Minimalist techie

Welcome to Sridhar’s newsletter number # 28 & 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. How to Avoid Climate Disaster

Bill Gates sure has a unique position in this world, his blog site gatenotes.com is something I visit very often as he shares many good book reviews and gives great insights into many aspects of climate change. Currently what is going on in Texas state due to freezing temperatures many parts of state have power blackouts. Social media has created a war on type of energy sources, Wind, Solar are set to failed in such below zero temperatures and few claiming the Coal should make a comeback to be primary energy source. Climate change science has become a joke with many speaking about it without facts, too much social media access for everyone is misleading to share right information. This misinformation is what leading to create left- and right-wing people, red and blue state people, basically dividing people on most basic topic as well. You want another example of it? Get opinion on taking vaccines with people around you, you will be shocked to know with group of people saying Yes to take a vaccine and Other as No, even with a solid information out there, still we have divided people. This plague is what used in politics which pushes many countries climate change agenda every election year. Around same time in the week, Gates has released this book. I am currently reading sample, waiting on my library copy for full read.

Bill Gates explains his vision on climate change by first focusing on providing electricity to every home in the world where currently people live without electricity. Initial sample chapter shared many facts which would surprise you with the fact sheet. Gates shows how the dangers of climate change are not just sea level rise and increased temperatures, but also increased droughts and wildfires, more severe storms, and an increased cost of food. My reason to pick this book and your reason also should be is, Bill Gates has shared his precise insights; in terms of Research and Development goals, and how to make change economically feasible.

Read the book.

Or If you are interested to know what you can do to fight climate change.

* Reduce your home emissions through major appliances.

* Be Proactive in talking about climate in all your groups, look globally what are best measures and hit your local political party as well with tons of information.

2. Authenticity

From Wiki, Authenticity is a concept in psychology, existential psychiatry, existentialist philosophy and aesthetics. In existentialism, authenticity is the degree to which a person's actions are congruent with their beliefs and desires, despite external pressures to conformity. In simple words, throwing yourself into situations which are not comfortable, does not match with your values, principle, the core you and you make your way up step by step. We all face this in our careers as we move up in career ladder, we would need to work with bigger teams, not just talk your thing, we need to change our communication to sync with larger audience.

I will take my own example, in projects when I work in teams, I am very cautious. Reason is my personality. I know me and very much aware of feedback when it comes to myself. Specially working in teams, I try to keep my personality in backseat. The reason is when I work with my personality, I expect everyone in my team to be on same speed with me. In such case, I need to ignore my historical self and make sure I am reading the room, is the next person really getting what I am sharing? Since last 11 months, I had greater need to do my authenticity checkup often. As in few audio meetings, noticed that I did talking for entire meeting length. As other person is not in front of me, I needed this authenticity checkup more than ever. This is called authenticity paradox, when you find yourself facing a choice between being yourself or doing what it takes to be effective.

Listen to below video for more on this, explained really well.

3. Traffic Light for Learning?

When you must learn something new, complete unknown, it puts you in very uncomfortable position. This is the place, where your next actions will take you to overcome the situation and make yourself comfortable. How about using traffic light analogy for this situation?

Specially into my 30’s, I noticed that I would need little more push to myself to learn new things when compared to my 20’s. Not sure if it is of distractions or family commitments or what not, for sure I see myself differently now than in my 20’s. So, I use traffic light analogy. In the tech sector, every now and then you will be in work situations where new tools get introduced to your project or you must upskill to new coding languages. This is the red light, once you get the red light, it is completely upon you to turn this red light into green light. If your scared to get started or really do not know where to get started. Use your networking skills here, reach out to someone who is subject matter expert in it or google it out or use LinkedIn to reach out. Person expert in it, would be able to give your right guidance. When I really do not know anyone, simply google it, check out few free videos to get the gist of it. Once that initial hiccup is out of your way, you would get little comfortable with the situation, as now you know at least few basics and you know what you would need to look further to learn in detail, this is your yellow light. For the next step in your learning, you require Uninterrupted focus of yourself.

An adult in need to learn some new skill, require Uninterrupted focus on skill they are trying to learn. It can be short 15 minutes at first, but slowly take breaks take this short uninterrupted time to 30 minutes and then 60, 90 minutes so on. Once you master your time management to allow yourself to these learning timeslots, you are on your path to Greenlight.

