Collection of mediocre skills – The 200 words project

If you are among the best in the world at something, that’s great. As Scott Adams (Dilbert cartoonist) describes it, your path forward is clear – just keep better and better at your craft. For everyone else, Scott theorizes that every new skill doubles your chances of success. And, he believes this is the case because of the importance of the combination of complementary skills.

In his case, he possessed average writing ability, average cartooning skills, an average sense of humor and mediocre business experience. In isolation, these weren’t great but they worked great in combination. His experiences working at Pacific Bell exposed him to the Internet. So, he became among the first cartoonists to make Dilbert available online and he even put an email address on Dilbert comics to solicit reader feedback. Over time, feedback from his readers led to him focusing Dilbert on the workplace – all of which played a huge role in its eventual success.

So, if you are Marketing Manager who is skilled at Marketing, that’s a good start. But, if can also count digital marketing and design among your capabilities, that greatly improves your odds at success. Collection of mediocre skills = formidable.

“Can you name one other person who has average skills in writing, humor, art, and business? It’s a rare mixture. Individually, none of my skills are anywhere near world-class. But combined, they create a powerful market force.” | Scott Adams

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Source and thanks to: How to Fail at Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams

3 things I’ve learnt about the good life idea

1. We get to define what “good” is. Defining what is “good” is among the most important things we will do. And, to do this, we need to be accepting of our own quirks. For example, after a relaxed 24 hours or so, the rest of my weekend is filled with work. There is almost no way I will get through my task list but I am looking forward to giving it my best shot. That isn’t likely to be an ideal weekend for most people. But, as I listen to great music and type these words, I can feel my excitement at the thought of ploughing through my list. To each their own.

2. Spend time in environments which, and, with people who, energize you. Environments and people either give you good energy or bad energy. This is an incredibly simple idea – design your life in a way that maximizes good energy. Stop managing your time. Just manage your energy.. and time will take care of itself. And, needless to say, you are the average, in every sense (likely happiness, BMI, and even maturity) of the five people you spend most of the time with.

3. Do small things with extraordinary love and, then, thank the stars for the privilege. When you define what “good” is and design a life filled with good energy, you get to do small things with extraordinary love. That is an incredible privilege. Cue: say thank you – a lot. The more you feel gratitude, the more you will be happy.

Is this hard work? Absolutely.

But, there are few things better than giving ourselves the gift of a life that’s well lived.

What should Volkswagen do? – MBA Learnings

We started our second year with a 1 week pre-term call on Leading and Managing Crises. We discussed responses to multiple crises – both good and bad. And, as I was on the lookout for a new crisis to apply my learning, Volkswagen appeared in the news for what has to rank among the dumbest decisions of all time. How Volkswagen thought they could get away with a program that cheats the emissions test is anyone’s guess. But, common sense isn’t very common and this is a good illustration that groups of people in “good” companies can make some really bad decisions.

A framework we used for discussing crisis response was called “The Trust Radar.”

Trust RadarSource and Credit: Reputation Rules by Prof Daniel Diermeier

The rationale is that crises are not just disasters that need to be managed. Instead, they need to be viewed as turning points – manage it well, for example, and you could win significant trust. In all star examples of crisis management – the 1980s Tylenol crisis or the 2005 Southwest crisis when a plane slid off the ice, crashed into a car and killed a six-year old boy, leadership scored high on each of the 4 components of the trust radar.

First, they demonstrated transparency by getting on the scene quickly and being very clear about what they knew, what they didn’t know and what they were doing to get the information. This is in contrast to British Petroleum’s (BP) response to the oil spill. No one seemed to have a clue as to what was going on.

Second, they demonstrate expertise where necessary. In crises that involve technical issues, it is critical that the public feels the company knows whats going on and how it can be fixed. Again, BP spent more time trying to siphon blame than fixing the problem in the immediate aftermath of the skill.

Third, they show commitment. Often, the first step here is by simply making sure the CEO shows up. There is often nothing more important than reputation and the CEO’s presence underlines that. However, the best show of commitment is doing what it takes to fix the problem. This generally involves a huge investment into product recalls and compensation for damages.

Finally, they demonstrate empathy. Company’s and executives aren’t trusted by the public. This step is critical in making sure the people in the affected area understand that they are cared for.

So, that leads us to – what can Volkswagen do?

Firing the CEO was a first step. It shows commitment. However, they have a long way to go. Among the 4 components of radar, commitment is the one that requires most attention. Being transparent and empathetic will help, but to a lesser extent. And, it is clear they have technical expertise – too much of it, some might argue. Aside from investing in product recalls and fines, I think a critical step towards demonstrating commitment to fixing the problem would be to conduct a thorough investigation into the groups that recommended and decided this (it can’t just be the CEO). They need to be fired/fined and punished in some way. Such decisions show a failure of ethics in the organization and hard measures are required.

While the new CEO will definitely need to attempt to score as high as possible on the 4 components of the trust radar, the Volkswagen case illustrates one of the hardest challenges of rebuilding reputation – you cannot talk yourself out of a problem that you’ve acted yourself into.

Companies, like humans, are trusted because of the character they exhibit. And, demonstrating good character is a long term game. Volkswagen have a long and painful road ahead.

Not taking offence

A place I’ve been trying to move towards is one where I never take offence – to anything people say, do or even to things that happen to me.

