tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-122823292024-03-08T06:17:17.482+05:30Simple thoughtsLife is simple and is driven by simple thoughts. My observations on how complex situations have simple solutions.Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-66556505401994839672019-01-11T17:46:00.001+05:302019-01-11T17:46:37.647+05:30Should India experiment with a 4 day work week
Since the Industrial revolution, one thing has remained constant -- a belief that working longer and harder begets great achievement.
But if the benefits of new technologies are to be evenly spread around, employees can work less hours a week and employers can benefit from the increase in productivity and better attendance.
This can be simply explained by the fact that when there's 'less Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-74573520788440308942011-07-28T17:51:00.000+05:302011-07-28T17:51:25.996+05:30Professional vs Lala company
I got asked a question, what is the difference between a professional company and a Lala company (typically used for a promoter led company). I had not come across any clear definition so went on to google and searched for Lala company. Was surprised to know that there are/have been companies which proudly call themselves Lala company, they of-course do not know the derogatory implication in theSanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-24558258411199731752011-07-15T15:42:00.000+05:302011-07-15T15:42:31.602+05:30Meeting MenaceRecently one of my friend was complaining about how meetings keep getting dragged without any outcome from the meetings. I was in a workshop with some people around how to write job descriptions and many of them wanted to write one of the key responsibilities of their job was "to attend meetings".
Most managers that I have spoken to have always complained about too many meetings in their jobs Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-49856690430175753052011-04-11T12:31:00.003+05:302011-04-11T12:45:17.209+05:30Simplify pleaseI would like someone to help me understand why have HR teams over all these years continued with, in my opinion, a very funny way of calculating leave. If you take a holiday on Friday and Monday then the weekend is also counted as holidays or if you take leave before and after a holiday then the leave will include all the days of holiday. How does it impact the organisation so badly for having a Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-22564741801833397822011-04-04T13:55:00.002+05:302011-04-04T18:32:30.888+05:30Leadership learnings from DhoniSince cricket will remain the flavour for many months to come, thought of noting down what I think are the learnings Leaders can take from Dhoni.The key ones being :Go by your gut-feel and do something different : There are times when conventional logic tells you to go on the beaten path. A true leader would need to take decisions which have not been tried and risk being criticised by all and Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-17094866039166477202011-01-20T14:23:00.003+05:302011-01-20T14:47:35.430+05:30Young Startup questionsRecently I was called to address a group of people called the young startups, people who are at an early stage of their entrepreneurial journey. Was happy to see a bunch of excited people who had lots of passion for their idea, the right ingredient to have in an entrepreneur.One of the key question they asked me was around how do you hire talent into the start-up and excite them to join, and alsoSanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-653270830174753732010-12-30T16:28:00.003+05:302010-12-30T16:31:01.754+05:30Enjoy your coffee - Happy New year.As we step into another new year, just wanted to share a very nice thought which is a good way to look at life differently in the coming year. Hope you enjoy your coffee and your life !Enjoy. Happy New year, may you have the wonderful one. Thanks Kamlesh for sharing this. Regards,SanjayA CUP OF COFFEE The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to liveSanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-59702203952025384962010-11-25T12:36:00.002+05:302010-11-25T12:51:24.586+05:30Learnings from bosses 2Continuing with my learnings from my bosses here are the next 3 important ones from my perspective.- Kick them but stand by them : I have had two bosses who would literally kick you on your backside every time you made a mistake, but would also stand by you and help you in the time of crisis in helping resolve the matter. I have also had bosses who would shiver at the thought of getting involved Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-38658555568841995302010-10-16T22:32:00.002+05:302010-10-16T23:30:16.382+05:30Lessons from my Bosses!I have had more than a dozen bosses in my working career till now, and was trying to figure out if I had to pick out a few things about them that I have admired and would like them to be qualities in myself what would those be. So in the next few posts I am going to put down a few things which I really liked about my bosses to create a reminder to myself about what I need to have as my leadershipSanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-7113753327251274372010-10-13T11:22:00.002+05:302010-10-13T11:25:40.698+05:30Game TheoryI read this on my friend Abhinav Sinha's blog (http://systemsview.wordpress.com/2010/09/28/the-game-theory/) and found this to be an interesting explanation.Game Theory :While driving around the India gate, have you ever wondered why most (if not all) ice cream vendors are stacked together in and around a small patch. Or that most highway ‘dhabas’ are located in clusters. Or maybe, next time Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-29162557536986252992010-09-06T15:23:00.002+05:302010-09-06T15:45:52.423+05:30Taking the plungeI am pleasantly surprised by the number of calls I have started getting from people who want to know about how I managed to become a successful entrepreneur, its besides the point that the successful part is questionable to a great extent, but nevertheless, its a good kick that people think you are worth calling for advice :-).Its good to know that there are a lot of people who are allowing Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-15580287257209737982010-07-22T16:09:00.002+05:302010-07-22T16:46:38.030+05:30To Teach is to LEARNRecently had an opportunity to teach at a Management College, thanks to a friend, who called me in for a full course on HR due diligence in M&A. It was quite an experience. I have been in situations where I have had to address client organisations and teach them about various new / old concepts of HR / Business, but teaching a bunch of youngsters in a management college is a very different Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-91685238218466774042010-06-23T13:57:00.006+05:302010-06-23T14:51:54.623+05:30Is freelance consulting a good option ?Having jumped ship and