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2021 a look back

  • The switch to virtual training was tough - well managed. To think of an analogy - we managed to score runs on a low scoring pitch and bad light - but there is much work to be done in this space. We are still in Day 1 of virtual training, and possibly trying to map Physical training to virtual modes. More thoughts (here, here, here and here)
  • Demand for learning continues to go up. I may personally not like learning as engagement - but companies seek learning as engagement, learning as culture, learning as skill building, learning as talent management. So, more power to those who are in these spaces.
  • Indian content is still not there yet I feel. My own book was received fairly well. So again, a space of opportunity and much more. And I am not talking about Indian models - just content optimised for India without the usual biases.
  • I really wonder what will happen to big content providers who sell "licences" or what makes them survive so far? There are newer business models that are breaking this model - so thats a place to watch out.
  • Why arent companies creating their content easily? Is this an opportunity? To make it easier for companies to create their own content.
  • As the pandemic persisted from the first quarter of the last year, optimism dropped, fatigue went up and by the end of the year, while companies are adjusting to hybrid, new normal and virtual work - there are significant signs that work will tend to pre-pandemic status quo with a few sops, options and perhaps more awareness. There is a lot of shift happening as of now - but my sense most of this will revert with people wanting to get back to work (armed with choice though)
  • There was a lot of talk about the new normal - I am fairly convinced that peoples behaviours will regress to the mean. And the pandemic will soon be forgotten. Why I say so - people are travelling like before (or more), spending like before (or more), working...you get the drift. So as humans we want normalcy - we want our life back, so do companies and management. Even those businesses that are taking a remote first approach to work will regress the moment they hit a bad patch. I say this knowing fully well the slight rise in numbers around us (in India)
  • Note that I am not saying remote first is a bad way to work - it is good, probably the best - but it requires significant amount of mutual trust to make it happen. Personally having worked remotely on quite a few projects - I love it - but at a large scale, it does take a lot of effort to make it work and yes, the communication overhead is tremendous. 
  • India is seeing an explosion of startups and ideas. It is good to see students just out of college dreaming of their own tech start ups. And finally we can say the era of the 2000s is over - where everybody was asking "where is India's Microsoft". Well, we have them - not one, not two, but a handful. 
  • Digital India has well and truly taken off. In place after place, business after business - digital is replacing cash as the medium of business. This is another opportunity area. 
  • Financial data transfer (Unified Id has been enabled). This is needed in healthcare as well. In miltary, we can see seeds of self sufficiency sprouting in India. I love the fact that make in india is led by private entrepreneurship and not bureaucracy. 
  • With the expressways being build rapidly and the dedicated freight corridors, India is set for a quantum leap from a living conditions and overall growth perspective. This is where I feel we are at the end of 2021 and the start of 2022...
  • So, well, make the most of it whereever you are...

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