Minimalist techie

Welcome to Sridhar’s newsletter number # 38 & Podcast (Click Play button for Audio version of the Post). Appreciate you being here, so we can connect weekly on interesting topics. Add your email id here to get this directly to your inbox.

Do subscribe over Apple Or Spotify podcast (Minimalist techie Or on Spotify ) or hear it over email you received through my subscription or on my website.

This weekly newsletter is mostly about the article, books, videos etc. I read or watch or my views on different topics which revolves around my head during the week. Now, let us dive into this week’s reads.

1. Retail giants vs Suppliers - Impact to End Consumer

Retail giants are taking a hard line with suppliers, pushing back on price raises that have become commonplace in the industry. Walmart is leading the way; last month its CEO told Sam's Club suppliers he would fight attempts to pass price hikes onto retailers, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing anonymous sources. Walmart has previously issued tough edicts to suppliers, threatening not to stock their products over price hikes. Chains like Target and Amazon have made similar moves, asking suppliers for discounts — as a tight labor market, high inflation and an inventory glut weigh on suppliers and retailers.

That is really a conundrum when the buyer has so much power/clout. Seller’s wallet share of Walmart purchase is in low single digit to very best mid double digit. So in my view its more of walmart’s buying power vs. supplier’s ability to price appropriately. This is just an observation but how do we counter such a push from walmart is altogether a different question and conundrum to me - Accept it as market structure/market constraints or plan taking the above push from Walmart as given variable in business planning.

Consumers are 70% of the US economy. Consumer goods channels are now seeing: the “fastest boomerang (power) back to customers ever seen”. Most of the remaining B2B economy will follow. Retail is always a tough business but it's especially tough in an economic downturn. Walmart, Amazon and Target are all working to push more of the downward margin pressure back on their suppliers."Large retailers are canceling orders, resisting price increases and in some cases asking suppliers to provide discounts. This puts pressure on product makers that are struggling to adapt to shifting consumer demand."While it wasn't a macro economic event we saw that same thing happening during the initial phases of the trade war with China. Manufacturers got squeezed by their retail customers and were able to muddle through by pushing back on their suppliers in turn, and in some cases cutting into what little product margin they had.So far this has felt similar, but with the added pressure of an anticipated slowdown in consumer demand. I expect this Q4 and next year to be tough, and for manufacturer's to have to work especially hard to maintain a profitable and sustainable business.

2. Be Resilient for your New Year Resolution

Few Notes from the book “ The Difference ”, Specially the topic of increasing your Resilience Quotient hit a note, which I thought of sharing with the group, specially near year resolutions on the way. This short list is going to help you increase your resilience quotient to keep your new year goal and meet.

* Ask yourself one question, Do i have to change or does someone else have to change for me to succeed at my goal ?

* Do Something. It may be wrong thing, but it is okay, you will do something else latter. Take small actionable steps towards your goal

* Take a Break. This is opposite of #2. If you are working on something which is not going anywhere, Take a break. Rest to get your focus back.

* Find a Cheerleader. When you share your goal with others, their is 50% chance of success. You are not looking for someone who can push the same mountain as you are pushing. You are looking for someone who can believe in you and keep a check on you every few months about your journey.

* Emphasize the Positive. Be Optimistic. Recognize the good stuff that happens to you each day.

* Be Realistic toward your goal.

* Silence your Internal Critics. This is our own harsh internal radio that keeps on playing in our head about negativity over and over again and makes it difficult to reach our goals. Don’t let it push you, rather listen to it, listen to all the Questions its raising. From your last one week of work, Look for one good achievement or work which you have done toward your goal. Come up with one good reason , a solid reason which can allow your brain to overcome those internal critics off, so which can remind your #1, why you are doing this.

* Get Rid of Distractions. This is E-Mail, TV watching, Chatting, Social media mindless browsing, Internet. Get rid of distractions so you have your focus towards your goal.

Be Resilient.

That is all for this week. See you again.

Do let me know in comments or reply me over email to share what is your view on this post. So, Share, Like, subscribe whatever these days’ kids say :-)

Stay Connected, Share Ideas, Spread Happiness.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sridhargarikipati.substack.com

Welcome to Sridhar’s newsletter number # 37 & Podcast (Click Play button for Audio version of the Post). Appreciate you being here, so we can connect weekly on interesting topics. Add your email id here to get this directly to your inbox.

Do subscribe over Apple Or Spotify podcast (Minimalist techie Or on Spotify ) or hear it over email you received through my subscription or on my website.

This weekly newsletter is mostly about the article, books, videos etc. I read or watch or my views on different topics which revolves around my head during the week. Now, let us dive into this week’s reads.

1. U.S Housing Market

There is huge shortage of homes in USA, This is very much known since more than 2 years now. Current U.S Market is so tight, that house listed on the market is closed in less than a week. In my area, seen few of the home sold on 2nd day of their Listing becoming active. So any prospective buyer, specially first time home buyers are left out of this race. This resulted home prices way beyond on their year on year growth. Prices are so high, but still many are going ahead and buying them at premium prices. At stock market as many say, Paying high price for something now and assuming it will go high further without any data points is a speculation. Home Prices currently are in same boat.

Other end, iBuyer concept ended up another hole in this process. iBuyer are organizations like Zillow, Redfin, Opendoor, who buy the houses from the market, flip them and then sell for profit. Zillow in recent days declared that it got the business wrong and its no longer revenue generating for them, as they bought so many home since last 2 years and now they are not able to sell the homes with a margin enough to run the business. Overall, housing market inventory issue is not getting resolved even in 2022 as projected by many economists.

One has to make their life’s biggest investment within a week and in hot areas on the spot or less than a day. Zillow coming out of the business is a sign for buyers not to panic and go into buying now ? Let me know your thoughts.

