The 4S Framework: Lessons from Origami for Life and Business

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How the ancient art of paper folding teaches us Thomas Sterner‘s principles of discipline and focus

There’s something magical about watching a master origami artist transform a simple sheet of paper into an intricate crane, dragon, or flower. What starts as a flat, unremarkable square becomes something beautiful and complex through nothing more than strategic folds. This transformation embodies a profound truth about learning, growth, and achievement—one that Thomas M. Sterner captures brilliantly in his book “The Practicing Mind” through what I call the 4S Framework: Simplify, Small, Slow, and Short.

The 4S Framework Explained

Sterner’s framework offers a counterintuitive approach to mastery in our fast-paced, instant-gratification world. Let’s explore each element through the lens of origami, then see how these principles revolutionize business thinking.

1. Simplify: The Power of Reduction

In origami, every complex creation begins with the same foundation: a single square of paper. No glue, no scissors, no elaborate tools—just paper and intention. The art lies not in adding complexity, but in finding the elegant simplicity within complexity.

Master origami artists don’t start by imagining the final crane; they focus on the next fold. Each fold is a simple action: valley fold, mountain fold, inside reverse fold. The complexity emerges from the accumulation of simple, deliberate actions.

The Business Connection: The most successful businesses often have the simplest core concepts. Amazon started with one idea: sell books online. Google began with one mission: organize the world’s information. Netflix simplified entertainment: movies by mail, then streaming. They didn’t launch with dozens of features—they perfected one simple value proposition first.

2. Small: Starting with Minimal Viable Actions

Every origami journey begins with a modest square of paper—often just 6 inches by 6 inches. You don’t need expensive materials or vast resources. The constraint of size actually enhances creativity and forces precision. Small paper means small mistakes, quick learning cycles, and lower stakes for experimentation.

When learning origami, you don’t start with a 1,000-step dragon. You begin with a simple boat or paper airplane. These small projects build fundamental skills while providing immediate satisfaction and confidence.

The Business Connection: The startup world has embraced this through the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) concept. Instead of spending years building the perfect product, successful entrepreneurs start small. Facebook began as a simple directory for Harvard students. Airbnb started with air mattresses in the founders’ apartment. Twitter emerged from a simple question: “What are you doing?”

Small beginnings allow for rapid iteration, reduced financial risk, and faster market feedback. They also make the seemingly impossible feel achievable.

3. Slow: The Paradox of Patient Progress

Here’s where origami reveals its deepest wisdom: going slow actually makes you faster. When you rush through folds, you create imprecision that compounds throughout the model. A valley fold that’s slightly off becomes a major structural problem twenty steps later. You end up starting over, taking much longer than if you’d been deliberate from the beginning.

Experienced origami artists move with methodical precision. They study the diagram, understand the intended result, make the fold carefully, and ensure it’s correct before proceeding. This “slow” approach leads to flawless execution and faster overall completion.

The Business Connection: In business, “slow” means taking time to understand your market, validate assumptions, and build solid foundations. Companies that rush to scale often collapse under their own weight. Those that move deliberately—like Patagonia’s careful expansion or In-N-Out Burger’s methodical geographic growth—build sustainable, lasting enterprises.

Slow also means giving your team time to understand strategy, your customers time to adopt your product, and yourself time to develop genuine expertise. The paradox is that this patient approach ultimately accelerates long-term success.

4. Short: Bite-Sized Learning Sessions

Origami mastery doesn’t come from marathon folding sessions that leave you frustrated and fatigued. It comes from consistent, short practice periods. Fifteen minutes of focused folding is more valuable than two hours of distracted attempts.

Short sessions maintain engagement, prevent mental fatigue, and allow for better retention. Each brief practice builds on the previous one, creating steady progress without burnout. You might learn one new fold per session, but those folds compound into increasingly sophisticated models over time.

The Business Connection: The most effective business development happens in short, focused sprints rather than endless work marathons. The Pomodoro Technique, agile development cycles, and regular brief check-ins all reflect this principle.

Short also applies to goal setting. Instead of aiming to “transform the industry,” successful businesses set short-term, achievable milestones. Weekly objectives, monthly targets, and quarterly goals create momentum and maintain motivation while building toward larger visions.

The Compound Effect: How 4S Creates Mastery

The magic happens when these four principles work together. In origami, you simplify complex forms into basic folds, start with small projects and small pieces of paper, work slowly and deliberately, and practice in short, focused sessions. This approach doesn’t just create paper art—it develops patience, precision, spatial intelligence, and the ability to see complex systems as sequences of simple steps.

The same compound effect occurs in business. Companies that simplify their core offering, start small with their market, move slowly enough to build solid foundations, and focus on short-term achievable goals often outperform those that try to do everything at once.

Practical Applications for Your Business

For Entrepreneurs:

  • Simplify your business model to one clear value proposition
  • Start with a small, well-defined target market
  • Move slowly enough to gather meaningful customer feedback
  • Set short weekly goals rather than only focusing on yearly objectives

For Teams:

  • Simplify project scope to essential features
  • Break large initiatives into small, manageable components
  • Allow time for thorough planning and execution
  • Work in short sprints with regular review cycles

For Personal Development:

  • Simplify skill development to one core competency at a time
  • Start with small daily practices
  • Progress slowly enough to build solid foundations
  • Commit to short, consistent learning sessions over sporadic marathons

The Origami Mindset in Leadership

Perhaps the most profound lesson from origami is about the nature of creation itself. Every fold matters. Every decision has consequences that ripple through the entire structure. There are no shortcuts, but there is elegance in the process when you embrace the 4S principles.

