Being in the learning zone with Kartic Vaidyanathan

In this episode, Gayatri is in conversation with Kartic Vaidyanathan, Founder of Play 2 Learn and visiting faculty at IIT Madras shared his journey 

• Talks about accidentally becoming part of the technology journey due to the sheer popularity of studying in a premier institute 
• Kartic shares the story of becoming a visiting faculty teaching life and coping skills in IIT Madras
• Kartic shares the need for EQ and life skills are needed to build better adults and he also credits for the visionaries in the college to encourage non-engineering courses
• Kartic also talks about the need for one to be having directional awareness of oneself
• Kartic talks about the evolution of quality engineering through his journey in the product and services sector
• Kartic narrates his start up journey being highly energetic and ‘Being an average of the people around you’ 
• Decisions around why he shifted from a product org to a services sector and staying out of your comfort zone and being in the learning zone
• Neutral way of looking at the code was the need that exploded testing and validation services 
• Spent about 15 years in software delivery before chancing upon gamified learning, which he has been practicing for the last 12 years. ( last 4 years full time ). 
• Learning has shifted just like the evolution of testing
• Games provide a fail safe environment and makes a smaller area of learning from each other and creating games to the level of the learner within the same batch
• Learning in a classroom also moving from a command control to a democratic view of the world
• Kartic advocates, everyone to identify their passions and cultivate curiosity and quotes Thomas Friedmans' advice passion Quotient(PQ) + Curiosity Quotient (CQ) > Intelligence Quotient( IQ)
• Kartic also talks about the 4 pillars one should always focus on lifelong and cherish - fitness, relationships, learning+Skill and spiritual growth 

Kartic as Consultant: As a part of LetsPlayToLearn, we help clients from corporates and educational institutions enable joyful learning through the power of play/games. This provides a fail-safe environment, encourages a growth mindset, and provides motivational elements especially when topics are monotonous or difficult. Depending on the problem, situation, and domain, we have help with a variety of solutions that include simulation games, game platforms, board/card games, activity games, and many more. We also have tie-ups with a lot of industry-leading channel partners in this space.

Kartic in Teaching: Co-facilitates sessions on LifeSkills, HHS (Habits, Happiness, and Success) at IIT Madras students. These are much-needed skills that most individuals of our generation learnt the hard way navigating life but are now made available (at least some exposure) to UG students at the start of their careers.

The conversation with Dr. Ramya that is referred in this podcast can be accessed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDwrzD-sux4 

Refernce to Tom Friedman’s advice https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/deloitte-review/issue-21/tom-friedman-interview-jobs-learning-future-of-work.html

Kartic can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/karticv/