Rajan Singh

During my stint with McKinsey, whenever we did late nights (more like early mornings), it was rarely because the work per se was that heavy.

It was almost always because we did not create clarity sufficiently early in the day about what was to be accomplished. In a few cases, the team would get together at 9 pm to discuss 'what we need to get done today.' I sometimes used to wonder why we could not have had the same discussion at 9 am.

When it comes to late nights and creating artificial crises, investment banking is the king of all professions. It is more like the seniors rag the juniors, and when the latter get older, they repeat the hazing.

I believe in pushing hard. I believe in getting things done. But if you can't get things done in 10-12 hrs of focused work, you won't get it done in 16 hrs of zombie work.

To the youngsters joining the workforce: Anytime you are doing a 2 am or 4 am, I would urge you to question what necessitated it. 9 out of 10 times, it would be because of the implicit expectations in the workplace, someone's vanity, or because everyone was clueless.

The reason nobody speaks up is that everybody is waiting for someone else to speak up first.

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At a typical IITJEE coaching center in Andhra, a student wakes up at 6 am and studies till 10 pm.

For 16 hours, 6 days a week, they slog, with a few short breaks to freshen up, eat, etc. And they do this for years.

Time for sports = 0
Time for extracurriculars and hobbies = 0

These are teenagers, not Indian Military Academy cadets. They are just living their parents' dreams.

I must confess: I loved IITJEE right from the days I wrote the exam. Even we had to slog, but not to this inhuman level. For long, I believed it to be the best exam in the world.

I am not so sure anymore.

As coaching became better, the competition went up, and so did the difficulty level of questions. And it then became a nightmare.

Part of me still loves some aspects of IITJEE. I love physics and its analytical rigor. But very reluctantly, I have concluded that IITJEE is no longer serving us that well. It needs to change.

I don’t have all the answers but we have to stop making exams harder and harder.

A child should be able to find time for sports, extracurriculars, and hobbies. And pursue studies in a balanced, healthy manner.

Let us allow kids to breathe. Let us spare their childhood.

***
www.habitstrong.com

In 2002, the recently elected President Mr. Abdul Kalam was to visit Trivandrum. As the City Police Chief, I had never made a VVIP security arrangement earlier.

Due to my lack of confidence, I was personally reviewing every single detail. But I also had to keep running the city police administration in parallel.

One day, at a VVIP visit venue, while reviewing the arrangements, I was also dictating to my steno an urgent letter about some unrelated matter.

One of my ACPs told me, “Sir, how do you handle multiple things in parallel? It is just amazing!”

But the truth is, I wasn’t REALLY multitasking but switching between tasks -- when I was dictating the letter, I had stopped paying attention to the security arrangement.

In fact, when I had to finally approve the VVIP security plan, I closed the door, prohibited visitors, and reviewed it for a few hours. Most tasks that truly matter require deep focus.

We glorify the guy who effortlessly multitasks five different things, doing each of them amazingly well. It is just a myth.

When each task is cognitively demanding, multitasking is like shooting at two targets with one bullet -- you will miss both.

Here is the algorithm for getting things done efficiently:

1. If you are a ‘normal busy’ guy with just a few to-dos: Do one thing at a time.

2. If you are a ‘crazy busy’ guy, with a million to-dos: Do one thing at a time.

3. Everybody else: Do one thing at a time.

***
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One of my best managers at McKinsey announced on day-1 of the client engagement, “Guys, let us aim to make it a 9 to 5 engagement – I mean 9 to 5 pm, not 5 am!”

We had never been able to do that on any engagement – least of all, on a super-intense, two-week due diligence, which this was.

The best thing about this manager was that no matter how much pressure came from the top, he would never pass it down. I know very few people who can do that – personally, I have also failed at that.

Since we liked him so much, he was the one person for whom we would have happily worked till 5 am. And we did – and everybody was happy doing it.

If a leader genuinely cares about the team, people will typically do anything for that person. Hard work is rarely a problem – all people want is respect and their bosses to care about them.

***
www.habitstrong.com

After my MBA, when I joined consulting, I imagined that we would solve complex business problems, and finally, when we presented our solutions to the clients, their jaws would hit the floor.

As it turned out, that jaw drop never happened. In fact, in the world of consulting, if your solution causes a jaw-drop, you are in for trouble. Here is why.

We assume that people are persuaded by logic. But we are a bundle of emotions, insecurities, and ego.

If you are an experienced business executive and one day, some Ivy League MBAs walk in to tell you how to fix your problem, what would be your reaction? 

Here are some thoughts any of us might have:

1. What can these guys tell me after four weeks which I haven’t figured out in 20 years?

2. Do they think I am not smart enough to solve my own problems?

3. What do they know about my business? Just looking at some data in a spreadsheet doesn’t make you an expert.

4. How will this affect my job? Are they out to get me?

And so on.

People are almost never persuaded by logic alone (unless you are a mathematician).

So what do consulting firms do? They present their findings to key team members separately (typically one-on-one) and get their feedback and buy-in.

And when the final presentation is made, nobody is surprised – it is the exact opposite of a jaw drop.

If you are looking to persuade people don’t just bank on facts and logic. Talk to them one-on-one. Hear their concerns, feel their emotions, and acknowledge their fears.

Then, and only then, do you have a shot at persuading them.

***
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It was an unequal race -- not fair.

During my 6th grade, our sports teacher announced an impromptu bike race to celebrate the end of the annual sports day.

The near-certain winner was the son of the Commanding Officer of the local air force station, who had an imported 5-gear bike. In those ancient days, geared bikes were virtually unheard of in India.

The race started with 7 to 8 participants but one by one, they started falling behind and dropping off. Finally, two kids were left -- one with the 5-gear bike and another with a normal red-colored Indian bike. 
 
The school was loudly cheering them -- both the kids were very well-liked. And soon, they were neck to neck, pedaling furiously, neither giving a quarter. But within a few rounds, the kid with the normal bike took over and won the race, amidst deafening cheers. 

We were stunned. How could an imported high-performance bike lose? 

Over the years, I have realized that what matters more is not whose bike has more gears but who has more spirit. Sure, you might have to paddle a bit harder, but that is life.

Life will always be unfair. There will always be someone whose bike has more gears than yours.

But no machinery in the world is more powerful than the human spirit. And you have that.

***
www.habitstrong.com

During my MBA, companies coming to Wharton for recruiting would hold networking sessions in the evening.

Students were expected to attend, show interest, and ask 'insightful' questions, such as, 'What is special about your firm's culture?' And to ask such gems, you would have to wait for your turn as a horde of us would be swarming around the recruiters. Ugh...

It was an orchestrated song and dance sequence - we had to pretend to be enthusiastic, and the recruiters had to pretend that they could not see through it. The only real thing, typically, would be the wine and cheese.