Great leaders, like master origami artists, understand that transformation happens one fold at a time. They resist the urge to force outcomes and instead focus on perfecting the process. They know that rushing leads to structural weaknesses, while patience creates strength.

Conclusion: The Art of Disciplined Progress

In our age of instant everything, origami offers a different path—one that mirrors Sterner’s insights about developing a practicing mind. The art teaches us that complexity emerges from simplicity, that small beginnings enable great achievements, that slow progress is often the fastest route to mastery, and that short, focused efforts compound into extraordinary results.

Whether you’re building a business, developing a skill, or pursuing any meaningful goal, the 4S framework provides a sustainable path forward. Like the origami artist who transforms a simple square into something beautiful, you can transform your aspirations into reality—one deliberate fold at a time.

The next time you feel overwhelmed by the complexity of your goals, remember the origami master. Pick up that simple square of paper. Make one fold. Then another. Trust the process, embrace the principles, and watch as something extraordinary emerges from the most humble beginnings.

What will you create with your next fold?

Conservatism Bias: When We Fail to Update Our Beliefs

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Have you ever stubbornly held onto your initial judgment despite mounting evidence to the contrary? That’s conservatism bias at work—our tendency to insufficiently update our beliefs when presented with new information.

We pride ourselves on being rational thinkers, weighing evidence objectively before forming conclusions. Yet cognitive science reveals a systematic flaw in how we process new information: conservatism bias. This tendency to insufficiently revise our beliefs when presented with new evidence affects everything from personal finances to organizational strategy.

What is Conservatism Bias?

Conservatism bias occurs when people update their existing beliefs too slowly in the face of new, relevant information. First documented by psychologist Ward Edwards in the 1960s, this bias shows how we tend to “anchor” to our initial judgments, making only modest adjustments even when confronted with substantial contradictory evidence.

Unlike confirmation bias (where we seek information supporting our existing views), conservatism bias focuses on how we process new information once we encounter it—typically giving it less weight than statistical reasoning would suggest is appropriate.

How Conservatism Bias Manifests

Investment Decisions

Consider an investor who believes a particular stock is undervalued. When the company releases disappointing quarterly earnings, they might acknowledge this negative news but still underestimate its significance. Research from the Indian Securities and Exchange Board shows retail investors typically adjust their price expectations by only 40% of what would be statistically justified following earnings surprises, whether positive or negative.

Medical Diagnoses

A 2020 study in the Indian Journal of Medical Research found that physicians who made initial diagnoses were 30% less likely to completely revise their assessment when contradictory test results arrived compared to doctors seeing the case fresh. This “diagnostic momentum” demonstrates how early judgments resist appropriate updating.

Business Strategy

Organizations frequently underreact to market changes that challenge their existing business models. Kodak famously recognized the threat of digital photography (their engineers actually invented the first digital camera in 1975) but significantly underweighted this evidence when planning their future, clinging to their film-based business model until it was too late.

Why We’re Conservative With New Information

Several factors contribute to conservatism bias:

Cognitive Effort

Thoroughly revising beliefs requires significant mental energy. It’s simply easier to make minor adjustments to existing views than to completely reconsider our position.

Confidence Illusion

We tend to overestimate the accuracy of our initial judgments. This overconfidence makes us less receptive to evidence suggesting we might be wrong.

Status Quo Preference

Humans have a natural tendency to prefer existing states over change. This status quo bias reinforces conservatism in updating beliefs.

Social Reinforcement

Changing our minds dramatically can feel uncomfortable, especially when we’ve publicly committed to a position. This social pressure reinforces incremental rather than transformative belief updates.

Overcoming Conservatism Bias

Quantify When Possible

Using numerical probabilities rather than vague beliefs makes it easier to update appropriately. For instance, assigning specific likelihood percentages to potential outcomes forces more rigorous updating when new evidence arrives.

Seek Outside Perspectives

People without attachment to initial judgments can more objectively assess new information. Creating “red teams” tasked with challenging existing views helps organizations overcome institutional conservatism bias.

Pre-commit to Evidence Thresholds

Decide in advance what evidence would change your mind, before seeing the results. This prevents moving the goalposts when confronted with belief-challenging information.

Practice Bayesian Thinking

Named after 18th-century mathematician Thomas Bayes, Bayesian reasoning provides a formal framework for updating probabilities based on new evidence. Even informal Bayesian thinking—explicitly considering both prior beliefs and the strength of new evidence—can improve belief updating.

Real-World Impact

Conservatism bias isn’t just an academic curiosity, it has substantial real-world consequences. Companies that fail to adequately update their strategic thinking face extinction. Investors who insufficiently revise their market views sacrifice returns. Medical professionals who inadequately integrate new test results may miss critical diagnoses.

By recognizing our tendency toward conservatism bias, we can deliberately counteract it, ensuring that our beliefs more accurately reflect all available evidence rather than giving undue weight to our initial judgments.

