Author: alearningaday

When you are standing in front of an important group to make your case, you always have less time than what you feel you require. So, it feels right, efficient even, to just dive in and give them your pitch.

That’s a mistake.

The assumption that a group of executives/venture capitalists are in a similar head space and share your context is typically wrong. As you enter and set up, they are busy thinking about the previous presenter, the unattended issues in the business, and their son’s basketball game in the evening among others. They need you to guide them to a place where your presentation begins to makes sense to them. So, take a minute to set the context and explain why you’re standing in front of them.

When you “feel” busy is always when you most need to slow down.

In retrospect, it’s easy to wonder why things weren’t more straightforward. Why didn’t he/she/you just do “that?” That seems so painfully obvious.

Thanks to our inherent flaws and irrationality, human life is never straightforward. The path will never be a straight line.

Painfully obvious is only painfully obvious when someone points it out to you.

Embrace the squiggly line.

Every time I call my bank’s customer service hotline, I go straight for the “Lost and Stolen Card” option so I can speak directly to a customer service officer. There has been the occasional time when I’ve tried following the instructions and I’ve been burnt every single time as it’s typically resulted in the automated voice telling me to go check the website.

Of course I know I could go check the website. I call because the website hasn’t helped. I call because I’m frustrated or need a problem fixed.

Your customer service exists to make customers feel helped. If a customer has to call customer service, it means some damage has already been done. If you’re going to make the customer go through more pain to just speak to a human being, it’s beating the purpose.

Ditch the options. Connect me to the human being. Put me in a queue for a reasonable period of time, if necessary. But don’t assume your automated voice can solve my problems. It may feel efficient but it’s not effective. If you are pushing customers away, then you’ve just lost the plot.

PS: Of course, the curative approach is to design things in a way that minimizes customer service queries. But if queries are going to come anyway, you might as well get that part right.

How many times have you asked Google a question about a day-to-day problem and received a great answer?

How many times have you relied on Tripadvisor reviews when planning a holiday?

How many times have you found an answer to an excel query or a computer problem on forums online?

Now, let’s flip it around – how many times have you added to the conversation and shared your experiences so they benefit others?

The internet is a wonderful source of value because many take time out to share their experiences and add value to all the others in the process. So, the next time you find yourself “taking” value from the internet, do remember to “give” too.

Our contribution does make a difference. And it’s the best way to give thanks to all those good samaritans whose advice we’ve found useful. Let’s say thank you whenever we can and pay it forward..always.

The world is what we make of it.

A month into picking up a tennis racket for the first time, I played with a friend who was/is an accomplished tennis player. He was amused at my constant attempts at increasing the power behind my shots. I never managed to get the ball past him, of course.

When we finished, he spoke about a Sampras-Agassi classic he’d watched as a kid. Sampras hit more winners and still lost the game as he had made many more unforced errors than Agassi had. As a young Sampras fan, he was devastated. But his coach made sure he learnt an important lesson – winning games is often about avoiding unforced errors rather than hitting winners. His advice to me was to focus on landing my shots close to the base line and not worry about power. When I finally went to an accomplished tennis coach, he said the same.

It’s advice that I remember every time I go out to play tennis. This weekend was no different. The focus when hitting a shot was just to keep it in. Nothing fancy. Just avoid basic mistakes.

I have come to realize that this is probably the most important characteristic of a learner. Every time you are in a new situation or are starting afresh, all you need to focus on is to avoid basic unforced errors. Whether you are an analyst in a large company or a trainee in a graduate program, your focus ought to be on creating a 0 error game. No fancy winners required. That stuff comes later. (And sometimes, even at the highest level, you are defined by the unforced errors in your game, as the Sampras-Agassi example shows)

To use a bowling analogy, your first objective has to be to avoid bowling into the gutter. You then move onto attempting to “close frames” i.e. make sure you get spares. You then move onto making sure you get the occasional strikes. Then you focus on eliminating “open frames” altogether. And, finally, you focus on eliminating spares and only bowling strikes. That’s how international bowling champions become champions.

You can’t skip steps. The sooner you’re willing to embrace this curve, the quicker you will learn. So, if you’re asked to carry coffee often on your internship, just focus on never dropping any.. that’s how the best make it – by eliminating basic unforced errors.

This week’s learning is part 2 from a 3 part from The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. (Parts 1, 2)

Back in Beijing, it was 9:56 A.M., 4 minutes before the Butterfly race’s start. Phelps stood behind his starting block, bouncing slightly on his toes. When the announcer said his name, Phelps stepped onto the block, then stepped down, then swung his arms three times, as he had before every race since he was twelve years old. He stepped up on the blocks again, got into his stance, and, when the gun sounded, leapt.

But, Phelps knew something was wrong as soon as he hit the water. There was moisture inside his goggles. By the second turn, everything was getting blurry and as he approached the third turn, the cups of his goggles were completely filled and he couldn’t see how many strokes were left!

For most swimmers, losing your sight in the middle of an Olympic final would be cause for panic. Phelps was calm. Everything else that day had gone according to plan. The leaking goggles were a minor deviation, but one for which he was prepared. Bowman had once made Phelps swim in a Michigan pool in the dark and some of the videotapes in Phelps’s mind had featured problems like this.
Most important, Phelps’s keystone habits had established a certainty within his mind: he could succeed, no matter the obstacles. After all, he had always succeeded before. His self-image, all of his habits, were built around the certainty of overcoming any problem.

As he started his last lap, Phelps estimated how many strokes the final push would require – 19 or 20, maybe 21 – and started counting. He felt totally relaxed as he swam at full strength. Midway through the lap he began to increase his effort, a final eruption that had become one of his main techniques in overwhelming opponents.

At 18 strokes, he started anticipating the wall. He could hear the crowd roaring, but since he was blind, he had no idea if they were cheering for him or someone else. 19 strokes, then 20. It felt like he needed one more. That’s what the videotape in his head said. He made a 21, huge stroke, glided with his arm outstretched, and touched the wall. He had timed it perfectly.

When he ripped off his goggles and looked up at the scoreboard, it said “WR” – world record – next to his name. He’d won another gold – swimming blind!

Sketch by EB

After the race, a reporter asked what it had felt like to swim blind.

“It felt like I imagined it would” Phelps said. It was one additional victory in a day full of small wins. It was a triumph of keystone habits, just another step in a lifetime of success.

I felt goose bumps as I read this. I hope you enjoyed this series on habits.

Most religions have a ritual of fasting or sabbath.

As the influence of religion grows lesser in the developed world, perhaps we need these rituals even more.

Today is my day of digital fasting. A day of quiet. The tasks and emails can wait till tomorrow.

Your inbox can, too.

You won’t get it right the first time.

You will have to learn as you go.

You will make tons of mistakes.

You will feel like an idiot when you reflect on your thought process 15 years later.

That’s okay.

15 years later, you won’t regret stupidity.. but you sure-as-hell will regret inaction.

Just do something..

It’s tempting to wait for this issue to get sorted before smiling more, celebrating more, and being happy more.

Life is an endless stream of issues – some bigger than others and all capable of taking up all your head space if you just let them. Today is as good a time as any to celebrate this life and tell someone you love them.

Life will always keep you on your toes as the challenges never stop. It’s just a sign that you are alive and well.

Don’t postpone happy.