I PUBLISH, THEREFORE I AM

It’s not the lungs, it’s the brain. The way you train yourself is by keeping you as your benchmark. Wait! I am * NOT * bullshitting about how to inspire yourself or how to fake-motivate yourself by competing against yourself. I am talking about how small deceptions in your training can help you, and may be, if you are a parent/teacher/trainer you can use the small deceptions to improve that kid’s/trainee’s performance. If you are serious about training and development, read this (nytimes article). It’s a long article, but I am sure you will be blown away. The only problem with this method is that you can’t train yourself, you need someone to deceive you . That explains why you need trainers/mentors/leads/managers J .

HBR.org blog rolling out 15-20 articles a day makes it a boring blog, that too, 10 articles of each kind telling the same things. I still follow the blog because occasionally it comes up with some interesting articles, i.e. the articles that talk about reality and circumstances etc. But, most of the times, the articles in the blog are self-improvement  or inspiration types, and it is simply not what is expected of HBR press... I am sure no future leaders read the blog that religiously, at least, I don't :)...and I certainly feel, HBR has a big responsibility of bringing good business content for everyone, coz that's where a lot of cool things are happening.  HBR if you are listening : Publish 3-5 good to great articles everyday, not more than that. And, make sure it is not something with JUST a catchy title, instead it is something that is truly igniting. All in all, understand that people from all over the world come to you with a purpose, and that you have a big responsib...

I believe in the LEAN methodology, Toyota follows the same methodology in the company. In Toyota, if a guy faces a problem, he has a chain - to pull - right above his work-area ...when he pulls the chain, his manager sprints to him (literally, his manager runs to him) and tries to solve the problem in 60-90 seconds. If he can't figure the problem in that time, the whole supply line stops. Although, this sounds crazy, but Toyota doesn't want to take anything forward with a quality glitch. After this, I definitely think that we all need an expert at workplace who can solve our problems in 90 seconds (like the guy in Toyota). This is why, a seasoned resource of your team needs to understand that he needs to mentor/help his colleagues for around 30% of his time, and work only for the rest 70% of his time . Also, nobody likes to email a problem, unless that's the only option. How convenient it would be for a rookie (in a team) if he is provided with a c...

seems really sexy, and you wonder- where on earth does she live, and why don't I get to mix with girls like her. I've come to an understanding that a girl looks really good from 20 meters, and may be she is too hot to resist the first time I talk to her, but most of the times, I don't go beyond the first time . I see hot girls in my campus, at the mall, in the class, and in the playground...but I don't really know them, and I have no idea how stupid and boring they can be . It is only after having to know a girl for a few months that I can understand who the person really is and whether I like her or not. I like a lot of girls in my college, and a lecturer too, but, I have barely talked to them. Recently, I got to chat with a girl from the electronics department who I know through a friend, and I used to like her before...she seems really beautiful, cute, and all that, but she is intolerably boring and predictable...she's not what I expected, and I would definitel...

I am sure guys at Facebook are working their ass off and rolling out these amazing features we see on a daily basis. But...(a big BUT) Introducing change isn't that easy . People are not really open to an overnight change, especially *that* which needs them to learn/understand a few more things. I am sure a lot of people will migrate to Google plus for a while...but the questions is, what if people completely understand Google plus ?...  Facebook will definitely get in trouble coz Google plus is architecturally amazing and it uses media in the best possible way it can. Facebook to Google plus will be the "Great Migration" of the internet audience . The bottom line is that the Facebook features are really good, although it powers the product, at the same time it upsets the user....and everyone knows that you DON'T fuck with the users. So, Mr.Zuck, watch out! PS : Pardon me if you felt that that was dramatic. Actually, I dramatize what is much much above me......

I don’t see a reason why Google shouldn’t give a DONWLOAD button that allows people to download every YouTube video they play, it’s not like there aren’t software(s) available to do this ( YouTube downloader ). Google wants user data to generate stats, that’s what it lusts. Why not keep a clause of full exchange of user data for this download-button . People play the same thing again and again, and every time they have to buffer the same video (some of us in India with slow internet connections have to wait for the buffering to complete). By no means do I see Google losing its users, we always go to YouTube for something new, but we get frustrated when BUFFERRING happens for videos we’ve already seen. I am sure there are a lot of business cases that need to be considered for this download-button on YouTube, but c’mon…it’s Google, they always has a solution J .

Realizing that the "no" was not a personal rejection was the way to overcome it.  Re-read the above line…no seriously, read that again. You’ll see that you and I take a lot of “no” to be personal. It somehow feels like we got rejected and we weren’t good enough . Although all judgments made by humans are prone to be biased and relative in nature, we ponder a lot about why we got rejected. If you make everything personal, somewhere somehow, you will get hurt. Take it easy, if “they” did not like you, it’s “their” problem .  Also, I like what Sharukh khan once said “If I don’t get the FilimFare award, may be it doesn’t deserve me”. PS : Two consecutive posts on “NO”…I think, I am getting a lot of “ NO ” these days.

For all you guys working in teams (especially, guys in IT), do you really think saying NO is that difficult? I guess so, coz I see so many articles that talk about ‘how to say no’. I just don’t hesitate to say NO anywhere, anytime. I think, it’s the connotation to the word “NO” that needs to be changed . People think that  by saying NO they will be seen as “unapproachable”, “inappropriate”, “unhelpful”,  “rude” etc. But, trust me, saying NO is no big deal…so, don’t make it a big deal. By the way, I just read an article on behance (on saying NO )…I swear to god, if I use those sentences (in the article) in my office, people are going to laugh out loud.  Read it, you’ll know what I mean J .

