Abhijit Bhaduri’s Blog
I write about careers, skills and the world of work. The cartoons and sketches are mine.
5 Timeless Skills for a Changing Job Market
The human edge lies in ‘soft-skills’, which do not depend on degrees or qualifications. They take longer to build, remain relevant throughout your career and are irreplaceable no matter the changes in the workplace market.
Can culture be benchmarked?
I was once talking to the founder of a startup who wanted to build the culture of Google in his firm. He wanted to benchmark the ‘best practices’ of Google’s culture of innovation and that is how he implemented this policy in his 50-person startup. Every employee in that tiny startup had to work on a personal project. Two months later a few employees came to the founder and asked for permission to work from home so that they could work together undisturbed on a secret project they had come up with.
How to better engage in the new world of online learning
Online learning is going to be the way for great content to be distributed more efficiently. But it needs to be supplemented by high dosage coaching in small groups. The ability to build great content that engages the learner; facilitators who understand the new media and the corporate culture that values learning is at the heart of this new world.
The First Big Career Transition
It is the first taste of discretionary power one experiences very early in career. It is the first taste of responsibility for the success of others beyond one’s own self. It is the first opportunity to help and coach others to scale up and reach the desired goals. The leader’s role is to help the team achieve synergy not just remain the sum total of everyone’s results. To do that, the person managing a team must juggle three perspectives:
Online learning - is it better
What if content creators was left to a team of instructional designers, academics, storytellers, animators, video and audio creators. They could create short form and long form content that is engaging and interactive. If the content has already been created and can be used by the teacher, it is infinitely better than listening to someone standing before a camera and droning on.
Abhijit's Sketchnotes No 9
We are in the age when being able to understand emotions is going to be the common factor that successful people have. It used to be, that being sharp in analytical thinking used to be the basis of successful careers. But now problems have become so complex that the age of the lone genius is gone. It is the age of experience makers
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.
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 - 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?
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?
Employee Experience Design: Making It Boundaryless
Do the employees trust the intent of the leaders? Without trust, even the best of EX designs will be looked at with suspicion. Is the leader fair? Does the leader have integrity? The biggest element for great EX is to co-create it. The company’s policies reflect the assumptions the employer has about the employees. When Netflix said they offered unlimited vacation, they said the employee could be trusted not to misuse it.