Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by seantang

Should you Pursue your Passion...

seantang — Sun, 25 May 2014 18:05:55 +0800

Every piece of career advice includes a mantra about "pursuing one's passions", even here on LYN J&C. But are we missing the point?

Should one always pursue what one likes to do, simply because one likes to do it? What if you suck at what you like to do? Or what if no one values what you like to do, and therefore will not pay you (well) for doing it?

Are we missing the forest for the trees? Is it the actual process (work) that we like... or do we actually like the results and rewards that are achieved by the process (for eg. achievement, work life balance, providing for your family... things which satisfy your needs and desires... ie. happiness?)? Does the certainty of desired results increase the attractiveness of the process?

I have paraphrased a few times, Mike Rowe from Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs. That the happiest workers are not those who single-mindedly pursue their passion, for passion's sake. The happiest tend to be those people who bring passion to whatever careers they pursue.

So perhaps the right sequence shouldn't be:

1. Identify your passion.
2. Work on your passion.
3. The rewards will follow (automatically???... not if you suck. Lots of people suck at things they are passionate about).

Perhaps it should be:

1. Identify the opportunities... in relation to the environment, your personality, strengths, weaknesses etc, what your competitors are doing and what results you want to achieve.
2. Work on those opportunities. The work will fit you, your skills, the environment... making the process as palatable as possible even if it's not something you are passionate about.
3. The rewards will make you happy because they satisfy your needs and desires (and there will be a higher probability of rewards because the work fits vs simply working on your passion whatever you think it is).

QUOTE

Why 'Follow Your Passion' Is Bizarre Advice
Posted: 11/29/2013 8:00 AM
Updated: 01/29/2014
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cal-newport/..._b_4350869.html

A couple years ago, I launched a simple experiment. I identified a large group of people, from a variety of different professional fields, who all self-reported to love what they do for a living. I then gave them a straightforward prompt: "tell me your story."

My goal was to better understand how people end up passionate about their work. I succeeded in identifying some common patterns, but perhaps equally interesting is what I didn't find: very few of these happy workers knew in advance what they wanted to do with their life -- their path was more haphazard.

This conclusion is surprising to many in our culture where "follow your passion" has been canonized as unimpeachable advice.

But it wouldn't surprise Mike Rowe.

In his TEDTalk, Rowe explains that the tradespeople he profiled on his show, Dirty Jobs, are surprisingly happy. "Roadkill picker-uppers whistle while they work," he said. "I swear to God -- I did it with them." To Rowe, these experiences began to challenge many of the "sacred cows" he had been taught to believe about work satisfaction. Perhaps foremost of these sanctified ideas he began to doubt was the importance of pre-existing passion.

"Follow your passion... what could possibly be wrong with that?" Rowe joked in his talk. "Probably the worst advice I ever got."

Rowe's rejection of passion attracted a lot of attention, including over 1.3 million views of his talk. But it's worth taking the time to dive deeper into his statements to understand exactly what makes his ideas so transgressive.

In his talk, Rowe points out that many of the happiest people in the country have jobs that no one would ever identify as a pre-existing passion. He cited a sheep herder, a pig farmer ("smells like hell, but God bless him, he's making a great living"), and a guy who makes flower pots out of cow dung, as examples of unexpected professional contentment. These observations are powerful for a simple reason: They separate career satisfaction from the specifics of the work.

The pig farmer is not happy because he was born with a pig farmer gene, or because he grew up feeling a deep pre-existing passion for pork. He's instead happy because he's making a great living, has tons of autonomy, and does work that's useful to the world (he raises his pigs on food scraps from nearby casinos that would otherwise go to waste). You could replace pig farming with any number of pursuits, but so long as they yielded these same traits, he'd love his work.

If we return to my own study of passion, which focused more on white collar work -- programmers, writers, doctors -- than the trades, I found similar conclusions. Few of my subjects followed a pre-existing passion into the careers that they now love. Their contentment instead grew over time as they got better at what they did, and then leveraged this skill to gain traits like competence, autonomy, and impact -- exactly the same types of traits that made Rowe's pig farmer so happy.

When you hear about my experiment, or Mike Rowe's experiences with dirty jobs, our society's obsession with "follow your passion" begins to seem bizarre. Why, we might ask, do we so easily accept the assumption that we're hard-wired for a specific economic pursuit? The alternative explanation -- that it's what you get out of your job, not the specifics of the work, that matters -- begins to seem a lot more reasonable.

We are, of course, a sound bite culture. So if we hope to discard "follow your passion" as a trope, we need to summarize the Roweian view of the world with something similarly pithy. In recognition of this reality, I'll end my discussion here with an attempt to satisfy this demand...

Don't follow your passion, let it follow you in your quest to become useful to the world.

