Category: Everything else

Invented divisions

The recent events in Paris have brought to light many tensions to the surface. Religion is a touchy and emotional subject. As a result, it makes for a difficult topic to write about. Everyone has an opinion that seems perfectly right and legitimate from their point of view.

The thought that repeatedly crosses my mind when I see these issues is that these divisions weren’t meant to be divisions at all. They have often been perpetuated by humans like you and me for purposes like power and wealth. And, we definitely have the choice to rise above them.

As the world becomes more global, we’re increasingly going to have relationships with customers, co-workers, and other stakeholders who have different beliefs and ways of thinking. What we need is more understanding, more patience and more openness to differences.

Different isn’t necessarily good or bad. It is just different. We can choose to have a discussion. And, we can choose to ignore these divisions. If they are invented anyway, we might as well invent something that increases our happiness.

Lines give us confidence, not dots

One of the ideas that has helped me understand the nature of confidence is that it is lines that give us confidence, not dots.  So, a single incredible game does not make anyone a great player. Greatness and confidence come from enduring consistency over a long period of time.

One powerful implication of this idea is that we should abandon the ‘one big win’ mentality. Many build careers around the assumption that a stint at a prestigious firm or business school will mean they’ve “made it.” Similarly, many try to build companies and become crest fallen when a prestigious venture capital firm turns down.

While all of these undoubtedly help, they are, at the end of the day, just dots. You don’t become a great presenter by giving one big speech. Instead, you notch a thousand speeches that build your confidence. So, in our search for confidence in what we do, it is critical we approach it as a long process where our focus is on notching small wins. It follows that making a big difference in our lifetime isn’t about making one big choice or one big turning point – it is often a result of many many small wins over the course of a lifetime.

This, then, leads to my key takeaway from the “lines, not dots” principle – true confidence comes from a great process. Great inventors and thinkers across time had a phenomenal learning process. Think Richard Feynman, Benjamin Franklin among many others.

And, similarly, true self confidence comes from a great life process. Great habits, a great process and a purpose driven approach to life, for example, are the dots that, when joined together, provide the foundation for self confidence. Mastery in one aspect isn’t enough. It is all about lines, not dots.

Introduce people by sharing what they mean to you

We often introduce friends and co-workers to others. There are many ways to do this – you can emphasize what is most amazing about them, you can share their official ‘bio’, you can explain how you met, etc.

An idea that I’m implementing more over the past couple of years is to introduce them by sharing what they mean to you. These days, if I have to introduce someone to an audience, I have begun doing an “official” version that I gloss over and an “unofficial” version where I share my ‘personal experience’ of the person and what they’ve meant to me.

The bio approach approaches every person as a collection of achievements. The meaning approach does tend to skip an achievement or two but hugely personalizes the process and, I think, leads to more impact.

After all, people don’t remember what you say or do as well as they remember how you made them feel.

 

Hat tip: Lifehacker for bringing this idea together in my head

Wish and want

We often spend parts of our days and lives wishing for things. “I wish.. this happened/that happened/I got this/I got that.”

As the quote goes from “Into the Woods” – ‘are you certain what you wish is what you want?’ Because what we wish isn’t necessarily what we want. And, what we want isn’t necessarily what we need.

Maybe the other approach is not to spend any time wishing. Just keep making decisions on the process, keep plugging away, and ignore wishes altogether. We all wish for good days (largely). But, who knows if a good day now will really be a good day in retrospect?

The enlightened approach is to not bother with wishes and wants and other proxies for results. I can see why it is the enlightened approach – it keeps us focused on the present, mindful about what is happening, and helps us get a tremendous amount done. We can’t all flip the switch to pursue the enlightened approach of course. But, perhaps, we could aim for a little more of it.

And, maybe, just maybe, when we catch ourselves wishing, we could ask ourselves  – “Are you certain what you wish is what you want?”

Connected home questions and its implications for tech

Samsung announced yesterday that, in 5 years, every device will connect to the internet. The “internet of things” is clearly going to be here soon. And, companies like Samsung and Google are better on the connected home and the connected life. The announcement raises a couple of interesting questions around the home of the future.

First, will every device also be connected to each other? Would our TV be connected to our refrigerator, for instance? Is there a need for that?

Next, will we head towards a smart device and dumb cloud model? Or will we just look at these devices as pieces of glass and expect the all-knowing cloud to stream or procure what we want?

Both these questions lead us to multiple possibilities that will have huge impact on the technology ecosystem. For example,
– In the everything is connected to everything model, companies like Dropbox and Google will vie to be the connector between the various displays. Google stands to prosper if this is the future (it certainly feels more likely) because Google does “cloud” better than its only other serious competitor at this point – Apple.

– Apple, in my opinion, stands to gain more from a model where everything need not be connected to everything. Instead, what we would care about would be having a really smart refrigerator that can do things I cannot currently imagine, a really smart TV, etc. They don’t all need to talk to each other. They just have to be easy, intuitive and well designed. Apple hasn’t done cloud and connectivity well yet. Its culture and DNA is built on outstanding hardware. It remains to be seen if they can develop good-enough software to be able to compete effectively.

– Companies that are poised to make a killing if they execute well are Amazon and Facebook. Amazon will have many many ways to sell you stuff. If your smart fridge detects that eggs are running low, Amazon Fresh will probably be 1-click away from delivering eggs at home. If Uber chooses to go this way, it could stake a claim to be the delivery service of the future..

– Facebook stands to gain most from this innovation because this future is a perfect scenario for the native ad. Similar to Amazon, these smart devices can provide more data for further ad tailoring. Running short of food in your refrigerator? No problem, here’s a McDonalds delivery ad for you. (sorry for the large number of food related points in this post, I am clearly hungry)

Either way, it is going to be very interesting. While Samsung has indicated this process will take 5 years, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this happen in 3.

