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Water Water Everywhere, Not a Drop to Drink: The Knowing-Doing Gap (11)

We live in a world that is soaked in knowledge. Everywhere you turn there is another book, a video, another “life-changing” podcast. LinkedIn is bursting with thought leadership. YouTube offers everything from strategy lessons to how to peel a banana using quantum physics.

And yet most of us are stuck.

It is not that we do not know enough. It is that we are not doing enough with what we already know.

This, my friends, is the Knowing-Doing Gap.

At an individual level, we know we should eat better, move more, email less, and be more present but somehow we are still ordering takeaways while multitasking between 14 tabs and wondering why we feel tired and slightly existential.

At a team level, businesses attend workshops, post selfies from strategy offsites, and have action plans colour-coded to within an inch of their lives. Yet somehow, the actual action bit gets delayed until Q4 when “things quiet down a bit” which of course they never do.

And at the organisational level, there are enough frameworks floating around to make a PowerPoint cry. Vision statements, Transformation journeys, Capability matrices, Innovation hubs. It all sounds very impressive until you realise that Tuesday’s big decision is still being made based on gut feel and Susan’s spreadsheet from 2019.

It is not about knowing. It is about doing.

Everyone is busy gathering knowledge like a precious gem. And then it sits in a folder somewhere. Untouched. Unused. Forgotten.

Let me bring it to life with an example. In Breaking Bad, Walter White goes from high school chemistry teacher to drug kingpin. Now setting aside the moral debate for a moment what is fascinating is that his success does not come from learning something new. It comes from applying what he already knows. He simply starts doing. Ruthlessly. Relentlessly. Effectively.

Knowledge in isolation did nothing for him. Action did. That is what changed his world.

Now I am not suggesting anyone start cooking meth, let us be absolutely clear on that. But I am suggesting that bridging the Knowing-Doing Gap can be life changing. In fact it can be happiness changing.

Happiness is not just about dreams or ideas, it is about progress. When we feel stuck it is often because we know what we should be doing but we are not doing it. That disconnect creates frustration stress and eventually burnout.

I spend a lot of time helping people and organisations close that gap. Not by giving them more theory or fluff but by working with what is already in front of them and turning it into action. My methodologies are designed to create those small shifts that unlock bigger momentum. No hype. No magic wands. Just intentional movement.

And sometimes, doing less knowing and more doing is the smartest move of all.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a webinar to ignore.

❤️ASB

Fork It, I Miss My Spoon: Choosing Authenticity over Acceptance, One Grain at a Time (8)

Fluffy basmati rice, steam rising; a little dal pooling at the edges. Maybe a bit of pickle for the brave. That perfect bite, balanced, warm, slightly messy, lovingly scooped with a Spoon; Not stabbed with a Fork; Not chased around like you’re playing tag with your dinner.

That was my childhood in India. Rice and spoon were a team, they understood each other. Then I moved to the West, and somewhere between work lunches, dinner invites, and the occasional “Oh you still use a spoon?” look, I made the switch. I forked my rice; Badly!

Not because it worked better , but because it helped me fit in. Or at least felt like I was trying to.

That’s how it often starts; Small things. A spoon here, a phrase there. You adjust to blend in, you stop correcting people when they say your name wrong, you laugh politely at jokes you don’t find funny, you wear the neutral colours, speak the expected way. Slowly, without noticing, you trade little pieces of your authentic self for the comfort of belonging.

We’ve all done it. Sometimes it’s survival, sometimes it’s strategy but sometimes, it’s just habit. And after a while, you forget what eating with the spoon even felt like.

But here’s the twist. Fitting in is not the same as being seen.

Have you seen The Devil Wears Prada ? Andy starts out as herself. Unsure, curious, maybe a little out of place. Then she transforms. Sleek clothes, designer shoes, fluent in fashion speak. She fits in, but somewhere along the way, she loses her spark. She realises she’s no longer herself, just a high-functioning version of who she thought she needed to be. In the end, she walks away. Not out of rebellion, but out of clarity. She chooses authenticity over approval.

We don’t connect with perfect people. We connect with real ones. The ones who occasionally spill dal on their shirts or pronounce things differently or eat rice the “wrong” way. Because that’s what being human looks like.

So yes, I can use a fork. I’ve adapted. I know my way around a salad. But when I’m home, when it’s Rajma Chawal night, when the food means something, I reach for the spoon.

Not just because it works better but because it feels like me.

And maybe that’s the point. You can learn the rules, adapt when needed, and still keep the parts of you that matter. You can show up with your spoon in a world full of forks.

Because sometimes, the best way to fit in is by standing out ✨.

❤️ASB

Excellence has a Formula and No, It’s Not “Work Harder.”(7)

“Excellence” has been through a lot.
It’s been framed in gold, stuck on office walls, and repeated so often it’s lost all meaning.
If Excellence had feelings, it would probably be standing with folded hands and begging for a break 🙏.

So I tried something different.
Instead of treating it like a mystery, I treated it like a problem worth solving and out came this formula:

👉 Excellence = (Ri + Pe) / CS

Here’s what that means:
🔹 Ri = Results Increase
🔹 Pe = Potential Enhancement
🔹 C = Consistently
🔹 S = Sustainably

You’re getting close to Excellence when you’re delivering better outcomes and unlocking more potential. However, the real test is whether you can do it consistently and sustainably.

Anyone can shine for a month. I am sure we have all seen many flashes in a pan. The real magic is doing it again and again and…. Without losing your team, your sanity or your soul.

This is where Excellence Intelligence™ kicks in.
It’s the ability to design systems that don’t just work, but keep working. It’s less about heroics and more about habits.

🎬 Exhibit A: Moneyball.

Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) chases stats instead of stars. He builds a smarter system.
He increases results using stats everyone else ignores.
He enhances potential by betting on overlooked players.
And he makes it all work consistently and sustainably.

He doesn’t just win games. He changes the game.
That’s the formula in action. That’s (Ri + Pe) / CS.

This formula quietly powers how we at Asbiverse Group build teams, design capability programs, and help leaders think clearly.

It’s not flashy. But it works.

When something’s off, we just ask:
✅ Are results improving?
✅ Is potential being unlocked?
✅ Are we doing this without gasping every quarter?

If the answer is no, the formula shows exactly where to look.

Excellence = (Ri + Pe) / CS
Simple🕯️Sharp🔪 Surprisingly useful🪜
And unlike most buzzwords, this one holds up under pressure.

Love, ASB