Zen and the Art of Chinese Kung Fu

See you in a year's time.

2011-09-18T21:45:00.001+08:00

A friend of mine is leaving for Vancouver tonight. She is going there for a working holiday experience. I'm feeling happy for her, because I know it will be a memorable, meaningful experience for her. She will be living in a new environment, making new friends, and learning to master a second language. I've never been to Canada, but from what I've heard, it is a great place to live.

I've lived in Taipei, Singapore, and Wisconsin. Moving to a new place had been such a mind-refreshing experience. The air smelled different. Figuring out how to take the public transport and where to buy groceries was fun and adventurous. Learning how to cross the roads in Taiwan was somewhat exciting too when I first arrived. Being a foreigner sensitized me to my surroundings. In fact, a psychological study suggests that living abroad increases one's creativity. Exposure to a new culture increases one's problem solving skills.

I am going to miss my friend. She is fun loving and a great person to chat with. I will miss her companionship. On the other hand, I look forward to my next opportunity to live in a new place myself.

Bon voyage.

The Apple Way of Life

2011-08-27T00:36:00.001+08:00

Steve J. sold us a set of values; his beliefs of design, aesthetics, innovation, and dreams. And these values were embodied in #Apple.

Book review: Thinking strategically

2011-06-20T01:10:00.001+08:00

It has been quite sometime since I last finished a book. Today I picked on an easy one. Easy as in thin. "Thinking strategically (Pocket Mentor)" by Harvard Business School Press.

Surprisingly, the tips that the author offers are more like basic tips to good decision making. Things like seeing the big picture, clarifying the objectives, gathering and analyzing information, and determining actions and priorities. I expected more.

Nevertheless, there is one good pointer that I especially like: identify the single most important information required before setting out to gathering information. Time is precious and information is everywhere. A smart decision maker has an idea of what he is looking for before he starts to search. This is one good thing I've learned from the book.

I'm going to step up on my reading. The pile of books on my chair is collecting dust. :)

The zen of office relocation

2010-12-11T19:31:00.002+08:00

Yesterday was the last time I went to work at Roosevelt Road Section 2 NO. 100 at Taipei. Nope, I did not quit my job. At least not yet. The company I work for has relocated to another building in another part of the city. I will be going there to work on Monday.

The office at Roosevelt Road is very conveniently located. It is right in front of a subway station exit. It is walking distance from National Taiwan Normal University and just two subway stations away from National Taiwan University. The neighborhood of these universities are filled with shops, eating places, and, of course, young people - who can resist such a busy, youthful, and friendly environment?

Most of my awaked hours, for the past five years, were spent at this office. This was the place where I worked, learned, met and interacted with people. I ate and experienced the other end of the digestive cycle there too. It was a place rich in happiness, frustration, and memories to me.

The office at Roosevelt Road, or Guting as we usually call it, is also the one and only place in Taiwan that I am extremely familiar with. The neighborhood is familiar with me too. I know the staff at the convenient store, where I bought breakfast and coffee almost everyday. The owners at some of the eating places recognize me and can anticipate my orders. Even the old lady at the home electronics shop across the road, whom I bought my heater from, knows that I am a foreigner and chats with me about her daughter. I feel at ease and resourceful there. I know exactly where to get juices and where to get beers. The office has been, indeed, my second home in Taiwan.

Our minds suddenly see things that we are familiar with, things that we spend a lot of time with, once we realize we won't be seeing them so much in the near future. I knew breaking up in a romantic relationship is painful. But I didn't know an office relocation could bring up feelings of sadness too. At times like this, life reminds us to stop for a second and cherish the things, people, and environments that we so often take for granted.

Repositioning

2010-09-28T00:19:00.004+08:00

So you had a product idea. But after some research, you realized that the market already had a super dominant player. What would you do?

There are many things you can try. Today I like to rumble about this thing called "repositioning".

Type I
Position your product as solving similar needs but serving a somewhat different market or context.
Mac versus PC.
Toyota versus BMW.
Sedans versus SUVs.

Type II
Build a much better product, invent a more superior technology, find a much more efficient way to build the product, or be so much cleverer in marketing and distributing it.
No need for citing examples, because this is most people's first reaction to market competition.

