I came across an article on Harvard Business Review today called “Less-Confident People Are More Successful.” I wonder if there was any misunderstanding about what “confident” really means. Looking up the etymology dictionary, we see that “confident” is from: If the writer, Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, intended for “confident” to lean more toward the side of smugness and […]
This is a short clip about character and competence. If I had to choose between either, I would always go for character. The transcript is below the embedded video, and you can also download the transcript in pdf. Transcript for Character and Competence. Hi, I’m Elijah Lim. Today, I’d like to talk to you a […]
This is especially for all you positive affirmation junkies out there. I know you’re there – I can feel the hate coming towards me. Pendulums are very useful things. In clocks and other gadgets requiring the services of simple harmonic motion. In a way, they illustrate what life is, continuously swinging from one extreme to […]
The sense of taste is the focus of a billion dollar industry. Although our senses of taste and smell aren’t supposed to be as discriminating as those of many species of animals, many of us still take pride in being more “discerning” than our fellows where tastes and aromas are concerned. We revel in being […]
In one of Tom Clancy’s novels, a Russian agent has been knocked unconscious and is being held by some Rumanian operatives. In order to verify that the unconscious man is, indeed, Russian, the Rumanian operatives rouse him and ask him a non-threatening question in Russian. The half-conscious man responds in Russian, and precipitates his swift […]
Sometimes I hear the phrase “You can bring a horse to the water, but you can’t force a horse to drink.” I invariably reply “Yes, but you can give salt to the horse to make it thirsty.” Developing healthy appetites is something like that. Hunger is something natural, but appetite is learned. We all get […]
Lack of appetite due to a fear of getting fat. That’s the commonly known anorexia nervosa. So, what’s anorexia sophia? Well, sophia means wisdom. Anorexia sophia is a lack of appetite for wisdom. There might be a hunger and a craving for other things, but the appetite for wisdom seems to be a rare condition. […]
Authority. You look up and squint so you see it more clearly. You stop in your tracks as it rumbles so nearly. The things that you wish for, you hold them so dearly. Yes, authority has a way of eliciting a range of different responses from different people at different times and seasons. Do you […]
It is a common saying nowadays that if someone is under-performing in a job, it is due more to a job mismatch than to the presence of issues the person in the job may have. The theory is that, if a person is a good fit with the job, with the organization, with the people, […]
Do you know what a plow pan is? It’s when you plough the land crop after crop, season after season. A hardened layer of earth soon forms below the deepest point where your plow plows. If this is not broken up periodically using deep rakes, the plow pan prevents water from going through into the […]
One of the most coveted titles in the world of work might actually be “Chief”, if we go by the numbers. Chief Executive Officer. Chief Operating Officer. Chief Marketing Officer. Chief Information Officer. Chief Technology Officer. Chief This. Chief That. So many Chiefs. Too few Indians. Sounds like Humpty Dumpty, if you ask me. An […]
I get ideas for my posts from all over. I think I must really be a reactionary sort of fellow. I love having bricks thrown at me, gives me material to make things. The title of this one came from a casual remark made by a friend I was with before we went to call […]
If you are used to me by now, you will know that I don’t mean “Public Relations” in the first “PR.” So what do I mean? Personal Responsibility, of course! If you are a Public Relations honcho and depend on that to pay your bills, lower your hackles and read on! Of course, “PR Campaigns […]
Do you have a good EQ? I think Daniel Goleman didn’t intend to mislead anyone about EQ, but I do think that many people have swung one way or the other. Seems to be the case, as always. When will level-headed thinking prevail? Quite difficult, I suppose, since emotions versus our minds are something like […]
What is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? Heard that before? So what if you’re an employee – heard that before? I’ve always had this nagging thought at the back of my mind that if 6.5 billion people are unique, then who is? Besides, why do you want to be unique when you already are? Remember that […]
The first time I flew to Australia, the film “The Man from Snowy River” was being screened. No personal screens, then, you watched the movie on the screen suspended from the fuselage. I remember one of the characters, played by Kirk Douglas, if I’m not mistaken, saying “It’s a hard country. Makes for hard men.” […]
When Martin Luther King declared “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal”, he inadvertently gave a phrase and a concept for all modern-day Robin Hoods to exploit. Now, I’m certainly no fan of the Sheriff of Nottingham either, but two wrongs don’t make a right. You know by now […]
