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One of the culture shocks I got on joining the corporate world (on transitioning from government) was that nobody tells you the truth about their jobs -- especially in the US. During my MBA, whenever I asked anyone about their jobs or summer internships, they would...
Fresh out of college, in my very first job, I picked up a fight with a powerful figure in Kerala over a very small matter. Clearly, I had little idea about how the world worked. But at least I was fighting for a principle. And I escaped unscathed because they probably...
Early in my career, someone told me this cliched, oft-repeated story -- apologies, if you have heard it before. A guy was one day frantically running with his bicycle. Seeing his hurry, someone asked him, "Why don't you ride the bike instead?" He replied, "The bicycle...
When we were kids, our parents told us what to do. But once you are in a job, there are no 'parents' there -- you have to parent yourself. Imagine that in your current job, there is nobody to tell you which project to work on, what to learn, or which client to reach...
I once hired a smart and confident-looking sales head in one of my previous companies. But when I showed him some basic data analysis/tracking that he had to do using Excel, he seemed uncomfortable. So I asked him point blank, "Do you know how to use Excel?" He said,...
Two decades ago, I asked a UP Police constable, "What are your work hours?" He said, "We don't have work hours. I may get guard duty on a train for two days. When that is over, I get assigned to some other duty for the next day. And so on." A bit perplexed, I asked,...
In the summer of 2006, someone at McKinsey sent an email asking for a laptop to be sent to Sweden. But instead of copying the recipient, by mistake, the sender copied all the consultants in US and Canada -- thousands of them. Naturally, one guy did a reply-all,...
For a long time, I had this habit of replying before people had even completed their question. Maybe, I subconsciously wanted to impress them with my rapid response. Or maybe, I was just impatient. Regardless, this is a terrible habit. When people are talking, the...
2025, Newsletter, Uncategorized
For more than a year, I have been wanting to learn AI and how LLMs work. But no matter how much I tried, nothing seemed to work. I would keep starting and stopping. But one day, I took a totally new approach, and within a few days, everything started making sense....
Every financial scam says: 'Get rich quickly.' Every weight loss scam says: 'Burn fat quickly.' Every fitness scam says: 'Have this supplement and bulk up quickly.' Do you see the common theme? It is 'quickly.' Nearly every scam tempts you with a quick solution. But...
2024, Newsletter, Uncategorized
A few weeks ago, I spoke to a retired CFO of a large Indian company who recently launched his consulting business. And he told me something that made me think. He said, “When I started my consulting business, I accepted any client – big or small. So our client base...
I had this annoying habit of using fillers like ‘you know’, 'I mean', and 'right' while talking. But accidentally, I got rid of these fillers. And the way I did that is also how you can get better at anything. This is what happened: At the beginning of the pandemic, I...
Rajan shares insights from his own life journey to help you build better habits in yours.