Serendipity and Learning

I was attending a session on design and the speaker referred to this book, "Creative Selection". Instantly I ordered it. And promptly finished it over the weekend. This is a fantastic book. If you are in the creative space or in the space of design or product or just want to get a deep inside view of design or creation, this is a must read book. And the single biggest takeaway? Great product or design is no accident. It is a combination of perseverance, diligence, risk, choices and decisions, among other things... Thats all I will say. Read it!

She took the sketch pen and asked for a notebook.  Then opening the page, what do you want me to draw?,  she asked.  I smiled.  I asked her to draw an elephant, a cat, a fish, moon, star, sun, dot, monster and she drew all of them in no time, one after the other asking, what next?  And, she drew all of them nonchalantly, asking for more things to draw.  All of 2.5 years old, every drawing was same as the other.  The dot was indistinguishable from the fish or the monster or the elephant.  But she did not care.  She was doing something very serious - she was drawing for me - and there was no fear of failure.  Most of all I loved her self confidence in trying.  And I wonder where we lose it in the fear of failure.

Clash Royale is one of the most addictive games we have played. We have been playing it on and off for a few years now - almost from the time it was launched. So, I have a view of the game from the time it was launched (and a spinoff of the wildly successful Clash of Clans - which we were again playing with some interest until Clash Royale came about). Both as a person who has more than a superficial interest in games and gamification and learning and as a person who plays - it has almost all features that push it to addiction levels. What makes it so addictive? Some fairly obvious mechanics: Most of these are new - not when it was initially launched. The battle button is highlighted and blinks. It also has special challenges mentioned on it.  (Gold Rush/ Crown Rush) When a Clan war is on - the battle icon at the bottom is animated Constant stream of rewards - Tier Rewards, Time Rewards, Collection and Challenge specific rewards The game play - including sound, light, the...

I had to go to a slightly off track place (within the city) and dreaded the road closures (white topping and what not). On the way back, Google maps chose a route that avoided road closures (and fastest route). So, I simply followed it. And it took me through a series of back roads (all good except at one place where it was very narrow), got me past the road closure and what was even more surprising, at the start of the drive, it said, estimated time to reach is 1:41 pm - and I reached the basement at 1:42 - that last one minute because of a car reversing just outside the apartment. I thought that was incredible - because it needs to take into account the speed of the driver (not sure if the algorithm does that today) apart from the traffic. 

For me writing is a means of indexing thoughts, capturing it so that it can be used as a memory and thought capture, also to see how my own thoughts have progressed. Sometimes it comes in handy to talk to people, elucidate thoughts and so on. When I started this in 2011, I was thinking of the people who have blogged so far and about so much that has been written. Today it is 2020, 9 years, and approximately 400 posts. Thats is the power of doing a bit each day. Side note: I usually read about 2 books a month. That is 24 a year and 240 in 10 years. The actual number is much more because there are books I skim, speed read, dip into and so on. 

Down into Borra caves, the worlds oldest stalagmite cave, the place is lit up with colourful lights and photography points. At each point is an intrepid photographer with a printer who will print out your picture right there. And the incredible thing is that they do brisk business. What explains this? In a digital age where everyone has their own phone.  We tried it as well. I think two things. One as a senior leader in the industry told me a year ago - digital fatigue. Everything is digital that often one wants something non-digital, maybe a book. And thats why physical book sales (and the number of books being written) are going up.  Second, when everything is digital, everything is also that much ephemeral. Recently someone I know lost all their data because their device crashed. We lost a treasure trove of photographs because a device is not compatible. So, when someone makes the digital physical then and there, it was an attraction. We were travelling as a famil...

As the books bought list from various people grows -a typical end of the year malaise- I have to admit - any book list usually makes me lose money in a literal sense. In a metaphorical sense, luckily, I have been brought up to believe that books are a great investment and that remains my approach to buying books. So, this year at this point, this is what my list looks like...Some of these books are in the started (it is tough to not start a book right away no?) mode... Behind the Cloud - the story of Salesforce - by Marc Benioff. The story of how a new category was created promises to be a fascinating read. Yes, late to the party this one... Forgotten Indian cities - the story of how the Indus civilization was discovered - by Navanjyot Lahiri. How were Mohenjodaro and Harappa discovered? Who were the people. A story that we dont know about since our history books covered Indus valley civilization in about a chapter while teaching about Aryan Invasion - a story which has now prove...

A short summary of my learning from learning this year...and some questions... Digital learning does not happen by itself.  It has to be enabled. In an age of digital abundance and overdose, digital is likely to be shunned. Tell me, the learner, why should I. Give me a strong reason... Learning competes with Tik-Tok and Whatsapp on a bad day. With Netflix on a good day. Are you making me curious enough? A lot of elearning content is B grade as compared to what is available outside. I mean, very little has changed in elearning. How to make it meaningful (not entertaining) in a short span of time? Time is a real constraint. But time can be moved, shifted and even bent given the right motivation. But are you giving me reason enough to do so? Non-digital actually scores over digital. The unique things one can do using non-digital are really cool. Non-digital actually gives a better overall sensory experience. Why is that so? My view is that it is partly because digital has n...