Nilesh Makan

Harmonizing Success: Valuable Lessons Learned from a School Orchestra Practice Session

My daughter is in Grade 7 and is a member of her school orchestra. During the school’s music week, parents were invited to attend music lessons. I attended the orchestra lesson and observed several valuable lessons that are worth sharing. Be passionate The kids start their orchestra lessons at 6:30 am, an hour before schoolContinue reading “Harmonizing Success: Valuable Lessons Learned from a School Orchestra Practice Session”

Innovation is in the eye of the beholder – What does this mean for Cybersecurity

The nature of cyber security is undergoing rapid evolution. Cyber-attacks are becoming more frequent, violent, and sophisticated. The threats continue to come in fast and furious. We’ve seen severe business outages in every sector. Whether you’re in finance, infrastructure, or healthcare does not matter. If you’re making money, you can expect an attack. Cyber securityContinue reading “Innovation is in the eye of the beholder – What does this mean for Cybersecurity”

Application modernisation – The building blocks of customer-centric innovation

It was a beautiful setting at the 12 Apostles hotel in the Western Cape. Leaders across the industry came together, nestled between the foot Table mountain and the turquoise Atlantic ocean, to share their thoughts and experiences about how to Modernise and Accelerate your Data and AI Strategy. While there was some talk about technology,Continue reading “Application modernisation – The building blocks of customer-centric innovation“

Reflections for the week – 15 Jul 2022

The first reflection is the concept that we do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience. Hence I am writing this. There were some really interesting moments. The one interesting moment was sitting in a session talking ESG and sustainability. I threw up the concept of Reduce, reuse and recycle. This isContinue reading “Reflections for the week – 15 Jul 2022”

A change of plan

In an unpredictable and uncertain world, plans often need to change. As of writing this: Two years ago, we were all locked down in our homes, adjusting to working remotely and not being able to see our family and friends. Two months ago, Russia had not yet invaded Ukraine. Two weeks ago, Will Smith wasContinue reading “A change of plan”

Are you contagious?

Are you contagious? I’m sure you’ve already guessed; I’m not talking about you bearing contagion by transmitting infections. Instead, I use the word in the sense of whether you excite a feeling, emotion or attitude in others. When I’m around contagious people, I want to hear what they say. Contagious people lift me up, energiseContinue reading “Are you contagious?”

Alright Stop, Collaborate and Listen

Vanilla ice was ahead of the curve when coming up with the lyrics of Ice Ice Baby. The lyrics in the following line of the song are: “Ice is back with my brand new invention”. While there are differences between them, invention, innovation and creativity are part of the same WhatsApp group, and all ofContinue reading “Alright Stop, Collaborate and Listen”

Strategic Agility – Strategy in the era of disruption

While the world has been changing at an exponential pace over the last decade, it doesn’t compare with the seismic shifts that have transformed our lives over the past year or so. With the advent of Covid, we have moved into a discontinuous and digital world, impacting society as a whole. As parts of theContinue reading “Strategic Agility – Strategy in the era of disruption”

Trying to find a little optimism is a sea of despair

This week has been one of the darkest in South Africa’s young democracy. The scenes of looting, destruction and violence are heart-wrenching. The complete disregard for other people’s property, belongings and livelihoods is unbearable to watch. High levels of youth unemployment, hunger, growing inequality and the lack of opportunities have been a ticking time-bomb. ExacerbatedContinue reading “Trying to find a little optimism is a sea of despair”

Increasing our Depth of Field

In photography, the Depth of Field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects that are in sharp focus of an image. To clarify, this means that when you see a photograph where the subject is in focus with the rest of the image blurred out, there is a very narrow depth of field.Continue reading “Increasing our Depth of Field”