Understanding Human Psychology

  There was a time when conversation starters would be about weekend plans, food, family, office, and traffic woes, now in many conversations, whether at work or over coffee, it's somehow loops back to AI. From did you watch that show? To- Did you try that AI tool? Did you tell ChatGPT to do this? It's a talk we have as as way of life. Earlier, conversations at work were largely transactional: updates, reminders, or basic planning. But AI has transformed the quality and direction of our discussions—into deeper reflections about how it's shaping work, creativity, ethics, and identity. Our conversations have shifted from catching up to keeping up with AI. AI has become second brain, a friend in the pocket, a co-pilot always available to steer the ship with you. However, we need to be updated about this latest technology. Learning about how blur are the lines between AI and human.  AI is no longer a buzzword. To learn more about this evolving technology one must be on top of n...

While reading How Women Rise by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith, one particular chapter stopped me in my tracks — Reluctance to Claim Your Achievements. It’s something many women professionals experience: the instinct to deflect praise, to share credit (even when it’s not due), and to soften the spotlight when it’s pointed their way. As I read about a senior professional who, even in a high-stakes interview, kept mentioning her colleague’s contributions over her own, a vivid memory of mine surfaced. A few years ago, I had led a significant Learning & Development and Talent initiative in my organization — a program that required months of effort, stakeholder management, creative design, and seamless execution. When the project concluded successfully, I was called out in a team meeting for the achievement. Instead of standing tall in that moment, I instinctively slid into sharing mode. I said, “It was a team effort,” and even added names on the presentation slide to acknowledge...

  Six Years, Many Dreams Six years ago, on 16th July, a little heartbeat made mine grow stronger. Today, she turns 6 — my daughter, my mirror, and often, my teacher, she shaped me to be a better human. I find myself reflecting not just as a parent but as a learner what these years have been for me, how I've grown up. Because alongside her, I’ve grown too as a better human. Through phases of chaos and calm, through questions and quiet moments, she’s unknowingly taught me the power of resilience, reinvention, and reflection. And today, on this special day, another dream quietly takes flight. I’m thrilled to share that my book LEARNAGER From Learning to Leading in The Real World is launching today. 📘 Available on: Amazon KDP – LEARNAGER : From Learning to Leading in the Real World   https://amzn.in/d/badNOEx   Pothi Print Book https://store.pothi.com/book/dr-shazneen-gandevia-learnager/ Pothi e book https://store.pothi.com/book/ebook-dr-shazneen-gandevia-learnager/ The...

  Coaching is designed to create shifts for the coachee — but if you stay with it long enough, you’ll notice something else quietly changing: you . Every coaching conversation opens a window into another person’s world, deepening your empathy. You witness raw vulnerability — and start embracing your own. You hold space for others to empty their hearts — and become a better listener in the process. You help someone chase their goals — and get nudged toward your own. Coaching transforms the coachee. But in doing so, it shapes the coach — slowly, subtly, and profoundly. What has coaching made you become — not just as a coach, but as a human being?

Any employer, no matter the industry, looks for two key qualities: the attitude to learn and the ability to develop expertise over time. You cannot rely on just one and expect to thrive. A learning attitude is not just for freshers—it’s equally critical for those advancing in their careers and even leaders at the top. The willingness to adapt, unlearn, and relearn is what keeps professionals relevant. However, having a great attitude alone isn’t enough. At some point, employers expect tangible results—proof that you’ve applied your learning to develop expertise. After all, what can a company do with someone who is eager but lacks the skills to execute? Likewise, expertise without a growth mindset leads to stagnation. Success lies in the balance: stay curious, keep learning, and master your craft. When you combine the right attitude with developed expertise, you don’t just grow—you become invaluable.

  I’ve been asked many a times about this ever lasting curiosity I have to know new things, to learn, to keep writing my blogs. I’ve been asked about how I learn new courses, I study at an age where I should focus on my kid studying. When I did my PhD also, during the study and much after it, even today, I have been getting questions about what made me do it. What’s with this curiosity and thirst for knowledge! Yes I am a curious soul and I love to know new things in my sphere of knowledge. I think if one does not upgrade himself, the person’s brain rust. Simple: Education makes man more of a human, a a much better one than when he is not. My PhD topic, the Learning Organisation also means continual learning and not believing that learning is a destination or a goal. When you learn, you learn to open your mind to new ideas. You get to know what’s stored in other people’s brain. There is a sea of fresh data out there. I read it that Albert Einstein once said that the intuitive min...

  LXD, a powerful tool, has grown significantly over the years, for managing learning in both in-person and virtual environments. the knowledge you gain out of LXD courses is versatile from the understanding of technology use in learning, to understanding of different learning environments need to be managed, to understanding universal design principles, to understanding the theoretical foundations of LXD.  The pandemic accelerated this growth, as remote work became the norm. LXD's ability to set up consistent development environments from anywhere became even more valuable. It helped learning content developers, learning program owners and learning professionals stay effectively productive, regardless of location (in person or remote). To keep up with the times, LXD has embraced new technologies. The number of tools which I use as a learning professional today in the classroom is nothing compared to what I used 10 years ago.  As LXD continues to evolve and take shape, wi...

