‘The revealing powers of seeming irrelevant details’
8th August 2023 The world-famous chef Heston Blumenthal was once asked, before trying the food, can Heston tell if a chef/restaurant is good? “Yes, almost immediately after I sit down,” he said. “As soon as the butter is brought to the table.” Butter, he said, is an indicator of whether or not the chef has […]
‘Is Knowledge Power?’
7th August 2023 We often hear that knowledge is power. But this statement is only a half-truth. Knowledge is only potential power. Knowledge is power only when put to use—and then only when the use made of it is constructive. The story is told that the great scientist Einstein was once asked how many feet […]
Happy Friendship Day!
6th August 2023 To my true friend, may your joy be as deep as the ocean, and your troubles be as light as its foam, To my true friend, may our differences be written in sand and our friendship in marble, To my True Friend, who hears the worst about me and refuses to believe […]
‘Live Life’
5th Aug, 2023 The popular assumption is that no skills are involved in enjoying free time, and that anybody can do it. Yet the evidence suggests the opposite: free time is more difficult to enjoy than work. Having leisure at one’s disposal does not improve the quality of life unless one knows how to use […]
Don’t be Paranoid – Be Pronoid
4th Aug, 2023 I got introduced to a new word – Pronoia in psychologist Adam Grants book I read recently, ‘Give and Take’ in which, he writes about pronoia. Pronoia describes a state of mind that is the opposite of paranoia. Whereas a person suffering from paranoia feels that persons or entities are conspiring against […]
‘Accumulative Advantage’
3rd Aug, 2023 Have you ever wondered, why do a few people, teams, and organizations enjoy the bulk of the rewards in life? The Amazon rainforest is one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. Scientists have cataloged approximately 16,000 different tree species in the Amazon. But despite this remarkable level of diversity, researchers have […]
The Bus Ticket theory of genius
2nd August,2023 Paul Graham is an investor, especially known for having founded Y Combinator, a successful incubation platform in Silicon Valley, having incubated companies such as Airbnb, Drobox, Door dash, etc. In a particularly insightful blog he wrote in 2019 (http://www.paulgraham.com/genius.html) Paul highlights “Everyone knows that to do great work you need both natural ability […]
Order In Your Surroundings, Order In Your Head
1st August,2023 Rafael Nadal says the toughest opponent in professional tennis is his internal dialogue. “What I battle hardest to do in a tennis match,” he writes in ‘Rafa,’ “is to quiet the voices in my head, to shut everything out of my mind but the contest itself and concentrate every atom of my being […]
Are you Ready to Grow 100 X
1st Aug,2023 I recently wrote a blog on the ‘Pygmalion Effect’ (https://sandeepsahni.com/the-pygmalion-effect-2/ ) which essentially talks about Expectations, and how they are a self-fulfilling prophecy. High expectations shape high performance – Low expectations shape low performance. Pygmalion Effect is named from the Greek myth of Pygmalion, the sculptor who carved a statue of a beautiful […]
Take responsibility
31st July,2023 Here’s a story from John Rossman’s book ‘Think Like Amazon’: Steve Jobs told employees a short story when they were promoted to vice president at Apple. Jobs would tell the VP that if the garbage in his office was not being emptied, Jobs would naturally demand an explanation from the janitor. “Well, the […]