Taoism is a philosophy of China, which celebrates 3 treasures, compassion, humility and frugality. Around the 9th Century, Taoists wanted to prepare a material for medicinal purposes, but also something that could be the elixir of life (something that grants eternal life or immortality). Predictably they couldn’t create it. In all these experiments they finally ended up creating another substance. Gunpowder.Continue reading “Biden, MI, Ant, Gig Economy, WeWork: The Irony that is Life”
Category Archives: A Week of this World
Samsung, Apple, Future Group and the Best Banker: The Leadership Decisions that Changed the World
About 5-6 decades back Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart decided to setup a Saturday morning meeting with all the employees of Walmart. The idea was to improve culture and increase transparency for faster decision making. It increased peed of decision making and it empowered another level to take calls on their own. 60 years down the meeting is stillContinue reading “Samsung, Apple, Future Group and the Best Banker: The Leadership Decisions that Changed the World”
Instagram, Data-less AI, Jacinda Ardern, Unicorns & Platinum: The Week’s Most Interesting
The only thing that doesn’t change in the world is that people start their articles by writing about how fast the world is changing. So, I don’t want to change the trend. The world is changing, but the beauty of it is you don’t see it happening. The changing world is very similar to your changing weight. The infinitesimallyContinue reading “Instagram, Data-less AI, Jacinda Ardern, Unicorns & Platinum: The Week’s Most Interesting”
Silicon Valley, Trade, CRISPR and School Education: The Invisible Variable Syndrome
We have powerful enough computational power in the world today that if you do enter in all the variables required to predict the future then you are most likely to get a very accurate forecast. This exceptional power can blur the line between reality and science fiction. But the challenge in such models is the same as itContinue reading “Silicon Valley, Trade, CRISPR and School Education: The Invisible Variable Syndrome”
Democracy, Babies, Big Tech, Germany and UK: The Reluctance that Defines Us
Reluctance is one of the most complex equations of the human mind. Reluctance that comes from conscience, the reluctance that comes from inertia and the reluctance that comes from being hesitant to burden new responsibilities all bring new complexities into decision making. There is some science behind it. The brain has D1R neurons which simply tell youContinue reading “Democracy, Babies, Big Tech, Germany and UK: The Reluctance that Defines Us”
Non Profits, Fintech, Next Billion, Magic Leap and Parque das Tribos: The Week’s Most Interesting
I wanted to find the first example of overcoming adversity for today’s piece. The history of adversity is so old and the need to overcome it so strong that you just can’t trace the first example of it. It is part of that inherent character of human beings. The faster you get over denial, the faster youContinue reading “Non Profits, Fintech, Next Billion, Magic Leap and Parque das Tribos: The Week’s Most Interesting”
WhatsApp, Amazon, Boeing, Digital Education and Chips: The Week’s Most Interesting
Knowledge is knowing that you will fail. Experience is remembering that knowledge after you fail. Wisdom is remembering that experience before you start working on something new. And that wisdom teaches you to focus on the process. Because the process is the best chance of winning. Shortcuts and hacks are ways to win once if the stars alignContinue reading “WhatsApp, Amazon, Boeing, Digital Education and Chips: The Week’s Most Interesting”
Netflix, Waze, World Map, USA Debt and Ant Financial : The Week’s Most Interesting
In 1840 Thomas Carlyle produced the Great Man theory, aimed at making a universal theory of what makes great leaders. He studied a large number of leaders and came up with a definitive theory of that time. It is fascinating to read about it with today’s context. A lot has changed ( it should now be calledContinue reading “Netflix, Waze, World Map, USA Debt and Ant Financial : The Week’s Most Interesting”
Batteries, Blockchain, Ads, Medicines and Nuclear Power: The Week’s Most Interesting
The ability to predict the future is crucial. It is the crucible on which every leader whether corporate or global is measured. But the crystal ball of the real world is bound by a hundred variables and that makes it supremely complex. From the decline of West Indian cricket to the over dependence of middle eastern countries on oil,Continue reading “Batteries, Blockchain, Ads, Medicines and Nuclear Power: The Week’s Most Interesting”
Belarus, Federal Reserve, Covid Vaccine, Moskovitz and Abe: The Week’s Most Interesting
Philosophy has a deceptively simple concept about social decision making called the Veil of Ignorance. The concept in short talks about the approach to decision making, in choices that have large scale impact. The idea is that the decision maker makes decisions not knowing who he would be in the society. So for example if the personContinue reading “Belarus, Federal Reserve, Covid Vaccine, Moskovitz and Abe: The Week’s Most Interesting”
Ruminated 