You see, everything is a copy of a copy of a copy. But, it's brilliantly done. True that. Everything Is A Remix: KILL BILL from robgwilson.com on Vimeo .

This is just blowing my mind. I have, and I am sure a lot of you have tried to come up with some idea to connect sellers and buyers (business, that is). This guy too is like us, and I super-like his idea, he ( @shopr ) is building something that is going to connect the guys who-tweet-a-requirement to the other guys who-can-fulfill-that-requirement. How cool is that, that is really thinking outside the box, or should I say "Thinking inside the tweet". His customers tweet their requirements and his sellers tweet their service/product without him having to ask them. WOW! all he needs to do is connect them and make a few bucks out of each transaction. What I learned is that *before* you had to build a platform, attract viewers, nurture the platform, and then become big; but *now*, you can use an already established platform and get started with your business straight-away.  PS : It's a tweet-breaking idea.

We deal with almost all that there is in the "Problem-Solving Model" in the beginning of our careers (I've done all that is highlighted in yellow).Now, if you are in a profession that doesn't involve problem-solving, then I don't see a reason why you would differentiate between a 6 months work experience candidate and a 6 years work experience candidate (assuming, both of them are in the same domain, doing the same type of work)...but, if you need a guy who can solve problems, then there is a BIG difference between the less-experience and lots-of-experience, the difference is "the intuition". Usually, the more the experience, better the intuition. Do you need intuition at work? If not, what is unique about you that you gained with experience.

A lot of us are/want-to-be lavish, make lots of money, go places...but most of us think that humbleness is inspiring, why is that? Trust me, most of us who talk about being humble, enjoy seeing humble people , but we don't necessarily enjoy being humble. Just look around, you'll see that a majority of people *become* humble after having achieved/done everything. I think, when a person gets tired of all kinds of pride, he takes up humbleness . For instance, a rags to riches story is damn inspiring, but before we used to hear these stories once in a year...now a days, you have these rags to riches story popping up everyday. Personally, I will not be surprised if some of my friends go from what-they-are-now to something-really-big...it is very much possible these days. And, I am sure of the fact that if that were to happen, all my friends will *become* humble eventually.  I am sure everyone has a pride and an attitude...you can definitely see people talking about their brands,...

If you want to propose that girl, apply for that job, go to that trip, or ask for help...you definitely won’t regret doing it and screwing it up right now, instead you’ll regret not doing it now and thinking about it 10 years from now. Try to hang out with guys older than you (guys in their 40/50s or so), see what they have to say, you’ll realize that  a lot of them have something to say that goes like “ I should have done that back then, I am sure it would have turned out to be good ”. Now, even if they had done it and screwed it up back then, at least they won’t regret not doing it. You don’t want to be 50 years old thinking I should I have asked that girl out J . I don’t regret doing that mistake, but I sure regret not doing it and not finding out if it was a mistake . A good Chinese proverb to add to this: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best is right now J .

A lot of us have been vendors at different companies. My friends working in services companies work as vendors; the client-vendor relationship makes a whole lot of difference to the client (client is paramount, but to get the best work done, he needs to keep the vendor happy), I hope the clients understand this. I work with vendors, there is no difference what-so-ever between a fulltime employee and a vendor (that’s how it is supposed to be). You recruit talent not a vendor , note that. Seth Godin has written a superb article on this, talent and vendors .

Job designations are inflated and confusing. I've heard some really classy, sexy, and savvy designations; I wish I had those designations...but I had no freaking idea of what do the guys with those designations do, it's partly because a few people with that very designation are doing totally different things at their workplaces, you cannot map their designations to their job type. If I talk about "Documentation", everyone in IT can map documentation to product manuals, online help, whitepaper, and UI labels tasks. But, how on earth can you expect everyone to know this... Technical writing is writing techie stuff...superb title. But what would you call a writer who writes about technology at Tech Crunch ( MG Siegler )...you wouldn't call him a Tech writer, would you (I am asking, you decide!). It's no ones mistake, this lady is a Tech Writer and she was once hired as a Tech writer to write Minutes of Meetings . First, the company doesn't know what a ...

If you follow music bands, you’ll know that a lot of bands split and form other bands, sometimes someone in the band loses interests or dies, and the band gets another guy to fill his position. But, the new band is not the same band if it doesn’t have the same voice . You see, the voice, is the one thing that is really distinguishing and original about a band; everyone is an artist, the singer, the guitarist, the drummer…but the only manual intervention in the band is the singer’s voice and that is sacrosanct. Everyone uses machines, but, manual intervention is what every group needs to distinguish itself. The next time you move someone out of your group or take someone in your group, watch out.

Have you read the "Golf balls, pebbles, sand, and coffee" story, if not, read it , you'll love it. It beautifully talks about prioritization. And, most importantly, making a point using stories is just too perfect. I am going to use this in the presentations I give wherever I go (not that I go regularly, but still :)). The point is, people spend an awful lot of time explaining their idea to others , and still they are unable to get everything across. So, the best foot forward is telling your idea as a story ...humans remember stories, not business plans :).

...this depends on the frame of reference. If you like Metallica (now, that it is coming to India), and you shout out that they are the best...you mean they are the best of all that you have heard. Always try to know what the person has been through and then see if what he thinks best is really the best or not . I think the best fiction novel is Dan Brown's, Angels and Daemons, BTW I've read (just) 7 fictions novels till now...so, by saying it's the best, I mean that it's the best of the 7 novels I read. So, the next time someone says XYZ is the best, ask them who else have they heard.