OP Bhatt

Driving Deep Work

How easy it is these days to be distracted? Just one minute on Facebook or Twitter and there goes the whole morning! In such an age of distraction where our attention spans are becoming lesser and lesser, how does Amish find the time and space to write? Hear his tactics of getting the momentum going. Hint: there is also something about a sugar rush in there!

Driving Mindfulness and Deep Work

Distraction is all around us. Our screens are becoming smarter and our attention spans shorter. Engulfed with this tsunami of data in a world that worships multitasking, how does one develop mindfulness? Raghu shares some invaluable tips practiced by corporate leaders. You will be amazed to hear how simple tweaks (no need for any props! Just your time) can improve your mental well being.

Performing at the top and being grounded

Vishy talks about the various elements that matter to perform at the highest level in addition to IQ. He specifically discusses the criticality of collaborating with a range of coaches and players. He also shares how he manages to stay present during a game (a trait that Anatoly Karpov used to be a master at with his ruthless Boa-Constrictor style play he says). He also shares how he has managed to stay simple and grounded despite the towering heights he has reached as a Chess player.

Rejecting 3 jobs and painting in Goa

KV Sridhar (Pops) talks about how came to Mumbai to pursue commercial opportunities and cast his net beyond Hyderabad – where he grew up. He also talks about the fact that very quickly he got himself three offers (on the creative and commercial side) but decided to go to Goa to learn and reboot. He talks about how he led the life of a vagabond for a few months and how he landed the next role at Ulka.

Building Habits vs Enhancing Awareness

Devdutt talks about the distinction between building habits and enhancing awareness. He mentions that habits are often relevant only in a certain context and it is critical not to become a slave of the habit. He also elaborates on the notion of “Darshan” and “Para-jiva” and makes the distinction between self-awareness and awareness towards the other. He urges us to think about what we would do when presented with Sophie’s choice (where you have to pick between two equally deserving alternatives).

The reflection habit - decoding signal from the noise

Vinay talks about Narasimha Rao’s habit of reflection and journaling which helped him deal with the ecosystem he was in. Vinay talks about how Rao used the habit of journaling to develop a nuanced understanding of the context he was in which helped him deal with situations of grey effectively. He also talks about how he managed to gather intelligence around what was happening around him despite his lonely nature.

Music and Technology

Jayashri talks about overdependence on technology and how that is coming in the way of learning where the student puts off the learning to technology. She talks about how she tries to benefit from the technology while knowing that she could do what she does even without it.

Managing time and attention

Tarun discusses how he has crafted his self-assigned space of thinking about issues around creativity and entrepreneurship in Developing countries. He talks about being known as the “clearing house” for something. He also talks about the tension between access to intellectual capital at Harvard and being located closer to the action that he is passionate about. He later goes on to discuss the allocating mechanism he uses to fill his time when he visits the various markets.

Inner journey

Dr. Guha speaks about Gandhiji’s inner journey on multiple fronts – diet, medicine, celibacy and inter-faith harmony. He speaks about how he had a scientific approach in each of these and sometimes crafted experiments to test out a certain belief and based on the results, modified it as he moved forward. He also speaks about Gandhiji’s tolerance and open-ness to others’ views as he was shaping his world-view through his journey. 

Technology and psychological interference

Stew speaks about what has stayed the same and what has changed significantly in his thinking around work life integration. He talks about the ubiquity of technological devices that now surround us and speaks about the need for all of us to build psychological tools to benefit from the technological advancements without incurring the cost that often comes hand in hand with such developments.

Origins of SIY

Rich talks about the origins of the Search Inside Yourself programme. It started out as a quest for Googlers looking for a solution to stay agile and resilient while you are on a “rocket-ship”. He also goes on to talk about how SIY brings in wisdom from multiple domains ranging across Neuroscience, Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence to help people develop a new kind of intelligence that enables them to cope with the roller-coaster ride of a tech driven company 

Attention and Meta-Attention

We normally think of attention in broad terms but Rich breaks down the various types of attention. He speaks about Attention being the ability to focus our mind on something specific and Meta-Attention being the ability to pay attention to our attention and have the ability to bring it back when it wanders.  