Type III
Position your product as solving a somewhat different need for the same market.
Facebook versus LinkedIn.
Skype versus MSN Messenger.
Converse All Stars versus Nike sneakers (by the way, Nike bought Converse in 2003).

Type IV
Position your product as something different from your super dominant competitor's, different to the extent that he is no longer so much of a direct competitor.
Most things that are "personal" versus "industrial" and "commercial" versus "military".

Exercise:
eBay versus Amazon, which type do they belong?

Disclaimer: The only business strategy books that the author has ever read are by Scott Adams.

Lessons for product managers and designers from Stephen King

2010-09-04T17:07:00.001+08:00

The latest post on Life Optimizer stated 17 lessons from Stephen King on how to be a successful writer. Since I am in the field of product management and design, I could instantly see how these lessons apply directly to me.

Below are the 17 lessons with my interpretation in italic:

Do what you love
Practice, practice, practice
Be serious
Ignore naysayers
Have a (business executive) supporter
Immerse yourself in the field
Be consistent
Study the work of others
Study the market
Spot ideas
Keep the momentum going
Get the first draft out as quickly as possible (prototyping and iterative product cycles)
Get rid of the inessentials (fight feature creep)
Be your own first customer (design reviews)
Don’t do it for the money
Do it for the joy
Do it to enrich others and yourself

Read the article on Life Optimizer »

Choices

2010-08-15T22:46:00.000+08:00

May we all have the wisdom to make our choices.
And may we also have the heart to forgive them.

忙與盲

2010-07-04T01:10:00.001+08:00

最近生活好忙碌，忙在工作，也只有工作。

WHY - 忙的原因是什麼？

自己能力不足？
人的問題太多？
事情太多、太複雜？
環境太不優？

大概都有吧。但是目前最有意義改變的就是自己的能力和心情 - FOCUS。

WHY - 忙是因為想把事情做好。但是忙這些事情的意義又是什麼呢？

得到別人的肯定？
贏得成就感？

把專案做好，對我的人生來說，意義是什麼呢？為什麼我會把 90% 的精力和時間都花在專案上？什麼樣的價值對我自己是最重要的？

最近生活好忙碌，忙在工作，也只有工作。

War Movies

2010-05-30T00:39:00.005+08:00

While war movies typically show so many images of death, the stories behind them are about life and living.

One can find so many core emotions and elements of life, with so much intensity, in a good war movie, such as:

- anger,

- bravery,

- brotherhood,

- cowardice,

- cruelty,

- disappointment,

- death (of course),

- family,

- fear,

- hopelessness,

- illness,

- leadership,

- loneliness,

- love,

- loyalty,

- nationalism,

- pain,

- politics,

- righteousness, and more.

These are some of my personal favorites:

War movies are more about life than death.

The philosophy of five

2010-03-23T00:41:00.018+08:00

前些日子，一部叫做2012的電影製造了許多話題。兩個星期以前，有個朋友問我如果真的確定了公元2012年會是世界末日，那我現在會怎麼做。

當時我回答說我會更珍惜我的時間，無論做什麼事我都要做得更盡興，工作也好，玩樂也好，連跟朋友吃噸飯我都要"更用力的吃"。

過了幾天我自己一個人的時候莫名的回想到這段對話，我突然覺得我說的那個態度，不就是我本來就應該要有的嗎？

很多偉大的人都曾經告訴過我們要 "live each day like it's the last" （很多酒鬼也愛這麼說，尤其那些已經沒錢但是還一直在點酒的，他們打從心裡希望喝到十二點就世界末日不用付錢了）。再說，誰也不知道兩年後會發生什麼事。我連明天上班會不會又再遲到我覺得都很難說。而且，每一天都是特別的，過了就沒有了，生命又少了一天了，不是嗎？

也許我可以用一個新的態度來面對我的人生 - 每一天都以"我只剩五年的時間"來思考。當我用這樣的一個框架來思考時，突然間，未來太遙遠的煩惱就變得沒那麼重要了，目前面對的許多事情也因此覺得沒那麼需要計較了，過去的許多遺憾還是很遺憾，但是我沒太多時間站在那邊遺（還是憾）了。

