One Minute Blog: Key Learnings from Finishing Jaipur Marathon

In the first week of July, I completed the Jaipur full marathon (42.195 km), aptly named as the 'hot' run, with temperatures soaring to 40 degrees celsius plus.

Sharing some fine learnings here:

1. The route included long, never ending roads. Such tracks can lure runners to think that nothing is changing after running several km as one sees the similar surroundings, same plain roads. Breaking the monotony was the key, especially at the later kms. How does one break the monotony in a physically demanding and a mentally draining sport? - By not thinking beyond the next step of the run, by keeping a tunnel vision just on the next km.

2. One of the advices I recently read from an acquaintance who was on radio for the first time, he shared- "while on air, audience can listen to your smile. So smile and talk". Likewise, while running, especially in gruesome conditions, it helps to run with a constant smile and encourage the fellow runners. I have no scientific proof to prove this but it has worked now and in earlier runs almost as if "while on track, your legs can listen to your smile."

3. Lastly, life lessons aren't best learned while on the couch with our favourite gadgets but right in the trenches, while being amidst nature at its extremes and dealing firmly with what it has in store for you.

Zinnov Confluence 2018: Sharing a Perspective on Future of Work

I recently got an opportunity to share my perspective on the topic of  'Future of Work'. This was during the recently concluded Zinnov Confluence 2018.

Sharing below ~12 min opening note on the topic.

Please do view, share your feedback.

One Minute Blog: Key Highlights from Citrix Synergy 2018

To Quote Tim Minahan, Chief Marketing Officer @ Citrix:

Citrix Synergy 2018 is all about showing the world how Citrix powers a better way to work. It’s about unifying our vision and providing creative solutions to give our customers the security, choice, and experience they demand.

Citrix Synergy 2018 was an awesome showcase of technology that defines the future of work. David Henshall, CEO @Citrix delivered a powerful, super-energetic keynote that was followed by cool demos aptly showcasing the future of work.

So, what were the announcements made ? Do catch-up my sketchnote summarizing the key messaging from Citrix Synergy 2018.

One Minute Blog: Under the hoods- Citrix Workspace App

At the Citrix Synergy 2018, one of the most prominent announcements made was the unveiling of Citrix Workspace. Citrix Workspace provides the next generation user experience for accessing any application- SaaS, web, mobile, virtual and reliable accessing any content.

This awesome blog by Jeroen van Rotterdam explains the technical goodies behind Citrix Workspace.
Citrix Workspace: Embedded Browser vs Secure Browser Service vs Secure Browsing

If you want to catch-up with quick snapshot view of technical working of Citrix Workspace, here's my sketchnote:

#podcastdiaries: Timeless Skills for the New World

Recently came across this wonderful podcast between Ravi Venkatesan (former CEO of Microsoft India) and Pankaj Mishra (CEO of factordaily.com). This conversation revolved primarily around how careers of future will evolve.

Summary of conversation:

Rebooting the Core Career Principles:

New world requires core career principles to be rebooted. What are the new principles?

    1.      The reason we were born on earth is not to have a job; most of us are searching for the reason as to why we were put on the earth. The job is only a means to that bigger end.

    2.       The biggest obstacle to your success is you. Learn to get out of your own way.

    3.       Be the CEO of your own career.  You better take charge of your career because nobody else will.

    4.       Don't get fooled into thinking that you have a lifelong career. At any moment, you need to be able to prepared to be independent and stand on your own 2 feet. If you prepare yourself for that you are going to have much better ride.

    5.       The chances of you getting a great job by pursuing it are not so great. Its far better to make yourself attractive and let the jobs/opportunities come your way.

    6.       Stay away from the sense of entitlement: Nobody owes you anything.

What are those Timeless Skills that will sustain any disruption ?

#1 Learning Ability (Learning Agility):

If a person is thrown into a situation that they have never seen or experienced, how quickly can they figure out what it takes to succeed. Learning agility is a muscle, the more you practice, the stronger it becomes.

People who have learning agility

1. tends to be intensely curious about everything,

2. they tend to like to read,

3. they tend to like new challenges,

4. they don’t like predictable things,

4. they like ambiguous situations.

