Stirred Creative

Returned to a place where I had fun and can be myself

Creative Director

Home 

Best role ever. Taught me more than any boss has.

Executive Assistant to almost three year old (just wanted to formalize it) 

23/8

🤔

Took some time out to figure out what I want to do next. Took up freelance work to keep myself occupied. Two and a half years of startups (with good and not-so-good experiences) gave me some food for thought. Thought it was best to take a pause before thinking of what to do next.

After a few months, I realized I found freelance boring. I also realized that if I had to work in a start-up, I have to be sure about working with the founders. 

Having said that, haven't closed the doors to working in a startup or with founders. Just that next time around, I'll be much more self-aware and take time before making a commitment.

Time out with some freelance thrown in 

Stoa

🙂

Worked with a small but good team (referring only to my coworkers) and took the Instagram account from about 6,000 followers to 15k (and counting) without spending money on influencer marketing. The really good ads team also made this possible (no one makes it alone and anyone who claims so is bullshitting). 

Attempted to give the company's Linkedin page some flavour by not resorting to typical employer branding. Some pieces did really well given that Linkedin prioritizes people over organisation handles.

Had its share of challenges and the run ended after a year.

In all - a few good folks made this experience much, much, much, much better than my first two startups. It reiterated how important it is to work with the right people.

Content Team Lead

Zolve

Content

epiFi

😔
Set off on an early-stage start-up journey during the pandemic. Must admit it was an eye-opening experience. 

More importantly, realized the importance of working with the right people and the downside of overlooking this aspect.

Turned out to be shallow, forgettable and disappointing.

🙂

got my mojo back. 

Worked on brands like Tata Health, Digit Insurance, and Gantter. 
Enjoyed working in an independent agency after years at big agencies. Found a small bunch of people who wanted to move the needle and experimented a lot on the social video front, something I hadn't done in agencies. 

Quit to explore the start-up ecosystem.

Still look back fondly at this time and a part of me wants to go back there.

Creative Group Head

Mullen Lintas

🤮

My last big agency job that shook me in more ways than one and finally succeeded in pushing me out of mainline advertising and seeing the world that existed beyond it.

Creative

Contract India

Group Head

DDB Mudra Group

Creative Supervisor

Building a Lego house with my 2 year old daughter + Host of the Coffee By Two Podcast + I galvanize small teams + Late Bloomer

Quick points: 

- I am a writer and a podcaster. 

- My journey in advertising began in a small agency and then worked my way up to the bigger agencies. 

- After a depressing stint that shook me, I left big agency advertising at the end of 2018 and moved to content in early 2019. Since then I have worked in start-ups (where the experiences were average at best) and returned to advertising, albeit in an independent agency.

- I prefer working in smaller teams where I am given more freedom. Big organizations with hierarchies are not for me. 

- I am good at managing small teams and shipping work. 

- I like collaborating more than managing. 

I write daily (almost). You can find my writing here: 

https://thecultureofmarketing.wordpress.com/

You can listen to my podcast, Coffee by Two, here: 

https://coffeebytwopodcast.wordpress.com/

Write to me at pawanram08232gmail.com in case you want to chat on marketing, content and creative for your brand

𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬

Irrespective of the result, there are broadly three types of appeals in cricket: 

𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐟-𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝: This is when the bowler or keeper isn't sure but goes up in a half-hearted manner.

𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: When one or two players are inordinately more confident than the others. This might sometimes lead to over-optimistic reviews.

When everyone is pumped and excited about an appeal. These are rarely wrong.

Even outside the cricket field, things are similar.

Some ideas and initiatives have some people pumped, and others not so much.
Some receive a half-hearted response.

And some get everyone super-excited.

The more opportunities where everyone is excited, the greater the odds of something magical happening.

#excitement #career #proactive

Pawan M.

𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 

In an interview a few years back, Sachin Tendulkar spoke about how he missed having a normal childhood by virtue of being a prodigy.

When he was young, there were times when he just wanted to goof off and play with his friends. But his brother Ajit would drag him back to practice. He said that all those instances of coming back to the game when he could have been doing something else added up over time and made him an even better player.

In today's day and age, this might seem overbearing, but it's hard to reach that level of greatness without a level of maniacal focus.

Of course, it's perfectly fine not to choose that path and lead a regular life.

The problem is wanting it all while assuming you don't need to make any sacrifices.

