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I  completed Singapore full Marathon on 9th-December. This was my 17th-full marathon+ distance overall. It was a great run, unforgiving weather (hot and humid) till it rained a bit at fag end around 41 km mark. It is often said that: "Runs end, Running doesn't". Each marathon teaches you something and reaching finish line tends to make you better than when one started the run. Following are usually the phases one goes through while going through the full marathon- 0 km: I know I can do it. 14 km: It's getting painful. Did I make the right choice choosing to do it? 30 km: Why the hell did I start? Is it really worth it? 35 km: I am close to giving up. 40 km: I think I can push a little. 42.195 km: Never experienced a high like this. Does this cycle sounds familiar with anything insurmountable that was ever attempted? Oprah Winfrey was bang on target when she said- "Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it."

To Quote Tim Minahan, Chief Marketing Officer @ Citrix: Citrix Synergy 2018 is all about showing the world how Citrix powers a better way to work. It’s about unifying our vision and providing creative solutions to give our customers the security, choice, and experience they demand. Citrix Synergy 2018 was an awesome showcase of technology that defines the future of work. David Henshall, CEO @Citrix delivered a powerful, super-energetic keynote that was followed by cool demos aptly showcasing the future of work. So, what were the announcements made ? Do catch-up my sketchnote summarizing the key messaging from Citrix Synergy 2018.

At the Citrix Synergy 2018, one of the most prominent announcements made was the unveiling of Citrix Workspace. Citrix Workspace provides the next generation user experience for accessing any application- SaaS, web, mobile, virtual and reliable accessing any content. This awesome blog by Jeroen van Rotterdam explains the technical goodies behind Citrix Workspace. Citrix Workspace: Embedded Browser vs Secure Browser Service vs Secure Browsing If you want to catch-up with quick snapshot view of technical working of Citrix Workspace, here's my sketchnote:

Further to my last blog and continuing my quest to decipher the learning habits of most influential leaders, I stumbled upon this extraordinary article by Michael Simmons (Titled:  5-Hour Rule: If you’re not spending 5 hours per week learning, you’re being irresponsible .) While i provide a brief summary below of what i learned from this as below in a few points,  I would highly recommend reading through this article   1. The founders of the five largest companies in the world—Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, Larry Page, and Jeff Bezos— All have two uncommon traits. a. Each of them is a voracious learner. b. Each of them is a polymath. 2. A voracious learner as someone who follows the 5-hour rule—dedicating at least five hours per week to deliberate learning. When you become a voracious learner, you compound the value of everything you’ve learned in the past. 3. A polymath is someone who becomes competent in at least three diverse domains and integrates them into...

I read these 2 things recently that resonated quite well with me in the midst of the world being redefined rapidly by technological forces: 1. Technology usually takes away professions, not jobs. 2. We won't run out of jobs, We will run out of trained people.[Credits: Abhijit Bhaduri ] I found the second statement profound majorly for the reason that it is progressive. It does gives confidence that with right kind of (and timely) training and learning strategy, it is possible to approach the future with great vigor. Learning is no longer a tactical function or should i say organizations that take learning as tactical stands to reach obsolescence sooner than later. The organizations that treat learning as a strategic function stands a great chance to beat the multiple forces (technological and beyond) organizations are dealt with. In my quest to figure out learning strategies for the future, i ran into some wonderful content by Jim Kwik,  founder of Kwik Learning, is a world ex...

Recently got to read the “Summary of The Innovator’s Dilemma”, a book that has acquired cult status in Innovation circles and I have seen this being quoted in many Innovation discussions I have been a part of in my professional life. Have shared 8 learnings, that I reproduce from this book, read on: New Technology Improvements: Improvements to a new technology are easy at first but become more difficult to achieve over time. Categories of Tech Innovations: Technological innovations can be divided into two types: sustaining innovations and disruptive innovations. Price Point Plays a Role: Disruptive innovations are often able to earn a place in the market by focusing on price point. Listening to Customers not Always Helpful: Listening to customers and responding to their wishes can actually be counterproductive. Disruptive innovations create their own markets. Conducting Market Research not Always Helpful: While market research is a key point of product development in large firms, i...

I recently blogged about this in detail, but for those of the readers who prefer brevity, here is a concise version of the blog. This speech got a sizable traction in social media with 15000+ views on LinkedIn and 500+ on YouTube. The key points that I shared during my speech are summarized below, followed by a Sketchnote. 1. Stay in the present "Just block all the future thoughts and bask in the glory of current moment." "Embrace this time with all your senses." "Seize the moment." 2. Think Big: "Let this not be the defining moment of your life." “Educational Qualifications are not the ends in itself, they are the means to achieve something greater.” 3. Embrace Non-linearity "Skills do have an expiry date and this expiry date is shortening by the day." "Continuous learning is not a differentiator anymore, it is a mandatory." “If we do not change the way we teach, 30 years from now we will be in trouble."- Jack Ma "L...

