One of the best things a coordinator or organizer can do is to show an exuberant amount of energy to start the meeting. That energy will definitely rub off on the participants and it is one of the significant factors that affects their engagement, enthusiasm, mood and overall satisfaction level.
The right energy means everything.
Asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding as stated inThe Surprising Power of Questions on Harvard Business Review.
There are so many benefits to asking questions as the article above points out. We don’t ask enough questions. It’s a habit worth developing and honing.
I consider myself a life long student. Being in school was just a chapter in my life. Grade school, middle school, high school, college, grad school. All these “traditional schools” gave me knowledge, skills, and a sense of understanding about the world.
Fast forward many years after grad school, I am currently getting an education.
As we live in a world where things are moving so fast, the only way to adapt to these changes is to approach it like a student. There is always something to learn. The growth never stops. You climb one mountain and then you have to climb another one. That’s the game that we are playing now. The student mentality will keep us curious, nimble, and adapt better to the changing environment. If we see ourselves as someone who has already attained “the degree” or “the coveted role”, we will be outdated pretty soon. It’s best to always have that student mindset and work to become better each day.
Have you found yourself struggling to achieve your goals? Do you feel overwhelmed that you don’t have enough time to work on your goals? Do you put off working on your goals for tomorrow or the week after?
Here’s something useful to answer the questions above:
A KICK ASS GUIDE TO GOAL SETTING A ONE THING GUIDE
I recently used the above guide for a personal goal I have. I did the Exercise 1 Goal Setting To The Now (page 8 on the Guide) and found it helpful to put my goal on paper and lay out the steps to achieving it.
Waste management is still fairly a new concept in Nepal. Typically a waste management company visits a vicinity once a week and collects the waste from that area. Then there are about 13000 Khaalisisi friends who go to different neighborhoods on their bicycles to collect old newspapers, books, metal/steel among other things.
Now Khaalisisi, a platform has come around and they are working to make it easier for the waste seller to sell/donate their recyclable trash while increasing business for the waste entrepreneurs (Khaalisisi friends). I recently used the platform for the first time and was delighted with the experience. The Khaalisisi friend came around my scheduled time, weighed the old newspapers I had with his digital weighing machine, and gave me a proper bill. This is certainly taking our recycling industry in the right direction. I’ll be using the Khaalisisi platform for recycling more often in the coming days.
A lot of projects get started. Some big and some small. Yet, I believe the right team can make all the difference and the project’s foundation is very important.
I have been part of many projects including planning company events. Most recently, I was part of a team that organized our company’s annual gala. Our first organizing team’s meeting was full of excitement, energy, and fun. I felt great about being with this team right away. That same level of excitement and enthusiasm carried over to the following meetings leading up to the gala. The day of the gala arrived and we all delivered on our parts. The gala was very well organized, finished on schedule, and everyone had a great time. I credit the organizing team and the amazing group of volunteers for pulling off such a feat.
Starting with the right team will do wonders.
How to sleep like an elite athlete!
I first read about the concept of 1000 True Fans in Tim Ferriss’ Tools of Titans. I finally read the essay of 1000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly and recommend it to the creators out there. It was very helpful to me. Here are the first few paragraphs of the essay:
To be a successful creator you don’t need millions. You don’t need millions of dollars or millions of customers, millions of clients or millions of fans. To make a living as a craftsperson, photographer, musician, designer, author, animator, app maker, entrepreneur, or inventor you need only thousands of true fans.
A true fan is defined as a fan that will buy anything you produce. These diehard fans will drive 200 miles to see you sing; they will buy the hardback and paperback and audible versions of your book; they will purchase your next figurine sight unseen; they will pay for the “best-of” DVD version of your free youtube channel; they will come to your chef’s table once a month. If you have roughly a thousand of true fans like this (also known as super fans), you can make a living — if you are content to make a living but not a fortune.
Here’s how the math works. You need to meet two criteria. First, you have to create enough each year that you can earn, on average, $100 profit from each true fan. That is easier to do in some arts and businesses than others, but it is a good creative challenge in every area because it is always easier and better to give your existing customers more, than it is to find new fans.
Second, you must have a direct relationship with your fans. That is, they must pay you directly. You get to keep all of their support, unlike the small percent of their fees you might get from a music label, publisher, studio, retailer, or other intermediate. If you keep the full $100 of each true fan, then you need only 1,000 of them to earn $100,000 per year. That’s a living for most folks.
Read the whole edited and updated version of the essay at https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/
You should write a book by Seth Godin from his podcast, Akimbo.
Sapiens, the book by Yuval Noah Harari is an insightful and interesting read. As I come close to finish reading it, I have gained some new perspective on major developments in history. I recommend reading the book to gain the whole context and understanding.
