Archive - Monthly Mulling by Tapan Desai

The Rise of the Igonfluencer

How AI is making it easier to sound smart and harder to think deeply.

Jun 22 •

What Gets Measured Gets Manipulated

How metrics mislead, incentives backfire, and what to do instead.

Jun 1 •

May 2025

Your Goals Make You Miserable. Here's Why.

The story of Raj, the Valley of Longing, and a very unwanted pet

May 11 •

April 2025

What Makes an Artist Great?

A 300-year-old painting, a locked room, and three timeless lessons on creativity.

Apr 20 •

Trump Never Rethinks. Should You?

Lessons from Think Again on confidence, curiosity, and letting go of being right.

Apr 6 •

March 2025

The Framework That Built a $2 Trillion Company

First Principles Thinking: The mental model, when to use it, and how to apply it.

Mar 9 •

February 2025

India’s Got Outrage

The broken news cycle that turns a bad joke into a national scandal

Feb 23 •

The Disaster Nobody Thought Would Happen (Until It Did)

The Swiss Cheese Model shows why failures stack up and how to stop them in time.

Feb 2 •

January 2025

Why We Trust Stories, Not Data

From cholera outbreaks to startup myths: how narrative bias shapes our world.

Jan 19 •

December 2024

Book Recommendations, Surprising Milestones, and a Big Goal for 2025

Dec 29, 2024 •

Ostriches Don’t Actually Bury Their Heads—But We Do

The surprising reason you avoid bad news and how to stop doing it.

Dec 8, 2024 •

November 2024

Restaurant Servers Know a Focus Hack You Don’t

Understanding the Zeigarnik Effect and Turning It Into a Superpower

Nov 17, 2024 •

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