They say, if you assess a fish by its ability to climb a tree, the fish will spend its entire life thinking that it is a failure.
Not true.
If you get a fish to climb a tree, the fish will realise that it is not cut out to climb trees. The fish becomes humbled by its inability to climb trees, and will seek to go back to the ocean. And learns to gather seaweed instead.
On the other hand, those who can climb trees will climb high enough till they can gather fruits for everyone on the ground.
The problem therefore, is not the system that tests your tree climbing ability. The problem is about fish not wanting to gather seaweed. The problem is about fish wanting to take the place of those who can climb trees. That is the problem.

We have come to a point where human knowhow and skills have expanded in depth and breadth - and for us to participate in an economy dictated by these, we have to pursue a high degree of specialization.

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For Indians in Malaysia, as minorities and as a community with a significant share in the economically-challenged portion of the society, the choice facing our households and individuals is often between working hard for what we want OR fighting hard for what we want.

My personal experience point...

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A month ago, I was invited to speak about Digital Entrepreneurship at the International Telugu Women's Day event organized by the Telugu Association of Malaysia (TAM) in conjunction with the celebration of the International Women's day. TAM is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation for peopl...

Conventional hiring does not always work….why?

Do people with good grades make good workers? Do people who score high in IQ contribute more to your business? Who is more suited to your environment – the disciplined Gee or the loud opinionated Bob or the IT geek Hans? How does internal culture dete...

''Today, we don’t sell ‘things and services’ anymore. We sell experience and people are paying for experience.''

People spend 70 dollars for a dinner for two – pan fried dory with potato chips and lobster cream sauce – in an upscale restaurant on the high street. Why do people spend that much when...

Economic growth creates ample opportunities for entrepreneurs. With increased demand across key sectors and its domino effect into every small subsector, anyone with good ideas and the ability to organize a ‘production’ that yields surplus (after paying off the supply factors) can become an entrepre...

Why are big giants like Microsoft buying off small guys even before the market learns their names? Why are these big players scouting for ideas and products and all things new when they can build their own multi-million state-of-the-art labs and buy all the best expertise in the world? Innovation is...