While I feel it does seem to be getting easier with time (maturity?), I think the factor that makes it easiest to not take offence is to simply view everything that happens around you as an experiment that might or might not work. This was the learning I took away from Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography – “The Story of My Experiments with Truth.” I don’t generally recommend the book to anyone but I do think the central idea of experimentation is powerful. During the course of his life, Gandhi treated himself and the world as a laboratory for various kinds of experiments. Some worked, many didn’t. But, he just marched on to the next experiment anyway.

That’s a wonderful way to see the world.

I’ve begun describing myself as someone who lives in “this might not work.” Keep trying crazy ideas, keep initiating, keep failing, keep taking flak, never take offence and move on.

Things are simpler when you view life and everything that happens around you as a series of experiments. They occasionally work for you. Most of the time, however, they don’t.

And, that’s okay. Perfection and comfort are overrated.

Is it a lot of work?

There are many questions we could be asking when faced with a new project –

Do you think it will be a fulfilling experience?
Do you think I’ll learn a lot?
Do you think it’ll be meaningful?
Will I be able to work with, learn from and connect with wonderful people?

And, yet, more often than not, the default question is – “Is it a lot of work?”

My experience has shown that fulfilling/learning filled/meaningful experiences are always a tremendous amount of work. They also rarely have a clear, well-trodden path. I’ve also learnt that I rarely remember the effort with anything but fondness. It is in those moments of effort that I have felt most alive. And, the joy from having to make sense out of chaos? That’s how we get made.

Different questions -> Different results.

Autonomy

A friend of mine shared her joy at switching employers.

At her old firm, she was required to come in at a particular time and leave after a particular time. She hated the daily pressure and the days inevitably felt long.

At her new firm, there are no such requirements. But, she finds herself coming in earlier and leaving later than at her previous job. And, to top it all, she loves it.

There’s something incredibly powerful about the perception of autonomy. We love the perception of control and it greatly increases our happiness. Perhaps we need to make sure we include autonomy in our criteria list for our important choices.

Disproportionate impact

I realized yesterday that a very small group of people (generally <5) have had a disproportionate impact on –

– my career growth
– my personal growth and learning
– the number of new, valuable career connections I’ve made
– my happiness at any given point of time

Of course, when you get started, it is hard to tell who these people might be. So, the whole point of breadth in relationships is to understand if there is chemistry.

A group of senior executives were recently asked this about chemistry – “How do you know if the chemistry exists for a potential mentor-mentee relationship?” One of them simply said – “You just know.”

My additions would be  –
“1. This applies for all kinds of relationships
2. When you do know, dive right in and don’t let go.”

A food vendor in front of the pyramids or a bangle seller in front of the Taj Mahal will likely never fully appreciate them in their true glory. That’s the challenge we have when we are part of incredibly meaningful relationships. We don’t realize the magic until it doesn’t exist anymore.

It doesn’t happen often. It is magical when it does. It is up to us to appreciate, treasure and be grateful for these.

After all, and here I make the assumption that happiness is how most of us will measure our lives, it isn’t happy people who are thankful. It is thankful people who are happy.

Red flag law – The 200 word project

When locomotives with engines were introduced in the UK, the red flag law was passed in 1865. This required cars to drive at less than 2 miles per hour and to be preceded by pedestrians waving a red flag. This was the case despite the fact that existing human operated vehicles crashed with frightening regularity. So, the new technology needed to jump across higher safety hoops than the existing technology.

The takeaway from this for ex-Google executives, Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg, is that there’s a constant tension between regulation and innovation. If we get attached to something that works and refuse to accept anything new that comes with risks of failure, it is only a matter of time before we move backwards.

This has lots of applications in our lives, too. The best projects come with the “this might not work” tag. And, accepting the idea will require us to consistently remind ourselves that what got us here won’t get us there. If we keep raising the bar such that we accept nothing aside from “assured” success, it will only be a matter of time before we stop trying.

At some level, “this might not work” is at the heart of all important projects, of everything new and worth doing.” – Seth Godin

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Source and thanks to: How Google Works by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg

10 years ago

What were you doing on this day 10 years ago?

At this time 10 years ago, I was in my final year of High school. My main objective at that point was to get admitted into the National University of Singapore. And, my biggest worry back then was a mix of wondering if I would get the scholarship to attend and whether I’d be able to pull off the scores required to get in. Also, being a teenager, I’m sure there were a few social circle related worries.

I don’t think I had any conception of what I might be doing 10 years later. And, even if I did hazard a guess, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have been close to what turned out. I didn’t know what YouTube was and definitely didn’t know anything about consulting (my first job) or business school.

A childhood friend and I were exchanging texts about this yesterday and marveling at how quickly time has gone by. Whenever I have such conversations, I am reminded of the Bill Gates idea that we tend to overestimate what we can do in a year but regularly underestimate what we can do in a decade. That is definitely true in my limited experience.

We regularly think about the next year or two and tend to have big hopes and dreams. We rarely think about the next decade. And, yet, in the really long term, directional movement matters a lot more than specific steps.

Coincidentally, I had some longer term thinking time scheduled this weekend. And, longer term really meant thinking about my 2nd year in graduate school. So, this exchange and post have come at a great time. I’ve decided to challenge myself to think about the next ten.

Looking forward.