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How the “Urgent” Culture Is Killing Productivity
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)...
Recent Posts
Are Meetings Hiding Your Insecurities?
Why do we spend so much time in meetings, even when it's a horrendous waste of our time and talent? One might say, "What choice do I have?" Who...
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...
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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 staff, "After 5 pm, I want all of you on the sports ground -- nobody should be seen in the office." So...
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...