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Success Doesn’t Require Perfection—Just One Strong Spike
A decade ago, I met an entrepreneur in Goa who had built a giant medical devices company (probably worth a few hundred million dollars today). So when I went to meet him, I expected to see a swanky office. But his desk was covered side-to-side with...
Recent Posts
There’s No Free Lunch in Life
I have had three pretty different careers, but every single time I realised one thing -- there is no free lunch. In my first job with the civil...
Earning Respect That Lasts a Lifetime
A few weeks ago, I called a former boss of mine (the then Director General of Police, Kerala) to wish him a happy new year -- he is nearing 80 and...
Focus on the Problem, Not the Competition
In my startup journey, I learned more from one particular 5-minute video than from dozens of books and podcasts -- this video is that of Dropbox's...
Leadership Means Deciding Without Complete Data
A colleague of mine at McKinsey used to once work at Capital One, an extremely data-driven company. It was understandable that a fintech company...
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Confront Procrastination by Facing Resistance
One of the common procrastination tactics is to become busy doing something else – we want to do anything other than the task we are trying to avoid. Here is a tactic to handle such procrastination. First, assign some time to work on the task....
Stop Outsourcing Your Life Decisions
We often ask people for advice on what to do with our lives. But how would they know? You know who you are and what makes you tick. You know your fears and dreams. You know how hard you can push and what makes you give up. Figuring out your life...
The Hidden Power of Inexperience
When you are young and inexperienced, you don't know what is possible or what your limits are. You don't understand how the world works. So you try crazy things. Often, it is a disaster. But once in a while, you succeed. And when you do succeed,...
The Real Lesson from 12th Fail
Many have asked me to watch the movie '12th Fail' -- people are raving about this wonderful movie. Manoj's story (who battled extreme adversity to become an IPS officer) is inspiring beyond words -- and I am so happy for him! But we tend to forget...