Happy Birthday, Sachin Tendulkar. 

#practice #career

𝐀𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 

Greer Grason won the Oscar for best actress in 1943. Apparently she droned on and on in her acceptance speech is one of the reasons for the Oscars having a time limit. While a winner has a lot to say, not everyone around finds it interesting.

When you are very close to a project (it can be anything), you tend to make certain assumptions:

a) the other person is as interested as you are

b) the other person cares as much as you

c) the other person has a lot of time on their hands

This is why presentations can sometimes go overboard or there is too much information on a piece of marketing collateral.

It isn't as if the other person isn't interested - just that they might not be as deeply invested and interested as you. And that's fine.

This doesn't mean a lowering of effort as much as meeting people where they are. 

#marketing #presentation 

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐜

The word 'storytelling' is bandied about a lot without understanding what it is. But when you look at the journey of CSK, you'll understand storytelling a little better.

People have tried to understand what makes the Chennai Super Kings so beloved.

It's hard to wrap your head around how a player from Jharkhand found his cricketing home down South. Chennai is always known to defy logic when it comes to its stars and worshipping them.

Here's a team with bright yellow jerseys that stand out from the rest. At inception, they managed to get MS Dhoni, who had by then already cemented his legacy as the first World Cup-winning captain of the T20 World Cup.

They go about building their rabid fan base and win the IPL in 2010 and 2011.

Then in 2015, catastrophe strikes. The team is banned from the tournament for two years when its owners were alleged to have been associated with spot-fixing.

When they come back in 2018, they win the IPL.

In 2019, they lose the finals in heartbreaking fashion. 

In 2020, they seem to have lost their way before winning in 2021, not playing very well in 2022, and again spectacularly winning in 2023.

That arc of triumph, disaster, and loss makes for a fascinating story. Add to it a team culture where players who are average elsewhere suddenly find their feet and a captain who has been with them since the start.

Unlike Royal Challengers Bengaluru (the men's team) where the story never seems to move to the triumph side and is stuck on tragedy, Chennai has seen triumph and disaster, which makes it all the more fascinating.

When Rajasthan Royals won the first-ever IPL, it made for amazing storytelling as they had the least amount of money in their purse and bet on unknown players.

This is why when the Australian men's team keeps winning the World Cup in clinical fashion it's boring, and we remember finals that were thrilling (2019), or the underdogs coming up triumphant (1996, 1992, 1983).

No drama, no story.

Applies to teams and marketing. 

#storytelling 

𝐅𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐬 

Saw a very eye-opening interview with actor Fahadh Faasil by noted film critic Baradwaj Rangan. In one part, he speaks about the role of a movie in the life of a moviegoer. He says (paraphrasing): 

"I'll make the film watchable. Don't take me seriously outside the theatre. Cinema is not beyond the theatre, there's more to do in life than discussing cinema."

Baradwaj Rangan then tells him that it's not always possible to do that as people discuss what they are passionate about, be it sport or film and Fahadh agrees that it's a tall order. 

We sometimes do spend an undue amount of time discussing things like movies and sport, which have no immediate bearing on our life. But if we spend all our days doing that, it'll spell trouble.

Marketers can take something away from this. You may believe that the customer is spending a whole lot of time analyzing your brand and debating it and waiting for what you have to offer with bated breath.

Hint - they aren't. 

Add to it the echo chambers that make it hard to look outside the self-imposed walls and it's easy to fall into a trap. 

While some brands are more loved than others and building a brand takes effort and is time-consuming, it's easy to lose track of the fact that most brands at best play a minute role in a person's life. And customers don't really care for brand purpose or story. They want the brand to solve their problem when they interact with it and want to be entertained when they come across its marketing.

If you had a minute with a user, would you give them something to remember or regurgitate information that is forgettable?

The late Dan Wieden said it best: 

"make me laugh, make me cry, just move me dude."

#marketing #customer #impact #content 

PS: link to full interview in comments. 

The most recent movie of Fahadh Fassil's that I saw was 𝘗𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘷𝘶𝘮 𝘈𝘵𝘩𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘢 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘬𝘶𝘮. It's highly enjoyable. 

𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞

Circa 2022 - The Indian men's team lose the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli don't appear in any T20 internationals after that, and it's presumed their international T20 careers are over. They are focusing all their energy on the 50-over World Cup. In that time, it is somewhat presumed that Hardik Pandya will take over T20 captaincy but true to the BCCI communication handbook, nothing is made official.

