Month: October 2012

Life is all about the little hacks. A hack here,, another there, and voila! You have just solved many a problem. For example,

Smaller plates = Lesser eating = Less weight

Routine = Less decision fatigue = Higher productivity

Food at regular intervals = Higher will power

Cycle or walk 30 minutes every day and never take elevators = Better health

The common thing about most of these hacks is that they are all painful in the short term. Perhaps, we ought to define the governing principle for hacks –

Short term GROAN = Long term HELL YEAH!

In this vein, a hack that I am beginning to appreciate a lot more is paying with cash. Yes, I know this is very old school and that cashless is “in”.

Cashless transactions are painless and therein lies the problem. Take out a 100 dollar bill to pay for that additional shoe and you really “feel” the pain. You question if it is really necessary. Besides, you will have to go withdraw more cash if you plan to continue shopping (more pain!). And pain in the short term is awesome.

Image by Cliff Weathers

So, I’ve been paying in cash a lot more these days. And, as far as managing my expenses goes, it definitely is a HELL YEAH!

There’s a school of thought that believes you only get what you negotiate. And there are many websites out there with tips and tricks for negotiating your pay raise, your transfer etc.

I do not disagree entirely with the principle. But, I think there’s a little more to it. I think it’s good to negotiate and ask for things. Least of all, you walk away with a lesson on how to do it or how not to do it. That said, I’m not a fan of playing hard ball to negotiate a raise, a transfer or a benefit.

If it doesn’t come to you after asking for it a couple of times, it’s not worth pushing for it. And if it comes at the cost of losing/scarring a relationship, it is definitely not worth it. Most things tend to come back a full circle. And if you don’t want to be at the receiving end of your own behaviour, don’t do it.

The best way to ensure you get the best is to give your best. So, don’t negotiate too hard. Be so good that they can’t ignore you. And make your intentions and your requests clear to those around you.

Unless you work for really bad employers, it’s unlikely you will be ignored. And if that is the case, it’s time to start looking for a different job anyway..

I was headed to the airport yesterday morning. The trains to the airport leave every 15 minutes. I managed to pay for my ticket with a minute to go and moved forward to get into the train.

I looked at the employee on the platform and she beckoned to the train on the opposite side. I was just about the enter when I heard the “Doors Closing” sound. I had ample time to walk right in. All of a sudden, the ticket person inside the train said “Wait!”. So, I waited a couple of seconds assuming they were testing something.

The doors closed . And in a patronising tone, the lady on the platform said – “You are late. The doors are closed and they don’t open once they are closed. Please catch the next train in 15 minutes.”

I was aghast. I had ample time to walk right in. I trusted the ticket person on the other side and was let down. Instead of hearing an apology and perhaps feeling a bit of empathy, I was admonished for having been stupid enough to trust that the person inside had my best interests at heart, and for having been 10 seconds later than I should have.

The incident sparked a fair bit of thinking.

I wondered what the service gained by those extra 10 seconds. Perhaps they would argue that adding 10 seconds would set a precedent and that 10 seconds would become 20 seconds and then gradually a delayed train. Fair enough. I can see the efficiency argument.

But, that’s about the only justification that I saw. And I thought it was weak (sure, you could accuse me of bias). I was left with multiple questions instead.

At what cost do you pursue efficiency? What if I had missed my flight? What would I have taken away? What if I was an influential person who might have hurt their reputation in some way?

But perhaps what hurt me most was that I am a big fan of the Heathrow Express service. I am on it at least 2-3 times a month on average. It is the best way to get to the airport. I have always counted myself as a cheerleader of the service. But instead, I felt like a nameless, faceless person they couldn’t give a damn about.

Image by Nick Macneill

Logic might dictate that they shouldn’t care. The value of the service is speedy trains to the airport. I am not going to stop using it because someone treated me bad. In fact, it will only prompt a small change in my behaviour – next time I will know not to count on their employees. Maybe they don’t lose anything after all and maybe they are justified worshipping efficiency and treating their customers as non-human entities..

Maybe. My gut says they are wrong. I walked away with more questions than answers. And more importantly, I walked away with the feeling that the spark in the relationship was lost. How can that be good for a business?

This week’s book learning is from ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ by Daniel Kahneman.

Visitors to the San Francisco Exploratorium were asked one of the following 2 questions –

Is the height of the tallest redwood more or less than 1200 feet?
Is the height of the tallest redwood more or less than 180 feet?

The average answer for group 1 was 844 feet and group 2 was 282 feet. (Real average is around 300 ft)

In numerical terms, the anchoring index or
% difference between the 2 average heights (844-282=562)/ Difference between the “anchors” (1200 feet – 180 feet) was 55%.

And around 50% deviation is the norm in almost all experiments! Let’s take a simple example –

A supermarket offered Campbell soup at 10% discount. For half the day, the sign said “Limit of 12 per person” and then “No limits per person.” Shoppers purchased 7 cans when the limits were enforced i.e. an amazing twice as many as they bought when the limit was removed!

Image by Navin Rajagopalan

Anchoring is a continuation of “priming“. It essentially confirms that we are hugely swayed by hints and signals – much more than we can even imagine. Next week, we will look at the effects of anchoring on price-setting and negotiations..

Here’s to looking out for anchoring effects in supermarkets this week!

I had made 2 commitments to myself post my Himalaya Trek and I was thinking about them today. The first was to stop complaining and the second one was to take more care of my health.