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/mortgages/housing-bubble-experts/

2. Surgeon General warns of mental health 'epidemic' for kids

U.S Surgeon from State of Union, General Vivek Murthy has released a advisory in December of 2021 about the mental health epidemic for kids. 1 out 5 kids suffer depression and 1 out of 4 kids suffer anxiety, Year by year depression, hopelessness, suicide rates have been going up, Covid has added additional spike to it now.

You can see the full advisory in below link,

Protecting Youth Mental Health The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory

To add to fuel, Social media, Pop Culture bombard young kids with their media content, telling them they are not good looking enough, popular enough, smart enough or rich enough.

To take Action,

All have to recognize that mental health is an essential part of overall health. Mental health conditions are real, common, and treatable, and people experiencing mental health challenges deserve support, compassion, and care, not stigma and shame. Mental health is no less important than physical health. And that must be reflected in our how we communicate about and prioritize mental health.

Ensure that every child has access to high-quality, affordable, and culturally competent mental health care. Care should be tailored to children’s developmental stages and health needs, and available in primary care practices, schools, and other community-based settings. In regular day to day living as well, every child should have quality access to childcare, education, Healthy food, health care, stable housing, be in safe neighborhoods. Its call for action for every adult there, to have this better future for every kid.

For more insights, Do read the Advisory for sure.

3. Labor Shortage continues to 2022 as well

In 2021, the biggest buzz word over LinkedIn and over all workplaces was “The Great Resignation”. Pandemic has changed a wave against the employer by employees. The way number of people have quit jobs or not ready to join back or come back to offices, Quitting even without an job offer to get out of toxic work culture, you name it, Resignations were everywhere in 2021. The trend is going to continue in 2022 as well, it will be a job seeker market. In 2021, it was majorly for tech jobs, science, medical professional got the high paychecks for switching employers, as we move into 2022, this trend will go into other sectors as well, Food Industry is my top list and so does the minimum pay jobs will end up following Amazon , Walmart route, that is increasing pay for entry level or minimum pay jobs , paying for education and additional bonuses to have employees on their side.

Labor market is still tight, the reason for my choice of food industry was, Covid is going stay here, people who were fired during 2020 lockdown or were working 80 hours a week with minimal staff were highly burned out. So these jobs for sure no longer seen as secured jobs. So Food Industry if needs to survive in 2022, they have no option, so have to run the tide along with the job seeker. Higher Pay, Joining Bonuses, Promotions, 40hrs a week schedules, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, Higher Education support from employer, Health insurance all would need to have their staff size back to pre-pandemic level.

In US altogether a different problem, There are plenty of jobs on the market, but not many are looking to come back to workforce. Many who lost their jobs due to Covid Lockdown were either lived on their life savings or government given unemployment checks. During this non-working time, many realized how much their life is spent in work , which impacted their health, stress level, no work life balance jobs all these came to limelight to them. So many are not looking to join same jobs which they left in 2021. So people are adding additional skills to look for job opportunity in different sectors than compared to sector they worked prior to Pandemic. So there will be businesses who will find very hard to find their new employees. Also 2021 has more deaths due to Covid compared to 2020, So many had Covid or taking care of their loved one with Covid or child care by being at home and older population who got retired early also adds up.

See this Washington Post article specially for US job market,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/12/29/job-market-2021/

That is all for this week. See you again.

Do let me know in comments or reply me over email to share what is your view on this post. So, Share, Like, subscribe whatever these days’ kids say :-)

Stay Connected, Share Ideas, Spread Happiness.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sridhargarikipati.substack.com

Welcome to Sridhar’s newsletter number # 36 & Podcast (Click Play button for Audio version of the Post). Appreciate you being here, so we can connect weekly on interesting topics. Add your email id here to get this directly to your inbox.

Do subscribe over Apple Or Spotify podcast (Minimalist techie Or on Spotify ) or hear it over email you received through my subscription or on my website.

This weekly newsletter is mostly about the article, books, videos etc. I read or watch or my views on different topics which revolves around my head during the week. Now, let us dive into this week’s reads.

1. Facebook whistles blower - Frances Haugen

First week of October 2021, Frances Haugen has given series of interviews. She is former Facebook employee who has shared or leaked the documents which majorly highlighted the negative impact of social media and Instagram in particular which has been impacting 1 out 3 teen girls in U.S and across the world. With the information she has shared, public, law makers should go in deep and analyze the data points so proper regulation can put in place. She is coming into limelight, will actually help other employees to come forward and share the dark secrets which are known already but hidden from public eye and law makers.

Drug Cartels and Human Trafficker use these platforms openly

Teen Girls and Boys both mental health is impacted. 1 out of 3 is really a scary number for next generation and it should worry ever one of us.

See more here,

2. Big Tech and Their Employees Rally

Apple employees have launched a campaign against their organization decision for return to the office.

Dave Chapelle’s “The Closer” show has brought group of Netflix employees calling themselves Team Trans, they have scheduled a rally outside their office

Every time I read an article or view any news about big tech and their employees’ submitting memos, forming groups and going into rallies. The first thing comes to my mind is, how the hell they are getting time in their 8-5 to spend this much amount of their energy on these things. One end being working remote, I hardly getup once or twice in my 8-hour worktime. Seriously need to know how their daily job routine is.

I’m not against these asks at all, as coming to remote working, I’m all in for it. Organizations who have worked so well in last 18 months being remote, making a decision to call their employees back is ridiculous. It’s like treating in 2021 as well as 1950’s factory era and expecting everyone to be in office.

Coming to any streaming giants shows which are hurtful etc. My view is, they are so many options to stream, if you don’t like it, then don’t watch it. Move on, there are infinite number of shows on streaming platforms. Why would one spend their time, knowing the content is not their likeable content and spend their time and then their energy to talk how bad it is, or they got offended. Seriously, just switch the channel.

Leaving this aside, let’s talk the real issue here. doesn’t matter which topic it is, there is a disconnect between employee and employer. All this Covid time, many companies have internally and externally released to press, that they are spending good amount for employee wellbeing. If companies are really committed for employee wellbeing, then why this type of rallies are happening across many companies in the world. Problem is, however fairy tale is painted, Actually its always numbers or Companies client takes higher priority over their own employees who help them building their products. This is where many companies fail. Companies who center their communication with employees around belongingness and humanity are the one who doesn’t run in this issues.

