Fake action is not progress

A lot of people have gone to their graves with a ton of untapped potential. So what comes in the way of realizing that potential? It is the wisdom fountain called the ‘Internet.’ And our tendency to confuse consuming that wisdom with real action. We love...

Shape Your Environment to Shape Your Life

When I was last traveling, I downloaded the LinkedIn app since I did not want to open my laptop. And just with that one small action, my frequency of checking LinkedIn went up. On my laptop, I log out of LinkedIn when I don’t want to use it but on the mobile...

Why Short-Format Videos Hijack Your Brain

During one of my travels, sitting next to me was a college youngster who furiously swiped through hundreds of short format videos in a very short time — I am surprised his thumb did not break! Of course, there is nothing wrong with some entertainment. But there...

Why Zombie Work Destroys Productivity

During my consulting days, I once worked 16-18 hours for two weeks straight, estimating the losses that US banks would suffer in the 2008 financial crisis. This was a big project for the company since a lot of clients wanted to know this. Finally, the presentation was...

Unconscious Competence

A few years ago, I was interviewing an expert physics teacher for my previous startup. And to any question I would ask, he would rattle off formulas like a machine gun. But I was not getting a sense that he really understood things. So I asked him, “Can you...