為什麼是五年呢？我認為如果時間拉得太短，我可能會自暴自棄，或著只顧當下的享受，明天就辭職，最後世界末日還沒到我就先變成了台北犀利，不是很實際。超過五年又太遙遠，不確定性太高，對我來說也有點缺乏急迫性。以五年來思考，我似乎比較會兼顧到當下的享受和長遠的意義，符合快樂學的概念。

幾個簡單"只有五年"的思惟範例：
- 工作的事情不用太過煩惱，先把手上的事情做好。
- 想要旅行多走走看看的話，計畫不要一直拖，今年就看來先去個哪裡好。
- 健康還是要顧好，不要只剩五年結果病個四年還得了。
- 手機不小心掉地上也不用那麼心疼了，還能用就好。

任何一件事情，context 和 time frame 很重要。每天都以"只有五年"的態度來生活，就是我的人生新哲學。

再不去睡覺，明天上班就肯定又遲到了。

長這麼大第一次參加演唱會

2010-01-31T04:36:00.013+08:00

今晚我第一次去聽演唱會，在台北的第一次，也是人生的第一次。很多台北的朋友覺得都這麼老了沒去聽過演唱會很不可思議。我想原因是在新加坡，至少在我年輕的時候，比較沒有演唱會。另外，我真的非常、非常喜歡的歌手沒那麼多。小的時候也沒錢，覺得以其坐在看不到舞台的角落，還不如待在家裡看電視。

我今天人生參加的第一場演唱會是羅大佑、李宗盛、周華健、張震嶽的縱貫線樂團世界巡迴演唱會"終點站"。

這四位歌手都是我非常、非常欣賞的。真的可以說是聽他們的歌長大的。小學的時候開始聽李宗盛的『我有話要說』。國中、高中的時候聽周華健的『花心』和羅大佑的『戀曲1990』。當兵的時候來到台灣，在一家不知名的 pub 聽到現場樂團翻唱張震嶽的『愛的初體驗』，也是第一次看到台灣人在 pub 跳群體 chacha。今晚只差沒看到黃舒駿唱『恋爱症候群』，不然真的會誤以為這是一場為我特別準備的演唱會。

這些歌手、音樂家、熱愛音樂和生命的人，他們的歌不但旋律好聽，歌詞更是讓我有感觸。人生、感情、挫折、幽默... 歌詞常常把我自己的心情、感觸形容得比我自己還要來得貼切。聽著自己的心聲，同時覺得自己並不是那麼的孤獨。他們的歌我還要一直聽下去。

一年前，我跟一位同事說，我應該趁人還在台灣的時候，去體驗一下參加演唱會的感覺。今天我達成了這個願望，而且十萬分的滿意。謝謝！

我的第一次，棒極了！

Three predictions for 2010

2010-01-25T01:15:00.011+08:00

Everybody likes predictions. Some like to make, even more like to listen. I think it is fun, and here's a piece of wisdom (or stupidity) from me:

1. This year's summer and winter will be more extreme than 2009's.
We are in an age of environmental changes. Scientists are telling us that human activities are causing global warming which is unbalancing the ecosystem (we listen, we agree, and then we think "whatever, there's nothing a nobody like me can do about it"). Every year's summer is hotter and drier than the previous. Which will be followed by typhoons and floods that are worse and more lethal. And then it will snow heavier than ever before. Seems to me that this is where things are heading towards. And the poor and underprivileged are always the ones who suffer the most from the resulting disasters.

2. A renewed international focus on tackling unique business challenges in China.
Everybody knows that the biggest market for at least the next twenty years is in China. No international corporation wants to be left behind in setting its foot in this new land of opportunities. However, the rules of the game is very different in China (try Googling for these rules). You either abide the rules or you forfeit your chance to grow with this market. This playground is different from the ones that western corporations are used to; and in 2010 they have come to a stage where they need to re-think their growth strategy in China.

3. All things mobile.
Mobile devices and ubiquitous computing have been hot keywords in the field of human-computer interaction since the 90's. However, we have finally and truly come to a point where mobile Internet devices are becoming ubiquitous. Factors contributing to this includes:

advancement in electronics and manufacturing processes that lead to hardware innovation,
advancement in data transfer protocols and bandwidth; we have broke the minimal speed barrier for truly usable Internet everywhere, and
a shift in focus from hardware to services. iPods and the iPhone App Store are two obvious examples to show that being able to manufacture and sell mobile devices cheaper than others will not naturally bring successes. The service and experience ecosystem is what really matters.