You are biased. I am biased. They are biased. We are all biased. If you encounter someone coming up to you saying, “My reporting of the case in unbiased” or “I settled the quarrel in a fair and unbiased manner”, you should quickly laugh out loud in his face! There is simply no such thing […]
The term “SOF” has become a household term because of the media. Of course, “SOF” stands for “Special Operations Force”, with all the perceived glamour that goes along with the title. Have you ever seen yourself as an SOF trooper? What makes them so special? Is that why you wanted to be part of them, […]
It seems that everyone is being encouraged to be a marketer these days. The Net’s a stage where each plays a part, and mine a blog one. I just checked – there are about 68 million WordPress blogs alone, not counting the many others. Each one is a marketing tool by default. Of course, quality […]
Have you heard leaders say things like that just before the launch of a new initiative? Or perhaps you’ve heard them utter similar phrases in the wake of a disaster or other scandal. Are you aware that most of them are lying through their teeth? Have you made such statements yourself? Taking the responsibility for […]
If you’ve ever been called “Weird”, “Abnormal”, “Freak” or some other dubious accolade, you’ve probably felt an overpowering urge to conform to the lowest denominator just so you can “fit in”. Perhaps you’re one of the blessed few upon whom those titles or similar descriptive epithets have never been bestowed. If so, have you ever […]
There is a song called “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by the group Tears for Fears. The title itself hints at people wanting to be the rock star whatever they’re doing and wherever they’re at. Have you ever thought about if everybody were to rule the world, who are the ruled? Harvey MacKay once […]
Daniel Pink, author of “Drive” and other books, says that people have three basic wants. They are Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. You might remember that a little better if you think that people like to be “AMPed”. I wonder what he might have said about gamification. As far as I can tell, gamification also fulfills […]
What’s Fun, but a fleeting, cheap emotion? I suppose this post could also be called “I CAN Get MORE Satisfaction”. Now, before you roll your eyes heavenward, do you think I am against having fun? No, not at all! I just think that having a great sense of satisfaction is a whole lot more fun […]
Technology is looked upon as a multiplier, and of course it is. We expect it to expand our businesses, get us more customers, help us deliver better products, services and outcomes for our stakeholders and help us manage our businesses better. Just get some technology and…voila! Problems erased. Our quality goes up, capacity is increased […]
I truly am. For good reason. During those times when you had been made to feel good, maybe with goosebumps all over you, what was one positive growth outcome you experienced? Lasting growth experience, not a bout of I’ll-do-it-because-I-feel-so-amped kind of thing? Right. I didn’t think so either. Anything wrong with feeling good? Obviously not. […]
Reverence. Deep respect. Solemn, gloomy hallways. No fun. Wait a minute! Is there joy? Is there esteem for others? Esteem for self? Is there deep satisfaction? A bubbling up of enthusiasm from an ever-springing fountain? Would reverence be relevant to you? Irreverence. The opposite. Nothing is sacred. No limits. No boundaries. Free and easy. No […]
Mould in bread inspired this post. We opened a bag with two slices of bread left in it this morning and saw that the two slices of bread were mouldy. Since we’re not in the penicillin manufacturing business, we promptly discarded them as mouldy thoughts ran through my mind. The word “mould” is also used […]
You’ve probably heard that “… people may not always remember what you say but people will always remember how you make them feel…” How pathetic! Are we really such a bunch of self-interested brats that we cannot give honour where honour is due? Do we really need such simple, basic training in the quality of […]
Angelina Jolie was applauded all round on TrendIn this week. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the title was “Sophie’s Choice“. Was it a coincidence? The TrendIn article talked about how Jolie decided to go ahead with the double mastectomy based on a “higher probability” that she would have breast […]
While discussing the effects of strip mining and related unsustainable agricultural practices as part of our family’s syllabus, we came across the name of Georgius Agricola. It is very likely that he cared not only for the environment, but for the well-being of mine workers as well. Not something you would have thought a 16th […]
The poster in this post has been going around for quite a while. What do you think of it? If you have shared this poster in your blog posts or social media accounts, does it represent what you believe in? At first sight, it seems good. Do what others won’t do. Step out of your […]
