Can developing admirable cultures be an opportunity for our organizations? “I came to see during my time at IBM that culture is not just one aspect of the game, it is the game. In the end, an organization is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value.” These are strong words expressed by […]
“No, I don’t see myself in your seat in 5 years time”
Why the lustre of corporate life has waned and is it a good thing? Growing up in the 70s, whenever we were asked what we would like to do as an adult, the very obvious response would be to become an engineer or doctor or the more academically challenged ones like me would limit our […]
Islamabad blues: why capital calling is bad business
Having a strategy that relies on favours from the government is a recipe for disaster Has anyone ever taken the 7 am PIA flight from Karachi to Islamabad? If you have, you would see a line of businesspeople and corporate executives holding files (or laptop bags) boarding the plane. Rubbing their eyes and barely being […]
Why overstaffing is not the biggest issue with our state-owned enterprises
….and how to fix it! In a recent conversation with a friend who used to work for a very large state-owned enterprise (SOE), I asked him an obvious question: how many redundant people does this company have and will the state let go of them to improve the organisation? Much to my surprise, his response […]
2020 – An obituary
As we say goodbye to the year, we will remember it mainly for the massive disruption it brought This is my last article for 2020 — and what an extraordinary year has it been. It came, it destroyed so much of what we knew and how we lived. Now it is going away with vaccines […]
Understanding Life..
Some treasures from my sister’s brave soul Self-help literature places a lot of emphasis on ‘finding your purpose’. The coronavirus pandemic recently snatched away my elder sister who was very dear and close to me. The tragedy leaves me looking at life through a very different lens. As I re-visit what Samina Saad stood for, […]
Think…if you want to make real money
Someone recently asked me if I make any money ! It was a strange question which left me searching for an answer. How does one make money, I wondered. If the question was about me getting paid to meet my expenses then I do get it and the response would be straightforward. But surely, that […]
What is work ?
I am often amazed watching people at their workplace. Most common, you would agree, is to see people with their heads almost buried inside computer screens in front of them. Unless they are computer programmers (who we can ignore for this discussion), they are emailing or browsing the internet and sometimes (rarely in my view) […]
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Winning the Argument, Losing the Respect:
19th April 2025
Why overstaffing is not the biggest
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