When I launched my first startup, we urgently needed some cash to keep the company alive. So I roped in a world-renowned expert to conduct a pretty expensive workshop. We just needed 100 signups and for the next 12 months, we would not have to worry about money. And...

If you fail in building habits, the most likely culprit will be a misunderstanding of what consistency really is. We think that consistency is like a mathematical straight line -- for the next 50 years, you should do the same thing in precisely the same manner, every...

When I was first exposed to the trading floor of a global bank (as a consultant), I learned about a curious phenomenon. Traders would sell or buy very complex securities worth tens of millions over a phone call and there was no proof of the deal (e.g., phone...

When I started my policing career, a fellow officer heading another police unit started working in office till 3 am! He would come home, have dinner, and then again push off to work. Whenever we had review meetings with our boss, he would flaunt all the great things...

After my MBA, whenever I met my classmates in New York, the way they described their jobs (especially in investment banking), it sounded like a house of horrors. Some were getting 24 hours of sleep -- per week! And when people around you are so tortured, can you...

To anyone who thinks it is ok to overwork people for 14-18 hours a day: In the name of God, please stop! If you want to work those long hours, please feel free. But stop normalising it and even worse, prescribing it as a "character-building medicine" for young people....

I recently met a young member of my extended family who was looking overweight and out of shape, with deteriorating posture. It was a shocker because as a kid, he was solidly built like a rock and was very sporty. I asked him, "What happened?" He said he was working...

These days, every other person seems to have ADHD. I am not a psychiatrist but ADHD is a real medical condition that requires proper therapy and treatment. It should not be casually bandied around, just as a stand-in for high degree of distractedness. What if some...

During my consulting days, we had project reviews every 2-3 days. And every review felt like a final exam -- you wanted to blow the audience away with your presentation! But sometimes, you get stuck -- it could be due to insufficient data, a hard problem, or myriad...

Everybody says, "Embrace failure." Sounds such bullshit, right? But here is the thing that we don't talk about. There are two kinds of failure: Type 1 failure: This is like you jumping from a plane and the parachute fails to open -- this failure kills you. E.g.,...

In my 'Negotiations' course at Wharton, we had a live negotiation exercise, where I had to sell a boat (or something like that) to another student. And while the 'boat sale' was fake, the impact on your grades was real since your performance on the negotiation earned...

When I was working with a private equity fund, some of the companies we invested in were performing poorly. So what was our response? We would start doing monthly 'performance review' calls to put pressure on the management to act faster and smarter. And when even...

When I became a first-time entrepreneur, one question I dreaded was: "How big is your team?" Because everyone was trying to size you up. And my startup was practically just me. 😬 Embarrassed, I craved the day when I would be leading a large team. Sadly, I got my wish....

I expected my first EdTech startup to crash but for not for the reasons it did -- here is what happened. In the early days, my biggest worry was -- what if so many users show up that the website crashes? I had endless discussions about technology stack -- should I use...

Just before I was leaving the Civil Services for my MBA, I went to say farewell to many of the senior folks I knew. One of them said that he also wanted to attend some program for senior executives at a US university, but only to network, not to learn. He said, "After...