This is my traffic light approach for learning any new skill, do share in comments what is your approach for learning new things?

4. Stop ignoring microaggressions and their harm at workplace

Do you notice at your workplace, there will be at least one person who will constantly ignores to work with you, they ignore your feedback, or they ignore your talking even in a wider team meetings? Yes, these are the people who intentionally do this to you. They cannot show aggression or ignore you for whatever personal reason they have in mind, as they will become bad in front of all. so, they do all their things silently. Few will take it even further that they can ignore your talking, your feedback even in the larger team meetings silently. You will be knowing it, but it will be invisible to all other team members. This is a problem of micro insulting or showing their slight aggression for whatever reason they have in their mind, basically forcing you to make it harder to work with them or in your team.

This can happen to anyone, more seen for people of color, shape, gender etc. 

Working with such people over long period of time is like death by thousand cuts.

* Working with them, changes your behavior and let you quit. 

* It Impacts your day-to-day experience, physical health, and physiological well-being. 

Do make a note of your feelings when this happens, if it impacts you, then for sure you need to take steps here. First most thing is, your feelings matters and do care for them for your own wellbeing. So, when this happens you will be the first person to notice, if someone else is paying attention, then others can also notice this. I would say, we all play a role how one is treated within the group. Once you notice this, take a deep breath, make sure you are emotionally strong at the time, to confront the offender back. Do note, you cannot initiate verbal war here, you need to have proper agenda when dealing with such people, as they can simply ignore your statements saying they did not mean anything wrong and you are overreacting. Here is how you can start your conversation,

* Respond back quickly asking questions like, pardon me, can you please help me understand what you meant earlier.

* Listen well, do clarify back their perspective, explore their intent to move further.

* have your conversation as one Team, Focus on the situation, never on the individual person.

* Open conversation will help other person see if they have done something wrong.

* Respond in way of curiosity, like can you explain it more. 

If this did not happen to you. In our diverse culture these things happen a lot, it is just a matter of noticing it. It is individual or team responsibility to make these invisible things visible. When such thing happens, do not take side right away in midst of the situation, rather offer support to the person who got hurt later. Show them your support, that you did noticed it and be their ally. Ask them how you can be supportive and help your team member feel psychologically safe in a team.

So, stop ignoring microaggressions and their harm.

* Start pushing back. 

* Continue creating safe spaces for entire team. 

Saying again, your experiences matter. 

That is all for this week. See you again.

Do subscribe over Apple or Spotify podcast if you prefer audio version of these posts and hey will talk more there than these posts (Minimalist techie) or hear it over my website (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com).

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 # 27 & 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. End of Dictator Boss?

This week Wall Street Journal did an article titled with ‘Your next boss may be more of a coach than a dictator’, For sure good read. I am sharing only title, as WSJ is paid site to read articles, so search with the title on your own if it interests you. At high level, this is an old truth surfacing again and again, that toxic bosses who are with attitude of ‘I Said So’ are being whistle blown since multiple decades and we still see them existing very much at workplace, grow up in career ladder and very few are shown exit door. This trend where workplace will see fewer managers, more status reports, less administrative work have been kick started during 2008 recession itself. At the client place we have seen this trend already, but we still have this culture in larger teams, Consultant teams who are providing team services for client. So, the future we may see a case where Client is only the boss and rest all in the team does not matter employees from client or from vendor will be working team members, not additional bosses, or managers. From Article, Boss will be a coach, not a dictator; a "social-emotional expert" who wants to help you navigate company culture and excel in a workplace characterized by rapid, relentless change.

I really do not think the manager jobs are going away anytime soon. Only the companies who has talent density, does not need a manager to see work is completed on time, the agile teams if planned well for their sprints are well organized enough to keep the bowl rolling on their own. This still does not work for the companies who do not have talent density, the teams which has different skill level resource for same skill still need a boss to be around to see. Every organization plans to build A-Team or higher talent density, but we all know that A-team comes with huge price tag, so organizations for whom pricing is not an issue, they get all A players, whereas the organizations where they must balance or work within budget, they end up picking non-A Players. Many of us struggle with this and we clearly see that Leads, Managers are not going to be less rather getting add up or being burnt out in many cases I have seen. Do note, I am talking about the delivery leads and managers, not administrative leads, and managers.

