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Cut Ruthlessly
One of the joys of working in government is the plethora of committees and meetings 🙂 But now even the private sector seems to be catching up on that. Like entropy, the number of committees (and their meetings) only goes up. Here is why. In...
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When we do something, do properly
Bollywood produces mediocre movies not because we don't have the cameras, or the technology. We just don't care - period. In an upcoming movie, Anil...
Importance of living the life
One evening in 2008, in our small two-bedroom house in New Jersey, standing on the staircase with a colorful plastic ball, my daughter asked me,...
Speed is useless, direction is important
Some of us are checking Slack/Microsoft Teams every 5 minutes to 'stay on top of things'. How about an occasional break to get to the 'bottom of...
Technique for finishing multiple tasks
Lately, I have started loving deadlines. Sounds crazy, I know. But let me tell you why. As the activity level at my startup (HabitStrong) has gone...
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Hardening our mind to take decision
Whenever I go running in the morning, I face two choices - run on the road OR in a stadium. With Trivandrum’s undulating terrain, road running can be hard - the uphill stretches make you feel like your lungs are being torn apart. On the other hand,...
Focus on one thing at a time
If you have to shoot two birds in the sky, what should you do? If you try to shoot both at the same time, you will shoot in the middle and miss both. The right answer is obvious: Shoot one by one. But if you focus on one of them, won't the other...
Are you learning daily?
A McKinsey colleague once told me a funny yet sad story of this old lady working at a client company. He had to meet her a few times with some data requests. Since she used to always appear busy and overworked, he asked her what her job was. Turns...
A lesson in focus from the army
Here is a powerful lesson in focus and getting things done, from an age-old army tactic - 'bayonet-charge'. During a bayonet charge, army units are trained to scream their war cry like maniacs. Why is that? Because if they attacked silently, the...