The market for mobile devices that also function as e-readers will grow like the MP3 players' in the late 90's. The story may be different, but the ending is likely to be similar: only a couple of manufacturers will survive, and these are the ones who offer highly integrated content providing services. But thanks to the iPod and iPhone case studies, the importance of building the ecosystem and focusing on content services is a lot more obvious this time. Hence, compared to the MP3 players' days, there will be a lot more competition in terms of deal makings with publishers, in terms of technological innovation, and in terms of user experience and design.

And as mobile Internet devices become more ubiquitous, perhaps "smart homes" will finally begin to take off in 2011. We will soon be carrying a potential remote control to our smart homes everywhere we go.

For the cost of an iPhone app

2010-01-02T22:32:00.016+08:00

I have a colleague who often travels on her own expenses to rural areas in Taiwan and other countries to do volunteering work such as building schools for the local communities. I am also aware of several friends who financially adopt less fortunate children in China and Africa through the World Vision organization. I am not one of these people. I seldom participate in volunteering programs and I did not regularly sponsor any charitable organizations in the past.

I think I have reach a stage in my life that the urgency to live happily and meaningfully is beginning to grow. And when I asked myself today, if I could have all the resources I wanted, what I would like to achieve, my answer was:

1) To help make the world a better place by lending a helping hand to those who are less fortunate. Especially those who are less fortunate in the sense that they are sick, disabled, or living in poverty.
2) To help preserve the beauty of the world by supporting the causes of saving endangered animals and preserving the natural habitats. Doing so also means saving the environment and, eventually, ourselves.

I believe the above goals are shared by the majority of the world's population living in developed countries today. I am being extremely late in recognizing them explicitly. I also recognize that there many other causes that are equally important and universal in the world today. So there is absolutely no intention of bragging here.

The first baby step that I decided to take to support the above goals (you will soon see that it is a really tiny step, but I believe it will enrich my life nevertheless) is to identify a non-profit organization that relate to these goals. After a search and comparison on Charity Navigator Rating, I identified two international organizations that align with my thinking: the World Resources Institute and The Hunger Project. Since I have a very limited income surplus (boss: I hope you are reading this), I decided to start sponsoring The Hunger Project first. I think it is heart breaking to see starving children, and I believe in educating and empowering the local communities to solve poverty problems at their cores. I am starting with an extremely humble amount a month, not much more than the cost of a good iPhone app.

The miserable amount that I contributing today is somewhat shameful, but I am sharing the story with you nevertheless. The point is I don't need to have all the resources in the world to support my goals. I personally believe this is a meaningful baby step, and also a great start for the new year for me.

Days gone by

2009-12-31T15:37:00.004+08:00

It is now the last few hours of the year 2009, at least in the timezone that I'm writing this. To some people, New Year's Eve means a big crowded party with fireworks. But since young, I have always been sentimental towards Christmas and New Year, sentimental in a blue kind of way.

Thinking of Christmas makes me feel cold (my mental images of Christmas usually have a lot of snow), makes me feel warm (friends and families getting together, strangers smiling to each other on the streets, Christmas carols, Christmas themed movies on the TV, and reminds me of songs that really touch my heart.

The New Year's Eve is strongly associated with Auld Lang Syne for me, and it has a certain sense of sadness and loneliness on one hand, relieve, hope, and happiness on the other.

2009 has been a tough year for me. A major re-org in the company that I work for threw me into a totally unfamiliar department with unfamiliar colleagues. At times I felt that I was working for a different company in the same office on a job that I didn't really apply for. It is also the fourth year to be working at this company in Taiwan for me. The feeling of a lack of accomplishments, confidence, and direction has never been so strong in me. 2009 is also the year in which my girlfriend of seven years broke up with me. I have been whacked left and right this year by my shortcomings and by the life events around me.

It is with such a humbled soul that I'm stepping out of 2009 and stepping into 2010. May I be equipped with the lessons that I have learned in the past and the inspiration that others have given to me. With a deeper understanding of myself and a new attitude towards life, I believe and expect that I will come out of 2010 as a better person. I am grateful for everything that has been given to me in the past, and I look forward to making good use of whatever I have in me while I can.