What are your thoughts?

3. Dying to Lead ? Reaching top in Career Impacts Health

The topic of burnout is most trending topic since we all began working remote since last 18 months. Many of us have played multiple roles at home while working for the role which pays your salary. People have gone way beyond pushing the boundaries to meet their daily work goal, Sprint Goals, Monthly releases etc. Doesn’t matter if you are CEO or a subordinate employee every one of us have faced burnout or wearing burnout as achievement shield. if this, is you, who is dying to work, dying to lead, dying to reach top in your career, then do read below study published in Harvard Business School.

Click Below,

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/dying-to-lead-how-reaching-the-top-can-kill-you-sooner?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Gazette%2020211004-1%20(1)&utm_content=1633357493

Study shows that stress caused by chasing success at work can shorten one’s professional life.

It also Impacts every employee at lower level. As Employee performance evaluated in 360 reviews, Quarterly and semiannually and yearly annual reviews. Even in the name of Annual reviews, Leadership team always looks at their workers with an eye on productivity. So, wellbeing of an employee and employer both depends on firm everyday performance.

Researchers in prior studies attributed shorter life expectancies among lower-level civil servants, who tended to die at younger ages than their bosses, to the psychological stress of working in subordinate positions. Recent study flips it, turns out top managers might face more health problems.

Recent studies of business environments have found that executive positions take a toll on the health of top managers, often causing cardiovascular and immune-system illnesses.

"Higher Ranked Employees were more susceptible to a shorter lifespan”

In the workplace, it is very important to say NO. As you should be very clear of your day-to-day routine and your responsibilities, Saying No to additional responsibilities and additional remuneration will help in avoid burnout. To say it simple, Money can't buy health and a loving family.

That is all for this week. See you again.

Do let me know in comments or reply me over email to share what is your view on this post. So, Share, Like, subscribe whatever these days’ kids say :-)

Stay Connected, Share Ideas, Spread Happiness.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sridhargarikipati.substack.com

Welcome to Sridhar’s newsletter number # 35 & Podcast (Click Play button for Audio version of the Post). Appreciate you being here, so we can connect weekly on interesting topics. Add your email id here to get this directly to your inbox.

Do subscribe over Apple Or Spotify podcast (Minimalist techie Or on Spotify ) or hear it over email you received through my subscription (

) or on my website.

This weekly newsletter is mostly about the article, books, videos etc. I read or watch or my views on different topics which revolves around my head during the week. Now, let us dive into this week’s reads.

1. Social Media is Toxic

September 15th Newspaper issue for Wall Street Journal did an article titled,

Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic For Teen Girls, Its Research Shows, Internal documents show a youth mental-health issue that Facebook plays down in public

Sorry to say my very first thought reading the title is, Do we need a research for this ? Any user who is on the app knows this already, their family, friends all know this already. My first though went like, everyone knows that its bad for them or even if they do not realize, the people all around them knows the issue of social media over persons life. Any heavy user of these apps, you can clearly notice their inability to concentrate, they show high level anxiety and temper, All their social interactions is around the content they consumed over Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube and what not.

Social Media is Toxic!

Just listen to any Tech Giant Leaders who are part of Social Media companies and are parents, They will never allow their kids to use any of the social media apps. May be here and there YouTube is allowed due to School programs, Educational content, Library content are published to YouTube. All the functionalities which are build into these Apps are created based on psychology so within a first look and use, person is expected to stick around, swiping up and up to consume content at pace, that time is not known, Its a Instant Gratification.

This is the world we live in. On Internet people live a beautiful life and when you pick a phone and make a call, they can hardly do a 2 minute conversation, also those 2 minutes small talk is also based on the content they have posted on internet. There after there hardly much in a conversation, as all that shown on internet is not reality. Reality is its Toxic, at a level of if bike driving or car driving is not safe for you and you may get killed. Social media also does the same thing, only difference is its a slow kill. Coming back to the WSJ Article, Researchers inside Instagram began studying young users App usage and they found,

* Thirty-two percent of teenage girls have mentioned that they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse - This was presented in company presentations multiple times.

* Instagram creates a unrealistic picture how your body should look like, how you should live your life

* With 3 years on multiple data analysis and one common point stood out as harmful for teen girls. Report says, It creates body image issues worse for one in three teen girls

* We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls,"

* Teeenage’s specially, "They often feel 'addicted' and know that what they're seeing is bad for their mental health but feel unable to stop themselves."

* Facebook has repeatedly found that its photo-sharing app is harmful to a significant percentage of teenagers, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Tuesday.

* The Journal cited internal Facebook studies over the past three years that examined how Instagram affects its young user base, with teenage girls being most notably harmed.

* The company is in the process of making a version of Instagram for kids

Read the article here,

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/facebook-knows-instagram-is-toxic-for-teen-girls-company-documents-show-11631620739

That is all for this week. See you again.

Do let me know in comments or reply me over email to share what is your view on this post. So, Share, Like, subscribe whatever these days’ kids say :-)

Stay Connected, Share Ideas, Spread Happiness.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sridhargarikipati.substack.com

Welcome to Sridhar’s newsletter number # 34 & Podcast (Click Play button for Audio version of the Post). Appreciate you being here, so we can connect weekly on interesting topics. Add your email id here to get this directly to your inbox.

Do subscribe over Apple Or Spotify podcast (Minimalist techie Or on Spotify ) or hear it over email you received through my subscription (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com) or on my website.

This weekly newsletter is mostly about the article, books, videos etc. I read or watch or my views on different topics which revolves around my head during the week. Now, let us dive into this week’s reads.