And if you did not network, you would not get shortlisted for the interviews, especially in financial services (e.g., investment banking).

Being an introvert, my plight should not be hard to imagine.

I sometimes felt like a serious misfit. And this was before the word misfit was glamorized and became aspirational.

Looking back, I feel relieved that it is over. But I also feel that it is ok if you don't fit in perfectly. The world is big, and there are opportunities for all kinds of people. I believe that if you keep your head down and work hard, you will find your place in the sun.

Maybe it is just rationalization. But, for now, it will do.

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 made a joining offer, which he accepted. And I was thrilled that we would be building it together!

But after a few days, he called to say that he was taking up another offer from one of India's biggest startups. I was shocked -- did we not discuss everything? Why did he not think about that?

I was disappointed but what could you do? What was done, was done.

Then, a few days later, he called and said, “After I declined your offer, I am feeling terrible and my heart is very much with your startup. Can I still join you?“

I asked him if he was sure. This time, he was quite clear and firm. And we were on again.

But again, after a few days, he called to say that he had changed his mind. I did not know what to say but we closed the matter.

And unbelievably, a few days later, he again called and said, “Would it infuriate you if I told you again that I want to join you?“ I could not believe it. But he sounded very sincere and full of remorse. So I said yes.

Do you know what happened next?

A few days later he called to say that other company had upped their stock option offer and he wanted to AGAIN go back.

I remember that phone call like it was yesterday. I remember where I was standing, and what it felt like -- I don't think words can describe it.

But as painful as it was, today, I am so thankful that he did not join. Not because he wasn't capable -- I still think he was brilliant -- but because life is not just about intellect.

Had he joined, he would have bailed at the first upset we suffered -- and I suffered every single piece of bad luck that was possible.

In the real world, brilliance is nice to have -- but grit and commitment are a “must have.“

If you have to keep checking whether your buddy is still there with you, your journey is doomed -- be it a startup or a high school project.

***
At HabitStrong, I run programs to break digital addictions, inculcate focus, overcome anxiety, and more: www.habitstrong.com

A decade ago, while running on Marine Drive in Mumbai, I saw a somewhat familiar face. But because of his sunglasses, I couldn't place him.

I then saw that the guy running next to him was a cop (the bulge of a pistol in his jacket gave it away). Since he was probably part of a security detail, I guessed that it was Anil Ambani he was escorting.

And at that moment, what struck me is this: We often lament that the rich have so much of an edge over others, and it is true.

But there are two areas where life is almost a level playing field.

The first is fitness. If Anil Ambani wants to stay fit, he has to get up and run; he can't ask his fitness instructor to run for him. And running a marathon will be as excruciating for him as for anyone else.

The second level playing field is time. Everyone has the same 24 hrs. With all the wealth in the world, you can't buy a minute more.

And here is the biggest irony. These two blessings that nature bestows on everyone equally, are the ones we throw away recklessly.

We destroy our time and attention like it has no value. And we ignore our health and fitness in the name of 'work' and other excuses.

If we want to do something, we find a way. Else we find an excuse.

Next time, choose very carefully.

***
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Two decades ago, when I was serving as in the police, I saw the current Kerala Chief Minister, Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan, personally lead a protest ‘dharna’ before the Trivandrum Collectorate. At that time, his party was in the opposition.
 
He was sitting on the road, raising slogans. As the day went on, it got excruciatingly hot -- the sun was beating down mercilessly. Yet, he did not budge an inch till 6 pm.
 
And this is not just him -- every grassroots political leader goes through an unbelievable struggle. And even then, fewer than 0.01% probably get to the top.
 
In fact, not just in politics -- this is true for any field. Some of my friends who run massively successful startups (including a mega-unicorn) look very lucky. Yet, I have known them struggling for years, doing things that never took off. 
 
When I was at the University of Pennsylvania, a few of my college contemporaries were assistant professors there -- and despite a top-notch Ph.D., post-doc, and lots of papers, they were on tenterhooks about landing a tenure. 
 
Some people might win a lottery. But those are rare exceptions. 
 
If you see someone who became successful easily, you probably don’t know them well enough. 
 
There is no shortcut.
 
Grind is the way. There is no other.

***
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In my first year at IIT, we had a race -- no, not the rat race, but a literal one. We had to pick a humanities course, which was assigned ‘first come, first served.’

Prof Amit Ray’s course on arts/design was the most popular -- he gave ‘A’ grades quite liberally. And the most dreaded was ‘Symbolic Logic’, where a ‘C’ would be respectable.

Given how lazy I was, I was nearly the last to register, and got ‘Symbolic Logic.’ 

Turns out, Logic was the only course at IIT that I really loved. It changed me so much that when I watched TV debates, all I would see was logical fallacies :)

Here is an illustration: If I say hard work is necessary for success, someone might say, “No, that guy worked hard and still failed.”

Turns out, ‘hard work is necessary’ does not mean it is sufficient. (In more technical language -- ‘Success implies hard work’ is not the same as ‘Hard work implies success.’)

But my point is something bigger -- conventional wisdom will often rank-order things and tell you what is good and what isn’t.

Conventional wisdom isn’t totally wrong but it is the ‘average’ viewpoint. But you are not the average of all human beings. Then why would you go with the ‘average’ viewpoint’?

Don’t go with the crowd automatically, because you are not the crowd. You are a unique individual -- there is nobody else like you.

So stand up for yourself because nobody else can, or will.

***
www.habitstrong.com

During my BTech days, when my classmates aiming for a Master’s or PhD in the US were slogging hard, the aimless folks like me were taking it easy.

I remember often pitying those people, and occasionally, even making fun of them.

But very soon, the tables were turned. In the final year, when these folks got their admission letters from US universities, they were all celebrating and chilling out. People like me had nothing to celebrate. At that moment, all their slog appeared totally worthwhile.

Even though I never aimed for higher studies, that was one moment when I did feel a tinge of regret.

Anyway, time flew and soon, it was my turn to slog for my Civil Services exam. At that time, all these guys with admission offers from the US were just hanging out, having fun.

The one lesson I learned is that if you have a dream, you have to pay a price.

You can pay the price now or you can do it later – but you can’t not pay the price. Then why not pay it now?

