Category: Everything else

There are a few things we can count on to always be present in our workplace –

• Obstacles – Unexpected obstacles that throw our well laid plans off
• Feedback – Room for improvement in how we do things
• Admin – Admin work we’d rather not do
• Politics – People issues or politicking (as long as there are more than 2 people working on something)

Despite their ever present nature, we still regularly react to obstacles, feedback, admin and politics with annoyance. We often act surprised, astonished even and let these things get us down.

Perhaps we should save the surprise for things that are actually surprising. These are ever present in our lives and make things interesting (up to a point).

So, we might as well love them for what they teach us and get on with it.

When you create a feedback survey, you make an important decision on its length. The length decision is a trade off between survey completions and useful information. 

If the survey is too long, customers won’t complete it. If it is too short (e.g. 1 question), you may not get the information you need.

I’d suggest 2 principles as you think of the length of a survey –

1. The length should be proportional to the time spent with the experience
2. The length should always be a few questions shorter than what you think you need

A simple example to illustrate these points. I had an email exchange with the support team of the company that manages US embassy appointments to change the location of my appointment in their system. It took me a minute to write the email. They sent me a response and asked for feedback. However, the moment I clicked the survey, I decided to close it. That’s because I saw what felt like 30 radio buttons. If I spent 2 minutes (at most) on an exchange, I’d like the survey to be a simple “Happy” or “Not happy” with an optional text box. I’d be more inclined to spend 5 minutes on a survey if it was for a 1 day boot camp that I attended.

As a general rule, we tend to over complicate surveys. My sense is that most feedback surveys would be far better if they just stuck to 3 questions –

1. How likely is it that you’d recommend our ___ to your friends?
2. What did we do well?
3. What could we do better?

All of this is subject to what you are trying to achieve of course. But, I would hazard a guess that some feedback is better than none. Uber, for example, does a great job with this trade off by leading with the rating. You can add comments if you want to but you don’t have to. They’ve taken these principles to heart.

And, their results (a thriving feedback community) follow what is an excellent process.

On most days, I open up my inbox to see what I call “ALearningaDay email.” That’s typically a note from someone in this community about a recent post. It is either a note sharing their experiences, feedback or interpretation. There have been times when these notes have brought a tear to my eye.

I love these notes and they continue to be my favorite kind of emails. They’ve been a wonderful way to get to know many of you – some of whom I’ve even had the pleasure of meeting in person.

I’ve heard from a few of you over the last weeks about missing the comments section. I’m sorry I shut down a channel for conversation. Over time, having another channel to communicate (for just a comment or two on average per post) was causing overhead. And, when I lost the ability to use Disqus as I moved to WordPress managed hosting (which has been excellent so far), I thought it was a perfect time to close the channel.

That said, the point of the move was not to shut down the conversations. I am still reachable as ever via email – rohan at rohanrajiv dot com. So, for those of you who’d like to carry on the conversation and share your notes, I’d love to hear from you. For those who get the daily email, please feel free to just hit reply.

Looking forward to continuing the conversation.

There are 3 kinds of problems that deserve to be called serious problems in my book –

1. Matters of life and death
2. Anything that causes tremendous pain or illness
3. Anything that affects the ability to get access to food or find shelter

Given the quality of modern, urban life, many of us rarely encounter serious problems. So, we get lax about our definitions. Suddenly, a deadline that’s slipping, a tough conversation or a setback on a project can be labelled  a serious problem.

Every one of us faces challenges and obstacles. But, most of these aren’t serious (thank the force for that). The moment we label such challenges as “serious problems,” we give them far too much importance and reduce our ability to channel our limited bandwidth on tackling problems that actually make a difference in the long run.

Perspective is the biggest gift we can give ourselves.

This is my third attempt at writing a post today. The previous two didn’t work. After 9+ years of attempting to ship something every day, such days are not new. Some days are just slow days and I know when I feel stuck.

The good news is that I don’t waste time reveling in feeling stuck. If I’m unable to think of something to write for five minutes, I walk away and come back later.

My biggest learning from these days is to not use terms like “waiting for inspiration.” Inspiration is intrinsic and comes from a clarity of purpose. Waiting for something we control is not a great use of our time.

Instead, it is on us to seek it. If we look hard enough, we’re sure to find it.

At least that’s one of those things this 3,400 day journey has taught me.

The next time you pick up your phone to check a feed or email, ask – “Check and do what?”

