Would You Prefer an Anish Bhanwala or Tejaswani Sawant in Your Team ?

With Commonwealth Games concluding today, it left behind

many incredible moments.

One memorable moment for me happened on Day 9.

On Day 9, Anish Bhanwala won the Gold in 25m Rapid fire Pistol event. Anish is a 15-year-old athlete (yes you read it right, 15 years).

On the same day, Tejaswani Sawant won the Gold medal in 50m Rifle shooting event. Tejaswani is an 37-year-old experienced shooter.

Shooting is predominantly a precision, skill based sport. A 15-year-old winning a Gold is stunning given the maturity, calmness, nervelessness needed at the very moment you are competing. A teenager exhibiting such poise is phenomenal to say the least.

The sport also requires a sharp mind and vision and that makes a 37-year-old winning Gold very special. During interaction with another exceptional medal winning teenager, Mehuli Ghosh, Tejaswani seemed to have said “You are 17 years of age and my shooting experience is 18 years”.

I feel these stories are important to be told and reflected upon because they are the reflection of the world that we belong to. Two different personalities, from two different generations but both brought glory to the country.

Delving deeper, these instances also gives a fine glimpse in the current and the future workplace. I share a few of my inferences below:

1. Among the employees at workplace, It is now a new normal for team members with generational differences.

2. With right kind of mentoring, guidance and support systems, millennials can deliver punch much above their weight.

3. The rules of game are fast changing but the right kind of experience will have a valuable place at workplace. The tacit knowledge and situational awareness that experienced people brings in, will remain treasured.

4. The way we measure experience will evolve from mere age or years of doing something to more meaningful ways. In my humble opinion, years as an unit of measuring experience is more an indicator of time elapsed, not necessarily an indicator of superiority of skills or presence of extraordinary wisdom.

5. In today’s world, the time taken to master skills is shortening considerably. It is a new imperative for both the experienced people and millennials to discover newer ways to shorten skill learning cycles.

What are your takeaways?

Agree or disagree- do leave your thoughts in comments?

Image Source:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/commonwealth-games/cwg-2018-15-year-old-anish-creates-history-tejaswini-rolls-back-the-years/articleshow/63756028.cms

http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/commonwealth-games/cwg-2018-day-9-highlights-shooters-break-records-bajrang-punia-bags-gold/

One Minute Blog: My Speech at Illinois Institute of Technology Graduation Day

I recently blogged about this in detail, but for those of the readers who prefer brevity, here is a concise version of the blog. This speech got a sizable traction in social media with 15000+ views on LinkedIn and 500+ on YouTube.
The key points that I shared during my speech are summarized below, followed by a Sketchnote.

1. Stay in the present

• "Just block all the future thoughts and bask in the glory of current moment."
• "Embrace this time with all your senses."
• "Seize the moment."

2. Think Big:

• "Let this not be the defining moment of your life."
• “Educational Qualifications are not the ends in itself, they are the means to achieve something greater.”

3. Embrace Non-linearity

"Skills do have an expiry date and this expiry date is shortening by the day."

"Continuous learning is not a differentiator anymore, it is a mandatory."

“If we do not change the way we teach, 30 years from now we will be in trouble."- Jack Ma

"Learn Empathy"