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Category: strategy

Organizations that grow

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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’ book, Good to Great, he states that the one distinguisher that was absolutely key was the type of leader who in every case led the company into greatness. “They were self-effacing people who constantly asked questions and had the ability to confront the most brutal answers – that is, to look failures in the face, even their own, while maintaining faith that they would succeed in the end.”

Carol states that these leaders have the growth mindset and believe in human development. They are constantly trying to improve themselves and surround themselves with the most able people they can find, they look squarely at their own mistakes and deficiencies, and they ask frankly what skills they and the company will need in the future.

Grooming innovative companies

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

Airbnb’s co-founder Joe Gebbia stated that the company’s early days and exponential growth were actually fueled by a series of questions. Warren Berger’s book “A More Beautiful Question The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas” covers at length how Airbnb’s cofounders, Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky went from jobless young San Franciscans with a decent apartment to leaders of the sharing economy. An excerpt from Warren’s book covering that section can be found here.

When you closely observe innovation at companies, research shows that innovative business leaders typically share certain qualities as mentioned in the “The DNA of the World’s Most Innovative Companies.” They are always asking questions, experimenting, observing and networking. While building on past successes, they keep the doors open to future innovation.

Hal Gregersen, INSEAD Senior Affiliate Professor of Leadership and Director of the Learning to Lead executive education programme says innovation starts with a question.

Can you learn how to ask better questions?

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 questions as you go about your day. Nothing complicated. Just start by building a habit to ask one question. Let’s take some regular day to day scenarios. If you grab a coffee and bagel from your local bakery, ask the person at the counter a question. It could be as simple as “how are you doing today?” At work, if you are in a meeting, make it a point to ask one question related to the topic of discussion. If you are in a group discussion, prepare questions and ask at least one question.

When you are working to become better at asking questions, you are essentially building a new habit. You want to look for consistency and simplicity is the key. Everyday you ask one question no matter where you are or what you are doing, you keep building the questioning muscle. Overtime you will build more confidence and have less anxiety to ask questions.

Here are some good resources that dive deeper into questions:

The Surprising Power of Questions | Harvard Business Review

The art of asking the right questions | Tim Ferriss, Warren Berger, Hope Jahren & more | Big Think

We are also starting our Ask Better Questions Workshop soon. If you want to learn the art and science of asking good questions, ask questions that show curiosity and empathy, and develop better relationships with your audience, this is a workshop you can join.

Take care of your employees.

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 seldom ask employees how they value each of the company’s benefits or what other benefits could be more important to them. Some companies’ benefits package reflects what their industry counterparts offer and do just enough to remain competitive employee benefits wise.

If companies wholeheartedly believe that employees are indeed a company’s greatest asset, how are they showing that they care for their employees?

Here’s something to ponder upon…

A better manager

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 same note, some employees will stay longer at a company because of their manager, even though they can easily switch jobs, earn more somewhere else, or have a choice to do something else.

A better manager takes time to understand their team better, mentor them, challenge them, and expect the best from their team members. A better manager holds themselves to the highest standards and also expects the team to be at that same level. They appreciate their team members when they get results and coaches them where needed. Companies have managers because of their organizational structure, but becoming a better manager is their choice.

Are you choosing to become a better manager?

Few books I’ve loved reading

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 Nike’s European headquarters was located. At that point, I had planned to either get an internship or a field visit to Nike’s Hilversum office. Neither happened at that point but Nike has always fascinated me with its creative ads, innovative products, and the athletes it endorses. When I heard about this book, I was overjoyed and couldn’t wait to read it. I borrowed this book from a friend and finished reading it in a few days. This book is definitely one of the best memoir’s I’ve read. I loved reading about Phil’s journey of starting Blue Ribbon which later became Nike. There are so many gems inside the book-the high’s/low’s of starting a company, sacrifices made, cross-cultural challenges, among others. I could go on and on about the book but I rather you read it for yourself.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie – In 2007, I had picked up a copy of Business Week and on its last pages was the list of bestsellers. One of them was How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I read the book and it has become one of my favorite books. The book has many stories that explain the simple principles and psychology of human behavior. I would recommend this book to anyone no matter what field or life stage they are in. I believe anyone can read this book, understand the characteristics of human nature, and apply the principles to their daily life.

Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life by Jim Kwik – This was definitely a book I wanted to read soon as it was published. Once I read it, I wished I had found a book like this sooner. The book helped me become aware of our limited mental and cultural beliefs, common learning challenges, and techniques to unlock our limitless mindset. Having attended Jim’s weeklong Limitless Reading Challenge to several of his Instagram live sessions, I’ve always enjoyed hearing his insights, tips and strategies on unlocking our limitless mind.

Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio – A book that is full of management lessons and ideas that Ray followed throughout the course of his life and journey of building his investment firm, Bridgewater Associates. I first learned about Ray Dalio’s book Principles on The Tim Ferriss Show and the title on Tim’s podcast was, Ray Dalio, The Steve Jobs of Investing. I followed up with reading Principles’ reviews on goodreads which made me want to read the book even more. Some readers on goodreads had said that Principles is one of the best books they have ever read. I couldn’t wait to read it myself and see what the book was all about. Once I got this book, I finished reading it in my daily commute to work.

A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas by Warren Berger – 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.” I listened to several talks and podcasts that featured the author and became more interested to read the book. The book has a lot of interesting insights and detailed analysis on questioning from our environments at home, school, and in the workplace. It also makes a strong case of why the skill of asking really good questions is important now more than ever.

Any questions?

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 Warren Berger. As soon as I got my hands on the “A More Beautiful Question” book, I started reading it and finished it recently.

A “beautiful question” is an ambitious yet actionable question that can begin to shift the way we perceive or think about something – and that might serve as a catalyst to bring about change. – Warren Berger

I had always been fascinated how as a child we “naturally” ask a lot of questions. However, as we grow up, we don’t ask that many questions or ask enough questions at all. The book has a lot of interesting insights and detailed analysis on questioning.

“Preschool children, on average, ask their parents about 100 questions a day. By middle school, they’re pretty much stopped asking.” – “The Creativity Crisis”, Newsweek.

Warren states in the book that many educators and learning experts contend that our current system of education does not encourage, teach, or in some cases even tolerate questioning. Teachers for the most part are also constrained by the course overload that they have to cover within a certain time frame leaving little to no time for questioning. An interesting revelation was that “schools in many industrialized nations were not, for the most part, designed to produce innovative thinkers or questioners-their primary purpose was to produce workers.”

“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

We now live in knowledge based societies and need for people to be more creative and independent thinkers. The ability to ask really good questions thus has become a key skill in the world we all live in today. Growing up, our home and school environments play a huge role in helping/hurting our own questioning skills which carries over to how we work, communicate, and go about our lives. Questions are beautiful and we need them in today’s world more than ever before.

For more insights into Questions, I recommend reading “A More Beautiful Question The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas” by Warren Berger.

Storytelling is your authentic superpower

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

With the enormous amount of data that is being generated every minute of the day across various media platforms, it’s becoming harder than before for brands and creators to reach their targeted audience with the right message. The message, no matter how well crafted it could be can get lost in the sea of data. The audience also is overwhelmed with the amount of information that is being thrown at them and what they are exposed to on a daily basis. Compared to a few companies with financial resources to spend on ads and other forms of paid advertising, a startup or a company with limited resources would be way behind or just playing digital catchup to their much resourced counterparts.

So, as a company, how will you get your messages heard in this sea of information? With the mountain of data increasing day by day, how can content creators reach their audience? Is there a way to stand out amidst the digital noise and really connect with your audience?

We believe the answer is Authentic Storytelling. Storytelling is the use of visual, literary, auditory, or other creative media to educate, inform, entertain, or inspire an audience to take action. As a creator, you are the best person to tell the story of your brand and communicate the narrative as you wish. It’s a personal and authentic journey and you know the experiences (successes/failures and everything in between) better than anyone in the world. As a brand, your authentic reason(s) to start a company, your core values, and identity will certainly be different than anyone else out in the market and that narrative is what your audience can emotionally connect with you on. As Simon Sinek says in his book “Start with Why”, being authentic is not a requirement for success, but it is if you want that success to be a lasting success. Again, it goes back to WHY. Authenticity is when you say and do the things you actually believe. But if you don’t know WHY the organization or the products exist on a level beyond WHAT you do, then it is impossible to know if the things you say or do are consistent with your WHY. Without WHY, any attempt at authenticity will almost always be inauthentic.”

Storytelling is your authentic superpower.

Presentation series | Chamillionaire

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

Chamillionaire Presents Convoz | Upfront Summit 2018

What does success look like?

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

Two years ago, I was taking a podcasting workshop. One of the prompts was to pair up with a fellow workshop member and practice our podcasting skills using the tools we have. I scheduled a call with a team member and was ready to practice my newly created intro pitch and ask relevant questions to my mock podcasting guest. My team member wanted to help me by providing feedback on how I conduct the podcasting interview.

