Up in the Air

What’s in your backpack?

Amitabha Dasgupta(4/4)
Kailash Patil (21/4)
Parijat Garg (27/4)
Srimayee Majumdar (38/4)
Subhrangshu Chatterjee (39/4)
Suma Sheshadri Yellampalli (41/4)
Analysis - Three pronged Approach
 The Individual
 Ryan
 Alex
 Natalie
 Interpersonal relationships
 Ryan & the women in his life
 The Organization
 The downsizers
 The downsized
Ryan Bingham – ‘the maverick’
 Top Gun for firm
 “I don’t remember how many people I’ve fired”
 High Task significance

 Highly Goal oriented

 “Lets just say I have a figure in mind”
 “Goal Quest XX in Vegas”

 Emotionally Detached
 Low Expressed & Wanted Inclusion
 “To know me is to fly with me…This is where I live”

 Comfortable with Anonymity - “A cocoon of Self Banishment”

 Low Self Awareness

 Plastic existence

 Cynical & Stereotypical

Ryan Bingham – ‘in transition’
 Identity crisis
 Realizes Foreclosed Identity
 “I don’t hate people but I’m not a hermit either”

 Surfacing of Dichotomies
 Need for companionship
 Need to Belong and be a part of the society
 “I really like you…Go catch your flight”

 Walks the path of self realization

 Looking for redemption in his own eyes
 “Recently…need to empty the backpack before I know what to put back in
it”
Ryan Bingham – ‘transformed’
 Identity achieved
 Comfortable with his own ”changed” identity
 “I ‘m grabbing another flight….something I got to take care of”
 “Welcome Home”
 Discovers the ‘Meaning’

 Reconnects with Social and Emotional Needs

 “ I need a plus one”
 “ I know you wanna be there for her…this is your chance”

 Reorientation of beliefs
 High Expressed & Wanted Affection
 “Everybody needs a co-pilot”
 Follows-up by meeting people whom he has fired
Alex and Natalie – The Catalysts
Alex
 Compartmentalized view towards existence
 “Back Home, I don’t get to act the way I do with you”
 Clarity of expectations

Natalie
 Rigid frame of references
 Theoretical approach towards solutions
 “He really fit the bill”
 “Settlement by definition is a failure”
 Hypocritical approaches
Interpersonal Relationships -
Evolution
Ryan and Alex
 Concept of relationships
 Ryan – Casual approach transforms to more meaningful relationship
 Alex – Escape from humdrum life
 “Back Home, I don’t get to act the way I do with you”

 Personal space and isolation level

 Ryan – Boundaries get blurred as the relationship progresses
 Alex – Well defined and static
 “You are a parenthesis”

Ryan and Natalie

 Towards each other
 Ryan - Sees Natalie as a threat but turns reluctant mentor
 Natalie – Grudging respect for Ryan’s professional expertise

Ryan and his sisters

 Ryan - “Non-existent brother” arrives as a “guest” in his sister’s wedding
 Saves the marriage and is “Welcomed Back” home
Organizational View
 The downsizers
 Change Management
 Impact of changes to core business model not evaluated

 Inclusive Leadership
 Changes not discussed with “people on the road”

 The clientele
 Insensitive to the emotional impacts of downsizing.
 Lack of procedural & interactional justice
Pick a place and go