Scattered Sparks on Jaidev's Blog

How to Run a Standup Meeting

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 16:21:44 +0530

The standup is for coordination, not narration. The goal is to make people aware of what matters and drive them to action, with as little collective overhead as possible.

1. Be on time

Don’t be late. We have standups after standups after standups; one late meeting creates a cascade of suffering.

Calendar RSVP is mandatory. Declining is perfectly acceptable. Keeping everyone guessing about whether you’re coming is not.

If you are unavoidably late, tell your colleagues.

Read Like an Artist | Austin Kleon

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 11:52:39 +0530

See Austin Kleon’s “Read Like an Artist” zine here.

Stop reading books you don’t like.
Carry a book with you at all times.
Turn on airplane mode.
Read with a pencil.
No guilty pleasures! If you like something, you like it.
Visit the past. Read old books.
Be promiscuous. Read more than one book, and more than one kind of book.
Seek the serendipity of the stacks. Visit bookstores and libraries.
Practice saying, “It wasn’t for me.”
Share books you love with others.

Elements of Eloquence—Mark Forsyth

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 08:49:55 +0530

Or, the Figures of Rhetoric.

Polyptoton: Use the same word in different parts of speech. Dream a little dream of me. Players gonna play, haters gonna hate. Please please me. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds. Same word, same sentence, different sense. Memorable, sticky.
Chiasmus: Symmetry. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. Mind on my money, money on my mind.
Isocolon: Equal length weight and balance. We shall go to the moon not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard. Makes you sound reasonable. Not the absolute, perfect symmetry of chiasmus, but a pleasing balance.
Tricolon: Triplets. The good, the bad and the ugly. Blood, sweat and tears. Lies, damned lies and statistics. Government of the people, by the people, for the people. Lincoln could just have said “democracy”.
Anaphora: Repeated beginnings of phrases. We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them in the fields, we shall fight them in the streets, we shall fight them in the hills. It was the best of times, it was the worst of time.
Epistrophe: Somewhat the opposite of anaphora. Repeated endings. Every breath you take, every move you make… I’ll be watching you. Almost always the chorus in a song. For Brutus is an honourable man… and Brutus is an honourable man… And, sure, he is an honourable man.
Synesthesia: Mixing up the senses. Personally I hate it. Gulzar does this a lot—horribly. Aapki aankhon mein mehke hue se raaz hain.
Personnification: Morris West wrote about the decency of Death and called Sleep his brother, kept using the pronoun ‘he’.
Schesis Onomaton: Not having a verb in a sentence. “Space. The final frontier.” Works very well on titles, opening and closing lines.
Paradox: Almost every well known Oscar Wilde quote is a paradox. Who shaves the barber? This statement is false. Paradoxes make you think.
Veridical paradox: A paradox that turns out to be true. Not exactly Russell’s paradox, but more like the Monty Hall problem. Something very counter-intuitive.
Hyperbole: This one’s obvious. Yo mama so fat when she sits around the house, she sits around the house. When pigs fly, when hell freezes over. Let the sky fall, when it crumbles…
Iambic pentameter: Seems like the natural rhythm of the English language. Approximately 5 beats and ten syllables. Sentences constructed in this way sound like poetry. A few such consecutive sentences sound like a poem. But then, don’t forget to mix it up.

Software Carpentry: Lessons Learned | Greg Wilson

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 10:39:36 +0530

The Man in the Arena - Theodore Roosevelt

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 11:02:26 +0530

Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 14:50:23 +0530

Thanks are due to Shivani Bhardwaj for lending me her copy of this book. Here’s one of the appendices from it.

Experimentalist Toolkit

(A printable version available at https://nesslabs.com/toolkit)

Start by selecting the question that best describes the current situation and go to the corresponding quadrant.

Where can I start?
How can I maintain momentum?
What can I do next?
Who can I keep growing with?

The Tools

Pact: Commit to Curisosity

Adopt an experimental mindeet with the Three Menal Shifts: from response 1 to response 2, from fixed ladders to growth loops, from outcome to process.
Challenge cognitive scripts with Field Notes: take notes on insights, your energy, your mood and encounters.
Design small iterative experiments with a Pact: I will [action] for [duration]. A pact is purposeful, actionable, continuous and trackable.

Act: Paractice Mindful Productivity

Open magic windows with a Kairos ritual: a short ritual that is practical and enjoyable.
Listen to procrastination with the triple check: Head—is it appropriate? Hand—is it doable? Heart—is it exciting?
Leverage imperfection with the Ambition Dials: identify perfectionist patterns, challenge your unrealistic targetrs, choose progress over perfection.

React: Collaborate with Uncertainty

Create metacognitive growth loops with plus-minus-next. Take note of accomplishments; personal or professional. Then identify challenges or obstacles and setbacks. Then use them to inform actions and next steps.
Broaden the decision frame with the steering sheet (shown below).
Dance with disruption with the two-step reset: processing the subjective experience, managing the objective consequences.

Impact: Grow with the World

Unlock social flow with a Curisosity Circle: start scrappy, be up front, don’t overthink it, make it cozy, don’t hold the reins too tight.
Learn in public with the Public Pillars: make a pledge, choose a platform, practice and iterate.
Do generative work with the Five Keys: do the work first, grow lateral roots, prioritize impact over image, close the loops to open doors, play along the way.

Ulysses, by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 15:57:53 +0530