Circa 2023 - The side plays wonderfully but heartbreakingly falls short in the final. Rohit Sharma's wait for a 50-over World Cup looks like it will remain unfulfilled. More importantly, Virat and Rohit, arguably two of the biggest stars of Indian cricket, have never won a World Cup playing together.

The dust settles down and suddenly, Kohli and Sharma seem to want to make a run at World Cup glory again. By now, Hardik Pandya is out of the side due to injury and is not really in the conversation mix.

IPL 2024 - Hardik Pandya is unfairly on the receiving end of a lot of hate for returning to the Mumbai Indians from the Gujarat Titans. Unfortunately for Pandya, his side starts badly, and it appears like there are cracks in the side.

A couple of instances:

In a post-match presentation against Chennai, alluding to Dhoni, Pandya says they have someone behind the stumps telling them what to do. If you read between the lines, he's saying their captain has support while he doesn't.

After another defeat, Pandya criticized opener Tilak Varma (who is supposed to be a favorite of Rohit Sharma) for not playing with intent against spin. Incidentally, Varma was the highest scorer in the match and he's one of the players who has been picked and nurtured by the franchise.

Neither of these acts will endear him as captain to his players, and he's making an already tenuous transfer of power even more thorny. In addition, his propensity for injuries will weigh heavily on his chances of securing the captaincy.

Rohit Sharma will captain the side in the T20 World Cup in 2024, and whatever the result, it will be his last. There are many others waiting in the wings. Jasprit Bumrah, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant - all of them are captaincy material. Whether they are ready for it at the international level and if they will be handed it is a different question. But Hardik isn't miles above the rest for the position of captain. And while he's had a thorny start to his captaincy at Mumbai, throwing your players under the bus won't go unnoticed. It's one thing to say we didn't bat or bowl or field well. It's another to pick on players (Tilak Varma) or deflect blame (saying CSK has Dhoni behind the stumps) to defend yourself.

Captaincy has its bad seasons and grace under fire is a skill that Hardik Pandya seems to be currently lacking in. 

#leadership 

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐤

Brian Lara is celebrated as one of cricket's finest batsmen, known for his elegant hitting and record-breaking scores of 501 in first-class and 400 in international cricket. However, critics point out that he sometimes prioritized personal success over team goals.

In their prime, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, and Ricky Ponting were considered to be the greatest modern-day batsmen. I would also add Aravinda de Silva to that list.

Sachin Tendulkar is the highest run scorer, but Ponting has been part of three World Cup-winning squads. Brian Lara holds the record for the highest individual scores in Test and first-class cricket but never came near a World Cup win. 

While their individual brilliance is beyond reproach, each achieved varying degrees of success because of the teams they were a part of.

For the first part of his career until around 1996, Tendulkar was somewhat of a lone warrior. While Azharuddin was a wonderful stroke-maker, his power struggles with Tendulkar and his dalliance with bookies meant he wasn't always dependable. In '96, Ganguly and Dravid made their debuts in emphatic fashion, and Laxman joined the team a little later. With Sehwag at the top, Sachin got the support he needed and Indian cricket somewhat came close to achieving its potential. He waited 22 years for a World Cup win and eventually achieved it.

Ricky Ponting could have thrown his career away due to his off-field antics, but seniors in the team saw his potential and helped him fulfill it. From the 90s, the Australian team earned their stripes as the world's best team, especially in marquee events like the World Cup. With players like McGrath, Warne, Hayden, Fleming, and others, his potential merged with a fantastic team making him one of the most successful captains in the modern era.

The decline of the West Indies team began around 1995. They won the first two World Cups emphatically, were runners-up in the historic loss against India in 1983. They made it to the semi-finals of the 1996 World Cup where they infamously collapsed. While they have won the T20 World Cup twice, they didn't even qualify for the 2023 50-over World Cup.

Brian Lara didn't have the ensemble cast around him that Ponting and Tendulkar had. While the side conjured up historic wins (the victory at Gabba against Australia where he scored 153 not out ranks as one of the greatest), they were few and far between. Like Tendulkar, Lara's stints with captaincy were forgettable.

Rudyard Kipling said, "For the strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of the pack is the wolf."

