Penpositive Outclass

#249 When People in your team Leave

27 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A person leaving your team is something we all have faced in our work life. Many times we have been able to negotiate them back. Yet we all have worke...

#248 Transparency as a Tool of Success

26 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Transparency can be a very useful tool.. especially when you work in teams. It helps us in building a connection between team members. Transparency wi...

#247 The Folly of Finding Faults

25 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I think we all know that 'Finding Fault' is not a much appreciated trait but knowingly or unknowingly many do get quite good at it over time. To ...

#246 Interviewing Someone Who Copied Your Resume

24 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Can someone copy your resume..? Can that resume end up in your hand... less possible.... Can you end up interviewing that person.. No.. Way... But it ...

#245 Make a hole in your Dream and let it happen

23 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There is a quote by the scientist and 11th President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.. “Dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is so...

#244 No Process should become a Red Tape

22 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Processes are put in place so things could run smoothly and by running smoothly it also means that someone has a way to control and predict the outcom...

#243 Doing only what you love?

21 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Is it even possible to do only what we love to do.... We always hear people say this.. And I have my doubts because to make a machinery run... there a...

#242 Standing up after a Fall

20 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It is important that we stand up every time we fall because falls are inevitable in life and for life to move on we need to be in a standing position....

#241 Failures are louder than Successes

19 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I can remember much of my failures... much more than my successes and if I take a tab the side of failures will far outweigh successes. Is that bad? I...

#240 Converting some stress into an element of joy

18 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

One of the troubling tasks in life is to find ways to avoid stress and do something regularly that makes us happy. The catch is that some of these ite...

#239 Doing something as if your Life depends on it

17 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When I started my professional career, one of my customers once mentioned to me the definition for being a professional. He aid it was someone who doe...

#238 Resume Building and Jumping Ships

16 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When I graduated I don't remember thinking of a resume building process that is tightly coupled with one's career. You finish education, get on the fi...

#237 On Pursuing your Dream

15 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I am sure you might have heard Jim Carrey's commencement speech ob pursuing your dream... It had gone viral sometime back.... or back then it was all ...

#236 Work-Life Balance Part (3/3)

14 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I think Work-Life balance would be different with a freedom to call quits. I don't think I have that freedom but I think those who have that might hav...

#235 Work-Life Balance Part (2/3)

13 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For me Work-life balance is not a mathematical problem that you solve in equal percentages, or any percentage for that matter. It has to do with being...

#234 Work-Life Balance Part (1/3)

12 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most commonly used phrases. I heard it first a few years into starting to work and I laughed at it because for me there was no much differe...

#233 You are free to desire; but also choose from what you desire.

11 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Desires; who does not have any, it is what fuel people in their life. The desire to own something, the desire to have someone in your life, the desire...

#232 The Art of Bad Mouthing

10 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

You meet a friend and tell him that a book is so boring and atrociously bad. I am sure next time he is in a library or bookstore a...

#231 Three Ways to React to Change

10 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There might be more that three ways to react to a change; but I like focusing on Three because it is less and who has the time to count beyond Th...

#230 Failures always teach

08 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I think I have spoken about success before... if not I will speak sometime... but most people do... But may be I have always spoken more about failure...

#229 Going into an Emergency

07 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On Friday I had to take someone to the emergency... This is not the first time I have gone to an emergency.... Though I don't think I have been taken ...

#228 Contribute More than you Work

06 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Some time in early Nineties I had read that Money is the worst Motivator, yet businesses all over have been providing monetary incentives to their emp...

#227 The importance of contracts

05 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When we hear contracts we think about things that are binding.. written signed.. locked.... but there are many other places we need a contract... many...

#226 Got my Booster Shot

04 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I got my booster shot on Dec 1st... Previously I had received Moderna and so that is what I get as Booster as well.... When I got my Moderna shots peo...

#225 How Correct are we?

03 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This whole idea of being correct kind of confuses me at times. The first question is do we have to be correct always... or just the never ending searc...

#224 How will Daily commute feel now

02 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As things open up and companies ask people to come back to work.. or if I decide to take up a role that might demand the same.. how will I feel after ...

