Today I had an interesting experience at Subway. Standing in the queue for a quick sandwich, I observed the sandwich artist creating great sandwiches. The people in front of me had ordered variety of meat sandwiches. The sandwich artist was using her hands (with gloves, of course) to handle the meat. I am a vegetarian… Continue reading
Date Archives → March 2006
Ways to distinguish yourself – #118 Make a difference, however small it is…
I am sure most of you would have read the “The Star Thrower” story by Loren Eiseley (Link) Here it is again… The Starfish Story Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before… Continue reading
Ways to distinguish yourself #117 Understand the power of incentives
I want to draw your attention to two items: 1. Real Estate agents and their incentives: I was reading Freakonomics the other day. Steven Levitt beautifully explains the power of incentives in several chapters. In one example, Levitt talks about his study where it was found that the real estate agents tend to sell their… Continue reading
Beyond Code reviewed at "The CEO Refresher"
Nail in the fence – Special for National Friendship Week
I got this beautiful note from my friend Mukundan. It was part of a “National Friendship Week” campaign. I am posting this because as readers of this blog, you are all my friends. Some of you I will meet, some of you- I will communicate by email and some of you I may never interact…. Continue reading
CIOUpdate column – "Looking at the big picture"
My March column for CIOUpdate has been published. Everyone of us know that we need to “look at the big picture.” That requirement is a given. I write about what are some questions that you should ask yourself to get the big picture for the projects that you are currently working on. Here is the… Continue reading
Ways to distinguish yourself #116 Aim to become a transformer
If you ask me what is the simplest discovery that has broad applicability in almost all walks of life, I would say it is the bell curve. You can explain a ton of things just by applying the bell curve theory (if there is one) Getting advise is really easy. What might be very complicated… Continue reading
Quotes worth recording – Thomas Edison
Bill Soby of Silicon Valley Innovation Institute mentioned this quote during our conversation this evening. Most of us have untapped potential that will remain untapped for a long time. One reason is that if our current use of potential is getting us through, where is the big incentive to stretch further? “If we all did… Continue reading
Ways to distinguish yourself – #115 Get to the real question please…
I have written a lot about questions and there is a still a lot more to write. The internet has made it easy to find answers for our questions. This is just great. However, this is causing a problem too. The moment we have a question, we try to find answers from various sources out… Continue reading
Ways to distingish yourself – #114 Improve your Net Caring Critic Score
I wrote earlier about not to look to get drowned in positive feedback. This is an extension of the same. Some of you sent me an email stating that negative feedback alone won’t help either. I agree. Note: If you are someone who is always on your own and never bother to get feedback, the… Continue reading