1. China Limits Online Gaming for Minors

China is limiting online gaming for all game players underage of 18. That is mostly banned on all school days and allowed gaming hours are 8 PM to 9 PM on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Basically 3 hours in total in a week and gaming companies will be accountable to enforce these restrictions. This is drastic change compared to their November 2019 rules which allowed 90 Minutes of gaming on weekdays and 3 hours on each day of weekend. The reason this news catches my attention is to know what their data points were to make such decision. Did the generation have gaming addiction, is the children study life, mental and physical health were impacted?

Yes, it did. Here are few which are called out,

* Decline in Grades

* Inability to Concentrate

* Temper, Aggressive behavior

* Lack of Social Interaction

* Anxiety

* Reduced Memory

One parent mentioned that their kid has a personality change, lot of temper due to heavy gaming. All these problems affect the physical and mental health of minors, as well as their normal day to day living and learning.

Not just gaming as when I grew up, during my childhood and even now I notice one more thing where minors spend most of their time also includes gossips about movies, stars and worshiping the Cinema and celebrities. Facebook, Instagram, TitTok, YouTube, even WhatsApp chats and status are used every day for this purpose. Social networks are also one which should be looked for carefully as they impact the child growth and even grownup adults. Therefore, I always dislike the idea of getting more toys into the home, as they don’t help in any way the child growth. Childhood needs lot of play, interaction with others as kids learn fast as they experience them, not sitting at home with toys, online gaming etc. A child’s universe should be of play, hands on learning, exploration, and socializing. It’s not just you, here even the help is needed from community, as towns, states should focus on building more stadiums, football courts, Badminton courts, state parks, local parks. so, kids have enough activities to do around them to explore the world around them more authentically.

Let me know if it’s a right policy? As a parent, I would say Yes.

(Click below)

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/30/1032489883/china-kids-video-games-limits

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/business/media/china-online-games.html

2. Three Month Notice Period - Indian IT Workforce

Most of Indian IT Companies have 3 Months’ Notice period, which is complete contrast to U.S two weeks’ Notice, but in U.S as well you will find Indian Consulting companies who try to push more than 2 weeks into Job Offer letter. Just investigate any LinkedIn Posts since last 6 months, you will see two type of,

* From Candidate perspective, I am serving a notice period and actively looking for new job opportunities and I can join within a month or in some cases within 15 days.

So, in this case, what’s happening is, they already have an offer at hand, and they are now taking their network help to land multiple offers.

From one Company to another company, few are looking only at a Pay part with counter offers. By the time of their notice period completion, they will join their choice of a company and other companies are ghosted by giving them last minute GHOSTING.

* Start Up Companies are calling out on this process from big tech companies over social media and they are screaming to change the notice period to 15 days.

In some case, the Recruiter or HR team is ranting up for above #1 Culture

Few recruiters are losing jobs in this process as they are seen as not meeting up with their company hiring standards. As Companies loosing revenue for not finding a resource, someone else is taking heat. Either someone is losing job, or some team is facing heat as they are already clocking more hours at work during these covid times as in remote and this resource shortage will bleed them even more.

Among all this, there are professionals around the world who are struggling to get even one job. This makes them feel like a loser and they undermine their own confidence.

Employer is at another level to fuel this up even more. As majority of companies have three months’ notice period, many organizations are posting a job ad for the positions which don’t even exists in their projects. As to hire immediately is not possible, they are interviewing candidates and leaving them in hope of releasing offer letters. In Some cases, people have received offer letter after 10 months as well. As the time of joining comes near even within 2 weeks as well, Employer in this market is continuing their job hunt as candidate can drop a late notice for not joining them, so as a backup they are hitting the job market who are ready to join right away. Here it gets even messy, as people who are really in need of job are in this market, they hit every site and job posting and send 100’s of resumes in a day. They get into interview rounds level 1 and 2 so fast that their hopes of getting jobs gets so high. If earlier recruit is joining the organization, then employer backups in some cases more than 2-3 are being ghosted.

Entire job market is catchy currently, but at the same time it’s too messy. Its high time for employers to change their hiring process, tide has been their side since very long and it is now a time to a change, else it will be fireplace for both employee and employer, for some it will be bonfire, while for others its wildfires.

3. Would you quit job, rather coming to office

Would you quit your job, rather coming to office? In Great Reshuffling and Great Resignations times, I have seen specially in my circle parents are the one who are taking this step much faster than anyone. In last one month, I know more than three parents who have resigned their job for a full remote option.

Since Covid-19 started, most of the jobs which allowed to work remote have been working remote since March 2020. You may call it stress times or drama, these times will be re-called after a decade how we re-call September 11 U.S and India November 26 attacks. For some watching day to day news or going to work knowing still Covid wave is there is really a stressful time we live in. Once Vaccinated we thought we will be back to normal but seeing the resistance against the vaccine for more than 48% adults in U.S and Covid still remapping itself to generate even more and more variants, normal is nowhere near. One day the news is about no masks and just within a week masks are back on. Offices are discussing about coming back to work fully or in hybrid model once vaccinated and few are declaring remote work forever. The Big tech companies who are declaring over news about pushing their back to work plans beyond end of this year or mid of 2022. On Contrast the one who are not in news are silently pushing hybrid model or requesting full back to work. In U.S prior to Delta variant, Covid cases were on seven-day average were in 2000, but over the summer the Delta variant has changed the wave and seven-day average are pushed to 1,45,000 cases per day. Employees have discussed with their HR teams and even in office town hall meetings based on their area number of cases, they are asking them to have some flexibility or give a full remote option, Companies are just going with Industrial era factory model. Ignoring all remote work skills learnt past year are pushed to trash.

Many employees are leaving jobs if they are unhappy with how their company is communicating with them. Employers who have shared monthly update during all of 2020, now have stopped giving any updates after vaccination, all they are doing now is one cold email and asking many to fully back to office. Ignoring their Zip Code specific cases and employees’ requests in town hall meeting is overlooked.

