May 28th, 2008 §
Meetings are absolutely unnecessary, because they suck away time and reinforces a culture of pacifism. They are a sign of many things that are wrong in a workplace. The solution is to get rid of them altogether, and find better ways to solve problems.
Meetings waste time, all the time
The reason why people attend meetings is because they’re obliged to, not because they’re keen to solve a problem. People adapt in social environments to get things done, and they can easily learn to do without meetings to get things done. So there’s no real reason why meetings should save anyone’s time, apart from really important news that someone wants to tell everyone – but what are emails for? It only seems to benefit those who set up meetings (for convenience), not to those who attend.
Things can’t get done during meetings
Only two things happen during meetings – talking and listening. Anyone caught doing anything else isn’t considered to be “part” of the meeting. Hence, since talking and listening isn’t really achieving anything, nothing gets done during that time. If I want to get something done, I speak directly with the people involved, get to the point about what I need, and track the tasks remotely. Constant meetings are a sign that people don’t understand how work gets done best, and it doesn’t appreciate the diverse ways in which people prefer to work. They’re also a sign of inadequate preparation, poor problem solving, and less-than-ideal working relationships – a few important factors required to get things done.
Meetings encourage pacifism
Studies have shown that people are willing to speak out more in smaller groups than larger ones. This is because channels of communication are multiplied with each new member in the group, which makes things more complicated and time-consuming. Hence, most people resort to silence. After awhile, it becomes a norm, and then a habit. This really destroys creative problem solving, and is the reason why I break down my groups into groups of three during brainstorming sessions.
Meetings are really social gatherings
People gather socially when they want to interact with each other on a group or personal level. This is why it’s easy to find small pockets of whispering, or a burst of laughter from a good joke. But you don’t need meetings to make that happen. It just happens anyway. This is another reason why you don’t need meetings, unless what you really want is a social gathering – then what you really ought to do is call it a social gathering, and manage the work in another way. Meetings are a sign of poor work-life balance. Better to have work done during work-time, and party after that.
Meetings are a poor way to lead
Good bosses understand people, and deal with them as individuals, not as large groups. Groups and teams only make a difference when individuals leverage on each other’s strengths, and not just the sum of common resources. Good managers deal with team members individually better than they do in groups, encouraging them to interact at peer level and create active discourse rather than a passive consensus.
References:
May 21st, 2008 §
Most people don’t think much about giving to charity. And because of that, most people don’t give to charity, and if they do, it’s not going to be any large sum. The way you give to charity shows a lot about you – about how you view the world, about your value systems, about your background.
Most people don’t take advantage of giving, because they see it as part of their finances. Sure, there’s cost involved, but most people don’t think twice about buying a meal or treating a friend for dinner.
1. Giving can make you famous (or infamous)
I’m not trying to take anyone on a guilt trip here, but having a right mind about giving will give you an edge over a lot of people. A lot of people take notice because so many people aren’t in the mode of giving. Even your bosses can get a bit embarrassed if their donations can’t match yours.
2. Giving implies dedication
Most people who give willingly, and not sparingly, are people who have already gone through the thinking process of what that giving means. They don’t have to give it a second thought. In fact, good givers give on a regular basis, because they’ve already planned out their finances in such a way to be able to give. I practice that 10% of my salary goes to the church, but on top of that, RM20 goes to a cancer fund every month. By that I make an active stand about my giving priorities, no matter what the circumstance. You don’t have to take my word for it – Bill Gates has a stand too.
3. Good companies give
Good companies tend to be the ones who give back, and tend to provide better working environments. Though it may not be a crucial part of the interview process, having healthy giving practices does help to mold your character to be more employable. And you’ll want a good working environment that nurtures you and helps you grow.
4. Giving forces you to think
No doubt there are a lot of scams out there, which is why thinking is a necessity for purposeful, regular giving. It means that you’re willing to address an issue that’s real, and dig deeper to find out about the problems. This sort of thing happens at work every day. Having a bigger perspective improves your ability to perform at work.
