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If you read the LinkedIn posts of CEOs and CXOs, if you go through the MBA curriculum or if you attend management conferences, you feel that creativity seems like a neglected child in the world of management and leadership. Everybody seems to be focused on leadership, business goals, process orientation and intrapreneurship at the most. What about creativity? My purpose is to write a thought provoking blog on whether we are giving creativity the place and respect it deserves in the management domain.  In marketing and advertising domain, creativity has been talked about and given its due share of attention. But what about HR, Finance, Operations and other management domains, don't they need creativity? Will Creativity become the most prized management skill? Creativity is certainly going to become one of the  most prized management skills  in the days to come, if not the most.  Social media has democratised creativity at a social level. Everyone is tryin...

Two Opinions on Uncovering Our Greatness This is a monthly column on becoming a great human being and has two opinions on the subject from western and eastern part of the world namely Michael Thallium from Spain and Dr Amit Nagpal from India. Michael Thallium, Spain I would say we all create since we are born. And I do believe it is impossible to live without creating: just the very act of living, of being, is creative. However, I am not going to focus on that kind of creativity we all have, but on that creativity which is acknowledged by others. Let me explain it! I consider myself quite a creative person, and as long as it helps me feel better, it is worth it. Nothing to say about it! But many times my creativity only serves me, not others. And if it doesn’t serve others, then it will rarely be acknowledged. Either you like it or not, we all live in a society and, unless you are an anchorite or a hermit, we all need others’ acknowledgement to some extent. So, this kind of...

Creative people generally get so absorbed and emotionally involved in their passion and work, that they forget to market and brand themselves. That is why many creative people live a life of a pauper. Many of them (highly creative) are often not interested in selling themselves and suffer financially because of this nature.  Personal branding can help them in this area because if they build a strong brand they don't have to be pushy to sell their products. the personal brand creates a pull and their products sell on their own and at good prices.  Thus Personal branding helps them generate revenue (generally it takes 2-3 years though) without hurting their self-respect and without going against their fundamental nature. Social media has made personal branding very easy and very little investment is required. How has Personal Branding Become Easier with Social Media? Internet in general and blogs in particular thus o...

Q1: Tell us about your journey into management cartoons. I began with social cartoons for magazines and then drew a daily political cartoon for a newspaper from Allahabad during my MBA days. I once again started a daily news cartoon during mid-nineteen for ‘The Daily’, a newspaper in Mumbai. When The Pioneer launched its Mumbai edition, I started India’s first management cartoon column ‘Under The Pyramid’. This was later picked-up by Hong Kong Standard. When The Pioneer closed its Mumbai edition, I continued with the column for sometime for its Delhi edition, but then moved the column to The Financial Express. I also contributed a weekly column ‘Out of the Box’ for The Hindu, which ran till 2003. Later on when DNA was launched from Mumbai, I started a daily management cartoon in color ‘Funny Business’. I stopped doing this column as I was planning to combine my work in the area of cartooning and management in a way that is more satisfying. I started a column in The Chartered Accountant...