#223 Today I felt like quitting

01 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Let me be very honest... today I really felt like quitting this project... I had a pretty low day when everything I do was staring back at me and aski...

#222 House of Gucci

30 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Wealth. made.. inherited... acquired.. lost... House of Gucci takes you through the twists and turns in the family business empire.. based on a book b...

#221 King Richard has a plan

29 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Last week I saw the new Will Smith movie… King Richard which tells you the story of Venus and Serena Williams… their family.. Will Smith plays the...

#220 What matters most at Work

28 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If not people.. which I mentioned in my last post.. What matters to you most at work....? if we had to choose something else... other than people what...

#219 What makes Work enjoyable?

27 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Work can be enjoyable but work can also be a drudgery... and the fact is that not everyone in this world is privileged to enjoy their work... Some job...

#218 What is Commitment in a job

26 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How committed are we in our job? How committed should we be? How can we ensure we are committed.. What do you think employers or our team mates or man...

#217 Why do you want this job?

25 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

You are going for an interview and they ask you why do you want this job? What will your answer be... I am sure we all will have our own answers.... A...

#216 Starting to Understand History

24 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I have often wondered if the real intention of learning history was met in my case... Well what is the real intention..? I have learned history as a s...

#215 System Error - Where big tech went wrong and how we can reboot

23 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What do you get when a Philosopher, a Technologist and a Public Policy expert come together? You get 'System Error'... Just wrapped up this interestin...

#214 Crappy starts and consistency

22 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When pandemic hit we were all in a position of uncertainty and the immediate goal was to ensure how we can make things better for ourselves… what ma...

#213 I should not have done this

21 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When pandemic hit we were all in a position of uncertainty and the immediate goal was to ensure how we can make things better for ourselves... what ma...

#212 When suddenly things change

20 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

So change is always an interesting aspect and being an Agile professional day in and day out we talk of change.... I think that is one area we keep ta...

#211 A total stranger makes your day

19 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I know it is a cliche... you might have heard it many times over and over that a kind gesture from a total stranger can make your day... But what the ...

#210 Another of those days

18 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It has been 147 days since I started this project and today is one such day when my mind is blank.... It is not that there is nothing to write.. it is...

#209 Dune the Movie

17 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dune... I have not read any of the books.. I have never been a great SciFi reader.... So the fact that Dune was releasing did not really excite me... ...

#208 Belfast the Movie

16 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Last weekend I saw two movies and I am going to dedicate this and the next episode to those movies. I am not sure if I can call these reviews but more...

#207 Death in the Digital age

15 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Is dying the same.... before and in this digital age.... When we die we don't exist in the physical world... but digitally our presence is felt... one...

#206 Four Thousand Weeks to Live

14 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If we live up to 80 years we would have lived around four thousand weeks. That is true... but I did not think about it till I read Oliver Burkeman's b...

#205 Withdrawals of a Lifestyle Change

13 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Can we 'Think Uninfluenced'...? what does that even mean...? before you jump into any conclusions... I need to tell you that whether we agree or not, ...

#204 People are bad just in our minds?

12 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Whether we like it being done to us or not.. we will do it to others... judge other people... Even subconsciously.... Sometimes I feel that this is ou...

#203 Making meaningful Connections

11 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I grew up liking the company of people... always wanting to be around others.... May be that is how I chose sales after college... but I left that pro...

#202 How reckless and foolish I was

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Yesterday I was watching an Indian movie and in that a person in a running train walks up to the door and tries to open it. When asked she tells that ...

#201 Should I give way to my madness?

09 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Don't we all have our share of madness? I think so... Some of the madness is so common that we think it is the norm... And some we hide though it is s...

#200 Saying No to some of the things we want to do

08 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We will never be able to do everything we want....and I get that... I hope you do too... but the bigger problem is saying No to some of the things we ...

#199 The “Love My Work’ Week

07 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There was a 2019 book by Marcus Buckingham ‘Nine Lies About Work’ that he had coauthored with Ashley Goodall.. I highly recommend you all to read ...