As the pandemic continues in many parts of world, full remote work is here to stay and organizations who realized benefit of remote culture will continue to shine in long term. At the same time, it is important that leaders address the current burnout and frustration while resetting their practices for the long term. It is important for every organization to reflect on past year and experiment with new work culture, instead of following age-old factory model. It is must for employer to be transparent with its employees and have two-way communication. Your Employees won’t be having all answers or you yourself. All employee want is a two-way dialogue which helps in building trust between them.

Coworkers who choose not to be vaccinated or wear a mask at work. Your Zip Code having high number of cases or at home kids below age of 12 who are still waiting for their vaccine shot, it’s a lot for a person now. This uncertainty is not going to get resolve in any time near future. Don’t be an employer who just investigate future risk strategy plans to retain employees and what is your business continuation plan when other employee leaves or even falls sick of Covid. Understanding what drives and motivates employees and then implementing professional development and coaching programs that will help them is much of greater need.

So, some people are choosing to quit if they don't like the terms of their return to work but it's not that easy for others. Let me know in comments below how your organization is responding to return to work.

That is all for this week. See you again.

Do let me know in comments or reply me over email to share what is your view on this post. So, Share, Like, subscribe whatever these days’ kids say :-)

Stay Connected, Share Ideas, Spread Happiness.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sridhargarikipati.substack.com

Welcome to Sridhar’s newsletter number # 33 & Podcast (Click Play button for Audio version of the Post). Appreciate you being here, so we can connect weekly on interesting topics. Add your email id here to get this directly to your inbox (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com).

Do subscribe over Apple Or Spotify podcast (Minimalist techie Or on Spotify ) or hear it over email you received through my subscription (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com) or on my website.

This weekly newsletter is mostly about the article, books, videos etc. I read or watch or my views on different topics which revolves around my head during the week. Now, let us dive into this week’s reads.

1. Hire Slow, and Fire Fast

This seems to outrageous right? It is not. You will find multiple articles written on this and why this needs to emphasized more. There is always a pressure on leadership level to fill the position quickly, but they have to take a step back and see really at a individual level if they meet their team culture. Just hard skills are not enough to make the hire, you need to make sure they fit your team culture. If you end up hiring a wrong person and realize this in just 2 weeks, Don’t drag this for 4-5 months in feedback, performance improvement plan and what not. You and me, both have seen these situations during our career. Either you are the lead or you are part of the team where you will see an impact for sure. If you are taking beyond 3 months of feedback etc. then you are just creating a mess for yourself and also for the other person. I would not give reasons to justify you in this case, as you will clearly know when it impacts you and your team, So don’t take it for granted and have the hard conversations way early when you are in cracks. Have your one-one discussions and lay it out very politely that it is not a right fit for both. Let them know their talent is good, its just do not meet your team culture. Never move this person to another department as you will just make it some one else problem. Let them know ahead and help them to give/take proper feedback and help them in job search process. Let go fast, it will be do a greater good to your team who will be in discomfort during all your performance improvement plan as you work with wrong hire.

Do read Reed Hastings No rules Rule book, If you want to build Talent Density at your organization, These hard conversations and decisions taken early will help everyone. Let me know your thoughts .

#Note - Below #2, #3 topics are just show notes not the post, so click on Audio button to know more.

2. Going Back to Office?

* Is Office reopening ?

* You going back to Office ?

* is it Mandate to come back to office ?

Bing Covid Tracker

https://www.bing.com/covid/local/unitedstates?vert=graph

Employers mandating to come

Job shuffling in U.S

Too Many deaths we had so far

Going to Office is not new for many now, but its New for many after 15 months. So lets take case by case, No judgement needed.

3. Onboard your team right

Get a new hire onboarded right into your team. We talked about 3 Engagement levels for a new hire,

1. Engagement with work

2. Engagement with the people you work with

3. Engagement with your organization.

Rethink Onboarding or new Hire at Individual Level,

Its all about their work, Explain in 1-1 calls, coach

Engage them later with the team, allows to work as a group in team

Reframing their sense of belonging in the team and in the organization.

Human connection is needed,

Common Interest

Mutual discovery

special purpose

Psychological Safety

Resource should feel safe to share the feedback etc.

That is all for this week. See you again.

Do let me know in comments or reply me over email to share what is your view on this post. So, Share, Like, subscribe whatever these days’ kids say :-)

Stay Connected, Share Ideas, Spread Happiness.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sridhargarikipati.substack.com

Welcome to Sridhar’s newsletter number # 32 & Podcast (Click Play button for Audio version of the Post). Appreciate you being here, so we can connect weekly on interesting topics. Add your email id here to get this directly to your inbox (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com).

Do subscribe over Apple Or Spotify podcast (Minimalist techie Or on Spotify ) or hear it over email you received through my subscription (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com) or on my website.

This one is just a podcast only , talks about Remote teams , Winning teams, Culture etc. So no excuse for those who said its hard to read articles, this one is for you all who said it, Podcast only this time. So Click that play button and share in comments what you think about future of remote work and what are your tricks to ensure you have a winning team.

That is all for this week. See you again.

Do let me know in comments or reply me over email to share what is your view on this post. So, Share, Like, subscribe whatever these days’ kids say :-)

Stay Connected, Share Ideas, Spread Happiness.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sridhargarikipati.substack.com

This is audio recording of earlier article,

https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com/p/self-care?r=6r8rd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy

Do subscribe over Apple Or Spotify podcast (Minimalist techie Or on Spotify ) or hear it over email you received through my subscription (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com) or on my website.

Few Notes on Above Image,

Usage of Mobile, Laptop, Tablet, TV, Smart watches etc. are fine. There are of concern only when used excessively. Same goes for others in the list. Do a one week of detox from all those and see how different it makes us. We as generation are looking more into Screens compared to nature or surroundings. Every one of us, holds stressors. Identifying those and reducing those stressors are much needed for peaceful life. Sometimes, there are few stresses which are hard to avoid. That is fine, it might be target you are reaching out at work or something at home you are concerned about. In all these cases, do add Self Care to daily regime, so we will be mentally resilient in those stressful situations.