Do we need coach or mentor type of boss? Yes, Coaches are required when we train the resource fresh out of a college, where one would need initial training to get on boarded into working teams. Once part of working teams, we will not need a person with title as coaches or mentors in the team. This is something organically grows within the team, where team members need to act as coaches or mentors. Everyone should learn these type of soft skills when working in teams.

Let me know your thoughts and this topic will kick start our topic #2.

2. Hiring A-Team

Building A-team, Steve Jobs mentioned in one of his interviews that why his team achieves so best is because everyone of his team members are exceptionally highly talented people. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings mentioned in his latest book No Rules Rules calls his team as a sports team, only top performers who can make the team win has a position for themselves. This is called Talent density, when we have star performers in team, they select likewise top performers to join their team and they perform way way better complementing each other.

Not every company can shell such high compensations like how Apple or Netflix pays to their employees. For rest of the organizations building A-team is bigger task on day-to-day basis. There will be here and there star performer in the team, who performs beyond his 2-3 other teammates and they run the show. This is the truth; however, you agree or not. With all budget constraints, time to fill position early for not losing billing, need someone asap as work getting increased more and more, time window to hire a new teammate gets smaller and smaller. Let me share what I look during the hiring process. I have been on interview panels since more than a decade now in my career and my recruitment team hates me (saying from 10+ years of experience in hiring resources for my team). For them, I reject too many candidates and I have even pulled into cases where my interview audios were checked or questionnaire has been discussed widely, what I have asked and what the other person has responded. After little drama, they all come back on same page with me, that my action for rejection has always been right and they go back and share new profiles again. So, my advice to anyone out there reading this or hearing my podcast is to look for below few things when you hire someone to your team.

* Ensure they have strong skill set to perform project tasks.

Not all fingers on your hand are same, in family all are to treated equal. We carry the same sentiment to workplace as well. Organizations have shown idiotic bell curve to rate their employees and gives hikes as per the curve where they will fall in. However, your project tasks are, do not divide your team into strong and basic skill resource, so one person is working on bigger ticket items and other is working on small items, we must maintain balance etc. leave this aside. At the time of hiring, look for person who has all required skills to perform project tasks however the basic task it is or how hard it might be. The person you select to part of your team, should be able to perform all your team tasks with greater efficiency. However, the pressure you have to close the position, do not compromise at this step. Get your A Player.

* They should be able to work independently.

Do not make a mistake of hiring someone in assumption that they meet your basic skill set and you can ramp them up with day-to-day little push. You already have enough on your plate, and you can coach your existing team members to upskill. When you got the chance of hiring someone new, make sure get that A player and ensure they can work independently. In the world of Agile or even the case for waterfalls projects, if you are spending time on day-to-day basis in spoon feeding your teammates to get work done. Then you will be the first person to exit the team with high burnout. As you are neither working to your full potential on your own tasks, as you are making sure teammates also complete their tasks. I am not saying that do not help teammates, my point is do not spoon feed on every task. If you have such a team member, it is a time to lose one. So, get the team member who can work independently. Yes, you cannot simply dump work on someone to get it done. Make sure you share all the information so they can march towards their tasks on their own. When I say independent, you can count on them making your team win. You should not be worried about over all team status, as everyone of your team are here to make the team win. The key skill needs to have here is Growth Mindset, Curious to learn new skills or improvise existing skills, give their 100% before they raise their hand for help.

* Person is easy to talk to

Yes, Communication is very important. We do not need an arrogant star performer; we would need a person who is easier to talk to. It is very important to not overlook this skill when hiring. Even you get a resource who is very strong in his skills, able to finish their tasks well, but not a team player or not working in best interest of team. I am a straightforward person myself and it shows in workplace as well. This is what I am, and I cannot hide it easily. To work in teams, I need to adapt my feedback sharing little different so other person can take it well and act on it as well. This is only possible, when two people are easier to talk to. So, if you are hiring someone, in that 60-minute window, do check for this skill sure. Else it will be hard to talk to one day to day basis if you differ on your project work. you will need to have clear communications with everyone on your team, so look out for this skill as well.