#198 The Great Resignation

06 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Two days back as part of the Penpositive Journal on the Penpositive YouTube channel... I did a video on The Great Resignation... some personal thought...

#197 A bad day like any other bad day

05 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A day can be bad for many reason.. today was one such… today means the day I am writing this blog… I am not sure which day you will read this… M...

#196 Work on the stronger branch

04 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

‘You need to work on the stronger branch’… I heard this phrase a few days back… I am not sure if I read it or I heard it… Either way I loved...

#195 Workable Multi Tasking

03 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Does Multitasking work..? or even better… is there any workable multi-tasking… Growing up I have heard two different sides on the Multi-Tasking de...

#194 Correcting ourselves is the only choice we have

02 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What choices do we have in our life…? Many…..? Multiple…? But our choices vary… it is tied to who we are.. our privileges… where we live… ...

#193 Owning up our ignorance & our experiences

01 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“Are you ignorant?”… if someone asks us that, we might get offended. but we all know that we cannot be knowledgable about everything. There are ...

#192The fear of being exposed

31 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the era of Social Media and cell phone cameras and live streams.. do people fear being exposed. Apparently people’s life taken out of context can...

#191 Powerless on Willpower

30 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I have always considered myself to be low on willpower. And recently the topic of willpower came up in a conversation with friends. Usually I try to c...

#190 Life and Value Trade-Off

29 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tradeoff is a word I often use… while talking and while writing…. because a lot of what we do is in a way a trade-off. but yesterday I was thinkin...

#189 Movies, Phone and Focus

28 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We live at a time when focus is a rare commodity. It is not about focussing on what is difficult to focus.. but even the easier things seem hard to fo...

#188 Getting Perfect Scores in Life

27 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Life is not a race or a test to get perfect scores.. It is not a Gymnastics act either.. even though many of us might feel it is at times…. Life doe...

#187 On our deathbed we will not feel we could have spent more time in office

26 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Talking about death is not considered the best thing in most cultures.. but there are many cultures where death is discussed… As mortals I think we ...

#186 It is not enough to be on the right track, if you don’t move you will be run over

25 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There are times when I question myself…. if I am on the right track…. What we navigate in life is not always black and white and there are so many...

#185 Life is shot at you point blank; it is here and Now

24 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We all have limited time… though when we are young we think otherwise. The first time we hear death or see it we know life will end but we always fe...

#184 When the going gets tough the tough gets going

23 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tough is always considered better than Weak. I was also taught that anyone can be tough. And I honestly believed that. Till I started thinking otherwi...

#183 Are One liner motivational Quotes Effective?

22 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With the Advent of Social Media... everyone seems to be a philosopher... in a one line motivational quote they seem to solve all world problems. Motiv...

#182 Don't Wait for the New Year

21 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It is October and in just over two months we will be getting into a new year and a week before that we will all be flooded by New Year Resolutions and...

#181 How I loved my Daily Commute

20 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I really loved my daily commute which started at the end of December 2010 and continued till August of 2012. I used to commute for 2 hours daily back ...

#180 My Remote Work Chronology

19 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Pandemic was a time when many people who had not done remote work started doing it. I was someone who had experienced remote work for several years in...

#179 Any moments I want to relive

18 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When I look back at life that has passed, I often wonder if there is any event or moment that I want to relive. I have never got an answer. There are ...

#178 Learning and Unlearning

17 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When I was a student I never knew about the word ‘unlearning‘. Even the other day when I posted about unlearning, someone asked if that was a real...

#177 Overcoming a Corporate Handicap

16 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I started working for the first time in a large corporation 5 months shy of my 40th birthday. Spending 17 years in the Tech field working in small com...

#176 A tale in Career Recovery

15 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 2010 I was at a crossroad with a mounting debt, no clear idea of a possible career even after spending 17 years in an Industry that has been boomin...

#175 Decisions that might have cost me my career

14 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There are decisions we take in our life that can cost us either immediately or in the long run. I have experimented a lot with my career and also made...