***
www.habitstrong.com

Yesterday, Nafisa Turabi messaged me, asking me to write about the Kolkata rape case. \n\nI honestly don't know where to start. But let me talk about one evening in 1991, when our hostel in IIT Kanpur was celebrating Hall Day.\n\nA bunch of us were walking towards Hall 3 with a few girls in our group. And some 2nd-year students started making aggressive lewd remarks (I even remember the name of the gang leader). \n\nAshamed and shocked, I did not know what to do -- we all pretended like nothing happened. Our silence enabled this behavior, while those guys tried to look macho. \n\nThat is how we build impunity. That is how it becomes okay to misbehave with women. That is how we embolden molestation and rape.\n\nIn any society there will be criminals and perverts. But that is NOT the point. The real point is -- what about the rest of us? Are we enabling that depravity, even if unintentionally, by tolerating and even justifying bad behavior (e.g., “boys will be boys“)?\n\nAnd many people will hate me for saying this -- are we not enabling it when our outrage is affected by the politics/religion of the victim or the perpetrator? When rape/molestation happens or is alleged, do we condemn it universally, or do 'terms and conditions' apply? \n\nWe can do all the whatabouttery we like, but when we kept quiet or chose sides, we enabled these crimes. \n\nWe can't have selective justice. Justice flows from the laws and the Constitution. But it also flows from you and me -- the way we behave day-to-day. \n\nNext, talking about the government and the police: I have only one thing to say -- your job is to do justice, not to manage the 'image' or do politics. Act swiftly, boldly, and ruthlessly (as per law) -- no matter who is involved. \n\nIf you want to really fix this problem, the Police, like the judiciary, has to be independent (at least for crime investigation). But who wants that?\n\nAs regards our criminal justice system, and how broken it is, I will have to probably talk for hours -- this post won't be enough. Maybe, I will share some thoughts on YouTube. \n\nWe are all outraged but if it does not deliver an impetus to real change, we will keep crying hoarse periodically. And nothing will change. \n\nAsk for justice, ask for change -- not just in this one case, but for all women.

“9-to-5 jobs are slavery. You work on someone else's dream -- and have no freedom, no flexibility. It is a shitty life.

“I was also like that once. But look at me now! I quit my job and work a few hours a day. And I earn a 7-figure income, live on a beach, and no longer drink water -- only margaritas.“

This seems to be the mantra on LinkedIn.

Every second person is pouring scorn on regular jobs and tempting you to leave your job and embrace entrepreneurship or freelancing.

This narrative is dangerous -- not because it is false, but because it is a half-truth.

Yes, there are many shitty jobs out there that don't deserve you. But there is nothing inherently terrible about a job and no inherent virtuosity in entrepreneurship.

First of all, you will always have a boss. For an entrepreneur, your customer or client is a boss. And you won’t find a more demanding one.

Second – for most people, jobs are great! They get to learn new skills, create financial security, and find a social environment. Early on in your career, that’s often what you need.

Most importantly – entrepreneurship is hard. So hard that 95% people should never do it.

Nobody will tell you this but until you hit product market fit, an entrepreneur’s life is hell. And most entrepreneurs never hit product-market fit.

All the people sipping margaritas on the beach are secretly working overtime to get clients and stay afloat. Just that you won’t see it on Instagram (or these days, on LinkedIn).

***
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I recently met a friend who has done very well professionally. And during our meeting, he happened to take out his wallet.

The wallet was so frayed at the edges that it seemed like it would disintegrate any time. But he was not self-conscious about it at all. Despite his incredible talent and intellect, he has no pretense -- no sense of 'What will people think.'

When he visits me, he usually borrows a car from some family member -- sometimes a small car, sometimes a big one, but neither he cares, nor do I.

But just imagine what freedom this carefree attitude gives him!

When you don't have to worry about appearances, everything becomes so simple, and you can focus on the things that really matter.

Just imagine if he worried about fancy cars, wearing only certain brands, or traveling a certain way -- it would take away so much peace of mind.

Even though I am aware of it, over the years, I have also 'upgraded' in many ways. Still, it is very useful to maintain some restraint, and more importantly, not get too attached to things.

We are all susceptible to external opinions, and it is not possible to totally eliminate them. But remember that every attachment you add, takes away a freedom you had.

Money may come and go. But that freedom we lose is priceless.

***
At HabitStrong, I offer programs for calm productivity, digital de-addiction, and building focus: www.habitstrong.com

Whenever I go running in the morning, I face two choices - run on the road OR in a stadium.

With Trivandrum’s undulating terrain, road running can be hard - the uphill stretches make you feel like your lungs are being torn apart. On the other hand, in the stadium, not only is the terrain flat, it is nicely rubberized.

Naturally, I always go for the easier option - I run on the road.

But why would road-running be easier? In the stadium, I need to do 25 laps to finish my 10 km. Every lap is a decision, and decision means agony. Your mind, replaying the agony of previous laps like a horror movie in a loop, keeps asking, 'How many laps left? When will this get done?'

On the other hand, on the road, you are running just one big lap, with the scenery constantly changing. There is no horror movie replaying in your head. You take just one decision to start running.

That is why road running is so easy, despite being objectively harder.

This is also a metaphor for life. When facing hardships in life, the physical pain of doing difficult things rarely defeats us. Almost always, what defeats us is our mind.

That is why changing our life has to always start with hardening our mind. Sometimes, the hard way is the only way.

***
www.habitstrong.com/reboot

Very early in my career, I developed severe back pain due to long hours of sitting. I knew that I should have gone for evening runs or sports, but I stayed late in the office to show that I was a sincere worker.

But one of my bosses would regularly go for his tennis games, at least a few days a week. And even today, after his retirement, he is very fit and lean.

In the end, it made no difference that I stayed late in office -- nobody cared, and even if anyone did, their opinion did not matter.

But the health issues I suffered have stayed on. For a decade, I struggled with severe back pain and injury. And even though I later rebuilt my fitness, some of the damage was irreversible.

Even today, I have to be careful with my back and sometimes, the pain recurs.

My biggest life mistake was ignoring my fitness for a decade. And my smartest move was rebuilding it when I was in the dumps.

I don't know what your job is like and what your lifestyle is. But I hope you will choose wisely and not repeat my mistake.

A decade later, nobody will remember how late you sat in office. But I promise you -- your body will not forget. Ever.

***
At HabitStrong, I run programs to break digital addictions, inculcate focus, overcome anxiety, and more: www.habitstrong.com

On 31st Oct 2002, a bloody riot on the roads of Trivandrum showed me an unseen side of human nature.

That morning, a protest march of 20,000 people was demanding the release of an extremist political leader, arrested in a bomb blast case. As the chief of the Trivandrum City Police, I was standing near the Secretariat gate, leading a huge police contingent.

Suddenly the protest broke into massive violence and brick-batting. As soon as we started the lathicharge, their main leader jumped a nearby compound wall and escaped, abandoning his supporters.

After a few minutes, the violence subsided but many protestors were refusing to disperse. We were persuading their leaders to get the crowd to go home but people were too inflamed to listen.

As we were getting ready for another lathicharge, their number two leader came to me and whispered, “Sir, I will quietly leave in 10 minutes. Then, you can do whatever you want with the crowd.”