The next time you encounter information challenging what you believe, ask yourself: Am I giving this evidence the weight it truly deserves, or am I being conservative in updating my beliefs?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Selective Attention Bias: Why You See Your New Car Everywhere

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I recall when I brought my Jeep, with very peculiar and unique grey color, I suddenly I’m seeing grey Jeep everywhere. On my commute, in parking lots, at the grocery store—they’re multiplying like rabbits! Or are they? This phenomenon has a name: selective attention bias.

Let me share what I’ve learned about this fascinating quirk of our minds and how it shapes our daily experiences, both personally and professionally.

What is Selective Attention Bias?

Selective attention bias occurs when our minds prioritize information that aligns with our current focus or interests while filtering out everything else. As cognitive psychologist Daniel Kahneman explains in his book “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” our brains have limited processing capacity and must be selective about what information receives our conscious attention.

“We can be blind to the obvious, and we are also blind to our blindness,” Kahneman writes. This blindness isn’t a flaw, it’s a feature that helps us navigate an overwhelmingly complex world.

The “Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon” (or Frequency Illusion)

That experience with my Jeep Compass? It has another name: the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon or frequency illusion. Once something enters your awareness, you start noticing it everywhere.

Stanford linguistics professor Arnold Zwicky coined the term “frequency illusion” in 2006 to describe this cognitive bias. The thing isn’t actually more common, you’re just more attuned to it 😀.

Real-World Brand Examples

The FedEx Arrow

Look at the FedEx logo. Do you see the arrow between the “E” and “x”? Once someone points it out, you can’t unsee it. But many people go years without noticing this clever design element.

Amazon’s Smile

The Amazon logo has an arrow that points from A to Z (suggesting they sell everything) while forming a smile. Before someone mentions it, most people only see the smile without noticing the A-to-Z connection.

Toblerone’s Hidden Bear

The Toblerone logo contains the silhouette of a bear hidden in the mountain imagery, a nod to Bern, Switzerland (known as the “City of Bears”) where the chocolate was created. Once seen, it’s obvious, but many chocolate lovers miss it completely.

How This Affects Our Lives

Making Decisions

We tend to notice information that confirms our existing beliefs while overlooking contradictory evidence. This confirmation bias affects everything from which news sources we trust to which products we buy.

Marketing and Advertising

Marketers leverage selective attention brilliantly. As marketing professor Jonah Berger notes in his book “Contagious,” “People don’t think in terms of information. They think in terms of narratives.” Brands create narratives that align with your current focus, making their products seemingly appear everywhere.

Personal Development

Being aware of selective attention bias can help us grow. By consciously exposing ourselves to diverse perspectives, we can counteract our brain’s natural tendency to filter information that challenges our worldview.

A Personal Reflection

Last month, I was researching ergonomic office chairs for myself (exciting, I know). Within days, I started noticing office chair ads everywhere online, colleagues’ chairs during video calls, and even found myself analyzing seating in coffee shops.

Was the universe suddenly obsessed with office furniture? Nope—just my brain selectively focusing on what had recently become important to me.

The Professional Takeaway

Understanding selective attention bias has made me a better professional:

  • I deliberately seek diverse perspectives before making decisions
  • I question whether I’m seeing patterns that aren’t actually there
  • I recognize when I might be filtering out important contradictory information

As American psychologist William James observed back in 1890, “My experience is what I agree to attend to.” By becoming conscious of our selective attention, we gain more control over our experience of the world.

What are you selectively attending to today? Look around, you might be surprised by what you’ve been missing!

Leadership : Finding the Balance

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Leadership is a widely discussed topic, also one of the favoured topic of mine to read and write. And again and again I came across more or less same question, what truly defines a “good leader”? I recently came across a thought-provoking question that captures a common debate:

A. A good leader expects people to decide for themselves what they should do.

B. A good leader makes it clear to everybody what their jobs are

PS: I was taking survey made by Sejal Waghmare at TheVibrantAura

Both statements present unique perspectives on leadership, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. I would like to discuss how these ideas can influence team productivity and promote human-centric work environments..

Option A: Empowering Independence

Leaders who allow team members to decide for themselves foster autonomy, trust, and innovation. This approach taps into intrinsic motivation—when people have ownership over their work, they’re often more engaged and creative. It’s especially effective in environments where flexibility and adaptability are valued.

However, too much autonomy without guidance can lead to confusion, misaligned priorities, and duplicated efforts. Not everyone feels comfortable making decisions without a framework, especially new or less confident team members.

Option B: Providing Clear Direction

On the other hand, leaders who clarify roles and responsibilities help ensure alignment, accountability, and efficiency. When everyone knows what’s expected, teams can focus, collaborate more smoothly, and avoid wasted time or misunderstandings. This style supports productivity, especially in high-pressure or complex situations.

But there’s a downside: if directions are too rigid or prescriptive, team members may feel micromanaged or stifled, leading to disengagement and missed opportunities for innovation.

Finding the Balance: Human-Centric Leadership

The most effective leaders balance both approaches. They provide clarity about goals, roles, and expectations while encouraging team members to use their judgment and creativity within that framework. This balance empowers individuals and drives productivity, while also fostering trust, engagement, and growth.

The key is clarity, which requires excellent communication skills and empathy when conveying information to the individual.

Leaders who aspire to lead a successful team, needs to get him self clarified first when it comes to expectations and deliverables.

