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Words. Wisdom. Winners.
Those 3 words that are not said enough
Here is a random prediction
There are more meaningless “I love you” being spoken as of this moment, than all meaningful and meaningless “I need help”
People don’t seek help.
From other people. From books. From videos. From content. From life.
There is a misplaced sense of pride that stops them
Pride will make you afraid.
Pride will make you feel powerful when you are not.
Pride will force you to not learn.
Pride will ask you to not ask.
For help.
Everytime I pretend to be smart and in control, I learn nothing.
Every time I ask (for help), I learn a lot.
Every time I say “I need help” someone helps.
I just don’t say it too often
Pride has left more people alone, than loneliness ever will.
Do you have a functional team?
Every professional team is characterized by 2 core aspects
Knowledge (/skills) and values
And through this you can create a management consultant’s dream tool – a 2×2 matrix
So there are 4 kinds of people who could be on your team
1. Don’t have the same knowledge and don’t share the same values
These are usually not part of the team. Even if they creep in, they are easy to find and get picked out.
2. Have the same knowledge and share the same values
As rare as they are, these are the ones that truly move organizations forward. These are the team members everyone craves for
3. Have the same knowledge but don’t share the same values
Super super dangerous. Because here is the deal about knowledge and values
Knowledge is acquired
Values are adopted
And the minute one of the team members acquires more knowledge than the other, the gap in values makes this knowledge gap even harsher. To the point that it can’t be even explained.
I can’t code better than you but I will steal code to make myself better
I am a better sales guy than you and I will bribe my customers to always stay ahead
I am better with people than you are, so I will manipulate them to agree to me
4. Don’t have the same knowledge but share the same values
The tribe you should be looking for.
The way all hiring should be done
The quadrant based on which teams should be built
I can’t code better than you so I would love for you to review my code for me
I am a better sales person than you, so come along and we will close together
I am better with people than you are – let me tell you how
I am not as good as you, but I will seek your help to become better
From now on, whenever you meet your colleagues, question which quadrant do you fall in
And ask yourself, what can I do, if at all, to move us to the quadrant of same knowledge and values.
If you can’t, then move yourself or the person out of the team!
If your job has a low probability of fucking up, then these 3 predictions are important for you
Here are 3 predictions for the future
- People entering the workforce today will most likely never die (from natural causes). Some of them might move to Mars
- In a decade or so, we will be hiring computers with the right culture. Do they speak the language we speak and operate by values we live by
- Humans will cease to exist on payroll. Talent will become on demand and officespace as a concept will become obsolete
So if your job today has a low probability of fuck up or the impact of your fuck up is non material – get out of that job!
Now!
Because these are the first jobs that will be taken away
In the future, humans will do jobs that are extremely prone to fuck ups. That requires a human to take a call. Despite limited data, through emotions, gut, analysis. Matched with the ability to imagine the future.
It’s called judgement, today
It will be called “being human” tomorrow
What would you do differently?
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?
The worst motivational quote ever!
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
The one thing that differentiates managers and leaders
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
This is the biggest threat to your success. And you can’t do without it
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.
When to advertise?
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.
Managers, leaders and you
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
You like starting things or finishing things?
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
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