Take note of the reasons you hear.

I’ve found 2 types of reasons –
1. The first kind (20% of the time) involved a clear reason for checking, e.g., clearing out email backlog as I hadn’t checked in a while or connecting with someone
2. The second kind (80% of the time) revolved around boredom and instant gratification. I knew there was no need but I still wanted to do it – just because.

Eliminating that second kind of checking is an easy shortcut to a more fulfilled life.

PS: It is hard to stop the second kind of checking cold. So, find a replacement. Every time you find yourself wanting to check for boredom or instant gratification, pick up a book or just take a walk around the house.

I have a t-shirt in my wardrobe that I call my “insecure” t shirt. On a whim, I wore it on a day when I was just feeling behind and uncertain three years ago. Since then, I’ve done it nearly every time I’ve felt that way.

There have been three lessons from the process of wearing these over the years.

First, like most things, the first step to move past discomfort is to acknowledge and accept it. And, wearing that t-shirt was a sign to myself that I acknowledged my discomfort. Over the course of the day, it then became easier to accept it and move on.

Second, the feeling of discomfort didn’t last for long once I acknowledged it. In the past, I might have let such feelings take over my mood for a day or two. But, given I’m hyper aware of them thanks to this t-shirt, I’ve come to realize that such feelings are fleeting.

Finally, the frequency with which I’ve worn the shirt has decreased a fair bit over time. I remember reading Eckhart Tolle say “Don’t take your thoughts too seriously.” Wearing my “insecure” t-shirt was an experience that brought that learning. It taught me not to give too much credence to fleeting thoughts and feelings of discomfort.

As I learnt, it wasn’t the feeling but my response to it that needed fixing.

A simple idea that makes meetings better – shut the laptop down with a bit of force.

No, don’t just half close it or shut it gently. While you’re at it, consider making a statement – you are here and you are going to be 100% engaged. And, being engaged is going to be worth it.

Of course, the statement is both to the attendees around you and to yourself.

And, if most of the meetings you are in aren’t the kind where you feel comfortable making that commitment, it may be time to reassess your calendar.

Like diamonds, good work is a result of a prolonged period of continuous pressure.

The continuous pressure does two important things. First, it propels us to take daily action. And, second, it forces us to make sure we’re constantly learning and growing. This learning and growth, in turn, enables us to make the take better action.

Put together, this combination of daily action and continuous learning and growth make for a powerful self reinforcing combination.

Why, then, do people run away from continuous pressure? Perhaps the answer lies in the word “pressure.” It sounds stressful and negative. It can be all of that, of course. But, it can also be the kind of environment in which we thrive.

The difference, I’ve come to realize, come down to just one question – is the pressure imposed by someone else or is it self imposed?

The former creates negativity while the latter lays the foundation for an exciting, learning filled, life.

Every once a while, I look around and marvel at how much we’ve invented as human beings. All these things we take for granted – airplanes to travel, computers and corporation to work, the internet and nation states to connect with one other, sanitary systems to live hygienically – didn’t exist for most of human civilization.

And, yet, ingenious human cooperation and thought made this all possible out of a planet that was, at first glance, just a combination of plants, animals, minerals and water – lots of water.

Now, I hope we’ll do a better job taking care of plants, animals and water than our ancestors did. Our record of treating other living creatures isn’t anything to be proud of. But, I’m hopeful that will change as we’ve come to appreciate (well, some homo sapiens at least) how delicate the balance that holds this wonderful planet together is.

There are three powerful benefits of being able to look at everything and realize how much of it has been invented.

First, it is a reminder that the universe, as we know it, is malleable. It was invented by human beings like us and we can, and should, make it better.

Second, all of the stuff we generally worry about – work, status, financial security – are inventions of human ingenuity. That’s not to say they don’t matter. They do – in that they help us sustain ourselves and feel like we contribute. But, we ought to take our attachment to invented systems – sales targets, release schedules, promotion timelines – with a pinch of salt. In the long run, they matter far less than we think they do. In the really long run, it is our connections and impact on fellow humans that ends up mattering more.

Finally, most of what’s around us was invented to help us lead happier and more fulfilling lives. This includes aspects of the physical world but also includes the conversation around mental constructs that are unique to this age – purpose, passion, etc. If we’re not finding happiness and fulfillment, it is worth pausing and saying to ourselves – if it’s all invented, it is probably worth inventing a way to approach life that makes us happy and fulfilled.