Latest Post
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...
Recent Posts
Your Career Can’t Grow If Your Attention Breaks Every 5 Minutes
Everyone wants to make good money and build a great career. But you CAN'T build a great career if you disrupt your attention every 5 minutes. For...
Brilliance Is Nice, but Grit Is Everything
Early in my startup journey, an IIT/IIM guy reached out to me, wanting to join my startup. And he was simply brilliant. So after a discussion, I...
The One Thing First-Time Managers Often Forget
I became a 'first-time manager' on the day 1 of my first job, when I took charge as Assistant Superintendent of Police in Karunagappally, a suburb...
Your Achievements Don’t Need to Compete With Anyone Else’s
Two days ago, at the breakfast table, my mother told me somewhat gleefully that she had walked for 1 hour and 10 minutes that morning. It was...
More Articles
Great Managers Don’t Create Clones
While working with McKinsey, I worked with two types of managers: Type 1: They wanted you to just solve the problem as best as you could. Type 2: They wanted your output (PPT slides) to look exactly like they would have done it. But the problem...
Why 24 Hours Is Always Enough
If you feel you don't have enough time, ask yourself: If your day had four extra hours, would it be enough? Be honest. I think the answer is pretty obvious. If 24 hours feel insufficient, 28 hours will feel no better. It is not the number of hours...
There’s No Free Lunch in Life
I have had three pretty different careers, but every single time I realised one thing -- there is no free lunch. In my first job with the civil services, everything was secure and predictable. The government gave me all the resources, legal...
Earning Respect That Lasts a Lifetime
A few weeks ago, I called a former boss of mine (the then Director General of Police, Kerala) to wish him a happy new year -- he is nearing 80 and is not keeping very good health. This officer was the most draconian disciplinarian to have headed...