It's true for sport, and life in general.

On that note, Happy Birthday Brian Charles Lara. 

#team #support 

𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭

FTX spent a truckload of money on Super Bowl commercials with ads featuring Larry David, one of the co-creators of Seinfeld.

A year later, FTX was revealed to be a massive fraud and collapsed like a house of cards.

When the term 'it's all marketing' is used, it's usually in a negative way. It's one way to say that it's the marketing that is making an otherwise dubious product look good. It's true. There are times where the marketing overshadows a product or service (and sometimes people) and makes it look way better than it is.

But when a genuine service or product is marketed well, it does not always get the benefit of the doubt. And marketing doesn't just include advertising. It's everything from customer service to content to PR and a bunch of other stuff. 

Good, genuine marketing is often taken for granted.

#marketing #good 

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝

𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 2004

Elections can throw up shocks, and the most recently shocking result was the 2016 US Presidential election. While the Indian General Election of 2004 didn't feature a Donald Trump-like character, it was shocking nonetheless. The BJP was touted to win and advanced the elections by six months after winning state elections in a few states. Though old and frail, Vajpayee stood as a towering figure for the ruling party, while Sonia Gandhi was the presumptive PM for the Congress party.

The book is written against this backdrop. Jayashree Sundar was in the eye of the storm as head of Leo Burnett, the agency that handled the Congress campaign. The high decibel BJP India Shining campaign, created by rival agency Grey, still reverberates to this day. What's unique about the book is that it is written from an ad agency professional's point of view on how a political campaign is created from ground zero. The incessant work, late nights, working weekends, and taking approval from politicians—all these lesser-known aspects come to light in this book.

In the end, Congress emerged triumphant in a David vs. Goliath-type battle.

𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐦

A lesser-known Tamil movie but heartwarming nonetheless. Kathiresan, played by Nasser, is the head of a family and decides to sacrifice the family rooster 'Paapaa' to change the family's fortunes after a few ill-fated events befall them.
The youngest in the household, Kathiresan's granddaughter, is very attached to the rooster and proceeds to hide it to avoid it being slaughtered. The rest of the movie focuses on the search for the elusive rooster and the change of heart and mind that it brings about.

While addressing a delicate topic, it isn't preachy, religious, or political in any way—a far cry from today's times.

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞

Blink-182 has the ability to write songs about refusing to adult like "What's My Age Again?" and thoughtful songs like "Adam's Song," which is about depression and loneliness. Through band turmoil and a couple of members having close shaves with death, it's a miracle that they are still around creating music.

"One More Time" is an acoustic song that recounts the tumultuous last few years of the band. From drummer Travis Barker's near-fatal plane crash to bassist Mark Hoppus's battle with cancer, it's a searing ballad that makes you pause and take in the lyrics.

PS: Looking forward to interviewing Jayashree Sundar for the second season of Coffee By Two soon. 

#weekend #reccos 

𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞

I love the New Zealand cricket team. Yes, they have broken the hearts of Indian cricket fans, the most recent instances being the 2019 World Cup semis and the World Test Championship in 2021. 

I first started watching cricket in the early 90s, and I vaguely remember the team's dream run in the 1992 World Cup. It was the first World Cup with colored clothing, and we had just gotten a color TV. The matches began at some ungodly hour, and we would catch a glimpse before leaving for school.

India's population is approximately 280 times greater than New Zealand's. Yet New Zealand has a thriving rugby and cricket team.

Squad announcements are usually terse encounters. Selectors usually hold a press conference to announce the chosen players, followed by questions from the press.

But in 2023, New Zealand did it differently. They got the family members of players to announce the squad for the 2023 men's cricket world cup. It cut through the seriousness and made you love the team more, even if you weren't a New Zealander.

For the 2024 T20 World Cup, they followed it up by getting two kids - Angus and Matilda - to announce the squad. Again, it was a breath of fresh air and took the internet by storm. The Australian men's cricket team seems to have taken a leaf from this, and their squad was announced by former players who were part of the 2007 World Cup-winning squad, including the children of the late Andrew Symonds.

Presumably, the New Zealand Cricket Board is less powerful and moneyed than the BCCI. That's probably what helps them be more creative and push ideas with less resistance.

Imagine, instead of putting up extravagant pre-match shows that serve more as a hindrance, you can take something seemingly normal like a squad announcement and make it memorable. It's not about money, but thoughtfulness.