Deliverables can be effectively defined using various tools such as the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). However, setting expectations requires more than just defining deliverables; it demands a clear and detailed job description along with a well-articulated objective for the role. Only with this clarity can alignment between individual performance and organizational goals be ensured.

Often, team members are unable to see how their roles contribute to the organization’s broader goals. When this connection is clearly communicated, it significantly enhances both motivation and alignment. A clear line of sight between individual responsibilities and organizational outcomes fosters a stronger sense of purpose and accountability.

Parting insights 💭

A good leader doesn’t choose between clear direction and empowering autonomy—they blend both to bring out the best in their teams. By doing so, they create environments where people know what to do, feel trusted to make decisions, and are motivated to excel.

Happy reading. See you soon.

Why Winners Obsess Over Processes, Not Just Goals

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Winners Focus on Processes, Losers Fixate on Goals – anonymous

Ever hit a big goal, then found yourself slipping back to old habits? That’s the problem with goal-setting without a process.

Many people believe that setting ambitious goals is the key to success. However, high achievers don’t just set goals—they build systems and processes that make success inevitable.

Many of us believe SMART goal is enough to deliver, what we miss is “how to repeat the performance”? And that’s answered by the process. A process to achieve the Goal is more important than the only focusing on Goal, this will help keep the pace when the goals become blurry due to some unforeseen conditions in the way to achieve the goal.

This idea is best captured by James Clear in Atomic Habits:

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

Let’s break this down further.

1. Goals Give Direction, But Processes Drive Progress

Imagine two runners preparing for a marathon:

• Runner A sets a goal to finish the race in under four hours but doesn’t follow a structured training plan.

• Runner B sets the same goal but focuses on a disciplined routine—consistent training, proper nutrition, and recovery strategies.

When race day arrives, Runner B is far more likely to succeed. Why? Because they followed a process that naturally led to their goal.

A goal is just an outcome. A process is the repeated effort that makes the outcome possible.

Goals are the destination; systems are the GPS.

2. Winners Fall in Love with the Process

A common mistake people make is thinking, “Once I achieve my goal, I’ll be happy.” But this mindset often leads to frustration:

• A student who aims for straight A’s but crams before exams is unlikely to retain knowledge.

• A company that chases revenue targets without refining its operations will struggle to scale.

On the other hand, successful people don’t just work toward a goal—they enjoy the daily habits and actions that bring them closer to it.

Cramming may get grades, but not confidence. Growth without good systems leads to stress, not scale.

3. Why Just Chasing Goals is a Problem

• Goals create temporary motivation , You push hard until you reach the target, but what happens next? Without a system, success isn’t sustainable.

• Goals rely on external validation , If you only measure success by hitting targets, you might feel like a failure when you miss one.

• A manager focused solely on reducing machine downtime in the current quarter might skip preventive maintenance to hit the target faster. While short-term numbers improve, long-term reliability suffers—leading to higher breakdowns, team burnout, and customer dissatisfaction. By chasing the goal without investing in a sustainable process, the manager risks the organization’s future stability for a quick win.

It’s like building a house on quicksand. Looks fine—until it starts sinking.

4. Shifting the Mindset: How to Focus on Systems

• Want to lose weight? Instead of setting a target weight, focus on sustainable daily habits like balanced meals and regular exercise.

• Want to grow your business? Instead of obsessing over revenue numbers, refine processes for sales, marketing, and customer service.

• Want to improve leadership? Instead of aiming to “be a great leader,” create a habit of active listening, mentorship, and continuous learning.

The key? Make success a byproduct of your habits, not just a one-time event.

5. The Process Becomes Your Identity

The magic happens when your habits become who you are.

True transformation happens when success is not just something you chase but part of who you are. If you focus on the right habits:

• You’re not “trying to get fit”, you are someone who exercises daily.

• You’re not “working toward a book”, you are a writer who writes every day.

• You’re not “trying to hit sales targets”, you are a business that consistently delivers value.

In the long run, winners win because they commit to the process, not just the prize.

Final Thought

Goals are good for setting direction. But processes are what create real, lasting success. The next time you set a goal, ask yourself:

“What system can I build to make this success inevitable?”

That’s what separates winners from the rest.

When a Friendly Smile Meets an Incomplete Form: Trust vs. Protocol in the Workplace

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Trust vs. Protocol

A few days ago, I found myself in an unusual situation. A friendly, confident doctor handed me a consent form to sign—but it was completely blank. His warm smile and reassuring tone made it seem like a mere formality, but something felt off. Should I sign it based on trust, or should I insist that the details be filled in first? [P.S. the trust was worth, his amazing skill made recovery fast, thanks doc 🙏]

This moment got me thinking, how often does this happen in the corporate world?

It’s a moment that makes you pause. On one hand, you trust this person. They’ve always been kind, professional, and reliable. On the other hand, something feels off. Shouldn’t the form be filled out first? Isn’t there a process to follow?

This scenario isn’t just about healthcare, it’s a universal tension that plays out in workplaces everywhere. It’s the clash between trust and protocol, between human connection and the need for accountability. And it’s a moment that says a lot about culture, values, and how we navigate the gray areas of professional life.

The Power of Trust (and Its Limits)

Let’s start with trust. Trust is the glue that holds teams together. It’s what makes collaboration possible, what turns a group of individuals into a cohesive unit. When your manager or colleague smiles and asks for a favor, it’s hard to say no. You don’t want to seem difficult or overly cautious. After all, they’ve earned your trust, right?

