‘The Fault Finders’
24th Nov, 2023 “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” To be specific, these small minds are fault-finders, which according to the Webster dictionary, are people who habitually find fault, complain, or object, especially in a petty way. As a part of human nature, we subconsciously search for faults in […]
Better fail than regret later.
28th August, 2023 At a school reunion last year, I met a batchmate whom I had not seen for many many years. Vinay was a very bright student and had graduated with honors from a top notch college. His goal, and what he was passionate about, was to start his own business venture. During our […]
In the meanwhile…
19th August, 2023 The late William Arthur Ward is one of my favourite writers. His insights and ability to put a philosophy of life into a few words were truly remarkable. Here is a sample from his book ‘Reward Yourself’ A man phoned his physician and excitedly explained: “Please come at once, Doctor. My son […]
‘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 […]
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 […]
‘The secret of happiness’
29th July,2023 A shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world. The lad wandered through the desert for 40 days, and finally came upon a beautiful castle, high atop a mountain.It was there that the wise man lived. Rather than finding a saintly man, though, […]