ThoughtMorph

  The new normal post, Covid 19 is evolving. The work, business, economy; all are transformed. Social connection while maintaining social distancing became the key phrase. Remote and hybrid work, shortening of the supply chains, more local for local, regional for regional is the new usual. Structural changes in the business demand rapid transformation of the skills required to equip new job roles. VUCA discussions have been calling for new skills adaption in leadership but the new normal post covid 19 asks for changes at the graduate level for employability. This has far-reaching implications for higher education in general, and academic advising in particular, because it promises to provide the new paradigm necessary to provoke the paradigm shift of integrating career advising and academic advising called for by Hughey and Hughey in NACADA’s Handbook of Career Advising. The expectation for a lifelong career is no longer realistic because the nature and pace of change in the workplace

  When Theodore Roosevelt said,' Comparison is the thief of joy' he was explaining the Paradox of Possessions. More you have, the more coveted.No matter how recent model you got someone else will have a better model of a car or a watch. As we purchase something new, we experience the dopamine rush, the sense of achievement but its fleeting. To get that high again we go back to buy more or better, which is a vicious cycle and induces guilt as experienced by alcoholics and drug addicts. What is exciting and alluring becomes a norm in no time. New purchases lead to new expectations and we keep on raising the bar, we look for even better ones. It's a never-ending and is known as PoP-Paradox of Possessions. It's like the bottle of soda pop, once opened it fizzles out.     Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives, a Harvard study revealed. Along with relationships, Experiences than possessions bring more happiness. Human

Interviews are conversations between two people (maybe more) with the primary objective of judging an applicant by the recruiter.  The interview is a complex process where oral communication, persuasion, negotiation and storytelling work in tandem to help recruiter judge a candidature. The job of the candidate is to persuade the recruiter to judge in his/her favour. Storytelling has a wider use in today’s world whether it’s marketing a brand or marketing self to a Recruiter, storytelling can do the magic for you. My interactions with students just out of the interview room, at UPES as an employability coach, give me a sneak peek of what works and what does not. Those who come out smiling have a story to tell and those with a frown are lost for words. The emotional connections that stories make are engaging and move the audience. Storytelling persuades listeners to be more attentive. Those who understand the power of stories do their best to widen their outlook and those who withdra

  “Be open, be Impatient and Be Hopeful’ Listening to Sundar Pichai addressing the passing out batch of 2020 is magical, quintessential and evoke hope. No matter you are passing out this year or you graduated twenty years ago, it shows you light in despairing time. Trying to dissect the anatomy of his narrative, I faced the power of number three. Rule of 3 is a literary device used to make language come alive. Steve Job in his famous commencement speech at Stanford narrated three personal stories to evoke emotions (pathos) engage authentically (ethos) with his personal experiences and bring home the values of trust, faith and uncertainty of life as logical conclusions (logos). Mr Pichai too used personal experiences, powerful language and detailed description to give a message of hope to the youth. Information combined with emotion becomes a memory. “If you want something stuck in someone’s head, put it in a sequence of three,” Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger said. Rule o

Che` Guevara said, ‘if our revolution does not have the goal of changing men, it doesn’t interest me.’ I do not know about the humankind but a virus is revolutionizing the world as it is changing the men. People are connecting, staying inside, practising music and playing with their kids. The old-age cultural traditions of greeting and eating once ridiculed are advocated. A wave is seen where the world is feeling ONE. The pandemic has given people time to self-reflect, plan their future course of action. What are you grateful about? Make a list of your blessings. List the name of people you love, you like and people who inspire you/encourage you. Walk away from negative media focus on positivity. Face time with the people you love. Have a virtual dance party with people you like.   Cook together. Pick up a book of person you idolize. Focus on yourself. Learn a new skill. Give someone a call. Reconnect with people you have lost touch with. We have choices. We can use this tim

Scrolling the online shopping sites and piling the cart seemed her favourite pass time. A keen eye for beautiful things, admiring them, desiring them, adding them to cart, filing the delivery details and payment details too but immediately aborting the entire process in a flash. WHY? A thought flared, I can't have them. They are not for me. Good things are to be gifted. Givers are grand and celebrated. phewwwwwwwwww................... A beautiful silver chocolate box, carved with intricate lattice design embracing a sailor ship drawing in the centre as if supporting the ship on rough waters. The lid is little open and chocolates wrapped in shining paper are jeering out asking to be taken and savoured . A voice echoed," come on give it to your cousin, Go on...say Happy Diwali." She looked up to his huge fiery eyes, pleading in heart, "please papa, may I keep it, I want it, Its too beautiful to be given away, Its Diwali for me too." Come on, Good t