Before we started the podcast interview, my team member had a question for me. He asked “what would success look like to me once we are done with the podcasting interview?“

By asking this simple and important question, he was able to identify and focus on the type of feedback that would be helpful for my growth and podcasting career. His feedback after the mock podcast interview helped to refine my intro pitch, make the necessary changes, and hone my podcast story. Similarly, when starting a new project, working on a vision, or any activity that you will be spending considerable time and resources, I find it really helpful to ask the same question that my fellow podcasting team member asked me. This has worked for me when starting projects and especially when collaborating as part of a team. By posing this question to everyone at the beginning of the project, all team members are aware and understand what success means to the project at hand. Otherwise, each team member will have subjective interpretations of what the success is or should be.

Asking Better Questions

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

I Asked A Ton of Questions.

That’s the title of a section on Kobe Bryant’s book “The Mamba Mentality How I play”. In that section, Kobe talks about how he was curious, wanted to improve, learn, and fill his head with the history of the game. He also adds that no matter who he was with and where he was at, he would fire away with question after question. That relentless curiosity about the game, strong work ethic, and becoming skilled at asking questions were some of the countless reasons Kobe finished his basketball career with 5 championships, 33,643 points, and 20 years playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.

We come into this world with infinite curiosity about everything in life. Some environments help nurture that curiosity while other environments control or destroy that innate desire to learn and discover. For some people, questioning comes easily while for most of us, we don’t ask enough questions, nor do we pose our inquiries in an optimal way as stated by the Harvard Business Review article The Surprising Power of Questions. The good news is that by asking questions, we naturally improve our emotional intelligence, which in turn makes us better questioners – a virtuous cycle. As mentioned in the HBR article, the first step in becoming a better questioner is simply to ask more questions. Of course, the sheer number of questions is not the only factor that influences the quality of a conversation: The type, tone, sequence, and framing also matter.

A valuable resource on How to Ask Questions Better by Tim Ferriss

Asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. – The Surprising Power of Questions

30 Stories: Patagonia

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

@patagonia is excellent at storytelling.

Patagonia shares its company’s values by making it’s customer the hero of the story.

On their website and social media platforms, they feature a variety of customer stories. The stories move people, inspire their employees towards a shared mission, highlight the adventures of their current customers, and give potential customers’ insight into the company’s core values.

Follow their stories @patagonia

Image credit: Verite

1,000 business cards

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

Bryan was excited about printing 1,000 business cards for his new business. A founder starting his entrepreneurial journey, he wanted to let the world know that his business had arrived. That excitement carried over to me and I was just as ecstatic about the business cards. A college friend who wanted to start an online jewelery business, Bryan reached out to me to help him out on business development. A young me who had just finished college was totally on board. I was always fascinated by startups and Bryan’s pitch was an easy sell.

A budding business needs clients and we get clients by giving out business cards. Business cards make us credible and confirm that we have a presence. We thought “How will we get our upcoming brand promoted at events, conferences, and seminars without business cards?”

Do we really need 1,000 business cards?

When Bryan told me that he had found a good deal from a printing place on 1,000 business cards, I was like of course we’ll be going through them quickly. So he ordered 1,000 for himself and another 1,000 for the business development wizard (that’s me!). Little did we know that a few months later, I would have used only 30 of them. The rest of the business cards would be collecting dust on the desk.

Trying to become the next Steve Jobs

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

I’m going to be the next Steve Jobs. That’s what I was thinking to myself.

I had a business idea that I believed was going to change the world. It was an idea I had been pondering about for the last few months.

Upon researching start up events, I found out that the first ever Startup Weekend was coming to town on February 2013 in Nepal’s capital-Kathmandu. This would be a great place to test out my business idea, so I registered to attend this event.

The day before the event, I looked at myself in the mirror and asked one question repeatedly:

What are the consequences of publicly sharing my idea at the Startup Weekend Kathmandu?

I weighed the pros and cons of sharing that idea at the Startup Weekend Kathmandu. I was thrilled to be participating in the competition and wanted to fully utilize my time in it. However, the above question kept coming back to me and I couldn’t decide what would be the best course of action.

After much contemplation of various scenarios, I decided to share the idea because the benefits of sharing outweighed not sharing it. By sharing my idea to an audience, I would know if the idea could become a business. Holding on to an idea that could not become a business would not be useful to me.

On that Friday evening at the Startup Weekend, I stood behind 10 individuals waiting for my turn to pitch the idea on stage. Behind me, there were about 30 more aspiring entrepreneurs equally excited to share their ideas. Waiting in that line had my nerves excited and my heart beating faster. The abundant energy in that hall invigorated me and I couldn’t wait to get on that stage to pitch my idea in 1 minute. 1 minute was all I had to explain my idea that could change everything.

When my turn came, I went on the stage and pitched my idea of a mobile/web app that allowed users to download books from Nepali writers and read them through the app anywhere in the world.

