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Two decades ago, I asked a UP Police constable, "What are your work hours?" He said, "We don't have work hours. I may get guard duty on a train for two days. When that is over, I get assigned to some other duty for the next day. And so on." A bit perplexed, I asked,...
In the summer of 2006, someone at McKinsey sent an email asking for a laptop to be sent to Sweden. But instead of copying the recipient, by mistake, the sender copied all the consultants in US and Canada -- thousands of them. Naturally, one guy did a reply-all,...
For a long time, I had this habit of replying before people had even completed their question. Maybe, I subconsciously wanted to impress them with my rapid response. Or maybe, I was just impatient. Regardless, this is a terrible habit. When people are talking, the...
2025, Newsletter, Uncategorized
For more than a year, I have been wanting to learn AI and how LLMs work. But no matter how much I tried, nothing seemed to work. I would keep starting and stopping. But one day, I took a totally new approach, and within a few days, everything started making sense....
Every financial scam says: 'Get rich quickly.' Every weight loss scam says: 'Burn fat quickly.' Every fitness scam says: 'Have this supplement and bulk up quickly.' Do you see the common theme? It is 'quickly.' Nearly every scam tempts you with a quick solution. But...
2024, Newsletter, Uncategorized
A few weeks ago, I spoke to a retired CFO of a large Indian company who recently launched his consulting business. And he told me something that made me think. He said, “When I started my consulting business, I accepted any client – big or small. So our client base...
I had this annoying habit of using fillers like ‘you know’, 'I mean', and 'right' while talking. But accidentally, I got rid of these fillers. And the way I did that is also how you can get better at anything. This is what happened: At the beginning of the pandemic, I...
The recipe for making a joyful year is simple: build good habits and cut down on toxic stuff. But here is the obstacle that may sink your plan – we often misunderstand habit-building. We think of habit building as a destination – build a habit once and it is there for...
The most powerful skill, which we also underrate the most, is 'connecting the dots.' Here is an example. In today's news, you might have seen this shameful brawl on a Thailand-India flight, where one guy is being assaulted in front of a whole crowd. We might just...
The biggest problem with WhatsApp is that it is neither synchronous nor asynchronous. In a synchronous communication system, e.g., phone, when the call is over, the matter is over -- you don't have to keep checking your phone. In an asynchronous system like email, if...
During my MBA, Sam Zell, a multi-billionaire real estate tycoon in the US, came to our campus as a guest speaker. Just before that, he had sold Equity Office Properties to Blackstone for $36 billion, at the peak of the real estate bubble in 2006. Incidentally, soon...
If you want to lose weight, become fit, or add some muscle mass, the internet has an unlimited menu of diet plans, nutritional supplements, and hacks. But why not look at what the world’s fittest people eat? Arguably, the US Navy SEALs go through one of the most...
Rajan shares insights from his own life journey to help you build better habits in yours.