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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
Why People Struggle Without Mentoring
During my MBA program, I became a student consultant for local businesses in Pennsylvania, as part of a University-run initiative. And like most of...
The Hidden Cost of Recurring Meetings
My last project at McKinsey was a very high-profile one -- the client was a vertical CXO at a large global bank. The goal was to flesh out their...
The Power of Focus and Prioritization
Every day, you have 8 to 10 hours to play with. If you spend all your time on emails, ad-hoc meetings, and distracted work, you create value X. If...
How I Cut My Stress in Half
Five years ago, I cut down my stress by 50% in one move: I banned WhatsApp for official work. Before that, we were using WhatsApp at our startup,...
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Why Challenge Keeps Your Body and Mind Young
A few years ago, when I used to go running in the University Stadium in Trivandrum, I would often see a former Chief Minister doing his daily walk. And he was in his early nineties. I have seen many Kerala politicians extremely active in their 80s....
Work-Life Balance: Slacking Off or Sustainable Success?
For some people (especially entrepreneurs), work-life balance has become a toxic phrase -- symbolizing sloth, not taking responsibility, and doing the minimum necessary work. For others, it is a war cry against corporate slavery -- intolerable work...
The Power of Small Actions
Every time you innocuously glance at your WhatsApp or Instagram, you are building a habit. Every gratifying action builds a habit -- no exceptions. I had already known this from psychology. But the Buddhist meditation master (Nyanaponika Thera)...
Why Big Organizations Struggle While Startups Thrive
Big organizations can't compete with startups having 1% of their resources. Not because they have too few people (or resources), but because they have too many. When you have lots of people, first, you stack them up in a hierarchy. Now, each person...