RAJESH MATHUR’S BLOG
A blog about sensemaking, critical thinking and systems thinking. Read insights, views, observations, recommendations and techniques from my learning and experiences.
Perception and Perspective
"Hey Rajesh, there is a perception that you don't do <X>!" The consultant that the company had hired told me. "Oh! Who in the team think that I don't do <X>? "Mate, I can't tell you that. But perception is reality." Only after few years of leaving that...
Anonymous feedback sucks, but we give it anyway!
Anonymous feedback can expose culture issues of an organisation. It can be damaging to people’s motivation and morale.
Leadership lessons from the story of Frappuccino
I read the autobiography of Starbucks' CEO Howard Shultz recently. Even though the book was published in 1997, it was clear to me that Shultz was ahead of his time in his management thinking. I learned and gathered many lessons from the book, but the story of...
How a neighbour taught me a quick lesson in divergent mindset, and gifted me 12 books too
How a quick hello to a neighbor and a chat about books led me to learn a great lesson in divergent mindset and earn 12 free books.
Are You Making Career Transition Easier or Harder?
In my 25+ years of career, I have made many transitions to different roles, jobs and industries. Career transition can be nerve wracking, but if done well, it can be very rewarding. Here are a few tips on how to successfully transition your career. 1. Validate purpose...
Leading Change: A Story of Organisational Culture, Reward and Reprimand
Changing culture of a difficult organisation can be hard. As a change agent, you can be rewarded, or you can be punished.
I shared the team’s mistakes with everyone, then this happened…
Admitting mistakes and failures takes courage. Teams that can openly share their mistakes demonstrate good culture and growth mindset.
Users don’t know what they want, and we don’t know our users!
I was speaking with a friend yesterday who happens to be a senior leader in a big 4 bank in Australia. He told me that he recently rubbished a new feature that a group of tech and prod people brought to him for improving frontline staff’s work. He wasn't pleased that...
The Problem of Overthinking Problems
People inadvertently overthink problems. I lead some large (MM$) initiatives with sizable teams. One thing that I've observed, and have been observing for a while which has been consistent is that people spend way too much time over-thinking problems and solutions....
The Incongruence of Organisational Hierarchy
Organisations like to claim that they did not have hierarchy in their structure, but many of them have levels of hierarchy. What causes that incongruence?
Do you bring problems or solutions?
This is a classic phrase , mostly with the managers of a traditional mindset. However, this phrase, "Come to me with a solution (or options), and not with problems" can also be debatable. Look, any good manager would want his or her team members to apply critical...
With this new dedicated platform to share your skills and course offerings with everyone, I continued to be amazed with the work you do.
I follow your post and blogs and I must say they are very practical, direct to the context and insightful. I always make notes and try to implement to improve at a personal and professional level. Keep inspiring us and keep writing good and useful stuff, Rajesh.
About me
Hi , my name is Rajesh Mathur. I am a consultant, coach and facilitator with extensive experience in sensemaking, delivery, software development, testing and Agile practices that I have been living for over 24 years now. Read more