Let me know in comment below, what are your Top 3 lookouts when hiring new.

3. Things to ask while taking up Remote Job

I was taking interviews for job openings in my team. As we are in Covid-19 situation, anyhow the current requirements are to be remote itself, But I still need to know once we are back to normal will they be comfortable to report onsite. For my job, location is not a constraint, but it is in my checklist to be asked. Normally you hear a regular reason such as, want to be remote as they have house in specific location or kids’ education or life partner working location. This week, one person asked me, how much time will be spent in meetings vs work. I asked why such specific ask, we will all have project specific meetings for sure not too many meetings, do they have any experience based on which they are asking. Person mentioned, their current work location, where since 10 months being remote, their team is bugging with too many meetings and calls and less room for work and feeling burnt out. That is the specific reason for them to look out for new job and wanted remote. For sure the reason is not really for the remote, they wanted to have remote job ensure time is not spent on meetings as will be silo in work as there will be no teammate sitting next to them, so one need room to concentrate on performing the assigned tasks. Seen one more who requested remote and shared his timings as 10 am EST to 7 PM EST. This is not the topic I want to talk here, just sharing that people are asking few things which are not truly the case for remote, but more of burnout due to working from home and struggling to handle home and works chores simultaneously. We all are in same boat on this.

I got once opportunity to either work at client location going to client office day to day or work from internal office location which is more of remote job, can be at internal office or can work from home. I selected a position at client location, reporting to work every day at office. Let me share few things which one need to ask when applying for a remote job, so you can make a judgement.

* As you will work remote, ask how your quarterly, semi or annual reviews will be done by your manager. Looking at what metrics will they decide your success in the role.

Know what your career growth path in this position would. As being remote, many will face a situation as left out in team and struggles to get the team attention and will start feeling as no growth for them as they are fully remote, does not know anyone face to face, to know will there be a long-term future for them at all or not. So do ask.

* Do check what will be the communication tools for day-to-day work. Employer offering remote job, should enable you to work with messenger tools for chat, audio/video callings, Bridge call to join with multiple people over multiple geographical locations etc. You should not be spending say mobile bill for joining into teamwork calls.

* For the issue we discussed, instead of asking will there be too many meetings. rephrase it to ask, how team/project meetings, daily stand ups and what percentage will one need to be in calls to have details enough to perform the tasks for the rest of the day.

* Get to know, how will you navigate to socialize with other team members? Will there be any team meetups or online hangouts, as we are not robots to just talk business and carry on with our day. Teams achieves bigger things when they work well with each other, complement each other in their work.

* When there is a need to be at worksite. Say one-week workshops are going on and all want to assemble at one location. At that time as it is team workshop, will they take care of one-week arrangements for you to be in separate location other than your home location.

* What would be the working hours? If you all work in specific location same time zone, then no worries. But if you are in different time zones, which say differ in U.S few hours apart based on where one is situated. Your 6AM might be 9AM for others. For such time zone country, you are in, sure check about your work timings ahead. Do not be surprised later if you are finding out, then it will lead to another burnout easily.

Let me know in comments, what additionally you would like to know before accepting a remote job. As we will be remote for sure even more and returning to normal just looks to be beyond end of 2021 as well. Many of you might have taken remote jobs in last 10 months, so do share your experience in comment or reply to my email or in twitter to help others in taking a right call while accepting a remote job.

That is all for this week. See you again.

Do subscribe over Apple or Spotify podcast if you prefer audio version of these posts and hey will talk more there than these posts (Minimalist techie) or hear it over my website (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com).

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 # 26 & 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. Fear of Failure - Overcome Insecurity

What you think about yourself, what is your opinion about yourself matters the most than anyone else view on you. I will take my own example, for me project management is sacred at work. I have been that out of college resource at work and throughout out my journey has seen project managers and learnt what I would like to have qualities in me and what not as project manager as I become one down the road. Every morning just before my stand-up call, I remind myself, be kind, help team win, control my emotions etc. I can only do well, when I position myself in my own view that I am that good person, good manager, good resource first and see my own gaps on day-to-day basis, work on those gaps on the next day. Believing in self is very important as it is the first basic step, same as how baby learns to take steps with help of parents, there is self-acceptance first then one can take steps on own. I Still need to learn or get that feeling in cases like, how people can start a business or run a business. Yes, Basic thing is to get started.

