Understanding Human Psychology

Most conversations start off with "How are you?”..“I’m fine.” How many times have we had this conversation in our everyday? We say “I’m fine” so casually that sometimes it has almost become an automatic response. But when someone asks, “How are you?”, I think there are actually two questions hidden inside it. How are you physically? And how are you mentally? In today’s times, when there is so much stress in the environment in which we operate, I wonder if we should be checking the second one a little more often. How are you doing today? How are you feeling? What kind of mindset are you carrying into this conversation? How is your day looking? What do you want this day to bring to you? These questions may take a little longer to answer. Allow the person to ponder more. But maybe that is the point. In our work conversations, we often start with small talk. And small talk is not a bad thing. It is often the door that opens a conversation. But somewhere, we have started making it so r...

Are You Scanning the Boundaries of Your Work? I was reminded of something very simple the other day. Someone who works at my home was talking to me about something that came up, and she casually mentioned, "You know, if the house help doesn't come, there are now mobile apps and online services where you can call someone for even one or two household tasks, or for the whole day. There are different packages available." I stopped for a moment. She knew. She was aware of what was changing around her work. She knew what her alternatives and competition could look like. She knew that the way people get household help is changing and that there are new options available. And I thought — isn't that exactly what we mean by scanning the boundaries of our work? Whatever field we are in, there is a world around it that is constantly changing. New technology, new ways of working, new competitors, new expectations, new skills, new tools and sometimes completely new ways of doing t...