Developing the meditation habit

Rich talks about how he thinks about ritualizing meditation and baking it as a hygiene in the way he goes about leading his life. He also talks about the importance of not treating meditation just as a separate activity that we do once a day but suggests that weave in meditation in the small things we do through the day. He also speaks about the importance of rituals to manage our attention in the digital economy.  

Benefits of Journaling

Rich speaks about the benefits of journaling and refers to research in neuroscience that suggests that journaling is superior to typing on a digital device given the speed at which we do each of the activities. He also has some pointers around how people can start the practice of journaling in their lives.  

Meta-distress and Response-flexibility

Rich discusses the distinction between choosing a response to a situation and reacting. He also speaks about the difference between events that unfold and the story we tell ourselves about the events that unfold. He links it to the notion of agility where he says we need to be agile in the way we stay present to the world around us and that agility is a prerequisite for us to be agile as leaders in the business context.  

3 levels of resilience

Rich speaks about three levels of resilience – Inner calm, Emotional Resilience and Cognitive Resilience. He talks about the example of Captain Sully Sullenberger (who miraculously landed the plane on the Hudson river after his plane was hit by birds after taking off from LaGuardia) to talk about how calm and composed he was and stayed present during the ~3 minutes he had between the bird hit and when he landed the plane.

In Summary – Playing to Potential

Thinking of a transition in life? Reflecting upon your purpose in life? Living a life that someone has decided for you? Amish shares a powerful quote from the Bhagwad Gita to conclude this conversation and urges people find their own uniqueness and ‘swadharma’.

In Summary

In summary, Vijay talks about the role of passion and enjoying what you do in us producing our best work. He also alludes to a certain mindset with which we could approach life that will help in us playing to our personal potential. He refers to inspiration from Thurgood Marshall and Buzz Aldrin to talk about how we could approach life to ensure that we go as far as we can given the unique capabilities that each one of us has.

In Summary

Feel like you are not using your potential to the fullest? Thinking about taking a new course or certification to harness this potential? Wait! Hear what Raghu says about the ‘journey of your full potential’ and how you might already know what you need to know! Intrigued? Hear on!

In Summary

In summary, Viren talks about how OGQ is all about selecting and grooming athletes and helping them play to their potential at the highest stage. He also talks about the opportunity that all of us have to support some of these supremely talented sportsmen who may not have the financial resources to pursue their dreams. If you are interested in contributing, please visit http://www.olympicgoldquest.in. It might be a great opportunity for us to invest in a Mutual Fund that carefully picks the human capital and helps them appreciate over time and could make us and the nation proud.

In Summary – Playing to Potential

Prakash shares his definition of a PHD for people to play to their potential. He talks about the role of Passion, Hunger and Discipline in going after a goal for people to perform at their best.

In Summary – Playing to Potential

We all have an aim that we work towards. But in the feverish rush to achieve this goal, we often forget something. Hear Kartik talk about what is really important before we set any goal or take any career decision. It is something we hear a lot about but do we really follow?

In Summary

  To conclude, Abhijit answers three quick questions: One piece of advice to students leaving B-schools and making their transition into the workplace; three things they don’t teach enough at B-school and three apps he finds valuable! Find out the answers in this nugget.

Re-inventing self and playing to potential

Given the VUCA world we live in, re-inventing oneself every now and then has become a necessity. Nandan talks about the mindset with which he has approached the various transitions he has had in his career and shares his perspective on what it takes for people to play to their potential.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

How do individuals stay relevant amidst all the change and opportunity around them? Atul shares his perspective around how individuals should think about their future when the current education system is preparing children for jobs that possibly don’t even exist today.

In Summary - Playing to potential

For people to play to their potential, people should have clarity around what they have potential for. Karthik talks about the importance of the process of reflection and self-awareness that could significantly increase the odds of people playing to their potential over the long run.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Pramath talks about his perspectives on how people could play to their potential. He highlights how helping others realize their potential often leads to all kinds of benefits that often enable your success.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

In the world with growing complexity in terms of emerging business models and career paths, how does one play to potential. Vedika shares her perspectives on how one could play to potential.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Where to go and How to grow are two questions leaders ask all the time as they navigate their career. Vinita talks about the need for conviction in direction, coupled with abundant curiosity to grow as the key elements of playing to your potential.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Zia talks about the key attributes that have enabled her to succeed as a lawyer and as an institution builder. She talks about how people shouldn’t be afraid to reinvent themselves if they are not having fun in what they are doing.

