Lesson 39: Five Lessons I have learnt from watching TED talks

I have been watching TED talks since my campus years, I remember the first TED talk I watched was on the "Sixth sense" by Pranav Mistry which was inspiring and visionary invention by MIT CSAIL, I knew that this was going to be revolutionary tool for our use, however more than 10 years down the line I have never heard of the sixth sense or what became of it, Pranav however went on to join Samsung . 

You can watch the talk here:

(https://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology)

Since then TED talks have been a fundamental source of knowledge and insights into what the future holds and to learn some fundamental information from world leaders in different fields.  It gives one an opportunity to see things differently and enhance associative thinking.

" Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought"

Today i'll share some lessons I have been able to learn through the numerous TED talks I have been able to watch.

Take your time and watch them as well, they are definitely resourceful to your growth .

Here we go...

1. Your body language may shape who you are

I have to admit i don't understand why this has been the most watched TED talk ever, however there are key lessons in the way our body language communicates to others, these are the nonverbal cues that changes perceptions. By having power poses or confident body language pose gives you more confidence, articulation and  a great opportunity to make it. The key idea here is faking it till you make it, each day be conscious of the body language that you project in your interactions.

You can find the talk  here:   Your body language shapes who you are

2. The leaders who ruined Africa and the generation that can build it

This was one of mu favorite talk ever on TED, Fred Swaniker gives a background of his journey growing up in Africa through the different countries and how the different experiences led him to founding the African Leadership Academy. He clearly shows the reason why poor leadership in leads to detrimental effects on the continent and calls upon the next generation of leaders coined as "The third generation of leaders" who will be able to build better institutions, jobs and provide visionary leadership to sustain Africa. This is a must watch Talk for all Africans.

I wrote an article on this topic on this link as well : Africa's Future

You can find the talk  here:  The leaders who ruined Africa and the generation who can fix it

3. The Puzzle of motivation

An interesting talk that challenges the status quo in job motivation, the fundamental idea we have that bonuses at the end of the year or money can motivate people to achieve the desired targets. Dan Pink clearly shows us the downside of motivating people using money which limits creativity and innovative culture in a company. With the current digital age and complex business process, an innovative culture is very important to an organization to spar growth. Innovation will ensure we maintain a Day 1 type of  company.

You can watch this talk here : The puzzle of motivation

4. The danger of a single story

Best selling author Chimamanda Ngozi shares insights of her experience  studying abroad and how most people have a different perspective of Africa through the stories shared on media outlets. She reminds us the dangers of having a single perspective on situations, there is always a different perspective and story that we often tend to ignore, an interesting talk that tend to expose the confirmation bias that we tend to have when we hear about Africa.

You can watch this talk here:  The danger of a single story

5. The Paradox of choice

Everyday we are bombarded with several decisions to make, organization need the best strategy to execute, making career choices etc. But how often do the choices we make sustain us or are they the best options?  Barry gives us his perspective on the paradox of making a choice, key lesson for me here is that, the less number of options the easier it is to make choices and decisions. Making swift decisions are key traits of a Day 1 type of  company, but before making a decision always ensure you have at least 70% of the information required to make that decision.

You can watch this talk here: The Paradox of choice