What is Office Politics.

seantang — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:14:26 +0800

More like a book review than an article, but I think it generally cuts straight to the chase when it comes to office politics and what are the main games one has to play. A lot of the people in this forum think office politics is either gossip or apple polishing - and that they are above such trivial pursuits. The former are usually people who don't get along with their peers and the latter are people who don't get along with their boss. Either way, they are wrong, and their view of office politics is inadequate. This article is a pretty good primer for the unintiated, the oblivious and the ignorant.

My personal strategy... is to know things. Anything, everything and before everyone else. If you know stuff, you bring information. Information is value. You become a welcome addition to anyone's inner circle. Keep track of changes, shifts, trends, priorities. It brings opportunities, allies, protection against enemies, and it prevents you from stepping into doo-doo. Like old people say... "if want to beat a dog, also must see who is its master".

QUOTE

How to Make Office Politics Work For You
by Knowledge@SMU, 02 April 2012
Source website

Backstabbing, gossiping, and the dangerously, flirtatious dance of the corporate moth around the office fire – also known as workplace politics – can be a costly affair. A 2002 British survey found that managers spent an hour a day engaged in politics. Such actions and more cost the UK an estimated £7.8b billion in productivity loss a year.

A 2007 study by the British organisation Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that 60% of managers regard career change linked to promotion as very or extremely challenging.

Nearly half of the senior executives surveyed said they were unable to cope with backstabbing, conspiracy, jealousy or plotting, while a quarter rated office politics as the toughest challenge they face.

Dealing with office politics

So what should one do about it? There are generally two schools of thought:

> accept that it’s inevitable and learn to roll with the punches
> join the ‘reject and avoid it’ camp.

Jane Horan, author of I Wish I’d Known That Earlier in My Career: The Power of Positive Workplace Politics, belongs firmly to the first category.

“The sad reality is that organisations lose talented managers because they’re ill-equipped to navigate the unwritten rules, or fearful of embracing politics,” she writes. “Most organisations do not teach savvy and [some] managers learn the necessary skills too late. Others put their heads down and hope ‘it’ will go away.”

Is there such a thing as positive office politics? Horan defines positive politics as the "building coalitions for the good of the organisation" without sacrificing integrity or values while negative politics is framed as "building coalitions for the good of the self only".

Most literature on positive office politics tend to focus on looking out for the “self” but this book looks at how a leader might potentially advance the interests of her team if she knows how to get management to back a good idea, and recognise the contributions of the team.

Savvy = Success

To Horan, being able to navigate the often-murky political waters of organisations is a critical leadership skill and a building block for success.

This means one needs political savvy: being aware of the unwritten rules of operating inside organisations, embracing the political nature of organisational life, and having the skills and intuition to navigate these successfully.

The book is peppered with cautionary tales of how talented people can be “passed over for promotions, made redundant, or leave organisations because they don't understand how to work with politics or they refuse to do so.”

Case in point: A hard worker with a brilliant idea buries himself so deeply into developing this idea that he doesn’t realise that his boss does not have his back. He discovers too late that he’s been a victim of office politics. He loses his job – while the company loses a talented individual.

If he had political savvy, he would have had a better grasp of the political landscape (who has power, what are the power dynamics, and how to access power). This could have helped him to sell his ideas, get management’s backing, and put his ideas into action.

Understanding power shifts

But how does one become savvy? Horan says the first step is to understand and connect to power – the cornerstone of savvy. Next, learn to self-promote and gain visibility within the organisation.

Horan uses in-depth examples to illustrate her points. She wrote about how two talented executives, who were not in tune with the ebbs and flows of power, failed to “read” power shifts and were eventually beaten out of the game. This is particularly relevant for executives in the throes of mergers and acquisitions.

Throughout the book, the author would often stress that putting your head down and getting the hard work done based on technical skills and experience are a good thing – but only up to a point.

Once a person ascends the corporate ladder, there is a need to understand social dynamics because power and politics are inextricably linked.

Here, Horan calls for readers to reframe “power” by thinking of it not as a contrived, coercive force, but one that aids decision-making and organisational effectiveness.

Simply said, when you know how power works, it should be easier to collaborate and to get things done. And if you don’t have the ability to suss out the power dynamics, Horan offers up a practical, systematic approach: map out the network in the organisation and make notes of who holds power.

Study how one person is connected to another, and how that links back to you and your team – directly and indirectly. Also, examine who might have a stake in your success, who might view you as an obstacle, and your 'visibility' to the powerful. With these relationships mapped out, one can then make sense of one’s place within the power grid, so to speak.

Be your authentic self

The second thing one must do to acquire the savvy is to learn authentic self-promotion. It should not be about bragging, Horan insisted, but about making sure good work is visible. “It’s about reframing your thinking, understanding that your knowledge and what you do is vital to the business,” she writes.

If you cringe at the thought of “self-promotion,” think of it as “story-telling with substance,” she advises. “Even if you don’t like the sound of self-promotion, the ideas [that you share] are important for the organisation and your team. If you manage a team, they depend on you to promote and guide them.”

