Category: Uncategorised

The Clarity Trap: How Action Can Light the Way

The legendary inventor Thomas Edison famously said, “I have not failed; I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” He didn’t wait for perfect clarity. He acted, learned, refined — and through that process, the solution eventually emerged.

That story has always stayed with me. It’s a reminder that clarity often follows action, not the other way around. Yet in our own lives, we often hesitate — waiting for the fog to clear before taking the first step.

There is always a dilemma: should we wait for clarity before acting or take action and find clarity along the way?

The traditional approach states to do “think before you leap.” This is a cautious, calculated approach often taken with a view of avoiding mistakes. This approach has its place, but the flip side is that it can result in one getting stuck in analysis paralysis. We all may have seen this play out in risk-averse environments, both in personal and professional settings.

The alternative is a more iterative approach where we act, observe, and course-correct. This treats mistakes as feedback, not failures. One learns and moves forward from every action, improving every step.

It essentially comes down to one question: is the decision reversible or not?

An irreversible decision requires us to think more deeply and have utmost clarity before committing. Examples include signing a long-term contract, quitting a job, and finding a life partner.

A reversible decision, on the other hand, is something where the cost of a mistake is low and can be corrected easily. Most decisions in life fall under this ambit, and in some cases, delaying action can have costs. Examples include which restaurant to visit, which book to read, and so on.

In practical terms, most day-to-day decisions we face fall into the reversible category. And often, no amount of overthinking can outperform the value of direct experience. As Rumi said, “As you walk, the way appears!” Hence take that plunge, that risk, that chance — test, tinker, and learn from how the world responds!

What’s one decision you’ve been overthinking lately? Could it be more reversible than you think?

How Courage Can Expand Your Life

A personal reflection on how a quote by Anaïs Nin helped me find courage during a tough career phase — and how action creates new possibilities.

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage” – Anais Nin

I came across the above powerful quote from Anaïs Nin when I was not exactly in a great frame of mind. I was in a tumultuous situation in my career, and my head was swimming in a cesspool of emotions. The quote actually made me pause and think deeply about my options and ponder on what I could do to put myself in a better position from where I was. I carefully evaluated my options and what actions could put me in a better position relative to where I was. I realized that if I do nothing or stay despondent, then my options narrow. However, if I demonstrated a bias for action and undertook steps, it could open up more optionality for myself. What I needed to do was let go of my beliefs, step out of my comfort zone, and step into the unknown. This eventually would give me a chance to open more opportunities and hopefully expand my life experiences!

Have you had moments where courage opened up new opportunities?

Uber In India – Pivot Back to Customer Delight

When Uber first came into India it stood for great within city travel experience without the hassle of owning a car. The brand was bolstered by superlative experience driven by the accommodating behaviour of the drivers and the support on the app / on call.

Uber changed the dynamics of the buy vs rent decision making when it came to city commutes. No hassles of ownership like taking a loan, getting registrations done, looking for parking spaces, watching out alcohol consumption when you go out etc. etc. Just order an Uber whenever you want to head to a destination.

Over the years, the experience of the brand has deteriorated and this is driven by a change in behaviour both on the app and from drivers. Following are the pain points:

1. Booking a cab: Today, wait times for a cab has drastically increased with driver cancellations being a norm rather than an exception. Additionally users are charged if they cancel a ride but receive no compensation if drivers cancel.

2. In cab experience: Drivers refuse to switch the AC on. Many a times, cars are not the cleanest available thus deteriorating the experience

3. Complaint Handling: The chat feature does not put a customer in touch with a real person and is highly impersonal. Moreover there is no human touch in the customer complaint handling process.

All these factors point to business focus moving away from creating an experience for customers (to probably efficiency or effectiveness metrics) which in turn is leading to behaviours that are not favourable to customers. This in turn is leading to a deterioration in the brand perception with customers looking for other options which could hurt the business over time.

What Uber could do is the following:

1. Ensure that rides are guaranteed once booked. This could also mean reducing cabs to control the quality of experience and over time charging a premium for great service. Drivers would also need to be better incentivized to provide a great experience.

2. Ensure customer service is available on call and treat customer service as an experience rather than a cost center. This can improve customer experience over time and have a rub off impact on brand image.

Uber may have to sacrifice scale with this approach. However, by taking difficult decisions to improve user experience, the brand in the long run may benefit from better love for customers. Improved customer satisfaction levels can help command premium pricing which in turn can lead to better Life Time Value.

Wishing Uber all the very best in India!

Impact of WFH on Bangalore

The pandemic has changed our lives and this post explores the effect of the pandemic on cities in general and Bangalore in particular.

Impact of WFH on productivity

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced numerous business establishments to shut down their offices and request their employees to work from home. Anecdotal evidence indicates that most companies especially in the service sector and in back office functions are adapting well to this change without any major adverse impact on productivity.

Impact On Commercial Real Estate
Many companies are also having a hard look at their office space requirements with some even planning to do away with offices entirely. As more and more companies go down this path we will see increasing pressure on commercial spaces which will see much lower utilisation. At an extreme case some of these office spaces may just have to shut shop due to lower occupancy.
Impact on residential real estate
Apart from commercial real estate, residential real estate will also be at threat. If employees don’t need to go to work then theoretically they need not work out of the cities where their previous offices were based in. Instead they could return back to their hometowns and choose to work from there provided they have adequate infrastructure to work from home. This in turn implies rental yields could be under pressure and demand for own housing can also be at risk. Please note this will play out only if companies move to a 100% model. However if companies even insist on one or two days work from office then this thesis will break down.

Impact on Ride Providers
Outside of real estate, the next big sector that will be impacted will be vehicle hailing apps like Uber, Ola, Bounce to name a few. Even a one day work from home will mean a substantial drop of volumes which will impact the ability to scale.

Impact on restaurants / food delivery
Restaurants in erstwhile office areas will also be impacted as customers who used to frequent daily will now only visit them when they need to come to office. Instead delivery apps may be more in favour especially in double income households where both partners will not have time to cook during working days.

Impact on State Finances and Infrastructure
The fall in real estate prices will hit city and state finances and will impact the ability of the city authorities to invest in infrastructure. However on the positive side expenditure will also come down as the city shrinks and uses less of public transport and commute infrastructure.

Shift from offline to online and its impact on real estate
Customers will also increasingly prefer online channels over offline channels and hence we could see downward pressure of physical retailers which in turn will impact commercial real estate.

Impact on pollution and water resources
One positive impact will be the fact that pollution levels will go down as most Bangaloreans will travel less frequently to work. Considering that water consumption and electricity consumptions is lower, the city will also turn more environment friendly. Since water consumption is lower we may less frequent complaints of lack of water access.

Impact on family bonding

On the personal front employees will enjoy the time saved on daily commute and utilise it to either improve productivity or utilise it to spends more quality time with their loved ones.

Conclusion
In summary the pandemic has made us relook our ability to work permanently from home and therefore could impact some areas such as real estate and services that revolve around commercial real estate. The longer the pandemic stays the higher are the chances of disrupting our pre Covid routines.