Mukesh Gupta's Blog, page 46

To succeed, Optimise the one variable that matters

Premise:

One of the things that almost everyone of us does is to optimize. We optimise our time, our money and at times even our relationships. We want maximum efficiency in almost everything that we do. In organisations, we compensate sales guys on sales made, product managers on product development, marketing folks on leads generated, manufacturing folks on operational efficiency. Everywhere we look, we can find efforts to maximise efficiency in that part. This, in general, is our attempt t...

Lessons from Apple and the Swiss Watch makers

Premise:

I read this post that shared the fact that in the previous quarter, Apple sold more watches than all Swiss watch makers put together. I personally think that this is a pivot point in the watch industry and there is a lot that other entrenched players can learn from how the Swiss watch makers missed the plot.

 Why is this important:

Typically, the Swiss watch makers are considered to be the best watch makers with brands like TagHeuer, Rolex, Breitling, etc coming out from there. It to...

Best Among What I Read this Week

1. A Cult of Creation :

In this post, Sam Yen shares his thinking on the importance of creativity in the innovation process and also how can enterprises scale creativity in their organisations. He shares the importance of finding the right problem to solve in the innovation process. I totally agree with him on the importance of finding the right problem to solve, before even attempting to solve any problem.

2. If you are determined to help, you can always find a way :

In this video, Mr. Bean...

PBTO S2E5: Personal Knowledge Mastery with Harold Jarche

Opening music credits goes to Riju Mukhopadhyay & Pavan Cherukumilli

Who is on the show:

In this episode, we host Harold Jarche. He is focused on providing actionable insights for workplace transformation. He works with individuals, organizations, and public policy influencers to develop practical ways to adapt to the technological, demographic, and societal changes facing us today.

Why is he on the show:

I have been reading his blog for almost a couple of years and have learned a lot. He hel...

5 Traits That Separate the Best Sales Managers

Premise:

As the profession of sales evolves, new younger employees are welcomed in the sales force, the sales managers need to evolve with the change as well. Here are some skills that set certain sales managers apart from all others.

Skills that separate the best sales managers from others: 1. Tech savvy:

With more and more millennials entering the sales force, they bring with them the expectation of leveraging technology in everything that they want to do. If as a sales manager, you are n...

Rule #51 – Sometimes You Are Wrong

NCIS & Leroy Jethro Gibbs

I am a big fan of the television series “NCIS” and have watched every single episode that has been released. There are 15 seasons and about 24 episodes in every reason and each episode is about 40 minutes long. You can do the math – the amount of time that I have spent watching this television series.

I love this series because i like the central characters, specifically, the larger than life character – Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

One of the reason I like him is because of...

Best among What I Read this Week

1. How to Increase Your Influence at work

In this post, Rebecca talks about some tactics that we can use to increase our overall influence at work. She gives a lot of good advice. Read, learn and put it in practice.

2. What are you saying “No” to  In this post, Anthony talks about the impact that every ”Yes” we say has on our time, work and impact and argues the importance of picking the right “Yes” by saying “No” to everything else. 3. Marais  One of the best designs that I have seen in som...

Is Free Public Transportation the Answer for Germany to Meet Pollution Norms of EU?

Premise:

DW Akademie recently reported that Germany would like to experiment with making public transportation free in 5 of its cities to explore if this can help it meet the pollution norms of European Union. The question is if this is the approach that will produce the results that it is expecting to achieve. This in addition to the policy to ban all petrol vehicles by 2030.

Wicked problems:

This is a classic example of what I call a wicked problem. This problem is so multi-faceted with so...

PBTO S2E4: Rethinking Vertical Movement Inside a Building

Who is on the show: In this episode we host architect and product designer Elena Larriba. She works at the intersection between art, science and design. Her curiosity leads her to investigate new concepts, technologies and techniques which she blends together in novel experiments merging engineering, design and craft. Why is she on the show: She is the designer of a vertical movement product called Vycle, which is a hybrid version of a cycle and an elevator and can be used for vertical movem...

Staying relevant in A Fast Changing World

The 40 – 40 Chasm?

Last week, I was attending a conference for senior marketers in Bangalore. One of the things that stuck with me from that conference was something that host Jessie Paul mentioned – the 40 – 40 chasm. She explained that if you are above 40 in age and earned 40Lakhs INR, you are supposed to be an endangered species in a corporate environment. She went on to talk about how most of us at this age have stopped learning and growing as individuals. What surprised me, even more, wa...