My experience of learning by teaching

Just recently, I realised I have been at 11 different institutes. I started off in 2009, so it's been a long 12 years. Most appearances were as a guest lecturer, but at one institute, I have been consistently teaching a course too.

So here's my attempt to explain the cliche behind my "great learning experience" of teaching.

1: Talk about your passions, and people will seek you out

I started out in marketing research, and every time I met my professors, I told them how the reality was so different from what was being taught to us in the classrooom, and that I would love to add that to the students. This constant interaction was what got me my first teaching assignment.

Once things began and people knew I was interested in this, I just kept getting more invitations.

2: You will fail first, and that's ok. Keep improving.

My first session was to a group of Executive MBA students on a weekend morning. And I was horrible. I was rejected right after the demo session. But thankfully, I gave it another shot, and then another, till I got good at it.

3: Always ask for feedback. Specific, detailed feedback.

The only reason I got better is that I asked for specific feedback. I explained to the class that I will take the feedback seriously, specify the questions, and then, keep time for students to fill up the forms at the end of the session without rushing through it. It helped me tremendously!

The negative pointers helped me improve, while the compliments boosted my confidence. So it worked both ways. Over time, I used this to also test out something new, and see if students picked on it, liked or disliked it.

4: Prepare for the session, and help others too

Like any other presentation, you will notice a marked difference between a prepared one and an unprepared one. You will sense it in the 'moood' of the room too, even though no one is actually speaking. And to get better at the preparation, it helps circulating your notes. In a way, it keeps the pressure on you to refresh the material for the next sesssion even though you are talking to a new crowd.

5: Share your experiences with others

It sounds like a repeat of the 1st point, but it's a bit different. The more you share, the more you will attract like-minded people, share notes, and improve your own work. And it also works because you will get to speak to more interested, more passionate crowds. Just like your regular job talent, this talent too is in high demand and low supply. So you will end up getting a better experience of talking.

Book and Movie Review - Alan Turing and The Imitation Game

Book: Alan Turing (Hourly History); Movie poster: The Imitation Game

 

What does it mean to be a visionary?
You definitely have to go beyond the current thought patterns. But more importantly, you have to elevate yourself to another level of thought - a whole new way of thinking.

That's what Alan Turing did when he went about trying to crack the Enigma machine decryption. He knew that he had to beat a system, and he visualised the entire mechanism months before he started building it, and years before he actually completed it and cracked it, all the while going more by his own convictions, in the face of opposition from his team as well as his superiors.

Maybe that is what Einstein meant when he said that we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them... or in this case, encountered them.

The book talks about Turing's story in a tragic manner, and the movie does great justice to what Turing goes through during and after solving the problem, and then, after so many more years post the World War too.

Awe-inspiring story, told in a beautiful, awe-inspiring way.

Ratings:
3.5 stars of 5 for the book, and 4 stars of 5 for the movie.

Myntra's logo change should be applauded, not criticised

 

Here are a few reasons why I think the criticism directed at Myntra doesn't hold ground.

1) Fighting a legal battle takes a lot of money, effort, and time

It's an FIR, not a customer complaint or a public criticism. You can't get done by issuing a statement on social media. The matter can drag on for a long time. And there's no guarantee of the outcome favouring the company.

2) The more this issue dragged, the worse it could become

Imagine Myntra choosing to fight the battle. It would have spread the news more. And as with any trending topic, people would choose sides and not everyone will call it "silly", like so many are doing now. Moreover, Myntra couldn't possibly say it in a court of law without risking some serious criticism as a corporate citizen.

And hey, like Karthik Srinivasan explains here, the logo has been made fun of for a long time.
I am sure that at some point on one of their Zoom calls, the Myntra brand team head just gave up and said, "let's just change the damn logo".

Got it. So criticism isn't fair, but why applaud.
Because of the extremely measured response.

Apart from taking a long time to respond, Myntra could also have taken this opportunity to revamp its entire identity. But it didn't. It went for a change immediately, and only to the extent that the "offensive interpretation" was taken care of. And that has multiple benefits.

1) Extremely low cost of change

Given that it is largely an online marketplace, the brand's offline presence would be proportionately small: The corporate office, some offline stores, its stationery, and its packaging. And given its speed of response, it can very well negotiate not to change all this branding overnight. With a new identity, it would have become a larger and costlier exercise.

2) Extremely low scale of change
 

When you change just the colours of a logo, it had little implications on the B&W and single-colour versions. And most of Myntra's physical presence is in this form. Look at the packaging pics below.

In all these cases, the logo need not be changed at all!

I hope that come appraisal season, the brand team at Myntra puts together the numbers and tells their bosses, "And that's how it's done!"

Disclaimer: I don't work for Myntra. Views are personal.

Book Reviews: 'The Goal', 'It's Not Luck' and 'The Choice' by Eliyahu Goldratt

Cropped cover images. Source: Amazon.in

I have been a big fan of Eliyahu Goldratt's books ever since I first read 'The Goal' during college. I have read it multiple times, and ditto for 'It's Not Luck', which is now also titled 'The Goal Part II'.

These books are written as novels, and narrate the story of Alex Rogo, a factory manager who solves problems at his factory, in his marriage, and later at his division with the help of a consultant, Jonah. Fast-paced and gripping and yet easy to read, these books present Goldratt's approach of finding breakthrough growth by challenging seemingly logical assumptions.

Most of his other books are all written as novels too.

'The Choice' is the one I read most recently.
Here as well, his thinking processes are presented as a conversation between him and his daughter. The book is written from the POV of his daughter, a professional organisational psychologist. She takes the reader through her stream of thoughts and intermittently reads from reports to understand work done by Goldratt at various companies.

Compared to other books, this book distills the thinking processes into a set of belief systems that Goldratt holds about how humans work and solve problems. Since I had read other books, some bit of this books repetitive and slow. But the reveal of the basic beliefs was as enjoyable and mind-blowing as his other books.

Here are the links to books I have read and their ratings according to me:
The Goal, applies his theory to Production Management; Rating 5 stars of 5
It's Not Luck, applies it to Marketing; Rating 5 stars of 5
Critical Chain, applies it to Project Management; Rating 3 stars of 5
Isn't It Obvious?, applies it to Retail and Supply Chain Management; Rating 4 stars of 5
The Theory of Constraints, explains the core theory; Rating 5 stars of 5
The Choice, explains the core beliefs; Rating 4 stars of 5