Favorite TED Talks: March 2020

Yes, I watch TED talks when bored. I also watch a lot of other random stuff on YouTube, but every now and then the list of recommendations features a talk and I click (now more than ever). Here are some I discovered and loved this month.

1. What I learned from 100 days of rejection | Jia Jiang: Jiang talks about the importance of accepting rejection and not running away from them. His examples almost inspired me to try out his experiment. Rejection is hard and I personally am not good at it but this made me want to call every boy who ever rejected me and ask him why (I didn’t). I also resolved to explain better, when I reject someone or something. A great Monday discovery. Loved it so much that I actually went on to see his talk at Google. It helps that he is a great orator.

2. For the love of fangirls | Yve Blake: This one blew my mind as it got me thinking about one of my long held perceptions. Yes, I considered fan girls crazy even though I myself have been one (maybe 5 on a scale of 10). This talk made me question my perception, so much so that I cannot wait to let out a fan girl shriek. As kids, my friend and I used to have screaming competitions on the roof. I am almost tempted to go up and scream again, but am oh so terrified of the perception. Do I dare? I am still conflicted.

3. What makes us feel good about our work? | Dan Ariely: I love Dan Ariely. I remember back in 2013 or 2014, he launched a course on Behavioral Economics on Coursera and I sat through every class in rapt attention. This one is especially interesting since it tells us just how important recognition of work is. Absolutely no organization I know does it justice nor understands the value. When all this is done and I am back in office, this is one video I intend to show every single people manager. Absolutely, worth the 20 odd minutes.

4. Perspective is everything | Rory Sutherland: There is a lot to like about this video apart from the charming British accent and the fact that Sutherland does not bother masking what may be considered inappropriate words. He delivers what is probably the greatest lesson for HR to make a case for investment. HR in Charlie Munger’s words doesn’t have a latticework to hang our ideas on and hence needs to work even harder on creating dubious value i.e. the value created by changing the way people look at things. After all, is this not the ultimate aim when we attempt to make work more pleasurable and thus effective?

5. How to design gender bias out of your workplace | Sara Sanford: Of course, there had to be a talk on gender equity. Despite the focus on gender equity, organizations haven’t moved far along in this journey. Instead, we might be further away from achieving equity than we were in the past if the talk is to be believed. The talk made me curious on the certified playbook. It is also an addition to the many resources that tell you unconscious bias training does not work. I still do not know why organizations fail to grasp this fact and hold on to the false belief that it does.