Serendipity and Learning

I am a reader. I can read anything. Anything. Fact. Fiction. Humour. The wrapper of a biscuit packet. The newspaper cone which the peanut vendor passes on. Anything. On the contrary, I cannot understand when I have to hear. Not beyond a point atleast. And that beyond a point is as immediate as tears on cutting onions. Mildly put, I like to read and understand. I cannot bear to hear lectures - either in person or on video or audio or anything. My only experiences with audio-books have been as sleeping pills. Yes, I can listen to songs - but nothing that I have to reflect and comprehend. I have tried a couple of podcasts as well many years ago - when it was the rage - but gave up because of the above reasons. But at the urging of a friend, I decided to give it a shot again. Its just two podcasts thus far, and I seem to have been able to hear and comprehend. Looking back, I realise that perhaps when I tried it earlier, it was off a desktop or on a device that did not have mobil...

I was listening to a podcast (more on this later) by Dr. Jason Fox - on The Great Work Podcast and something he said caught my attention. His overall topic was all about how people do a lot of work, but how progress is not the same as doing a lot of work/attending a lot of meetings. He referred to something as trait based language - where he said the leader says things like "We should be digital" or "We are a world class company" or "We should meet customer needs" - and he argues that these are just empty words - that nobody can disagree with and yet shoot off peacefully. Instead what if the team spoke about and argued real issues and made progress. The trait based language part of it resonated with me - since this is a staple in many meetings.