Here are few which we can do for our self-care,

* First thing, do craft some time daily into your schedule for Physical exercise

Gym membership is there or not, Your Home is your gym, your backyard is your gym, your parking lot is your gym. Name it, you can make your surroundings as Gym.

* Hike, it started as sightseeing activity for me in April 2013. There were few and in some cases none in my circle, who were interested in hikes. So, I have joined many meetups, signed up for Couch to 5k Run in nearby church, joined the elder group who were doing Alzheimer's walks in my town. Hiking long trails, mountains have become my summer habit since then. For sure I had many wonderful conversations face to face without any distractions during hikes.

* Runs, Long Walks - If you can run long, then for sure running is best way to clear the mind. if not, high intensity runs are one choice. Run as fast as you can for a minute and then do 2-minute slow walk, repeat the cycle. High Intensity run or walk are my choice as they keep mind clear.

* Cold showers do not remember from which article or book I picked this up as a new habit. For sure first week of February 2018 when I started this with snowstorm outside, it sucked. But once it became a regular habit, mornings were never the same there after.

* Food, I am not a doctor so will not recommend anything specific. I tried vegan on March 22, 2015 and lasted for 3 months and then switched to vegetarian diet. I will only say this, food is fuel to our body. As for car how one chooses premium gas or oil service, we should treat food as well same. Do your review properly and choose the healthy foods as it suits you. American statistics says that 60% of person daily intake is ultra-processed food. I would say cooking is easiest for survival part, I am not saying for master chef side. Basic cooking recipes for all three meals are very easy until one tries it. Gain knowledge on food, it will help for long run (My wife is master in this knowledge). Pharmaceuticals are for help who really needs it, for rest who are not in need. What we feed ourselves is our duty to maintain body is getting right fuel and stay healthy.

Example, for me I have introduced Salmon into my diet after reading its benefits. I am back to Non-Vegetarian as Salmon is part of my diet now. Everyone’s choice is different, so make sure your choice is right. Do not have to stick any style, create your own menu.

* Sleep - It shows on your body, so you know it better than anyone else. so, sleep well. I do recommend Why we Sleep book, give it a try if your library has it or try trial version for free of Audible, it will give you in depth information on this topic and why this generation really needs sleep and its awareness.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sridhargarikipati.substack.com

Welcome to Sridhar’s newsletter number # 30 & Podcast (Click Play button for Audio version of the Post). Appreciate you being here, so we can connect weekly on interesting topics. Add your email id here to get this directly to your inbox (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com).

Do subscribe over Apple Or Spotify podcast (Minimalist techie Or on Spotify ) or hear it over email you received through my subscription (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com) or on my website.

This weekly newsletter is mostly about the article, books, videos etc. I read or watch or my views on different topics which revolves around my head during the week. Now, let us dive into this week’s reads.

1. Netflix encourages employees to interview at other companies

May be you all know this already. No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, we talked about this book so many times in my newsletter. I am reading this book 3rd time since its released, every time one or other topic surprise me. I am also an employee, when I go over job portals and share my resume, I make sure that it’s not visible to current employer or not visible to everyone or visible to recruiters outside of my company. We all do this. This is why, how many times I have read this headline or reading this book again, this surprises me a lot.

Netflix encourages employees to interview at other companies, and they can freely talk about this with their managers and take half day leaves as well to go and do interviews. This allows them to know their employee value in the market and if they come back with bigger offer, Management will simply match it and in most cases, they will pay way premium above that, so pay is never in minds of their employees. Their main idea is that team is a professional sports team not a family. so, they all are paid as star performers. So, performing well is the only way to sustain in the job. Few think it is stressful to work in such environment, but when you work with highly talented team members, each other will raise their productivity standards even higher.

They know how to attract and retain best people at their end and compensate them so well based on market values. Other organizations control their employees with internal processes, 360 reviews, quarterly reviews, role bands, salary bands etc., all these clutches simply demoralize the employee, this is why every one to three years you will see people just move from one organizations to another. If you are a leader in your team or organization, then do read this book as it will set your mind to refresh on many topics and makes you rethink decade old principles which needs to be challenged. you will for sure understand the power of talent density, how to attract talent and create high performing teams.

Here is the link to the book, sharing again as this week it’s my read :-)

https://www.amazon.com/No-Rules-Netflix-Culture-Reinvention/dp/1984877860

2. With so many deaths around, what’s your first thoughts?

The Covid-19 situation has created death hell around the world. Earlier there were many reasons due to which deaths use to occur across the world. Here is a snippet from world health organization for leading causes of death globally.

All these are still biggest killers and with Covid-19 pandemic, their range of killings is getting even more higher. Earlier as well when deaths happen in your known circle, your world will get shattered and after a while you or I will fight back and live in the present and still have a hope for people all around us. Now the situation is all different, as now we are hearing deaths among our own circle with so higher frequency compared to the past. Just in past one month, I got to know about one person died at age of 38 and other two at age of 51 in my own circle. I lost of my dad last year for heart attack and now within span of one month got to know about three people who died because of Covid-19 and their preexisting conditions. My very first thoughts knowing the death is shocking and at the same time it made me question myself a lot, what if same thing happens to me.

* I work so hard at work, is work really worth it. for many of us work shapes our lives, but if life itself is so short, is giving your too much to work is worth it?

* I wish myself to be that old college student again, to be with family and friends. My morning walk made me to run back home and pick up phone and called few and texted few.

* I wish I had let myself be little casual.

These were my initial thoughts since last 2 weeks. With so much happening around, writing my thoughts down is only best help I can do to myself, as it will remind me what I need to do or at least relook at it, will make me realize what is real priority in life. I recommend you all to talk about your feelings with person next to you or feel free to reach me over mail or twitter so I can be your friend.

