Learning from the Early Stage of Life Many amongst my readers, especially those who did their schooling during 1960s and were part of the Boy Scout movement, would recall that one of the cardinal message dinned in our heads was, “Everyday, do at least one good deed”. I had also gone through this training. ButContinue reading “A LITTLE EMPATHY GOES A LONG WAY”
Author Archives: H K Agrawal
WHO AM I ?
Is this not the most eternal, existential question which human beings have been asking for ages? Many philosophers and religions have attempted to answer this question in their own way. I can not even dream of competing with the profound knowledge of the scriptures and philosophies when it comes to demystifying this question. I, however,Continue reading “WHO AM I ?”
HANDLING UNCERTAINITIES OF LIFE
As I navigate the 7th decade of my life, living in a time when the fragility of life is becoming so evident, I am left thinking on how to deal with something that is the most certain in life but the most uncertain in timing. There is a lesser-known story, about this dilemma, from MahabharatContinue reading “HANDLING UNCERTAINITIES OF LIFE”
Revenge – a Destructive Emotion
Of all the negative human emotions, revenge is one of the most destructive one. Humans get blinded by the burning desire to take revenge – in the process both parties (one who wants to take revenge as well as the receiver of the vengeance) get harmed. Most of us do not consciously realise that revengeContinue reading “Revenge – a Destructive Emotion”
Out of Box Thinking
Out of Box thinking is a well-known cliché in management jargon. It is used for innovative, nonlinear, disruptive original thinking beyond what appears to be obvious. Such thinking has led to major inventions and innovations both in technologies and processes. For example, in most businesses, annual budgets used to be drawn up by extrapolating pastContinue reading “Out of Box Thinking”
In Search of Joy
This title may surprise some of my readers as the normal term used is “In search of happiness” (this is also the title of a book written by my good friend Prof Rakesh Sarin of UCLA). Let me explain my thought process behind this unusual title. Happiness (Hindi Translation Khushi) In my definition, Happiness isContinue reading “In Search of Joy”
HUMAN LIFE CYCLE
Most of us are familiar with the concept of Product Lifecycle. But today let’s talk about Human Lifecycle. Traditional Ancient View As per the ancient Indian scriptures, human life was divided into 4 equal phases of 25 years each, assuming a 100 year life span. They were: Bramhacharya: This is the first stage (from childContinue reading “HUMAN LIFE CYCLE”
How Effective Are Multiple Quality Checks
Anyone, who has travelled through any airport in India, would have noticed a strange obsession. The baggage tag on carry on baggage is checked multiple times by different persons – at the end of the security check, at the boarding gate, at the stairs of the aircraft. I always wondered what purpose did so manyContinue reading “How Effective Are Multiple Quality Checks”
Action and Result: are they correlated?
In my childhood, I used to read a children’s magazine called “Chandamama”. Every issue of Chandamama carried one story from a series called Vikram and Vaital. The premise is thus: Vikramaditya was a very wise and honest king. A tantrik (a spirit doctor) requests Vikram to help him in completion of a major ritual byContinue reading “Action and Result: are they correlated?”
FUTURE IS BRIGHT
There are a few well known and universally recognized principles in Economics and Finance when it comes to sick companies. These are Do not throw good money to chase bad money Concept of sunk cost Cut your losses The Situation I was working as adviser to the scion of a traditionally managed Indian conglomerate. MyContinue reading “FUTURE IS BRIGHT”
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