My jaw dropped. He didn’t care if we did a lathicharge or opened fire.

Why were these people were risking their lives for leaders who cared little about them or the cause?

Because they had suspended their logical faculty and allowed themselves to be brainwashed by propaganda.

As humans, our biggest asset is our logical thinking -- suspend it, and someone will be ready to manipulate us.

***
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Should you join a consulting firm like BCG, Bain, or McKinsey? 
 
From my experience, here are the pros and cons:
 
1. The most important thing you learn in consulting is not analysis – it is structuring your thinking. 
 
Business problems are messy and at the start of a client engagement, you would get overwhelmed with information, not knowing where to start. 
 
These firms train you to quickly structure the information and put a problem-solving process in place.
 
2. Nothing clarifies thinking like clear communication, and these firms teach you how to write well – they are very good at that. 
 
I have lost track of how many times I would edit the executive summary – probably way too many. 
 
3. Solving business problems is not just about the ‘right answer’ but managing organizational politics. You become quite good at handling trouble-makers and getting a buy-in from clients. 
 
In fact, when we made the final presentation, we ensured that everybody was already sold on the findings – no surprises.
 
4. What about the quality of problem-solving itself? Here I feel a bit ambiguous. 
 
On the one hand, the methodology is rigorous and logical. But while you become quick at problem-solving, you rarely go deep – there isn’t enough time. 
 
I personally value depth more than speed and in my opinion, that remains a weak point. 
 
5. These firms are good at benchmarking, cost-cutting, and rationalizing your operations. In short, they help you become as good as others. 
 
But if you are looking for breakthrough innovation to outcompete everyone – don’t expect that from consultants. Innovation is the job of entrepreneurs – consulting does not teach you innovation or risk-taking.
 
6. These jobs don’t make you a great investor, even though they train you to be analytical. As an investor, I found that I would have been better trained under a good fund manager even though my slides would not look as polished :)
 
Even though consulting doesn’t train you to run a real business (e.g., sales or operations), you become a good learner who can quickly acquire those skills. 
 
So here is my final advice: If you have clarity about life – if you know that you want to become an entrepreneur, investor, or run a business, go do it – you don’t need to do consulting. 
 
But if you are unsure, consulting is a good option. You may not get much sleep though 😊

***
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During our induction training at McKinsey, we heard this story of how a senior partner once handled a really nasty client team member named Brett, who was infuriated with the McKinsey team.

When this partner met Brett, the latter exploded in anger at McKinsey and its team -- it was rant without substance.

The partner heard Brett for 10 minutes, interrupting not even once. Finally, when Brett stopped, all he said was, “Brett, there is nothing you have said that I haven’t heard. Now let us get back to the marketing issue we are grappling with.”

He did not debate or try to prove Brett wrong -- he just chose not to engage.

When provoked by someone nasty, we have the choice to engage, or not. But it is hard because our emotional reaction (e.g., anger) is automatic and instant -- it controls our mood and happiness as if we are puppets.

However, we can override this automatic response with mindfulness, creating mental space between stimulus and response -- that is where meditation comes in.

We can’t control the world but we can control how we react to it.

***
Today (Jun 19), I will conduct a mindfulness meditation training at 4 pm IST (6:30 am EST). Click ‘Free Programs’ on HabitStrong website to sign up.

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Today was a lucky day.

While walking my dog (Simba) in Trivandrum's Cantonment area, I heard a loud crash behind me. Not thinking much of it, I kept going.

But when I got into the car and started driving back, I noticed that a tree had fallen over the sidewalk, due to the overnight rains. I missed the tree probably by a minute.

Some days, you get lucky.

We keep planning our lives decades ahead. But we don't know where the next tree will fall.

Life is fragile. Cherish it.

During a leadership training at McKinsey in Chicago, we were split into teams and given a task: From cardboard kits for building toy planes, we had to build the most number of planes in a given time.

We thought it was a fun team-building exercise.

The plane assembly had multiple steps, e.g., folding, cutting, and gluing the pieces. But we weren't sure if each person should do one task (assembly-line style) or assemble a full plane.

To avoid wasting time, we just started building the planes haphazardly without any process or planning, and it became a mess.

We lost.

It turned out that the assembly-line technique, as well as each person doing a full plane, were equally efficient. The key thing was to have a process -- any process.

But instead of taking a few minutes to decide the process, to save time, we jumped right in.

And that hurry killed our chances.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten a lesson I had learned in the police: Always take the time to aim before you shoot.

In life, whenever you feel the panic, don't jump in. There is ALWAYS time to think and plan, remove any bottlenecks, and sharpen your knife.

Nothing wastes more time than random activity.

When I joined McKinsey in 2007, I thought I would be doing some really clever analysis to pull out blazing insights that had evaded the clients. I assumed that 'aha moments' would be raining.

It could not have been more anti-climactic.

In my first engagement, I spent something like 80% of my time doing the deck. The remaining 20% was also doing the deck. In short, except for lunch breaks, I was doing the deck. All the time.

Now, it is not that we did not do any good thinking or analysis. But polishing the communication was so much more than I expected. Why?

I gradually learned that polishing the story was a way to make you think about the problem, with clarity and structure. I still believe that problem-solving was under-emphasized vis-a-vis the communication, but I came out impressed with McKinsey consultants.

If all organizations can communicate like McK/BCG/Bain, I think it would do the world a lot of good.

Let me end with this question: Would I hire McKinsey someday? No. Because I would rather own the problem-solving than outsource it to someone. Also, I care about the right answer, not a consensus answer. No outsider will tell you what you don't want to hear.

But would I hire an ex-McK consultant? In a heartbeat.

***
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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 authority, firepower, and manpower I needed. Never did I have to worry about where the next month's salaries would come from -- it was the headache of the government treasury.

But it all came at a cost -- on my own, shorn of my position, I was practically a zero. I was merely reflecting the authority vested in the government.

In my second career (as a consultant and later as an investor), that total security and predictability was gone. But still, my brand was my employer's brand. And I survived on their financial resources.

The upside went up, but so did the downside.

Now, in my third career as an entrepreneur, I can do anything I want, but nothing is given on a platter.

If I need to pay salaries, I need to go find the money. If I need a brand, I need to go build it. The freedom is unlimited, but so is the burden.

You can seek whatever you want. But you have to pay the price.

In the end, it is all fair. No?

***
At HabitStrong, I run programs to break digital addictions, inculcate focus, overcome anxiety, and more: www.habitstrong.com

The employee who responds to every Slack message in 200 milliseconds is not your most productive one.

Instead, your star employee is the one who often goes off the grid for a few hours to focus on a high priority task. But this employee will not come to exist until we create the safe space for focus, eliminate the face-time culture, and measure outcomes (not time spent at the desk).