No matter what you know today, in 2 or 3 years it is going to be obsolete. The ability to forget and relearn new things goes a long way.

Each time you take a risk and put yourself out of the comfort zone, learning happens. That's how this muscle called learning agility develops. Repeatedly throw yourself in a completely new situation. This is one of those horizontal skills that you can see that will never be obsolete.

#2 Ability to lead:

Second skill that is going to be timeless is the ability to lead. No matter how much automation is there, there would always be people around and the ability to lead them to do amazing things is a very precious quality. What limits the ablity of an organization to grow- it is frankly the number of leaders it has. Leadership is not the same as position of people in authority.

Most people could be a leader, they have the latent potential but a very few end up harnessing it. The first step it takes to become a leader is to take ownership of something.

#3 Ability to manage yourself:

The biggest obstacle to your success is you. Sooner or later, we each become the barriers to other's success. We have to learn to get out of our own way.

It takes high degree of self-awareness.

Metaphor of a giant balloon: Think of a giant hot-air balloon which has a huge lift, thats your potential. You could be anything but this balloon is held down by thick ropes or chains. These chains are your weaknesses, your fears.

Don't create stories in your mind that are self-limiting.

People who are able to succeed beyond luck are the ones that are able to see whats holding them down and gradually unshakle themselves.

Here's the sketchnote summary i drew for the podcast:

One Minute Blog: 2 Traits that Define World's Greatest Founders

Further to my last blog and continuing my quest to decipher the learning habits of most influential leaders, I stumbled upon this extraordinary article by Michael Simmons (Titled: 5-Hour Rule: If you’re not spending 5 hours per week learning, you’re being irresponsible.)

While i provide a brief summary below of what i learned from this as below in a few points, I would highly recommend reading through this article 

1. The founders of the five largest companies in the world—Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, Larry Page, and Jeff Bezos— All have two uncommon traits.

• a. Each of them is a voracious learner.
• b. Each of them is a polymath.

2. A voracious learner as someone who follows the 5-hour rule—dedicating at least five hours per week to deliberate learning. When you become a voracious learner, you compound the value of everything you’ve learned in the past.

3. A polymath is someone who becomes competent in at least three diverse domains and integrates them into a skill set that puts them in the top 1% of their field. When you become a polymath, you develop the ability to combine skills, and you develop a unique skill set, which helps you develop a competitive advantage.

4. Three strong (and wrong) messages we've all been in taught in school, in college:

Lie #1: Disciplines are the best way to categorize knowledge.

Lie #2: Most learning happens in school/college.

Lie #3: You must pick one field and specialize in it.

"It’s important to teach to the problem, not to the tools. Let’s say you’re trying to teach people about how engines work. A more traditional approach would be to say, ‘We’re going to teach all about screwdrivers and wrenches, and you’re going to have a course on screwdrivers and a course on wrenches …. That’s a very difficult way to do it.A much better way would be to say, ‘Here’s the engine. Let’s take it apart. How are we going to take it apart. Oh. We need a screwdriver. That’s what the screwdriver is for. We need a wrench. That’s what the wrench is for.And then a very important thing happens. The relevance becomes apparent.": Elon Musk

Do catch my sketchnote on this article below:

One Minute Blog: How To Learn Anything In Half The Time

I read these 2 things recently that resonated quite well with me in the midst of the world being redefined rapidly by technological forces:

1. Technology usually takes away professions, not jobs.

2. We won't run out of jobs, We will run out of trained people.[Credits: Abhijit Bhaduri]

I found the second statement profound majorly for the reason that it is progressive. It does gives confidence that with right kind of (and timely) training and learning strategy, it is possible to approach the future with great vigor.

Learning is no longer a tactical function or should i say organizations that take learning as tactical stands to reach obsolescence sooner than later. The organizations that treat learning as a strategic function stands a great chance to beat the multiple forces (technological and beyond) organizations are dealt with.

In my quest to figure out learning strategies for the future, i ran into some wonderful content by Jim Kwik,  founder of Kwik Learning, is a world expert in speed-reading, memory improvement, brain performance, and accelerated learning. 

This blog is a sketchnote presentation of one of his popular YouTube video on the topic: How to Learn Anything in Half The Time.

Enjoy the learning and please do share your feedback.