Mr. B. ‘Nary’ Narayanaswamy | Founder - Myth + Math; Senior Advisor, Insights Feedback, Bangalore; Board Member, TARA [Technology and Action for Rural Advancement], New Delhi

In his Nobel Lecture Bob Dylan speaks that songs unlike literature are meant to be sung, not read. But some songs reach out and touch the listener, much like some of the works of literature do. And that is a personal experience. The listener is a part of the band. The raw gets refined in the listener’s mind. So, when Dylan sings of ‘when you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose’ ( in “Rolling Stone” ) , one sees it as a perspective on judgement and decision-making – which at its core is about taking a risk and picking one and not the other alternatives. It can help to jolt a dithering manager who waits for the situation to ‘cook further’ till things reach a point where there is only one thing to do - and no decision-making is required to be made.The goal is to explore seven or eight such songs with similar embedded lessons, to be found by careful listening and reflection. Covering the gamut from classic rock ( Fleetwood Mac ), to pop-rock ( Paul Simon ) to Reggae (UB 40 ), to Rap ( Kendrick Lamar).