Reflections: the stoic way!

  The most useful way to understand the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad and Yājñavalkya is not as three independent subjects, but as a connected intellectual development within the late Vedic world. Modern historians and Indologists tend to see them as evidence of a remarkable transition: from ritual mastery → questioning the meaning of ritual → investigation of consciousness and the Self . They differ, however, over how sharply that transition should be drawn and how much of the Yājñavalkya portrayed in the texts can be treated as a historical individual. 1. The relationship between the three A simple map is: Śukla Yajurveda ↓ Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa — ritual, sacrifice, cosmology, social order ↓ Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad — forms the concluding portion of the Śatapatha tradition ↓ Yājñavalkya — one of its dominant intellectual personalities ↓ Ātman, knowledge, karma, rebirth, liberation, neti neti This textual relationship is not merely a later philosophical reconstruction....

Govt spends Rs.1000 cr every year to maintain UOI infra but it saves Rs.5000 cr every year by not printing currency notes! Is this a valid argument for keeping UPI for large merchants still free?    

Executive coaching is not becoming consulting. But high-value executive coaching is moving much closer to the business. The future executive coach may therefore sit at the intersection of Coaching × OD × Business Advisory. And this distinction is important: Coach works through the leader . Consultant works on the problem . OD works on the system . The contemporary executive coach increasingly needs to understand all three. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In “ What’s missing in leadership development ?” 2017 article , McKinsey reported that only 11% of 500+ executives strongly agreed that their leadership-development interventions achieved and sustained the desired results . Their analysis identifies four factors associated with effectiveness: contextualizing development to strategy, reaching sufficient leaders, transferring learning into work, and reinforcing change through organizational systems...

Thinking Beyond Judgment: From De Bono to Barbara Minto What separates thinking from merely reacting? Edward de Bono challenges our instinct to judge, argue and prove others wrong, while Barbara Minto teaches us to structure complexity through logic and MECE thinking. Together, their approaches offer a practical discipline for seeing more clearly, generating alternatives and communicating ideas with precision. Interestingly, this modern discipline of thought echoes much older philosophical traditions—from the Stoic distinction between events and our judgments about them to Yājñavalkya's relentless inquiry into what lies beneath appearances. Good thinking may ultimately begin with a simple act: suspending judgment long enough to see what we have not yet seen. “Designing forward rather than judging at each stage.” That comes directly from your discussion of eclectics : extracting what is valuable regardless of which side it comes from and emphasizing forward design rather than contin...

 

 In a strong coach–coachee relationship , the relationship itself is part of the intervention. Before GROW, OSKAR, questioning techniques or action plans work, both people need clarity about what this relationship is, what it is not, and what each person owes the other . I would organise the foundations around eight principles . Principle Coach commits to Coachee commits to Why it matters 1. Contracting & clarity Define purpose, process, frequency, confidentiality and boundaries Clarify expectations and desired outcomes Prevents ambiguity 2. Confidentiality Protect what is discussed; explain exceptions beforehand Speak candidly while respecting others' privacy Creates trust 3. Psychological safety Be non-judgmental; allow vulnerability and disagreement Be willing to discuss difficult realities Enables honest exploration 4. Autonomy Don't impose answers or create dependency Own choices and consequences Coaching develops agency 5. Challenge + support Empathise but also confro...