Each of these learnings that have been shared by Piyush
these can be a whole set of topics for more life lessons on their own
and which I would also try to cover in future sessions, hopefully along with their in-depth and detailed analysis
including the powerful insights which he has shared, but to briefly summarise them
They are in the form of the following set of learnings:
How should a person identify problems to solve, what problems exactly to solve, and why to solve those problems!?
First things first, do you truly enjoy 😁 it!? - First of all, always make sure to pick a problem to solve that you would truly (and I emphasize those words) truly enjoy solving and you curiously and genuinely are excited to solve completely, each and every aspect of itIs it that storm 🌀 in a teacup ☕ !? - The problem should ideally be something big, solving which could keep you so engaged that are tucked into your chairs each time you are working on it, which automatically makes you forget about everything else, i.e. you want to be joyfully engaged to it. And of course, there are going to be those days where you might not even want to look/deal with it anymore, but ultimately, your will to never give up on it and take it to the conclusion/end-game should always be far greater than to quit as if the problem is really big enough and solving which could create a lot positive impact in the lives of many then you would truly deem it worthy of all your time and efforts on it irrespective of whether you end up succeeding or failing to solve it.What problems/pain points do you or others around you have that you observe every day but don’t do anything about!? - So, the major identifiers for potential problems that can be solved are often discovered by empathising with the causes of pain for different people while meeting their needs or achieving their motives. The most undermined sources of problems are often hidden in the same person’s life, looking for them in the outside world or even in the lives of people close to that person (people one sees and meets almost daily).Your empathy, intent and attitude toward solving that problem go a long way indeed - Trying to relate to the problems that someone has, understanding it by taking a look at the problem from the person’s perspective and viewpoint to relate better with it and the flow of possible solutions that could help the person who is facing the problem solve it.So when you are through with the problem and have given your best shot at solving it.
You can give yourself a pat on the back and should always hold your head high.
As the number of challenges you might have gone through,
The N number of pitfalls and rabbit holes you had to traverse and crawl out back from,
And the failures and complete setbacks where you successfully made a fool out of yourselves
Are all priceless learnings and outcomes that have shaped your skillsets and character in your life,
Which my friend (be rest assured) is a permanent asset!
This no one can ever take away from you.
And someone who didn’t go through all the pain and hardships will never understand or possess.
(So now we know this is why he is that talented person he is today 😎🙌 !)
What failure teaches you success won't
Piyush's take here was rather pretty interesting
As he suggested that to get definitive answers as to what would work to succeed in life
Is random, subjective and can be only ensured by a few guidelines or first principles if someone follows them,
Often times it can also be termed as getting lucky, but,
If one wants to understand and make certain that they want to prevent failure, then,
Someone who has failed a lot would be surely able to help them out
As there are always well-defined ways to fail
The failures act as a feedback mechanism to drive the individual to success.
While there would always be countless ways to succeed.
So he suggested learning from people who have failed in their lives rather than the ones who always succeeded on their first attempt at something.
Working On The Problems
Now to effectively work on the problem that one is trying to solve, there would be a series of challenges that one might need to face.
Find ways to navigate that challenging problem and approach it often from an angle of first principles.
The sheer amount of hard work, research, learning, sacrifices and whatnot would be taken to solve it to a certain extent that it would significantly impact people's lives.
So here I went ahead and asked the following question to Piyush, who has faced and always had the resilience to rise up and above these steps that one would require to take while solving that problem:
What should be prioritized more!? - incurring lesser technical debt by building the right solution or a working solution and keep on iterating to reach the right one!? - First of all, always make sure to pick a problem to solve that you would truly (and I emphasize) truly enjoy solving, and you curiously and genuinely are excited to solve every aspect of. Piyush’s take and suggestions here are that one should consider their position and the responsibility that they hold for solving that problem, i.e. if a person is in a technical position and has that expertise, experience and background, then they must bring that value to reduce the overhead of the technical challenges and debts since the very beginning while, in case otherwise, one should simply build, fail, learn and iterate quickly to try solving the problem with a working solution and then worry about reducing the technical debt and other pain points by keeping on improving the solution with time and the right feedback.to be continued in the next part...