Imagine receiving an invitation to give a Ted Talk. What will your Ted Talk be about? Each of us have unique experiences in the world and these experiences shape our perspectives, thoughts, and behaviors. Each of us has an authentic story and it deserves to be heard. There are many platforms out there to share…
Category: culture
The creative narrative
“She is so creative.” “He is really creative.” “That’s the creative team.” Creativity is hard to define. Each one of us is creative – that creativity can be seen at our homes, workplaces, the hobbies we have, the activities we do, and it can be anywhere and everywhere. What type of environment helps in facilitating…
Your Authentic Greatness
Each individual has internal superpowers. These superpowers are unique and developed through our personal experiences, environment, and evolution. Storytelling is one of our authentic superpowers. Each individual can define “success” in their own terms and go towards reaching their authentic greatness. If each of us realize and tap into our internal superpowers, live our authentic…
Then what else do you see, Arjuna?
“What do you see?” I see the eye of the bird. “Do you see the tree?” No. “Do you see the branch?” No. “Do you see the bird?” No. “Then what else do you see, Arjuna?” Nothing, I see only the round black eye of the bird. Excerpt from The Mahabharata – A conversation between…
Your company’s “Chief Question-Asker”
“The most important thing business leaders must do today is to be the “chief question-asker” for their organization” says Dev Patnaik of Jump Associates. Patnaik says that “the first thing most leaders need to realize is, they’re really bad at asking questions. The business executives rose up through the corporate ranks because “they were good…
Useful resources on curiosity and questions
Articles/blogs: The DNA of the World’s Most Innovative Companies Curiosity is a Must-have Skill The Business Case for Curiosity Forget Brainstorming. Try Questionstorming Why must businesses step back in order to move forward? Videos: How to Ask Better Questions | Tim Ferriss The Truth about Being the “Stupidest” in the Room | Simon Sinek Podcasts:…
Here’s a piece of advice…
Giving advice to someone is a tough ask. When someone reaches out to you for advice, you are put in a position of authority or power. It could be that the person seeking your advice thinks you are the right person, have the relevant experience, have information that others don’t or for any other reason….
Sports documentaries that are worth it
As a sports fanatic, I’ve devoured the sports documentaries available in various streaming platforms. Some of those documentaries I’ve gone back and watched it again because the stories are told in a riveting way and have had a huge cultural impact. Here are the sports documentaries or documentaries based on sport figures that I really…
What’s your energy focused on?
Your energy has immense power. What you put your energy into will create the results accordingly. Being aware of your energy, focusing the energy on your important goals and priorities, and taking utmost care of your energy is crucial to achieving success and getting the results you want. The Law of Attraction is based on…
Books that inspire asking questions
Here are a few books that I found to inspire each of us to ask more questions. These books delve into the power of asking important questions, questions that can change the direction of a person, group, or company and provide insights into using questions as a helpful guide in our personal and professional lives.
Asking questions to understand better
Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why and other books says that “asking questions doesn’t mean you’re the stupidest person in the room; it usually means you’re the only one brave enough to speak up.” Some of the reasons why we aren’t asking enough questions even when we don’t understand the topic of discussion are…
Grades or growth?
When we put a lot of focus on the grade in school and college, are we limiting the growth of the students’ learning? If ultimately the course grade is what matters, then the students will study accordingly and stay within the framework of the course curriculum. In theory, the student’s grade is expected to represent…
Organizations that grow
In Carol S. Dweck’s groundbreaking book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, she talks about the research that Jim Collins and his team did on what made companies move from being good to being great. The five-year study showed that there were several factors that distinguished the thriving companies from the others. In Jim Collins’…
Who sets the company culture?
The people who care. The people who care think of an idea, an initiative and pursue an action. In a startup, people who care make or break the company culture. The values or ideals that the caring person or the caring group have will carryover and reflect in their initiatives and activities within the company….
Can you learn how to ask better questions?
You certainly can. Asking questions is a skill. As with all skills, it can be learned and used everyday. If you want to ask better questions, you can learn them if you care deeply enough about it. There are many ways to become better at asking questions. One simple technique is by starting to ask…
Take care of your employees.
We’ve heard the phrase many times “Employees are a company’s greatest asset.” Do you think most companies actually believe that phrase in their core and behave accordingly? That’s a profound statement that companies have to visit and revisit all the time. Some well established companies tout all the benefits they provide to their employees but…
A better manager
In the beginning of anyone’s career, the company you choose to work for, your team, and the managers you have can shape your career trajectory. Your manager is a key facilitator to your professional growth. There is a lot of truth to the phrase that employees don’t leave companies, they leave bad managers. On the…
W.A.Y.T.O.G.O
“Our grandfathers and great grandfathers built schools to train people to have a lifetime of productive labor as part of the Industrialized economy. And it worked.” – Seth Godin Schools and colleges worked their magic and most of the graduates eventually made their way to a beautiful five day work week of 9am-5pm. Seems like…
Few books I’ve loved reading
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE by Phil Knight – When I went to college, there was only one company I wanted to work for after graduation and it was Nike. This was one of the reasons why I studied abroad in Amsterdam, The Netherlands which was very close to Hilversum where…
Any questions?
These days I’ve become more fascinated by the power of questions and the journey to unlock really good questions to activities, decisions, and the world around me. In my research on the art and science of questioning, I came across the book “A More Beautiful Question The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas” by…