Individuals spend all their energy defending and proving themselves to others, rather than on Individual growth and leadership. See the below link which I read this week sharing 7 Steps to Overcome Insecurity.

https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/careers/fear-of-failure-7-steps-to-overcome-insecurity-20201030-p56a4d

2. Brain Drain in pandemic time

Brain Drain, in Simple words the emigration of highly educated, skilled, trained, intelligent etc. from one country to another. This known phenomenon has hugely impacted 3rd world countries in the past and few developed countries as well. There is no solution any country has so far to resolve this issue. So why are we talking about this old age issue now? Just take an example of Indian IT workforce, where onsite opportunity is on everyone’s list. It is simple, people want to escape their current job market which is having lack of opportunities or in case of Indian IT employees one moved to abroad makes near to 5 times more than one make income at back home. So, it can be Opportunity, Pay or in some countries to be safe multiple reasons plays a role of person taking a decision to settle abroad. See moving abroad for couple of years or say 4 years or when someone is young and no dependencies at back home, can push even more years easy, but as they grow after 4th year of abroad get a change even for a temporary moved worker to look at multiple things to consider go back home or continue to be abroad. Brain Drain is known topic for many of us and irrespective of which country we are from, we are aware of ourselves or someone in our close contact staying abroad. In last 10 months, Covid-19 pandemic has made many to stay put where they are to avoid air travel etc., but still I have known many also in this times making move from one state to another state, one country to another country. There are many people who took the moving in this pandemic to their back home.

Ring to any one of your friend, if you be on call for few minutes only with them, the impression is for sure one conveys is that quality of life has improved way better compared to earlier work location. Yes, many are at homes since last 10 months where they were never before, have been spending in their local markets, it is a topic of discussion in every home dinner table to talk about how long they will be here, can they continue to work from home location, will they go back once pandemic is over.

No one can answer it easy. I will just talk about my world of people I know; it will seriously depend on this pandemic remote work revolution can move further once vaccinations are given. Will the companies going to support for jobs which can done remote, to be performed remote or will they go back to square one to be at worksite always? Although people have moved out of their work location to home location, but they are still working for their abroad company being remote. Once the workplaces are back to open, lot depends on of how their company will make decision, how one will feel about their career progress by being remote or being at worksite will play major role. People who have moved to abroad once due to their home job market issue, unemployment issue or bureaucracy issue at their home place, they need a change as they will play major role in person decision making process to be at home or move abroad.

Almost every one of us, would like to stay in the place where they live, work in the same place, see their place getting developed, have a better opportunities where they live for themselves and for their children. In Good economics for Hard Times, Author Banerjee and Duflo had walkthrough Immigration topic so well, I would refer you to give this book a read to understand many of complex topics which without right facts are misunderstood by many, Immigration is one of them. Many are thinking that this pandemic has resolved the brain drain issue. If you talk to just one person, you will know that it’s too far to be resolved.

On Leaving home, I remember sharing Warsan Shire poem in our earlier newsletter, once again it apt for this topic to be shared again.

no one leaves home unlesshome is the mouth of a sharkyou only run for the borderwhen you see the whole city running as well

Click here for full poem.

3. Power of saying No

Let me share some of my history in this week’s newsletter. Every one of us are so ease at saying Yes, it is affirmative that you are friendly, supportive and what not, but especially when you say No to something you close one door between you and others, Saying No is a skill to be learnt. Yes, you cannot simply use it, as it requires courage, your communication skills etc. as once you say No to someone, it is difficult to engage further communication. Coming back to story,

