Latest Post
Why Company Values Often Fail
During my MBA, an investment bank was visiting the campus for a pre-placement talk. After the talk, students were mobbing the visiting bankers, trying to impress them with earnest-sounding questions. So one of them asked, "What makes your bank...
Recent Posts
The Real Meaning of Consistency in Habit Building
If you fail in building habits, the most likely culprit will be a misunderstanding of what consistency really is. We think that consistency is like...
The Invisible Currency That Makes Teams—and Markets—Work
When I was first exposed to the trading floor of a global bank (as a consultant), I learned about a curious phenomenon. Traders would sell or buy...
Don’t Let 3 AM Donkeys Define Your Work Ethic
When I started my policing career, a fellow officer heading another police unit started working in office till 3 am! He would come home, have...
The Conspiracy of Silence Around High-Paying but Torturous Jobs
After my MBA, whenever I met my classmates in New York, the way they described their jobs (especially in investment banking), it sounded like a...
More Articles
Stop Normalizing 14–18 Hour Workdays
To anyone who thinks it is ok to overwork people for 14-18 hours a day: In the name of God, please stop! If you want to work those long hours, please feel free. But stop normalising it and even worse, prescribing it as a "character-building...
How the Modern Grind Is Wrecking Young Professionals
I recently met a young member of my extended family who was looking overweight and out of shape, with deteriorating posture. It was a shocker because as a kid, he was solidly built like a rock and was very sporty. I asked him, "What happened?" He...
Digital Distractions, ADHD, and the Attention Crisis
These days, every other person seems to have ADHD. I am not a psychiatrist but ADHD is a real medical condition that requires proper therapy and treatment. It should not be casually bandied around, just as a stand-in for high degree of...
Give Bad News Early: Why Hiding Problems Backfires at Work
During my consulting days, we had project reviews every 2-3 days. And every review felt like a final exam -- you wanted to blow the audience away with your presentation! But sometimes, you get stuck -- it could be due to insufficient data, a hard...