The fourth quadrant

Earlier today morning, I was discussing a prioritisation methodology for my 2021 goals with my friend, Nishant. And we…

Nothing else

Jerry Seinfeld has a writing routine in which he sets aside a certain fixed amount of time during which he can do nothing else but write.

It is acceptable if he doesn’t end up writing anything at all during this session. But it isn’t acceptable for him to do anything else during…

Focus

The process of meditation involves paying attention to our breath as we inhale and exhale. And every time we lose that focus and our mind wanders to other thoughts, all we need to do is recognise that the mind has wandered and bring it’s attention back to our breath.

Navigating complexity

As a kid, when we learnt how to multiply large numbers, like 371 x 874, without the aid of a calculator, we did it by writing down the intermediate calculations.

We compute 4 x 1 in our heads, write down the answer, 4 x 7, write it down, 4 x 3, write it down and so…

Managing up

Managing up is primarily about communicating your priorities and seeking feedback about them from your manager. Rather than wait for direction or live in ambiguity, managing up is about you taking charge and define the direction you wish to go in and seek feedback and alignment on it from your manager.

Going back to the office

With vaccinations being rolled out in many countries, and with the new year rolling around, there has been general optimism around and people have started talking about when and how the return to office will be.

What? Why? How?

All three questions matter.

But this is also the order in which they matter.

The answer to ‘What’ is the end state that we want to achieve. It’s our vision of the future. It is the image that comes to mind when we think of ourselves a year from now…

I’ll know it when I’ve found it

You won’t.

Much better to start with a clear picture of what you want and then edit it along the way if you feel the need for it.

Just like plans are subject to change when you come across new information, what you want is…

Repeat until you learn

Practice is essentially repeating our efforts. Practice does make perfect. But only when we clarify the repetition of effort such that we repeat until we learn, and not simply repeat.

Repeating the same mistakes over and over doesn’t make us perfect.