On the other hand, the richest cricket board announced their squad via a regular press release. 

#creativity #cricket #thoufghtfulness 

PS: Links to the New Zealand and Australian team squad announcements in the comments

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫

A few months back, I went on a roller coaster ride of sorts. It had been ages since I had been on one, and I was scared out of my wits waiting for it to end.

I was reminded of this when I read about Glenn Maxwell taking a physical and mental health break from the Royal Challengers Bangalore. His form has been tepid, and the side has lost all but one of their matches and are on course to be eliminated. While the side has numerous gaps, one of the issues has been Maxwell's inability to fire on all cylinders and put runs on the board in the powerplay. 

Firstly, it's a remarkably honest admission from a player to ask for such a break, and this isn't the first time he is doing it.

In his statement, he said a couple of things that stand out and are food for thought.

"𝘛20 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘴."


Maxwell was in red-hot form before coming into the tournament but has seemingly hit a brick wall in the IPL. No one can be on a good run forever, and it is sometimes hard to come to terms with this. Players have different ways of dealing with a lack of form. Some believe in playing to get their rhythm back, and others believe in walking away from the game for a while.

"𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦."

When things aren't on your side, it's hard to step off the pedal and admit it. It's like a gambler having a bad day trying another hand, hoping things will turn out differently instead of walking away (for good). Thinking rationally inside a roller coater (even a metaphorical one) is near impossible. 

Walking away to regain perspective and rediscover joy in the journey is underrated, yet extremely valuable.

#mentalhealth #break #career

𝐍𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

In the 2019 World Cup semi-final between India and New Zealand, Ravindra Jadeja played a fine innings that helped India get closer to the total. However, he got out, and the match slipped out of our hands. After reaching his half-century, he pointed to the commentary box, specifically to Sanjay Manjrekar. Of course, he couldn't see the commentators, but it was symbolic. 

Prior to the match, Manjrekar had called him a 'bits and pieces' player, and Jadeja responded by saying he had had enough of Manjrekar's verbal diarrhea.

Players and commentators have had spats and disagreements on things that have been said.

Whether they are praising them or criticizing their technique or giving advice, it's all falling on deaf ears, at least when they're on the field. If the players could hear commentary while on the ground, it will be extremely hard to play.

Outside of sport, commentary can come in any form: trolls, criticism, sly remarks, FOMO—anything that takes your attention away from the task. It's hard to create when you're paying attention to them.

Pointless noise is worth canceling.

#create #noise #distraction

𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 

They are somewhat similar in the sense that they occur when you feel alone in some way.

Boredom is when there is a lack of stimulation. But boredom is good when acted upon. Picking up a book, experimenting with a new dish, exploring a new locality - all of them are good by-products of boredom.

Author Cal Newport who has made a living out of writing about the harm that social media does says we have forgotten what it is like to be bored. Previously, waiting for a flight or train or in a queue meant you were in a place without much to do. Now every ounce of boredom can be erased from your life. Whether that's making you anxious or relaxed is worth considering.

Loneliness is when you feel cut-off from people and events. This can lead to a downward spiral with sometimes tragic consequences.

When unchanneled boredom can lead to loneliness.

One way out of both is to connect - with people, a hobby, a goal, a purpose of some sort.

The goal is to feel vital, valued and energetic - things you don't feel when you're bored or lonely. 

𝐏𝐒: if you're feeling either, feel free to connect. 

#connect #work #loneliness

Most customers don't have to have  a 'conversation with brands'. There is enough cacophony to endure already. 

The only time they do is when they need to reach customer service. 

Any guesses on how that experience is for most folks?


𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥

In an interview, Nitish Kumar Reddy of Sunrisers Hyderabad shared his mantra: 'look at the ball, not the bowler.' It's a wise approach, especially when facing an intimidating bowler of high calibre.

Authority bias occurs when one assigns undue weight to the opinions of esteemed individuals, even when those opinions may be flawed. Elizabeth Holmes employed this strategy, stacking the Theranos board with former heads of state, prominent business leaders, and a secretary of defense. Many assumed that if so many high authority figures were on the board, she must be doing something right.

Given the abundance of self-proclaimed experts across various domains, separating the opinion from the person giving it becomes a necessary skill.

#opionion #authoritybias 

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