I don’t know about the first commitment. I guess the people around me must testify if there has been any improvement. Looking back myself, I don’t seem to have consciously worked on it. But, I do remember many instances in the past months when I have been thankful for the life and options I have.

The “stay in good health” is one that is pretty easily measurable. I generally have a simple question to test this – “Can I last a 90 minute football game?”. If it’s a yes, I am fit and if no, I need to get fitter.

I think I’ve made significant progress on this aspect over the past few months. I’ve made a few changes in my lifestyle –

1. Eating slightly less during dinner. While “slight” is the key word here (I have a huge appetite!), I have been careful and, in general, tried to eat until I am just less than full. I have read that that is good practice and hope to continue.

2. Stop taking the lift. I think I have managed to keep this up for the most part! And I find this very gratifying.

3. Stand more. The big step here was hacking together a standing desk. I am standing a LOT more than I used to now and this is incredibly gratifying as well.

I have had some interesting learnings here. First, I find myself more conscious about my posture when I’m standing. Second, I’ve learnt when to work standing and when to sit. My theory is that standing increases “tension” in our body as it’s most strenuous than sitting. As a result, standing is brilliant when I want to be “clinical”. I waste very little time standing and it’s ideal for tasks like clearing email, blogging in the morning when I have a fully formed idea in my head and in general, getting things done.

However, if I was to sit down and write a long letter, for example, or do something creative, standing is not idea. I can’t “ponder” or “muse” when standing. In short, I have found myself standing when I need to get things done and sitting when I need to be creative. Very interesting insight, I thought.

4. Walking more. Walking more has nicely morphed into biking more. This change in habit ranks very high among new habits I am very happy about. I used to do 20 odd minutes of exercise 2-3 times a week in the gym and that has now been replaced by biking. As a result, I am getting a cardio workout practically every day.

Besides, thanks to the ease of finding cycles via the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme, I am cutting a few journeys on the underground to just bike more. I’ve rediscovered biking for life. Love it!

On reflection, it’s really nice to see all these changes over the past few months. I need to think about how to embed the “no complaining” into my life. But, aside from that, the trek has inspired some really nice changes in my life. And given there are few better feelings than the feeling of being healthy, I am grateful for the experiment.

In short, not a perfect score, but definitely “better”. And as regulars here know, that’s how I like to roll..

A friend of mine sent this excerpt from legendary basketball coach John Wooden’s book, ‘On Leadership’. When John Wooden was coach for the UCLA basketball team, he never specified what his penalties were for any misconduct. He used this fictional story to explain why:

“A cowboy hitches his horse outside the local saloon, goes in, and orders a cold mug of beer. When he’s finished drinking it, he goes back outside, but his faithful horse is nowhere to be seen. The cowboy stomps back into the bar, slams his fists on the counter, and yells, “Somebody in here took my horse. Now, I’m going to order another cold mug of beer. When I’m through drinking it, I’m going to slowly walk back outside. I would strongly suggest whoever took my horse bring it back and hitch it to the hitching post. Otherwise, I’m gonna do what I did down in Texas – exactly the same thing as I did down in Texas.”

Image Source

The cowboy orders another mug of beer, drinks it, and walks outside. Sure enough, his horse is at the hitching post. As he prepares to ride away, the bartender comes running out asks, “Say, fella that was very impressive. But I’ve got to ask ya, “What did you do down in Texas when they took your horse?'” The cowboy looks down at the bartender and says, “I walked home.”

John Wooden said that individuals who knew exactly what the penalty was for a particular act could subconsciously measure the risk against the reward. That person may decide the risk was worth it. Those under Wooden’s leadership didn’t know the penalties they would face, like the cowboys in the story. They feared the unknown more than the known as they couldn’t determine if the risk was worth the reward of breaking the rules.

I found this story hilarious and I agree fully on the use of threats. They may work once or twice but over a long period, they generally don’t. I feel respect works better than fear.

What do you folks think? I’m especially interested to here from the parents who have the tough job of disciplining a kid.. :-)

is treat people below our rank or social status with respect. That’s just good character.

Great people take it up an extra notch. They have the ability to make people they meet feel special. That’s charisma.

Neither behaviour is THAT hard or complex.

But then again,

“Wisdom is pretty plain and unimpressive. Be nice. Floss regularly. Do your best. Don’t let the grass grow on the path to your friend’s house. Wisdom is always simple, but not easy.” | Caterina Fake

This work hack probably applies most to fresh starters. The concept is simple – be known for something.

What does ‘something’ constitute? It is purposely vague. It really can be anything. That said, a skill that pays dividends at work, directly or indirectly helps a LOT. Financial modelling is a direct work related skill, for example. Video editing is an indirect skill that could be useful in presentations that allow for creativity. Essentially, if anyone who knows you is contemplating building an important model or creating an important video, you should be the port of call. That’s a really good place to be.

How do you go about making a name for yourself? First, get insanely good at what you do. If you have set your sights on excel modelling, work to become the best modeller in the world. Be so good that they cannot ignore you.

If you are the creative type, then look for opportunities that allow you to showcase creativity e.g. internal presentations or studies, annual offsites etc.

As the years go by, we tend to specialize in one or many things and develop a reputation. This is much harder when you just get started, though. And hence, so much more valuable.

It helps being an expert in something i.e. being an inch wide and mile deep.