In summary - Playing to Potential

Rama talks about importance of navigational principles in a world where we are all headed in a direction where the destination is unclear. She relates this approach to how Google builds its products. She also underscores the importance of a core skill which wires us in a certain way, which gives us the ability to process the world around us with a certain frame.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Dheeraj talks about how businesses and leaders need to have clarity around the interfaces where they have strengths (man-man, machine-machine, man-machine). That self-awareness at an organizational and an individual level can be tremendously insightful in guiding growth and strategy.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Anu refers to the notion of Infinite Game in the context of playing to potential. She talks about challenging the boundaries and extending the scope of how you define the game (instead of taking the circumstances as hard constraints).

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Vishy talks about the criticality of loving what you do in order to sustain the interest and passion and to rise to the very top of the field. He also refers to an Ad where he is shown playing cricket (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcnGW4nOTBA ) and urges people to pick the right sport. A profound reminder of the fact that for us to play to our potential picking the right canvas to operate is almost as critical or arguably more important than working hard and attempting to scale up.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Meher talks about the role of self-awareness and discovering what energizes you. She also offers a practical tip to people who claim “I don’t know what I am passionate about”. She suggests that they start somewhere and then along the way, figure out what energizes them.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

KV Sridhar talks about the criticality of finding one’s purpose and impacting society beyond oneself. He also talks about not being anchored or limited by one’s educational background. He talks about how (irrespective of what we end up doing), our past learning almost always comes into play in some shape or form.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Suresh shares his wisdom around Where to go (building navigational principles as one moves along in a career) and How to grow (how one scales up their leadership capability over time)

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Devdutt makes the distinction between the market wanting a certain type of fruit (phala) and each one of us being a certain type of seed (beej). He uses this framework to talk about how we could make a choice around changing ourselves or the market we address as we seek to fulfil our potential.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Jay talks about importance of us cherishing the fact that we have a democracy before we get down to analysing what its short-comings might be. He also talks about the criticality of doing things that you enjoy and things that matter.

In summary - Playing to potential

Amit discusses how he has always surprised himself over time with the goals he has set for himself on the work front and the Social Impact front. He talks about the importance of setting goals and revisiting them from time to time. He also talks about the criticality of collaborating with the right set of people who inspire you and enable you to drive impact at a large scale.  .

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Mouli talks about the notion of Potential being an infinite term and not something finite and well-defined. He uses the phrase “you get what you deserve” to make the point we are better off focussing on the deserving than the getting. He also underscores the point about enjoying the ride and therefore playing (not necessarily working) towards our potential.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Roopa talks about the attitudes that have held her in good stead as she has gone through her journey. She also talks about how a lot of clarity around one’s own potential evolves over time and suggests that we don’t get anxious about it too early.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Neera talks about how it is not about each of us individually fulfilling our potential but more about how we can work with a group of people and unlock greater possibilities. She also discusses how we all get cues along the way that nudge us in certain directions for us to pursue the path that that could enable us to fulfil our potential

In summary - Playing to Potential

Deepa shares her perspective on people playing to their respective potential. She discusses the criticality of having a happy mind, staying positive and having the discipline and work towards it. She urges us to be true to ourselves for us to push towards excellence

In summary - Playing to Potential

Jayashri talks about her approach to giving back to the community through the various things she does, whether it is helping children who have autism or performing for seniors at locations where they live. She also talks about her work through SPIC MACAY in using art to improve lives.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Arun talks about how it is easy to get lost in the here and now and the buzz of the day to day that we sometimes might forget where we are headed. He likens it to Spanish tiki-taka where there is a lot of graceful ball-passing going on but sometimes the ball doesn’t get to the goal enough (something that commentators about the Spanish team in 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia). He urges us to spend time reflecting on what we deeply care about and take our first steps towards that.

In Summary - Playing to Potential

Ambi talks about some of the key choices he has made over his journey that has helped get to where he has. He also spends time talking about his curiosity (that led him to do a PhD when he was past his 50) and how it has helped him grow over a period of time. Referring to his latest book, he talks about the criticality of being a SPONGE and learn from around us as we move forward in our respective journeys.

In Summary Playing to potential

Dr. Guha speaks about how he has learnt (from Gandhiji) the criticality of using the right language when you engage with people who might have a differing point of view.