If you are constantly racing to cross items off your to-do list, juggling several tasks at a time and easily agitated by small delays, you might be dealing with “hurry sickness”-a term coined by cardiologists Meyer Friedman & Ray Rosenman

6 Features of Hurry Sickness

1. You treat everything like a race

You find yourself treating even small, everyday tasks like shopping, eating or driving as a race; delays cause anxiety

2. You find it impossible to do just one task at a time

Focusing on just one task, feels unbearable to you. You’ll try to figure out what you can squeeze in while you brush your teeth

3. You get highly irritable with delays

Traffic, waiting at the doctor’s stresses you out. You’re the kind of person who presses the “close door” button in the elevator repeatedly

4. You feel perpetually behind schedule

There are never enough hours in a day to accomplish what you need to do. You always feel like you’re playing catch-up

5. You interrupt or talk over people

You may not intend to be rude, but you’ve been told you have a habit of cutting people off mid-conversation.

6. You’re obsessed with checking things off your to-do list

You love the burst of satisfaction you get when you complete a task and get to cross it off your list. But that high doesn’t last long, you quickly move to the next thing.

#Learning helped Mondelez India advance product entry of cakes into India, during the 2020 lockdown and pandemic, as well as shift an entire chocolate line from China to India without the machine manufacturers coming to the floor. #Unbelievable but #true.

Mondelez decided to launch its entry into cakes in 2020. The process was complicated due to covid restrictions. Well before the pandemic, Mondelez India had been experimenting and getting their personnel trained on running the production line remotely.

“We would have had no option but to shut the line for 3 weeks, had the shift engineer not run it from his laptop” says Mondelez International President (India) Deepak Iyer.

#Machinelearning and #ArtificialIntelligence helped Mondelez move the chocolate line, without any delays or glitches. Instructions were provided over cameras and mobile platforms on how to dismantle the line, package it, ship it, unpack it and assemble it. Deepak Iyer says all this is possible because Mondolez is focused on learning.

#Learning has clearly moved from a one time event to a life long affair. If we are to stay #relevant, individuals, teams and organizations need to learn and upgrade themselves continuously. The #VUCA world has necessitated this change. The pandemic and the increasing use of technology has hastened the process.

Satya Nadella, Says This 1 Trait Is More Important than #Talent or #Experience. It’s Something Anyone Can Learn. You would think the leader of a company like Microsoft would look for talent or creativity or experience. And, I’m sure he does. It’s just not the most important thing.

Nadella, used just one word to describe where he thinks innovation comes from: #Empathy.

Nadella says:

“To me, what I have sort of come to realize, what is the most innate in all of us is that ability to be able to put ourselves in other people’s shoes and see the world the way they see it. That’s empathy. That’s at the heart of design thinking. When we say innovation is all about meeting unmet, unarticulated, needs of the marketplace, it’s ultimately the unmet and articulated needs of people, and organizations that are made up of people. And you need to have deep empathy.

So I would say the source of all innovation is what is the most humane quality that we all have, which is empathy”.

Businesses, as Nadella observes, “are made up of people.” Truly innovative companies are made up of people. Those people aren’t just focused on spreadsheets, product design, software code–they’re focused on people who use the products, software, or spreadsheets. They’re focused on empathy.

The one trait that Satya Nadella thinks is the Key to Innovation

How an organization was able to substantially reduce their #genderbias in their hiring process through a simple cost-effective method.

Till the 1970’s, the top five orchestras in the U.S. had fewer than 5% women. By 1997 they were up to 25% and today some of them are well into the 30s.

How did this happen?

A simple change in the procedure…

Candidates are situated on a stage behind a screen to play for a jury that cannot see them. In some orchestras, blind auditions are used just for the preliminary selection while others use it all the way to the end, until a hiring decision is made.

Even when the screen is only used for the preliminary round, it has a powerful impact; researchers have determined that this step alone makes it 50% more likely that a woman will advance to the finals.

It may not always be possible to have a completely gender blind interview. If we think out-of-the-box, towards this objective, we are likely to definitely make an impact!!!!

Given an option to choose between which of 2 events is likely to happen, how do you decide? How do you take decisions? How accurate is your decision making? Take a #test

#Option1: Delhi Airport is closed. Flights are cancelled.

#Option2: Delhi Airport is closed due to critical VIP movement. Flights are cancelled.
Is #Option1 more likely or #Option 2?

Most of us will choose option 2, even though it is more unlikely. The airport could be closed due to any number of reasons accident, strike, bomb threat, bad weather.
Why? The #conjunctionfallacy. When faced with details that are more #convincingly and vividly #potrayed, we believe them

Even #experts are not exempt from the Conjunction fallacy. In 1983, at an International

conference for future research, experts were divided into 2 groups

Group 1 was told “Oil consumption will decrease by 30%”

Group 2 was told “A dramatic rise in oil prices will lead to a 30% reduction in oil consumption”

Groups had to indicate how likely they felt the forecast was.

