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During my service in the police force, we once had a massive political riot after which, we arrested about 200 people. Now, before producing these people in a magistrate's court, we had to do a lot of paperwork. So I put a team of officers on the job. After sometime,...
In my first job, what used to really piss me off was that whenever I got a task from higher ups, almost always, it would be urgent. And sometimes, they would wonder, “Why is it taking you so long to get this done?” If that was the only task I had, they would be right....
To understand this late-night-work mania, let us analyze what happens when we do a 1-hour meeting. 1. Let us say the meeting involves 6 participants. So a total of 6 hours are lost. 2. Typically, before a meeting, if there is only a little time left, we tend to do...
A few months ago, a youngster (in mid-twenties) working in a tech role asked me how to get a job in a PE fund. When I asked him why he wanted to do that, he said, "To make a lot of money." Fair point -- these firms can pay quite well. Then I asked him if he had tried...
One of the culture shocks I got on joining the corporate world (on transitioning from government) was that nobody tells you the truth about their jobs -- especially in the US. During my MBA, whenever I asked anyone about their jobs or summer internships, they would...
Fresh out of college, in my very first job, I picked up a fight with a powerful figure in Kerala over a very small matter. Clearly, I had little idea about how the world worked. But at least I was fighting for a principle. And I escaped unscathed because they probably...
This may be unpopular but let me say it. If you have to climb a mountain, at some point, you need to start climbing. Yes, you can watch all the videos on how to climb -- ice climbing vs rock climbing, and this technique vs. that technique. You can seek motivation from...
I am not hearing good things. From New York to Singapore, whoever you talk to, is talking about job losses. And the driving force is not economic recession, but almost certainly AI. We were debating whether AI will take jobs away. That debate is outdated -- it is...
Yesterday, more than half a million people in India wrote the Civil Services exam, to compete for a few hundred jobs. From my firsthand experience, I can vouch that the kind of responsibilities these jobs give you while still in your twenties is unparalleled. But this...
In my consulting days, we saved a client a few million dollars with a simple recommendation. This company was spending $10 million plus on postal mail, mostly on overnight/express delivery that cost 3 to 10 times more than normal (and slower) postal mail. So, by...
Can generalists thrive in this new world order? To answer this, let me go back to the McKinsey I saw a decade and a half ago, which was full of generalists. Even specialists were hired as generalist consultants. For example, it was common to see medical doctors on...
Since the who's who of the corporate world is singing praises about hard work, I want to put on record that I agree with them 100%. But the problem is that we immediately translate 'hard work' into 84 hours, 96 hours, or 120 hours a week. So before we do that, let us...
Rajan shares insights from his own life journey to help you build better habits in yours.