Aswath Krishnan

I was at a meeting yesterday where we were trying to make a difficult decision. We all had our points to say and passionately expressed them, but did little to acknowledge each others' points or to identify and bridge our differences. We ended up talking past each other . Such meetings aren't very productive, and most people don't feel good or united after them.   In retrospect, we could all have been better listeners and made others felt heard.   Being a good listener means :  You can clearly articulate the other person's point and rationale. Even if they are unclear about and even if you disagree with their point, you try to bring clarity to it.  You understand how they feel about the topic, discussion, people involved, and underlying beliefs.  You can gauge their level of understanding and gaps about other points discussed. When you set this standard of listening and understanding for yourself, you'll pay a lot more attention to what others say and ...

Today's Congressional hearing with CEOs of large tech companies made me think about question of why and how companies should be regulated.  Goal of an economic system Firstly, the economic and legal system of a society is merely a tool to serve the goals of the society. So in order to judge an economic system or to recommend an improvement, we'll have to start with an understanding or definition of the goals of the society.  The goal of a society, just like the goal of individual life, is philosophical, with no absolute right or wrong answers. There is typically a starting definition of a society's collective philosophy that the founders have agreed on, but over time and generations, the situations and philosophies tend to evolve and diverge. The philosophy I currently hold is that the goal of a society is to improve the long-term welfare and freedom of all its citizens and future generations . There are other equally valid (or invalid) philosophies.  In capitalism, ...

Leading people can be joyful and fulfilling as it enables you to broaden and achieve your purpose, and because you can enable your team to experience that same joy too.  It's a magical feeling when a team works well together and makes great things happen.  It is not an easy to be an effective leader and I'm keeping an ongoing list of what it takes here: 1) Bring clarity around what the organization does and why (mission) .  You don't have to come up with these answers by yourself, but it is your responsibility to consolidate, edit, and develop a deep shared understanding.  If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. 2) Establish and embody how to work together, treat customers/partners, make decisions (values and culture).  Establish and embody a culture where everyone can do their best work towards the mission - a culture of high integrity, c...

My top highlight from Satya Nadella's book, Hit Refresh, is this advice to Microsoft's employees: "Instead of thinking of you working for Microsoft, think of how Microsoft can work for you." If you want your work and career to be meaningful long-term and if you want to be exceptionally good at it, you should start by defining what is meaningful to you  and then finding (or creating) a career or company that serves that purpose . We spend such an immense portion of our waking lives doing our jobs that it doesn't make sense any other way.  Such clarity and pursuit of purpose don't happen by default and are rare. In today's world with infinite options, it is hard to know, with confidence, what we truly want to do without broad exploration, experience, self awareness and maturity.