Did You Fire the Boss? Image: source Boss stormed to my desk, shouting, “it’s the fifth time you’re late to work this week. What’s the meaning of this?” I, obviously surprised and confused, replied, “that… it’s finally Friday?!” Early in my corporate career, whenever I was to interview for a job, there was one piece of advice I…
Image: source B2B and B2C Customers For the longest time, Retail, or Business-to-Consumer (B2C) ‘customers’ have been accustomed to, and driven by, fads, hype, distorted facts and price wars, to influence their buying choices. Busines-to-Business (B2B) customers on the other hand, used to (and hopefully still do) represent the more rational side of decision-making. They use,…
Image: source This is a heads-up for Tata Sky satellite television provider customers. Here’s something Tata Sky has been doing as standard procedure, that I find questionable. If you’re subscribed to an annual plan, and say you cross your billing deadline by even a day, they automatically switch you to either a 6-month billing cycle, or worse,…
Image: Robin Williams in the Bicentennial Man Yuval Noah Harari paints an interesting and arguably grim picture of the future, in his book Homo Deus. He runs through possible ways in which the world and we humans might evolve. To give you a glimpse, think of computer programs evolving at the blistering pace they are. From predicting…
Benjamin Franklin | Image: source How open or rigid, would you say your views and beliefs are? Here’s an excerpt from Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, in which he mentions the following interaction with someone: I was acquainted with one of its founders, Michael Welfare, soon after it appear’d. He complain’d to me that they were grievously calumniated…
Imran Khan is a decent actor. Delhi Belly was probably the best of the lot he has churned out. Then there’s Babita Kumari. A Silver medalist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Then a Bronze medalist at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships. And finally, a Gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games!! Her remarkable story, and that…
In his book Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari mentions Russia’s greatest short story writers Anton Chekhov having once said that a gun appearing in the first act of a play will inevitably be fired in the third. Yuval says that since 1945, humans have learned to resist the urge to use weapons of war. Hopefully meaning we have become more…
One of the early screening processes to make it to the defense forces, is that of physical fitness. It is one of the more fundamental requirements of the job. Of course, subsequently, those who make the cut are broken down and rebuilt to be stronger, both mentally and physically. In the corporate battlefield, potential candidates are put…
We are all familiar with the three colours on traffic lights. They remain a classic example of universally recognizable design. But are the colours effective and safe, or do they need a re-look? Colour blindness has been known to affect about 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women the world over. That translates to…
Image: source A few years ago, my dad had pointed out how refreshing it was to hear All India Radio. All India Radio is India’s national, public news radio station. He said it was a welcome change to listen to just the raw news, especially after years of private news channels on TV. It made sense…