Staying active, and more importantly, appearing active, is very comforting. Alas, it is just a placebo.

Enough of placebos -- how long will we keep doing this nonsense?

Let us stop pretending, and start working.

***
I run HabitStrong (www.habitstrong.com), which offers programs for inculcating focus, productivity, and well-being.

In the US, when I had to hire people to help with moving my house, I paid them $25 per hr for the manual work – the money value of time there was quite high.

In contrast, physical goods in the US cost the same as in India, and sometimes, even less. I once bought pedestal fans at Walmart for $9 a piece – practically a throw-away price.

The biggest thing that differentiated the US from India was the money value of time.

In India, unskilled labor is cheap. And even skilled labor is not as expensive unless we go to the ultra-skilled category where people can easily move across geographies.

In India, we don’t think twice before spending an hour or two looking to save a few rupees while shopping online. Whereas, in the US, I have paid $10 to a concierge service just to book a doctor’s appointment for me – and mind you, the actual cost of the service was probably ten times that – the rest was paid by my firm (McKinsey).

If we want to see poverty going down, it will only happen if everyone, including manual laborers, starts getting good salaries. As we develop as a country, labor will become expensive.

The money value of time is the best indicator of how economically developed a society is. So let us not grudge it as people start demanding more for their time – that is how it should be.

***
www.habitstrong.com

If you want to rapidly rise up the leadership ladder, these are the things to do:

1. Don’t wait for people to tell you what to do. Identify problems or areas where can you contribute and then offer specific help. Take responsibility, even if small ones – and deliver.

2. When you flag a problem, if possible, also suggest alternative solutions. This is an extremely underrated trait.

3. If you or your team makes a mistake, take responsibility even for the team (if it makes sense).

Once a senior guy in my previous company told me, “It was not my fault, I did my part.” That was the moment I lost all respect for him -- because he was responsible for everything.

Oh, and by the way, if you are the CEO, it is all your fault -- no exceptions.

4. Don’t badmouth people behind their backs. And if others do that, step out of that conversation – signal that you are above pettiness.

5. Even if someone from another team is facing a problem, see if you can help. Don't say, 'That is not my problem.'

6. Finally, whenever possible, make sure that the buck stops with you.

Caveat: Do all of the above only within the limits of reason. I am not suggesting that you take up the world’s responsibility and drown in it.

When we join as a fresher, we are told what to do. But sometimes, that becomes our permanent mindset -- don't let it happen.

The day you start taking responsibility is the day you start growing.

***
In my fortnightly newsletter, I share ideas and action steps for building a good life. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gVfBTQsH

www.habitstrong.com

Procrastination is NOT laziness. And unless we understand this, we can't fix our procrastination problem.

We procrastinate when we don't know how to handle the negative emotions generated by a task (e.g., anxiety). We then avoid working on a task even when we know that doing so is harmful.

And do you know one of the top three reasons for anxiety?

Perfectionism. It is the belief that one can't afford to make any mistake.

Perfectionists are so scared of failure that they altogether avoid the task. What better way to make sure that you don't make any mistakes? One very common behavior is to distract yourself (e.g., check your phone). Unfortunately, after the momentary relief, you are back to square one.

Now, the pending task creates even more anxiety and soon, it feels like a trap.

Perfectionists also overthink and take excessive precautions. You may have seen people who keep tweaking emails or documents again and again, before sending them out. This is the perfect recipe for anxiety. And when anxious, you procrastinate even more.

So how can we solve this problem?

I don't want to give you generic solutions you will find on the internet. Instead, let me give you one specific action plan based on cognitive behavior therapy.

1. Identify how exactly you procrastinate. E.g., do you check your phone? Do you keep tweaking your work? Do you find other tasks to work on which feel lower risk?

2. The behavior you identified above are anxious behaviors. For each of them, identify a non-anxious alternative.

E.g., if your anxious behavior is to edit your documents or email again and again, the non-anxious alternative behavior would be to edit it once, and then do a final proofread.

3. Try the non-anxious alternative behavior identified above as an experiment. If this itself makes you anxious, think about the worst-case scenario and how you would cope with it. E.g., if the document you send out has a mistake, how will you handle it? Would a simple apology suffice?

Once you do this a few times, your anxiety and the resulting procrastination will decline.

Perfectionism is like carrying a heavy bag because we are afraid of putting it down. Please put it down -- nothing will happen.

***
I am soon launching a program on anxiety -- announcement coming soon.

In my fortnightly newsletter, I share ideas and action steps for building a good life. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gVfBTQsH

www.habitstrong.com

During my middle school in a small town in Assam, we had a very strict English teacher (Goswami Sir). Kids who couldn't answer his grammar questions got caned -- never a word of encouragement.

I am pretty sure that in their mind, our teachers rank-ordered us as -- ‘intelligent’, ‘moderately ok’, or ‘dumb’. And then, the kids rated ‘dumb’ rarely got encouragement -- only the stick. Fortunately, since I was good with my studies, I didn’t really mind it that much.

But looking back, I can see the damage we caused. By labeling people as ‘dumb’, we make kids believe that their ability and talent were determined at birth and they couldn’t do much about it.

This mindset fuels the belief that we don’t have much control over what happens in our life, which psychologist Martin Seligman calls ‘learned helplessness.’ You learn that you can’t change your situation in life.

‘Learned helplessness’ promotes pessimism and even increases the odds of the person suffering from depression in the future.

Be it in school or in the corporate world, by denying help and encouragement to people we label as ‘dumb’, we make them fail, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. This confirms our bias and we repeat this mistake with even more confidence.

Time to stop this. No?

***
www.habitstrong.com

During a training program at McKinsey, we were split into groups of 4-5 people and given a task – we had to build paper planes using a kit given to us.

To win, you had to build the most number of planes in the given time.

Naturally, all the groups started in haste. But the task was complicated and needed real teamwork. We all fumbled and tried to coordinate but our team did not do a great job.

After the activity, during the debriefing, the trainers asked, “How many groups chose a leader?”

Turned out, that very few groups did that. And without leadership or direction, we were very inefficient.

So the trainers asked, “Why did you not choose a leader?”

One of us said, “It was a peer group and nobody wants to appear bossy by trying to become a leader.”

That is when the trainer gave an unforgettable advice. He said, “One of you could have just said – I offer to serve the team as a leader if nobody else wants to. But if someone wants to, I would support that person 100%.”

All of us will someday lead other people. We will do well to remember that good leadership is a service you are offering to the team.

And the person who offers a service is a servant. Leadership is not an entitlement to boss over others.

***
Update: Today evening (3rd May), we are offering a free mindfulness meditation session at 7:30 pm IST. To sign up, visit our website and click on 'Free Programs.'