5. Giving provides new perspectives at very low cost
AOL Finance and Money published six surprising reasons to give to charity, which includes meeting celebrities, doing interesting things, getting cool stuff, and other things. Giving is such a radical thing that only radical people do it. It’s a great way to get out and embrace change.
May 21st, 2008 §
I’ve decided to take this site a bit more seriously, and went ahead and got the domain. I also decided I won’t be posting anonymously, and I also got recruited as a member of the brazen careerist network.
I’m doing this because I want to connect with people who are willing to share their perspectives of life with me, because that’s what I struggle with the most. I’ve battled the idea that my failures doesn’t give me credit to write about anything, because you can learn from anything. It’s the getting up part that counts.
Thanks to Ryan and the guys from Brazen in making me a part of this, and I’m looking forward to future posts.
May 20th, 2008 §
We’re all human beings – most of us probably have high and low points in a job. Like me, I get to work in a projectized environment a lot, which means that things get really crazy as deadlines approach. Then things start to cool off, and suddenly it feels like I’m in limbo again.
I think that every job has its own work cycles, and it’s good to observe how these cycles come and go. At the same time, anyone who tells you that it’s the same all year round is bogus. Even worse advice is to take it as it comes – you can get seriously burned out.
As human beings, we’re experts at creating comfort zones for ourselves. We start to gravitate toward comfort zones when we don’t feel a real purpose in our work. This creates an artificial rift against what we say we’re doing.
One example is employees surfing Facebook during work. Given the right working environment, people wouldn’t be glued to their Facebook accounts so much. We tell ourselves that we ought to be doing something more productive, but even that is artificial when we don’t feel that what we’re doing is purposeful.
One solution is to carefully and mindfully plan out what you want to achieve from the job, say – within a year, a quarter, or whatever. Observe the busy-free cycles and take note of those who gravitate toward comfort zone areas. Make a decision how you want to carry yourself in the workplace, and avoid conforming to the status quo just because everyone is.
This makes it easier for you to perform when it matters, and relax when things cool down. It’s also a good way to show that you can perform under pressure, and are mature enough to take advantage of the breaks.
They teach these kinds of things in the project management industry, but it does make a lot of sense no matter what type of job.
May 17th, 2008 §
I read the article posted by the Sun written by you. It’s discouraging to see repeated attempts by the Malaysian government to discourage students from entering the national education system, but I’m keen to hear your thoughts on the alternatives.
The only reason why I see non-bumiputra students still keen on local scholarships and placements is because of cost. A secondary reason could be family. But I don’t know. I’m not in the position to say much. You and the students in the same boat as you should know better.
But I want to ask if the alternatives seem as bleak. Will the National University of Singapore be equally uncompromising to high achievers? Or even other overseas universities? Some universities in India are world-renown, especially in areas such as medicine and engineering. You don’t have to go as far as the UK or the US, though I feel that it would broaden your perspectives even further.
Try to think for the longer term (5 to 10 years). It appears that the kind of experience a high achiever stands to benefit from in other countries seems much more fulfilling, compared to some of our local students here. At the end of the day, I believe both types of graduates stand the same chance to enter the workforce – it does come down to personality, attitude and experience. And what you gain from that experience can be worth everything.
My question to you is – what do you want?
If it’s a fulfilling education experience you want, I don’t know if you’ll find it here as compared to overseas. If you stay, the obstacles you will have to put up with may not even be related to your field of study.
You’ve already come this far – I’d hate to see your qualifications and experience go to waste. The world is a big place, and sometimes searching for the right thing can be extremely frustrating and lonely. But the treasures that you will end up receiving is worth far greater. My advice to you is to broaden your perspectives, challenge the status quo, seek alternatives, consider all your options, and work hard to find what you want.
You have a potentially rewarding life ahead of you. For your own sake as well as your family’s, I hope that you will continue your fight and determination to get what you deserve and desire.
May 16th, 2008 §
Generation Y are people who tend to be born between 1983 to 1997, and can be sometimes be called
Millennials. They are ‘peer-oriented’ (which explains why Facebook is so popular), don’t look at jobs in the traditional sense, and are comfy with gadgets.
