Ashok's Blog

Ask the question WHY first, inplace of WHAT,  if you want to have a lasting impact. This is the main theme of the book, "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek. WHAT is important, but needs to be driven by WHY. Refer the picture with WHY, HOW and WHAT concentric circles. WHY is the inner circle and WHAT is the outer circle. Our default approach is outside-in thinking (WHAT -> HOW -> WHY). Simon suggest to have an inside-out approach thinking (WHY->HOW-> WHAT). - Apple introduced their iPod by offerings us "1000 songs in your pocket". Unlike other players, Apple advertising didn't offer descriptions of product details. It wasn't about them, it was about us . And we understood WHY we wanted it. Creative advertised their product as 5 GB MP3 player. Creative told us WHAT  their product was and Apple told us WHY we need it. Companies try to sell us WHAT they do, but we buy WHY they do it .   - Inspired leaders communicate from inside out, WHY -> HOW ...

I've been using Vibram Five Finger (VFF) shoes from the last four months. I ran the Oakland full  marathon and 200 mile relay with Vibram shoes.  I thought of giving Vibram a shot after reading the book, "Born to Run" .  The book had sound reasoning on why running barefoot is better than running with the regular shoes. I started getting shin pain with my regular shoes. After running with Vibram, my shin pain stopped. The shin pain I was getting may also be because of my shoes. I'm a believer in trying before saying "No". I've only positive things to say about Vibram. It took me about a month to get used to Vibram shoes. I noticed that when running with Vibram or bare foot, different set of muscles are exercised. I was able to run comfortably and my running speed increased. My suggestion is give Vibram a shot. If it works then it is great. If it doesn't work for you, then go with your regular shoes.