Abhijit Bhaduri’s Blog
I write about careers, skills and the world of work. The cartoons and sketches are mine.
I spent 10 days working in the FUTURE - it is like movie making
Go behind the scenes with me on the set
That was one of the highlights of this year.
See some of the moments, the hashtag#bloopers and why I believe it is glimpse of the future.
Futurist Ross Dawson’s Podcast: Thriving on Overload
How do you make sense of a world where information, data, opinions and fake news comes to you from multiple sources from every device. Futurist Ross Dawson has a podcast called Thriving on Overload. He spoke to me about how I gather, sort and share information.
How to stay future-relevant in a shape-shifting world
The five forces that I wrote about in my book Dreamers and Unicorns formed the trigger for this podcast. Harish and I spoke about a bunch of ideas. Hope you will enjoy listening to it. If you do, please do share the post
Book Review: No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer
Talent Density is all about constantly culling the average performer. Think of it as the dreaded bell-curve on steroids. The Netflix culture site says, "Our version of the great workplace is a dream team in pursuit of ambitious common goals, for which we spend heavily. It is on such a team that you learn the most, perform your best work, improve the fastest, and have the most fun."
Your personal brand is an insurance policy
The impact of these three forces pales in comparison to the impact of Covid-19 in the job market. Millions of people have lost their jobs. People realize that their business card can no longer borrow the brand value of their employer. Even if the employer provides outplacement services (like RiseSmart) to the impacted employee, without a strong personal brand, the person is just another resume in the pile. Without a personal brand, an individual gets lost among the 650 million people on LinkedIn.
Abhijit's Sketchnotes No 12
Layoffs are are a major reason for mental health issues. You can use the headline offered by LinkedIn to stand out in the job market. And what should you never say in the headline? When someone wants to know why you were laid off, how should you answer the question by using a statistic? And is there an Insurance Policy that covers you against a layoff?
Abhijit's Sketchnotes No 11
The New Education Policy was unveiled in India. Harvard, Princeton, Oxford etc are all moving classes online. Is that the end of college? What about Social Learning - does that work? Can writers earn enough to pursue writing as a full time career? Because there is a new world of careers brewing it is a terrific time to be alive. So let’s dive in …
Abhijit's Sketchnotes No 10
In the previous newsletter I had said that I’ll share some career hacks. The first career hack is to discover if you have a sweet tooth and if you do, then discover if you like dark chocolate. Wait… I will tell you more. At the SHRM Edge Conference last month, I learnt about the latest #pay #trends.
We Are All Digital Nomads
As work and talent became location free, the core of work experience changed. We have all become digital nomads where the employer’s workplace has become invisible. Meanwhile the parliament of Estonian created a digital nomad visa that allows “location-independent knowledge workers to live in Estonia for up to a year while working for employers or clients outside of the country, ushering in a new era of work — one where knowledge workers aren’t tied to one desk or even one continent.
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...
‘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.
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 .
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.
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?
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.
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.
Building a Culture of Continuous Learning
Encouraging the use of Informal Learning is the secret sauce of building a culture of continuous learning. Formal learning is the equivalent of taking a conducted tour while visiting at new city. Informal learning is all about exploring the city at your own pace. While formal learning is efficient, the effectiveness of informal learning is far higher.