Serendipity and Learning

 The gennexts have taken to reading Tintin. And suddenly there was a doubt.  What is a barnacle ? Or what is a bashi bazhouk ? Or why Thundering Typhoons? And led me to this...

Someone I know had posted recently that creativity requires you to swear. This is something I dont believe in. Yes, creativity needs a provocation - that provocation doesnt have to be negative. It doesnt have to a jibe or a sarcastic comment or a personal insult. The same thing can be achieved by tremendous motivation, empathetic questioning and enabling the 'creator' to think better. Fear is not a motivator of creativity. Sure fear is a motivator. As is adversity. But you can achieve the same thing via passion and constraints. And yes, keep those insults away. Think Olympic athletes. Think tough love. But swearing? And insulting people around you to achieve better creativity? Well, its is a theory I dont buy. Though I admit it has its takers since many great creative artists have had a nasty temper, a strong tendency to use cusswords and throw personal insults. And many wannabes have assumed that having a nasty temper, use of cusswords and insults are the gatewa...

The better half mentioned that this has been her longest stint at home other than maternity. And it struck me - how true. We, the upper middle class of India - for all the family time that we crave - have never got so much family time at one go. Think of it - if you are a typical office goer, you spent about 5 days a week at work. With about 25-30 days vacation - most likely not taken at one go, one wouldnt have spent more than 2 weeks at home. And the other factor - as this generation, we have had help for everything. At the very least- a maid. Else a cook or a driver and so on. This time its different. There is no help, it is just us and we are at home working and doing housework. But this is a great opportunity to have those family meals, sit down and play together and do all the things you have wanted to do. We have done cooking sessions, created a game, played many board games (and lost), helped each other - of course fought with each other - but it has been a unique expe...

Today I met the founder of a start up. It is a very interesting model that upends the current model. They specialise in supplying daily essentials, fresh from the market. It is a specific location based self service model. Their USP is fresh, handpicked, self delivered vegetables. Users can choose which vegetables they like. Prices are slightly negotiable. All payments accepted. I also met another founder. who is using a different model. They specialise in fresh fruit sold at a really low price. Users locate the vehicle basis approximate time slot (it is slated to become GPS enabled soon) and pick up the fruits during their rounds at the point closed to them - solving the last mile problem by making the user do the work - and reduce costs in the bargain. Fruits are guaranteed fresh, handpicked from the wholesale market a few hours before, user selected, weighed in front of the user, thus assuring users of best quality. Two interesting models in which I have invested early in the m...

The internet is a world of information. In an age of information everything is but a google search away. Take the example of science. When I was studying, if my textbook said water froze at 0 degrees, we took at as the truth. We did not have a doubt. Today, the internet is a great doubt clearing machine and ever so often when the kids come up with a doubt, we google and get an answer (or sometimes more confused). Apart from this, I am a huge fan of serendipity and believe it builds my divergent thinking muscle. The other day I was at an office and noticed a book called 'The Lego Architect' and bought it on Amazon. This book, while it is about Lego and architecture, taught me many words which I had no idea existed. Brutalism, for example. Leaded windows. How does water behave at 0 degrees (trust me the answer will surprise you) How to install CustomRom on a phone (yes, he got the bright idea that he can do it - luckily I dissuaded him). We dismantled an old mechanical ...

I received yet another invite for a timeshare on my mail. In the spam folder only, but as I looked at it, I wondered if timeshares are a good idea? Many years ago, we had considered going in for a timeshare and then we paused and said, well, we do want our vacations to be different experiences each time. And that has been a good thing because for one, we aren't bound by dates and artificial constraints from the timeshare, apart from our own. More importantly, our vacations have been different. From treks to pilgrimages to beach holidays to temple towns to laid back visits to forgotten places to home-stays to food by the roadside - each of them has been different. We have met wonderful hosts, teams, guides and cuisines along the way. A lot of "big-one-size-fits-all" is being broken up into more customisable pieces. In an age of airbnb where big hotels are more about business travel, I think we made the right choice.

A lot of us talk about dreams. That dream is usually an aspiration - something we want to do - it could range from entrepreneurship to fitness to self development to anything else - something ever slightly out of reach. The commonest place where it shows up is when we are discussing with friends and one thing leads to another and everyone is talking about their dreams. And then post the cafe conversation, it is back to normal - the usual routine existence. Six months later it repeats. Sometimes life throws an opportunity in front of you - that could very well make you take up that dream and work on it. Sometimes, you have the time in front of you, but you dont see it. Sometimes, you think you will do it - 5 years later, 10 years later or when you retire. Based on what I have learnt in the past few years - these conversations amount to nothing unless you take the plunge. That plunge doesnt necessarily mean, quit the job and start doing it - it means, taking those small steps ...

Taking the plunge Being unsure Choosing a name. Getting the company registered Getting a million copies of every document. Then Scanning. Being unsure Then self attesting. Getting this done and that done. The website is not yet done. Work and deadlines Self doubt Proofreading everything Being courier boy Working from home cursing Bangalores erratic electricity Working from cafes Working at odd hours Working more than ever before Goosebumps before the first deliverable And the second Endless discussion with a virtual team of collaborators New ideas More new ideas No time Where is my next work going to come from Reaching out to people Kindness of strangers The logo is still not done Accounts - who will get that done. And such it goes... Outthinc Consulting is born...