3. Job Interviews - Don’t Look for only Hard Skills

In early stage of career, all we want is to get a job and after couple of years, we will move jobs from one organization to another. The key part which we sell is our core technical skill set. After your first job move, you will realize few things that core skill and salary are not enough to make you stay at organization, just within 2 years you will be again on same road in search of new job and will repeat the same mistake again. Only few makes calculative move, so let’s discuss few things this week which will help us for next move.

* Core Skill - make sure you go through job description clearly and discuss in detail about your roles and responsibilities.

* salary - never state your expected package first, as it leaves no room for negotiation. Be informed of market value and know their expected rate and then begin your negotiations your way. Never throw the ball into their court first for pay specially.

* Benefits - Many stops only after #1, #2. But from here on let’s talk about additional things which are must for you to stay longer at organization and give your 100% as you work there. Most companies offer many benefits to employees, like wellness programs, free learning sites access, free certifications, food, snacks, work from home etc. so do discuss.

* Retirement plans - These are 401k plans in U.S or Provident Fund in India etc. make sure you always have an employer who provides this. The age-old pension tradition is gone while ago itself, so this is your way to plan for your retirement. Doesn’t matter how young you are or even late phase, just start doing it in your first job itself. However, the small the number is keep depositing, as compounding power after 30 years of work will show up. Do choose employer who match your funds as well. i.e., say you are investing 100, then employer will invest 100 as well, i.e., 100% match. chose right products for retirement plans, leave no choice for you to skip this. Just do it.

* Life Insurance & Medical Insurance - Health sector prices will never settle down; they will just rise and rise. Again, however young you are starting a job, never accept an offer without better insurance plans. Do know about their plans ahead, as not every organization gives a better rate. You will notice this a lot, that in few organization they pay 75 % less than what you will pay a few other organizations.

* Let us talk few of most hard topics now, as even above all are good, if your team and manager sucks then it will be nightmare day in and day out. The people you work with on daily basis and their current work culture are very crucial for one’s well-being. Yes, well-being, they cannot harm you physically, but they can harm your mental health. Doesn’t matter if pay is good or its your dream job etc., if the team and company culture is not healthy then it will easily demoralize you.

This #6, I wanted to write about this in detail, but I found this week an article over LinkedIn, which summarizes this so well. We will discuss about this article in podcast edition. Few key things you can ask in the interview so you will be better aware of team culture.

* What would be my first week of training in the team, know about onboarding process into team. so, transition is easy in the first few weeks.

* What does team expect of you and what the manager expects from you on day to day or week to week etc.

* Ask about what would be your career progressions in the role you are joining after a year.

* Monitor your interview process. Yes, you are not the only one getting interviewed here. See what the interviewer behavior is, they might be your lead or boss after you join them. Do they listen well, do they accept any feedback given? In one or 2 rounds it’s hard to identify this, but if you get yourself prepared it is very easy to identify things. I suggest you just watch small 15 minutes videos in YouTube on topics like racist boss, toxic manager, less performing teams, you will pick many key things for your reference, so you can identify them quick in your interview process.

* Monitor your entire joining process, how frequently they were in touch and how they act during negotiation process etc. This will let you know if any red flags ahead before you take an offer.

Click here for more.

* https://www.welcometothejungle.com/en/articles/job-interviews-how-to-spot-toxic-management

4. The Advice Trap and Staying Curious Just a Little Longer - Book Notes

Let’s talk about this book little this week.

https://www.amazon.com/Advice-Trap-Humble-Curious-Forever/dp/1989025757

If you are audio person, then listen to this podcast by Brene Brown with the author.

https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-michael-bungay-stanier-on-the-advice-trap-and-staying-curious-just-a-little-longer/

Staying curious for little bit longer just opens up so many good things.

The book is about Advice trap. It’s not recommending stopping giving advice to anyone, but rather it is defining different stages of advice giving in which state you are and which state the receiver is and in how many ways its good when given right and in how many ways it will exhaust you in that trap. It is a must read if you are a fixer in your group, family etc. i.e., you are right always and you have answer for your challenges and for others as well, you are the go-to person or you are the one who needs some advice in some or in all cases. Do read.

Give advice only if,

* You are trained well.

* You really want to help others and helping others is in your best interest. i.e., not to make you feel good or make you feel good as fixer.

When you are giving advice, you really don’t understand other person challenges, in such cases.

* You might be solving wrong problem.

* Or in some cases although you are giving some advice, but you yourself might not believe your advice is powerful.

Never be the fixer. It is most exhausting job ever, as you are fixing your life and their life.

Do give advice in such a way that it can have an impact on other person, it should be a right leadership act, the more you get realize about the problem then you should be able to leave the other person to figure the solution out themselves (basically empower them). for that you need to have a right guided questionnaire to do that. never allow yourself to keep forward and jump to give a solution. As when you quickly jump to advice giving, you are sending a message that you are better than them, you are harming other person to doubt their own competence.

Can you stay little curious and wait before giving advice?

This seems very easy right, when in conflict mode it is very hard to stay little more curious as you are in such a zone and feeling that what the hell it happening to me, why I should do this or not. This is the case for both fixer who is giving advice and for the receiver.

* What is on your Mind - Question yourself.

Ask this question when in conflict, talk to your self, get your answers.

* Once you get the answer, ask yourself, What Else?

Yes, this is second part of it, What Else will make yourself little more curious, as even you have answer it is allowing yourself to look for another solution. this will allow you to deep dive into your challenge you are facing.

* As you do this analysis. Look for the points to really know, what is the most challenging thing here for you. Once you ask this question, you will learn, grow, and expand on your own capabilities.

* What do you want? This adds Inspection, clarity in your mind room. It is most powerful question for yourself. As it will make you think you through your challenge again.

* Ask yourself How can one really Help, or the fixer can ask it back as well, what is the real help you need. That is like other person is hearing you, but one needs to know what exact support one need to give advice. That is why a fixer should never jump to conclusion.

As someone said, Change is not easy, it is hard in the beginning, messy in the middle but it is gorgeous at the end. When you really question yourself, why can’t I solve this issue of myself, you will have answer already, but it will require a hard change. So, you need to understand by making such changes, what is your real prize at the end.