We were of team of mostly 1-2 years, 3-5 (myself in) and few 5-8 years’ experience resources. Almost some 14-member team it was in year 2011. We are in project UAT support phase, our users were from different countries, so team was requested to give support 24*7 in shifts. Entire team was in conference room that day at morning 9.30 am where plan for UAT was discussed at high level, each subject matter expert was assigned to look at their areas and give support in others. so finally, when the shift timings discussion came in, my manager just simply said few in general shift, few in afternoon shift and rest in night shift. I was in the night shift slot with at least 4 others. timing for the night shift was from 7 pm to 9am. This part was shared in last 5 minutes when meeting was about to end and manager asked if we all good and have no questions, then we can leave now. I raised my hand and said I have a concern in this shift plan which I would like to discuss. Entire team was blank face and manager mentioned sure, all team can leave, we can discuss. So, all left the room and I simply took long breath. Manager asked me, what is the concern? I simply said, we should be planning for our billable hours, if it is support and we require extended support, then we should discuss this with higher management and get additional billable hours to be approved. On project plan for the 3 weeks support, at the time of planning a resource is allocated for 9 hours of their time in a day. If the plan requires a greater number of hours, we should discuss it with the billing team. In the planning phase, we cannot start with 14 hours per day per resource, the planned effort should be done against the available resource and available billable hours. See if the work is there during any day more, then automatically as responsible team, we will extend more than planned effort, but to begin with 14 hours in planning phase, we cannot start with more than expected 9 hours. Manager simply said, got it, let me go back and work the numbers. Hour later, timing for my shift was changed to 10 pm to 7am, others shift was also changed to in line with actual billable hours.

Learn to say No for sure in life.

Do say No,

If something is pushing your values, principals.

Someone using you for their work, as you were so easy to say yes to them always.

Say no to yourself, when you are not on your right path towards your goal, have a courage to say No to change course.

Dig Deep here.

That is all for this week. See you again.

Do subscribe over Apple or Spotify podcast if you prefer audio version of these posts and hey will talk more there than these posts (Minimalist techie) or hear it over my website (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com).

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 # 25 & 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 podcast ( Minimalist techie ) 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. mRNA Vaccines

mRNA vaccines are published in many of the articles as a new type of vaccine to protect against infectious diseases. This technology existed more than 3 decades earlier itself, but due government regulatory systems and funding issues has never made into limelight. Now during Covid-19 time, the traditional vaccines take time to develop and get release, finally they got approval, all the regulatory barriers which was stopping its production and work on it got bumped up. Traditional vaccine triggers an immune response, many vaccines put a weakened or inactivated germ into our bodies. Instead, mRNA vaccines, they teach our cells how to make a protein or even just a piece of a protein that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies.

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines give instructions for our cells to make a harmless piece of what is called the “spike protein.” The spike protein is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. The cell displays the protein piece on its surface. Our immune systems recognize that the protein does not belong there and begin building an immune response and making antibodies, like what happens in natural infection against COVID-19.

See this Wired article, giving details of mRNA history to current pandemic crusher.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/mrna-coronavirus-vaccine-pfizer-biontech

2. Some People take things personally; at work I should say many

We all have seen many people who take things personally, they are around us all the time. Specially at workplace we will find many. Ideally workplace should have people on projects to have one common vision which is best interest of project. But we often see, knowingly all few in your team or your work group always take things personally. Just not that, they take things personally and end up responding back in way which leads to mistreat their colleagues.

Psychology says that a significant number of people are insecure about reality and tend to read these insecurities into the actions/words of others and take them personally. Basically, in all such situations, persons ego takes over him and it the ego which does the talking. As they think they got mistreated or not given the importance they have been asked for or they have been told wrong.

Biggest problem always is they think it is about them. Reality is it is not about them, but it is about the project they are all working on. So, one should keep their emotions aside and I remember from Netflix culture blogs, we are adults, so act/treat like an adult at work, see it in best interest of your project or your organization when you are at work. Do not act immediately when ego takes up your conversation, rather step back and view the situation as we, a team, organization and see the intention of the other person. This is not so easy to adapt to such mindset quick, it will take some discipline for every situation to step back and take time to respond as we instead of me.

Asses your day, if you will see in which situations the I am taking over in your response, so in any situations where it says it is about me, review to see it again with clear mindset. If this does not work, then it is really about you/me :-)

3. Agility and The Future Of Work

Agile Mindset. Yes, Agility is a Mindset. Forbes did an article this week, talking about the future of the work. This year has certainly taught us that we can work successfully remote but at the same time we all have gone through cycle of how to work, where to work, how much time to work before getting burn out. The Agile framework as we know, work with the info you have currently and recourse in later once newer information is available. Last 9 months as we worked remote, most of our time/work can be looked well with the Agile mindset. Not just for work, having this mindset is good for any personal project as well.