But here’s the thing: trust isn’t a free pass to skip the rules. Protocols exist for a reason—to protect people, ensure fairness, and keep things running smoothly. Signing a blank form, approving a project without details, or bypassing a process might feel harmless in the moment, but it can lead to bigger problems down the line. What if there’s a mistake? What if someone gets hurt? What if the company faces legal or financial consequences?

Trust is essential, but it has its limits. And that’s okay.

The Corporate Culture Angle

This tension between trust and protocol isn’t unique to any one industry. It shows up in tech startups, financial firms, creative agencies, and everywhere in between. In fact, it’s often a reflection of the broader corporate culture.

In some workplaces, the culture prioritizes speed and relationships over strict adherence to rules. “Let’s just get it done” becomes the mantra, and processes are seen as red tape. This can feel empowering at first—like you’re part of a fast-moving, dynamic team. But over time, it can lead to chaos, miscommunication, and even ethical dilemmas.

On the other end of the spectrum are organizations that are so process-driven that they forget the human element. Every decision requires five forms, three approvals, and a committee meeting. While this might reduce risks, it can also stifle creativity and morale.

The sweet spot? A culture that balances trust with accountability, where people feel empowered to speak up when something doesn’t feel right—even if it means slowing things down.

What Would You Do?

So, back to that moment. The friendly smile. The blank form. What would you do?

If you’re like most people, your first instinct might be to go along with it. After all, you don’t want to rock the boat or seem overly cautious. But here’s the thing: asking questions isn’t a sign of distrust. It’s a sign of professionalism.

Politely saying, “I’d be happy to sign this—can we just fill in the details first?” isn’t rude or difficult. It’s responsible. It shows that you care about doing things right, even when it’s inconvenient. And it sends a message that you value both the relationship and the process.

Why This Matters

At its core, this isn’t just about forms or signatures. It’s about how we navigate the gray areas of professional life. It’s about finding the balance between trust and accountability, between human connection and the need for structure.

In a world where speed and relationships often take priority, it’s easy to overlook the importance of protocols. But the truth is, they’re there for a reason. They protect us. They keep us honest. And they ensure that, no matter how friendly the smile, we’re all playing by the same rules.

So the next time someone slides a blank form across the table, take a moment to pause. Trust your instincts. And remember: it’s okay to ask questions. After all, the best relationships—whether in healthcare, corporate life, or anywhere else—are built on both trust and accountability.

Have a nice day ahead.

What’s Inbox Zero

Productivity,

What does inbox zero means?

I’m striving for one for long, and eventually on one weekend I could get inbox Zero! So happy. Years of training on various GTD (Get Things Done) strategies paid off. My hours spent on watching YouTube videos on making the inbox zero paid off now. Let me walk you through my journey, but before that read the quote below

Success isn’t about getting more done, it’s about having more fun. If you’re having fun, productivity takes care of itself. – Ali Abdaal (YouTuber)

My Inbox. 📥

Pinch 🤏 is it true?

For a day over weekend, it worked as long as I kept the patience of sticking to the routine and get the mail sorted. Inbox zero gives a kind of relief of having mind space of actually doing something that matters. Email becomes a medium of communication. Some time I keep on checking / refreshing the mail box to really find out if its really empty or offline 😅

Why Email 📧 Exist?

Let’s use the “5 Whys” to figure out why my inbox is overflowing with emails:

1. Why is my mailbox full?

Because I don’t have time to read and reply to all the emails.

2. Why don’t I have time to read and reply, even though I check my inbox multiple times a day?

Because reading each email, recalling past context, and crafting a reply is mentally taxing. Plus, many emails aren’t even relevant to me.

3. Why is it taxing to process emails?

Because understanding the context for each email takes time, and irrelevant messages still consume my attention even if they don’t require action.

4. Why do I get irrelevant or non-actionable emails?

Because people CC me unnecessarily, I don’t always tell them to remove me, or I’ve subscribed to mailing lists I no longer need but haven’t unsubscribed from. Some emails, like financial updates, are useful only in specific scenarios but clutter my inbox otherwise.

5. Why haven’t I fixed this yet?

Ah, that’s the big question! Maybe it’s time to dive deeper, sort out the mess, and take charge of my inbox.

Let’s deep dive, Why I get mail it first place.

The things which get stuck, because of me, needs my attention, but then can’t they call me? Why should I reply (apart from acknowledging it), and jump in action?

Someone want to remind himself that he/she is stuck because of me, and the mail gives them a context to gather their thought together, remember the mail with 2+ attachments, long paragraphs and bullet points, which ends with warm regards…

It’s compliance issue, they think keeping record is better, so that they can recall and say “I said so”… keep the repository of how to avoid accountability in later time 😬

I have subscribed to a productivity emailer, in hope of learning something new… HBR news letter… Unfortunately no time to read them either 🥵

Come again why Email 📧 exist?

If something requires my attention, I need to acknowledge and work on it. There are too many things demanding my attention, so I need to plan and prioritize. For others, how can I clean up my inbox?

First, let’s define what “inbox zero” means. Inbox zero doesn’t necessarily mean having a zero email inbox (that’s how I do it anyway). Instead, it means having no emails in your inbox that have no action to take. Acknowledging an email qualifies it to be in inbox zero.