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During the first year of my MBA, as I sat down for the end-semester exam of the Operations Management course, a classmate next to me noisily opened a packet of potato chips.

As he started munching, its crackling and rustling sound irritated the hell out of me. How would I focus on the exam paper with this racket going on?

Soon, we got the exam paper. The first question was not easy but doable. So I dove in and managed to nail it. Then I attacked the next question, and so on.

Finally, when the paper got over, I took a deep breath and it almost felt like I was coming out of a bubble. I could now sense my breathing and realized that 2 hrs were nearly over. I had totally forgotten about my classmate, now sitting with an empty packet of potato chips.

It was an oddly satisfying experience to be so absorbed in an activity as to lose all sense of distractions and even the passage of time -- this is what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called ‘Flow.’

To be happy, we don’t need absurd amounts of money -- just create these flow experiences every day by working with intense focus, on activities you find meaningful.

***
On Sat, Apr 17, we are conducting a free ‘Flow and Deep Work’ session. To sign up, visit HabitStrong’s website, click ‘Free Programs’.

www.habitstrong.com

When we are swamped by the daily hype of startups, valuations, Series A/B/C/D... funding rounds, and exits, it is quite easy to fall prey to the idea that '9-5 jobs' suck.

Sometimes, I read things like 'Build your own dreams, or someone will hire you to build theirs', or some deep wisdom like that.

This is complete nonsense.

Most jobs suck not because they are 'jobs'; they suck because you are working with people you hate. Of course, some jobs are plain bad - because it takes all kinds of jobs to keep the world moving.

Secondly, there is this other nutty idea that by working for a company owned by someone else, you demean yourself. How so?

By that logic, working for Google is terrible because you build a great product (e.g., Gmail) and someone else gets rich. True. But what if the product bombs? You don't lose millions - you can just say 'sorry, bad luck', and move on.

Life is a risk-reward mixture.

If you are in a job, you are doing just great - please don't believe that you are a victim. Else you will spend all your life believing in unicorns and fairies, and nobody has seen them except in the world of make-believe and storybooks.

***
habitstrong.com

Two weeks ago, our dog (Simba) was very unwell and we took him to a government veterinary hospital in Trivandrum.

The senior-most veterinary surgeon promptly came but instead of starting treatment, he was hovering around like a manager.

So to give an IV drip, the junior vet tried injecting a needle multiple times but botched it up. Yet, the senior vet just watched mutely.

Finally, after many attempts, the junior vet somehow started the IV drip but soon, the needle came out of the vein. At this point at least, the senior vet should have picked up the needle and shown why he was the boss.

Instead, he just told us that Simba had gotten enough fluid and no more IV drip was necessary. He was heading a multi-specialty veterinary hospital and did not know how to give an IV! Talk about irony.

How do people remain so incompetent despite reaching the top?

It is the curse of seniority. Once you become senior, you sometimes lose touch with basics. But you hide your incompetence and avoid learning. And the more you avoid learning, the more incompetent you become. It becomes a vicious loop.

Here is a simpler approach -- as we grow senior, let us be shameless, ask questions, and relearn the basics again and again.

There is no shame in ignorance. The shame is only in perpetuating it.

***
At HabitStrong, I run programs to break digital addictions, inculcate focus, overcome anxiety, and more: www.habitstrong.com

Recently, a startup announced a revenue of Rs 10 crore. And profit? Actually, it lost more than 150 crores!

If you are wondering, “In which universe does this all make sense?”, welcome to the magical world of VC funding, my friend!

Today, this funding game is unwittingly destroying promising startups – here is how.

Take the case of an entrepreneur who has a promising product but hasn’t figured out a way to generate profits. Being ambitious and impatient, he wants to grow quickly, for which, he needs a lot of money.

So he approaches VCs and lures them, promising the moon. The VCs smell a 10x (or 100x) return on investment and jump in.

And this is when disaster strikes.

What should the entrepreneur be ideally doing if his business model is not profitable? He should put the VC money in a bank fixed deposit, and first fine-tune the product to fix its profitability.

Then, and only then, should he start spending on growth. But that’s not how it works.

Once the VC investment comes in, the clock is ticking – the entrepreneur has to deliver massive growth to get to the next round of funding at a 3 to 5 times higher valuation.

So he hires recklessly, does random acquisitions, and blows up money on advertising, celebrities, IPL, and so on -- anything to show 'growth' and get more investment.

And this circus continues until one day, he runs out of investors. Then, everyone starts talking about profitability. Sounds familiar?

Think about it: If your family business had a revenue of Rs 1 crore and a loss of Rs 5 crore, what would you do?

Shut it down or fix it. But the VC-funded entrepreneur does the exact opposite – he grows the losses from Rs 5 crore to Rs 20 or 30 crores to impress investors.

This perversion of incentives is what is driving this craziness in our startup world. And I am not sure how to fix it.

***
PS: I am not attacking VCs or entrepreneurs but the current system is broken. We can't unsee what is before our eyes.

www.habitstrong.com

In 2002, six lakh Kerala government employees went on a strike for 32 days. I was then heading Trivandrum City Police and saw first-hand how the government came to a screeching halt. \n\nYet, if some file had to be moved, it happened lightning fast because it would go straight to the decision-maker. Else, it would go through 4 layers of gatekeepers (clerks, senior clerks, very senior clerks etc.) and take forever.\n\nOur government is full of people who are paid to create friction - no exaggeration. \n\nBut why is it relevant today? \n\nDue to the lockdown, almost all state governments are on the verge of economic collapse - some states have lost 50-75% of their revenue. Kerala government did not have money to pay salaries last month.\n\nBut where does the government money go? A big chunk goes as salaries.\n\nIf you cut down 50% staff in most departments, the efficiency will go up by 100% (or more). Most of us have no idea what a money-sucking black hole our governments are. \n\nWe don't have money for migrant laborers and their children. But we have money for all these white elephants, wasteful schemes, and self-glorification in the name of nationalism.\n\nElections alone don't make a democracy, accountability does. Our road to real democracy, like the road of migrant laborers, is very long.

I was once talking to a UX designer in Bangalore, who was supposed to be quite good at her craft. And she explained to me some nuances of UX design quite well.

But when our discussion shifted to other social issues, she seemed quite lost. At one point, she decried why government ministers can’t fix all our social problems.

When I explained that these problems are complicated, and many require changes in legal frameworks, she said, “Why can’t the ministers issue the new laws?”

When I explained that it is the legislature that makes laws, and not ministers, she did not see much of a difference. At that point, our discussion was sort of over.

And it was not really her fault. The world is complicated and our understanding is often like that of the parable of 'the blind men and the elephant.' We understand some slices of the world really well but are quite oblivious to others.