Talent spotters

Sometimes, I feel our most important role on the planet is spotting talent before it becomes obvious to the rest of the world.

Yes, there are professions built on talent spotting – venture capital, player agents and scouts in sports, hiring teams in companies. But, I think of it on a personal level. How good are we at spotting potential? Or, to phrase it differently, if we were to meet someone who had the potential to be the next Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates, would we know?

And, that leads to another intriguing question, do we even have what it takes to spot seeds of greatness in ourselves? Do we have a clear idea of what we are good at and what we aren’t? Logic would dictate that we might just be better at identifying special traits in others if we can do so in ourselves. Then again, maybe not.

If we care about making a dent on this planet, it is worth remembering that it need not only be due to what we directly do. If we can be of value to someone who goes on to build the Google of the next technology shift, that’s definitely another way to do it. But, that’s easier said than done. There always seems to be enough and more to deal with just to get our lives in order. Where do we find the time to look for others who’re making a difference and find the time to help them?

Maybe that’s where we start – by being available, by making the time and by being of help.

Training wheel systems

I started blogging here because I felt I was reacting very badly to failure. I wanted to build my confidence brick by brick and thought I’d do so by disciplining myself to write a learning every day.

That was easier said than done, of course. I simply lacked the discipline to do it consistently. Here’s how the process really unfolded –

Phase 1 – The struggle. In the first few months, the biggest challenge was just remembering to write a learning. Some days, all I would manage would be a quote.

Phase 2 – Training wheels. A year or so later, I came upon an idea – why not post a quote every day at the minimum and add something else if I could? So, I started posting a quote every morning on weekdays and also sent the “Good Morning Quote” to  a few friends, family and subscribers. Then, on Sundays, I began posting a “book learning” – simply a learning from a book I was reading. These structures were my blogger training wheels.

Phase 3 – Ready to bike. 3 years in, I moved the quotes out of the blog as I knew I was finally disciplined enough to write a long form post every day. Over time, I consolidated all the additional ideas (quotes, book learnings) to the 200 words project. The 200 words project is no longer a training wheel. I am well into biking solo now.

Call it training wheels, systems, process, or structure – it doesn’t really matter. The principle is, as we think of new year resolutions, we’re best served if we take the time to structure habits and systems that will help us get there.

It is always easier to do nothing

Every project you start will give you moments which will make you regret walking down that path. You will definitely second guess yourself and the impact you are making. The struggle will feel unnecessary and unrewarding.

The most important thing to remember at such points is – it is always easier to do nothing.

So, the questions that follow are –
1. Do you really want to do nothing and do what is easy?
2. If not, is there another project or method that would help you achieve better long term results?

Every once a while, you’ll realize that what you’re doing is not working. That is a useful realization and there is nothing wrong in quitting for the right reasons.

But, when the answer to the second question is no, it is just worth remembering that you signed up to make a difference. It was never meant to be easy. Maybe you’re not making the world-changing difference you envisioned. But, what you’re experiencing is making a difference to you.

And, that is definitely difference worth struggling for.

Measuring laundry

I have a recurring task on weekends to get laundry done. We’ve been living in university apartments/dorms and the laundry room is downstairs. So, I rewarded myself with a “done” on laundry once I ran the clothes on the washer and dryer and brought them back home. After that, I’d pass the baton to the wife.

Over time, I realized my wife doesn’t enjoy folding clothes (I don’t mind it all that much). So, I began folding mine and passing her clothes over.

Now, just as additional background, our share of the housework is about 30%-70% in my eyes. Given our propensity to overestimate our own contribution, I think it might be closer to 20%-80%. So, a few weeks back, I made a small mental switch – I wouldn’t take laundry out of my task list until I’d folder all our clothes in.

My wife loves the new arrangement and I feel I’ve definitely notched up an extra 5% on the contribution index.

Was that switch hard to do? Absolutely not. It just required me to measure a task a different way.

So, why did I not measure it this way when I started? I just never gave it much thought.

It made for a profound lesson, though. Give careful thought to what you measure.. because the behavior you measure and reward is the behavior you get.

3 thank you’s

My 3 thank you’s for the 2014 year on ALearningaDay –

Thank you to the wonderful Seth Godin for spreading the word on his blog. That one post had massive impact on this little blog. I had gone into my Feedburner a few days back to change some settings on the display of the feed email. If I remember right, there used to be about a 150 email subscribers and about 350 RSS subscribers on Feedburner. Now, I see more than a 1000 on both. That’s all down to Seth’s post. So, thank you, Seth, for spreading the message and the love. Thank you for all you do and for your incredible generosity.

Thank you to the word ‘process.’ It has taken on new meaning for me. That one word has been my biggest learning for the year as I’ve spent hours together attempting to understand it. I am convinced that the “how” of doing things/the process is where true wisdom lies. There are going to many process related posts coming in 2015 as I continue down the path of really understanding and living its true meaning.

And, thank you to you. Thank you, as always, for your comments, emails and notes of encouragement. They never cease to make me think, inspire me and make my day. I know from my exchanges with you that many of you are out there working hard on your ideas to create change. Do know that I consider it a real privilege to be able to communicate with you and I am really glad these daily notes help. I hope to continue to be worth of your trust and attention.

Finally, for the new year’s wish, I’d like to go back to a lovely wish I’d received a few years ago – ‘May your life continue to engage, fascinate, frustrate, challenge and reward you as you grow as a person and as a professional.’

Here’s to lots of challenges and learning indeed.

Happy 2015! And more to follow tomorrow with post #3,323.