Naming this publication

“There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things”
— Phil Karlton

I’ve always enjoyed writing but it is an extremely time consuming process for me. I have, however, always felt that writing is something I should do more of, apart from exercising and spending more time with my family, because it forces you to really understand the topic in depth while also trying to tell a story. This publication is my sincere attempt to do so.
But all things created need a name and therein lies a challenge.

I used the quote above because it puts naming things at the same level as a significant computer science problem with no simple solution which I thought was apropos in this context.

I named this publication Connecting Dots. Why? Because I intend it to be about connecting dots. Allow me to explain…

Connecting

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
- Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs could tell a story well. His speech at the Stanford Convocation in 2011 was inspirational. Of the four things that he mentioned, the one thing that really stuck out for me, was “connecting the dots”. His thesis was that, and I paraphrase, you don’t know what you will need until you need it. So in the meantime, learn as much as you can about as many fields as you can and if you are curious enough, you will be able to connect the dots.

Is that the best name possible? Perhaps not. I don’t claim to be great at naming things at all…

But Elodin The Great knew the names of all things
- Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

And that explains it. I am not Elodin. My name is Mohan Balachandran. I’ve worked in supply chain management for close to a decade, in healthcare for another decade, founded a couple of companies and I’m curious.

What to expect

“When you hear hoofbeats in Central Park, think horses, not zebras.”
― J. C. Peters

Naming aside, I also wanted to to lay out this publication’s focus. Based on my background and experience, I intend to write about:

• The healthcare industry
• The supply chain industry
• Startups
• Growth strategies
• Newer technologies such as drones, blockchain and AI
• Intersections amongst the above
• Other things that interest me as an individual: movies, books, entertainment

If nothing else, this publication is a way for me to consolidate and focus my thinking on things that I am passionate about. Another intent is for me to really understand what I think I know and I’ve learnt that writing it down helps. One incidental benefit of that could also be to provide beginners in each of the fields above, a quick primer. That is something that I wished had existed when I was just entering healthcare a decade ago.

I hope you find this useful. I always welcome your thoughts and feedback @mohan2020