This shows two different approaches to building a successful career.

The first one is going really deep in a narrow technical area – e.g., UX design, derivatives trading, etc.

But there is another approach – understanding the world widely, cutting across its disparate slices.

A good CEO of a large corporation can’t just make do by understanding the technical aspects of their business – they need to understand business strategy, people, finance, legal frameworks, organizational design patterns, and many other unrelated things.

As you look to build your career, there is no one right answer – choose what suits your personality and preferences.

But be aware that the ability to cut across knowledge domains and connect the dots will remain incredibly valuable, even for specialists.

And in the age of AI, that will be ONE skill almost impossible to automate.

***
In my fortnightly newsletter, I share ideas and action steps for building a good life. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gVfBTQsH

www.habitstrong.com

During my policing career, when interacting with very poor people, I would often notice an attitude of helplessness and resignation.

Life had probably battered them so much that they felt that nothing they did mattered. Martin Seligman, a renowned psychologist, called this 'learned helplessness.'

Seligman did experiments where dogs in an enclosure were given a mild electric shock. While one group of dogs could stop the electric shock by pressing a lever, the other group couldn't (their lever did not work).

The latter group learned that there was no point trying -- these dogs would not try to escape shocks even when all they had to do was jump over a small barrier.

But here is the interesting thing -- when experimenters physically lifted and moved these dogs to the non-shocking side of the enclosure repeatedly, some dogs started jumping over the barrier to escape the shock!

When people through traumatic experiences, they might acquire learned helplessness and stop trying. But if someone (e.g., your boss) helps you realize that you are not helpless and can change your fate, you will regain your confidence.

Humans are not helpless and change is always possible. But we need kind people around us, who can help us realize that.

That is why, when you have the option, choose good people over everything else.

***
At HabitStrong, I run programs to break digital addictions, inculcate focus, overcome anxiety, and more: www.habitstrong.com

Influencers sharing photos of their dream life on beautiful beaches, sipping cocktails, and working 3-4 hours a day -- is a scam.

They have only one goal: to make you feel unhappy and inadequate about your 'boring day job,' so they can sell you a pipe dream, and possibly some online product.

Instead of working 3-4 hours, the influencers are actually tearing their hair out 16 hours a day, trying to figure out how to maintain the facade of a dream life on Instagram or LinkedIn. This game gets harder and harder, and sometimes, these influencers do dangerous stunts and even get killed.

In their heart of hearts, most influencers probably envy the doctors and consultants they deride for their stability and predictability.

But even if you want to trade your day job for that life on the edge, remember that an influencer grabbing hundreds of thousands of followers is like winning a lottery.

The reason one lottery winner earns a million dollars is that a million lottery ticket buyers lose one dollar each. There can be only so many lottery winners and influencers.

99.999% of people who take online courses to become influencers can't become one -- it is simple math.

Some of us may not like our jobs or the lack of freedom. But the answer lies not in buying lottery tickets, but in building skills that can we can trade for better flexibility and salary.

As entrepreneurs, our obligation is to make people better, happier, and more fulfilled.

Let us not be Pied Pipers of Hamelin, leading unsuspecting people to their ruin. Unfortunately, that is what much of influencer culture has become.

***
I run HabitStrong, which offers programs for calm productivity, digital de-addiction, and building focus: www.habitstrong.com

A friend of mine is super-wealthy. And he has created all his wealth in the last decade or so through smart investing. 
 
But when I met him recently, he seemed quite dissatisfied with his life. He said, “If I look at my last 5 years, what did I do? There is nothing I have to show for it.” 
 
Mind you – in the last 5 years, the increase in his stock value would have been more than the wealth most of us will ever have. But that did not make his life feel less empty!
 
What bothered him was that he had not used his time well – he did not pursue things he found meaningful and enjoyable. 
 
Most of us are busy seeking financial security and wealth. And that is the right thing to do. But that pursuit should not numb you from asking the real question – when I look back at my day every evening, does it feel well spent? 
  
If the answer is often no, you need to change something because more money won’t change it. 
 
We can’t hide from this question forever. Nor can we philosophize it away as an unanswerable question about the 'meaning of life.'
 
Each day is an opportunity to shape one day of our life. 
 
And how we spend each day becomes our whole life. That is all there is to it – nothing more.

***
www.habitstrong.com

One of the consultants at McKinsey I worked with, is today leading McKinsey's digital initiatives. You might say -- naturally, an engineer can't help being an engineer!

But this person was NOT an engineer. He was a hardcore Pharma and Lifesciences specialist. When I worked with him (15 years ago), he had nothing to do with technology - except that, like us, he would use a laptop and email :)

Yet, over the years, he would have mastered the subject enough to guide the world's biggest corporations in adopting digital technology. And all these corporations would have large tech teams of their own!

Even if you are skeptical about the role of consulting firms in technology, it is incredible that one can make such a 180-degree switch so late in their career.

This guy was a wonderful human being and a very successful consultant. He could have kept doing what he was doing. But he must have seen an opportunity to do something more remarkable.

Life is changing faster than ever and it will keep throwing never-ending opportunities at us. But we have to get up and grab.

You can't just learn one thing and milk it all your life -- if you want to thrive, you will have to keep reinventing yourself.

Reinvent or stagnate -- that might be the only real choice before us.

***
I run HabitStrong, a startup that helps you break digital addictions, build focus, overcome anxiety, and more: www.habitstrong.com

When I was working as a consultant with McKinsey, I wanted to become an investor. And I was convinced that investing would be a cakewalk. After all, we were trained in problem-solving and logical thinking. 
 
What else would you need?
 
I then joined a private equity investment firm, where we had all the resources one could imagine. The PE/VC funds got the pick of top-quality talent. We had top financial services and law firms assisting us with due diligence. We had access to top sector experts for advice. 
 
Despite that, it was very hard to make good returns. What earlier seemed a cakewalk now appeared to be really hard. 
 
Why did I then feel so confident earlier? Because I knew very little about investing. 
 
In fact, there is a name for this phenomenon. It is called Dunning-Kruger Effect: “The less you know, the more confident you are. The more you know, the less confident you are.” 
 
But there is a serious upside to this ignorance. In fact, almost every entrepreneur I know has struggled way more than they expected. And had they known how painful it would be, many would have probably not even started. 
 
So is ignorance bliss? 
 
Not really, but often, it is unavoidable to start with. As we learn more, we realize how little we know and our confidence dips. But at some point, we learn enough to become confident again. 
 
This confidence, on the other side of ignorance, is what we are all seeking.

***
www.habitstrong.com

This is a true story -- at the ripe old age of five, I briefly became a thief. But before you judge me, hear me out -- I promise you, there is a lesson here.