Group 2 felt much more strongly about the forecast than group 1

#DanielKahneman believes 2 types of thinking exist:

1.Intuitive, automatic and direct

2.Conscious, rational, slow logical

Intuitive thinking draws conclusions long before the conscious mind does

Why does #WarrenBuffet recommend you should say “no” to auctions? From Google Ad words to eBay, from auctions for telecom spectrum to submitting tenders as suppliers, #auctions are ubiquitous.

At a personal level, several studies show, we mostly end up #payingmore for goods, during an auction. Even companies are not immune to this phenomenon.

According to a #McKinsey study, mergers and acquisitions (the ultimate auction) destroy value in more than half the cases. The acquisition brings losses ultimately

The winner gets the goods but they have to #pay for it. Sometimes, much more than the true value

It’s the winner’s curse!!!

So why do we fall victim to the winner’s curse?

1.The real value of many things is uncertain. The larger the number of parties, the higher the probability of an over enthusiastic bid

2.We want to outdo competition

Take Warren Buffet’s advice on auctions. “Don’t go”. If you are in an industry, where auctions are the norm, set a maximum price on it and deduct 20% to offset the winner’s curse.

40 Years of #StanfordResearch Found That People with This One Quality Are More Likely to #Succeed. In the 1960s, a Stanford professor named Walter Mischel conducted the #MarshmallowExperiment.
Children (aged 4-9) were left in a room with 1 Marshmallow. The instructions given:

If you wait for 15 minutes, you will receive 2 Marshmallows. The researcher left the children alone in the room for 15 minutes.

Some children waited for 15 minutes to receive the 2 Marshmallows, some did not.

The #interesting part of the study came several years later The researchers conducted follow up studies for over 40 years and tracked each child’s #progress

The #results showed that the children who were willing to delay gratification and waited to receive the second marshmallow ended up with

1. Higher academic scores

2.Lower levels of substance abuse

3.Lesser marriages ending in divorce

4.Better responses to stress

5.More job stability and higher career trajectories

6.Generally better scores in a range of other life measures

Important question to ask:

1.Are we able to resist the first Marshmallow and reap the rewards of delayed gratification?

2.Do we have the patience to stay the course for the grand prize?

3.Are we resilient to the pressures of instant gratification that will often tempt us?

What makes an ace sports player, an expert to give us advice on mutual funds? Or an actor, to tell us which food brand is best? We are so used to seeing #celebrities promote products, we never stop to consider why their #support should make the product better suited to us.

This is the #haloeffect. We subconsciously associate the “success” of people with the “success” of products, even though there may be no correlation.

Edward Lee Thorndike discovered the halo effect, a 100 years ago. His conclusion, a single quality viz beauty, social status, age produces a positive/negative effect that #outshines everything else and the overall effect is disproportionate.

Several studies have shown, we #automatically regard good looking people as more pleasant, honest and intelligent.

Physical characteristics logically, have nothing to do with #inner behaviors. Yet, our mind believes differently.

The halo effect obstructs our view of true #characteristics. We need to go beyond the surface. #Digdeeper and then form an opinion.

I came across an old and brilliant clipping of #BarakObama. This is before he won the Democrat nomination to stand for President. Remember, here, he was a relatively unknown African American Senator from Illinois. This clipping demonstrates a brilliant #storytelling, building a #sharedvision and #passion that touches the audience.

It’s a great lesson for all of us as managers, leaders and influencers. The #principles are common. My take aways:

1.He paints a #detailedpicture of the scene. It’s like you have a ringside view of the scene

2.Extremely #specific. This allows you to feel the emotion he want you to see

3.Clear #calltoaction, without being pushy

For me, this is a must watch for all of us that use storytelling to build a common vision and shared understanding….get teams all #firedup and #readytogo

How do you gauge if you are a #learner or not? Leonardo Da Vinci, a brilliant thinker and artist asked #dumbquestions. If birds can fly why can’t I? If a building has to stand up straight & not collapse, what should its proportions be? If Mona Lisa stood by the window in the morning light, would her face shine as much or lesser than at noon? Seemingly strange questions, but the pursuit of these answers gave unexpected results.

Micheal Gelbstudied the works & mind of Da Vinci. He coined 7 principles to be an #everydaygenius. Curiositica-an insatiable thirst and quest for knowledge and continuous learning is the first.

