Fermentation

I was watching Sandor Katz: The Art of Fermentation lecture. It was an eye-opener for me. I remember how grandma was very particular about leftover curd to make more curd from it.

Fermentation is more of a magic than science. We have made bacteria the villain. They are part of us humans residing in guts and has an impact on our brain. We let microorganisms feast be it milk, meat, or vegetable.

There is little fermentation in our daily food consumption: beer, kombucha, cheese, curd, kimchi, Salami, pickle, and Sauerkraut.

My wishlist would be to learn some of this magic we call: Fermentation. 🙂

Reading

We are living in a hyper-connected world. We are always connected, occupied and and short of time. I keep hearing from friends that podcast and audiobooks have replaced their book-reading habits. I have not found replacing book reading with audiobooks. It should not matter how many books you have read for the badge, but the learning that you could apply in real life.

When you are reading, it is more than going through the content. It is more about visualizing, imagining, walking with the author, finding yourself as one of the characters. It requires time, breaks, and thinking.

Finding time to be with yourself is the most difficult virtue of the modern world, absolute attention being the next. The constant buzz, reminders, notifications around us are making us forget this oldest method of seeking knowledge.

people skills

I have been in this startup ecosystem for over a decade now in multiple hats. There is a pattern that I have noticed: you need to be a people’s person before anything else. I have also seen people be it a VC, founder, or an analyst at a fund progressing well in their career with this virtue.

There are numerous scenarios where mutual help has been a win-win for both sides. People whom you help, they help you back. They want to see you succeed. They go at any length to see you do good.

Think in terms of winning heart, winning deals will be the byproduct. The no-asshole policy makes the organization a better place. The industry is too small, and everyone knows everybody else.

Hold your anger and put yourself in the shoe of others. Your subordinates need your pep talk. They will learn everything from virtue to vice from you. So be very careful.

Our life is not about being right or proving others wrong.

Attributes of a negotiator

These are some of the important attributes of a successful negotiator:

  • Patience
  • Communication skills
  • Flexibility
  • Tact
  •  Open-Mindedness
  • Subject knowledge 
  • Willingness to take risks
  • Physical stamina
  • Self-confidence
  • Decisiveness
  • Creativity
  • Willingness to listen
  • Self-control
  • Long-range outlook
  • Persistence
  • Sensitivity to interests and needs of others

Form the excerpts of The Global Negotiator

anger

How many lives lost because of anger?
How many relationships came to a halt because of anger?
How many negotiations faltered because of anger?

Why do we get angry? Is it our obsession, wanting, or ego? Or is it about being right, running show in my way?

Nero, emperor of Rome, burnt the entire city. He was a maniac and full of anger. He punished his teacher Seneca, the stoic philosopher.

In our own lives, many times, I have said few things or took actions that later on ended being regretful? I have many on my list. I should have been calmer, not indulged in emotional outbursts. These days I am more aware of myself and, anger is mostly in check. I prepare myself well before a tough conversation and try not to respond immediately in a heated argument or replying to instant texts. A WhatsApp message sent with all the anger cannot be reverted once read by the receiver. The same applies to the Email.

Anger is one of the ugliest vices in us humans, we have to work on fixing it as soon we realize about it. It will make us a better person and we will be at peace with ourselves.

communication

I am halfway through the book: The Global Negotiator where the author speaks about communication categories based upon purpose. 

These are:

  1. Phatic: This type of communication consists of the preliminary discussions that are intended to build a binding personal relationship. It helps in creating a personal bond before coming to the negotiation table.
  2. Informational: The sharing of information is the most obvious purpose of communication. 
  3. Persuasive: This type of communication happens when one person desires to persuade another. 
  4. Cathartic: The purpose of this type of communication is the release of emotions. The need to share emotions with another person relates to both positive and negative emotions. 

listening

The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is that we may listen to more and talk the less. –Zeno, Stoic Philosopher

Listening is a virtue very few have been able to master. I am working towards it. I should master it before my death, hopefully. 

Listening helps in gathering information to the best: A mentoring session, customer meeting, or team discussion. It helps in understanding the other well. It helps with precise information gathering and not missing out on any aspects.

I have been advised with some techniques in improving my listening skills, sharing it here:

  1. Listen patiently until the counterpart has finished speaking. Do not interrupt. 
  2. Avoid distractions while the conversation is going on. Snooze your cellphone.
  3. Don’t make assumptions. Don’t be judgemental or show disapproval either verbally or non-verbally while the other person is speaking.
  4. Focus on the message transmitted and not the words used.
  5. Ask open-ended questions. That allows participants to respond in an elaborated manner. 
  6. Take notes of key points.
  7. Focus your attention in the present, the conversation. Do not compare the part or build castles for the future.

winning

Winning runs in our adrenaline. Be it sports, politics, spelling bee, or business: winning at all cost is the mantra. It is part and parcel of every culture. With time, capitalism only added more fuel to it.

Is there any side effect of this teaching? Or this what we have to feed our kids, help them? Is there no way where everyone wins? Why do we have to pick sides?

Are we running on an invisible treadmill after birth or chasing the mirage called winning? Is this winning mindset turning our civilization into a dumpster, creating blocs and groups?

busy

Being busy seems to be the new norm. It gets us a bragging right. The treadmill crafted by a few wants us to feel great about being busy.

We are busy, still, nothing gets done on time. We are busy to miss the son’s first recital or daughter’s participation at a speech competition. We are busy and hence skip meeting ailing parents for months and mourn their death throughout our lifetime.

What have we done to ourselves? Are we a human or machine doing our part in the grand scheme of Capitalism?

We have stopped living idle or lazy. I wonder what Mozart, Van Gogh would have said about our current generation, seeing us all hooked to the gadgets or remote meetings.

cave

Most of us are living in our little cave. Our needs, friendship, and longings are limited to ourselves. What we like is part of the cave. What we dislike is irrational, wrong, or moronic. We are hurt with the discomfort even though they be the reality of life. Our limited knowledge is our ignorance.

I was watching Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and, it got me thinking. How uncomfortable we become at surroundings or self at unusual instances: A job interview, Date et all. Our perception and expectation have been set and conditioned since eternity. We are not looking beyond it and, we get a shocker.

What would you reply to a job interview if they ask about your meaning of existence? Will you tell them it a technical interview and you have not prepared to for answering this kind of question?

What would you reply to your Date if he/she asks you about the journey of life instead of materialistic possesions or conversations about your Instagram pics? Will, you put them in the loser category and never meet them?