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Why Comparing Career Choices Is a Dead End
During my MBA, a college friend visited us in Philadelphia. And during our conversation, I asked him about his career plans. But he had no 'plans' -- he was happy with his life, and I couldn't understand how that was possible! After an IIT degree...
Recent Posts
The Mid-Career Trap And How to Avoid It
Mid-career can be a dangerous place -- you might become too expensive for the roles you can perform, and unwilling to take the roles you can get....
Education Without Values Is Dangerous
Before we graduated from college, our electrical engineering professor (I think it was Dr SS Prabhu) told us, "As you graduate, it is not enough to...
When You’re Lost, Being Busy Is the Worst Thing You Can Do
In my first startup, I outsourced my product development to a small IT services company. In the beginning, things seemed okay. But soon, I was...
Work Smarter, Not Longer: The Power of Leverage at Work
One of my best friends in the Indian Police Service recently told me the story of his boss at a paramilitary organization, who used to tell his...
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For Once, Be Selfish: Learn to Listen to Criticism
About a decade ago, I was in Mussoorie (at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration) during the training program for senior Civil Servants. During one of the sessions, a guest speaker gave a talk that was critical of the bureaucracy...
Be Lazy With Messages. Be Serious About Your Life
You take a risk every time you sign bank documentation without reading it (e.g., when taking a bank loan). Yet, it makes sense because we have limited time and attention, and we can't be reading everything. But by responding to every email and...
If You Don’t Want to Stop Working, You’ve Lived Well
Long ago, one of my IITK professors lost his life to cancer. His colleague told me that until the very end, he kept working -- he insisted that his files and other work be brought to him at the Visitors' Hostel. He only stopped working when he was...
Status Quo Is Just Furniture Waiting to Be Moved
When I first landed in Kerala as a Civil Services officer trainee, we were staying in a guest house managed by the police department. One evening, we all batchmates wanted to just sit and chat. So we started moving the furniture around so that we...