Culturally, we are discouraged from being #curious. We are reprimanded by teachers for asking too many questions. We are told, “Curiosity killed the cat” a term that is part of our subconscious, warning us of the dangers of being too curious.

Your #curiosity & ability to act on it, will define if you are a learner. Are you someone who constantly wants to know more, be a better version of yourself, find solutions to problems, understand why someone acts the way they do, find new ways of doing things? If you are, you are unlikely to be bogged down by challenging situations. Your mind has been sharpened to think in several dimensions. You will find #creativesolutions.

Having worked for a year on a project/an exam/a relationship for years and then it goes south Just heartbreaking. You think of the countless hours of work, the blood, sweat and tears that has gone to reach the stage and it makes you want to cry with frustration. #Learningfrom rejection is something I understood much later in my life.

#Steve Jobs, in his famous 2005 #StanfordUniversity commencement speech said something similar.

“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

Steve Jobs said that this time away from #Apple was actually #beneficial.

Steve Jobs’ famously combative leadership style possibly led to him being fired from Apple, In 1985, he was fired from the company he founded when Apple’s board of directors removed him. In the interim, he launched a software company NeXT, and bought an animation studio called Pixar. In 1997, he returned to Apple and the rest is History.

I have always learnt more from my failures that my successes.

Out of 110 mandates for #CXO positions, given to a global executive search firm, 70% were based on clear mandates given by companies for a leader who is #humble, has high #EQ and #goodpeopleskills.

I read an article a couple of months ago where a senior executive being considered for the position of a CEO was turned down because he was extremely rude to the driver that had come to pick him up for the job interview because he was running late.

Several companies may overlook senior leaders riding roughshod over the emotions of team members, however we see this trend changing. Slowly but surely, the value of control over one’s emotions, demonstrating emotional intelligence & being empathetic are slowly competencies that people hire for.

Clearly companies are no longer just looking for the archetypical “A” leader that cares only for the bottom line, with scant regard for the overall wellbeing of their team.

Why doesn’t Collaboration work? Why don’t teams collaborate? Collaboration is a key theme of several programs we conduct at #ShradhaHRD. Most participants agree on the need for collaboration but candidly accept, it’s hard. It means putting the organization/team/department above a narrow circle that you define as “me”

This anecdote is a brilliant example of how the spirit of #collaboration bears rich dividends.
In the olden days, it was a common custom for shopkeepers to keep a small chair outside the shop as soon as they opened the shop in the morning.

As soon as the first customer arrived, the shopkeeper lifted the chair and took it inside the shop.

When the next customer came, the shopkeeper would look around the market. Pointing to a shop with a chair still placed outside, he would say – “You will get what you need from that shop.” I have already got my bohni (the day’s first business) in the morning.”

This was because having a chair outside the shop was a sign that the shopkeeper had not received any customers yet.

Clearly putting the interest of the #community above narrow #self-interests, ensured  #prosperity #business and #growth for all. And it always works!!!

This post was shared by Dr. Jitendra Kumar Soni, IAS on FB.

What causes rational people to lose their temper? You can blame this on your genes. During a training session we conducted on Managing your Emotions, a participant said “last week I was under a lot of work pressure. A team member walked into my room & insisted on discussing a project. I was aware the projectdidn’t have an immediate dead line. I ended up yelling at him and said he should send an email and request for a time to speak, instead of barging in unannounced”

The participant said that he felt terrible about the way he had behaved. His team member began to send him emails, every time he wanted to speak. The easy & collaborative relationship they had shared earlier morphed into a formal exchange.

We explored why this had happened.

The term “Amygdala Hijack” was coined by Daniel Goleman. He used the term to recognize that we retain an ancient structure in our brain (Amygdala) that is designed to respond swiftly to a threat.

When faced with a perceived threat, our body will react the same way as if we were faced with an actual physical threat to our life. This is responsible for us “losing it”.

How do we deal with such a situation?You have 3 seconds to calm yourself, before the hormones flood your brain. Practice watching your emotions. Take control, before its too late.

If someone asked me to describe a #growthmindset, it might take more than a 1000 words for a somewhat satisfactory explanation. This picture explains a growth mindset in an instant… stretching your comfort zone, looking for ways to improve return on investment and learn learnlearn.

The auto driver in the picture is looking at the share price of a stock he is obviously following closely, while ferrying his passengers around.

For me, this picture is not about the growth story of the Indian stock exchange; it is the story of a human being with limited education and limited means (this is an estimation) who is looking for avenues to #betterhislife.

Undoubtedly the stock market is a double edged sword, it comes with its share of ups and downs. I look at the optimistic side, this gentleman is looking at exploring a completely “new” way of improving his productive potential…

If I had to picture people with #biases, very stereotypical images flood my brain. Then I heard an anecdote from a successful ladyventure capitalist who was talking about her experience with biases at the workplace. It changed my mental imagery.