Self-promotion can be in the form of sharing thoughts and knowledge from one’s field of expertise that can benefit the organisation. This can be done in an authentic manner if you take a genuine interest in connecting with others and sharing your insights.

Also, choose a medium that comes most naturally: one-on-one meetings, small group discussions, email or even blog posts.

Personal brand

Next, having a recognisable and personal brand will help a person to communicate his or her strengths, skills and performance.

If your brand is strong, there is less need to self-promote – so those who are averse to self-promotion could put more effort into building that brand. “A powerful brand provides a connection and elicits a feeling from others. This emotional connection based on authenticity makes for a trusted brand,” says Horan.

To leverage positive politics, Horan believes organisations and employees need to reframe their thinking and return to the “original definition of politics,” which is to build coalitions for the greater good.

She recommends that organisations should strive to create a culture of positive politics, where staff are trained to develop savvy skills and paired with mentors to guide them effectively through the organisation’s political waters. This, she concludes, will not only help with talent retention, but also leadership development.

What CFOs are made of.

seantang — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 14:05:47 +0800

Probably one of the most accessible articles I've ever seen (in terms of simplicity and illustration), on what it takes to be a CFO in today's environment. Covers the frequent questions posted here, namely:

1. What type of company to join?

2. What experience to gain?

3. Professional qualification or MBA?

4. CPA, CA, CIMA or ACCA?

5. The role of "politics"... from the perspective of mentorship.

Overall, a good read to get your head wet.

The CFO Headhunter's View
by Cesar Bacani, 04 March 2011
CFO Innovation Asia

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

Singapore F1 GP

seantang — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 22:27:07 +0800

The article, which appeared today in Singapore's Today newpaper claims that a confirmation may come as early as next week. The paper's source also claims that the race (starting 2008) is practically in the bag and all that's needed is an official announcement.

http://sean-the-man.blogspot.com/2007/03/singapore-f1-gp-getting-close-real.html

Other news reports:

QUOTE

Channel News Asia - 4 hours ago
So it is no surprise then when both F1 and A1 expressed their desire to stage a race here. Singapore authorities have yet to decide whether to accept either one or both offers.

But with growing interest, and benefits such as making the city more vibrant, some suggest Singapore could play host to both races.

QUOTE

Yahoo Finance SINGAPORE, March 2 (Reuters)
Property firm Hotel Properties (HPPS.SI) rose as much as 15.8 percent to S$3.82, on market talk that the property firm has secured rights to host Formula One (F1) motor racing in Singapore, dealers said.

The firm could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Well, stay tuned. I'll make sure to post the official outcome as soon as it's announced.

2008 Mitsubishi Lancer

seantang — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 22:29:20 +0800

No more 4G92, 4G93 and 4G63, but a new 4B11. No more traditional 3-box saloon styling and no more 1.5s, 1.6s or 1.8s that we're so used to.

What do you guys think of the new Lancer?

QUOTE(seantang)

The 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer and Lancer Evolution Prototype X was launched at the Detroit Motorshow on 8 January 2007.

I've got some videos... of the launch, the promo video and walkabout tour of both cars by Mitsu's North American GM.

But first, I've got my hands on the detailed specs list of the North American 2008 Lancer. And since it is a global platform, it should be virtually identical to the next generation Lancer worldwide. So here's my specifications only review after the link:

Specs Only Review and Detroit Motorshow videos

One last bit. Assuming a coefficient of drag = 0.33, I ran the specs through my desktop dyno program and the above are the results. Not too shabby... 8.6 seconds century sprint (which is close enough to Mitsu's claim of ~8s) and a top speed of 206kmh. The big letdown was the weight. If I shave a 100kg off, the century sprint is 8.2s with a top speed of 210kmh... which is much more consistent with the Civic 2.0's performance.

Zoe Tay's Secret to Beautiful Skin?

seantang — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 11:51:12 +0800

Did you know that swallowing is good for your skin? Well, now you do and Zoe Tay confirms it. Tell your girlfriends

http://sean-the-man.blogspot.com/2006/09/zoe-tays-secret-to-beautiful-skin-she.html

Humour in Singapore!

seantang — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 10:03:36 +0800

A few videos that caught my eye recently. They are hilarious... maybe Singaporeans do have a sense of humour after all.

http://sean-the-man.blogspot.com/2006/10/lecturer-of-year.html

* A song & dance by a local comedian, Hossan Leong, about what it means to be Singaporean.

* A skit by some chick named Ruby Pan about English as she is spoken in Singapore. In response to the "Speak Proper English" Campaign.

* Another skit about speaking Singlish. Damn... just what the hell do they teach in those international schools? Kinda surreal watching 13 year old gwai chai (caucasian kids) speak like Phua Chu Kang.

* This guy is a lecturer at NTU (Nanyang Tech University). He's asking for annual feedback about his teaching from his students. Some of the feedback is damn good.