One of the reason Austrian economics stayed fringe, and Keynes got the mainstream attention is because it tried to beat something with nothing. And, an old political truism goes: “You can’t beat something with nothing.” It was true in the middle of nineteenth century. But, is it possible that with…

The allure of the American Dream is now a net negative for Indian H1B workers — America, a cradle of opportunity where ambitious folks came to realize their dreams, is no longer net positive for highly skilled Indian immigrants. Yet, throughout history, skilled immigrants moving to America was a positive-sum. Enterprising and hard-working immigrants won as America provided them a conducive environment to achieve their potential…

Western philosophers, from Plato to Descartes, believed that decision making was a rational thought process. Our emotions, our hearts, and our intuition have no place in sage decision making. Scott Adams, a popular modern philosopher, seems to be a fanboy of Descartes — when Dilbert calls his boss's penchant to…

Hypothesis validation is much more than AB tests. Learn when to use what — More and more teams rely on A/B tests to validate and quantify hypotheses. The pursuit of data-driven culture is a great thing, except when teams start overdoing it. Truth is, A/B tests are overused and abused by some teams, becoming a substitute for common sense and clear thinking. …

The answer to why Apple failed to build Instagram gives us a clue — The framework that explains why Apple can get into building chips, but can’t compete on apps (photo sharing, maps) can teach us a lot about an optimal organizational structure for a mid-size to large companies for data teams. Organizational structure is critical because the same people organized differently results in…

Correlation is not causation. It is common knowledge; thanks to the constant supply of social media feeds. For example, for sure, you could test your 5-year old next time you are in a plane whether he has it figured out like Family Circus: I wish they didn’t turn on the…

A Dying Elephant metaphor will help you crack this puzzle — A lot of smart folks work for dying companies. Surprising, considering a lot has been written about career planning — where to work and where not to work. Let’s unpack the elephant metaphor to understand why it happens. An elephant dying with Cancer It is a metaphor that does a great job of explaining all…

Science-based Tips and Tricks to overpower procrastination from a procrastinator. — I’ve been struggling with procrastination for a long time. I’m sure, you, too, must have struggled with it. In fact, procrastination is a pandemic that has afflicted humans for eternity. Fortunately, however, psychologists have been studying procrastination for long; hence, they have actionable tips and tricks to manage it. In…