started my entrepreneurial journey a lot of people often ask me about how I managed to take a big career decision and survived the crash that the world market has seen. My savior during the process of setting up our retirement home venture has been freelance consulting work. A lot of people ask me questions around how difficult or easy it is to find freelance consulting Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-48714318445349880322010-04-16T16:51:00.003+05:302010-04-16T16:54:06.633+05:30Complicated ConsultingSometimes we consultants can really make things too complicated. Faking News carries an interesting perspective on how a Chai wallah hires McKinsey to find out if he should sell omelets and maggi too. Found it very funny, which can mean that probably I am not a true consultant.http://www.fakingnews.com/2010/04/chai-wallah-hires-mckinsey-to-find-out-if-he-should-sell-omelets-and-maggi-too/A true Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-57973658132149302172010-02-08T11:15:00.002+05:302010-02-08T11:22:48.464+05:30Build on your strengthsRecently I was addressing various groups in a client organisation around creating development plans for their subordinates. The people were required to identify strength and weakness areas for their subordinates and then create a plan for the next one year.Nearly all the development plans got created around the weakness areas and hardly anyone thought of developing the strength area further. ThisSanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-10513068378528039462010-02-02T12:38:00.002+05:302010-02-02T12:53:56.685+05:30Demo-CrazyIndia is apparently a democracy, but is it really? Looking at the recent happenings in Mumbai, does not seem like it. So the Shiv Sena and the MNS have the sole point of view about Mumbai and who can live there. Any other person, including Sachin, who is also a Maharashtrian cannot have any other opinion about it, which is counter to the opinion of the Thackrey family. And also if you decide to Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-3274388624000619702010-01-28T11:44:00.003+05:302010-01-28T11:53:35.381+05:30Aall izz well !!Today, no conversation is complete without mentioning Aall izz well so let me start out by saying that and be done with.For some of my friends who keep asking me why I have not been writing on the blog, some clarification. There was a recession of ideas that I was facing predominantly because I was working on a new business venture, which refused to take off given the market dynamics. So was not Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-60295215144216076042009-09-16T15:56:00.002+05:302009-09-16T16:07:16.276+05:30Penny wise pound foolish..Nowhere else will one be able to find a true example of the above statement "Penny wise Pound Foolish".Our great leader Rahul Baba travels by Shatabdi to save the government some Rs 20546 odd (Now don't ask me how I come up with these numbers !! But trust me its probably thereabouts in range).Some children throw stones at the train, which is a common happening in India across the country and I Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-40652703787081599032009-09-11T16:27:00.002+05:302009-09-11T16:49:06.240+05:30Unprofessional employeesI am appalled by the behavior of the jet pilots.Normally I always believe that most of the companies will not care about their employees as soon as the tide turns negative and all talks about the company being a family will be tossed out of the window. We saw that on display recently. No company will ask its investors who have made super normal profit during good times, to fund the salaries of Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-7800354941013693292009-05-13T17:27:00.002+05:302009-05-13T17:49:24.375+05:30Cut the flab..I have been lazy !! I can blame it on the recession so am hopefully back to write about what laziness has costed me.In my state of laziness I have managed to emulate the six-pack wonder Aamir Khan, only difference being he has six-pack muscles, I have six packets of fat on my tummy :-). So big lecture from wife and a quest begins to lose the extra weight. Now gaining it was so easy, but losing itSanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-45804130568110649332008-11-26T10:46:00.002+05:302008-11-26T11:04:35.602+05:30Taare Zameen ParSuddenly all the Big Stars of the corporate world have been brought down to earth with one big name company falling after the other. The recent fall of Citibank brings down the bank which never sleeps. Only if they had followed the age old advice that a good night's sleep does a lot of good to your health. Hopefully now Citibank will start sleeping well to ensure it can regain its health.I think Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-2630556939879714872008-10-31T13:34:00.002+05:302008-10-31T13:44:31.158+05:30Doing More with LessRecently I was in a meeting with a potential client discussing some issues they were facing and how they thought they can resolve. One of the solutions they want implemented is a Bonus system to reward a particular behaviour, they also wanted to add an element of retention to it by deferring this award so that people look forward to staying that extra duration to get the bonus.Many a times Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-13605461363724596132008-10-24T14:53:00.003+05:302008-10-24T15:06:39.642+05:30Trim the FatIt seems like time to trim the fat, I wish I could do this as easily for the fat on my tummy :-).Times are bad and pay-cuts, job-losses are the order of the day. Everyday brings another bad news and people are completely lost about what to do about their careers. The fear of Am I going out next is very high.My earlier post around CSR was a reaction to the Jet fiasco, but if one has to seriously Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-68061521793407804892008-10-15T16:38:00.003+05:302008-10-15T17:38:14.384+05:30Corporate Social ResponsibilityI am so scared of reading the newspaper these days. Everyday brings in a bigger bad news than the previous day and it just does not seem to be stopping.Todays news about Jet Airways asking hundreds of people to leave without giving prior notice, information or explanation just made things worse.I think job cuts are inevitable, given the market situation there will probably be lots of them, but doSanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12282329.post-84032862134142631922008-06-05T11:21:00.002+05:302008-06-05T11:30:47.313+05:30Self AppraisalAn interesting point of view about how to assess the satisfaction of your employer with your performance.Enjoy !--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A little boy went into a drug store, reached for a soda carton and pulled it over to the telephone. He climbed onto the carton so that he could reach the buttons on Sanjay Lakhotiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184607434023661366noreply@blogger.com1