The Cartoon network display pic

I opened my facebook homepage today to find a whole bunch of friends with Cartoon network characters as their profile picture. It took me right down memory lane and I even went on youtube and bookmarked a couple of my favorite cartoons to watch (Heidi, Speed Racer, Centurions, Swat Kats – I finished Tintin, Batman, Justice League and X-Men over the few months!)

Anyway, this facebook event has grown to 6,000 odd people. So, why am I blogging about it? Turns out it was a close friend that started it by accident on Sunday night and he’s surprised at the massive reception.

So, if you are wondering why people are changing their display picture on facebook to cartoon network characters, that’s why.

I thought I should share this because it illustrates the power of social networks today. Small things we do can have massive impact and the butterfly effect just got more real!

PS: It’s also nice to see everyone going back down memory lane and remembering the ‘child’ within. It’s about being ‘child-like’ after all..

Human group evolutions and today’s corporate world

Guns, Germs and Steel takes us through stages of human evolution and about how human groups emerged gradually and I thought evolution of human groups was VERY similar if not identical to sizes of organizations in today’s corporate world.

Here is my take on the idea –

(Click to see full size)

Do let me know what you think in the comments! :)

Are you unsure about your next career step/looking to make it into consulting or a top B school?

If you are thinking of any of the 3 questions –

1) What do I really want to do in life? What are my strengths? How do I know what would be an ideal career path?

2) How can I get into a top tier consulting firm?

3) How can I get into a top B school for my MBA?

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The good news is that RealAcad has a solution for you. For those who haven’t had the opportunity yet to attend the full 1 week camp, RealAcad brings you a dedicated career development opportunity.

With combined experiences in BCG, Mckinsey, Goldman Sachs, IBM, private equity firms and hedge funds and armed with a passion to train and help you become successful, two of the RealAcad program advisors, Miriam and Ankur, are rolling out the RealAcad career program. This essentially means 1-on-1 sessions with them face to face or over Skype to give you an opportunity to pick their brains on how to do case interviews/write better B school essays etc.

There have been multiple successes within RealAcad of course, with RealAcaders who’ve successfully made it into the BCGs, Mck’s of the world along with admissions gained by RealAcaders into schools like Kellogg and Wharton.

The cost breakdown is here. And if you write to careers@realacad.com with a ‘Refered by Alearningaday’ as part of your message, you are entitled to a whopping 60% discount which is a part of a promotion for the 1st 2 months.

Do feel free to leave a question in the comments or write to me directly.

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For newer blog readers, I am an alumnus of the RealAcad program, and a very proud one at that. If you want to know more, again, do feel free to write in and I’ll be happy to take your questions.

Don’t rush – Learning from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movie

I’m sure you’ve been to one of the Harry Potter movies. Except for probably the 1st and the 6th movies, most movies have tended to feel like a rushed, badly compiled summary of the overall plot.

The genius in the books (in my humble opinion) are the details! And the 7th book was fantastic in the sense that J.K.Rowling brilliantly tired all the loose ends from the previous 6 books. And the fact that the 1st part of the 7th movie was well-paced, spent adequate time at some of the key parts of the book was more of a relief given the overwhelming sense of disappointment I’ve felt after some of the other movies. (Particularly 5 and 3).

While the decision to split Book 7 into 2 movies might have been commercially motivated, I’ve always believed that most of the Harry Potter books could have done with the split because this movie FINALLY gives details in the book the respect they deserve. And that, to a fan, translates to true gratification and joy.

A big lesson here from the 7th book for me – Don’t rush, hurry and just try to present a snapshot when the details in the idea may really be the reason for the greatness in the idea. Slow down, enjoy the details..

Enjoy the 7th movie fellow fans!

Books!!

My day yesterday was reasonably nice but for some reason, I was low energy the whole day. Maybe the thrill of being back in Singapore was beginning to wear out.

This morning seemed to start slow and reading the last 20 minutes of Guns, Germs and Steel already did wonders to my energy. And then I began reading ‘Freakonomics’ and I was already beginning to feel very good.

What energized me most was to look at a whole library of audio books and pick about 20 books that interested me for download and I haven’t been able to stop myself from peeking into my phone to check if all books are downloaded.

I’ve gotten a whole bunch of titles with many war stories, many insightful concept books etc etc. I’m looking forward to reading them and share book learnings of course.

Books single handedly turned my day from a normally ‘good’ to ‘fantastic’.

So, have you been reading lately? If not, do let me know how I can help with the process. Once you get past the initial inertia, it’s a journey that’s nothing but super positive!

Wishful thinking…

This piece of wonderful wishful thinking was the brief for the European re-launch of an iconic brand

If I had my life to live over, I’d try and make more mistakes next time.
I would relax

I would limber up

I would be sillier than I have been this trip

I know of very few things I would take seriously

I would be crazier

I would be less hygienic

I would take more chances

I would take more trips

I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers and watch more sunsets

I would eat more ice cream and less beans

I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones

You see, I am one of those people who live prophylactically and sanely and sensibly, hour after hour, day after day.

Oh, I have had my moments and, if I had to do it over again, I’d have more of them.

In fact, I’d try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead each day.

I have been one of those people who never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat and a parachute.

If I had to do it over again, I would go places and do things and travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over, I would start bare-footed earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.

I would play hooky more

I wouldn’t make such good grades except by accident

I would ride on more merry-go-rounds

I’d pick more daises.

Nadine Stair, aged 87,
Lewisville KY USA

Every day of your life without a Harley-Davidson is another day wasted

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Thanks Arti. This is fabulous!