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To become a student, empty your cup
A few years ago, my Indian Police Service training boss, Shri Atul Karwal, told me the story of his commando training with India's elite National Security Guards (aka black cat commandos). When he, along with another batchmate of his, reported for...
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Master Skills, Embrace Advancement
This post is written by ChatGPT. Just kidding. But how did you react to that first sentence? With horror? Nobody wants to read a post written by...
Question Everything
During my police training, our lathi charge training routine was absurd. On the instructor's count, like dance choreography, we would all swing the...
Clear Communication Through Iteration
Did the McKinsey consulting experience help me in my startup journey? The answer is complicated. Yet, one aspect did -- clear communication. In...
Success is an event and so is a failure
After June 12th, when the UPSC Prelims exam results came out, I received a bunch of emails from people who did not qualify. Many were dejected and...
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Rethinking Instant Response Culture
Employees responding instantly to your Slack messages is a fantastic thing. Just as the Rolls Royce is a fantastic car. There is only one problem -- the cost. If not, would we not all be driving a Rolls Royce? What is the cost-to-company of...
Completion Discipline
I am struggling. In fact, in my startup life, I have always struggled -- there is just too much to do and too little time. And to make things worse, every initiative seems important. In such a situation, what do you do? Quite often, the temptation...
25-Minute Focus: Feasible or Myth?
My friend Vinod Thomas recently told me that while I keep talking about doing 25-minute focus sprints (pomodoros), even focusing intensely for 5 minutes is hard. And Vinod is one of the smartest people I know. So is 25 min of focus feasible or is...
Quit the Noise, Embrace Zen
Your sanity is under threat from the zillion WhatsApp groups that everyone seems to be a part of. These WhatsApp groups are for all and sundry -- folks from school, college, work, close relatives, distant relatives, extraterrestrials... and so on....