There are three key principles talked in the article, which are needed to be highlighted during this Covid-19 time.

1. Prioritize people and interactions over processes and tools.

2. Collaborate with customers instead of focusing on contracts and numbers, and let them inform product development and marketing.

3. Respond to change, versus simply following a plan, with continuous adaptation.

Here is the link to article,

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2020/11/24/the-importance-of-agility-in-the-future-of-work/?sh=20901a146e6d

4. Behind Closed Doors at Work

All traditional companies leaving few like Netflix as an examples all works in close doors. As I was reading a book No Rules Rules Book this week, one of the chapter in it was screaming at me, why the hell companies are designed in such hierarchal way as key decisions are done in close doors. If we are all working on some common goal, project whatever it is, we want each one of us to be committed to that vision. Either we succeed or fail, transparency should exist, information should be honestly shared with all. We all have been there, where we are sitting at a desk knowing that there is some meeting going on whose outcome is unknown us. At least in that time, it is clearly shouting out that we are at wrong place, we feel everyone else there as strangers. Such situations make your own coworker or boss whom you think part of the team is creating a situation as they are sitting behind the close doors vs the others sitting open waiting for the outcomes of the meetings happening in close doors.

Couple of my readers are Leaders in their organization. I do recommend reading this book and give a thought, as future leaders need to change this behavior at workplace.

That is all for this week. See you again.

Do subscribe over Apple podcast if you prefer audio version of these posts and hey will talk more there than these posts (Minimalist techie) or hear it over my website (https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com).

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 again, Appreciate you being here.

If you would like to read the article directly, here is the link.

https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com/p/need-for-more-psychiatrists-winter?r=6r8rd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy

This is audio version of the same post. You can listen this over Apple Podcasts or over website.

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

Quick Show Notes,

1. Mental health workers and individuals seeking treatment

This week I attended one Zoom session on Mental Health done for Indian audiences. We talked only once about mental health in this newsletter ( Click Here ), but it is a topic which I follow in my weekly readings for sure.

Florent Groberg said the best words on mental health, “Demons in our head are toughest of enemies“

Numbers study was from below article,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6341936/#:~:text=As%20is%20clear%20from%20the,above%203%20Psychiatrists%20per%20100%2C000.

2. Winter is Here, This year strength up your Immune System more

Hey Baby, Take Care, Links below for the post and podcast.

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

https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com/p/podcast-7-hey-baby-take-care?r=6r8rd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy

Sleep - Why we Sleep book

My old posts on Stress,

https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com/p/stressed-not-on-you-its-covid-19?r=6r8rd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy

https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/59875/private/8e93f3cb-e06a-4936-accd-e180f1107552.rss

USA Today link,

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2020/12/17/how-to-build-strengthen-a-strong-immune-system-and-deal-with-stress/6475272002/

3. 2020 YouTube Trends is out

Dig Deep here, https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-trends/2020-youtube-trends/

4. 2020 Year for Employer and Employee

while 80% of executives think they are supporting the physical and emotional health of their workforce, only 46% of employees actually agree.

That is all for this week. See you again.

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 again, Appreciate you being here.

If you would like to read the article directly, here is the link.

https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com/p/c-section-top-performer-qualities?r=6r8rd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy

This is audio version of the same post. You can listen this over Apple Podcasts or over website.

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

Quick Show Notes,

1. C-Section associated with an increased risk of childhood infection

Give a read, link below!

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003429

2. Be your team Top Performer

* They are always on learning mode.

* The unique quality on such resource is always that, they step up.

* They act in best interest of team always.

Not everyone is genius in a team, it is the team effort which makes the team genius.

* Going back to #1, They really understand their work Industry.

3. The psychology behind ‘revenge bedtime procrastination’

Here is the link to an article, do give a read.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201123-the-psychology-behind-revenge-bedtime-procrastination

4. DeepMind AI solution solved Proteins folding problem

Read the blog here.

https://deepmind.com/blog/article/alphafold-a-solution-to-a-50-year-old-grand-challenge-in-biology

That is all for this week. See you again.

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 again, Appreciate you being here.

If you would like to read the article directly, here is the link.

https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com/p/digital-nomad-leader-genius-working?r=6r8rd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy

This is audio version of the same post. You can listen this over Apple Podcasts or over website.

