Realpreneur

There was an author who was travelling to Singapore for a guest lecture or as you can say, a consultancy session. When he arrived at the airport he looked out for a taxi to take him to the hotel. The taxi driver was polite and well behaved. When they reached the hotel, the taxi driver circled the block once before dropping the author outside the hotel gate. The meter read $11 and the author had already taken the sum out to pay the fare. However, the taxi driver said that the author needs to pay only $10. The author was surprised. And he asked the taxi driver why he was charging him a dollar less. The taxi driver replied, “Sir, had I not missed the turn from the signal I wouldn’t have to circle the whole block once again to drop you here. And in that case the meter would have read $10. I can legally claim $11 but ethically I deserve only $10.” The author was actually pleased to hear this. And was fascinated to know more on why the taxi driver felt the need to be ethical. Th...

Civic Entrepreneurship  : Unfortunately, democracy isn’t e-commerce I devised a game I have been playing ever since. Virtually every time I meet a group of people to talk things like change and leadership, the future of work and politics, the future of democracy, I ask: “If you are under 35, please raise your hand.” On lucky occasions, about a third to half of the room takes the shape of waved arms. T en, I continue: “If you are engaged or you are planning to engage in politics or civil service, please keep your hand up. The rest please put it down.” At this point, a usually blushing audience withdraws, with very few exceptions. I have been playing this game with groups as large as 50 people to as small as 2 people, from the stage of the Social Media to high school classrooms. The number of players changes, but the results don’t: in my experience only 3-5% of those who raise their hand keep it up. Yet, virtually everyone – whether hand raiser or not – is ...

A smart boy once said, "Drama, lies, tears. Cheers to the teenage years." I'd dare wonder what made him think of this queer thought, but then again teenage life is something eccentric, something abstruse, something we have absolutely no jurisdiction over, what so ever. I myself am a teenager. My name is not as important as the message I’m here to convey, and I'm sure you all have something equally bizarre say too. Entrepreneurship is the new trend worn by teenagers today. Every third kid in the block wants to be an entrepreneur. But what entrepreneurship really means to them is making millions of dollars, having a private jet and owning a mansion. Watching movies like 'Social Network' and 'Wolf of Wall Street' has got this generation to believe in complete illusion. Entrepreneurship is no where close to what is portrayed. Entrepreneurship is about solving a problem. It's about creating economic and market value of a product or service. Entrepr...