Abhijit Bhaduri’s Blog
I write about careers, skills and the world of work. The cartoons and sketches are mine.
Rules of the Job Game: Learn and Upskill
HINDUSTAN CLASSICAL MUSIC has ragas designated for each hour of the day. There are ragas that are sung at dawn and dusk—the twilight zones when darkness and light wrestle with each other. When the sun wins this battle, it signals a new day. When the darkness takes over, night comes. We are going through a similar twilight zone in the world of work. It can be the beginning of the end or it can be a new beginning - the choice is yours...
Abhijit's Sketchnotes No 8
Do goldfish have greater memories and attention spans more than humans? Hint: Goldfish, human attention spans and Netflix are connected. I remembered a quote that a teacher of mine shared when I was entering college. I shared it on LinkedIn and it unleashed a fish market! This week you will learn about Zoom etiquette with me.
Abhijit's Sketchnotes No 7
Abhijits Sketchnotes No 7 talks about death and life. Brooks Brothers - the 202-year-old maker of business suits, and one of the last with U.S. factories, went bankrupt. Most organizations in S&P 500, barely get past their teens. But humans are living longer. That has many implications. The professional poker players were among the first to notice the spread of corona virus. How did they do it? Besides life lessons from Poker players, we explore how to get insights and stay curious. This newsletter has the drawing of an elephant. Can you guess the reason why? And our lead story is about thinking of your mind as an Operating System. So let’s go…
Abhijit's Sketchnotes No. 6
Welcome to Abhijit's Sketchnotes No 6. My work week ended with a bang. It is good news I have to share. So hold on. In this issue, I ask if Covid-19 could be fuelling innovation and some ideas you can try. There is a new #trend in videos that has grown 600% since the lockdown - something you must know about. There is disruption that leverages the human factor - not tech. And may I ask you a sensitive question? “How are you doing with your new year resolutions?” If you struggle to build new habits, the answer may be in building Tiny Habits. You may know about habits - but what are tiny habits? That is our lead story.
‘With Me’ videos are the hot new trend
A recent big trend on YouTube are the “With Me” videos where people film themselves going about ordinary tasks like cooking, studying, cleaning, or exercising. More and more viewers are tuning into “with me” videos for company, in-depth information, even motivation.
Abhijit's Sketchnotes No 5
Abhijit's Sketchnotes No 5 explores why FDA is recommending a videogame as a cure. What could be driving this decision. There is a a great sketch about the fear of making mistakes. Yes, there is a term for it. You can know that here and a big question - is it a curse to be a genius? Or worse still the parent of a genius? Read this compelling story
Back to the Drawing Board
This is a situation that nobody in the world has experienced before and, therefore, this is a time to make bold bets. It’s a time to start questioning the basic assumptions and begin to design a different workplace that values everything that the previous workplace norms did not allow for. Mental health has always been something that organisations have left people to worry about on their own. Perhaps this is a time to step up to the plate, prioritise employees’ holistic well-being, and question the inclusivity of the whole process. These are things which endear people to you. You build deeper connections, and that’s one of the big ways in which you build emotional resilience.
Abhijit's Sketchnotes No 4
Imagine that a business you built over ten years is going to go public in 2020. Then comes a pandemic that makes people wary of health and safety. That was Airbnb. They had to lay off 25% of the people. The way it was done is a model for many others to follow. They tried their level best to help people find other career options by engaging an outsourcing firm. Finding another job seems really hard for most people. You must read the shocking statistics for layoffs in India here
Abhijit's Sketchnotes No 3
The most fascinating story of the week is clearly how Steve Jobs got 219 patents AFTER he died. How did that even happen? Jobs got 620 patents in his life time. And then there is a story about how trust between colleagues takes a beating when you do not meet in person. Yes Zoom does not cut it. It is efficient but does not build trust.
Airbnb Cofounder's Letter: The Better Way to Deliver Bad News to Employees
With all the layoffs happening worldwide, employers must help employees find their next opportunity. Appointing an outplacement firm to help with career transition and job placement. An outplacement firm can help with resume writing, confidence-building, interview coaching and smoothens the transition. Outplacements are the way to go. Airbnb tied up with a top notch outplacement firm RiseSmart .
Abhijit's Sketchnotes: No 2
How do you learn a skill which is not yet being taught in a college & has no standard curriculum? Would you like to have job where you are highly satisfied? Of course yes… but you may be paying a price for that. Why 5GB of data storage would have been a disaster. All these in this week’s newsletter.
Abhijit's Sketchnotes - The First Issue
Tesla creates a “digital twin” of every car they sell. Data from the real car is sent to the digital twin in the Tesla office. It lets Tesla update the software in a car remotely even as it is being driven. Singapore city has a digital twin to help plan its services. Should humans have digital twins? Celebs are creating their own digital twins. Should you? But first, do you really want passionate people when you hire? And if you are a passionate person, can you monetise your uniqueness?
The talent pool - post pandemic
Whereas previously, the biggest online labor marketplaces flattened the individuality of workers, new platforms allow anyone to monetize unique skills. Gig work isn’t going anywhere—but there are now more ways to capitalize on creativity. Users can now build audiences at scale and turn their passions into livelihoods, whether that’s playing video games or producing video content. This has huge implications for entrepreneurship and what we’ll think of as a “job” in the future.
Engaging the audience over video
Do you hate selling your ideas through video calls? All of us now run meetings, give presentations and even sell ideas through video-conferences. People simply take whatever they would have done in person and present it through the camera. Teachers across the world are offering their classes online. That experience of learning online through videos is so bad that several students plan to defer their admission to next year when they can attend classes in person.
Be Wary of Burnout When You WFH
Burnout is often a result of wanting to be perfect and hence taking many more hours to complete projects. People who are pessimistic are also more prone to be pulled out at work. Burnout is a real challenge in these times. What should do to avoid burnout?
Book Review: Introduction to People Analytics
People Analytics will undergo a big shift. How do we build a people function that is relevant for the post-Covid world? HR will need to offer measures of productivity, engagement and skills. Analytics can be a great conversation starter, because it is hard to argue with insights that are data-driven. This book can be a good read for everyone in HR. The line that stayed with me was, “HR will not be replaced by data analytics. But HR people who do not use data and analytics will be replaced by people who do.”
A Question to HR: Are You Learning The New Language?
This is the first time in the world of work when the leader is as uncertain about the future as the employee. This democratisation of information or lack of it is creating a new contract between the employer and the employee. When leaders admit they are vulnerable, they are building trust. Being able to say, ‘I don’t know’ is a new phrase the leader has to get used to. It takes a courageous and self-assured leader to admit that it is their judgment and not precedence they are relying on.