In 1968 Dr. Har Gobind Khorana won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He was an American citizen, but he was of Indian origin and the honor was widely celebrated in his country of birth. Indian newspapers and magazines published lengthy interviews, and many touched on his personal story and …
Srikumar Rao
Don’t Give a Gift With a String Tied to It
I was visiting a friend. Her in-laws had just arrived for a short stay, and she introduced them to me. She was wearing a lovely costume that they had brought for her, and she looked quite fetching. She was also somewhat tense. When her in-laws retired, I asked her if something was troubling …
It’s Only A Story!
These serotinal days are conducive to reflection. I look at my new grand-daughters and the miracle of life becomes ever so apparent. They are not yet three weeks old but have already gone through heart wrenching crises. I wonder whether they are even aware that they have successfully weathered these …
The World does Not Conform to Your Model
We go through life with a model of how the world is. This model is in our head, but we do not recognize that it is just a model. And, because we think that the model is ‘real’ we make many mistakes of omission and commission. Diane was an earnest seeker. She had grown up in a conservative family …
My Purpose Does Not Align with What I Do For A Living
One of my students – let's call him Steve – was a thoughtful individual and felt that his life was completely transformed by my course, Creativity and Personal Mastery. He was a senior executive in the debt restructuring division of a large bank. He was very good at what he did and had been …
Advice for Couples – Be like the Cashew Nut and not like the Walnut
Advice for Couples – Be like the Cashew Nut and not like the Walnut It is almost a half century since I graduated with an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad. Technically it was a diploma, but everybody recognized it as an MBA including Columbia Business School which gave me …
This is How the Lies Begin
This is How the Lies Begin And the lies spread until you are enveloped in a cocoon of falsehood As I write this I am in San Francisco with my daughter and her family. Krish, my grandson, is not quite two yet and is a bundle of energy. When he sees me in the morning he says “Tatha,” and …
You Cannot Solve an Internal Problem with External Action!
You Cannot Solve an Internal Problem with External Action! Yet this is what you try to do again and again! I have taught Creativity and Personal Mastery at many top business schools including Columbia, Kellogg, London Business School and Berkeley. And, without fail, the same incident …
What Are You Not Seeing?
What Are You Not Seeing? Sometimes what you miss may be more important than what you observe If someone were to ask you whether you are good at observing what is really happening, what would your answer be? We visited some friends we had not seen for a while, and it was a most delightful …