random ramblings

This past weekend, I watched a final - EFL cup football, between Chelsea and Liverpool. On the Chelsea side, expensive players who collectively cost about one billion dollars. Other side was missing all of its front line three, their first choice goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders - all out due to injury. Liverpool won the match in extra time. They fought fearlessly for 120 minutes and they wanted it more. Liverpool’s manager, Jurgen Klopp, announced stepping down as a manager by the end of this season. He said he is running low on energy, “we are not bunnies anymore, jumping up and down”, that felt like “running on three wheels”, “a race car that can go at 180 mph, but running on fumes and needing to take a rest stop”. Since then, the players and the fans want to make memories with the remaining matches, win everything they can and close this season as a long goodbye. How do one create such a following? He hugs every player coming on, shouting good things in their ear as they wait to...

Someone told me today that he wanted to work in a team of high intelligence people. While we should not suffer fools, I think there might have been narrow thinking or understanding behind this. While we have always heard of the role of heart and gut, I recently learned that it is legitimate to consider heart and gut as other two kinds of minds – with neurons, even though vastly less in number compared to brain. When my friend said intelligent, it was one dimensional – he meant logical / mathematical intelligence. But there are others – linguistic, emotional, kinesthetic etc. We all know people who are musically gifted, superlative athletes or who can speak seven languages. Netflix (poster boy of the times) CEO was quoted as saying his team should be like a sports team rather than a family, that they should ultimately win. While intention of a business is to make money at the end of the day, can it be done in an environment that is like a family that has strong bonds, where each one h...