Onaiza Drabu is a Kashmiri anthropologist who co-curates a newsletter called ‘Daak’, on South Asian literature and art. She studied business in her undergrad and then went on to work for McKinsey. Post-McKinsey she went to University of Oxford to study Anthropology. In 2019 her book ‘The Legend of Himal and Nagrai: Greatest Kashmiri Folktales’ hit the market. Today, she works with UNICEF on digital transformation.
In her podcast on Network Capital, Onaiza talked to us about her mental models for career pivoting and applying the multi-disciplinary lens to solve tricky challenges.
#1 The power of being weird
"I think I am a misfit wherever I go. And I think that weirdness helps people trust me more. Or just be curious about me or like, take a chance on me, because I'm this strange person that no one knows what to do with, especially within the UN system. And I think that curiosity that's piqued by my weirdness is what helps me access different spaces."
#2 The power of following your curiosity and building your side-hustle
"I think I am a misfit wherever I go. And I think that weirdness helps people trust me more. Or just be curious about me or like, take a chance on me, because I'm this strange person that no one knows what to do with, especially within the UN system. And I think that curiosity that's piqued by my weirdness is what helps me access different spaces."
#3 The writing process
"When you are starting to write, it doesn't matter how well you write, you don't have to be perfect, but you need to sit down and do it. I believe that writer’s block does exist. Very often you, yourself, don't feel like you're up to constructing beautiful sentences. But if you were to sit down and be given a deadline, you'll definitely be able to create something. Writer's block hits me when I have no deadlines. I work with deadlines."
"In the process of writing the book, I struggled with the framing of Kashmir, as this place needs their voices heard. This was a huge motivation behind the book."
#4 Combining unique experiences and learning to create something beautiful
"So it's not something you would normally think of, but all my stories are in Excel sheets, annotated with keywords and their metadata. This way I know where to find what. And that's my first step. And that's, let's say my McKinsey way of doing things."
"But when I sit down with storytellers, I try to draw them into a conversation with me. It takes a while to build trust, it’s a process to gain legitimacy and respect in their eyes to see. To establish that what you're doing is of value and they should give you time. That comes from my training in anthropology."
"Then I step away and look at it from a critical lens. This is the liberal arts education and just the whole process of setting deadlines, getting things done fleshing out a proposal, looking at something else, it's also probably my business school training."
#5 Working with the United Nations
"Working in the UN is fun and exciting. But most people don't always understand the kind of work that goes on. It's not always fun and games. It's not always as fast-paced, it's not always as stimulating."
"I got into working with UNICEF very, very randomly. It was a part of the graduate program I was doing. I saw an opening in Jordan, it was with UNICEF in their innovation team and involved working with Syrian refugees in two camps.
And I thought it was interesting, I knew nothing about Jordan. So I thought I might as well give it a shot."