In a previous job with a Fortune 500 company, the HR team had conducted an experiment. They sent 2 CV’s for the same #jobdescription for a fitment check. The interesting part of the experiment was that the CV actually belonged to the same person…the name on 1 CV was male and on the other was female. The fitment results for the CV which had the #male name was much higher than the CV that had the #female name.

The CV went out to both men and women working in the organization. The results reflected both their opinions. This was a surprise, even for me !!!!

Most of us are unaware of our biases. We think of ourselves as fairly #objective…until we learn otherwise.

Building Awareness of #UnconsciousBiases’ and making the Hiring process “Objective” and “Neutral” is key to promoting #GenderDiversity !!!!!

I have a friend from college whose life changed completely, after a car accident that left her paralyzed waist down. Life has been a constant #struggle for her. I have seen her struggle at fairly close quarters. When I read about #successstories like Avni Lekhara’s, I marvel at the inner strength this feat would require.

In 2012, at the age of 10, Avni was in a car accident that caused severe spinal cord injuries and left her wheelchair-bound. Three years later, her father encouraged her to take up shooting as a professional sport. She tried both archery and rifle shooting.

After reading Olympic Gold Medalist Abinav Bindra’s autobiography – A Shot at History, she decided to pursue rifle shooting professionally. Despite being doubtful about her decisions, Avni continued to work hard and practise regularly.

Things fell into place, Anvi participated in several states, national and World-level championships, and even won medals..

Avani Lekhara created sporting history after becoming the first Indian woman to win two medals – gold and bronze – at the Paralympics in 2021.

Modern research in Neuroscience validates some methods Salvador Dali, the famous painter used to generate creative ideas. The same principles can be used to generate out of the box solutions at the workplace.

Dalí was constantly exploring new ways of artistic creativity. He worked through a number of ways to conceive of fantastical imagery.

Dali applied the methods of Surrealism, tapping deep into the non-rational mechanisms of his mind—dreams, the imagination, and the subconscious to draw inspiration from.

He would often place a tin plate on the floor, and sit beside a chair, holding a spoon over the plate. As soon as his body relaxed and begin to doze off, the spoon would slip from his fingers and bang on the plate. This immediately woke him. From there he was able to capture the surreal images present in his mind.

Salvador Dalí was fascinated by images that appeared to him between states of sleep and wakefulness. These images proved to be extremely vivid, colorful, and bizarre.

Often the “eureka” moment comes when we are not actively thinking about the problem. The conscious mind sometimes blocks solutions from coming to us. When we get “stuck”, it helps to “let go” and let the powerful subconscious mind discover the solution.

Olympic champion Tom Daley was captured knitting in the stands during the women’s 3m springboard diving final was going on. When the camera shifted its focus from the ongoing sport to the stands, the gold medalist was sitting there concentrating on stitching.

One could wonder why an Olympian was knitting, just before one of the most important events of his life.

In case you thought, this was a one off event, a Twitter user (after seeing Tom Daley’s viral video) wrote, ‘Very calming. My grandad was a mine sweeper in the Navy during World War II. All the Navy men knitted to calm their nerves.’

Research now shows that physically “doing” something is a great way to expend negative energy, relieve stress and calm the nerves. Completion of a physical task releases “dopamine”, the feel good hormone.
If I have had a stressful day at work, a walk in the park really helps me. Can’t possibly take a walk in the middle of a work day. Some possible alternatives:

1. Sort out my desk drawers

2. Clean my purse

3. Take a slow walk to the water cooler

Daley won his first Olympic gold medal at this year’s Games. The thread had another tweet that showed a video of Daley talking about how he knit a pouch for the medal he won.

While the jury for me is still out on whether there is a positive or a negative correlation between Intelligence Quotient and Emotional Quotient. There are studies that argue both sides eloquently. People that succeed are those that are able to manage their failures better than others.

As a teenager, I saw Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar make their International debuts in 1989. While Sachin went to onto create history, Vinod did not perform to potential (his shot selection was deemed to be better than Sachin’s). Attitude was a big reason. Recently, I heard an interesting perspective from Harsha Bhogle. He said that Vinod Kambli had a flaw in his technique that bowler’s exploited. He struggled against the short pitched delivery. Till 1994, his talent had carried him. He never got over this low in his career and he played his last test match for India at 23.

Earlier as a student and now as a Leader at Shradha HRD, I have seen this theme repeated continuously. Life will bring its share of highs and lows. Team members that are able to maintain their equanimity through the tumultuous phases, keep their head down and work are inevitably those that end up with the promotion!!!!!!!!