Over the course of the three day Startup Weekend Kathmandu, we created a team and built the idea. After working and iterating the idea for more than 50 hours, we had a prototype ready to be presented to the judges on the final day. The three judges actively listened, looked at our prototype, and asked us questions. At the end of the event, the results were announced and we had earned the 1st runner up position in the startup competition. Our team was ecstatic and we were congratulated by many attendees that night. That was a special evening for our team and in the ensuing days, we were featured on tech blogs and national newspapers.

If I had not participated in that event, the idea of a mobile/web app for book lovers would have stayed in my head forever. Additionally, I would have never received such amount of valuable feedback in a short period of time and validated if the idea made business sense. There are moments in our lives when we are presented with an opportunity and we have to strike it when it’s hot. That moment for me came in the form of Startup Weekend Kathmandu. I also realized that you can make a difference in the world if we shared our ideas rather than holding on to them.

After the Startup Weekend Kathmandu, I didn’t become the next Steve Jobs, but I became a much better Nirmal Thapa.

Perspectives on life

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

I’m always curious to hear about different perspectives on life. Perspectives are windows to how people see the world. Two people can be looking at the same thing and have two different perspectives.

Here’s a perspective that I really enjoyed listening to: Harvard Business School AASU Conference: Kasseem Dean Keynote

Some thoughts shared by Kasseem that I really liked were:

No matter what you do in life, you should always be a student. You can be a boss and a student at the same time. You can be a leader and a student at the same time because I feel that when you stop being a student you cut off all of your areas for learning.

We need to invest in ourselves more. We can tell the world about what everybody else is doing but when was the last time we looked in the mirror and made a better us.

My saying is sky is not the limit, it’s just your view.

My leadership style was transition…… transition is the most critical thing in your business because it can be the result of you making a lot of money or losing a lot of money.

The best advice always been do whatever you feel. Do whatever your heart tells you to do. Follow your passion. Follow your goals. Follow your dreams.

They made it to Forbes 30 under 30, class of 2020

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

Several entrepreneurs and an athlete from Nepal made it to the Forbes 30 under 30, class of 2020 list. A proud moment for all of us.

They are:

Nikita Acharya and Kiran Timsina who cofounded Urban Girl in 2012.

Shubhangi Rana and Jesselina Rana who cofounded Pad2Go in 2018.

Rohit Tiwari who cofounded Foodmario.

Pratima Sherpa who is a golfer.

Our town is going to make jeans again

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

I love this story.

From Hiut Denim Co.’s website:

Cardigan is a small town of 4,000 good people. 400 of them used to make jeans. They made 35,000 pairs a week. For three decades.

Then one day the factory closed. It left town. But all that skill and knowhow remained. Without any way of showing the world what they could do.

That’s why we have started The Hiut Denim Company. To bring manufacturing back home. To use all that skill on our doorstep. And to breathe new life into our town.

As one of the Grand Masters said to me when I was interviewing: “This is what I know how to do. This is what I do best.” I just sat there thinking I have to make this work.

So yes, our town is going to make jeans again.

Here goes.

The billion dollar idea (in your head)

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

Ideas are great. A lot of times that big startup idea might just be in your head. You feel that your idea will change everything. It could be the next big thing out there. The temptation is to hold on to the idea and not tell it to everyone because then they might go and execute it. It’s your idea and you hold on to it tightly.

I was in a similar situation many years ago and had one of those “ideas.” I debated within myself whether sharing that idea in a startup competition would be good or bad. After a while, I decided that the benefits of sharing the idea and “get it tested” was far more important than just holding on to it.

When I shared my idea at the startup competition, many people got excited about it. It gave me confidence that the idea itself was good. However, there were so many things to consider for the idea to be executed properly. I would not have been able to see the idea from different angles had I not shared it at the competition. Also we won 2nd place in that first ever Startup Weekend Competition 2013 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

What’s guaranteed after college?

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

Nothing.

Nothing is guaranteed after college. For current college students, preparing for the chapter after college is crucial and the planning should start as early as possible. The job market is dynamic and keeping abreast to the demands of various industries/job openings is important.

To prepare for the job market, college students should start early to look for internships and jobs. Internships will help you get your foot in the door as well as keep you ahead of other job applicants. It’s also helpful to have mentor(s) who can guide you over the course of your college career and beyond.

Is the bike worth it?

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

Getting a bike (or any vehicle or any big purchase) has two sides. The benefits are easier mobility from point A to point B, saved time and money over a long period of time. The costs are its regular maintenance, fuel, insurance and tax.

For any big purchase, the benefits comes with the costs. An important thing to consider is the opportunity cost. What’s the opportunity cost to having or not having a bike? Are you investing in an asset? If the bike can save you lots of time, create other income generating opportunities from it and give you a better quality of life, why not get the bike?

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