When I was in first grade, in Bangalore, some neighbors used to play badminton near my house. After their game, they would occasionally forget to collect all the shuttlecocks lying around.

One day, after those folks had left, I stealthily picked up a shuttlecock. I had no use for it but once I acquired the first shuttlecock, something changed inside my head -- I wanted more.

Soon, I snapped up another one. Within weeks, I was an obsessed hoarder, with more than 15 shuttlecocks.

But one day, my luck ran out when a guy saw me picking up a shuttlecock. I promptly confessed, and giving me a mischievous smile, he seized all my shuttlecocks :)

Humans like to hoard things. Video-gamers collect points, Instagram influencers collect followers, art collectors hoard paintings -- the underlying value is not relevant.

In fact, the billionaire desperate to add another billion is just a ‘shuttlecock hoarder’ -- what will the additional billion really do for him?

But used intelligently, this trait can be a super life-hack.

To build any habit, you can tap into this ‘hoarder mindset’ by building a streak. Once someone has been running for 100 days or reading a book a week for a year, they will hate breaking it.

A video gamer I know got sucked into playing a video game for 4 years just for the reward points.

Our mind can attach value to anything once we start hoarding it. That is also why habit-trackers work.

Start building streaks -- it will motivate you more than any YouTube video ever could.

***
www.habitstrong.com

Which is the best running shoe in the world?

Who cares? You just need a good enough pair. Because the shoes won't run, you will.

And I am not being snarky here.

When we have to do something hard, we start looking for the 'best' tools -- the best shoes, the best bike, the best swimming gear, the best online course, whatever...

And we feel good about researching -- we think we are making progress even though we haven't moved an inch.

Buying stuff is not progress. Researching online is not progress. Discussing with friends is not progress.

Only one thing is progress -- doing.

Everything else, that merely comforts you, is a distraction. Kill it.

***
To break digital addictions, build focus, and build life-changing habits, check out our programs: www.habitstrong.com

To build a focused and good life — I share ideas and 'how-to guides' here: https://lnkd.in/gVfBTQsH

Years ago, one Saturday evening, I went to Rockefeller University in New York City to witness a piano competition.

To my untrained ears, each of the half a dozen performances I listened to, were equally mesmerizing. And yet, from all these virtuosos, only a few would go to the final round. And then, only one would win.

And even this winner will have to practice for many years to get to play in, say, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

It can take about 20 years of training in violin or piano to reach that level.

So how does one stay motivated to do this grueling training for 20 years, many hours a day?

The motivation cannot be money -- even an accomplished pianist typically earns less than a first-year analyst in Wall Street.

The only way to do it is to build habits and routines. But how do you stick to these routines?

It may start off with parental encouragement or pressure and external rewards, but what sustains you is the joy of creating music.

And over time, something magical happens -- you start believing that ‘I am a pianist.’ Your identity has now changed! And that is what will drive you every day.

To put in the years of grind and be the world’s best, change your identity. What you believe is what you will someday become.

***
www.habitstrong.com

When the gangster Vikas Dubey was shot dead by the police, I felt very conflicted.

Not because he did not deserve to die - if he did what is alleged, the death penalty was apt for him.

However, what if instead of killing 8 policemen, he had kept murdering civilians one at a time, without creating a sensation? Does a poor man’s murder deserve 'less justice'?

What about the murderers with political links? Or those who get elected? Would they meet the same fate?

Do you see the problem?

These encounters release public pressure and allow the system to keep rotting.

In this case, the police clearly did not believe that Vikas Dubey could have been brought to justice using the law. And sadly, they were right.

If Vikas Dubey can't be prosecuted and hanged, then change the law. Change the police training, and if needed, change the people who investigate.

Otherwise, we are treating stage-4 cancer like a minor lump.

I am not judging the cops - I am challenging the approach.

These murderers must meet the full force of law, like a sledge-hammer, even when an ordinary citizen is victimized.

Shooting a murderer, while 100 others go scot-free due to a broken justice system, is not justice.

Sorry.

It is time for surgery, not bandaids.

***
www.habitstrong.com

During my stint as an investor, once the CFO of an Indian conglomerate came to our office with his team. They were looking for funding since their businesses were not doing very well.
 
During the discussion, just to see how clear their thinking was, I asked the CFO, “What is your cost of equity?”
 
He said, “25%.” 
 
When I asked him to explain, he said, “We pay 25% dividend.” 
 
While it was shocking to see a CFO being so uninformed, I could empathize that the terms like ‘cost of equity’ or ‘cost of capital’ are not very intuitive.  
 
In fact, when I first heard these terms during my MBA, it all sounded very technical – I knew how to derive them using CAPM but did not really understand what they meant. 
 
Those days, if you had asked me whether the cost of capital was the same for an American vs. a North Korean investor, I would have run away.
 
But much later, it struck me that when we say ‘cost’, we mean ‘opportunity cost.’ As simple as it was, that aha moment clarified everything. 
 
‘Cost of equity’ of a company ‘A’ is what the investor would have earned by investing in another similar company. But by investing in ‘A’, he is giving up that alternative return – hence, that is the opportunity cost. 
 
So a North Korean who can’t put his money to good use, has a very lost cost of capital – whatever he can earn locally. But if he can smuggle his money out and invest on the Shanghai stock exchange, his opportunity cost goes up! His cost of capital has now changed.
 
True understanding = Intuition.

Jargon is best used to confuse others (and oneself).

***
www.habitstrong.com

If you check out any video of Bill Clinton in a crowd, you will notice something remarkable. Whenever he shakes hands with a person, he gives that person his 100% attention, ignoring everybody else. 
 
For those few moments, that person would feel like the most important person in the world for Clinton. This was one of the things that made him so famously charming. 
 
But this is such a simple thing that we can all do it. 
 
Whether talking to our colleagues, parents, or even strangers – give them your undivided attention, even if for just a few moments. WhatsApp can be checked later. The email can wait. The person in front of us is the VIP. 
 
People may forget what we did for them but they will remember that we attended to them like they mattered. And if people don’t matter, what else possibly can?

***
www.habitstrong.com

One of the most terrifying things for a human is to stand alone in a crowd. And one person who displayed this unusual courage was my first boss in the Indian Police Service – Vinod Thomas.

Among the thousands of police officers in Kerala, he was probably the only one to say:
1. You can’t beat up an accused to solve a crime case.
2. You can’t detain people illegally.
3. You can’t refuse to register an FIR when merited.

And even for doing something so simple, there wasn’t one person to support him – he stood all alone.

In fact, after he was transferred out, during a crime review, I heard a very senior officer grumble, “Why are so many FIRs unnecessarily registered for these minor offences?”

The majority rarely wants to rock the boat. If you want to bring change, you need to be willing to be a minority of one – you have to stand alone.

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