Category: Everything else

What in the world is this blog about?

I received a response to the post on KLM’s response to the climate crisis (I’ve stopped calling it climate change) that asked about the purpose of the blog.

This reader politely explained that he liked a majority of the posts he read – he just didn’t appreciate the political activism. It admittedly took me a second to realize that notes on the climate crisis were being perceived as political activism – but, I’m getting used to most issues being political issues in the United States. :-)

While I wrote out a short answer to his first question on email, I thought it was a good one to pose for myself to answer over the weekend – what in the world is this blog about? 

I was an unhappy university student in 2008. After a month or so of searching for the cause, I arrived at extreme insecurity that had spawned a fear of failure. I reasoned that a way out of these fears might be to write about them on a blog. And, maybe, just maybe, someday I’d begin to view the challenges and failure I face as learning experiences. In addition, since I didn’t have the discipline to do anything everyday, I thought a learning a day would be a worthy challenge.

Learning is a broad term. And, it has evolved over the years by evolving as my thinking has evolved as well as causing the evolution of my thinking.

Over the years, I’ve realized that I tend to obsess about 3 broad themes that I value – people I care about, learning from my experiences and learning how to learn, and attempting to make a positive contribution. In short – people, learning, and contribution.

As a result of the focus on people I care about, there are many posts about relationships and human behavior as well as a post nearly every week on lessons learnt as a parent.

Next, learning is a broad category. The three biggest buckets of learning posts tend to be – i) reflections from my experiences and conversations, ii)  observations on events, and iii) notes on living with a growth mindset.

And, finally, contribution. My thinking on contribution has evolved over the years. Initially, a lot of my writing used to be about technology in the broad strokes. Over time, however, this has crystallized into three areas of focus – i) notes on product management (what I do for a living), ii) the impact of technology on jobs and the future of work (again, what I do for a living), and iii) the climate crisis.

As I spend a lot of my time work thinking about product management and jobs, writing here is the primary outlet for my evolving thesis on how we might approach the climate crisis and how I could contribute. So, there’s going to be a lot more where that KLM post came from.

This is what makes following this blog a crazy journey. It took me a while to articulate that difference between writing for yourself vs. writing for others. This blog is an example of the former. As a result, the topics won’t resonate every day. Some days, they’ll provoke. On others, they’ll challenge. And, on a few, they’ll resonate.

That’s why it will remain a niche blog – roller coasters aren’t for everyone.

But, the reason it is a blog and not a journal is because there’s the hope that there are a few of you who won’t mind the roller coaster… and maybe even like it?

It is why I only have deep gratitude and appreciation for those of you who stick along for the ride and write in from time to time to share your notes, lessons, and reflections.

It all means a lot.

And, for those of you who’ve subscribed recently and have been wondering what this blog is about, I hope it helps.

Worry is suffering twice

After writing a post on worry recently, a friend and I discussed it further. He shared that the one of the bigger lessons he’s taken away from his meditation practice is that worry is suffering twice – at minimum.

When we worry, we first suffer the worst case scenario that we can imagine -sometimes more than once depending on how long we dwell on it. If we then experience the worst case scenario, we suffer again.

Of course, there’s an additional catch. The worst case scenario rarely materializes. And, we tend to overestimate how badly it’ll actually affect us.

Don’t suffer twice. We have a choice.

KLM and flying responsibly

The CEO of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines wrote a remarkable letter asking its customers to “fly responsibly.” An excerpt –

We’re in this together. We work hard to get things right, but all parties involved need to join forces to create a sustainable future. All stakeholders in the aviation industry, all corporations in any industry. And yes, all air travelers too. What can you do, in addition to carefully considering your travel plans?

It is a remarkable message coming from the CEO of an airline and one that is great to see. It is part of a growing push among folks in Europe to replace flights with trains and means of transport with lower carbon footprints – inspired by a growing awareness on the climate crisis.

I expect the cost of flying to go up over time as we all realize the true cost of flying – with the negative externalities priced in. In the meanwhile, it will be fascinating to see if more airlines follow up with similar messages.

Bad prioritization, Good prioritization

Bad prioritization: Make an ordered laundry list and intend to make some progress on everything. Easy. Ineffective.