#174 When I failed to blend Passion & Work

13 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Find a way to get paid for your passion and you will not work for another day. That is what I have heard over and over again. You must have too… And...

#173 Why do we work?

12 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Work is the biggest part of our waking hour. For some folks the sleeping hour is so minuscule that work is all they have in their life. So Why do we w...

#172 My Failures from Lack of Motivation

11 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

One should learn from failures they say... true but my problem is choosing from all those failures in life. But even more my problem is I have kept on...

#171 Finding your creator sweet spot

10 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

After 100+ days of writing and daily podcasting, I have started thinking about style. Is that something we develop? Should one be bothered much about ...

#170 Honesty of Unknown People

09 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It was last year… as the world was amidst the pandemic.. deaths mounting… no end in sight.. No news of vaccine.. at least for the common people li...

#169 The Confessions of a Quitter

08 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The first time heard about the sunk cost fallacy, I felt like quitting every crap I was doing then. To be honest it felt like I was in this never endi...

#168 Join from home & Work from home

07 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The excitement of joining a new company might have changed a bit I feel. During the past one and a half years most people who joined across the variou...

#167 When Facebook Was Down Monday

06 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We all know that machines and software can stop working.. we humans also slow down and stop working.. But machines and software get fixed faster than ...

#166 Homework Talks with your Kid

05 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How should a homework conversation with your kid go. What are the things one should keep in mind as a parent? What questions should we ask kids? Is th...

#165 It is OK to not know it all NOW!

04 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Kids don’t get their driving license till they are a certain age. They are not allowed to drink or smoke. There are restrictions that the system put...

#164 How do you look at a Busy Day?

03 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Whenever you ask people how the day was, they say Busy... Busy Busy and I wonder... is it really busy. Do people feel happy or unhappy when they are b...

#163 Reflecting on 100 Days of Blogging

02 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today Marks the 100 days, I have been writing every single day and it feels good. Thought I will take some day to reflect on this and also see where i...

#162 Being an Agile Practitioner

01 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The beauty and satisfaction of working as an Agile Practitioner is that even while there is so much chaos around you, very often you stumble upon a ne...

#161 Active Learning at Penpositive

30 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Active Learning is a process I define as a very engaging intentional focussed form of learning which then would manifest in such a way that every act ...

#160 And the Dentist says ‘Smile Please’

29 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Toothaches are one of the worst feelings. Well, all pain is bad and the worst is what we have experience right now. No I am not having a tooth ache bu...

#159 A walk at night with a Fear of Darkness

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Growing up I was so afraid of darkness and being alone. It could have been the stories that I heard, movies I watched on TV or may be even what I read...

#158 Distances from Prisons to marketplaces

27 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We all have our ideas about distances. short.. long… and most times we connect that with time.. because we expect that distances are supposed to be ...

#157 When you hear someone is no more

26 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There are many people we know or have known or met in our life. Some people we never meet again. Some people we never know when they leave the world. ...

#156 Health in 2 years

25 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There are generic ideas of what healthy can mean. But in my opinion what it means at age 20 or age 50 and what it means at age 90 can be different. Bu...

#155 Fights with Diets | Staying Healthy – 4

24 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

You need to eat healthy… Did you have your vegetables today… You need all the different colors in your diet.. where is the green here… And then ...

#154 Routines to stay Human| Staying Healthy – 3

23 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There is always a routine but some we realize some we don’t. Some naturally become part of us and some naturally we end. But again some routines we ...

#153 Making Pushups Happen | Staying Healthy - 2

22 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There are things we thought we could never do in our life and then we start doing it. We feel good… We also start translating that to other things i...

#152 Struggles with Weight loss | Staying Healthy - 1

21 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Having some physical activity everyday or at least 3 to 5 days a week is what we hear people say. And there are people who do it and those who don’t...

#151 The struggle to be always correct

20 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

To be correct always is not possible; To always be wrong is also impossible. The only practical option is to continuously learn and unlearn. But who c...

#150 Starting from Zero is the fun

19 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I have had several instances in life where I have had to start from scratch. It did not feel that great always. But recently I heard this phrase “St...