Foray Into Religious Matters: The Middle Way

"The Buddha himself was born a prince, and so had been showered with luxury since childhood, however, he soon realised that true happiness was not to be found in luxury and so went to practise or experiment with the practices of self-mortification, as a forest dwelling ascetic. However, during his six years as an ascetic, he found those practices, too, to be empty of true happiness. While he practised these, he knew that both of these approaches were too extreme. He realised that self-indulgence was utter materialism and self-mortification was utter spiritualism, so then he balanced these two extremes into the middle way, giving importance to both mind and matter, because when they work together, interdependently it is very powerful. He called this path of balance between the two extremes, the Middle Way."

source

Unschooling

"A leading business school did a study that showed that its graduates did well at first, but in ten years, they were overtaken by a more streetwise, pragmatic group. The reason according to the professor who ran the study: 'We taught them how to solve problems, not recognize opportunities.'"

- Creative Whack Pack, Roger von Oech's

This excellent post re-ignited my thoughts and is utterly germane with my current pondering about entering the school system again. I've been skeptical about the "school system" for a long time, but now with a broader view and life experience I'm more rational and less emotional in my opinions. As in almost everything, it has good and bad things. I don't have one general opinion and I'll not state any. General opinions are dangerous, because there is no such thing as the right thing if there's no context given, and turn-key solutions are at best mildly satisfactory. Moreover, I have school-age nephews, so I must refrain myself in certain issues.

Not So Random Quote 14

"The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and chance. Seeing a man grow rich, they say, 'How lucky he is!' Observing another became intellectual, they exclaim, 'How highly favored he is!' And noting the saintly character and wide influence of another, they remark, 'How chance aid him at every turn!' They do not see the trials and failures and struggles which these man have voluntarily encountered in order to gain their experience; have no knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted efforts they have put forth, of the faith they have exercised, that they might overcome the apparently insurmountable, and realize the Vision of their heart. They do not know the darkness and the heartaches; they only see the light and joy, and call it 'luck'; do not see the long and arduous journey, but only behold the pleasant goal, and call it 'good fortune'; do not understand the process, but only perceive the result, and call it 'chance'."

As a Man Thinketh

Me See (aka The McKinsey Way)

I'm fond of any tool that brings me productivity or simplicity. I'm not biased toward anything (at least consciously), so I tend to seize any idea, concept, technique, framework, etc, that promises to serve my needs. The key is to keep an open mind about everything.

One of the concepts that I've adopted is MECE, a framework used at McKinsey to structure issues related to a business problem. It's simple. First, group ideas into issues so that each issue is separate and distinct, this way you avoid overlapping and duplicate ideas. Second, ensure that all of the issues taken together should comprehensively deal with (or explain) the problem at hand, hence not overlooking information and ensuring a complete picture of the problem. The goal is to define a clear picture of the problem or issue, ie, simplify.

We do this every time (aggregate in categories, and ensure that we don't forget anything) so it's not a newfound approach. The secret is in applying it consciously and systematically to any issue.

Just as a mnemonic, MECE is an acronym for 'mutually exclusive and collectivelly exhaustive'. Try it yourself.

Black Thursdays

"Do one thing every day that scares you."
-Eleanor Roosevelt

I'm interviewing a lot of people nowadays and far too many are the typical "one year’s experience 10 times" instead of the desirable "ten year’s experience". Far too many people likes the comfort zone. They basically avoid failure, but by avoiding failure they undermine their ability for future success. They simply stop doing new things, increasing their fear of uncertainty and the unknown more and more - it's a reinforcing loop.

In my snow trips we usually set apart an entire day for the hard slopes (not this year, regrettably). We call it the Black Thursday. Black slopes are theoretically the most difficult and dangerous of all, so there's plenty of opportunity to confront (and overcome) fear. The funny thing is that, generally, by overcoming physical fear or improving our skills in any specific activity, we can improve our ability to conquer fear and succeed in other fields and tasks as well. So, the outcome is not proportional but magnified.

Of course, due to the underlying risk, these black Thursdays sometimes brings casualties. But, that which does not kill us makes us stronger.

Playing

"Fear is a habit - I am not afraid."
- Aung San Suu Kyi

It's been a long time since my last post. I've been busy - though that's should not be an excuse. Let's say that I've put blogging in a lower priority level. I've been busy trying to grasp the secrets of my new job. As usually when facing a new challenge, I dive into it to form a map of the territory. Only by knowing the territory can I play in them. Now I'm playing.

Iconoclast 2

A person who actively participates in dialectic arguments to prove two opposing views wrong. A destroyer of sacred images, points of view and cultural ideals for the sake of promoting awareness through realism.

source