A few thought provoking points from the book:
Ignoramus: Modern science is based on the Latin injunction ignoramus – ‘we do not know’. It assumes that we don’t know everything and no concept, idea or theory is sacred and beyond challenge.
Modern science flourished in and thanks to European empires. When people started admitting their ignorance that they do not have all the answers and that there is so much more to know, it made them compelled to seek new knowledge and make new discoveries.
Scientific research can flourish only in alliance with some religion or ideology. The ideology justifies the costs of the research and in exchange, the ideology influences the scientific agenda and determines what to do with the discoveries.
Above points taken from Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.
We love challenges.
We’re here to take on challenges, successfully accomplish them, and then take on newer challenges.
What’s your next challenge?
SastoDeal, a local startup from Kathmandu has Sastodeal “Community Leave” program where an employee gets 1 – 3 days paid-leave for him/her to do community work. A worthy initiative by SastoDeal and I encourage other companies to do what they can to take up causes they are passionate about.
I believe that all companies and especially local companies have an important responsibility to give back to the community where they do business. This also comes from the belief that with great power comes greater responsibility. As part of the ecosystem, we have to be responsible to the society and do what we can for its betterment. Having a giving back culture inside the company has countless benefits. First, employees feel good that they are working for a company that is making a difference in the society. Second, it helps in generating positive feelings about the company to potential employees, media, public and other stakeholders. Third, and the most important reason is that giving back is just the right thing to do.
I commend SastoDeal for starting the Community Leave initiative within their company since 2018. It is good to hear stories such as Laxman Gautam who distributed a year’s supply of educational materials in Chauri Deurali, Kavre. I look forward to hearing more stories from employees taking the Community Leave at SastoDeal and also am keen to hear from other companies on their giving back initiatives.
Many technology companies in Kathmandu offer similar benefits to their employees. The benefits are as follows: 5 working days, 2 day weekends, subsidized lunch/dinner, transportation, accidental and medical health insurance among others.
For potential employees considering whether to join one technology company over another, it could be best to look into the work that the company does, its reputation in the ecosystem, growth opportunities and most importantly its culture. Technology companies should highlight their company culture more to attract the right talent. All the other benefits offered are starting to look the same.
Identifying problems is easy. For the most part. If you’re honest and open minded about the situation/circumstance/result, you can find room for improvement in almost about anything.
You can’t take an international standard and apply it strictly around the world the same way. The challenge lies when a framework designed by the “international experts” does not accommodate the local circumstances or takes the local culture into context. Having a standard framework in which everyone can agree on a certain thing is a good starting point. The major drawback of these frameworks is when the local circumstances are very much different than what the experts had planned for.
It’s better to take the framework and to customize it to local needs/ circumstances. When the execution of the plan or process faces hindrances, it’s best to be in a position to suggest alternatives as well.
The Yerkes-Dodson law is about the relationship between stress and performance. The law states that performance increases with mental stress, but only up to a point. When levels of stress become too high, performance decreases.
If you are in any capacity working to improve someone’s performance, use moderate stress to increase his/her performance. Consider skill level, personality, trait anxiety, and task complexity when introducing the “right amount” of stress.
Source: The Art and Science of Training
Love makes you feel complete.
Love makes you alive.
Love makes you…
AI For Everyone, a non-technical course available on Coursera will help you understand AI technologies and spot opportunities to apply AI to problems in your own organization.
This is a great opportunity for anyone interested to learn about AI. I’m excited to take this course and had been waiting for it for a while. Read more about AI For Everyone course.
Professor Carol Dweck, Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford talks about her groundbreaking work on developing mindsets. She emphasizes the power of “yet” in helping students succeed in and out of the classroom. What a beautiful concept!
Chances are that you are contemplating whether to take the plunge or stay where you are. Chances are that you are deciding whether it’s worth the risk or not. Chances are that the voice inside is telling you to give it a try and live with the results.
We have dreams. We have goals. We have choices. I strongly believe that it’s better to take the plunge when you passionately feel it. There is no right time for everything. The guilt inside of you that will arise if you do not take the plunge now will most likely outweigh even the worst case scenario. It’s much better to live with the results and the comfort of knowing that you did try than keeping it all in your head. Go for it. Take the plunge today.
I use to watch And1 basketball show on TV and then on YouTube. Grayson Boucher or more commonly known as “The Professor” was a regular in those And1 clips. Glad to hear his story on Tedx Talks. I like the last part of his presentation where he shares three learnings from his life experiences: proving yourself everyday, hearing “No” isn’t the end of the road and seek your passion because often that’s where you’ll find your purpose.
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