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

Quick Show Notes,

1. Digital Nomad

https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/these-cities-pay-you-move

My earlier post to refer to,

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

2. Qualities defining Leadership

For me, leader should be thoughtful, humble, can show empathy to every aspect of life.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/five-principles-leadership-defining-brad-d-smith/?trackingId=VcJQd0l2SjWxRT5zJtd9iw%3D%3D

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

3. Personality traits of a genius person

* Childlike imagination, Curiosity

* Concentration

* Passion

* Obsession

* work ethic

* Originality

* Resilient in every aspect, ability to fail and fail and come back to prep again to try it out

* Ethics

This bit is just for me to remind myself. So not describing fully, will talk in future podcasts.

4. For Working Couple, What Love will do to their life

5. Managing an Underperformer at work, who thinks they are doing great

https://hbr.org/2020/12/managing-an-underperformer-who-thinks-theyre-doing-great?ab=hero-main-text

That is all for this week. See you again.

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 again, Appreciate you being here.

If you would like to read the article directly, here is the link.

https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com/p/hyderabad-real-estate-indian-men?r=6r8rd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy

This is audio version of the same post. You can listen this over Apple Podcasts or over website.

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

Quick Show Notes,

1. Hyderabad Real Estate

2. Indian Men

This is my common thought every time I finish a career book and see a vague gap to relate book advice to Indian Men.

it is very hard for them to take career risks.

Let me know, even you see those advices on career shared to westerner or Indian never match up to Indian reality.  

I just wish the reality is understood by fellow partners, family members, so this issue can be resolved. Just a Men’s day wishes, Women’s day or Mother’s Day wishes for one day will not do much as we know. Reality needs to be fixed.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1137295/india-gender-distribution-of-stress-index-by-age-group/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3860846/

3. High performing Teams Needs Psychological safety

We can never build a team without having a strong trust within the team. If a team has psychological safety, it allows,

* To take moderate risks in team, which enriches new ideas.

* Team can speak to their mind without being fear of being judged.

* Improved Creativity within team

High performing teams are not available ready, they are made every day in team.

That is all for this week. See you again.

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 again, Appreciate you being here.

If you would like to read the article directly, here is the link.

https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com/p/gen-z-thank-you-this-winter-population?r=6r8rd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy

This is audio version of the same post. You can listen this over Apple Podcasts or over website.

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

Quick Show Notes,

Gen-Z will disrupt many companies for sure, as this generation has access to any information on their phone and who they follow. We can also argue that Technology is making these disruptions then Generations. Click below,

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-19/-zillennials-are-going-to-change-investing-forever-bofa-says?sref=GJfVw2fX

This year, we have to say Thank You loudly to everyone around and every little aspect of life.

Population Race - China vs India

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-population-race-a-300-year-look-at-china-vs-india/

Our Values define us

Our values define us, we all do many things in our life, but in every aspect, we will be bound to our values. Family, Relationships, Personal Growth, Loyalty, Respect, Honesty, Equality are few among many of human values. See the below link, which captures this info very well.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/most-influential-values/

That is all for this week. See you again.

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 again, Appreciate you being here.

If you would like to read the article directly, here is the link.

https://sridhargarikipati.substack.com/p/remote-work-real-estate-neuroscience?r=6r8rd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy

This is audio version of the same post. You can listen this over Apple Podcasts or over website.

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

Quick Show Notes,

With current Covid-19 situation and now post 8 months into it, did you noticed the Job descriptions are getting changed and how it is impacting rentals, home buying around you?

Why it is so hard for an adult to learn any new language or any new skills for which they do not have any background, Neuroscience has answer for it.

Most problems in world are of migration, race, government policies, climate change, many have their beliefs without knowing many facts, A Good Economics for Hard time book answers it in plain words, easier to understand such complex topics.

Click here for Book

Here is Bill Gates review on this book.

Is MBA degree really generating its worth or is just a ticket to get higher salary or mere a master’s degree to add to one’s name? This week newsletter is all about these topics.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/international-m-b-a-students-look-for-alternatives-to-u-s-11604485806

Mine is just few thoughts on this, read this article which articulates it well.

That is all for this week. See you again.

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