For more, read the book.

That is all for this week. See you again.

Do let me know in comments or reply me over email to share what is your view on this post. So, Share, Like, subscribe whatever these days’ kids say :-)

Stay Connected, Share Ideas, Spread Happiness.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sridhargarikipati.substack.com

Welcome to Sridhar’s newsletter number # 29 & Podcast (Click Play button for Audio version of the Post). Appreciate you being here, so we can connect weekly on interesting topics. Add your email id here to get this directly to your inbox (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com).

Do subscribe over Apple Or Spotify podcast (Minimalist techie Or on Spotify ) or hear it over email you received through my subscription (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com) or on my website.

This weekly newsletter is mostly about the article, books, videos etc. I read or watch or my views on different topics which revolves around my head during the week. Now, let us dive into this week’s reads.

1. Efficacy Rate of Vaccines

Efficacy rate of different types of Covid-19 vaccines are getting discussed a lot these days. In Countries where more than one option is available, people are looking at efficacy rate of each vaccine and deciding simply based on percentages (95%, 94%, 84%, 75% etc.) which is best among these. Without knowing the right information, this comparison is being done and people are delaying their vaccine shot expecting to get their choice of vaccine to be given to them.

Efficacy is an ability to produce a desired or intended result. So how exactly this has been calculated? Efficacy is calculated by vaccinating list of people and after 14 days they are left in real-world conditions and monitored how many can get infected by virus. i.e., Say if 10 people are given a vaccine, and out of these in real world conditions only 1 person got infected with the virus, so Efficacy rate is 90%. Before one compare all the vaccines, they all need to subject to same conditions, which is not true. As each of these vaccinations are being developed in different countries and their clinical trials have occurred on different time of the year and around those time, the Virus wave in each country is different, so it is not valid to compare the efficacy rate. If anyone needs to compare, it would be after taking the vaccine which one keeps them away from hospitalization and death.

Here is the link to know the details, rather than just assuming the details based on Efficacy percentage.

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/covid-19-vaccine-comparison

2. Underperformer in Team and while remote

We all have been working remote now more than a year and still many more months we will be remote till major population get vaccinated, however we get back to normal, the remote culture is going stay here for greater long term. So, learning leadership skills while being remote is a key thing which I always look out to learn. So, talking about one common point which many teams face. i.e., Underperformer in a team, especially when all team members are working remote. How do you tackle such situation? Very Ideal issue would be insufficient skills, lack of initiative, commitment, and poor attitude. But being working remote has made every one of us to look with another pair of eyes, so it is not easy to say these things without knowing the full picture. Let us see, what approach we should take in this case.

* Check what is different for the resource as creating now underperforming. Is it work, new work, skills, personal issue?

* Listen to your resource. Once you hear them, ask them what change they would do or expecting from you. What are our learnings from the discussions, action item can be on either of you?

* This is what learnt from one leader or observing one micro manager. Never tell Exactly what to do, how to do, Intention is to leave their work and their work ownership with them only.

* Give them all the information needed, ensure to have check ins with them. Let them know that you are ready for help and entire team as well. Every person in the team should rely on each other as its Teams work. Ensure each person is reaching out when lagging.

For the last part, I want to highlight here TEAM. Yes, teams can help their teammates a best. Most often I have seen a resource fallen off the radar is when his own team disowns him. When team supports the underperforming resource, they make him/her inclusive in every group discussion, issue discussion or help the resource in understanding his work more and help in completing deliverables. It is easier to thrive when team support is there, and team doesn’t allow any of their team member to fail.

Do share in comments what you would do.

3. T.D Jakes - Don’t Drop the Mic

T.D. Jakes shares how he discovered the power of a platform and audience, A person with a Mic has so much power in this world. He takes an example of great orators of history and how they have changed history through their communication. What wonderful about the talk was, he talked not just about stage communication, rather a communication across all stages of life. Here are key things which struck with me,

“Your future is never predicated on what you lost. It is predicated on what you have left.”

“Don't drop the mic, because destiny is in front of you, and history is behind you. And why would you live in your history when you can excel in your destiny?

Don’t run away from the person , rather run into them, listen to them, hear well, Don’t try to fix the person.

Most of the people stick to average or normal life, why only few takes such an exceptional journey of their life. Every one of us has a greater potential to get full filled in the life. For me, writing, reading is an extension from my daily job. why to care even if someone like this or even reads it, always do what you intend to do. There will be many saying what you are doing is not great or can be great, take the feedback which will improve your work, ignore the rest.

Listen to this interview, I ended up taking notes throughout the podcast as for sure it has many powerful quotes in an hour. Worth your time.

4. Amplifying Voice in Organizations

In many in-person team meetings or now Online Audio/Video conference meetings, you will always find a silent listener or a person who shares their point of view or feedback etc. but it’s not heard at all. We talked about this in our Diversity and Inclusion post earlier as well, every team member should feel the environment is safe enough to share their responses as well when in team discussions. No one should be afraid to speak up because of hierarchy or fear how one would understand and impact their career. It is very important that every meeting participant points are taken well, should not be overheard.

See the below link, where research also calling out to amplify your peer voice in such cases. if you notice in your meetings that your peer or cross team member who ever it is, if a participant ideas are overlooked, step in and amplify on their behalf to the group. We see this problem a lot, where specially meeting organizer or people with strong viewpoints tries to steal the show. In such cases amplify others voices to get them heard, this will also make you look good. Doing this you will be earning respect in other person eyes. Also, team gets to hear different ideas/solutions, so best one is selected. This will help you and your team, so please do so. Read the Abstract in below link.

https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2018.0621

That is all for this week. See you again.

Do let me know in comments or reply me over email to share what is your view on this post. So, Share, Like, subscribe whatever these days’ kids say :-)

Stay Connected, Share Ideas, Spread Happiness.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sridhargarikipati.substack.com