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I was interacting with a bunch of ISB admits for the next batch. All high IQ, academic achievers who will spend 2 years working before joining ISB. 

Understandably all of them had questions around – does ISB help in the long term, will it help beyond consulting, will it help in international positions, is it going to help shift industries 

I answered most of these to the best of my knowledge

And then I told them – consider this possibility – there is a VERY HIGH CHANCE that none of you will ever die. 

You will not die a natural death. 

There is enough advancement happening, and at a crazy pace, that within your lifetimes we will figure out a way to not let the cells die

There is also a very high chance that some of you may live on Mars 

Now ask these questions again! 

We all get so consumed by the short term, by the immediate, by the urgent – that we fail to appreciate what lies ahead 

And how most of what we are doing have little or no bearing on how our life will pan itself out 

Heck, if we were to never die and live on Mars, even the definition of long term acquires a new meaning. 

Ask yourself – how can a decision that you take when you are in your 20s going to have any material impact if you are to live beyond 100 

And then ask yourself – what questions should I ask, for a life that is never going to end?

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail

What a fucked up quote! 

It’s impossible to not fail. 

Not everything that you make will have the world submit itself and hail you as their king. 

Not every product you make will be loved 

Not every test you take will have you score the highest or succeed

Not every person you love will love you back equally 

Not every step you take will always be in the right direction 

It’s utterly foolish, almost irresponsible to suggest this 

Because here is the deal 

We don’t fear failing 

We fear people 

We fear their reactions 

And we fear how we will feel once we witness those reactions 

We fear shame

We fear ego

We fear being banished

We fear being laughed at 

We fear not getting another chance to win

What would you attempt to do if you knew no one would react if you failed 

Being a manager is hard work. 

Seriously hard work. 

You have to manage your team, achieve goals, manage expectations, communicate bad news, spend time on hiring, retaining, motivating, firing. 

It is seriously hard work

Yet somehow, everyone wishes to become one. 

There is something appealing about being a manager. Being called a manager. 

And with being a manager comes higher responsibility. 

A bigger team to manage

A bigger area to control

More decision making powers

More influence

A bigger span of influence 

And everyday, I see people seeking this influence. 

Asking for more and more responsibility

For bigger teams 

For more control

Rarely, do I find people asking for more accountability 

Make me accountable for a bigger goal

Make me accountable for a larger purpose 

Make me accountable for higher target 

Make me accountable for the development of my team and my own learning 

The next time you ask for a raise or a promotion, ask yourself why didn’t you instead ask for a higher target instead? 

Managers seek more and more responsibility for themselves. Leaders demand more and more accountability for themselves 

Our lives are shaped up by our perspective. 

Our childhood memories

Our value system 

Our friends and family 

Our experiences 

Our conversations 

Our media 

Our governments

Over time, all these help establish the perspective. The frame of reference against which we see ourselves everyday. 

And we come to accept it as our own. 

To the point where our path to success has been verified by only one person out there 

Ourselves! 

Suddenly, the biggest threat to our success becomes the perspective of other people 

How do they see the world differently. The very same world. 

We don’t want to change our path to success. We don’t want to mix it up. What if it messes up the chances. What if it’s rejected by my mind. What if it isn’t what I agree with? 

And yet, time and again, people who have opened up their minds to wider perspectives, are the ones we admire and adore. 

Don’t let anyone else define success or failure for you. But hear them define it for themselves. That might influence your definition. 

Most advertising is about “launches”

Here is our new product 

We have raised funding 

This is what we are going to do 

This is who we are

This is what the future looks like 

Time and money worth Billions of dollars is invested, everyday for such advertising speak 

There is another form of advertising, far cheaper and far more effective. 

The one that happens once the job is done. 

The one which isn’t about what you are going to do, rather what you have achieved. 

Ironically, such advertisement is most often not sponsored by you. It’s crowdfunded. 

We did it > We will do it 

Let the outcome of your actions become your advertisement, instead of the initiation of your actions. 

In response to a question on Quora, I recalled 3 things that I learnt in my first ever job

While the first one was almost an instant realization, the second and third were formed over years and has taken time to transform from a hypothesis to a theorem 

It’s been over 13 years, and it still holds true

If you do what everyone else is doing, you will end up being what everyone else is. To rise above everyone, you have to do things differently

Your manager has a far bigger role to play in your learning than the leadership

Your leadership has a far bigger role to play in the culture of the company than your manager

One of my favorite interview questions is “do you like starting things or finishing things?”

Almost 80% people like to start things. Shouldn’t come as a surprise though. 

Finishing is much harder. 

Finishing that project requires a lot more than starting it 

Driving a conclusion requires a lot more than initiating the discussion meeting 

Making the product work requires a lot more than starting to code the product

Building an organization where people love to come to work requires a lot more than hiring people 

Starting projects is what people do a lot more than completing them 

But thoughts work very differently 

Thinking never truly finishes. And hence, it’s the beginning that’s the hardest. 

Taking the first step to imagine, to listen, to comprehend, to think – is super super hard 

Once you have imagined or reimagined a thought – converting it into action is a unique path you will define, sooner than later (repeat – starting a task is easier than finishing it) 

The key then is – to start a thought 

I have been given some very valuable, gracious feedback on how this blog is a thought starter. 

They think it’s because I am experienced and am living through these emotions before most. 

I know it’s a thought starter because I keep it simple. 

The goal is NOT to define the path, not to be a self help book, but to plant thoughts and ideas. 

To just write in simple language what I thought of a certain situation in my life. 

No fancy words, no complex models, no fancy theorems, no patents filed! 

I am no intellectual. And I don’t pretend to be one. 

But when I read super insightful material written in a manner that only a few people can comprehend, I wish even the intellectuals didnt think of themselves as one. 

Ironically, our need to maintain our intellectual status ends up alienating the same people we wish to change

You get up every morning 

You show up

You slog it out 

You do the right things

You work really really hard

Don’t cheat, don’t steal, don’t beg, don’t lie

Here is the honest truth – people don’t care

The world doesn’t owe you it’s time just because you do the right thing the right way

The world owes you it’s time only because you have made it worth it for them 

Back in the Stone Age, the basic instinct was to survive. From animals, nature, any possible danger. 

Our brains were constantly working. Doing an almost great job of telling us when we need to watch out. 

I am assuming this single trait allowed us to survive through billions of years and “evolve” 

“Unfortunately” the brain has evolved much better than we might have expected.

It still works well to remind us of the danger ahead. What might hurt us. 

But the nature of that danger has changed. It’s not physical as much as it is emotional. It’s not arrows and spears and stones as much as it is words and feelings. 

The brain, everyday, is telling us not to do things that will be dangerous for us

Don’t ask that question. The world will make you feel stupid 

Don’t quit that job. You will lose social reputation 

Don’t wake up. Sleep will give you the needed rest

Don’t say you love her. It will make you vulnerable 

Don’t take that unpopular decision. People will not like you anymore. 

Overtime, dangers to mankind have reduced considerably. We are not threatened by extinction everyday nor do we think we might not return home at the end of the day. 

However overtime, our feelings that the brain manifests as danger, have taken over our actions.

What hasn’t changed though is – who in the tribe wins. 

The one that wins over the danger

And the danger today is our brain telling us to get comfortable. 

Nothing changes your life in 30 seconds 

Don’t fall for the trap, the easy diet, the short cut, the motivational video, the click bait, the pretty face, the higher pay. 

What will it take to be successful?

It will take everything! 

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