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Why Throwing More People at a Problem Makes It Worse
During one of my consulting projects, we had a very influential and intimidating client. So to dazzle him, a lot of senior leaders were added to the team. And what was the end result? A top-heavy team, which resulted in the poorest work I have done...
Recent Posts
Success Doesn’t Require Perfection—Just One Strong Spike
A decade ago, I met an entrepreneur in Goa who had built a giant medical devices company (probably worth a few hundred million dollars today). So...
Managers Should Lead, Not Do Their Team’s Job
In my policing days, a fellow senior officer was very fond of daily night-patrolling and catching criminals. Sounds cool, right? In fact, the media...
Why Even the Smartest People End Up Doing Meaningless Work
An ex-colleague of mine once worked for one of the world's best known private equity funds as an analyst after graduating from Harvard. His job was...
Real Character Reveals Itself Only in a Crisis
One of my bosses in the police service was a soft-spoken man -- more like a college professor than an intimidating, toughened-up cop. But the first...
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Your Career Can’t Grow If Your Attention Breaks Every 5 Minutes
Everyone wants to make good money and build a great career. But you CAN'T build a great career if you disrupt your attention every 5 minutes. For our 'Zen Productivity' pilot program, we got about 500 applications and found that 50% of us are...
Brilliance Is Nice, but Grit Is Everything
Early in my startup journey, an IIT/IIM guy reached out to me, wanting to join my startup. And he was simply brilliant. So after a discussion, I made a joining offer, which he accepted. And I was thrilled that we would be building it together! But...
The One Thing First-Time Managers Often Forget
I became a 'first-time manager' on the day 1 of my first job, when I took charge as Assistant Superintendent of Police in Karunagappally, a suburb of Kollam district in Kerala. I had two police inspectors and seven police stations under me. And...
Your Achievements Don’t Need to Compete With Anyone Else’s
Two days ago, at the breakfast table, my mother told me somewhat gleefully that she had walked for 1 hour and 10 minutes that morning. It was apparently her personal best 🙂 My mother is a bit overweight and not in the best of health. And when she...