Let’s assume you’re like me. I prepare myself with three folders: folder 1 – Inbox, where emails come and stay until I take action; folder 2 – Read Later, where I’m in CC and need to read them at some later point to be “aware of the situation”; and folder 3 – Archive, where everything, including emails I’ve replied to, read, or marked as “for information” or “may be needed in the future to get data.”

10 Minute Rule

  1. Take 5 min, just read the subject line of each mail in the inbox, and decide
    • Need my attention, keep in inbox
    • It’s fyi, CC, may be important, move to “Read later”
    • its mailing list, I want to read it, but not now, move to “Read later”, or Archive
  2. Take 5 min, to go thru now remaining emails in Inbox
    • marked to me, asking me for action, I can do this now, reply
    • marked to me, but some one from my team can do this, reply, as the @someone to act upon
    • marked to me, but I don’t think its relevant, let me reply to only the sender, and ask for clarification.
    • marked to me, not relevant, let me quickly ask sender to unsubscribe me.
    • marked to me, and its stuck because of me, 1st Priority, let me reply and acknowledge, and put on my To-Do list as priority items

Is it working? 💪

It’s working, it’s a roller coaster ride. Any productivity tool will work only if the discipline is maintained. The crux of success of such initiatives is its simplicity. Simplicity brings less complex routine, easier to follow and maintain the streak.

End of 2024, is leaving me some good practices, which will be passed on to 2025 for sure, and will not bogged down by any new ‘New Year’s Resolution“ trick 😅

I hope you will get some insights with this post, a week away from ending 2024, let me wish you all a very productive year ahead!

AI Generated, Prompt Engineering by Sumit W

Think Differently and Think Again

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Management attention is the ultimate constraint!

Eliyahu M. Goldratt

When it comes to new ideas and innovations from the team, the ultimate bottleneck is management. Their time and interest define whether the ideas are going to see the light of day! And as usual, words drown in various biases, and a billion-dollar idea will be killed without even realising its potential, just because the manager could not agree or find time to “rethink” his objections. Clearly, it’s not a new issue.

When iPhone peaches to Steve Jobs, he ridiculed it initially, believing that a mobile phone should focus on essential functions rather than extravagant features. It was he who was thinking differently while reviving Apple and avoiding bankruptcy, ultimately leading to the creation of the revolutionary iPod, which transformed how the world consumed music. However, it was his ingenious team, fueled by innovation and creativity, who dared to think again and found a compelling use case for the iPod as a phone. They envisioned a seamless integration of music, communication, and internet capabilities within a single device, thus paving the way for what would become the iPhone and revolutionizing the entire smartphone industry in the process. Through their collaborative efforts, they not only changed the way individuals interacted with technology but also set a new standard for what a mobile device could achieve in our daily lives.

For sure, each successful enterprise has an innovative founder, however it’s the team who make the enterprise succeed again and again and give the edge.

The book “Think Again” by Adam Grant, discusses the importance of rethinking and unlearning in a changing world. It emphasizes the value of being open to changing one’s mind and embracing doubt. Confidence combined with humility leads to better rethinking and learning. Challenging our own beliefs and seeking new perspectives can improve decision-making. Encouraging others to question their assumptions can lead to more open-minded conversations.

🦾 Modes of Thinking

It’s important to recognise the mode that we operate in while discussing an idea with someone. Especially when the ideas is not belongs to us, but we are the decision makers. The three modes quoted in the books are preachers, prosecutors, and politicians.

In each of these modes, we take on a particular identity and use a distinct set of tools. We go into preacher mode when our sacred beliefs are in jeopardy: we deliver sermons to protect and promote our ideals. We enter prosecutor mode when we recognize flaws in other people’s reasoning: we marshal arguments to prove them wrong and win our case. We shift into politician mode when we’re seeking to win over an audience: we campaign and lobby for the approval of our constituents. The risk is that we become so wrapped up in preaching that we’re right, prosecuting others who are wrong, and politicking for support that we don’t bother to rethink our own views.

🔬 One more mode “Scientists” mode

The mode which emphasis on questions everything is called as Scientist mode. For sure, it’s a methodology which researchers are trained to use, it’s not limited to white lab coats. This mode comes to action when we are in search of truth. The way to operate this mode is build the hypothesis, which you like to make it happen, and test this hypothesis by discovering knowledge.

The biggest hurdle of using Scientist mode is “ego”, and “we have done everything in past” a status quo bias.

✋Status quo bias

This cognitive bias leads people to prefer maintaining current practices or traditional methods, often resisting changes or new approaches. It’s driven by a comfort with the familiar and a perception that past methods are inherently safer or more effective.

In organizational settings, this bias can hinder innovation, as it causes people to dismiss new ideas by overvaluing past successes. Another related concept is sunk cost fallacy, where past investments in a particular approach make people reluctant to abandon it, even if it’s no longer the best option.

⁉️ How to “Think Again”?

It’s all really come down to acknowledging that we are prone to these biases, and overcoming this will truly bring innovations to organisation and will sustain growth long term. Few practices mentioned below, which I believed from my experience are really helpful. Also few of them are also aligned to over all theme of “Think Again” practice mentioned by Adam Grant.

