In Carol S. Dweck’s ground breaking book, Mindset The New Psychology of Success How We Can Learn To Fulfill Our Potential, she shares how to make corporate training programs effective. She mentions: Look for talented managers who also embody a growth mindset. Train leaders, managers, and employees to believe in growth, in addition to training…
Category: knowledge
Talent vs Skill
What is Talent and what is Skill? Are they the same or different? Talent is a natural ability to gain a skill or set of skills. Skill is the ability to complete a set of tasks well. Skills are learned and we get better at a craft by practicing intentionally over a period of time….
Getting to that Next Level
What’s the Next Level? There are Levels. Realizing that there’s another level to be better is a key component in getting to that level. If you strongly believe that there’s no more level beyond where you currently are, then either you’ve achieved a lot already (Happy for you!) or you are limited in your circumstances,…
What’s your company culture like?
To get a quick gauge of your current company culture, you can do a few activities. Have a look at what is being promoted and encouraged within the company. What pictures, videos or posts are team members posting on internal company channels? Are those pictures of team events, community activities, nature, industry reports or something…
Relationship equity
What’s your relationship equity like? Have you invested time and energy into building the personal and professional relationships in your life? If there’s not been much investment in the important relationships, should we be surprised by the current status of those relationships? Relationship equity is about putting in the time, energy, care, generosity, and empathy…
Room for Creativity
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. – Pablo Picasso In one of her “The Artist’s Way” series book, Julia Cameron says that creativity is born in generosity, and flourishes where there is a sense of safety and acceptance. If we feel safe and accepted…
Exponential growth of Nepal’s tech industry
How can we help grow Nepal’s tech industry? To measure the growth of the tech industry, what are some benchmarks? Good to have some benchmarks to start out with: Few quantifiable benchmarks can be: Number of companies in the tech industry Number of jobs created by the tech companies Number of high skilled professionals in…
What does Progress look like?
We want Progress. Like yesterday. It’s tempting to be thinking of achieving massive success as soon as possible. So what does Progress actually look like (realistically)? In Atomic Habits, James Clear says if you find yourself struggling to build a good habit or breaking a bad habit, it is often because you have not yet…
3 A’s to greatness
Awareness. Action. Automatic. Awareness is the first component of becoming great at a skill or craft. Once awareness is established, action is needed to intentionally practice and work on the skill or craft. After taking consistent action to get better, the skill or craft becomes automatic.
Beyond the Comfort Zone
In our comfort zones, we tend to feel at ease, almost no anxiety, stress free, and safe. In the boundaries of our comfort zones, we tend to feel some or a lot of anxiety, stress, and get defensive. Do we all have comfort zones? If so, do we stay in those zones or go beyond…
the “perfect” work
Seth Godin’s blog today was Unbeatable vs Perfect. In it, he states that Google has killed more than 200 projects over the last few decades. They fail all the time. MORE THAN 200 PROJECTS!!! Over the years, I knew Google discontinued a few products/services here and there but did not expect more than 200. Often we see…
Handling dissatisfying situations
In Albert Hirschman’s book “Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States” he mentions that there are four different options for handling a dissatisfying situation. Decades of research show that you have a choice between exit, voice, persistence, and neglect. Exit means removing yourself from the situation altogether. Voice involves actively…
Being an apprentice
Every human activity, endeavor, or career path involves the mastering of skills. – Robert Greene in “Mastery” In his book Mastery, Robert Greene elaborates on the Apprenticeship phase involving three essential steps in the apprenticeship, each one overlapping the other. The three steps are: Deep Observation (The Passive Mode), Skills Acquisition (The Practice Mode), and…
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…
What’s your dominant question?
Jim Kwik, author of Limitless says a dominant question is the thing we keep asking ourselves, over and over throughout our day. It’s what drives our decisions in the moment and focuses our obsessions when we’re alone. He says the dominant question feels permanent but it is not. “The questions you ask yourself will shape…
Books I read in 2021
I enjoyed reading these books in 2021.
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…
the perspective
With new adventures, everyday challenges, feedback from others, conversations between employees and managers, and many other moments in our daily experiences, it’s important to keep them in perspective. Imagine a scenario of a manager giving an employee honest feedback. It’s tempting for the employee to expect all positive feedback from his/her supervisor and vice versa….
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…
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…