To my family, friends, colleagues, and anybody else who has cared for me or helped me in the past, I thank you. May your 2010 be filled with love, fun, and happiness. I will be doing whatever I can to fill up mine.

Discover your own caffeine shot

2009-10-31T12:09:00.006+08:00

I didn't like the after taste of coffee when I was younger. But I didn't like chili or beer when I was younger too. As a child, I was puzzled by the fact that some people around me preferred chili sauce to tomato sauce, beer and coffee to coke. "Why would anyone prefer bitter or unpleasantly spicy stuff to sweet pleasures?" I thought. But things changed as I grew older.

After I moved to Taiwan to work at an Internet company, I started to drink coffee regularly. In retrospect, there were three factors that caused this behavior:
1) I began to appreciate the bitter taste more as I grew older.
2) Coffee was free at the workplace.
3) I often felt tired and coffee gave me mental boosts.

I have a weak stomach, so sometimes I end up spending a lot of time in the toilet if I have had too much coffee. Other than this problem, coffee usually sharpens my mind and is a catalyst that helps me to get into the state of flow at work. The stimulant helps me to be more focused and productive, and I end up more enjoyed with the task at hand.

It is so critical that we discover what our own passions and values are. Being in a career that one is passionate about and living a lifestyle that is aligned with one's values are like having a big good cup coffee every morning. I wish to get my life into the state of flow pretty soon. I'm going to make myself some coffee of life.

My first visit to Tokyo and Hakone

2009-10-18T20:40:00.005+08:00

I had never been to Japan in my life, until October 2009.

Several of my friends at work planned a trip to Japan. Since I had never been there, and that traveling to Japan from Taipei was easier and cheaper than traveling from Singapore, I decided to tag along. My Taiwanese friends had been to Japan many times before. It seems to me that Taiwanese enjoy visiting Japan very much. It was his third vacation in Japan in this year alone for one of this group of friends.

Japanese have a unique culture. Something like an extremely disciplined craftsmen culture to me. They have certain 規矩 or rules, like taking off one's shoes in fitting rooms and the shoes must point outwards. They respect self-discipline, and they trained hard to achieve excellence in whatever they do, be it car making or sushi making. Paying attention to detail is also one of the many other things that we can learn from this culture.

It was my first trip to Japan. My observation may be flawed or incomplete. It should be. But I was very impressed nevertheless. And I was inspired.

It was a great trip.

Think about what you've learned from your last romantic relationship

2009-09-06T22:47:00.004+08:00

I've always enjoyed being alone in my room, with dim lights and music in the background. It first started in college. I managed to have a single dormitory room in my senior year. It was great. This kind of setting gives me a laid back, relaxed, calm, and sensual feeling. It usually helps to have a beer or wine too.

--

Relationships. How many romantic relationships have you been through so far? It is my belief that 99% of relationships begin and end the same way. The context may be different, but the emotional stimuli are the same. Beginnings are always filled with joy, excitement, and irrationality. At the beginning, "This person whom I admire finds me attractive too" - what a feeling of happiness and joy. At the end, "Why does it have to end this way? Where has the love disappeared to?" - what a feeling of disappointment, bitterness, and sadness.

Having being through a few relationships myself, I find that if we put aside the emotions, there is a lot that we can learn from each relationships that we go through. From what the other parties told me and from my post-reflections, I learn more about:
1. What aspects of me are attractive to others?
2. Where are the flaws in my personality?
3. What qualities tend to attract me?
4. What do I really want and need from a romantic relationship?
5. How can I improve in my dealings with conflicts in relationships?

With each relationship that we go through, we stand a chance to grow spiritually. With the aid of some self-reflection, we can learn more about a special aspect of ourselves that no other type of experiences can offer.

What you've learned from your last romantic relationship?

Self Reflection

2009-08-23T23:34:00.003+08:00

For most of us who have the luxury of living in a democratic society and with no shortage of basic life necessities, there is really no excuse for us not to strive to make the most out of our lives.

And I believe a regular habit of humble self reflection is part of the key to a happy and satisfying life.

