May 2019 | Puneeth's Blog

Innovation is for everyone.

Innovation is less about being without any limits, boundaries or restrictions. It’s more about directing your flow of thoughts through a framework. Studies and experience points at it being better when done as a team.

There are multiple frameworks that have been developed, protected and sold at a premium. So much, for eliciting answers, insights and ideas from you!

Go beyond brainstorming, explore other frameworks and see what works with your team and you.

Everyone can innovate. Having a structure to direct and optimise thinking makes it worthwhile.

What makes you happy?

It’s not your job.

It’s not your bank balance.

It’s not the big break you got.

It’s not the awards, certificates and standing ovations.

I find that my quest for happiness is unending. Looking for it in things, positions, titles and opportunities. Though it comes by, it flies away and is more elusive than before.

Instead, can we conclude that happiness is a state of mind and we must strive to maintain it, get back to it every time we go astray. And as Tony Robbins’ puts it ‘art of fulfilment’

Be happy and Go, make some Galata.

You’ll never figure it all out.

You’ll never figure it all out. It’s an illusion, an excuse, a facade. It’s like solving a mathematical equation which becomes complex as you solve it. New variables keep getting added before you complete dealing with the ones confronting you.

A better strategy is to drop figuring things out and seek an opinion from mentors, well-wishers and people you trust, history or even your past experiences.

A guest will notice in an hour what a host notices in a year.

Poor learners.

We are poor at learning. Surviving school by memorising, getting through college with last minute preparations. The education system is an easy target but poor learning strategies is the dog that isn’t barking.

Prime yourself to learn better, faster and smarter. Strengthen your remembering skills and the often ignored ability to recall.

Your brain is a machine. Keep it primed.

Independence is an illusion

To stand on one’s own feet is an incomplete statement or is misunderstood for just being capable to earn and pay your bills. That’s a tiny part of being independent.

Many of us are not taught how to be functional human beings. Washing our clothes, cooking staple food, running a house under budget, mopping the floor, being happy on our own, practising gratitude even when things go south and so on. The things we take for granted, we outsource it to a maid or a machine.

Those are the ones we need to know and do. Sure, we can get them handled by a few taps on our machines. But that’s not independence. It’s an illusion.

On listening

Being open to new ideas, perspectives, approaches, opinions and school of thoughts is hard. But it’s worth putting the effort to listen and empathise. Because the world doesn’t believe what you believe, the world doesn’t like what you like and the world doesn’t want what you want.

Listen to them with care.

Before we dump our traditions

Tradition may not be cool, packaged and positioned for a target market. Hence, we tend to prefer loud, cool, and gorgeously packaged alternatives.

Before we give up on the traditional practice, ones that are handed down by generations lets take a step back and ask ourselves, Is the tradition relevant?

In most cases, it is.

Universal brain

Leonardo da Vinci has what the author terms as a Universal brain. He was adept with geometry, skilled at making weapons, capable of painting masterpieces (though most were incomplete), an accomplished architect, ceaselessly curious about living beings and their features.

A sort of ‘master of all trades’ but the essence of a universal brain is the opportunity to draw from one ideas, insights from one field and implement it in another. To synthesise two seemingly unrelated concepts into another field.

As open schools become a ‘cool’ thing and Gurukuls making a comeback, it’s about time we focused on developing a universal brain that has multi-speciality.

People are waiting for you

They just don’t know it yet.

Show up and express what people need to hear, contribute value so they can achieve what they want, show them the picture they’ve been waiting to see.

It will take work, emotional labour and caring. But it’s worth the effort to earn trust and attention.

Month: May 2019