Understated Hyperbole
I remember the very first time I played Super Mario Brothers on an NES console. It was 1989 and I was down with chicken pox. To stop me from scratching myself and keep me distracted, my dad rented a console and I played Mario (and Contra) non-stop over the next few days (with my mom…
I used to quiz fairly regularly both in school and college and also loved setting and hosting quizzes (the high point was co-hosting the inaugural IIT Madras Open Quiz in 2004). But then I lost touch with it for over two decades. A chance meeting at a kid’s birthday party with a parent who I…
Or Why Metaphors are Dangerous Language is imprecise. Language is especially imprecise and imperfect when it comes to describing scientific concepts. And the irony of using the tools of language to write about its own shortcomings is not lost on me. Think about the oft repeated phrase – “survival of the fittest” and how it…
I love good teachers and classrooms. Something about the act of learning – sitting in a room, completely distraction-free and being a complete sponge – listening intently to a teacher at the peak of their craft, sparring with your fellow students and building new neural connections – lights me up like the Rockefeller Center Christmas…
A playbook has three attributes: (1) it gives you plays that can be reliably repeated, (2) these plays can be taught to others, and (3) one can look back and check whether the plays were used properly. In the context of product building, there are multiple playbooks: how to hire, how to build an organization,…
Everything I have learnt about being an effective product manager condensed into a short video.
No sudden wisdom has dawned on me. No life-altering epiphanies. Birthdays come and birthdays go. This will be just another day and the start of another year. But looking back is important. Weighing my current beliefs and recording them seemed important (especially given how this year has shaped up for the world). At 76, I…
“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” – Attributed to Mark Twain (not verifiable) I grew up in a household with two parents who still spend a big part of their day learning something new. They also happen to be the best teachers I know of. Dad’s college education was interrupted in…