bikin master plan mengatasi kemacetan di jkt bersama-sama teman2 kuliah gw...ayo guys kita kan punya tools2 dan modal yg gede bgt utk ngatasin masalah ini..SYSTEM THINGKING!!!SIMULASI MODELLING...ahhhh tapi masalah macet di jkt ini..kompleksitasnya uda sanggggaaaaatttttinggggiiiii....dan uda ga tau gmn cara ngemodelinnya...atau ada yg masi tertantang??hehehe....gw mau lah bantu!!kekekeek.....saatnya berbakti buat bangsa ini...caaaeeeeelllaahhhhh.....

..everything happen for a reason...

time running so fast...banyak bgt kejadian-kejadian beserta pembelajaran dr tiap peristiwa yg gw alami selama gw kuliah ampe skrg...bisa gw bilang tahun ini adalah tahun yang sangat berat buat gw tp tahun ini penuh arti...banyak bgt hal yang buat gw bingung, strs, sedih, jatoh, ato bahkan hal yg sangat membahagiakan dan membanggakan buat gw...whatever it is..it happens for some reasons...

di tahun ini gw belajar untuk menjadi seseorang yg punya sikap,berani ambil resiko, dan tanggung jawab dgn smua resiko dr sebuah keputusan yang gw ambil...tp yang paling gw pelajari adalah bagaimana seharusnya mengambil sebuah keputusan dan komit dgn keputusan yg gw ambil...oke,waktu itu gw dihadapkan pada suatu moment yg sangat berat buat gw, kehilangan sesuatu yg berharga (melepas lebih tepatnya) dan dgn emosi dan gegabah tanpa pikir panjang gw lari dari kehilangan tersebut ato kl kata seorang teman gw lari dari maslah...bener bener bbggtttt..setelah introspeksi emg gw nih pengecut bggttt, ga menyelesaikan mslh gw sampe bnr2 beres bgt, tp malah lari dari itu dan membuat masalah baru...yuuppp udah pasti resikony jelas gw dappeettttt...jjaatttoohh bgt saat nerima resiko akibat ulah gw, dowwnn abis..but gw ga mau ngulangin kesalahan yang sama
..yaud i have to face it, ga mau lari lagi...belajar nerima apapun dengan positive thinking, dan besar hati karena selalu bepegang bahwa Allah selalu ngasi cobaan krn ada hadiah manis yg Dia siapkan saat gw berhasil melewatinya..entah ampe skrg gw berhasil apa ngga melewatinya...tp yg pasti, Allah ngasi hadiah terindah buat gw di 2007 ini...

yuppp...gw diberi kelancaran dan kemudahan untuk nyelsaiin kuliah gw...terasa dikasi jalan yg mudah bgt utk nyelsaiin TA gw, padahal pembimbing gw adalah org yang sangat detail!!dan pd saat itu jg gw sedang ditimpa masalah yang diatas gw ceritain...akhirnya gw bisa membuat bangga keluarga gw,,menjadi sarjana teknik di kampus yg dari dulu dari mulai uwa ato pakde gw ampe kakak sepupu drkeluarga bokap dan nyokap ga ada yg kesampaian kuliah di ITB...akhirnya gw bisa bawa mamapapa dan Allah masi ngasi kesempatan utk nenek gw supaya dia bs dtg ke wisuda gw(scr nenek gw dr awal gw masuk kuliah tiap ktm gw nanyanya cuma 2 hal..kapan lulus ama pacarnya siapa,yes gw ud bisa mengurangi satu prtanyaan)...tapi Allah emg adil...SELALU ADA SENANG DIBALIK SEDIH, SELALU ADA BAIK DIBALIK BURUK..

lulus..jelas sangat membanggakan..tapi lulus berarti..welcome to the real world..and goodbye for anything behind...saatnya gw berpisah dgn dunia kuliah gw, berpisah dr temanteman gw..teman teman gw yg boleh gw bilang gw menemukan arti dr sebuah persahabatan murni disini...teman yg bener ada disamping gw saat gw sedih, saat gw senang, saat gw nyampah, saat gw butuh bantuan...gw selalu bs berharap dr mereka..dan yg paling berarti buat gw adalah..teman-teman gw adalah orang yang paling banyak ngasi gw pembelajaran dalam hidup gw..teman-teman yg menempa gw dan membangun gw dgn cara yg sangat unik, tulus, dan trus mengontrol gw dlm gmnpun keadaan gw..i love u all guys...thanks for everything....dibalik semua kesedihan gw krn pisah dr teman-teman gw, entah knp gw saat ini makin merasa lebi bnyk sahabat (orang yg mengerti gw, dan bs gw jadiin tmpt kl gw lg dlm keadaan gmnpun)..seolah Dia nunjukin dan berkata "u always have ur friends...best friends.." walaupun gw skrg lg ga jelas dan merasa kesepian di ibukota ini..hny dgn klik-klik gw bs bertemu dgn mereka dan membuat gw tertawa lagi..thank GOD, u create YM!!hahahaha...terima kasih ya Allah, ud ngasi teman-teman terbaik seperti mereka..teman yg akan selalu menemani gw
sampai kapanpun..ammiieennn...