I recently got a chance to speak at Illinois Institute of Technology's Graduation day.  Sharing thoughts at an event like a graduation ceremony is usually the reflection of one's own lifelong learnings and experiences. But this post is not about my speech. This is about the speech of my friend and mentor Tathagat Varma (TV), which I found quite inspirational. The detailed speech can be found here , but sharing quick summary and a sketch note as below. His top three advise for graduating class were: 1. Be a Learner    It is important to be a lifelong learner. If we sit on the laurels of the past, we are eventually destined to become irrelevant.    The real "learning" will only happen when you start putting all that to practice and realize that there are things that you don't quite know, or you begin to question what was taught in the classroom. 2. Be a Maker    If you want to continue being relevant in your careers, make sure you discard the charms of...

Consider some of the recent challenges faced by Facebook- 1.     In 2017, Facebook admitted that the suspected Russians were paying to boost posts in the US to influence 2016 presidential elections. Facebook has millions of advertisers and buying ads just needed a FB page and a credit card and some trivial details. 2.       Facebook recently admitted that nearly 10% of its 2.1 billion user base are the fake accounts, arguably a leading source of fake news. 3.       In the event of you forgetting FB password or accounts being locked, Facebook needed to ask users to email the copy of the photo ID and do the verifications offline. In all probability, to deal with these challenges, Facebook recently acquired identity origination platform company- Confirm.io. So what does Confirm.io do?  Based on thecurrently available information, Confirm.io- offers to existing customers an API that lets companies verify the authenticity of governm...

Sometime back I read about why Mark Zuckerberg wears the same t-shirt to work every day and the reason he gave has stayed with me. He does so to avoid something called as decision fatigue. All of us have limited will-power during the day. An engrossing event like decision-making sucks up the will-power. And a routine event like deciding what to wear, often consumes the diminishing will-power. Not only Mark Z, but the likes of Barrack Obama, Satya Nadella and many successful personalities have such tactics in place to cut-the-decision making crap and focus their limited energies on the right areas. As the fastcompany article revealed , Jeff Bezos is a big believer of streamlining the decision making. He has even instituted a 4 step process: Decisions that are reversible, can use a light-weight process. Don’t wait for 100% information before making decisions. 70% is just-about right. Waiting for 90% information to be available usually slows down decision-making. Stakeholder alignment is ...

India recently won the ICC U-19 Cricket World cup. Like with the various moves India U-19’s legendary coach Rahul Dravid makes (being his huge fan), I followed his post-tournament interviews with much admiration. One of the things that struck with me was this quote of his- "It was interesting because the 2012 final featured India and Australia; the result of the final will tell you that India beat Australia. Six years down the line, while only one of those boys played a couple of one-day games for India, four-five Australians have gone on to play for Australia. So, more of their guys have gone on to play first-class cricket. The debatable point is actually who won that final, if you look back six years later. So I think those are interesting chats and conversations to be had." Most people choose only failure as a credible source of learning. Here,Dravid brings a very refreshing perspective on performance. Not only is he insisting to learn from success (by choosing to look 6 y...

In the last 4 weeks, I endured and completed: 1. Ultra Marathon : Bengaluru (50 Km) [7th-Jan] 2. Mumbai Full Marathon (42.195 km) [21st-Jan] 3. Oxfam Trailwalker : Bengaluru (100 km) [2nd-Feb] With many marathons over the years, i have deciphered that- "Runs end, Running doesn't". Each run teaches you something about life. Here, I am sharing this reflection from my recent runs. Following are usually the phases one goes through while going through the marathon- 0 km: I know I can do it. 21 km: It's getting painful. Did I make the right choice choosing to do it? 30 km: Why the hell did I start? 38 km: I am close to giving up. 40 km: I think I can push a little 42.195 km: Never experienced a high like this. Does this cycle sounds familiar with anything insurmountable you have attempted? The cycle begins by taking a high risk, bringing in high energy, dealing with (often) self-created doubts, questioning the very reason to start, almost giving up, and while on the v...

Redux builds technology that uses vibrations to turn surfaces of phones or tablets into speakers or provide haptic feedback. Haptic as an adjective means "related to the sense of touch." Simply put, this technology- could potentially turn phone surface to speakers could eliminate the need of having any buttons on the phone. The technology uses signal processing algorithms to direct tactile sensations at specific touch points throughout a device's display. Actuators then deliver different effects to different fingers simultaneously, with the result being a "feeling of pressing a mechanical button or moving a slider control underneath your fingertips on the screen with button click effects coming directly from the display." What this could mean for future is-   Future phones could be even more compact. No need for micro-speakers and releasing valuable internal space for extending battery or other components. Google gets the lead when in future instead of wifi soun...

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word- Simplicity. Most likely you get an image of something that's uncluttered, doesn’t require much effort to understand and retain. Martin H Fischer once said- "Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification." Simplicity is more a need of hour now than it was ever before in the history of mankind. We as human beings are biased towards complexity for some reason. We tend to find "complex" more credible than "simple".  In our worlds dominated by technology and always alluring screens, we gulp content from all the sources at a pace that is never-ever experienced by generations before us. We are at a dire need to uncomplexify our lives more than ever. And to do my bit towards this, i intend to stand this short blog series called as "In One Minute or Less". My mission with "In One Minute or Less" series is to present seemingly complex topi...