Rajan’s Linkedin posts

Don’t Freeze, Keep Moving

Long ago, a friend who took the NDA/military career route was telling me about the bayonet charge routine in the army. In a bayonet charge, you run towards and attack an enemy bunker typically defended by a machine gun firing 10 bullets per second. What are the odds...

Why Consultants Always Have ‘Three Things’

Whenever consultants want to say something, they always have 'three things.' And we mock them for that 🙂 But if you want to communicate well, there is some real science here -- the science of working memory. It turns out that our working memory can hold about 7...

Simple Diet, Strong Health

A former McKinsey colleague of mine from Australia once said that his father would claim insulin from the Australian Health System and give it to their dog. But how did the dog become diabetic? Aren't animals supposed to be naturally healthy? Actually, we are all...

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Productivity is not a race

Productivity = Doing the maximum no. of to-dos in the shortest time. Wrong. This is a seductive but nonsensical idea. Every day, ideally, only one or two things should be your real priorities -- these have to be done at any cost. E.g., my priority today is to record a...

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Action beats rumination

I have often seen people say, "I have no regrets." Sadly, I am not like them. I have a lot of regrets, big and small. In fact, I find regrets unavoidable. After all, as long as you live, you will make mistakes and do stupid things. That is what life is. And that...

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Love for hard things is the secret

Most of your life will be spent doing three kinds of things: Category 1: Things you do because they are easy and fun. Category 2: Things you do even though they are hard. Category 3: Things you do BECAUSE they are hard. And here is my prediction: 90% of your success...

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How to succeed in the workplace?

To succeed in the workplace (and even in your personal life), here are some things you should never say: 1. No offence. Why is this a bad idea: Saying ‘no offence’ after saying something offending is like slapping a person and saying, ‘No slap.’ It doesn’t make it any...

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Substance over style

One lesson I learned at McKinsey -- "Never go to a meeting without a polished presentation." Before the meeting, everybody might say, "It is just a brainstorming session -- the slides don't have to look good. Just bring whatever you have." But don't listen to them --...

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Prioritization

The day I get a LOT done is also a day when most routine things remain pending. And those are the days I cherish. Just striking off the maximum number of items from a to-do list is another rat race. What's the point? One day, try this: 1. Pick one or two tasks that...

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Being busy won’t change the world

Here is the wicked story of the 20th-century technology revolution that may change your resolutions for 2023. William Shockley was working at AT&T Bell Labs with John Bardeen and Walter Brattain when they came up with the point-contact transistor. But when Bardeen...

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A no-choice is also a choice

During my MBA, Sam Zell, a multi-billionaire real estate tycoon in the US, came to our campus as a guest speaker. Just before that, he had sold Equity Office Properties to Blackstone for $36 billion, at the peak of the real estate bubble in 2006. Incidentally, soon...

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Perfectionism is not excellence

Perfectionism is not excellence -- it is a mental trap. When we are anxious and unsure of our work, we keep editing our emails and keep fine-tuning the presentation far beyond the point of adding value. The root cause of perfectionism is anxiety. And sadly,...

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The biggest benefit of exercising

I have found that the biggest benefit of exercising is better mental health -- even more than physical fitness. Exercising reduces anxiety and depression, and improves well-being and brain health, though it is not 100% clear how that happens. However, here are a few...

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A good human being

Here is a fascinating experiment involving split-brain patients, whose left brain cannot communicate with the right brain. Whenever we see something on the left side, the visual signal goes to the right brain and vice versa. Normally, the left and right brains...

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The Leadership Principle

Since it is impossible to not see Elon Musk in your online feeds, yesterday, I saw a photo of him sleeping on the Tesla factory floor in his sleeping bag. And this, I thought, was real leadership. While I sometimes cringe at some of his actions (e.g., keeping...

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Meditation

You are focused or distracted due to two networks in your brain -- 1. The Default Mode Network (DMN) -- it makes your mind wander, e.g., when reading a book or when sitting idly. 2. The Dorsal Attention Network (DAN) -- it enables you to deliberately focus your...

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Recipe for happiness

If you have wondered why some people seem naturally happier than others, here is what research says: 1. 50% of our happiness is genetic. 2. 40% of it comes from intentional activity -- i.e., how we spend our time. 3. Only 10% comes from life circumstances -- e.g.,...

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Rajan shares insights from his own life journey to help you build better habits in yours.