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Why Working Less Can Make You More Productive
In my past life, when I routinely worked 12-16 hour days, I had to occasionally stop work at 7 pm because of some contingency (e.g., doctor's appointment). But surprisingly, even when I worked 25% fewer hours, my work wasn't really affected -- I...
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Why Public Safety Should Matter as Much as VIP Safety
It was very hard and painful to see the photo of a poor taxi driver crushed in the Delhi Airport canopy collapse. And without facts, I won't...
You Don’t Need 10 Hours of Productivity, just 2 hours of deepfocus
You cannot be 100% focused, 100% productive, all day long. In fact, don't even try -- it is a guarantee for self-inflicted agony. Life ebbs and...
Why Continuous Improvement Beats Market Leadership
Around 2006, Steve Ballmer, the then CEO of Microsoft, came to Wharton for a talk. After he finished his talk, a student asked why Microsoft was not...
Real Leadership Means Absorbing Pressure, Not Passing It Down
During my service in the police force, we once had a massive political riot after which, we arrested about 200 people. Now, before producing these...
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A Leadership Lesson in Prioritization
In my first job, what used to really piss me off was that whenever I got a task from higher ups, almost always, it would be urgent. And sometimes, they would wonder, “Why is it taking you so long to get this done?” If that was the only task I had,...
Why One Hour Meeting Can Destroy a Workday
To understand this late-night-work mania, let us analyze what happens when we do a 1-hour meeting. 1. Let us say the meeting involves 6 participants. So a total of 6 hours are lost. 2. Typically, before a meeting, if there is only a little time...
There Are No Shortcuts in Financial Markets
A few months ago, a youngster (in mid-twenties) working in a tech role asked me how to get a job in a PE fund. When I asked him why he wanted to do that, he said, "To make a lot of money." Fair point -- these firms can pay quite well. Then I asked...
Why Nobody Tells the Truth About Their Jobs
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...