Serendipity and Learning

One year ago, to this date, was my first client meeting. And just the day before was my last day at my corporate job. The meeting went well - without a real promise of anything coming my way (I had to get used to this - meetings are only a first step - though the getting used took a long time.) As I waited at the bus stop after the meeting, I reflected on how, if this was a corporate meeting, a cab would be waiting for me and all I had to do was ask the cab to come to the entrance. And in this new avatar, frugalism was the name of the game. So, with the job, gone was the cabin. The position. The title. The designation. The corporate privileges which we get used to and sometimes feel entitled to as well. Gone was a huge team who would be the force multipliers, the executors, available for every discussion - now there was nothing. Just the wide world and a traveller with a bag and a journey. It was a new road, a new identity, perhaps a journey to find myself as well. At the ...

So, after a long wait and mail exchanges, I finally had a chance to attend and get certified in the Lego Serious Play Method. With an expert facilitator like Per Kristiansen and a set of diverse set of participants, the session was a lively one. And that makes yours truly one of the few certified trainers (in India) in the said methodology. It was something I had wanted to do for a long time, partly because I am a great fan of Lego bricks and partly because of the success of other design based interventions. The session and the methodology did not disappoint and it was fascinating to see Per at work as a facilitator.

A few weeks back, I was invited to deliver a keynote at a college in Mumbai. Since, I have not delivered any keynote ever before, my initial gut feel reaction was to say No. And then I thought about The Flinch and stepping into uncomfortable territories and then said yes! That was the easy part. The tough part was to put the keynote together; in a way that  it goes down well with the audience and then, deliver it as well. First week: So, I started off. Finding out about the audience, what they might be interested, what I could cover and so on and so forth. The initial part of the presentation was reviewed by a few close people and they all felt while, it was good, something was missing. Second week: Search for the missing ingredient meant more reviews, more googling, more reading. And then I got the feedback that “I was not in it” – meaning, what I stood for and why I was delivering the keynote was not getting captured at all. Third week: So, again it was down in t...

It is unlikely that you would have spotted this blog. In the unlikely event that you have spotted this blog, I welcome you here. This is a space where I plan to share my rather serendipitous journey into the world of learning. If someone told me ten years ago that I would be planning for a career in learning and training, I would have laughed at them. But thats how it is. If I knew what I would be doing ten years ago whats the fun in it. But then, as life would have it, here I am, heading a Training team. And enjoying it immensely. These are some of my own learnings in this space which I hope to share. Thank you for coming here and I hope you enjoy your time here! After all, life is learning, is it not?