Wednesday, August 27, 2014  

[Happy now...]

I wonder, how many of us are really happy at work?

I've worked at a few different organisations. Four, to be exact. I find that no matter where I go, I can't seem to be happy. I may be happy at first, I may be happy for a few weeks or months at a time, but eventually, something happens that either saps all my energy, or make me so angry, that I start questioning whether is this all worth it.

There are, of course, people who stay at the same job and/or organisation for a long time. I can't believe their experience is that much different from mine. They must face the same difficulties at one time or another.

Which begs the question, is this normal? Is it normal for people to feel this way about their jobs? Is it normal for people to feel "burnt out" all the time? Some people quit and leave the corporate world after a number of years to start something and be their own bosses. Maybe these are the ones who felt that a 9-to-5 job doesn't suit them.

I'll be away from office for two weeks, starting next week. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm looking forward to ICT. It would give me some time to think about this.

^^^ by Locksley @ 9:59 PM. 0 comments.
[Read Comments] [Post Comments]

Wednesday, August 20, 2014  

[I guess that's one way to reduce your debt...]

^^^ by Locksley @ 10:10 PM. 0 comments.
[Read Comments] [Post Comments]

Tuesday, August 19, 2014  

[The problem with mortality...]

I’m watching Cosmos now. I’m nearing the end. The last episode I watched was one about global warming.

The facts speak for themselves. Global warming is real. And we are the cause of it. The facts and impact on the environment is startling to say the least. If I recall correctly, there hasn’t been this much CO2 pumped into our atmosphere for the past million years.

Confronted with all the facts, evidence and projections of what could happen, why then are we, humanity, not taking action? I suppose it can be argued that we are, but I feel that whatever we are doing now, it not enough. So why aren’t we doing more? Why aren’t Governments doing more?

I think the reason is because compared to the lifespan or timescale of the universe, our lives are but just a blink. We have no incentive to change our ways for the better because we won’t be the ones who have to live with the consequences. It will be our children, our grandchildren, or maybe when our great-grandchildren.

If we knew that we would have to confront the consequences of our actions in our lifetime, I’m sure our responses, by now, would have been very much different. We would not be continuing to exploit our planet for short-term monetary gains. We would be trying to restore the balance, to fix what we’ve broke.

I hope we won't go down in history as the generation who screwed Earth up for all subsequent generations.

^^^ by Locksley @ 5:02 PM. 0 comments.
[Read Comments] [Post Comments]

 

[Survivorship bias...]

NDR has come and gone. One of the things our PM put across is how we do not need a degree to be successful.

I have a degree. I agree with what our PM said.

That said, there is an article in the local papers today about some people who made a name for themselves and they don’t have a degree. That’s nice for them, but people who read the article will probably be somewhat misled. Survivorship bias is at work here.

For every one such successful person highlighted, there are probably hundreds or even thousands more, in the same position who are not doing anywhere as well as the highlighted person. Not even close. They may be struggling along, trying hard to make ends meet.

Don’t be blinded by a few successful examples. Be aware of the reality on the ground.

^^^ by Locksley @ 4:49 PM. 0 comments.
[Read Comments] [Post Comments]

 

[I am the greatest!]

In the book Good to Great, author Jim Collins introduced the idea of level-5 leaders. Among other things, these leaders will groom the next generation of leaders to take over when they are gone.

In contrast, there are the “superstar” leaders. They have huge personalities (read: egos), and their management style is basically they call the shots, and everyone else around them should just execute their orders. More often than not, when they leave, the company suffers. Such leaders do not groom the next generation’s leadership. When the company flounders after they leave, they take it as evidence of their genius, how their presence has been sorely missed.

What am I suddenly writing about this? Because I came across the latest outburst from a former Prime Minister up north.

Some people should just learn to shut up.

^^^ by Locksley @ 4:31 PM. 0 comments.
[Read Comments] [Post Comments]

Sunday, August 17, 2014  

[The Art of Thinking Clearly...]

I read a very interesting book recently. It's titled "The Art of Thinking Clearly". It's a collection of short chapters that illustrates common thinking errors. The book has its share of people who love it and people who hate it. To each his own.

I won't go into the thinking errors raised by the author. But a simple flip through of the Sunday papers and I spotted two of them straight off the bat. I would not have spotted or analysed these articles in the following manner before I read the book.


Why should we take financial advice, or follow the financial habits of an actor? Is he qualified?


This is a bit more interesting. This reporter is claiming that the PAssion Card is driving the growth of the debit card sector in Singapore. However, what she failed to mention was that recently, there was a major push by all the banks in Singapore to replace the ATM cards of their customers. From the traditional ATM/NETS cards to debit cards, which also comes with ATM and NETS functionality. So really, is the PAssion Card driving the debit card sector? Or is false causality at work here?

^^^ by Locksley @ 12:12 PM. 0 comments.
[Read Comments] [Post Comments]

 

[Cake!]

^^^ by Locksley @ 12:02 PM. 0 comments.
[Read Comments] [Post Comments]

Monday, August 04, 2014  

[Let the tinkering begin!]

Intel NUC

^^^ by Locksley @ 9:47 PM. 0 comments.
[Read Comments] [Post Comments]

RSS