So much things happen around us each day. So much things we say and do. Self reflection is a timeout for us to examine our behavior and to compare it with our personal values. The importance of aligning what we do with our personal values cannot be over emphasized. There is no point in making a ship go faster when it is heading towards a wrong direction.

What is love?

2009-08-05T23:16:00.005+08:00

Many cultures define love as one of the greatest things in life. The Bible says God is love.

While motherly love is arguably the most powerful and self-sacrificial type of love, romantic love is probably the strongest type of emotion. How many songs that we listen to are about the joy, the frustration, and the pain that has to do with love? How many families and children live in joy or sadness because of it, or the lack of it?

In his book, Winston explained that the so-called love that we feel are effects of many different kinds of brain chemicals. For example, there are short-term chemical effects that come with physical bonding, and there are longer-term chemical effects that come with emotional bonding. There is particular chemical that our brain keep producing during the first three years of a relationship. Scientists believe that three years was the amount of time that a cave-woman would need for a cave-man to take care of her and their new-born. Time's up and the man leaves to spread his seeds.

Love is a wonderful thing.

Why major re-orgs in big corporations tend to fail so painfully.

2009-07-18T22:36:00.013+08:00

In the era of big and gigantic corporations, "re-org" is a pretty familiar term. In times of corporate crisis, re-org is probably the most used strategy. Re-org is also usually accompanied by layoff, which is probably the second most used.

There are many reasons why re-orgs can be useful and necessary. Organizations grow, environments change. There will always come a time when an organization realizes that how it used to work is no longer competitive in the market. To remain relevant, the organization has to refocus and renew itself. And when a new direction or vision surfaces, usually under the leadership of the chief executive, one of the most direct first steps for the organization to steer towards it is an internal restructuring.

In such a restructuring, departments that had charters that are no longer relevant are cut. Departments that had grew too big to be managed effectively are split. Departments that need to work together more closely and departments that were too loosely managed in the past are merged or centralized. It is like a self induced mutation of a bio-organism - an additional eye up here, a shorter tail at the back, more fingers and toes for dealing with new tools, etc. - an immense effort for the organization to become more efficient and to fight for its own survival.

But to have a happily ever after ending, even a temporarily happy one, is not without much challenges. Today I wish to point out two reasons why, for large and gigantic corporations, an re-organization meant to resolve problems often result in new problems.

First, the people on top who design the new organizational structure almost always do NOT understand how things are done at the tail levels. How is a project initiated? What steps, teams, and roles are involved in developing and shipping a product? What difficulties are the tail level contributors facing, and what changes can be made organizationally to help them work more efficiently and effectively? More often than not, the executives understand much less than they think they do!

Chief executives must get out of the boardrooms and talk to tail level contributors before, during, and after the re-org. These contributors form the majority of the organization. Most of the value creation work are carried out by these contributors. How can one re-design an organization without first listening to them? These people are most interested in getting things done, and they are usually most sensitive to organizational problems.

"Listen to your customers" - we are often told and reminded. To the executives, "listen to your employees" I say.

Next, a major re-organization usually happens and have to happen because senior leaders were ineffective in the past. While most of the actual value creation work are carried out by the tail level contributors, it is the authority and responsibility of the senior leaders to constantly monitor external and internal conditions. The state of the organization today is an aggregated result of these leaders' decisions and acts in the past. The reason why an drastic re-organizations is required is because these leaders have failed to carry out their jobs!

The second reason why successful re-orgs in large and gigantic organizations are usually less than successful is this: ineffective senior leaders usually remain in the leadership positions. There is no way the chief executive is going to design the new organization all the way to the tail levels. His or her control of the organizational structure dilutes as we move further and further down the organization. The chief executive usually decides the top three levels of the org., and expects his or her lieutenants to follow through his or her direction for the org. structure. But these senior leaders who are tasked to design the middle and tail levels of the organization have been part of the organization for too long. They are so used to the old way of doing things, in fact, they are the ones who designed the old ways of doing things. The decisions that they make in designing the organizational structure below them tend to be extremely biased, because

1) deep inside them, they do not believe in changing (changing implies admitting that their past decisions were wrong),
2) they do not have the ability to adapt to a new way of doing things, and
3) they have reached a stage in the organization and their career that they care more about their power in the organization than anything else.