  So let's look at something very interesting today. Being a coach and trainer, I've been frequently meeting people on their personal and professional development concerns. A very prominent facet which comes out in most of the discussions is life feels like it is stuck, I'm not moving any further professionally. Hence personal life is also feeling low and dull. In an interview of Richard Bandler, I heard him say, "You can get intelligent day by day or dumber day by day. But you can't remain the same.' Now, what does this mean? And how is is related here? It means that as time passes you either use your life experiences and the learnings to improve their ways of work or they live mindless by doing dumber stuff.  So coming back to the challenge that most individuals face now-a-days. Most people who I speak to for coaching know they deserve better at work, better positions, better salary, challenging job profiles, recognition and fame in society. But how do they g...

  It's a picturesque view of nature around. Clear waters, birds chirping around, galloping dolphins, fresh breathable air, green grass, trees in full bloom. Yes we had it all. It was a brief period where we really got to see it all. The lockdown brought humans in cages and animals out of theirs. As we are now opening up again we realise the damage we are doing to nature day in and day out. How selfish can we get? We humans have already depleted much of Earth's resources.  Still if we see nature, we feel calm, composed and healed. For meditation, for inducing a deeply relaxed state, we often hear sounds of the sea waters, birds chirping, sound of the soft wind blowing. Nature continues to heal us. What are we doing to protect it? Truth is we are too busy in the world inside of us, to be really concerned about the world outside of us. We live in our heads, our life stories, our dreams. We then live in this physical world and so we do not pay attention to how nature actually is h...

  In a training session, I recently learnt about an inspiring story of a 13 year old Chennai based girl, M Nethra. The real life hero and inspiration did not know what her good deal would give her in return until it really did. The story goes, that when the first lockdown struck there were many people who were left stranded on the road, without food, without adequate supply of ration, and money to meet the daily expenses. These people, mostly the daily wage earners, at that point of time, thought that they should leave for their villages to survive or else they would have to perish in poverty. Due to the sudden announcement of lockdown and closure of state transport systems, they had only one choice, that is walk many many miles to reach their destination. They had extremely a little money to survive and they thought the best way to survive for long term is to go to their hometowns as there was no mode of earning left in the city. Their plight was all in the news and was known to...

  As I read more and more about positive self beliefs and about the conscious decision to disregard negative self beliefs, I realise how my life is changing, how each day, each passing day is summing up as more productive. For me every positive thought is making a difference. I coneciously realise that previously in the same situation, I would have got disappointed or angry in the heat of the moment.  At many times maybe to satisfy ego or maybe to put a point forward, we want to just argue or at times just feel the need for showing dominance. However, in most circumstances we land up with an event not in our favour. It either becomes a win-lose, lose-win or a lose-lose. None of it really is an I am ok-you are ok, because it's not a win-win.  Inappropriate words may not just be bad for personal life, but even professional lives of people get badly affected by it. Very recently I have observed many people who come to the brink of of doing an action which is positive for th...

  Recently I was attending a session on counseling where we were discussing energy exchange between the counsellor and counseled. We also spoke about how a counselor must be able to empower the client by maintaining the same energy within. By energy here I do not mean the obvious physical display of energy or physical strength. Energy here means the energy our aura reflects, the energy charge which every atom in this universe has.    Coming back to the session, I heard a question pop up to our speaker, 'Sir, many-a-times I have heard that we must stay away from negative people, negative energy. That drains out our own energy drastically. Sir, but you asked us to empower everyone. What do you suggest in case of negative people who drain our energy?' There was a pause and gripping silence in the group. I felt like many resonated with this question.    I too got answers, in form of different thoughts, which I was not sure of whether right or wrong. But yes what...

  Training & Learning In earlier times, managers used to send their people for a training if they would be sitting idle. It was a perception that training is one way to occupy them with a meaninful activity, or just becasue people should be made to feel engaged. Trainers are just people who may give you some knowledge, called 'gyan' more colloquially. Managers weren't sure of how this 'gyan' would affect their work and businesses to make impacts on profits, but trainings surely motivated people, more so because it was a welcome break to their fixed, mundane schedule. Not very long ago, in the mid of 1900s when Donald Kirkpatrick developed the Kirkpatrick model of measuring training effectiveness. It had four levels of measuring training effectiveness. These were reaction to training, knowledge retention, transfer of learning on the job and impact on the business in terms of training return on investment (ROI). This model went on to become the most accepted an...

