Faria Education Group’s Post

Integrity is not just a word; it's a way of life that shapes who we are and how we are perceived by others. It is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles that guide our actions, even when no one is watching. In a world where distractions and temptations abound, integrity stands as a beacon of light, guiding us to make the right choices, uphold our values, and stay true to ourselves. Let's remember that integrity is not just about what we do; it's about who we are. It builds trust, fosters respect, and forms the foundation of genuine relationships. https://lnkd.in/gibTGgDD

WHO ARE THE CES-WE UNDERDOGS WHO WIN? They are the quiet, hardworking individuals who stay focused and persistent. While others may boast, this underdog remains steady and purposive. Their moment of triumph comes from their dedication and authenticity, proving that true excellence and perseverance can outshine everything else. This story of unexpected victory gives hope to all applicants, reminding them that even if they feel overlooked, their time to shine can come with consistent effort and belief in themselves. LEARN MORE: https://lnkd.in/eMr7nq6q

My colleagues and co-founders at my first startup were greatly amused by my use of American sport metaphors. Prior to founding my first startup #Impulsesoft in Bangalore, I had spent nearly 15 years in California. Their ribbing is what led me to realize how much I'd internalized watching San Francisco 49ers games! So when I read and saw Jason Fried talk about the "metaphors of war" it hit close to home for a number of reasons. The most obvious is the violence that war connotes and we are seeing in Gaza or Ukraine today (in Nagorno-Karabakh, Sudan, Syria, Yemen for far too long) Much like my cluelessness (and at times inappropriate) use of sports metaphors, which have their share of military/war roots, many of us in business use these as jargon or shorthand. It also makes me stop and take stock of things I say, whether in a class or in a business meetings. As someone who advocates ever more #storytelling in business, I urge folks to "use metaphors and analogies." I now need to remind myself and them that such analogies and metaphors need not, nay should not, be imbued with the imagery of war. As Leo Tolstoy remarked "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.' I'll begin by being deliberate and mindful in my use of metaphors and analogies. #wordsmatter #culture #change

This is one of “the most important post” you should read. Jason Fried captures why product companies should focus on creating something useful.

Dear educators, Jason Fried rightly said, "𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔; 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔." MBA and MMS programs may have roots in warfare, but we can redefine the narrative. Our language can articulate goals and inspire greatness. I remember Brad Stulberg, the man who authored 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 - 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘈𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴, had to change is own game much later realizing the significance of being grounded. He redefined his approach with 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, in this book he says, "𝑰𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕-𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒈𝒖𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕." Business success is intertwined with social responsibility, and your commitment to a language of peace resonates as a positive step toward a more conscious and compassionate business environment. So, let's connect the dots. Mindful language, grounded practices, and a positive workplace—bridges instead of battles. #MindfulWorkplace #GroundedPractice #PositiveCommunication #WorkWithPurpose

Here's to the founders and leaders who want to lift up the world instead of crushing it.

Hi Jason, I completely agree with your perspective that work should not be seen as a war. It's all too easy to get caught up in the competitive nature of our roles and lose sight of the bigger picture. In my experience, when we view work as a battle, it can lead to unnecessary stress and burnout. Instead, approaching it as a collaboration where everyone can contribute their unique skills and ideas fosters a more harmonious and productive environment. By focusing on cooperation rather than competition, we can create a workplace culture that encourages creativity, innovation, and teamwork. This ultimately leads to better outcomes for both individuals and organizations. Thank you for sharing this insightful post!

Words are a primary building block of culture. We are precise in almost every numeric aspect of business… we even obsess over words in marketing. Imagine the results if we were as intentional and rigorous with the words we use in our daily interactions!

In her masterpiece "Home of the Brave" (1985), Laurie Anderson shows a large 1 and 0 on the screen behind her, saying: "Now nobody wants to be a zero. To be a zero means to be a nothing, a nobody, a has-been, a clod. On the other hand, almost everybody wants to be number one. To be a number one means to be a winner, top of the heap, the acme ... Now, in my opinion, the problem with these two numbers is that they are just too close. It leaves very little room in there for everybody else." It seems her 1985 observation accurately described how things panned out for modern 2024 "culture". When you partition the world into winners and losers you beget wars, conflicts, immoral people heading states and companies for the sole purpose of ... well ... winning an imaginary race that benefits no one but themselves. This single minded, single variable optimization, is both silly and destructive. However most of the people, on this platform specifically, are mesmerized by it. Why? because most people are sheep, in the sense that they wish to follow external acceptance (Milgram and Asch anybody?), they just want to fit in, get along, comfortably drive on auto-pilot till the end of the road. Don't be those people. Do something that benefits people. All the people.

This rings so true, but it depends on the context of the economic context of the times. In eras of business bundling (such as the SaaS era we are entering), yeah you sure do not want to use languages and metaphors of wars. In the era of unbundling (such as the SaaS era we are just coming out of), then this simply yields sameness and tameness. An unbundling era spells a proliferation of solutions that are all the Same and provide similarly tame elements. In such a landscape, you sure do want to be as differentiated as possible. This is because if two solutions are exactly the same, then one was not needed in the first place. The interesting thing is that as we enter the era of Software bundling on the macro scale, the cloud is being unbundled at the same time. At least that’s what many disruptors are trying to do. In a funny twist of fate, the metaphor, actually the Mobility of war is what Humane has used to launch their AI Pin in direct action against the current dominant mobile ecosystems. They are saying there is no chance for co-existence between their wearable pin and mobile phones. This is of course a colossal failure of strategy, because mobile devices represent the distributed edge computing nodes in stark contrast to the cloud servers. Therefore, they are actually being bundled with every other edge computing infrastructure and distribution compared to the opposite trend of unbundling in the cloud. Thus, Humane trying to isolate themselves from this global edge distribution is simply a folly of not reading the larger market trends.