I love working with them. They’re quirky, fun, groupish but not clique-ish, and have good working habits. I teach voluntary classes to teens around 15 to 19, and they’ve got entire books loaded onto their cheapish phones, talk about the latest movies and gadgets, but seem fine not owning them. It’s more of a really big club than a generation.
Anyway, you don’t have to ‘get’ Generation Y. Generation Y gets you. They’ll fit in mostly anywhere, and you’ll want them around cos they’re the people who know Facebook and ipods better than anyone else. And they don’t sound geekish either. Geek for the masses.
How this compares to life – I don’t know. I think that it helps me get an understand of where the world is going, and that ethics will be a big part in all this. Companies will need to run their businesses more ethically and authentically, because Gen Yers are socially conscious. It’s affecting other Generations too – even oldies like me (I’m sorta in Gen X) are looking at the world in a new positive light.
If you’re fearful that Gen Y is a cop-out, don’t worry. Generation Y can get jobs in IBM.
Now, maybe I’ll use this excuse to get a Nintendo DS.
Some interesting facts from Wikipedia:
In their recent book, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa (2007) [22] found that in a survey of 7,705 college students in the US:
- 97% own a computer
- 94% own a cell phone
- 76% use Instant Messaging.
- 15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week
- 34% use websites as their primary source of news
- 28% author a blog and 44% read blogs
- 49% download music using peer-to-peer file sharing
- 75% of college students have a Facebook account [23]
- 60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod.
May 14th, 2008 §
I don’t think popularity can be manufactured. There’s always some amount of human randomness that dares to defy the ‘obvious’, and in Murphy’s terms whatever can go wrong will go wrong.
So why bother being popular? It doesn’t get you anywhere. It only gets you along with other people very well. And unless that’s what you want, you really should ask yourself if it’s really worth the sacrifice.
Focus on knowing who you are instead. It’s much much healthier, has longer lasting benefits, and leaves a trail of positive influence.
Specifically, in order to build a successful career, you must focus on building and improving your strengths, NOT your weaknesses. Studies has shown that people fare better being average performers on their weaknesses, while excelling at their strengths.
There are ways to resolve weakness through collaboration, delegation, outsourcing, or creatively arriving at a solution. It’s what some people call adapting. But you can call it whatever you want.
The reason why following popular vote is detrimental to your career is because there are way too many signals and it can be too confusing. It’s more economical to focus on yourself and knowing who you are, and just living your life according to your needs and wants.
I would even encourage you to challenge the status quo and stand up for something you truly believe in, and are willing to take a stand for. It is enormously rewarding and seriously impacts your ability to navigate life for the longer term. It may not be so rewarding short term, but you don’t want to end up regretting something you wish you should have done over and over again.
References:
May 2nd, 2008 §
This might come as a hard hit – the three options for anyone who really wants to do what they love, assuming you can’t find it anywhere around where you are:
- go abroad (increased chances)
- start your own company
- do it alone anyway, but care less about getting paid
Sometimes you’re never going to find the perfect job, the perfect company, that one customer, who will pay you what you want to do best. You don’t have to conform to the expectations of a 9-5 job. It’s not illegal, it’s not evil, and nobody will kill you if you decide to do something else really bad.
You just need to give yourself time to plan things out properly. As for timing, there never is a “best” time to get anything done. You just sort of have to get started by yourself.
I have a friend who’s working as a software researcher whose dream is to start a childcare company. I told her she shouldn’t wait until she gets older. There are opportunities to do it now, and there’s no reason why it is of any loss should she quit.
In fact, I see it the other way around – she could potentially be robbing herself of an opportunity of a lifetime, if she decides to delay longer.
Thanks to Google and our ability to operate a QWERTY keyboard, it’s a lot easier for folks like us to do stuff. That includes getting the information we need, talking to experts in the field, sourcing for businesses, sourcing for customers, getting new ideas…
I would encourage anyone who’s stuck in the rat race, and have a desire to do something different – to start looking at alternatives now. Don’t wait. Find your street smarts and use all the advantages you can afford to leverage on.