  Its me today and you tomorrow   In my experience, I've seen multiple people who are in a position to help others, but they hesitate or directly refuse. The last 2-3 years have been so troubling for the entire world. With Covid 19 setting its foot so strong in the entire world, different countries are affected with varying degrees of severity. However, one thing in common is humanity at large suffered in various ways, the effects and after effects of the pandemic. Thousand of people lost their source of livelihood, few thousand lost their loved ones and innumerable others faced depression and anxiety issues due to restricted movement or isolation. Many people posted their needs of jobs, hospital beds, ambulance, oxygen and even food, on social media, and many reached out to them with open arms to help them pass that difficult phase in life. Many other times when crises situation has come up, like natural calamities or manmade terror attacks, kind human beings have helped to...

  The Beautiful Journey Towards Success Smart work does not replace hardwork to achieve success. To be a leader, to grow to that level, you should have done all the work that you are going to then, at that stage, supervise. Your hands on experience much earlier in your career will help you confidently take future roles. Sadly, the generation in their 20s, so many of them, do not resonate with this concept. This is purely my observation over a few years and I am open to any logical argument, if you propose otherwise. May be this interaction and observation of mine is limited to the call centre industry that I've been associated with beyond 4 years now. After finishing swanky MBAs or engineering degrees too, a large number of pass-outs come to join BPOs as a Customer Care Agent. Where, I do very much respect all types of jobs, at the same time, I feel waste of a college seat, waste of money, time and talent should not be done. After a great degree, unfortunately done under the for...

Creative Problem Solving When the ball pen did not work in space, as ink did not flow in absence of gravity, millions were spent to develop a pen which would work. Then came a very simple suggestion, simply use a pencil! Although many of us have heard of this story which describes how simple solutions can be arrived at, when seemingly complex problems are thought through with a calm mind. This story is purely fictional and just to explain the concept of valuing simplicity over complexity. The solution may be right in front of us most of the times.  A video on a channel shows a young woman was given a math problem to solve, which she, after few minutes, gave up. When a child sitting beside her solved it in one go. This was the problem and the solution. Problem : 5 + 5 + 5 = 550 (add one straight line to make both sides equal) Solution : 5 4 5 + 5 = 550 A website, whatwedoallday, trigged my thoughts further towards the simplicity in which seemingly complex problems can be managed...

 Have you ever felt a deep sense of emotional connect when someone is narrating a situation? Did you ever relate a personal story to an issue your friend,teacher, parent or trainer is narrating? I'm sure we face such feelings multiple times in our daily life. Learning occurs when we listen to life experiences of others. Listening is a powerful mind tool. Research suggests that we remember around 25 to 50 percent of what we have heard.  A great deal of material is available on storytelling and learning how to do it better, in today's times. Adults learn from each other everyday through stories. So we are actually storytelling in our everyday lives, always. We have stories at workplace, in webinars, in classrooms, in training rooms, even the media, always, tells us a story. By story I do not mean pure fiction. Stories mean incidents which are either real or fictional, but they leave us with lessons to learn from. If you want to enhance your learning, then listen to other's s...

  Learning comes naturally when you are motivated to learn. A child learns how to sit, walk, move around, and talk. Although we know these are gradual progressions which any individual makes in his life, as growth and survival instincts, it is also a motivation to learn, grow and engage in that new action. We learn so many things in our life time due to this drive within us. Hunger teaches us the understanding of food and at times how to cook. The need to remain connected has taught us how to use new technology, applications and devices which offer that connectivity. Wonder if the schools offer that kind of motivation to learn! In my times, I had not faced any strong desire to learn new subjects, know about different topics as the curiousity was not generated by the education system itself. With the New Education Policy 2019 in India promising a major reform in the learning culture of schools, it is just a matter of time that the claims are proven correct. The hindrance to imp...

  To learn you need to unlearn and relearn and associate your learning with something in your daily life.  You cannot keep learning new information unless you  revise and practise for improving retention. To improve memory and learning, you need to practice the newly learnt information over and over again. Just taking in new information would be like pouring tea in a cup, which will eventually be full and over flow untill you consume some tea, that is ustise the learning practically. Reading and knowing about new things brings immese intellectual satisfaction, but it does not necessarily guarantee retention. To assure yourself of adding value by spending time to learn new things, we must challenge ourselves by putting them into practise in different ways in our daily schedule. According to an article in APA, learning performance is enhanced if students engage in deliberate practice.   A Youtube video of certified speaker, corporate trainer and guinness record holder...

  What is common sense for today's generation is innovation and science for the previous one. My husband said this to me. And that made me ponder on. Our lockdown life, due to covid, has prompted the government to apply strict rules. One of that includes 'only essential services will work from office'. Since I work in one of those sectors, it was my usual day to work. On my way back, I booked a cab service through an app; just a regular affair for me. The driver called and asked me where I was, I told him to follow the map, but he failed to understand and asked me for directions. While he arrived, I was on the phone, so I gave the OTP of the ride to the driver. Engrossed in my convesation, waiting for the ride to begin, I started to get impatient. I asked the driver what the matter was. Then I saw him struggle with the app to put the OTP and get the directions. Losing my temper I asked him to make it quick and finally gave him inputs to get going. Soon after, the driver sta...