Good prioritization: Use judgment to pick the top 1-3 items we’re going to focus heavily on – an outcome of sound strategy. Agonize over saying no to perfectly good ideas that just aren’t making the cut at this time. Tough. Powerful.

Applies just as well to building good products, planning how to spend time on a holiday, and building a better quality life.

The resounding yes

One of the benefits of learning to tune out the noise to pay more attention to our gut is that it becomes significantly easier to make decisions.

The gut, it turns out, doesn’t generally mess about with 50-50 decisions. Instead, it lets us know when it is a resounding yes (a “hell yeah”).

The key is paying attention to that sign while recognizing that the absence of that resounding yes is a no.

No further deliberation required.

3 reflections from Wimbledon

I was following the highlights at Wimbledon and was fortunate to catch half of the final set of the Federer-Nadal semi-final and most of the Federer-Djokovic final today. I had 3 reflections.

Before I get to them, however, a hat tip to the legends who’re playing the game today. Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic are all going to go down as legends. As a Federer fan, it was incredible to see him go into both the semifinal and final as the underdog (it’s all relative) and nearly pull off his 9th Wimbledon victory at ~38 years of age. Incredible. There’s no other word for it.

Onto the reflections.

First, I was just amazed at the quality of tennis in both of Federer’s last games. There were times when my heart was in my mouth. I just couldn’t fathom how they produced high quality tennis during such high stakes moments. It could only flow from muscle memory. And, I found myself imagining the number of hours spent practicing to prepare for such moments. It made me ask myself how I could do more to summon such muscle memory in decisive moments myself.

Second, Federer played consistently better through the final against Djokovic. However, Djokovic held his nerve during 3 crucial tie breaks. Big games are won by the smallest of margins. And, Djokovic won with those margins.

Finally, it looks likely that Djokovic will surpass Federer and Nadal’s grand slam tallies by the time he’s finished and lay his claim to be the greatest men’s tennis player of all time. But, and maybe this is what is special about being a fan, there is no one who will surpass Federer in my eyes. It still is such a pleasure to watch Federer play – it never fails to remind me to focus as much on the art as we do the science.

It is inspirational.

Over-communication and incentives

Why over-communication matters in a period of change – “It is difficult to get a person to understand something when their salary depends on them not understanding it.”

It is also a helpful reminder to not take it personally if something you’ve been working hard to communicate isn’t landing as yet.

Incentives are powerful.

Raising the bar on worry

Worrying is toxic. It messes with our minds, affects our health and productivity, and wastes our time.

But, even if we logically understand all that, it is hard to remove worry altogether – especially if worrying about stuff has become a habit.

I met someone who solved this by raising the bar on worry. For example, consider asking yourself 2 questions every time you find yourself worrying –

1. Am I worrying about something that involves a potentially terminal health problem?
2. Am I worrying about the climate crisis?

If the answer to either of the above is yes, you might cut yourself some slack and give yourself the next hour to worry about it and, perhaps, process your own feelings by writing about it.

If the answer is no, however, then it doesn’t meet the bar. It just isn’t worthy of your worry time.

We’ve got limited time and attention –  it is on us to focus it on stuff that matters.

A tale of two stories

I know two people who went through a tough experience two decades ago.

One of them told themselves the story of hope after the experience. They resolved to look for growth from the pain, seek forward momentum, and find excuses to spread love.

The other told themselves the story of pain. They resolved to remember the pain, look back to reflect on the perceived injustice, and find excuses to be hurt and spread hurt.

There’s a powerful, life-changing even, learning here about the power of the stories we tell ourselves. But, the more interesting learning comes from observing the power of seeing folks live these stories over a long period of time.

Like everything we choose to do on a daily basis, the impact of these stories compounds. Despite more challenges they’ve had to face, the person who told themselves the story of hope has become the most positive people I’ve met over time. The challenges they’ve faced have only strengthened their resolve to find hope, love, and possibility.

Alas, the person who told themselves the story of pain is at the other end of the spectrum.

There are some stories we tell ourselves everyday. It pays to be aware of their compounding impact on our attitude over time.

And, if they aren’t working for us, then it may be time to change them.