hmm udah ah..jadi mellowww...yah inti dr semua crita gw adalah....everything happens for some reasons...sellau ada negative dibalik positive, theres always two sides in this life...tinggal gmn kiat belajar utkmelihatnya dari sudut pandang y lain..dan berbesar hati utk menerima apapun yg terjadi pada kita....yg Diatas selalu ngasi yg terbaik buat kita...kl kata seorang teman...Tuhan selalu ngasi jawaban atas doa kita cm ad 3 tipejawaban...1.iya 2. iya tapi nanti 3. ngga, karena Aku ud menyiapkan yg terbaik buat mu...okay sampe sini dulu...see u around....

..purpose of life...

hampir 3 bulan ini gw merasa hidup gw hamppaaaa bgt...ga jelas arahny kemana..bimbang karena berbagai pilihan dan kebebasan gw utk memilih jalan yg akan gw tempuh...terkadang seneng bgt karena ga ada kerjaan,lepas dr kuliah, jalan-jalan, nongkrong, menjalin kembali hubungan dgn teman-teman lama(hmm ternyata dunia kita ud sangt berbeda kawan, 4 tahun bnyk bgt yg merubah pribadi kita masing-masing but its okay friendship its friendship)...tp skrg gw ud sampai satu titik dimana gw ga bs gini terus..yah gw harus produktif dengan kerja keras utk mencapai taraf hidup yg gw cita-citakan, entah lewat jalan yg mana( walau saat ini gw sedang bingung lwt jalan yg mana,,,show me the way ya Allah)...dibalik itu semua gw jd berpikir, apa hidup gw yg akan gw jalanin dan cita-citakan udah sesuai dengan maksud dan tujuan gw dilahirin dan hidup di dunia ini??gw takut kl cita-cita gw ga tercapai berarti tujuan hidup gw di dunia ga tercapai..it means 0 nilai hidup gw..

hmm..sesuai dgn agama gw..ya gw dilahirin di dunia ini utk ibadah dan mengabdi kepada-Nya...tp sebuah tujuan kan bs lewat berbagai macam cara...nah, which way that i have to choose??setiap jalan pasti punya plus dan minusnya...pasti punya pembelajaran yg berbeda beda dr tiap jalan yg akan gw pilih nanti..okelah jalan manapun pasti yg terbaik buat gw..permasalahan lainnya adalah sampe skrg gw masi blum tau gmn gw meyakinkan diri gw dan dibuat yakin dgn jalan yg gw pilih...yg ada cm kekhawatiran gw salah memilih jalan yg pada akhirnya gw ga mencapai cita-cita gw dan berarti tujuan gw dilahirin di dunia ini ga tercapai...saat ini cm bs berdoa, dan minta ke Allah..minta ditunjkin..minta diyakinin..

ato mungkin ini sebuah fase yg wajar utk seorang cowo twenty something??seorang cowo yg sedang berada di fase transisi dalam hidupnya...galau..khawatir..takut..cos buat gw tujuan akhir hidup gw adalah bisa berguna buat orang banyak..dan punya keluarga yg sakinah..dan saat ini adalah fase utk pertama kalinya dia harus melangkah bnr2 hanya seorang diri utk melangkah ke sebuah kehidupan nyata...

banyak temen gw berkata..santai ajalah..nikmatin hidup lo utk diri lo dulu..ga usah lah mikir jauh jauh dulu..tp entah knp gw antagonis dgn pernyataan itu...hati kecil gw blg..bukan saatnya lagi utk bersenang-senang, this is urtime to built every stair or every little tiny step in my life...gw jd takut klo salah langkah atau santai sedikit aja akan buat hidup gw bernilai 0...emg sih kl takut mulu kapan majunya...tp gw percaya kl gw hati-hati dan selalu yakin dgn setiap langkah, gw berarti ud ngelewatin jalan yg benar...ada pepatah dr seorang teman gw yang bagus bgt...."permasalahannya bukan pada gimana kamu memilih suatu pilihan.tetapi bagaimana kamu menjalani pilihanmu itu.." berarti syaratnya cuma satu..apapun pilihanmu, it doesnt matter...yg penting jalanin pilihan hidup lo dgn sebaik-baiknya..dan kl hal itu lo pegang semua cita-cita dan tujuan hidup pasti bs lo capai...yah saat semua itu tercapai mungkin itulah saat dimana lo merasakan betapa indahnya hidup lo..dan mungkin buat lo selalu tersenyum sampai akhir hayat lo...what a wonderful life, isn't it??

yasu..segini dulu aja..cm sedang mau men-share apa yg sedang gw rasain..kritik saran ato advise buat gw it means lot for me..thanks!!!