Therefore, however brilliant the new organizational structure is meant to be, the chief executive's cleverness are filtered out by the layers of senior leaders in the organization. So my second message to chief executives is this: scrutinize every single senior leaders in the organization and their organizational plans. When their plans smell fishy or the structure seems overly complicated, do not just ask for his or her reasoning. These people did not rise to today's level based on plain honesty. Always get feedback from the leaf level contributors.

"Human resource is our greatest asset" - an often heard cliche. If you really think so, then ask yourself how much time do you spend on two-way communication with the majority of this asset. You know at which organizational level they can be found, don't you?

Angst of ReOrg
Originally uploaded by pchow98

Everyday Resilience: Achieving Emotional Buoyancy in Choppy Waters

2009-07-11T23:35:00.001+08:00

This issue of Jugglezine is an article on mental resilience. It is definitely worth a read.

...“Resilient people see problems as invitations to problem solving rather than to defeat,” says Robert Brooks, a psychologist on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and co-author of The Power of Resilience. “They stop waiting for others to change first. They seek out options and alternatives and ask ‘What might I do differently?’”Read more here...

One more reason why search engines are more popular than Internet directories today

2009-06-12T17:06:00.004+08:00

Beginners also rely heavily upon menus to learn and execute commands (Cooper, Reimann, and Cronin in About face 3: The essentials of interaction design).

As the number of websites on the Internet grew explosively in the past 10 years, users are relying more and more on search. Internet directories, and to some extent portal sties, are getting less and less visits and time spent. While there are many reasons to this phenomenon, one of which that has been less frequently mentioned is this:

Internet users are less "beginners to Internet" as compared to a couple of years ago.

One can imagine Internet directories as menu systems and search engines as command line systems. Command line systems are known to be more robust and efficient but require a certain level of skills in the user.

What motivates you? - Some random thoughts at midnight

2009-06-02T23:56:00.006+08:00

Several years ago, I was sitting in a lecture on finite element analysis when the lecturer projected a complicated mathematical equation on the screen. The equation was full of mathematical symbols that I can't even remember how to pronounce. At that moment in time, an image of Maslow's hierarchy of needs that I saw in my Marketing 101 class flashed across my mind.

Why the hell am I sitting in such a class staring at equations that look like abstract art to me? I can easily understand and publish a dozen of theories like Maslow's. - I seldom heard my thoughts and remembered them so crystal clearly; this was an exception.

A couple of years later, I did not become a world respected engineer. Neither did I become a world respected psychologist. (Not Yet) All of my mechanical engineering textbooks and most of my human factors engineering textbooks are on my bookshelves, buried in a carpet of dust.

--

I learned several things in recent months:

1. It is important to understand the whys.
When your boss demand a mission impossible project dateline, asks why.
When your girlfriend is pissed, find out why.
When you ask a team member to make changes to his project plan, tell him why.

2. Self-confidence and motivation are two of the most important aspects at work.
When you lack one of them, work becomes depressing sooner or later. Litmus test: Do you usually feel headache on Sunday evenings and find it extremely difficult to get out of bed on Monday mornings?
When you lack both of them, something is very wrong with your life and you better do something about it fast.

--

So, coming back to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Needs and motivations are strongly related. I see motivations as the relationships or links between our needs and what we perceive as the satisfiers of our needs.

--

My question to you:

1. What motivates you?
What motivates you to build a career?
What motivates you to go to work tomorrow?
What motivates you to build a family?

2. Do you ever ask why?
If life is short and finite, why do you bother? Does it still matter?

Zen and the art of alcoholic liquid experimentation

2009-05-11T23:43:00.013+08:00

Organizations, especially business and government organizations, like to have mission statements. The place where I work at, I've seen three mission statements in three years. On hindsight, we must be on a meta-mission to find a mission. But that's another story all together.

In February 2007, I went home for vacation during the Chinese New Year period. One day I visited a bookstore. I couldn't remember what bookstore it was. I think it was in a mall. I was looking for books that I could bring back to the country where I was working. As I walked towards the Self-Help section, I was surprised by the number of shelves in that section. Another two years ago the Self-Help section in a typical bookstore in Singapore, as far as I remembered, might be two shelves big. There were four or five. About 1/2 of a side of a shelf was for books on happiness - about a hundred titles. That was a lot of books on one single seemingly simple topic!