1. Embrace a Scientist Mindset: Approach ideas like a scientist rather than a preacher, prosecutor, or politician. This involves forming hypotheses, experimenting, and being willing to change beliefs based on new evidence, which can help challenge assumptions about past practices.

2. Rethink Familiar Practices: Grant suggests actively questioning the effectiveness of familiar practices and regularly asking, “What if we tried a different approach?” This helps counter the comfort of “we’ve always done it this way.”

3. Encourage Intellectual Humility: Recognize that being wrong is a natural part of learning. Leaders can set an example by admitting mistakes and valuing learning over being right, which encourages others to embrace new ideas and reduce reliance on the past.

4. Seek Diverse Perspectives: Invite input from people outside the usual circle who may offer fresh viewpoints. This approach helps expose blind spots and reduces the tendency to default to what’s been done before.

5. Focus on Small Wins: Trying small, low-stakes experiments with new ideas can make people more open to change. These incremental steps help build confidence in different approaches without overwhelming the organization.

🔖 Summary

The approach of “Think again” and “Think Different” is a practice which make us pause before getting overwhelmed by the newness of the idea.

A pause and change in perception will bring the focus back to this question of how to think differently and think again, for the concept which we may think not worth of our time.

Management being ultimate gate keeper of the funds and resources, are the responsible ones who should practice “Think Again” and allow team to “Think differently”.

I hope this small blog will bring some insights and will help you “Think Differently”

Feedback, Art of listening 👂

GoodRead, ,

“If someone chooses to share feedback, listen to understand the person, not the work. People will tell you more about themselves than about the art when giving feedback. We each see a unique world.”
–  Rick Rubin

The quote by one of the #goodread I had in past, “The Creative Act : a Way of being”, Rick Rubin emphasizes the importance of empathy and understanding in the feedback process. When someone offers feedback, it’s easy to focus solely on the work at hand—be it a piece of art, music, or writing. However, Rubin suggests that the real value lies in understanding the individual behind the feedback. Each person’s perspective is shaped by their personal experiences, emotions, and beliefs, which means they reveal more about themselves than the work itself when sharing their thoughts.

Me and Listening 🦻

Many years ago, as part of internal assessment I have been rated 3/5 on listening skills, its a feedback, which I took with a shock. Till that point I was under impression that I know what “Listening” means, however, nodding my head, paraphrasing what some one just told me, mirroring body language is not what actual ‘Listening’ means. It means “I’m trying to listening, and proving he same”. This is not the intent. Intent is to know the other party better. This is how I started on journey of knowing me better before I learn to know other better. In this process I came across many deep understanding on this subject.

crop faceless female counselor talking to client
Photo by Alex Green on Pexels.com

By listening with the intent to understand the person, rather than just evaluating their critique, we open ourselves up to a deeper connection and insight into different viewpoints. This approach not only enriches our own understanding but can also foster a more supportive and collaborative environment. It encourages constructive dialogue and promotes artistic growth, as individuals feel valued and heard. Ultimately, recognizing that everyone perceives the world uniquely allows for a more inclusive and reflective creative process.

Feedback and Listening … 👂

You can’t step into the same stream twice because it’s always moving. Everything is changing.

After finishing a project or activity, it’s helpful to get feedback from others. This can give us valuable insights and help us improve. For example, a 360-degree feedback after one year in a job is a good way to check how we’re doing and can make our journey more successful. The key is how we handle that feedback. The goal isn’t just to get comments or opinions from others. This is your work, and your feelings about it matter most. The aim is for you to see your work in a new light. Sometimes, a comment will really connect with you and reveal areas for growth. Other times, a negative remark may upset you, leading to a defensive reaction or doubt in your work. In such cases, it’s helpful to take a break, clear your mind, and come back with a fresh perspective. Criticism lets us look at our work from a different angle. We can choose to agree or stick to our original ideas.

How to listen thou self? 💁

Look around you: there are so many remarkable accomplishments to appreciate. Each of these is humanity being true to itself, as a hummingbird is true to itself by building a nest, a mango trees by bearing fruit, and a nimbus cloud by producing rain. We look for something new, and we find the newness. The effort for ‘look for something new’ itself brings the mind to ‘listening’ mode. When we intently look for something new, we hear better, we see better, we not only see the obvious, but we also see the reason behind the obvious. The fruit bearing tree is not there on his own, some one, some how planted it for some reason, and now the fruits are for us to enjoy! It’s a true rabbit hole to go into!

This is how we listen to self, In process improve the listening skill. The gift of awareness allows us to notice what’s going on around and inside ourselves in the present moment. And to do so without attachment or involvement. We may observe bodily sensations, passing thoughts and feelings, sounds or visual cues, smells and tastes. And this is the moment where we are really actively listening to the person.

Fall in love with the person. ❤️

To listen to someone effectively, you need to fall in love with him/her! 💕 Really!

While reading the book “Unsold Mindset,” I discovered an interesting idea about connections. It’s not just about romantic love; it’s about the meaningful friendships that arise from truly caring about someone. We’ve all felt that spark when talking to a stranger—maybe while sitting next to them on a flight or in line at the store. These moments can feel almost magical, especially when the person inspires us. As we share more of these small connections with others, whether they are clients or casual acquaintances, our trust and interest in them grow, leading to deeper understanding and compassion. Such perspective brings the mindset of making the conversation more effective and actionable more impactful

Summary 🔖

Listening is an ongoing process. I never came across someone yet, who has really ‘listens to me’ to my expectations , this could be due to my high expectations and confusion with ‘Thought reading’ expectations.

