Category: Mirror -My Reflections

Listening -My Known Weakness, 08 10 2025 Despite conscious efforts I am a bad listener. The three symptoms of my malaise are prematurely judge what the speaker is about to say based on their first few words, preparing my response even as they are speaking, and focusing on substance to lose sight of the emotions of the speaker. You would think this awareness should help me get better, but sadly this has not been the case till now. Attempt to …

The Human Theatre In the drama of human life, response to uncertainty can take any one of the four avenues. You can be the optimist who sees light ahead, or the pessimist who fears every shadow, the fatalist who is resigned to whatever happens or the fanatic who believe they can rewrite any play. While optimistic and pessimist are more frequently used labels, fanatic and fatalist are the stronger but lesser used labels. But understanding all the four types is …

Euphemism in Economics, 06 10 2025 Euphemism is a polite way for saying something harsh, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Calling older people, senior citizens, or a fat person well fed, or sacking employees letting them go, are some examples. But economists have mastered the art of euphemism: to sell bitter medicine in sweet tablets for more than a century. Just think will people vote for economics panics, turning regulatory bodies into businesses, lending to people with poor credit history, …

IPOs With A Difference, 05 10 2025 Fund raising for a NGO is a monumental task and, in my view, the most challenging job anywhere in the world. My engagement with social sector and not-for-profit organisations taught me a lot and one of the key learnings was the IPOs with a difference. IPO-OI, is a five-stage analysis of initiatives that considers Input, Process, Output, Outcome and the Impact. One of the key reasons for the use of this frequent analysis is …

Breeds of a Kind The world of commerce has units that differ significantly to encompass both economic and social organizations. Further these could be either for-profit or not-for-profit organizations. Given this spectrum, we have four distinct breeds, with economic for-profit organizations at one end and social not-for-profit organizations at the other end. In between, are the two hybrids of economic not-for-profit organizations, and the social for-profit organizations to meet our material needs. The most common of the four is business …

The Art of Delegation 03 10 2025 Delegation is an integral part of our lives, be it family, social or in our professional domain. Despite its almost universal need, I have seen a few who have mastered the art of delegation. Analysing some of the best delegators at work, I have identified three critical elements that makes them skilled artists. Delegation when practiced by a master combines the highest level of motivation with a positive attitude, and a desire to …

Investing In a Nutshell, 02 10 2025 Heaven, for me is a place without money, for I have an aversion to stock markets and money matters. Despite being a finance professional having managed investments for a billion-dollar corporation, I don’t like spend my time on investment management. So, I have done the next best thing, which is to engage a trusted wealth manager and given them three broad guidelines for managing my investment. These three guidelines are what I learnt …

The Relationship Kaleidoscope, 01 10 2025  As a child I was fascinated by kaleidoscope. Growing up I can see kaleidoscopes in most social situations, larger the group, more intricate the design. In kaleidoscopes you need to rotate the device to get different views, but in social groups you only need to meet different people to see a completely different pattern though their eyes and get a totally different picture. Kaleidoscopes play with the seven colors, and in social groups you …

Approach to Problem Solving 30 09 2025 Problems are common occurrence in our daily life. They appear as hurdles to our daily routine or for the more enterprising, the challenge of find a new path that they have not traversed before. In fact, along with respiration, problems are what defines our life and makes us feel alive. Despite the varying nature of problem, be it personal, social, economic, or work related, problem solving has a common framework of four Ws …

Altruism-What Triggers? 30 09 2025 CSR was mandated by the Companies Act, 2013 in India requiring companies to spend 2% of their profits on social needs of the society.  This raises the question, can altruism be legislated or is altruism defined to mean intentional, selfless action to benefit others only an oxymoron? A well packaged form of reciprocal exchange, or enlightened self-interest?  On reflection, the triggers for altruism are quite a few and I can think of at least five …

A successful team is one in which members complement each-other to complete the qualities required for achieving the team goal. Not just in skill sets, but even in the two critical parameters of the level of engagement, and taking a critical view the team needs to have diversity. This translates to four distinct groups of followers that help a team captain on the journey to success. Star-followers catch the eye. They are active and critical. Participate in all the team …

Settling Differences, 27 09 2025 Conflicts are a pivotal movement for they offer both a challenge and an opportunity. It can rewrite an individual’s life narrative or define a turning point in the history of an institution. The ideal way is to seize the opportunity and resolve it, be it the US tariff challenge or a person laid off. Despite its importance, conflict resolution is not adequately discussed or taught despite history providing a lot of lessons.     Nelson Mandela and …