Seemed to me that more people were relying on self-help books than before, which meant
1) people were beginning to trust these books more than before,
2) people had needs for these books more than before, or
3) more Singaporeans were reading books than before.
It was probably a mix of these, but I was particularly interested in (2). Given that 2007 was quite a depressing year for me, it somewhat made me felt better to know that I was the not the only who needed help to become happier. On a kinder and more intellectual note: I thought that the increase in demand and supply on self-help on happiness implied certain social trend and issues.

I bought four books on happiness to date, and was given one as a gift. I bought two as gifts for a friend a relative too - giving brings happiness you know. I finished two of them. Not having read all of them actually makes feel me guilty and a little unhappy. Hmm...

A common message that I received from the two books that I read is:
"the mission of life is to be as happy as one can be".

And happiness, as defined by one of the books, is:
"a function of instant enjoyment and lifetime meaningfulness".
At least that is how I interpret the message.

This definition is very cool and very important. It implies that
1) happiness depends on what we choose to do and how we choose to live, and
2) doing exactly the same things and living the same lives will not bring happiness to all, because what each of us enjoy and find meaningful are different.

So when it comes to what we do, happiness depends on how much we enjoy the task that we do and how meaningful we find the activity is to our values. But happiness can also be defined as
"a function of what we do and how we think".

Independently of what we do, what we think can make us more happy or less happy. Like the saying goes, attitude is everything. (Research also shows that smiling makes us happier. The muscular effort of pulling our facial muscles to mimic a genuine smile or laughter somehow produces a delightful neurological feedback.) We cannot always choose what we do, but we can always choose what and how we think. (As I was revising the grammar in this paragraph after I had already published it, I suddenly got this idea that I should not be upset that I do not know what I should do as a career; I should be excited that I'm going to be on a journey to find out!)

To keep the story short so that I can go to bed, the moral of the story is:
"I enjoy drinking beer, and I find a meaning in brewing great tasting beer for mankind. I am considering finding a job in a beer brewery. I think this will make me happy, and I don't give a sh*t to what you think".

Organizational Psychology 101

2009-05-04T23:10:00.015+08:00

The world is really complicated, and a business organization is a miniature world.

What is so complicated about a business organization? Think about it. You have a physical environment (unless every single employee telecommutes) and an organizational structure. You have people in the environment. And these people have goals; personal goals and organizational goals that are assigned to them. To achieve the organizational goals, these people have work processes and tools.

According to Lo's (2009) theory of organizational psychology, there are two types of employees in any business organization of a respectable scale: J Type and B Type. J Types want to get the job done. They focus on the job and their work mission. Bosses are usually appreciative of J Types employees. However, J Type employees can be rather a pain in the ass at times. They tend to question the rationale behind every single project and task. They can also be over demanding in getting the tools and resources they need to get the job done. When they are not asking "whys" or demanding more resources, they work overtime and forget to switch off the office lights before they leave.

B Type employees focus on their bosses. They are caring employees who will not bother their already overloaded bosses with "why"s; they are human beings with higher than average EQ. B Type employees are usually gifted in communication skills. Assign them any project and they will tell you how valuable the project is to the organization yesterday, today, and the ever foreseeable future, ahmen. The capability of B Type employees are not very well investigated to date. This may be because B Type employees are usually promoted to higher levels in the organization before they ever have the chance to complete their given projects.

Any healthy business organization requires a mixed of J Type and B Type employees. J Types get the job done, B Types keep the boss sane. Based on absolutely no empirical data at all, Lo (2009) suggested that an optimum ratio of J to B Type employees is 8:1. Too many J Types IT department runs out of extra RAMs. Too many B Types Infrastructure department runs out of meeting rooms.

The ultimate challenge for bosses is how to design the organization so that the minority B Type employees can be evenly distributed across the organization. When the population of a department is over skewed towards J Types, say 12:1, genetic prejudice against B Type employees may take place. When the population in a department is over skewed towards B Types, J Type employees tend to resign, nothing gets done, department breaks down, and if the department is critical enough stock price eventually fall like raining cow dungs.