Nevertheless, I came across many successful leaders, who has shown admiringly well Listening Skills, and which shows very positive and high co-relation of listening skills with a successful leader. Leaders with these skills has not only impacted their own life by climbing the ladder of success , but also impacted the community at large, making difference to their lives and creating the lasting impact.

I’ll keep exploring the topic, and keep learning to be better at skill, and my wife will be the litmus test, nevertheless, its encouraging to be part of this journey!

Handling Complex Problems 👊

Productivity,

Applying complicated solutions to complex problems is an understandable approach, but flawed.”
–  Donald Sull

Is it really complex?
Complexity is what gives one an opportunity to exploit his expertise, really?

Recall the first and only apollo mission who has put man on moon, was operating on hardware had 32 KB of RAM, a 72 KB hard drive (ROM), and a processor that ran at 43 kHz. By comparison, the latest Apple watch, sports 32 GB of RAM (1 million times the RAM of the AGC) and a 64-bit dual processor in a thin rectangle as small as 40 mm high. Today’s cell phones have more computer power than all of NASA did in 1969, as do our smart toasters.

Evolution leads to complexity, we being born from single cell organisms and grown to become billion cell person, it self shows how nature loves complexity.

Complexity didn’t mean it can’t be simplified. The simplification comes from perspective and approach. Imagine that tight knot which sometime we come across, only when, we take deep breath and look closely we find that one thread, which unravels the full stock! 😊

How to look for simplicity 👀

I believe the easiest way to adopt a mindset that seeks simple solutions is to start by believing that a simple solution exists and that it’s only a matter of time before we discover it. By acknowledging the possibility of such a solution, we open ourselves to finding it.

Simple solutions found when we ask the fundamental questions. “The 5 whys” could be one easiest way to find the root of the problems and then an easy solution.

Golden circle which was made famous by Simon Sinek, puts Why at the centre, followed by how and what. again approach is once we know why, we can find out how and what part of it.

Some mental models comes handy to find the simple solutions to complex problem, I love the model first principle thinking. The approach is to break down the problem in fundamental elements, variables and then ask, “what happens if I remove one variable at a time?” This is a strong model, keep one variable change and other constant, and see the change or behaviour, look for pattern and recognising those patterns helps find the root cause. This works when we are focusing on finding solution for complex problem.

How to approach complex customer problem?

No customer, including us, wants a complex solution, need to have educated guess or training to solve his problem. How many our us reads manual when we bought anything which is not manual 😊

One of the key bias one needs to be aware of is status quo bias a preference for the current state of affairs, where the current baseline is taken as a reference point, and any change from that baseline is perceived as a loss, and one avoids looking for change or finding better and easy solutions.

The solution has to be intuitive, and anything of this nature has to be simple. Just note 5 degree inclination of refrigerator, which helps closes the door automatically, not set properly, how many of us find those door getting half close or banging them each time. Simple solution like this needs to be institutionalised in product design. The approach is “design thinking”, one more framework helping us find simple solution.

Design thinking in nutshell 🌰

Many, many resources are available online, the soul of this approach is diverge and converge while finding the solution, and keep the end goal common, a simple solution. Empathy toward customer help avoid complex solutions.

Design thinking is a customer-centered, iterative approach to problem-solving that emphasizes empathy, creativity, and experimentation. It involves understanding the needs of users, defining the problem, generating a wide range of ideas, prototyping, and testing solutions. This process encourages collaboration across disciplines and focuses on creating innovative solutions that address real user needs. By embracing feedback and learning from failures, design thinking helps teams refine ideas and ultimately deliver more effective, simple, user-friendly products and services.

Do google and find some good reads on this topic.

Constrains are good 👍

Other way to find simple solution to complex problem is acknowledging constraints on resources or adding artificial constraints, to avoid excessive use. Common sense says, more resources, more complex outcome. Also more variables makes solution unsustainable or unreliable in long run. Hence constraints always good and help innovate solutions.

The most depressing part is not the product flaws themselves, but customers’ willingness to accept complicated interfaces as inevitable.

Take example of MP3 player in early years, customer took for granted the complexity in the player, for being MP3 player, and iPOD took them by storm.

A good read 📚

Came across this book, as name suggest it’s on Simple Rules for managing complex problems. The book talks about few such approaches.

Simple rules impose a threshold level of structure while avoiding the rigidity that results from too many restrictions. The resulting flexibility makes it easier to adapt to changing circumstances and seize fleeting opportunities. Simple rules can also produce better decisions than more complicated models can, particularly when time and information are limited.

Why simple solutions hard to find by? 🧐

  • Failure to accept the change, change is good, nevertheless finding good in a change is always challenging and human always tries to avoid change.
  • Cognitive dissonance, the moment we face the issue with implementation of simple solution, we fall back to usuals complex solution and struggle either with its implementation or go back to original state.
  • Surrounding. We are surrounded by complex solutions, we pay for them, and they get paid to get our attention, and we get distracted and fail to find that simple solution.

Summary 😏

Does this awareness helps? Sometime, and most of the time, depending upon how we prioritise finding simple solutions over applying existing complex solutions. It needs practice and awareness of our actions.