Read the title aloud. With punctuation and without. Notice the difference. Fairness is impudent. It dumbs down. It pulls others down to your level of decadence. It is the excuse of laziness. Justice is ennobling. It quickens people. It raises others to a higher level of consciousness. It is the hallmark of due diligence. Don’t […]
Profanity seems to be more and more prevalent these days. That’s how I hear it, in any case. The age at which the use of crude or foul language is “acceptable” appears to me to be getting lower and lower. It used to be that girls who cuss were really wayward. Now it seems to […]
I came across an HBR post written in Jul 2012 by Ron Ashkenaz calling for the return of the General Manager. With “specialization” being all the rage, I wonder what the take-up rate for General Managers will be. I’ve been in enough positions akin to the General Manager – or GeM, as I’ll call it […]
An article just caught my eye. It talks about people ignoring their own moral standards when acting as market participants. That is, when buying food at the supermarket or wet market, trading in stocks and shares and the like. People have a tendency, the article says, to justify deliberately ignoring their own moral standards with […]
Today I overheard someone saying “Oh, but we have to do all that extra work! We are ISO 22000 certified, you know!”. That set me thinking. Do we strive so hard to get certified and then spend the little that is left of the rest of our lives groaning under the strain of fulfilling all […]
Al Bagocious shared an article from the WSJ titled “The Case for Lying to Yourself” on LinkedIn. The article says that in some cases it might be ok or even beneficial to lie to yourself, but that you should know where to draw the line between how much of lying to yourself might be beneficial […]
It was Mark Twain who said “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society”. Was it only dress he was talking about? Does what we wear define us, or do we wear whatever expresses our quintessential selves? If our workplace has a dress code, does that inhibit our creativity? If […]
An old song has a line which goes “It’s hard for me to say I’m sorry…”. Does that happen to you? Do you think you’ll be seen as weak if you truly say you’re sorry? Actually, to me, yes, if you say you’re sorry, you’re a sorry weakling. Do you know why? Well, it’s because […]
Intrapersonal Intelligence is listed as one of Howard Gardner’s “Multiple Intelligences”. With all the talk about “flatter” organizations, self-directed staff and learners, and connectedness amongst and across organizations, it is time to start looking at organizations as living organisms, if you haven’t started to yet! Some people already have, of course. For instance, there has […]
What comes to your mind when you think about a great leader, perhaps one that you admire a lot? List down all the adjectives that come to mind. Is “love” one of them? Do you think I am asking a strange question? Why or why not? This is one of those times when you perhaps […]
Roots. Unseen. Unattractive. Not in the limelight. Highly essential if you want good plant growth and, ultimately, good fruit. For every leaf above ground, there are probably hundreds more roots and root hairs working tirelessly to absorb the nutrients so vital for overall plant growth and ultimately a great harvest. Do you want to have […]
I commented on a comfortable article on Forbes and noticed that the whole comment doesn’t appear in LinkedIn and Facebook. So I thought I’d post it here. I’d encourage you to read the article, too, I think it’s a good one by Margie Warrell. Hi, Margie, great article! Agreed with what you say, and can I […]
I came across this great article by Brooke Allen on Quartz, which was featured in LinkedIn Today. You can read the article at the link, and I strongly recommend that you do! http://qz.com/77020 The article reminds me of a short clip by Simple Truths called “The 100/0 Principle“. Write and tell me what you think!
One of the talks I have delivered, and will be delivering this Saturday, 27 Apr 2013, centres around how to make the right decisions. We need to be thinking about things like this every so often, and determine if we are truly who we say we are. Some people call it congruence. Well, I had […]
Have you made out your will? That’s something we all need to do, regardless of how much or how little we think we have in terms of assets.What about making a W.I.L.L. as in “Walk In Lifelong Learning”? It is a pity that so many who seem to be so highly educated want to have […]
There was a boy who lived in a village several years ago. His father had died, and the family was very poor. One day, one of the other children at the village school stole the only notebook that he had. Feeling sad and angry, the boy was passing by a stall selling fruit on the […]
I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left. Margaret Thatcher If it had not been for the Falklands Islands Campaign, codenamed “Operation Corporate”, I would probably not have remembered Margaret Thatcher the way […]
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