Shruthi Bopaiah on the importance of experience in learning

Dropping your armour

In this episode, you’ll hear the story of Shruthi Bopaiah. Shruthi is the Head of Client Engagement and Communications at Bridgeweave, an AI fintech company. Previously, she was Global Head of Internal Communication at Infosys, one of the biggest IT companies in India and the world. From talent acquisition to HR consulting to internal communications and now to client engagement, Shruthi is constantly learning and pushing the boundaries of her skills and impact. Outside of work, you can find her on the basketball court or at yoga studio, in addition to working hard to create awareness and engagement to care for stray/abandoned dogs. Against the exciting backdrop of Shruthi’s story and how her relationship with learning evolved overtime, we discussed the importance of experience in learning, where the value of the experience is measured not in the number of years, but in its richness. We dove into the advantages of cultivating skills in diverse areas and how those skills can be transferred to seemingly unconnected situations. This conversation with Shruthi made me wonder if it’s time to retire the age-old saying of “jack of all and master of none” because the world needs us in our multifaceted glory!

Further Readings:

· In relation to “T-shaped” people:

Professor Ruth Bridgstock (PhD, M Ed, psychology/education)

A summary of her research through 2015 appears on her blog http://www.futurecapable.com/?m=201507

A list of her published research appears on her university profile page https://www.swinburne.edu.au/research/our-research/access-our-research/find-a-researcher-or-supervisor/researcher-profile/?id=rbridgstock

· In relation to “design thinking”:

Linke, R. (14 September 2017). Design thinking, explained. MIT Sloan School of Management. https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/design-thinking-explained

· In relation to “generalist vs. specialist”

Teodoridis F, Bikard M, Vakili K. (18 July 2018). When generalists are better than specialists, and vice versa. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2018/07/when-generalists-are-better-than-specialists-and-vice-versa

Teodoridis F, Bikard M, Vakili K. Creativity at the Knowledge Frontier: The Impact of Specialization in Fast- and Slow-paced Domains. (2019). Administrative Science Quarterly, 64(4), 894-927. doi:10.1177/0001839218793384

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Neha

As always please send your feedback to [e-mail]

Enjoy this episode!